Crate Paper

The Sketch Challenge--June 2011 Edition

Welcome to the June Sketch Challenge! I am really excited to see what everyone does with this sketch, it's a bit different in that there's not a specific place for a photo. You get to decide where the photo goes, I had an idea, but wanted to leave it open to interpretation. It was fun to see what the team did with the sketch, so I know you all won't disappoint me either. I am loving bakers' twine, so I added some of that and some pinked circle tags to draw your eye down the page finish it off. Here are the rules as always, please note the due date has been moved back just a bit to allow more time for creating!

• You have until midnight (MDT) Sunday the 26th to work on the sketch. 
• Projects must use at 50% Crate Paper products, new releases are not required.
• Sketch can be a layout, cards, tags, or other project, just make sure they are newly created for the challenge.
• Scan/Photograph your project (you needn't send detail shots) and send it to info@cratepaper.com. Please try to size your project to 600 x 600.
• Remember to send it in, don't simply link it on this post. You're welcome to link it, but it will only be considered an entry if you send it in.
• If you share a link to your blog, I'll be sure to include that if you're the winner or in the top 5.
• Winner will be selected based on quality or invention of work. I will send my top 5 to the Crate Paper office, then they'll choose one winner to be announced on Wednesday the 29th. I'll share some of my favorites with you at that time too.

Here's the sketch:

[Stitches from Tia Bennett's Spool of Stitches from www.twopeasinabucket.com, all other designs copyright mlepitts designs 2011]

For my version, I left most of the middle strip out and moved everything over the the left. I replaced the pinked circle tags with a mixture of buttons, punched doilies, and stickers. My photo was overexposed, but I wanted to play that up, so I kept everything as light and airy as possible. I loved the stitch lines, so I kept those and made them hold my photo in place and help draw your eye down the column.

Anne Jo went way outside her comfort zone with this sketch and I applaud her for it. She said she couldn't for the life of her get it perfect, but I think she did a fabulous job. I love how easily the sketch turns into a card, all those layers are amazing popped up like this, don't you think?

 

Lexi played along and made the center column much bigger to frame her fun 1970s photo. I love that the woodgrain from Emma's Shopped works so nicely to compliment the wood paneling in the photo. Instead of circular tags, Lexi made her own flowers out of the trims from the Neighborhood collection, what a fun way to use trims!

And I'm so happy Davinie was able to squeeze in some time to create for the sketch. She's been B.U.S.Y. with end of the year school commitments, so I really appreciate that she played along this month. Dav turned the sketch sideways and moved some things around, but you can still see the column and circular elements. I always love how she uses punches on her pages, these circles with the background paper showing through are a fun touch! 

OK, now it's your turn to play! I love this next week, it's always fun to see how many different versions you can create out of one sketch! 

The final conclusion of last week's "Wedding Week" has arrived and with it our the three Crate & Barrel Gift Certificate winners that we've yet to announce! Because we opted to extend the deadline for challenge submissions, today was the newly assigned day for the big winner extravaganza and if you're visiting because you submitted a challenge entry, then may we suggest you scan below to find out if your project was selected as one of the three {Love Story, Wedding Day Recap & Wedding DIY} - if a familiar name appears to you, email us with your shipping info at cpblog@cratepaper.com..drum roll, please.

 

Love Story

Love stories are meant to be told and this Cassie's as provided in her email to us when having sent her layout:

"Robb knew I loved playing on the beach in Old Saybrook, CT as a kid, so one day, August 2007, as we were sitting on a bench at the very same beach, Robb got down on one knee and proposed marriage. I, of course, said YES! Two years later, we sat on the same bench as a married couple. August 2010, we sat on the this bench together while I was 9 1/2 months pregnant. This Summer, 2011, we sit on this bench together with our beautiful son, Charlie. This bench is, oddly enough, ver dear to me - as are you, Robb."

A gift certificate awaits you Cassie! The genuine and meaningful nature of your journaling caught our attention and we felt instantly that you were our winner for the "Love Story" category - what a very powerful story you've shared with us! Thank-you.

 

 Wedding Day Recap

 The Wedding Day arrives and departs so quickly and we know this for a fact since it's been a fair number of years since the very special, never-forgotten day we'd united and committed ourselves to marriage. Rebecca Keppel has shared a glimpse into her wedding day from August of 2003 via her submission, a layout of multiple, groom & bride photos along with an eye catching banner decorated with Portrait's stickers and chipboard.  Congratulations to you as well Rebecca, you're also the grand prize winner of a C & B Gift Certificate! You're layout is exquisitely beautiful...

  

DIY Wedding

Kim Hurst so easily reminds us how natural Portrait looks when featured next to neighboring, authentic vintage materials such as the ones she's intricately partnered with the likes of thread, fabric, vintage buttons and Portrait's Portraiture chipboard. Here's a brief summary about Kim's "Vintage Thrift Wedding" display:

This is an album cover I made for the keepsake notes and wishes that the guests would write to the happy couple. The album is assembled from chipboard layered with vintage sewing tissue patterns then machine stitched.  The cover is a layered combination of burlap, tissue, crocheted lace trim, vintage trim cut from a tea towel, vintage glass buttons amongst a ribbon rosette, and other embellishments that fit theme.  Then finished off with a "classic wedding" chipboard CP accent machine stitched to hold it in place on top all the layers.

 And Kim, you are today's last winner of a Crate & Barrel Gift Certificate! Thank-you for inviting us a glimpse of the couple's guest note table - a table embellished that beautifully more than likely attracted enough guests to fill that entire basket! Such an inviting presentation...

As we say good-bye to Wedding Week, Crate Paper would like to formally thank all of those that contributed their efforts and time towards the challenge! We'd received quite a few entries and selecting only three of them was an almost impossible feat for us. We sincerely appreciate your following the event and giving us an opportunity to partake in some of Crate's favorite activities, including admiring the work of our fans! You've absolutely made our week and we look forward to doing this again at some point - THANK-YOU!

And Congrats once again to the aforementioned winners...

June Crate Color Challenge Winner

 
 
 
Hello - hello!  I'm back to announce the WINNER of this months Crate Color Challenge! With nearly 50 challenge entries from this past week, it was easy to tell that this month's color palette was a fan favorite! Thank you to all who sent me your lovely cards, projects and layouts (as well as the sweet comments!)

Since we had so many participants and beautiful projects to choose from, we decided that one winner simply could not be enough. So, I'm excited to announce that there will be 2 Color Challenge winners this month!  

For our 1st Color Challenge winner, I chose this gorgeous layout by Melissa Stinson! Congrats, Melissa! We loved her simple approach to this months color palette and those pretty-flowery photos.

 

 And for our 2nd Color Challenge winner, congrats to Natt Smith! We were quite impressed with the altered chalkboard that she made! The balance of colors were just perfect for this month's color palette and the sweet little "scrap" banner is a super cute addition! 

  

 

I'll share some more of the wonderful layouts that I received this past week!

Project Artist: Cindy Lee

 

Project Artist: Justina Lu

Project Artist: Ebony van der Starre

 

Project Artist: Hélène Lambert

 

Project Artist: Kat Poole

 

Project Artist: Rachael Funnell

We also received some particularly sweet cards this month too!

Project Artist: Anabelle O'Malley

 

Project Artist: Marinette

 

Project Artist: Sarah Bargo

Thank you, again, to all of the Crate Paper fans who played along with the challenge this month! It's always wonderful to wake up each morning to an inbox full of inspiring layouts and projects from you all! Be sure to join me next month for an easy-breezy summer inspired color palette and until then friends ~ HAPPY CREATING! ~ Tara

Crate Paper Sponsorship :: Made With Love

We'd just recently been given the honor to sponsor a very unique, fashion forward event for a highly popular, established scrapbooking retail outlet commonly familiar to  Singapore's scrapbook community as "Made With Love". About a week or so ago, they opened a second, brand new location in Indonesia and during it's grand opening, they hosted a one-of-a-kind, first ever Paper Couture Show. The show itself encompassed finely attuned, carefully tailored dresses made from pattern papers of multiple companies, ours included! Do you recognize Emma's Shoppe anywhere? Our pattern paper designs have been transformed into a gorgeous dress - that's right, an actual dress! And check out the other dresses too - they're truly stunning! 

That being said, we'd like to formally congratulate "Made With Love" on the new location and simply inform them we're delighted to see what they've done with our papers! If you've a moment to spare, you'll find the entire debut of dresses at their blog and also, news of the grand opening of their second store in Indonesia! If you're in the area, stop by the store and give them our hello's! What an amazing display of talent...

Crate Paper's Recognized & Noted

We're experimenting with a brand new feature on the Crate Paper blog this week and we're hoping you'll be excited about it because it essentially involves the focus shifting to one centrally recognized project having been noted and admired by the Crate Paper staff upon it's arrival at the Crate Paper inbox. Nearly every week, our inbox is flooded with emails from our fans that really enjoy sharing their work with us and are wanting to participate in our Reader's Gallery. Every once in a while, a mega project is sent that we fall instantly in love with, though because of space limitations, we're not always able to showcase the project in it's entirely. As a result, a major inspiration opportunity is missed and the project doesn't receive the full recognition it deserves.

We decided that in order to best resolve this issue, we'd develop a more accommodating means of sharing sizable "reader-made" projects - it's called "Crate's Recognized & Noted". The new feature's to be posted once or twice a month and will highlight a favored, large size project from one of our regular blog readers. When a project is chosen for the feature, it's artisan will be emailed with a request for a small bio and headshot. The project will then post on the Crate Paper blog for a full day and in return, the artisan will receive a collection kit of their choice! 

To participate in the new feature, we ask that the project be of a substantial size and include at least 80% Crate Paper {Old & New is welcome!}. An example of this would be a multi-page mini album, altered items, multiple cards, party decor, etc. Please submit multiple images of your project if specifically submitting for this feature. Also, include a blog address {not required} and tell us a little bit about your project so that if selected, a small summary about your project is available to our readers. 

Have a Crate Paper project you'd love for us to "Recognize & Note" on our blog? Send it to cpblog@cratepaper.com :)

Our first "Recognized & Noted" handmade entry comes to us from halfway around the world! It's of a lovely, shabby chic mini album from Veridiana Fromm. It's central theme is of her adorable daughter - It's truly the cutest thing ever, so run and take a peek...

But first, a word from the artist:

My name is Veridiana and I'm from Germany. Together, with my husband, our two children and the beagle, Bluna, we live in an old house near Koln.

I'm very interested in all kinds of creative mediums as I'm always compelled to create something with my hands. I'm not sure which I dig more, the process or the end result...

I studied practical art and art history and at the moment, I'm working as a teacher for primary school.

Two years ago, I started scrapbooking. My first act was a minibook with Natasja Verbeek. After then, I was infected by scrapbook fever!

My earliest memories of me crafting during my childhood was with paper and today, I continue down the path of vast varieties of paper, embellishments, stamps, etc.

 

When I saw the sneak peeks of Emma's Shoppe and Neighborhood, I fell in love with them instantly! I kept asking for them over and over again before they were finally made available through my favorite online stores.

I decided to use the extra girly paper to make a "Good-Bye Early Childhood" mini album for our daughter. She's grown oh-so-fast and the book is created to remember the first "Pink-Doll-Princess-Years" of her life. 

Thank-you Veridiana for allowing us to show our blog reader's your heartfelt album about your daughter! The colors, details and self-made binding captured our attention the most..and the ruffled fabric, well, who doesn't aspire to ruffles these days? So Precious...thank you, again. 

 

Here we are, almost at the very end of what has turned out to be a spectacular week of wedding craftiness and still, there's one more day to bring you before we officially move on to our reader's projects..which by the way, we've unanimously decided to extend the deadline for! You've now 'til Wendnesday, June 15th {8:00pm Central Time} to submit a challenge entry! If this is your first time hearing of the challenge, you'll be able to locate the details at our Monday blog post entry from earlier this week. We've up for grabs three $50 Gift Certificates to Crate and Barrel {the popular furniture/home decor retail outlet!} that we'll be giving away to three very happy shoppers come next week. Because of the deadline extension, winners are expected to announce on Thursday, June 16th. Also on this day, both winners and runner-ups will be highlighted via the posting of their project images on our blog! *Please, mark your calendars accordingly...

Moving along, the gift opening ceremony is the final farewell and conclusion of every wedding and with it, there are numerous chances to include a handmade item or two, even though the party is nearly over. With so many photographs probably having been taken at this point, there are still tons of options to be taken advantage of. Also, them gifts need dressing, including pretty tags, cards and gift wrap, don't you think? Here are a few samples to fill the requirements of both creative opportunities on gift giving day...

CP Designer: Jaime Warren

I just love Crate's Portrait line - the little chipboard accents are perfect for cards and gift tags. For both my card and tag, I layered on lots of the chipboard elements, as well as some hand-cut flower details. They add just the right amount of texture and dimension! Also, the flowers give way to a pop of color against the black/cream polka dots!

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CP Designer: Kinsey Wilson

I've been noticing a trend in the past year or so of people renting photo booths for their weddings, so with that in mind, I made a photo-strip mini album! I designed it with my dream wedding color scheme: Woodgrain, Yellow, Grey, Black and Cream. Not too frilly or over-the top - just the way I like things - understated!

Since the photo booth strips measure approximately 8.5" x 2.25", I built my album so that the covers and pages are 10" x 4". I bound it using the accordion fold method. I left all of the pages blank so that the guests could tape their own photos into the album using washi tape and also, to add their own journaling or fun messages to the bride and groom..fun, right?! 

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CP Designer: Mou Saha

I strayed away from the traditional 'to and from' concept with my wedding tags. While I mostly used Accent Cuts, stickers and chipboard from the Portrait collection, I also used some Emma's Shoppe Play House pattern paper in the background. I cut out a frame from an accent cut and used pop dots to frame a photo of the couple. Again, I focused on the two little birds on the green Accent Cut and cut it out to create the Love Birds tag. Some punching, tearing and layering later, my two tags were ready!

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CP Designer: Michelle Lanning

My sister got married just a little over a year ago and I had been meaning to make her something as an anniversary gift. This frame with the beautiful Portrait collection was definitely the right way to go! I used the 6 x 6 Portrait pattern paper pad for cutting the small squares and rectangles. My sister has a spare room that is very vintage-y and I wanted this to fit perfectly with the style. I added some spritz ink to the edges of the (frame). It gave the perfect touch that I was seeking and I knew my sister would just love it! 

*Quick Tip: I used hot glue to adhere all of the embellishments (except the ribbon). This was to make sure that everything stayed in place and that it could take some abuse if necessary. And one more additional tip, if you apply a substantial amount of hot glue, it'll create a three dimensional look that is common to other adhesives. 

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We want to sincerely thank our CP Girls for helping us make Crate's Wedding Week a sensational, eye-catching success! This has really been a spectacular week for us and we hope it's been the same for you too - much fun has been had and we couldn't of done it without our vast and varied, talented design team! Thank-you so much ladies!!

And real quick before saying good-bye to the big week - the Two randomly selected Portrait collection WINNERS are as follows:

I've been married 20 years, but with all the wonderful ideas here I would love to get married again, just to use CRATE to decorate it! thanks for the beautiful things to drool over!

Posted by: Amy K | June 09, 2011 at 05:00 AM

I love how well Portrait blends with vintage touches (like the suitcase + typewriter + vintage item). It is the perfect collection for bringing handmade elements into a wedding, wow! I also love the idea of confetti (love love love the colors!) from scraps.

Posted by: lacy tatum | June 09, 2011 at 08:36 AM

Please send your info over to us {cpblog@cratepaper.com} if you find your comment listed! Congratulations to the both of you! Yeah!!! Portait awaits....

Thank-you to all who've spent some time with us this week during the special feature - we'll bring back our challenge winners and runner-ups to this very place, next Thursday! Be ready....

 

A Special Portrait Giveaway just below....

More is just over the horizon this lovely Thursday! General Wedding Decor is the going theme since not every handmade ware has to be designated to just one segment or another of the eventful matrimonial day. And in all honesty, it's the array of DIY options that make wedding's the pavilion of all events in terms of deciding which things to do yourself. One is given numerous possibilities to choose and create at will whatever he/she wants. Our CP Girls did just this and captured some ideas you might be interested at trying if you're to tie the knot or know someone who's about to! They range from detailed to simple...

CP Designer: Lexi Bridges

Here I combined two of my favorite things: the Portrait collection and vintage finds! The idea is to use a $3 suitcase and a collection point for guests to drop off cards for the happy couple and perhaps small gifts. I also thought it would be fun to add the typewriter as a way for guests to sign in or write little notes to the newlyweds on shipping tags. A small cup houses mini clothespins so the tags can be added to hang within the suitcase. Old books act as a stand for a milk bottle filled with vintage buttons and decorated with Portrait elements. Portrait buttons and brads are scattered and used as the center of woodgrain paper doilies which, along with Portrait accent cuts that decorate the inside of the suitcase. The Mr. & Mrs. banner across the top was created by sewing die-letters to a linen-like material cut pennant shape and sets the tone for the tablescape.

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CP Designer: Davinie Fiero

Floral pomanders are a fun addition to any wedding decor, as they can be used in centerpieces, and can also be carried down the aisle by bridesmaids and flower girls.

Paper pomanders are a less expensive way to include a burst of color and are a sophisticated addition to your wedding decor as well.

To create this one, I used a styrofoam ball, circle punches {two sizes}, push pins, and some trims/buttons from the Portrait collection, as well as the Bridesmaids and Bouquet pattern papers (how appropriate!) from the 6 x 6 paper pad. 

It was simply a matter of layering punched circles, and attaching them to the styrofoam with a push pin. I then topped it with vintage styled trims in a loop for carrying, and a few vintage buttons from the same collection.

Imagine these in different sizes in a glass vase, a bowl, or in the hands of a sweet little flower girl. The possibilities are endless!

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CP Designer: Tara Anderson

All of those Crate Paper Scraps were put to use by punching out lots of small circles and hearts to create hand-made confetti. I sewed wax tissue paper into a small packets, filled each with the Crate confetti and sewed a "tear and toss" tag across the top. Tear and Toss confetti, the perfect send off to a creative wedding.

 

With these final images from Tara Anderson, we're going to do a Portrait giveaway if you happen to be interested in commenting on the projects shown today...if so, we'll throw your name in with the mix and carefully select TWO winners to for a Portrait Collection Kit!! We'll announce our winner's tomorrow! Good Luck Friends!

 

It's time to walk down the aisle with Crate Paper! Today's primary focus is the never forgotten, most significantly special ceremony between both bride and groom. Thinking back to that time, most memories stem from that very moment, the loving, meaningly exchanges a couple undergoes while up at the alter. Words are said with the greatest of sincerity and love, and echo a lifetime for most. That being said, a handcrafted contribution to the ceremony is an absolute must! It'll demonstrate to the guests the inner workings and devotion between two best friends seeking to rejoice in their union in a personal way. So, we have for you today three lovely projects (two with semi-tutorials) from the crate paper design team that are solely based for around and during the ceremonial festivities. 

 

A Welcoming Board is a common tradition in the Japanese culture. Kaori Watanabe crafted this one from Crate's Portrait for the placement at either an entrance or a location in which it's readily available to be seen. 

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This guest book will beckon to be signed by guests! Here's a word from Sarah Martina about it's construction process:

Sarah here, and I have a project that I would consider one of the essentials of the typical wedding celebration…the Guest Book! I coupled the Portrait collection with Restoration to create a palette of fun and vibrant color with lots of texture. I die-cut the title and included lots of sticker layering to add interest.

I continued the design to the inside of the Guest Book by adding a fun Polaroid frame, some more layered stickers, and some journaling lines. 

 Recently, I have noticed a trend of guests taking fun pictures at wedding receptions to commemorate the occasion, so I thought it would be neat to incorporate that into the guest book, hence the Polaroid frame above the journaling lines, where guests can leave a message for the special couple.

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A butterfly bouquet, how perfect! Our CP Designer, Larissa Albernaz, wrote an entire tutorial for creating the fluttering, eye-catching piece:

Larissa with you and I'm super excited to be here! While I was looking for inspiration via the internet, I found the most amazing bouquet I'd ever seen. From the moment I saw the "Butterflies Bouquet" at Pinterest, I decided that I wanted to recreate a paper version for CP's Wedding event. I also thought to give it a personal touch by adding paper flowers, leaves and small birds. 

Creating the butterflies is really easy. Stamp a butterfly image onto Crate Paper's patterned papers with Versamark Ink and then emboss it with a heat gun and Zing Black embossing power. 

Trim the stamped image from the paper and stick it to a piece of wire that is able to fold. 

Adhere a small piece of paper to it for firmness (in back) and an improved finish.

Continue then to decorate the butterfly with embellishments. You can use netting, flowers, bling, pearls, etc. 

After you're done embellishing the butterfly, arrange it just so within a small plastic tube like that shown above. 

Repeat this operation several times until you have a beautiful bouquet. Cover the tube with ribbon, laces and trim as you prefer and when you're done, you'll have a unique bouquet! 

In creating the bouquet, consider making one for the flower girl as well (though on a smaller scale). Too sweet.

Thank you to all the CP Girls for the wedding projects we've shown you so far. We still have two more days to go before we reach the final project from our design team! We'll then start presenting some of your wedding-themed projects beginning next Monday! Pick a challenge from the three mentioned and submit them to us!

 

Every dining table deserves special recognition during the hosting of a wedding reception dinner and with color and theme primarily the emphasis and motivating factor in deciding how to go about decorating the twenty plus tables typically presented in a reception room, it's no wonder the task can be daunting! Well, we're hear to bring about some inspiration for the demanding, though fun opportunities an empty table routinely presents following the wedding ceremony. Day two of Crate's Wedding Week brings with it table decor that'll for surely help you with the creating of handmade wares for the guests to admire while awaiting their meals, including stitch-able favors & green-friendly table numbers! Pretty Perfection and so sweet....

Each of our designers have written their own thoughts and ideas surrounding their projects. They're jotted just below the project image. And lastly, so you're aware, two of them are posted as tutorials, which we've provided links to. 

 

CP Designer: Tara Anderson

To make an easy name card, I used the chipboard film strip from the Portrait collection and cut each "slide" apart. Back the film slide with paper and add a type-writer printed name to it. I used a glue dot to attach my name-card to an appetizer pick and pushed it into a tiny potted succulent. {Which could also double as a fantastic wedding favor for each guest!}

 

CP Designer: Tara Anderson

I love simple DIY ideas for weddings! I also have a certain affinity for all things related to vintage cameras. So this is vintage camera inspired!

I decided to make my table number card by using a photo frame from the Portrait collection. I backed the frame with paper, added a few drops of spray paint, and sewed the table number to the center. To add the table number to the center piece, take a vintage fork and bend the two outer prongs of the fork backwards and slide the frame into place.

 

CP Designer: Amy Heller

Fill these cute triangular packages with anything from candies for guests at the reception or small gifts for your bridesmaids. With their simple lines, you can take these fun packages from simple and chic to uber formal and stylish with a matter of just a little embellishing. 

All it takes to create these fun little packages is an A2 (4.25" x 5.5") size folded card. Simply machine stitch the bottom and up the long side of the card. Fill the package with your goodies through the top opening in the card. Once filled, then press the back stitched seam toward the center of the remaining edge in the opposite direction of the bottom edge. When the two top edges meet, machine stitch the flat edge together. Voila! An adorable, unique, handmade gift package for your guests. These can easily be mass produced, too! Perfect for a cost saving idea for favor packages without sacrificing style!

 

CP Designer: Heidi Sonboul

Bring the bride and groom to the table with an elegant, floral enveloped, photo-esque table center piece that not only draws attention from the top, but also the bottom! It'll be an immediate attention grabber as everyone at the table takes note of the famous couple from the photos! A tutorial to create the centerpiece is available on Heidi Sonboul's blog.

 

CP Designer: Lori Gentile

I love the idea of using escort cards for seating charts. What a treat to be at a wedding and see something visually interesting and unexpected. The cards can be hung on anything such as old barn doors, windows, linen boards, trees or even on clothes lines. Simply create a card with the name and table number for each guest and hang them in order from left to right. This makes it quick and easy for guests to walk over, find their name in alphabetical order and determine where to sit. It's also an quick, attractive way to give additional personality to the wedding theme. 

 

CP Designer: Anne Jo Lexander

You can do as much and as little as you want when it comes to this project. Use premade boxes, or make some yourself {check out my blog for the upcoming tutorial!}. Fill them with chocolate candies or other small items, place it in a sheet of tulle and then wrap it up with ribbon or twine. I've attached small, handmade tags to each of the boxes I made. Each range from super simple to extra layered. The tags themselves are custom crafted from the same style papers used for the construction of their corresponding box. As a double bonus, I used only scrap sheets of paper, which always makes me feel good because it means using the smallest of scraps that I'd normally dispose of. Support Green!

 So much to look at, isn't there? A couple of great ideas to get you started on deciding what best fits the feel and personality of the big day and would look fantastic at the scattered-about reception tables you've to seat your guests during dinner. Even the less-complicated projects are a nice addition, especially if on a tight budget! When it comes to paper, anything is possible, really. 

Thank-you for hanging out with us this fine Tuesday - tomorrow we're arranging a presentation based on the most official and loving aspect of any wedding, the ceremony. Come walk down the aisle with Crate Paper! 

*The deadline for challenge submissions has been corrected and is listed as such in the previous post for June 11th, 2011 {11:59pm Central Time}

It seems that the popularity of the DIY wedding has grown exponentially as brides and grooms discover the true delight of personalized additions to their significant day. So in celebration of this handmade trend, Crate is hosting their very own "Down the Aisle" week-long event and we're excitedly inviting you to be a part of it! Nearly all 17+ of Crate Paper's designers have contributed exceptionally exquisite and over-the-top inspiring projects towards the event. We'll be highlighting their projects over the entirety of the week with each day representing it's own unique, wedding-relegated theme - the first day being that of invitations and general gift-giving wedding cards.

 

Of course, the week wouldn't nearly be eventful enough without your contribution, so Crate came up with the idea to host a universal, "share the love" triple challenge. We're talking weddings after all, aren't we?! In supplement of the creations that'll show this week, we're wanting to put forth some of yours as well, so what we've come up with is the following set of challenge participation options:

- Scrapbook your Love Story via Crate Paper: Relive the beginning on paper - 

- Capture the Day: Document either yours or another's wedding day on a layout/album -

- DIY Wedding: Almost anything goes, though it must be strictly wedding themed -  

After selecting and carrying out one of the aforementioned challenges using 95% Crate, send an image of your project to cpblog@cratepaper.com.  Starting next Monday, we'll begin premiering our faves of those received {Deadline: June 11/11:49 pm Central}, and of those, we'll select three to WIN a $50 gift certificate to the beloved wedding gift registration site, Crate & Barrel! The three winners will be announced Tuesday, June 14th, right here on our blog!!

To start the week, we've to introduce a simple, perfectly refined invitation from Danielle Flanders...

Hi there! This is Danielle with a wedding invitation idea for you to start out the week. I'm so excited to see what everyone has made for Crate's "Down the Aisle"week! There are so many beautiful ways you can make your own invitations, save money and still make them look fabulous! While working on this idea, I tried to keep it fairly simple, so they can be mass-produced and still look very professional and beautiful as well. 

First, I cut a piece of vellum and a piece of white cardstock the same size: 5" x 4". I printed out the wording with my computer onto a 8.5" x 11" piece of printer paper and chose an elegant font for it. The font I chose is called Vladimir Script. I looked up traditional invites online to choose the wording for the invitation {sample only}. The names are completely made up for the tutorial! 

Next, place the vellum directly over the computer printed page where you would like it to print on your vellum and adhere in a small section at the top of the vellum, so it doesn't move around as it's going through the printer. Send the paper through the printer again.

Gently peel off the printed vellum and adhere it to your 5" x 4" cardstock piece at the top. We will be covering the adhesive with a strip of paper. 

Cut a 2" circle from the Traditions paper and snip some small pieces out of it as shown above. Create a small burlap flower by wrapping a strip of burlap around itself, adhering it with a hot glue gun. Cut a piece of the striped paper from the 6" x 6" Portrait paper pad and snip the ends into a "V" shape. 

Die cut some leaves from the June paper. Snip them in half. The die cut is "Turning a New Leaf" by Papertrey Ink.

Adhere leaves and striped paper onto the invite as shown.

Adhere paper flower. Attach the curled burlap on top the flower.

Punch two small holes through the top of the invite and wrap a piece of twine through them. Tie it in a know. I placed the knot to the left to balance out the heaviness created with the flower in the bottom right-hand corner. You can leave long tails of the twine or trim them.

You are finished! Now you just need to create two-hundred more of them!! Happy Wedding Day to all of you! 

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The invitation is just the start of an upcoming wedding - how about a thoughtful round of cards to give to the bride/groom on their wedding day or any day thereafter or before it? One can never give too many congratulatory cards to a newly joined couple...

There are ceaseless options out there when deciding which tools to use for handcrafting your own cards. Jen Chesnick took to her Silhouette die-cut machine in producing realistic bride/groom attire cards from Portrait's pattern papers.  She's even taken into consideration some of the finer details, including a bottom laced dress {Portrait Ribbon Collection} and rose/ribbon accented wrapping. 

And occasionally, individual wedding cards are meant to be as meticulously beautiful and layered like this one from Christine Middlecamp. Take into consideration when a guest opts to give a card and monetary amount instead of a hand-chosen gift from a bride/groom's registry. A card such as this one easily speaks for itself...

 

This officially concludes day one of the event. It'll resume once again tomorrow, though the focus will be entirely different and the project display vast and varied. We also have arranged for a special giveaway in the next day or two thanks to a co-host of sorts. Details to follow soon!