Crate Paper

March Creative Weekly Challenge Winner + Runner-Ups

We got totally lucky with this month's CW Challenge thanks to a bunch of talented folks feeling the Spring buzz!! Lots of you joined in with your own interpretation of paper butterflies, a technique fluently practiced by scrapbookers and card makers alike. From a clotheslines decorated layout to a festive rosette wreath, your butterflies and other fluttering creatures greeted us in the cutest of ways. Thank-you so much for lending us a smile and bringing Spring to our front door! We couldn't be happier thanks to your creativity and admiration of Crate Paper...

In assessing a winning submission, one of the things we often seek out is technique implementation and originality. We love when ideas are slightly "out-of-the-box" and fun! When we spotted this layout by Lilin Fang, right away we noticed the clothesline with the ultra pretty butterflies and hidden journaling. Held together by mini staples and crafted from Crate patterned paper and vellum, Lilin's butterflies are darling! She's the official winner of this month's CW Challenge! Please, give a warm congrats to her...we'll be in touch, Lilin!

 Selecting Runner-Ups was no easy task this time around - there was a lot of Crate love to be had. Thankfully, there's enough space here to share as much of it as we want {no strings attached what-so-ever!}.

Layout Artist: Becky Williams

 

Layout Artist: Bellaria Rosady

 

Layout Artist: Cindy Lee

 

Layout Artist: Elena Stefanidou

 

Layout Artist: Henny Tanuwijaya

 

Layout Artist: Georgia Heald

 

Layout Artist: Jeanette Lee

 

Layout Artist: Jessica Lohof

 

Layout Artist: Jessy Christopher

 

Layout and Card Artist: Leigh Penner

 

Layout Artist: Mandy Dodd

 

Layout Artist: Maria Asmus

 

Layout Artist: Michelle Whorwood

 

Layout Artist: SamSam

 

Layout Artist: Teagan Skwiat

 

Layout Artist: Vanessa Menhorn

 

Card Artist: Veronika Galenko

 

Card Artist: Kerry Angeles

 

Card Artist: Lea Lawson

 

Wreath Artist: Cassandra Cyr

An EXTRA BIG thanks to these awesome ladies for sharing their craftiness with Crate Paper!! We look forward to next month's Creative Weekly challenge {more PIER up for grabs!!} starting Monday, April 22nd! 

Make it Crate :: Gold Feathers w/Anabelle O'Malley

Feathers are everywhere this day! They can be found on wallpaper, clothing, stationary and even textiles. There are many digital cut files that can create feather for paper crafting projects, but I decided to create one by hand. It was quick and easy and definitely creates a statement on a layout.

Here's what I did; I started with DIY Shop's Measurement patterned paper. I created a template and cut two pieces from it.

To create the spine of the feather, I decided to use a gold pipe cleaner. I trimmed down the gold part so that it wouldn't be so fluffy and adhered it to the back of one of the cut paper pieces.

I used a liquid glue to adhere the pipe cleaner. I used some clothespins to clamp it to the paper while it dried (genius!).

Once it was dried, I covered the papers with lots of glue from a glue stick. I adhered the two papers together and ran my finger over the papers so that the spine (pipe cleaner) stood out.

Next, I started cutting. I used small scissors and started at the top. I cut down on a diagonal, in toward the spine. I didn't evenly space out the cuts. This made it look a bit more natural. But, I did keep them relatively close together.

I could of stopped there, but I decided to add some bling to my feather. I love gold, so I mixed some gold pigment powder with gloss medium and painted it on. I didn't cover the whole feather and kept the paint mostly toward the outer edges.

While it was still wet, I finished things off by shaking a bit of glitter to the tips of the feather. It's really shiny and sparkly in person!

I finished off the page by adding lots of gold accents. I used one of my favorite tags from the DIY Shop Stand Outs set. I spritzed the background paper with aqua and gold mists and used some of the leftover gold gloss paint to paint my wood veneers.

Die-Cuts from DIY Shop and the Maggie Holmes line are layered under the photo. I used one of the transparencies over my photo to tie in more of a gold tone into the picture. 

Keeping my feather as a large design element brings the focus to it, along with my photo. I chose the white background so that everything would shine and sparkle.

Another option would be to create several feathers and use them as a background. Smaller feathers that have been misted, dipped in paint or have sequins on them would be fun for cards. The list is endless. I hope this inspired you to create some feathers of your own. Thanks for stopping by today!