Hello G45ers,

We hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween! We are so glad that you are joining us today. We want to welcome you all to another splendid day here at the Graphic 45 blog! Now that Halloween is over we can look forward to even more fantastically fun holidays ahead! This is an incredible time of creativity, togetherness, and of course many delicious meals spent with family and friends! Yeah, we're big fans of the holidays here at Graphic 45! Our fantastic new Place in Time collection is absolutely perfect for the holiday season! This incredible calendar collection is a celebration of holidays all year-round! Today we're going to take you on a journey inside the workshop of Diane Schultz! You'll see some gorgeous new Place in Time creations that Diane and her team have been creating! This fantastic new collection is in stores now and today's crafts are sure to give you some amazing ideas!

And don't forget, G45ers, today is the last day to leave us a blog or Facebook comment for your chance to win this week's magnificent blog prize! This deluxe prize pack includes a Happy Haunting binder that was created in Diane's workshop! Plus you'll receive a Happy Haunting 12x12 paper pad, coordinating chipboard die-cuts, Happy Haunting cling stamp set and new Ornate Metal Key Holes! Wow! It's the perfect prize for creating a fantastic mini album or layout with your Halloween snapshots! Just leave us a blog or Facebook comment for your chance to win! We will be announcing one randomly chosen winner on tomorrow's blog so stay tuned!

And now it's time to take a trip to the grand workshop of Diane Schultz! This is where so much of the Graphic 45 magic happens! Diane and her assistant Bristen Griner have been working hard to create today's enchanting crafts! Here is a great photo of Diane at her desk. Of course Diane stays hydrated while on the job. You can see that she's working on the August Cut-Aparts page for Place in Time. It's simply delightful! 

And here is Diane's assistant Bristen working on a project with the Place in Time March Cut-Aparts page. Fun, fun, fun! You can see the fantastic array of crafting supplies in Diane's workshop. There's never a shortage of fun and creativity at Graphic 45!

Now it's time to see some of the amazing Place in Time creations that Diane and her team have made! Here's a little secret, Diane finds so many of these incredible clocks, boxes and other objects at thrift stores, TJ Max and consignment stores. So the next time you're out and about, keep an eye out for some nice and inexpensive objects that would make beautiful altered art! It's a great way to create a unique work of art and of course they make perfect gifts! Here is Diane's altered clock using the Place in Time December pages! It's just gorgeous!

Here's the clock on the inside. It opens to reveal an adorable Christmas scene. This is so clever and fun!

Supplies:

Graphic 45 Place in Time

December Cut-Aparts

Next up is this super sweet Valentine's altered bag from Diane's workshop. This would be just perfect for storing Valentine's cards and other lovely treats. Valentine's Day really comes to life in the February Foundation page and February Cut-Aparts page from Place in Time! And check out that beautiful use of the new Graphic 45 Ornate Metal Key Hole Staples! It's just gorgeous!

Supplies:

Place in Time Collection

Febraury Cur-Aparts

Graphic 45 Metal Key Hole Staples

September is always back-to-school time and we celebrate this exciting time in the September Foundation Page and September Cut-Aparts page in Place in Time. Here Diane combined the September pages from Place in Time with our vintage schoolhouse-inspired collection An ABC Primer! It's a match made in craft heaven! These adorable altered boxes and mini book are just perfect for back to school or teacher appreciation gifts! You can also see some fabulous uses for Graphic 45 Metal Clothespins!

Supplies:

Place in Time Collection

September Cut-Aparts

An ABC Primer Collection

Graphic 45 Metal Flowers

Graphic 45 Metal Clothespins

Winter comes to life in this gorgeous shadowbox from Diane's workshop. The January Foundation page and January Cut-Aparts page are filled with the most incredible vintage-inspired designs for wintertime. It is just perfect for creating a unique and beautiful winter craft! You can see the fabulous new Graphic 45 Antique Metal Door Pull on top of this lovely shadowbox. It adds the perfect touch to this fabulous creation! Get a head start on your winter and New Years crafts with the new January pages from Place in Time!

Supplies:

Place in Time Collection

January Cut-Aparts

Graphic 45 Antique Metal Door Pull Staples

That's all for today, G45ers. We hope you all enjoyed this very special journey into Diane's workshop. We can't wait to see what you will all create with Place in Time. Don't forget to share your Graphic 45 creations with us on our Ning site, Facebook page or website gallery! We'd love to see what you're creating with Graphic 45! Be sure to stop by our blog tomorrow for more delightful inspiration and blog prize winner announcement. It's going to be a great time! We wish you all a lovely day! Thank you so much for joining us.

With Love and Pretty Paper,

Your Friends at Graphic 45

 

Hello G45ers,

Happy Halloween! This fabulous holiday is finally here! People of all ages (and a few lucky pets) are dressing up in fun costumes, candy is being handed out and fun is being had by all. We adore Halloween and so we thought we'd share a very special Happy Haunting tutorial with you on this fine day. It's a gorgeous altered matchbook box that is just perfect for displaying your favorite Halloween snapshot! This is such a great project and so much fun to make! It's just the thing to get you in the Halloween spirit! So sit back, relax and enjoy today's very special Halloween blog from Graphic 45! First up we have a special announcement for all you G45ers in Washington State!

Attention all Washington State residents, we have special news for you!  Click here to see:

http://www.facebook.com/events/378980272181988/

And here we have the fabulous Happy Haunting Matchbook Box tutorial by Lynette Carroll. This fun tutorial is available for both the 8x8 and 12x12 Matchbook Boxes. You can download either tutorial below or simply follow along with Lynette's great instructions here on our blog! Have fun and enjoy!

HAPPY HAUNTING 12 x 12 ALTERED ART MATCHBOOK

by Lynette Carroll

Download Happy Haunting 8x8 Matchbook Box

Download Happy Haunting 12x12 Matchbook Box

SUPPLIES:

12 x 12 Altered Art Matchbook

Happy Haunting Trick or Treat 12 x 12 Paper

Happy Haunting Enchanted Garden 12 x 12 Paper

Happy Haunting Pumpkin Time 12 x 12 Paper

Happy Haunting Midnight Magic 12 x 12 Paper

Happy Haunting Word Play 12 x 12 Paper

Happy Haunting Jolly Jack-O-Lantern 12 x 12 Paper

Happy Haunting Jeepers Creepers 12 x 12 Paper

Happy Haunting Bewitched 12 x 12 Paper

Happy Haunting Fright Night 12 x 12 Paper

Happy Haunting Alphabet Stickers

Graphic 45 Happy Haunting Stickers

Geometric Metal Door Plate and Knob Staples

Metal Button Staples

Stamped Metal Brads Staples

Misc – Dry Adhesive

Misc – Foam Mounting Tape (Optional)

Misc – Distress Ink (Optional)

Misc – Black Sharpie Marker

 

INSTRUCTIONS

Many of the decorative elements in this album can either be adhered flat or with foam mounting tape for dimension.  If adhering these pieces with foam mounting tape, adhere a piece of scrap cardboard to the back first to strengthen the paper (this is a great use for you paper pad covers).  Many of the stickers on this project have also been adhered with foam mounting tape for dimension, to complete this step, brush some powder the back of the stickers first to remove the adhesive and then add a strip of foam tape.

 

MATCHBOOK BOX   

Turn a piece of the 12 x 12 Midnight Magic paper over so the clocks are facing down and the side with the fences are facing you.  Find the center of the page and cut out a square 8 ½” x 8 ½” from the center of the paper and set to the side.  Ink the edges of the black paper to remove the white core (or you may use the black sharpie marker to color the black paper edges).  Cut 5 strips from the Word Play paper 12” wide x 1” high.  Cut one of the strips in half and join the two pieces onto the ends of two of the remaining strips – matching up the lines on the paper.  This step extends two of the paper strips long enough to go around the two long sides of the Midnight Magic paper.  Adhere one of the 12” long strips of stripe paper to the top of the black Midnight Magic Paper (on the back of it) and the second one to the bottom of the Midnight Magic paper showing ¼” of the stripe paper.  Now take the two strips that you made longer and adhere one strip to each of the two sides of the Midnight Magic paper and trim the edges.  This step forms a stripe border all the way around the Midnight Magic paper.  Adhere this paper frame you have just made to the top of the Matchbook Box.

To complete the box, cut three pieces measuring 12” wide x 2” high from the Fright Night Paper.  Cut one of the pieces in half and adhere each of these two new pieces to the two remaining 12” wide pieces, once again you need to make these strips longer than their original 12” to cover the bottom and top ends of the box.  Cut these two new pieces to fit the length of the top and bottom of the box and adhere them in place.

 

DECORATING THE TOP OF THE BOX

Using the photo as a guide, cut out three clocks (one medium and two small) from the Pumpkin Time paper, the large pumpkin hanging from the largest clock on the paper, the little girl sitting on a pumpkin and an additional sunflower and leaves from the Jolly Jack-O-Lantern paper and the witch with the green dress on and the witch with the white dress on from the Trick or Treat paper.

Powder the back of four Halloween postage stamp stickers from the sticker sheet and place foam mounting tape on the back. 

Using the photo as a guide, lay out all the decorative pieces (the additional sunflower and the witch with the white dress are for the inside of the box).  Once you are happy with the layout, begin by adhering each piece one at a time.  Some of the elements have foam tape on the back of them to give the project dimension but this is an optional step.  Cut one of the small clocks in half vertically down through the 12 and 6 and adhere it to the right side on the top of the box on the Midnight Magic paper and cut the second small clock in half horizontally between the 9 and 3 and adhere this clock to the Midnight Magic paper at the top edge of the box.  Remove the back prongs from a Stamped Metal Brad and adhere to the center of the large clock in the bottom left corner of the box.

 

BOX INSIDE  

To complete the inside of the box make a layout following the instructions below and then adhere the layout into the box.  Cut the top strip from the piece of 12 x 12 Jeeper’s Creeper’s paper.  This will form the background of your layout.  Cut a piece 6” wide x 9” high from Enchanted Garden paper.  This piece of paper is adhered to the Jeeper’s Creeper’s paper approx with either adhesive or foam mounting tape.  Center this piece top to bottom on the background paper and then bring it in approx the same amount of space from the right edge the background paper.

 

Cut a piece from the Trick or Treat paper 8 1/2” wide x 8” high.  Cut a strip of the “Halloween” sentiment from the Midnight Magic paper and adhere it to the bottom edge of the Trick or Treat paper.  Trim off the edges.  Adhere the Trick or Treat paper to the layout, centering the right side on top of the green Enchanted garden paper and once again bringing it in from the right edge approx the same amount.  Cut a piece of Jolly Jack-O-Lantern paper 8” wide x 5” high and adhere it to the Trick or Treat paper.  From the Bewitched paper, cut a strip 3” wide x 6 ½” high and adhere it to the right side of the layout on top of all the previous layers.  Cut a piece of Word Play 6” wide x 5 ½” high and adhere it to the layout with regular adhesive or foam mounting tape for dimension.

 

METAL DOOR PLATE  

Cut a strip from Enchanted Garden 1” wide x 5 ½” high and two small pieces approx ¼” square.  Adhere these pieces to the center of the door plate to cover it.  Using a sharpie marker, color the four metal brads that came with the door plate black.  Once they are dry, insert them into the holes and bend back the prongs.  Adhere the metal door plate to the layout with foam mounting tape.  Remove the back prongs from three Metal Button Staples.  Adhere the letters to spell out “BOO” from the Happy Haunting Alphabet Sticker sheet with a stronghold adhesive after you have powdered the back of the stickers to remove the original adhesive.   For this step use the capital B and the two lowercase O’s.  Once the letters are dry on the Metal Buttons, adhere them with a stronghold adhesive to the Metal Plate.  Adhere the metal Door Plate to the layout with two layers of foam mounting tape for extra dimension.  Adhere the round clock sticker from the Happy Haunting Sticker sheet to the Door Knob in the same way you adhered the “Boo” letters.  Once this is dry adhere it to the layout with a stronghold adhesive.  Add the small witch cut-out and sunflower to the bottom right corner of the layout as shown.

Wow, thank you Lynette Carroll for that fantastic tutorial. We hope you all enjoyed today's fun and festive Halloween blog. We also hope this Halloween brings you fantastic memories that will last a lifetime! Don't forget to take some photos! Please join us again tomorrow for more exceptional crafts right here on the Graphic 45 blog. We wish you all a safe and Happy Halloween!

Happy Papercrafting!

Your Friends at Graphic 45

 

Hello G45ers,

Happy Monday everybody and welcome to another grand week here at the Graphic 45 blog! Things are getting so exciting as Halloween is just around the corner! This is such a fun time of year! There's costumes, candy, festive decorations and lots of great reasons to get crafting! Today we're going to share a very special tutorial by Arlene Cuevas! She's created a gorgeous Happy Haunting altered art box that's just perfect for housing Halloween treats! This tutorial is so much fun and it's just the thing to get you in the spirit of this jubilant holiday! Plus it's Arlene Cuevas's birthday! Hooray! So get ready to party in Graphic 45 style with today's heaping dose of inspiration!

We also have a new blog contest this week and it's a really good one! We're giving you the chance to win this amazing Happy Haunting prize pack that contains an altered photo album created by the one and only Diane Schultz! This prize pack also includes a Happy Haunting 12x12 paper pad, both coordinating chipboard die-cuts, Happy Haunting Cling Stamp 1 and Ornate Metal Key Hole Staples. This prize pack is out of this world! All you need to do to enter to win this fabulous prize is leave us a blog or Facebook comment any time this week. We will be choosing one random winner from this week's blog or Facebook comments and announcing them on our blog this Friday, November 2nd. Yay!

Today's gorgeous Happy Haunting creation was made by a very special birthday girl, Arlene Cuevas. We are so lucky to have Arlene's unique and beautiful talent on our design team. We love each and every one of her Graphic 45 creations! Her style overflows with beauty and impeccable technique. We hope her birthday is filled with love, delicious cake and happiness! Happy Birthday, Arlene! You are terrific!

In honor of Arlene's birthday we thought we'd share this wonderful Happy Haunting altered Matchbook Box that she created! Arlene used the new Graphic 45 Small Matchbook Box and Happy Haunting papers to create this adorable treasure. It is just perfect for storing Halloween treats! Follow along with Arlene's fun and informative tutorial to create one of your very own! It's guaranteed to get you in the joyful spirit of Halloween! Take it away, Arlene!

Video Tutorial: http://youtu.be/ePl-NyxWvrw

 

Happy Haunting Altered Treat Box Tutorial

By Arlene Cuevas

Hi there! I had so much fun creating this little altered Happy Haunting treat box, I thought I’d share some of the steps while it was coming together. Let’s start off with altering the Small Matchbook Box. Here we go!

Supplies:

To ensure the box that slides out of the matchbook box continues to slide smoothly in and out, I decided to stain the box in lieu of painting it. Any stains will do, but I used my Lindy’s Stamp Gang starburst sprays.

 

Spray the stain generously to both the match box insert as well a the outer “shadow” box.

 

Here’s what the completed stained box looks like when complete.

 

Select your papers and embellishments. You may not use all of them, but it’s good to have them within reach in case you need that extra something while you’re pulling the altered box together.

 

Measure the width and length of the inner part of the box so you know what measurements to use to trim the design paper. 

 

Use a pair of needle nose precision scissors to fussy-cut images from the paper collection to embellish your box.

 

Here’s a peek at the completed “inside” of my treat box.

Measure the width and length of the outer trim of the matchbook box. This will tell you what size strips you’ll need to embellish the front of the box.

 

Here you can see 2 strips that I’ve cut to cover the front of the box. I’ll also be cutting strips to cover the longer length of the box. It’s okay that the strips will overlap on the corners of the box. Once the box is embellished, you won’t even notice!

 

I use Ranger Distress Ink in Black Soot to finish off the edges of the strips before adhering down to the box.

 

Use ScorTape or a strong adhesive to adhere the strips to the box. I used ScorTape on my box.

Here’s a peek at the completed “front” of my altered treat box. As you can see, the multiple embellishments will cover the corners, so even if you layers strips that cross over each other in the corners, no one will ever know!

 

What’s a treat box without treats?! I like to finish off the treats to match the box. I took some treat size Hershey’s bars, and measured them to determine what size pieces of design paper I needed to wrap the bars.

I cut pieces of design paper and finished off the edges with Ranger Distress Ink in Black Soot. I wrapped the candy bars with the design paper and used ScorTape to adhere. Then I embellished the wrapped candy bars with the “ticket” chip pieces from Happy Haunting Chipboard tags set #2.  Here’s what the finished treats look like…

 

Here’s a picture of the completed elements for this project…

 

Hope you give one of these altered treat boxes a go. They are quite fun to make and not so difficult to create with a little imagination!

That's all for today, G45ers! We hope you all had a great time exploring today's wonderful craft inspiration. We want to thank the lovely birthday girl, Arlene Cuevas, for her exquisite work today. Once again we wish her a marvelous birthday! Don't forget, G45ers, the only way to enter this week's blog contest is to leave us a blog or Facebook comment! Share your thoughts and maybe win a terrific prize! We wish you all a very happy day. Come back and see us tomorrow for more delightful craft inspiration from your pals at Graphic 45!

Happy Papercrafting!

Team Graphic 45

Hello G45ers,

Welcome to another super day here at the Graphic 45 blog! We are so pleased that you are joining us! Today's blog is packed full of incredible inspiration. We've got Part 4 of Jane Tregenza's beautiful book tutorial. You'll learn incredible techniques to create the 4th page of her fantastic book. Plus Denise Hahn has a fabulous project on today's Craft-e-Corner blog that you're going to love! Today is also very special because we have yet another Graphic 45 birthday! Wow, October sure is an action-packed month for Graphic 45 design team birthdays! Today we're celebrating Maiko Miwa's birthday! We wanted to take this opportunity to wish Maiko a very happy birthday. She is a very talented and valued member of our design team. We adore her gorgeous designs and enchanting imagination. We hope she has a wonderful happy birthday filled with joy and fun! Happy Birthday, Maiko! 

And now it's time for Part 4 of Jane Tregenza's beautiful book tutorial. You've probably seen Jane's incredible books here on the Graphic 45 blog over the years. These amazing books often contain gorgeous paper layering, inking, pop-up elements, and imaginative uses of beautiful embellishments. Every page is overflowing with beauty. We're teaming up with Jane to bring you this very special tutorial series on the last Tuesday of every month. Jane will be taking you step-by-step through the book-making process. Follow her wonderful instructions in this monthly tutorial series to create your very own gorgeous book! Today Jane will show you how to make the foundation pages that are used for each page of the book as well as page 4 of the book with corresponding bookmarks. This is going to be an amazing journey! So lets begin! Here is the first part of Jane's tutorial where she begins with the foundation pages. In case you missed the first two tutorials in this series you can still catch up by checking them out here.

Jane's Book Tutorial: Part 1

Jane's Book Tutorial: Part 2

Jane's Book Tutorial: Part 3

And now it's time for Part 4 of Jane's latest amazing tutorial! Take it away, Jane!

Black foundation Pages

Instructions for creating a foundation page:

Each month you will need to make a foundation page. For this you will need two black sheets of cardstock.

Cut one to 8 ½ x11 inches- set it aside. Cut your second one to 9 ½ x 11 inches. Please keep the left over bits as you will need them later on.

The 9 ½ x 11 inches piece needs to be scored, place it in your cutter at 8 ½ inch mark and score it, this will give you a one inch seam.

 

Completely fill in the one inch seam with strong tape.

Carefully adhere the 8 ½ inch piece onto the 9 1/2 inches piece. Make sure you don’t go

over your scored seam, or your page will not fold. Once you have it on, carefully fold the page over to check that it will shut.

 

Press firmly along the folded over piece, open up your page and check at the two pages line up nicely. Don’t worry if one of your pages is now wider than the other. You can trim it back to make them the same.

You need to add some more tape along the join of your foundation page. Adhere one strip of tape along one side of the join and about an inch of tape on the other side of the join.

A close up of the join with the tape each side. When you come to adhere your print papers, one piece will be an inch wider that the other page. The extra inch will need to be adhered over the top of the inch of tape on the foundation page.

Bookmarks Tutorial - Page 4

By Jane Tregenza

All artwork, images, instructions and design are copyrighted 2012

Instructions for creating the Bookmarks.

Please follow my instructions carefully, as you will need all the left over bits of your print paper. Remember to ink the edges of all the following pieces, except the black cardstock. Please note that I have not added any names, dates for any information to my tags. You will need to add your own personal details for each child to each bookmark.

Bookmark 1:

Cut 3 piece of black cardstock to be 2 ½ x 7 inches. You are doing to use these to make the bookmarks.

For your 1^st bookmark, cut a piece of Games and Playtimes to 2 3/8 inches x 6 7/8 inches and adhere it to your tag. Cut a piece of Calico Kids 1 1/2 inches x 6 inches and add it to the middle of your check. Cut another piece of Calico kids to ¾ inches high and 2 3/8 long. Adhere it to your tag about one block up from the bottom. Add a photo and personal details

 Bookmark 2

Use one of your black cardstock bookmarks. Cut a piece of The three R’s, you should have some left over from your foundation page. It needs to be 2 3/8 inches x 6 7/8 inches and adhere it to your bookmark. Cut a piece of Building Blocks print paper to 2 inches x 6 ½ inches. Adhere it to the middle of your Three R’s. Add a photo, find your left over equation and  the piece of left over ruler. Trim the ruler back to fit onto your bookmark and place the equation over the top.

Bookmark 3:

Find your last black cardstock bookmark. Cut a piece of  The Three R’s print paper to 2 3/8 inches x 6 7/8 inches and adhere it to your bookmark. Cut a piece of  Games and Playtimes to 1 ½ inches x 5 inches. Mat it onto a piece of black cardstock. Add it to your bookmark leaving enough room for an image from Gramm ar School. I used one with the letter that matches my daughter’s name.

Add a photo and personal details to finish the bookmark.

Photo Mat:

Cut a piece of black cardstock to be 5 inches x 7 inches. Cut a piece of The Three R’s to be 2 ½ inches x 4 ¾ inches. Cut a piece of One Two Buckle my Shoe to be 4 ¼ inches x 4 ¾ inches. Add it to your black cardstock at the top. Adhere the bottom print to your cardstock. Cut a piece of Calico Kids to

3 ¾ inches x 5 ¼ inches. Adhere the piece to the middle of your photo mat. Add 4 photo corners to the print paper. Cut a piece of black cardstock to 3 inches x 4 ½ inches.

 

Add your bookmarks and photo mat to your page. Tuck them under your band and under the flap on your page.

Finished!

Wasn't that great, G45ers! There's even more fun happening today! Be sure to stop by Craft-E-Corner's blog today to check out Denise Hahn's incredible creation! Here is a sneak peek of her gorgeous craft. Hop on over to Craft-e-Corner's blog to see the full project. A portion of all of Craft-E-Corner's October proceeds goes towards breast cancer research. Hop on over to discover how you can help this incredible cause!

  http://blog.craft-e-corner.com/

 

Thank you all so much for joining us today! We hope you enjoyed today's incredible tutorial by Jane Tregenza as well as Denise Hahn's project for Craft-e-Corner. We want to thank them both for their amazing work. Remember, Jane Tregenza's next book tutorial will happen right here on the Graphic 45 on the last Tuesday of every month. The next tutorial will be on Tuesday, November 27th. Once again, we want to wish Maiko Miwa a very happy birthday. We also wish you all a wonderful day! Please join us tomorrow for more fun, inspiration and smiles here at Graphic 45!

Happy Papercrafting!

Your Friends at Graphic 45

Hello G45ers,

Happy Friday and welcome to our happy blog! We've got a lot of fun planned for you today! We're celebrating two Graphic 45 birthdays today! Clare Charvill and Jane Tregenza of our design team are both celebrating birthdays! What fun! We thought we'd wish them a very happy birthday by sharing some of their gorgeous crafts with all of you! Clare has created an exquisite tag using A Ladies' Diary, while Jane has made a magnificent card with Nutcracker Sweet! Both of these creations are simply delightful! We also are going to share some highlights from the Graphic 45 Ning gallery! That's right, you'll get to see some fabulous crafts that have been posted by G45ers just like you! Plus we've got a winner to announce for this week's blog prize! Could this day get any better?! Lets begin with this week's randomly chosen blog prize winner! This week's winner was chosen from comments left on our blog. And the winner is...

-Kathy Waxler: "Wow! Can't wait to see Place in Time in person. I'm going to need about 6 of those 8 x 8 pads. Ha!"

Congratulations, Kathy! Please email us with your shipping information at info@g45papers.com to claim your prize! This is the great Tropical Travelogue prize that Kathy won! Many thanks to everyone who left us comments this week. There will be a brand new blog contest on Monday so stay tuned for your chance to win some wonderful Graphic 45 goodies!

Today's first craft was created by the birthday girl, Clare Charvill. It's an amazing tag featuring A Ladies' Diary and Graphic 45 Metal Clothespins! Clare's work is always filled with elegance and style. We always look forward to seeing her next incredible work of art. It is such a joy to have her on our design team! We want to wish Clare the very happiest of birthdays! May this year be blessed with lots of beautiful papers and an endless supply of inspiration! Happy Birthday, Clare! Here is what she had to say about this splendid creation. 

Supplies:

 "I decided to try my hand at card making. I was asked to teach some Graphic 45 Christmas Cards at my store. I have been wanting to use the new Nutcracker Sweet collection for a while now, so this was the perfect excuse. I had 20 ladies join me for my first class and I am still teaching them.  I decided to make three cards for my class, a simple one (tag), a  second one with a tag, the tag as a pocket for money for a gift voucher and the last card is my fancy one. The tag is quite easy to make and would be perfect for some simple cards. The Gift Voucher card is also quite easy and is perfect for those who still want to hand make a gift to place money or a voucher in.  The easel card is a little bit harder with some fussy cutting required. It is not hard to make just a bit fiddly. The ladies in my class quite enjoyed making them and I have been teaching them ever since." -Jane Tregenza

Supplies:

Graphic 45 papers

Nutcracker Sweet Collection

Land of Sweets

Holiday Magic

Gingerbread Delights

Festive Fairytale

Endearing Sentiments

Enchanted Journey

Clara’s Dream

Christmas march

Christmas Emporium – A Christmas Carol

Imaginarium Designs Chipboard – Merry Christmas

Ribbons

3L Classic Photo Corners – Black

3L Foam Squares

Black Cardstock

Colourbox Dark Brown fluid ink chalk

Now we're going to keep the party going with some highlights from the Graphic 45 Ning gallery! We like to take the opportunity to honor the incredible crafters who share their Graphic 45 creations with us! We adore seeing what's being made with our products! We deeply admire the talent and imagination that goes in to each and every one of the crafts we see on our Ning gallery. We encourage all of you G45ers to share your Graphic 45 creations on our Ning site. It is a wonderful way to connect with your crafting community, get ideas for amazing projects and let your unique talent be seen!

Graphic 45 Ning:

http://graphic45.ning.com/

Here we have a gorgeous Bird Song altered tissue box by Steph D. This unique creation was made using the Cherry Blossom paper from Bird Song and some very pretty embellishments. This is such a great way to add some true beauty to your home or office! We love it!

Here is an astonishing Nutcracker Sweet 3-D house by Lyn Bernatovich. Wow, this creation is out of this world! This is a great example of how some patient fussy cutting and a lot of imagination can yield stunning results! This is a fantastic idea for holiday home decor! This super impressive piece has amazing dimension and lots of joy. It's a true work of holiday art!

And last but certainly not least is this incredible Ladies' Diary 12x12 canvas by Nikki Brown. All the elegance of A Ladies' Diary is captured in this magnificent creation. Nikki combined unique inking and paper distressing techniques along with magnificent embellishments to create this gorgeous card. We couldn't help but fall in love with this charming work of art. Nikki definitely captured the essence of this lavish collection. It's just amazing!

Don't forget, G45ers, our 15,000 Facebook Fans Celebration continues until Saturday, October 27th at Midnight EST. We are giving away 3 fantastic Graphic 45 prize packs a day on Facebook! It's our way of thanking all of you G45ers for bringing us to a new milestone of 15,000 fans! Wow! So stay tuned to our Facebook page to find out how you could win some amazing Graphic 45 prizes!

Graphic 45 Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Graphic45

Thank you all so much for joining us today! Huge happy birthday wishes to the incredible Clare Charvill and Jane Tregenza! We want to thank them for their gorgeous work today along with today's featured artists from our Ning gallery! We will have more incredible crafts to share with you all next week on the Graphic 45 blog! Stay tuned for more fabulous inspiration and Graphic 45 prize opportunities! We wish you all a very happy Friday and a wonderful weekend.

Happy Papercrafting!

Your Friends at Graphic 45

Hello G45ers,

We want to welcome you all to our happy blog on this fine Thursday! We hope you are enjoying your day so far. There's more joy and inspiration headed your way with today's fantastic crafts! Kristin Wilson and Maiko Miwa of our design team are going to show you two clever ways to craft with our gorgeous collection Olde Curiosity Shoppe! Kristin has created a beautiful banner and Maiko has made an amazing card! Both of these projects are perfect for this festive time of year. Get ready for a real treat because today's Graphic 45 blog is super sweet!

Don't forget that today is the last day to leave us a blog or Facebook comment for your chance to win this week's awesome blog prize! We are giving away this fabulous Tropical Travelogue prize pack to one randomly chosen winner from this week's comments. Be sure to leave us a blog or Facebook comment while there's till time! We will be announcing this week's winner on tomorrow's blog, so stay tuned!

Today's first craft creation is Kristin Wilson's wonderful Olde Curiosity Shoppe banner. This is a perfect project for Halloween time! The "Wicked" sentiment and dazzling designs would look amazing as a piece of Halloween home decor. But since it's also not holiday specific so it would look great year-round! Check out how Kristin combined paper layering and distressing to add some fabulous texture to this great banner. She also added lots of beautiful Graphic 45 Metal Staples to give this banner some added weight and dimension. Both Kristin and Maiko's creations display some fabulous uses for our new Ornate Metal Key Staples. These gorgeous new Staples make any craft a true work of art!

 

Supplies:

Graphic 45: Old Curiosity Shoppe Collection Papers, Stickers, Chipboard, Steampunk Debutante Collection,  Metal Keys,  Metal Brad,  Metal Plate,  Trim, Metal Hinge
Stampin Up!: Cardstock, Pinwheel Die, Twine
Tim Holtz: Hinge Clip, Swivel Clasp, Ruler Ribbon, Mini Gears, Wire Pin, Muse Tokens
Industrial Chic: Charms
May Arts: Ribbon, Bakers Twine
Martha Stewart: Leaf Punch
Craft Store: Flowers, Eyelets

Next up is this vibrant and beautiful card by Maiko Miwa. She has used Olde Curiosity Shoppe as the base and some of her left over scraps from our Hallowe'en in Wonderland collection.  What a fun and creative way to use Graphic 45 scraps! The colors in this card are simply gorgeous! Maiko fussy cut some of the characters from Hallowe'en in Wonderland and added decorative chipboards and embellishments to give this card an amazing 3-D look. Happiness radiates from this fabulous card! It just goes to show how much fun you can have when you combine different Graphic 45 paper collections!

Supplies:

Hello G45ers,

It's another gorgeous day here at the Graphic 45 blog! We want to welcome you all to today's special blog as we feature some stunning Nutcracker Sweet tags! Clare Charville and Alberto Juarez have created the most enchanting tags that are sure to warm your heart! There's even a super fun tutorial by Clare that's filled with great techniques for creating beautiful tags! Indeed, today is going to be stupendous! With the holiday season just around the corner, now is a great time to start thinking about holiday crafting. Tags are incredibly fun to make and have so many uses! You can incorporate them into your holiday home decor, string them together on some beautiful ribbon to create a festive banner, give them in place of cards, or add some extra pizazz to holiday gift wrapping! The list goes on and on! The Graphic 45 Nutcracker Sweet collection is just perfect for creating unique and gorgeous tags! There are so many vibrant colors and remarkable designs that give you a huge variety of creative options! Take a look at today's amazing tag creations and imagine what kinds of tags you'd like to create this holiday season!

This first incredible tag was created by Clare Charvill. She definitely captured all the joy of the holiday season in this lovely tag. Clare layered the beautiful Nutcracker Sweet papers and added some lovely inking and glossy accents to give this tag a whimsical holiday look. Follow her fun and informative tutorial to create one of your very own! Take it away, Clare!

Hello G45ers,

Welcome to another gorgeous day here at the Graphic 45 blog! We are so excited that you are joining us today! We've got an amazing day of inspiration planned! Gloria Stengel and Jim, The Gentleman Crafter have made the most incredible crafts with A Ladies' Diary! Gloria has created a brilliant mini album that is accompanied by a great video tutorial on making rolled grunge flowers! Jim's project is an awe-inspiring lace box mini album! Both of these creations are full of wonderful ideas that are sure to bring some cheer to your day! And as if that weren't enough, we've got a super fun video by Arlene Cuevas! She just received her new Graphic 45 Design Team package in the mail that includes our newest collection Place in Time! Arlene takes you on a marvelous video tour of her new Graphic 45 goodies! Get ready to smile with delight because today's Graphic 45 blog is a real show stopper!

First up is this amazing mini album by Gloria Stengel. All the glamour and vintage style of A Ladies' Diary comes to life in this amazing 4-panel mini. Gloria used Copic Markers to color the stamp images from A Ladies' Diary Cling Stamp 2. The result is pure craft beauty! Follow her fun video tutorial to see how she created the fabulous rolled grange flowers on he cover! Take it away, Gloria!  

"I love the NEW A Ladies' Diary Collection. When I received the matching stamps, I knew that I wanted to stamp and color the vintage lady; and I wanted to use the image to decorate something! I searched my stash and found several of the 4-panel accordion fold Kraft Albums that come with the Graphic 45 5x8 Kraftboard Altered Art Boxes. (I have made several of the boxes, but not used the album inserts!). I created a vintage sewing-themed mini that could be used to document and event for a special lady in your life: a grandmother, best friend, or treasured sister." -Gloria Stengel

A Ladies' Diary Cling Stamp 2

The image was colored with Copic Markers.

Learn to make the flowers on the cover with this great rolled grundge flower video tutorial!

 

Here is a closer look at each of the album pages.

I created a "vintage" button card!

I created a pocket to hold various tags. The A Ladies' Diary stamps were perfect for adding some sentiments and images to the tags.

Supplies:

Graphic 45:

Paper: A Ladies' Diary: Moments in Time, Afternoon Tea, Picture Perfect, Focal Point, Garden Stroll, Delicate Details, La Gazette, Timeless Memoir

Chipboard: A Ladies' Diary

Stickers: A Ladies' Diary

Stamps: A Ladies' Diary

45 Mini Album: 4-panel accordion fold Kraft Album (Graphic 45 5x8 Kraftboard Altered Art Box insert)

Cardstock: Stampin' Up Very Vanilla

Other stamps: Papertrey Ink Button Boutique

Ink: Clearsnap Color Box Chalk Ice Blue, Alabaster, Rose Coral, Blackbird; Memento Tuxedo Black, Rich Cocoa

Die cuts: Spellbinders A2 Fancy Ribbon Threader, Rose Creations, Bitty Blossoms, Asian Accents, Labels Twenty-eight; Papertrey Ink Banner Builder Die Collection, Button Card Die Collection; Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations Tag and Bookplates, Sewing Room

Next we have another incredible creation featuring A Ladies' Diary! This is a stunning lace box mini album by Jim, The Gentleman Crafter! Lift the Graphic 45 Ornate Metal Door Knob handle to this embellished ladies box and it reveals another box inside that holds a lacey mini, perfect for tags and pictures! This is such a beautiful and unique way to house a mini! With the holiday season just around the corner, imagine how great this project would be to give as a gift! All of the gorgeous embellishments look so dazzling with the papers from A Ladies' Diary. You can also see how well Jim layered the chipbocard die-cuts from A Ladies' Diary for added depth and beauty! Here Jim takes you on a video tour of this marvelous creation!

 

Supplies:

Hello G45ers,

Happy Monday and welcome to a very special day here at Graphic 45! We are thrilled to have a very talented featured artist on our blog today! The incredible Leanne Bishop, AKA LuvLee Scrappin will be sharing some of her amazing Graphic 45 creations! You're in for a real treat because these crafts are out of this world! Get ready for a super dose of inspiration that's sure to bring some joy to your Monday! Plus we've got a new blog contest this week. Yes indeed, it's another chance to win some fantastic Graphic 45 goodies! Check out this fantastic prize that we're offering this week! You could win a Tropical Travelogue 12x12 paper pad, Tropical Travelogue stickers, Antique Typewriter Stamp Set, Small Matchbook Box, Flower Staples and three Smooch Pearlized Accent Inks by Clearsnap! Wow! All you need to do is leave us a blog or Facebook comment for your chance to win! Hooray!

We are very happy to introduce today's featured artist. Her name is Leanne Bishop, AKA LuvLee Scrappin. Her work is truly spectacular. There's no better way to say it. We came across her blog and youtube channel not that long ago and we were instantly impressed by her incredible Graphic 45 creations. Her crafts display a wide range of technical skill and artistic vision. She has an impeccable eye for color, knowing exactly how to pair the perfect embellishments with Graphic 45 papers to make each project look flawless. Her creations exude deep care and a sense of playfulness as rich textures intermingle with vibrant patterns and sweet sentiments. Whether it's a lovely piece of home decor, altered art, cards or mini albums, Leanne gives incredible attention to every last detail. Her beautiful blog called LuvLee Scrappin is filled with lots of stunning creations, often accompanied by great videos or tutorials. If crafting is her main form of creative expression then we're loving everything she has to say! Ladies and gentleman, say hello to the remarkable LeAnne Bishop, AKA LuvLee Scrappin!

Luv Lee Scrappin Blog:
http://luvleescrappin.blogspot.com/

Luv Lee Scrappin on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Luvleescrappin

 

About LuvLeeScrappin:

My name is Leanne Bishop. I'm a mommy to a beautiful little girl and a wife to a magnificent hubby! I enjoy being active (running, hiking, sports) and spending time with family and friends. One passion of mine, that has been ingrained in me since day one, is helping others, which is why I became a Registered Nurse =) I also, of course, have a CRAZY passion for crafting!!! I've always been an artsy fartsy type of gal. I first started getting into crafting when my hubby and I were engaged to be married. My creative edge really came out as I started creating our wedding invitations, flower bouquets, favour boxes, centrepieces etc. I then got into scrapbooking shortly after when we became pregnant with our daughter. I started making 12x12 layouts for her baby book and gradually branched off from there. I found a ton of inspiration on YouTube...and then got hooked!!! I eventually got the courage to start filming my own videos, first showcasing tips on how to save money in the craft room, then handmade flower tutorials and now I share many handmade projects and how-to tutorials. One of my many dreams came true when I received an email from the company “I Am Roses,” offering me a design team position! I was honoured to have such an amazing opportunity!!! I still currently design for “I Am Roses” and I recently got a design team position for an Etsy store called: “The Piece by Piece.” It's amazing how far I have come with this hobby of mine. As for what I enjoy creating...well lets just say everything!!! I love tackling scrapbook layouts, card making, mini albums, mixed media, altered 3D projects and even charm/jewellery making. It's funny to see how my style has changed over the past few years.  I love all styles of crafting, but especially the vintage/grunge with a shabby chic twist. When I first discovered Graphic 45 products, I knew I had to have them!!! Their unique graphic designs and vintage feel, mixed with amazing quality won me over in a heartbeat! The inspiration I get when working with Graphic 45 truly comes from the papers themselves. Just staring at the papers for a few seconds...generates an immediate spark of ideas that flow through my head. I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to create with such amazing products...and I can't wait to see what the future holds!

First up is this wonderful Little Darlings circle shadowbox easel card and tutorial. You can see the gorgeous use of color and simple, pretty embellishments. Follow Leanne's wonderful tutorial to create one of your very own! It's just delightful!

Little Darlings Circle Shadow Box Easel Card Tutorial Part 1

 

Little Darlings Circle Shadow Box Easel Card Tutorial Part 2

 

Here is a fabulous piece of home decor. It's a Curtain Call Wall Hanger! This wonderful piece perfectly captures the vintage glamor of the Graphic 45 Curtain Call collection. It almost looks like this piece could light up like an old Hollywood theater marque! Check out Leanne's terrific video to see how she created this fabulous piece.

 

Next up is this adorable altered lunch box and mini album featuring An ABC Primer. Leanne found this lunch box at a dollar store and dressed it up in beautiful Graphic 45 papers to make it look amazing! You can see all the fabulous fussy cut pieces and pretty embellishments that Leanne used to give this project such great dimension. It opens up to reveal a wonderful mini album! Check out this great video in which Leanne takes you on a tour of this fabulous work of altered art!

 

If you're a big fan of Steampunk then you're going to LOVE this next piece. It's a mixed media Steampunk Debutante Configuration Box that Leanne created using two box lids! That's right, she attached two wooden box lids together and then altered them inside and out. This is such a gorgeous project, filled with all the fantastic colors and imagery of Steampunk. There are so many treasures to behold in this sweet box. Check out these great videos to learn fun tips on how this box was made!

Steampunk Configuration Box Construction Part 1

 

Steampunk Configuration Box Construction Part 2

 

Here we have an exquisite Bird Song Origami Box that Leanne created. This box is just amazing! The origami box is such a wonderful idea to pair with Bird Song! The box looks so fresh and cheerful, with lots of perfectly placed embellishments on top. The inside of the box is just as lovely! All the beauty and tranquility of Bird Song comes to life in this glorious little box. Check out Leanne's lovely video where she takes you on a tour of this remarkable creation.

 

Here we have another gorgeous Bird Song craft by Leanne. It's a Bird Song Altered Serving Tray! This amazing piece was made from an old sushi tray that Leanne had in storage. She dressed it up in Bird Song papers and gorgeous embellishments to create this amazing piece of home decor! Check out this wonderful video where Leanne describes how she created this amazing piece, including a few handmade embellishments! So inspiring!

 

Here is another fantastic piece of altered art. It's a Le Romantique Altered Dress Form! All the fabulous femininity of Le Romantique really comes to life in this marvelous piece. The papers delicately adorn the beautiful dress form, accompanied by stunning embellishments and trim. Take a look at this great video where Leanne takes you on a tour of this beautiful piece. She also describes some of the great techniqies she used to create it!

 

And now it's time for a trip to the beach with this fabulous On the Boardwalk Canvas Shadow Box that Leanne created. This fabulous piece of home decor really captures the fun-loving spirit of On the Boardwalk. The magnificent papers dance around the frame like waves on a beach, intermingling with burlap trim for extra texture. All the wonderful embellishments also help add to the jubilant spirit of this great work of art! Here's another fun video where Leanne takes you on a tour of this amazing shadow box!

 

Next we have this enchanting piece by Leanne, it's A Ladies' Diary Stacked Books/Hidden Drawers. The books were all made with chipboard and beautiful patterned papers. Check out the video where you can see all the amazing details of how these books open to reveal little drawers that are great for decorative storage of your little treasures! We love how this piece is overflowing with flowers and other beautiful embellishments. All the decadence of A Ladies' Diary comes to life in this incredible piece.

 

We hope you all enjoyed today's fantastic blog! We want to thank the incredible Leanne, AKA LuvLee Scrappin for all of her brilliant work. It was so much fun to get to share her gorgeous creations with all of you! We encourage you all to check out Leanne's blog and youtube page for more fabulous inspiration. And don't forget to leave us a blog or Facebook comment this week for your chance to win this week's blog prize! We wish you all a very happy Monday!

Happy Papercrafting!

Your Friends at Graphic 45

 

Hello G45ers, 

It's Friday! Hooray! We want to welcome you all to another happy day here at Graphic 45! We sure hope that today's crafts bring a little extra joy to your Friday. The Halloween season is upon us and we're enjoying every minute of it! We're obviously big fans of any holiday that gives us an excuse to get creative and eat delicious treats. We thought we'd bring some more Halloween inspiration to you with three beautiful creations from our design team. There are two gorgeous Happy Haunting cards by Tara Orr. Plus we have a followup to a Happy Haunting mini album by Susan Lui that we posted on our blog on October 10th. Susan has made a fantastic video tutorial that we're going to share with you! We also have a blog prize winner to announce today! This day is packed full of good stuff! So lets begin with this week's blog prize winner! Chosen at random from this week's Facebook comments, the winner is...

-Cathy Wright Clement: "Wonderful projects today!"

Congratulations Cathy! Please email us at info@g45papers.com with your shipping information to claim your prize! This is the great prize that Cathy won this week. Many thanks to everyone who left us blog and Facebook comments this week. We have a new blog contest every week here on the Graphic 45 blog so there's always a chance to win some wonderful Graphic 45 goodies!

Speaking of Facebook, we are close to our goal of 15,000 Facebook Fans!  We would love if you would hop on over to our page and "Like" us.  If you already "Like" Graphic 45 help us spread the love, so we can get the party started.  We have five days of contest all planned out and ready to go, we just need to reach our goal.  We will be giving away 15 prizes in five days! 

And now it's time for some wonderful craft inspiration! First up we have two incredible cards by Tara Orr. She used the Graphic 45 Happy Haunting collection to create these spledid creations. You can see the gorgeous results of layering the different patterned papers of Happy Haunting. All of the papers blend together so well! Tara also added some paper distressing as well as beautiful embellishments like the new Graphic 45 Metal Key Holes. Halloween cards are such a fun way to celebrate this great holiday. Let these cards inspire you to create a special treasure for someone you love! Here is what Tara had to say about this wonderful card.

"I decided to create a layered Halloween Card for my son's teacher. I am totally in love with all the vintage imagery in this wonderful halloween collection! The classic colours are so bold and so striking - perfect for the season of scaring but pretty enough for the most beautiful keepsakes as well" -Tara Orr

Supplies:

Hello G45ers,

Happy Wednesday and welcome to another happy day here at Graphic 45! We've got some stupendous crafts to share with you today. We're highlighting some fabulous ways to create amazing crafts by combining our Bird Song collection with Graphic 45 Staples! There's a gorgeous altered 8x8 Easel Album by Sharon Ngoo. She's created a fabulous recipe book and tutorial that is out of this world! We've also got a brilliant altered 8x8 Matchbook Box by Susan Lui that is simply darling! Both of these crafts feature our stunning Asian-inspired collection Bird Song. Plus a sneak peek image of Laura Denison's genius Rickshaw Mini. The incredible colors and dazzling designs are just perfect for any altered art project. Get ready for some incredible inspiration and fun!

First up is this marvelous recipe book by Sharon Ngoo. She used the new Graphic 45 8x8 Easel Album to create this super sweet book. This is such a clever way to use the new Easel Albums! This heartfelt craft is filled with gorgeous pages that are just perfect for storing family recipes. Just imagine what a great gift this would make! Follow Sharon's fun tutorial to create one for yourself or someone you love! Take it away, Sharon!

Next we have another gorgeous Bird Song creation. This one is an altered 8x8 Matchbook Box by Susan Lui. She created an absolutely magnificent treasure box by combining the fabulous Bird Song papers and other lovely Graphic 45 embellishments. With such a dynamic range of colors and designs in the Bird Song collection, there's never a shortage of inspiration! This is another fantastic idea that would make a wonderful gift for a friend or loved one! Or create one for yourself as a gorgeous piece of home decor! There are so many ways to create a timeless treasure with Graphic 45 papers and Stapes! Here are some fun tips from Susan on how she created this amazing treasure box!

I wanted to create a Chinese-inspired treasure box and Graphic 45's new 8x8 Matchbook Box and Bird Song collection were the perfect choice for materials.

I started off by converting the matchbook slip cover into a hinge cover for the treasure box. I added an acyclic piece to the square opening so that the treasures inside the box would be safe from the elements and could still be seen from the outside.

I embellished the box with hand-cut details from the Bird Song papers, as well as a black ruffled trim from May Arts and flowers and leaves to form a pretty garden.



Graphic 45's new Antique Metal Door Pull does double duty as a beautiful embellishment as well as a functional pull.



Metal Hinges from Graphic 45 attach the newly-altered cover to the matchbook box, fitting in nicely with the oriental them.


A peek-a-boo of what's inside the box through the looking glass.

The inside of the box.


 

Supplies:
Graphic 45 8x8 Matchbook Box
Graphic 45 Bird Song Collection - Bird Song, Harmony, Jasmine Dream, Shanghai Girls
Graphic 45 Staples - Antique Metal Door Pull, Metal Hinge Staples
Graphic 45 Bird Song Chipboard Die Cut 1
May Arts Ribbon
Prima Flowers and other flowers

Want to see a beautiful altered art project by Laura Denison?  She is being featured today on the Papercrafter's Library blog. Here is a little sneak peek of the wonderful Bird Song creation she has made just for today's feature! Hop on over to the Papercrafter's Library blog to see the complete project and make sure to leave a comment to be entered to win a Graphic 45 - Happy Haunting Prize Package. You're going to love it! 

We hope you all enjoyed today's lovely crafts. We want to thank Sharon Ngoo,  Susan Lui and Laura Denison for their gorgeous creations today. There is still more fabulous inspiration in store for you all this week! We hope you stop by and see us tomorrow for your daily dose of craft bliss! Thank you all so much for joining us today. We hope you have a beautiful Wednesday!

With Love and Pretty Paper,

Your Friends at Graphic 45

Hello G45ers,

Happy Thursday and welcome to another day of craft bliss here at Graphic 45! We are thrilled that you've stopped by to see what's new in the world of beautiful crafts! We've got some real treasures to share with you today. We're highlighting the amazing ways you can combine A Ladies' Diary with gorgeous Graphic 45 Metal Staples! There's a fabulous altered clock by Jim, The Gentleman Crafter and an amazing upcycled box by Kristin Wilson! These crafts are simply marvelous! You'll also learn some fun and easy tips for creating your own incredible crafts! It's going to be a stupendous day. And don't forget that today is the last day to leave us a blog or Facebook comment to your chance to win this amazing blog prize! We're giving away this awesome Happy Haunting prize pack to one randomly chosen winner from this week's comments. So be sure to comment for your chance to win. We will be announcing a winner on tomorrow's blog so stay tuned!

Today's first craft masterpiece was created by Jim, The Gentleman Crafter. Using A Ladies' Diary and Graphic 45 Stamped Metal Brad Staples, Jim created this fabulous carriage clock! We love how Jim used the Graphic 45 Stamped Metal Brads to mark the hours on the clock face! Such a clever idea! You can see how beautifully the papers of A Ladies' Diary combine with the elegant metal embellishments to create a truly classy craft! Here is what Jim had to say about this incredible creation.

Hello G45ers,

Happy Tuesday! Welcome to another beautiful day here at the Graphic 45 blog! We hope you are all enjoying your Tuesday. We've got some splendid craft inspiration to share with you all today. We're bringing you two stunning creations featuring A Ladies' Diary. Alberto Juarez and Jim, The Gentleman Crafter have created some magnificent altered trays that you're going to love! There is even a gorgeous tutorial by Jim that's sure to inspire you! These projects are so special and beautiful. They display so many unique ways to create marvelous crafts with A Ladie's Diary. Also we'll be sharing a sneak peek of a great project by Gloria Stengel on today's blog. You can hop on over to the Craft-e-Corner blog to see the full project. The season of inspiration is definitely here! Get ready for some fun with today's incredible crafts!  And speaking of inspiration, we were very excited to see the colorful new Graphic 45 ad for Nutcracker Sweet on the back page of Creating Keepsakes Magazine! Be sure to check it out on newsstands this month! Oh, joy!

Today's first beautiful creation was made by Alberto Juarez. This fabulous tray features A Ladies' Diary as well as a wonderful use for the new Graphic 45 Antique Metal Door Pull! These trays are so much fun to make. You can really let your imagination run wild. Alberto combined fussy cut images with pretty ribbons and embellishments. The mix of the fussy cut images with three-dimensional embellishments helps to give incredible depth to this piece. This is a great technique to add some extra pizazz to any of your creations. It's a true craft classic!

Supplies:

A Ladies' Diary 12x12 paper pad

A Ladies Diary Chipboard 2

Graphic 45 Ornate Metal Key Holes

Graphic 45 Trim Staples

Graphic 45 Ornate Metal Door Pull

Next we have another gorgeous tray that features A Ladies' Diary. This one was created by Jim, The Gentleman Crafter and it even comes with a super fun tutorial! This decorative tray definitely captures all the elegance and refinement of A Ladies' Diary. It is both beautiful and functional! Jim actually created this tray by altering a picture frame! How clever! This fabulous tray is great for the home or as a lovely handmade gift! Follow Jim's wonderful tutorial to create one of your very own! Take it away, Jim!

The Ladies Diary Bed Chamber Tray is a fast and easy altered tray to serve up some beautiful memories.  The frame I used was purchased from Ikea.  It is just an example of how to take something and use it for a completely different purpose.  The basic concept such as making tiles could doll up any existing old tray or use the tiles in a mosaic of fun ways on any flat surface.  The reuse of the glass from the frame was because it was there and faster.  However, try Mod-Podge - Hardcoat for worry free cleaning of the trays surface without glass.

Supplies:

8x8 Graphic 45 Ladies Diary Collection

2 Sheets of 12 x 12 Graphic 45 Ladies Diary Collection

(2) Graphic 45 Ornate Metal Door Plates

(4) Graphic 45 Stamped Metal Brads

Medium Weight Chipboard

Frame-  (Purchased from IKEA) Ribba 11-3/4 x 15 ¾

Idea-ology Foundations Feet

Black Acrylic Craft Paint

Step 1:

The Ribba frame comes with a glass insert backed by a heavy particleboard backing.   Carefully remove the glass and the backing from the frame.  Place the glass aside until later.  Next, pull out the little cleats that hold the frame contents with a pair of needle nose pliers.  This is about the toughest part of the project. If you pull it to the left and right and up and down the cleats will free themselves from the frame.

Step 2: Once the cleats have been removed, apply a bead of wet glue around the interior ledge of the frame.  Next, place the particleboard back into the frame applying pressure to the particleboard and frame for good adhesion.   Set aside and allow to dry completely.

Step 3:

While the “tray” frame is drying, cut 24 pieces of chipboard to 3- 7/8 –Inches Square.  Take 12 of the square tiles and apply your choice of adhesive or glue to one side.  Next, apply a second square tile on top of the glued piece and adhere together.  Repeat with remaining square tiles.  This will form 12 sets of tiles.  This is done to make the tiles thicker.

Step 4:  Paint all the tiles black, making sure to cover edges with paint.  While the paint brush and paint are handy, paint the inside of the tray with the black color covering the particleboard and interior sides.

Step 5:  From the 8 x 8 Ladies Diary paper pad, pull 12 sheets of paper to cover the tiles with.  Cut the paper to 3 ¾ inches square.  Repeat for all 12 sheets.  Once cut, adhere each piece to the black tiles with tape or glue. Go over paper with a bone folder to secure bond.

Set out the tiles and arrange how you would like them laid out.  For my frame “tray”, I will have four tiles across and three down.  (The picture below shows them laid out before they were adhered to the tiles.)

Step 6:

Apply adhesive to the Idea-ology Foundations feet and adhere to each corner of the tray with Glossy accents, or your choice of wet glue.  This takes awhile to set, so allow enough time for drying.

Step 7:

Cut a 12 x 12 piece of patterned paper in half,  forming two 6-inch pieces.  Next, cut a coordinating pieces of patterned paper to 3 x 12  inches.  Starting with one of the 6 inch pieces apply adhesive to the back and adhere on to the bottom left of the tray.  Apply the 3 inch piece next, butting the papers together flush.  Last, apply the remaining 6 inch piece of paper to the 3-inch piece completely covering the bottom of the tray.

Step 8:

Once the feet are completely dry, flip the tray over and adhere the tiles onto the surface of the interior tray bottom.  I simply used hot glue for this step…fast and easy and allows for some wiggle time!

Step 9:

The Handles.  Ok, I have to go off track for a second and say this.  I completely ran out of the NEW GRAPHIC 45 Metal Pulls and this would be a splendid option for handles for this tray and so much easier than the steps following.  As such, I thought the Graphic 45 Ornate Door plates and knobs would be a fantastic option!  However, this requires making a hole in the center of the doorplate.  OK, picking up from where I left off….Find the center of the doorplate with a centering ruler and mark with a pencil or pen. 

Now, you have a couple of options here.  If you have a drill, drill a ¼ hole into the plates using the mark as your guide.  Please use care and watch your fingers!  Second option, grab a Philips head screwdriver and a hammer and bash the heck out of it until a hole is made.  It works!  I did it!  J  Be sure to place padding under the metal as a cushion, as well as, not to mar your work surface.

Finally, add the knobs to the doorplates through the new holes created folding the brad legs flat and firmly against the backside of the doorplate. 

Step 10:

With a ruler, find the center of the side of the tray.  Apply Glossy accents to the back of the doorplate.  I found some little screws from my stash and used these to apply the “handles” to the tray.  Repeat with other side.

Step 11:

Last, I added the stamped metal brads to the top four corners of the tray.

Step 12:  Apply Glossy Accents around the perimeter of the interior of the tray directly on the tiles.  Place the glass carefully back into the tray and on top of the glue, pushing firmly down to evenly distribute the glue and making the adhesion unnoticeable.

Voila, a wonderful Ladies Diary Tray!

And last but certainly not least is this fabulous sneak peek creation by Gloria Stengel. Hop on over to the Craft-e-Corner blog to see the full project. It is so beautiful. We're sure you're going to love it! For the month of October Craft-e-Corner will be donating portions of all their proceeds to breast cancer research. So hop on over to their blog for more craft inspiration and to learn more about giving to this great cause.

http://blog.craft-e-corner.com/

 

We hope you all had fun on today's Graphic 45 blog! Thank you all so much for joining us! Big thanks to Alberto Juarez, Jim the Gentleman Crafter and Gloria Stengel for their beautiful work today. There is more inspiration and fun in store for you all week long. We hope you come back and see us tomorrow for more splendid crafts and smiles from Graphic 45! Have a delightful day, G45ers!

Happy Papercrafting!

Your Friends at Graphic 45

 

Hello G45ers,

Welcome to another incredible week of inspiration here at Graphic 45! We hope you are all enjoying your Monday! The rain has officially arrived here in Portland, Oregon where the Graphic 45 offices are located. We are now settling in for the long, rainy season. Thank goodness for crafting! It really helps bring some sunshine to the dark autumn and winter months! Today we're going to share some fantastic Happy Haunting crafts that are sure to brighten your day! There is a wonderfully cheerful card by Tara Orr and an adorable treat bag and tutorial by Nicole Eccles! Both of these projects are so lovely. They really display a diverse range of crafts that you can create using Happy Haunting. We also have a brand new blog contest this week! Yes, today is going to be a super day! So lets begin with this week's blog contest!

Behold, this week's marvelous blog prize! You have the chance to win a fantastic Happy Haunting 8x8 paper pad, both coordinating chipboard die-cuts, Chipboard Button Staples, Metal Key Hole Staples and Happy Haunting Cling Stamps! Just leave us a blog or Facebook comment this week for your chance to win! We will choose one random winner from this week's comments and announce them on our blog this Friday, October 19th! Hooray!

This first amazing creation was made by Tara Orr. She combined Happy Haunting and Nutcracker Sweet to create a splendid all-occasions card. This card definitely has some beautiful autumn colors but it is not really holiday specific. A card like this is just the thing to being a smile to the face of a friend of loved one. Tara did an amazing job of layering and distressing lots of papers to create some amazing depth. She also added some adorable chipboards, flowers and other fun embellishments to give this card even more cheer. This is such a fun idea and definitely worth trying! Here is what Tara had to say about this unique work of art.

"I decided to create a project from the Happy Haunting collection that was not Hallowe'en inspired to show how versatile these beautiful papers are.  I used some of the delicate chipboard leaves from Imaginarium Designs and accented some coordinating flowers as well. Lots of layers add to the shabby chic look that I adore so much" -Tara Orr

 

Hello G45ers,

Happy Friday and welcome to the fabulous Graphic 45 blog! We are thrilled that you are all joining us today! We have some gorgeous inspiration to help brighten your day! Today we're bringing you some splendid ideas for beautiful altered art boxes. You'll see an amazing altered 12x12 Matchbook Box by Denise Hahn that features Happy Haunting. There's also a beautiful Bird Song altered box by Alberto Juarez! These creations are just wonderful and we're sure they'll inspire you for some fun weekend crafting! Plus we've got a winner for this week's blog contest! This day is going to be incredible. So lets start off with something everyone loves, prizes! This week we chose a random winner from the comments left on our blog. They will receive the fabulous Little Darlings prize pack! And the winner is...

-Dallas Diston: "Gorgeous albums from gorgeous papers !!!"

Congratulations, Dallas! Please email us with your shipping information at info@g45papers.com to claim your prize! We will have a new blog contest on Monday and another opportunity to win some fabulous Graphic 45 goodies! Big thanks to everyone who left us blog and Facebook comments this week! We loved reading them!

We had a fun experience yesterday here at the Graphic 45 office when we received an adorable package from our friends at the store Scrapper's Playground in North Babylon, New York! They sent us this adorable Happy Haunting pumpkin! Isn't this sweet?! Thanks so much, Scrapper's Playground! Our office Halloween decor just got even more festive!

And now it's time for some serious altered art inspiration! First up is this gorgeous Happy Haunting altered 12x12 Matchbook Box by Denise Hahn. This is a splendid use of the new Graphic 45 12x12 Matchbook Box! You can see all of the superb multi-layered details that give this piece such wonderful dimension. It even lights up! It's a true Halloween dream! Here is what Denise had to say about the inspiration behind this spooktacular work of art! She even gives helpful tips for creating one of your very own!

"I couldn't wait to get my hands on the new Matchbook Boxes. I LOVE making shadow boxes and these take a lot of the work out of creating the base. To make it extra spooky I added 6 little flicker battery operated tea lights. I attached them on the inside with some velcro strips for easy removal to turn them on and off. I decided I wanted to use this one on my front door instead of a Halloween wreath, so at the last minute I added "Welcome" (you can see the addition using G45 Die Cut Alphabet in the second photo). I wanted to incorporate some of the new G45 Staples Metal Door pulls and used them as decorative corners. A great tip for adding color to your box; I used the new Stephanie Barnard Sprays from Clearsnap in Tangerine. Just a little spritz then I smeared with my hand, 2 sprays covered a whole side, so a little went a long way. I can not believe how great this worked and how rich the color came out!" -Denise Hahn

 Supplies:

Hello G45ers,

Happy Thursday and welcome to another delightful day of fun here at the Graphic 45 blog! We hope you are all having a splendid day! We've got some grand inspiration to share with all of you! Today is all about gorgeous tags featuring our new Bird Song collection! Tags are incredibly fun to create and they have so many uses! They are a great way to practice new techniques. You can give them as gifts or give them in place of cards. You can also use them to help add some extra pizazz to a gift project. Plus they have lots of practical uses such as book marks, or home decor. You can even attach a bunch of pretty tags to a piece of decorative ribbon to create a banner! Tags are where it's at! Today we have three beautiful tags by Tara Orr, Maiko Miwa and Susan Lui! All of these tags were created using our marvelous Bird Song collection. We're sure you're going to love them!

Just a quick reminder that today is the last day to enter to win our fabulous blog prize! This week we're giving away this great Little Darlings prize pack! Just leave us a blog or Facebook comment today for your chance to win. A random winner will be chosen from this week's comments and announced on our blog tomorrow! 

First up is this wonderful assortment of pretty Bird Song tags by Tara Orr. She used recycled packaging from Graphic 45 Staples to create the backing for these fabulous tags. This is such a great idea! You can even use scraps of cardboard and other types of strong cardstock for tags. So the next time you've got some robust cardstock scraps or Graphic 45 Staples packaging, don't throw them away! Turn those scraps into a beautiful tag! Here is what Tara had to say about these super sweet creations.

"I did a set of coordinating Bird Song Tags - LOVE the colours and the imagery in this collection - over the top gorgeous!! These would make great tags for gifts or you could even make them into cards by adhering a plain backing and writing a personal message." -Tara Orr

Supplies:

Hello G45ers,

We want to welcome you all to another happy day here on the Graphic 45 blog! We are so glad that you've stopped by to see what's new in the land of papercrafting! Today is all about mini albums! We love minis! They are incredibly fun to create and they are a fabulous way to save your cherished memories. You can give them as gifts or create them to commemorate a special time in your life. Minis can do it all! Today you'll see some gorgeous minis from Kristin Wilson and Susan Lui of our design team. Both of these minis have rather different styles but they're both strikingly beautiful! Let today's creations get your creative gears turning! Maybe you'll get inspired to create a sweet mini of your very own! So lets get to it!

First up is this adorable Little Darlings mini album by Kristin Wilson. This mini is quite special because it was created for Charee Filimoehala, the Director of Social Media and Customer Service here at Graphic 45. Charee is expecting a baby boy in December and we are all so excited to meet the newest member of the Graphic 45 family! This mini is just so exceptional right down to the last detail. You can see how Kristin used recycled packing from Graphic 45 Staples as well as the new Graphic 45 Ornate Metal Keys and other fabulous embellishments to adorn this precious mini. This is a great example of how minis can truly touch the hearts and minds of the people in our lives.

 

A few tips on the Little Darlings Mini Album:

Don't throw away your Graphic 45 packaging. They make for the best backgrounds on projects or even the entire book. As you can see I have used Graphic 45 packaging as the base for this mini album. What fun! Albums don't have to be filled with pictures on every page. Show off your creativity and decorate a few pages without photos. It allows you to have full spacial reign. White acrylic paint placed around the edges gives light pastels an even softer look.  -Kristin Wilson

Baby Mini Album Supply List:

Graphic 45: Little Darlings Collection Papers, Stickers, Chipboard, Metal label Holder, Metal Keys, Metal Brad, Trim, Stamps, Mini Envelope, Metal Butterflies, Metal Hinges
Stampin Up!: Stamps, Ink, Twine, Punch, Ribbon
Ranger: Liquid Pearls
Tim Holtz:  Safety Pin
Maya Road: Wood Buttons
May Arts: Ribbon, Bakers Twine
Melissa Frances: Crown, Ticket, Heart, Star, Pearls
Papertrey Ink: Banner Die, Buttons
Craft Store: Doily, Jingle Bell, Small Key, Flowers, Stick Pin, Acrylic Paint

Next we have another incredible mini to share with you! This is a terrific Happy Haunting mini album by Susan Lui. Halloween is definitely the time for taking fun photos! That also means its a great time for creating mini albums! This cheerful mini is filled with all the enchantment of this grand season. Get inspired with Susan's helpful tips and techniques. Let this Halloween be a holiday you'll always cherish with a fantastic mini!

"Do you like taking polaroid or instax photos, jotting your thoughts on little notes and just sticking them into a book? That's what I had in mind when I made this Halloween Mini Album. I gathered up my Graphic 45 Happy Haunting papers, some manila tags, cardstock papers and May Arts Ribbons. Then I simply bound them together using a quick and effective bookbinding technique. What I liked about this mini album is I could use up the smaller scraps of patterned paper I had left over from earlier projects and just bind them into the book. Then it was just a matter of finding my favourite embellishments and decorating the album with them. Happy Haunting chipboards and stickers were especially fun as they coordinated perfectly. Then for some spooky goodness, I added brown netting from May Arts Ribbons in between the pages for a cobweb feel. And then into my stash of leaves I went and found a lovely skeleton leaf to place on the cover, along with some black and white leaves and brown flowers which I'd recently bought from my holiday to Bangkok. I've made a video clip of the album so you can see all the pages inside. Have fun making up your own Halloween Mini Album." -Susan Lui

 

Supplies:

Graphic 45 Happy Haunting Patterned Papers - Happy Haunting, Trick or Treat, Pumpkin Time, Hallowe'en Greetings, Midnight Magic, WordPlay, Jeeper's Creepers, Bewitched, Fright Night.
Graphic 45 Happy Haunting Chipboard 1 and 2
Graphic 45 Happy Haunting Stickers
May Arts Ribbons - Brown Net, Yellow Baker's Twine, Orange Grosgrain with Ivory Stripes
American Crafts Black Cardstock
Flowers & Leaves - own stash

We hope you all had a wonderful time checking out today's lovely crafts! Thank you all so much for joining us! And remember, G45ers, if you are ever looking for a store in your area that sells Graphic 45 products you can always check out our store locator! It's the place to go to find great shops and web stores that carry Graphic 45!

Graphic 45 Store Locator:

http://www.g45papers.com/index.php?route=information/location

Huge thanks to Kristin Wilson and Susan Lui for their marvelous creations today. We have more gorgeous crafts to share with you on tomorrow's blog. It's going to be a fantastic time and we hope you'll come back and see us! We wish you all a delightful day!

With Love and Pretty Paper,

Your Friends at Grpahic 45

Hello G45ers,

We want to welcome you all to another fun day of super craft inspiration here at the Graphic 45 blog! We have some very special treats in store for you all! Halloween season is definitely upon us! The brisk Autumn nights are here. Leaves are changing with brilliant color. It's that magical time of year when creativity takes center stage! And what could be more fun than getting your home all decked out for Halloween?! It's great to rediscover old Halloween decorations from years past. But it's also such a joy to create new and wonderful Halloween home decor! Today we're going to show you some amazing ideas for creating beautiful Halloween decorations that you'll enjoy for many years to come! There's a splendid Halloween banner by Denise Hahn. Plus we've got a bunch of adorable ideas for handmade Halloween ornaments by Nicole Eccles. There's even some fun tutorials that show you how to create these fabulous ornaments! So grab a cup of hot apple cider and settle in for some grand inspiration with Graphic 45!

First up is this gorgeous Halloween banner by Denise Hahn. Whether you're planning a big party or just a casual night of handing out candy to trick-or-treaters, Halloween decorations are a must! Check out Denise's fabulous banner featuring our Happy Haunting collection! This great banner is filled with vintage charm and wholesome cheer! You can also see a great use of the new Graphic 45 Ornate Metal Label Holders! Let this fabulous banner inspire your Halloween decorating this year!

Supplies:

Hello G45ers,

We want to welcome you all to another week of joy and inspiration here at the Graphic 45 blog! We are so happy that you've stopped by our blog on this fine Monday! We have so many amazing crafts to share with you today as we team up with Connie Crystals to bring you a very special blog event! The wonderful design team over at Connie Crystals have combined their gorgeous crystal embellishments with Graphic 45 products. The result is pure craft radiance! Today you'll see the work from Missie Todd,
Laura Drahozal and Kristi Parker Van Doren of the Connie Crystals designs team! We're also offering this fantastic Little Darlings prize pack this week! Enter to win this gorgeous Little Darlings 12x12 paper pad, both sticker sets, Ornate Metal Label Holder, Envelope Tag Staples and Kraft Envelope Album Staples! Just leave us a blog or Facebook comment any time this week for your chance to win! A random winner will be chosen and announced on our blog this Friday, October 12th!

There is so much to discover on today's blog! We hope you have a great time exploring all the fabulous inspiration! Lets start by getting to know Connie Crystal.

About Connie Crystal:

Connie Crystal started on the living room floor with 3 boxes of crystal, a spool of nylon wire, spontaneous creativity and the very first crystal suncatcher. Today we are more than just the largest supplier of premium crystal suncatchers in the world. We now offer an expanding line of beads, pendants and other crystal related products that rival the quality and prices of major brands in Europe. Our mission is to inspire more creativity now that affordable crystal is within reach. Join the family and explore why Connie Crystal is all the rave!

Connie Crystal's blog:

http://ccsparkle.com/

Connie Crystal's Facebook Page:

Today's first creation was made by Missie Todd of the Connie Crystals design team. She has created the most wonderful crafts using Bird Song and assorted Connie Crystals products. These pieces are just delightful and super fun to make! They'd also make lovely gifts for friends or family! Follow Missie's tips to create some decor of your very own! Here is what Missie had to say about these darling crafts. 

About Missie Todd:

My paper crafting journey began more than a decade ago when I was introduced to scrapbooking.  Over the years my love of crafting has grown, and now it is more of a way of life than a hobby!  I am a proud member of the Connie Crystal Design team and enjoy working with the Connie Crystal projects.  My crafting resume includes teaching scrapbook classes, leading workshops, independent scrapbook and stamping sales, and customer education and demonstration using Provo Craft products- including the Cricut.  In May 2012 I was a featured artist for Papers and Pixels Magazine.  I enjoy traditional and digital scrapbooking, card making, custom t-shirt design, and love to dabble in other creative outlets like sewing and jewelry making. In my life outside my scrapbook room I am a wife, mother, and student.  My boys, Blake age 5 and Ian age 4, enjoy “helping” me craft and making their own creations.  As a family we enjoy travel which always gives me a lot to scrapbook.   For the last few years I have been working towards becoming a nurse by taking part time classes; have officially started my RN course work.  As you can see busy is just a way of life, but crafting is my sanity and helps to keep me grounded.  I am excited to be adding “Guest Designer” for Graphic 45 to my list of titles. 

Hello! I am so pleased to be a guest designer for Graphic 45 today. Graphic 45 and Connie
Crystal are a perfect, elegent combination. Today I want to share a fun combinations of party
favors and decor. To begin I want to share the take out boxes.

 

The box was made using a simple die cut ( I used Cricut cuts, but there are lots of others on
the market) and then embellished with lace, Connie Crystal- crystals and beads, and chipboard
elements from Graphic 45.

While the take out boxes were quite simple the lantern is a bit more intricate. I used some
computer based software and a di-cutting machine to design the lantern from the ground up. The
design incorporates cherry blossom flowers and the openings are stung with Connie Crystal. If
anyone reading this is user of SVG files I would be happy to share the cut file.

Each flower features a crystal and gold glitter in the center.

And of course as this is a lantern, there is a battery operated candle inside that gives the whole
lantern a special glow.

Supplies:
Graphic 45 Song Bird papers
Connie Crystal crystals in assorted sizes
Liquid Glass Adhesive (From Close to My Heart)
Beading wire
Crimp Beads
Gold Glitter

Next we have an absolutely lovely piece of altered art by Laura Drahozal. She used Nutcracker Sweet to create an enchanting piece of home decor! The combination of Graphic 45 and Connie Crystals looks stunning in holiday home decor! Follow her fun and easy instructions in this tutorial to create one of your very own!

About Laura Drahozal:

Laura started papercrafting after her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.  She realized that life passed quickly, and it was easy to forget the moments that make it so rich.  Therefore, her interest began with scrapbooking and quickly expanded to include cardmaking and altered projects.  One of Laura's current loves is creating something new from random elements.  She adores Graphic 45 paper, and loves the pun of making a sweet tray from the "Nutcracker Sweet" collection!  She is currently on design teams for Dreamweaver Stencils, Art Glitter, and, of course, Connie Crystal.

Supplies:

Hello G45ers,

Hooray, it's Friday! We want to welcome you all to today's marvelous Graphic 45 blog. Saturday, October 6th is World Card-Making Day. To join in the celebration we thought it would be fun to share three fabulous cards to jump-start the inspiration! Today you will see two stunning cards by Jim, The Gentleman Crafter and a gorgeous card by Maiko Miwa! Today's creations are so wonderful, they're sure to get you in the card-making spirit! We also have a prize winner to announce for this week's blog contest! It's going to be an amazing day! So lets begin with this week's randomly chosen blog prize winner! Many thanks to all of you who sent us blog or Facebook comments this week. We love reading what you have to say each day! This week's winner was chosen at random from this week's blog comments. And the winner is...

Teri Terrific: "Oh My Stars! These projects are awe-inspiring! Thank you."

Congratulations, Teri! Please email us with your shipping information at info@g45papers.com to claim your prize! This is the great prize that Teri won today! We have a new contest opportunity each week on our blog so stay tuned for more chances to win!

And now it's time for our card-making celebration! Cards are always so much fun to create. We all have people in our lives who would love to receive a handmade card! Even if there's no big occasion, receiving a beautiful handmade card in the mail will instantly brighten someone's day! Let today's fabulous cards inspire you to create something lovely with Graphic 45 papers and Staples! First up we have two stunning creations from Jim, The Gentleman Crafter. Jim used A Ladies' Diary to create this elegant all-occasions card. Check out the Graphic 45 Metal Tag Staples and pretty ribbon that Jim used as the closure for this card! What a great idea! There are so many ways to get imaginative with Graphic 45!

 

Supplies:

Graphic 45 A Ladies Diary - Fashion Plates - Card Spine, Fussy Cut Lady
Graphic 45 A Ladies Diary - A Ladies Diary - Card Background
Graphic 45 A Ladies Diary - Moment In Time- Top Background
Graphic 45 A Ladies Diary - Afternoon Tea - Die Cut Shape
Graphic 45 A Ladies Diary - A Ladies' Diary Chipboard Die-cuts 1
Graphic 45 A Ladies Diary - Timeless Memoir - Card Interior
Graphic 45 A Ladies Diary - Delicate Details - Fussy Cut Flowers - Card Interior
Graphic 45 Metal Tag Staples
Graphic 45 Stamped Metal Brads
Black Cardstock
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Pen Nibs
Black Feather
May Arts Ribbon
Bamboo Skewer for Card Binding

Next up is another dazzling card by Jim, The Gentleman Crafter. This amazing Bird Song card is full of vibrant color and joy! Here you can see another clever way to bind your cards! Jim explains the idea behind this gorgeous card! Get inspired with his wonderfully unique tips!

The "Many Thanks" card may not look like a card but it actually is...I wanted to do something different so here's what I came up with.  The card is bound on the left with a bamboo skewer and paper hinges.  On the right, the card is held closed by another bamboo skewer attached with some red twine. The Chinese characters on the front of the card translates to," Many Thanks." 

We want to thank you all for joining us on this fabulous Friday. We hope you got inspired for some weekend card-making! Big thanks to Jim, The Gentleman Crafter and Maiko Miwa for their beautiful work today! We will be back on Monday with more gorgeous crafts and a brand new blog contest! We hope to see you then. Have a fantastic Friday and a super weekend!

Happy Papercarfting!

Your Friends at Graphic 45

Hello G45ers,

Welcome to another super day here at the Graphic 45 blog! We're going to have so much fun today! The wonderful colors of Autumn are on display all across the Northern Hemisphere. You can't help but admire nature's beauty this time of year. Well we thought we'd add even more color to your day with some incredible layouts from Maiko Miwa and Tara Orr of our design team! Today's creations are so cheerful and beautiful, they're like a breath of fresh Autumn air! You'll see some fantastic ways to create one-of-a-kind layouts that you'll cherish for years to come! And remember, today is the last day to leave us a blog or Facebook comment for your chance to win this amazing Graphic 45 prize pack! It includes a very rare Hallowe'en in Wonderland 12x12 paper pad, Black Policy Envelope, Metal Tag Staples, Flower Staples and beautiful chipboards from Imaginarium Designs! Wow! We will be picking one random winner from this week's comments and announcing them on our blog tomorrow!

Get ready to be wowed, G45ers! Today's layouts are out of this world! First up is this absolutely adorable LO by Maiko Miwa. She used our Happy Haunting collection to create this ultra dreamy LO. This is great because it shows how you can use Happy Haunting to create crafts that aren't specific to Halloween. The fabulous designs and colors are perfect for so many different themes. Maiko used the theme of sleep and dream-time to create this exquisite piece. Pretty embellishments, sweet sentiments and fussy cut characters dance around this LO with benevolence. This LO also shows some fabulous ways to use the new Graphic 45 Ornate Metal Key Staples! It's a real dream come true!

Supplies:

Hello G45ers,

Happy Wednesday and welcome to the Graphic 45 blog! We've got the most wonderful altered art creations that feature our elegant collection A Ladies' Diary. You'll see some very clever ways to create unique altered art projects that are full of sophistication and style. Betto Cesare, Kristin Wilson, and Arlene Cuevas have prepared some crafts that are simply dazzling! There is even a fun and easy tutorial where Betto will show you how to make beautiful flowers from lace! Plus Papercrafter's Library is featuring Kristin on their blog today, and Craft-e-Corner is feautring Arlene on their blog today ! You'll see a tantalizing sneak peeks here. We encourage you all to hop on over to the blogs to see the full projects! You're going to love it.

First up is Betto Cesare's amazing A Ladies' Diary altered box. The outside of this box is so delightful with vibrant color and stunning fussy cut images. The box opens to reveal a tea set! What a perfect surprise! You are going to love the detail on the inside of this box. Betto decorated the tea cups and saucers. He even created beautiful handmade flowers from lace fabric! Learn how to create these marvelous flowers in the tutorial featured below. The elegance of A Ladies' Diary really comes to life in this stunning creation!

Hello G45ers,

Happy Tuesday and welcome to another super fun day here at Graphic 45! Today's blog is full of wonder and inspiration as we bring you two stunning Bird Song creations by Susan Lui and Arlene Cuevas! As we gear up for the holidays it's a great time to start thinking about handmade gifts! Today we will show you two fabulous ideas for unique and heartfelt Bird Song gifts. First up is this gorgeous Bird Song card and 3-D box envelope by Susan Lui. Susan has even created a fun and informative tutorial on how to create the 3-D box envelope! Plus we have a splendidly beautiful altered art box by Arlene Cuevas! Today's crafts are sure to bring some harmony to your day. So lets begin with Susan's marvelous card and envelope tutorial! These creations are so vibrant and cheerful! Bring some color and joy to a friend of loved one with these fabulous Bird Song crafts! Take it away, Susan!