Crate Paper

A Crate Paper Count Down + On Trend Giveaway

Lists, love them or not, they're a regular feature in everyday life. Typically, we create them to help us remember things. It makes managing a busy life, a little easier. That said, lists also serve another purpose. In the realm of scrapbooking, a list-style format is a great alternative to the standard paragraph. When center stage, it brings your story into focus and assists in highlighting the memories that matter most. Today, Rahel Menig is going to share a beautiful project exemplifying this unique, alternative journaling technique. She's written a brief project description, as well.  

At first, it was quite the challenge to make a numbered list on a layout - especially since the numbers stood as the main focus. I cut a patterned paper to letter width and trimmed large sized numbers with my Silhouette. To re-establish the patterned paper's 12 x 12 size, I adhered a second sheet of pattern paper to it (Little Boy Blue's "Leo"). I then positioned white cardstock beneath the numbers, which creates a subtle amount of contrast without distracting from the rest of the layout. My next plan of action was to write down our five year plan. I know, it's kind of silly to write down such plans, but I thought it'd be a fun topic to look back twenty or thirty years from now. I'm sure that it'll cause a few giggles with everyone that see's it.

  Random Tip: If you want to create an interesting shadow effect like I did with my numbers, don't forget to add paper behind them. The additional layer lends dimension and definition. 

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We'd like to help you with your list making, so in conjunction with today's post, we're giving away an "On Trend" Collection Kit!! If you want to get in on the random drawing, in the comment section below, "list" three of your all time favorite Crate Paper collections. Please submit your comment by Sunday, September 1st (8:00pm Central Time). Also, include your location (State; MN, FL, etc.). On Monday, we'll announce the kit winner and tell you the three collections that got the most votes! 

A Crate Paper Fall Color Redo w/Naomi Atkins

Naomi here, with a Fall color redu! Now if you're like me, you love all of the signs, scents and colors of Autumn! Orange pumpkins, yellow and brown leaves, and red apples. But, who says that Fall has to be limited to those colors? There are many colors that can lend to a Fall feel, outside the traditional color lines...giving the arm, rich feel of Autumn. I'm a photographer, and love the Boden Catalog. I enjoy the photography, often outdoor photography, and love their bold use of color. It makes me want to buy all of the clothing for a fall photo shoot with my kids! When I got the catalog this year, I was not disappointed. The colors and catalog had a wonderful Autumn feel, but introduced the colors of teal, plum, mustard and grey into the Fall color palette. And it was love at first sight! 

 

The picture that most spoke to me was a girl in a mustard yellow pea coat throwing fabric leaves in the air. The leaves were grey, pink, and plum. The dress on the opposite page was a blue/teal in nature, and voila! My page inspiration started right there!

 I also searched Pinterest (of course!) by simply typing "color palettes" in the search box. I didn't type Fall, because I wasn't necessarily looking for a traditional Fall look. I wasn't disappointed! I then came up with the following color palette:

For me, the colors had to at least have one color that REALLY reminded me of Fall to make it all work, and that was the mustard yellow.

Crate Paper hasn't disappointed with the Fall line-up of paper as well! Instead of the traditional Fall color palette, they have introduced some new colors into the new release, Acorn Avenue. The combination of these bold color hues went right along with the theme!

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I also used a photo of a girl throwing leaves in the air for my inspiration. I punched patterned paper leaves out of many of Crate's new patterned papers for Fall. I layered them on my layout over strips of paper that were solidly colored, and punched circles out of some of them while also layering patterned paper underneath. For the tag, I used one of the tags that came with the collection, and strips from one of the new patterned papers cut up and sewwed onto the tag. I used the mustard yellow from last year's Fall collection, Farmhouse, for one of the strips. I embossed the "heart fall" stamp ith hite, then sprayed over it with brown Mr.Huey's and also grey and cream papers to help "ground" the bold colors. I hope this inspires you to think outside the box and use some different colors in your Fall layouts!

Hanging out w/Garland by Kimberly Garofolo Neddo

 

 

Type "garland" into the search box at Pinterest, and without a doubt, what pops up is every garland variety imaginable. No longer is garland just for celebrating special occasions like birthday's and weddings, or the standard party hall. It's become so much more than that, thanks to the infinite possiblities at one's disposal for creating his/her own handcrafted garland. Today, I'm going to share with you one such possibility; Paper Dotted Garland. It's quick, easy and doesn't require the use of a sewing machine! It can also be made to span a room, or fit on a sheet of 12" x 12" paper. In this instance, I added to a layout, and I adore the way it turned out!! Let's get started...

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 {Garland Supply List}

Scrap Patterned Paper from Crate's Pretty Party Collection

Glue Gun (Or any glue that dries quickly)

String, Twine, Thread or Yarn

Several different size and shape punches. Mainly punches that you can fold in half to mirror it's shape.

 

Plug in the heat gun and allow it to warm up. Collect your other supplies while waiting.

 

Trim 15" sections of string (or longer). You'll want it long enough so that there are tails at each end of the garland.

If you've yet to gather your paper, pull it out. Make sure it coordinates well with your layout/photographs, etc. 

Next, you'll want to punch out several different circles. You can keep it simple, or go all out! It's completely up to you :) I'm going to keep mine simple, as in the example.

 

Once the circles are ready to go, line them up on the string while leaving about a 1/4", or 1/2" space between each one. You can also mix things up and vary the spacing. I went ahead and randomly changed the spacing for a more eclectic look.

Now, simply apply a bead of hot glue to the string and place your shape over the top of it. I used a non-stick heating mat (Ranger) beneath the garland while piecing it together to protect my work surface and to ensure the pieces wouldn't stick to my desk during the adhesive process.

 

After the garland is finished, attach it to your layout to create a fun embellished border across your page. You can drape it, make it straight, layer several together, one on top of the other. 

 

Do have fun with this simple embellished garland! With the holidays quickly approaching, this will make it especially easy to add a little something extra without costing you too much time. One last note - it's great for cards, too!

CP Special: Tag, you're it! w/Tami Gookstetter

I love tags! Really, they're my favorite and I believe them to be one of the most versatile scrapbook/card making supplies out there. Crate Paper's Tag Cuts are great because they're printed on a sheet of 12 x 12 paper, and the designs are varied and affordable.  You can either use them "as is", or dress them up a little with embellishments. While I often use tags as a background element or journal spot on my layouts, I want to show you a couple of fun creative ways to use your tags differently. Follow along!

 

To start with, tags are a great accent for gift wrapping and packaging, and the tags from the Little Bo Peep and Little Boy Blue, are perfect for baby gifts! My good friend just had a little girl last week, so I used this pink tag with the sweet deer on it as a starting point for embellishing. I added on a hand cut heart, layered with a fabric brad, and positioned a sticker at the bottom before finishing it off with the word "baby" from Crate's Wood Shaped Veneers. I broke the word in half to make it fit on my tag a little bit better. Don't be afraid to cut/break/alter your wood veneers. I also used a wood tag from the pack and simply embellished it with an "E" for the baby's name, and then tied it all onto my jar with some baker's twine. Add some flowers from my garden and voila - an instant cute and unique gift for the proud new parents!

 

Next, I decided to make some teeny tiny notebooks using a tag as a cover! These cute lil' books are perfect to throw in your purse to jot down a quick note when need be, or used as an embellishment on a card or layout. They're really quick and easy to make, too. I started with a large tag, scored and folded just below where the sides narrow in, and then once more in the middle of the rectangular area. I cut some plain graph paper down to size for the inside pages and folded it in half. To bind the album, I lined up the inside pages with the folded cover, and stapled the two pieces together along the fold using a regular office stapler (which just so happened to have green staples in it). To keep the little notebook closed, I punched the a hole in the tag and wrapped twine inside, and around it.

The finished books are a great itty bitty canvas for embellishing, as well. I monogrammed one book with a letter thicker and another, with a section of border sticker and a flower cut from one of the patterned papers.

There are so many things that you can do with tags. I hope these two projects have given you a little inspiration to think outside the box and try something new with your tags! Thanks for stopping by the Crate Paper blog today!

Baby Booklet Gift Set w/Ashley Cannon Newell

Want to give a gift that keeps on giving for a new mom? How about this thank-you note card gift set? Not only will the new mom have a set of thank-you cards, but the book the cards are stored in can easily be converted into a baby book mini album to add photos and memorabilia.

 

I decided on a fun, yet simple cover so the project could easily transform to multiple uses.

 

The pocket pages are created with patterned paper and are stitched together to hold thank you note cards or in the future, photos/memorabilia.

 

The book holds five thank-you note cards for a new mom to send to her support team.

 

 

I recorded my creative process to share with you each step on the techniques I used to make this thank-you note card gift set.

 

Don't know a new mom in your life? That's okay, simply use the techniques to fit the occasion you need. What are you waiting for? With the holidays coming up soon, you can't have enough gifts ready.

Crate Color Challenge: September

Hello-hello again! Tara here with our September Crate Color Challenge! The month of September always reminds me of the beginning of Fall, not for us here in the Southwest of course, but others who are lucky enough to be moving into the new changing season will soon be welcoming pretty autumn colors! (You can color me envious!) With that said, I wanted to be inspired by some of those warmer Autumn tones and create a color palette that catered to Fall and maybe a little Summer. The result: a warm-cool pallet that when combined with white or black will produce 2 very different looks! 

This month's color combination is: Salmon Red - Warm Taupe - Carnation Pink

 

and the inspiration wire: 

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: September 24th 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: Sept. 25th (Tuesday), 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.

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Because we can use black & white alongside our color palette I wanted to try and create 2 projects: one with the focus on white and one with black. Using white as the main color layout, Be my love, gave a very light casual overall feel to the page. I think the overall lightness paired well with the photos! 

I had one extra photo to go onto this layout and instead of overcrowding the page, I added an envelope to my layout which now holds the extra photo along with a shipping tag for journaling!  As a focal point for the layout, I created a handmade embellishment with the use of a little fabric, some frayed sewing threads and a couple of Crate's chipboard pieces. I also adore making my own small flags using these pennant/flag stickers!  

I used a few of the pages from the Pretty Party's 6x6 paper pad. I love layering these papers together, just enough of the pattern can be seen and it stills gives you a great base area for your photos! 

For my second project I created a really simple layered card for my sister, just an everyday-hello, how are you - type card. Using black paper or cardstock though, not only gives your project a dramatic flair but also adds alot of visual depth. Had I replaced the black paper with a white cardstock it would have created an entirely different look and feel to the card. It's fun to play with either variation just to see the end result! 

I had intended to use the die-cut shape for my card, but thought the negative piece would be more interesting when backed with a sparkling gold paper. It shows you that even scraps destined for the rubbish bin can always be utilized in some way! Save your scraps!

It's your turn now! Sort through your Crate paper, pull the matching colors and let's get creative- I always look forward to seeing each of your color challenge projects! I'll be back on the 25th to announce this month's Color Challenge winner - Good luck to everyone and have a wonderfully crafty weekend! 

 

Wood Be Crate w/Kaori Watanabe

 

 

Hello Everyone, Kaori with you today to talk about "wood", a familiar "all-natural" material that only recently joined the Crate Paper family. Last Spring, upon the release of Little Bo Peep and Little Bo Blue, Crate introduced it's own baby-themed mix of wood veneer shapes. They happen to be some of my favorite embellishments. So, today, I'm going to introduce a couple of modification techniques to alter them ever-so-slightly, and follow it up with a layout I'd made using the finished product.

 

Even though Crate's wood veneer shapes come packaged via "mix", inside are these delightful, mini frames. One is scalloped and the other, plain. Also, one side is dark and the other, light. Note the wooden small tag and flower on top the plain frame just above. I kept them "as-is" and will not discuss them in much detail, though thought I'd point them out anyway.

 

With this first frame, I painted it a light vanilla hue using the flat end of a chipboard piece. I chose this application method because it lends a less-than-perfect feel by applying only a thin layer of paint. Also, unlike a brush, the markings left behind, are noticeably obvious. I love that!

 

After applying paint, wrap small sections of vintage paper around parts of the frame. I went with the sides.

 

After the frame has fully dried, back it with vellum. I created my own vellum design using blank sheets of "printer-friendly" vellum and scanned sewing patterns. Set the frame on top the vellum, trace around it lightly with a pencil and then trim the area out. Adhere it to the backside of the frame. This first frame is finished!

 

Now we're gonna try a fun, two part combo that I think you're going to enjoy. Once again, with a plain frame at your disposal (though, this one isn't painted), back it with vellum. Like before, I created a personalized vellum design.

 

As a second layer, introduce to the backside of the frame a chosen section of printed transparency (Hambly: Retired). Adhere it just behind the vellum, beneath the outline of the frame so that the adhesive is hidden and out of view. That completes frame number two!

 

And for the very last frame, apply only transparency, skip the vellum. Super easy, and way too cute!!

 

And here they are, together, the three altered frames - prepped and ready for my layout!

 

Finally, a place to call home for the three frames - I set them up along a horizontal line, and to soften their stiffness, I angled them in different directions. I positioned some Crate Paper "Little Boy Blue" stickers on top two of the frames and decorated the other with an epoxy brad, and the tag and flower noted previously. Check out the fab red umbrella?! An unexpected twist from Little Boy Blue's "Oliver" patterned paper.

So much else can be done with Crate's wood veneer shapes, it's just a matter of experimenting with differing ideas. They might include spray mists, alcohol inks, ink pads, diluted acrylics, and so forth. A high gloss varnish may be in order, as well! If you've an idea for altering wood, give it a mention. We'd love to hear it!

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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Page Maps September Sketch Gallery & Crate Paper

 

 

Just in time for the brand new school year, we paired up this month with the industry's most popular, highly beloved sketch resource, Page Maps! It's owner, Becky, granted us the opportunity to work one-on-one with her September designer sketches with the help of our top-notch CP Gal design team, and some of Crate's readily familiar product collections. Also, Page Maps is playing hostess to a Crate Paper Giveaway & Sketch Contest. Visit their website/blog for further information and to see Crate Paper & Page Maps in action, as a team, for the very first time! 

Here's a brief sample of CP sketch creations to admire before heading over to the Page Maps website to see what they've lined up for you this month! Remember to download and print your favorite sketches - inspiration is only a 'click' away! 

 

Page Map Artist: Michiko Kato

The best part about sketches is that you don't have to debate the specifics, ever. Becky shows you exact placements for embellishments, titles, photos, and so forth. And you don't always have to follow the sketch to a 't'. Michiko replaced the kite with balloons and slightly relocated her page's title. Even with these changes, the layout clearly resembles the inspirational sketch.

 

Page Map Artist: Sophie Crespy

Skipping out entirely on the suggested rectangles, instead, Sophie arranges a series of grid-guided circles. To keep with the circle theme, she squeezes in a photo and journaling spot inside two of the circles. And with the addition of sewing, the sketch's "patchwork" feel is preserved. Cuteness galore!

 

Page Map Artist: Naomi Atkins

Naomi's layout avoids breaking the rules and really brings her sketch to life by regarding it's every suggestion. The beautiful compilation of papers and photos from our Story Teller collection are a great fit for the sketch..and instagrams! 

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A HUGE thank-you to Becky for the September invitation! Much fun and creativity was had by our CP Gals. *Make sure to check out the sketch challenge, Crate fans!