Crate Paper

A Boxed Mini Album W/Kaori Watanabe

 

Hi Girls! Kaori Watanabe with a fun, eclectic tutorial about the production of a mini box card album I recently made using Crate's newest Random Collection. Inside it is a series of individual "mini pages" with each accustomed to a different picture of my little one going about his day to day life. Lets open the box and find out what's inside, shall we?!

The Menu: Random Patterned Papers, Accent Cuts, Chipboard Accents, Trim, Eclectic Buttons, Border Stickers, Phrase Stickers, Alpha Labels & 6" x 6" Paper Pad

 

First and foremost, the box is central to the "box album" and as such, requires a bit of putting together from scratch. Start by determining the preferred length of each side (entirely up to you) and then go about creating creases similar to the areas in which I've done prior to folding your box together. The box should look something like the one shown a few images below...

 

The box's exterior cover should match the dimensions of the box, so do some pre-measuring before preparing it. I went ahead and chose my favorite patterned paper from the Random Collection, Denim. To give it a more artistic feel, I flung white acrylic paint at it and then went ahead and attached an brightly hued pattern paper accent strip to it's lower portion. 

 

A second section of pattern paper was added to the lower portion of the cover before processing the cover further with random stitching. To note the stiched areas, make reference to the main image of the project. 

 

After I finished the preliminary arrangement of the overall cover, I pasted it to the box, which of course is shown above (all put together and adhered fully).

The below image is the combination of both the box and cover together - carefully adhere the cover into position (keep the front of the cover free from adhesive as you'll be opening and closing it to access your mini album pages).

As a brief introduction to the partnering pages, I printed a casual opening about the subject matter on Vellum paper. Note that the journaling begins on the backside of the box cover, which then extends and finishes on the very first page of the album.  

 

The middle portion of the album is employed by a large assortment of Random's "very cute" Accent Cards. Because they're extremely easy to use, they're one of my favorite Crate Paper items to create with! For the most part, the album pages are constructed and enjoyed by simple trimmings of Random's beautiful patterned papers, accent cuts and embellishment options. They're easily doable if you're looking to create a similiar styled album for yourself! 

 

I hope that you've enjoyed what I've done with the Random collection today! Thank-you for stopping by - see you again next month! 

Crate Paper's Recognized & Noted

We're forging ahead with Crate's "twice monthly" Recognized and Noted blog feature since it's first official debut back in June. Because some of you might not necessarily be familiar with the specifics of this newest "project emphasis" post, we've copied and pasted the listed "about" info mentioned previously so that you're up to speed with all it's details and participation requirements.... 
 

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 thorough selection of project images. 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 :)

 

Leila of Lillibee Studios is a prolific, color attentive scrapbook designer and teacher residing in France. Her specialty is often that of "Pop-Up Books" or shall we say "Pop-Up Mini Albums" - one of her most recent "Emma's Shoppe" album creations found our inbox a few weeks ago and it's intricate detailing caught our eye immediately! Because of all them lovely details, we've assigned it as today's "Recognized & Noted" project - congratulations Leila and thank-you for sharing your "second passion" with us!

 

We take great appreciation for those albums constructed from the basis of pure creativity and the playful ingenuity of Crate Paper patterned papers. This particular album is a perfect semblance of both + Sewing - Love that!

Thank-you once again Leila and congratulations on the receiving of one of our brand new collections kits! We shall send it to you in a few short weeks as soon as the new collections arrive at the warehouse! 

Big Picture Classes Presents...

We're doing a very special favor for a great set of friends of ours over at Big Picture Classes - we'd been informed of their latest upcoming production and wanted to help spread the word about it, so if you've a moment, check out the specifics to participate in the free online event! 

You are invited to a FREE festival packed full of big ideas at Big Picture Classes this August! Join us for 12 fun-filled days featuring 12 of our talented instructors. Each instructor will be giving you a word of the day, which we hope will inspire you, along with a downloadable template (in both printable and digital format) so that you can create a mini layout about that day's word and how you applied it in your life. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to register, remember it's free and you will not see a charge in your account, but you do have to check out.

New to Big Picture Classes, become a member for free
http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/howitworks.php

www.bigpictureclasses.com

 

Hybrid Scrapbooking + Crate Paper w/Erin Stewart

Hello Everyone! This is Erin Stewart! Today, I'm thrilled to be showing you how readily and easily it is to use your everyday printer on a traditional scrapbook layout. Being that I also enjoy digital scrapbooking, I'm going to demonstrate a fun technique using the printer with a favorite Crate Paper collection. And because I don't own a lot of stamps, I'll also show you a simple way to create with faux stamps via your computer.

The Supply List: A Working Printer, Photoshop or PSE, Digital Frames {Splendid Finns :: The Miniatures}, Cardstock and Crate Embellishments

 

Start by positioning your chosen digital frames into a 8.5" x 11" new document {File > New} and then arrange them as desired. Think in terms of the actual layout and how'd you like the frames to appear on it.

*If you own a large format printer that prints onto 12" x 12" paper instead of the traditional size 8.5" x 11" paper, size you're document accordingly prior to positioning your frames. Of course, this is only if you intend on creating a 12" x 12" layout w/frames. 

 

After arranging the frames to your liking, print the frames onto cardstock. For this step, you might want to do a test run with scrap paper to ensure that your frames are where you want them to print. Doing this prevents needless waste of perfectly good pattern paper :)

 

In preparation for photo placement, and with the assistance of a craft knife, trim the paper from the center of each frame. Adhere your photos beneath the freshly trimmed openings so that they show through the front as is preferred.

 

Of the test printing suggested earlier on, trim sections from each frame and use them as templates for creating like sized sections from various patterned papers. Add the papers to the frames as I've done {See main image} on the main layout.

 

And of course, finally, add small areas of misc. Random embellishments to the frames and the overall layout. Your finished product should be that of both digital and traditional scrapbooking!

Thank-you so much for joining me today - it's been an honor to introduce my second passion, digital scrapbooking, to all of you here at the Crate Paper blog! I'll see you next month!

August Designer Showcase

Once upon a time, Crate had an ongoing tradition of hosting their "Designer Showcase" on the weekends, a post solely dedicated to Crate Paper's CP Girls whom routinely submit new crafty projects almost every week for sharing on the blog. Ultimately, change beckoned and with it, came the decision to shift the schedule slightly so as to make room for our "Designer Showcase" during the week, rather than the weekend! In making the slight adjustment, us Crate folks felt it was time to shake things up a bit by bringing forth more variety in terms of everyday creations and traditional layouts so that you, Crate's biggest fans, have more to look at and possibly "pin" while hanging out here! And if "pinning", please take a moment to note the source of the project - spread the "Crate Paper" love. :) 

 

Random seems to be a major favorite amongst our designers and this latest layout (along with the following) is proof of it's popularity. Both are classic and beautifully layered with hints of sophistication, a common thread throughout Michiko's layouts. 

 

And who says Farmhouse isn't perfect for celebrating school milestones, especially considering that school begins in a few short weeks? Amy Heller demonstrates that Farmhouse pulls through in highlighting the upcoming school year with this adorable layout about her preschool graduate. 

 

Oh, Chevrons, need we say more? Two very first layouts from Geralyn made way to us a week or so ago and we simply couldn't wait to post them here. She's of course one of our new designers and we love her simple, graphic scrapbook style to pieces! 

 Round one of this month's Designer Showcase is to conclude for the day! Thank-you for stopping by to find out what our girl's have been up to - Have a great Wednesday everyone!!

 

Crate DIY :: Rahel Menig

 

 

Hey y'all! It's Rahel with a fun, crafty and purposeful DIY project for you :D

 I have wanted to create a cute address book since I got married (and that is already more than a year ago...) It's really horrible, I always have to search online or ask my parents or in-laws for certain addresses and really, that has been getting super awkward if you have to ask for the same old address the forth time!

Since I love love love patterned paper in soft colors, my choice was an easy one and I picked Peppermint for this project.

 

First, I cut some white letter sized 110lb card stock in half. You will need quite a bit of the stuff, so purchase a big pack at your local supermarket in the printer section (or wherever you usually buy printer paper). Then, go ahead and choose your ultimate favorite CP Paper. You will need two of either the same or two different papers for the next step. Cut four 8.5 by 6 inch pieces, so the cover will overlap the inner pages slightly on the longer sides. Glue them together and sew the edges. When you're done with this step, take a paper cutter and rough up all the edges. It works absolutely great with a simple cutter – way faster than with any other tool I know ;)

All righty, now you're ready to make the ABC index. Mark the middle on one of the inside pages. Then, measure your washi tape (I used some from Cath Kidston) and mark your way up, so you know where to put the first index tab. My tape was 1.5cm so it was super easy to do all the measuring. If you don't care if the tabs are not exactly centered then you can skip all the measuring and just DO it ;)

I would always take a roughly 2 inch piece of tape, stick it on the backside (where I marked the page),fold it over and stick it onto the front of the page. When you work your way down always make sure that the tabs stick out about the same (which is about ¼ inch). That way the cover pages will protect the tabs from getting ripped off later on.

Once all the tape is in place you can add the mini ABC stickers from the big sticker sheet. As the last step you can sew over the tape and sticker to secure everything in place and give it a finished, supercrafty look :D

 

Okay, now back to the cover page! When I saw the elastic ribbon I immediately knew what I would do with it. So, I cut a piece that nicely fits around the book, sewed it together and used it as a closure kind-a-thing. It works great! I used a lot of hot glue to secure the ribbon underneath the décor ;) heee

 

Another tip when you're working with the chipboard stickers... I was playing around with the two houses and since the backs were still covered with the sticker paper, they were very slippery. Because of this, I had a great deal of difficulty accurately positioning the pieces as a whole and in a specific location. So, long story short, I simply ripped off the sticky part from the back of the chipboard pieces for easy positioning and then adhered them down with hot glue once I had a location picked out for them.

 

And my very last point before we're done... I really wanted to add some Glimmer Mist at the very end (I never add glimmer mist in the beginning since I don't know where the paper will take me..) but doing so makes things harder if you don't want splatters all over your finished project! So, what I typically do to remedy this issue is to cut a few scrap papers into specific shapes/sizes for laying over the parts I don't want any splatters on and then add the magic ;)

 

Okay, that's it for today :D I hope I was able to inspire you to do something sweet today! Don't forget, the Peppermint line isn't just for Christmas :D heeehee

Happy Scrappin' :Dxoxo, Rahel

PS: In addition I made this slightly different Guest Book for my Grandparents 50th Anniversary. I left out the tabs, but the rest is pretty much the same :) (there I used Random and Farmhouse)

Crate Paper Reader's Gallery

Now that the buzz of CHA has officially concluded, we're finally able to bring back some of the regular blog features that went astray temporarily during the event. One such feature is the popular Monday "Reader's Gallery", a time and place when we're given the fortunate opportunity to share captured talent and Crate Paper inspiration directly from our fans! And as is often the case, the first project artist to debut as part of the Reader's Gallery every other Monday, automatically takes home a collection kit of their choice; Random, Peppermint or Farmhouse!! Yes, there are serious perks when you email us your Crate Paper projects, including the chance at a brand new collection kit! Today's first project (and kit winner!) is from Dayna Howard...

Dayna sent us a round of Toybox layouts and from them, this one stood out the most! Not only is the subject matter adorable, but so are the various elements from Crate's Toy Box Collection that Dayna's creatively set-up alongside her photo. The painted background is another added bonus!! Congrat's Dayna - send us your shipping info at cpblog@cratepaper.com!!

 Here are a few other Crate Paper projects that caught our attention recently...

Iris Babao Uy's work simply can't be missed because nearly every single one of her layout's is a literal work of art! Rumor has it she'll soon be teaching a class with Crate's Random collection - visit her blog for upcoming info! 

 

As a recent guest of the challenge forum, Brenshevia for Colorful Creations, Piradee Talvanna utlized Emma's Shoppe to create her sketch-inspired layout, Just Me. 

 

From South Australia, Kerryn Lawson shared with us her take on Restoration and Emma's Shoppe. We love the paper woven background of the second layout and also, the notable felted pink floral from the first - too cute for words!! 

 

Charlene Cundy's latest card takes to heart Restoration's "rustic side", though with an added hint of whimsy thanks to the colorful, pearl adorned banner and bright lemon-hued buttons near the card's top.

 

Every now and then a special altered project shows up in our inbox here at Crate and when it does, we're especially excited because the project often encompasses a collection or two of ours that's been creatively enjoyed in some unique way not seen before. The above Brook floating window and Neighborhood picture frame from Amanda De Jong are crafty, cute home decor pieces we located in our inbox a few days ago and fell in love with almost instantaniously. 

This brings us to the end of this week's Reader's Gallery! Again, if you've something to submit that's constructed from the likes of "Crate", submit it to cpblog@cratepaper.com for a possible showing on the Crate Paper blog! The Reader's Gallery posts every other Monday and will continue throughout the next six months as we go about into the new season with fresh, soon-to-be-released collections!! Be on the lookout for them at your local scrapbook store'(s) in the next couple of weeks!! :)

  

August Crate Color Challenge

 

 

Hello everyone! Now that the excitment of CHA is wrapping up it's time again for the Crate Color Challenge! August, for me, always reminds me of summer time vacations. Whether it's a trip to the beach, a picnic at the lake, camping or just a fun road trip, I wanted to created a color pallete that best captures that easy-laid back summer feeling. I'm calling this month's color pallete "the LakeBay house."  

The color pallete this month is: Sand - Khaki - and Denim Blue 

 
 

Because I realize that the new product collections haven't yet made their way to the your local scrapbook stores, I've decided that you may use any shade of Denim Blue you wish. (Yes, even an acid-wash denim if you'd prefer!!)

Just a few guide-lines for the challenge before we start:

- You may submit a card, layout or project to be eligible. Projects need to be submitted by midnight (EST) August 15th. Please email your work to: cpblog@cratepaper.com

- You may use the colors in any proportion you wish, as long as you use all 3 colors in the palette. And you may add black, white or kraft paper to the colors.

- Projects must use at least 75% Crate Paper - you may mix any paper lines you like, old and new.

- The winner will be announced on August 17th and I'll share some of my favorite projects here on the blog. The winner will be selected based on creativity and quality of work.

Although this color combo isn't the typical girly combination I would tend to choose, I really adored this neutral color palette! Sometimes it's fun to step outside of your comfort zone and be inspired by something new! I created 2 layouts by combining the Random Collection and Emma's Shoppe.

 

 

 

 

 

I also created a swatch mini album using my son's photos. A really simple idea for a mini is to take a series of photos. For example, this mini is called "the 7  faces of Chase." I took a series of photos and made them the focus of this little book!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you'll enjoy creating something pretty using this month's color palette! I'll be back on the 17th to showcase some of your artwork and to share the winner of the August Color Challenge!  

Happy Creating! ~Tara

 

Hey everyone! Kinsey here with a few different and fun ways to use those adorable Crate Paper border stickers. One of the main things I love about CP is the versatility of everything they release…it makes creating so much more fun for me when I can look at a product and come up with tons of other uses/ideas for it- not to mention, my wallet loves it too, ha!

 

Hugging the Curves

This first example is one of my favorite ways of using the border stickers. I love decorative edges but because they usually have a straight edge, this presents a little challenge when there are curves involved- the solution? Fringe/slits…just cut the border sticker at even intervals. It creates ‘joints’ in the border sticker that allow it to gather kind of like ribbon. On the example above, I cut the blue postage stamp border (from the Random line) in approximately ½ inch intervals and I love how the tucking makes it naturally curl or lift…so fun!

 

Fluffed Ruffles

The look of layered ruffles is such a sweet touch and border stickers make it so easy to do. If you’re doing horizontal ruffles, you’ll want to start at the bottom and work your way upward and if you’re doing vertical ruffles, start on outermost edge and work your way inward. Before I stick my border stickers down (from the Farmhouse line), I curl the decorative edge with my fingers so that the ‘fun side’of the sticker lifts up a bit.

 

Mini Frames with a Beveled Edge

For the frame on this one, I used my favorite Christmas line to date - Peppermint. The outside border of the frame is the ticket stub edge sticker and the inner frame is from the chip shapes. There are tons of ways to achieve the look of a beveled edge, but most of them involve protractors, 45 degree angles and geometry which I’m totally not into…so, instead, I cheat. Just cut your border sticker into 4 equal sections (mine are approx. 3 inches each). Fold the two outside corners of the border sticker under so that it looks like a sailboat sail, repeat for each section of the frame and voila! You’ve got a custom, beveled edge frame.

 

Stiching/Outlining Template

Another of my go to techniques is using just about anything and everything as a stitching template…for those of you who aren’t into hand stitchery, outlining is a fun and similar way (and takes much less time too!) to achieve the same look. Basically, just trace a border sticker onto your project using a pencil, remove border sticker, pierce, and then stitch. In order to make the stickers “repositionable”, I just stick it to my shirt a few times (the cotton fibers make it less sticky and are small enough that they don’t make the sticker look hairy if you choose to use the sticker on something else). For the example above, I wanted to show both the stitching and the border sticker, so after the sewing part was completed, I cut my border sticker into smaller sections and filled in bits of the stitched area, the negative spaces looked kind of sparse so I used the ‘holes’ of the sticker to do a negative/positive type of technique that turned out so fun!

 

Spray Mist Mask/Template

The misted sections on this example are the orange strip at the top of the tag, the brown section in the middle, and the green part toward the bottom. For this technique, I used the backing sheet of the border stickers for a mist mask. I just placed it where I wanted a misted border and used post-its to cover the rest of the tag. In addition to the misted sections, I also used the original border sticker (the orange bracket sticker), and I used the backing sheet template to trace more ‘stickers’ onto assorted patterned papers and then handcut for even more options and layers.

So that does it for the border sticker product spotlight folks! These are my favorite types of posts because I love products that ‘earn their keep’…I had so much fun hanging out with y’all today and I hope that you’ve been inspired to bust out those border stickers and get a little crazy! Be sure to link us up in the comments because we love seeing everyone’s work!

 

A Final Showing of CHA Projects

These were suppose to find their way here last week, but we had a slight change of scheduling, meaning we're playing catch-up today!! There remains five layouts from the event that we haven't yet shown you, three of which utilize Random and the other two, our festive Peppermint. Nearly Each one is from a different CP Girl too! So there you have it..a final ending to madness and excitement that is CHA!! We'd like to formally thank all of our design team members for having helped make the lastest releases a HUGE success! We simply couldn't of done it without them!! THANK YOU CP GIRLS!!

The primary focus of the Random collection is to serve as a general, overall backdrop for just about any subject. Whether it's similar to Christine Middlecamp's ongoing theme with the little one riding around on a bike, or a family photo captured during the heart of Fall, plainly stated, Random works! It's our most flexible collection this season!! 

 

Had any of you noticed the return of Crate's subtle tone-on-tone patterned papers? We brought them back by popular demand since being told that they're the ideal background for just about any layout. Kinsey Wilson used the backside of "Candy Cane", one of our white tone-on-tone papers from the Peppermint Collection. She's echoed the diamond shape pattern via zig-zag stitching and through the positioning of diamond shape cut-outs - too cute! 

 

Flags and banners. Who doesn't love them?! Lexi Bridges created the sweetest hand-trimmed banner we've ever seen and not surprisingly so, she included a matching title - "Wishes". Any guess as to what the layout is about? Look closely...

 

 

We love Amy Parker's handmade "Random" flip book that she sent to us last week! It sits on top of an actual layout she'd made - her reason for having created it was because she *hearted* all the photos and didn't want to lose out on a single one of them. Talk about a perfect excuse for using up a 6" x 6" paper pad!! 

 

Peppermint gives host to a huge variety of snowflake styles for you to choose from - Amy Parker's "Wishful Thinking" captures nearly all of them + her own hand-punched snowflakes from Peppermint's pattern paper collection.