Paper Crafter's Library – Page 16 – A world of creativity at your fingertips

Winner of Easter Cards & Treat Boxes Online Class 2015

Happy Monday everyone! I wanted to pop in and announce the winners of the Easter Cards and Treat Boxes Online Class!……..

Congratulations Marylouh and Beatrice! Please email me at customerservice@papercrafterslibrary.com to claim your prize!

For those of you that missed the announcement about the class – I have included the information below:

Celebrate Easter in style with our all new Easter Cards and Treat Box Online Class 2015. Over the course of one week you’ll learn how to make 15+ projects EACH with a video and PDF handout. Projects will be a combination of cards and treat/gift boxes with an Easter theme (easily adaptable to other themes) and feature Stampin’ Up! products. The class will run the week of March 2nd with projects being posted each day Monday – Friday. Here are a few additional details:

Projects will range from beginner to intermediate/advanced
Cards incorporate a variety of different techniques including coloring with Blendabilities, paper-piecing, stained glass technique with Stampin’ Write Markers, and watercolor resist
Class includes 6 EXCLUSIVE treat/gift box templates designed by me (Andrea) exclusively for this class – they will be provided in PDF format as well as in SVG format and .studio format to allow for cutting the template pieces with an electronic die cutting machine (I use the Silhouette Cameo and Portrait).
Bonus projects featuring the Gift Box Punch Board and Envelope Punch Board

Please note that although this class uses Stampin’ Up! product, the card designs and techniques are pretty EASILY adapted to stamp sets from your other favorite companies.

Note to Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators – projects/handouts from this class can be used in your own workshops and classes or used as gift with purchase incentives (SAB incentives)

*** Online classes are FREE to Paper Crafter’s Library members (click here for details about membership) ***

Your registration comes with LIFETIME access to all Easter Cards & Treat Boxes videos & PDFs.

Class Type	Class Dates	Price
Self-paced	Mar. 2, 2015 to Mar. 8, 2015	$24.95

Supply List

In order to fully enjoy and participate in this class you will need access to a computer and high speed internet. A full supply list will be emailed to you by Feb. 22 – after you are registered. The main stamp sets and patterned paper are listed below:

Stamp Sets: For Peep’s Sake, Indescribable Gift, Cheerful Critters
Paper: Best Year Ever SAB (other patterned papers can be substituted)

Substitutions (i.e. working from your stash) are encouraged – please DO NOT feel like you need to purchase everything used to be able to participate in the class.

Class Content

Please note that all lessons, PDF handouts, and videos are provided in English. At this time, videos are not subtitled or captioned. You will need high-speed internet access in order to properly view the videos.

Refund Policy

Because this is digital content – in most cases class fees are non-refundable. If however you have paid for the class and are unable to access the classroom or videos, please notify us as soon as possible after the start of the class (up to 2 days after class starts) for a full refund.

*** If you are a Paper Crafter’s Library member please do NOT sign up for this class as the projects are included in your membership ***

Once you have registered please keep your eye on your email inbox for an email for us with further details on how you will access the class information. You should receive this email within 24 hours of your purchase. If you do not see an email in your inbox please check your spam folder. For questions please email us at customerservice@papercrafterslibrary.com

Winner of the Simon Says Stamp Give Away 02 11 2015

I’d like to extend a HUGE thank you to Simon Says Stamp’s guest designer Debby Hughes for sharing such a wonderful project and to Simon Says Stamp for their generous give-away of $25 US Gift Certificate to SimonSaysStamp.com.

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…….the winner is……Barbara Lassiter!

Congratulations Barbara! Be sure to email us at customerservice@papercrafterslibrary.com to claim your prize. Please be sure to put “(company name) Winner” in the subject line of the email, and then in the email itself, be sure to include your full mailing address and phone number.

Join us each week as we feature a different company and host a different giveaway!

Featured Artist/Designer: Jennifer Matott 02 19 2015

Welcome to another Featured Artist/Designer Spotlight. Today we’re thrilled to welcome back Jennifer Matott. Before we show you Jennifer’s project, let’s get to know her a little bit more…

I’m a mixed media artist and scrapbooker from outside of Syracuse, New York, USA. I have been scrapbooking and creating mixed media art for over 25 years. Mixed media allows me to get creative with imagery and still create a 3D effect using a variety of media. My pages lean towards the dramatic and I love experimenting with materials and pushing the limits of what is traditionally done. I’m inspired by nature, other artists, and my kids (both my own and those I teach)!
I’m an art educator in a public school and believe anyone can create meaningful Art! Teaching art is what inspires me and keeps me learning! My young students teach me so much!

Currently, I design for Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft, Wow Studio and Inside Out Visual Journaling. I have been published in several paper and online magazines.

“Nest” Artwork

This artwork is a mixed media encaustic piece. I started with a piece of drawing paper and collaged vintage music paper with gel medium, being careful to not have it go beyond the paper’s edge as it could act as a resist. I used Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Stamper’s Big Brush Pen to stamp the text areas.

A couple layers of melted beeswax was put over the entire paper. I had taped off the edges with masking tape onto a firm board. Once the wax was cooled and hardened, I used Pan Pastels to create the colored areas. A foam applicator was used to apply the pastels and blend the colors. The nest was drawn using oil pastels, chalk pastels, graphite, and sgraffito technique.

Finally, I added more beeswax through a Crafter’s Workshop chicken wire stencil. Before the wax completely cools, I rubbed gold leafing over the stenciled areas. Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft’s Gold Texture Luxe was added at the edges of the artwork using a brush. Encaustic is painting with melted wax but this work is more like drawing ON top of the melted wax.

I love the warmth and feel of wax as a substrate for drawing. It has it’s limitations and finding materials that work on top of the wax and remain without movement is tricky but there are so many you can use! I love the softness of the Pan Pastels for coloring the surface and the oil pastels for drawing because it’s easy to build up the drawing but also carve into with a sharp tool. If you are interested in trying this technique, I suggest getting a high quality drawing paper that is mostly paper and not rag content. It should turn somewhat translucent when dampened or when wax is applied. I’ve been using encaustic for a couple years now and it has become my favorite medium! I love how versatile it is and how gorgeous the results are! Mixed media is easy to incorporate with this medium!

Supplies

Strathmore Drawing paper 100lb.
Vintage Pianoforte music paper
Text stamp (unknown source)
Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Stamper’s Big Brush Pen in black
Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Gel Medium
Crafter’s Workshop chicken wire stencil
Pan Pastels in Payne’s Grey, Phthalo Blue, Turquoise, Violet Shade
Gold Leafing
Encaustikos Beeswax Medium
Sofft Colorfin Art Sponges
Sennelier Oil Pastels and Soft Pastels
General’s Powdered Graphite

“Dwelling” Artwork

The other artwork I created was on a ceramic house sculpture that I made a while ago. I used low-fire white clay to create this slab house that is about 8” high. After bisque firing, I applied beeswax over the exterior of the sculpture. On the sides of the house, I applied laser copies of nature images in an image transfer technique. I cut out the images, laid them face down on the surface of the wax and burnished (rubbed) well. The paper was removed and the images remained on the surface. Some more beeswax was added and more image transfers added to create depth. I added a number tag by pressing into the wax and also added a roof with different papers cut into shingles. I also added some wooden banner pieces mixed in. All were adhered with melted wax. This was a fun project to make and I plan to make a series of different sized house sculptures with similar themes.

Melted wax (encaustic) can be applied over any porous substrate/ surface. Flexible surfaces may crack but wax is very flexible and durable!

Supplies

Amaco Lowfire White clay
Encaustikos Beeswax Medium
Studio Calico wooden banner pieces
Book paper
coffee sleeves
DCWV cork and burlap paper
Laser copy images

We hope you have enjoyed today’s project courtesy of Jennifer Matott. Be sure to stop by Jennifer’s blog to see even more of her beautiful work (and let her know we sent you). You can also find Jennifer on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Happy Crafting!

Featured Company: Graphic 45

We are happy to bring you this week’s Featured Company: Graphic 45. We are so excited to be featuring them regularly on Paper Crafter’s Library! And this week we have a “Mother Goose” collection prize package give-away valued at $41. Details will be at the end of this post.

Graphic 45 Designer – Nichola Battilana

Our Graphic 45 Guest Designer for this week is Nichola Battilana who is part of the 2014 Graphic 45 Design Team. You can see Nichola’s fabulous project below, but first, here is a little more about her.

I am a formally trained artist and fancy-pants graphic designer… but really, that doesn’t matter one pip and you don’t care about such boring things. I don’t blame you.

I am absolutely passionate about making stuff. Whether it’s upcycling, painting, mixed media, sculpture, or assemblage, I jump in and create with positive, joyful abandon. I create a wide range of items, much of it inspired by make-believe, magic, folklore, fairies, nonsense and nature. I like dust, old things, and appreciate things past. My goal as a maker is to meld art and craft, creating well designed accesible art, with enthusiasm and without an ounce of pretention. Hopefully I can encourage others to join in too.

Altered Art

These little altered art pieces were a lot of fun to create. They use a combination of authentic old pieces and new items, including a slew of Graphic 45 metal staples. I’ve used papers from Graphic 45’s Typography (one of my favourite collections!) for the back ground, as well as their washi tape for accents. Altered art is a lot of fun and a great exercise in creating visual balance, texture and layering. It’s a lot like building a puzzle from scratch, with the final picture often telling an unexpected story.

Supplies

Graphic 45 Typography
- Journey
- Inspire
Graphic 45 Staples
- Washi Tape Set
- Ornate Metal Key Holes
- Antique Metal Door Pull
- Ornate Metal Keys
- Stamped Metal Brads
- Metal Butterfly Wing
Spellbinders – Media Mixage Collection – Bezels – Shields One – Bronze
Tim Holtz – Idea-ology Collection – Clock Keys
Resin Senorita Cameo
Other: Vintage spoon, Iron nails, Buttons, Beads, Laser cut wood frames, Metal Letter, Bottle cap, Metal Hands, Large Game Spinners, Vintage lottery number, Tintypes Collage Sheet

We hope you have enjoyed today’s feature. We want to extend a sincere thank you to Nichola Battilana for her fabulous project and Graphic 45 for sharing their company with us. You can also find Nichola on facebook, twitter and instagram. Be sure to visit Graphic 45 to see more of their products and their blog for some inspiration! For more information about Graphic 45 click on their logo in the right hand sidebar of our blog.

In order to enter the give-away to win the prize shown above, please leave us a comment in the comments section of this post. The winner will be announced next Wednesday.

Happy Crafting!

Trend Watch – By the Bottle or the Glass

Warning, this Trendy Tuesday report may be extremely tempting. You may get very thirsty… hopefully to craft and not just to drink the wine. But seriously, I am trying to tempt you to try this fun trend of using wine bottles and glasses and fun sentiments in your paper crafting… so let’s get started.

Because really, wine not? Not my pun but one Lorraine used. I just love a good pun and wine is perfect for puns. The sentiment is perfect for a clink of two glasses between friends. This is such a cute card!

card by Lorraine photo courtesy Lorraine’s Loft

Art Impressions is a fun brand of acrylic stamps that do the pun proud. I have a few wine puns AI style to share with you too. Cheryl used this design as a pop up. How awesome is this? If you look to the right of her flippers, you will see a man in snorkel gear. Maybe waiting for a glass?

card by Cheryl Valadez photo courtesy of The Ink Trap

I love the idea of girlfriends getting together to share stories and laughter over a nice glass and this great card by Kerry does the occasion well. This one is also a pop up. The dimension is just great; its just like being there!

card by Kerry photo courtesy of Kerry is Chilling

I am a sucker for a good shaker card and am a huge fan of Karolyn’s work so I could be biased but seriously how cute is this? She matched the beads with the color of the wine bottle so the recipient can turn it up and fill her glass. Love it.

card by Karolyn Loncon photo courtesy of Paper Therapy

I don’t know if this is technically a pun, but it is clever. I love this stamp set by Technique Tuesday and her use of cork is awesome as well. I love that Laura brought fun wine bottle elements into this card.

card by Laura O’Donnell photo courtesy of Technique Tuesday blog

This card by Betsy makes me want to celebrate. It is fun and festive and I had to show you a side view of the card so you could check out the awesome use of acrylic and vellum. Very fun.

card by Betsy Veldman photo courtesy of Paper Scissors and Superheroes

In addition to partying and relaxing there are other great uses for the stamps and die cuts for wine too. I love this you’re welcome card by Emily. And it is a shaker no less.

card Emily Leiphart photo courtesy of Art from the Heart

Wine can also be the gift! You can create your own custom wine tag and gift card to give to someone. I love the coordination between both pieces.

card and wine tag by Erin Lincoln photo courtesy of Procrastination Station

Nichole used the same combination but used the negative die cut to create a cool peek a boo effect on her wine tag.

Card and wine tag by Nichole Heady photo courtesy of Papertrey Ink

I think paper quilling is so impressive and Cheryl’s creation is as awesome as I aspire to be. But I just love the extra touches she used on her card. Check out the bubbles coming from her wine glasses and the shelf they sit on. Like I said, very impressive.

card by Cheryl photo courtesy of A Paper Life

If you have having trouble making the wine and the glass the color you want, try ribbon or twine. I thought this was such a cleaver way of representing the wine is the glass.

card by Erin photo courtesy of May Arts Ribbon Blog

I would have never thought of creating a sympathy card with wine and this just really works. I love the way Kim represented the spilled wine with sequins.

card by Kim S photo courtesy of Joyful Creation

I just love Kelly Purkey’s wit in her stamps. This is one of my favorites. I loved this card from Emily because she allows the sentiment to be the star of the show but has such a fun way of bringing the wine element in the card too. Look at the embossed glasses in the light grey on the bottom of the card. Very cool.

card by Emily Leiphart photo courtesy of Art from the Heart

Are you craving a glass yet? I hope I have inspired you to get a great glass of wine, gather together some girlfriends and start crafting. So lift your wine glass and toast to these wonderful creations or if it is too early, lift your stamps, dies and papers and create something of your own.

Go ahead… make something pretty.

Here are a few products I found for your inspiration.

Uncorked dies from Papertrey Ink

stamp set from Stamping Bella

Paperhouse stickers at Scrapbook.com

Karen Foster metal dies at Scrapbook.com

Grapevine Designs wine tags at Scrapbook.com

Art Impressions Wine Tasters at Simon Says Stamp

Easter Cards & Treat Boxes Online Class 2015 + Giveaway

Projects will range from beginner to intermediate/advanced
Cards incorporate a variety of different techniques including coloring with Blendabilities, paper-piecing, stained glass technique with Stampin’ Write Markers, and watercolor resist
Class includes 6 EXCLUSIVE treat/gift box templates designed by me (Andrea) exclusively for this class – they will be provided in PDF format as well as in SVG format and .studio format to allow for cutting the template pieces with an electronic die cutting machine (I use the Silhouette Cameo and Portrait).
Bonus projects featuring the Gift Box Punch Board and Envelope Punch Board

Please note that although this class uses Stampin’ Up! product, the card designs and techniques are pretty EASILY adapted to stamp sets from your other favorite companies.

Note to Stampin’ Up! Demonstrators – projects/handouts from this class can be used in your own workshops and classes or used as gift with purchase incentives (SAB incentives)

*** Online classes are FREE to Paper Crafter’s Library members (click here for details about membership) ***

Your registration comes with LIFETIME access to all Easter Cards & Treat Boxes videos & PDFs.

Class Type	Class Dates	SALE Price
Self-paced	Mar. 2, 2015 to Mar. 8, 2015	$19.95 until Feb. 22, 2015 (regular price $24.95)

Supply List

In order to fully enjoy and participate in this class you will need access to a computer and high speed internet. A full supply list will be emailed to you before the start of the class – after you are registered. The main stamp sets and patterned paper are listed below:

Stamp Sets: For Peep’s Sake, Indescribable Gift, Cheerful Critters
Paper: Best Year Ever SAB (other patterned papers can be substituted)

Substitutions (i.e. working from your stash) are encouraged – please DO NOT feel like you need to purchase everything used to be able to participate in the class.

Class Content

Refund Policy

*** If you are a Paper Crafter’s Library member please do NOT sign up for this class as the projects are included in your membership ***

We are giving away two spot to the class – to enter please leave a comment in the comments section of this post. Winner will be announced Monday, February 23rd (if you purchased the class and your name is drawn you will be refunded your payment or you can gift it to a friend). The give-away is now closed. Winners have been announced HERE.

Winner of the Cut @ Home Give Away! 02 13 2014

I’d like to extend a HUGE thank you to Cut @ Home’s designer Karen Nofziger for sharing a Heartfelt Creations Classic Sunflower Collection video tutorial and to Cut @ Home for their generous give-away shown below.

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…….the winner is……Karen Dale!

Congratulations Karen Dale! Be sure to email us at customerservice@papercrafterslibrary.com to claim your prize. Please be sure to put “Cut @ Home Winner” in the subject line of the email, and then in the email itself, be sure to include your full mailing address and phone number.

Happy Crafting!

PCL is Excited to Welcome New Designer/Educator Tracy Gruber!

Happy Friday everyone! I wanted to take a minute to welcome a new Paper Crafter’s Library Designer/Educator to our team……..

TracyMaePolaroid Here is a little bit about Tracy:

I’m Tracy and I am a 24 year old college student. I graduated in May of 2012 with a Psychology degree and now I’m back in school going for a Graphic Design degree. I have been creating for as long as I can remember, doing projects with beads, paper, string, glue, you name it! Now, I love to make cards using fun techniques and stamps!

You can follow Tracy on her blog, You Tube, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest & Twitter.

You can expect to see Tracy’s work regularly in the member area of Paper Crafter’s Library. If you are interested in more information on becoming a member click HERE.

You can see a sneak peek of Tracy’s Life is Good project our members are enjoying this week. Her Life is Good card features a fun Distress Stain background technique along with gorgeously colored images using Copic markers.

PS – Please note that Cut@Home winner from last week will be posted at 4pm EST today! Stay tuned!

Featured Artist: Laurie Willison

Welcome to another Featured Artist/Designer Spotlight. Today we’re thrilled to welcome Laurie Willison. Before we show you Laurie’s project, let’s get to know her a little bit more…

Hi! My name is Laurie Willison. I am a part time SAHM and part time RN. I have 2 kiddos at home and an amazing husband who puts up with my hobby! I started scrapbooking in 1997 and was taken over by card making in 2007! I absolutely love this hobby! It has given me such an amazing creative outlet and I have met so many wonderful friends because of it! You can find me over at my blog, Soapbox Creations!

I currently design for Papertrey Ink and Reverse Confetti! I am also on the Challenge Team over at Curtain Call. I love Paper Crafters Library and I am thrilled to be back!

CAS Card

Today’s card is a super CAS card that I made using a sketch. When I find myself with a crazy case of Stampers Block, I will usually search Pinterest and find inspiring Color Combos or even sketches. I have a board just for sketches that makes a great go to for days like this! The sketch I am using today comes from a card Nichole Heady’s blog. It is perfectly CAS and that is my kind of card. I love white space and even using white die cuts with a little color behind it. The background color makes those white dies pop!
I stamped 3 banners from the PTI set called First Place, in Lemon Tart, Berry Sorbet and Aqua Mist. I cut out the hugs die 4 times from another PTI set called Big Hugs. I stacked them up using Tombow Mono Liquid Glue. After applying each die, use a toothpick or a even a kraft knife to slide the dies around to make sure they are perfectly lined up. I stopped with 4 dies but have used up to 6 to get really fun dimension.

Supplies

Stamps: PTI’s First Place
Paper: PTI’s Stampers Select White cardstock
Ink: PTI’s Lemon Tart, Aqua Mist, Berry Sorbet and Amuse Slate
Misc: PTI’s Big Hugs Die set

We hope you have enjoyed today’s project courtesy of Laurie. Be sure to stop by Laurie’s blog to see even more of her beautiful work (and let her know we sent you).

Happy Crafting!

Featured Company: Simon Says Stamp

We are thrilled to bring back another favourite for this week’s Featured Company: Simon Says Stamp. Not only are they one of our favorite online stores to shop at, but they have an awesome line of products of their own branded under their name – Simon Says Stamp. And this week we are giving away a $25 US Gift Certificate to Simon Says Stamp. (Details at the end of the post.)

Simon Says Stamp Designer – Debby Hughes

Today we welcome Debby Hughes. We are so excited to have her showcase her work today on Paper Crafter’s Library. You can see Debby’s fabulous projects below, but first, here is a little more about her:

Hi, I’m Debby Hughes, first off let me tell you a little about myself. I’m a stay at home Mum to three great kids. Born in England, I now live in Scotland where the scenery still takes my breath away even after living here for years. I have a science background but I have always enjoyed creating and it was in 2005 that I found paper crafts. My love of the hobby grew and in 2010 I started my blog, Lime Doodle Design, as a place to share my creations. Nowadays you can also find me on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Since those first days, when I wondered if anyone would pop by my blog, it has been a wonderful creative journey involving Challenge Blogs, Splitcoaststampers Dirty Dozen, Company Design Teams, Online Classes and the thrill of seeing my cards in print. Currently I design for Simon Says Stamp, Online Card Classes and Clearly Besotted Stamps.

Now that we’ve learned a little about Debby, let’s take a look at her awesome projects!

Sending You Love and Hugs Cards

Hi, it’s Debby here and I’m delighted to be joining you at Paper Crafters Library today taking a little look at using non-traditional colours for Valentines and utilising those products all year round! There are so many gorgeous Valentine’s products on the market such as the Better Together release from Simon Says Stamp which I will be using today. We all love delving into crafting for this holiday with traditional hearts, pinks, reds and black for the love in our life. However, Valentine’s can also be an opportunity to send love to someone who might need a boost of support, you know that extra pick me up, and using non-traditional colours is a great way to utilise these products but in a more general way.

My first card uses cool greys, yellows, blues and a little layering to give an overall soft and calming feel. A panel of paper from Amy Tangerine’s Stitched 6×6 pad is mounted on a white card base. Layered on top is a Stitched Rectangle cut from vellum, a calendar piece and some paper flags and banners cut from the same 6×6 paper pad. I also die cut a tiny heart using the Falling Hearts die and added that on the appropriate spot on the grid. The sentiment is a combination of the Sending die cut from Sea Glass card and a complementary sentiment from the Sending & Wishing set stamped in Black on a scrap of Neenah solar white card.

For my next card I blended a backdrop of Audrey Blue and Mint inks on a Neenah solar white panel before running it through with the Super Heart Border die. The sentiment is the same combination as above; the Sending die this time cut from a scrap of white card along with the rest of the sentiment from the Sending and Wishing set stamped in Versamark on Slate card, white heat embossed and trimmed out. These were layered on the panel above the die cute border and then the panel was added to a white card base. Finally to add a little more interest to this CAS card I wrapped fine silver thread around the card, threaded with a few Sparkling Clear sequins.

This card could be used for Valentines (perhaps you guy/girl doesn’t like the red/white/black combo) but equally could be used at any time of year to send a message of support.

Thank you for joining me today and I hope you look at your Valentines products with fresh eyes and use them all year round. Finally, a big thank you to Paper Crafters Library for having me over today 😀

Supplies

Card 1: Stamps – Simon Says Stamp sending & wishing; Dies – Simon Says Stamp sending, stitched rectangles, falling hearts; Ink – Simon Says Stamp black; Card – Simon Says Stamp sea glass, Neenah solar white 110lb, Bazzill vellum 40lb; Paper – American Crafts Amy Tangerine stitched

Card 2: Stamps – Simon Says Stamp sending & wishing; Dies – Simon Says Stamp sending, super heart border; Ink – Simon Says Stamp audrey blue, mint, Versamark; Card – Simon Say Stamp slate, Neenah solar white 80lb, 110lb; Embossing Powder – Simon Says Stamp white; Sequins – Pretty Pink Posh sparkling clear 4mm, 6mm; Silver thread

********

We hope you have enjoyed today’s feature. We want to extend a sincere thank you to Debby Hughes for her fabulous project and Simon Says Stamp for sharing their company with us. Be sure to visit Simon Says Stamp to see more of their products and their blog for some inspiration! You can also find Debby on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

In order to enter the give-away to win the prize shown above, please leave us a comment in the comments section of this post. The winner will be announced next Wednesday.

Happy Crafting!