Paper Crafter's Library – Page 41 – A world of creativity at your fingertips

Another Opportunity to Win With Mama Elephant!

Last week we featured the company Mama Elephant! If you missed that post, you can check it out here.

Did you know that Mama Elephant was on the Today Show this past week? What an exciting opportunity! We’d love to help them increase their exposure by showing our love for their company and products. Here’s the perfect opportunity – Mama Elephant is giving away another one of the Origami stamp sets that you all loved so much on their Facebook page.

Please help us show our support by popping over to their Facebook page and liking it.

Don’t forget to leave a comment on this Facebook post, for a chance to win the Origami stamp set. The winner will be announced on their Facebook page on Wednesday March 5/14.

Featured Artist/Designer: Virginia Lu

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 Virginia Lu.

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

Hello, I am Virginia Lu from Ontario, Canada. I am an avid stamper/card-maker and an occasional scrapbooker. I’m blessed with two wonderful children and a loving and supportive husband. In my blog (Yes, Virginia…) I share my love of card creations, scrapbooking, food and traveling. I have been active in the online stamping community since 2008 and I love every minute of it. I have been fortunate to have have a few cards published by Paper Crafts, Cards, Papercraft Inspirations (UK) in the last two years. Last summer, I was thrilled to be voted as the Top 5 in Gallery Idol organized by Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking. I am currently on two design teams: The CAS-ual Fridays Stamps and Runway Inspired Challenge. I have really enjoyed learning the latest stamping techniques and making like-minded friends from the online blogs/community. It gives me great pleasure to share my project with you here at Paper Crafter’s Library today.

Create Your Own Stationary Set

I’ve incorporated the latest trend (water-coloring) in today’s project. This handmade stationary set was fun and easy to create.

Here is a simple photo tutorial.

1-3 Apply Distress inks on acrylic block. Pick up the ink from the blocks with the water brush and apply colors to paper. Let dry.

4-5 After the water-brushed colors are dry, stamp the flower images in assorted Distress inks.

6 Cut up the stamped paper, card stock and gold paper strips.

7 Add a touch of dry embossed details to the bottom of the design.

8 Use Gold Stickles to decorate the tiny embossed flowers.

9 Assemble.

I hope today’s project inspires you to create an unique and sophisticated stationary set!

Supplies:

Stamps (AC037, Forever by Hero Arts); Tim Holtz Distress inks (Ripe Persimmon, Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge, Spiced Marmalade, Squeezed Lemon, Mustard Seed, Scattered Straw, Dusty Concord, Victorian Velvet, Fired Brick) by Ranger; Tim Holtz Detailer Water Brush by Ranger; gold strip of paper and card stock (Michael’s); Embossing Folder (Just My Type) by Provo Craft; Rangers Stickles (Champagne); Water color paper (Royal Langnickel, 108.1 LB); Acrylic Blocks

We hope you have enjoyed today’s projects courtesy of Virginia. Also, be sure to stop by Virginia’s blog to see even more of her beautiful work (and let her know we sent you).

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, Debby Hughes 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!

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 Hughes fabulous project 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, Clearly Besotted Stamps and CASE Study Challenge blog.

I’m delighted to be joining you at Paper Crafter’s Library today to share a bright, fun and colourful card that gives a nod to the current watercolour trend.

Mum Card

Firstly I tapped three colours of Distress Ink (Worn Lipstick, Mustard Seed and Evergreen Bough) onto my craft sheet and added a little water to each before taking the diluted ink and watercolouring onto a scrap of white card. I watercoloured an extra piece of scrap card with more of the Evergreen Bough ink. After which I misted both pieces with a solution of Perfect Pearls. While they dried I cut a card base and panel from Neenah solar white in the 110lb weight, which is great for card bases. I used some of the left over Worn Lipstick ink to splatter the top left of the card panel and added a few splatters from some Heidi Swapp gold color shine onto the panel and also over my watercolouring. When everything was dry I cut two tags from the watercoloured piece with the Tiny Tags dies and also the Mum word from the Evergreen Bough coloured piece. Both dies are new from Simon Says Stamp.

The tags were threaded on some Hemptique yellow twine and tied around the panel, being kept in place with some foam adhesive. Then I dotted some glue onto the back of the Mum die cut and adhered it to one of the tags and the panel. I added the sentiment from the Birthday Messages set again new from Simon Says Stamp, stamped in grey. Finally I mounted the panel onto the card base with foam adhesive.

I think this card would be great for a birthday but also possibly for Mother’s Day too! Thanks for joining me today and thank you Paper Crafter’s Library for having me over.

Supplies: Stamps – Simon Says Stamp birthday messages; Dies – Simon Says Stamp mum, tiny tags; Card – Neenah solar white 110lb; Inks – Distress Inks worn lipstick, mustard seed, evergreen bough, Hero Arts soft granite; Twine – Hemptique yellow; Mist – Heidi Swapp gold; Perfect Pearls

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 great products.

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 Mama Elephant Give-Away!

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I’d like to extend a HUGE thank you to Krissi Ng for sharing such a wonderful project and to Mama Elephant for their generous give-away of the two stamp sets shown below.

MamaElephantPrizePack-550W

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

Congratulations Dana! Be sure to email us at customerservice@papercrafterslibrary.com to claim your prize. Please be sure to put “Mama Elephant 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 – Stencils

Trendy Tuesday – Stencils

by Katherine Elliot

Paper crafters, have no fear of creating a project which results in ink all over your table or fingers. Ink stained fingers are a rite of passage, even part of the creative process for this craft. Embrace some hands on time with your ink using the fun crafting tools of stencils! Okay, some of you know the secrets of being cautious, keeping your ink contained in the lines and on your paper, but as for some of us, let the ink flow and check out some really fun projects featuring stencils of many kinds. Card by Laurel Beard, featuring The Crafters Workshop Mini Sunburst template used with Faber Castell Gelatos, image source Papercrafts by Laurel

The sunburst and grunge style doodling templates are just a small sample of the many choices of stencil tools available from The Crafters Workshop. Use stencil techniques with templates, masks and traditionally labelled stencils. A variety of sizes and designs make these tools useful in a variety of projects with many different products.

Card by Karen Liz Henderson, image source The Crafters Workshop

The Crafters Workshop Well Rounded Doodling Template, image source Scrapbook.com

Rather than applying ink to a stamp to create your background or image, you are applying ink directly to the paper (or other medium) and using a stencil as your guide. You can experiment with different inks and techniques and see different results in the process. Create a lovely background with a stenciled design controlling the gradient of color with your choice of ink. A sponge dauber offers an added plus since the dauber helps keep those aforementioned inky fingers to a minimum.

Card with stencilled background by Kathy Racoosin, image source The Daily Marker

Simon Says Stamp Lined Chevron Stencil

Different colors of Distress Inks blend wonderfully on Pam Sparks stenciled background shown next…

Card by Pam Sparks featuring dies and Mesh stencil from Memory Box, image source Expressions with Heart

Textured Mesh Stencil from Memory Box image source Bluemoon Scrapbooking

Most often you’ll likely sponge, spray, or directly apply ink on your stenciled project. However, you can also use patterned stamps and designs with stencils. Check out Bibiana Martinez-Ziegler ‘s tutorial and project using a terrific collage stamping technique with stencils.

Stamped background with Birch Tree stencil by Bibiana Martinez-Ziegler, image source Stamping with Bibiana

Birch tree stencil from Memory Box, image source Blue Moon Scrapbooking

Whether you are creating a colorfully patterned scene, as shown next on Jennifer McGuire’s beautiful card, or using a single stencil image, like Jamie Pate used on her lovely butterfly cover, your options for using stencils are only limited by your imagination and tools on hand. Card by Jennifer McGuire, image source Simon Says Stamp blog

Simon Says Stamp Make a Scene Stencil

Decorated memory book cover by Jamie Pate using Heidi Swapp Butterfly stencil, image source JMP Girl Designs

Heidi Swapp Butterfly Stencil

Trendy shapes like hexagons, chevrons, and triangles are still hot and easy to find in a stencil near you! Jen Mitchell created a terrific, clean and simple card with her trendy hexagon stencil & speech bubble sentiment on her awesome Thank You card…

Card by Jen Mitchell, featuring Heidi Swapp honeycomb stencil, image source I Create

Heidi Swapp mini stencil kit

Paint, ink and mists are not your only options when working with stencils. Very trendy today are dimensional pastes that are popular with mixed media aficionados. Last week Aliya White shared many terrific examples in her Liquid Texture post. Check out last week’s Trendy Tuesday post and these next examples demonstrating the use of pastes on their own, or combined with other techniques to achieve amazing artistic results.

Stencil with assorted pastes, mists, ink and tools, image source Andrea Walford the Art of Simple

Paper Crafter’s Library’s very own mixed media artist and creative director, Andrea Walford, creatively used a Donna Downey/Prima Marketing stencil (as well as many other tools) on her expressive art journal page…

Art Journal page by Andrea Walford, image source Andrea Walford, The Art of Simple

Pastes are fun to work with and transform a canvas or card into a textural, decorative sensation. Mona Pendleton’s canvas featured next shows off the subtle texture of stencil & paste enhanced beautifully by a trendy ombre color scheme…

Decorated canvas with dimensional, painted stencil by Mona L. Pendleton, image source Cupcake’s Creations

My Favorite Things Petal Circles Stencil

You can control the texture you want when using a paste with a stencil. Color it or leave it natural, wipe it evenly smooth or let it show off an uneven stucco effect. Anyway you play with it, the results will definitely make someone touch and take notice when the results look this good…

Card by Laura Sterckx featuring stencil from Hero Arts, image source Making Cards is Fun

Hero Arts Tweed Pattern Stencil, image source Simon Says Stamp

If you do not have a stencil on hand, you can create your own stencil using the negative of a die cut pattern. In the next card, the negative space cut from a chic pattern die was transformed into a stencil for dimensional paste. Gold tipped feathers and sequins on top of the dimensional triangles on Alice Wertz’s card make for one terrifically trendy design.

Stencil made with negative image from Kelly Purkey Triangles die, card by Alice Wertz, image source Alice’s {Little} Wonderland

For the DIY crafter, a unique, custom stencil may be just the ticket to the creation of a beautiful, original design. Karen Dunbrook shows off one of her own stencil creations in her comforting card below. Carefully blended ink on this very custom card makes this just beautiful!

Custom stencil card by Karen Dunbrook, image source Snippets

Floral or geometric, painted or pasted, stencils offer more variety for your projects to get your creative juices flowing. Enjoy making your own stencil or use one of the many fine products featured today. Will your spray, ink, or paste get all over your stencil? Of course, but don’t worry, like your fingers, just wash and re-use! Happy crafting, everyone.

Featured Artist/Designer: Lynn Shokoples

Today we’re thrilled to welcome Lynn Shokoples.

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

Hi Everyone! My name is Lynn Shokoples and I live in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I’ve been married for almost 30 years, have two wonderful young adult children and two wild rambunctious puppies!! They all keep my life interesting and full of laughs. I’ve been scrapbooking for as long as I can remember. Back in the days where there was just paper, scissors and a few stickers. It’s amazing to see how the industry has grown. I love to do layouts, cards, altered projects and have recently started playing with some mixed media and art journaling. I’ve been blessed to have been on a few design teams and love meeting scrapbookers from around the world. You can find me on facebook or blogging away at http://scrappyhappymom.blogspot.ca/. Thank you so much for inviting me as a guest today! Have a wonderful day everyone.

This album is all about my daughter and her husband who adopted a rescue puppy. They are so in love with little Jiggy that I couldn’t resist making them a mini album for Valentines Day. It’s not your typical Love album, but I’ve never seen two people more in love with a puppy.

For my mini albums I like to have a continuous theme throughout the album. I chose one collection for the album as well as certain details like doilies and stickers that I used on most pages. I also chose mostly flat embellishments for the album to cut down on the bulk.

Pages 1 and 2

Pages 3 and 4

Pages 5 and 6

Pages 7 and 8

Pages 9 and 10

Supplies

Patterned Paper: First Kiss, Love, Endless Love, Boyfriend, True Love, 6×6 Paper Pad / Head Over Heels Collection (Bo Bunny)
Stickers: Combo Stickers, Cardstock Stickers/ Head Over Heels Collection (Bo Bunny)
Chipboard: 12×12 Chipboard, Layered Chipboard/ Head Over Heels Collection (Bo Bunny); Hearts Artisan (Pink Paislee)
Noteworthy: Head Over Heels Collection (Bo Bunny)
Mini Album: Head Over Heels (Bo Bunny)
Doilies (Wilton)

We hope you have enjoyed today’s projects courtesy of Lynn. Also, be sure to stop by Lynn’s blog and Facebook page to see even more of her beautiful work (and let her know we sent you).

Featured Company: Mama Elephant

This week we are thrilled to welcome Mama Elephant! In today’s spotlight you’ll learn more about Mama Elephant, see a fantastic project by Kryssi Ng, one of the owners, and have the opportunity to win the Basic Borders and Origami stamp sets shown below (details at the end of this post).

About Mama Elephant

Mama Elephant is a small business based in NY/NJ. For childhood buddies, Kryssi and Angela, art and creating have always been our lifelong passion. We are so happy to bring the collaboration of our aesthetics to Mama Elephant! Our stamps are designed with card makers and scrapbookers in mind! All our designs are carefully curated to provide optimal versatility with a wide variety of styles – modern, trendy, bold, graphic, and fun!

Our clear stamps are made right here in the USA and manufactured from the highest quality photopolymer. While they stamp like traditional rubber stamps, clear stamps gives you the extra benefit of allowing you to see exactly where you’re stamping!

Today we welcome Kryssi Ng, one of the owners. We are so excited to have her showcase her work today on Paper Crafter’s Library.

You’re The Best Card

This card was created using one of our newly released stamp sets — Origami. It features the crane image in origami form. I stamped the crane multiple times and colored them in with Copic markers, bringing attention to one by coloring it red. I drew in hanging strings with a silver, sparkle pen with the help of a t-ruler to make sure everything is lined up nicely. The side panels were created with the Basic Borders stamp set using Mama Elephant’s Creative Color Apple pigment ink.

We hope you have enjoyed today’s feature. We want to extend a sincere thank you to Kryssi Ng for her fabulous project and Mama Elephant Designs for sharing their company with us. Be sure to visit Mama Elephant to see more of their great products.

In order to enter the give-away to win the Basic Borders and Origami stamp sets, shown above, please leave us a comment in the comments section of this post. One winner will be selected and announced next Wednesday on the Paper Crafter’s Library blog!

Winner of Graphic 45 Give-Away

I’d like to extend a HUGE thank you to Graphic 45’s guest designer Anne Rostad for sharing such a wonderful project and to Graphic 45 for their generous give-away of their collection shown below.

TypographyPrizePack-550W

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

Congratulations Sue! Be sure to email us at customerservice@papercrafterslibrary.com to claim your prize. Please be sure to put “Graphic 45 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

Winner of May Arts Give-Away

I’d like to extend a HUGE thank you to May Arts guest designer Charlene Driggs for sharing such a wonderful project and to May Arts for their generous give-away of two rolls of ribbon.

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

Congratulations Ava! Be sure to email us at customerservice@papercrafterslibrary.com to claim your prize. Please be sure to put “May Arts 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

Liquid Texture

Liquid Texture

By Aliya White

When you are looking to add that extra little something to your cards, you don’t have to look very far into your craft stash to find something that will make your projects stand out. Adding texture is really hot right now. Gesso, embossing paste and even acrylic paint can be used to create something special on your paper projects.

This first card from Jennifer is a lovely reminder on how nice white on white can look with a little bit of glitter. The stencil pattern is lovely and elegant.

Card by Jennifer McGuire photo courtesy of Jennifer McGuire Ink

Speaking of glitter, some embossing pastes have glitter in them but you don’t have to be limited by the selection. Gayatri added glitter to the top of her paste while it was wet to create this stand out card, also with a stencil. I seriously love the glitter.

Card by Gayatri Murali photo courtesy of Handmade by G3

Another direct to paper approach is to create a texturized background to highlight another element of your card. This next example is quite lovely with the flower and vine die cuts behind it.

Card by Jackie Pedro photo courtesy of The Scalloped Garden

Another example is this pretty little purple butterfly. The texture, plus the epoxy stickers make it look so delicate.

Card by Michelle Short photo courtesy of The Card Grotto

Hello! Look how awesome the texture and contrast are on this next card. I think grey and gold is my new favorite color combination (by sanders). The white on white again makes everything just pop off the card.

Card by Charlene Bopp photo courtesy of Charlene’s Studio Ink

Look at the floating quality of Michelle’s card. She says she used a stencil traditionally used for snow. I love the overall look she was able to achieve by cascading her hearts and the “snow flakes” down the side of the card. Very pretty.

Card by Michelle Lupton photo courtesy of Handmade by Michelle

Jennifer made this next card with a product called Ferro metal effect texture color. Look at that yummy metallic color. Perfect for the sun she created for the card. It definitely turned out more than okay.

Card by Jennifer McGuire photo courtesy of Simon Says Stamp Blog

You can also use texture on chipboard pieces you use for your paper crafts. The gesso on this scroll circle makes it look like plaster. Very cool shabby effect.

Card by Patter Cross photo courtesy of Triple the Scraps

Stencils are not the only way to add this awesome texture. You can take a paintbrush right to the paper with gesso and create lovely brush marks directly on the paper like Gayatri did on this wonderful card.

Card by Gayatri Murali photo courtesy of Handmade by G3

Mayuri made the entire color pallet for this hexagon hottie by using embossing paste and reinkers and blended them together and smoothed them over a stencil for the ombre effect.

Card by Mayuri photo courtesy of Candles in the Garden

I just love how this next card came together and was amazed when I read that Jennifer made it using white acrylic paint swirled with pastel acrylic paint!

Card by Jennifer Rzasa photo courtesy of Our Change of Art

This last card using embossing paste is a stunner. It looks like one of those sunsets you want to go on and on. What is cool to note is that Debbie colored the white embossing paste after it dried. The lovely colors came from rubbing and mixing after the stencil was removed.

What I love about this trend is you can start where you are with what you have. You can use acrylic or break out your embossing paste; create a stencil, use an existing one or gesso directly on the paper. You are not limited by color, just your imagination. Below are a few of the products a few of the designers used in their projects.

So go ahead… make something pretty.