Crate Paper

Sweet Folded Heart :: Kelly Noel

Hi there! Kelly Noel here to give you today's Crate Paper tutorial. Today, I'm going to show you how to make a folded paper accent for your projects. I was inspired by these images I have stored on my tumblr page that I saved from Love. Obsess. Inspire. a few months back. My original plan was to do a folded title, but wow, that is harder than it looks! So, I settled on this folded heart accent for my page instead and it was much simpler and I love the result. 

First, here's the layout..

 

 

 
 

Here's what you'll need to make this:

• Refinish paper
• Fringe paper
• Cent paper
• Restoration Art Brads, Phrase Stickers & Border Stickers
• Chipboard letters
• Twine
• Buttons

 

The heart is created with a small series of folds. It's hard to put it into words, but hopefully it will come across more clear with the photos. You'll need to start out with a strip of patterned paper (double sided works best!) trimmed to 1/2" by 12". To make the paper more "bendable", you can roll a pencil under one side of it, back and forth a few times to soften it up a little. Start by making a loop..basically one side of the heart. Fold down on the curved part and you'll see it makes more of a square shaped corner for the heart with the opposing side of the paper showing through now. The middle fold is just one fold up, then back down again and flattened out. Create another loop for the other half of the heart and repeat what you did for the first loop. Then trim the edges where the strip overlaps itself and adhere the ends together and you have your basic heart shape. 

 

 

To finish it off and add a little more punch, I added tiny pop dots to the back of my heart and adhered the shape onto a green piece of pattern paper. Then, I simply trimmed the excess green paper from around the edge and adhered the entire thing to my page. 

The possibilities are really endless with this...you could create starts, frames for your photos, fun folded borders or if you're braver than I was, you could even try your hand at the folded title! ;) I hope you've enjoyed this simple quick tutorial! If you try it out, be sure to link us to your project - we'd love to see! 

Designer Swatch Contest Winner!!

 

We had the chance to meet the many of you that attended CHA Summer a few weeks ago, including those of you that stopped by our booth to pick up your 3" x 3" pattern paper swatch for our CHA Designer Contest. Already we've arrived at the moment of announcing the winner as August 5th has passed by us quite suddenly, which just so happened to be the last day to submit your 3" x 3" swatch projects! Can you believe it's already been almost two weeks since we've said good-bye to CHA? In a big way, this is a really good sign because the new collections are about to SHIP!! Yes, you'll soon be able to purchase the new collections at your favorite scrapbook stores! With that said, and because we think you're going to aspire to new creative endeavors with our wares, we're sharing today's "Designer Challenge" WINNER and their take on the new papers. Also posted are the runner-ups! And here they are in no particular order (accept for the first, which is our winner of course!) as all are gorgeous to look at! A special thank-you to those designers that participated in the contest - it was a pleasure meeting you at the show! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It didn't take us long to fall in love with this mini album from Michelle Woith. It was a delightful surprise when it arrived, so we've nominated it the winner of our designer contest! Congratulations Michelle - send your address to [email protected] - don't forget to mention which collection you prefer as well - thanks and congrats again!

 

 

 

 

 

 

These found their way to Crate Paper from Milagros Rivera, a teacher and designer from Puerto Rico. Her houses vary in size from 1" - 1 3/4" and were started as an ode to Lolly Chessie's trees, which she felt were lonely and in need of company. She's made Lolly a entire villa to coincide with her trees - can anyone just say that these are the cutest houses ever?! We could totally see the houses and trees keeping each other company :) They'd be the best of companions! 

 

 

 

Amazingly, Samantha Taylor found a way to use all our new pattern papers at once on a single project! We've been informed that her wall hanging will be on display at A Walk Down Memory Lane to show off our new collections - we couldn't be happier! Thanks Samantha!

 

 

 

A perfect-for-school "Love to Read" bookmark sent to us from Tanis Giesbrecht - another one of our favorites from the contest! 

Thank-You again Designers!! We wish the rest of you a great week & weekend! Find a new tutorial here tomorrow from our CP Girl, Kelly Noel! 

 

The Homework Box :: Michelle Lanning

Hello there! Michelle Lanning here to share with you a little back to school homework box. I know, I can't believe it either. School is right around the corner and I thought that putting this box together for my daughter would be a great way to start off the year. I hope you like it!

 

For this Project you will need:

• Box
• School Spirit Line Pattern Paper & Embellishments
• Glue
• Double Sided Tape
• Alpha Letters for the top
• School Supplies
• Decorative Tape for finishing the edges

 

We have a rule in our house that homework must be finished before any playing or television is put on. Being a teacher I try to practice what I preach and made a little homework box that has everything she should need when completing her homework. That way there is no getting up from the table and searching for things. It wastes precious time and allows her to lose her focus. Last year, I made my daughter a basket with all her supplies, but there would be times when things would fall out, misplaced, etc. So when I found this box over at Michael's at 50% off I knew it would make a perfect homework box.

 

As you can see it is a decent sized box that can be filled nicely with all her supplies. I made sure to pick a box that had a color inside that would be useable with the School Spirit line. I started by covering the top of the box first. I simply traced the top and the back so I could cut it out in one piece. 

 

 

 

To make sure that the folds were crisp I placed it along the top and made marks where the lines of the box were. Then with my bone folder I creased in these areas so there was a nice crisp edge. 

That was probably the trickiest part to the box. The bottom was simple since they are triangular shapes. You just need to mark off where they need to be cut and that's it! Super Easy!

 The next part was embellishing! The fun part, right?!

 

 

 

I just added some embellishments to the top as well as the tab where the box opens. I used one of the layered chipboard pieces. 

 

 

Of course, I couldn't leave it alone and decided to spruce up the supplies I have bought her. Although my daughter has a tub full of crayons, I like for her to have her "homework" crayons as well. Glue (that I know won't last long but for now it's super cute), scissors (almost forgot to add), pencils, sharpener, erasers. And then of course the teacher in me knows that she'll need a ring of index cards for her sight words. I spruced up the front and will add the words as she progresses through the year.

 

 

 

 

I hope you liked this. I'm saving it for the first day homework as a surprise to my daughter and I know she'll think it's "so cool"! Ha, ha. It's definitely a life saving tip when you have so many things to do in the evenings AND get homework done. This will make your life a little easier!

A Big Picture Scrapbooking Event!

We're honored and delighted to be sponsoring an exciting, upcoming event over at Big Picture Scrapbooking - "Big Idea Festival". Haven't heard about it yet? Well, if you're as familiar with Big Picture as we are, then you know that the Summer event will be a fun filled opportunity to learn and explore everything that Big Picture has to offer, including some of the best instructors out there to date! We offered up a dozen or so Crate Paper Collection Kits for Big Picture to giveaway in celebration of the event. They'll be available for grabs on August 13th! Check out link below for further details!!

 

 

 

join us for the Big Idea Festival!

 Are you looking for some fun and free inspiration? Then join us for the Big Idea Festival at Big Picture Scrapbooking!

Each summer, Big Picture Scrapbooking hosts a free online event packed full of ideas and layouts created by their instructors. This year, in addition to all of the inspiration, there will also be daily challenges and tons of prizes. Crate Paper is proud to be sponsoring the event, and you could win some of our wonderful products!

What are you waiting for? Registration is free and easy! Click here for the full details (http://www.bigpicturescrapbooking.com/summerfun10.php).

We hope to see you at the Big Idea Festival!

A Simple yet Chic Mini Album with Restoration

Hi Gals (& Guys..maybe..I guess) :)

Ania here with my very first tutorial for Crate Paper - Yay! First, let me come clean and admit something. This project - a mini album - came together because I've recently been a bad girl. I promised my mom (as usual) that I'd send grandma a postcard (as usual) during my vacation, but some how, I kept putting it off 'til it was too late. Ugh. Bad & Embarrassing, I know. So, I figured I'd make up for it by making her a mini album instead..but, don't think I'm good because I made her a mini. I'm actually terrible at making amends...

There - I said it! Let's continue, shall we?! 

 

Here's what you'll need:

• At least two sheets of Patterned Paper (Restoration Collection)
• Embellishments (Restoration & Pink Plum Collections)
• Scoring Tool/Bone Folder
• Ruler
• Mod Podge/Sealer/Multi-Medium Matte (Claudine Hellmuth)
• Adhesive (Both Liquid & Double-sided)
• Sewing Machine
• Bazzill Cardstock
• Fiskars Edge Puncher
• Staples
• Adorn It Letters/Alphas
• Prima Flower

 

 

Cut a strip of the patterned paper you'd like as your cover. Based on my photos (which was four images printed on a 4" x 6" sheet) I determined my mini would be 3 1/4" tall and 4.5" long (the cover is slightly longer - the inner pages are 4.5" though). Using a center finder ruler, measure the area in the middle to create a series of accordion folds for the binding of the album (an extra inch or two of paper length required for this part of the album - think about this when trimming paper for your own album.)

Note: In hindsight, I should of probably used a separate piece of cardstock or double patterned paper for this part (accordion section), because in the end, there was a noticeable amount of white between the pages. I loved the edges of the die-cut paper though, so I had to use it! 

 

 

Measure so that you can create nine creases between between the front and back of your album (yielding four "inner-tops" = 8 pages (front & back)). This part is when I wish I had some kind of scoring tool! :P If you're without one, use a metal ruler or bone folder instead. 

 

 

Take a sheet of patterned paper, cut one side to 9", then turn and cut it into "four" 3" strips. The inner pages should be slightly smaller in height.  Fold them in two (yielding 3" x 4.5" pages for your mini). 

 

 

Optional: Paint the cover with mod podge/sealer to make it stronger.

 

 

While the cover is drying, create a cover-embellishment for your album. I opted to create a frame using pieces from the Restoration collection: Chipboard, Paper, Rub-Ons & Stickers. Test your embellishments loosely before adhering them down. 

 

 

Here is my finished cover piece: Layered Paper, Chipboard Frame & Flower, No. 19 Rub-On, Label Sticker, Rhinestones & Button w/Tie.

 

 

Decorate your inner pages. I loved this pattern paper, Slipcover, so much that I didn't want to cover it up. Hence this simple set-up with bare patterned paper, photos and an occasional brad or chipboard piece. 

Note: you can also trim the pages individually, though I wanted to preserve the folds. 

 

 

After all the pages are done, adhere the pages together. Apply liquid glue to each crease and insert page into crease - press the crease around the page to ensure that page adheres appropriately. Make sure the page is deep into the crease and all the way in. Rinse & repeat with the other pages.

 

 

When done, press the mini together (watch out for adhesive between the pages themselves - wipe any spilled glue away)

 

 

I decided to make a small spine cover to place over the creases of my album. Pre-measure and trim to size a small section of pattern paper to fit over the spine and punch edges using a decorative border punch (fiskars). Don't forget to apply mod podge/sealer to this one as well!

 

 

Apply adhesive the sides (not middle section!) of inner spine cover. Add to album and leave in place!

  

 

All righty - all that remains is to adhere the cover-embellishment we made earlier on! 

And here's the finished mini in all it's glory..let's hope grandma enjoy this so much that she'll forget I didn't send her a postcard this Summer *cough* :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Premiering {CP Tutorials}

We've been sort of keeping a secret from you guys, but not intentionally as it's a good sort of secret. It's the kind we hope will have you returning here again and again!! A month or so ago, us CP Girls decided it was time to start updating this place five days a week because everyone *hearts* new stories, new projects, new contests and all the other stuff that makes a blog "the place to be"! We knew the only we could do it though was to enlist the help of our new CP Girls (technically, there not all that new anymore, but you know what we're saying) and sure enough, they all jumped on board with our GRAND plans upon joining the team. Beginning next week (yes, very soon!), CP is going to host a series of exciting weekly tutorials (around THREE or so tutorials a week!!) and the tutorials will be presented directly from none other than the awesome CP Girls! We're going to show you fabulous, fresh new ways to use our Crate Paper goodies in a more hand's-on approach that you'll be destined to want to participate in..all that's required to follow along of course is your favorite Crate Paper products and frequent trips to the CP blog, so add us to your blog feed if you haven't already! As plans would have it, the first tutorial goes LIVE on Monday (see the sneak peek below)! 

 

  

 

How is this for a bit a good news on a Friday? We can't wait to start sharing this feature with our blog readers..it's something we've been thinking a lot about lately and thankfully, we were able to make it happen - now that we've shed light on our little secret, you tell us what you think of tutorials - are you a huge fan of them? What kind of tutorials would you love to see here? What sort of crafting do you most enjoy? We look forward to reading your responses and will pass on your suggestions to our CP Design Team. Thanks ahead of time you guys! Have a great weekend!

A Final CHA Presentation

This is IT for CHA projects from our awesome CP girls! It'll be our last big post of the week (beside's tomorrow's really good news!!) as we're about to head out of town for the weekend. We took special care in sharing these last set of creations with you as we've reformatted the presentation just slightly. One of our big goals is to inspire you to think more about our new collections as they'll soon be available at your favorite local scrapbook stores and online scrapbook venues. If you've been patiently waiting for a chance to play with the NEW collections, you won't have to wait much longer! You're favorite Crate Paper goodies are well on there way to our warehouse and  are expected to arrive shortly - as to when they'll ship, we'll keep you informed. Watch our blog for a week-to-week update! And now for some deliciousness!! Let's take a peek at the last set of projects, shall we?! 

 

 

It may have not of been Christmas the day Lolly sent us her quirky, delightful Christmas trees (there are three, though we have photos of only this one to share with you today), but you better believe it sure felt like Christmas after opening Lolly's pretty present to us! From what we've heard, her trees are a total hit amongst the craft community - she'll soon show us how to create them via tutorial...hint, hint. Nudge, nudge. 

 

 

 

School Spirit isn't just about the classroom, it's about all aspects of the academic experience, including sports! Michelle Lanning demonstrates the softer side of the collection via this precious layout about her daughter's "go-get'em" spirit in being the only girl on her softball team! What a true champ! 

 

 

 

 

 

School is full of "first's"..returning back to school is an exciting, exhilarating moment for most kids. Ronda Palazzari shares her kiddo's first big day before heading off on the bus! Look at them with their backpacks and perfectly tied shoes - they're so ready to go! We luv it! 

 

 

 

This is one of those layouts you just have to see in person!! It has a lot of strong textural elements that we took to almost immediately. It was definitely one of our faves in the booth! It's creator is sweet & talented Lori Gentile :)

 

 

 

The little journal cards from our School Spirit line make the perfect place for jotting down small tidbits all about the classroom, though Lucy Edson thought to journal something entirely different on one of the cards (trimmed from "Grade Card" pattern paper). Instead of focusing on the school year itself, she documented the very last days of her daughter's final Summer before Kindergarten...so quickly time flies!

 

 

 

 

This was our first go at introducing cards at the Crate Paper booth and they were a popular item during the show. Quite a few attendees picked them up and peeked inside them - who could resist holding these beautiful cards from Sarah Martina?! They're exceptionally exquisite and a joy to admire when in one's hands. We had four of her cards on display in the booth and all will follow us to future shows!

Well CP devotees, you've seen them all and it's been a pleasure sharing them with you these last couple of days! We have plans to bring forward even more for you in the coming weeks, but with a slight twist - we'll fill you in tomorrow! :))

 

New Traditions + CHA Yumminess

As we mentioned yesterday, we're moving forward with projects presented at our booth during last week's event, CHA. Tomorrow will more than likely be our final post devoted to the event and then beginning next week, we have a new tradition assuming a role here on the Crate Paper blog. You may now be wondering what it is we're up to, but alas, we're keeping it a secret!! We thought this place could use an inspiration boost, so we've enlisted our CP Girls to help us out with the blog and what they'll be providing is something you're going to thoroughly enjoy!! We won't mention anything beyond this small bit of news though, so you'll have to join us this Friday to find out more..we'll disclose the full details then! Here are a few more lovely creations from Crate's booth!

 

 

 

 

 

This layout was sent to us all the way from Brazil. We requested it last minute from Larissa Albernaz to have in the booth because we thought it to be absolutely gorgeous! We think you'll feel the same way about it...to see it in person was an absolute treat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We appreciate the practical and classic clean lines of Mou Saha's layouts. They always have a hint of quirk too..which we always think is kinda fun :) Another great addition to the booth!

 

 

 

 

Santa would look happily upon this layout from Kelly Noel while drinking the generous glass of milk left to him ever-so-kindly from her son. We believe Snow Days to be our brightest, most colorful Winter collection yet! Our Snow Day creations really stood out at the show!

 

 

 

 

Even though Jen Chesnick openly confessed to us that she's more of an altered project kind-of-gal, she volunteered a layout for the booth - we excitedly accepted and turns out, her layouts are just as cute as her altered projects! She worked wonders with our Restoration collection!

  As mentioned already, our final CHA post is tomorrow and then it's time for us to move on. We'll continue to promote and inspire you with our new collections almost each and every day from this point forward, so do check back often! Exciting changes are on the horizon here at the ol' blog! Stay tuned! Have a Wonderful Wednesday you guys!!

 

Couldn't of done it without the CP Girls!!

In the madness of it all, we still managed to organize one of the BEST design teams in the world just prior to CHA. We feel greatly lucky to have them on board with Crate Paper! When their projects showed up one by one at the Crate Paper booth, we couldn't help but admire what our team had created..we laid the projects out next to each other and took note of the many techniques and ideas our team had come up with for utilizing our new collections. As a whole, we'd never seen anything like it before, so we were especially pleased and proud of our booth and our team...many of our customers spent time navigating the projects while deciding which collections to take home with them. Some took photos while other's simply glanced at them. The end result was a successful show and phenomenal designers! It just wouldn't of been the same without their creations! So this week, we've decided to spend some extra time focusing on the projects we had on display in our booth during the event - some of you have already seen them up-close and personal..this is for those of you that hadn't the chance to attend the event. We asked our designers to photograph their works before sending them to us and we also asked for a couple of detail shots - we'll be posting them here throughout the week and we'd love for you to check them out! We've not shown them before, so they're entirely fresh and new! THANKS CP Girls!!

 

 

 

 
 
 Davinie's layouts are always breathtaking - she has a special talent for inventing one-of-kind techniques that one can often identify as belonging to her. We especially enjoyed her use of our Snow Day chipboard circles. They're simple, fun and remind us so much of "snow". Very cute! 

 

 

 

 

 

From Snow Day to Restoration, we knew this layout had to be Jaime Warrens!! She's one of our layering queens on the team...we imagine she'll continue to surprise us more and more layers over the next five months. We're fond of layers at CP :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amy Heller emphasizes what we like most about Restoration - it's bright inviting color palette is a favorite among many, including us! Her cards are simply gorgeous!

 

 

This card sort of caught us by surprise at the show. It arrived quite unexpectedly from Heidi Sonboul. We immediately noticed the popped-up pattern paper design created as a background for the card. We thought it was awfully inventive and oh so fun! 

 We'll return tomorrow with another round of CHA projects from our design team! As a quick REMINDER to those designers that picked up one of our 3" x 3" pattern paper swatches during the CHA event, please send us images of your thoughtful, exemplary creations - you have 'til August 5th to submit! There's a free collection up for grabs..we'll announce the winning designer next week! 

 

We Have Winners!!

Oh YES we do!! We have TWO of them to announce today because School Spirit it also awaiting a home from our "School Memories" contest that was posted last week. We sort of fell a little behind in selecting a winner for the school memories giveaway - we do apologize for this. Most of us CP Girls were at CHA and as a result, were away from our computers almost the entire week!! Now that we're finally home, we're super excited to bring forth today's two tremendously lucky WINNERS. With nearly four total collections up for grabs, we should have at least two people jumping up and down before this post is said and done. One of them will probably be jumping higher than the other because they'll have won all three of our new collections! It's not the sort of giveaway we do everyday here at CP, so this post is especially thrilling for us!! Of course, we'll have more giveaways to share with you in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned if you didn't win today!

 

First collection to go out is School Spirit - We love this quirky relatable story! Who doesn't remember driving around in a junk mobile during high school?  A lot of good memories made while perusing the town with friends in the ol' car...congrats Jennifer D. - email us at [email protected] with your shipping info!!

My High School Crush and I constantly competed on who had the better car (trust me it was hilarious because we both drove rusted out beater cars but we were convinced they were the coolest). One day we decided to race them in the parking lot (I know we were bad). We started at the starting line reving our engines all cool and stuff and then I stalled my car. I was so embarrased. He was laughing so hard that he ended up stalling his. We never did actually race them :) It was so funny and such a great memory!

Thanks for the chance to win this A++ collection! - Jennifer D. {July 23, 2010 at 1:18pm}

 

Ok, here's the BIGGIE! Snow Day, School Spirit & Restoration will be going to:

Since I am in the "shopping for school supplies mode", I have to say that the School Spirit line is my favoriteI usually buy my things from Embellish online for a few reasons. I like to get the whole pack but also like to get a few extra sheets of my favorite papers and of course the embellishments. Two sheets just isn't always enough! Hope they will carry these new lines (hint hint). - Cindy Wood {July 30, 2010 at 7:52pm}

 We hope so too Cindy W.! After the collections arrive at your doorstep, you should have plenty of paper and embellishments to fulfill almost all your scrappy needs this coming school year! A huge CONGRATS to you!! Email your shipping address to [email protected]

 

Thanks to all for sharing your comments with us and playing along with our giveaways! This has been so much fun!!