{graphic 45 design team 2012 audition…}

Hello.Hello.Hello! A Big Hello to all of you who are stopping by today! Yesterday was big day here at my blog, with my first big Friday Freebie. I am overwhelmed that you all appreciated it so much and I loved reading all of your comments; all and any feedback is appreciated

Ok, back to today’s post. Yes, as the post titles says, I am trying my hand at becoming a Graphic45 design team member. I guess auditioning is the right word here… So American idol-ish!

For me Graphic 45 is a paper company that has a really unique perspective to scrapbooking supplies. Their papers, each and every one of them, are SO stunningly beautiful, so vivid in color and pattern that every project with them look so good and they are so much fun to work with! I particularly love the pop out tags they have in each pack and I also love the slightly retro vibe their collections seem to have!

These are my 6 (and more!) projects that I feel showcase my scrapbooking/cardmaking style, all using Graphic 45 products. If you are one of my blog readers, a few of these might seem familiar to you, but there are plenty of new projects in here, so stick around…

(Warning: long long post ahead: photo heavy but hopefully something will inspire you to craft today…)

project 1: card : together forever

This is a quick card to make and it incorporates the very trendy chevron pattern, that seems to be all the rage right now. I made the chevron stripes using a simple punch, and you can read/see more about in this cards original blog post here.

project 2: card : miss u

This card was super fun to make, because of all the frills! I love sewing, be it on my quilts, or scrapbooking layouts or even on my cards. Sometimes glue and adhesive just wont do and you need to pull out your needle and thread!

project 3: altered book : butterfly journal

This is tiny book, tiny and cute if you ask me, just right to fit into your handbag. I covered it up with some pretty paper and then added layers of punched papers- some ink and some distressing was involved- onto it. I plan to have a mini tutorial on how to make this up on my blog tomorrow! (edited: tomorrow has come, and you can find that tutorial here)

project 4: tags : dad

Tags are the perfect way to use up all the bits and pieces you have left over from a project. When I have odd bits of cardstock left, I usually cut it into tag shapes and keep them handy. That way, as soon as I finish a layout/card and just before I clean the table, I see if any of the tiny bits of punched paper look good and adhere them in layers onto a tag and add a sentiment. This is a nice way of doing things, because you probably have pulled out a bunch of coordinating stuff anyhow, so why not make complete use of them? (Also how pretty would it be if you gave a matching tag and card as gift?)

project 5: card : dream

This card was born because I had tons of punched circles after I finished up the journal. Pretty, soft and feminine with lots of vintage flowers.

project 6: card : hello girlfriend

This card I love, because of its beautiful color palette. I love how the yellow and pink pop off of the black and that vintage phone is to die for!

project 7: tags : mom

Sometimes I like things to have clean and simple lines, no mess and no fuss. But sometimes I want to make a pretty girlie project. With lace. With soft muted colors. And maybe some pearls too

The flower you see on the ‘thanks’ tag, is a flower that had got lost in the making. As in I started making the flower, walked away from the table, came back and for the love of me could not find it anywhere! So I remade the whole flower, only to find it the next day (Mom, I am sure you remember searching for this flower all over the place with me!) So, instead of throwing the incomplete flower, I trimmed it into a rectangle and mounted it onto a tag, and the tag now kinda looks fancy.

project 8: scrapbook layout : Just like his DAD

{Happy Sigh}. Scrapbook layouts. This hobby (now obsession?) of mine began with scrapbooking. Scrapbooking my little girls’ photographs. To date, nothing gives me more satisfaction than slipping a finished layout into an album. I love adding details, layers, textures (everything but the kitchen sink?) onto my layouts, and that usually means I take 3 to 4 days to finish a layout to my satisfaction. With two little ones at home, leaving a project half done on a table does not really work well. So I have simplified my style a bit, I use more premade embellishments/kits etc so that things move faster.

Which is why Graphic 45′ The Proper Gentleman was perfect! I knew which photos I wanted to scrapbook using those papers right away. My husband loves his Englishman cap (I think its called a golf cap though) and he actually eagerly waits for cooler weather so that he can wear them.

Sometimes, the paper kits are so good, it makes telling your story that much easier. LOVE this layout

And that brings us to an end here. I want to sincerely thank you if you have come uptil here and read through this entire post

I also want to thank the entire Graphic 45 team for giving me this amazing opportunity to show them what I have made with their stunning products. I had lots of fun making these projects and also writing up this blog post!

If you are interested in seeing more projects of mine, be sure to like follow me on facebook or twitter to get updates!

Supplies used:

forever together card:

Cardstock: The paper company

Patterned papers: Graphic 45

Brad: Basic grey

Punches: Butterfly, square: Fiskars

Ribbon: Graphic 45

Sentiment words: Authentique

miss u card:

patterned papers, tag, lace, ribbon: graphic 45

cardstock: the paper company, coredinations