Already a brand new guest designer is with us today {can you believe April is already half-way over?!} and we'd love for you to meet her if you haven't already. Her name is Dawn Mcvey - she's a recognizable face from the likes of Papertrey Ink and her popular blog and stamp line, Raspberry Suite! We asked if she would guest design for Crate Paper this month and sure enough, she said, "Yes! I'd love to!" We're so very thankful to have her here and we simply can't wait for you guys to see what she's created as part of today's guest designer presentation. She's brought some gorgeous cards to share and a whole host of coinciding tips/techniques for you to borrow and enjoy....
A Short Bio
Hi there! My name is Dawn McVey and I've been stamping and paper crafting for five or six years now. When I first started making cards, family and friends began asking to purchase them from me. One card led to another and eventually, in the fall of 2007, I started submitting my work to magazines for publication. Over the years, I've been published in many card making/paper crafting magazines and have even had a few cards that made it to magazine covers.
In July of 2008, I accepted a position on the Design Team for Papertrey Ink and in February of 2009, I became a Stamp Designer for Papertrey as well, launching my Raspberry Suite product line. I'm throroughly enjoying working with such a creative and innovative company. Not only that, but seeing products that I dreamed up in my mind come to life, has been a tremendous joy! Now, I so enjoy seeing others use those products to make their own gorgeous creations too!
God has also blessed me with a wonderful husband who encourages me to follow my dreams. We love traveling and spending as much time together as we can. It's a wonderful life and I'm so, so thankful.
Ten Random Facts About Me
1. Years ago, I recorded a couple commercials for radio and tv including a jingle I sang for a car dealership! HaHa.
2. On average, I read a book a week, by reading while on the elliptical and while I eat lunch each day. Yes, I multi-task while working out. It's the only way I can entertain myself long enough to get the workout accomplished!
3. I have now traveled to more countries outside the US than states within the US. My husband and I figure that we'll get the long-distance travel done now, while we're young, and then we can travel the US any time after that.
4. I love, love, love old musicals like The Sound of Music, Singin' in the Rain, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, My Fair Lady and Hello Dolly. Just to name a few. ;) In fact, I love The Sound of Music so much that when we were in Austria on two different trips, we made a point to visit most of the sights from the movie.
5. I love salty snacks.
6. I've been singing at church since I was about five when the choir director of the church we attended at the time, let me stand on a chair in the choir loft and sing with my parents in the (adult) choir! :)
7. I love old Disney classic (live action) movies like Swiss Family Robinson, Pollyanna and Parent Trap. They just make me smile.
8. I'm not a fan of any kind of sweet sauces or sweet salad dressings on my foods...unless, of course, we're talking about dessert! Then, bring on the sweets!
9. Before my husband came along, I hated coffee. Hated it! When we started daating though, he would fix me coffee with probably more chocolate in it than coffee (lol!) and eventually, I came to love it! Now, I have a coffee just about every day!
10. My crafty endeavors over the years have included things like latch hook rugs, seed bead bracelets, ceramic dolls, sweatshirt art (haha!) and even painted Christmas Ornaments! Let's just say that I'm much better at paper crafts! *wink*
Introductions
I can't tell you how excited I am to be sharing some Crate Paper projects with you today! These newest lines that Crate has come out with are some of my favorites EVER so when Christine asked me if I'd like to be the April Guest Designer, I have her a resounding YES! I couldn't wait to get started and the day the box full of Crate Paper goodness showed up on my doorstep was a very happy day indeed! I didn't waste any time whipping up some projects to share with you, and have been anxiously waiting for this day to arrive, so I could finally share these projects with you! Let's get started, shall we?
"Happy Birthday Patterns" card
On this first card, I had so much fun piling on the layers! Using the strips of Crate's scrumptious patterned papers as the base of the design was so much fun, plus, I couldn't resist die-cutting a bit of that gorgeous woodgrain patterned paper with an edger die to get that extra little detailing on the right side of the card. The "Happy Birthday" sentiment was stamped on one of the Emma's Shoppe border stickers. Then, I die cut a chocolate colored doily and piled on all sorts of Emma's Shoppe goodies -- a chipboard accent, phrase sticker, die cuts and a button.
"Happy Birthday Flower" card
Next up is a cheery little number filled with more Emma's Shoppe goodness! A bit of patterned paper (that I LOVE!) was tucked behind an Emma's Shoppe die cut frame. I love how it served as the perfect home for some die cut cherries and some chipboard sticker flowers. A simple sentiment was stamped on the strip of the Play House (woodgrain) patterned paper and adhered over the top of the woodgrain, a teensy strip of the Fabric patterned paper. Tucked behind it all is a border sticker that created darling scallops, by simply leaving off the little numbers that come in the centers of the border stickers, and covering up half of the sticker with the patterned paper.
"Thanks" card
Next up, how about some Portrait lovelies? Oh, how the green patterned paper (Bridesmaids) on this card makes me smile! I simply love it! On this one, I began with a kraft card base and added the Bridesmaids paper as well as a strip of the gray pattern. Topping those, are a couple of border stickers that are overlapping to create a bit more dimension. Don't be afraid to just use portions of your die cuts and stickers, or to use them as is and layer them like I did here! You'll be able to get so much more mileage out of your supplies, by thinking outside the box a bit when using them. Next came the really fun part...creating the focal point. I chose to tuck a bit of kraft card stock behind on of the photo frame die cuts to create a mat for the flower to rest on. Stamped in the box on the bottom of the die cut is a pretty "thanks" sentiment and to accent the sentiment, I added one of the lovely little Portrait art brads. Tucked behind the frame is another chipboard sticker and the chipboard flower sticker wrapped things up.
"Three Flowers" card
This next card just goes to show that "simple" can be quite elegant and that you don't have to have a lot of products in order to create something beautiful. A few coordinated supplies can go a long way, to providing just what you need to whip up a card in no time! For this birthday card, I started out with another kraft card stock base and stamped a long birthday sentiment along the bottom of the card front. A bit of black patterned paper (June) was cut to the size I wanted, to serve as the anchor for the flowers, and the bottom left corner was rounded with a corner chomper. (Rounding corners now and then, is a simple way to add a bit more detail to your cards and scrapbook layouts without adding any more bulk to the project. It's all in the details, right?) Before I adhered the patterned paper to the card front, I added another of those pretty art brads to the paper. All that was left to do after adhering the patterned paper, was to add the delicious die cut flowers and the chipboard sticker flower! Easy peasy but still a bit elegant!
"Hey, Chickie" card
One more card for you today...another Emma's Shoppe treat because I just can't resist! For this one, I used more of that pretty pinky-red patterned paper that I love so much. Notice that I used that same rounded corners detailing on this one for added interest. A strip of Fabric patterned paper was added along the bottom of the card, leaving it sticking out on either side of the card front. A border sticker was added to the bottom of that and then I added a few other phrase stickers to the card, but not before I stamped a little "Hey, Chickie" sentiment to the little luggage tag. The pretty chipboard sticker was added as well as an Emma's Shoppe eclectic button that I threaded with a bit of twine.
I hope that you've enjoyed these cards today! Thank you so much for having me!! And of course, I'd like to say a huge "thank you" to the very generous folks at Crate Paper as well as to the super sweet Christine at Crate, for asking me to be this month's Guest Designer! It has been an absolute pleasure and I'm very much looking forward to sharing more Crate Projects with you soon!
Wowwwwwwwwwwww!! Her work is AMAZING!!! And I loved reading the things about her! I love the 'Sound of Music' too! Happy Easter!! :):):):):):):):):):):):)
Posted by: Julie Tucker-Wolek | April 22, 2011 at 05:44 AM
gorgeous projects! Thanks for sharing a little bit about yourself too!
Posted by: Lara Carson | April 22, 2011 at 05:46 AM
Wowwwww! It´s so beautiful.
Posted by: Mariaje | April 22, 2011 at 06:08 AM
Beautiful cards. Love all of Crate Paper products. Good choice for asking Dawn to be a guest designer. She is amazing.
Posted by: Annamaria Miller | April 22, 2011 at 07:44 AM
Beautiful projects!
Posted by: slammie | April 22, 2011 at 07:53 AM
As a longtime follower of Dawn first on her blog and then the design work that she does for Papertrey she again amazes me with her fabulous creations of Crate Paper Products!
Posted by: nancy n | April 22, 2011 at 07:57 AM
You were so smart to ask Dawn to guest design! She is amazing ~ her work is spectacular!!!
Thanks for sharing
Susan
Posted by: Susan Beauchaine | April 22, 2011 at 07:58 AM
Beautiful cards, thanks for sharing alitttle bit about yourself. Happy Easter!
Posted by: Marybeth L. | April 22, 2011 at 08:28 AM
Dawn's work is gorgeous!!!!
Posted by: Kelly Massman | April 22, 2011 at 08:29 AM
These are great, I love the new product line! Dawn is a great designer & I follow her blog regularly.....you couldn't have picked a better guest designer.
Posted by: delisa | April 22, 2011 at 08:49 AM
I love these projects! And Dawn McVey... I've followed her blog for awhile and think she is just SO talented! Congrats on being guest designer for CP, Dawn!
Posted by: Heather V | April 22, 2011 at 09:40 AM
So excited to see Dawn as the guest designer- I'm a huge fan of hers & of course Crate Paper :)
Posted by: stephanie johnson | April 22, 2011 at 10:29 AM
Dawn is on FIRE! Her creations with the Crate Paper products are out of this world fabulous! TFS.
Posted by: Juanita in Ohio | April 22, 2011 at 10:53 AM
These products were so well suited for Dawn...couldn't have picked a better guest designer. Thanks!!
Posted by: Susan T | April 22, 2011 at 12:06 PM
BRILLIANT! LOOOVE them all!
Posted by: Jane | April 22, 2011 at 02:15 PM
So so beautiful. I love these paper lines and Dawn has provided so much inspiration.
Posted by: donna calamari | April 22, 2011 at 03:08 PM
Yay! I'm so happy to get to know more about you Dawn! I love your cards & stamps. Great to see your amazing talent combined w/ Crate goodness!! Ps I'm the same way w/ dressing...salty foody. Keep sweets & saltys separate ;).
Posted by: heather i | April 22, 2011 at 03:57 PM
So very pretty!
Posted by: Laura Evangeline | April 22, 2011 at 06:42 PM
So VERY beautiful! Dawn is a Super Star :o)
Posted by: Helen F. | April 22, 2011 at 08:15 PM
Beautiful cards, Dawn! Love your work and you did amazing things with CP!
Posted by: Anabelle | April 23, 2011 at 03:53 AM
You are so talented, it doesn't matter what you work with you always come up with some of the best cards I have seen.
It is also nice to read a little about you.
I love the first card the most. the pattern picture reminds me of when I was a small child my Mother always made my dresses and this card is a reflection of some of the patterns She would have bought to do just that. Thanks so much for sharing your talent with us.
Posted by: Lynda | April 23, 2011 at 03:55 AM
Fabulous! Love all these projects!
Posted by: Kathy Martin | April 23, 2011 at 05:00 AM
Dawn, your work is simply gorgeous!!!
Posted by: Lori Gentile | April 23, 2011 at 09:23 AM
Love every single card. The papers seem sort of retro to me and the colors are gorgeous. Love your creations!
Posted by: Pam G | April 23, 2011 at 10:59 AM
You are one of my favorite designers! Love your colors and now I am being more courageous with colors instead of a bland white card!
Posted by: Judy Bohne | April 23, 2011 at 12:23 PM