Crate Paper

Boy's Rule Challenge Time! + Fun Layout Assortment by Megan Klauer

As promised, a boy-worthy challenge meant to inspire you to scrapbook them special boys in your life, both big and small! It's been quite a while since we last hosted a challenge, so now is your chance to get in on some action using Crate Paper's stellar supplies and whatever ideas you happen to be sporting at the moment. The details are as listed:

- Create a 'boy-themed' project {any size/type} using 75% Crate Paper; all old and new collections are welcome!

- Share a brief story about the project. Anything goes.

- Note your name, location {State/Country} and blog address {optional} with submission.

- Send a photo of your project to cpblog@cratepaper.com by Sunday, March 16th. The winner will be announced Tuesday, March 18th.

Merit & Prize

The winner will be chosen based on project quality and technique presentation. The prize includes a sizable arrangement of Crate Paper's newest products from the three collections: StyleBoard, Boy's Rule & Oh Darling. The winning project & runner-ups will premier at the Crate Paper blog on March 18th.

*Please, only one project per participant {unless a card or other small project}. Project must be newly created on behalf of the challenge. Late entries will not be accepted.

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Oh boys. Yes, boys will be boys. I have two of them. They track in mud, wrestle with each other and have been known to try dare devilish moves when I'm not looking. They're rowdy and rough, and sometimes, just plain wild.

They love to create with Legos for long hours on a Winters day and run around building forts in our timber during the warmth of Summer.

They're sweet and loving when it's time to be tucked in at night and would protect their little sister if the need ever arises. They're boys; our boys and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Last Fall, our oldest son was able to take a trophy whitetail deer during our Illinois Youth Season. The Boys Rule collection contains just the right wordage to express the excitement of his success.

I used pop-dots to add dimension to the different layers and finished it off with a few stitches from my sewing machine.

The next layout captures the boys playing with their Dad's rope in the front yard last Summer. I stood back as I often do and captured the activity from afar until our youngest decided to try and rope me instead.

I used a vellum Photo overlay to highlight a smaller portion of my photo.

The circles of the Race Track paper mimicked the rounding of the rope and created a great guide for adding my title work.

The next page is from the same days activities but with photos of my oldest. I used the idea of a "gamer" but changed it to an "Outdoor Gamer" comparing how the boys play outdoor games more than video games.

Once again, the Photo Overlays are used to frame and draw your eye to the photos.

Have fun capturing the adventurous boys in your life today!

Boys Rule Week! + Favorite Boy Layout by Stephanie Buice

Hi everyone, Stephanie here with a Boys Rule layout. In our house, that's pretty much how things go anyways – the boys totally RULE! I decided to do this layout about one of my favorite boys ever - my son, Brady. These pictures really captured his fun and adorably cute personality. It's these everyday kind of pictures that I seem to treasure the most; the candid, just because shots. I'm pretty sure my neighbors just call me the crazy camera lady. I'm totally one of "those" moms who takes pictures of everything.

At first, I started my layout with two pictures lined up along the bottom of the page, but then decided that things just looked better front and center for this one. I used my photos as my foundation and built around them. I sewed bigger triangles around the main collage to add more interest and to draw the eye in. Adding the stitching also gave me another texture for interest.

I used one of the 4 x 6 journaling cards cut in half under the pictures to lift them up a bit and add another layer. I felt that the white matting was too plain against the white cardstock, so it was the perfect solution to break it up a bit. I wanted the feeling of the layout to be light hearted with no fussiness, so I kept things simple.

The chipboard rocket is a favorite because it suits Brady's personality perfectly. At any moment he'll be sitting still and then 3, 2, and 1, it's blast off to the next thing! I imagine most little boys are like that. Some serious crazy goes on here each and everyday, but I wouldn't change it for the world.

I felt like the bottom picture and embellishments felt heavier and held all the color compared to the top one, so I used the resin shapes to bring the eye and the color up to the top.

When I look at these pictures, I can't help but want to keep him this size. I want to catch all his cuteness and put it in a forever box.

Here is one of his favorite spots - underneath my desk. He plays under there while I work; lost in his own little world. The stripes in his shirt really inspired the fun feel of my layout. I think they work perfectly with the feeling of this collection as well.

To keep the eye moving around the page, I tried to use little clusters of embellishments here and there. I didn't want them to take over, so I kept them simple and small. Also, I used pops of color for freshness!

Of all the things I teach Brady, I hope two of them will be that I will always love him to the moon and back, and that even the simple moments in life are important. I will forever cherish all our moments, big and small, because they make up who we are as a family. I'm pretty lucky to have him in my world.

Boys Rule Week! + To the Moon Layout by Marie Lottermoser

When my son was in second grade, I was a chaperone for his school field trip to the Museum of Flight. I took a group of five boys through the museum where they discovered everything from WWI aircraft to a modern day space station. The boys all agreed one of their favorite exhibits was the space center where they got to see what it would be like to be an astronaut.

I've been saving this photo of my son ever since, and when I received the Boys Rule collection which has a lot of "outer space" embellishments, I knew they would be ideal to use together in a layout.

I used patterned paper with a circular theme to represent an orbit. I traced one of the outer circles on the paper with my sewing machine using red thread. Every so often I would sew down a vellum star or arrow along the circle.

I filled the rest of the circle with chipboard planets and rockets, and spelled out 'to the moon' with Thickers. I made sure to point all of the arrows and rockets in the same direction to give the layout a feeling of actually revolving around him.

I placed the photo and journaling right in the center of the layout. I tried to break things up by doing some of the journaling directly on the photo, and the rest on a piece of white cardstock, adding a few more stars here and there.

I've been loving every bit of the Boys Rule collection, but the space embellishments just might be my favorite. I'm glad I waited to scrap this photo until I had just the right papers and embellishments to go with it!

Boys Rule Week! + Cool Kid Layout by Ginny Hughes

Crate Paper's newest releases brings to light the joys of parenthood and everything there is to being a kid - from playing in the dirt to parading military figurines, boys are an adventuresome bunch. They are packed full of energy as they jump from one activity to the next, so keeping up with them means having the camera handy at any given moment. They are a blast to photograph and scrapbooking their stories is even more fun. For this reason amongst many, Crate Paper's new collection, "Boys Rule!", is the ticket to scrapbooking them special boy occasions.

In introducing the collection, we have planned five days of total awesomeness marked by projects galore and even better, a full "Boys Rule" collection GIVEAWAY!! There's even a challenge in the mix (details to come)! To get us started is a layout from CP Gal, Ginny Hughes - we adore the smile on her little guy and her simple grid philosophy.

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I love any chance I get to document my boy. With four girls at home and only one boy, I want to document him and all of his "boyness"! The Boys Rule line is so fun, and graphic. It really conveys the energy of having a wild five-year-old son.

In creating this layout about my little boy, I started with the black and white striped patterned paper. I love the punch that it adds to the design. I used my Cameo to cut out a circle grid from the paper. I wanted the circles to act as little canvases for decorating and embellishing.

Sometimes, a simple title say it all. I used my son's first initial and his age as the title for my layout. And yes, glitter alphas totally work for boys too!

I really like using grid-style layouts, either squares or circles. I think it's a great way to to highlight a lot of fun, random elements without overwhelming the eye. Another plus is the ease at which it is to use more than one photo given the free-flowing nature of the composition.

I trimmed a quarter inch off the edges of my patterned paper and matted it on the collection's grey/vanilla dotted diamond patterned paper. I then added the leftover pieces from the sides to the top and bottom. I like how they frame the page - the vertical and horizontal stripes lend a graphic pop that is unexpectedly playful.

I printed my photos in black & white as I didn't want them to compete with the colorful patterns of the papers and embellishments.

And there you have it - my one and only little guy and the brand new, Boys Rule! I hope to have inspired you to document the boy in your life!

 

XOXO Story: A Walk Down Memory Lane - Stephanie Buice

My Honey and I are college sweethearts. I knew right away that he was the one. This picture of us  was taken on one of our first dates almost twelve years ago, and since then, my heart has grown more in love with him each and everyday. He really is my Forever Valentine.

For this layout I used embellishments from the Love Notes collection - pulling from here and there to create little scenes of each of my six squares. Grid layouts are my favorite to create because I get to decorate each square on it's own while using it to tell pieces of a story.

When I look at this picture of us, I can still remember that feeling of butterflies in my stomach. I had met my prince charming and I knew it. I can't get over how young we look. We were only eighteen!

Although I made the six squares the focus of my layout and meant for them to be closely grouped together, I wanted them to all be different, but carry the same feeling.

Again, to keep all of the squares similar in style, I used doilies on three of them to tie them together. I placed them in a triangle pattern to keep the eye moving throughout the page. What doesn't say Valentine's Day like a bunch of heart doilies?!

Originally, I had planned to journal much more of our "love story", but space just didn't allow for it. Because I was working with three inch squares, I decided to keep my journaling short and sweet. It ended up telling the perfect amount.

I used a black and white photo on this layout to tie in with the black chalkboard elements of this collection. I really like the addition of black for a Valentines theme. I also used little pops of black in each of my squares to ground them. To me, there's just something special about what a little bit of black can do to a design.

Using this old picture of us is a great reminder that I need to take out my camera more to capture "just us" and our journey. Our love is a rare gem these days and is totally worth documenting.

XOXO Story: Valentine's Day Photo "Booth" - Naomi Atkins

Most of you know me by now, and you know that I'm up for any holiday that gives me a reason to do a photo shoot…I seem to love the "cheesy" holidays the best.

We love Valentine's Day around here. My kids are all into giving each other Valentines, and giving smooches. They are just the sweetest…well, most days, except when they're not…:)

Things went a little crazy here this year, and instead of our normal Valentine's Day with special photo shoots, we have had one ice storm, snow storm or blizzard after the other. The kids didn't go to school on Valentine's Day. I wasn't really able to get out of the house to get my last minute treats, and things just didn't go as planned. We did however, still make the best of it! We did Valentine red velvet cookies, went sledding, and had pancakes with strawberries for breakfast. I did have some vintage Valentine signs I had picked up while antiquing. I threw some of them up, and hoped the girls would cooperate for some photos. 

I only had a minute of a pouty face and then the kissing and posing began…

And I was a happy mama, because in the space of five minutes, I got some super cute photos. I even got a photo of the candy the kids got from their Sunday School teachers before it was eaten!

Since the photos reminded me of a photo booth, I used a collage template I just bought from Paislee Press to add my photos. The collage openings looked like little polaroid frames. On the original template, there is space for a title in the middle, which I titled "hello valentine" in white on the center of my photo. Below each photo, there is a small space for a caption. I turned that off in Photoshop and left them blank. I knew what I was going to do under there…

The Love Notes collection has the most amazingly cute stamp set, and part of it includes nine small stamped sentiments, which was exactly what I needed! I was so excited, so I stamped a sentiment under each of my patterned paper and stitched lines between the polaroid frames to make them stand out even more.

I embellished the collage with some chipboard stickers, flair, and a punched heart. I then started layering my elements to the left of my collage. I cut the chalkboard sentiment from a journaling card, tucked the LOVE Bingo journaling card beneath it, and then added a doily and standout sticker to the top. The pink heart on top of the standout rosette sticker didn't really match the rest of my layout, so I layered another chipboard sticker over it. I really, really love the standout stickers. They are really soft and make a major impact on a layout with minimal effort! I have been so pleased every time I use one on a layout. Also, the journaling card set doesn't disappoint! I use my favorite ones on layouts, and then the rest in my project 365 pages.

When I made the photo collage from my photos, I found that the rest of the layout came together rather quickly. The collection is just so beautiful that you will be able to use it not only for your Valentine's photos, but also, on many types of projects.

I hope I have given you some inspiration to scrap your Valentine photos quickly and beautifully with the Love Notes collection. Thanks for stopping by today!

XOXO Story: A Belated Valentine's Day - Jill Sprott

"Remember the year you didn't get me anything for Valentine's Day?"

This line begins a story that no wife should ever have to tell or retell, a story that husbands across the Valentine's Day-celebrating world fight to avoid becoming the antagonist in as they clamor at the last minute for chocolate, for flowers, for cheesy cards, for shiny baubles, and for impossible-to-attain reservations.

Alas – my Valentine's story this year starts just this way, though luckily, it all works out in the end. This layout tells the harrowing tale.

Yes, after an exhausting week, my husband did, in fact, overlook Valentine's Day this year, but he made up for it one day later, gifting me with the usual Valentine's tokens of affection, plus a few more that let me know that he not only loves me, he also gets me.

I may be a girl who likes getting pampered, but I'm also a scrapbooker, so after expressing my surprise and my delight, I couldn't deny my scrapper's instincts – I grabbed my camera and snapped a few shots of my post-Valentine's Day haul. Together, they help to tell the story of February 15th Valentine's Day. Rather than just pick one or two that I liked for the layout, I decided to use them all, sizing each one down to 1.5" x 2.25". They are all part of the story, after all.

To create the layout, I layered strips of patterned paper from the Crate Paper Love Notes collection across the page, and added several Love Notes photo overlays to the mix. The two red lines across the block of photos (from a red transparency frame) actually help to guide the eye across the photos, simultaneously unifying all three columns while also creating a distinct center column. I also trimmed a few more frames and backed several of the photos with them, creating photo mats with a subtle colors that blend well with the existing colors on the layout.

Among the photos, I tucked in accents, including assorted Love Notes cardstock and chipboard stickers, a foam heart from a sheet of Love Notes Thickers, metal flair, and a painted-hearts clothespin. Interspersing these accents across the photo block creates visual continuity among the individual photos. Adding them to different layers – over and under photos and paper – results in a dimensional "boost" in a few areas but also makes clear that everything on this page is linked by love.

Usually I come up with my own layout titles, but a sticker from the Love Notes collection sparked an idea. Initially, the sticker read, "a love story", and when I set eyes on it while selecting the supplies for the layout, my first reaction was to laugh, thinking, "Sure, yeah…a love story – but one day late!" Just like that, there it was, the idea for the title. I used the (free) font Typenoksidi at size 18 and typed the words "one day late", and after printing out the phrase, I drew lines around the printed words so that I could determine where to place the sticker to ensure that the text would align with the lines on the sticker.

After placing the sticker over the printed text, I ran the sheet through the printer once more, and after a short bit of drying time to prevent smearing, my title was ready to go. I added it to the mix of accents and layers so that it joined in the overall "flow" of the page.

After assembling the photo block and it's layers, I printed the journaling on a sheet of "Sparked" patterned paper, a paper that works not only because the colors complement the existing colors on the layout, but because the horizontal stripes mimic those created by the horizontal rows in the photo block. The subtle background does not upstage the journaling, and allows ample room so that the whole story can be told.

The final touch was the addition of the word "love" at the bottom of the page, accompanied by a few more hearts, and the adjustment of the "February 14" date to February 15. Even the tiniest of additions can help to tell a story – and make clear that I've definitely found the humor in the Valentine's Day that almost wasn't.

So there you have it, the tale of the time I didn't get anything on Valentine's Day, and it still managed to be a wonderful holiday all the same.

XOXO Story: Love Notes Clothesline Layout - Anabelle O'Malley

Before getting started with another round of inspiration, we first want to take a moment to thank those that came forth with a response to last Friday's giveaway question. We inquired as to why the many of you visit the Crate Paper blog and after surveying your thoughts, it appears the two most common responses were "because I love the style of your designs" and "your a great source of inspiration". How awesome is that?! Thank-you everyone for chiming in and telling us your reasons for hanging with CP! We sincerely honor your feedback - to put it simply, our fans are the BEST!

The moment you've been waiting for - Congratulations to....

I love CP because of its unique style and design- it has vintage charm, and is classy and versatile. It's the only company I use now because it truly captures my personal style which in turn helps bring out the best of my designs. I come to the CP blog because each and every designer is incredibly talented and I never leave with out being inspired! Posted by: Rachael F | February 14, 2014 at 06:57 PM

Rachael F., please forward your information to cpblog@cratepaper.com to receive your Love Notes prize pack. Consider it an extended Valentine's Day treat :)

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 February is definitely the time for love in our house. My husband and I celebrate our wedding anniversary on February 12 and, of course, Valentine's Day comes on the 14th. We have been married for 14 years now and each and every year, he brings me roses to celebrate the two events. It's a tradition that I love and look forward to each year. I decided to create a layout that featured this year's bouquet.

I chose to use a clothesline/banner design on this page. I wanted to be able to feature lots of the fun embellishments in the Love Notes collection and thought that this would be a great way to do so.

I started my page by sketching two diagonal lines so that I could see where to place my elements. I added the photo first and built the rest of the banner around it.

I knew I wanted to use a bunch of the cute clothespins. The large ones had hearts on them that faced sideways. To make them work on this page, I simply popped them off and added them back on with glue dots. It was super easy and they look just right now.

Next, I began placing the embellishments where I wanted them to be. I chose florettes from the standouts, chipboard pieces and smaller clothespins. As I placed them onto the 'banner', I layered them a bit to fit them in and to achieve the look I was going for.

Once the first row was finished, I started the second. I knew that I wanted to include my title and journaling block here. As you can see, I used the chipboard banner pieces to spell out the title. Using the word 'love' sideways added some visual interest.

As I was trying to figure out how to add the journaling, I spotted the packaging for the clothespins lying on my desk. I knew it would work perfectly! All I had to do was trim it down and round the bottom corners.

I adhered all of the elements into place. Finally, I cut some twine and spread it across, attaching it to the clothespins. This was much easier than trying to attach the elements to it and keeping everything in place as I did so.

I love how the layout reflects a feeling of fun and celebration - exactly how my roses do. They are my favorite tradition from Valentine's Day and I know that they will continue to be for a long time.

 

XOXO Story: Valentine's Day Photo Shoot - Corrie Jones

We are deeming your Valentine's Day weekend an essential narrative to be remembered today, tomorrow and forever. To help you get a jump-start documenting the special occasion, we enlisted the services of our design team. Each has orchestrated a heart-to-heart valentine story   using the sentimental Crate Paper collection, Love Notes. First to present is CP Designer, Corrie Jones....

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A little strange, maybe, but my husband and I do not really celebrate Valentine's Day with each other and never have. It's just not a holiday that was super important to me because to be perfectly honest, I like treating him special and being treated special everyday. I guess that is just the girl in me. But ever since we had kids, we have tried to do something special for them. Flowers, candy, a stuffed bear, lots of hearts, balloons and fun dinner have all been things we have done for them on Valentine's Day.

Last year though, I decided I needed the holiday to be more noteworthy, so I staged a little "love" photoshoot. 

I bought a huge pink paper background, a red heart pillow, a "love" pillow, a heart shaped chalkboard and paper lanterns. I then strung up twinkle Christmas lights and posed them each so cute and shot off a million adorable pictures.

I love still today, their sweet smiles and the way they played up to my whim of the shoot. I love the group shot with my youngest being silly.

I love everything about this moment. They thought it was a fun new Valentine's Day activity, which it was, but it really was a gift for me.

Ultimately, the funny thing about the pictures is that when I went to scrapbook them using the Love Notes collection, it didn't quite work out! The background of the pictures, the props, the lights, all of that worked, but the girls didn't. One had a camel colored leather jacket. One was wearing a white shirt with purple flowers and my oldest was in dark grey. Oops!

Thank goodness I was able to convert the pictures into black & whtie! Just what I needed to make all the gorgeous colors work together, in my XOXO moment.

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LOVE NOTES GIVEAWAY EXTENSION

We're giving you an extra day to participate in last week's Love Notes giveaway!! The details are available for you to read HERE. Visit us tomorrow to find out the WINNER! 

Happy {CP} Love Day + Duo Projects: Ashley Marcu & Marie Lottermoser

Happy Valentine's Day! I'm excited to share a project with you today that will make giving photos to someone pretty and fun. My Grandmother loves receiving updated pictures of my kids in the mail. She hangs them up and rotates them often, so I thought sending them in a folder would make the pictures even more fun to receive. Plus, they'll be protected in the mail! We all love a pretty package, right?

To make my folder, I cut a piece of patterned paper from the Maggie Holmes Style Board collection down to 10" x 6.5". I scored it down the middle and rounded the outer edges. I styled the front with several elements from the Style Board collection and even used the decorative tape in the collection for binding on the side.

For the inside, I created a simple pocket with two triangle scrap papers, adhering the sides and bottom with American Crafts Super Sticky Red Tape.

Now the folder is ready for pictures to be inserted and delivered!

Next up, I wanted to send a coordinating card to go along with the folder. I layered a journaling card behind a frame and then added a gold label sticker to create a custom sentiment.

Now my picture package is ready to send!

I hope you've been inspired today and will create a folder of your own to share your creativity and pictures with others!

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Because it's Valentine's Day, we have an extra special something to share with you today from CP Gal, Marie Lottermoser. We only wish to have had access to this clever project sooner - it's the ideal Valentine Note storage solution! It can easily be tucked inside a scrapbook album as well - who would of thought? Thank-you Marie for the fantastic idea!

And last but not least, a VALENTINES GIVEAWAY is up for grabs! If you've a crush on Love Notes, this weekend is your opportunity to win the collection..including a few extra new CP goodies 'cause we're smitten about freebies. To participate, tell us why you love Crate Paper and what brings you to the Crate Paper blog. A random winner will be chosen and published on Monday, February 16th. Happy Love Day CP Fans!

This is the last year either of my kids will have a classroom party at school to exchange valentines with their classmates. There is something so special about looking back at the handwritten notes their friends have sent them. I wanted to take the time to save the cards this year, so I made a simple page to hold them which can be slipped right into a scrapbook after it's filled.

I took the heart-printed vellum from the Love Notes collection and cut it at an angle. I trimmed the top edge with a piece of red ric-rac, and then sewed the remaining three sides to a piece of patterned paper to form a pocket.

I added some fun embellishments to the outside and then filled the pocket with the valentines. I love how you can see the cards through the vellum.

And there you have it...a quick and easy way to save those special valentines!