Hello G45ers,

Happy Monday and welcome to another week of fun here at Graphic 45! Today is Labor Day here in the United States and many folks have the day off work! So we thought it would be good to bring you a fun Bird Song jewelery and tutorial by Denise Hahn to inspire you on this summer holiday! Also we have a brand new blog contest this week! Goodie! Today's theme is obviously our stunning new collection Bird Song so we thought it would be perfect for this week's blog contest to include a fabulous Bird Song 12x12 paper pad, a set of Bird Song chipboard die-cuts, a Graphic 45 5x8 Kraftboard Altered Art Box, Antique Metal Door Pulls and 3 Smooch Pearlized Accent Inks by Clearsnap! This week's prize is off the charts! 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 here on our blog this Friday, September 7th!

And here we have today's incredible Bird Song jewelry and tutorial by Denise Hahn! She's created some stunning pieces that you are going to adore! There are so many unique ways to create fabulous crafts with Bird Song. Here Denise explains her inspiration behind these beautiful accessories. Check out her wonderful tutorial in which she shows you how to create a marvelous Bird Song cuff bracelet! Wow! Take it away, Denise!

"As soon as I saw Bird Song I knew I wanted to create some jewelry pieces. Graphic 45 papers are great to add to soldering and resin projects but not everyone is a jewelry maker, so I included a tutorial for anyone who wants to take their Graphic 45 out on the town with them. All you will need is a blank cuff you can get from your local craft store and some heavy duty glue. I am sure you have the rest of what you need on hand. Trust me, I have been wearing these pieces over the last few days and people just rave about them. Oh how I love to say, "I made it!". Hope you will give some Graphic 45 inspired jewelry a try!" -Denise Hahn

Download DeniseHahnBirdsongCuffTutorial

Wow, that was great! We hope you all had fun and got inspired! We will have more fun in store for you on tomorrow's blog. We look forward to reading your blog and Facebook comments this week! Big thanks to Denise Hahn for her incredible work today. We wish you all a very happy Labor Day!

Happy Papercrafting!

Your Friends at Graphic 45

Hello G45ers, 

Happy Friday you all! Wow, what a week it's been! The Graphic 45 office is buzzing with activity as we've been processing orders for our brand new collections Bird Song and Nutcracker Sweet! This is a super busy time of year but we love it! Our new collections will begin arriving in stores very soon. We know you are all anxious to get your hands on these wonderful new products! Well we thought we'd amp up your excitement by sharing some stunning Bird Song crafts today! Tara Orr and Gloria Stengel have created some awe-inspiring crafts that you're going to love! There's an exquisite layout by Tara and two marvelous cards by Gloria! Inspiration is in bloom on today's blog! But first we want to announce the winner of this week's blog contest! This week's winner was chosen at random from our Facebook comments. And the winner is...

-Cathy Ross: "The Ladies Diary cards are absolutely gorgeous! And I can already envision an Advent calendar with the Nutcracker Sweet sweets!"

Congratulations, Cathy! Please email us with your shipping information at info@g45papers.com to claim your prize! This is the amazing Nutcracker Sweet prize that Cathy won! We will have a new blog contest on Monday where you'll all have a chance to win more fabulous Graphic 45 goodies!

And now it's time for some fabulous crafts! First up is this amazing Bird Song layout by Tara Orr. Tara used her classic paper layering and paper distressing to add gorgeous texture and dimension to this LO. You can really feel the love in this gorgeous work of art. The fussy cut birds and flowers look superb with stunning embellishments! This just goes to show you what you can create when you're inspired by love and fabulous papers!

Supplies:

Hello G45ers,

It's another gorgeous day here at the Graphic 45 blog! We are so happy that you've stopped by today! We've got some real treats planned for you! Today we'll be showing you some stunning tags from Tara Orr, Nicole Eccles and Clare Charvill of our design team. These amazing creations are full of inspiration and beauty that are sure to brighten your day! Tags are so much fun to make and they have so many uses! You can give them as gifts, use them as decorative bookmarks, attach them to some lovely ribbon to make a fun banner, or incorporate them into a layout or mini album. The list goes on and on! Tags can also be a great way to start a bigger project. Need to get your creative gears turning? Start with a simple tag and see where your imagination takes you! Who knows, your tag might be a gateway to a grand layout of mini album! Tags are super cool! So lets get our tag celebration started with this gorgeous creation by Tara Orr. She recycled the packaging from some Graphic 45 Staples and used it as the base for this tag. Then she used our lovely collection A Ladies' Diary as well as marvelous chipboards and pretty embellishments. The result is this exquisitely layered tag with a shabby chic charm. It's just marvelous! 

Supplies:

Graphic 45 Papers

Happy Haunting: Man in the Moon, Halloween Greetings, Midnight Magic, Bewitched, Trick or Treat, Jeepers Creepers

Happy Haunting Chipboard 1 & 2

Graphic 45 Staples: Ornate Metal Key

May Arts Ribbon

Colorbox G45 Decades Inks: Photogenic

Tombow: Glue stick

Scrapbook Adhesives: 3D Foam Squares

Ranger: Glossy Accents

Other: Left over G45 Pachaging tag

Next we have an enchanting tag creation by Clare Charvil featuring our brand new collection Bird Song! This tag is rich with vibrant color and elegance. You can see how Clare beautifully layered the patterned papers with Bird Song Chipboards and Graphic 45 Trim. All of this lavish layering gives this tag wonderful dimension. Here is what Clare had to say about this sweet treasure.

"These papers are just beautiful and almost too good to cut into. I kept a simple colour palet of creams reds and blacks (my favourites, for this project and after layering the elements added a die cut branch and blossoms which I coloured with distress ink pens.  Have fun if you make one for yourself." -Clare Charvill

Supplies:

Graphic 45 Bird Song 8 x 8 papers 

Pearls of wisdom 

Shanghai Girls 

Tranquility 

 Chipboard Die cuts 1 

Staples Trim 

Other supplies 

Black 300gsm card 

Memory box Grand Madison Window die 

flower punch from local craft store 

Art Glitter 

Sizzlits Decorative strip - Birds & Branches 

Glossy Accents 

Ranger Distress Ink - Black Soot 

Ranger Distress Pens - crushed olive, worn lipstick, scattered straw 

Bling from my stash

That's all for today, G45ers. We hope today's crafts inspired you to create some fun tags yourself! And 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 blog prize! We will be picking one random winner from this week's comments and announcing them on the blog tomorrow! We will also have more superb craft inspiration on tomorrow's blog. You're going to love it! Huge thanks to Tara Orr, Nicole Eccles and Clare Charville for their amazing creations today. We wish you all a beautiful day!

With Love and Pretty Paper,

Your Friends at Graphic 45

Hello G45ers,

Welcome to another fabulous day of inspiration here at Graphic 45! We are so pleased that you are joining us today! We are going to have a lot of fun. Today we're featuring some gorgeous card creations from our design team that feature A Ladies' Diary. You will see some unique and beautiful ways to create one-of-a-kind cards with this exquisite paper collection. You are going to love today's cards by Maiko Miwa and Susan Lui. But first we wanted to remind you all about this week's wonderful blog contest! We're giving away this amazing Nutcracker Sweet prize pack to one lucky winner. All you need to do is leave us a blog or Facebook comment any time this week. We will choose one random winner from this week's comments and announce them on our blog this Friday! How exciting!

And now it's time for some fabulous crafts! Now that summer is winding down and the transition into Autumn has begun it's a great time to craft! Having a sweet stash of handmade cards is always a great idea. You never know when you'll have the occasion to send something special to a loved one. Really any time is a good time to receive a beautiful handmade card! Let today's cards inspire you to create something special! First up is this gorgeous card by Maiko Miwa. This sweet little card was made with A Ladies' Diary papers and chipboards. Maiko also used some beautiful embellishments like Graphic 45 Trim Staples and Metal Butterfly Staples to give this card a loving and cheerful look. Behold the beauty!

Hello G45ers,

Happy Tuesday and welcome to our blog today! We've got a super special treat for you all! Today we're bringing you part 2 of Jane Tregenza's amazing 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. Today 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! In case you missed part 1 of Jane's tutorial series you can check it out here!

Jane Tregenza's Book Tutorial Part 1

Today you'll learn how to create another foundation page as well as Page 2 of the book and its accompanying mini book tag! Get ready for some serious fun and creativity! 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.

Book Tutorial Page 2

Download JT Page 2 With Photos

A page for our partner, or a male in our life.

Please follow the instructions carefully. Read each instruction to the end of the instruction before cutting. Lots of the papers are used in the mini book and tag as well as for your page, so you need to cut them the way I describe or you will run out of paper! All chipboard has been sprayed black. All papers have had their edges inked using Tim Holtz Distress ink – Vintage Photo and Colorbox Liquid Chalk ink – Dark Brown.

Please note, I am only human and do make mistakes, I have taken every care while writing the instructions, and hope they make sense. It is quite hard to write instructions as I know what I mean; but this does not always translate into the instructions. If you are unable to work something out, then please ask a question in the comments box at the end of the post and I will answer it for you as best I can. Or email me at jane@seriouslyscrapbooking.net.au

Materials List:

Olde Curiosity Shoppe Print Papers

2x Genuine Article

1x Optical Oddities

1x Race for Time

1x Bazaar of Wonder

1x Apothecary

1x Counting Down

1x Mercurial Masterpiece

½ x Olde Curiosity Shoppe

¾ x Exquisite Motif

Imaginarium Designs Chipboard

IDP0021 Perfect Man

IDS006 3.5 inch Clock

IDT0020 Tiny Cogs

IDA0006 Alphas Uppercase.

4x Black Cardstock

1x Cajun Cardstock

Metal Brads

Tim Holtz Distress ink – Vintage photo

Imaginarium Designs Sponging block or Tim Holtz ink applicator

Color Box Fluid Chalk-chestnut roan

Brads           

3L 12x12 Adhesive sheets

3L Classic Black Photo Corners

Wet Glue

The instructions for creating your 2nd page.

From your first sheet of Genuine Article print paper, cut a piece 8 ¼ x 10 ¾ inches. You need to place the paper in your trimmer with the print and images sideways.  Please cut the 10 ¾ inch measurement first, now remove your print paper and put in into your trimmer with the print so you can read it but upside down!. Now cut it back to 8 ¼ inches this will mean you are cutting the extra bit of the left end of your sheet.  Keep the leftover pieces for your Mini Book and Tags.

Cut your second sheet of Genuine Article print paper to 9 ¼ x 10 ¾ inches. You need to place the paper in your trimmer with the print sideways. Please cut the 10 ¾ inch measurement first, the remove your print paper and put in into your trimmer with the print so you can read it. Now cut it back to 9 ¼ inches. This will mean you are removing the extra bit from the right edge of your print paper. Keep the leftover pieces for your Mini Book and Tags.

Now when you place your prints next to each other, you will find that you have removed the extra bits from the middle of your double page.

You need to completely cover the back of both pieces of Genuine Article Print Papers with adhesive. You can use double sided adhesive paper or tape, if you use tape make sure you butt it together with no gaps in between each piece.

Adhere the 9 ¼ inch wide piece to your black foundation page first. Try and have the same amount of black showing along the top and bottom on your page. Remember this print paper is one inch wider, so it will go over the join on your foundation page onto the other page. You should have tape on your foundation page to help adhere your print paper over the join. Don’t worry if your print paper is not on straight. You are going to add a border around the page.

Carefully fold your page over, use your finger to run along the seam as you fold the page up and over. This will create a fold that you can see and use to line up your second piece.

Now you need to adhere your 8 ¼ x 10 ¾ inch piece. Make sure you are away from the centre fold of your page or you page will not shut nicely. To make it easier for yourself, don’t remove all the backing from your adhesive paper or tape. Just take a little strip off. Then if you don’t quite line it up right you can lift it off and try again. Don’t worry about lining up the print up in the middle as it not really that important.

Carefully fold your page over, use your finger to run along the seam as you fold the page up and over.

Fold the whole page over and run your hand firmly along the fold to set the crease.

From your sheet of Optical Oddities you need to cut the following pieces as shown in the photo above. It is important that you cut it as shown, as the pieces are needed in the mini book and on the tags. Just put them to one side.

From your sheet of Bazaar of Wonders cut the following pieces as shown in the photo above. We need the diamond border and black clock strip, the postcard, Olde curiosity Shoppe, the lady with the key in her back, and the eye chart. The rest of the pieces you can keep and use another time. Put all the pieces you need to one side.

Now we are going to make the pocket. From your spare black cardstock, cut two rectangles 6 inches x 7 1/2 inches. We only need one for the pocket; once the pocket is finished you will be adhering the second one to the back to cover all the brads. From your sheet of Race for Time, cut a piece 5 7/8 inches x 7 ¼ inches. Cut the 5 7/8 inches first then cut the piece back to 7 ¼ inches. Ink around the edges and adhere it to your piece of black cardstock. You should have a little bit of black showing at the left end and at the top of your black rectangle, don’t worry about having any black showing at the bottom or if you have too much at the right end. We will be hiding the right end and the bottom with a border. Cut a piece of Ole Curiosity Shoppe, (it has black diamonds on it). Cut it to be 5 diamonds high and 10 diamonds wide. Ink around the edges and adhere it to your Race for Time print, it needs to be 5/8 inches in from the left edge, 5/8 inches down from the top and about 5/8 inches up from the bottom. Don’t worry that it is too close to the right edge.

Find your piece of Optical Oddities, find the piece that has the glasses and words, use the above photo as a guide, you will need to remove the last word UNUSUAL to make it fit. Adhere it to your rectangle, it needs to be one diamond in from the left edge and near the top of your Race for Time.

Find your postcard, cut a piece of black cardstock to 3 ¼ inches x 5 ¼ inches (use a piece from your left over bits-foundation page). Cut a second mat from your Cajun cardstock, it needs to be 3 ½ inches x 5 ½ inches. Adhere the postcard to the black mat then to the Cajun mat. Add it to your rectangle; it needs to be ½ inch down from the top of the diamond piece and 5/16 inches in from the left edge of the diamond piece.

Ink an Imaginarium designs chipboard clock black and glue it your postcard. From your ¾ sheet of Exquisite Motif, punch a circle, and glue it to the middle of your clock.

Choose an assortment of Imaginarium designs mini cogs, some need to be black and others inked with vintage photo. Layer the cogs on top of each other and then on top of your clock. Use brads to adhere them to your pocket, make sure push the brads right through to the back of the pocket. Once your pocket is finished,  adhere your second black cardstock rectangle on the back. This will hide the brads and make sure your tag and book don’t catch on them.

From your sheet of Exquisite Motif, cut 6 - ¾ inch strips.

This border is done slightly different to our first page, so please read the instructions carefully. We will be starting in the top left corner of our page, then doing the bottom left corner. Place one of your strips on your page, leave a little bit of the black foundation page showing. Adhere it in the middle with just a little bit of tape. Place a second strip on your page again with a little bit of tape. Leave the ends of the strips hanging over your page. You will trim them off later. If you mess up a corner the extra length still attached will let you do the corner again if you need to.

Place a ruler diagonally across the corner and over the strips. Line up the ruler with the inside point where the papers cross and where the papers cross at the outer corner. Draw a line with a pencil.

Following the pencil line, cut diagonally across the top strip only.

Lay the top strip back down and trim the excess of the one underneath, using the top strip as a guide.

Once you are happy with your corner, repeat for the bottom left corner.

Now we have the borders on the left side of our page ready. We need to trim our borders back in the middle of our page. These borders need to come over the fold of our page about one inch. You can cut the excess off with a pair of scissors. Carefully remove all three border pieces from your page and put tape on the back of them, covering all of the strips. Adhere them to your page in the same place, checking that your corners line up again. Once the borders are on, please fold your page so you can see the fold crease in your borders in the middle. You need to see this when we do the other borders on the right side of our page

Now we need to place our pocket onto our page. It is to be a pocket with the left and top edge not attached to your page. You will need to put tape on your founation page, so the pocket is attached to the page on the right and bottom side and corner of your page only. Use the above photo as a guide. Please don’t worry about the right side of your page yet!

Now it is time to do the  borders on the right side of your page. Start at the bottom right corner. Adhere a strip to your page with just a little bit of tape. Place a second strip on your page at the top, again with a little bit of tape. Leave the ends of the strips hanging over your page. You will trim them off later. If you mess up a corner the extra length still attached will let you do the corner again if you need to. Place the third strip on your page on the right edge and over the top of your two corner pieces.

Place a ruler diagonally across the corner and over the strips. Line up the ruler with the inside point where the papers cross and where the papers cross at the outer corner. Draw a line with a pencil.

Following the pencil line, cut diagonally across the top strip only.

Lay the top strip back down and trim the excess of the one underneath, using the top strip as a guide.

Once you have done both corners, you need to trim the excess off in the middle of our page. Go to the middle of your page. Find the fold crease in the border that is already on your page. Cut your top border piece so it is about 1/8 inch to the right of this crease. It can’t go over this crease onto the left side of your page or your page will not shut right and your border will not look nice. Now you need to carefully lift all three borders off the right side of your page and place tape all over back of them and adhere them down again in the same place so the corners line up and the end of your borders are where they should be in the middle of your page.

Now we need to add some brads through the border and pocket to hold it in place. Measurer in from the right edge and add a brad every inch across the bottom of your pocket and through the boarder. Repeat up the right side of your boarder and pocket until you reach the top the pocket

We need to add three brads to each corner. Measure in one inch and add a brad, measure up one inch and add a brad. Line the two up and add a brad in the middle and in the mitred corner. Do this to all four corners.

From your sheet of Counting Down, cut a piece 3 ¾ inches x 8 ¼ inches. Cut a piece of black cardstock

4 inches x 8 ½ inches and adhere your Counting Down piece to it. Adhere it to your page, it needs to go on the left side of your page and ¾ inch in, and ½ inch down, from the inside edge of your border. Push four brads into the corners of your piece.

Choose a 4x6 inch photo and mat it onto a piece of black cardstock, mat it again onto a piece of Cajun cardstock and then black again. The first black mat should be 4 ¼ x 6 ¼ inches. The second mat from Cajun should be 4 ¾ x 6 ¾ inches and the third black mat should be 5 x 7 inches.

Adhere it to your page over the top of the Counting Down piece. It needs to be 2 ¼ inches in on the left and 1 ½ down from the inside edge of your border.

From your left over bits of Bazaar of Wonders, cut a piece 1 ¼ x 7 ¼ inches and mat it onto a piece of black cardstock. Find your diamond border, it also came from your Bazaar of Wonders and cut it to fit on top. Add the finished piece to your page; it will need to go over your photo. Add four brads in each corner of your strip.  Add a chipboard shape with a punched circle on it. Push a brad through the whole piece to adhere it to your page at the left end of the strip.  Use the rest of the strip to add the person’s name to your page.

Add your title to the top of your page to finish it.

Done, now we can start the mini book and Tag.

Mini Book and Tag Tutorial - Page 2

Mini book for 2^nd Page

Download JT Page 2 Mini Book and Tags Tutorial with photos ready to print

Instructions for creating the Mini Book.

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.

From your sheet of Apothecary cut a piece 8 x 9 ½ inches, you need to place the paper into your trimmer sideways and cut the 8 inch piece first. Then you can cut it back to 9 ½ inches. Ink around the edges, please ink both sides of the paper.

Fold the paper it in half, so that it is 8 inches high, but only 4 ¾ inches wide.

For your Cover

Cut a piece of Counting Down to 3 ¾ x 7 inches. Cut a piece of black cardstock to 4 x 7 ¼ inches. Adhere it to your Counting Down piece. For the photo mats you need to cut a piece of black cardstock 3 ½ x 4 ½ inches. Cut a piece of Cajun 3 x 4 inches and adhere the two pieces together. Cut a piece of Mercurial Masterpiece to 1 ¼ x 3 3/8 inches, cut a piece of black cardstock 1 3/8 x 3 ½ inches and adhere the two pieces together. Find your clock border and cut a piece fit on your Counting Down piece.  Adhere all three elements onto your piece of counting down. Adhere it to the front of your mini book and add four photo corners and a chipboard phrase to finish it off.

Inside

From your left over bits of Optical Oddities, find the piece big enough to cut two rectangles 2 ½ x 7 7/8 inches. Adhere them each side of the inside of your mini book.

From your sheet of Mercurial Masterpiece cut two pieces, 3 x 7 ½ inches and adhere them each side of the centre fold of your mini book and over the top of your Optical Oddities.

From your sheet of Race for Time, cut a piece 6 x 8 inches and fold in half, so it is 6 inches high and 4 inches wide. Adhere the back piece of it to your mini book placing it on the right side of the page, and to the right of your centre fold, as shown in the photo above. Use the left over piece of Race for Time, (it should be 4 x 6 inches) and adhere it to your mini book on the left side of your centre fold. Make sure both pieces are lined up but there should be a small gap in the middle so your mini book can close.

Inside Left page

To finish the inside left page, find your spare pieces of Apothecary Print Paper and cut one to 2 ½ x 3 ¾ inches and adhere it to your Race for Time piece. Find the eye chart from your Bazaar of Wonders print paper and mat it onto a piece of black cardstock and add it to your page. Add a photo mat (3 ½ x 5 ½ inches) to the facing page to finish it off.

Inside Page

Find your Olde Curiosity card and clock border from your sheet of Bazaar of Wonders.  Cut your card in half, and add each piece to the right page as shown in the photo above. Add your piece of clock border to the page; it will need to go about ½ inch up from the bottom. Find one of your eye charts from your Optical Oddities and trim it back. Mat it onto a piece black cardstock and adhere it to your page, add four photo corners.

Cut two photo mats 2 ½ x 3 ½ inches and add them to your page as shown.

Tag

Cut a piece of black cardstock to 4 x 7 ½ inches. Cut a piece of Mercurial Masterpiece to 3 ¾ x 7 ¼ inches and adhere it to your cardstock. Find a piece of your left over Apothecary print paper. Cut a piece of the border part with the bottles on it. It needs to be 1 ¼ x 3 5/8 inches. Adhere it to your tag near the top of the spotty piece. Cut a piece of Genuine article Print Paper to 3 5/8 inches wide x 2 ¾ inches high. Adhere it to the bottom of your tag. Find a piece of your black diamond print, cut it to be one diamond high and 6 diamonds long. Trim it to fit across the front of your tag. Mat it onto a piece of black card stock, make sure it fits on your tag. Once you are happy with it, adhere it to your tag.

Find your lady with the key in her back and cut a piece of black cardstock to fit in the middle of the square. Cut a piece of Cajun cardstock to 3 ¼ x 4 ½ inches. Add your Lady square onto it.  Add it to your tag to finish it off.

Once you have added your photos, you can place your mini book and tag into your pocket.

And you're done!

We hope you all had a lot of fun with today's amazing tutorial by Jane Tregenza! We will be featuring the third part of Jane's tutorial series on Tuesday, September 25th. We hope you'll join us! We will also have more gorgeous crafts and tons of inspiration for you on tomorrow's blog. It's going to be a beautiful day! Huge thanks to Jane Tregenza for her incredible work. We hope you all have a terrific Tuesday!

Happy Papercrafting!

Your Friends at Graphic 45

Tropical Travelogue Travel Album

Hello G45ers,

Happy Monday to you all and welcome to another glorious week here at the Graphic 45 blog! We're making it our mission to fill your day with as much joy and inspiration as possible! We've got some real treats in store for you today. We've got a brand new blog contest where you can win some fabulous new Graphic 45 product. Plus we've got stunning crafts from Arlene Cuevas and Sharon Ngoo. There's even a great tutorial! Today is going to be so much fun! So lets begin with this week's new blog contest! We're giving away this wonderful Nutcracker Sweet prize pack that includes a Nutcracker Sweet 12x12 paper pad, both sets of coordinating stickers, a set of chipboard die-cuts, Metal Hinge Staples and a Petal Point Ink Pad from Clearsnap! Just leave us a blog or Facebook comment any time this week for your chance to win. We will be choosing one random winner and announcing them on our blog this Friday, August 31st!

There is even more reason to celebrate today because this is officially the birthday of Sharon Ngoo of our design team! Last week we got a little too excited about Sharon's birthday and announced it here on our blog a week early. Opps! Well today is undoubtedly her real birthday. So we want to wish her a very happy day! We love Sharon's amazing talent. Her crafts are such a wonderful addition to our blog and design team. Happy Birthday, Sharon! You are stupendous!

To help celebrate Sharon's birthday we thought it would be fun to share this gorgeous Olde Curiosity Shoppe birthday card by Arlene Cuevas! This card is simply gorgeous! The vibrant blues and reds look amazing against the more subtle black and creme patterned papers. Plus Arlene did a great job of using Graphic 45 Metal Tag Staples and Metal Brad Staples. Here is what Arlene had to say about this marvelous creation!

"I created this masculine card for my younger brother who celebrated a birthday in May. The Olde Curiosity Shoppe papers are so versatile, and I just love the coordinating cardstock stickers. The coordinating embellishments literally take the thinking away so all you have to do is create! Hope you give a card a try using this fabulous collection!" -Arlene Cuevas

Supplies:

"My daughter is constantly doodling and drawing on all kinds of scraps of paper around the house so I thought it would be cool to make her a little doodlepad out of leftover jotterbooks we had lying around.  The project is simple enough that you could make it with your child and is quick and satisfying.  For my little artist, I of course had to choose papers from the Graphic45 Renaissance Faire collection!  But this would look great with ANY Graphic45 collection!"

And here's a step by step tutorial that can help you make this project with YOUR little artist!  Enjoy!

Graphic45 Supplies:
1.  Renaissance Faire Frames (die cuts)
2.  Renaissance Faire Bona Fide paper
3.  Renaissance Faire Tudor Rose paper
4.  An ABC Primer Chipboard Die-cuts 1
Other supplies:
1.  Chipboard from stationery store
2.  Twine
3.  eyelets
4.  recycled jotter book
5.  Ribbon - American Craft

Well that's all for today, G45ers. Thank you all so much for joining us. We want to thank Arlene Cuevas and Sharon Ngoo for their amazing work today. Once again we want to wish Sharon a very happy birthday. We look forward to reading all of your blog and Facebook comments this week. We've got a fantastic week planned for you. Tomorrow is part 2 of Jane Tregenza's book tutorial! You wont want to miss out! We wish you all a very happy day!

With Love and Pretty Paper,

Your Friends at Graphic 45

Hello G45ers,

Happy Friday, everyone! Yay! Welcome to our blog on this fine day! We are thrilled that you are joining us today! We have some wonderful treats in store for you today. Our Special Project Designer Robin Shakoor is going to take you on a tour of her amazing craft room. You are going to be dazzled by her amazing creative space! Plus we have some wonderful highlights from our Ning site to share with you. You will love the gorgeous creations that your fellow crafters have been making with Graphic 45 products! Also we have a winner for this week's blog contest! So get ready for some fun because this is going to be an incredible journey! First lets begin with this week's blog contest winner! Chosen at random from this week's blog comments, the winner is...

-Kristina M. Anderson: "Very cute projects. Love the little sign for the baby's room. Nice layering on the layout. Thank you for sharing these great projects! Look forward to seeing more tomorrow!"

Congratulations, Kristina! Please email us with your shipping information at info@g45papers.com to claim your prize! This is the wonderful prize that Kristina won! We will have a brand new blog contest starting on Monday right here on our blog! We hope you'll join us!

And now it's time to take a fabulous journey into the crafting room of Robin Shakoor! Robin is our Special Project Designer and she was also on out 2011 Design Team! She is an incredible artist and we think you are going love her amazing new craft space! Get inspired with her clever tips for staying organized. After seeing her gorgeous craft room we're sure you'll be inspired to make a creative sanctuary of your very own! Take it away, Robin!

Hello, everyone and welcome to my craft room.  I am still working on a few things in my room like paint color, stenciling, etc, but I thought it would be fun to share my progress with you today. The thing I love most about my room is the feeling of serenity that I get each time I walk through the door. When designing my new space earlier this year, I knew I wanted to create my own little piece of heaven.  I decided to trade in walls and walls full of crafting supplies for art work.  Now I have a space that truly speaks to my soul.

You can walk into my room at any time and find it looking like this…except when I am working on a project.  I usually keep everything contained to my desk area because I am all about having less to clean up after a day of crafting.  I have a place for everything and I always put things back in their place when I am finished.  I know I sound just like my mom, but believe it or not, this is now my mantra.  After each project I clear my desk before moving to the next project.  

Having a desk area is a very important part of my room as well.  I take lots of photos of my projects and I can’t imagine not having folders set up to keep everything organized.  I have my computer just a few feet away where I store folders on an external hard drive.  I have folders organized by paper company, project type, year, etc. 

When I began crafting 4 years ago it seemed like I bought everything I saw and jammed it into my room.  It was neat and tidy, but I was beginning to feel like the walls were closing in on me with all the great “stuff” I had purchased.  I have had purge parties where I grab a snack and go through my “inventory of madness.”  I have quite a few relatives who are crafters so they get all of my stuff.

I knew I didn’t want supplies to overtake my space.  I wanted touches of elegance along with function.  I didn’t just want a typical room full of artsy stuff, but a peaceful retreat to get lost in after a long stressful day.

My husband really went above and beyond and helped me with most of the decorative elements in the room.  We had two chairs that were just gathering dust and getting moved from room to room for over 20 years!  He had them painted for me and had seat cushions made for me.  I picked the fabric and he did the rest. 

I saw this shape on the internet and fell in love with it. I then drew the shape onto wood and my husband and daughter cut the design.  Hubby had my monogram embroidered onto white fabric and worked with an upholsterer to create a custom window treatment. Well, here it is!  My collection of Graphic 45 papers, embellishments and altered items.

Believe it or not, I am only missing two Graphic 45 paper collections, Baby to Bride and Domestic Goddess.  I was so busy working with other Graphic 45 papers that I missed out on these two collections when they were in stores.

I store all of my Graphic 45 stamps in one of my drawer units.  I absolutely love them!

Label, label, label!  I label all of my craft boxes and drawers so all of my supplies stay organized.

I hope you have enjoyed spending a little time with me today. 

Wow, wasn't that amazing! Thanks, Robin! Now it's time for even more inspiration! We're going to share some gorgeous projects from our Ning site! The Graphic 45 Ning site is a great place to post your Graphic 45 creations and get inspired with your crafting community. Here we have a few of the amazing crafts that have been recently posted to Ning. We encourage all of you to share your Graphic 45 crafts on Ning! We'd love to see what you are creating with Graphic 45!

http://graphic45.ning.com/

Here is a stunning Curiosity Clock by Victoria Lynn LeFevre. This clock was made with our Olde Curiosity Shoppe collection and lots of beautiful embellishments. It's so much fun and so clever!

Here is a completely lovely piece of altered art. It's A Ladies' Diary Clock by Maureen Cross. This is such a sweet work of art. A Ladies' Diary is such a fun collection for creating elegant works of altered art. What a wonderful piece of home decor! 

Here we have an adorable Once Upon a Springtime layout by Any Voorthuis. This is just so beautiful. The central photo is so precious. Once Upon a Springtime looks incredible with marvelous fussy cutting and sweet embellishments. There is so much love in this wonderful LO! 

Here we have some more amazing altered art. This is a stunning Little Darlings altered carousel by Nadine Cheramy. Wow, what a treasure this is! The colors in the carousel blend so well with Little Darlings. This would be perfect for a child's room or as a fabulous gift. We love it! 

Here is another fantastic Little Darlings creation. It's a Little Darlings mini album by Patty Albertson. The fabulous blending of colors and patterns makes this mini a true craft gem. The sweet ribbons also add beautiful texture to this amazing mini! 

Well that's all for today, G45ers. We hope you all had a lot of fun. Big thanks to Robin Shakoor for giving us a tour of her incredible craft room. Also big thanks to our amazing crafters on Ning for sharing their creations with us. We will have more fabulous craft inspiration and a brand new blog contest on Monday. We hope you'll join us for all the fun! Have a lovely day and a very fun weekend!

Your Pals in Paper,

Team Graphic 45

Hello G45ers,

Happy Thursday to you all! We want to welcome you to another super day here at the Graphic 45 blog. What have we got in store for you? Tons of inspiration with gorgeous creations from Alberto Juarez of our design team! Today you'll see an incredible back to school journal featuring An ABC Primer as well as a superb panorama box featuring Olde Curiosity Shoppe! This is going to be so much fun! Alberto is an amazing artist and we just know you're going to love what he has made. First up is this wonderful back to school journal. This is such a sweet creation! The kids are will be heading back to school very soon and now is the perfect time to start thinking about back to school crafts! This fabulous journal combines the stunning papers from An ABC Primer with many beautiful embellishments and sentimental photos. Just imagine the world of fun you could have creating a sweet journal like this for a precious child in your life! Here is what Alberto had to say about this darling creation.

"I created this album / journal for my nephew because he starting daycare in September and needed a daily necessities book for the caregivers that included details such as parents phone numbers, who will pick him up, food, sleep , bathroom ... I tried to also have it be a memory book for his life." -Alberto Juarez

Supplies:
G45 12 " paper
An ABC primer
One Two, bucle my shoe
Jumping Joan
Games and play time
the three R's
Bedtime stories
Building blocks
Happy go lucky
School Days
An ABC chipboard diecuts 2
Chipboard buttons stamples
Stampled metal Brads
Petaloo flowers
imaginarium designs diecuts
     main letter set
     kerri flourish
     corner embellistmen 1
May Arts Ribbon
Basic brown texturized paper
mini American Craft cooper brads

Next we have this marvelous panorama box that Alberto created. This box features our Olde Curiosity Shoppe collection as well as lots of beautiful Graphic 45 Staples such as Metal Butterflies, Ornate Metal Door Plate and Knob, Ornate Metal Keys and Key Holes! These boxes are so much fun to alter. If you have an old hat box or gift box that you've been hanging on to since forever, think about maybe dressing it up in some gorgeous Graphic 45 paper! These boxes make amazing gifts but they can also serve as beautiful home decor or storage for your treasures! Alberto's box opens to reveal a grand surprise inside. Behold, the world of wonder of this fabulous panorama box by Alberto Juarez!

"I bought this bottle of lemonade in York, England. It really was a spectacular trip and this bottle has a vintage feel that I fall in love from the first moment. I wanted to do something special with it and I thought to create a box that opens to gave you a scare and surprise and see the shining decorated bottle." -Alberto Juarez

Supplies:

G45 material:
metal-butterflies-staples
ornate-metal-key-holes
ornate-metal-keys
ornate-metal-door-plate-and-knob-staples
bed-of-roses
bits-and-pieces
exquisite-motif
genuine-article
race-for-time

That's all for today, G45ers. We hope you all had a great time! Remember that today is the last day to leave us a blog or Facebook comment for your chance to win this week's fabulous prize pack of An ABC Primer goodies! We will announce our random winner on tomorrow's blog. We'll also be bringing you more splendid works of craft art to inspire your day! Huge thanks to Alberto Juarez for his incredible creations today! We hope you'll all come back and see us tomorrow for more excitement here at the Graphic 45 blog. Have a beautiful day!

Happy Papercrafting!

Your Friends at Graphic 45

Hello G45ers,

Happy Wednesday and welcome to our blog on this lovely day! We are so glad you've stopped by! There are many reasons to celebrate today. We're bringing you some splendid creations from Kristin Wilson. There is a gorgeous Le Romantique card and sketch as well as a stunning Kraft Reflections layout! Plus Jane Tregenza is being featured on today's Paper Crafter's Library blog! You'll see a fabulous sneak peek image of Jane's Happy Haunting creation. All you need to do is hop on over to the Paper Crafter's Library blog to see the full project! Today is going to be so much fun! Don't forget that there's still time to leave us a blog or Facebook comment this week for your chance to win our wonderful ABC Primer prize pack! We will be picking one random winner from this week's blog or Facebook comments and announcing them on Friday's blog! This is the prize we're giving away this week. Oooh, so pretty!

And now it's time for some grand inspiration from Kristin Wilson! Today is extra special because it's Kristin's birthday! Hooray! We just wanted to wish her a very happy day. Kristin's art is such an inspiration to all of us and we hope she enjoys her birthday very much! Happy Birthday, Kristin! You are fabulous!

Here is one of Kristin's beautiful crafts. It's a splendid anniversary card made with Le Romantique. Kristin created this card in just 10 minutes! This is a super beautiful and easy card that is sure to make anyone smile. Kristin even included a sketch to help you create one of your very own. It's fantastic!

Supplies:

Graphic 45: Le’ Romatique Collection, A Ladies Diary Alphabet Stickers
Ranger: Liquid Pearls
Stampin Up!: Cardstock, Stamp, Ink
Spellbinders: Die
Craft Store: Metal Corners, Acrylic Paint

Here is another stunning creation by Kristin Wilson that coordinates perfectly with her 10 minute Le Romantique card. This is a gorgeous Kraft Reflections layout! Kristin created this lovely LO as a gift for a family member's wedding anniversary. The delicate floral patterns of Kraft Reflections look incredible with the Prima flowers and Graphic 45 Metal Button Staples. Did you know that the traditional gift for 1st wedding anniversaries is paper? If you or a loved one has a 1st wedding anniversary coming up, think about creating a special card or layout using beautiful Graphic 45 paper!

Supplies:

Graphic 45: Kraft Reflections Collection, Tropical Travelogue Collection, Metal Hinges, Metal Brads
Prima: Flowers
Stampin Up!: Stamps, Ink
Maya Road: Wood Buttons
Papertrey Ink: Pennant Die
Want2Scrap: Bling
Craft Store: Pearl Brads, Doilies, Bakers Twine

Next we invite you all to venture on over to the Paper Crafter's Library blog where Jane Tregenza is being featured today! She's created an amazing Happy Haunting patchwork project that is just so lovely. Here is a sneak peek of this adorable creation. Hop on over to the Paper Crafter's Library blog to see Jane's full project. You're going to love it! Here is what Jane had to say about this marvelous work of art!

"I have been wanting to do a set of Halloween Patchwork pieces for a while, but we don’t really do Halloween in Australia. So when Graphic 45 and Paper Crafters Library asked me to do a project using the new  Happy Haunting collection, I knew exactly what I wanted to create.  I love this form of scrapbooking, it is highly addictive and so much fun.  I have made over 400 of these squares, each one is different and all are made with Graphic 45’s amazing print papers. For my Paper Crafters Library project, I  have used one of Graphic 45’s 8x8 Happy Haunting paper pads.  I used the 8x8 paper pad because the prints are smaller and perfect for a mini project like this one. This would make the perfect Halloween gift for someone special, or a perfect memento of many special Halloween celebrations." -Jane Tregenza

Paper Crafter's Library Blog:

http://blog.papercrafterslibrary.com/

That's all for today, G45ers. We want to thank you all so much for joining us. We hope you had fun. We want to thank the birthday girl, Kristin Wilson, for her amazing work today. Also big thanks to Jane Tregenza for her fabulous creation. We hope you all have a great day! We will be back tomorrow with more joyous crafts to make you smile!

With Hugs and Pretty Paper,

Your Friends at Graphic 45

Nutcracker Sweet Christmas Tag

Download the Nutcracker Sweet Project Sheet

Hello G45ers,

Happy Monday and thanks for joining us on this fantastic day! We've got some terrific inspiration on today's blog to help bring some bliss to your day! We've got gorgeous crafts and a brand new blog contest! It's going to be great! Today is all about our fabulous vintage schoolhouse-inspired collection An ABC Primer! Pretty soon the kids will be heading back to school again. We thought this would be a great time to start thinking about fun back to school crafts! Today you'll see a gorgeous altered lunch money box and tutorial by Denise Hahn and an adorable layout by Arlene Cuevas! There is so much to discover on today's blog! We thought we'd begin with this fun eecard that we found. We're sure this will speak to many of you crafting moms out there!

Lets talk about this weeks new blog contest! Want to win this awesome prize pack of An ABC Primer? Just leave us a blog or Facebook comment any time this week! We will choose one random winner from this week's comments and announce them on our blog this Friday, August 24th! This week's prize pack includes a beautiful 12x12 paper pad of An ABC Primer, a Graphic 45 5x5 Altered Art Box, Chipboard Buttons and 3 wonderful chipboards from Imaginarium Designs! What fun! We can't wait to read your comments this week!

And now it's time for the crafts! First up is a super clever creation by Denise Hahn. It's a fantastic lunch money box and tutorial! This is such a great idea, both beautiful and functional! Create one of your very own with Denise's fun tutorial! Here is what Denise had to say about this splendid work of art!

"When I was little there was always a little dish or tray on the breakfast bar that my Mom and Dad would toss change (and if we were lucky dollars!) into for lunch money. So for Back to School I took it up an notch and created this little ABC Primer Lunch Money Box. At first I was looking for something to alter, but when I couldn't find the right piece, I took a play at of Jim Hankins playbook and made my own with chipboard. If you find creating something from scratch out of chipboard intimidating, my tutorial will give you a great, easy jumping off point to get you started. Another tip is to use subject related ephemera to adorn your projects- In this case I used a brown lunch bag for the background and even a few old copper pennies for the extra vintage touch." -Denise Hahn

Next we have another splendid creation featuring An ABC Primer. This is a super sweet layout by Arlene Cuevas! This LO is just perfect. It's got an adorable central photo and lots of stunning layers and patterns. Think about what kind of fun back to school layout you'd like to create! Arlene even gives some great tips on how she created this marvelous LO. Take it away, Arlene!

"I have wanted to create a scrapbook page of this picture of my 3 boys and An ABC Primer was the perfect paper collection to get me started! I find it quite difficult to find masculine papers, but An ABC Primer delivered! I did a TON of layering around the photo with Graphic 45 Staples and images from An ABC Primer. I also took little strips of May Arts ribbon and layered them in to create additional dimension and fun! TIP: When creating a scrapbook page, have FUN with it! Layer to your heart’s content. Don’t feel limited. You can never go wrong! Always start off with the photo. Most often, the photo will inspire what comes next. Can’t wait to see what you create!" -Arlene Cuevas

Supplies:

An ABC Primer paper collection
An ABC Primer Chipboard Tags 2
Staples Metal Tags
Staples Metal Brads
Flower Staples
Chipboard Button Staples
May Arts ribbon
Imaginarium Designs laser cut “The Boys”
Lindy’s Stamp Gang Starburst Spray – Golden Lump’O Coal
Ranger Fine Black Embossing powder
Ranger Distress Ink – Black Soot
Momenta metal book corners
Fiskars Page Punch
Cheery Lynn Designs – French Pastry Doily die
Paper Trey Ink – True Black cardstock

That's all for today, G45ers! Thank you so much for joining us. We hope you enjoyed today's fantastic crafts featuring An ABC Primer. We will be back tomorrow with more super inspiration to brighten your day. We want to thank Denise Hahn and Arlene Cuevas for their stunning creations. We wish you all a marvelous Monday!

Happy Papercrafting!

Your Friends at Graphic 45

When Pigs Fly Layout

Download the When Pigs Fly Project Sheet

Hello G45ers,

Happy Friday to you all! Welcome to our blog today! It's the last day of our week-long focus on our fabulous Halloween collection Happy Haunting. We've seen so many amazing creations this week and we've got more inspiration to bring you today! Gloria Stengel has created a fantastic Happy Haunting stamping tutorial video series. Plus we have a gorgeous card by Arlene Cuevas! We're also continuing our series of craft room tours from our design team. Today we'll be showing you the fabulous crafting space belonging to the amazing Tara Orr! She's got some fun tips for organizing and decorating your creative space! And as if that weren't enough, we've got a blog prize winner to announce! Today is packed full of fun to get you inspired for weekend crafting! So lets get the party started! First we wanted to share this great Nutcracker Sweet card we got in the mail yesterday. This came from one of the lucky winners of our Nutcracker Sweet sneak peek prize! We are sending out our sneak peek prizes of our new Graphic 45 Staples this week as well! We love getting beautiful cards in the mail! Big thanks to Jean Marmo for this little cutie!

And now it's prize time! Huge thanks to everyone who left us a blog or Facebook comment this week. We totally love hearing from our wonderful crafting community! This week's winner was chosen randomly from our Facebook comments. And the winner is...

-Dori Garbutt: "Love this paper! SOOO many ideas!"

Congratulations, Dori! Please email us with your shipping informtaion at info@g45papers.com to claim your prize! This is the great Happy Haunting prize that Dori won! We have a new blog contest each week so there's always a chance to win something fabulous from Graphic 45!

And now it's time to take a magical journey to the craft room of Tara Orr. Tara is one of the amazing members of the Graphic 45 design team. Her work is out of this world and today you're going to get to see the epicenter of her inspiration! Check out these great photos of Tara's craft space in her lovely home in British Columbia, Canada. Tara even gives some great tips for making your own creative sanctuary! Take it away, Tara!

"This is my dining room converted to my scrap space...not an actual scrap ROOM (I wish)! Oh well! It does host my scrappy stuff and it is my sanctuary once the kiddos are all in bed.  I have a vintage trunk full of lace, ribbons, crochet and paper doilies and I adore everything in it.  Above the trunk is a shelving rack where each compartment holds about 7 paper pads where I can store my older collections that I still love but with which I am not currently working.  I have SO much paper and I love it! Because I work for many manufacturers, I have lots of STUFF!  I had jewels and flowers and papers and chipboard and embellies EVERYWHERE and the system I had (spread out in boxes on the floor) was not working for me.  I need to see what I have or I simply will not use it.  I decided to showcase all my fave embellishments (from chipboard pieces to rub ons, metal pieces, flowers, bling, lace, trinkets, buttons, etc) on pegboard.  I also love the fact that the items are all off the ground now - giving me more room in my craft area. I have a little area that I store most of my punches and my photo printer where I print my photos off as I need them.  The rest of my stuff is all stored in the drawers or put away for future use. Well, that is about it.... What you see is what you get.  Its what I use on a daily basis. I store all my projects and layouts in rubbermaid containers (the big ones) and put them up in the attic (how horrible, I know - but I simply do not have the space in my room).  I know that the kids will all enjoy them in years to come." -Tara Orr

Wow, thanks Tara for that fabulous tour! Now it's time for some amazing Happy Haunting crafts! First up is this incredible stamping tutorial video series by Gloria Stengel! Gloria is the queen of stamps. She deserves a crown for her stamping prowess. Today she's going to show you some wonderful stamping  techniques for creating this lovely Happy Haunting postcard. Have fun and get inspired for Halloween crafting! Take it away, Gloria!

Supplies:

Graphic 45 Papers:
12x12 Happy Haunting: Pumpkin Time, Jeeper's Creeper's
8x8 Happy Haunting: Happy Haunting
Graphic 45 Stamps:
Happy Haunting: Cling Stamps 2, Cling Stamps 3
Other:
Lunch bag: craft supply
Twine: Orange, Black Divine Twine (Really Reasonable Ribbon)
Cardstock: American Crafts black; Copic white
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black: Clearsnap Colorbox Fluid Chalk Dragonfly Black, Ice Blue, Lime Pastel, Warm Violet; Copic markers; Sakura Gelly Roll Star Dust glitter pen

Part 1: Masking:

Part 2: Coloring:

Part 3: Making a Postcard:

Next we have another splendid Happy Haunting creation! This is a gorgeous card created by Arlene Cuevas. This adorable card really captures the sweet wholesomeness of Happy Haunting. Some nice fussy cutting, paper layering and sweet chipboards and embellishments make this card a true craft gem! Here is what Arlene had to say about the inspiration behind this precious creation.

“Halloween happens to be one of my favorite times of the year. My children bring the spirit of Halloween to life for me with their laughter and smiles. The new Happy Haunting is the PERFECT collection to capture those Halloween memories and create fun projects to bring the Halloween holiday to life! I created this 5 ½” x 5 ½” card using the Happy Haunting paper collection by Graphic 45. I am truly inspired by the graphics on this paper collection, which capture the laughter and smiles of children on Halloween!” -Arlene Cuevas

Supplies:

Hello G45ers,

We want to welcome you all to our joyful blog today! We are so glad that you are joining us. Today's crafts are sure to bring smiles and inspiration to your day. This week has been so much fun! We're highlighting gorgeous creations that feature our marvelous Halloween collection Happy Haunting! We've seen so many magnificent crafts so far and there's even more inspiration on the way! Even though it's the middle of August we've already started to notice that some of the leaves have begun to change ever so slightly. We may still be enjoying the heat of summer but fall isn't that far away. Happy Haunting is such a fabulous collection for all of your Autumn and Halloween crafts. Today you'll see some fun a fabulous Happy Haunting layout from Jane Tregenza and a tag by Arlene Cuevas of our design team.  So let's get started! First we have this adorable LO by Jane Tregenza. Jane has some great tips on how this heartwarming LO was created. Take it away, Jane!

"We don’t really celebrate Halloween in Australia, but it is catching on slowly. My daughter Anna did a trip of a life time last year. She is a Harry Potter fan and she did a tour of England, travelling to all the locations used in the movies. She then travelled to the USA the theme parks in Orlando before returning home. At the Harry Potter theme park, she brought herself a set of robes. As soon as I saw the new papers from Happy Haunting I knew I wanted to used some of Anna’s photos from her trip.  I used a piece of Fright Night as the foundation for my layout. I wanted to hide the pumpkin border on the page. Cut strips  from Enchanted Garden and placed them over the top. I outlined the green leaves with a touch of glitter. To cover the middle images on the page I used Midnight Magic.  I loved the gate on this print, so I cut it out and added to my page with 3l foam squares.  I used some words form the sticker sheet and some spells words I printed onto cardstock and glued them onto the fence. I matted my photo and double matted it with Bewitched.  I just added my title and corner to finish it. I love all the colours of this new collection, and I will be using it for more layouts on Anna’s trip. I wish you could have see her face when I showed her the finished layout. She is so excited that it is going to America and will be on show in the states. She has been telling everyone she has met since, that her mum did a page with her photo on it and it is in America and everyone is going to see it!" -Jane Tregneza

Supplies:

Fright night
Bewitched
Enchanted garden
Midnight magic.
Happy haunting stickers
Imaginarium Designs corners and title

Next we have this amazing Happy Haunting tag created by Arlene Cuevas. You can see how beautifully Arlene combined the gorgeous papers of Happy Haunting with the Happy Haunting Chipboard Die-Cuts in this fun tag. Layering the papers and chipboards adds such stunning dimension to any craft creation. Tags are so much fun to make and this one is extra pretty! Here is what Arlene had to say about this amazing creation!

“Creating tags is one of my favorite things to do – the creative possibilities are endless! Tags are the perfect alternative to sending a card to a friend or loved one (TIP: Write your greeting on the back of the tag and ship it in a small flat rate box that would typically fit a DVD. This would ensure dimensional tags sustain less damage in shipment.Happy Haunting is such a FUN collection to play with. The images on this paper collection capture the true joy of Halloween and the Autumn season.” -Arlene Cuevas

We hope you all enjoyed today's Happy Haunting crafts! Big thanks to Jane Tregenza and Arlene Cuevas for the fabulous work today. Remember that there's still time to leave us a blog or Facebook comment today for your chance to win this week's terrific Happy Haunting prize pack! We will be choosing one random winner announcing them on tomorrow's blog! We'll also be bringing you more inspiring Happy Haunting crafts and another special surprise on tomorrow's blog. We hope you'll join us! Have a delightful day, G45ers!

Happy Papercrafting!

Your Friends at Graphic 45

Hello G45ers,

Welcome to another grand day of fun and inspiration here at Graphic 45! Our Happy Haunting celebration is in full swing this week! We're dedicating all of this week to our fabulous Halloween collection Happy Haunting. We've been taking you on a fantastic tour of beautiful crafts that feature this fun collection. Today is all about clever Happy Haunting gift ideas! You'll see some amazing creations from Jim, the Gentleman Crafter and Kristin Wilson of our design team. There are so many great ways to create unique Halloween gifts. Today's crafts are sure to get your creative gears turning. So sit back, relax and enjoy another terrific dose of inspiration from Graphic 45! First up is this amazing panorama by Jim, the Gentleman Crafter. Jim definitely knows how to think outside the box (or jack-o-lantern). This fabulous panorama is perfect for Halloween home decor or as a special gift for a loved one. The bright colors and adorable vintage-inspired designs of Happy Haunting come to life in this fabulous craft. Here is what Jim had to say about the inspiration behind this stunning work of art!

"A quick and easy decoration for your house or as a Halloween treat!  The panorama features a lift off lid to access a small battery operated tea light to "back light" the spooky dimensional Happy Haunting Halloween scene.  A view into the panorama you will see a sweet young lady dressed in a witch costume, cat and pumpkin lantern in hand.  She is standing outside an old gate ready to trick or treat in the cool autumnal night. Hope you like it!" -Jim, the Gentleman Crafter

Supplies:
Graphic 45 Happy Haunting Paper Collection:
  Pumpkin Time- Top
  Happy Haunting - Top
  Word Play - Top
  Hallowe'en Greetings - Main Box Body
  Bewitched - Box Bottom
  Jeepers Creepers - Interior Box Lining
  Trick or Treat - Witch Figure
Graphic 45 Happy Haunting Chipboard 1 - Tag For Top
Round Chipboard Box - Craft Store
Wood finial
Wood Balls - Feet
Assorted Halloween Ribbon
Battery Operated Tea Light
Black Brush Tree - Craft Store
Picket Fence- Craft Store
Black and Orange Crepe Paper

Next we have another fantastic Happy Haunting gift idea. This is a gorgeous mini album created by Kristin Wilson. Halloween is definitely a time for taking lots of fun photos. Why not turn your cherished memories into a fabulous mini like this one?! Mini albums make perfect gifts because they are so gorgeous and heartwarming. You can personalize your mini album with fun photos, sentiments and splendid embellishments. Kristin's mini album takes us on a photo journey through carving a pumpkin. The fabulous Happy Haunting papers look amazing on every wonderful page! Take a look at this adorable creation and imagine what kind of mini you'd like to make!

Supplies:

Graphic 45: Happy Hauntings Collection, Key Staples, Metal Brads, Alphabet Stickers
May Arts: Bakers Twine, Ribbon
Tim Holtz: Chain with clip, Metal Tag
K&Company: Grand Adhesives
Stampin Up!: Cardstock, Eyelets, Punches, Ink
Inkadinkado: Stamps
Martha Stewart: Goo Punch

We hope you all had fun checking out today's fabulous Happy Haunting gift ideas! The Happy Haunting party continues tomorrow with more splendid crafts. Huge thanks to Jim, the Gentleman Crafter and Kristin Wilson for their incredible work today. We wish you all a super day and we hope to see you again tomorrow for more fabulous inspiration!

Your Pals in Paper,

Team Graphic 45

Hello G45ers,

Welcome to our happy blog on this terrific Tuesday! We are so glad you are joining us! We're going to have a lot of fun today as we bring you more incredible crafts that feature our Happy Haunting collection! Gloria Stengel and Alberto Juarez have created the most gorgeous altered art boxes that are sure to delight and inspire you! It's never too early to start thinking about Halloween crafting. After all, the first day of Autumn is a little over 4 weeks away! Happy Haunting has so many stunning designs and colors to get your creativity flowing. So lets begin with this fantastic altered art box by Gloria Stengel. This was created with the Graphic 45 5x8 Altered Art Box and it's simply stunning! You can also see some superb uses of the new Graphic 45 Metal Staples such as the Antique Metal Door Pull and Ornate Metal Key Hole. Here is what Gloria had to say about this fabulous work of art!

"I enjoy creating fun and quirky Halloween items for my family to enjoy. Each fall I decorate my home with mini albums and altered items. My kids get a kick out of seeing mini albums of their costumes from years past. The vintage images from the Happy Haunting Collection are easy to work with, plus the papers make cute and kid friendly projects." -Gloria Stengel

Supplies:

Graphic 45 Papers: Happy Haunting
Happy Haunting
Trick or Treat
Pumpkin Time
Hallowe'en Greetings
Midnight Magic
Man in the Moon
Jolly Jack-O-Lantern
Jeepers Creepers
Bewitched
Graphic 45 Staples:
Stickers: Happy Haunting Cardstock Stickers, ABC Stickers
Chipboard: Tags 1, Tags 2
Metal: Tag, Brad, Drawer Pull, Button, Keyhole
Kraft Envelope Album
5x8 Kraftboard Altered Art Box
May Arts ribbon and twine
Sizzix ghost die cut
Taylored Expressions fence die cut
Spellbinders Standard Circles Small die cut
Cosmo Cricket chipboard house
Ranger Distress Picket Fence pen
Adhesive: Glossy Accents, Glue Dots, foam squares, tape runner, Beacon Fabri-tac, while glue
Other: vellum, bookplate, eyelet

Next we have another fantastic Happy Haunting altered art box by Alberto Juarez. This is such a fun creation. It is perfect for Halloween home decor. You can fill it with candy or other fun Halloween treats. This would also make a great gift! The box opens to reveal a gorgeous muti-layered Halloween scene. Here is what Alberto had to say about this fun creation.

"I love Halloween. In Spain it is becoming more and more celebrated. Everyone does festivities that day. Here in Spain any excuse is good for a party and it is even better if you get to dress up! I used an old box for this project. I've altered it with the collection of Happy Haunting papers and a piece of black ribbon May Arts." -Alberto Juarez

Supplies:

Happy Haunting paper:
Happy Haunting
Trick or Treat
Enchanted garden
Pumpkin time
Man in the moon
Fright Night
Jolly Jack-o-lanternet
Bewitched
happy haunting chipboard 1
Wood box
Glue
Distress ink Vintage photo / black shoot
May Art black ribbon

That's all for today, G45ers. Our Happy Haunting celebration continues tomorrow as we bring you more fantastic creations from our design team. Also, remember that you can win a terrific Happy Haunting Prize pack this week. All you need to do is leave us a blog or Facebook comment for your chance to win! One random winner will be chosen from this week's comments and announced on our blog on Friday! And don't hesitate to post any of your Graphic 45 creations on our Facebook page, Ning site or website gallery. We'd love to see what you're creating! You can also find us on Pinterest for lots of inspiration and weekly contests! Huge thanks to Gloria Stengel and Alberto Juarez for their incredible creations today. We wish you all a fantastic day!

Happy Haunting Papercrafting!

Your Friends at Graphic 45

Hello G45ers,

Welcome to another fantastic week here at Graphic 45! We are thrilled that you are joining us today! We have so much great stuff to share with you! We are going to be featuring our amazing new Halloween collection called Happy Haunting all week long! This week you'll see the most amazing and inspiring crafts that highlight this spooktacular paper collection! You are sure to get tons of great ideas for your Halloween crafts! It's never too early to start thinking about Halloween creativity! Today we're featuring gorgeous cards from Maiko Miwa, Nicole Eccles and Susan Lui of our design team! You are going to love the amazing ways that Happy Haunting can be used to create unique of beautiful cards! Plus we have a brand new blog contest this week! We're giving away this fantastic Happy Haunting 12x 12 paper pad, both coordinating chipboard die-cuts, a set of clear stamps by Hampton Art and three sparkle accent inks by Clearnsnap! Wow! All you need to do to enter to win is to leave us a blog or Facebook comment! It's just that easy! We will pick one random winner and announce them right here on our blog on Friday, August 17th!

This first incredible card was created by Maiko Miwa. There's even a great video that explores this gorgeous craft creation! You can see how perfectly the Graphic 45 Metal Staples look when combined with Happy Haunting. This card is just remarkable, with lots of wonderful 3-D elements. You can also see how perfectly a little bit of inking and paper distressing helps to create a spooky Halloween scene! It's just breathtaking!

Supplies:

Next we have another incredible Happy Haunting creation! This card was created by Susan Lui and it is so much fun! The font of the card is full of gorgeous Halloween color, with beautiful borders and cheerful sentiments. The card opens to reveal a stupendous pop-up scene that is out of this world! Happy Haunting gives you so many possibilities for creativity! You can see all the different ways you can use this collection to create a wide variety of gorgeous crafts! Behold this magnificent creation and dream of the kind of cards you'd like to make with Happy Haunting!

The outside of the card...

Opening up the card...

The card, fully open...

Supplies:

Graphic 45 Happy Haunting collection:-  Happy Haunting, Trick or Treat, Pumpkin Time, Halloween Greetings, Man In The Moon, Bewitched, Jeeper's Creepers, Jolly Jack-O-Lantern, Midnight Magic, 8x8 Paper Pad

That's all for today, G45ers! We hope you enjoyed today's cards! We will have more fantastic Happy Haunting crafts to share with you all this week! It's going to be so much fun! Huge thanks to Maiko Miwa, Nicole Eccles and Susan Lui for their stunning creations today! We look forward to reading all of your blog and Facebook comments this week! We wish you all a delightful day.

Happy Papercrafting!

Your Friends at Graphic 45

Little Darlings Gift Tags

Download the Little Darlings Gift Tag Project Sheet

Hello G45ers,

Happy Friday, everyone! It's hard to believe that this week is already coming to a close! It has been an amazing journey as we've taken you on a colossal tour of crafts featuring A Ladies' Diary. We've got more stupendous inspiration in store for you today with gorgeous layouts by Arlene Cuevas and Susan Lui of our design team. You are going to love these exquisite works of art! There is even a super fun tutorial by Susan Lui that is sure to brighten your day! We also have a blog prize winner to announce! And as if that wasn't enough, we're going to introduce you to the newest member of the Graphic 45 team! His name is Ron and we think you're going to like him a lot! Get to know more about our wonderful Graphic 45 team and get creative with our design team! This day is going to be incredible! Lets start with this week's blog prize winner! Chosen at random from this week's blog comments, the winner is...

-Peg Adams: "Absolutely fabulous! Jim has outdone himself again. Thanks for the chance to win this gorg item. Love Ladies' Diary & can't wait to get the Japanese collection."

Congratulations, Peg! Please email us with your shipping information at info@g45papers.com to claim your prize! This is the amazing prize that Peg won this week. It's a fabulous mini desk created by Jim, The Gentleman Crafter! It is all decked out in A Ladies' Diary and it comes with A Ladies' Diary 8x8 paper pad! Amazing! We will be bringing you yet another Graphic 45 blog contest on Monday so stay tuned!

And now it's time to introduce you to the newest member of the Graphic 45 team! This is Ron! He came to work at Graphic 45 very recently and we are happy to welcome him aboard! Ron works with Dustin and Kelly to keep the Graphic 45 office running smoothly. He answers calls, processes orders and is a real wizard with computers. Ron is also a super guy, very nice and full of good humor! We think he's great and so does Henry, the Graphic 45 mascot Wire Fox Terrier. Here is a little interview with Ron so you can get to know him better. Please join us in welcoming him to our team!

Hi, Ron! Welcome to the wonderful world of Graphic 45! How do you like it so far?

Graphic 45 is AMAZING! Everybody here loves what they do and have been nothing but supportive in helping me learn the ropes.  

Being able to speak with people from across the GLOBE!  I love being able to speak with people from my hometown and right after that speak with somebody from Paris.  With all these diverse cultures around the world, scrapbooking seems to be a common theme and I love it.

What are some of your favorite things to do when you are not in the office?

I LOVE the outdoors.  I think this summer I haven't spent a single weekend in my own bed.  Portland has so many gorgeous areas to go camping and swimming nearby.  Nothing beats going to the middle of nowhere and stargazing with your friends.

What is one of your all time favorite films?

Revolver by Guy Ritchie. "You can only get smarter by playing a smarter opponent"

Kraft Dinner.  In the US its called Kraft Macaroni and Cheese but I'll never kick the habit of calling it Kraft Dinner.  I use a secret recipe passed down from my grandfather!

Are you a creative guy? If so, what do you like to create?

 2. Punch a border along the length of the blue strips. Distress and ink the edges of the circle if desired. Now attach the trim to the circumference of the circle, gathering as you go along.




3. When you're done gluing down the trim, cut your paper strips into shorter lengths and attach these to the back of the trims. The circular background's done.




4. Trim a 5x7 inch piece from Ageless Beauty and use this as a mat for your photo. Distress and ink the edges if desired. Fussy cut a couple of flower sprays from the Delicate Details paper. I used a sheet of 12x12 paper and an 8x8 paper for this. Lay the photo and patterned paper as shown below.




5. Gather up some Graphic 45 Flower Staples, layer them and attach securely with Graphic 45's Stamped Metal Brads. 




6. Arrange your flowers, leaves and Graphic 45 flowers as shown. Adhere a length of Graphic 45 lace to the top of the photo mat.




 7. All that's left is a title using Graphic 45's Alphabet Stickers and you're done. :)



Here's the completed layout:

Hello G45ers,

Happy Thursday and welcome to another day of craft bliss here at Graphic 45! We are so glad you've stopped by our blog today! Our big celebration of A Ladies' Diary continues today! Jane Tregenza and Maiko Miwa have created the most amazing altered art boxes that feature A Ladies' Diary! These boxes are absolutely stupendous and inspiring! They also contain a gorgeous mini album so you'll get to see some great ideas for A Ladies' Diary minis as well! You are going to love Jane and Maiko's amazing creations! Plus we have an extra special treat! Arlene Cuevas of our design team is going to take you on a fun video tour of her marvelous crafting studio! You'll see some delightful ideas for decorating and organizing your craft space! Today is going to be incredible! So lets get the party started! 

Today's first altered art box was created by the amazing Jane Tregenza! This project is so lovely. You'll see some fabulous uses of embellishments combined with the gorgeous patterned papers of A Ladies' Diary. Here is what Jane had to say about the inspiration behind this fabulous creation!

"I think A Ladies' Diary is one of my favourite collections from Graphic 45 to date. ( I say this every time they bring out a new collection). I wanted my box to have an old fashion feel to it, like a box you would find in a drawer and open up to find a bunch of old letters tied up with ribbon with a bunch of old dried flowers tucked on top. The silk ribbon from May Arts was perfect for this as it ties and drapes so nicely. I used a bit of nearly every paper from this wonderful new collection. They all work so well together and complement each other. I love the touch of sage green in this collection (or is it Blue?). I do love the ornate door knobs and was delighted to find it fitted on the edge of my box. It adds such a classic look to my box." -Jane Tregenza

Supplies:
A Ladies' Diary
Moment in Time
Ageless Beauty
Afternoon Tea
Picture Perfect
Focal Point
Delicate Details
Fashion Plate
Lasting Impressions
A Ladies Diary Sicker Sheet
A Ladies Diary chipboard
Graphic 45 Altered Art box
Graphic 45 Staples keys
Graphic 45 Ornate Door knob and Plate
Imaginarium Designs Chipboard Arch and ornate oval.
Mayarts Silk Ribbon
Prima Flowers

Next we have another remarkable altered art box by Maiko Miwa. This craft is overflowing with inspiration! Maiko used gorgeous embellishments and A Ladies' Diary coordinating chipboard die-cuts to create beautiful dimension. The Graphic 45 Metal Staples look so perfect when combined with A Ladies' Diary! You can also see some intricate fussy cutting as well as marvelous handmade flowers and rosettes! We also love that Maiko put a little mirror on the inside of the altered art box. It's such a beautiful detail! Behold the beauty of this incredible creation! 

Supplies:

Hello G45ers,

We want to welcome you all to our joyful blog today! Our big celebration of A Ladies' Diary is in full swing! This week has been so much fun as we've explored lots of gorgeous crafts featuring A Ladies' Diary, our ultra lovely paper collection. Today is all about stunning cards! You'll see incredible card creations from Tara Orr, Nicole Eccles and Sharon Ngoo of our design team! There is even a fun and easy card tutorial that Sharon Ngoo has prepared for all of you! As an added treat, Gloria Stengel of our design team is being featured on today's Paper Crafter's Library blog! You'll see a sneak peek of her incredible Happy Haunting creation on our blog today. You can hop on over to the Paper Crafter's Library blog to see her amazing creation in its entirety! Today is going to be so much fun! Get ready for a heaping dose of inspiration! This first magnificent card was created by Tara Orr. Using elegant paper layering and pretty embellishments, Tara's card captures all the lavish beauty of A Ladies' Diary! The fabulous colors and artful designs radiate with pure sophistication in this terrific work of art!

Supplies:

Supplies:

Graphic 45 Papers

A Ladies Diary: Moment in Time, Fashion Plates, Lasting Impression, La Gazette

A Ladies Diary Chipboard 2

A Ladies Diary Stickers

Want 2 Scrap: Bling Flourish

Tombow: Glue Stick

Ranger: Glossy Accents

Scrapbook Adhesives: 3D Foam Squares

Next we have another fantastic card that you're sure to love! This one was created by Sharon Ngoo. This craft is great because it's a card and gift voucher holder all in one! This is a wonderful project for creating a beautiful and memorable gift! Here is what Sharon had to say about this fabulous card. Have fun making one of your very own with Sharon's wonderful tutorial! Take it away, Sharon!

Hi everybody!!! Don't you just love all the lovely designs on the A Ladies' Diary Collection?  It really works great on cards! And what's one thing that ladies love?  Shopping!  So I decided to make a card that can hold some shopping vouchers - way to make a lady happy right? Here's what it looks like on the outside:

And on the inside:

And here's a tutorial so you can make one too:

GRAPHIC45 SUPPLIES:
1.  A Ladies' Diary Stickers

2. A Ladies' Diary Alphabet Stickers

Pattern Papers (A Ladies Diary Collection - all 8X8")

3. Garden Stroll

4. A Ladies' Diary

5. Moment in Time

6.  Afternoon Tea

OTHER SUPPLIES:

1. Cream cardstock - American Craft

2.  brads - American Craft

3.  Ink - Ranger Distress Ink (Tattered Rose)

 

Wow, wasn't that fun?! We want to encourage you all to check out today's Paper Crafter's Library blog where Gloria Stengel is being featured today! Here is a sneak peek of an amazing Happy Haunting creation she created! Just hop on over to the Paper Crafter's Library blog to see the full project and discover even more inspiration! Bring even more joy to your day with this gorgeous creation!

http://blog.papercrafterslibrary.com/

We sure hope you all had a great time today! Thank you all so much for stopping by our blog. The celebration of A Ladies' Diary continues on tomorrow's blog. We hope you'll come back and see us! Remember to leave us a blog or Facebook comment this week for your chance to win our fabulous blog prize! We will be announcing one random winner on Friday's blog! Huge thanks to Tara Orr, Nicole Eccles, Sharon Ngoo and Gloria Stengel for their incredible work today! We hope you all have a beautiful day!

Happy Papercrafting!

Your Friends at Graphic 45

Hello G45ers,

Happy Tuesday and welcome to today's fabulous Graphic 45 blog! We hope you are having a great day! We've got a ton of inspiration to bring to you today as we continue our week-long celebration of A Ladies' Diary crafts! Today we're going to share some incredible mini albums from Arlene Cuevas and Denise Hahn of our design team! Each of these minis is overflowing with beauty and imagination. You'll see some unique ways to use A Ladies' Diary as well as beautiful embellishments to create an exquisite work of art. We're going to have a lot of fun today, so let's get the party started! First up is this magnificent mini album created by Arlene Cuevas. Arlene used the Graphic 45 Metal Film Canister to create this marvelous mini. You can see how beautifully the Metal Film Canister looks when combined with A Ladies' Dairy! Arlene even created a great video in which she takes you on a tour of this splendid creation. Want to know how this amazing mini was created? There's even a great tutorial that Arlene created that shows you how to alter the accordion-fold mini album that comes with the Graphic 45 Metal Film Canister! Wow! Take it away, Arlene!

“I had a BLAST altering this Graphic 45 metal film canister using the new A Ladies’ Diary paper collection. The collection is the perfect mix of vintage-shabby chic. I incorporated an array of the coordinating chipboard pieces and card stock stickers, which made creating this piece of art so simple! I even included a brief tutorial to show you how to alter the accordion mini album that is included in the canister. Won’t you give one of these a go today? You’ll have so much fun!” ~ Arlene Cuevas

Supplies:

A Ladies Diary paper collection
A Ladies Diary Chipboard Tags 1
A Ladies Diary Chipboard Tags 2
A Ladies Diary Cardstock Stickers
Metal Film Canister with Album
Graphic 45 Trim Staples
May Arts ribbon
I Am Roses flowers
Prima flowers
Want2Scrap pearl bling
Recollections pearl bling
Lindy’s Stamp Gang Starburst Sprays
White doilies
My Favorite Things Die-namics – Large Leafy Flourish
Spellbinders Grande Nestabilities - Circles
Ranger Distress ink - Vintage Photo

Here is Arlene's wonderful tutorial on altering the accordion-fold mini album! Bask in some serious inspiration in this fun and informative tutorial!

Wow, that was so amazing! Next we've got even more inspiration featuring A Ladies' Diary! This is a gorgeous mini created by Denise Hahn. There is so much to see on every page of this stunning mini. Denise did a fabulous job of using fun embellishments in this lavish and feminine mini. The combination of the pretty patterned papers and clever embellishments adds such incredible texture and richness. Discover the enchantment of this fabulous mini by Denise Hahn!

Supplies:

All From A Ladies' Diary 8x8 Paper Pad
Fashion Plates
Afternoon Tea
Delicate Details
Picture Perfect
A Ladies Diary
Focal Point
A Ladies Diary Stickers
A Ladies Diary Tags #2
Want2Scrap Nestablings
Ink and Smooch- Clearsnap
Art Wire- Gunmetal
Tulle, Trim, Buttons
Ric Rac Vintage
Base is various drink coasters
Binding- Zutter
Adhesive-Xyron 5 inch Creative Station permanent

Wasn't that beautiful?! Now that your inspiration is at its peak, we wanted to remind you all of this month's fabulous craft challenge! This is a great opportunity to get creative with a fun summer layout and maybe even win a fantastic $50 Graphic 45 prize pack! Read all about it! You can upload your Graphic 45 summer layouts to our Facebook page! The deadline for submissions is Friday, August 31st at midnight PST!

Well, that's all for today, G45ers! Thank you all so much for stopping by our blog today! Huge thanks to Arlene Cuevas and Denise Hahn for their splendid work today! Our celebration of A Ladies' Diary continues tomorrow as we bring you more joyous and inspiring crafts! We wish you all a very happy day!

Your Pals in Paper,

Team Graphic 45

Olde Curiosity Shoppe Banner in a Box

Download the Olde Curiosity Shoppe Banner in a Box

Hello G45ers,

Welcome to another spectacular week of craft bliss here at Graphic 45! We hope you all had a fun weekend! Here in Portland, Oregon, where the Graphic 45 offices are located, we finally got a taste of real summer when the temperatures reached 95 degrees for the first time this season! We tend to be a bit behind the curve up here in the Pacific Northwest when it comes to heat and sunshine. Needless to say, we were very happy to finally soak up some sun! And now that our refreshing weekend is over, it's time to bring that joy to another week of inspiration here at the Graphic 45 blog! Today is going to be a lot of fun. We've got a great new blog contest, plus we're bringing you amazing new crafts from Jim, The Gentleman Crafter and Nicole Eccles! This week is all about A Ladies' Diary and today you'll see some incredible creations that will have your imagination teeming with ideas! First we thought it would be fun to share this cool photo of our Nutcracker Sweet and Bird Song prize packs that we are mailing out this week! These were the prizes awarded during our sneak peeks weeks! Just look at all of those envelopes! Our new Staples prizes will be mailed in the next week or so!

Now it's time to talk about this week's blog contest! Today we are featuring this amazing mini roll-top desk created by Jim, The Gentleman Crafter. Want to win this gorgeous and original creation? We're giving away Jim's beautiful desk along with A Ladies' Diary 8x8 paper pad to one lucky winner this week! Just leave us a blog or Facebook comment this week for your chance to win this stunning work of art! We will choose one random winner from this week's comments and announce them on our blog on Friday, August 10th!

Here are some more fabulous photos of this gorgeous roll-top desk by Jim, The Gentleman Crafter. You can see some lovely uses for the Graphic 45 Metal Button Staples, the new Metal Key Hole Staples and Antique Metal Door Pull. Here is what Jim had to say about this magnificent creation!

"A ladies desk featuring a roll top that slides back to reveal individual drawers.  The drawers are perfect to hold various desk supplies such as pens and paper clips. Unclasp the sides and the front panel lowers to enable the user to write notes, etc." -Jim, The Gentleman Crafter

Supplies:

Graphic 45 Ladies Diary Paper Collection
Graphic 45 Metal Button Staples
Graphic 45 Key Plate
Idea-ology Hitchposts
Configuration Boxes
12 x 12 Medium Weight Chipboard
Grunge Paper

Wow, wasn't that amazing?! Next we have another superb creation featuring A Ladies' Diary. This is an amazing shoe that was made by Nicole Eccles. This ultra-clever craft captures all the grace and femininity of A Ladies' Diary. Even the style of the shoe is reminiscent of an era of class and refinement. Nicole blended the beautiful patterned papers with elegant ribbons to give this shoe an authentic vintage look. It's absolutely exquisette and incredibly imaginative!

Hello G45ers,

Happy Friday and welcome to our cheerful blog on this fine day! What a fantastic week it's been! We have even more fun and fabulous crafts to share with you today! We'll be highlighting some of the gorgeous crafts that have been posted to our Ning site! Plus we've got a gorgeous Olde Curiosity Shoppe sketchbook and tutorial by Sharon Ngoo! And as if that weren't enough, we have a winner to announce for this week's blog contest as well as a new craft challenge for the month of August! This blog is action-packed! You are sure to get inspired for some fun weekend crafting! First we'd like to announce our winner for this week's blog prize! We want to thank each and every one of you who left us a blog or Facebook comment this week. We cherish all of your feedback! This week's winner was chosen at random from Thursday's Facebook comments. And the winner is...

Lois Fulgham: "Cute! I like both tutorials but really like the key box the most."

Congratulations, Lois! Please email us with your shipping information at info@g45papers.com so that we can send you out your fabulous prize! This is the great prize that Lois won this week! We will have another incredible blog contest on Monday so we hope you will all come back and check it out!

And now it's time for some craft highlights from our Ning site! Periodically we like to feature some of the amazing crafts that have been uploaded to our Ning site by crafters just like you! We love to see what's being created with our papers. It is such a thrill to see the degree of incredible talent that you all possess. These are a few fabulous crafts from Ning, beginning with this amazing Olde Curiosity Shoppe file organiser by Lyn Bernatovich. What a whimsical and imaginative way to stay organized! This piece is absolutely delightful!

Here we have another gorgeous creation, A Ladies' Diary Afternoon Tea card by Helen Philips. Look at all of those beautiful layers and fun fussy cutting! This card really captures the feminine charm of A Ladies' Diary!

This next craft is just amazing! It's a Happy Haunting altered cigar box and mini album by Lindsey Amschler. This is such a clever way to use Happy Haunting! Lindsey has created a fabulous Halloween scene with this adorable work of art!

Next we have this precious Little Darlings layout by Gerry van Gent. This LO is so adorable! Beautiful borders, delicate fussy cutting and artful dimension make this LO an absolute treasure. This amazing creation is sure to plant a smile on your face!

And now we take a lavish journey with this "Waiting for Paris" layout featuring A Ladies' Diary by Karen Zueger. This LO is not only completely stunning, but it is also exquisitely made with lots of fabulous embellishments and paper layering. Every little detail in this LO is just remarkable! It has such wonderful movement. The heart-warming central photo only adds to the allure of this remarkable craft creation. Wow!

We encourage all of you to upload your Graphic 45 crafts to our Ning site! Share your talents and connect with a great crafting community!

http://graphic45.ning.com/

And now it's time to get crafty with Sharon Ngoo of the Graphic 45 design team! This is a great sketchbook that Sharon made using only Graphic 45 Staples and Olde Curiosity Shoppe Cling Stamps. No Graphic 45 patterned papers were used to create this little treasure. And yet it still has all the vintage charm and beauty that Graphic 45 is known for! Sharon even made a fun tutorial to show you how to create a sketch book of your very own! Take it away, Sharon!

We can't wait to see what you'll create, G45ers! You can upload your summer layouts to the Graphic 45 Facebook page! We want to thank you all so much for joining us today! Big thanks to our Ning contributors as well as the amazing Sharon Ngoo for today's incredible crafts! We hope you all have a great day and a happy weekend! We'll see you right back here on Monday for another week of craft inspiration and prizes!

Happy Papercrafting!

Your Friends at Graphic 45