Crate Paper

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

 

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

CP Designer: Kim Garofolo

Together or Apart

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

Fun at the Beach

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

 

 

CP Designer: Piradee Talvanna

Good Time & Smile Always

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

 

CP Designer: Tami Gookstetter

Zingo

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

 

CP Designer: Anabelle O'Malley

Linvilla at 8

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

On Trend Card Set

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

 

CP Designer: Sophie Crespy

How Beautiful Life Can Be

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

Autumn

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

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

 

Crate Paper's new "Fourteen" collection winner!

 

 

As promised during last week's Fourteen reveal, someone is soon to mingle with the brand new sparkling collection before anyone else. First, let it be known, that we are tremendously grateful for the many of you that came to join us and bring about an early Valentine's Day celebration here at the CP blog - we realize it's hardly Halloween, and Christmas is still two months away, but one can never be too prepared for the joyful, romantic enchantments common to the heartfelt holiday known for it's ruby reds & pretty pinks - some of our very favorite colors! Just wait 'til you see them in person, and the chunky chevron paper that lots of you spoke of via the comment section over the weekend - a top favorite for sure! We love when you guys spot something of our's that makes you happy.

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It's time to announce the very lucky Fourteen collection winner - here goes...

Oh, those banners and flags are sweet. I love the papers too, that French Confisserie one is stunning! Would love to win this beautiful vintage flavored collection! Posted by: beatrice lawson | October 25, 2012 at 10:32 AM

 Congratulations Beatrice!! Please forward your info to cpblog@cratepaper.com - a special Valentine's package is waiting for you at the AC warehouse! :)

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We'll have news of the collection's release date shortly. Stay tuned & pin the new collection if you haven't already!! Help us to spread to the love...

 Hi CP fans, it's Lisa here with you today to give you a sneak peek of our new Fourteen Collection. I know what you're thinking, it is not even Halloween yet. I agree, but we just couldn't contain the *love* for this collection and had to share.

The Fourteen Collection is sweeter than candy and is a feast of vintage delights. Valentine’s Day icons — like hearts, flowers, lace and love notes — are doused in pinks, reds, creams and perfect touches of blue. Fourteen has captured our heart and hope it will capture yours too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isn't that so sweet? I absolutely LOVE the heart maps, the big mint chevron and the garlands (especially the gold *be mine* ... yummy). I can't wait to hear what your favorite part is. Leave a comment below and you could win the entire collection. Winner will be announced Monday morning (Oct. 29).

Thanks for coming by today! We appreciate all the support you give to Crate Paper and love being part of your lives and memories. I would also like to thank our amazing design team for all their hard work. You truly inspire me and all those that see your beautiful work.

Hopefully we have given your heart a little something to look forward to this February. Take care and I'll be back with more new and exciting collections before you know it! :)

 

Eclectic Everyday with Sasha Farina

 

Is there anything more eclectic than our new collection, "On Trend"? I think not. I happen to love that particular collection just because of that. Every single design element works really well together without the 'matchy-matchy' look.

Today, I'm here to bring you a spread of Project Life, featuring On Trend. How about you? Are you doing Project Life this year? Or, are you planning to start next year? It's never too early or too late when it comes to starting anything. The best time is now <-- I believe in that.

I took out every single piece of On Trend paper I have, but ended up using the 6 x 6 Paper Pad. I think the overall smaller scale is perfect for the little pockets that serve to build the big pages.

 

I love how the Stand-Outs give my pockets a lot of umphh with very little bulk. When you're working on a year long project, you (or in this case, I) need to minimize bulk to cope with space constraint. I do not have a space to store 2-3 albums per year. As this is my first year doing Project Life (I started in January), I'm happy to say I'm still on the first album. I hope to fit in the rest of the year in this album as well. That's why I'm super careful when I go about choosing my embellishments.

 

Other than Stand-Outs, good choice of embellishments are stickers and chipboard. On Trend has no shortage of both. I've quite a few pieces of chipboards in this spread. Can you spot a beautiful blue butterfly, a pair of scissors and the word 'smile'? :) They all look very different, but complement each other in an interesting way, I must say.

 

I used the On Trend cut-out patterned paper for the two 'Starbucks' pockets above. I also added my own 'cut-out' from the cardboard cup sleeve - trimmed to a circle. The happiness tag won't fit into one pocket, so I cut and slotted both pieces in different pockets. I do this a lot and loving the look of it.

 

Last but not least, Thickers. To say I adore thickers would be an understatement. They have been my go-to alphas since many years ago and when Crate Paper started releasing thickers to coordinate with our collections, I squealed in delight! True Story. :)

 Once again, I cut apart 'something' to be split into two pockets. I think my 'monkeys' approve of the hanging swirls from the letters K & Y - they said those look like monkey tails! :)

I have more On Trend that I plan to use for my Project Life in the future. How about you? I hope I've inspired you to try using On Trend for your next eclectic project. Be it Project Life or a mini book or even a home decor piece, I think On Trend is perfect for everything.

Thank-you for stopping by:)

October Color Challenge Winner!

    Hello there! It's Tara with you today, to announce our October Color Challenge winner! Thank you to everyone who submitted their projects to us this month! I loved seeing some new creative takes on the color combination and can't wait to share some of our favorites with you!

 The winner of our October Color Challenge is: Tomomi H.

I loved how Tomomi used the new Acorn Avenue and combined it with our previous Fall collection Farmhouse. From the sewn paper garlands floating across the page to those cute 'Polaroid' photos, we thought Tomomi's layout was a great example of combining this month's colors! Congrats Tomomi! 

As promised, here are a couple more projects that we found noteworthy! 

scrapbook artist: Jody Rogers

I loved this petite pillow box that Jody sent us! Always a fan of pretty gift-wrap ideas, Jody's combination of paper, tulle and ribbon turns an ordinary gift into something truly spectacular! 

scrapbook artist: Gina Rodgers

I really enjoyed looking at all of the layers that Gina used to create her 'Harbour' layout. There's something about torn scrapbook papers, mists and a little sewing that help to keep scrapbooking fun and exciting!

 Thank you again to all who contributed this month! Happy creating!

  

A Retake on Brads & Buttons w/Michiko Kato

 

Hello CP Fans! Michiko here with you, and today, I've an album devoted to CP's brads and buttons! There are infinite possibilities when it comes to using them. They lend well to any kind of project, including layouts, mini albums, project life entries, and so on. Personally, I love to use them on mini albums. For me, brads and buttons are especially important - without them, the creation process just wouldn't be the same.  Take for example, today's album crafted from Crate's "On Trend" collection - being that it's key feature is to show-off the many uses for B & B's, many of the embellishment collages inside depend on their extra dimension and texture. The cover itself is adorned in a button and brad combination wrapped in twine, securing the album in it's entirety. In my mind, they're an absolute essential - let's take a peek at a few techniques from the album! 

 

First, this is the front cover the album, or the album as a "whole", all tucked together inside a wrapped shell. I always create thick mini albums, and while doing so, I often use large sized brads. This usually makes the album's pages "thicker". In dealing with this, I like to use twine to contain them inside something. This not only protects the pages, but it also leaves wiggle room for expansion.  A couple of brads are quick to hold twine - just make sure they're wide enough to hide twine behind them. 

 

Let's take a look at some of the pages! On this first one, I positioned a metal/green button on "On Trend's" hip, retro radio. The two go well together and it almost appears as if the button is a part of the radio.

 

Crate Paper introduced new flowers with it's Summer release - their design is delicate and cool! As a quick dress-up for this polka-dotted flower, I attached a large B/W flower to it's center. I chose the button because it's unique and chic!

 

Using my very favorite button from the "On Trend" collection, I accented the page's title. The small flower button is so cute. It matches the apple sticker, too!

 

On this next one, I took a medium sized vellum bag and filled it with Story Teller's bingo numbers. Amongst the mix is a small gold button - a playful accent piece. Sewn to the bag is a message and at the very top is a red wooden clip {Story Teller} with a button glued to it. 

 

Sometimes, one brad goes a long ways! Here, I positioned a brad beneath two pieces of chipboard. Even though it's not readily apparent at first, this one tiny addition is all it takes to finish the look.

 

Lately, it seems like brads have taken on new designs outside the world of epoxy and fabric. One of my favorite new items from Crate are these colorful flower brads. I anchored my banner with two of them - the colors blend in beautifully!

 

You can have a lot of fun using brads and buttons! Now that you've had a chance to check out the album, I hope there's even more reason for you to play around with them. One can never have too many buttons, or brads, for that matter! Check out Crate's latest button & brad assortments HERE.

Crate Paper Creative Weekly :: Signage {Final Day}

 

 

Ashley Cannon Newell

I was so inspired by the image for this week. I just love all the shapes, signs, and layout presented in the graphic, not to mention "London". England is my birth country, so it holds a special place in my heart. So, I picked out some colors displayed in the graphic and found them in Acorn Avenue patterned papers! I made a few cards and a little pocket to hold them. I strategically placed each chipboard sticker or die-cut to mimic the signage placement in the graphic. It was so much fun to get creative this week and design a few cards clustering fun embellishments together. Autumn is here, so find your creativity and make something fabulous!!

 

Rahel Menig

Two years ago, I first saw the lights of Las Vegas. For me, this is the city of signs and lights and all things colorful. I tried to incorporate the vibe by using different types of alpha stickers for the title, sign-like layered stickers and journaling with arrows.

 

Kaori Watanabe

For me, living in the Northern country and being that I'm a fan of Summer, Autumn signifies the end. I don't particularly care for this time of year. My son is a completely different story. He adores Autumn!! This year, he's in Kindergarten and his school is literally in the woods. Yes, in the woods! The children happily play in the environment everyday and enjoy it tremendously.

I thought Acorn Avenue and it's various phrase stickers and chipboard pieces would lend well to the subject of my son's first year in school and the outdoor activities that him and his classmates seem to like very much. I spread phrase elements throughout, each partnering a photo at differing angles. 

 

Tami Gookstetter

I love watching for the signs of Fall: the leaves changing colors, pumpkin patches and corn stalks, fuzzy scarves, and warm drinks. I decided to make my page today in honor of one of these signs - the return of the Pumpkin Spice Latte! I love how this phone picture worked with the fun Autumn inspired colors from the Acorn Avenue collection. I used the little arrow, layered with a sticker that I trimmed down to emphasize the "sign" theme, along with the chipboard letter V, which I turned into arrows. And of course, I had to add a little squirrel friend - what Fall page is complete without a squirrel?!

 

Sophie Crespy

I was inspired by the labels from Acorn Avenue. I decided to create a collage of them on the right side of my page like a bunch of sign posts indicating all things I love about Fall! It looks busy on purpose; there are so many things in our ordinary lives to be thankful for! I just adore the great colors, the adorable leaf shapes, and the buttons in this collection. I spread them throughout my page, along with scattered round stickers, to recreate the look of leaves flying in the wind. 

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And that officially concludes October's Creative Weekly! We sincerely want to thank-you following along and keeping us company this week. We promise to return next month with the usual CW challenge, along with a special surprise next week! Stay tuned - it's going to get a lot more colorful around here!

Crate Paper Creative Weekly :: Signage {Day 4}

 

 

Anabelle O'Malley

I love Acorn Avenue. The bright, fun and somewhat retro designs and colors are perfect, not only for Fall themed projects, but for other topics as well. I did choose to use a photo that is Fall themed for this page, however, because the colors worked perfectly with Acorn Avenue. In keeping with the "Signage" theme, I started with a Silhouette cut that I have had in my library for a while. I love the vintage sign and decided to use it to highlight part of my title. The rest of my title was placed on a sign that I designed from a piece of chipboard, a stand-out, a label sticker and a border sticker. Another way that I incorporated the signage theme into my page was to cut some label shaped frames and scatter them around the page. Layering them with some of the new wood veneer pieces (LOVE these), some chipboard, the washi stickers and doilies added for a fun cluster of embellishments. 

 

Janna Werner

Autumn is the most beautiful time of year - the leaves turn from a gorgeous green into orange, yellow and red. The sun is still warm and beautiful and the children play outside, and play with the leaves. It's time for a hot cocoa and cozy evenings in front of the fireplace. Or, in your scraproom, crafting with the gorgeous Acorn Avenue and On Trend collection by Crate Paper :-) 

 

Heathyr Hintz

Arrows were the first thought that came to mind when I saw that this month's theme was "signs". I've been meaning to cut this arrow shape with my Sillhouette for some time now, but I had been saving it for when I could us a lot of colorful and funky patterns - Acorn Avenue papers fit the bill! Since I'd be cutting 12 different patterned papers, I opted to use the 6" x 6" paper pad which has all of my favorite papers in a scaled down size. I used the negative of my Silhouette cut to trace the arrows onto the papers and then cut around the shapes with a scissors. No page of mine is complete without some stitching, so I hand-stitched around a few of the arrows to give my project some extra color. 

Crate Paper Creative Weekly :: Signage {Day 3}

 

 

Rebecca Luminarias

The very first image that popped into my head for the Autumn Signage theme was that of the multi-city signs, or directional signs in a town or city square. They're the kinds on posts with arrows pointing every which way, directing people toward points of interest. Then I remembered a Fall quote I heard recently, "Autumn is a second Spring where every leaf is a flower", and an idea struck!! The quote fit the Acorn Avenue collection so well, especially because from the beginning, I knew I wanted to use the "Autumn" sticker flag in some way on this project.

I thought that the quote would be nice for a home decor design so I chose my base paper, Cashew Shop, with that in mind. Then I broke up the saying onto coordinating tags, stickers, and paper scraps, mostly from the Acorn Avenue collection, to replicate the look of the multi-sign posts. I also utilized chipboard leaves and flowers that not only matched the paper, but also the quote. With some buttons, hand-stitching, and distressing, all that was left to do was to find a frame for my work. Instead of putting the project inside the frame, I adhered it to the outside with removable double-stick tape. It's a little unconventional, but now I have a colorful piece of Autumn art to display.

 

Sasha Farina

Autumn Signage. I got the theme for this month's Creative Weekly and thought about it literally. Signs = directions. Then I thought about my children, about how I want them to not only dream, but to go after their dreams. About how I do not want them to wait for the perfect time to chase after what they desire but to start now. Be on your way - that was how this layout came about.

I used a lot of Acorn Avenue on here. The Cashew Shop paper was begging to be cut apart and put together again with some hand-stitching. Then I added the gorgeous wood veneer, a paper flower, and the wood grain chipboard frame. 

 

Piradee Talvanna

This year has honestly gone by in a flash and can't believe that it's already mid-October with Fall in full swing and Winter just around the corner. Although over here in Singapore, we don't get to enjoy the beautiful colors of Fall, but I'm constantly reminded of the beauty as I look back at some of the places I've had the chance to visit. And Autumn in Nikko says it all. Also, taking inspiration from this month's Autumn Signage, I used the stand-out layer stickers as my main focus and creating little clusters of embellishments around each sticker as I try to capture what Fall means to me.

Crate Paper Creative Weekly :: Signage {Day 2}

 

 

 

Crate Paper's signage-inspired collective is in full swing! Come check out how this cool concept makes it's way onto paper via our latest Fall collections, On Trend & Acorn Avenue. No directions needed; just scroll & scan.

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Michiko Kato

I love to go camping at least four to five times a year. Often, I crave time away from the cities. When out there with mother nature, I can easily relax and forget the everyday stuff. The surroundings are an instant pick-me-up when I'm feeling tired or "worn-out". When visiting my favorite campsites, there are many handmade signs on display. They're usually carved out of wood, and have a warmness about them that blends right in with the great outdoors. So, when it came time to scrapbook a layout about a recent family camping trip, I created an image of a "wooden sign" from kraft paper, which just so happens to be reminiscent of the traditional camp-friendly signs! Behind each arrow is a different pattern paper from either Story Teller or Little Boy Blue.

 

Stephanie Dagan

I loved the image of this week's "Creative Weekly" challenge. I liked it so much that I struggled to create something different from it. So, I took the idea of a pole on which I sewed lots of pieces of paper and some pictures, each indicating multiple destinations. And because they blended perfectly, I mixed both Acorn Avenue and On Trend in creating the layout. They're seamless together! 

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