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Graphic 45 Spotlight With Designer Nicole Eccles

By Andrea Walford · Comments (7)

Wednesday, November 21st, 2012

Here is the latest installment of our Graphic 45 Guest Designers. Many of you may remember that back in April we hosted a Graphic 45 Week on the Paper Crafter’s Library Blog. It was week filled with projects and inspiration using Graphic 45′s Tropical Travelogue Collection. We had such a great experience partnering with Graphic 45 and their design team, and such a great response from you, that we’ve decided to partner with them on an ongoing basis. The first and third week of every month one of the Graphic 45 Designers will share a project they’ve created here on the PCL Blog. We started with our monthly designers in June and before I introduce you to our latest Designer, I just wanted to take a minute to re-introduce Graphic 45 for those of you that may not be familiar with the company.

Graphic 45 is an award-winning scrapbook and paper crafting company— owned and operated by a mother and her two daughters.

Diane Schultz (pictured center)—Designer and CEO (aka mother)

“I’m passionate about being creative and eager to make it possible for others to find their creative voice. My background includes stints as a designer for, McCalls, Simplicity, Vogue/ Butterick, Mattel Toy Company and a host of other jobs that each, in some way, led me to what I do now. At 45 I went back to school and got my degree in graphic design— I named the company to celebrate that achievement.”

Aimee Filimoehala (pictured left) —Director of Operations

“I wear a lot of hats and love it that way. Business, marketing, operations, etc. have made me a pro at multitasking (aka juggling‑figuratively and literally). When we launched Graphic 45 just three years ago we had no idea what was in store, working together as a family has been an amazing journey that we all feel so grateful to be apart of.”

Charee Filimoehala (pictured right)—Director of Customer Service and Design Team Coordinator

“I joined the team a little over three years ago and haven’t looked back…what a life-changing experience this has been. I love working with and around creative people and products (not to mention I like my co-workers quite a bit). I spend my days working with our friendly stores and talented design team…the occasional trip to a workshop or tradeshow pretty nice too.”

Together we create vintage inspired crafting products that capture the flamboyant style of the 1920′s and 30′s – with vibrant color, irresistible texture and imaginative design to create products with decades-old appeal that’s both fresh and familiar. Let our products inspire your next scrapbook layout, card, album or home decor project.

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Here’s a picture of their booth at the CHA show which absolutely blows us away every year! The artwork inside is absolutely stunning and totally unique. At the last show as we were speaking with Diane she told us that many of the altered pieces were vintage finds which she and her team transformed with their gorgeous Graphic 45 products. We can’t wait to stop by their booth at the Chicago CHA and see what they’ve got in store this year!

Here’s a picture of the Graphic 45 team – they’re always dressed in period costumes to complement the themes in their collections – every day of the show brings a new set of costumes. The ones shown below were for their Little Darlings collection.

Graphic 45 Designer Nicole Eccles

Our next Graphic 45 Guest Designer for this month is Nicole Eccles who is part of the 2012 Graphic 45 Design Team. We are very excited to share Nicole’s project with you. She has an amazing project.

You can see Nicole’s fabulous project below, but first, here is a little more about Nicole:

Art for me is a daily part of life. It is my release, my strength, and my inspiration. It has taught me patience, how to let go, and most important, who I really am. I feel as an artist, the world around you is seen in a different hue. Not always marching to the same beat as everyone else. Maybe you are a dreamer, or hopeless romantic. As artists We live in a reality based world, that is often visited by fairies, strange creatures and all things magical. Where pigs really can fly, and anything is possible!

For me, the creative process is something that just happens. I never really have a set plan to create anything specific in mind. Maybe I know it is a canvas, or a shadowbox, but otherwise I let the papers and images guide my imagination. Once an idea sparks, it becomes a mad dash to make the vision come to life, as dust bunnies build up and dinner becomes something just quick and convenient. Searching for images, or staining my fingers with inks, clothes covered in paint and staying up past the witching hour driving to just get a little more done. And once I finally do hit the bed, dreams of my creation keep me working all night long, sometimes to where I don’t feel I have slept at all. Wake up, send the kiddo off to school and do it all again, until it has come to life!

With a deep interest for Halloween, and the more bazaar. I have been inspired by artists like Edward Gorey and Tim Burton. Add a love for science, architecture and anything mechanical, it was only natural for me to be drawn to the style of steampunk.

These collages are the perfect example of my love for steampunk and all things funky. Each one is created on stretched canvas, with a unique hand painted background by using a mix of Acrylic paints, and adding a touch of shine and wonder with Twinkling H20s. Bright colors and imagery pull you into an almost surreal world, where giant octopus battle with big fish. Elephants perform in top hats, and ravens rest about. This is my fantasy world come to life!

Toy Truck Gift Box

I’m happy to bring you this Toy Truck Gift Box using Graphic 45’s Small Matchbook Box and A Nutcracker Sweet. This fun little project not only makes the perfect little gift box for all ages, but it also makes a fun little toy! Designed to actually roll, this tiny truck was created using Graphic 45’s small matchbook box and a little imagination!

So if you are looking for a truly unique gift/box idea this year, this project is for you.

Supplies Needed to create toy truck:

Graphic 45 Staples: 1 Small Matchbook box

1 Ornate Metal Key Holes

1 Metal Brad

1 Sm. Metal Tag Staple

G45 A Nutcracker Sweet : 1 Endearing Sentiments

1 Holiday Magic

1 Land of Sweets

1 A Nutcracker Sweet Sticker Sheet

G45 Christmas Emporium: 1 All I Want for Christmas

Ranger: Glossy Accents( for adhesive), Xmas Red Stickles, Lime green stickles

May Arts Red Ribbon

Fine tip black sharpie marker

Paper trimmer

Black acrylic paint

Paint brush

1/4”Scor Tape

3D foam Squares

3 – 1/4” Wooden blocks found at any craft store

6 – Wooden wheels measuring at 1′”x 1/2” w/ 1/4” hole, found at any craft store

1- 1/4” Dowel Rod

Step 1: Using your paper trimmer, cut Endearing Sentiments to 8 1/2” x 5”.

Step 2: Wrap and adhere the cut strip of Endearing Sentiments around the outside of the small Matchbook box,starting and finishing on the short side(this will become the bottom of the box)

Step 3:To uncover the front opening on the box, carefully use scissors or an Exacto knife to cut an X, working from corner to corner. (To make it easier remove the sliding tray, and watch where you are cutting from the open side)

Step 4: Fold the cut flaps into the box, cut away an excess paper, and adhere flaps down using Glossy Accents.

Step 5: Next, using your paper trimmer, just cut Endearing Sentiments into two small strips measuring 1 1/4” x 2 3/4”.

Step 6: Adhere the cut strips to the ends of the matchbook box.

Step 7: Adhere a Sm. tag to the underneath side of the matchbook box. Leave approx. half of the tag hanging off.

Step 8: Cut All I Want for Christmas into 6 squares measuring 1 1/4” x 1 1/4”, and adhere on all the sides of one wooden block.

Step 9: Adhere 2 wooden blocks together using Glossy Accents.

Step 10: Cut All I Want For Christmas into

4 -2 1/2” x 1 1/4” rectangles

2 – 1 1/4” x 1 1/4” squares

Adhere to all the sides of the glued blocks together

Step 11: Adhere the single covered block on top of the double covered blocks.

Step 12: Adhere the stacked covered blocks on top of the metal tag.

Step 13: Remove the slide out tray by pushing just above the cab of the truck.

Using your paper trimmer cut Holiday Magic to 4 3/4” x 2 1/2”, and adhere to the inside back of the slide out tray.

Step 14: Cut 1/4” Dowel rod into lengths of

2 – 2 1/2” Pieces

1 – 2 1/8” piece

Step 15: Using 6 Wooden wheels, slide them onto to each end of the cut dowel rod pieces. Paint black using acrylic paint

Step 16: To attach the wheels, use your paper trimmer to create the attachments.

Cut 3 pieces of patterned paper to 1” x 1 1/4”

Step 17: Using your scoring board and tool, score at 1 /16”, 1/2” and 1”. Fold in half, then fold the ends to create a fancy V shape.

Step 18: Attach the wheels w/ the dowel rods by placing the dowel rods into the V shape, and adhering the small flaps to the bottom of the truck using Glossy Accents.

(Please note my wheels are not painted yet in the picture, but to make things easier your should already be painted)

Step 19: Using 1/4” Scor Tape, adhere the red May arts ribbon directly to the center of the truck. Starting at the top of the opening, and wrapping around to finish off at the bottom of the opening.

Step 20: Peel and stick the Nutcracker Sweet sticker and adhere to a piece of scrap paper. Cut out the sticker, and adhere to the back of the truck using 3D foam squares.

Step 21: Using your paper trimmer cut a strip of Land of Sweets to 3/4” x 12”.

Step 22: Lay the cut strip onto your scoring tool and score every 1/2”, or for a tighter rosette every 1/8”

Step 23: Once the complete strip has been scored, begin to accordian fold each score line, back and forth until the entire strip has been folded

Step 24: Now you can can glue the ends together and flatten the ring to create your rosette.

To keep the rosette flat, adhere a small piece of paper to the back.

Step 25: Peel and stick the circular Nutcracker sweet sticker, and adhere to the front of the rosette. Decorate using stickles.

Step 26: Adhere completed rosette to the front center opening of the truck

Step 27: Adhere the Metal Keyhole and Metal brad to the side of the truck using Glossy accents

Step 28: To complete the truck, add hand drawn details to the doors and windows of the cab using a fine tip sharpie marker.

We hope you have enjoyed this fun creation from Nicole. I would also like to extend a warm thank you to Nicole for sharing her lovely project with us! Please take a minute to stop by Nicole’s Blog and of course the Graphic 45 blog to check out all their amazing creations!

Comments (7)

Categories : Company / Manufacturer Spotlight, Graphic 45, Graphic 45, Spotlights

Graphic 45 Spotlight With Designer Laura Denison

By Andrea Walford · Comments (306)

Wednesday, October 17th, 2012

Graphic 45 is an award-winning scrapbook and paper crafting company— owned and operated by a mother and her two daughters.

Diane Schultz (pictured center)—Designer and CEO (aka mother)

Aimee Filimoehala (pictured left) —Director of Operations

Charee Filimoehala (pictured right)—Director of Customer Service and Design Team Coordinator

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Graphic 45 Designer Laura Denison

Our next Graphic 45 Guest Designer for this month is Laura Denison who is part of the 2012 Graphic 45 Design Team. Laura is new to our list of designers and we are so excited to have her showcase her work today on Paper Crafter’s Library. We also have a special prize give-a-way today! Leave a comment below the post telling us what you like about the project for a chance to win a package of Graphic 45′s Happy Haunting pictured below.
G45 Giveaway 10.17.12

You can see Laura’s fabulous project below, but first, here is a little more about Laura:

My name is Laura and I live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest near Seattle. I am married with two teen children and a menagerie of pets.

I am best known for my Mini Albums and “containers” to hold them. I love to think outside the box and use materials in unexpected ways.

My background as an interior architect for 15 years has been a great resource for my projects. I teach weekly online classes via Ustream to share what I do and inspire others to step onto a new path of creativity.

Rickshaw Project

Graphic 45 101712

I’m excited to bring you this project. This project was shown in the Graphic 45 Summer 2012 CHA booth and I’m happy to share it with you today. This is a Rickshaw created from a Graphic 45 5″ x 5″ Altered Box. It features the new BGraphic 45 Birdsong Collection. The seat of the rickshaw opens to reveal a mini album.

Graphic 45 Products used:

Birdsong Collection

5″ x 5″ Altered Box

Antique Metal Door Pulls

Ornate Metal Key holes

Metal Button Brads

Metal Brads

Other Product used:

Paper Accents Cardstock

Wood dowels and strips

Sizzix Alterations Weathered Clock Die

Rayon Tassels

To see more of my projects just visit my blog: http://www.followingthepapertrail.blogspot.com/

We hope you have enjoyed this special creation today. I would also like to extend a warm thank you to Laura for being a part of Paper Crafter’s Library today. Don’t forget to leave a comment below for a chance to win the fabulous package of Graphic 45′s Happy Haunting collection pictured above. Also, please take a minute to stop by Laura’s blog and of course the Graphic 45 blog to check out all their amazing creations!

Comments (306)

Categories : Company / Manufacturer Spotlight, Graphic 45, Graphic 45, Latest News, Spotlights

Premier Thanks Tag Video Tutorial

By Andrea Walford · Comments (6)

Friday, August 10th, 2012

Although it’s already been almost a week since I returned from Disney, I’ve been finding it hard to get back into the groove of things. For two blissful weeks I didn’t have to think about anything except what we were going to do that day and could focus entirely on enjoying the company of my husband and children. Now that we’re back, I’m faced with a huge to-do list, I’ve barely seen my husband since he’s been swamped at work, and I’m struggling with feeling disconnected as well as a lack of motivation. *Sigh*

Premier Thanks Tag

Today’s project is this beautiful tag created by Tracy that could easily be used to adorn a gift, and because it’s so beautiful, could take the place of a card. Of course if your preference is a card, then the design could very easily be adapted for a card – all you would have to do is switch up the dimensions of the paper. The nice thing about a tag or card design like this one is that it’s very quick and easy to put together. You can watch the video below and download the handout to see how it was created.

072012PremierThanksTag

Download the pdf handout here

Supplies

Paper: Ebony CS (Bazzill); An ABC Primer DP Collection (Graphic 45)

Accessories: #8 Manilla tag (Ranger); Tape Runner XL (thermo-web); 1/8” Black Velvet ribbon (May Arts); Stampin’ Dimensionals, ribbon scissors (Stampin’ Up); Gift Box Thickers chipboard stickers (American Crafts); black rhinestone flourish (Zva Creative); Laraine Candy Apple flowers, Genie Stones – Black Wrap (Prima Marketing); Black Tulle (Bazzill); hot glue (Martha Stewart); black jute (May Arts)

Monochromatic Birthday Card

This card is one that I created for the Sunny Stampin’ Blog – which has recently been re-dedicated to my Stampin’ Up! Creations. Many of you may know that I used to be a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator – I resigned in January of 2011. The Sunny Stampin’ Blog was the one that I had always used for my Stampin’ Up! business, and since I’ve had so many emails from my former Stampin’ Up! customers and blog followers missing what I used to share – I decided to use that blog for that purpose.

For the card you see below, I opted for a monochromatic color scheme. My greeting was stamped using the Family Reunion stamp set, but I stamped it AFTER I added my ribbon across my DP. The bow is another style of faux bow – I created two loops and held them in place using mini glue dots. The center of my bow is one of Stampin’ Up!’s antique brads which I wrapped around the ribbon center to hold it in place (rather than piercing and inserting it through the ribbon and DP).

072012SUOMonochromaticBirthday

A video and pdf handout is available to our members here. (You must be logged in to see the page)

Supplies

Stamps: Field Flowers, Family Reunion (Stampin’ Up!)

Ink: Basic Black Classic ink, Old Olive Stampin’ Write marker (Stampin’ Up!)

Paper: Old Olive CS, Basic Black CS, Twitterpated DP (Stampin’ Up!)

Accessories: bone folder, paper snips, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Basic Black Scalloped Dots ribbon, SNAIL adhesive, mini glue dots, Antique brads, basic pearls (Stampin’ Up!); Black Sharpie marker (Office Supply Store)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Comments (6)

Categories : Bazzill, Birthday, Cards, Graphic 45, May Arts, Prima Marketing, Stampin' Up!, Thank You, Tutorials

Graphic 45 Guest Designer: Alberto Juarez

By Andrea Walford · Comments (14)

Wednesday, June 6th, 2012

Many of you may remember that back in April we hosted a Graphic 45 Week on the Paper Crafter’s Library Blog. It was week filled with projects and inspiration using Graphic 45′s Tropical Travelogue Collection. We had such a great experience partnering with Graphic 45 and their design team, and such a great response from you, that we’ve decided to partner with them on an ongoing basis. The first and third week of every month one of the Graphic 45 Designers will share a project they’ve created here on the PCL Blog. Before I introduce you to our first Designer, I just wanted to take a minute to re-introduce Graphic 45 for those of you that may not be familiar with the company.

Graphic 45 is an award-winning scrapbook and paper crafting company— owned and operated by a mother and her two daughters.

Diane Schultz (pictured center)—Designer and CEO (aka mother)

Aimee Filimoehala (pictured left) —Director of Operations

Charee Filimoehala (pictured right)—Director of Customer Service and Design Team Coordinator

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Graphic 45 Designer Alberto Juarez

Our first Graphic 45 Guest Designer for this month is Alberto Juarez. Alberto is part of the 2012 Graphic 45 Design Team.

Albeto Juarez

You can see Alberto’s fabulous project below, but first, here is a little more about Alberto:

I’m a guy from Spain, I’m 24 years old and I have been doing scrapbooking for over two years. I discovered scrapbook totally by chance as I wanted to make a special gift. I wanted to make a diary for a trip (I love to travel) and that’s how I discovered the wonderful world of scrapbooking. My style is vintage, totally a classic vintage Victorian European style. I also enjoy working with bright colors. The vintage bright colors are perfect and of course there is no other brand besides Graphic45 that offers all of that.

Fun Circus Layout

Alberto Juarez

In this layout I chose a picture of my nephew, who is laughing all the time. It was so much fun as there was a clown next to him, hence I decided to choose the Le Cirque collection, because the colors are so fun. This expresses exactly what I want to transmit. The idea of working with frames in which I tell the story was made easy with the Graphic 45 papers as there are so many elements you can cut apart and use.

Alberto Juarez

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I would like to extend a warm thank you to Alberto for sharing his wonderful layout with us! Please take a minute to stop by Alberto’s Blog and of course the Graphic 45 blog to check out all their amazing creations!

Comments (14)

Categories : Artist / Designer Spotlight, Graphic 45

Graphic 45 Week: Day 5

By Andrea Walford · Comments (106)

Friday, April 6th, 2012

Welcome to Day 5 – our final day – of Graphic 45 Week on the Paper Crafter’s Library blog!

Before you go any further, we’d really appreciate it if you take a minute to stop by the Graphic 45 Facebook page, leave a comment telling them we sent you and “like” them. We want them to know how much we appreciate them and all the work their designers have put into this collaboration with us, as well as how much we appreciate their give-away.

We’ve had am amazing week with our friends at Graphic 45 showcasing a huge variety of gorgeous projects using Graphic 45′s Tropical Travelogue collection. As you’ve seen with the projects so far, along with our final projects for today – it’s an amazingly versatile collection of products. That’s what I love about Graphic 45 though – ALL of their product collections are like that. Each collection comes with so many different patterns, in different styles – allowing you to get a lot of different “looks”. The other thing I really like is the fact that in their collections they incorporate papers that are essentially a collection of “elements”, so that you can cut them apart and use them as stand-alone embellishments, or cluster them together.

If this is your first time tuning in to our Graphic 45 week, then be sure to check out our posts for Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4 for more great projects and video tutorials. Later today we’ll be giving away this amazing assortment of products from the Tropical Travelogue collection generously provided by Graphic 45. So you still have today to enter – the winner will be announced today at 4 pm EST!

The prize pack includes the 12″ x 12″ paper pad, the 8″ x 8″ paper pad, the Alphabet Stickers, the sticker sheet, and both chipboard sheets from the Tropical Travelogue collection (you can get an up-close look from here) as well as the Antique Typewriter Wood Stamp Set.

Graphic 45 Designer Project

Our first project for today is by Jane Tregenza. You can see the gorgeous project below but in the meantime, here is a little bit about Jane:

I am Jane Tregenza, mother to five adult children who all feature regularly in my work. I have been privileged to be on Graphic 45’s design team for past two years now. This year I am on 3L Adhesive Design Team and Design Team leader for Imaginarium Designs.

I love all forms of scrapbooking, altered art, mini books, popup books and layouts. I am a bit of a perfectionist when it come to my work, I have been known to scrap a project and start again because I am not happy with it. I regularly teach in my own store as well as doing Master classes for other store owners and teachers. My work as been published in magazines in Australia and the USA and you can visit my blog here: http://www.janetregenza.blogspot.com.au/

Black Policay Tropical Travelogue Mini Book In a Box

I love making mini books with a matching box. For this project I used one of Graphic 45’s staple albums. I decided to use the Black Policy album as I thought the black pockets would look great with my photos. As for the subject of the album, I decided to make it for my son Josh who travelled with me early this year to the United States of America.

tregenza

trengenza

I wanted to be able to include ephemera in the pockets along with extra photo and keepsakes. I also need to add more pages, as I had about 40 photos to fit in. I find that Graphic 45 staple albums are great as they are but sometimes even better if you cut them smaller! For this album I have cut the pockets to different lengths, this also gave me more pockets, as the bits I cut off, I put through the Zutter and re-punched the holes turning them into more pages.

1st pocket is only 6 inches long and I have stuck the opening shut. The bit you cut off becomes the 2nd pocket at 3 ½ long.

3rd pocket is 5 inches long. The bit you cut of becomes the 4th pocket at 4 inches long.

5th pocket is 5 inches long. he bit you cut of becomes the 6th pocket at 4 inches long.

7th pocket is 4 inches long. The bit you cut of becomes the 8th pocket at 3 inches long.

tregenza

Cut your back cover back to 6 ¼ inches long ( I have measured from the pocket opening and not from the end of the flap- from the end of the open flap it should be just over 9 inches) . Make sure you are cutting off the bit with the holes in it as you need the flap to fold around your album and close on the front cover.

tregenza

I also added some cardstock pages as well they all measure 4 1/8 high and 5 ½ inches long. I added 4 of these which I put through the Zutter.

For the decorating of the album I used Papers from Graphic 45’s Tropical Travelogue Collection, Chipboard Tags 2 and Travelogue Letter stickers. I covered every pocket and page with print papers. Some of the pages I added flaps to them. I still have to add more photos and all the journaling. I will be posting more photos of all the pages on my blog.

Materials used
Black Policy Envelope Album
G4500400 Tropical Travelogue
G4500401 Garden Isle
G4500402 Jungle Fever
G4500403 Botanica
G4500406 Seaside Holiday
G4500407 Oceania
G4500409 Paradise Postage
G4500410 Tiki Voyage
Chipboard Tags 2
Tropical Travelogue Letter stickers
Chipboard – corners, travel works, and box are all from Imaginarium Designs.
3L Adhesive, foam squares and black photo corners.

Paper Crafter’s Library Designer Project

Now for our Paper Crafter’s Projects for today – and I’ve got three of them for you, all of them showcasing mixed media techniques. As an avid art journaler and mixed media artist, I wanted to incorporate Graphic 45′s Tropical Travelogue collection into some of my mixed media pieces. The first project is is this set of three 4″ x 4″ Botanica Canvases created in beautiful muted tones – for which I’ve created a video tutorial for you. Actually, there are two separate tutorials.

The first tutorial is a technique called Faux Soldering. See the memory glass frames on the front of each canvas? Looks like they’ve been soldered don’t they? I used a technique I learned from Christy Tomlinson at Donna Downey’s Soulful Artist event last month – and you can see the video below the picture.

Faux Soldering Technique Video

The video for the canvas itself was filmed in two parts. You’ll also need to watch the video on how to create the Faux Fishnet Using Cheesecloth from Day 1 of our Graphic 45 Week.

Botanica Canvas Set Part 1

Botanica Canvas Set Part 2

Here’s another mixed media canvas I created – this time a 10″ x 10″ canvas. I have to say, this my favorite because of the colors – teal/turquoise and that shade of green are two of my favorite colors! There’s a whole range of different techniques incorporated into this canvas, including the Faux Soldering which I showed you guys how to do above, so it took me significantly longer to make. There is a video tutorial and handout for this project available to our Paper Crafter’s Library members.

The final project I wanted to show you is this Art Journal page I created below. So many of the elements and images in the Graphic 45 Tropical Travelogue collection (as well as the other collections) are perfect for collaging into your art journal pages. I loved the image of the Beach sign and the woman with the umbrella so much that I decided to create a two page spread incorporating those images called “Life is a Beach” as a reminder to myself to focus on the positives in life. Besides – the images and colors just make me happy to look at LOL.

In order to make the images look more “grounded” and dimensional and as though they were a part of the page, I added shading around them using my Faber Castell Pitt Big Brush Pens which you’ve seen me use in a number of the free video tutorials I did this week. If you enjoy art journaling and mixed media you’d can see more of my work on my personal blog.

So there you have it! Day 5 of our celebration of Graphic 45′s Tropical Travelogue collection!

A Bit About Paper Crafter’s Library

The world of paper crafting is HUGE! Whether you are a beginner, or you’ve been creating for years, the sheer number of different products, tools, techniques and project ideas can be overwhelming. After spending 6 years helping thousands of paper crafters around the world become more successful in the creative space through her series of kits, digital tutorials and online classes, Andrea Walford began looking for a new approach to education. In 2011 she launched Paper Crafter’s Library – the first, and still to this day, only website that provides an all-in-one learning solution for paper crafters. With almost 800 videos currently in their library and 4-5 new videos added each week, Paper Crafter’s Library offers comprehensive training on products, tools, techniques, and project ideas. From beginner through to advanced, whether your interest is in stamping, card making, scrapbooking, creating 3D items or altered art – you’ll find all the resources you need to navigate the world of paper crafting in ONE place, organized and indexed so that it’s quick and easy to find.

Be sure to sign up for our free email newsletter which features weekly video tutorials. For more information about Paper Crafter’s Library and how we can help you take your paper crafting to the next level, check out the Benefits of Becoming a Member.

We’re having a contest where we’re giving away 8 more one year memberships to Paper Crafter’s Library (valued at $200 each) – click HERE to find out how you can enter to win!

Tropical Travelogue Collection Give-Away

To enter to win the Tropical Travelogue Collection please leave your comment below. Also, be sure to stop by the Graphic 45 Blog for another chance to win, and tell them Paper Crafter’s Library sent you! Winner will be announced today at 4 pm EST!

We sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed this week with us and our friends at Graphic 45 and you’ve been inspired by the gorgeous projects and by the Tropical Travelogue collection. We’d also like to thank you for your participation!

Comments (106)

Categories : Company / Manufacturer Spotlight, Graphic 45, Latest News

Graphic 45 Week: Day 4

By Andrea Walford · Comments (78)

Thursday, April 5th, 2012

It’s Day 4 of Graphic 45 week on the Paper Crafter’s Library Blog! I can’t believe how time has flown! Collaborating with Graphic 45 and their fabulous designers has been such an amazing experience and we can’t thank Graphic 45 enough! All week we’ve been using their Tropical Travelogue Collection – an assortment of products with gorgeous patterns and vibrant colors.

If you’re just tuning in today, be sure to check out our posts for Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3 for more great projects and video tutorials. At the end of this week we’ll be giving away this amazing assortment of products from the Tropical Travelogue collection generously provided by Graphic 45. So you still have today and tomorrow to enter – the winner will be announced on Friday, April 6th at 4 pm EST!

Graphic 45 Designer Project

Our first project for today is by Tara Orr. You can see the gorgeous project below but in the meantime, here is a little bit about Tara:

I live in beautiful British Columbia, Canada with my gorgeous husband of 11 years and our three amazing kids. They are the heart and soul of my projects. I am now a SAHM to my precious little kiddos but before that, I worked as a webmaster in the Technology industry for many years and loved it.

Random Facts about Me: I have a degree in Psychology, a green belt in karate, love horseback riding, order a grande dark from Starbucks almost every day, prefer chocolate to any other sweet, am the oldest of 3 siblings, gave up hope of maintaining my ‘Monica from Friends’ (as my husband would describe) cleaning habit once I had kids of my own, have earned more grey hairs and wrinkes in the past 7 years than I could have imagined and love my family more than anything else on the face of this earth!

I started scrapbooking in November 2008. Instant addiction. I love papercrafting. It challenges me, it relaxes me and it lets me escape into a world of creativity that I adore. If you want to take a peek at some of my work, please stop by my blog (http://eachmoment-onlyonce.blogspot.com/) for a visit – I’d love to have you!

Memories Tag by Tara Orr

Orr 1

Supplies:

Patterned Paper: Island Jewel, Seaside Holiday, Paradise Postage, Exotic Destination/Tropical Travelogue Collection by Graphic 45
Chipboard Tags 1: Tropical Travelogue Collection by Graphic 45
Chipboard Tags 2: Tropical Travelogue Collection by Graphic 45
Metal Brads by Graphic 45
3D Foam Squares by Scrapbook Adhesives
Decorative Chipboard Frame by Imaginarium Designs
Chipboard Title by 7 Dots Studio
Misc: Twine, Acrylic Paint, Edge Scraper

Here are some up close views of the tag:

Orr

Orr1

Paper Crafter’s Library Designer Project

Our second project for today was created by Sophia Landry, one our talented Paper Crafter’s Library Designers. Last time Sophia was visiting we went “junking” together at our local thrift store (same place I bought the coasters I altered for yesterday’s project). Soph found this pretty beat up shelving unit that was obviously quite old, and although it had a beautiful shape to it, it was not in the greatest condition. With a little love, and the application of Graphic 45′s gorgeous Tropical Travelogue papers, she turned it into a treasure.

The piece itself is quite large being about 2 1/2 to 3 feet tall and about 2 feet wide. She started by spray painting it and then covering all the flat surfaces (inner and outer) with patterned papers. Because she was working with only one 12″ x 12″ pad of the Tropical Travelogue papers (which have two sheets of each different double sided design) – she had to mix and match patterns.

Here’s a view of the front of the altered piece:

Here’s a view of the back which was completely spray painted white:

Here’s a view of the top:

Here’s a view of the inside bottom:

Here’s a view of the inside side:

There is a video tutorial and handout for this project available to our Paper Crafter’s Library members. The principles she used in altering it though, are pretty much the same as those that I applied when I altered my coaster holder (for which there is a free video tutorial in yesterday’s post).

So there you have it! Day 4 of our celebration of Graphic 45′s Tropical Travelogue collection! Be sure to stay tuned for tomorrow’s post with more great projects, free video tutorials, and a wrap up of Graphic 45 week!

A Bit About Paper Crafter’s Library

Tropical Travelogue Collection Give-Away

To enter to win the Tropical Travelogue Collection please leave your comment below. Also, be sure to stop by the Graphic 45 Blog as well as Tara’s blog for another chance to win, and tell them Paper Crafter’s Library sent you! Winner will be announced on Friday!

Comments (78)

Categories : Company / Manufacturer Spotlight, Graphic 45, Latest News

Graphic 45 Week: Day 3

By Andrea Walford · Comments (179)

Wednesday, April 4th, 2012

It’s Day 3 of Graphic 45 week on the Paper Crafter’s Library Blog! Collaborating with Graphic 45 and their fabulous designers has been such an amazing experience! And of course, I just can’t get enough of their Tropical Travelogue Collection. Throughout the course of the week we’ll be sharing over 10 different projects using this collection, we’ll have an abundance of video tutorials for you (today is another video tutorial day!) and then to top off the week, Graphic 45 is generously giving away the collection of products shown below to one lucky winner, to be announced on Friday, April 6th at 4 pm EST.

If this is your first day tuning in, then be sure to check out Day 1 and Day 2′s posts. For today we’ve got two more great projects to share with you – one from the Graphic 45 team and one from our Paper Crafter’s Library Designers.

Graphic 45 Design Team Project

Our next Graphic 45 Designer with her lovely project is Nancy Wethington. You can see the gorgeous project below but in the meantime, here is a little bit about Nancy:

Wethington Pic Graphic 45 Design Team 2011. A crafter since time began, Nancy turned to scrapbooking and paper arts about 10 years ago.

Thankfully, her husband of 40 years supports her paper and rubber stamp addiction (her craft room has been affectionately named *Nancy-land* by her son). Nancy’s home away from home is her LSS, For Keeps Sake Scrapbook, where she has been teaching workshops for over 8 years. In addition to the Graphic 45 Design Team, Nancy is also on the Simon Says Stamp & Show Design Team.

Her work has been published in over 10 nationally recognized magazines and newspapers. Retired from the travel industry, Nancy’s time is spent doing what she loves the most – paper crafting. You can find Nancy on her blog: http://art-from-the-heart.typepad.com

Tropical Travelogue 12×12 Layout

These photos of Puerto Banus had shades of blue and gold. My intent was to use the monochromatic browns of Tropical Travelogue so I turned to Botanica for a background paper and cut it down to 11.5”x11.5”. Matching the Core’dinations cardstock with the deep browns and blues of Tropical Travelogue, Botanica was double mounted on deep brown 11.75”x11.75”cardstock and then that on top of a 12×12 blue cardstock.

Wethington1

I rounded the corners of both Botanica and the brown cardstock. Flags and embellishments from Graphic 45 chipboard Tags, alphabet stickers, cardstock stickers and Spellbinders dies decorate the page. A Graphic 45 Metal Staple Button holds a tag as well as *flies the flags*. Oceania & Tiki Voyager papers were placed horizontally across the layout to bring out the blue and gold tones in the photos.

Wethington1

An image from Paradise Postage is given some height with the help of chipboard. Miscellaneous flowers and leaves mimic the colors of the postage.

Wethington1

Exotic Destination paper was cut & made into a passport that slips out so photos and journaling can be added. Other images from Exotic Destinations were used throughout the layout.

wethington1

Paper Crafter’s Library Designer Projects

Now, for our Paper Crafter’s Library project for today – below you can see a set of glass coasters and a coaster holder which I (Andrea) altered using the Tropical Travelogue Collection. I found the set of four glass coasters in a dark brown wooden coaster holder at my local thrift store for $2.99. The coasters themselves were quite scratched up on the surface and the paint on the wooden holder was chipped in a number of different places – so they were the perfect candidates for altering. Other than the papers from the Tropical Travelogue Collection, I also used some Liquid Pearls from Ranger to add some pearlescent accents to each of my coasters.

We have a video tutorial for you on how I altered the coasters, as well as a video tutorial on how I altered the coaster holder. Please note that the coaster holder video had to be created in two parts as it was a long process LOL!

Supplies:

Paper: Tropical Travelogue Collection (Graphic 45)

Accessories: Multi-medium matte, wide paint brush , Claudine Hellmuth Gesso, Lettuce Adirondack Acrylic Paint, Peacock Liquid Pearls, Hot Cocoa Liquid Pearls (Ranger); May Green 170 PITT Big Brush pen (Faber-Castell); Brayer (Speedball); Fabri-tac (Beacon Adhesives); spray lacquer (Krylon); black felt (papertrey ink); craft blade (Fiskars); rotary cutter (Martha Stewart); craft mat (Vantage); glass coasters and holder (Thrift Store); sanding block (The Scrapping Turtle)

Watch the video below to see how I altered the coasters:

The videos below show you how I altered the wooden coaster holder – because of the length of the video it was filmed in two parts:

Part 1:

Here’s Part 2 of the Altered Coaster Holder:

So there you have it! Day three of our celebration of Graphic 45′s Tropical Travelogue collection! Be sure to stay tuned for tomorrow’s post with more great inspiration!

A Bit About Paper Crafter’s Library

Tropical Travelogue Collection Give-Away

To enter to win the Tropical Travelogue Collection please leave your comment below. Also, be sure to stop by the Graphic 45 Blog as well as Nancy’s blog for another chance to win, and tell them Paper Crafter’s Library sent you! Winner will be announced on Friday!

Comments (179)

Categories : Company / Manufacturer Spotlight, Graphic 45

Graphic 45 Week: Day 2

By Andrea Walford · Comments (143)

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012

It’s Day 2 of Graphic 45 week on the Paper Crafter’s Library Blog! We’re so excited to be collaborating with Graphic 45 and their fabulous designers to bring you a week of inspiration using their stunning Tropical Travelogue collection! If you missed our kick-off along with our free video tutorial please click here.

Throughout the course of this week we’ll be sharing over 10 different projects with you using the Tropical Travelogue collection – including a tag, a card, card set, scrapbook layout, a couple of mini albums, a few altered art pieces, an art journaling page and some mixed media canvases. We’ll have an abundance of free video tutorials on a range of different projects and techniques and then to top off the week, Graphic 45 is generously giving away the collection of products shown below to one lucky winner, to be announced on Friday, April 6th at 4 pm EST.

Each day we’ll be showcasing several different projects, with video tutorials on Monday, Wednesday and Friday so be sure to read to the bottom every day’s post so you don’t miss a thing!

Graphic 45 Design Team Project

The first of today’s beautiful projects is brought to you by Gloria Stengel, another one of Graphic 45′s talented Design Team members. You can see the gorgeous project below but first, here is a little bit about Gloria:

Gloria Stengal My name is Gloria Stengel and I live in Oceanside, CA with my husband Matt, and our three children, Nathan (20), Laura (16), and Jonah (11). Besides being “queen of the craft women,” I am also active in my church and I homeschool my two youngest children. (My oldest son has graduated and now attends college full-time.)

I live for exploring and creating with all sorts of mediums and products, thus I am always on the hunt for new ways to “make a mess.” My motto is “seek out new crafts that you have never done before.” I love the thrill of mixing product lines into my projects, and I guess my style is quite eclectic. I enjoy the creative process, the discovery, and the “happy accidents” that sometimes arise during crafting time. However, the biggest thrill of this business is teaching and instructing others. When another crafter holds up a finished project and says, “Look what I made!” I get the biggest kick out of it, especially if I had a small part in helping them learn a new technique.

I’ve been on a number of design teams over the past few years, including Spellbinders (2011) and Graphic 45 (2010 and 2011), plus I create sample art for various companies and online stores. I’ve been published a few times and I have a blog called Scraps of Life, that is my creative link to the world (www.gloriascraps.blogspot.com).

Now, on to her project which I know you will love as much as we do…….

Altered Desktop Photo Display

Stengel Project 1

Supply List:

Graphic 45 Papers: Tropical Travelogue: Tropical Travelogue, Garden Isle,Oceania, Hibiscus Heaven, Tiki Voyager, Exotic Destination

Graphic 45 Stickers: Tropical Travelogue Cardstock Alphabet and Cardstock Stickers

Graphic 45 Chipboard: Tropical Travelogue Tags 1

Graphic 45 Staples: Metal Hinges

6×6 Chipboard (2 panels)

Embellishments: Dew Drop, Idea-ology Long Fasteners, Mini clip; Prima leaves

Ink: Bic Mark It Fine Point Marker Black; Clearsnap Smooch Spritz Vanilla Shimmer, Splash; Clearsnap Colorbox Fluid Chalk Prussian Blue, Dark Brown

Tools: Spellbinders Grand Calibur die cutting system; Spellbinders die templates Bitty Blossoms, Carnation Creations, Rose Creations; Zutter Round-it-All corner rounder; Fiskars hole punch; Basic Grey Notch Tool

Adhesive: Scotch 3M tape runner, foam tape; glue

This photo display is a quick and easy way to display a few special photos on a desk or shelf. Consisting of two 6×6 inch panels, hinged together, this little “mini album” makes a great gift or office decoration. I keep a basket of these little projects in my living room. Each month or season, I place a different project on the side table to use as decor.

Stengel Project 1

Using Graphic 45 Metal Hinge Staples, it is simple to connect two chipboard pages to create a frame, which you can decorate and place on your desk or table.

Stengel Project 1

I used paper strips to hide the hinge.

Highlight a few photos from a favorite vacation, as I have done, or create a keepsake of a party or special event.

Stengel Project 1

The hand-made flowers on the cover add just the right touch. Using Graphic 45 papers and Spellbinders die templates, I created several flowers to enhance the cover of my little decor piece.

Stengel Project 1

Every time I look at this little project, I remember our trip to Hawaii in 2009.

Paper Crafter’s Library Designer Project

Today’s project from talented Paper Crafter’s Library Designer Tracy, is this gorgeous mini album. The album was created using corrugated cardboard for the front and back cover and small paper bags for the inside pages. It was bound using a Zutter Bind-it-All V. 2 and their 1″ Antique Brass O-Rings. Tracy used four bags in all, and each bag has it’s own insert – giving you a total of 9 pages plus four pull-outs onto which you can put pictures on both the front and back.

In addition to using the stunning Tropical Travelogue Collection, Tracy incorporated some of her faux fishing net, some real fish in net, some shells and some silk flowers and faux greenery.

Here’s a full supply list of what was used in the mini album.

Ink: Broken China and Vintage Photo Distress inks (Ranger)

Paper: Tropical Travelogue DP Collection (Graphic 45); Mysterious Teal CS, Kraft CS and Hopi CS (Bazzill)

Accessories: Tropical Travelogue Tags 1, Tropical Travelogue Tags 2, Metal Clothespins, Tropical Travelogue sticker sheet, Tropical Travelogue alphabet sheet (Graphic 45); Corrugated Cardboard, Binding machine, 1” brass binding rings (Zutter); Malted Milk Acrylic Paint Dauber, Glossy Accents, ink blending tool (Ranger); foam brush, white silk floral stem, fern floral stems, small yellow floral stem, craft sand, fishing net, small sea shells, turquoise shells (Craft Store); Cheesecloth (fabric store); Basic Pearls, linen thread, Rope Twine (retired), Stampin Dimensionals, Antique Brass Jumbo Eyelets (retired), 1 ⅜” circle punch (Stampin’ Up!); Multi-Medium Gloss (Claudine Hellmuth); Tattered Florals (Sizzix); Crop-A-Dile (We R Memory Keepers); Tape Runner XL (therm-o-web); hot glue (Martha Stewart); #1 regular brown paper bags (party store); red liner tape (Sunny Stampin’ Store); copy paper (office supply store); wire cutters (hardware store)

Close up of page 1

Close up of page 2

Close up of page 3

Close up of page 4

Close up of page 5

There are also 4 pull tabs in which you can add extra photos, journaling or paper souveniers of your trip. For this album Tracy had added 4 photos and left the back side of the tabs for journaling.

There is a video tutorial and handout for this project available to our Paper Crafter’s Library members.

A Bit About Paper Crafter’s Library

Tropical Travelogue Collection Give-Away

Comments (143)

Categories : Altered Art, Company / Manufacturer Spotlight, Graphic 45, Scrapbook Mini Albums

Welcome To Graphic 45 Week

By Andrea Walford · Comments (333)

Monday, April 2nd, 2012

It’s Graphic 45 week on the Paper Crafter’s Library Blog! We’re so excited to be collaborating with Graphic 45 and their fabulous designers to bring you a week of inspiration using their stunning Tropical Travelogue collection! From the moment we saw this collection we fell in love! The colors and patterns are so rich and vibrant – they make you feel like you’re in a tropical paradise. And the collection is so versatile – lending itself to a HUGE range of projects.

In fact throughout the course of this week we’ll be sharing over 10 different projects with you using the Tropical Travelogue collection – including a tag, a card, card set, scrapbook layout, a couple of mini albums, a few altered art pieces, an art journaling page and some mixed media canvases. We’ll have an abundance of free video tutorials on a range of different projects and techniques and then to top off the week, Graphic 45 is generously giving away the collection of products shown below to one lucky winner, to be announced on Friday, April 6th at 4 pm EST.

Each day we’ll be featuring several different projects, with video tutorials on Monday, Wednesday and Friday so be sure to read to the bottom every day’s post so you don’t miss a thing!

First off, I want to take a minute to introduce you to Graphic 45 itself – an absolutely AMAZING company – one that I just can’t say enough about! Please be sure you take some time to visit their site and soak in all that inspiration and beauty.

Graphic 45 is an award-winning scrapbook and paper crafting company— owned and operated by a mother and her two daughters.

Diane Schultz (pictured center)—Designer and CEO (aka mother)

Aimee Filimoehala (pictured left) —Director of Operations

Charee Filimoehala (pictured right)—Director of Customer Service and Design Team Coordinator

***********

Okay, so now down to the projects!

Graphic 45 Design Team Project

To start off the week, we have Graphics 45 Designer Lynette Carroll. You will find her project below, but first here is a little bit about Lynette:

I have been fortunate enough to be involved in the scrapbooking industry for the past 10 years. I was an original Design Team member for K & Company, a position I held for 5 years. When K & Company were bought out several years ago by EK Success Brands, I applied for, and was successful in becoming part of the newly created EK Success Brands Design Team, which included K & Company, EK Success, Inkadinkadoo, Dimensions and Martha Stewart Crafts. I am currently a 2011 Graphic 45 Design Team Member. I have also been a member of Cosmo Cricket Design Team.

Previous to designing and teaching for some of the industry’s leading manufacturers, I owned and operated my own scrapbook store in Boston, MA.

During my time with K & Company and Graphic 45, I have had the opportunity to travel and teach extensively throughout the United States, Australia, Holland and Japan. I have taught classes at CKU, Creating Keepsakes Conventions, Archivers Scrapfest at Mall of America, CHA Trade Shows, Brisbane Papercraft and Scrapbook Expo and many individual scrapbook stores in the United States and Australia.

Tropical Travelogue Satchel Album

Supplies Used:
Fab Scraps - Chipboard Satchel Album

Graphic 45 – Tropical Travelogue 8 x 8 Paper Pad Graphic 45 – Tropical Travelogue Garden Isle 12 x 12 Paper Graphic 45 – Tropical Travelogue Rainforest 12 x 12 Paper Graphic 45 – Metal Staples – Flowers

Ranger Industries – Antique Linen Distress Ink

Prima Marketing – Flowers

Misc: Foam Mounting Tape, Adhesive, Basic Scrapbook Supplies, Sandpaper, String, Twill Tape

About the project:

For this project, I wanted to create a mini album with a couple of my favorite photos I could display on an easel in my living room. Because I didn’t want to create an entire mini album for display, when I saw this chipboard satchel I thought it was a perfect way to display my favorite photos from our trip.

Carroll Project 1

The papers in this collection all work so well together that paper layering is easy and no matter what the combination you come up with, the end result is perfect.

Carroll Project 1

Paper Crafter’s Library Designer Projects

Now, for our Paper Crafter’s Library projects, Tracy has designed this beautiful card set with coordinating envelopes, which can be gifted in this decorated burlap bag. This project has multiple videos so be sure to scroll down to watch each one.

To create this project, you will need to know how to alter cheese cloth to make it look like fish netting as shown in the picture below.

You can watch the video on how to create the fish netting here

This project also uses metal flower embellishments from Graphic 45, which Tracy alters.

You can watch a video on how Tracy alters and shapes the Graphic 45 metal flower here.

This set includes four 3″ x 4″ cards. A close up of one of the cards is shown below.

You can watch a video on how Tracy creates the card here.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Here is a close up of the coordinating envelopes.

You can watch a video on how Tracy altered a standard size envelope.

Here is a close up of the decorated burlap bag.

You can watch a video on how Tracy altered the burlap bag here.

So there you have it! Day one of our celebration of Graphic 45′s Tropical Travelogue collection! Be sure to stay tuned for tomorrow’s post with more great inspiration!

A Bit About Paper Crafter’s Library

Tropical Travelogue Collection Give-Away

Comments (333)

Categories : Altered Art, Cards, Company / Manufacturer Spotlight, Graphic 45, Scrapbook Mini Albums

Archive for Graphic 45

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Graphic 45 Guest Designer: Alberto Juarez

Graphic 45 Week: Day 5

Graphic 45 Week: Day 4

Graphic 45 Week: Day 3

Graphic 45 Week: Day 2

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