Sunday, December 28, 2014

Goodbye and Hello

I love the saying, "When one door closes, another opens." Well, that couldn't be any truer for me right now. After three wonderful years, I've made the tough decision not to reapply to Crate Paper's design team. I have loved working with Christine and the rest of the girls, but I felt that now was the time to move on. Here is the last project that I created for the blog. (Note, I didn't say my last CP project. I'll be making them for many years to come!)

I started this project off by painting an old thrift store frame white. Then, I pulled out some of my favorite Crate goodies and got to work. I did cut the deer from cardstock, painted it with Mod Podge and added the glitter.



I love the gold frame and wanted it to serve as the backdrop for the frame. I love the little buttons that came in the Open Book embellishment jar and added them to the top of the frame. 


I also knew I wanted to add one of the Open Book glittered bows, but the pink wasn't the right color for this project. So, I added the Mod Podge and glitter to this piece, too. Now it works perfectly!


Well, that's the closing door part of this post. Now, for the opening door part....



I was invited to be a part of Webster's Pages Planner Design team. I am over the moon excited! As you might know, I worked with WP for about 5 years, before leaving a couple of years ago. They have always been 'family' to me. The addition of the planner line to their products is just pure genius. I have been addicted to decorating my planners for over a year and being on this team will be such a fun way to share my addiction!

Thanks for stopping by today. Please visit again on January 1. I am going to be a part of the third Seasons Givings Blog Hop and have a huge giveaway. 

Have a great day!

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Catching Up

I haven't posted cards in a while, so I thought I'd go ahead and share a couple that I've made recently.
This one used a lot of the new Maggie Holmes line from Crate paper.

 I added lots of layers, used some foam adhesive and twine and some cute resin hearts.

I cut the sentiment with a Little B die cut set that has become a new favorite. I got it here at Emma's Paperie.

This card uses some fun elements from Teresa Collins and My Mind's Eye. 


I love the bike!



Be sure to stop back on January 1. I am taking part of the big Season's of Giving Blog Hop and will have a fun giveaway that day. 

Thanks for stopping by.



Friday, December 12, 2014

Gossamer Blue Part 2

Usually, I save a project or two for the monthly Gossamer Blue blog hop. But, we are skipping it this month due to the fact that everyone is pretty busy. Additionally, many of us are working on our December Daily albums and will be sharing those pages. I'll be uploading my completed pages soon. Getting good photos when I work all day and am home only when it's dark, has been a challenge!

Here is the second spread I made using the December kits. I used lots of kraft on here. The Amy Tangerine tags are so cute. I added some die cuts because I loved them.


On this page, I used a clear photo frame on the bottom. I love the transparent polka dots surrounding the tag and photo.

I'm really enjoying using black and white photos on my PL. It makes the colors in the project really pop.


That's it for today. I will be back soon with completed December Memories pages. 
Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Gossamer Blue December Projects

Just popping on to share one of my latest Gossamer Blue projects. The kits went live this week and are just wonderful. They have lots of Teresa Collins and Amy Tangerine product in them - perfect for Thanksgiving or for any other occasion.

On this spread, I decided to pull several of the aqua/mint cards. I also used the printables on here. This page was made solely with the Life's Pages Main kit.


I love the printables this month. I added them to both of the cards on here.

I used several of the Amy Tangerine puffy stickers on this page. And I tried something new. I broke out my Cuttlebug and embossed the bottom right card. Love the pola dot effect it gave it.

That's all for now. I'll be back soon with more GB projects. Thanks!

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking Magazine Special Thanks! Blog Hop


Welcome to the Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking Magazine Special Thanks! Blog Hop. If you are hopping along, you probably arrived from Sarah Jay's blog.


It's a sad time in the scrapbooking and paper crafting industry.  Saying goodbye to Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking Magazine is yet another sign that things as we have known them are no more. I have to admit that when Paper Crafts and Creating Keepsakes merged and became digital, that was the beginning of the end for me. I have never liked digital publications. But, I've loved following the blogs, the editors Facebook feeds and news about the magazine.

As I prepared this post, I took a long walk down memory lane. My paper crafting days go back to 2004. Shortly after I started posting my work online, I was asked to join the Paper Salon design team. Most of the girls on the team were experienced at submitting and knew how the publishing game went. I knew I wanted in!

I started submitting, and it took a while, but I started having projects picked up with smaller publications. Sometime in 2005, I received my first email from Paper Crafts requesting a card for their Stamp It Cards issue. Here is that lovely creation. It's the hand doodled one on the right. (Can you say blech??? So glad my style has changed!))



About 6 months later, I received an email from Cath Edvalson asking me if I'd be interested in completing an assignment for the January 2007 issue. I almost fell out of my chair. I'd never had anything picked up for one of the regular issues, let alone had an assignment. I was so excited. I completed this journal (using Paper Salon products) and was thrilled when the issue came out. 




After that, I began working closely with Cath and the other editors. I have such fond memories of collaborating with Jennafer Martin, Meghan Hoeppner, Jennifer Schaerer, Brandy Jesperson and Susan Opel, among others. 

I went on to be published regularly until 2012 or so when life got in the way and I stopped submitting. During that time, I had projects on 3 covers. It was such an exciting time and receiving acceptance emails NEVER got old. My heart always skipped a beat when I received them. 




As I reflect on the memories that I have of Paper Crafts (the publications, the assignments, working on special issues - remember Paper Craft Gourmet?, CHA, etc.), I'm so sad that it's all over. But, the memories will always remain. I can only imagine how sad it is for the editors! So, I created this little tag as a reminder for them.



That Webster's Pages sticker says it all. I wish them nothing but the best and hope that their future efforts bring them happiness and satisfaction.They are a wonderful group of women and I have no doubt that they will be a big success no matter where they end up.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  If you are following along the blog hop, your next stop will be Michelle Boyer.