Gift Card Holder Tutorial

Happy Thursday!

I have a clean and simple little tutorial for you today. It's a gift card holder that I made for a very special high school graduate. :)

My lovely friend Lauren gave me these beautiful Avery Elle Bonjour stamps and I just love them! I thought they would make a fun focal point for the gift card holder. For a soft and pretty look, I used Antique Linen, Scattered Straw and Victorian Rose Distress Ink pads. (And yes, I really need to get the mini ones, they would probably look even cuter and daintier next to my stamps.)

Grab some 5.5" wide x 4.25" tall cream cardstock. (I used some paper a friend gave me from Paper Source. It has a really pretty sheen to it and came with ric-rac edges.) 

From a 12" x 12" Graphic 45 Botanical Tea paper pad, fussy cut a couple stamps, mini butterfly and a couple pink flowers. Cut out the word "Celebration" and stamp "Ooh La La" onto some scratch paper. Trim a piece of 4.75" wide x 2 1/8" tall blue stripe paper and trim a piece of blue teapot border to 4.75" long. 

Use the solid macaron stamp and stamp three times along the top of the card. Adhere all your other little pieces. I popped up one stamp and one flower with foam dots. 

For the back, trim a piece of 4.75" wide x 3.5" tall blue stripe paper. Cut out the journaling card with pink flowers and blue butterfly. If you have the Botanical Tea chipboard set, remove the piece with three blue butterflies.

Glue the blue stripe paper first. Adhere the chipboard piece to the journaling card. Then, place adhesive on the bottom, left and right sides ONLY of the journaling card to create a pocket. You can also tuck some cash in here, too!

There you have it! A clean and simple little gift card holder. Enjoy the rest of your day!

Save The Date - Graphic 45 Home Sweet Home Class on June 20th!

Hello everyone!

I hope you're having a wonderful week so far. I'm very excited to announce my next class: Sweet Summer Memories, a summer-themed mini album designed with Graphic 45's Home Sweet Home and Time to Flourish papers!

My class will be held on the central Oregon coast, a lovely 2 - 2.5 hour drive from Portland. If you plan to come, please email me at paperiah@gmail.com (or call/text 971-226-1043). This will help ensure you have a spot in class. For those of you who can't attend but would love a kit, click here to pre-order a kit!

Here are some sneak peeks at the inside:

This mini album has all kinds of loveliness in it. We'll be using some of Tim Holtz's fabulous retro ribbon and some adorable Studio Calico wood veneers for accents. You can use this album to post travel photos, pictures of your garden, 4th of July memories and pretty much anything else summer related!   

You will need to bring some basic supplies, like a paper trimmer, detail scissors, ruler, adhesive (both wet + dry - I like Beacon's 3-in-1 glue for wet and ScorTape for dry), brown ink, and ink blending tool. Bring a corner rounder and postage stamp edge scissors if you don't want to have to share. :) 

Date: 
Saturday, June 20th, 2015

Time: 
1 - 5pm

Place: 
Newport Public Library - McEntee Room (downstairs)
35 NW Nye Street
Newport, Oregon 97365

Cost:
$40 class -- up to 11 of you and your friends can come!
$45 kit -- plus $10 for Priority Mail shipping to U.S. addresses
*Kits will ship out the week of June 15th - June 20th

Reserve your spot in class*:

Order a kit:
Click here to visit my Etsy listing for this mini album!

*If you prefer to use an alternate payment method, feel free to shoot an email to paperiah@gmail.com.

Thanks so much for reading! I'm quite excited to start offering regular classes again. I also plan to re-open my online shop where you can find various types of projects and kits!

I plan on snatching up all the latest Graphic 45 papers for kits and classes this summer and fall (think Gilded Lily and Rare Oddities), so I'll have lots of beautiful things for you to make for yourself or gift to a friend. Stay tuned!!

Big hugs,

Maria 

A wonderful day at el & em!

It's been almost a month since my Once Upon a Springtime class at el & em - and I'm still reveling in all the beautiful and heartfelt detail that Denise Johnson (owner and fellow Graphic 45 DT alum) put into making the event special!

We had a lovely potluck-style class. Denise made a yummy soup and everyone brought something that made me even happier for stretchy clothing. :) The classroom was decorated so beautifully. I was so impressed! I love Denise's style and attention to detail. 

I just wanted to thank all the lovely ladies who came and to those from far away that ordered kits! It always warms my heart to meet everyone, both new faces and old!

This is Leslie H. One of the many super sweet ladies that came!

My lovely friend Lauren drove all the way from Bellevue to craft with us. I felt pretty blessed!

My other lovely friend Lisa couldn't attend, but she left me a heartfelt little gift after she picked up some super-cool lockers from el & em.

Thank you to Denise and the ladies for the beautiful fold out card!

If you're ever in Portland or Vancouver, you must stop by el & em and say hi to Denise. Her store is so beautifully curated with unique vintage finds and even the latest Graphic 45 papers and Staples! 

Denise and me. She is the definition of lovely.

Thank you for letting me share these photos. It was truly such a fun day and I can't wait to visit el & em again! Denise puts on some amazing workshops almost every week, so check out her blog to see if you can make one. At el & em, you can learn all kinds of mixed media and projects for the home, in addition to paper crafting. :)

In the mean time, I hope wherever you, that you're having a lovely Mother's Day or at the least, enjoying the day with someone (or some doggy/kitty) who loves you. Thanks for stopping by!

Little Darlings Tag Album

Hi there!

Today I want to share a simple mini album and card that I made for my cousin's baby shower this weekend. Her party happened to be on National Scrapbooking Day of all days - how fitting!

I used Graphic 45's Little Darlings paper, a collection that came out a few years ago.

I kept the fussy cutting and embellishing to a minimum, because I know when little Naomi gets big enough, she will be thumbing through this mini quite a bit so it must be somewhat practical. :)

The cover of the album works as a door sign, while the remaining tags have little flaps in them for photos. (The reverse side of the tags spell baby's name and can work as a banner!)

I get a lot of use out of my envelope punch board from We R. I used it to make this simple 6x7 envelope.

Thanks so much for looking! 

Graphic 45 Once Upon A Springtime Class (Updated 3-11-15)

Good Morning!

As promised, here are some sneak peeks of the mini album that I designed for my April 18th class at el&em! We will create this chunky mini album using Graphic 45's glorious Once Upon A Springtime paper. :)

Denise at el & em told me that we already have ladies signing up, so if you'd love to reserve your spot click here! Seats are limited, so be sure to contact Denise soon if you're interested. Would love to see you!

~CLASS INFO~ 

SOLD OUT! A big thank you to all who came and ordered kits!! 

Come to my G45 class! Updated 3-11-15

Happy Wednesday! Oh, and Happy March, too!

I have a fun little announcement. I'll be teaching a mini album class next month in Battle Ground, Washington on April 18th and you're invited!

My friend and fellow 2013-2014 Graphic 45 DT member Denise Johnson has opened up an adorable vintage and crafty shop named el&em in old town Battle Ground. With so many local scrapbook stores closing their doors in the past few years, it is a breath of fresh air to see a brick and mortar shop like Denise's hit the craft scene!

Here are some photos of the project I'll be teaching - a chunky mini album made with Graphic 45's Once Upon A Springtime!

~CLASS INFO~ 

DATE:

Saturday, April 18th, 2015

TIME: 

11:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. 

We'll break for a potluck lunch in between! Lentil soup and drinks will be provided, feel free to bring a side dish!

COST:

$45

LOCATION: 

el & em

510 East Main Street #102

Battle Ground, WA 98604

SUPPLY LIST: 

• Paper trimmer
• Ruler
• Detail scissors
• Wet & dry adhesive
• Foam dots
• Craft knife & mat
• Pencil for tracing
• Scoring tool
• Walnut Stain Distress Ink & ink blending tool (other brown inks work fine as well)
• Stamp- and scallop-edge scissors (if you don't have these, don't worry - I will bring mine)
• Stickles in Platinum and Fruit Punch (these will be available to purchase if you don't have them)
• Paper distresser (you can use the edge of your scissors if you don't have one)

Seats are limited and are already filling up! Click here to register and reserve your spot.

Thank you so much and I look forward to meeting as many of you Portland and Vancouver crafters as possible!