Birthday Time!

My little girl's birthday is in a few days (she'll be 9!) and I was inspired by the upcoming festivities to make a Happy Birthday album.

Thinking that a birthday themed album would be a great gift item for a friend, family member or co-worker, I made a fully coordinating birthday card to go with it.

The paper bag album measures just over 5x5 inches, and the card is also 5x5.  Both have fun, glittered letters on the front.

I used K&Company's "Jubilee" paper line, some of their 3d embellishments and a bunch of other odds and ends from my abundant stash.  :)

One of my favorite things about paper bag albums is that they are full of pockets.  This one has 3 side openings, plus 5 pockets sewn into the pages.  See the left page above?  There's a photo mat tucked into a pocket there.

And here you can see the large photo mats (double-sided) that pull out of the side pockets.  You or the recipient can add other memorabilia in the pockets, too.  There are so many possibilities!

The matching card is very simple, but is really what turns an already great album into a fabulous gift!

Interested in getting your own?  Custom paper bag albums start at just $35.  Feel free to email me for more information on how to get started, cherishpaperart@hotmail.com.

Creativity: the album.

Here is an album that I made using K&Company's Urban Rhapsody line of patterned paper.  The album base is multi-shaped chipboard with an awesome acrylic cover.

To start with, I used Staz-On ink in a shade of brown to muck up the acrylic cover.  It takes about 5 minutes to dry completely, but after that it's permanent.  Tim Holtz alcohol inks also work well on acrylic surfaces.

The album pages were covered front and back, trimmed out with a craft knife and the edges were then sanded for that shabby look that I love.  :)

I used a Making Memories distresser tool on all the photo mats (see the wrinkly edges?) before I machine stitched them.

This album is PACKED with embellishments!  I used the coordinating K&Co chipboard shapes, rub-ons and those cool circle things.  What the heck are they called???  I guess I don't even know the name of them, but they are round and spin and are just plain cool.

I also punched flowers with two nesting flower punches.  I inked the edges of each flower, then crumpled it and smoothed it back out.  It gives an awesome worn look to the flowers that was perfect for this album.

The other embellishments I used a lot of were buttons.  I hand stitched many of them to add to the hand-crafted look of the album.  It's very rustic and chic and I just love how it turned out.

The back cover was crafted just as carefully - everyone flips an album over when they hold it!  A couple yards of ribbon and trims tied to the jumbo binder rings provided the finishing touch.

This album has already been sold, but remember that I take a limited number of custom orders continuously.  Each piece is meticulously hand crafted and 100% unique!  I never duplicate my art work, but am happy to use the same paper line or similar colors or embellishments.  Simply contact me at cherishpaperart@hotmail.com to find out how to get your own album or scrapbook pages!

Blog Giveaway at All Scrapbook Steals!

So I have got to give some serious props out to the girls over at All Scrapbook Steals - The Blog.  And I have to do it for a number of reasons.

First, each month on their blog they offer the most incredible blog giveaways.  I'm talking a HUGE pile of supplies - HUGE!

Here is what's up for grabs for August:

All you have to do to enter is head over to their site and follow the instructions - leave a comment and you are entered to win!  This month's entries must be in before midnight on August 10th.

So that's prop #1.  I happened to win a drawing of theirs a couple months back and let me tell you - the box of supplies that came in the mail was ginormous, heavy, and awesome!  It is so amazing that they can do this every month.

Prop #2 is that their shopping website, http://www.allscrapbooksteals.com/, is the bomb diggity.  I would highly encourage you to go over there and sign up for their email list.  They offer a Steal of the Day every day.  Yes, every day!  So cool.

And Prop #3 is that they like me!  Ha ha ha!  They have listed my lil' ol' blog on theirs under "Favorite Crafting Blogs".  I share that space with the likes of Heidi Swapp, Amber Packer, and My Mind's Eye.  Yes, Really!  I am not lying about this, people. 

I am so completely honored and humbled to be recognized by them for my work.  What a great feeling.

So what are you waiting for?  Get your butts over there and check them out!  And be sure to tell them that I sent you ;)

Are you kidding me?!?

So I logged into my blog this morning just to check on things... like, did I get any more followers?  any more comments?  We scrappers love, love, LOVE the interaction on the online community.

Anywho - as soon as I logged in I noticed that my blog background was gone.  Vanished into thin air!  What the heck?  Apparantly, the background I was using (from thecutestblogontheblock.com - curse you all!) was deleted by them.  UGH!  This means that I've spent the last x hours (I'm not telling you the number) searching for backgrounds, waiting for downloads and looking for headers.

Can you hear my frustration?!  In the end, I decided to simply use the blogger template designer and I made my own header in Picasa.  It's simple and sweet and I like that I get to put more of my paper art photos on display.  Now, if I could only remember what else I was supposed to do today before I got sidetracked...

Shabby and Oh So Chic!

I was on such a roll last week with the two page layouts, it just kept going!  I put a few more together and just loved the results.  This page is called "I adore you" and it's both shabby and chic!

I used K&Company paper from their Margo line, hand punched the flowers, cut the leaves on my Cricut using the Zooballoo cartridge, and inked it all up!

The title is a bit of a hodge-podge.  The "adore" is straight out of the package of K&Co chipboard embellishments that match this paper line - I simply added a little bit of brown ink around the edges.  The letter "I" is from the same pack.  However, it was in a print that didn't coordinate with these particular papers.  My green chalk ink wouldn't cover the shiny print, but because it's a symmetrical letter it didn't matter which side I used.  So I flipped the letter over, wrong side up, and peeled the adhesive backing off.  Then I took my olive green ink pad and saturated the exposed chipboard and VIOLA!  A matching letter!  :)  The Y, O, and U letters are from a package of lime green letters.  I applied chalk ink directly to them and it covered the lime quite nicely.

After machine stitching my photo mats, I added some ribbon, put some olive green pearls in my flower centers, added a couple little touches and it was done.  I love the colors and think it's got a great vintage style.

Back to the Basics

Hi everyone,

Well it's been a crazy summer for me.  Crazy in a good way, but still crazy nonetheless!  Between summer camps, day trips, paperwork for my fiance's business, planning our summer vacation, building up my etsy store, and trying to keep things posted on eBay, it's been busy.  Oh, and don't forget doing the laundry, making it to twice weekly yoga classes, walking the dog, and whipping up all those homemade meals, too!  LOL!

Anyways, last week I got the inclination to put aside the album I was working on and have my go at a 2 page layout.  Not a far stretch, I agree, considering that's what I normally make for my local scrapbook store's design team.  But putting together a layout once a month for a store display isn't quite the same as making one that will actually end up in a scrapbook.   Once I got myself going, I couldn't stop!  I think I'm up to eight since last Thursday, which is pretty impressive considering my schedule.  So here's a look at some of them, let me know what you think:

Summer Fun

Here is my latest project: an adorable, colorful and fun mini album to celebrate summer.  It measures 6x4 inches and I used the drool-worthy Color Me Silly paper line by Basic Grey.  One of my all time favorites, the paper is funky, silly, bright and fun - all at the same time!

I would love to hear what you think of this album - comments are welcome.  Thanks for looking and happy scrappin'!

Just one photo on a two-page spread - Say What?!

If someone gave you one 5x7 photo and told you to make a two page spread without using any other photos, do you think you could do it?

Of course you can! ;)

Check this out...  Everything Scrapbook & Stamps, the LSS I design for, gave me these super cute Easter themed papers and big ol' sheet of giant sticker embellishments by Reminisce.  You can visit the Reminisce blog by clicking here.

At first I had no idea what to do with the gigantic stickers... then it dawned on me to use those in places where I might normally have placed a photo.

So there it is:  A full two page spread using nothing but one 5x7 photo.  You don't need to have this particular paper, or these particular stickers... just start thinking about using your embellishments as a feature on your page instead of just an accent.

As always, thanks for reading ~ Happy Scrappin'!

April - Paper Collection of the Month

It's the last day of the month, and I remembered to post my projects.  I think I deserve a round of applause, dontcha think?  ;)

This month, I chose another DCWV Stack.  They are incredibly convenient, super duper cute and easy to find.  These projects are all part of the "La Creme" Collection, a sophisticated black and cream palette.

I chose a LOVE word book by Bo Bunny for this Wedding album:

A combination of silk, prima and fabric flowers combined with black rhinestones and a package of wedding-themed 3d embellishments and turned this blank chipboard album into something classy and elegant.

I also made this 6x6 acrylic album:

And finally, I added a few red Valentine-theme papers to this collection and made the following album, which spells out I {HEART} YOU.  I left out any paper that had the cream color and went more for strict black and white.  Adding a few sheets of inexpensive red papers created an entirely new look!

I'm always happy to answer your questions or hear your comments - so don't be shy!

Thanks for looking and I hope you get some inspiration for your own albums. 
-Erica  :)

March Paper Collection of the Month

For March, I chose to showcase the "Nana's Nursery: Baby Boy" papers by DCWV.  It is readily available and is more versatile than you might think.  :)  I love to use button accents with my baby projects so you'll see lots of them.

But I think my favorite part of this paper line is that, while geared toward boys, if you are selective with the papers, you can even get it to look totally girly!

Use the papers with the purple accents to do just that - you'll be surprised how much it changes the look of your project.

Here are two paper bag albums - from the same paper stack.  One is undoubtedly BOY and one is definitely GIRL - just by selecting a few of the sheets of paper.  Use the purple accents for the girl album and leave purple completely out of the boy album and Voila!  See how easy?

Thanks for looking!

OMG!

So I just checked in over at "All Scrapbook Steals - The Blog" and discovered that I'm the winner of their monthly giveaway for March!  I'm freaking out!  I got goosebumps when I saw my name and I'm smiling from ear to ear.  So I'm saying a great big THANK YOU to the gals over there for having such fabulous, fabulous, FABULOUS giveaways each month.  I'm a big My Mind's Eye fan and this month's giveaway is chock full of MME product, not to mention a Cropodile Big Bite!!! WOWSERS!

I'll be sure to post a link to their April giveaway when it becomes available so you, too, can have a chance to be as excited as I am right now!

Hugs to All Scrapbook Steals,
Erica

March Giveaway at ALL SCRAPBOOK STEALS - THE BLOG

If you love contests and freebies, go check out the ALL SCRAPBOOK STEALS blog right now!  Get your entry in before the March 11th drawing to win a whole smorgasborg of fabulous scrapbook supplies by My Minds Eye, Making Memories and We R Memories.

Be sure to read over the rules while you are there, entries must be in by Midnight PST on March 10th.  Good luck!

I hate being late!

Okay, so it's March 2nd and I'm just now posting my February projects.  I'd love to have some radical, excellent excuse, but I guess I'm just slacking!  :)

February's Paper Collection of the Month was Wild Saffron by K & Company.

This paper collection is available in a 12x12 paper stack, which is what I used on these projects.  You can see that by limiting the papers used on each project, you can vary the look.  Use just blue, green and one... use all the colors on another one... I still have a pile of papers with just yellow and brown that I plan on turning into an album at some point.  I love that I can get so many projects out of one simple stack of paper - so much fun!

This "Family Photos" album got a sophisticated look from beads and fabric flowers.

For a less formal look, a square album and fun picnic table accents were used in this Summer BBQ album.

A mixed shape album gets a warm feel with soft brown accents inks throughout the pages.  By keeping the color palette limited, a completely new look is created.  The pearl accents contribute to the worn and well-loved look of this "Home Sweet Home" album.

And for fun, this two page layout makes use of the mostly blue paper (for sky) and the mostly green paper (for grass) to give this an outdoorsy vibe.  Flowers and a happy sunshine complete the look.

Thanks for looking, and I'll try to be on time next month!  :)