Wednesday, February 29, 2012

February Sketch (just barely)

Well, it’s the very last day of the month, and a Leap Day at that. So that means that it’s time for this inveterate procrastinator to post my entry for February’s SFYTT challenge. Right under the wire again.chair-ish-sfytt

Here’s the sketch. I really wanted to use one of these feb2012sfyttdoilies that I bought at the .99 store, and this was a perfect excuse. I ended up making the card a little bigger than my usual size to accommodate it. 

The stamps are from the On My Couch set (PTI), and the patterned paper is from the Hazel pad of the Stella Rose collection by MME. And I finally got to use this nifty embossing punch that I picked up for a song months ago (Martha Stewart). The chair is paper-pieced and accented with Copic markers.

Happy Leap Day!

CMsignature

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

IHP DT Challenge: Crafty Trends from CHA

IHPfeb12-cupcake-SBWalking the floor of the Craft and Hobby Association (CHA) Trade Show is always an adventure! What could possibly be more exciting than getting to see three huge showrooms of brand new products that you can hardly wait to get your hands on? Only one thing: getting to share that experience with your girlfriends!

From the very beginning, the i {heart} papers team has had strong ties to Paper Craft Planet. Our mutual love of paper and paper-crafting was the foundation for our friendship, and CHA has given us the opportunity to meet face-to-face and translate those online friendships into real life. It's so much more fun in person than it is on screen!

Those who were fortunate enough to walk the CHA floor this winter (sadly I was not among them) were drawn to certain products and projects. Over dinner discussions they discovered some emerging trends. That's what today's challenge is all about.

Thankfully, those who couldn't be there can live vicariously through the next best thing: photos! Check out these in this post from Susanna, and several posts from MoxieFab!

Some of the current trends that they identified were:

  • Chevrons
  • Paris
  • Travel themed products
  • Sewing (not new but still going strong)
  • Quilt patterns as paper backgrounds
  • City skyline
  • Pinwheels and Flowers and Butterflies
  • Pennants
  • Twine
  • Small sticker letters
  • 3d embellishments
  • The ones I used in my layout are highlighted in red. I created my own chevron pattern using the Mint Motif set Beyond Borders. This set has been getting a lot of play lately, having been featured in the recent issue of Stamp It! 3 Ways (published by Paper Crafts Magazine). I actually pulled out my sewing machine for this. Major shocker for those who know me. Almost as much of a shocker as the fact that I made a scrapbook layout in the first place!

    The sticker letters came from one of my favorite 12x12 Collection Kits, Little Girl by Echo Park. I created my cupcake embellishment with an old Sizzix die I have in my collection. Cupcakes are also not a new trend, but I refuse to give them up!

    The sweet baby in this layout is my adorable new granddaughter, Lilia. Don’t get me started…I have become the stereotypical grandma in so many ways!

    Anyhow, you’ll definitely want to check out the rest of our team, as well as the Paper Craft Planet Supernovas, to see how they interpreted the trends. 

    Carolyn (you are here)
    Deb
    Gretchen
    Loretta
    Lori
    Lynn
    Tracy
    Kate

    and our guests from PCP:
    Adela Rossol
    Lisa Somerville
    Lyn Bernatovich
    Susanna Boyd
    Taylor Usry
    Wendy Price

    Have fun!

    CMsignature