Graphic 45 Design Team Audition 2015

Guess What?  It's that time of year again, lol! I wait all year for this call.  I'm gonna level with you, I considered letting it ride this year for all of about 5 seconds, and then a niggling little voice inside of me said "Oh no Paula, you will not let this pass you by." I'm glad I didn't I know I'd have been beating myself up all year long if I had let it go. It takes a lot to put yourself out there again and again and not make it. So many try and the admissions are so amazing, quite frankly I wouldn't want to have to make that decision of who makes it or doesn't myself. But here I am just the same, fourth year in a row trying and whatever happens, I will still be me and ok :)  Without further adieu here are the seven projects I have chosen that I feel show who I am as a papercrafter. Four were made specifically for this call, the other three were the past several months.I hope you like them as much as I do -

This is a layout I made using the awesome Good Ol' Sport line for a family friend. Their son plays ball and these papers were perfect.

This cute little mini was inspired totally by Kit Bauer of Paperkits. All it took was one envelope and four tags along with paper and cutouts from the lovely Typography line. You can either put a gift card in it or keep a little treasure of you own.

I love gussying up gift bags! Plain white bags are made into beautiful pieces and the bright bold line of Bohemian Bazaar is just perfect for this little bag and card!

What is Graphic 45 totally aces for? ALTERING!!!! Yes indeedy friends their paper lends itself beautifully to re-making something that was so-so into something wonderful. This was a blah 99 cent store picture frame that I altered with the fun On The Boardwalk line. I love changing my home decor with the seasons and this will be out during the summer.A bit of nostalgic news, the Coney Island cut apart with the parachute jump in the pic, my dad jumped off it as a kid.

I love Target's dollar bins. I picked up a bunch of little mailboxes and pails for altering. I did this one with A Place In Time's February papers. Tucked inside, a cute little mini :)

I love the French Country line! And I love this little bag SO much it sits on my buffet in my dining room :) I don't think I'll ever use it for a gift, some things I just can't part with. Flower making is a fave of mine and I did these.

This layout is of my beautiful daughter Sophia. Her friend had a Great Gatsby themed birthday party and Curtain Call fit this pic to a tee!!! I made the little stick pin with all my beads and baubles. Do you think I hoard and treasure my G45? lol

I wanted to include a small slide show of my favorite Graphic 45 projects through the years. Some were gifts for teachers, friends and family.

The Up-Cycle!

Ok, be honest, as a crafter do you not now look at stuff that was once trash bound and say "Hey, I can make _____ outta that!"  I know I sure do!  Now I rip off pieces of shipping boxes to use in layouts, bottles and boxes sit in my closet just waiting to be made into something pretty.  Well if you have something just whispering to you "recreate me", this challenge at Craft Hoarders Anonymous is a perfect one!   Click on the title to go check it out and see just what you need to do and you might even win a great prize!  Lookie, Canvas Corp was generous enough to donate this awesome pack -

Pretty neat huh :)

So, as I said I have several items just waiting to be re-made into something stunning and here's what I came up with.  It started out as a plain blue box from a local bakery -

I gesso'd it so that any blue doesn't peak through.  Then the fun starts, I mod podged all the paper on and went wild with a major stash raid for embellies.

So, what do you think?  I love how this came :)  What a pretty little box it is.  Nothing was bought to put it together, as a matter of fact, some of the embellies like the little metal quote and word tabs were from a swap many, many moons ago.  The paper is from Prima's Fairy Belle A4 paperstack that I've had for eons now, but still adore, and then just bits and pieces of my stuff.  Those butterflies came darling.  I cut them on my cricut in 2 different sizes, inked the edges, then used glossy accents along the bottom edge of the wing and poured some micro beads on it, the one popping at the top I used diamond glitter on. The floral moss I have had since I make my own arrangements.  The tiny blue flowers are from I Am Roses.  I dragged them through Lindy's mists for the blue. So are the teeny leaves. Take a minute to check them out, great stuff, great prices.

Product List

Prima A4 Paper Stack - Fairy Belle
Lindy's Stamp Gang Flat Fabio Spray - Pink Ladies Pink
Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst Spray - Clam Bake Beige, Rusty Lantern Lime, Mad Hatter Mint, Carpathian Blue Bells
Lindy's Stamp Gang Embossing Powder - Oak Leaf Olive
Invild Bolme Chalk Edger - Garden Grass
Distress Ink - Brushed Corduroy, Black Soot
Silks Acrylic Glaze - Pretty Peridot
Tim Holtz Grunge Board Die Cuts - Hinges
Stickles - Icicle, Crystal, Cinnamon
K and Co Borders - Metallic Flower
Creative Embellishments Chipboard - Flourish #'s 10, 14
Various stash items owned for ages and finally put to use

Please go check this great challenge site out!  What an awesome way to go digging and finding treasure you forgot you had.

Well folks, my summer vacay has come to an end.  How do 2 months fly by so quick?  My youngest is in his last year of elementary.  Fifth grade and then middle school for him. Both girls are in High School now, MaryAnn in 11th, and Sophia a freshie :)  Time does fly whether you're having fun or not ;) so make the most of it.

Thanks for coming by!