Divinely Decorated: More G45 Home Decor Ideas

Hello Crafters,

Happy Wednesday to you all! We're so pleased that you're joining us for another superb day of crafting here at Graphic 45! So far this week has been really fun. We've been exploring some gorgeous ideas for home decor and today we're keeping that theme alive! Jack & Cat Curio and Sherry Cheever of our design team have created some amazingly beautiful projects that are guaranteed to dazzle you! There is something so special and gratifying about taking something ordinary and turning into something extraordinary. Today you will see examples of this very thing! First up is this spectacular printer's tray by Jack & Cat Curio. There are so many stunning little details in this piece. Each section is a world all its own! Behold the brilliance! 

 

Supplies:

Tim Holtz  Idea-ology Collection - Configurations  Print Tray
Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante Collection:
Time Warp, Nouveau Artistry, Steampunk Debutante, Mechanical Mind, Frames, Modern Marvels, Time Flies, Ephemera Extraordinaire
Graphic 45 A Proper Gentleman-Tags
Graphic 45 Staples: Trims, Metal flowers, Metal buttons, Chipboard Buttons, Metal Tags
Chipboard Tag Set for Graphic 45-Leaky Shed Studio
Gears and Cogs Set-Leaky Shed Studio
Oval Frame-Leaky Shed Studio
9 Cogs on board-Imaginarium Designs
Kaisercraft Wood Flourishes: Keys
Tim Holtz Idea-ology:
Games spinners, metal clock faces, fragments clear tiles, corked vials, numerals, pen nibs, Plaquettes, Fractured Dolls, grunge block, light bulbs, Adornments - Regal,
Plastic toys, door flange, pendants, key, plastic numbers, seam binding, thread spools, metallic fibers, plastic frame, old dictionary pages, German Glass Glitter, small pearls
Aluminum Metal Tape
Ranger Alcohol Ink-Pitch Black
Ranger Distress Ink-Walnut Stain, Black Soot, Tea Dye
Ranger Distress Stain-Walnut Stain
Ranger Perfect Pearls-Gold
Ranger Multi-Medium Matte
Crafters Pick Ultimate Glue
Molding Paste
Metal Effects Reactive Paint - Iron
Kaisercolour paint-Sea Breeze, White
Ranger Distress Embossing Ink
Ranger Embossing Powders:  Copper, Antiquities Verdigris, Antiquities Rust
Ranger Stickles-Diamond, Rock Candy

This next piece was created by the amazing Sherry Cheever. Using our new collection An ABC Primer, Sherry has dressed up an old birdhouse and transformed it into an adorable treasure. She's even included her wonderful botanical paper creations to give this birdhouse a gorgeous and natural look. So inspiring!

Supplies:

Graphic 45:  An ABC Primer, Metal Tags

Spellbinders:  LF-005 Grand Peony Creations, S5-051 Fanciful Flight, S4-328 Foliage, P5-002 Petal Pack, Presto Punch, Grand CaliburPaint/Inks:  Ranger Archival Jet Black; Ranger Crushed Olive, Spiced Marmalade and Black Soot Distress Stains; Ranger Vintage Photo Distress Ink; Black Acrylic PaintStamps:  Stampers Anonymous SwirlsEmbellishments:  Maya Road Pearl Trinket Pin and Mini Clothespin; Black Artistic Wire; Corsage Pins; idea-ology GrungePaper; Wood Birdhouse
Tools:  Ranger Claudine Hellmuth Studio Multi-Medium Matte, Glossy Accents, Matte Accents, UTEE and Melting Pot; Hot Glue Gun

That's all for today, Crafters. Huge thanks to Jack & Cat Curio and Sherry Cheever for their fabulous creations today. We hope they got you thinking about home decor projects that you'd like to try. Remember to leave a blog or Facebook comment this week for your chance to win this week's blog prize. Tell us how you like to display your crafts once you've completed them. Do you frame them, hang them on a wall, give them away to a loved one, put them in a album? We'd love to hear your opinion! Have a fantastic day and please join us tomorrow for more glorious craft ideas!

With Love and Paper Flowers,

Team Graphic 45

Circus of Imagination: Le Cirque Home Decor

Hello Crafters,

We are so glad you are joining us on this glorious Tuesday! Things here are Graphic 45 couldn't be better and we've got some spectacular crafts to share with you today. For the past couple of days we've been exploring some fun ideas for home decor. Today we're going to show you some marvelous Le Cirque crafts by Tara Orr and Melanie Forbes of our design team. Tara has created a simple but absolutely adorable Le Cirque clock that you are sure to love. Melanie has made a beautiful and super fun Le Cirque wall hanging. Both of these projects are sure to sweep you off your feet and give you lots of inspiring ideas! So lets get to it! First up is Tara Orr's amazing altered clock. Yet again Tara manages to create the most inspiring crafts from simple thrift store finds! Here is what she had to say about this wonderful treasure.

"I love altering things in a simple way.  This clock originally had a face with a Rooster on it and red ringers.  When I saw it I immediately thought that Graphic 45's Door Knobs could easily replace the ringers. All I'd have to do was put a cool image on the face using some of their papers!  When I got home, I took the clock apart, removed the face and replaced it with a bright image from Graphic 45's Le Cirque Collection.  Thankfully I was able to put everything back together.  I then removed the original ringers and replaced those with some Geometric Door Knobs that I had painted red and finished with some glossy Mod Podge to match the shine in the body of the clock." -Tara Orr

 

Supplies:

Graphic 45:

Geometric Metal Door Knobs

Le Cirque: Le Cirque

 

Other Supplies:

Acrylic Paint by DecoArt

Mod Podge by Plaid

Distress Ink in Vintage Photo by Ranger

Clock found at thrift store ($2.00!)

This next piece was created by Melanie Forbes. It's a vibrant and whimsical Le Cirque wall hanging! Melanie is amazing at creating clever and beautiful pieces of home decor. There are so many fun details in this wall hanging! It really is like stepping under the big top! Just imagine how sweet this would look in a child's room. Although it really is beautiful enough to look amazing in any room of the house!

Supplies:

Graphic 45: Le Cirque Collection:
Le Cirque
Circus Parade
Manifique
Extravaganza
Dazzle and Delight
Greatest Show on Earth
Le Cirque tags

Twiddleybitz
Circus Friends CIR001
Circus Big Top CIR 003
Rectangular Shadowbox SBR004
Miniature Houses TMH001
Flourish with a Bling – Rhinestones Black and Silver
Smooch – Moonlight, Sundance
VIVA Precious Metal Colours #603 & #404
Tim Holtz Distress ink – vintage Photo & Black Soot

Well, that's all for today. Thank you all so much for joining us and huge thanks to Tara Orr and Melanie Forbes for their gorgeous projects! We will be right back here tomorrow with more fun crafts for you to enjoy. Don't forget that you can post your Graphic 45 projects on our Faceboook page, Ning site or web gallery! We'd love to see what you've been creating with our papers! Also,  be sure to leave your comment for this week's blog contest. Tell us your favorite way to display your crafts and you could win this week's super fun prize! We hope you have a terrific Tuesday.

Happy Papercrafting,

Team Graphic 45

Home Is Where the Art Is: Wall Hangings & Blog Contest!

Hello Crafters,

Welcome to another fun-filled week here at the Graphic 45 blog! Thanks for stopping by and seeing us on this lovely Monday! This week is going to be wonderful. We've got lots of amazing crafts from our design team to share with you. There's also a new blog contest! So even though it's Monday we're giving you lots of reasons to smile. Today's crafts are all about home decor. We've got the most beautiful wall-hangings by Gloria Stengel, Nicole Eccles and Lynette Carroll of our design team. Looking at these wonderful creations got us thinking about a fun idea for this week's blog contest. We want you to tell us your favorite way to display your crafts. Do you put them in an album? Do you prefer to display them in a frame in your home? Or do you tend to give away most of your crafts as gifts to your loved ones? Let us know your preferred method of displaying your crafts and you could win this week's wonderful prize! A Curtain Call 8x8 Paper Pad, a Curtain Call cling stamp set, three beautiful chipboards from Imaginarium Designs, and a Fiskars Everwhere Punch Starter Set! Leave us a comment on our blog or Facebook page any day this week and you'll be entered to win! A winner will be chosen randomly and announced on our blog this Friday, September 3rd!

This first beautiful wall hanging was created by the amazing Gloria Stengel. She used our Le Cirque and On the Boardwalk collections to create this warm and vibrant piece of summer home decor. It's amazing how Gloria perfectly blended these two collections together to create a stunning work of art!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Bazzill Basics

Designer paper: Graphic45 Le Cirque (Bohemian Floral, Extravaganza), Graphic45 On the Boardwalk (Bathing Beauties), Anna Griffin Willow Gold Foil

Ink: Clearsnap Colorbox Chalk Chestnut Roan, Clearsnap Cat's Eye Classic Pigment Ink Gold

Embellishments: Ribbon from Creative Impressions, pearls from Want2Scrap, grommets from We R Memory Keepers

Wire: Artistic Wire

Spellbinders dies templates: S4-072 Flowers Creations, P5-002 Petal Pack, S4-327 Floral Flourishes, S4-320 Nested Butterfly, S4-345 Picot Edge Circles, LF-003 Donna's Alphabet, LF-347 Grand Labels Twenty-three

Tools: Spellbinders Grand Calibur and Presto Punch machines, Artistic Wire Coiling Gizmo, We R Memory Keepers Crop-a-Dile

Adhesive: Foam squares from Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L, Glue Dots, Aleene's Fast Grab Tacky Glue, Scotch 3M ATG

Other: Chipboard

Designer Notes: Use the Spellbinders Grand Labels Twenty-three die template to cut the wall hanging base from chipboard and designer paper.

Next we have this wonderfully fun Magic of Oz and Steampunk Debutant wall hanging by Nicole Eccles.This piece is so much lively and perfectly captures the whimsical spirit of Oz. Here is what Nicole had to say about the inspiration for this marvelous creation.

"For this project I used a mix of Steampunk Debutante and Magic of Oz to create a 3D Framed Wall Relief.  I wanted to create something that would be great for a child’s bedroom, but also classy enough for adults too!  Because let’s face it, we are all still kids at heart.  With a love for those classic memorable movie images from our childhood, and a passion for cutting and glueing paper just like kindergarten... Except as adults, we get to use WAY cooler stuff, like all things G45!! And these 3D chipboard letters are just the perfect thing for SOOO many G45 inspired projects!!   Available for purchase at a variety of craft stores,  the combinations are endless." -Nicole Eccles

Supplies:
 
Papers:    Coordinations G45 Timeless Collection  
G45 Magic Of Oz Collection
Goblin Gazette
There’s No Place Like Home
Emerald City
Poppy Fields
Scatterbrained Scarecrow
The Magic Of Oz
Journey To Oz  
G45 Steampunk Debutante Collection
Fantasy Floral 
American Crafts Nightfall Line
Midnight Moon (Clouds)
Chipboard:  Imaginarium Designs
Decorative border, LG Corner Bracket  
Embellishments:  G45 Metal Tags  
Bling:  Smooch Accents Inks (luscious lime, red)
Kaiser Craft Rhinestones (red)
Stickles ( Xmas Red)
Inks:  Ranger Distress Inks (Frayed Burlap)
Ranger Adirondack Inks (Red Pepper)
Color Box Cats eye (Turquoise)  
Adhesives:  E6000, Ranger Glossy Accents, Tombow Mono Color Glue Stick, Claudine Hellmuth Matte Multi Medium  
Other:  XL 3D Chipboard letters, Ceramic Ruby Sipper (Gardenspellghosttale.etsy.com), 12x12 Frame

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This next piece is by Lynette Carroll. She used our new Christmas Emporium collection to create this classic and heart-warming holiday wall hanging. Here is what she had to say about this lovely craft creation.

"I love to create pieces of Home Decor with my photos instead of always keeping them tucked inside an album.   For this project, I used a page from a ringed album from Want2Scrap as the background for my piece of Christmas Art.  I will display this piece of art on an easel in my home with my other Christmas decorations in December.  Remember when buying scrapbook products, you don't always have to use them in the manner they were intended for. To design this piece, I covered the chipboard album page and lightly sanded and inked the edges.  I then cut out the Father Christmas scene from the Christmas Emporium paper and placed him on the left side with foam mounting tape for dimension.  I then simply layered pieces of cut paper until I was happy with the layout.  I added my photo with foam mounting tape for dimension and also the two pieces of holly.  To complete the project I lightly brushed the leaves of the holly with Diamond Stickles and colored the berries with the Red Stickles." -Lynette Carroll 

Supplies:

Graphic 45 - Christmas Emporium:

 Christmas Emporium

Merry and Bright

Believe!

 A Christmas Carol

Santa Express

 Special Delivery

 

Want 2 Scrap - 2 Ring Album

Ranger Industries - Red Stickles

Ranger Industries - Diamond Stickles

Ranger Industries - Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress Ink

Shabby Crafts - December Calendar

Misc:  Foam Mounting Tape

We hope you all enjoyed today's featured crafts. We look forward to reading your comments for this week's blog contest! And don't forget about our wedding layout challenge that's happening right now! You have until August 31st to post your Graphic 45 wedding layout on our Facebook page for your chance to win our entire Magic of Oz collection! We will be picking three random winners and announcing them on our blog on September 2nd! The deadline is fast approaching so don't miss out. Huge thanks to Gloria Stengel, Nicole Eccles and Lynette Carroll for their marvelous creations today. And thank you all again for joining us. We will be right back here tomorrow with more inspiring creations! Have a great Monday!

Happy Papercrafting!

Team Graphic 45

Timeless Inspiration: A Clever Calendar by Yuka Hino

Hello Crafters, 

Happy Friday and thank you for stopping by today! What a week it's been! So many fantastic crafts, an amazing featured artist, and tons of craft love from this week's blog contest and wedding layout craft challenge! We love to keep things fun and exciting here at Graphic 45. We have more fun in store for you today. Yuka Hino of our design team has created the most spectacular mini calendar as well as a great video tutorial. Plus we have a winner to announce for this week's blog contest! Firstly, thank you to everyone who left us comments on our blog and Facebook page this week. It was great to read all about everyone's favorite holidays to craft. This week's randomly chosen winner is Shirley Rodriguez. Shirley's comment was chosen from our Facebook page. Here is what she had to say about her favorite crafting holiday.

"Christmas is my favorite holiday to craft for...I usually start in June and to put me in the Christmas spirit you can hear Christmas songs coming from my barn shop in June.... I have 7 grandkids. I made them 32 page paper albums, sock monkeys, blankets, altered jean jackets, and this year I will make altered treasure boxes with a special gift inside. Every child is different and so the boxes will reflect what I think they will each like." -Shirley Rodriguez

Sounds great, Shirley! Please email us with your contact information at info@g45papers.com to claim your prize! Congratulations!

Okay, lets get to the crafts! Yuka Hino has prepared this adorable and beautiful mini calendar and video tutorial. Each page was made with a different Graphic 45 paper collection. This is such a terrific idea and it looks absolutely amazing! Check it out and get inspired to create one of your very own!

Check out this wonderful video tutorial by Yuka! See her clever techniques and get inspired by her wonderful imagination! This project is so much fun!

 

Supplies:

Free Printable Calendar 2012 URL: http://yearlycalendarhub.com/printable-yearly-calendar-2012/

Graphic 45 Supplies:

The Magic of Oz: The Magic of Oz, Yellow Brick Road, Tenderhearted Tin Man

Curtain Call: Curtain Call, Top Billing

Le Cirque: Le Cirque, Bohemian Floral, Magnifique, Wizards of Wonder, Dazzle and Delight, Tags

Once Upon a Springtime: Once Upon a Springtime, Fairy Folk, Woodland Fantasy

Steampunk Debutante: Modern Marvels, Mechanical Mind

Deluxe Edition Christmas Past: Jolly Old St. Nicholas, Deck the Halls, Ode to Joy, Frames, Tags

Hallowe'en in Wonderland: Alice's Tea Party, The Mad Hatter, Jabberwocky

A Proper Gentlemen: On the Boulevard, The Sophisticate, Timely Point of View, Borders, Tags

Le' Romantique: Le' Romantique, Tender Missives, Loves Labyrinth, My Beloved, Sweetheart of Mine

On The Boardwalk: On The Boardwalk, Seaside Chic, High Style Holiday, Tags

Renaissance Faire: Bona Fide, Masterpiece, Tudor Rose, Tags

Domestic Goddess: Domestic Goddess, Happy Homemaker, Simple as Pie, Tags

Botanicabella: Botanicabella, Birds in Paradise, Antiquity, Ode to a Butterfly, Tags

Playtimes Past: Connect the Dots, Childs Play, Tags

Graphic 45 Staples: Metal Flower, Metal Hinge, Sticker

 

Other Supplies:

Chipboard: Imaginarium Designs

Ribbon & String: May Arts

Ornate Plates: Tim Holtz

Button: Crate Paper

Rhinestone & Pearl: Prima

Crop-A-Dile & Eyelet: We R Memory Keepers

Mist: Smooch Spritz by Clearsnap, Tattered Angels

Ink: Tsukineko

Stickles: Ranger

Adhesive: Tombow, Glue Dots, Glossy Accents by Ranger

 

We want to thank Yuka Hino for her beautiful calendar and tutorial. It is always a pleasure to feature her fantastic crafts on our blog. We hope you will all join us on Monday for more beautiful crafts and inspiration. Remember, there is still time to submit your Graphic 45 wedding layouts to our Facebook page for your chance to win the craft challenge. We are going to be picking 3 random winners so there are lots of chances to win a fantastic prize! We hope you all have a great weekend!

With Love and Pretty Paper,

Team Graphic 45

A Dream Within a Dream: Introducing Lost Coast Scrapper

Hello Crafters,

Today is a super special day and we are so happy you're joining us! Today we are featuring the work of a marvelously talented crafter, Karen aka Lost Coast Scrapper. One look at Karen's work and you'll agree, she has a remarkable knack for creating gorgeous crafts. We came across her blog Lost Coast Scrapper a couple of months ago and were amazed by the huge volume of work but also her stunning artistic eye. Her use of shapes and movement, especially in layouts, is breathtaking. She creates gorgeous layers that seem to jump right off the page! She also uses just the right amount of beautiful embellishments to make each project uniquely alluring. Karen also has a talent for capturing an authentic vintage look in all her projects. It's obvious why Lost Coast Scrapper and Graphic 45 work so well together! We're a match made in scrapper's heaven! Ladies and Gentleman, we are very happy to introduce Karen of Lost Coast Scrapper!

  

"My name is Karen Zueger aka Lost Coast Scrapper. I have enjoyed papercrafting and scrapbooking now for about 4 years. A friend got me interested and now I'm totally addicted. It's so fun to make memories for my family and friends! I love to do distress work, vintage, and steampunk. I really love all styles and love trying new things and mediums. I am currently on the design team at Scraps of Darkness and am enjoying every minute!! The first time I saw Graphic 45 paper line I felt like I was home, I just love the style and feel to the colors and designs and can't get enough!! I really enjoy fusing them together with Tim Holtz products, they seem to fit each other very well!! I'm especially excited about the new holiday papers and can't wait until the rain comes and I can get at the new collections. This is a great honour to me and I hope you enjoy my work!

This is my very first Altered Project and I had fun with it.  It was such a fragile frame as it is made out of really old wood, so I had to be really careful.  I used a 2-step crackle from Michael's to give it an even more distressed look!!  After that dried, I applied some Tim holtz Distress Inks and rubbed them in a circular motion in a few areas for a little color.  The image I found online, sorry I can't remember right now.  As many of you know, I love Graphic 45 and used their "The Magic of Oz" Collection.  I backed the photo with some G45 paper and did a lot of fussy cutting to add the touches of Graphic 45 around the doors of the frame.  I'm going to have this in my kitchen this Halloween with some other decorations around it, can't wait!!"  -Lost Coast Scrapper

 

Next you will see lots of examples of Karen's amazing Graphic 45 layouts. Check out these sophisticated works of art featuring A Proper Gentleman.

Here we have more stunning layouts from Lost Coast Scrapper. These LOs feature our sunny collection called On the Boardwalk. Check out these bright beach LOs!

Here are some sweetly spooky Hallowe'en in Wonderland layouts by Karen. You can really see her amazing use of shapes and contrasting patterns in these LOs. And of course her central photos are too cute for words!

Check out these astonishing Steampunk Debutant layouts! These hauntingly beautiful LOs are like something out of a dream. Karen's layouts really are like stepping into another world!

Here are some achingly beautiful Curtain Call layouts by Karen. Check out her amazing use of texture and color! And you can see some fabulous uses of the Graphic 45 Staples line! Flower Staples, Trim Staples and Sticker Staples help bring even more lovely dimension to these marvelous LOs! Get ready to fall madly in love!

Once Upon a Springtime comes to life in these enchanting layouts. Here again you can see Karen's brilliant eye for layering. Plus these central photos couldn't be any more perfect!

These Le Cirque layouts are beyond adorable. You can really feel the love in these bright and beautiful creations. So much fun!

We want to say a huge thank you to Karen of Lost Coast Scrapper. Please be sure to check out her amazing blog. It is loaded with all kinds of amazing creations that you are guaranteed to love. We are honored to have her talents on our blog today and we hope you all enjoyed her creations.

Please join us tomorrow as we announce a winner for this week's blog contest. We'll also have more beautiful crafts to get you through the day. Thank you all again for joining us today. Have a terrific Thursday!

Happy Papercrafting,

Team Graphic 45

Magic of Oz Layouts From Around the Globe.

Hello Beautiful Crafters!

Happy Wednesday and thank you for taking some time out of your day to pay us a visit! We have more glorious crafts from our design team to share with you today. We're featuring three phenomenal layouts that highlight our new Magic of Oz collection. All three of these layouts were created by some of our international design team members: Hilde Janbroers, Jane Tregenza and Melanie Forbes. You are going to love these wonderfully whimsical creations! This first lovely LO is called "Family" and was made by Hilde Janbroers. Get ready to be captivated by craftiness! 

"I love to work with white cardstock so the Magic of Oz images will pop out of the page. I used a piece of the paper 'Journey to Oz' to place in the middle of the page. On top of that I added 2 pieces of another sheet. After adding the photo I started to add all the embellishments like flowers and chipboard. I cut out some images to add to the page as well. Some sprays of glimmermist as a final touch. " -Hilde Janbroers

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Supplies:

Bazzill Basics Cardstock white

Graphic 45 The Magic of Oz papers, Chipboard Die-Cuts 1 & 2

Imaginarium chipboards

Want2Scrap pearls

American Crafts THickers

Tattered Angels glimmer mist

Petaloo flowers

This next marvlous LO was made by the amazing Jane Tregenza. Jane's stunning crafting style is in full bloom in this wickedly clever LO. Here is what she had to say about her inspiring creation!

 "I used a clock from Imaginarium Deigns and a mini steampunk clock along with clock hands. I layered everything over the top. I love the Metal Flowers and Metal Buttons from Graphic 45 staples range. I love using them as a feature on my layouts. They always look so amazing on anything. I never have a photo in mind, but with five kids I always have the perfect photo. But this time, as soon as I saw the paper I knew exactly which photo I was going use. Although the photo is not the best. It is one of my daughter taken at her 18 birthday which was a fancy dress. She made her costume including the wings! The title is another one from Imaginarium deigns. I added a number disk from Maya road to finish it off. Thanks for looking" -Jane Tregenza

 

Next we have a super sweet and fun LO by Melanie Forbes. This LO is so enchanting and shows some amazing uses for out Metal Staples! Look at those wonderful Metal Flowers, Metal Buttons and Ornate Metal Door Plate and Knob Staples! They look absolutely spectacular in this gorgeous LO. Plus, you've got to love that adorable central photo. So cute!

We hope you all enjoyed today's crafts! Huge thanks to Hilde Janbroers, Jane Tregenza and Melanie Fobes for their brilliant work today. We are so lucky to have their amazing talents on our design team! We hope you will all join us tomorrow. We have a super special blog planned so we hope you will stop by and see us! We hope you all have a terrific day!

Happy Papercrafting!

Team Graphic 45

"C" Is For Crafting: An ABC Primer Crafts & G45 In Singapore

Hello Crafters,

Happy Tuesday and thank you all for joining us today! We have some extra special treats to share with you. In addition to marvelous crafts from our design team that feature An ABC Primer, we're going to share some of our travel adventures! Right now Aimee and Diane are in Singapore on a very exciting business trip, where they will be teaching fabulous workshops all weekend. Here is a peek of their first day spent in this astonishing country!

"Today was all and all an amazing day!  Elaine Ong, the owner of Laine's Papeterie, was nothing short of fantastic, she should really consider opening a tour guide business. Our day was jam packed to say the least. We attended the Chinese Heritage Museum, visited a Hindu and a Buddhist temple, ate delicious dim sum, allowed flesh eating fish to eat the dead skin off our feet (at least my mom did), went to the Peranakan museum, tried a new and approved bubble tea, and ate a handful of the go to Singaporian dishes. Over all it was a great day!" -Aimee

Pretty amazing sights! Now lets travel to the land of crafting where our fabulous design team are working hard to keep you inspired! Today's amazing crafts feature our adorable new collection An ABC Primer. Laura Denison and Nicole Eccles have created the most enchanting projects that are sure to enthrall you! Our new collections are arriving in stores now and today's crafts are sure to give you some amazing ideas. This first project is by the fabulous Laura Denison. Here is what she had to say about this sweet and clever altered crayon box. So cute and such a smart idea! 

"One of my favorite memories of elementary school was getting a brand new box of crayons for school. I could spend HOURS arranging the colors, though I never "cheated" and used them before school started. That first mark with the new set was reserved for school. By the end of the year, the crayons would be broken stubs and the box would be falling apart....Oh! the anticipation of the next years new box was almost too much to bear! As soon as I saw the ABC Primer paper, this memory flooded my head. I HAD to incorporate the crayon box into my project. For this project, I traced the opened box and created a new box. (I could easily have just painted the box as well.) The six sections of the box coincides perfectly with my elementary school years. Each section contains a little accordion album to hold the wallet size school photo's as well as the school, teacher and school year. I love the plaid paper on the box....I had a dress in 4th grade that was EXACTLY this plaid! I have to find a photo of that dress!" -Laura Denison

Supplies:

Paper - Graphic 45 An ABC Primer

Card stock - Bazzil

Next we have two gorgeous crafts by Nicole Eccles. This first project is a wonderful altered chalk board. Such a perfect idea for An ABC Primer! Think of how sweet this would look in a child's room! Nicole has also created a super cute layout called "C is for Cookie." Nicole has such a knack for creating such fun and whimsical crafts! Check these out!

Supplies:

Papers:  G45 An ABC Primer

Building Blocks

Grammar School

 

Embellishments:  G45 Chipboard Buttons

G45 Metal Buttons

G45 An ABC Primer Chipboard Tags 1

Tim Holtz Grundgeboard 

Punches:  Martha Stewart Ornate Lace Border

Inks:  Tim Holtz Distress Inks( Frayed Burlap)

Staz On ( Jet Black)

Adhesives:  Glossy Accents

Tombo Mono Glue Stick

 E6000

Other:  Silk Flowers, Pip Berries, Vintage Chalkboard, White Acrylic Paint

Supplies:

Cardstock: Bazzill Nathan Burlap

Papers:  G45 An ABC Primer Line

    The Three R’s

    Grammar School

    Building Blocks

    Alphabet Soup

    Calico Kids

    Bedtime Stories

 

Embellishments:  G45 Chipboard Buttons

   G45 Trim

Dies:  Spellbinders Blossoms 2

Punches:  EK Success XL Scallop Border

Stamps:  Crafty Secrets Clear Stamps (Sweet Stuff)

Inks:  Tsukineko Versafine ( Onyx Black)

          Tim Holtz Distress Inks( Frayed Burlap)

          Colorbox Cat’s Eye ( Dusty Rose)

Title:  Imaginarium Designs Chipboard

          Basic Grey Capella Letter Stickers

Adhesives:  Tombow Mono Glue Stick

                    Scrapbook Adhesives 3D foam squares

     Glossy Accents

      Scor Tape

Other:  Tim Holtz Distress Stickles( Rock Candy), Vintage Buttons, Chipboard, Salmon Colored Pencil

Huge thanks to the immensely talented Laura Denison and Nicole Eccles for their brilliant creations today. We hope you all enjoyed their work as much as we did! Don't forget to submit your wedding layouts to our Facebook page for this month's craft challenge. There's still time for you to win our deluxe prize! And there's also a fun blog contest happening right now. Leave us a blog or Facebook comment telling us your favorite holiday for crafting. You could win this week's super fun prize too! We hope you all have a wonderful day and thanks again for stopping by. We'll be back here tomorrow with more fun and excitement!

With Craft Love,

Team Graphic 45

 

Joyous Noel: Christmas Emporium Crafts from Our Design Team

Good Day Crafters!

Welcome to our happy blog! It's a new week of wonder here at Graphic 45! Our new collections are making their way to stores all over the world and we know you are all excited to get your hands on them. Today we are featuring some beautiful Christmas Emporium crafts from Robin Shakoor and Sherry Cheever of our design team. We hope today's creations will help conjure some ideas for your holiday crafting. And since it's Monday, we have a new blog contest to introduce! Since we're starting off this week with holiday-themed crafts, we want to know what holiday inspires you the most when it comes to crafting. Is Christmas your favorite holiday to create? Or do you enjoy making spooky Halloween projects? Maybe you're more of a Mother's Day crafter, or even Easter. There's lots of inspiring holidays to choose from. Pick one and tell us about it on our blog or Facebook page. Share your favorite crafting holiday and you could win this fabulous prize pack! A Proper Gentleman 12x12 paper pad, Geometric Door Plate and Knob Staples, Fiskars Everywhere Punch Cartridge, Clear Snap Color Catcher, and a beautiful cling stamp by Hampton Art! A winner will be chosen at random and announced here on the blog on Friday, August 26th!

These first two marvelous Christmas Emporium layouts were made by Robin Shakoor, a superbly brilliant crafter. These beautiful LOs will instantly get you in the holiday spirit, even though Christmas is several months away. Here is what Robin had to say about the inspiration for this first adorable LO called "Twinkle."

"The “Christmas Emporium” collection definitely brings out the spirit of Christmas.  I created this 8 ½ x 11 layout using this amazing holiday photo.  The tree was cut from “Christmas Emporium” and placed in the lower, right corner of the page.  The lettering is from Imaginarium Designs and is the perfect size for this page.   I finished my layout using beautiful flower tags topped with stockings which were cut from “Christmas Emporium.”  You will love this collection and you will find it your “go to” for all of your Christmas projects. Enjoy!" -Robin Shakoor

Supplies:
Patterned Paper:  Graphic 45 “Christmas Emporium” collectionCardstock:  CoredinationsInk/Paint:  Ranger, Making MemoriesChipboard:  Imaginarium Designs Gem:  PrimaAdhesives:  Scotch, Beacon, Creative Memories Die Cut Tags:  Graphic 45 “Christmas Emporium” collection Sanding Block:  CoredinationsPhoto:  Tom Clare

Supplies

Patterned Paper:  Christmas Emporium Cardstock:  BazzillInk:  Distress Ink (Ranger), Cranberry Pigment Ink (American Crafts) Embellishments:   Pins (Jenni Bowlin), Button (Craft Supply), Ribbon (My Mind’s Eye), Stickles (Ranger), Glimmer Mist (Ranger), Pearls (Kaisercraft), Letters (My Mind’s Eye)Dies:  Heirloom Ornaments (Spellbinders), Punch (Martha Stewart Crafts)
Adhesives:  ATG 700 (Scotch), Foam Squares (Ranger). Scor-Tape (Scor-Pal), 450 Quick Dry (Helmar’s)

Next we have a gorgeous piece of holiday home decor by the absolutely fabulous Sherry Cheever. This festive wall hanging would look stunning in any home, and it would also make a superb holiday gift! Sherry used our beautiful Christmas Emporium papers and Chipboard Tags to create this heart-warming work of art. After all, it's never too early to start planning your holiday crafts!

 

We want to thank Robin Shakoor and Sherry Cheever for their stunning projects today. Even though Christmas is a ways away, we hope today's crafts got everyone's creative gears turning. We will be back here tomorrow with more wonderful crafts to share with you. And don't forget that our wedding layout craft challenge is happening right now! Post your Graphic 45 wedding layouts on our Facebook page for your chance to win! We also look forward to reading your comments for this week's blog contest! Have a beautiful Monday, Crafters!

Your Pals in Paper,

Team Graphic 45

Graphic 45 Goes to Singapore!

Hello Crafters,

Welcome to this special edition of the G45 blog.  As this blog airs Aimee Filimoehala & Diane Schultz, the owners of Graphic 45, are on the way to Singapore.  If you are in the area join them the evening of Friday, August 26th for a night of Make 'n Takes, and Satuday, August 27th for three wonderful workshops.  Sign up now while seats are still available, email papermarket@singnet.com.sg for registration. 

We are thrilled for this fabulous opportunity to spend time with some soon to be new friends.  Thank you for stopping by, and have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Papercrafting!

--Team Graphic 45!

Dreams of Oz: Magic of Oz Creations From Our Design Team

Hello Crafters,

Happy Friday and welcome to a super fun day of crafting at the Graphic 45 blog! There are lots of reasons to celebrate on Friday, but today we're giving you even more reasons to cheer. Our design team have created the most astonishing Magic of Oz crafts for you to enjoy! These amazing works of art by Tara Orr and Nancy Wethington are so magical that you might feel as if you've been transported to another world! But first we want to remind all of you about the wonderfully fun craft challenge that's happening right now!

This month's challenge is all about weddings! We want you to create a wedding-inspired layout using Graphic 45 products and post your creations on our Facebook page. We will be choosing three random winners and announcing them on our blog on September 2nd! You can post as many different wedding-inspired layouts as you'd like. In fact the more projects you post, the more chances you have to win. What's the prize? You could win our entire Magic of Oz collection and one of each of our new altered art boxes! That's right! A gorgeous Magic of Oz 12x12 and 8x8 Paper Pad, both sets of chipboard die-cuts, 5x5 and 5x8 Kraftboard Altered Art boxes, and the Metal Film Canister! That's a $70 value! Sound like fun? You have until August 31st to post your projects on our Facebook page. We can't wait to see what you'll create!

Okay, now we're off to the marvelous world of Tara Orr! She's created this brilliant Magic of Oz chess board. Tara is the queen of finding treasures in thrift stores and turning them into craft gold! This is such a perfectly clever idea and it looks amazing! Check it out!

"I came across this wooden board at a local thrift store not too long ago and knew that I could use it for something down the road.  What a perfect square - perfect for my son's chess game I thought.  The old cardboard mat we had was in pretty rough condition so I decided to alter this board into a sturdy checker board.  I simply cut a bunch of squares from Graphic 45's The Magic of Oz collection and adhered as you would see on a checker board.  I finished using some Mod Podge to seal and protect as well as offer a nice glossy finish." -Tara Orr

 

Graphic 45 Supplies:

The Magic of Oz: Parcel Post

 The Magic of Oz

 

Other Supplies:

Mod Podge by Plaid

Acrylic Paint by DecoArt

This next lovely piece was created by Nancy Wethington. It's a gorgeous and whimsical mini album featuring The Magic of Oz. Every page of this darling mini is full of love and inspiration. Nancy's lively imagination and amazing crafting techniques come to life in this wonderful creation. Just look at these great photos! You can see every beautiful detail!

Supplies:

Graphic 45:

The Magic of Oz 12x12 Paper Pad

The Magic of Oz 8x8 Paper Pad

The Magic of Oz Chipboard Die-Cuts 1 & 2

Graphic 45 Magic of Oz Cling: # 3

Metal Button Staples

May Arts ribbon and string

Spellbinders:  Shapeabilities Banner Basics Two

Bazzill Cardstock:  T10-1075 Black; T4-410 Honeycomb; T5-5103 Rain Forest

Ranger Stickles:  Ruby Slippers; Platinum

Ranger Distress Inks

Adhesive:  Beacon 3-in-1;  Scotch ATG with Scotch Permanent Archival 1/4" runner

Other:  Carl Cutter DC 220-e; Tonic Tim Holtz Scissors; Fiskars Precision Scissors

Huge thanks to the amazingly talented Tara Orr and Nancy Wethington. We hope you were all inspired by their magical creations today. We also hope that you find some time this weekend to create a craft treasure of your very own. Please join us on Monday as we bring you more fabulous craft ideas and lots of creative cheer. Have a great weekend, Crafters!

 

Happy Papercrafting,

Team Graphic 45