Crate Paper

COMP :: Circular Fun With Styleboard

Ginny Hughes' founded a fab COMP concept we think you're going to enjoy–it includes oodles of dots and the beloved metallic hue, gold. Seriously cute & fun!

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Composition is everywhere. Thanks to Pinterest, discovering ingenious composition ideas is effortless. When I came across this painting on Pinterest I knew it was perfect for today's project!

Inspiration Source :: Sara Matson

I started with the idea of circles and a-hint-of-gold. I took a few of the chipboard alphabet circles from the Maggie Holmes Style Board collection and applied a thin layer of gesso to them while allowing some of the gold to peak through. I specifically chose to use the chipboard alphabet pieces for added dimension, but you could just as easily use cardstock and stack the circles up a bit to get the same look.

After the gesso dried, I scattered the circles around on a piece of 12 x 12 white cardstock. I then placed a photo onto the cardstock to determine the best placement for the painted chipboard circles.

As seen on the finished layout, I added soft watercoloring and gold splatter to the background. 

 

I can easily see myself using this composition again as inspiration for another layout. There are so many unique elements to it, especially the tiny pie-chart circles. Their potential is truly infinite!

InstaCrate :: Instagram Prints & Crate Paper

Whether an Instagram addict or iPhone camera guru, grabbing photos on the go and putting them to paper has never been so easy and fun. There are a plethora of ways to scrap them pretty square photos. We're here to help you score some ideas for savoring your insta-moments. Say hello to 'InstaCrate'–a new installment we think you'll find extra handy.

If you haven't yet discovered us at Instagram, simply search 'Crate Paper' and 'follow'. Easy peasy.

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With a majority of my photos being taken with my phone and posted to social sites like Instagram, I find I'm using them more frequently on my scrapbook pages as well. I love looking through my phone's photo feed for page inspiration, and with so many portable printers and printing apps, it's easy to print them off and get started on a page. One of my favorite ways to showcase square Instagram prints on a layout is with Crate Paper chipboard frames. 

I've selected a variety of frames from Notes & Things and The Pier collections to use on this layout. Most of my photos were square, but I also threw in a few rectangles for good measure. A simple grid design is an easy way to mix photo orientations and sizes.

I added in both color and texture by tucking patterned papers behind my frames. The 6x6 papers pads, with their smaller patterns, are ideal for this type of layering!

My title is a die cut word combined with a gold word sticker from the Styleboard line. I also added some other gold stickers to several of the chipboard frames to carry the gold color through the design.

I typed my journaling on two different tags from Notes & Things and slipped them in behind two of the frames. If you plan to do this, just use adhesive on three edges of your frame, leaving one open to slide the tag in.

So print out some of the Instagram photos and grab some Crate chipboard frames - together they make a perfect pair!

- CP Gal :: Lisa Dickinson -

 

CP Colour :: Fuchsia, Mint, Rose, Orange Sherbet & Pale Pink

 

Melissa Phillips' mini pockets are the sweetest creations we've ever seen! Tucked with tags and decorated with Notes & Things Chipboard Frames, they are sure to perk up a colorful idea, or two!

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(photo credit:  thesweetestoccasion.com)

Hello Crate Paper lovers! Melissa Phillips here with you today sharing a 'Crate Colour' project.  I love letting color inspire me, it's one of my most favorite starting points.  The new Notes & Things collection is packed with lovely colors, from soft and subtle, to juicy and vibrant.  My projects were inspired by the colors found in the photo above.

I began with some 12x12 Notes & Things double-sided patterned paper and my favorite pocket die, with the idea of creating a few pocket notes with tags.  I love that the paper is double-sided so that you catch a glimpse of the fun patterns and colors on the inside of the pocket as well as the outside.

After assembling each die cut pocket, I started embellishing the front using elements from Notes & Things like Chipboard Frames, Mixed Tags, and Standouts Layered Stickers.

I wanted to create some scrappy dimensional bows to embellish my pockets so I pulled out my Styleboard dies and created a few to add some character and personality.  I dressed up the center of each using things like trim and sequins, a staple, button, etc.

I used vellum behind each chipboard frame in order to soften things up a bit, and also because vellum is such a beautiful and versatile element.

 

I used Notes & Things Cardstock Stickers Kraft Label Stickers to embellish my pockets and tags as well as Styleboard Gold Label Maker Stickers.  Little touches of gold add so much charm.

 

A few Love Notes Badges were also used along with one of my favorite finishing touches, the dots from the Wisecrack Gold Glitter Thickers...so much fun.

The Standouts Layered Stickers are so sweet.  Most definitely one of my most favorite Notes & Things products.

Another favorite Notes & Things product are the Kraft Label Stickers.  I love the sweet and simple messages they carry.

Thanks so much for stopping!

Melissa

Back-to-School CP Project Inspiration: Pretty Pockets, Tags & Pens - Jeanette Lee

 

These graduation gifts from CP Gal, Jeanette Lee, were created exclusively for her high school students. They include personalized pens, prim and proper pockets and multi-layered tags from Crate Paper collections, old and new. They are stunning!

 

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As some of you might not know, I am a high school teacher in Singapore. Every year, I prepare personalized gifts for my students who will be graduating and sitting for their major examinations. This year is no exception. Even better, I have been blessed with a class filled mostly with girls. Hence, there was no hesitation in creating these tag pockets to their prettiest state.

 

 

My first batch of tags showcase an array of repetitive elements such as delicate floral die-cuts and ribbons. The intended goal was to create heavily textured tags using multiple layers of various product, flowers and ribbon included. I also added smaller embellishments, a stamped sentiment and a personalized name-tag for writing words of encouragement. 

 

Each student was also to receive a personalized pen. The simple process of combining Maggie Holmes' decorative tape and a sentiment attached with white string, makes an average everyday pen look more glamorous.

To break the monotony of the previous design,  I started a second batch of pocket tags. This time around, I focused on phrases and sentiments. I dug out sentiments from prior Crate Paper collections, and layered them over and under each other. Not forgetting the floral die-cuts and ribbons, the tags were complete.

 

 

 

Given the sheer number of tags I had to create, I was able to save some time by using similar elements throughout. It made the process of creating 'quicker', and more enjoyable. In the end, each tag was somewhat similar yet different, befitting of how every student is different in their own way as well. Ultimately, this was the outcome I was hoping for. 

 Thanks for having me here, today. Have a splendid weekend!

Back-to-School CP Project Inspiration: Sweet Teacher Tags - Anabelle O'Malley

A 'teacher gift' means so much more when made from the heart.. Just look at how sweet and pretty these tags are from CP Gal, Anabelle O'Malley. Now, imagine what a beautiful surprise they would be the first day of school–a great start to a brand new school year!

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One of my favorite things to do is make teacher gifts. I give little gifts on the first day, last day, and on the holidays in between. They don't have to be big presents, just something thoughtful. As a teacher myself, I know how meaningful these little gifts can be. I decided to create a set of tags/cards to give out on the first day of school. I decided to use the beautiful, soft colors from the Styleboard collection. Just because it's a 'teacher' gift, doesn't mean it has to be created with school themed materials. These tags are so sweet and would be perfect for any occasion. Here they are.

 

I began by embossing the tags with the folder from the Style Board collection. Then, I picked out my embellishments. I chose aqua, pink and yellow as my main colors. Each tag received a chipboard frame, some flowers and a bobby pin to that serves to attach a journaling card (for my message) to the tag.

 

 

I find that by creating sets of tags using a similar design makes the process so much easier. The Styleboard stickers and die cuts were perfect for coordinating and decorating the tags. I added a strip of gold washi along the bottom of each tag and added some stitching.

 

 

Small stickers and chipboard pieces were added for more detail. Then, I finished the tags off with some gems.

 

 

I wrote a short message on each of the journaling cards and clipped them to the tags. Here is what the aqua one looks like.

 

 

The little gift I picked up is a pack of sticky notes and some fun gel pens. I found them in the Target Dollar Spot. As you can see, the gifts don't need to be large or expensive!

 

 

I tied the tags to the stationery with a sheer ribbon. It makes for a beautiful presentation.

 

 

I'm not necessarily looking forward to the start of school, but I am looking forward to giving these away and hopefully putting a smile on the teacher's faces. 

CP Gal Subject Gallery: Stylish Baby Headbands - Ashley Cannon Newell

Looking for a new way to use your Styleboard collection? The dies are a great product for versatility. Not only can you use them with paper, but other things, including felt. I recently had a baby and am always searching for new headbands. I got the idea last month to make my own using the bow dies. Here's how I did it.

You need the following supplies:

100% wool felt
fold-over elastic (or other elastic material)
hot glue gun
bow dies
circle die (optional)
die cutting machine
scissors

First, I die cut all the felt pieces. Next, I assembled the bows using a hot glue gun. In the alternative, you can use a fabric liquid adhesive too. Measure and cut the elastic. I cut mine to 13.5". My baby is five months old and it fits her head, but babies' heads vary, so measure accordingly. Last, attach the bows to the bands.

You can find elastic bands and felt in all colors, but here are the ones I picked.

Sending a gift? No worries because the Styleboard patterned paper collection will help you whip together a gift box in no time.

I cut two pieces of cardstock to 7.5" x 8" and used Crafter's Companion tool to score the box lid and box base.

After assembling the box, I added a pink cardstock strip and embellished with a cardstock bow and added the flair button.

Inside the box, I included the five felt bow headbands.

Here are a few shots of my little one wearing the headbands.

So, when you are in need of a headband for yourself or need a gift, even for a new addition, don't forget your bow dies. Headbands are an easy gift item for baby showers and new moms.

CP Gal Subject Gallery: Saving Time with Open Road & Grids - Stephanie Buice

 

 

Hi everyone, Stephanie here with a summery layout that models an assortment of exquisite details and 'open gallery' feel. This time of year is extremely busy for me! I'm running around here and there while never really feeling like I can ever catch up. So, I felt it a wonderful benefit when offered the chance to slow down for a while and take time out to let my hands be busy doing what I enjoy–scrapbooking!

 

I dug into the Open Road collection–a favorite summer line at the moment, and got right to work.

 

Here is my "Summer Days Are Here" layout:

 

Because time is a hot commodity at the moment, I really like using this grid style layout as a go-to for saving precious minutes during the busy summer rush. And because it is a familiar composition, finishing a layout is a breeze! I like that I get to use special pieces from various collections to help tell my story, too!

 

Never be afraid to dig into your stash of layouts and re-create some of your favorites. I think you will be pleasantly surprised not only at the amount of time you'll save, but of the fun you'll have with so much of the guess work eliminated.

 

 

This layout reminds me of the photo gallery walls that are now very popular in home decor, because of all the different elements and how they're arranged ever-so-evenly with an equal amount of surround space. Just like how they'd be arranged on a wall at home and how they may tell a story of your family, I used a piece from different collections to help tell the story of my picture.

 

 

The colors in this collection remind me of suntans and long days spent and enjoyed outside. The picture I used on this layout is of us at a ball game we went to recently. My journaling reads "There's nothing like a warm summer day at the ballpark... a picnic blanket, music and my honey; I'm loving life."

 

 

The different embellishments I chose were very significant to our day. The radio represents the music that was playing and the flowers for the beautiful landscape. One of my favorites is the Alabama license plate–how perfect! I think that sometimes, it's easy for us to just pile on the cuteness 'just because', so I like that this page allows me to really pull in a few strong storytelling pieces.

 

 

With so much going on, I feel it's easy for the eye to just wander without guidance. To help solve this problem, I placed strips of patterned paper and a tiny collage about midway through the page to draw the eye upward and call attention to the rest of the details.

 

 

I recommend going through your own stash of 'Crate' and select those pieces you've been saving for a special layout, and put them to use. This kind of layout is very forgiving allowing you to use embellishments of all different sizes, designs and textures.

 

I know it's summer and all of us have busy schedules, but don't forget to take time out to relax and have fun. This is an easy layout that can be accomplished in a variety of ways, so take a few minutes and try it on for size! I hope that the sharing of my creative process makes it a little less time consuming now that you've seen it done.

Happy Summer Days Ahead!

 

Pretty Things: Beautiful Bali and the Maggie Holmes' Styleboard collection - Jeanette Lee

More than likely, the holiday weekend brought with it a chance to enjoy the benefits of water, sand and sun! Today's "Pretty Things" feature takes notice of these benefits in the beautiful and much coveted landscape of Bali with CP Gal, Jeanette Lee. She reflects upon a recent Bali trip via two beach-themed layouts using the Maggie Holmes' collection, Styleboard.

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In Singapore, we experience an all year summer season, so it's no surprise that nearly everyday marks a perfect opportunity to head out to the beach and have some fun! I'm more  of a home bound person and trips to the beach are rare. However, when an opportunity does lend itself, it's a perfect time to snap photos and scrapbook about the time spent playing in the sand and and great big ocean. Wonderful memories are always had at the beach!

One such example is when my family visited Bali this year; imagine the endless indulgence of scrumptious food, good company and long hours busking under the sun. A great break away from the everyday mundane life, I must say. For me, it was a timely reminder of how a beach holiday can bring the family closer together.

Jumping onto the colorwash bandwagon, this trend is definitely worth trying and pairs well with the beach theme. Using a die cut title, I selected three colors that resembled a beach scene; blue, yellow and orange. To achieve a gradient ombre effect, I created transitions by overlapping one color after the next. A damp brush and a spritz of white paint helped ensure that the overall look remained opaque and subtle.

To keep the focus on the die cut title and main photo, I kept the embellishments to a minimum. I'm a fan of details and thus, selecting a few relevant chipboard elements and tags complete the look.

When dealing with multiple colors on a layout, I recommend balancing them with neutrals such as white or black. This can be seen in my attempt to outline the title using a black gel pen and then filling the empty spaces with black splatter.

The next layout offers a glimpse of a beach trip already explored in a previous project, so the photos might look slightly familiar. We all have experienced periods when we re-look on past photos and find ourselves wanting to scrap them all over again.

I opted to use multiple photos here because I felt it to be a great way to document a sequence of events that occurred during the trip. I kept the photos small and spread them out across the page. I then chose to alternate them with blocks of embellishments, arranged in a grid-like format.

The 'Pretty Palette' patterned paper from the Maggie Holmes Styleboard collection is a favorite of mine. The colorwash print inspired my embellishment and paper color scheme. Also, I decided to up the texture a bit using a small section of the Styleboard 'Cork' sheet and gold glittered frame - they remind me of 'sand'.

The vellum die cuts on the page also help to reinforce the beach theme. The translucent nature of the vellum softens the boldness of the colors and creates a pastel finish that I very much desired.

Thanks for joining me today. Do remember to take a moment to relax, reflect and unwind. Here's to the start of a great Summer ahead!

CP Dots & Stripes: Summer Love'en - Adrienne Alvis

Even though there is still much excitement in the air over the latest CP reveal, Notes & Things, we're dedicating the remainder of June to Open Road and other ongoing special features. We'll return to Notes & Things in July! Don't forget, the new collection will be available at your favorite craft retail outlet starting mid-July...just around the corner!

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Hello everyone! I'm here today to share a couple of layouts I created using the Dots and Stripes theme. Summer photos are my favorite photos to scrap and using dot and striped patterns are the perfect way to compliment them!

For this layout, I split the different between the two patterns on my page by placing a 6" x 12" piece of dotted paper from the Styleboard collection for the background.

I love the contrast the two large background pieces give to the page and to tie the design together a bit further, I used even more striped pieces of patterned paper in layers behind my photo. I also added a striped photo frame from the Styleboard collection on top of the left photo of my daughter in her pink polka-dotted bathing suit to direct the eye toward the smaller photo.

I added another photo frame to the right of the large photo and slipped a chipboard heart and a few stickers behind it for a filled pocket effect. I used two different sized circle punches to create even larger 'dots' and added the wood veneer shapes from the Oh Darling collection on top of them for an extra layer of dimension.

I used a sticker from the Oh Darling collection for my journaling, but before I placed it on the page, I adhered it to a leftover piece of cardstock and trimmed along it's edges so I could easily slide it around before deciding where to house it. I frequently utilize this technique with stickers before committing them to a project.

I tucked my journaling tag away, under a transparent overlay–a little bit of it is peeking out and can easily be removed for quick reading.

For this next layout's design, I was inspired by slanted stripes found on an Open Road patterned paper. 

I took a leftover piece of patterned paper that I used to create the circles in my previous layout and adhered it along the same slant as the stripes and layered lots of chipboard on top.

I placed the photo in the upper right-hand corner of the page and layered a few Open Road items around it. I added several flair badges here and there, around the page, representing dots.

I printed the journaling on paper, cut it into strips, and then lined them up along the same angle as the stripes of the paper directly beneath the title. I mixed the chipboard and letter stickers from the Open Road collection for added visual interest and to introduce more color to the page.

I placed a few narrow strips of rainbow-striped patterned paper from the Boys Rule and Open Road collections along the bottom of the layout. On top, after 'zig-zag' stitching the paper strips down, I layered a chipboard flower and felt banner.

Summer is in full swing and what better way to compliment those fun-filled summertime photos than with dots and stripes?! Most Crate Paper collections include an ample selection of dotted/striped patterned paper options that are sure to get your creative juices flowing while enjoying this great time of year!

CP Dots & Stripes: Fun at the Carnival - Katie Ehmann

 

 

As one of June's feature specialties, Dots and Stripes is here once again to show you how to dress-up your next project using the infinite variety of polka-dot and stripe patterned papers that Crate Paper has to offer. Today, you'll 'spot' two fun-filled layouts from long-time CP Gal, Katie Ehmann. We love her take on the theme!

***New Collection Reveal starts this Thursday, June 19th + Giveaway!!!

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Whenever I receive a new box of paper goodness from Crate Paper, I always delve into the stack of patterned paper first. While I love paper with big, bold graphics, florals, and cut-apart journaling cards, my heart skips a beat when it comes to stripes and polka-dots. Not only are they incredibly versatile, they provide a big pop of color and interest to any project, without taking away from the embellishments and photos. For these stripe-y/dotty projects, I combed through my stack of Crate papers and selected all the stripes and dots I could find, initially intending to choose a few with which to work. Ultimately, I loved the look of the stack that I had, so I decided to go pretty eclectic for my first layout: Fun at the Carnival!

I began by trimming down a few papers and layering them in an alternating stripe\dot\stripe\dot pattern beneath my photo. I rarely use black in my layouts, but for this project, I felt the black really provided some contrast to my bright photo and embellishments. Once I layered my papers, I adhered my photo and attached the whole pile to a piece of dotted vellum from the Oh Darling collection. Finally, I machine stitched the vellum to a sheet of white cardstock. I selected embellishments and alphas from Open Road, Oh Darling and Styleboard, creating a fun collage to surround my photo.

For my second project, I chose to focus on polka dots and punched circles from a variety of dotted patterned papers. I arranged them in a grid across white cardstock, taking care to alternate the patterns. Once adhered, I gathered circular embellishments from Open Road, Styleboard and Oh Darling, and placed them atop my dots. Next, I decided to place my title, 'So Awesome', directly on my photo to keep the look cohesive. I adhered the vellum 'awesome' sentiment from Boys Rule with This to That {AC} tape runner. Finally, I trimmed the white cardstock and backed it with a neutral paper to serve as a border.

Thanks for joining me today, Crate fans! I hope you're enjoying your summer and are busy taking lots of photos for your stripe-y and dotty layouts!