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Monday, April 29, 2013

Summer Love Stories Mini Album Class 5/16

Hi!

Real quick, I wanted to share my next class that I'll be teaching at The Mad Scrapper in Issaquah, Washington. This is a mini book I designed with the newest Teresa Collins line, Summer Stories. :)


This mini book measures 8" wide x 6" tall ... and 2" thick! It doesn't look that wide in the photos, but it is. Nice and chunky! For all that fun chipboard inside. 





If you know someone getting married or celebrating their anniversary this summer, this would make a lovely gift! Especially if the bride is a girly-girl. :) Lots of pink in this album - and glitter! 

If you're a Teresa Collins fan, May is your month! The lovely Cheri Piles will be teaching her first class at The Mad Scrapper on Saturday, May 11th. Cheri has created a beautiful mini made with Teresa's gorgeous Memories line. 

Then smack dab after Cheri, I'll be teaching the class above on May 16th. Consider it a marathon of sorts. ;) 

And a funny note: I bought one of Teresa's April kits and am trying to make both mini's work for little girls. So in other words, I'm changing which papers I use and whatnot - and realized, "Hey, maybe I should check before I cut that paper, in case I need it later for something else?" ;)

Xoxo,

Maria

--------------CLASS INFO----------------

Date:      Thursday, May 16th
Time:     6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Place:     The Mad Scrapper
               1590 NW Gilman Boulevard
                   Issaquah, WA 98027 (just 15 minutes east of Seattle)
Call:       425-427-8871

Bring: Your basic tool kit, Black Soot distress ink, some fancy edge punches (I used Martha's doily edge, deep edge doily punch, Fiskars notebook punch), hole punch, paper distresser, bone folder, and corner rounder.
at 3 comments:

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Made the Graphic 45 Design Team - 2013!!

I made Graphic 45's 2013 Design Team!! Pinch me, I am still dreaming!!


The competition from the beginning was fierce. If you browse the Ning site on any given day, you'll see pages upon pages of beautiful work from designers all over the world. Making the top 30 completely floored me - and to have made it to the end, well, there are no words! 

Exactly two years ago, I began my journey papercrafting. If you told me back then that I would be designing for the paper company that immediately caught my heart, I would've laughed! Well, all I can continue saying is THANK YOU to Graphic 45 and to all my beautiful blog friends who have supported and encouraged me. And of course, thank you GOD for leading me to the most amazing passion I could ever pursue!

If you haven't already, you should visit the top 16's blogs and final submission videos. I am STILL going through them all myself - I'm trying to watch them completely uninterrupted, so I can really enjoy and immerse myself in the new team!! These people are ridiculously talented; it's kind of scary, actually. So it's an honor to design alongside such greats. 

I wish all 30, heck, everyone who tried out could also be on the team ... I know what it's like to pour your heart into something and not get where you want to. That was me last year when I tried out. But you know, I didn't let disappointment stop me - and I encourage those of you who auditioned to keep on keeping on; to look for improvements in how you do things (I learned to take better photos, I pushed myself creatively and sought out teaching opportunities); and to simply not give up. If it's your dream, work at it with all your heart and one day it could come true! 

Enough of my Saturday morning diatribe - without further ado, here are the links to the final design team, taken from the Graphic 45 blog: 

1. Alberto Juárez– Spain


FInal Round Submissions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0NFx9h1_zo &

3. Annette Green– USA

4. Arlene Cuevas - USA
Final Round Submissions:
Tutorial Part 1 of 2 (Mixed Media tutorial): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUX6d7panGY&feature=youtu.be
Tutorial Part 2 of 2 (Scrapbook Page tutorial): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddbUIUAOWjQ&feature=youtu.be

5. Clare Charvill - United Kingdom

6. Denise Hahn - USA
Final Round Submission: http://vimeo.com/63864642

7. Denise Johnson – USA

8. Karen Shady – Australia

9. Maiko Miwa – Japan

10. Maria Cole – USA (that's me!! holy smokes!!)
Final Round Submission: http://vimeo.com/64284925

11. Miranda Edney – USA

12. Nichola Battilana – Canada

13. Olga Struk – Ukraine

14. Rhea Freitag – USA

15. Romy Veul – Netherlands

16. Susan Lui – Singapore
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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Final Projects for the Graphic 45 Design Team 2013 Audition

Hey, friends!

Tomorrow morning at 5:00 a.m. PST Graphic 45 will announce their 2013 design team! Wouldn't it be a dream if all 30 of us made it? Like, what if the whole "final 15" was just a joke? Ah, like I said - I can dream, right?

I sent in my video to G45 with my three final projects last Wednesday evening, and I've been mildly paranoid ever since. Whatever the outcome, I am filled with so much joy for even making the first round and for discovering tons of new artists that I can't wait to see more of. :)

So, here are the final projects that I made!  

Altered pencil box, upcycled pizza box, and kraft envelope album!


Project #1: French Country - Upcycled Pizza Box
Style: Stately, practical, upcycled

First is an upcycled pizza box that I converted into a menu album! This project pays a nod to my passion for re-using everyday items and turning them into something pretty and practical. I love making dinner for friends and have always dreamed of making a fun yet practical way of describing what's for dinner. The final round gave me the opportunity to try out this idea using the beautiful French Country paper line and die cut flowers! 




Inside the menu album are a couple photo mats that I covered with clear masking tape. Just take a dry erase marker to write down what's for dinner (or leave your guests a little note) and simply erase for the next guest! Also, I just fell in love with this paper's fruit images, so it was only natural to use all of them for a food-related album. I didn't have the cardstock alphabet stickers, so I borrowed some from my Olde Curiosity Shoppe stash.


Graphic 45 Products: 

  1. French Country papers 
  2. French Country Stickers
  3. French Country Flowers
  4. Tropical Travelogue (green leaves on the front cover)
  5. Olde Curiosity Shoppe alphabet stickers


 Project #2: A Ladies' Diary and Kraft Reflections - Altered Pencil Box
Style: Feminine, eclectic, whimsical

I love Graphic 45's altered boxes, but sadly I didn't have the new matchbox box yet. Sooo .. I chose to alter a pencil box instead! I love creating with a variety of Graphic 45 Staples, so I wanted to share an example of how I like to design around a box shape. I also like to change my projects up from time to time, so I thought it would be fun to design with two paper lines: A Ladies Diary and Kraft Reflections!


To put a spin on this pencil box, instead of having it open and close and behave like a traditional box, I made it more like a book. When you open the "cover", out pops a "mini" mini album that I accordian-folded and adhered to the base of the pencil box.



Finally, I wanted to showcase one of the amazing stamp and die sets that Graphic 45 created with Sizzix. I love stamping and die cutting, so when I first found out about these new products earlier this year, I just about passed out. This is the stamps with clock design and I absolutely love it!


Graphic 45 Products: 

  • A Ladies' Diary paper
  • Kraft Reflections paper
  • Metal Flower Staples
  • Metal Button Staples
  • Metal Tag Staples
  • Mini Envelope Staples



Project #3: Secret Garden - Kraft Envelope Album
Style: Shabby, feminine, imaginative


My last project is a Graphic 45 kraft envelope album that I decorated with the beautiful Secret Garden line and whimsical metal clothespins. :) We've all seen the tan kraft album before, but I wanted to use it in a slightly different way. The envelopes themselves, when upright, made me think of seedling packets .... and with spring here and Mother's Day right around the corner, I thought this could make a great Mother's Day or spring birthday gift for the gardener in your life!


I used silk ribbon to "bind" the envelope pages together. And to cover up the binding holes on the bottom of the envelopes, I folded some of the Meadow Lark paper in half and adhered to both sides. 


Like I mentioned earlier, I love stamping - so I stamped each envelope with the matching Secret Garden stamps and then embossed them with gold powder. I felt the gold was very regal and elegant - and that the stamped pattern brought a little character. 


The album folds out and is decorated on both sides. You can see the tops of real seedling packets that I stuck inside!



Graphic 45 Products: 

  • Secret Garden paper
  • Secret Garden stamps
  • Kraft envelope album
  • Metal Clothespin Staples


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, that is all ... less than 9 hours to go! Best of luck to everyone and have a wonderful evening!

Xoxo,

Maria
at 15 comments:

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Blog Giveaway! (And a neat little announcement)

Hello, lovely crafty friends!

This month marks my two year anniversary in the fabulous world of papercrafting and I wanted to do something fun! Your wonderful visits and kind words have been so encouraging and I thought it was high time I do a little giveaway.

I'm giving away this fun stash of Teresa Collins "Tell Your Story" paper and embellishments, along with a cute tandem bicycle stamp from Impress Rubber Stamps - the coolest stamp store this side of the Columbia! ;)


Here's how you can win:
  • Leave a comment letting me how long you've been papercrafting and which paper companies or products you love to design with! 
  • Be sure to post your comment by 11:59 p.m., Pacific Standard Time Tuesday, April 30th.

 And here's my neat announcement: 

Cheri Piles from the Teresa Collins design team, is joining the design team at The Mad Scrapper in Issaquah, Washington!  

Cheri is an AMAZING designer and I am so excited that she's joining our team!! She already has a gorgeous class lined up for Saturday, May 11th. Click here to learn all about it! If you're in the greater Seattle area or beyond, be sure to stop by that day for class and to give Cheri a warm welcome! 
at 10 comments:

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Pink Paislee Hope Chest and Tim's new worn covers!

Good morning, crafty friends!

It's been quite an incredible week and a half. ;) I'm working on quite a few projects right now and just last night, I finished the project below that I'll be teaching on April 23rd (a Tuesday - not my usual night) at The Mad Scrapper.

Have you seen Tim's new worn covers? They've been on my hot list ever since he introduced them in January. I'm excited because we just got them in a couple days ago and now I'm using them for this class! As for the paper, I used Pink Paislee's beautiful Hope Chest line. It's so pretty and shabby!





Tim's worn covers are designed to fit his ring binders, although you can bind your book using other materials such as ribbon. The outside surface feels like fabric (I can't tell if it's fabric or not) and the inside is a very sturdy chipboard. If you love altered books, you will want to pick up an extra cover!


Inside the book, I've used the matching journaling cards, butterfly clips, phrases, and ephemera paper goods. :)




I also used We R Memory Keepers envelope punch board to make the cute little envelopes in this album. :) If you were one of the lucky ones to grab this product before it sold out (don't worry - I hear The Mad Scrapper is getting more next month!) and you haven't used it yet or you're having trouble with it, bring it to class! I'll show you how to use it. Or if you want to practice on your own, here's a quick tutorial I found on YouTube that helped me figure it out.


I've never done a Pink Paislee project before, so as always, it's fun to give a new paper line a try! Well, I sure hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Please stay tuned for a fun little giveaway I'll be posting in the next few days!!

Hugs,

Maria

--------------CLASS INFO----------------

Date:      Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013
Time:     6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Place:     The Mad Scrapper
               1590 NW Gilman Boulevard
                   Issaquah, WA 98027 (just 15 minutes east of Seattle)
Call:       425-427-8871

Bring: Your basic tool kit, Vintage Photo distress ink, fancy corner edge punch (I used Martha Stewart's deco shell punch), a fancy edge punch (Martha's doily edge), hole punch, paper distresser, and We R Memory Keepers envelope punch board if you need help using it!

**Can't come but you'd like a kit? Click here to pre-order a kit online. If you don't see the kit yet or if you have questions, feel free to call The Mad Scrapper directly at 425-427-8871. Thank you!
at 9 comments:

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Graphic 45 2013 Design Team - made the top 30 first round!!

You guys ...

I can't believe it ...

But I made the first round of Graphic 45's illustrious 2013 design team!!!

I'm crying, I have wet hair, and need to be at work, so I'll keep this short.

OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you Graphic 45 for selecting me in your top 30! For someone who's gone through all sorts of rejection in life, this is just the biggest thing. It means so incredibly much. Of course, there is still the final round; but to have made it to the top 30 is a miracle.

And the people on this list. Have you SEEN their work?? Holy cow! (So, uh, THANK YOU, Jesus!!)

Here is the official top 30 list from G45's blog!!

1.     Alberto Juárez – Spain
2.     Amy Voorthuis – Netherlands 
3.     Andrew Roberts – Australia
4.     Ann Charoonpaisal – Thailand
5.     Anne Elisabeth Rostad -Norway
6.     Annette Green – USA
7.     Arlene Cuevas - USA
8.     Arumdati Wardhani – Indonesia
9.     Candy Rosenberg – USA
10.   Chie Nakao – Japan
11.   Clare Charvill  - United Kingdom
12.   Denise Hahn -  USA
13.   Denise Johnson – USA
14.   Evgenia Petzer – South Africa
15.   Gini Williams Cagle –USA
16.   Karen Shady – Australia
17.   Maiko Miwa – Japan
18.   Maria Cole – USA
19.   Miranda Edney – USA
20.   Monica Edwards – USA
21.   Nichola Battilana – Canada
22.   Olga Struk – Ukraine  
23.   Rhea Freitag – USA
24.   Ria Nirwana – Indonesia
25.   Romy Veul – Netherlands
26.   Patti Senter – USA
27.   Sabrina Radeck - Canada
28.   Shell Carman – Australia
29.   Stacy Rodriguez – USA
30.   Susan Lui – Singapore


And if any of you who are reading this are also in the top 30, thank you kindly and expect a visit from me later today!!!

Hugs,

Maria
at 12 comments: