Featured on The Cupcake Blog!

I just discovered my mini cupcakes and Valentine’s Day treat box were featured on
The Cupcake Blog today! How cool is that?! Check it out here.

CHA Winter 2012 Sneak Peeks: My Five Favorites

It’s the most wonderful time of the (paper crafting) year! Winter CHA is this weekend and while much of the paper crafting world gets to see the latest and greatest products in Anaheim, I will be here drooling over all the wonderful new spring and summer releases that I can find online. For those of you who may not know, CHA stands for Craft & Hobby Association and this weekend is one of their trade shows when manufacturers reveal their newest collections for the upcoming season (I like to think of it as kinda like Fashion Week for crafters). I’ve been having fun checking out all the manufacturers’ sneak peeks leading up to the show. Here are some of my favs so far.

I love beachy papers and my fiance and I were just dreaming out loud about a Florida Keys getaway, so I was immediately drawn to Webster’s Pages new Palm Beach line. This collection takes me to sunny shores with its creamy color palette and breezy palm trees. I cannot wait to make a vacation mini album with these papers.

BasicGrey departs from the typical baby/park/wedding themes for spring and shouts  “HELLO!” — or rather, Konnichiwa! — with a new Japanese-inspired collection of bright colors and geometric prints. Love it!

Oh Dear Lizzy I am so happy you are back. No one can quite welcome spring like Elizabeth Kartchner I’m convinced… her collaborations thus far with American Crafts have blown me away and I’m looking forward to scrapping with her latest, the Neapolitan collection. The pastels and watercolor elements give it a dreamy quality, don’t you think?

Crate Paper has this awesome way of making papers that are vintage-y while still being completely accessible for creating modern projects. The sentiment stickers in Pretty Party would work for both cards and albums (versatility is always a positive in my book) and I’m pretty sure that the seafoam green on the letter stickers is the perfect shade of green.

And finally… Pebbles Inc’s Hip Hip Hooray is everything a birthday collection should be: colorful, festive and FUN. And I am a sucker for mini clothespins. Those little guys stole my heart as soon as I spotted them on the Pebbles blog!

If these five favorite sneak peeks are any indication… CHA has lots of paper crafting goodness in store. Which of these collections are your favorite? Any others out there you’ve spotted that are missing from my round-up?

Valentine’s Day Cupcakes Treat Box Holder and Card

The snowy weather on Saturday gave me a good excuse to stay inside and get some baking and crafting done. I’ve been wanting to use my Crate & Barrel mini muffin pan to whip up some bite-size cupcakes and I couldn’t resist getting a head start on celebrating Valentine’s Day… and these festive Martha Stewart cupcake liners, some Pillsbury pink frosting and red sprinkles did just the trick.

If you’ve been reading my blog you might remember that I recently got the new Silhouette Cameo digital cutter. I spotted an XOXO treat box template in the online store and downloaded it with my gift card (so nice they give you a free download card in the box with the machine!) When I saw the template I immediately thought of mini cupcakes and hoped that they would fit inside the o’s without any adjustments. And they did! A perfect fit:

Box template: 3d box by Lori Witlock, available in the Silhouette Online Store; patterned paper from Martha Stewart Crafts Enchanted Woodland 12×12 stack

And the great thing about the Silhouette, which I tend to forget about until I cut something, is you’re left with the negatives. In this case, perfect XOXO cut-outs. So I made this card with them:

Pink cardstock: Envelopper Inc.; XOXO cut-outs from 3d box template in the Silhouette Online Store,
cut from Martha Stewart Enchanted Woodland paper; pink Memento marker; American Crafts Dear Lizzy ribbon; BasicGrey buttons & hearts adhesive chipboard

I’m entering both of these projects into Cath’s Die Cutting Challenge in the Moxie Fab World, too. Check it out… get out your paper crafting tools now and play along in any of her inspiring challenges on the MFW blog!

Finally, awhile ago I saw this on Pinterest:

And since I had mini cupcakes already baked, I couldn’t resist making my own arrangement on the table… just for fun! I also think it would be a cute idea to spell out initials or words for birthday parties, engagement parties, baby showers, etc.

Are you making any Valentine’s Day treats and packaging? Would love to see what you’re crafting (or baking :) I love reading your comments and visiting your blogs!

Pretty in Pink Valentine’s Day Papers & Embellishments

Valentine paper from Paper Heart collection by Crate Paper, Adore paper from Yours Truly by Echo Park Paper Co., “Be Happy” Happy Doily Paper from Follow Your Heart collection by My Mind’s Eye, Kisses Pink Foil Paper from Promise Me collection by SEI Crafts, “you and me” sticker from Kissing Booth collection by Basic Grey, script heart stamp from Love & Marriage set by Papertrey Ink, Cerise Pink pearls/bling from FabScraps, Kaisercraft mini paper blooms in Fairy Floss, trio of papers from Martha Stewart Enchanted Woodland Paper Pad; Velvet Ruffle Pink Trim from Western Romance Collection by Webster’s Pages

My product posts have gone by the wayside lately and I figured with Valentine’s Day less than one month away, now would be good time to bring it back! Now is the time to stock up on your supplies for making treat boxes, tags & bags, mini-albums and, of course, cards – so above is a product inspiration board that might help with your shopping.

I’m loving the delicate feel of the Valentine’s Day collections… they’re formal but not too frilly. The shades and patterns are versatile enough that the supplies could easily be used for other spring/love layouts and other projects year-round. I looove lace and happy to find that the doily trend is sticking around… and ruffly ribbons, paper roses and magenta pearls are fun ways to complement and add dimension to romantic papers.

What are you making for Valentine’s Day? Do you have a favorite Valentine’s Day paper or collection you’re planning to create with?

You Brightened My Day Card + Blog Hop Winner!

I have to say that I am still completely blown away at the response on my Paper Crafts blog hop post on Friday. I am still pretty new to blogging and it was amazing the amount of people who visited my blog over the weekend and how many of you left such kind comments. I read each and every one of your comments and they truly brightened my weekend (hence the card below!) I visited all your blogs and it wonderful to find so many people around the world that that also share a passion for paper crafting. I’m so happy you stopped by my blog on the hop, hope you learned something from each stop along the way, and that we can continue to connect!

I wish I could give every one of you a copy of Cool Tools, but Paper Crafts wouldn’t allow that :) so here is the randomly selected, lucky winner:

Congrats, Kathy Browns!

Kathy Browns says:

January 13, 2012 at 9:51 pm (Edit)

I’ve always had a place in my heart for snowmen. He’s sooooo cute!

Kathy, I will be e-mailing you shortly from papercraftstyle[at]gmail[dot]com to the e-mail address you provided with your comment, to give you all the details of your prize!

Here’s a full of version of the opening image on tonight’s post. This is a simple card that features adorable sun & cloud Puffies by KI Memories (realizing that I’m into “cute” embellishments lately for some reason?) I typed and printed out the sentiment myself. The background paper is from an older Stampin’ Up! patterned paper pack (I think it was a limited edition Sale-a-Bration pack).

Have you made anything with any of the KI Puffies? Would love to see – or anything else you’re crafting! Feel free to leave a comment, as always…

Paper Crafts Magazine Presents: Cool Tools Blog Hop

If you are coming to my blog via Paper Crafts magazine… I’m so happy to have you! I was so excited when Courtney invited me to join in today’s blog hop celebrating the release of Cool Tools for Card Makers.

I think Cool Tools is one of the best special issues yet from the Paper Crafts family and I’m honored to have some projects in this issue! Dozens of techniques and hundreds of projects will inspire you to use tools you already own (punches, adhesives) as well as get tools you’ll want to own (seriously… who knew all the designs I could make if I had fringe scissors and the Sew Easy?!)

I have to admit: using tools as a starting point was somewhat of a challenge! Typically before I start a project I’m inspired by a theme, color or product – not the tool I’ll use. But it was fun to switch up the process and stretch my creativity to find new ways to use paper crafting tools.

For today’s card (specially designed for today and not published in the issue) I pushed myself to use handheld punches in a new way. I decided to build a snowman. The snowman’s body and hat are created totally using circle and square punches, completed with some rhinestone and button accents and linen thread arms. I stamped an older Papertrey Ink sentiment to finish this wintry card.

You can hop on over to these talented designers’ blogs for more Cool Tool inspiration:

• Cristina Kowalczyk
• Heidi Van Laar
• Vanessa Menhorn
• Kim Hughes
• Danielle Flanders
• Amber Daigre
• Kalyn Kepner
• Emily Branch
• Laura Williams

Anddd… in case you haven’t seen it yet, visit the Paper Crafts Connection blog today for a chance to win an AWESOME prize package of (you guessed it) paper crafting tools!

Finally, just for stopping by my blog you could win a free copy of the new Cool Tools issue. Just leave a comment on this post by midnight (MDT) on Sunday, January 15 and I’ll randomly pick a winner next week!

Gorgeous Craft Rooms

Any day is a good day to get organized, but the starting of a new year can be especially motivating when it comes to organization. On Monday, I spent the day cleaning up and it’s so refreshing to work and create in a spotless space (even though I know soon enough it will be messy again!)

In the spirit of the new year and organization resolutions… here are craft rooms I found on Pinterest recently that are not only totally organized but also beautifully designed and decorated.

To start the tour, imagine stepping into this happy crafting zone… (I love the banners! and the bright yellow secretary desk)

Or maybe spending the day paging through craft magazines in this sleek room that’s part office/part library…

This desk has a funky wrap-around design so all your favorite supplies would be right within reach while you’re making a card or scrapbook…

Hosting a crafting date would be so much fun in this cozy space, which makes great storage use of the oddly-shaped wall and features lovely lighting, from both the big window and the chandelier…

This colorful craft room has comfy and cute seating while you work, and the flowers are a fun accessory…

Finally, functionality can’t be forgotten while creating a beautiful space. I love how this chest serves as a filing cabinet…

…and how this traditional armoire is stocked with crafting supplies…

Maybe someday, right? A girl can dream….

Handmade Calendar 2012: How to Make Your Own Calendar Using Bind It All

Making my own calendar was one of my projects on my to-do crafting list for the new year that I can already check off my list! It’s pretty easy to design and construct your own calendar using a binding machine such as the Bind-It-All (BIA). If you do not have a BIA, you could use a hole punch and rings or ribbons, which would provide a more loose binding. Here’s how I made my 2012 calendar, with some tips for a cohesive look and useful design.

Creating the calendar pages: I custom designed my calendar with original colorful patterns and a favorite new script font in Adobe Creative Suite. I strongly suggest even if you are going to completely make a design from scratch like I did that you still work off a template. I really liked my 2011 calendar that I purchased from Minted last year, but since they don’t sell them anymore I decided to make my own. I used the measurements of the pages and the calendar box sizes as my starting point which I know saved me a lot of time!

My 2011 calendar purchased from Minted (left); a page I created for my 2012 calendar (right)

Printing the calendar pages: Once you create your design or work off an existing template, print your pages onto heavy cardstock. (Remember, you want the calendar to last all year… so flimsy paper won’t cut it!) I used 100 lb. textured white cardstock. If you cannot feed cardstock into your printer, print it on thinner paper then back it on cardstock with permanent adhesive.

Binding the calendar pages: Once you have your pages printed, double check to make sure you have all the dates right before you begin binding and that you’ve included all the holidays. (This site is helpful for that.) Feed your pages through the BIA punching  mechanism following the instructions that come with the machine. Only use one or two sheets at a time and hold them evenly otherwise you’ll end up with crooked hole punches and have to re-print your pages. After you punch the holes, you’re ready to bind. Insert your O-wire into the holes you’ve punched then press them through the machine. And that’s it! Your custom calendar is all finished and ready to use.

Happy New Year Handmade Cards Using Silhouette Cameo

Today’s New Year’s cards were created using my new Silhouette Cameo. This die-cutting machine is AMAZING and I’m having so much fun playing with it. It’s incredibly easy to use and the I love that it is digital so you can create custom cutting for any words or shapes and not have to worry about buying or storing additional supplies. I whipped up this “Happy New Year” greeting in the Silhouette Studio in just a few minutes.

I paired the cut-out New Year’s greeting with the festive Confetti paper collection by American Crafts. The extra-sparkly glittery paper is a gorgeous wrapping paper roll from Paper Source and I had the mini streamers by Making Memories in my stash. Lots of sparkly rhinestones finish the cards.

Look for more Silhouette projects coming soon as I already started working on some projects for the next big “crafting holiday,” Valentine’s Day, using my Silhouette. As always, feel free to comment. If you have a Silhouette would love to see what you’re making with it!

Wishing you and yours a very happy new year!

Recommended Reading for DIYers

Hope you had a happy holiday! Did Santa bring you any crafting goodies? :) I’ve been poring over two great books I received as Christmas gifts and I knew I had to share them here.

If you are a bride-to-be and planning to create any DIY projects for your wedding, be sure to check out Handmade Weddings brought to you by the Hello!Lucky girls and a former Martha Stewart Weddings editor. (Need I say more? The creative authors speak for themselves.) There are so many great ideas – from favors to cake toppers to paper flower wreaths – complete with easy-to-follow instructions, even step-by-step diagrams. The projects are organized by type of wedding style (I’m partial to the “Girly Romantic” and “Modern Classic” chapters…) but if you like an idea and aren’t feeling the style, there are suggestions on how to adapt it to your theme (like making a girly ruffle purse more “organic” by using linen instead of satin). I love that the projects in here look magazine-worthy but are totally do-able. If you’re not planning a wedding, the items could still be used for many other occasions and celebrations, and this book is worth a peek!

The other book I received was Design*Sponge at Home by blogger extraordinaire Grace Bonney. This brings you the best of the blog and more: lovely living spaces, and home projects that had me thinking “why didn’t I think of that?!” (like gorgeous inkjet transfer photo placemats… definitely making those sometime!). The basic tutorials make this a reference book that I’ll be keeping around for awhile: how to reupholster a chair cushion, properly paint furniture, make floral arrangements, etc.  Like her blog, the tone is relaxed and as you flip through the pages you feel like a friend is letting you in on all these cool design tips and tricks.

Do you have these books? Any other great crafting/design/DIY books you recommend? Feel free to leave a comment with your suggestions!