Hello G45ers,

It's another grand day of craft bliss here at Graphic 45! We are so happy that you are joining us for more fun during our amazing sneak peeks of Nutcracker Sweet! This has been such a wonderful week and there is still more joy in store on today's blog! We've got some sneak peeks of some gorgeous Nutcracker Sweet creations from Diane's workshop. Plus we have Nutcracker Sweet prize winner announcements, highlights from our Ning page and inspiring ideas from our design team! Today's blog is just what you need to get you inspired for some weekend crafting! First we want to thank all of you for your incredible blog comments this week. It has been such a joy to read your kind words about our new collection! We have 4 winners to announce from yesterday's blog comments. Today's winners will receive a Nutcracker Sweet 8x8 paper pad and both chipboard die-cuts before they're even available in stores! We will be announcing 4 more winners on Monday for this fabulous Nutcracker Sweet prize. So be sure to leave us a blog comment today for your chance to win! And the winners are...

-Nancy Sanders: "I am totally in love with the Nutcracker Sweet paper line! I can't wait to get it! The Oz items were absolutely inspiring and I think I may give one of them a try."

-Charlotte Zweigoron: "Graphic 45 seems to inspire the most creative and marvelous creations in the paper crafting world!! How I would love to have this Nutcracker paper and such!"

-Jessie Marie: "Ahhhhhh even more of a tease! These papers are SO beautiful I can't WAIT to see them in person. I want to make a great mini album, and Christmas cards too of course! :) Thank you so much for sharing the other projects too. That card is just breathtaking! And the treat caddy idea is SO cute too!

-Jennifer Stahr: "I have loved the Nutcracker all my life! What a perfect tribute to a legendary musical! Thank you Graphic 45!!!"

Congratulations! Will our winners please email us at info@g45papers.com with your shipping information to claim your prize. Hooray!

And now it's time for some fantastic inspiration! Diane Schultz and her wonderful team have been working hard to get ready for CHA Summer! That means they're creating tons of gorgeous crafts for our CHA booth! Here you will see some inspiring works of altered art featuring Nutcracker Sweet! These stunning creations are sure to get you in the holiday crating spirit! Behold the beauty!

Wow, so beautiful! This week we asked our design team what their first impressions were of Nutcracker Sweet. What are they dreaming about creating with this wonderful new collection? Here's what they had to say!

Jim, The Gentleman Crafter: "When I first saw the sneak peek of the Nutcracker Sweet, I thought YES!!!! IT'S CHRISTMAS! Yahooo! My favorite of all holidays! I knew immediately that this was going to be another one of my favorite collections! I am called Mr. Christmas in my family! I've always loved this magical time of year!! The first thought for this collection was I gotta make a majestic domed theater with the Nutcracker playing on the stage! That is truly why I can hardly wait to get my hands on this totally exciting new collection!!"

Susan Lui: "I fell in love with Nutcracker Sweet the moment I saw the sneaks. The Nutcracker is my favourite Christmas Ballet and I loved the images of the ballerinas, the nutcracker and the candy girls. My daughter danced the Nutcracker when she was much younger so I might scrap a layout on that. And I have to say that the ballerina stamps, ballet shoes, grandfather clock are perfect for ballet-related projects as well as Christmas-themed ones. I see an altered project using this collection as well. Such a pretty collection!"

Denise Hahn: "The first thing I saw was ballerinas, I LOVE ballerinas, I have a vintage pair of pink barbie ballet slippers that I know will find their way into a Nutcracker Sweet project. I also have tons of those little jewelry box ballerinas that I know will come into play too. So I haven't 100% decided yet!"

Jane Tregenza: "For me it is the colours and the images, lots of creativity cutting and layering along with lots of borders and frames to be made."

Tara Orr: "I LOVE the fussy cutting options (as always) and the ballerina images are perfect for the photos of my daughter in her gear!! I would also love to do a bunch of gift boxes and matching cards/tags to give away. Even an adorable little jewelry box for my daughter is something I can totally see myself doing and then putting a bunch of jewelry inside for her on Christmas!"

Sharon Ngoo: "Gift bags with candy inside to give to people at christmas is what I thought of first....somehow NUTcracker SWEET makes me think of food....haha!"

Kristin Wilson: "Oooooo this collection made me think of decorating hat boxes and placing them by my front door for Christmas decore. Maybe stand a nutcracker on top."

Nicole Eccles: "As always when looking at your new lines, I am drawn to the possibilities of all the fussy cut images used for Shadowboxes to create scenes. Next I look over all the tiny details of the papers, or stamps and think of how they could be used in different ways. The clock image over all images stuck out my mind as having MANY uses for scenes. The first scene that popped into my head was an image of a large stairwall along the back left side, with a large Christmas tree, the clock in the back right corner. The ballerina images strategically placed. The room fully decorated with sweets and Christmas decor. I can almost smell the sweets now!!!!"

Clare Charvill: "I am loving the papers and colours in this collection. They remind me of programmes we used to watch in the UK when we were little - a few years ago lol!!! Fussy cutting will be inevitable there' s so many fabulous images to choose from. Love the idea of sweetie gift boxes for Christmas presents. I can't wait to see what emerges."

Gloria Stengel: "I have an awesome Halloween haunted house book that I want to recreate as a gingerbread house. I have been waiting for the perfect paper. I have been hoarding the house shaped album for AGES! Now is the time!"

Arlene Cuevas: "The first thing that came to mind for me when i saw the Nutcracker Sweet papers was... wouldn't that ballerina be CUTE on an altered music box... dancing with the Nutcracker! :-) These papers are AMAZING and the images take me back to my childhood when I saw my very first Nutcracker ballet (I was a little ballerina myself! hehe!) I can't wait to alter some boxes and create some Christmas cards using this collection... but as anxious as I am, the altered music box is first on my list!"

Wow, such inspiring words! Now it's time to honor you wonderful G45ers out there! Here are some stunning crafts that your fellow G45ers have uploaded to our Ning site! These wonderful works of art were created by crafters just like you. We love seeing what you are all creating with our products. So we thought we'd say a big thank you to our wonderful crafting community and post some of these fabulous projects from Ning! We encourage you all to post your Graphic 45 creations any time! Enjoy!

Happy Haunting Key Cabinette by Belinda Dewar.

Fashionista jewelery box by Ieonie Vellender.

A Ladies' Diary upcycled box with 3 drawers by Steph D.

A Ladies' Diary altered wooden dresser by Maggie Lara.

A Ladies' Diary keepsake box by Lyn Bernatovich.

That's all for today, G45ers. Thank you all so much for stopping by! We hope you had a great time exploring today's sneak peeks! Remember to leave us a blog comment today for your chance to win the Nutcracker Sweet prize pack! We will be announcing today's winners on Monday's blog along with even more sneak peeks! Its going to be another glorious week of fun, inspiration and lots of prizes! We hope you'll join us! Huge thanks to our wonderful design team and all of today's featured G45ers for their beautiful work. We wish you all a happy day and a great weekend!

Happy Papercrafting!

Your Friends at Graphic 45

Hello G45ers,

Welcome to another enchanting day of sneak peeks and fun here at Graphic 45! We are so happy that you are joining us today! Wow, what a week this has been! Sneak peek season is one of our most favorite times of the year. We love getting to bring you the first look at our newest products! Reading all of your feedback on our blog this week has been so inspiring. Thank you all so much for all of your support and wonderful words! There is lots of fun in store today as we bring you 6 more gorgeous papers from Nutcracker Sweet! Plus we have 4 new Nutcracker Sweet prize winners to announce as well as some stunning craft creations from Susan Lui and Clare Charvill of our design team. There's even a fabulous tutorial by Clare that is sure to inspire you! Yes, today's blog is packed full of joy and fun! So lets get to it! First up we want to announce our winners for the Nutcracker Sweet prize packs! Remember all this week we're giving away a beautiful Nutcracker Sweet 8x8 paper pad and both coordinating chipboard die-cuts! All you need to do to enter to win is leave us a blog comment! We will have 4 more winners to announce tomorrow too so be sure to leave your blog comments today for your chance to win! And the winners are...

-Wendy Maynard: "One word, amazing!!!"

-Sandy Jenks: "Clare and Jim are both amazing artists. I just love the new embellishments. They are a must for the papers."

-Jean Marmo: "WOW!!! How do you do it????" 

-Cathy Osborne: "I think you must be able to hear me here in Olympia, with ohhhs, ahhhs, and "I have to have it" with each new part of the Nutcracker line you preview. Fantastic.

Congratulations! Will our winners please email us with your shipping information at info@g45papers.com to claim your prize! Hooray!

And now it's time for more marvelous sneak peeks from Nutcracker Sweet! "Sweet" peeks is what we should be calling them! Gaze upon these 6 magnificent new papers and let the holiday inspiration lift your spirits!

"Enchanted Journey"

"Sugar Plum Fairy"

"Beautiful Ballet"

"Clara's Dream"

"Snowflake Waltz"

"Endearing Sentiments"

Now that we've got you in the mood for papercrafting we thought we'd share these wonderful projects from our design team! We're switching gears from Christmas to Halloween as we bring you this fantastic dimensional Bon Voyage card by Susan Lui and a candy caddy and tutorial by Clare Charvill! Even though Halloween is a ways away there's still time to start dreaming about your holiday crafts! First up is Susan's magnificent card featuring our Magic of Oz collection! Here is what she had to say about this wonderful work of art!

Opening up the card...

The card fully open, depicting a scene from The Wizard of Oz.

A pocket for messages...

A red crystal flourish highlights the magic behind Dorothy's ruby red shoes.

Supplies:

Hello G45ers,

We want to welcome you all to today's wonderful blog! We are thrilled to have you all back again for another fabulous day of sneak peeks of our latest holiday collection Nutcracker Sweet! We are having so much fun getting to introduce you to this lovely collection. Today you'll get to see the gorgeous new coordinating chipboard die-cuts and stickers from Nutcracker Sweet! We can't wait to see what you'll dream up with these beautiful new designs! Reading your blog comments has been such a joy as well! We've also got some stunning craft creations to share with you from Clare Charvill and Jim, The Gentleman Crafter! It's going to be such a great day here on the Graphic 45 blog! We've got some more winners to announce today for our Win It Before You Can Buy It contest! All this week we're giving away 4 prize packs every day that include an 8x8 paper pad and both coordinating chipboard die-cuts of Nutcracker Sweet! Just leave us a blog comment any time this week for your chance to win! You can comment every day if you want! There's lots of chances to win all week long! And speaking of winners, we have some new ones to announce from yesterday's contest! Chosen at random from yesterday's blog comments, the winners are...

-Cynthia Daversa: "I literally swooned when I saw these stamps! I must have them! Joanna, you are far too pretty to be mistaken for Weird Al!"

-Judy D: "Such a fun, colorful new collection! Can't wait to see it in real life!"

-Emily Keaton: "Gosh, those new Nutcracker stamps are AMAZING!! Joanna's projects are just super, too. :D"

-Jo Anne Mason: "The new stamps are delicious! Graphic 45 has the best Christmas collections ever!!"

And now it's time for for superb sneak peeks! Here we have the fun and fabulous chipboard die-cut tags and stickers! Just look at these wonderful images and vibrant colors! It's a winter wonderland of inspiration!

Nutcracker Sweet Chipboard Tags 1

Nutcracker Sweet Chipboard Tag 2

Nutcracker Sweet Stickers

Nutcracker Sweet Alphabet Stickers

Now that you're in the creative spirit we thought we'd share some fabulous new creations from our design team! Today's crafts are simply incredible and feature our marvelous Olde Curiosity Shoppe collection. First up is this brilliant altered house by Clare Charvill. Clare went all out to create this magical world of wonder. There are tons of fun details all over of this fabulous creation! With such beautiful Graphic 45 papers and embellishments there is no limit to where your imagination can reach!

Supplies:

Wooden House sub straight 
12 x 12 Graphic 45 Papers used:
Fussy Cutting from: 
Olde Curiosity Shoppe
Optical Oddities
Counting Down 
Butterfly Specifics
Parlor Wall
Apothecary
Bazar of Wonders
Wooden cotton reel
2 glass bottles
Wooden button 
Ranger glossy accents
cotton

Next up is this astonishingly beautiful Olde Curiosity Shoppe lighthouse created by Jim, The Gentleman Crafter. This piece is out of this world! It is such a beautiful structure and it contains a special surprise! Here Jim explains his inspiration behind this amazing creation. You can also enjoy the wonderful video he created all about this stunning work of art. Take it away, Jim!

"This fun lighthouse was inspired from a recent trip to the beach.  This piece is functional as well as being a home decoration.  The top of the light has a place for a tealight to add ambiance to your room.  The body of the lighthouse holds a photo album for vacation shots.  The base has a handy little drawer to hold either additional tealights or photos." -Jim, The Gentleman Crafter

 

Supplies:

Graphic 45 Olde Curiosity Shoppe Paper Collection
Graphic 45 ABC Primer Paper Collection
Graphic 45 Tropical Travelogue Paper Collection
Graphic 45 Le Cirque Paper Collection
Graphic 45 Metal Button Brads
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Label Pull
Acetate
Medium Weight Chipboard
Delta Creamcoat White
Delta Creamcoat Black
Frayed Burlap Distress Ink
Black Soot Distress Ink
Glossy Accents

We hope you all enjoyed today's special blog. There is more fun in store tomorrow with more sneak peeks, prizes and crafts that you're sure to love! We hope you'll all come back and see us. Big thanks to Clare Charvill and Jim, The Gentleman Crafter for their amazing work today. It was such a joy to share their gorgeous crafts on today's blog! We wish you all a wonderful day. Don't forget to leave us a blog comment today for your chance to win this week's Nutcracker Sweet prize pack!

Happy Papercrafting!

Your Friends at Graphic 45

Hello G45ers,

Welcome to another fun and exciting day of sneak peeks, prizes and crafts! We are so happy that you are all joining us! Today is going to be simply marvelous! We're unveiling the brand new cling stamps from our fabulous new collection Nutcracker Sweet! Plus we've got 4 prize winners to announce as well as some wonderful crafts and an interview with Joanna Hardy, our Social Media Marketing Assistant here at Graphic 45! You'll get to know more about our wonderful team here at Graphic 45 and get inspired by our newest products! How exciting! So lets get to it! First up we want to announce yesterday's Nutcracker Sweet prize winners! Remember that you can win a fabulous 8x8 paper pad and both chipboard die-cuts from this gorgeous new collection! We are giving away 4 prize packs every day on our blog during our sneak peeks! All you need to do is leave us a blog comment! So be sure to leave your comments for your chance to win!

And the winners are...

-Debbie Fabanish: "I think I need to redo the layouts from my daughter's performances in the Nutcracker! This collection is fantastic!"

-Aleta Chrisman: "Just gorgeous. My head is spinning already with ideas of albums to create for my two nieces who dance."

-Alissa Luke: “I want these papers now!! Who says Christmas has to be in December?!! :)”

-Shannon Tuttle: “Looking forward to this whole set coming out! Definitely adding this to the stash.”

Congratulations! Will our winners please email us with your shipping information at info@g45papers.com so we can send you your prize! Prize packs will be mailed in early August.

And now it's time for more fabulous sneak peeks! Behold these beautiful new cling stamps from Nutcracker Sweet! Dream of the magical creations you could make with these fabulous stamps!

Nutcracker Sweet Cling Stamp 1

Nutcracker Sweet Cling Stamp 2

Nutcracker Sweet Cling Stamp 3

And now it's time to get to know our Graphic 45 team even more! Last week you got to meet Dustin, our office manager. Well now we're introducing you to a very super lady, the amazing Joanna Hardy. Joanna is our Social Media Marketing Assistant. If you're on our Facebook page, Pinterest or if you receive our weekly newsletter then you're familiar with Joanna's work. She works behind the scenes to keep you all up to date on the latest and greatest news and fun moments here at Graphic 45! She is warm, funny and creative! Below you will find some of Joanna's lovely crafts and a fun interview with her!

"My name is Joanna Hardy and I am the Social Media Marketing Assistant for Graphic 45. When I joined the Graphic 45 team, my main crafting experience was in simple jewelry and sewing. Everyday seeing our Design Team's amazing work has truly inspired me to take a dip in the Papercrafting Pool! Charee sent me a Graphic 45 gift package when I first started with the company (it was breathtaking! It felt like unexpected Christmas!). I used it to make simple tags for Christmas and some birthday cards. But these were the first mini albums or Altered Art Boxes I have ever made. It was so much fun! The flower on the 5x8 Altered Art box was made after watching a crinkle flower tutorial and I tried fussy cutting for the first time thanks to the 2011 DT Fussy Cutting Tips. I made these for my Mother and Mother-in-law (or Mother-in-love as I like to call her) for Mother's Day. I filled the mini albums with pictures of all of us and notes to say thank you for all they mean to me. My husband also put in notes to them. We made both Moms' cry, which to me is a successful Mother's Day! Beautiful Graphic 45 products make Moms' cry! Thanks to Charee for letting me share my novice work. Soon, hopefully I'll try the more detailed embellishments, but while learning, I'll keep swimming in the shallow end of the Papercrafting Pool. So honored to share this blog with the 'real deals' - the design team and Diane Schultz herself! I would not have been brave enough to try out papercrafting if it weren't for them. " -Joanna Hardy

Supplies:

Graphic 45 5X5 altered art box
Graphic 45 Metal Tag Staples
Papers: Steampunk Debutante Fantasy Floral, Steampunk Debutante Time Flies, Domestic Goddess My Pretty Garden
Sookwang Adhesive
May Arts TZ02 Floral Ribbon

Supplies:

Graphic 45 5x8 Altered Art Box
Graphic 45 Chipboard Buttons
Graphic 45 Metal Clothespins
Graphic 45 Kraft envelope album staples
Graphic 45 Papers: ABC Primer and Domestic Goddess
Sookwang Adhesive

Here is a super fun interview with Joanna. We are so happy to have her on our team and we are thrilled to be featuring her on our blog today.

I am the Social Media Marketing Assistant at Graphic 45. I work alongside Charee and I also help organize our newsletters. It's a dream job!

I'm the one answering most of your questions on Facebook, loving your shared projects, retweeting your tweets, pinning pins to Pinterest, and helping brainstorm ideas for newsletters. It's all sorts of stuff, whatever comes my way each week. And thankfully, it's all a blast!

I've sometimes been mistaken for Weird Al. I mean, look at the similarities. And I do love a good parody song. It happens!

Well, Weird Al seems like a good place to bring this blog to a funny conclusion. Thank you all so much for joining us today! We have had so much fun getting to share today's Nutcracker Sweet sneak peeks with you! We also hope you all enjoyed getting to know the amazing Joanna Hardy! We want to thank her for her beautiful work on today's crafts and for her amazing contribution to our team. You rock, Joanna! We hope you all have a wonderful day. Please come back and see us tomorrow as we bring you even more sneak peeks and prize winner announcements! It's going to be tons of fun!

Hugs and Pretty Paper,

Your Friends at Graphic 45

Hello G45ers,

We want to welcome you all to today's enchanting blog! We are so glad you are joining us! This is a big day! Starting today we're beginning our sneak peeks for Summer CHA! That means brand new collections and products that you are going to love! Today we're proud to introduce Nutcracker Sweet, our newest holiday collection! You'll see sneak peeks of 6 of the new papers from this fabulous collection. You'll also get a chance to win this new collection before it's even available in stores! All this week we're giving away 4 prize packs every day! Each winner will receive an 8x8 paper pad and both coordinating chipboard die-cuts from Nutcracker Sweet! That's 20 prizes this week alone! Wow! Just leave us a blog comment today for your chance to win! Yay!

We've also got some winners to announce from last week's Graphic 45 and May Arts blog hop contest! Chosen randomly from our design team members blogs, the winners are...

Chosen From Denise Hahn's blog:

-Julie Short: "This is totally and absolutely gorgeous. Having just had the Ladies Diary Range arrive I have been oohing ahhing and procrastinating. Now I am totally inspired.
I hope your Birthday is a very special one."

Chosen from Clare Charvill's blog:

-Christina Ketelson: "Clare wonderful box and fantastic video showing it. That is one of the papers I have yet to get and hope to find it online soon. You did fantastic at the use of the May Arts ribbon and Graphic paper. Thanks for sharing!!"

Congratulations! Will our winners please email us with your shipping information at info@g45papers.com to claim your prize! And now it's time for some fabulous sneak peeks!

Enter a whimsical world of childlike delight with a gorgeous new holiday collection by Graphic 45! Introducing The Nutcracker Sweet, a dazzling new collection inspired by the classic ballet that is sure to warm your heart and enliven your imagination. You'll be whisked away on an enchanting journey of Christmas bliss, accompanied by all your favorite characters: Clara, the Sugar Plum Fairy, the Mouse King, and the Nutcracker Prince! Every dazzling page combines the melodious grandeur of this classic story with the charm of vintage-inspired Christmas. Gentle gingerbread dance amongst candy and holiday sweets as delicate snowflakes twinkle in the winter skies. The richly saturated color pallet radiates with shades of ballet slipper pink, candy cane red, velvety purple, glamorous green and delicate cream. This incredible collection includes 12 stunning new double-sided papers, 12x12 and 8x8 paper pads, coordinating chipboard die-cuts, stickers and stamp sets. Let all of your holiday dreams come true with The Nutcracker Sweet from Graphic 45!

"Nutcracker Sweet"

"Holiday Magic"

"Gingerbread Delights"

"Festive Fairytale"

"Land of Sweets"

"Christmas March"

And now to add to your inspiration we have two incredible projects from Tara Orr and Nicole Eccles! You are going to love these stunning works of art featuring A Ladies' Diary! Get ready to fall in love! First up is this incredible layout by Tara Orr! Take it away, Tara!

"Oh lord - do I ever ADORE this collection.  Perfect combination of vintage and softness.  I altered my photo just a titch and added slight hints of pink in my daughter's cheeks, etc.  I  must have taken at least an hour to decide which papers to use for my layout - I wanted to include them all - seriously, one of my all time fave collections for sure!" -Tara Orr

Supplies:

Hello G45ers,

We want to welcome you all to the final day of the Graphic 45 and May Arts blog hop! Wow, what a week it's been! We've had so many incredible projects that combine the vintage charm of Graphic 45 products with the beauty of May Arts ribbons. There's still more inspiration to come with today's blog! Today we're featuring incredible crafts from Jane Tregenza,  Maiko Miwa and Tara Orr of the Graphic 45 design team! Plus May Arts has some gorgeous crafts from their design team members Jinky and Leah! You'll love the gorgeous work these talented artists have made just for today's blog hop! Plus this is your last day to leave blog comments for your chance to win this fabulous Graphic 45 and May Arts prize pack! All you need to do is go visit today's featured artist's blogs! See their wonderful creations, get inspired and leave them a blog comment for your chance to win! We will be choosing two random winners from this week's design team blog comments and announcing them here on our blog on Monday, June 25th! So be sure to leave your comments today! You can also check this week's blog hop schedule, posted below, to see all of this week's featured blogs. Hop around and leave your blog comments for your chance to win! Hooray!

But first we want to take a moment to get to know the Graphic 45 design team a little bit more. To get you all in the weekend crafting spirit we thought we'd ask our design team about what keeps them inspired create their amazing work. Inspiration can be found in all sorts of places and sometimes inspiration is hard to find. What inspires the Graphic 45 design team the most when they're crafting? Do they form ideas for crafts ahead of time or do they just sit down with a pile of materials and see what magic unfurls? Here's what they had to say!

"These days I flick through the papers and get a feel for them, and then spend a while thinking about how to bring them to life and what I d like to make from them. That can take anything from 10 minutes to 2 weeks, lol. Then I start crafting and see what emerges. Its not always what I'd planned as inspiration kicks in" -Clare Charvill

"I usually start with the papers and then see where it leads me....usually by association (eg. "A Lady's Diary" might make me start thinking about all things Victorian and I'll sometimes search for related images on the net that inspire e.g Victorian houses / windows and it jumps off from there." -Sharon Ngoo

"I usually flick through the papers and decide the theme that I want to make using them: seasons, colors, photos and so on. After I decide about that, I select the patterns that I can cut out. I love cutting patterns. And before starting to cut them I draw the rough sketch. It takes from 10 minutes to 2 weeks. Then I start crafting." -Maiko Miwa

"Besides just Graphic 45 papers themselves, I find most of my inspiration at my local flea market. Usually I find things to alter or embellish. I also get frequently inspired by the colors and vintage and retro designs I see. Another thing that might inspire me is a particular embellishment or found object that I want to use and create around that item." -Denise Hahn

"What inspires me the most is the materials themselves. I lay the entire collection out. Then I pull from other manufactures that match the particular collection and just jump in and let the product "talk to me"." -Kristin Wilson

"It depends. Sometimes I get ideas from things around me and sometimes I take inspiration from the patterned papers. I like looking for images I can cut from the patterned papers then figuring out what project would work well with those." -Susan Lui

"Hmmmm. Of course the papers tell their own story as to what can be made from them...However, I guess I'm a bit backwards from most. (go figure!) I think about my design first: what I want to try and build, what I want it to do, what I want it to look like. Then I grab my papers and get totally inspired! When I begin to place that first piece of paper down and my project starts to come to life, that's exactly the point where I am in the "zone." Ever wonder why I trip over so many things? Fall UP stairs? Well  the reason truly is that I'm always looking and observing everything around me....Except of course what is below or around my feet! Inspiration is everywhere." -Jim, the Gentleman Crafter

"Inspirations for me come both ways depending on what I am working on. Most times I just enjoy sitting down with your papers and letting them guide my creations to form scenes, or images that really make a statement. I will look at all the little details of the papers, from borders to tiny accents that could be combined and let them be the driving force. The only thing I am sure of is what kind of project I will be making. Whether it be a canvas, layout, card, or altered project. Once I get going, it all just starts to come together, and sometimes I am left amazed and wondering how it all happened!?! When altering objects though, I try and think about the many different ways it could be changed or used to become something completely different. Once my project is in mind I will set to finding all the other objects and things needed to get started. This is where my mind just works mechanically thinking about all the objects I have available to me, and how they could be used in different ways for my creation. After I begin making it, the imagination takes over and I let your papers and objects become my guide." -Nicole Eccles

"I have to say the inspiration flows from a photo or an item that I plan to alter. I choose my design papers from there and then again... inspiration builds from the images/designs on the paper. I don't do a lot of planning with my projects, but always start off with a general idea of what I'll be creating. I pull out product and embellishments as I go. I love to do a lot of layering so I "try" things on the project (without adhering down) until I get the look I'm trying to accomplish. Because I do a lot of layering, sometimes I have to remind myself "less is more!" LOL! Once I get in a creative zone (or trance LOL), it's difficult for me to stop!" Arlene Cuevas

"I get huge inspiration from new products. I'm a major paper person and when I see gorgeous papers it just gets my creative juices flowing. I'll start matching papers and patterns so that I end up with at least 4-5 papers that 'go' together. I'll then get a jump start on a layout and to ensure I can use that papers I've selected without any competing colours or patterns, most of my photos will be converted to black and white." -Tara Orr

And now it's time for even more inspiration! Here is a sneak peek of a gorgeous Graphic 45 and May Arts project by Maiko Miwa. You are going to love this splendid creation. Hop on over to Maiko's blog to see the full project. Be sure to leave a blog comment while you're there for your chance to win!

http://shiny-scrap.blogspot.com/

Next we have this ultra sweet creation by Tara Orr. Hop on over to Tara's blog to see the project in its full glory. Have a look around at Tara's stupendous blog and be sure to leave her a blog comment while you're there! Have fun and enjoy!

http://eachmoment-onlyonce.blogspot.com/

And finally, we have this gorgeous Ladies' Diary Layout by Jane Tregenza.  You're going to love her coffee dying technique. 

http://janetregenza.blogspot.com/

Here we have the full schedule from this week's blog hop. In case you missed a day or two you can still check out this week's wonderful projects and blogs and leave blog comments for your chance to win!

Monday, June 18th:
Alberto Juárez : http://vintageodyssey.blogspot.com/
Gloria Stengel : http://gloriascraps.blogspot.com/
Nicole Eccles: http://www.nicoleeccles.com/
Jingle: http://www.justjingle.blogspot.com/
Charlene: http://www.paperandinkplayground.com/

Tuesday, June 19th:
Arlene Cuevas: http://butterflykisseswithlove.blogspot.com/
Jim, The Gentleman Crafter: http://thegentlemancrafter.typepad.com/
Betto Cesare: http://scrapguys.blogspot.com/
Vera: http://www.lingshappyplace.blogspot.com/
Latrice: http://www.latricemurphy.blogspot.com/
Karen: http://thebalddragonfly.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, June 20th:
Clare Charvill: http://mycreativespirit.blogspot.com/
Kristin Wilson: http://www.kristinwilsonhandmade.com/
Sharon Ngoo: http://glooshmoo.blogspot.com/
Jenifer: http://stitchcutcreate.blogspot.com/
Tiffin: http://www.linwoodavenue.blogspot.com/

Thursday, June 21st:
Denise Hahn: http://www.inmyblueroom.blogspot.com/
Laura Denison: http://www.followingthepapertrail.blogspot.com/
Susan Lui: http://luv2scrap-pages.blogspot.com/
Jen: http://jenshearsdesigns.blogspot.com/
Candy: http://candyscraps.typepad.com/scraps/
Kimberly: http://serendipityvintagestudio.blogspot.com/

Friday, June 22nd:
Jane Tregenza: http://janetregenza.blogspot.com/
Maiko Miwa: http://shiny-scrap.blogspot.com/
Tara Orr: http://eachmoment-onlyonce.blogspot.com/
Jinky: http://jinkyscrafts.blogspot.com/
Leah: http://1alabasterowl.blogspot.com/

About Graphic 45:

Graphic 45 an award-winning scrapbook and paper crafting company­— owned and operated by a mother and her two daughters.  Together we create vintage inspired crafting products that capture the flamboyant style of the 1920's and 30's - with vibrant color, irresistible texture and imaginative design to create products with decades-old appeal that's both fresh and familiar. Let our products inspire your next scrapbook layout, card, album or home decor project.

About May Arts:

May Arts Ribbon was founded in the early 1980’s in Riverside, Connecticut. The original products were high-end silk flowers imported from Taiwan, which were decorated using quality ribbons. The decorative ribbons proved so popular among customers that the business gradually evolved into a dedicated ribbon wholesaler. 

As a family-owned and operated business, May Arts began a long-standing tradition of quality, affordability and exceptional customer service. We are dedicated to carrying on this same tradition by offering high quality products at competitive prices. Our friendly, knowledgeable staff is always happy to answer your questions or to assist you in placing your order. 

May Arts carries a wide selection of quality ribbons to choose from; such as grosgrain, silk, satin, burlap and a variety of prints and patterns. All inventory is held in stock, so we can ship orders out right away—typically the same day.

We want to thank you all for joining us this week. Huge thanks to our pals at May Arts for this super fun week of crafts and collaborations. We've had the best time getting to share this wonderful experience. We also want to thank today's featured Graphic 45 design team members and May Arts design team members for their wonderful work today. Remember to come back and see us on Monday for this week's prize winner announcements. We also have an extra special big announcement to make on Monday. You wont want to miss out! Have a glorious day and a fun weekend, G45ers!

Your Pals in Paper,

Team Graphic 45

 

Hello G45ers,

Welcome to another super special day of the Graphic 45 and May Arts blog hop! Wow, this week has been so wonderful! We are having a blast getting to share this great week with all of you! We've got more fabulous crafts from the Graphic 45 and May Arts design teams, plus we're celebrating two birthdays today at Graphic 45! So today's blog is not only a fun blog hop but it's also a birthday party for Dustin Sims, office manager at Graphic 45, and Denise Hahn of our design team! So put on your party hats, grab a slice of cake and join us in wishing these fine folks a very happy birthday!

This is Dustin and today is his birthday. Dustin has been working at Graphic 45 for over two years now. He is our office manager and processes lots of the orders, emails and phone calls that we receive on a daily basis. He keeps the Graphic 45 offices running smoothly and he's also a super guy! Here is a little interview with Dustin so you can get to know the man behind the scenes here at Graphic 45!

Dustin! It's your birthday. Tell us a little about your time here at Graphic 45 so people can get to know you. How long have you worked here and what's your favorite part of the job?

I have worked at Graphic 45 since CHA Winter 2010. I enjoy working for a small business with a friendly environment and getting to work with the extremely kind scrapbook business owners daily. 

You're the only man holding down the fort in the Portland office. How do you manage to hold down the manliness for the Graphic 45 office? 

I try to incorporate lots of bacon into my diet and flannel into my wardrobe, but that is probably just coincidence. Working with the ladies here is a pleasure as well.

At CHA, many G45ers asked about you - what would you like to say to your many fans?

Haha. Thanks for always being so pleasant to work with. I feel like I know many of you even though we have only spoken over the phone.

I hope to surround myself with some good friends and enjoy a hopefully sunny day outside. I am also looking forward to getting home to spend some time with my family including 2 newborn twin nephews.

Here are some special birthday messages for Dustin from the Graphic 45 office:

"DUSTIN!!!  Today is your birthday! HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Hope the year ahead brings you endless episodes of Mad Men, delicious burgers, blissful bike rides and a plethora of delicious chocolate desserts (yes...ladies he loves chocolate like the rest of us)!   Thanks for always being the constant smiling face around the office...you're really pretty awesome!" -Aimee Filimoehala

"Happy birthday, buddy! I hope you have a super day celebrating your awesome birth on planet Earth! You are a constant source of good humor and solid judgement here in the office. I am lucky to have such a great pal to work with every day. I wish you a fantastic year filled with adventure, artisan pizza, comic books, and great pop songs that you wont admit to anyone that you love. You're the best!" -Kelly Woessner

"Happy Birthday D-dog!  I am excited to spend aother birthday with you, we are starting to rack the years up!  Which means I am one lucky gal to have such an amazing friend and co-worker.  Thanks for always being so patient, fun loving, kind, and thanks for that great smile.  To Dustin!" -Charee Filimoehala

"We are soooo lucky to have Dustin as part of team G45! He is truly an AMAZING person—kind, conscientious, dedicated and genuine through and through. I am grateful for the role he plays at Graphic 45 and more importantly . . . that I can call him "friend". HAPPY BIRTHDAY Dustin!!!" - Diane Schultz

Today we're also celebrating the birthday of Denise Hahn of our design team. Denise's incredible talents have been such a fabulous contribution to our 2012 design team. Every time we see a new creation from Denise we can't help but marvel at her amazing artistic vision. From all of us here at Graphic 45, we want to wish her the happiest of birthdays! We will eat a cupcake in her honor today! Happy Birthday, Denise! Here is a super fun Le Cirque birthday card created by Kristin Wilson of our design team. We are posting this great project for Dustin and Denise! We hope you both get to "get your party on!" today!

Supplies:
Graphic 45: Le Cirque Collection
Stampin Up!: Dimentionals, Cardstock
Accessories: Acrylic Paint: Craft Store

And now it's time to continue the fun with the Graphic 45 and May Arts blog hop! Remember that there's still time to leave blog comments for your chance to win this week's terrific prize! All you need to do is hop on over to today's featured design team member's blogs! Today we're featuring the wonderful blogs of Denise Hahn, Susan Lui and Laura Denison. Check out their marvelous creations and leave them a comment for your chance to win. In case you've missed a day or two we're also posing this week's blog hop schedule below. You can still check out all of this week's stunning creations and enter to win this amazing prize pictured below! We will be announcing this week's winners on our blog on Monday, June 25th! May Arts is also having some fabulous prize opportunities this week. Be sure to venture on over to their featured design team member's blogs today and leave a comment for your chance to win. Today they're featuring the work of Jen, Candy and Kimberly! Or you can go to the May Arts blog for all the fun and prize details. Hooray!

About Graphic 45:

Graphic 45 an award-winning scrapbook and paper crafting company­— owned and operated by a mother and her two daughters.  Together we create vintage inspired crafting products that capture the flamboyant style of the 1920's and 30's - with vibrant color, irresistible texture and imaginative design to create products with decades-old appeal that's both fresh and familiar. Let our products inspire your next scrapbook layout, card, album or home decor project.

About May Arts:

May Arts Ribbon was founded in the early 1980’s in Riverside, Connecticut. The original products were high-end silk flowers imported from Taiwan, which were decorated using quality ribbons. The decorative ribbons proved so popular among customers that the business gradually evolved into a dedicated ribbon wholesaler. 

As a family-owned and operated business, May Arts began a long-standing tradition of quality, affordability and exceptional customer service. We are dedicated to carrying on this same tradition by offering high quality products at competitive prices. Our friendly, knowledgeable staff is always happy to answer your questions or to assist you in placing your order. 

May Arts carries a wide selection of quality ribbons to choose from; such as grosgrain, silk, satin, burlap and a variety of prints and patterns. All inventory is held in stock, so we can ship orders out right away—typically the same day.

This first sneak peek project is by Denise Hahn, the birthday girl. You are going to fall in love with this gorgeous work of art! Just hop on over to Denise's blog to see the full project. Be sure to leave her a blog comment while you're there for your chance to win! Maybe even give her some birthday wishes too!

http://www.inmyblueroom.blogspot.com/

Next we have this fantastic sneak peek of a creation by Susan Lui. Hop on over to Susan's blog to see lots of amazing photos of this great project. Bask in some radiant inspiration and be sure to leave a blog comment while you're there for your chance to win!

http://luv2scrap-pages.blogspot.com/

And last but not least is this gorgeous sneak peek by Laura Denison. You will definitely want to see this brilliant Graphic 45 and May Arts creation. Hop on over to Laura's incredible blog to see the full project. Have a look around while you're there and see her other magnificent creations. Don't forget to leave a blog comment for your chance to win!

http://www.followingthepapertrail.blogspot.com/

Here is the full schedule for this week's fun blog hop! There's still one more day of this marvelous blog hop! But in case you missed a day, here is all of this week's featured blogs!

Monday, June 18th:
Alberto Juárez : http://vintageodyssey.blogspot.com/
Gloria Stengel : http://gloriascraps.blogspot.com/
Nicole Eccles: http://www.nicoleeccles.com/
Jingle: http://www.justjingle.blogspot.com/
Charlene: http://www.paperandinkplayground.com/

Tuesday, June 19th:
Arlene Cuevas: http://butterflykisseswithlove.blogspot.com/
Jim, The Gentleman Crafter: http://thegentlemancrafter.typepad.com/
Betto Cesare: http://scrapguys.blogspot.com/
Vera: http://www.lingshappyplace.blogspot.com/
Latrice: http://www.latricemurphy.blogspot.com/
Karen: http://thebalddragonfly.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, June 20th:
Clare Charvill: http://mycreativespirit.blogspot.com/
Kristin Wilson: http://www.kristinwilsonhandmade.com/
Sharon Ngoo: http://glooshmoo.blogspot.com/
Jenifer: http://stitchcutcreate.blogspot.com/
Tiffin: http://www.linwoodavenue.blogspot.com/

Thursday, June 21st:
Denise Hahn: http://www.inmyblueroom.blogspot.com/
Laura Denison: http://www.followingthepapertrail.blogspot.com/
Susan Lui: http://luv2scrap-pages.blogspot.com/
Jen: http://jenshearsdesigns.blogspot.com/
Candy: http://candyscraps.typepad.com/scraps/
Kimberly: http://serendipityvintagestudio.blogspot.com/

Friday, June 22nd:
Jane Tregenza: http://janetregenza.blogspot.com/
Maiko Miwa: http://shiny-scrap.blogspot.com/
Tara Orr: http://eachmoment-onlyonce.blogspot.com/
Jinky: http://jinkyscrafts.blogspot.com/
Leah: http://1alabasterowl.blogspot.com/

We hope you've all enjoyed this splendid day! Thank you all so much for joining us! We want to thank all of today's featured design team members from Graphic 45 and May Arts! We hope you'll all come back and see us tomorrow for more inspiration, fun and prizes! We hope you all have a great day!

Happy Papercrafting

Your Friends at Graphic 45

Hello G45ers,

We want to welcome you all to our third day of craft bliss during the Graphic 45 & May Arts blog hop! We are having such a great time getting to share this experience with all of you. We hope you're enjoying this great blog hop as much as we are! The combination of Graphic 45 papers and embellishments with gorgeous May Arts ribbons is truly magnificent. Today we've got more fabulous crafts to share with you from our design team and the May Arts design team! You'll see some alluring sneak peek images of today's featured crafts by Clare Charvill, Kristin Wilson and Sharon Ngoo. To see the full image of today's gorgeous crafts just hop on over to their blogs. Be sure to leave them a blog comment while you're there. That's the only way to enter to win this week's fantastic prize! We're giving away two wonderful prize packs of a Little Darlings 12x12 paper pad, Little Darlings Cling Stamps, Chipboard Button Staples and two beautiful spools of May Arts ribbons. We also have fun contests happening on our Facebook and Pinterest pages this week in celebration of this fun blog hop! So be sure to check them out! This week's blog prize winners will be announced on Monday, June 25th right here on our blog!

About Graphic 45:

Graphic 45 an award-winning scrapbook and paper crafting company­— owned and operated by a mother and her two daughters.  Together we create vintage inspired crafting products that capture the flamboyant style of the 1920's and 30's - with vibrant color, irresistible texture and imaginative design to create products with decades-old appeal that's both fresh and familiar. Let our products inspire your next scrapbook layout, card, album or home decor project.

About May Arts:

May Arts Ribbon was founded in the early 1980’s in Riverside, Connecticut. The original products were high-end silk flowers imported from Taiwan, which were decorated using quality ribbons. The decorative ribbons proved so popular among customers that the business gradually evolved into a dedicated ribbon wholesaler. 

As a family-owned and operated business, May Arts began a long-standing tradition of quality, affordability and exceptional customer service. We are dedicated to carrying on this same tradition by offering high quality products at competitive prices. Our friendly, knowledgeable staff is always happy to answer your questions or to assist you in placing your order. 

May Arts carries a wide selection of quality ribbons to choose from; such as grosgrain, silk, satin, burlap and a variety of prints and patterns. All inventory is held in stock, so we can ship orders out right away—typically the same day.

Now it's time for get your hop on! This first fabulous sneak peek comes from a gorgeous creation from Clare Charvill. Hop on over to Clare's wonderful blog to see this project in its full glory. Don't forget to leave Clare a blog comment while you're there for your chance to win this week's prize!

http://mycreativespirit.blogspot.com/

This next incredible craft was made by Kristin Wilson. You're going to love this gorgeous work of art. Just hop on over to Kristin's blog to see the full project. Discover some fabulous inspiration and be sure to leave a blog comment while you're there!

http://www.kristinwilsonhandmade.com/

Check out this gorgeous sneak peek from a project by Sharon Ngoo. Hop on over to Sharon's blog to see the entire project in its full grandeur. You'll love what you see! Be sure to leave Sharon a blog comment too for your chance to win!

http://glooshmoo.blogspot.com/

Just in case you miss a day during this week's fun blog hop, here's the schedule! You can always hop around and see this week's fantastic creations and get your blog comments in for your chance to win this week's great prize! May Arts is also featuring the work of two incredible artists from their design team, Jenifer and Tiffin. Hop on over to their blogs or check out the May Arts blog for more inforamtion! May Arts is also giving away fabulous prizes this week so be sure to visit their blog for more fun details!

Monday, June 18th:
Alberto Juárez : http://vintageodyssey.blogspot.com/
Gloria Stengel : http://gloriascraps.blogspot.com/
Nicole Eccles: http://www.nicoleeccles.com/
Jingle: http://www.justjingle.blogspot.com/
Charlene: http://www.paperandinkplayground.com/

Tuesday, June 19th:
Arlene Cuevas: http://butterflykisseswithlove.blogspot.com/
Jim, The Gentleman Crafter: http://thegentlemancrafter.typepad.com/
Betto Cesare: http://scrapguys.blogspot.com/
Vera: http://www.lingshappyplace.blogspot.com/
Latrice: http://www.latricemurphy.blogspot.com/
Karen: http://thebalddragonfly.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, June 20th:
Clare Charvill: http://mycreativespirit.blogspot.com/
Kristin Wilson: http://www.kristinwilsonhandmade.com/
Sharon Ngoo: http://glooshmoo.blogspot.com/
Jenifer: http://stitchcutcreate.blogspot.com/
Tiffin: http://www.linwoodavenue.blogspot.com/

Thursday, June 21st:
Denise Hahn: http://www.inmyblueroom.blogspot.com/
Laura Denison: http://www.followingthepapertrail.blogspot.com/
Susan Lui: http://luv2scrap-pages.blogspot.com/
Jen: http://jenshearsdesigns.blogspot.com/
Candy: http://candyscraps.typepad.com/scraps/
Kimberly: http://serendipityvintagestudio.blogspot.com/

Friday, June 22nd:
Jane Tregenza: http://janetregenza.blogspot.com/
Maiko Miwa: http://shiny-scrap.blogspot.com/
Tara Orr: http://eachmoment-onlyonce.blogspot.com/
Jinky: http://jinkyscrafts.blogspot.com/
Leah: http://1alabasterowl.blogspot.com/

We've got one more super treat in store for all of you today! Our wonderful design team member Arlene Cuevas is the featured artist on today's blog for Paper Crafter's Library. Here are some fun sneak peeks of the projects being featured today. Venture on over to the Paper Crafter's Library blog to see Arlene's fantastic projects. There's so much inspiration to discover today! Wow!

http://blog.papercrafterslibrary.com/

Well that's all for today, G45ers. Thank you all so much for taking the time to visit us today! We've got more fun in store for you tomorrow as we bring you more incredible crafts from this week's Graphic 45 & May Arts blog hop! It's going to be a wonderful day. We hope you'll join us for all the fun. Big thanks to all of today's wonderful design team members from Graphic 45 and May Arts. We wish you all a beautiful day!

Happy Papercrafting,

Your Friends at Graphic 45

Hello G45ers,

We want to welcome you all to another superb day of fun and inspiration! It's day two of our incredible blog hop with the fine folks at May Arts! We are so glad you've taken the time to stop by and see us today! We've got so much good stuff in store for all of you! All this week we're teaming up with May Arts to bring you the most incredible crafts and terrific prizes! The Graphic 45 and May Arts design teams are combining their exquisite talents to create gorgeous crafts that mingle Graphic 45 papers and embellishments with beautiful May Arts ribbons! It's a match made in craft heaven! Today we're featuring stunning projects from Arlene Cuevas, Jim the Gentleman Crafter and Betto Cesare of the Graphic 45 design team! You'll see some intriguing sneak peeks of their featured projects here on our blog. All you'll need to do to see the full project is hop on over to their blogs! While you're there be sure to leave them a blog comment. That's the only way to enter to win this week's fabulous prize! We're giving away two prize packs that combine Graphic 45 and May Arts products: a wonderful Little Darlings 12x12 paper pad, Little Darlings Cling Stamps, Chipboard Button Staples and two spools of gorgeous May Arts ribbons! Wow! May Arts is also featuring three of their amazing design team member's projects today! Be sure to check out today's blog hop schedule listed below or just hop on over to the May Arts blog for all the details. May Arts is also giving away some fabulous prizes this week so be sure to leave comments on their design team member's blogs for your chane to win! Fun, fun, fun!

About Graphic 45:

Graphic 45 an award-winning scrapbook and paper crafting company­— owned and operated by a mother and her two daughters.  Together we create vintage inspired crafting products that capture the flamboyant style of the 1920's and 30's - with vibrant color, irresistible texture and imaginative design to create products with decades-old appeal that's both fresh and familiar. Let our products inspire your next scrapbook layout, card, album or home decor project.

About May Arts:

May Arts Ribbon was founded in the early 1980’s in Riverside, Connecticut. The original products were high-end silk flowers imported from Taiwan, which were decorated using quality ribbons. The decorative ribbons proved so popular among customers that the business gradually evolved into a dedicated ribbon wholesaler. 

As a family-owned and operated business, May Arts began a long-standing tradition of quality, affordability and exceptional customer service. We are dedicated to carrying on this same tradition by offering high quality products at competitive prices. Our friendly, knowledgeable staff is always happy to answer your questions or to assist you in placing your order. 

May Arts carries a wide selection of quality ribbons to choose from; such as grosgrain, silk, satin, burlap and a variety of prints and patterns. All inventory is held in stock, so we can ship orders out right away—typically the same day.

These first sneak peeks come from two amazing creations by Arlene Cuevas! Hop on over to Arlene's blog to see these magnificent projects in their full glory! Don't forget to leave a blog comment while you're there for a chance to win this week's prize pack!

http://butterflykisseswithlove.blogspot.com/ 

Next we have an incredibly gorgeous piece by Jim, The Gentleman Crafter. You will love this enchanting work of art! Hop on over to Jim's blog to see all the beautiful photos and details about this piece. Be sure to leave a blog comment while you're there!

http://thegentlemancrafter.typepad.com/ 

And last but certainly not least is this fantastic creation by Betto Cesare. Here's the sneak peek of Betto's fabulous craft. Hop on over to his wonderful blog to see the full project and leave a blog comment for your chance to win!

http://scrapguys.blogspot.com/

Here is the full schedule for this week's fabulous blog hop. In case you miss a day you can always go back and check out this week's inspiring projects! Also be sure to check out today's featured blogs from May Arts! They've got stunning Graphic 45 and May Arts creations from their design team members Vera, Latrice and Karen! Bask in the inspiration and leave them blog comments while you're there!

Monday, June 18th:
Alberto Juárez : http://vintageodyssey.blogspot.com/
Gloria Stengel : http://gloriascraps.blogspot.com/
Nicole Eccles: http://www.nicoleeccles.com/
Jingle: http://www.justjingle.blogspot.com/
Charlene: http://www.paperandinkplayground.com/

Tuesday, June 19th:
Arlene Cuevas: http://butterflykisseswithlove.blogspot.com/
Jim, The Gentleman Crafter: http://thegentlemancrafter.typepad.com/
Betto Cesare: http://scrapguys.blogspot.com/
Vera: http://www.lingshappyplace.blogspot.com/
Latrice: http://www.latricemurphy.blogspot.com/
Karen: http://thebalddragonfly.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, June 20th:
Clare Charvill: http://mycreativespirit.blogspot.com/
Kristin Wilson: http://www.kristinwilsonhandmade.com/
Sharon Ngoo: http://glooshmoo.blogspot.com/
Jenifer: http://stitchcutcreate.blogspot.com/
Tiffin: http://www.linwoodavenue.blogspot.com/

Thursday, June 21st:
Denise Hahn: http://www.inmyblueroom.blogspot.com/
Laura Denison: http://www.followingthepapertrail.blogspot.com/
Susan Lui: http://luv2scrap-pages.blogspot.com/
Jen: http://jenshearsdesigns.blogspot.com/
Candy: http://candyscraps.typepad.com/scraps/
Kimberly: http://serendipityvintagestudio.blogspot.com/

Friday, June 22nd:
Jane Tregenza: http://janetregenza.blogspot.com/
Maiko Miwa: http://shiny-scrap.blogspot.com/
Tara Orr: http://eachmoment-onlyonce.blogspot.com/
Jinky: http://jinkyscrafts.blogspot.com/
Leah: http://1alabasterowl.blogspot.com/

That's all for today, G45ers! Thank you all again for joining us! We will be bringing you more fun from the Graphic 45 and May Arts blog hop tomorrow so we hope you'll stop by and see us again! Huge thanks to all of today's featured design team members from Graphic 45 and May Arts! We hope you all have a glorious day!

Happy Papercrafting!

Your Friends at Graphic 45

Hello G45ers,

We want to welcome you all to this super spectacular week of fun! We're joining forces with the fabulous folks at May Arts to bring you a beautiful week of craft inspiration, prizes and tons of fun! It's the Graphic 45 & May Arts Blog Hop! Hooray! All week long we're going to be bringing you wonderful sneak peeks of stunning crafts that combine Graphic 45 and May Arts products. You'll have a blast hopping around Graphic 45 and May Arts design team blogs to see the full unveil of each stunning craft! You'll discover lots of incredible artist, get totally inspired and maybe even win a terrific prize! It's going to be a great week!

Lets start by talking about the fabulous prizes being offered this week. We're giving away 2 prize packs of this wonderful Little Darlings 12x12 paper pad, Little Darlings Cling Stamps, Chipboard Button Staples and two spools of gorgeous May Arts ribbons! All you need to do to enter to win is to hop on over to the blogs of this week's featured artist and leave them a blog comment! Today we're featuring the incredible work of Alberto Juarez, Gloria Stengel and Nicole Eccles. To enter to win this week's prize just hop on over to their marvelous blogs, check out their gorgeous Graphic 45 and May Arts projects and leave them a blog comment! May Arts is also offering a terrific prize this week! Be sure to visit their blog to see sneak peeks of projects from their design team members. Hop around and discover more inspiration and enter your blog comments for your chance to win! Prize winners will be announced on our blog and the May Arts blog on Monday, June 25th!

Here is the schedule for this week's fabulous blog hop! In case you miss a day this week you can always go back and check out all of this week's incredible crafts and leave your comments for a chance to win!

Monday, June 18th:
Alberto Juárez : http://vintageodyssey.blogspot.com/
Gloria Stengel : http://gloriascraps.blogspot.com/
Nicole Eccles: http://www.nicoleeccles.com/
Jingle: http://www.justjingle.blogspot.com/
Charlene: http://www.paperandinkplayground.com/

Tuesday, June 19th:
Arlene Cuevas: http://butterflykisseswithlove.blogspot.com/
Jim, The Gentleman Crafter: http://thegentlemancrafter.typepad.com/
Betto Cesare: http://scrapguys.blogspot.com/
Vera: http://www.lingshappyplace.blogspot.com/
Latrice: http://www.latricemurphy.blogspot.com/
Karen: http://thebalddragonfly.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, June 20th:
Clare Charvill: http://mycreativespirit.blogspot.com/
Kristin Wilson: http://www.kristinwilsonhandmade.com/
Sharon Ngoo: http://glooshmoo.blogspot.com/
Jenifer: http://stitchcutcreate.blogspot.com/
Tiffin: http://www.linwoodavenue.blogspot.com/

Thursday, June 21st:
Denise Hahn: http://www.inmyblueroom.blogspot.com/
Laura Denison: http://www.followingthepapertrail.blogspot.com/
Susan Lui: http://luv2scrap-pages.blogspot.com/
Jen: http://jenshearsdesigns.blogspot.com/
Candy: http://candyscraps.typepad.com/scraps/
Kimberly: http://serendipityvintagestudio.blogspot.com/

Friday, June 22nd:
Jane Tregenza: http://janetregenza.blogspot.com/
Maiko Miwa: http://shiny-scrap.blogspot.com/
Tara Orr: http://eachmoment-onlyonce.blogspot.com/
Jinky: http://jinkyscrafts.blogspot.com/
Leah: http://1alabasterowl.blogspot.com/

About Graphic 45:

Graphic 45 an award-winning scrapbook and paper crafting company­— owned and operated by a mother and her two daughters.  Together we create vintage inspired crafting products that capture the flamboyant style of the 1920's and 30's - with vibrant color, irresistible texture and imaginative design to create products with decades-old appeal that's both fresh and familiar. Let our products inspire your next scrapbook layout, card, album or home decor project.

About May Arts:

May Arts Ribbon was founded in the early 1980’s in Riverside, Connecticut. The original products were high-end silk flowers imported from Taiwan, which were decorated using quality ribbons. The decorative ribbons proved so popular among customers that the business gradually evolved into a dedicated ribbon wholesaler. 

As a family-owned and operated business, May Arts began a long-standing tradition of quality, affordability and exceptional customer service. We are dedicated to carrying on this same tradition by offering high quality products at competitive prices. Our friendly, knowledgeable staff is always happy to answer your questions or to assist you in placing your order. 

May Arts carries a wide selection of quality ribbons to choose from; such as grosgrain, silk, satin, burlap and a variety of prints and patterns. All inventory is held in stock, so we can ship orders out right away—typically the same day.

This first sneak peek is from a gorgeous project by Alberto Juarez. Hop on over to Alberto's blog to see the full project! Leave him a blog comment while you're there!

http://vintageodyssey.blogspot.com/

Next we have a fabulous sneak peek of a project by Gloria Stengel. You are going to love this incredible work of art! Hop on over to Gloria's blog to see more and be sure to leave her a blog comment too!

http://gloriascraps.blogspot.com/

Next we have this super fun sneak peek of a project by Nicole Eccles. Hop on over to Nicole's beautiful blog to see the full project. Discover lots of inspiration while you're there! Be sure to leave her a blog comment too for your chance to win!

http://www.nicoleeccles.com/

We hope you all had a great time hopping today! This great blog hop will be happening all week long! We will have more fun and fabulous projects and blogs to share with you tomorrow! Also be sure to check out our Facebook and Pinterest pages this week as well! We've got two fantastic prize opportunities and inspiration to share with you this week. Fun, fun, fun! Huge thanks to Alberto, Gloria and Nicole for their splendid work today! Have a marvelous Monday, G45ers!

Happy Hopping!

Your Friends at Graphic 45

 

Hello G45ers,

Happy Friday and welcome to our blog today! With summer fast approaching it's a great time to start snapping some photos from your fun in the sun! There are so many wonderful moments to capture during this lively season: vacations, beach trips, picnics, family events. There are so many fabulous opportunities for happy times. Festive summer photos also make brilliant centerpieces for a gorgeous layout, mini album, card or any other craft you can dream up! Today we're bringing you some outstanding summer-inspired layouts from Betto Cesare and Susan Lui that are sure capture your imagination! Both of today's layouts feature our vibrant Tropical Travelogue collection. This is the perfect collection for summer layouts and crafts. The gorgeous colors and vintage island-inspired images are just perfect for this sunny season! So let the fun begin!

First we want to announce our winner from this week's blog contest! Today's winner was chosen randomly from our comments on Facebook this week. We want to thank everyone who left us blog and Facebook comments. We always enjoy reading what you all have to say! We've got some great prizes in store for next week as well so stay tuned! And the winner is...

-Cindy Fahrbach: "Mixing & Matching is one of my favorite things to do with G45!"

Thanks Cindy and congratulations! Please email us with your shipping information at info@g45papers.com to claim your prize. Hooray!

Next week we're having a very special event here on our blog. We're doing a fantastic blog hop with the fine folks at May Arts! We are so excited! Our design team and the May Arts design team have been working hard to create unique new projects just for this event! There will be lots of great prize opportunities and tons of incredible crafts that you'll love! We are obviously huge fans of May Arts ribbons. The photo above shows the May Arts ribbon collection here at the Graphic 45 office. These gorgeous and versatile ribbons blend so well with all of our products. We can't wait to share the inspiration! For more information about next week's blog hop you can check out the event on our Facebook page! Yay!

http://www.facebook.com/events/252419668193407/

Also we've got some fun news from our Pinterest page! Want to win this Olde Curiosity Shoppe kit to create this beautiful sign? Here's another chance to win this project in our newest Pin It to Win It Contest. You have until Sunday, June 17 at Midnight PST to repin this kit on Pinterest. Repin and leave a comment on Pinterest and you could be our winner! We are giving away one kit at random for every 50 repins we get! So be sure to pin it to win it!

Here's the link!

http://pinterest.com/pin/17170042299865246/

And now it's time for some fun in the sun with Tropical Travelogue layouts! And you don't even need to wear sunscreen to view these radiant layouts! First up is this incredible LO by Betto Cesare! Betto captured this beautiful moment in Rio with a fabulous photo adorned with stunning Tropical Travelogue and fun embellishments! He also created fabulous movement by winding beautiful ribbon around lovely fussy cut flowers. Paper distressing and inking also help to create a breezy look to this magnificent LO. So gorgeous!

Supplies:

Graphic 45 - Tropical Travelogue papers collections 
Graphic 45 - Tropical Travelogue tags 1
Graphic 45 - Tropical Travelogue stamps
Graphic 45 -  Metal Hinges
wood model airplane
Canvas
jacketed wire
Distress crackle paint - old paper
Archival ink - sepia
PanPastel - orange shage, magenta shade, ultramarine blue, phthalo blue shade,violet shade, yellow ochre,burnt sienna
Uniball Posca marker - White

Here is another beautiful Tropical Travelogue layout. This one was created by Susan Lui and it is simply outstanding! Susan took a happy stroll though Hong Kong with her new camera and then created this fun LO to commemorate the occasion. These sweet and simple moments happen all the time in our lives! The next time you're on a walk bring a camera along with you! You might just find the inspiration for your next craft masterpiece! Here is what Susan had to say about this fantastic LO!

"I was in Hong Kong recently for a short holiday and decided to scrap a layout of my new Lomo camera. I went for a clean layout with a fair bit of white space using Graphic 45's Tropical Travelogue collection. I cut out images mainly from the Exotic Destination and Island Jewel papers which provided me with plenty of travel images." -Susan Lui

The journalling tags were perfect for journalling about the trip.

Supplies:

Hello G45ers,

We want to welcome you all to another fabulous day of craft inspiration here at Graphic 45! We hope you are all having a fun day! We've got some magnificent crafts to share with you today that feature our glorious new collection A Ladies' Diary! You going to love today's crafts by Denise Hahn. Today's we're focusing on some splendid ways to use A Ladies' Diary to create beautiful altered art. There are endless possibilities with altered art. It is a perfect way to take an ordinary object and give it new life! Denise Hahn has created a beautiful altered jewelery box and altered cigar box. These crafts are so inspiring, you'll be itching to start working on some altered art of your very own! 

First we wanted to share some of our recent adventures with all of you. Last weekend Aimee and Charee joined the wonderful folks at Clipper Street Scrapbook Company in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. They had a magnificent time teaching at this two day event and meeting so many fabulous people.  In this photo is the talented Ken Oliver from Unibind and the lovely store owners, Stacey, Lori and Deanna, along with Graphic 45's Charee and Aimee.  Clipper Street held a contest where they asked their customer's to bring in the favorite Graphic 45 projects. Together Aimee and Charee picked out their favorite project.  The winner was Heather and her amazing Little Darlings altered art box.  Below you can also see Heather's winning project. So beautiful! Also pictured are Heather, Charee and Aimee posing with Heather's wonderful Little Darlings altered art box. What fun! 

And now it's time for some more fabulous altered art! Both of these projects were created by Denise Hahn of our design team. You can see some wonderfully creative ways to make stunning altered art out of simple items. This first creation is a gorgeous altered jewelry box. You can see how brilliantly A Ladies' Diary looks with this vintage jewelry box. It adds so much glitz and glamour! Denise did an amazing job of layering lots of beautiful embellishments to add depth and dimension to this stunning project! Here is what she had to say about it!

"I have been saving this vintage jewelry box for a special occasion and what better occasion than new a new paper line from Graphic 45! This was so easy to make, I just created templates for the windows with tracing paper and used tiny amounts of tacky glue to attach them. Then I created flowers with Ladies Diary paper and embossed them with gold to match the box. Then I dove into my real vintage buttons and trinkets to complete the box." -Denise Hahn

Hello G45ers,

Happy Wednesday to you all! Thank you for stopping by our blog today! We have some fantastic craft inspiration to share with you! We've got a special guest artist, the amazing May Flaum! She's created the most incredible crafts that are sure to inspire your day! You're going to love what you see! She's made some stunning layouts that will take your breath away. Plus we have a great interview with May that is tons of fun. This is going to be such a fabulous day! We're having a grand time here at Graphic 45! Yesterday we received this heart-warming thank you from the MS Benefit Scrapbook Retreat. What a wonderful surprise to open the mail and find it filled with cards and thank you notes! Receiving beautiful handmade cards in the mail is among the best things ever! And we were so happy to help support this fantastic cause. We thought we'd share the love with all of you! Have a look at these wonderful cards and photos!

We are very excited today to bring you the incredible work of May Flaum. May is well known in he scrapbooking community. Her crafts are incredibly captivating and inspiring. Her style is beautiful and diverse. She has a keen eye for mixing vibrant colors, patterns and pretty embellishments to create a unique statement in each of her creations. Her blog May Flaum Designs is filled with so many fun ideas, great videos, and great tips to inspire creativity! One look at May's work and you'll know exactly why we wanted to feature her work here on our blog! Ladies and gentleman, say hello to the magnificently talented May Flaum!

About May:

I’m a California born girl who loves life with her two daughters and firefighter husband. I love all things lilac, vintage inspired lace, Parisian macarons, doilies, afternoon tea, a good book with a happy ending, and great food. I have authored two books, and I’ve been working in the craft industry for nearly a decade now. I believe creative time should be fun, and that if I’m not enjoying myself I’m doing something wrong.

Most days you can find me blogging at www.mayflaum.com – and right now I’m running a free summer workshop on my blog called “Camp Scrap” with new content posting daily. Because truly? I love to share what I make. I hope you’ll come and visit me!

My crafting style has one rule – that I love what I do. I like to play a lot with paints and inks, and I do wander off the scrapbook page into mixed media and paper crafts too, but at my heart is scrapbooking. I love telling stories and working with photos from my life. I am not afraid of failure either – I embrace it as all being a part of the creative process. Color to neutral, vintage to current fashion trends – I’m all over the map and I just go with whatever is inspiring and I’m loving at the moment.

I love them all – but the basics and the kraft papers have my heart. At the core of my crafting is a lot of neutrals and I like to customize things, so I am always looking for great metal and kraft goods. Right now I’m really obsessing over a Ladies Diary too – love the tea and fashion bits.

Kraft cardstock. I can substitute and make do without a lot of things, but I need my kraft.

You say guilt, I think chocolate. Honestly I’m working really hard right now to eat right and avoid most sugar. So when I can have some milk duds or a coca-cola in a bottle or a really great brownie I’m in heaven. If I can combine that with sitting and watching a great show or movie, or maybe reading a book and doing nothing else but just enjoying – it’s heaven.

Here May explains the inspiration behind these wonderful works of Graphic 45 art! These layouts are simply stunning and filled with so much heart-warming sentiment!

One of my favorite lines for sure – and I love how the typewriter stamps worked perfectly for my title. I couldn’t stop stamping words! I will be putting this stamp set on all kinds of projects from cards to layouts in the future for sure. When I started playing with A Ladies Diary, I wanted to save it for the afternoon tea and Parisian patisserie photos I’ve got. Instead, I wanted to see if I could make it work for regular everyday kid pictures. One of my favorite things to do is to layer on color by inking or painting my background paper. Sanding, misting, and using other tools to distress and change a paper are other great methods too.

For this layout I used a brayer to apply a thin coat of white paint, then I patted and rubbed as much off as I could with a paper towel. Then I used the brayer with some yellow and blue mists (squirt mist onto craft mat, then pick up with brayer and roll on) to add some of the color I wanted without adding any opacity. The pattern still shows through, but it is a lot more subtle and works better as a background for what I was looking for. I also used paint and embossing powder to get an enameled look on my G45 butterfly – I love altering the metal bits! Whether you choose to alter stuff, use smaller amounts with solids, or mix and layer, you can do so much with these beautiful lines – and I’ll be sharing more (and my tea inspired creation) soon over on my blog. Thanks to Graphic 45 for having me as a guest!

We want to thank the amazing May Flaum for today's incredible inspiration! We encourage you all to visit her wonderful blog to see more of her fabulous work! Thank you all so much for joining us! We will have more fun-filled craft inspiration on tomorrow's blog. We hope you'll join us! Have a great day, G45ers!

Happy Papercrafting!

Your Friends at Graphic 45

Happy Tuesday, G45ers!

Welcome to our marvelously magical blog today! It's a beautiful Tuesday for some inspiration and we have it here for you. Today we are featuring two mini albums using the Tropical Travelogue and the Little Darlings collections. Our fantastic designers Betto Cesare and Susan Lui have created some crafting magic for us today. Susan even included a tutorial of how to make a mini from scratch. Get ready for some fun!

First off, we have a beautiful 5X5 Altered Art Box with a Tropical Travelogue mini inside from Betto Cesare! The texture is so rich, this mini album is sure to impress! Beautiful details with the rolled and distressed edges on the cover.

 

Betto Cesare is a masterful fussy cutter. Don't you Love seeing these details on the cover?

Betto maximized his altered art box by creating a beautiful scene on the far right panel. Great idea!

 

And now, the magical mini inside!

Supplies:

 

Next, we have Susan Lui's stunning Little Darlings Mini Album she made from SCRATCH! Including a tutorial so you can make one too. Fun fun fun!

This is what Susan Lui has to say about her Little Darlings Mini Album: "I whipped up this mini album using Graphic 45’s new Little Darlings collection as a gift for the grandparents. The raw mini album is really quick and easy to make. And all you'll need to do after making the album is to decorate it with your favourite Graphic 45 papers and embellishments. Here is a photo of the completed album:

 

3. Place the front and back covers side by side an inch apart. Lay the ribbon across the centre of the back of the covers and glue down.

4. Now onto the spine of the mini album. You'll need two sheets of vanilla cardstock measuring 5 3/4 x 11 3/4 inch each. Score each cardstock at the 5 3/4" mark. Then score at intervals of 1" apart. Accordion fold the cardstock. Do this for both sheets of cardstock.

 

7. Cut 5 sheets of Little Darlings patterned paper measuring 5 3/4 x 11 1/2 inches. Fold each sheet into half and glue the ends together.

8. Adhere each page on to the spine of your album and you're done! To securely close the album, just tie the ends of your ribbon together into a pretty bow. How simple was that?

Now all you need to do is decorate and embellish the mini album to your heart's desire. I decided on a lace cover for my spine and this is how it looked before I embellished the cover.

The inside pages - again I embellished the spine.

 

More photos of my completed album which I decorated using images from the Little Darlings patterned paper, chipboard tags, fabric, seam binding, pearls and flowers. The images were given more dimension using 3D foam dots.

 

So if you're thinking of making a pretty mini album for a mum-to-be or a brag book for the grandparents, why not give this a shot? Happy scrapping!" - Susan Lui

Wow! That WAS magical! Thanks to Betto Cesare and Susan Lui for their amazing mini albums today. Join us tomorrow for more inspiration! The fun never stops at Graphic 45.

 

Happy Papercrafting!

The Graphic 45 Team

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello Beautiful Crafters! 

Today Graphic 45 and ScrapbookSteals.com have partnered together to bring you a FUN filled day filled with great steals and a blog hop chock full of eye-candy, tutorials, videos and a contest!  Today on the ScrapbookSteals.com website they are featuring Graphic 45.  You will be able to pick up our Communique and Playtimes Past paper collections, along with a few of our Staples embellishments for a steal of a deal.  Just bounce over to their website for more details: http://scrapbooksteals.stealnetwork.com/ and make sure to pop on over to their blog: http://scrapbooksteals.stealnetwork.com/wp/

Now that you have had your retail fix you will need some crafty inspiration, and boy do we have inspiration in store for you!  Five of our fabulous DT members have created stunning projects using the ScrapbookSteal.com featured products.  Below you will find sneak peek images just click on the blog links to reveal the full project, along with supply lists, fun tips, tutorials and videos. 

Plus, did we mention a contest?!?!  Just leave a comment on all five of the participating DT blogs and you could win this awesome Communique paper pack,  Metal Door Plate, Envelope Staples, and a Policy Envelope Mini, a $45 value!  Winner will be announced on tomorrow's blog. 

Jim, The Gentleman Crafter

Jim has created a Graphic 45 Communique Hemingway Mini using our Communique paper and Playtimes Past collections along with a number of our Staples products, the metal Flowers and Chipboard buttons to name a few.  Here is what Jim has to say about this fabulous mini: "The Hemingway Album is 8 x 10.5"  The cool binding technique is held in place tightening the nuts and bolts onto the chipboard page units.  To allow for embellishments as well as the page thickness, I have stacked and adhered five, 1-1/4 x 6-1/2 pieces of medium weight chipboard.  I then adhered a binding strip to the stack.  I did this for all four page units."

For more photos and a supply list please check out Jim's blog: http://thegentlemancrafter.typepad.com/

Gloria Stengel

Gloria created this classic layout using our Communique paper collection.  Notice all of the techniques she has used on this one layout.  Loving the peek-a-boo holes revealing more fun imagery. 

Make sure to click over to Gloria's blog for more photos, supply lists and fun!  http://www.gloriascraps.blogspot.com/

Laura Denison

Laura has taken our Communique paper collection and paired it with out Metal Tags, Metal Buttons, Metal Hinges, and Paper Staples Flowers to created this elegantly beautiful Mail Box.  This project would be great as a gift, or if you can't part with it a great home decor piece for your own home. 

To see more photos, and project details please hop on over to Laura's blog: www.followingthepapertrail.blogspot.com. 

Arlene Cuevas

Communique 12x12 Scrapbook Layout "Class of 2012." Arlene has created her masterpiece using our Communique collection, Envelope Tag Staples as well as Metal Tags and Chipboard Buttons and Trim.  Arlene has a way with style and balance.  Loving the use of the Staples packaging, making sure nothing goes to waste. 

For more images and a YouTube video tutorial check out Arlene's blog: http://butterflykisseswithlove.blogspot.com/

Clare Charville

Clare has created this Vintage Writing Case and filled with nooks and crannies with Graphic 45 Staples.  I spy with my little eye, Metal Door Plate, Stamped Metal Brads, Metal Clothes Pins, and Staples Trim.  Clare. way to pack in the goodness! 

For more photos and a YouTube video make sure to hop over to Clare's blog: http://mycreativespirit.blogspot.com/

After all that hopping you must be aching for some one on one time with your crafting table.  We know we are!  We want to send big HUGS to our wonderful design team members who went above and beyond for this blog hop!  Thank you Jim, Gloria, Laura, Arlene and Clare.  We also would like to Thank ScrapbookSteals.com for this wonderful opportunity to partner with them to bring our followers great deals and ideas!  And last but not least each of you for taking the time to check out each of the deals, projects, and for leaving comments, you're the best of the best! 

Happy Papercrafting!

Team Graphic 45