Paper Trunk

2011-12-17T16:37:00.000-08:00

The Closeout Sale Continues...

2011-11-29T04:34:00.001-08:00

"Peep" has been with us since the first CHA Show!

All items are currently marked at
60% OFF Wholesale prices
I am practically giving this stuff away! Take advantage of this sale because the Trunk will be forever closed at the first of the New Year.

Thank you to everyone who has "stocked" up on their favorite Paper Trunk products, I hope they carry your memories and crafty projects far. For those stores that are just discovering Paper Trunk, even though the Trunk products you have purchased are old to the scrapbook industry, they will standout and be new to your customers, thank you for your purchases!

CLOSEOUT SALE

2011-10-31T12:13:00.000-07:00

The sale launches today. EVERYTHING is marked at 50% OFF of Wholesale cost! Please tell your local scrapbook stores, your scrappy friends, kit clubs, and your favorite scrapbook instructors.

There were a few glitches with shipping costs this morning. I believe they are now fixed but, if the shipping seems abnormally high, please let me know... Happy Shopping!

I also want to say THANK YOU for all of your sweet comments on the blog, facebook, and emails you have sent. Your encouragement and support are very appreciated. If you are just finding out about Paper Trunk closing, please read my farewell letter here: goodbye post

Its never easy, saying goodbye.

2011-10-26T15:23:00.000-07:00

Dear Paper TrunkFriends,

It is hard tobelieve I am announcing the decision to close Paper Trunk. This decision was not made lightly andI have been hoping and praying that sales would pick up. It has been a struggle with low salesand I simply cannot maintain Paper Trunk under these economic conditions.

These past 4years have been my absolute pleasure, dream, and heart to provide scrapbookingproducts to such an amazing industry of people. I cannot even attempt to put into words my emotions,memories, relationships, and experiences that have come my way since launchingPaper Trunk in the summer of 2007. There is so much to cherish.

Over the years Ihave been beyond blessed to have such amazing Design Team members whorepresented Paper Trunk with their incredible talents. These women helped my little companyflourish in the scrapbook world and I cannot thank them enough for theirdedication to me and to Paper Trunk.

Trunk TeamMembers (past & present): Anna Bjorklund, Danielle Calhoun, Dena Coe, JulieGeiger, Jill Geraghty Groves, Cari Locken, Brianne Nevill, Jolene Pienaar,Janelle Richmond, Penny Smith, Corinne Stevens, Sherry Steveson, CaroleStirrat, Wendi Manuel Scott, Megan Thurman, Rachel Theall, Danielle Wycough,and Lisa Wilkinson

Each of you haveinspired me creatively and personally. You will always hold a special place in my heart. It has been my honor to have you representPaper Trunk with your amazing talents.

To my wonderfulSales Representatives and Distributors who were the face of Paper Trunk incorners of the world that I could not reach, thank you so very much for addingme to your list of companies. Ihave enjoyed working with each of you and appreciate your efforts in makingsure Paper Trunk was on display in local scrapbook stores.

To everyretailer, customer, and craft enthusiast who has supported Paper Trunk thesepast 4 years, you embraced my company and products with overwhelming excitementthat has allowed me to continue as long as I have in this economy.

I will embracethis change with joy and look forward to creative opportunities around thecorner. As far as Paper Trunk products,I will be launching a Sale soon to clear my inventory. All prices listed online(www.papertrunk.com) are currently at wholesale cost and available to thegeneral public.

Some ways you canhelp me step out gracefully:
- Shop the Clearance Sale and stock up on your favorite Paper Trunk items
- Spread the word in the scrapbook community
- If you know of a non-profit group* that could use some scrapbook products,please pass along the information (*I will need to see documentation of501(c)(3) status)
- Don't forget, the Digital Collections of Paper Trunk are still available over at My Memories Suite

As of now, I do not have a set closing date. That will be determined based on inventory levels and a fewother administrative details. Please contact me directly if you have any special requests.

Closing the Trunk with loving memories,

Carrie Postma

Happy Sailing!

2011-10-06T06:58:00.000-07:00

This past summer we took our kids to Steveston Harbor and watched the pirate ships in the harbor. They were sailing around and having mock battles. The kids thought it was fun when you could see the smoke from the canons. We had a great time walking around the area too.

Here's the layout that I created from that days' events. (I used a sketch by Valerie Salmon for this layout.)

Supplies used: Paper Trunk (Socialite colection & Benny alpha stickers), Core'dinations Cardstock, Imaginisce Glam Rocks (black), buttons, Cricut Expression & Birthday Bash cartridge (for banners), Paper Dolls Dressup (for ship), Divine Twine (turquoise)

Argh!!! Have a super day!

Quote Game Winner...

2011-10-04T11:14:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Tami Bowman! She submitted the correct quote from our game with Punky Sprouts...

I will email you shortly to get your shipping information for your prize package of Paper Trunk and Punky Sprouts.

2011-09-29T08:10:00.000-07:00

I apologize for not posting yesterday's word of the day! I guess LIFE just got in the way. It is time to wrap up our product swap with Punky Sprouts. I hope you were encouraged to make a mini album or altered project. There were some fun techniques and ideas shared by the Trunk Team and the Punky Sprouts, I sure hope you can try a few things out on your next project.

At the bottom of this post is the final word in our scrambled quote. Do you think you have figured it out? Want to win a prize package?

To be entered in to the drawing for a fabulous Paper Trunk and Punky Sprouts prize, unscramble the words to make a back to school quote and email your answer to carrie@papertrunk.com by September 30th. For a second chance to win, visit the Punky Sprouts Blog. Thanks for playing along! Here is your final word...

What a great combo!!

2011-09-27T01:00:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun creating this mini album using Punky Sprouts Sprocket album and Paper Trunk's Socialite collection and some Benny stickers (in black).

What a fabulous match!!

Here's the mini album that I created. I made an album about this past summer and all our adventures/activities that we did.

A closeup view of the Punky Sprouts spiral flower and Paper Trunk Flair.

I covered the chipboard with patterned papers and then sanded the edges. Paper Trunk papers are fabulous to sand because they have a white core and the edges look so cool once you sand them. The little chipboard sun is from Maya Road and I just sprayed it with some glimmer mist.

On the canvas page I placed some Maya Road chipboard pieces & then sprayed glimmer mist over them. I added some journaling on a journal block from the Rockabilly collection.

I used one of the Paper Trunk Journal spots to add some words and adhered another Paper Trunk Flair to the center of a cut-out flower.

Here's the back cover of my album. I attached the album together using my Bind-it-all machine and black O-wires.

Hope that you have enjoyed this blog hop between Paper Trunk & Punky Sprouts as much as all of us did!

Here's another word for our little game!!

Thanks for coming by!

Cari

2011-09-26T09:30:00.000-07:00

Here is what I did with my Punky Sprouts album. What I loved about this album, is that they combined both cardboard and fabric. I made a little album for my grandma about our travels together in 2011. I will add a page of journaling in the back of the book. :)

And here is your word for the day!

Punky Trunk Fall Style!

2011-09-25T14:28:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun created a VERY special place for all of our autumn memories to be documented! I used a TON of Socialite and a VERY fun mix and match Punky Sprouts Album!!

I will be back in a few weeks to share all the finished pages with you! Make sure you grab a fun Punky Sprouts album and Paper Trunk papers of your own to be prepared to treasure and capture all of your autumn memories this season.... and for a long long time....

and now here is the word you have been waiting for.....

Alfalfa Sprout meets Paper Trunk

2011-09-24T04:59:00.000-07:00

The Punky Sprout Alfalfa Sprout album is a real mixed bag of shapes and media to work with. It's like opening a treasure box of texture. It has clear pages, chipboard pages, and canvas pages in several shapes. I found it to be exciting to play with it and several of the Paper Trunk lines as I put together this mini-album.

I chose to make my album using pictures of a trip I took to visit the coastal redwood forest near San Francisco, California. I used one of the clear pages for the cover of the album. I backed the page with paper from the Batik line and used the spiral Punky Sprout flowers along the bottom of a photo of the entrance to Muir Woods. The lighter colored flowers are muffin cups that have been flattened and cut into a spiral before being rolled.

These pages were made with more of the Batik line with a little of 1974 thrown in for the aqua color. I used some Jellybean stamps with white embossing powder on the right side. The right side is also raw chipboard that has been distressed with some white paint. Two Punky Sprout muffin cup flowers are also on the page on the right.
Chevrons are all the rage right now. The chevrons on these pages were created using Wrangler and Batik papers. The canvas page on the right was dipped in alcohol ink along the edges and more alcohol inks were dripped across both pages.At the middle of the album, I have included information on the birth of the Muir Woods National Monument. These two pages also use Batik papers.

To soften the color scheme of the album even more, I switched to using Krafty, Wrangler, and Rockabilly on these two pages. The idea for the tree on the right came from a digital scrapbook page I saw awhile back. I used white paint over the Rockabilly paper to create the tree shape. The trunk of the tree is made from Krafty paper. Buttons and flowers from Wrangler create leaves on the tree. And, yes, that is me hugging the tree in that picture. My mother always said I was a tree hugger, now she has proof in pictures and I've admitted it to the whole world!I decided early on while assembling this album that I would use turquoise throughout the album and that I would work on the pages in pairs so that facing pages matched each other in design scheme. On these two pages I have begun to use tulle. The page on the left has paint splatters over the raw chipboard background and a edging of Krafty paper and tulle. I have used one of the spiral flowers and made another out of Krafty paper. I also made spiral twine flowers that compliment the spiral loops held together with glued strips of Batik paper on the right side. The right page also has a bow made out of tulle. I really like the page on the right and think it is pretty even if it is about a slug!
The final two pages of the book take it out with a bang. The colors of the Socialite line are very bright and are in contrast with the dark forest. The canvas page on the left has been covered in tulle and fussy cut images from the papers. The page on the right is the inside of the back cover of the album.
The back cover was made by stamping Paper Trunk flowers onto the clear surface. I then heat embossed the flowers with metallic teal embossing powder. The heat from the embossing caused the cover to warp a bit but it now wraps gently around the album. I like the effect. I also painted gesso over the inside surface so that it is all white with flower texture inside and teal flowers on a white background from the outside.

I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to play with products from both Paper Trunk and Punky Sprout. This has turned into my favorite mini-album ever and I hope you have enjoyed looking at it as well. Here is your word for the day

Be sure to check back tomorrow here and on the Punky Sprout blog for more words in the secret quote game!

Rachel

A few "simple" requests....

2011-09-23T17:35:00.000-07:00

Would you like to know why I love Punky Sprouts albums?

My answer is simple and straight forward; they are FUN!

Which leads me to how my album came about. I happened to be pulling out supplies in my studio when my son came in and sat in my chair. He started playing with the album I had spread out across my desk and asked if I would make it for him.

I did not yet have a plan in mind so I said, "Sure bud, I will make one for you. What do you want me to put in it?"

He said he would like me to make it about football.

I smiled and said, "that sounds like a GREAT idea! Football it is."

He then looked at me very seriously and said he had a few "simple" requests.

First, no glitter.

No glitter - check.

Second, he wanted photos of daddy in the album.

Photos of daddy - check.

Third, no little words or lots of words together (paragraphs in kid speak).

No paragraphs - check.

And last Mom, no flowers or girly stuff, ok?

Do you think he will mind cheerleaders and pom-poms?

I had a blast making this album for my son. Punky Sprouts together with a little Paper Trunk "Rockabilly" really made it come together. I think he will really enjoy looking through it and learning "football" words!

Which brings me to MY word for you! Are you keeping track of all the words mentioned? Make sure you do and enter to win at the end of this swap (Carrie always has the BEST giveaways!).

Have a positively PUNKY day!

Meet the Family

2011-09-22T00:30:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, I have not made a lot of mini-albums in my 15+ years of scrapbooking. When I sat down to work on my Punky Sprout project, I felt a little overwhelmed. I quickly hopped onto the Punky Sprout blog to search for inspiration and ideas. Slowly the idea of a coffee table-type book came to mind.

I decided to make little book about the members of our family. The "Sprocket Sprout" album I received came with different shapes and elements (chipboard shapes, canvas, and an envelope). So cool to have a variety of shapes, sizes, and textures to play with!

I decided it would be fun to work with the Rockabilly Collection. I admire those scrapbookers who can mix 'n match papers from different collections and manufacturers...I do not have the gift of mixing. LOL! I like everything to coordinate perfectly so, it was fun digging into the Rockabilly line. Adding a few ribbons, flair, and flowers. Here is the album before I began:

And here is what it looked like in the end...

There was a little yellow envelope and a piece of canvas that I decided not to include in my album. (I might use the little envelope on the back to include some journaling?)

I decided to keep this project "journal free" and focus on the photos. Our names create the beginning of the alphabet A, B, C, C, D, E, and F so the order of the pages came naturally. I think I may go back and incorporate the letters on each page? Here is what you see when you flip open the book:

The Rockabilly paper made it so easy to organize the design of this book. All the papers on the left side of the book are the front/colored sides and the right side of the book is all the back or black and white sides. The flowers on the back of the cover worked out perfect next to my daughters page. As you continue through the book you will meet my boys, B & C:

I created the curly-Q with a scrap piece of paper. I love how the black and white
pattern alternates with the colorful stripes!

Then we move along to meet me and our newest family member, Dexter:

Isn't it fun to see the shapes from the other pages popping out around the edges?!

And we finally flip to the final pages of this mini album to see my handsome hubby and our beloved (and very missed) Flash:

I am so pleased with how this turned out! Even though it was a bit overwhelming at the beginning, once I began cutting the paper and lining up my photos, I enjoyed the process. These albums from Punky Sprouts would make great gifts for grandparents, friends, baby gifts, or teacher gifts. Thank you Punky Sprouts for swapping with us!

And now for your word of the day.....

*Note: If you click on any photos in our blog, it will open in a larger format for more detail.

A punky baby gift

2011-09-21T16:08:00.001-07:00

Okay, first of all, I feel the need to preface this by saying that altering things and mini albums are not my typical way of scrapbooking. I actually had a bit of a hard time figuring out what to do with my fun Punky Sprouts goodies! I received two 12x12 pieces of cardboard-ish stuff, as well as some of their flower embellishments. It finally hit me just a few days ago exactly what I wanted to create with it. My brother and sister-in-law are expecting their third baby in just a few weeks, and I thought it would be neat to create something with one of my favorite bible verses, frame it in a shadow box, and give it as a gift. So, that's just what I did! I still need to get the frame, and actually, now that I made this piece the wheels started turning about how I could make another coordinating project. I'm thinking that I might make one that incorporates some photos of him, too. A little matching set of nursery decor!

I chose the colors of this project based on the colors of his nursery. I actually pulled paper from 4 different Paper Trunk lines for this. The circle background paper is from the 1974 line, the green diamonds is from Maybe Baby, the brown is from Batik, and the small red circles are from Wrangler. I've never mixed and matched so many lines before, and it was really fun to pull together this combination!

It's a little hard to tell in the photos, but I also painted the cardboard a cream-ish color.

For the flower embellishments, I pretty much just crinkled and mashed and twisted until I had "flowers" that didn't look too flowery. A little bling embellishment and I called it done! It was really fun to force myself to create out of the box a little bit for this one.

And finally, your word of the day...

Thanks for stopping by today!

A trunky/punky mini album...

2011-09-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hello all you Trunky, Punky crafters!

This week is going to be great!

The trunk team has some great projects to share with you.

Punky Sprouts sent us some fabulous products to play with and

I can't wait to share mine with you.

Here's a Punky Sprouts mini album that I altered.

A family album of pictures I took of the triplets for their 2 year birthdays.

I didn't keep to just one Paper Trunk line. I used quite a few on this mini album.

On this page I used Maybe Baby.

And here's today's word.

Make sure to check back everyday this week for more inspiring projects and
Trunk, Punky "words of the day".

Paper Trunk & Punky Sprouts... Let's Play!

2011-09-19T00:30:00.000-07:00

Here is how to play along...

Each day, starting on the 19th and ending on the 28th, visit our blog. You will see some fantastic projects featuring not only Paper Trunk goodies but also some amazing product from Punky Sprouts.

Along with the projects, we will post a word a day. Keep track of those words! At the end of the week, you need to unscramble the words which make a back to school quote. Be sure to note that there are repeat words in the quote. Once you have figured out the quote, email it to me (carrie@papertrunk.com) and a winner will be drawn from all the correct entries. Want another chance to win? Visit the Punky Sprouts blog and see their design teams' creations all week as well!

Are you ready for the first word? Here ya go...

Come back tomorrow to see a Trunky/Punky project from Trunk Designer, Corinne!

Turning 2 with Jelly Bean

2011-09-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hello Trunkers, Corinne here to share a few layouts of my girls using our Jellybean paper line.

The triplets turned "2" in July. And you know what that means? Photo time! But naturally they're not into having their pictures taken. :-( Sitting still for more than a few seconds is asking for the world. I dressed them all up and tried to have a photo session with them but they weren't having it. I probably was only able to salvage a hand full out of the hundreds that I took that day. BUMMER! So what I decided to do was create layouts based on a few photos I took in that month. I've learned to be flexible with having 2 year old triplets!!!

Here's two layouts that I created for the girls, Kendra and Chloe.

"So Cute at 2" Kendra

A few close ups...

"all smiles at 2" Chloe

a few close ups...

Thanks for stopping by Trunkers. Hope you have a fabulous day!

And the winner is...

2011-09-07T11:06:00.000-07:00

The winner of our Paper Trunk/Core'dinations giveaway goes to:

Rhonda V. said...
I absolutely loved Cari's polka dot embossing technique on the Watermelon and of course, the sweet "bite" marks! Just my style!!!
All the designers did a fabulous job showcasing Coredinations though!
http://papertrunk.blogspot.com/2011/08/watermelon-goodness.html
September 6, 2011 5:13 PM

Congratulations Rhonda! I know you will have a wonderful time playing with your new goodies! Please email me at carrie@papertrunk.com with your shipping address and I will get your package to you as soon as possible!

___________________________________________

I also have a VERY EXCITING announcement... Paper Trunk has partnered with another fabulous company for the month of September! We love these product swaps to give our fans an opportunity to see how great Paper Trunk works with any product! In a couple of weeks, the Trunk Team will be sharing projects and a fun game along with the PUNKY SPROUTS Design Team! Yay! If you are not familiar with their products, check them out here: http://getpunkysprouts.blogspot.com We are so excited about this partnership and look forward to sharing our projects with you very soon.

2011-09-02T03:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday to you! My Trunk Team does such a phenomenal job, wouldn't you agree? I am inspired and challenged each time one of the Trunk Designers posts on this blog!

The Team has had a blast playing with the delicious Core'dination products during the month of August and we hope you have been inspired by all the projects and fun techniques!

We don't want to leave you out of the fun so we're going to be doing a G-I-V-E-A-W-A-Y! To celebrate our month with Core'dinations we would love to hear from you:

What technique, layout, or idea inspired you the most from this past month?

Share the blog link (either from Core'dinations blog or Paper Trunk) in this post by Tuesday (9/6/11 before midnight)and next Wednesday we will announce a winner* to receive a prize package of Paper Trunk and Core'dinations!

If you have not popped over to the Core'dinations blog, they have tons of ideas for their cardstock and wonderful projects by their Design Team.

Layout by Debbie Standard, Core'dinations Design Team Member

Just look at how the Maybe Baby Collection jumps off the Core'dinations background. The Core'dinations cardstock adds the perfect touch of texture to coordinate with the Maybe Baby patterns.

Have a wonderful weekend and tune in next week to see who is the lucky winner of our Paper Trunk/Core GIVEAWAY!

*US Residents only.

The Grad

2011-08-31T12:38:00.000-07:00

I feel like this post could also be called "scrapbooking your imperfect photos". Because, let me tell you, you are about to see some highly imperfect photos! The photographer in me is cringing, but you know what? I knew these were the photos I wanted to scrapbook because I just sent this tiny little munchkin off to the 3rd grade. I don't know about you, but 3rd grade just seems like "big kid" school to me. More homework, more responsibility, more projects, more, more, more. I have never scrapped his kindergarten graduation photos because they are so imperfect: bad lighting, blurry, and the colors are all over the place. But, that's not what scrapbooking is about. It's about remembering and recording this sweet little 6 year old back when he was the littlest fish in the big elementary school sea.

So consider this my psa of the day: don't forget about those imperfect photos that capture a sweet memory perfectly!

2011-08-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hey there Paper Trunkers! Hope all is well. Have you been enjoying all the inspiration we've been posting with the lovely Core'dinations papers? I hope so, I know I've been inspired.

Here's a few layouts I created using Core'dinations cardstock!

Title: "Being you".

Here I combined Paper Trunk's Jellybean line with

Core'dinations Vintage collection.

A layout of my daughter, Chloe. She's always wearing something,

a hat, bracelet or in this case a tiara, bunny ears and momma's hat.

Here's a few closeups of the beautiful vintage collection.

I just love the thickness of it and it blended well with our papers.

Layout: Kai and the bippity bops.

These are pictures of the trips last Halloween. I decided to have

them dress in theme all together. So after thinking long and

hard I decided to have them be "Kai and the bippity bops".

I thought it was cute little rocker theme.

It wasn't hard to decide which papers I wanted to scrap them with.

*wink*

On this layout I combined Paper Trunk's Rockabilly line

and Core'dinations Core Couture.

Love the way that glitter stands out.

Thanks for stopping by!

Watermelon Goodness!

2011-08-24T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Cari here with you today!

So happy to be sharing with you today! I am so excited that Core'dinations and Paper Trunk teamed up together because I think that they are a fabulous match!!

Today I'm sharing with you a layout that I created about my son and his love for watermelons! I knew that I wanted to have a watermelon on the page in some form or another. So I designed by layout first and then created the watermelon slice with some Core'dinations cardstock.

I took a piece of the Vintage green cardstock and cut it to the shape that I wanted.

I then took my Sand it Gadget and gently sanded around the curved edge to create a lighter effect.

I placed the red piece overtop just to make sure that I had the desired effect I was after. I then embossed the red cardstock with a polka dot embossing folder, adhered it in place overtop of the green cardstock and used 2 different sized circle punches (1 1/2" and 1") to create "bite" marks on the top edge of the watermelon.

Here's my finished layout.

Supplies used: Paper Trunk (Jellybean Collection, Socialite Collection - striped), Benny Alpha stickers (black)), Core'dinations Colorcore Cardstock, Pink Paislee (blue chipboard alpha), Ek Success (border punch), Cuttlebug embossing folder

And some close up shots as well.

I hope I've given you some inspiration to play with Core'dinations cardstock and Paper Trunk TOGETHER!

Birthday Cards

2011-08-21T06:35:00.000-07:00

Every August we get together with my parents for their birthdays. On the calendar they are days apart at the beginning of August and I usually make them a card for their birthday. This year I was happy to make the cards with Core'dinations Glitter Cardstock and Paper Trunk Rockabilly Papers.
For my mom, I chose a pink and yellow color scheme and a pretty vase full of Rockabilly roses.

The pin sticking out of the top of the roses shows the message.

The background of the card is Rockabilly paper sprayed with some yellow glimmer mist. The vase is also glittery and embossed with dots like pink milk glass! At the bottom of the vase is a yellow bow tied out of paper so it will never go flat.

For my dad, I made a canoe out of Rockabilly Paper and tore strips of glittery blue cardstock and layered them to look like water. The paddle of the canoe holds the card closed.
The water on the bottom of the card folds down to reveal orange cardstock fish swimming below the canoe. It looks like he caught a big one!
I hope these cards inspire you to get creative with Paper Trunk and Core'dinations!
Rachel

Jammin' with Rockabilly and Core'dinations!

2011-08-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

Well hello again friends! With the new school year fast approaching or already started for some of you, it's also is a good time for teacher gifts. This being my first year having a school age child, I wasn't quite sure if I should do anything or what I would do. Well, all summer long I've been doing a bunch of canning (for the first time I might add =). I came across a Cricut cartridge called Preserves and I got very excited about decorating all my jars of jams and whatnot. I have to say that using Core'dinations cardstock was perfect for this project! I used their 6x6 stack of cardstock to create my jar labels and used Paper Trunk Rockabilly papers to add some extra pizzazz.

Being a fan of texture and dimension I couldn't help myself by adding some seed beads to my berries. I used Helmar Gemstone glue to hold them down and it worked beautifully!

For a very simple gift wrap and presentation I just used one of the cardboard containers that my fresh berries came in and filled it with a bit of filler grass and I was done!

I hope my daughter's new teacher likes marionberry jam, but I know she'll love the decor I made with Core'dinations and Paper Trunk's Rockabilly!

Enjoy those last few weeks of summer and happy crafting everyone!!

Family

2011-08-15T06:16:00.000-07:00

This month the Paper Trunk team has partnered with Core'dinations Cardstock to bring you some beautiful stuff! Check out both blogs for projects from the team all month. Here's my first project this month
The picture is from my family's reunion this past May. Every 2 years we all get together. We see each other often but it's so much fun to have everyone together at the same time. I've used Paper Trunk Rockabilly on chipboard pieces to make the title and the green background for the photo. Core'dinations is represented as rolled paper flowers and the gray background paper. I used a Sew Easy tool to distress the cardstock and then sanded all the raised parts off the paper from where it was pierced. I filled in some of the holes with embroidery floss stitches.
Tucked under the photo on more cardstock is a list of all family members present in the photo. And, below, you can see some detailed shots of the flowers and stitching.

Paper Trunk and Core'dinations are a perfect pairing. I hope you'll have some fun with both!
Rachel

WINNER!

2011-08-13T19:55:00.000-07:00

We have a WINNER for our first Paper Trunk & Core'dinations prize pack. The random number generator chose.....

KanataNewf said...

Very pretty layout - another big fan of Core'dinations here!

August 1, 2011 5:40 AM

Thank you everyone for playing and keep your eye on the blog for more inspiration and giveaways throughout the month!

Please send your address to info@papertrunk.com, include Paper Trunk & Core Winner in the subject line with your name and address in the email. Thank you! :)

When you only have a minute...

2011-08-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

Sometimes the thought of being creative can be a little daunting. Add that to having minimal time to create and it can really cut down on your productivity. So how do you fix this problem?

Supplies: Paper: Paper Trunk (Rockabilly), Cardstock: Core'dinations (Core Essentials), Embossing Folder: Small Dots (ProvoCraft).

Two words; simple design.

Be it vertical or horizontal, simple card designs can help you create more and use less time doing it. Who doesn't want a whole drawer full of cards to grab for at the last minute?

Supplies: Paper: Paper Trunk (Rockabilly), Cardstock: Core'dinations (Glitter Silk), Other: tulle.

Paper Trunk and Core'dinations really are a match made in scrapbooking heaven. The colors, the versatility, and the quality of both products make for durable projects (and scraps you never want to throw away). Both also are extremely easy to use when creating with simple designs.

Supplies: Paper: Paper Trunk (Rockabilly), Cardstock: Core'dinations, Ribbon: RibbonFX, Bling: Queen&Co., Electronic Die-Cutter: Silhouette SD (phrase).

Next time you find yourself at a lack for time and creative "mojo", reach for a little Paper Trunk, Core'dinations, and a few simple designs. In no time, you will find the cards piling up and ready to use at a moments notice.

A "Core"dinated Birthday!

2011-08-06T03:00:00.000-07:00

Hi folks! You know there's nothing better than a Summer Birthday party! The possibilities are endless when the weather is so great! Combine that with the durable powers of Core'dinations cardstock for your decorations and it's a smash hit! Core'dinations cardstock can really stand up to tough love which is why it's great to work with.

One of the things I love most is running it through an embossing folder. I also like to mix up the styles of embossed images.

Well, my daughter's 5th Birthday is today and I can't believe she's reached this amazing milestone and is also about to enter Kindergarten! I decided that with her and I being quite the crafty pair, that I should make a banner for her party.

I used Core'dinations glittered Core Couture cardstock, as well as their Vintage Collection, Flower Power cardstock, for all the letters in the banner.

I then used Paper Trunk's Jellybean papers to create the tropical flowers, and epoxy shapes using an Epiphany Crafts Studio Tool.

I just love how Core'dinations glitter cardstock sparkles, it's perfect for my little girl!

Happy Birthday to all our Summer babes and a high five to all the new kindergartner's!! Now to think up my first Teacher Appreciation gift! I bet I'll be using Core'dinations and Paper Trunk ;)

Core'dinations + Paper Trunk

2011-08-01T00:01:00.001-07:00

Everyone at Paper Trunk is super excited to bring you a month filled with inspiration, ideas AND prizes!

Paper Trunk has partnered with the fabulous company, Core'dinations!

I cannot say enough about what an awesome product Core'dinations has. As if getting a wonderful product is not enough, they have been an amazing company to partner with.

Core cardstock is such a high quality, heavy weight cardstock that is so easy to work with. There are so many creative ideas for working with their cardstock, and the possibilities are endless. I will show you a few ways that I enjoyed working with the cardstock, and the Paper Trunk design team will flood you with creative ideas combining Paper Trunk and Core. I encourage you to also check out THIS LINK which has some really great technique videos on using Core'dinations cardstock.

In the example below, I combined Paper Trunk, Maybe Baby with 2 different colors of Core cardstock. I love the look of corrugated paper, so I used my paper crimper on the pink cardstock. After running the cardstock through the crimper, I used the Core'dinations sander to bring out the inner color. With the grey cardstock, I tore the paper to expose the inner color. I love working with their cardstock!

Another great use for the cardstock is using an embossing machine. Core'dinations cardstock just makes it so easy to create great projects and cards. I ran my cardstock through the embosser, and used my Core sander to bring out the inner color, and expose the words in this Happy Birthday card. I also embossed and sanded the balloons on this card.

Keep your eyes on the Paper Trunk blog, the Core'dinations blog and the Core'dinations facebook page. There will be plenty of inspiration, not to mention, PRIZES!!!!!

Speaking of prizes, why don't we start out the month of August with a giveaway right here on the Paper Trunk blog! Who wants an awesome prize package with both Core'dinations cardstock & Paper Trunk!? Leave a comment here and we will choose a winner by random draw. The winner will be chosen and announced on the Paper Trunk blog August 10.

Feeling the Love

2011-07-20T11:33:00.000-07:00

How do you start your pages? Do you like to use sketches? Do you pick your paper first or your photos first? Do you start with a title and a story, or just let the creativity flow as you create? I really think that every scrapbooker is different, and today I thought I would share my creative process for my most recent creation.

When I scrapbook, I almost always start with the photos. I pick up my stack of printed photos, thumb through them, and as soon as a story or a title pops into my head, I run with it. There is nothing more frustrating for me than getting stumped on a title, so I almost always start my pages by thinking of what I want my title/story to be. I've found that scrapbooking is not fun for me at all if I try to force myself into using photos that just aren't "speaking" to me!

Once I have my photos in hand, I choose my paper. For this page, it was an easy choice. I loved the bright color of my sweater, so I knew I wanted to use some pops of bright color on my page. The 1974 line was perfect for that!

After I choose my paper, I'll gather up embellishments that I think I might want to use. In this case, I grabbed buttons, a few different types of alphabet and word stickers, some bling, and some chipboard (which ended up not making it onto the page.)

From there, it's time for the fun part! I tend to be a very simple scrapper. I've noticed that a lot of my pages have a very similar design--layers of solid and patterned paper, straight lines, journaling, and just a few simple embellishment. It works for me for now, and I find that if I stray too far from my comfort zone, it really stops being fun. I just can't force it! Maybe someday when my children are older (they are currently 8, 6, and 3) I'll feel that urge to branch out and be more creative, but for now, sticking to my comfort zone works for me.

I spend a few minutes working on the "bones" of my page. For this page, that included the photo, the solid blue paper, the red flowered paper, and the orange flower at the top, and the row of buttons. I settled on this design pretty quickly, but sometimes I'll spend 20 minutes or more pushing papers around before I settle on a design.

Next comes the title and journaling, which like I mentioned before, I've already settled on before I even start the page so it always comes together really quickly for me.

The final step is embellishments. I added the heart stickers and the word stickers. I stepped back and liked it, but I felt like it needed a little something more. I cut out and added the flowers to the lower right hand side and drew in a thin line around the blue paper.

At that point, I called it done. I'm really happy with how this one turned out. I'm also really crazy about that guy in the picture. :)

Mixed Media?

2011-07-16T22:52:00.000-07:00

Hello Paper Trunkers!

Today I'm sharing my first attempt at Mixed Media Art. I've had this piece of canvas for a long time. It was actually a painting that I bought at Burlington Coat Factory a long time ago. So inexpensive (love those kind of buys don't you?). It was an abstract music themed piece. It went well in our "pool room" that we had before triplets. But as the trips have gotten older, we turned our pool room into a play room. As we took down all of our music/jazz themed decor I saw this canvas and decided to try to do something with it.

And here's what I came up with...

I first started by painting the whole

canvas white. Then used some glimmer mist

and paints to jazz up the edges of the canvas.

"Learn and Grow" is the theme for this project.

I used quite a few Paper lines.

My goal was to make it colorful and fun, what a play room

is all about right?

The pictures of the triplets are about 5 months old,

but I love these pictures of each of them. Their smiles

just warm my heart. They're simply fastened with

a brad, so as to easily change it out when another

picture comes along.

For the tree, I cut out a bunch of hearts using my

handy dandy cricut and then used this flower tutorial

to mimick tree leaves.

leaves: Jelly Bean line, Rockabilly line

Made some Simple Scrunch Rosettes to give

some dimension around the tree trunk.

Rosettes: Jellybean line, Rockabilly line, Krafty line

Thanks for stopping by! Hope this post inspired you to go out and dabble a little in mixed media if you haven't already. :)

Rockabilly Cards and a Fan Spotting

2011-07-12T05:42:00.000-07:00

One thing that I love (out of many!) about the Rockabilly line is the great patterns on the papers. For today's posting, I decided to play with those patterns in the round by creating accordion flowers with them. It's easy to change the size of the flowers by just cutting a narrower strip of paper. The striped paper in the collection provided the perfectly sized strips of paper to make a variety of sizes of accordion flowers. I used several of these strips on this thank you card.

I also used wavy edged scissors to cut into the green strip a little bit and that gave the flower some dimension on the outer edge. This dimension is more obvious by cutting along the pattern on the B side of the cherry paper and can be seen in the white flower below with the points on it.
This card also uses two of the designs on the B side of the red paper - the guitar and a patterned strip with lines on it that has been made into the largest of the accordion flowers. That flower has been folded on the lines of the pattern and stands out a bit from the others. You can make the folds further apart or closer together and that will effect how far the flower stands up from the paper and how long you need your strip of paper to be to fold the flower into the circle.

Also, today I'd like to point your attention to a Paper Trunk fan, Dawn Perkins. Not only does Dawn include Rockabilly flair in her super rockin' blog banner at Mojo Mayhem, she's used the papers to create this fantastic Rockabilly page about her son's Halloween costume. I love how Dawn's used the jounaling card on the page and her little bits of paper, twine, buttons, and Paper Trunk Flair scattered around the page. That zoot suit is fantastic and goes with the papers so well. Thanks for sharing your love of Paper Trunk with us Dawn!

If you are a fan of Paper Trunk and have created a project using Paper Trunk, be sure to let us know in the comments. You just may find your blog and project featured on our blog. Thanks for stopping by! Rachel

1974

2011-07-08T10:11:00.000-07:00

Hey there gals and maybe a few guys =D Carole here to share a fun layout with you all. I've used one of Paper Trunk's lines that perhaps hasn't been seen in a while and that's the super groovy "1974". I love the fun colors here! As some may know, I'm also on the Design Team for Helmar USA which is one of our preferred partners. Well this month they have a challenge going on over on the Helmar blog called "Red, White, & Glue" which goes along with this great sketch from my teammate Lydell Quinn.

I really enjoy working with sketches and not always as literally as they're drawn. I also don't usually work in such a clean style, but that's how the colorful graphics of the 1974 line spoke to me and I think it really made the elements pop. It's a little refreshing to try on a different style now and then don't you think?

The heavy weight of Paper Trunk's quality papers really makes doing any sort of fussy cutting so much nicer! The photo in my layout is from a family gathering in the summer of '08. Do you have any family reunions planned for the summer?

Supplies: Patterned Paper, Paper Trunk "1974"; Felt flowers and round epoxies, Epiphany Crafts; Alpha Stickers, American Crafts Thickers; Chipboard, Magistical Memories; Adhesives, Helmar Quickfix Adhesive Runner, Helmar Zapdots, Helmar 450 Quick Dry.

Well, I'm so glad that you were here today and I hope you enjoyed my layout!

Have a happy scrappy weekend!

Happy 4th of July and Getting Krafty!!

2011-07-05T17:04:00.000-07:00

I hope you had a wonderful 4th of July!! We had a sweet day with many happy new memories.

I want to share with you a little Paper Trunk Challenge....

I pulled out my favorite Paper Trunk line, Krafty, and decided to challenge myself to use one paper on two pages. The pretty scalloped circle dotted paper was calling my name so I decided to use that paper for my challenge example.
First, I cut out the scalloped circle, then I cut it in half. I then positioned each half on a plain piece of vanilla cardstock and started adding more Krafty paper, Jelly Bean and Socialite papers (I used the pretty backs), some Rockabilly chipboard, journaling spots, my favorite Benny alphas and some beautiful embellishments especially made for Paper Trunk by Wendy Hammer Designs. I dabbed on some paint and ink, added some bakers twine and here are my finished pages....

2010 4th of July

and this photo from this year... they have grown SO much!!

and here is the other page~ so sweet in the swing

pop dots and lots of layers

maybe some of you will play along???? I hope so!! :)

a dozen thank you cards FAST....

2011-07-01T15:22:00.000-07:00

I was in need of a dozen cards fast to thank my Vacation Bible School volunteers and need to share with you that I am not that great at creative cards. As I was wondering what I was going to do I even thought about buying cards, but knew I could make some......
so I thought about how sweet each of the volunteers are and how much they mean to me and I instantly thought of the sweet cherries on the Rockabilly papers!!!

I started with

my favorite rockabilly papers and several rockabilly flair and my FAVORITE Benny alphas!

then, after the papers were cut into blocks and strips I just layered them up and added a touch of flair! they were super easy, but i think they were cute, too :)

thank YOU for stopping by! I will be back on July 4th with some more inspiration!

Forever

2011-06-24T08:10:00.000-07:00

Hi Paper Trunkers!

I wanted to stop in and say hello and share a few crafty things with you.

But first I wanted to let you know that our fabulous designer Cari Locken is doing well and resting at this time. Thank you so much for all your prayers as I know she appreciates them.

"Forever" never seems too long for a couple that's in love.

I'm attending a bridal shower tomorrow. A sweet girl I've known

for years has found her Prince Charming and we're

celebrating with her.

I wanted to share a card I made her and a fun little

gift certificate holder I created using Paper Trunk's

Rockabilly line.

Card: "Forever"

Remember flocking? I used a little to make the

rose stand out against the red, black and white. I thought

with the feathers and flock,

it gave it a little burlesque look which I was going for.

Her gift certificate holder. I love making these.

First of all you can't go wrong with a gift certificate

to her favorite store but then a cute holder to put it in?

Perfect!

A close up.

I used some inks on the flowers to help make them standout.

Well that's it! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Cari Locken

2011-06-21T17:24:00.000-07:00

Please join the Trunk Team in praying for one of our Trunk Designers, Cari Locken. The Lord knows the details but please lift her and her family up in prayer.

Cari has been a huge supporter of Paper Trunk for years. She is one of the sweetest, most gentle spirits you will ever meet, a very talented scrapbooker and teacher. We adore her here at Paper Trunk.

Thank you for joining us in praying over her.

For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them. Matthew 18:20

It's about time!!

2011-06-18T00:00:00.000-07:00

My youngest was so excited when he finally lost his first tooth. He'd been waiting & waiting for months and when it finally happened he was delighted. I created this layout to remember his excitement about this milestone in his young life.

I used Paper Trunk patterned papers from 1974 Collection, Krafty Collection, and Benny Alphas in Orange.

Other supplies used: Cardstock is from Core'dinations. "Happy" embellishment is by October Afternoon, Punches (EK Success, Embossing templates (Cuttlebug), black alpha stickers (Making Memories)

Thanks for stopping by today and I want to wish a Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there!!

Family Time

2011-06-15T03:48:00.000-07:00

I am one who always cherishes time with my family. I grew up playing with extended family - second and third cousins that were once or twice removed - it didn't matter how close the blood relation was they were family and that was what mattered. Now that I'm older and have moved away from family, it's even more important to me to make the long trip to see everyone when we have a large gathering. Last monthttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifh was one of those occasions. My network of cousins has all grown up and we all have our own children now who will hopefully also learn the meaning of family.

These are my cousins in this page that I've made for today. It's not a complicated page. In fact, I used a sketch by Gretchen McElveen to create it and I followed the sketch almost exactly. I wanted the pictures to be center stage on the page because they are telling a story about me and my cousins - how we laugh together. They reflect the good times that we've had and the good times that we will continue to have long into the future. I kept the design simple to let the pictures do the talking and to allow the papers to shine. I mixed lines of papers to get a color scheme that I liked and that worked for the pictures. And, even though it is a simple page, I'm incredibly happy with how it turned out.

Papers used: Background from Jellybean Collection, Red border from 1974 collection, and Yellow semicircles from Wrangler.

I hope you have the opportunity to document time spent with family this summer!
Rachel

summer is here!

2011-06-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

well, technically summer is almost here. I love this time of the year. School is out, the weather is warming, the BBQ is on, and the kids spend the days outdoors. There is the smell of fresh cut grass, the taste of fresh fruit, and the sight of fireworks. Anyone else love summer?

Summer is in full force around here! My 2 year old will spend the day in the backyard if I let her. First thing in the morning she wakes up and says, "outside?". I figured I would start my summer of by making a page of her playing in the backyard.

I combined Paper Trunk, Maybe Baby with a little Krafty.

A sneak peek...

2011-05-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

...at what we'll be making this coming weekend at Art-Full Horizons! If you're planning on attending please stop by our booth. I'd love to meet you.

Just a couple of glances at our Flower Frenzy Make 'n' Takes.

Hope to see you there!

Stretch Your Sketch

2011-05-21T10:57:00.000-07:00

Recently I was asked to create a layout for Jennifer Gallacher's "Stretch Your Sketch" class at TwoPeasInABucket.com. I ADORE sketches so I immediately agreed.

It always amazes me the number of scrapbookers that are unaware of how versatile a sketch can truly be. So today, I am going to give you a short lesson on how to "stretch a sketch".

First, a scrapbook sketch is basically a blueprint of a layout; broken down into its most basic parts.

This was the sketch Jennifer had sent me to draw inspiration from for my layout.

Second, when working with a sketch you always have the option to use it as-is, flip it, rotate it, shrink it, substitute parts, or you can "unhinge" it.

Most of the above are self explanatory but let me go a little more in-depth on unhinging.

When you unhinge, you disconnect ALL of the parts that make up the sketch. For example:
You are now free to move the pieces around as you wish without adding or subtracting from the number of parts.

My take on the sketch included flipping the sketch horizontally yet keeping the "structure" of the sketch in-tact, as well as unhinging.

The left side of the sketch appeared to be "floating" so when I flipped the sketch, the large photo was tilted and the two smaller photos became anchored.

My title, embellishment, and border were the pieces I chose to unhinge from the sketch. I stretched the border and placed it along the entire base of the layout as "grass". My embellishment became a background for my title to make it "pop" from the layout.

Do you recognize the paper?

PAPER TRUNK, of course! The goal is from the Rockabilly line, the grass is from Socialite, and all the orange accent is from 1974. I used my Silhouette to cut the embellishments and title. Did you know that Paper Trunk's paper cuts BEAUTIFULLY in the Silhouette? No tears or distressing at all!

Sketches can be extremely helpful when you are trying to figure out how to design a layout. They can provide your entire layout or give you a "jumping-off" point.

I would love to see your take on this sketch! You can even upload your creation to the sketch gallery at TwoPeas! Let them know that Paper Trunk sent you!

I hope this little lesson on sketches will help with your future layouts. Please be sure to share your creations with our team!

Have a beautiful weekend!

-Brianne

Rockin' Game Party

2011-05-14T09:02:00.000-07:00

Hey there Paper Trunk friends! Virtual friends are really nice, but I really love my real life friends and one of the things we like to do when we get together is play good ole' fashioned board games. It's been on all our minds to make it a monthly ritual to have a game party for grown ups with cocktails and appetizers. I can't wait to show them what I'm about to show you. Using the Rockabilly paper collection and Helmar adhesives, I created some game night invitations, drink markers (the "who's drink is this" game gets tiring! haha!), and a pair of huge wooden die. I plan on using the big wood die as a way to determine what game we play and the player who rolls the highest number will get to choose the first game. I hope you think about having a game night of your own, they can be a real blast!! Games Rock :)

Thanks for stopping by!! Party on!!

Sweet and Spunky

2011-05-10T19:03:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, my family and I had professional pictures taken. Despite the fact that I am photographer and take tons and tons of photos of the kids, it had been over 3 years since our last family photos. My daughter wasn't even a twinkle in our eyes the last time we had family photos taken! I have been so excited about scrapping the photos. I have a big stack all printed out, ready to go. So the fact that I was so excited about scrapping these pictures, plus the fact that I adore this photo of my daughter means that this page came together lightening fast for me! I just love when that happens. Because, if I'm being honest, my days of having hours to spend scrapbooking are long gone. Maybe they will be back someday as my children grow up and become more independent. But for now, I'll get done what I can, when I can. And today, this is what I got done. I love it. Love the simplicity, love the photo, and most of all, love that sweet and spunky girl of mine!

I used the Socialite collection on this page, which continues to be one of my favorite collections and is often times my go-to papers. The journaling reads: "Camryn, you are the perfect mix of girly-girl and tomboy. You love pink and purple and all your babies. But you hang right in with the boys. You are so spunky and I love you so much!"

Her dirty knees are my very favorite part of this photo! So very her.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek at my page!

The 4th R - Raise your own

2011-05-07T12:05:00.001-07:00

Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle are the best known words to those who care about environmental issues, but I think a fourth "R" word could be Raise as in raise your own foods. I know Earth Day was a few weeks ago but where I live the weather has been more than just a little soggy. We've made national news and set new records for the amount of rainfall and the river levels all down the Mississippi. This has made spring much less appealing than normal and prevented crops from being planted by not only the large crop farmers but also the small time gardeners like myself. I started my seeds months ago but have not been able to transplant them. And, I like to celebrate Earth Day everyday anyway ;)

Last year we had an abundance of tomatoes in our garden but few of my favorite veggie - green beans. So, this year I bought seeds instead of just a few seedlings. I was surprised at the value in the seed packet - I had alot of seeds left and may start some other plants in a few weeks so I can rotate the plants - when some stop producing, hopefully the others will start. In the meantime, I needed a place to keep those extra seeds and it occurred to me that I could make a seed packet for them from Paper Trunk papers.

I cut a library pocket from some Batik paper using my Silhouette. I then cut from the other side of the paper a background to attach to the front of the pocket. The green beans and leaves were hand cut from Jellybean paper and inked on the edges. I also rolled them and folded them to give them some dimension before attaching them to the background. The Carson Chocolate stickers were perfect for labeling the pocket.
And the top folds over to keep the beans safely inside the pocket.

I have thought about giving these seeds to my son's school and to do so, I thought I might also make a card to give to the teachers. To make the card I cut the globe, letters, and butterflies on my Silhouette using the same Jellybean and Batik papers as were used for the seed packet. I layered the butterflies and sewed them in place around the outside of the globe.

I think the seed paket and card make a lovely gift to a classroom or a friend. I can see the children learning to care for seeds and tiny seedling and maybe even taking the plants home so they could eat their beans when they are ready. Perhaps this activity would create a new generation of people to care for the planet.

I hope you will consider more ways to celebrate the Earth and to protect our environment with your crafty projects, not just on Earth day but everyday.

Rachel

Happy National Scrapbook Day!

2011-05-06T18:28:00.000-07:00


Happy Mothers Day! Photo Credit: Flickr

Tomorrow is a day for all scrapbookers to celebrate the wonderful hobby of scrapbooking. I have always seen it as our very own holiday! Whether you get to scrapbook everyday or every once-in-awhile, this is a great opportunity for motivation and inspiration.

This is also a weekend to celebrate Mothers! To every Mom, Mommy, Mum, Mama, Madre, Mère, Mutter, Ma and however it is said in your language...may you be treated like the royalty you are this weekend!

To celebrate, I am offering 20% off your entire order in the Trunk Boutique, thru Monday, May 9th. Use promo code NSD11.

Some of you may be joining friends at a crop, following a blog hop, scrapbooking alone, or just "observing" the events of National Scrapbook Day. I wanted to provide some challenges and ideas to help you get a jump start on the weekend. Below is a list of ideas I hope will motivate you to get crafty this weekend.

Please join the Paper Trunk Facebook page* (http://www.facebook.com/PaperTrunk) and share the projects** you complete from the following list:

Mother's Day. Create a card, tag, or gift for a Mom in your life.
Visit our friends over at PersonalScrapper.com and let them know Paper Trunk sent ya. They have a fantastic community of scrapbookers and are also having a NSD/Mother's Day crop. (prizes! prizes! prizes!)
A Royal Challenge. In honor of "the" wedding, create a layout where the majority of the design is white. You can add splashes of color but, be sure that at least 80% of the layout is white!
Paper Trunk Love. Create a page using your favorite Paper Trunk product(s).
Layout Stack. Am I the only one with a 10" stack of layouts that need to be organized into albums? I bet I'm not! Spend at least 15 minutes organizing your layouts or filling some albums.
Have a Twitter account? Follow Paper Trunk to get the most up-to-date information.
RRR. Reduse, reuse, and recycle! Paper Trunk has always encouraged our fans to be eco-savvy. Create a page using something recycled. Some ideas could be fabric from an old shirt, packaging materials, or bottle caps... look around your house for more ideas!
Shoebox. Most of us have a box full of photos anxious to be scrapped. Dig into your box and rescue some photos, create a page or two! OR, maybe you need to organize your photo box? Spend at least 20 minutes sorting your photos.
Visit our facebook page and leave a REVIEW for Paper Trunk. It can be about Paper Trunk as a company or a particular product... it would be great to hear from you!
Use this sketch to get a page completed!

Sketch by, Carrie Postma for Paper Trunk

On behalf of myself and the Trunk Team, we wish you a very Happy National Scrapbook Day & Mother's Day weekend!

* There will be random prizes drawn next week for those that post photos of projects on our Facebook wall. The more you post, the better your chances to win!
** Projects do not have to contain Paper Trunk products, although we love to see our products in use! The projects eligible for prizes must be inspired by one of the challenges/ideas listed above.

The perfect gift

2011-05-03T08:27:00.000-07:00

Hi there! This is Cari here with you today. It looks like we're going to have a beautiful sunny day today ... which is so welcome around here as we've been having so much rain this year. Ok, ... on to my project that I want to share with you today.

Mother's Day is this coming Sunday and I just wanted to share with you something that would make the perfect gift.

I've taught this project as a class and it's super cute & easy to make.

It's a little gift box and inside are 4 cards - ready to give for any occasion. There's enough room to include envelopes as well.

The box: measures 5"(w) x 6" (H) x 1 1/2" (D)

The bottom of the box is made with some yellow cardstock - Core'dinations Vintage collection.

The lid is made using some patterned paper. I cut 4 strips of black cardstock and used a border punch on them to adhere around the edges of the lid.

I also made a box wrapper from striped paper and ribbon that helps to keep the box closed and it's also decorative.

Here are the four cards that I made to put inside. Each card measure 4" x 5".

Supplies used: Paper Trunk ( Rockabilly collection, Flair), ribbon, Prima flowers misted with yellow, Divine Twine, Core'dination Cardstock, My Stamp Box stamps, Colorbox inkpads, Fiskars border punches, EK Success punches (oval, circles, scallops), doilies, buttons, felt

Hope you're inspired to create something for your mother or a friend.

teacher appreciation

2011-04-26T16:45:00.000-07:00

For those of you that have children in school (or preschool/Sunday school), the end of the year is coming up. Our school has a teacher appreciation week, and each class is responsible for showing their teacher appreciation throughout the week. Being room mom, I am organizing the activities. One of the things that I am doing for the teacher is putting together a scrapbook of letters & artwork that the children have made especially for her. I created this to be the cover of the scrapbook. The Rockabilly line by Paper Trunk was perfect for what I had in mind. The inside of the book is filled with cardstock, and each child's project will be adhered. When I have everything together, I will use my bind it all to hold it together. The teacher can enjoy her dinner gift certificate now, but will have this book to enjoy forever!

Today is a Good Day

2011-04-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

For three reasons...

1. It's Good Friday! A day to be thankful for the Ultimate sacrifice Christ made so that we may live eternally with Him. "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life". John 3:16

2. It's Earth Day! A reminder to care for our Earth and preserve the resources that God has blessed us with. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth... God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." Genesis 1:1a & 1:31a

3. Paper Trunk is feeling giving and we're doing a challenge with a cool prize.

Here's the challenge:

Create a project having

to do with nature or the Earth. It can be

inspired by nature or be about nature.

Whatever you like. This one is open. We

just want to see the Earth celebrated in

some way in your project.

Please upload your projects to the

"Paper Trunk page" on Facebook.

There you can upload your projects.

Your project can be anything; a layout, card or an

altered item of some sort. We would love to see your

Paper Trunk stash used but it's "okay" if not. :)

Here's what you can win...

A gift certificate of $10.00 to spend in the Trunk Boutique.

This challenge closes Wednesday the 27th

at 11:59pm PST.

We'll post the winner Friday so stay tuned.

Here's a layout I created using a little

Earthy inspiration.

A picture of my son, Kai. His smile is just

beautiful so this title and layout was perfect

for this picture.

I used my Socialite scraps and Carson alphas.

A few close ups.

Looking forward to seeing your creations!

Have a wonderful Easter weekend.

Sincerest form of flattery...

2011-04-17T06:33:00.000-07:00

Do you ever lack creativity? I have days, if not WEEKS, where I feel like I am sitting in a creative drought. I will walk into my studio, sit down at my desk, and feel at a loss. I used to page through my old issues of scrapbook magazines but then found that looking back further and further caused me to lose even more creativity. Nothing was NEW or fresh! Going out and purchasing a stack of new magazines is WAY too costly these days so what is a crafty girl to do when her mojo is missing? With the invention of sites like Flickr and Pinterest, these days are becoming few and far between for me. Add in my BFF Google Reader and I can peruse all of my favorite blogs on one site (and trust me, I have 100+ that I follow...sick, I know). Mason Cooley once said, "Art begins in imitation and ends in innovation" and I find this to be so completely true. I found this photo quite some time ago and made a note of the source of the file so that when I got around to using the idea, I could properly document where I obtaining my "jumping-off point".

(Source)

Pinterest cleans my desk of any sticky notes and torn corners from my sketch book! It literally bookmarks the image for me for later reference! Wicked. (And if you need an invite to this completely ADDICTIVE site leave your email in the notes and I will send one off to you!). Back to imitation. I love the above image. From the simplicity of the project with typography to the clean lines and pop of color, it captures my heart AND my creative process. After seeing this project I immediately knew that I would be doing SOMETHING like this in the near future. This weekend started off with a creative drought; enter my digital muses. I pulled up this image and started taking notes on how I could possibly spin this into a project that was more "me". And then it hit me! Hats!

I used almost every Paper Trunk line to create these little beauties too!

Jellybean and Socialite Collections.

Wrangler and Batik Collections.

1974, Maybe Baby, and the most recently released, Rockabilly.

I started off with a simple female-head silhouette and then found some vintage hat images that I could recreate with Paper Trunk's lines! Ended up making a set of "everyday" cards that I can use myself or give as a gift! LOVED how these turned out!

When you are wallowing in the wastelands of a creative drought, don't forget these fabulous sources** of creative mojo! I hope you have a beautiful and INSPIRING week! **Please keep in mind that when/if you do imitate someone's design to always give proper credit; even if you aren't copying the idea in it's entirety. Someone might have worked really hard on creating that project and the most disheartening thing to happen is to see someone else take the credit for the idea.** Thanks Trunk fans; you're the best! -B

Sunshine & Smiles

2011-04-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

We've had such a rainy spring (and winter) here on the West Coast that when those sunny days happen we are out in full force.

I snapped these pictures one Sunday afternoon when we took our kids over to play with their cousins. They always have so much fun together.

Here in these pictures my daughter and her little cousin were having fun during their little photo shoot.

Supplies used: Paper Trunk (Krafty Collection, Jellybean papers, White Journal Spot, Benny alphabet stickers (red)), Core'dinations cardstock, Prima flowers (small turquoise), Provo Craft felt flowers, ribbon (Michaels), Queen & Co., (red pearls), EK Success border punch

Layout is based on a sketch by Valerie Salmon

Hope you're having a beautiful sunny day filled with lots of smiles!

Gigi By The Sea Shore

2011-04-06T19:56:00.000-07:00

Hi there, it's Carole again, and this time I'm sharing a layout with one of Paper Trunk's older lines called "Gigi". When I was surfing through my papers I immediately stopped at Gigi because it was a perfect match for the soft sky blues in the photos I was working with. These pics were taken on one of the many shores of the Puget Sound. It was a perfect match and I thought it lended a bit of a nautical feel, especially when I added some handmade paper beads.

The flowers are preprinted on the paper, but I wanted to add a bit of dimension. All I did was take my Helmar acid free glue, trace around the flowers, then lay down some twine. Since the glue dries so nice and clear I didn't have to worry too much about my glue lines and if they were a bit messy.

For my birdie here, I took a chipboard bird from Maya Roads and then layered some borders punched from the "Gigi" collection that I inked. Then I just turned it over and took my xacto knife to cut away the excess.

I love the soft shade of blue in the "Gigi" collection, it reminds of blue skies in the Spring and Summer and I hope that Spring has reached to where you are in the world! Thanks for stopping by and may blue skies come your way!

Happy Birthday, Happy Butterflies

2011-04-03T05:55:00.000-07:00

Today is my birthday so I'm posting something that makes me happy. I figure it must make me happy because I am constantly doing it. For some people it might be a certain type of food or a favorite beverage that makes them happy or at least content; but for me, taking pictures of butterflies on flowers is very satisfying. I have more pictures than I can count of butterflies but I never seem to do anything with them. For this page today, I decided to have a little fun with one of my pictures. I added dimension to the page with a 3D butterfly cut from the Krafty paper with the damask pattern on it.

To create this effect, simply cut out a butterfly shape in two pieces around some of the damask shapes on the paper. You will need the body on upper wings and the bottom wings just need to be attached to each other to provide a platform for folding and attaching the upper wings and body. Then, fold the wings from the center out to the tips of the wings in several spots on each of the wings. Fold the wings up and attach to your page.

I've used the blue back of a piece of Wrangler paper, flowers and leaves from Rockabilly, and Krafty papers for this page. Thanks for stopping by on my birthday!
Rachel

Keep Rockin'!

2011-03-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

It has been a fabulous month with Wendy Hammer Designs! As we are sad to stop the fun of playing along with Wendy Hammer Designs, remember that you can find all of the fun embellishments shown on our creations this month. Make sure to stop by her Etsy site: Wendy Hammer Designs I will leave you with one last project I made with Paper Trunk's Rockabilly line and some of Wendy's goodies!

I found the coolest unfinished wood guitar frame at Michael's a few weeks ago and it was just SCREAMING "buy me!". Ok, that is what I told my husband but honestly, how could I pass it up? $2.00! I traced the main shape of the guitar onto one sheet of Rockabilly and then handcut the smaller second piece to give it a "authentic" guitar look. Wendy's Polymer Clay Buttons made for perfect knobs and Heidi Swapp bling lines became the strings! Finished the project off with a handcut rose, Wendy's adorable flower, and a little more bling (because let's be honest, more bling is ALWAYS a good thing).

I love this photo of my husband and son in our front yard. I added the ghost phrase "when words fail, music speaks" to the photo because there are just no words to explain this shot. Well, my friends, I hope you had a fabulous time checking out our creations this month because we certainly enjoyed making them! Please make sure to check out Wendy's store and also the Spring Paper Trunk sale! IT'S STILL GOING ON but not for much longer!!!! Have a beautiful day!

Jellybean goodies!

2011-03-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun playing with the adorable embellishments that Wendy Hammer Designs created to go along with the Jellybean collection. They were just the perfect addition.

I created this page about one of our family traditions - Ice Cream Cone Day ... in honour of my Grandpa because he loved ice cream cones. I used the round embellishments with my name tags & design above the title. I also added one of the felt designs on my layout. The title I created with my Cricut using the Birthday Bash cartridge.

I also created this little card using one of the felt paisley designs - I decided to use it for a wing on the bird and added one of the round designs for the bird's eye.

Supplies used: Paper Trunk (Jellybean papers) Wendy Hammer Designs (felts & clay designs), Core'dinations cardstock, Black pen (American Crafts), Cricut, Birthday Bash Cricut Cartridge, Spellbinders die (Bird), Chatterbox stamp, Divine Twine (Green)

Thanks for stopping by!

She Loves Her

2011-03-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hello there Paper Trunkers! Hope we're doing well. Have you been enjoying all the great creations the design team has been posting using Wendy Hammer designs? I totally have been. Some great stuff I tell ya.

Today I'm going to share a layout and card that I created with the yummy embellies that Wendy sent me.

Layout: "She Loves Me"

I used the Krafty line and Benny alphas

This layout is of my daughter Kendra.

One afternoon a woman was walking around

with a miniature horse for picture opps. I jumped on it.

However, the only one that enjoyed Lily, was Kendra.

Kai and Chloe both cried when we tried to put them on her.

But when we put Kendra on her, she smiled really big and

clapped her hands. It was so cute.

Here's a few closeups...

A fun birthday card.

Playing Dress-up...

2011-03-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

As a little girl, I loved playing dress-up. It did not matter whether I was a princess, a bride, or even a movie star because when I put on that outfit, the personality always matched the fashion. Now as an adult, I am the proud momma of a 5 year old boy who wants NOTHING to do with dresses or bows. He wants me to dress up in daddy's ACU's and play Army guys. Jumping into couch "bunkers" is not really the same thing as smiling for the cameras but its equally just as fun.

These days, I do not get to be as "girly" as I once did so when I have time to create, lately I have been compelled to make up for lost time. When I received Wendy's adorable embellishments, I knew I had to incorporate them into something pretty I could see every day.

May I introduce Rockabilly "Dress-Up":

I stashed away this three-pack of rectangle canvas's in my closet after a great sale at Michael's a while ago and figured now would be the perfect time to alter them up with a few pretty dresses! After adhering a few sheets of music with gel medium, I applied a white-wash to the entire canvas to give it more of a muted look.

I, then, used my Silhouette to cut the dresses and dress forms from both the Rockabilly paper and some black and white Bazzill cardstock. The title's for each canvas are made from both Paper Trunk's sticker collections.

Wendy's polymer buttons and fabulous felt shapes added the perfect touch to each outfit. I have to admit, the little cherries were my absolute favorite and I almost did not want to use them!

What "Uptown Girl" isn't complete without her matching pumps and handbag?

Wendy has just released the embellishments for sale on her Etsy site! Did you know she also does custom orders? Make sure to check out her site and maybe she can design something special for YOUR next project!

And if you're "diggin" the Rockabilly paper line, Carrie has just announced a Spring Sale on our Facebook page! Everything on our website is 50% off with the promo code SPRING50CLEAN. You can have the entire Rockabilly line for only $2.50 plus shipping!!! So run, don't walk, to get your hands on some of her fabulous designs!

Hope you are having a "rockin" weekend! Have a fabulous week!

black rock.

2011-03-15T19:22:00.001-07:00

thanks to Wendy Hammer Designs, we had some new embellishments to work with this month. Wendy makes the most adorable handmade embellishments. she made the trunk team embellishments that coordinated with specific Paper Trunk collections. how cool is that?

I worked with the Socialite collection. definitely in my top 2 favorites of Paper Trunk! Wendy made this felt flower & the clay embellishment (I used on as the center of the flower in my title) to coordinate with the colors in the socialite papers. Thank you Wendy for the fun embellishments!

just in case you are wondering, black rock is the name of a snorkeling spot in Maui that we loved! :)

patterned papers: Paper Trunk Socialite
cardstock: Bazzill
Felt flower & clay dot: Wendy Hammer Designs
alpha: jillibean soup

Brighten Your Day

2011-03-12T03:15:00.000-08:00

Has it been dull and gray where you are? It sure has here, lots of rain and clouds. This sort of atmospheric behavior sends me searching for something bright and cheerful. Enter Paper Trunk's Socialite and the bright goodness of Wendy Hammer Designs! Take a look at what you can do with the combination

You can see how easy both the papers and the Wendy Hammer Designs embellishments are to work with. The bright colors will warm up even the coldest and soggiest of spirits. I chose to pair the products with pictures of my son sucking on an end of summer treat as he was introduced to his first grade classroom. Hopefully this end of summer page will chase away your "is winter ever going to end" blahs. It worked for me!
Rachel

S'more Fun

2011-03-06T15:43:00.000-08:00

First of all, I just have to say that Wendy's embellishments are so fun and I loved working with them! As is typical with my pages, I kept this one really simple. :) But I do feel like Wendy's little felt embellie and the handmade buttons were just the perfect touch.

(Please ignore the funky shadowing that's happening. And the less than perfect photos...actually I love scrapping my not-so-perfect photos because my life is far from perfect and I loved these photos even if they are noisy and taken in probably the worst light in my house!)

Anyway, back to Wendy...definitely check out her site to see all the fun things she offers! Not only does she have super cute embellishments, but her felt purses are amazing!

Hope y'all had a wonderful weekend!

Jellybean Goodness

2011-03-04T06:54:00.000-08:00

Well hello there friends, it's been a long time! It's Carole here again and I'm sorry to say it's been a long time since my last post. I've missed you guys, but sometimes life can get in the way of the fun stuff. Anywho, I'm glad to be back especially this month since Paper Trunk has the honor of getting to design with some of Wendy Hammer's fantastic felt embellishment designs! I chose to work with Paper Trunk's Jellybean line as Spring is almost upon us and the cheerful colors just make me smile. I don't know about you, but I can't wait for some warmer weather and brighter days. Speaking of days, make sure you remember that next weekend is Daylight Savings. Yippee, longer days for more scrapping!! Well, like I said, it's been a long time since I last posted, so I decided to do two projects for you today. A two page layout and a card, both done with the Jellybean collection and both incorporating Wendy Hammer's felt pieces. Make sure to check out her etsy shop here.

Thanks for dropping by and Happy TGIF!!

Hammer Time!

2011-02-28T20:03:00.000-08:00

Oh, I am beyond words excited for what is coming in March for all of you trunk fans out there!

Ok, so I am not at a complete loss for words because, let's face it, I am a blabber-mouth but it does not reduce the level of happiness the following gal's creations bring me!

Please let me introduce Wendy Hammer!

Wendy is the creative genius behind "Wendy Hammer Designs". Her whimsical felt designs feature items ranging from purses and jewelry to small shapes like cameras and frogs! Her felt roses can be seen adorning many scrapbook pages and cards in magazines at your favorite bookstores.

Wendy's online Etsy store, Wendy Hammer Designs, opened in October 2010 and she recruited a very talented design team not long after. Just check out this A-list:

Amy Coose

Kimberly Neddo

Leslie Ashe

Rebecca Price

Sheri Twing

Why, may you ask, am I going into so much detail about Wendy's fabulous designs? Paper Trunk has been blessed this coming month to work with some of Wendy's CUSTOM MADE designs! Not only are these goodies adorable, but they match Carrie's lines perfectly!

In March, our team will show off the versatility of Wendy's embellishments and how fabulous they coordinate with Trunk Fashion!

So stay tuned! You won't want to miss a single post! Until then, take a moment to check out some of Wendy's sites:

Her Etsy Store: Wendy Hammer Designs

Become a Fan!: Wendy Hammer Designs Facebook

Hop over to her Blog and check out the DT: Wendy Hammer Designs

See you soon!

LOVE Maybe

2011-02-16T01:00:00.000-08:00

Love Definitely! I know Valentine's Day was a couple of days ago but there is just so much to love about the Maybe Baby line. When I think of love I think of two people, my mom and dad. My mom has loved my dad since she was a teenager. My parents do everything together and always have. Soon they will enter a new chapter in their lives when my dad retires - I can't wait to see what fun they have together then.

To make my page, I wrapped some Magistical Memories chipboard in twine and used it as a divider between two sheets of patterned paper. I glued pieces of patterned paper behind the twine and then tore them off. Then, I backed all of the twine/chipboard border with green Maybe Baby paper. I cut the title from pieces of patterned paper and die cut shapes.

I decided because the page is already busy in places to not add journaling to the front. I have journaled the date, location, and names of my parents on the back of the page.

I hope your Valentine's Day was spent with those that you love. Check out Paper Trunk's Maybe Baby for scrapping all of your pictures of love and loved ones!

In need of a last minute idea?

2011-02-12T06:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day Paper Trunkers.

We have just a few more days left.

Any of you need some simple last minute inspiration?

Check this out...

At first, my post was just going to be about the tin the mailboxes I altered (scroll down a bit) but then once I began creating, I just couldn't stop there. :0 And seriously I even did some baking, yes I literally had to pick my dh's jaw off the ground. I'm not a baker...AT ALL! It was one of those moments when I saw all the stuff I created and thought, cupcakes would go perfect.

Just two hearts cut out with my cricut. Literally took 5 minutes.

Now that's my kind of 'easy'

Here are those tin mailboxes I mentioned earlier! Target for $1.00...HOLLA!

A great project to alter. (Great for teachers)

Here I used Maybe Baby, and Benny alphas.

I couldn't use "pink" for Kai, my dh wouldn't have it.

So I used Rockabilly instead. Perfect!

Individual tags to place in each mailbox.

They are now...

Signed. Sealed. Waiting to be delivered. *wink*

Treat bags. I used my handy dandy cricut to cut out

the scalloped circle and heart. Love how the chocolate

colored cardstock pops off the pink.

Up close. (A great teacher gift too)

Gift bag with some small goodies for each of the trips.

Again, another super easy alteration but made the

gift bag a bit more personal.

Okay there you have it, some simple but yet sweet projects to make your loved ones feel special.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

'Tis the month of LOVE

2011-02-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

It seems that as soon as all those Christmas decorations vanished from the stores out came the Valentines product. Did you notice that? I'm always amazed how much these industries have to keep up months in advance.

My hubby and I have never done anything major on Valentine's Day ... like going out for dinner or him buying me flowers, etc. It's always so busy out and the cost of a flowers can get pretty pricey. But that doesn't stop of us from telling the other person that we love them. I try to do this often, and not just with him but with all of my family. I think it's important to know that someone cares for you.

I made this card to remind the receiver that they are cared for and loved (even though it doesn't say "love" in the sentiment). I didn't even put hearts on this card ... not sure why but I liked the look of the roses instead.

Now that I've posted this I've got to get busy making some Valentine's cards with my kiddos as they keep asking me about it!

Have you ordered yours yet?

2011-02-04T13:52:00.000-08:00

Valentine printables!!! Paper Trunk is so excited about expanding the digital products in the Trunk Boutique. I was going to make my kids some Valentine Cards this year for them to pass out to their classmates and I thought, "I bet other Mom's would love to have digital cards too!" I was right, within a short time, there was order after order for the new Valentine Cards. There are 3 sets to choose from:

Valentine Coupons $3.00USD
These 8 coupons can be used to pass out to friends, print and use on a scrapbook page, make a card, or create a love coupon book for your family.

Valentine Owls $3.00USD
These are just a hoot! Little owls for her and him. How about printing and attaching to a
box or bag of candy?

Valentine Rockin' $3.00USD
Your kiddo will be the RockStar of his/her class handing out these rockin' cards! One customer who purchased this set suggested attaching to Pop Rocks (so cute!).

Benefits of Digital Valentines:

Print from home (size: 8.5"x11")
Much more affordable than store bought cards.
Can be re-printed if your child messes up writing his/her name. There is plenty of room on the back for notes and signatures.
Can be printed as many times as needed for child's class size.
Customize with editing software (add child's name and then print)
Print and then jazz them up with stickers, jewels, cardstock, or candy!

Head over to the Trunk Boutique to get your Valentine's today...

you've got 10 more days!

it's coming up fast!

2011-01-31T22:58:00.000-08:00

Valentines day, that is! Have you thought about your Valentines yet? Paper Trunk has some totally adorable, perfectly sweet Valentines for your Valentine!

These Valentines are great, because you can print them right from home! No ordering online, and waiting by the mailbox for your package. you get instant reward! Nothing better than that! :) And the possibilities are endless for creating with them. Here are a few of my ideas......

After I printed the Valentines, I cut the designs out. I chose white cardstock & kraft cardstock for my cards. I made some of my cards folded, so I can write my greeting inside, and the card can stand on it's own. I also made some more simple cards just backed with cardstock, where the message can be written on the back. I thought this design would be good for the kids to hand out at school. What I love about this idea is that the kids actually have room to write on the back. (you know those store bought Valentines have no room for the kids to write!). The last way that I used my Valentine, is I wrote my message directly on the back, and stapled it to a little gift bag. (pictured on the far right) I thought this would be another good idea for the girls to take little treats to school.

how CUTE are these cards!? I just love them.

You can go HERE to check out the Valentines and print your own! Be sure to check out the other designs as well. They are all so super cute. And keep your eyes on the Paper Trunk blog throughout the

month of February for some more inspiration!

I'll admit that digital scrapping totally intimidates me.

2011-01-30T12:52:00.000-08:00

But, really, it shouldn't.

I spend a lot of time on my computer these days, between work things like editing photos, updating my website, creating collages, and fun things like blogging, facebooking, and message boarding.

What has been holding me back from digital scrapbooking? All of my pictures are on my computer, and I have admittedly gotten bad about printing them out regularly. I'm very comfortable with photoshop, and there are tons and tons of cute digital products out there.

But I've always been a paper scrapper. I like the mess, the feel of the paper, moving around the elements, and holding my completed page. For 9 years now, I've been a paper scrapper.

But you know what? Every once in awhile, it's really good to change things up. When I think back on my life over the past 9 years, lots of things have changed. My family has grown by three little people, and while we live in a bigger space than we did 9 years ago, more people means more stuff. The mess that used to never bother me now drives me a little crazy. Sometimes, even the thought of the mess is enough to make me not even want to start a page! My scrapbook space/office is in the dining room (the first room you see when coming into my home) and it drives me nuts when it's messy. I have 6 curious little hands to contend with and no door to close if I want them to stay clear of my projects.

Maybe, just maybe, now is the time for me to dig into digital scrapbooking a bit. The Faith digital collection was just the push I needed. I now share with you my first ever digital scrapbook page.

I'm sure that I'm not ever going to give up on paper scrapbooking completely. But I am so glad that I decided to give digital a try!

Summer Lovin'

2011-01-22T06:00:00.000-08:00

So, with all the rain and some snowy days that we've been having this past month I thought I'd pull out some summer photos - as I needed a bit of sunshine in my days!

So I grabbed some Socialite papers, some Core'dinations cardstock and some photos from this past summer and began creating. I did a bit of paper tearing, hand-cutting some flowers from the patterned paper, and a bit of embossing (scoring lines) on the cardstock & then sanding it to bring out the core color.

It's nothing fancy but I wanted to focus on the fun that my youngest son was having with his daddy as they played in the pool while we were on vacation. He loved it!!

Supplies used: Paper Trunk (Socialite collection, Benny alpha stickers (Black), Core'dinations cardstock, Fiskars border punch, black marker (American Crafts)

Thanks for looking & hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

"Twinkle Toes"

2011-01-18T08:00:00.000-08:00

Hi Paper Trunkers! Hope you're having a scraptastic Tuesday!

Today I'm sharing a layout that I actually created quite some time ago but just haven't had a chance to share until now. This is a picture that was taken back in June. The trips were turning 1 a few weeks later and I asked Carrie to take some pictures for me. Here's one she captured that I just fell in love with. I know, a picture of their toes? It might sound weird to a few of you but I think the majority of you would understand. I knew that one day I would look upon this picture and wish I could turn back the hands of time (no pun intended) to when their sweet little tiny feet would be that small again.

*looong reminiscent sigh*

So I scrapped it. :)

A few close-ups...

I did a lot of paper layering in this layout. Something

that I normally don't do. But felt it really made my

title and cricut cuts pop.

Thanks for stopping by. Stop by again in a few days for more crafty inspiration.

Have a little faith...

2011-01-15T13:22:00.000-08:00

No, really, you should get "Faith", the new digital kit from Paper Trunk! These papers are absolutely beautiful!

I am honestly not a very good digital scrapbooker (shadows, levels, layers...BAH!) but I do love digital techniques to use in my hybrid scrapbooking. I love the feel of paper way too much to go full "digi" but you cannot top the best part about a digital kit; you can use it OVER and OVER again without having to spend any additional money! SCORE!

I recently printed out a few of the sheets from Faith to use on a mini-album for a good friend of mine. The quality of the JPEG's that Carrie created is outstanding! The colors and designs printed clearly on double-sided Matte paper without any bleeding or blurriness.

Grandma Accordion Album by Brianne Nevill

The colors of this kit went so well together (and many other sheets from Paper Trunk's lines!). When I showed a preview of these papers to my friend, she ohh'd and ahh'd over them and stated that they made her think of "home". It gave me a great idea to create a small project that she could place on her mantel at home. Her grandson is the most precious little guy and absolutely adores his Oma.

If you get a chance, pick up the Faith Collection at The Trunk Boutique today! You will not be let down!

Have a great weekend!

New Things & A Giveaway

2011-01-10T13:46:00.000-08:00

A brand new year; fresh starts and new goals!

I am so excited to be kicking off 2011 with a brand new digital collection for Paper Trunk! This digital collection is only available in the Trunk Boutique. There are 14 beautifully designed 12"x12" papers, high quality resolution. Let me introduce you to Faith:

This collection was inspired by one of the Fruits of the Spirit, Faith.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

Everyone has faith. Faith is believing in the ability of someone or something. Whether you believe in God or have a simple faith that the sun will rise in the morning. Faith is like a muscle and it needs to be exercised. How do we build faith? Our faith is made stronger through tests and trials. Take my sun example, when you see a sunrise everyday, it is pretty impossible to doubt it will happen every morning. That is how our faith in God grows, it is tested and it grows. We can depend on God to always be there for us, even when we have walked away from Him. He waits for you.

____________________

Here is a layout I created with the new Faith Collection... forgive its simplicity, I am not an avid digital scrapbooker but, I hope to do more hybrids/digital layouts in the future!

Blessings by Carrie Postma for Paper Trunk

The Trunk Team is working on more inspiration to share with you soon featuring the Faith Collection. Here are just some of the papers you will receive in the Faith Digital Kit:

Now for the GIVEAWAY!!!

Would you like to win this digital kit? Well, I would love for you to have it! Here is how you could win the Faith Collection:

Head over to the Trunk Boutique and purchase the Faith Collection.
On Friday, January 14, 2011, I will select 2 random winners from those that have purchased the Faith Collection. Beginning today (Monday, January 10, 2011).
I will credit back the random winners purchase of the Faith Collection (*ONLY the purchase of the Faith Collection, not the entire order)

Start playing with this brand new collection today and who knows, by Friday, you could be a winner!

Have a wonderful week...

New Beginnings!

2011-01-06T08:11:00.000-08:00

Happy new year to all of our faithful fans!

This time of year I spend quite a bit of time thinking about starting fresh. I don't really make resolutions but I do make decisions about the way I want my life to be. One of the best things that happens this time of year is that my husband and I celebrate our anniversary on January 11. We got married this time of year because the weather was nice in Arizona where we lived then. Now, it's very cold on our anniversary and we are much more limited in what we can do together on that day. However, each year when our anniversary rolls around, I know that we are recommitting ourselves to each other. I made a card for him with the fabulous Gigi line of papers. Did you know that the Graceful paper has hearts on it? Perfect for telling someone special how much you love them.

The outside of the card has a flower with some of the petals plucked. The plaid paper was a perfect choice for the card because the inside is a nice neutral color that could easily be stamped on.

I've also used my favorite alphabet - the Paper Trunk Carson alphabet

I made a second card for you today and it will be given to a co-worker who went on medical leave to have surgery. He is experiencing a new beginning by returning to work. He's a very important part of my department and I hope he knows he's appreciated. For his card, I have used some regular party crepe paper, glimmer mist, Benny alphabet, and the Rockabilly line of papers.

Because this season is one for me to reflect on the previous year, I'm also going to make a thank you card for someone who did something wonderful for me last year. If I get that completed tonight, then I'll share it with you tomorrow before I send it out to him.
Again, happy new year, enjoy your new beginning, and thanks for coming by the Paper Trunk blog!
Rachel

Did you have a Merry Christmas?

2010-12-29T12:54:00.001-08:00

All of us at Paper Trunk hope your holiday was truly blessed with smiles and new memories, surrounded by those you love. If you are like me, you captured many happy moments in photos and have so many new favorites to scrap. I wanted to show you a new page and highlight a couple of my favorite Paper Trunk products for scrapping the holidays with you today.
first of all, here is my favorite new paper trunk page....

first of all, i wanted to share how much i like these Benny alphabets....

they are the perfect color for your holiday pages. these are bright and RED (my favorite color!!), but you can choose from brown, black, white, orange.... they are just so pretty and the font is perfect for fun, family or children pages. my favorite thing about them, though, is the ability to lift them and move them around for a few minutes as i keep changing my pages around.... i need that time before i press them firmly into place. the best news is that the pages i made years ago still have the alphas attached and not falling off the page... we all know what a pain it can be to keep fixing older pages. you should give them a try soon :)

i also want to add how much i like that the paper trunk papers are distressed and are so easily distressed, too. the spray ink always dries so quickly on these papers and the thicker weight makes them a sturdy background, a pretty paper flower, or easily distressed edges. they are so perfect for a messy scrapper like me who may be short on time with a houseful and need a little of the work done for me :) i am working on simplifying this year.....perfect, huh???

have a wonderful new year!

Have you ever...

2010-12-17T23:46:00.000-08:00

...lost your gift cards or money during the Christmas gift unwrapping? It's bound to happen! I've lost a few gift cards in my day. It's horrible as you try looking for the card in all the madness of broken ribbon and torn wrapping paper. Only to find empty envelopes but no gift cards. So I thought of a way to prevent this from happening. I decided to create an accordian folder where I can immediately place all our gift cards so there's no worry of losing them in the chaos. :)

Here's what you'll need...

Adhesive: I used Helmar
3 envelopes: size 3 5/8" x 6 1/2"
2 pieces of your favorite Paper Trunk paper. Make sure the 2 pieces are of the same pattern or color.

1 piece cut at 6" x 6 1/2" long

other piece cut at 6 1/2" x 7 1/2" long

a fastener of some kind

First step...

1. Take your first piece of paper, the 6" x 6 1/2" piece, and on the 6" side mark at every 1 inch. This will you keep your folds even. Each fold will be 1" in thickness when your are done.
Next step...

2. Take your 3 envelopes and glue them in each individual fold.
NOTE: Make sure to glue the envelope on the back side of each fold as shown below. Also I had my envelope's flap face the backside. To me it just looks neater but it's whatever works best for you.
3rd step...

3. Once your glue is dry, then take your other piece of paper and begin by gluing on the back part of the accordian folder.
4. Once glue is dry, then take the piece of paper, fold it around the top of the envelopes. Like so...
5. Take your fastener, here I used a button fastener, and fasten it to your folder.
Final Step... Decorate to your liking. :)

*And in about 30 minutes you have a fun and festive organizer that's sure to make your Christmas morning unwrapping that much easier.

Paper: Krafty line, Rockabilly line

For each envelope I used the krafty journal tags and

Benny alphas. I labeled each one differently.

"receipts" for gift receipts that go with gifts given to our family.

"gift cards" gift cards that we received.

"receipts: gifts I purchased" these are receipts that go with

gifts that we gave. It might be nice to have those with you

just in case there was a wrong size or a repeated gift.

You have the receipt handy to give so they won't have to wait. ;)

A close-up picture. I used some glitter glue for my snowflake.

Merry Christmas Trunkers. May your holiday be blessed.

Variation on Paper Trunk Bow - Ornaments!

2010-12-11T06:01:00.000-08:00

The pieces from the bow posted a few days ago can be used to create beautiful ornaments. To make one of these

follow the instructions for making three layers of the bow. I've used Maybe Baby papers for this one. Attach a hanger to the back of the bow and then cut out a Maybe Baby tag to place in the center of the ornament. I topped mine with a flower shaped brad but you could add any number of things to the middle of the ornament.
Another variation that I came up with includes pins with beads on them, called picks. The picks are placed in some of the points of the ornament to give it extra dimension
Besides hanging these on the treethey could also be put as toppers on packages (this one wrapped with Krafty Paper and Rockabilly)or put onto a card as part of the giftThe card was made with more Maybe Baby papers and tags. Be sure to share all of your creative ideas for these bows and ornaments with us! And, happy the season of holiday craft making!
Rachel

Christmas Traditions

2010-12-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

Does your family have any fun Christmas traditions? Three years ago, I had a 5 month old, a 3.5 year old, and a almost 6 year old. Life was a little crazy to say the least, and I can vividly remember having a huge desire to start some fun Christmas traditions while my kids were still little. We already had a few traditions, like opening new pajamas on Christmas Eve after attending our church's Christmas Eve service, and reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and the story of Jesus' birth. Most years we decorate Christmas cookies and make gingerbread houses. But in 2008, I decided that I wanted to start getting a real tree every year. And not only that, but I wanted to go to the Christmas tree farm and cut it down ourselves. I had visions of the Griswold family Christmas tree in my head.

We had the best time that day. It was one of those family days where everything just went so smoothly and it was fun from start to finish. The next year, I decided we needed to do it again, and it was just as fun. This year marks our third year. My babies are now almost 2.5, 5.5, and almost 8. My, how time has flown! I am so very glad that we started this fun tradition. My kids' faces absolutely light up when we tell them it's time to go pick out our tree.

After looking back through my albums, I realized that I've never scrapbooked any pages about this fun tradition. I pulled out my external hard drive (psa...don't forget to have your photos backed up somewhere! I've had several friends lately lose years of pictures in computer crashes!) Anyway, I decided that for this page, I wanted to scrapbook last years pictures. I was feeling so sentimental as I made this page. I just can't believe how much they have grown up in the past year. (And, I am really glad that my oldest is past his shaggy hair phase. He had some crazy hair last year!)

Instead of printing each photo individually, I decided to create a collage using Photoshop Elements. Using a template I purchased a few months ago, it only took about 5 minutes to create the collage. I left one of the squares open to adhere a bit of paper and Magistical Memories chipboard. This page came together so quickly! I really like how it turned out, probably more because of the memories of this day than the actual scrapbook page.

I challenge you to scrapbook a fun Christmas tradition! I promise you, it will make you feel so warm and fuzzy and happy to scrapbook those precious family memories.

Merry Christmas!

More "krafty" Christmas Inspiration

2010-12-06T06:00:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!!!

Hope you're week is off to a great start!

I had a wonderful time with my family this past weekend as we cut down our christmas tree, decorated it and the kids alos enjoyed making gingerbread houses. Now to finish up some christmas shopping (when no one else is shopping!!! I wish!).

I love making cards and find the the Krafty collection goes with anything and any theme. So I used some of the papers from that collection and mixed it with my favorite cardstock, Core'dinations. They're simple enough that you make a few of them at once.

Supplies used: Paper Trunk Krafty collection, Core'dinations cardstock (Essentials -black; Jenni Bowlin Impressions- red), Prima lace, ribbon (Offray), button, twine, punch (EK Success), stamps (Hero Arts)

Thanks for popping by today!

Thank you!

2010-12-05T19:41:00.000-08:00

We would love to shout out a HUGE

Thank You to Magistical Memories

for teaming up with us for the month

of November. We want to thank you

for your generosity, and for sharing

your amazing product with us! I think

that I speak for everyone on our

Design Team when I say that your product

was so much fun to work with, and such

a quality product. We all loved it!

THANK YOU! :)

We would love to share this prize pack

with one lucky reader! Please leave a

comment here, and I will draw a winner

on December 10, 2010 at 11:59 pst.

PS: If you haven't yet seen this post by

Rachel, check it out!

Happay The Month of December

2010-12-04T10:46:00.000-08:00

The season of joy has finally arrived. I love this month of year because it allows me to spend so much time with family and friends, sharing stories and swapping gifts. My favorite part of gift giving has always been making the gift and things for the gift. Today I want to share with you a bow that I first invented when I was just a kid. I would save every scrap of wrapping paper that my presents came in and beg my mom for pieces of wrapping paper that we had for presents. (I was a recycling crafter even way back then!) Then, I'd sit in front of the tv for hours content to make these bows. This was back in the days when we didn't have circle cutters so I'd have to trace around cups and plates to get just the right size circle for my bows. I had to hand cut each of the circles. My fingers would get stiff from making so many bows and sticky from the Elmer's glue. Today the process is easier but still the same. I actually can't believe I've never made these out of the beautiful double sided scrapbook papers that are available now. I have never seen anything like this in the scrapbooking world before. Here's what the finished product looks like:

To make this bow you will need the following:
1 piece of 12x12 Paper Trunk double sided pattern paper. I've used paper from the Rockabilly line
Scissors
Sharpened Pencil
Circle cutter
Helmar Professional Adhesive or another quick drying glue

Step 1:
Cut 5 circles from your patterned paper and then fold them where the black lines are shown. The folds are made by folding each circle equally in half 4 times to make 8 even sections

Step 2:
Cut from the edge of the circle 3/4 of the way into the circle. Do not cut all the way to the center of the circle

Step 3:
Place the sharpened tip of the pencil at the edge of the paper in the center of one of the 1/8 slices.

Step 4:
Pinch the slice around the pencil tip.

Step 5:
Roll the pencil to the side and tuck the corner of the slice under the pencil. Then roll the pencil back to the center of the slice. At the center, the paper will be wrapped around the tip of the pencil.

Step 6:
Add a small bit of glue to the other corner of the slice and wrap it around the pencil. You will have to hold it in place until it dries enough to remove the pencil.When the pencil is removed, you will have made the first point on the bow.

Step 7:
Continue making points out of the remaining 7 slices of the circle and three of the remaining 4 circles. They will each look like this

Step 8:
Cut off 1/4 or 2 slices of the 5th circle Then roll the remaining slices into points as you did with the previous 4 circles

Step 9:
Stack the circles, alternating the points. Glue them together in this position. The 3/4 circle goes on the top of the pile.

Final Step:
Attach finished bow to package! It's sure to wow your friends and bring a little joy to your holiday!

After the holidays are over, I can show you some other variations I have made of this bow. I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise and show it now! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Merry Christmas and happay creating for the holidays.

Rachel Theall aka happay scrappay

The Trunk Boutique

2010-11-28T22:05:00.000-08:00

I have a big announcement that I have been very anxious to make and wasn't sure I could pull it all together by Cyber Monday! Why Cyber Monday? Because I want to direct your attention to.....


(click to go)

The Trunk Boutique is an online boutique for you to purchase Paper Trunk products direct*!

I have had so many of you write me and tell me that you are having a hard time finding Paper Trunk products. I have been reluctant to sell direct because I really believe in supporting our local scrapbook stores. I have prayed over this decision for a long time and really feel this is a good step for Paper Trunk. Ya wanna know what else is super cool? I will be carrying some other eco-awesome products!!! I'm working out the details and hope to start adding other things very soon.

The shopping cart is set-up in such a way that you will need to register in order to view the available products and do some shoppie-shopping. If you have any problems registering or viewing the cart, please don't hesitate to e-mail me directly at carrie@papertrunk.com. Let's chat about Cyber Monday...

Cyber Monday is all about the deals and who doesn't love a great deal?!
Beginning now through Friday (December 3, 2010), you can use the following promo codes:

PTCM5 = Cyber Monday receive 5% off $10 or more

PTCM10 = Cyber Monday receive 10% off $25 or more

PTCM15 = Cyber Monday reveive 15% off $40 or more

I am very excited about the boutique and the future of Paper Trunk. If you have joined us on Facebook, I recently wrote the "Paper Trunk Testimony". I have re-posted the Testimony here on the blog (see sidebar). I know God has a plan for this company and He is the best choice for a CEO. I am excited to see Him continue to work in and through this company.

I hope you will be blessed by the coupons and can find some treasures to put under your Christmas tree. Merry Christmas all you wonderful Paper Trunk fans!
let the shopping begin...

*Currently, I am only able to ship items from the Trunk Boutique

within the United States.
I hope to accommodate my International Friends soon and

I apologize for the disappointment.

Are you ready?

2010-11-27T21:54:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is over, and we are onto

the biggest gift giving season of the year!

Have you started shopping, are you

preparing? I love Christmas, I love the

meaning of Christmas, and I love to

give. I love to see people smile, and

love to see the joy on their face when

they open their gifts.

I made some very easy gift tags using

some of my favorite Paper Trunk papers.

For these first tags I used 2 different patterned

papers from the 1974 line. The thing that I love

about these papers, is that they are so versatile.

You can go from sports pages, to family pages,

to Christmas pages.

Supplies Used:

Far Out Man (solid red side)

Foxy Lady (green circles)

School pictures (or another photo)

Favorite Ribbons

These tags were so simple to make, yet

very cute! I glued a school photo down

to the Far Out Man paper and glued both

down to the Foxy Lady paper. I cut around

the circles to create the scalloped look.

I added some ribbon and tied to to my gift.

we used the other side of the tag for

writing. My girls and I created these

tags together, and they loved being

involved.

maybe you would like to make a tag

for an upcoming birthday gift? I used

Maybe Baby paper to create this tag.

I used the Hugs & Kisses paper. (love that!)

I cut the pink side fom the kisses paper for

my background and used the pink polka

dot paper from the hugs paper. I also cut

a small piece of the rainbow from the hugs

paper. Topped it off with a cut out flower,

and a ribbon. Lastly, I used the Paper Trunk

Benny alphas for my "To & From".

I hope I have given you some inspiration

to pull out those Paper Trunk papers

and create some fun gift tags for your gifts!

Let's Give Thanks!

2010-11-20T07:37:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again to be thankful for all our blessings. I thought it only fitting, with Thanksgiving just around the corner, to create a thank you card for all our loyal Paper Trunk fans! I dug into one of PT's older collections for this creation. I used the paper "Dy-No-Mite" from the 1974 line. It's so cute and whimsical and it went perfect with the tree chipboard from Magistical Memories! I used a scalloped frame from Technique Tuesday for the shape of my card and used the "Dy-No-Mite" paper in the center. The frame was misted with glimmer mist and I punched some holes on the side so that I could thread the ribbon through. For the chipboard tree, I painted it in a bronze color and added a little of the same green misting from the frame. Then I filled all the little circles with some stickles. The title is of course made from the adorable "Benny" alphabets by Paper Trunk.

This year I'm thankful to be holding onto my sanity and my family during these tough times. What are you thankful for this year?

Rainy weekend treat

2010-11-13T10:05:00.000-08:00

It's raining here - nothing out of the ordinary for fall weather. It does mean that the we're stuck inside and the creative bug is really biting me hard so I got out my Paper Trunk goodies and made something fun.

I drew the inspiration for the colors on this page from the changing leaves around me. I adore fall colorsI pulled out 1974's Right On Paper and the Jellybean border stamps (they're 12 inches long!!!). Using some orange ink, I stamped the spotted background. But, I didn't want the entire background to be spotted, so I tore out the center from the Krafty Collection scalloped paper and used it as a mask for the orange paper on the reverse side of Right On. I then trimmed the scalloped circle and gave it a border of orange yarn. I cut other circles and scallops from the center piece of the Krafty paper and Paper Trunk's Gigi Compassionate. Some circles I layered behind the Magistical Memories chipboard circle border. Because we were at an airshow when the photo was taken, I cut an airplane from Kraft paper and a little banner to trail behind the airplane and another chipboard airplane. These were decorated with ink and glimmer mist. The Paper Trunk Flair is placed on some pleated trim and stuck to the page using Helmar 450 Quick Dry. And, the title was placed using the Paper Trunk Carson Alphabet Stickers in Chocolate.

In all, I think the page turned out just as yummy as chocolate and the colors cheered me as much as the turning of leaves on a sunny day. I hope you enjoy some bonus crafty time as the weather turns cold where you live!
Rachel

Holiday Organization

2010-11-12T06:00:00.000-08:00

'Tis the season for hustle & bustle and I hate the feeling of being disorganized. Do you? I've always been a list type of person so I decided that this holiday season I would make myself a little planner to keep everything right at my fingertips. It's even a handy size to keep in my purse too!

I first started with some kraft cardstock cut to 12" x 6" in size. I then made 2 scored lines every 3".

I adhered the 2 inside panels together on the back side (see picture below)

I cut a 12" x 3 1/2" piece of "Greaser" (from Rockabilly collection) and adhere this to the bottom section of the kraft cardstock. I used this paper to form a pocket on each panel by only adding adhesive along the bottom & side edges. Not on the top.

I added strips of the striped patterned paper ("Creepers" from Rockabilly) and printed some journal cards and created some other fun embellishments to spruce it up a bit ... but still wanted to keep it simple knowing that it would be in my purse at times.

Here's the finished product and some inside pictures as well.

Hope this will give you some ideas to stay organized this season rather than frazzled.

Enjoy!!

And now for something a little different

2010-11-09T12:38:00.000-08:00

Instead of sharing a project or a page with you today, I'm going to do a post about something that goes hand in hand with scrapbooking: photography! More specifically, we're going to talk about the ever-popular Christmas card photo. It's definitely that time of year!

First, here are a few technical hints for taking a great photo.

1.) Try to take your picture during the first two hours after sunrise, or the two hours before sunset. The light is softer and downright beautiful during these times.

2.) If you must take your photo during the brightest, sunniest part of the day look for open shade. Open shade is found in the shadows cast by buildings, tress, etc. But watch out for dappled light under trees! This photo was taken at about 1:00 p.m., under some trees. I had to move my subject around until I found the perfect light, but the results were just what I was hoping for.

3.) Even during the morning and evening light, look for shaded areas. It will expose all your subjects evenly and beautifully. If you are in a sunny spot, place the sun behind and slightly to the side of your subjects (I sometimes use a clock mentality. Directly behind your subjects is 12:00. Place the sun at 10:00 or 2:00.) In this photo, you can see the sun streaming in at 2:00. Experiment and play around with the light, and you might just capture something really cool!

4. If you have a DSLR camera, don't be afraid to take it off of auto! Most dslr's (and even a lot of point and shoots) have different shooting modes. Try using the portrait mode or aperture priority (AV on Canon or A on Nikon). Set your aperture to a small number to get the blurry background. Just watch your shutter speed...you will want to keep it above 1/125 when shooting kids. For the photo below, my aperture was set at 2.2, and my shutter speed was 1/320.

So now that we've discussed a few technical things, lets chat about a few pointers for the actual photo shoot.

1.) First and foremost, don't stress! Stress never photographs well, and trust me, if parents are stressed, then so are the kids. Try to keep the atmosphere fun and light. Talk, play, tell jokes, and try to get your kids to forget about the camera. If that doesn't work, the promise of a little candy or small toy never hurts, either. :)

2. Don't be afraid to go with a more fun picture. I love pictures that capture the connection children and families have with one another. Don't worry if everyone isn't looking right at the camera and smiling perfectly! Showing personality in a photo is a great thing.

This is probably my favorite picture ever of my kids. It might just be on this years Christmas card because it makes me smile, and I'm guessing it would make others smile, too!

3.) If the group photo just isn't happening, go for individuals and choose are card template that showcases several photos. I've done that more than once...sometimes the family photo just doesn't come together in time! I also find that it's much easier to photograph my children one at a time. I make it a special, fun, mommy date night. They get special time with mom and a treat like ice cream at the end. And I get the photos!

I hope these photo tips have helped you. If I had to give one tip that I think is the most important, it would be to relax, have fun, don't stress, and resist the urge to "say cheese". The result will be photos of your family or kids that really capture your true personalities. Good luck!