Paper Crafter's Library – Page 35 – A world of creativity at your fingertips

Winner of the Simon Says Stamp Give Away!

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

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…….the winner is…….rt in GA!

Congratulations rt in GA! Be sure to email us at customerservice@papercrafterslibrary.com to claim your prize. Please be sure to put “Simon Says Stamp 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 next week when we feature another great company!

Trend Watch – Let’s Hear it for the Boys

I just love the sparkle of glitter and I admit that I am a hard core pink fan. Yet, I have many card-deserving men in my life. And with my collection being dominated with flowers and butterflies I often need help with inspiration for masculine cards. Luckily, there are so many talented card makers who can speak “man” in their paper creations so we can all be inspired.

This first card is a great card for a patriot or a soldier. The boot stamp could be used for a hiker or an outdoors man too.

card by Kim O’Connell photo courtesy of Paper Perfect Designs

You can center your cards around hobbies of your favorite guys, like this one for a bowler.

card by Becky Oehlers photo courtesy of Hemidemisemiquaver

How about this awesome shaped card for the fisherman in your life. I just love the texture of this vest and all of the little details on the pockets.

card by Kelly photo courtesy of Indiana Inker

And what sci fi guy does not dig Star Wars? This little paper R2D2 is so wonderful. Just him sitting on his craft paper background and bakers twine is just the kind of clean design and big impact card that a guy can love.

card by Ruthie photo courtesy of September Ninth

You can also take a classic approach to your guys and think about traditional images and symbols of manhood for inspiration. Classic cars are a great fit and there are some awesome stamps and die cuts that can compliment your look. The color pallet for this card is just so strong.

card by Melania Deasy photo courtesy of Melania Deasy: Create, love happiness

I was shocked when I realized that my young nieces and nephews may never know what vinyl records sound like or even look like! But your classic guy may have his own collection and really appreciate this card.

card by Leena Girsa photo courtesy of A La Cards

What about for a card lover? This card uses tone on tone and is just elegantly gorgeous and manages to be manly as well.

card by Arlene photo courtesy of Butterfly Kisses

How cool is this next card as a time piece as well as a card? This would be a great birthday card for a granddad.

card by Larissa Holland photo courtesy of MMM Crafts

The masking technique on this card makes the motorcycle just pop. And the tire tread is a great touch too.

card by Mary Brown photo courtesy of Stamper Camper’s Corner

Outdoor scenes are another great way to address a man’s card. You can choose an appropriate color pallet to suit your guy.

card by Paula Dobson photo courtesy of Stampinantics

I also love that you can use humor in cards for guys in creative ways. The old bird sentiment is just perfect.

card by Kerri Michaud photo courtesy of Cards by Kerri

This clever little t-shirt card can be perfect for your custom message for your guy.

card by Karen Giran photo courtesy of The Sweetest Thing

So keep in mind hobbies and interests and feel free to experiment with new techniques or dies to create cards you and the men in your life will love.

So go ahead,… make something pretty.

Below are a few products I found to get your manly juices flowing.

By Aliya White

Featured Artist/Designer: Chari Moss

Today on the Paper Crafter’s Library blog, we’re continuing our weekly featured artist spotlight whereby each week we spotlight a different artist/designer in the paper crafting & mixed media world and introduce you to their fabulous work. Today we’re thrilled to welcome Chari Moss!

Before we show you Chari’s project, let’s get to know her a little bit more…

My name is Chari and I am a designer with a background in Architecture. I live in the mountains of NC with my always comedic husband and our sweet miniature dachshund Penny. I love stamps, paper, polka dots, crisp autumn air, photography, yummy food, movies with my hubby and snuggles with Penny. Clean lines and happy designs are just my style.

Life is Good Card

On this card I wanted to create a little scene of a beach towel on the sand for my little flip flops to set on. I colored the flip flops with colored pencils and cut them out with matching die cuts. I made the “towel” by picking out some basic large stripe patterns that look like a beach towel. I added dots of different brown markers to a piece of kraft card stock then I added Rock Candy Distress Glitter to create the look of sand.

I also used colored pencils to color in the shell, sand dollar and starfish to finish off the little scene. I used Gamsol to blend my pencil together which is awesome for getting a nice smooth look to pencil coloring.

Supplies:

Stamps: Life Is Good – Lawn Fawn
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black – Tsukineko, Versafine Onyx Black – Tsukineko
Coloring Medium: Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils, Gamsol, Copic markers (E13, E15, E27)
Paper: Neenah Solar White, Neenah Desert Storm, Neenah Natural White (card base), Lawn Fawn Sunflower Line Dance, Lawn Fawn Mermaid Line Dance
Other: Ranger Multi Medium in Matte, Ranger Rock Candy Distress Glitter, Scrapbook Adhesives Thin 3D foam squares

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

Featured Company: Simon Says Stamp

This week we are thrilled to welcome Simon Says Stamp! In today’s spotlight you’ll learn more about Simon Says Stamp, see a fantastic project by one of their designers, Stephanie Klauck and have the opportunity to win a $25 US gift certificate to the Simon Says Stamp store (details at the end of this post).

About Simon Says Stamp

We want to be your ONE STOP SHOP! At Simon Says Stamp, we care about our customers and pride ourselves on going the extra mile to make customers happy. Offering quality products that you want to use in your projects is our priority. Our whole team is passionate about crafting & the power of sharing stories. We want to share that passion with you by getting you inspired! Please visit our blog that is updated daily and 2 weekly challenge blogs on Monday and Wednesday! Have a “click” and stay awhile!

Stephanie Klauck

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

Hi, my name is Stephanie and I am married with two kids (a teenage girl and a pre-teen boy). I live in a small border town in Ontario, Canada. I have been papercrafting for over 10 years and have enjoyed every aspect of it from scrapbooking to cardmaking. I mainly create cards these days and love playing with new products and trying new techniques. When I’m not crafting, I’m usually hanging out with my family or enjoying some of my favourites – Nascar, NHL hockey, reading and TV on DVD! 😉 I am super excited to share a card with you here at the Paper Crafter’s Library.

Wedding Card

Simon Says Stamp just revealed their newest release called Pure Sunshine and it has some really great new products! Since we’re approaching wedding season, I thought it would be fun to create a cute wedding themed card using the new Married and Princess stamp sets.

For my card, I decided to pair the cute frog image and coordinating sentiment with the wedding cake. I thought it was a cute way to say congratulations to a new bride or it can even be used as a bridal shower card. I stamped the cake image on white cardstock and coloured it in with Copic markers. I added some detail with tiny flower stamps and a white gel pen and I also added a piece of ribbon the top tier of the cake for some added dimension. I then stamped and coloured the frog, cut him out and adhered him to the top of the cake with foam adhesive.

I adhered the stamped panel onto a Smoke cardstock piece to create a small border and then adhered it to a Sea Glass card base. I completed the card by adding some stamped hearts in the coordinating Sea Glass ink and I also added some sequins and gems to add a little sparkle to the card.

Project Supply List:

Simon Says Stamp Married stamp set
Simon Says Stamp Princess stamp set
Simon Says Stamp Smoke cardstock
Simon Says Stamp Sea Glass cardstock
Simon Says Stamp Sea Glass Ink
Simon Says Stamp Pale Pink sequins
Neenah Solar White Cardstock
Copic Markers
Versafine Black Onyx Ink
Hero Arts Gems

We hope you have enjoyed today’s feature. We want to extend a sincere thank you to Stephanie Klauck 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 great products and their blog for more inspiration.

In order to enter the give-away to win the gift certificate, please leave us a comment in the comments section of this post. One winner will be announced next Wednesday on the Paper Crafter’s Library blog!

Winner of My Favorite Things Give Away!

I’d like to extend a HUGE thank you to My Favorite Things guest designer Barbara Anders for sharing such a wonderful project and to My Favorite Things for their generous give-away of the prize shown below.

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

Congratulations Juliana! Be sure to email us at customerservice@papercrafterslibrary.com to claim your prize. Please be sure to put “My Favorite Things 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 next week when we feature another great company.

andreasiggypcl

Trendy Tuesday – Embroidered Designs

Embroidered Designs

by Katherine Elliot

I will never cease to be amazed with sewing on cards. Elaborate designs, or even simple sewn patterns, make any project one of a kind. You are sure to impress anyone who receives a hand sewn creation. Today, many paper crafters are inspired by embroidery patterns and even add embroidered designs to their creations. There are on-line sources to help you find patterns and paper craft tools to make these techniques easier to achieve on your cards or scrapbook layouts. Check out today’s featured projects and get ready to be inspired to give it a try…

Card and stitching template by Nicola Pravato, image source nexttonicx.com

Nicola Pravato’s Happy Birthday card shows off festive threads and lots and lots of stitches. She has a terrific template to help guide you to creating your own version of her beautiful card. If you need some help with some basic hand embroidery skills, tools, or patterns you can also check out sites like Mary Corbet’s Needle n’ Thread and About Crafty Ferret.

Judith Drew offers creative patterns and designs for many different levels of sewing skills and patience. Check out her wonderful work…

Cards & patterns from Judith Drew, image source, downloads and instructions found at her site, About Crafty Ferret

Searching on-line you’ll find a lot of pattern choices, including simple print and paste designs. Add a little country charm to your project with something like the rooster print found at the Graphics Fairy. You can find even more free patterns at Stitching Cards.

Graphics Fairy Rooster Embroidery Pattern

You can also find ready to sew kits, projects, stamps and tools to help create a variety of of embroidered, cross-stitched or other sewing pattern projects.Calendar Kit by Heather Lims, image source If It’s Hip It’s Here

Papertrey Ink has several embroidery inspired stamp sets to ink your way to a picture perfect project. Stitches & Swirls stamp set is inspired by classic floral and swirl patterns that remind me of the patterns my mom used to create beautiful, hand sewn table linens. Stitched with Love stamp set includes an embroidery hoop and even has a coordinating die set. Carol used Papertrey Ink stamps and dies, including the Stitched Sentiments set, to create this pretty card.

Card by Carol, featuring Stitched Sentiments stamp set from Papertrey Ink, image source Inky Fingers

Nancy Penir shows off another terrific way to combine stamps and embroidery. She stamped some linen with ink and stamps from Papertrey Ink’s Rosie Posie stamp set then added beautiful hand stitching. What a beautiful, hand made creation!

Card by Nancy Penir, image source Artful Notions

Karolyn Loncon also created a lovely, embroidery inspired Thank You card using stamps from Mama Elephant. She created her cardstock embroidery hoop using her Silhouette Cameo, what a perfect touch!

Card by Karolyn Loncon, featuring Mama Elephant, Stitches stamp set, image source Mama Elephant blog

Craft companies, like WeR Memory Keepers, and Amy Tangerine for American Crafts, have additional embroidery and sewing tools to lend a helping hand when you want it, too.

WeRMemory Keepers Sew Easy tool, image Scrapbook.com

WeRMemory Keepers Sew Easy Templates, image WeR Memory Keepers

Amy Tangerine Embroidery Stencil Kit, image source Two Peas in a Bucket

Thread Kit for embroidery kits from Amy Tangerine, image source Scrapbook.com

Amy Tangerine has a variety of stencil kits to choose from as well. Check out her blog and other on-line galleries to see what people are doing with the hand sewn patterns in scrapbooks, Project Life kits, and other trend-filled projects.

Amy Tangerine Embroidery Stencil Kit projects, image source Amy Tangerine.com

Last but not least, embroidery hoops found in your local craft store should not be overlooked. Not only can a hoop serve as a creative frame for a home decor project, Katie Enzenberger, The Casual Craftlete, repurposed a miniature hoop as a fun way to package a sweet little gift card… check this out…

Gift Card Embroidery Hoop project by Katie Enzenberger, image source The Casual Craftlete

You can always keep it simple with some straight stitches to make it fun and satisfying to add just a little hand sewn embellishment to your project. Pierce holes, grab some thread and sew. Yes, it can be that easy! Thank you so much for reading our Trendy Tuesday posts and keeping up with all the wonderful ideas shared here on the Paper Crafter’s Library. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed researching and sharing the creative artists’ projects and products I’ve found and hope you’ll send some of these folks some love, too. Happy crafting, everyone!

Featured Artist/Designer: Cari Locken

Before we show you Cari’s project, let’s get to know her a little bit more…

Cari has always loved crafts ever since she was a young girl. She loved coloring, drawing, knitting, sewing, cross-stitching, etc. The arts have been a huge part of her growing up years as she also graduated with a Masters of Music when she was 25. She loves to create! She started scrapbooking in 1997 after seeing a friends album and fell in love with the idea of preserving her photos this way. She loves creating layouts and other types of projects. Currently Cari is the DT Coordinator for Imaginisce, is on the Design Team for Simple Stories & Silhouette America and designs work for Core’dinations Colorcore Cardstock as well as Canadian Scrapbooker magazine. Cari has had the honour of having her work published in numerous publications such as Better Homes & Gardens Scrapbooks etc, Creating Keepsakes, Making Memories, Simple Stories, Paper Crafts, Scrapbook Trends magazines, and Paper Trends. When Cari isn’t spending time in her craft room she loves being with her husband and their three children enjoying the outdoors in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

Learn Card

School will soon be coming to an end which means it’s that time of year again to say thank you to our teachers. So I decided to make this card using a cute Silhouette cut file and lots of fabulous Core’dinations Colorcore card stock.

I cut all of the pieces from card stock. Then I embossed the yellow ‘pencil’ part with an embossing folder and gently sanded the image. I sanded on the edges of the pink, grey and black pieces.

To create the tag I used my Silhouette machine again. I then made some scored lines on the backside of the tag to add a bit of visual interest.

It’s so much fun to create a card with absolutely NO patterned paper because there are so many fabulous embossing folders out there that can add so much interest & patterns to ordinary card stock.

I also cut out a sentiment ‘thank you” to adhere on the inside of the card, leaving some space for a personal message to be added later.

Supplies: Core’dinations Colorcore Cardstock (TH Kraft Core, Core Essentials, Sand It Gadget & Dust Buddy cloth); Silhouette Cameo and Pencil Card cut file, Darice Embossing folder, Sizzix Big Shot, Scotch (tape runner)

Happy Spring Shadow Box

I love springtime so I thought I’d make something to brighten up a wall in my home.

I found this fabulous shadow box frame in the Silhouette online store and cut the box out of Core’dinations Colorcore white card stock. That’s right! It’s made out of card stock! How cool huh?

I assembled it all together and then decorated the frame using the Simple Stories Fresh Air collection. I’ve only used patterned papers and stickers to create this darling home decor piece.

Using some foam squares for added dimension can really help to bring depth & life to your projects. I admit I use it on everything I create!

Supplies: Core’dinations Colorcore Cardstock, Simple Stories ( “Fresh Air” ), Silhouette Cameo and 11.3 x 5.8 Shadow Box 3 Equal Openings cut file, ribbon (May Arts), Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L (Foam Squares), Sookwang Double Sided tape

Thanks for letting me share my work with you today!

We hope you have enjoyed today’s projects courtesy of Cari Locken. Be sure to stop by Cari’s blog to see even more of her beautiful work (and let her know we sent you). Cari can also be found on Facebook and Instagram.

Featured Company: My Favorite Things

This week we are thrilled to welcome My Favorite Things! In today’s spotlight you’ll learn more about My Favorite Things, see a fantastic project by Barbara Anders and have the opportunity to win the Sequins Die-namics (details at the end of this post).

The Sequins Die-namics includes both faceted and smooth sequins in 4 different sizes. A single pass through your die cutting machine results in an entire handful of confetti perfect for populating your shaker cards, using as stand alone accents, or embellishing your stamped designs. The smallest size includes a pierce point while the largest three sizes have a tiny center hole. Put that hole punch away and let our Die-namics do the work for you!

About My Favorite Things

My Favorite Things is thrilled to bring you the most delightful clear stamps and Die-namics dies. Die-namics are our EXCLUSIVE, American made, line of steel dies that we are sure will be an essential ingredient in your paper crafting from THIS moment forward.

We have new cutting edge designs each month, all of which are so timely and so HOT we’re not sure which you’ll want to grab first. Well, really there’s no question, you’ll need all of them! And with Brand Spankin’ New Releases every month, there’s always something worth coming back for.

Want to see the complete line? Visit www.mftstamps.com. The only paper crafting company you’ll ever need.

My Favorite Things Designer

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

Barbara had dabbled a bit in paper crafting but about five years ago started a little scrapbooking. She was immediately fascinated and started buying a few stamps and supplies at craft stores. Since then she’s branched out and has had the awesome good fortune to be able to design for fabulous companies. Most importantly, though, through this craft she’s met some of the most talented and amazing people—people that “I am proud to call “friend”.”

Fabulous Card

I needed a card for a good friend of mine who was there for me at a difficult time. The “fabulous” greeting was exactly what I was looking for and I wanted it to shine. With that in mind, I kept the background of the card fairly simple – just black and white tones. This allowed the greeting to stand out!

Instructions

1. From Black Licorice card stock, create a card base, 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″
2. Trim Sweet Tooth card stock to 5 1/2″ x 3 1/4 and stamp all over with Black Licorice Hybrid ink and MPD Damask Designs stamp set.
3. Stamp “Fabulous” sentiment on edge of black card base with Versamark and heat emboss with gold embossing powder.
4. Adhere stamped panel to card base with foam tape.
5. Adhere enamel dots.

Supplies

Stamps: MPD Damask Designs, Simply Fabulous Sayings (MFT)
Paper: Sweet Tooth card stock, Black Licorice card stock (MFT)
Ink: Black Licorice Hybrid ink (MFT); Versamark
Other: foam tape (Scotch), gold fine detail embossing powder (Ranger), heat tool, enamel dots (My Mind’s Eye)

We hope you have enjoyed today’s feature. We want to extend a sincere thank you to Barbara Anders for her fabulous project and My Favorite Things for sharing their company with us. Be sure to visit My Favorite Things to see more of their products and their blog for some inspiration!

In order to enter the give-away to win the Sequins Die-namics shown above, please leave us a comment in the comments section of this post. One winner will be announced next Wednesday on the Paper Crafter’s Library blog!

Winner of the Reverse Confetti Give Away!

I’d like to extend a HUGE thank you to Reverse Confetti’s owner Jen del Muro for sharing such a wonderful project with us and for their generous give-away of their collection shown below.

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

Congratulations Sandi! Be sure to email us at customerservice@papercrafterslibrary.com to claim your prize. Please be sure to put “Reverse Confetti 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 next week when we feature another great company.

andreasiggypcl

Trendy Tuesday – Fluttering Butterflies

Ah, spring, I love it once the tornado strength winds die down… My life spent working in the insurance industry in the midwestern United States makes this time of year a little exciting some times, so I breathe a sigh of relief when stormy skies give way to sunny, breezy days with flowers blooming and wildlife taking flight. Enjoy some happy, fair weather thoughts as we feature fluttering butterflies gracing some wonderful creations. Wings fly off cards, canvas, or pages on some of the prettiest projects I’ve seen this year. Check out today’s featured artists and discover new stamp sets and products to use on your own butterfly inspired projects…

Card by Shelly Mercado, featuring stamps from Taylored Expressions, image source Popsicle Toes

Taylored Expressions has a beautiful set featured for their May 2014 Stamp of the Month which Shelly Mercado used above for her beautiful greeting. A coordinating butterfly steel rule die thrills those of us addicted to these paired stamp and die sets. The layered dies of a colorful butterfly give the impression the card could take flight at any moment, what a beauty!

May 2014 Stamp of the Month from Taylored Expressions

Hello Blooms dies from Taylored Expressions

You can also “fussy cut” a stamped image and adhere with dimensionals to delicately float a butterfly on your project. Feminine touches with lace inspired washi tape, beautiful pearl accents and other embellishments make Lori Hairston’s butterfly card extra special.

Card by Lori Hairston, featuring Zentagle Butterfly, image source Choux Choux Paper Art

Butterfly Zentangle clear stamp, image source Etsy.com

Unity Stamp Company and My Favorite Things also offer beautiful, realistic butterfly images in their respective stamp sets, Life Becoming and Inspired by Butterflies. Louise D’Oxey and Beth Stewart show off beautifully cut, embossed and colored butterflies using these sets in their artistic creations featured next…

Grow Your Wings card by Louise D’Oxey, featuring Life Becoming stamp set from Unity Stamp Co, image source Louise D’Oxey blog

Card by Beth Stewart, featuring My Favorite Things stamp, image source Beth’s Little Card Blog

My Favorite Things Inspired by Butterflies stamp set

Short on time or less confident about your coloring skills? Butterfly punches, stickers and other embellishments make adding simple butterflies to your projects super easy. Stampin’ Up! ‘s Bitty Butterfly punch is the perfect size to add multiple butterflies to your project. Select colors coordinating with your favorite papers and you have have a quick and pretty project using this small paper punch. Mary Fish’s card featuring the punch shows off just how pretty the results can be.

Card by Mary Fish, featuring stamps and Bitty Butterfly punch from Stampin’ Up!, image source Stampin Pretty

Cathy McGrath’s artistic canvas features a series of butterflies using Kaisercraft products. Cathy’s well designed mixed media creation includes an inspiring quote and pop-up butterfly wings at opposing corners of the canvas to keep your interest from the top to bottom of the project.

Mixed Media Canvas by Cathy McGrath, image source, Sew Creative

Kaisercraft Kaliedoscope Collection Butterfly Stickers

Keep it simple with small butterfly touches using other trendy embellishments on your projects. Two of my favorite trendy products, washi tape and sequins, come in butterfly patterns and shapes.

BoBunny Washi tape, image source Scrapbook.com

Jenni Bowlin Butterfly Sequins, image source Two Peas in a Bucket

Mini album with sequin butterfly by Suz Mannecke, image source Come On Get Crafty

Last, but not least, I want to share a lovely scrapbook layout from Mary Ann Jenkins featuring Chic Tags products. The sewn butterflies are anchored to the page, but still appear ready to fly away.

Scrapbook page by Mary Ann Jenkins, i rock paper and scissors, featuring Cloud 9 Chic Tags, image source Two Peas in Bucket

Are you ready to flutter off to the craft store and prepare for your next spring inspired project? Don’t let a gust of wind distract you from your passion. May a soft breeze be at your back to guide you there. Happy crafting, everyone!

by Katherine Elliot