Happy Friday Everyone! For this week's Project Life assignment, I want to share my week '18' activities. I pretty much had one crazy week with my mother and sister in town. And of course, using the gorgeous "The Pier" collection, was non-optional - I absolutely love the soft colors, along with the mix of kraft and gold.

In putting together this spread, I mainly used cards from the Summertime cut-out patterned paper, which are a perfect fit for filling 3 x 4 pockets. I also took advantage of the much loved chipboard slides, label stickers and of course, my fave, ephemera die-cuts.

Although it ultimately was a crazy week I definitely had a great time having everyone under the same roof again, especially my little sis as I think it's been over a year since I last saw her (the drawbacks of everyone being in different countries). We spent the week visiting various tourist attractions and eating to our heart's content thanks to mum's top-notch cooking skills.

To help me capture all of the little events that happened during the week, I opted to include various journaling/comment strips onto relevant pictures. This not only helped me to remember my thoughts during those moments, but also, freed up some of the pockets for some Crate love. Guess you could say this is my way of working with a smaller sized spread.

We appreciate you checking in with Crate Paper today and wish all of you a great weekend! See you next month with a brand new PL spread!! 

Today is the final day of our summer incentive Creative Weekly - if you've yet to review the challenge details laid out with Monday's CW post, they're readily available for viewing HERE. All entries are carefully reviewed for possible posting at the Crate Paper Blog and our CW Pinterest Board. The winner takes home "The Pier", all of it, and a few American Crafts basic products meant to match the rest of the prize pack. Good Luck, Crate Fans! Can't wait to see your summer CP projects!

Michiko Kato

My family goes camping every summer and when out and about, we love to swim in the river. My children can't swim well, but my daughter still loves to play when in the water. She wears a vest to keep her afloat and safe. Thankfully, the vest makes it easy to spot her incase something were to happen. When I saw how much she enjoys playing in the water, I wanted to take pictures of her "in action" so that when home, I could scrapbook her excitement. The Pier is so, so cute and a great fit for summer memories. I especially love the photo frames - they're awesome for highlighting photos!

Deb Duty

I used The Pier to scrap some favorite photos of my son at the beach from a few years back. It's such a lovely collection with beautiful soft colors and fun embellishments! I cut the "hello" with my Silhouette, and then used the "summer" sticker from The Pier stand-outs pack to complete my title. The slide frames are one of my favorite parts of The Pier collection. I used one of my smaller photos and another smaller frame with a cluster of embellishments for a whimsical touch!

Piradee Talvanna

With summer holidays just around the corner, we're currently planning where to go this year while thinking back on some of our previous trips. It's no secret that I wish to go somewhere where the water's crystal clear and the sand, white as snow (or somewhat white) - hint, hint hubby. I used the pictures from our Sydney trip to create this mini accordian album using the gorgeous Pier collection. One of the products that I really like from this collection are the chipboard pieces. They were just what I need to complete the project and I love the dimension they provide. Also, I like how a lot of the embellishments have hints of gold here and there. LOVE.

Evelyn Pratiwi

Living in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, Asia like me, this month is the perfect month to have a sweet escape to Bali. I welcomed 'May' with a smiling face. No more rainy days and yes, Mr.Sunshine! While enjoying the summer, my family and I spend time at the beach - it's the perfect outing! Upon returning home, I scrapbook our adventures using Crate Paper's new collection, The Pier.

My hubby took these summer photos at Kuta Beach, Bali, while I was enjoying myself with a drink and getting ready to watch the sunset. Talk about a great time!

Even though my photo isn't a total match to the pastels on this layout, I thought I'd push the subtle palette anyway. Still looks lovely.

Janna Werner

The summer still hasn't arrived in North Germany yet - actually, it's quite cold, rainy and dark. You can imagine, it's a bit hard to get into a summer mood right now. Therefore, I created my own summer motivation.

I was inspired by Maggie Holme's Signature Mini Clipboard Album. I absolutely love the assembled look of the album and had the idea to create a one-ring mini album in the same style, mixing different patterns, colors and materials. I chose patterned papers from The Pier and Maggie Holmes collections, added inserts that come with the Maggie Holmes clipboard album and put them on top of each other. Then, I cut the single papers into different sizes (width as well as length). I punched a hole into the top of each paper and added transparent reinforcement rings to secure the holes.

The inside is embellished with stickers and banners from The Pier series. I wanted to give the pages a slightly "used look", so I bent the edges of the paper just slightly using a heat tool. You can attempt this same technique, but make sure to prevent from burning the paper by holding the tool either too close or too long in one spot.

Now the I have this fun mini album, I just need summery photos to add to it - cross your fingers that the weather will get better soon!! :)

Marie Lottermoser

In February, we rented a beach house for a few days over on the coast. One day we were driving around looking for a place to stop for lunch and we discovered the little town of Seabrook (which was just featured in the April issue of Martha Stewart Living Magazine). It was the perfect "beach town" complete with colorful houses, cute shops and lots of photo opportunities. When I went to put together this layout, I knew I wanted to use the new Pier Collection because the embellishments reminded me so much of the town. I cut out five 2" x 2" shadow boxes down the left side and topped a couple of them with the new slide mount frames which are my favorite.

Megan Klauer

My boys have only a few days left of school, so they are getting very anxious for a Summer filled of being outside, going to the pool and hanging out in our swimsuits as much as possible. In preparation of the "we're bored" comments, I created this layout; featuring our Summer Bucket List. I love taking advantage of focusing on my journaling by creating a no-photo layout. 

Rebecca Luminarias

Water, swimming, the beach..like most people, I love the summer months. I'm embarrassed to say that even though we live so close to the beach, we don't get there nearly as much as we should. So, for this month's Creative Weekly, I made two different card sets that I hope will motivate your family to go more often. There's no shortage of surfing, swimming, and sand around here and the first set of cards highlights those Southern California staples. Crate's The Pier has chipboard images in the most beautiful saltwater taffy pastels to inspire "Endless Summer" moments for us all year long.

May and June also mean that young (and not-so-young) folks are graduating from high school and college. With that comes a sense of freedom, and, sometimes, even three months of summer fun before the beginning of their next big journey. By pairing The Pier's bathing suit playing cards with some pun-ny, summery sentiments, they became quick cards to encourage graduates (or anyone else) to go out and make a bright future.

Naomi Atkins

Hello, Naomi here with another Creative Weekly layout! When I saw this week's creative weekly theme, I couldn't wait to get started. I have a lot of beach/pool photos, but I have wanted to scrapbook these two of my son from consecutive years. It's his favorite activity when we're at the beach to have mommy and daddy throw him in the air in the pool. And he is not satisfied with one time, it has to be 100! Talk about an arm workout!

I have this set of French curve rulers that I knew I wanted to use to make waves! I used my exacto knife and cut the waves out of Crate's summery The Pier collection on a glass mat. I then stitched over them for extra dimension. I matted my photo and used some of the new washi tapes to attach the photo to the mat. They come on a 12" x 12" sheet, which is AWESOME because then you don't end up with too much of one kind...and then what do you do with the rest of the roll?! I went on to use the super cool clear orange, plastic letters. I put a small pop dot under the letters, which you don't see a whole lot and layered them over my photo. FUN! I put a piece of journaling card under one of the new chipboard photo frames (which are another obsession of mine now!). I added some buttons, and a wave border sticker under my photo on the right. I used a pop-up sticker for the word "summer". No extra work there, it came ready to stick on the page! I really love all the cool new embellishments with The Pier collection! It's in stores, so I hope you can get your hands on some to play with your new summer photos!

Sophie Crespy

The Pier is probably my favorite all time Crate collection; the colors and patterns are amazing! I wanted to combine some of my favorite patterns on this layout along with the cute chipboard pieces. I created a little "beach scene" with three of the chipboard stickers and layered others with my stripes of paper. This collection also offers an amazing amount of cut-outs and, surprise effects - tucked inside the "Ephemera Pack" are gorgeous gold sequins, which I used to embellish my title card. 

This collection is ideal for summer photos and I'm so glad I was able to document this photo of my girl and husband taken three years ago! It's never too late to preserve memories :)

Anabelle O'Malley

There's no place more that I love than the beach. After this long, cold winter, I've been counting the days until I can bury my toes in the sand.

I love this month's photo and theme. The picture is so soothing and calming. That's exactly the feel I wanted to create with my page. I decided to create some 'water" and did so by using watercolors on the middle section of the layout. Then, I grabbed several sheets of paper from The Pier. I wanted to use colors that would emulate the sand at the beach and there were several that worked perfectly. Since I wanted to keep the embellishments to a minimum, I used a tag from the tag paper and a couple of Stand-Outs. The darker blue and pops of red were exactly what I needed to give the page a bit of color. Finally, I added my title, which was cut with my Cameo. I kept it white so as to blend in with the background a bit. I love how the products from The Pier line worked to create a sense of the beach on my page.

A brief reminder that this week's Creative Weekly is dedicated to one of Summer's most favored traditions; sand, water and fun in the sun! Now that we're just days away from the splendor of Summer, we thought it a fitting theme for the month of May!

Sasha Farina

I'm in love with The Pier. Why, you might ask? I have no shortage of pool/beach themed photos. We are the water people! :) I can't get enough of the Slide Frames. The generous amount offered in just one package allows me to use them on almost every layout I've made recently. Can't wait to share more with you!

In describing the layout, I added some subtle hand stitching to the background. I absolutely adore how the yellow emphasizes the chevron background without stealing the limelight of my focal point; photos and embellishments. The little addition of 'gold' in the color scheme of The Pier also lends a somewhat romantic effect; perfect for the photos of the loves of my life! 

Ashley Cannon Newell

Summertime makes me think of warm weather, water, outdoor adventures and great foods. Taking those thoughts, I created a couple of cards perfect to bring someone summertime cheer. The Pier collection absolutely hits the summer season right on the mark and I just love how I can simply take cardstock embellishments, create a collage layout and design a card. So, I hope you're ready for summer and are inspired to create summertime cards to send out to your loved ones for those upcoming beach and vacation adventures.

Magda Mizera

When I saw this month's theme, one book came to mind, first and foremost; "Message in a Bottle" by Nicolas Sparks. It's a romantic story and chances are, you've read it or saw the movie. I loved it and am still of the same impression in having had the pleasure to navigate the story. I made my layout thinking of it - it's about pure, calm and sweet love, walks on the beach, and all things romantic. The Pier's bright, blue papers suits perfectly how I feel about it and this beautiful summer spread.

Because "The Pier" is the first beach worthy, backyard-fun collection that Crate has ever crafted, this week's Creative Weekly is all about warm, sunny days spent at our favorite "splash" destinations with family, friends, neighbors and food filled coolers while soaking in the sun's rays and relaxing the day away! Sounds almost perfect, doesn't it? Our designers swam with the theme and have a great assortment of ideas awaiting you using items from the Summer-tastic collection, cards and layouts included! Come take a glimpse at Summer in the making...

A "Summer Splash" challenge is on!! The prize this time around is the same as last month's, The Pier in it's entirety, but this time, we're throwing in a couple of American Crafts surprise basics!! Yep, it's a mighty big prize!! The specifics are as follows...

- Fresh Handmade Wares encouraged - at least 75% Crate Paper (old and new/three product minimum)

- Original Design following this week's CW theme; Summer Splash

- Winner & Runner-Ups published at Crate blog & Crate's Pinterest Board; Creative Weekly Challenge

- Open to most project types; layout, mini album, card, etc. One project per submission.

- Submission deadline is June 4, 2013 (5:00pm Central Time) - cpblog@cratepaper.com

- Winner announced June 6th, 2013.  Late Submissions not accepted.

- Prize: The Pier {all of it} + basics!

~

Stephanie Dagan

This new collection is really surprising. I didn't think I could use colors like these to create a beach themed layout. Amazingly, it lends a soft, soothing atmosphere that is ideal for documenting days spent enjoying the comfort of the warm sun, and inviting waters. To coincide with the collection, I slightly retouched my photos to give them a vintage feel and also, to soften the colors. 

Jeanette Lee

When I think of a perfect Summer beach outing, I envision the glistening sun, clear blue skies and sandy beaches. We happened to go to the beach over the school break and it was all that I had imagined it to be. I created a ripple effect using my stamps, splattered different shades of blue mists and place random gold sequins on the page to represent that perfect Sunny day we had at the beach. I used The Pier's chipboard elements, accents from the ephemera pack and built layers around the photos.

I personally feel it's important to make sense of embellishments I choose to place on my layouts. One such example is the "You Number 23" tag that you see on the top right hand corner. I knew I wanted to use it, but the number served as a distraction since it had nothing to do with the photo or story. So, I added a plus sign in between 2 and 3, creating some interest while complementing it with the title 'You are 5'.

Katie Ehmann

Summer is my favorite season, but in Michigan, it's only here for what seems like a few weeks. Luckily, we went to Florida in February and got to spend some time at the beach. The Pier collection is perfect for beachy photos, and the slide frames add the perfect element to make smaller photos pop. Even though my layout has a lot of patterned papers and embellishments (could the embellishments be any cuter?!), my photos still take center stage with the slide frames. Plus, the fun sizes allowed me to add four photos and still keep things balanced!

~

 Hello everyone, this is Janna with a new Project Life double spread!

Once again, I combined two weeks to create a full spread - instead of dedicating one side to each week, I decided to mix my photos and events. I used a journaling card to write about each week separately.

It was my husband's birthday during week "16" - he turned forty!! Given that number, it's a rather big anniversary, so I dedicated most of the space to the special event. Funny enough, we hadn't taken any pictures during the big party - can you believe it?! We had been so busy preparing and celebrating that I totally forgot to get the camera out! I'm still shocked by the lack of images, but hey, I'm more than happy to make up for it via Crate Paper's "Party Day" collection. It includes lots of fun and festive "Happy Birthday" embellishments, like the balloons on the bottom right and the birthday candle near the bottom left.

As to the right side of the double spread, I used supplies from Crate Paper's Party Day, Maggie Holmes, DIY Shop and The Pier. Although the four cllections differ in theme and color scheme, they go together extremely well. 

I have to admit, I'm still not happy with my handwriting in my PL album...I like my handwriting, but not in the album itself. This might be because I like things straight and my handwriting is rather curved. I used to write in big letters, which allowed the journaling part appear more structured and straight, but to me, it's a bit less personal, if you know what I mean. Guess this will be my challenge for the following weeks ahead - trying to find a way to incorporate my handwriting so that it's pleasing to the eye. ;)

When I started the double spread, I was a bit clueless how to fill the four squares on the left. I don't have a printer that prints photos in that size. I imagined in place of the missing photos I'd use cards, which made it a bit easier for me to envision how best to decorate them. Of course, I got outplayed by the "stacking-curse" and the page got thicker and thicker, *laugh*.

Sometimes, when the cards get too thick, they tend to slip out of the pockets. To fix this issue, I use transparent sellotape along the opening seam, preventing the cards from slipping out anymore.

I love to sew on my PL cards. I love the look of the leftover, dangling thread that hangs from the sides. I also like to write on my photos with a photo pen and fixative. The fixative addition is to prevent smearing.

You might know that this album started off as a weight loss album, though over time, it has evolved into an everyday life thing. In the first weeks of 2013, I used to take a picture of me on the scale each week and added it to the album. I used a Polaroid to take the photos, but the camera film filled up quickly. I was too lazy to run out and buy a new one. I then resorted to using my iPhone instead, but didn't print the photos *another sigh* - and then I realized that I felt totally pressured to weigh myself each week - the weighing became more important than moving more, eating healthier and everything else that I wanted to change in my life. Sometimes, You just need to admit to yourself that you failed on something, right? I still abide by my goal to eat healthier, move more, etc, but without the pressure. I still weigh myself from time to time, but not every week. It works for me!

My idea of this album changed a bit; I'm now documenting our life and adding pages about my weight loss when it feels right. I like having a PL album that is dedicated to one topic, but as you know, PL can get quite time consuming and is sometimes stressful. Beneath all that though is PL's popular motto; have fun, enjoy the process and share the outcome with friends and family when ready. That's exactly what I'm doing at this point in time!

On that note, I wish all of you a great day! Thanks for checking in at the Crate Paper blog!

Hi, all! Rebecca here today and I've got some summer-fresh tags and bags to share with you folks. In Southern California, our hot weather started a couple of weeks ago so it feels like summer is already here. The warm temperatures made me want to create something just as sunny and bright as our Orange County skies! Looking over all of my Crate products, I noticed that there are a lot of cheery yellow and royal blue embellishments -- and they sure do look striking together! It's very summery (a little nautical, even) and since creating this project, I've noticed these two colors popping up together everywhere..in fashion, home decor, and of course, paper crafts.

Almost by accident, I happened to lay a few of these embellishments down on a small black and white diagonal stripe bag and my project was born! The yellow and the blue on top of the black and white bags was such an arresting combination that they begged to be used.

I've been on a kind of a tag kick lately, pairing odd-and-end embellishments with paper scraps to whip up some super-quick tags. With my little bags in mind, it was pretty obvious that I had to make some new tags to put in them. Luckily, all I had to do was look through my Crate papers to find beautiful designs and ready-made tags to use. I soon discovered that the CP line by Maggie Holmes had pretty much everything I needed to make this set. I also noticed that bows and butterflies were standing out to me and they, too, became factors in my design -- the little embellishments that tie all of the pieces together.

When a tag was not already made, I simply made one myself from a coordinating paper, like Happy Day (above). In this case, the tag features ephemera die-cuts from DIY Shop, plus a punched butterfly, blue button, and black twine from my own stash. The bag is decorated with sweet bows from MH.

This yellow and white striped tag is from the Tags and Accent Cuts paper. I love the way it looks paired with a blue polka dot bow from MH. And after I topped it with a black and white chevron fabric brad, I loved it even more!

I put the tag into it's little bag, making the brad and the bow a part of the bag decor by sliding the front of the bag up in between the bow and the tag. It was just a simple technique, but it turned out to be a really nice way to store this tag. It makes the bag look almost gift-wrapped.

This yellow and white polka dotted glassine bag came from the Party Day collection. How awesome is it that all of these Crate Paper lines can be used in tandem with each other? I love that! I covered a mini clothespin with MG washi tape and used it to clip a tiny tag onto the bag.

This bag is slightly larger than the others so I used a blue-lined library card as my base and another Maggie Holmes tag on top of it. With a few bits from Maggie's ephemera pack and some stitched doilies, this tag is all set!

For some variation, I made a smaller tag and used a tiny, clear glassine bag. I made the tag using Happy Day again and layered on the accessories. As this project was taking shape, I knew I had to find some way to use one of the rhinestone clips! Used here, it makes the perfect closure!

As you can see, I'm a big fan of using tags of all sizes to complete the look. The layered look is so popular now and I, for one, would layer and pile all day long if I could! It's an easy way to create depth and interest to a card, layout or package like the ones I've made here.

I'm also a bit (okay, completely) obsessed with washi tape and have pretty much been over the moon about the offerings that have accompanied Crate's recent collections. It's possibilities are endless! I used it to cover the mini clothespin and the small wood flag that are clipped to this bag. Then I used it on the tag as accent pieces behind the cake ticket and thread.

This was a very fun project to make and I find that I'm still picking out blue and yellow bits and paper from my CP collections! I could have -- and might still -- make many, many more tags and bags with this combination and all of the beautiful CP embellishments I have sorted out. I love these colors together -- if you haven't noticed bright blue and cheery yellow together before this, I bet you will now!

Have you seen the Pier's collection's Plastic Cut-Out Alphabets? They're awesome! Today, I have a tutorial to share with you on how to add color with paint. You can paint each letter the same color or use a variety of colors as I did on my card. These letters are fantastic for making titles for layouts and even focal points on cards.

First, you take your plastic alphabet and determine which side is the unfinished side. the unfinished side is not smooth and glossy and feels more like a matte finish. You want the unfinished side on top.

Next, get out your paint(s) and add at least one coat of acrylic paint to the unfinished side of the plastic alphabet. Warning, your fingers will get a bit messy during this process! But, I assure you that you will look like an artist in the end! Depending on the color of your paint (and also the thickness of your paint) you may have to add a second coat after the first coat dries. I found that a foam brush applied the paint better than a traditional paint brush; but both will work. Paint each letter and let them dry.

Tip: If you have reinkers, use Gesso or a white-based paint to come up with your own paint colors!

The colors added to these fabulous plastic alpha shapes is so much fun. They really POP. I created the word "HELLO" onto a card that measures about 4" x 6". The plastic alphas are definitely the focal point of the card.

I used foam adhesive to adhere the alphas to patterned paper and used pinking shears to make a decorative border. The neutral tones of the polka dot patterned paper are perfect for all that color in the letters. You can find the patterned paper in The Pier 6" x 6" paper pad!

To fill in the last section, I used an accordion embellishment. It's a Stand-Out from The Pier collection. I also used a cardstock die-cut for the "you" element - making the card greeting "HELLO YOU".

So, have some fun with paint and add loads of color to your projects using the plastic alphas. They will surely make any project come alive!

On a recent trip to Italy, I was enamored by the narrow, cobblestone streets of Trestevere and the clotheslines strung between buildings. Clotheslines, for me, bring back a bit of nostalgia because my grandmother used one in her front yard when I was a little girl. She would hang sheets and towels with wooden clothewspins and they would dry in the warm Michigan summer breeze. I love the tiny wooden clothespins in the Maggie Holmes collection, and was thrilled to see some show up in The Pier as well! I have two projects for you today that feature these little nostalgic bits of loveliness!

First, I used a vintage frame and the Maggie Holmes collection to recreate a clothesline inspired decorative piece for my craft room. I started with four photos which I attached to fabric frames, then filled in with fun, embellished tags and ephemera, all clipped with wooden clothespins to two lengths of twine.

I love the way it brightens my room!

Next, I created a layout with The Pier. I'm totally in love with this collection and simply couldn't wait to use it! One of my favorite items are the Stand-Outs, especially the clothespin clad letters that spell out the word "Fun"! I chose three summertime baby photos of my oldest daughter, matted them on three different patterned papers, and then recreated a clotheline feature along the bottom of my page with Stand-Outs and ephemera from The Pier.

I hope you'll use these cute wooden clothespins on a future project! I love the detail and dimension they add!

Welcome to another Friday full of Project Life inspiration. This week, I'm starting with my title page for April. I'm highlighting the bright colors of the brand new collection, The Pier, but using it in a rather unconventional way.

The colors in The Pier collection make my heart skip a beat. I love that it makes me dream of being on the beach, but I also love that it can fit right into my PL pages full of everyday life; many miles from a beautiful ocean.

Don't forget to tell your story by fitting journaling in where ever you can! Using the diagonal striped paper creates a unique journaling spot.

The chipboard slide frames..swoon! Perfect for framing my many instagram photos. 

Spring in the Midwest means rain, mud and for me; trying to keep three kiddos from tracking it all into the house.

During the middle of April we were blessed with so much rain it caused the rivers, creeks and basements everywhere to flood. This spread captures a bit of that experience.

I love all the geotag icons included in the collection, and they worked perfectly flipped upside down to create rain drops!

(Ella's face in this photo - I'm not even sure what it was about, but she cracks me up! LOL!)

I also tried to use the word elements such as "lazy days" and "sunshine" in a way that worked with my rainy theme. Think outside the box and you can use a collection in a whole new way!