Crate Paper

Final 2012 Crate Paper Designer Gallery + Crate Paper Reveal!

There is some very EXCITING news ahead as we enter 2013! As you very well know, CHA is just around the corner, literally, and a brand new season is about to begin. To get ready, Crate Paper has been busy preparing in a multitude of ways. We've got a couple of important dates you'll want to make note of, especially those of you awaiting Crate Paper's BIG collection reveal!! First, the Crate Paper Spring/Summer Debut Party starts January 8th of next week!! There will be three beautiful collections to share with you, one being "extra special" for reasons you'll soon find out (it's a "first" for Crate!) Second, the CP Gal Crew is welcoming fresh talent - Crate's 2013 Design Team is almost officiated! The newly updated team will announce on January 21st. Finally, lots and lots of giveaways!! January is your time to claim the latest and greatest Crate Paper Goods. All THREE Spring/Summer Collections will be up for grabs throughout the month! 

Mark your calendars accordingly - Party Time starts next week!

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A final set of CP Gal creations from 2012...

Janna Werner

This year I decided to create a reminder for my OLW 2013, just to make sure I'm aware of it and won't forget it during the year. My word is FOCUS (I have to admit I cheated a bit and gave it a subtitle.."taking things slow"). I created a 12" x 12" scrapbook page using lots of my favorite Crate Paper alphas and mixing elements from Acorn Avenue, On Trend, Little Boy Blue and Sleigh Ride. I will hang this page right next to my desk.

 

Sasha Farina

 

Piradee Talvanna

 

Sophie Crespy

 

Anabelle O'Malley

I'm finally getting around to scrapping LAST New Year's photos. On Trend was the perfect collection to do so. The clock motifs and bright colors go so well with the colors in my picture. I added touches of gold in through the Thickers and glitter colored wood veneer circle. I wanted this layout to have the fun, party feel of Philly's Mummer's Day parade and using the banners, chipboard and papers from On Trend, I was able to achieve that. 

 

Ashley Cannon Newell

 

Kaori Watanabe

 

Megan Klauer

I decided this year, I wasn't going to get behind and realized in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the holidays that I needed a last minute card or tag for a gift. Using the Sleigh Ride collection along with a few assorted items from my December Daily stash, I created six simple cards. They will be kept in a small basket where I can quickly grab one when needed. Less last minute stress means happier holidays for everyone!

 

Rebecca Luminarias

Vellum Page Toppers - When I received my box of Sleigh Ride goodies last month, I was immediately drawn to the vellum embellishments..and have subsequently been hoarding them! I had so many ideas for them and because I want to use them for many different things, I thought I should make my own to top my Christmas gifts this year. 

I took a sheet of Accent Cuts, trimmed them down, and then covered each piece with vellum. I sewed three sides closed to create a pocket. Before closing up the 4th side, I poured a few sequins inside to get the shaker effect. In the end, I had soft but fun accents to add to my packages. Some I attached with washi-covered mini clothespins, and the others, I simply taped to the present - so easy!

Crate Paper Designer Gallery :: December

For those of you already starting to think ahead about what it is you might be scrapbooking this holiday season, let us give you a sample of what the Crate Paper Design Team has been up to lately! There's a lot of "Merry" & "Bright" to go around..and a few last minute November surprises. 

CP Designer: Michiko Kato

If you're seeking to snag a holiday scrapbook collection with zero color shortage, Crate Paper's Sleigh Ride is a sure bet! Just take a peek at Michiko Kato's beautifully made "Deck the Halls" layout - it's aglow in the collection's can't-be-missed color palette!

 

CP Designer: Sophie Crespy

A personal note from the artist...

Oh how I love the colors and patterns in this collection {Sleigh Ride}! They're perfect for both boys and girls. Good thing it snowed early this year, too - gave me ample reason to use the collection . The silvery touches bring light to the subject and layout.

 

CP Designer: Heathyr Hintz

A personal note from the artist...

In my opinion, Crate Paper always puts out the best Christmas lines! I've been waiting (im)patiently for the appropriate time to begin working with Sleigh Ride (it just may be my favorite Crate Christmas line yet!). Finally, the holiday season is upon us and it was time. I've had this particular layout swirling around in my head for month's, so naturally, I was so excited to see it come to fruition. The colorful holiday patterns of Sleigh Ride coordinate together so wonderfully that they made this layout come together so easily for me. Creating this project really got me into the holiday spirit and I know the collection will do the same for you!

 

CP Designer: Anabelle O'Malley

A personal note from the artist...

I love the mix of black and gold together. On Trend's neutral tones were the perfect backdrop for my glittery gold title and spray misting. I added the pop of pink for just a bit of color. And the lettering in the vellum banner was a fun way to tie in gold another way.

 

CP Designer: Janna Werner

A personal note from the artist...

Sometimes the world spins too fast, days fly by and I feel exhausted. Then I need to take some time for myself, turning off the computer, tv and radio, and listen to the voice within. It's important to have days like that, to gain back strength and excitement about life. And from time to time, you need a little reminder.

 

CP Designer: Megan Klauer

A personal note from the artist...

I'm taking baby steps towards the wonderful world of Project Life. The idea is one that I have been waiting to try for some time now, but I just never did because of the fear of not keeping up. I soon came to the realization that not keeping up isn't nearly as bad as not ever starting! All of those everyday memories need to find a place and this project will be perfect!

 

CP Designer: Sasha Farina

 

CP Designer: Piradee Talvanna

A personal note from artist...

I wanted to create a little something for family and friends that will be visiting here in Belgium and what better way to brighten someone's day than with a little handmade (with love) gift tag set?

 

CP Designer: Rahel Menig

 

CP Designer: Tami Gookstetter

A last minute "Thankful" layout from our dear, sweet designer, Tami Gookstetter. It features "On Trend", "Acorn Avenue" and Tami's gorgeous photography (Butterfly Kiss Photography). 

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Thanks so much for checking in today at the Crate Paper blog! We always enjoy your company and can't wait to share more of December with you!! Have a good one!

Designer Gallery :: More October Projects!

With November already upon us, and the colder weather settling in for good, the CP Girls have been extra busy putting together an amazing array of projects to be enjoyed and savored here at our blog. The cooler temperatures often beg of us to stay inside, tucked away somewhere warm, while surrounded by papers and embellishments galore. Fall & Winter are "prime time" for scrapbooking - to not take advantage of them would be like denying yourself a trip to the coffee shop on a brisk, chilly morning. I tell ya, a steaming hot mocha is a sure cure for the Winter blues. Scrapbooking is just the same. How easy it is to sit amongst the warmth of a room, creating page after page, not having to step away, ever. It's one of the major perks of living out four seasons!  

CP Designer: Naomi Atkins

City Girl 

We went to Montreal this Fall, and had a blast. I just love the city! My daughter and I took pictures of each other in this really neat alley :)

Crate's On Trend collection matched my picture perfectly. I cut the hexagons with my Silhouette, and cut patterns of paper to go underneath. I love the glimmer of gold in the collection, and wanted to include that in various spots. I layered a few of the tag, and placed part of my title "City" on top with Thickers, and placed some more Thickers on the photo itself, "Girl". I used one of the dimensional Flowers from the collection on top of my title banner (brand new!). I love the hanging lights in the alley, and Crate's vellum garland on gold thread (Another brand new item!) reminded me of the lights, so I hung it over my picture with some ornate brads. I used some of the new tape stickers to frame my photo. I really love the pops of color in this collection - it just goes perfectly with everything!

 

CP Designer: Rebecca Luminarias

 Fall Tag Set

The inspiration for this album was the fabulous hue, glimmering gold. One of the techniques used to sprinkle "gold" throughout is the sporadic application of gold leaf via a gold leaf pen. It provides a lot of coverage and is a quick means of creating a realistic gold effect. For example, Rebecca colored Crate Paper's wood veneer elements with the pen - they turned out beautiful! She also used the pen directly on top some of the tags as either borders, or decorative accents. 

 

CP Designer: Heathyr Hintz

October Project Life Spread

Crate's cute tag patterned paper is well suited for Project Life projects such as this one from our CP Girl, Heathyr Hintz. She's housed daily journaling on a few of them and tied them off with tiny red/white baker twine bows! :)

If you're a PL + Crate fan, than you might be interested in hearing that it's is about to become a regular Friday feature - starting December, three CP Designers will host a special series exclusive to Project Life! Details expected shortly...

 ~

Designer Gallery :: More On Trend & Acorn Avenue + Happy Halloween!

 

 Welcome to another October "Designer Gallery"! To get us started, we're catching up on a couple of Creative Weekly projects from our dear sweet designer, Kimberly Garofolo.  In-case you don't remember, October's Creative Weekly theme was "signage". Kim's come up with two projects inspired by the theme, and also, has included a couple of responses to go with them - please take a moment to check them out. Thereafter, you'll find a random assortment of beautiful layouts & cards from some of our other CP Gals - don't forget to pin your faves! We love to see CP prettiness at Pinterest!! 

CP Designer: Kim Garofolo

Together or Apart

I really loved this theme! It really stirred up a lot of creative ideas on using stickers and tying them into the title and journaling for this layout. I've been seeing a lot of ads lately using titles over the top of photographs and subtitles to tie them all together. I love using different fonts with titles also, and amazingly, it works well with this challenge!

Fun at the Beach

For this layout I used a kind of flag pole sign theme to add to the title and go with it. The stickers and chipboard embellishments all worked perfectly for this sign challenge for creative weekly. It's a fun way to look at creating your layout. I love they way it made me think outside the box when creating this layout. 

 

 

CP Designer: Piradee Talvanna

Good Time & Smile Always

I couldn't resist using the On Trend collection and was specially taken by the green, turquoise and yellow combination and had this layout completed in no time. This my first time creating with this color combination and absolutely love how it turned out. The vibrant colors and fun designs were just perfect for this good time and smile always layout. 

 

CP Designer: Tami Gookstetter

Zingo

Game Playing paves the way to triangles using patterned papers from the eclectic CP collection, Acorn Avenue. They mimic the fun and glee of family game night! Also, a wooden house sits inside Acorn Avenue's woodgrain chipboard frame - another emblem of the game. 

 

CP Designer: Anabelle O'Malley

Linvilla at 8

I have wanted to make a page covered with leaves ever since I downloaded this leaf cut file! Acorn Lane was perfect. I cut a bunch of leaves from three of the papers and arranged them onto the cardstock. To give them a feel of a real pile of leaves, I glued some down, added some with foam adhesive, and tucked others behind the photo. The small alpha stickers were a perfect compliment to the large die-cut word. I wanted the leaves to be the star of the show, so adding a sentiment sticker and border sticker was just enough. It looks like Ryan is ready to jump right in! 

On Trend Card Set

The colors in On Trend are just fabulous. I wanted to create a card set that really set them off, so I backed the papers and embellishments with white cardstock and white doilies. This really made everything "POP"! 

 

CP Designer: Sophie Crespy

How Beautiful Life Can Be

Exclusive to Acorn Avenue, this stunningly sweet layout from Sophie takes a glance at life's less noticeable details - if you look closely at the lower right corner of her layout, you'll see a small man-made camera. We nearly missed it - goes wonderfully with the theme of the layout! 

Autumn

Inspired by this image, and it's pattern/image blocks, Sophie created a layout using pieces of patterned papers from On Trend, along with some of it's chipboard pieces - are fave being the butterfly, of course. Smile. It's a simple, subtle set-up with serious potential that boasts a lot of color!

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 To all of you trick or treaters out there, be safe, and good luck with candy collections this evening. Make sure to save some of them treats for later!! Take lots of photos, too!! It's a great time to think about capturing the kiddo's acting all goofy and partaking in an activity that is both memorable, and fun! From the Crate Paper Crew, "Happy Halloween!!!" 

 

Designer Gallery :: On Trend & Acorn Avenue

 

 

Crate Paper DT Coordinator: Christine Middlecamp

"The last time I fell in love with a Crate Paper collection this much was when Random debuted nearly a year-in-a-half ago. I remember it being a really exciting time, too, because Random brought with it a color palette and design style that had never before been seen from the likes of Crate Paper. Fast forward to the present, and once again, Crate Paper's done the exact same, but this time, the collection is called "On Trend". Instilled with show-stopping color and eclectic design, it's one of the those collections you just can't go without, not if you're a color fanatic like myself. From what I can tell thus far, it's some of the best color I've ever had the opportunity to work with! In a big way, it's totally 'me'..no surprise there." 

"I've already spoken about the layout at length via my personal blog, Retrospection. To it though, I would like to add a couple of items. First, Crate's Chipboard Accents have been a part of the Crate family for as long as I can remember. In using them, I often target the non-traditional pieces, or leftovers. For example, with this layout, I took a thin oval chipboard frame, backed half of it with pattern paper, and then left the bottom portion of it empty to create the illusion of unity. Second item on the list are the little pieces. Case in point; Crate's tiny chipboard flowers and buttons. Gather them up, put them in a small bowl, and keep them nearby on your desk. Don't leave them on the sheet because chances are, they'll stay there forever. Make it a habit to use your tiny chipboard accents. Give'em layers, too!"

 

CP Designer: Megan Klauer

"My kiddos and I recently spent an afternoon at our local pumpkin patch. I knew right away I would be using the Acorn Avenue collection for these photos. I cut a variety of papers from the 6 x 6 pad to create a sunburst design in the bottom left corner and built my design from there."

 

CP Designer: Kaori Watanabe

"On Trend's color palette opens the door to a plethora of color combo options! Here, I stuck to a simple blue & white scheme with tiny pops of pink & olivine. This casual look is further supported by a minimal display of embellishments that include a hanging banner, chipboard accents and flower."

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A Crate Paper Designer Gallery

 

It's an exciting, lively week at Crate Paper, and American Crafts. The warehouse has taken on a large arrangement of new shipments that include Crate Paper's Acorn Avenue & On Trend collections. Also, there's Sleigh Ride patterned papers and stickers, with the remainder arriving the end of October. As we prepare to deliver the fantastic, Summer '12 CHA releases to retailers, the Crate Paper blog is undergoing a behind-the-scenes makeover that will be of a familiar format, but with updated designs & a "trendy" personality to better match all our awesome new products! Upon it's premier, will be a very special multi-collection giveaway, a free downloadable CP Blinkie, renovated DT project galleries, fancy graphic headers, and other streamlined additions. And lastly, starting this month, most the projects you find here, will be exclusive to Acorn Avenue & On Trend. The CP Girls are already maximizing their stash, pulling together ideas to incite & inspire! The release is in full swing!

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CP Designer: Anabelle O'Malley

"I had so much fun layering goodies from the Little Bo Peep line on this page. Throughout the layout and around my photos, I used a lot of foam adhesive to add dimension. Beneath the photos is a pink chipboard frame and to the left, is a die-cut star burst decorated with a cluster of chipboard and cute pink brad."

 

CP Designer: Janna Werner

 Janna's layout is a blend of Acorn Avenue and On Trend, literally. If you take a close look at the photographs, you'll catch a peek of both - someone had a "Happy Mail" day!! Love the quad set-up, too - tons oh' fun!

 

CP Designer: Tami Gookstetter

An amusement park trip & a gorgeous, glowing sunset sit beautifully on top of Crate's "Party Guest" patterned paper {Backside} - sometimes, it takes only one sheet to truly set the tone of a layout. The pink is serene, just like the photo. 

 

CP Designer: Piradee Talvanna

"I opted to create this little catalog booklet for my ever growing typewriter collection (Honestly, I think I've gone crazy). The Booklet has a total of 12 pages (room for 12 typewriters), but unfortunately, the rest are currently in transit."

*We spot Story Teller behind them typewriters!!

 

CP Designer: Ashley Cannon Newell

Crafted from the "Little Boy Blue" collection, is a hand made card and box of the same sparkling theme, stars galore! The first set of stars are stamped and the second, is a die-cut box, trimmed and formed from paper. They're a precious set!

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September Designer Gallery

 

 

Our first September Designer Gallery is bursting at the seams with more creations than we know what to do with. The CP Gals have certainly demonstrated an enthusiasm we hadn't seen coming, and for that, we've a whole bunch of amazing handmade-y items to spotlight today. Some of them include a brief, personal note direct from the artist. Do take a moment to find out what they've to say - sometimes, a fresh perspective is all that's necessary to discover a new idea not thought of before, and who doesn't love that? First up, is a confetti-fun project from our Crate Paper designer, Tami Gookstetter...

CP Designer: Tami Gookstetter

 "I love confetti sprinkles. In this instance, I made my own paper version using a 1/4' hole punch and several pieces of Crate Paper patterned papers. I like things a little imperfect, so I just sprinkled the bits onto my background and glued them down wherever they landed with my Martha Stewart ball point tip glue pen. I really enjoyed playing with all the bright colors for this page and the sprinkles look totally real!"

 

CP Designer: Tami Gookstetter

Another from our photography expert, Tami Gookstetter. She's brought to light our Little Bo Peep collection via a warm, beautifully captured image that matches almost perfectly with the collection's color pallete.  

 

CP Designer: Teka Cochonneau

"For this layout, I really wanted to capture how Charlotte spent most of her time as a itty-bitty infant. She was 6 weeks preemie and all she wanted to do was sleep the first month. I remember many tried and failed attempts to get her to open her eyes and interact with us and fellow family members. To showcase this, I knew I wanted to do a clock showing all the hours on the clock from 1-12 to really drive the point home and grabbed some of my favorite photos of her snuggled and sleeping away." 

 

CP Designer: Anabelle O'Malley

"Recently, my dear friend gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. She has two sons already, eight and ten, so Grace is a beautiful blessing and addition to their family. I wanted to create something special for her and knew that the Little Bo Peep line would be perfect! I decided to make an album that would include envelopes to hold notes from each member of the family. (I used some pre-made envelopes, but you could easily create your own, or just make some pocket pages) They can welcome her to the family by sharing their thoughts about her arrival, the day she was born, their thoughts about having a sister, etc. I created an envelope for each of them. Additionally, I added transparency pages for them to add photos and keepsakes. I hope that one day Grace will be able to cherish the mementos tucked into this little album."

 

CP Designer: Sophie Crespy

"The title of my layout is "The Trade". I creating this fun grid-styled layout, I used both the Little Boy Blue and Little Bo Peep collections. Some of the items fall "off" the grid, such as the wood shapes. As to the grid itself, I stitched parts of it and added pop dots beneath a couple of the sections to provide volume. The journaling is typed on white cardstock and then I machine stitched underneath each line. As a finishing touch, I framed the layout via Little Boy Blue's yellow chevron patterned paper."

 

CP Designer: Megan Klauer

"I love creating handmade gifts and I want that same personal touch to come through when I get a request for a photography gift certificate. Using the Little Boy Blue & Little Bo Peep lines, I not only created the gift certificates, but two cards to hold them as well. The 6" x 6" paper pads, wood veneer shapes, as well as the layered embellishments made quick work of this simple, yet beautiful gift."

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June Designer Gallery :: CP Thickers

 

 

CP Designer/Team Coordinator :: Christine Middlecamp

In case you hadn't noticed, our Little Boy Blue and Little Bo Peep collections released a short while ago, and are available for purchase at your favorite scrapbook retail outlet. The collections include ten, past-inspired double-sided patterned papers, tags & accent cuts, phrase & border stickers, chipboard, alphas and more. Also up for grabs for the first time ever, are newly exclusive, Crate Paper Thickers! There are four styles in total, two per collection. Forget hunting down the perfect color and style font - we've got you covered! Crate's officially joined the AC Thickers family!

Bo Peep's blue-green foam glitter Thickers is our most beloved design thus far. Christine Middlecamp made beautiful use of them on her latest CP layout, Strength. 

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CP Designer :: Michiko Kato

Honeycomb and Hexagons bring about happy smiles and peace! Bundled on top of them are extra-cute photos of Michiko Kato's young daughter and a shabby chic montage of Bo Beep's stickers & chipboard.

 

CP Designer :: Anabelle O'Malley

A surprise baby shower or congratulatory note on the birth a little one are great reasons to have cards like this around. Rumor has it that July and August are some of the busiest birthday months of the year! 

 

CP Designer :: Claudia Shadler

As today's final project, a simple 6" x 6" Story Teller layout from our modern stylist, Claudia Shadler. With this particular sized layout, Crate Paper's 6" x 6" patterned paper pads are the go-to solution!

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A quick reminder, the Little Boy Blue & Little Bo Peep collections are finally available!! Want to see the collections "in-full" again? Check them out here: Bo Peep & Boy Blue 

 

Designer Gallery :: Origami Boxes + Mini Album

 

 

It's been far too long since we last gave the CP Girls a chance to boost your creative spirits via the bi-monthly feature, Designer Gallery. Their return feels tremendously good and with them, is a widespread showing of Crate Paper designs. There's even a couple of Little Bo Peep creations we think you're going to really love, including an assortment of adorable, petite handmade boxes from CP Girl, Claudia Shaffer. It's today's very first Designer Gallery idea! Check them out...she included a personal tidbit as well. Do read it!

CP Girl :: Claudia Shadler

Claudia here with a set of mini gift boxes made exclusively from the newest CP collection, "Little Bo Peep". I made these little gift boxes following a simple set of box origami instructions that I'd googled earlier on. I also decorated them with embellishments, which took very little time! They can be stuffed with treats for the mommy to be, the precious new baby, or the party's guests - the possibilities are endless!

I made the little banner embellishments (gift toppers) using Little Bo Peep, as well as the gift boxes.

The collection's embellishments are easily made into a focal point for the gift boxes. A couple snippets of patterned paper, fabric netting, and one or two elements, is all that is needed to create one!

 

CP Girl :: Anabelle O'Malley

Anabelle's layout plays hostess to many of Little Bo Peep's offerings. What we like most are the glittered die-cut wood shapes - their dark edging is a nice contrast to the lightly hued, sparkling glitter she used. Very pretty!

 

CP Girl :: Charlene Cundy

This sweet, sweet mini album from CP Girl, Charlene Cundy, is the kind of project that Little Bo Peep is very well suited for. The antiqued vanilla pages, patterned papers, and self-made embellishments are a literal extension of the collection's vintage-like qualities and 1950's vibe. There's so much to look at, too! It's just gorgeous!

 

CP Girl :: Lilith Eckels

Baby layouts are so much fun to create because there's lots of topics to cover. Always though, is the challenge of choosing which photo's to scrapbook first! Laugh. Of course, portraits are a favorable option - lilith devoted two layouts to just portraits and they are totally precious!

 

CP Girl :: Piradee Talvanna

We're going to finish up with one more project Crate's "Everyday" collection, Story Teller! These tags from Piradee are almost impossible for us to summarize via one sentence, but we love the beautiful detailing and antiqued backgrounds that characterize each and every single one of them. They're Truly a work of art!

Thanks for stopping by the Crate Blog everyone! See you tomorrow!

 

May's Designer Gallery :: Part I

 

 

So we admit, Pretty Party isn't just for parties. It's a super cute collection for "MOMS", too! With Mother's Day around the corner, creating something handmade to celebrate the special day is a tradition for many. So, when Roree Rumph shared her "Mother's Day" potted flowers with us, we thought, "What a GREAT gift idea!" Her timing is perfect!

 Roree kindly put together a supply list for creating the beautiful blossom display...

*Pretty Party Paper {Confetti, Party Guest, Papercloth, Spool, Streamers}, Pretty Party Chipboard, Pretty Party Eclectic Buttons, Pretty Party Fabric & Epoxy Brads, Farmhouse Alpha Set, Farmhouse Border Stickers, Farmhouse Eclectic Buttons, Art Minds Simply Surfaces Flower Pots, Embroidery Thread, Craft Sticks, Cricut Expression 2, and Sweet Treats Cartridge. 

 

Sometimes, it's just more fun to create "mini" cards - we think so, at least! They're a quick gift topper, too! Here's what Claudia had to say about them..

"Hello, Hello, Calduia here with a mini card trio featuring chipboard pieces from the Story Teller collection. The little flower pieces are adorable, and I really like the pop of color. I like them so much, that I made them the focal point of the cards. Again, in the light of the Spring Season, these are the perfect as "hello" or "thank-you" cards. For the background, I randomly splattered some water color paint, just enough to create a touch of whimsy."

 

As you might of already guessed, these two precious layouts are from our white space extraordinaire, Jaime Warren. Both echo heartfelt sentiments using Crate's Pretty Party and Story Teller collections. 

 

A trip overseas to San Francisco has left Sasha Farina with a host of never-forgotten moments. From what we hear, she aspires to return ;) And check out her "stamped airplanes" on Story Teller's quintessential map patterned paper!

 Thank-you kindly to all of the designers that contributed toward today's Designer Gallery. And to our visitors, make sure to check out yesterday's ongoing giveaway via Tara Anderson's "It's a Wrap!" gallery - bring your favorite birthday gift with you!