We have a Guest Designer for December!!

I am so happy to introduce you to this wonderful lady. I have only just met her online and already feel like I know her! Jen is definitely a go getter - even with all that she has going on in the home front, she has time to put together some stunning projects for you all to see this month! Wait til you see what she has in store for us for the Debut of our December kit tomorrow! You will definitely want to stay tuned.

So, please help me in welcoming our December Guest Designer - Jennifer Clark!!!





"I've been married 6 years, and have 3 children of my own (a 5 yr old son who I homeschool, and almost-3 year old twin daughters); and a newborn baby boy, whom we are taking legal guardianship of. (If you'd like to read part of his story, you can read it here - http://sixbygrace.blogspot.com) One of my twins was born with a cleft lip and palate, and she has a significant speech delay, so she receives special services. My newest son is just as sweet as can be, and has been a tremendous, totally unexpected blessing!

Creatively, I've dabbled in a LOT of different things...I started off with stamping and card-making about 10 years ago, progressed to paper scrapbooking about 8 years ago, and then worked my way into other paper-crafting. I eventually taught myself to sew, taught myself to knit, and have played around just a bit with other things...clay, jewelry, etc. My main loves are paper-crafting, altering things like frames and other objects, and making fun seasonal home decor. I completed my first fabric scrapbooking album over the summer, and completely loved the creative process.
I love playing in my art journal, playing with paint and ink (especially distress inks!), and finding new purposes for things. Artists who totally inspire me include Donna Downey, Tim Holtz, Wendy Vecchi, Donna Salazar, and Tammy Tutterow. My crafty blog is at http://jenspartyof5.blogspot.com(yeah, I'm gonna have to change that name, now that there are SIX of us, and now that I've separated out my family stuff from crafty stuff!).


I've been featured on One Pretty Thing and The Tip Junkie, and I've just joined the Design Team for Crafts Unleashed/Consumer Crafts (www.craftsunleashed.com)."

~Jen

This Challenge is Mouthwatering!!

Hello everyone and welcome to November here at TrailMakers Challenge Blog! This is my absolute favorite month for food - Thanksgiving Dinner - all the warm soups and stews we can now bring back to our table since it is cooler, mmm just thinking about it makes me hungry!!

Our challenge this time is all about food! We are incorporating anything food and recipe related this time. Maybe you are working on a family cookbook, or you still haven't scrapped your Thanksgiving layouts from last year, or maybe you give food gifts to your friends for the Holidays and you create pretty packaging for your containers. Whatever it is we want to see it this month.

Because we do have a holiday this month this challenge will go for the entire month this time. You will have until Saturday, November 27th to submit your project to Mr. Linky below.

As a special surprise - our kit store, The Paper Trail, will be giving away a prize valued at approx. $15 to one lucky participant this month if we have at least 10 participants! If we do get at least 10 challenge participants, I will randomly choose someone to receive a package containing Pink Paislee's Parisian Anthology Elements and the Alphabet as well. These go PERFECTLY with our November Vintage Family kit which is on sale in the store.




So, let's get the word out this month and boost our challenge participation!

Also - we have opened the challenge blog up to anything goes - cards, layouts, altered items - you name it. Whatever you can make using our challenge criteria is fair game!!!!

I cannot wait to see your Mouthwatering creations this month!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

Hope you...

Family Forever by Krystle

Just wanted to show you another fabulous DT project using November's Vintage Family Kit from our store!

Isn't this an awesome layout of Krystle and her husband? I love the papers she chose and the way she used the lace - off centered- is very creative.

Come by the store and check out November's kit.

Thanks Krystle for another beautiful layout.

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas Blog Hop!!!

You are cordially invited to join us here on December 1st at midnight EST to debut the December Paper Trails Kit.  Believe me it is full of absolute GORGEOUSNESS!!!! Each of the Design Team Members will have a DEBUT project to share with you using the kit and a little birdie told me that there will be RAK's too! Then you will want to race to the Paper Trails store to purchase the December Kit because they will be gone quick as a wink.  Karen truly outdid herself this time!!! The blog hop will last until December 4th at 11pm EST and then RAK's will be pulled on December 5th and announced!!! Are you ready to get your hop on?

Family Recipes Box by Lori

As soon as I saw the challenge, I knew exactly what I wanted to do! This recipe box was given to me as a gift for my first wedding. I like the box itself - just the right size, lots of recipes I want to keep . . . but I hated the box itself (very cutesy w/ little bears or something), so I decided to alter the box and make it MY family recipes! The base was covered with Jenni Bowlin Red Cabbage Flower paper (I just love the old feel of this design!), and then used Bella Blvd "Camped Out" papers in red and black houndstooth to cover the top of the box. I used another piece of the Jenni Bowlin paper to create the "title block" for the top of the box, framed by a couple of leftover pieces of white and black cardstock. The "family" sticker is from the Melissa Francis Vintage Transfers rubon collection. I lettered "recipe" myself. The buttons on the top (and the one that serves as the handle) - including the chipboard bingo button - are from Jenni Bowlin, too - Vintage Style Sew On Buttons. I cheated - they aren't sewed on. If you want the look of sewn on buttons, but don't have a project that lends itself to sewing, make a few loops of thread over and under the button and tie it off underneath, then adhere your "sewn" button to your project. Looks great, and no sewing required!

Scrapbooking is such a great hobby - don't confine it to the page. You can showcase your talent throughout your home!

Pie by Krystle

I will admit it -- I am not very good in the kitchen. Which is why I surprised myself when I made a delicious pie for Jesse's 30th birthday. This is the recipe that I used for the crust, which was flakey and delicious!

I love how the Jenni Bowlin papers really added to the home-y feel of this layout. I also used a Jenni Bowlin vintage button and a black button from Basic Grey's Cappella collection

2 projects using our November Vintage Family Kit

Hello and Happy Monday to everyone! Today's post is two projects using our November Vintage Family Kit from the Paper Trail. This kit includes beautiful papers from My Mind's Eye and Pink Paislee. The Pink Paislee papers are from the Parisian Anthology line and they feature a resist pattern on one side so that you can use inks, chalks, or sprays to color and the pattern still shows through just like on this page that our DT member Lori made.





The My Mind's Eye papers are so glittery and beautiful. They are perfect for layouts, altered items and cards like what I have created for you to see.



So, go on over to the store and check out the kit. You can make a one time purchase or you can e-mail me and sign up for a subscription which will save you some money each month. All the details are under FAQ in the store.

And, don't forget to participate in our "Mouthwatering" challenge this time!! It is all about food/recipes and if we have at least 10 people submit a project to Mr. Linky we are giving away some great prizes that match beautifully to the November Kit! Hope to see your project!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

Are They Done Yet? by Karen

This is one of my family's favorite dishes to have. My daughters usually will make it since it is easy and they are pretty good at it! My husband's entire life revolves around his stomach - I really am serious!!! So, it was funny to catch him watching his dinner bake in the oven!!!

I used the papers and ribbons from my Vintage Family Kit from The Paper Trail store.

It really goes to show that you can use this kit in multiple ways - not just for vintage layouts! Check out the store - quantities are very limited so get yours now!!

Weaver's Thanksgiving Recipes by Sandi

This is actually a cardboard book about Pooh and his Friends that I bought at the Dollar Tree. Ever since I can remember as a child, we have had exactly the same dishes prepared on the table every Thanksgiving. When my Grandmother passed away while I was in 6th grade, I remember that following Thanksgiving my Mom and Aunts fumbling around trying to get everything right. The food we serve at our Thanksgiving table has become a tradition. If something isn't there disappointment lingers upon someone's face because each person has their own favorite. I am so excited because this Thanksgiving at my Mom's house I plan on taking pictures of all the traditional dishes that are put on the table. Then I will bug her for the recipes and put them in this book. That way I will always have them and it will be a family heirloom!


Supplies used:
WonderFall Websters Kit
ink-colorbox chalk brown ink pad


Now it's your turn, let's see your recipe project. Can't wait to see what you come up with. There's so many possibilities!!!

Loaded Potato Soup by Savanna

So this week's challenge is one of my favorite subjects... FOOD!!! I love good food, any type, American, Mexican, Chinese, Sweets(my fav)... and the good thing is my hubby LOVES to cook and I have to admit I am pretty good guinea pig for him to try new recipes out on.

One of my all time favorite recipes that we cook together is LOADED POTATO SOUP... I wait all year for the cool weather (I don't eat soup when it is hot outside) to get here just so we can make this.

I used Moxie Joy of Baking for the background and title and a Scribble Scrabble die cut and printed the ingredients on the computer.

Happy Halloween - NOT!!!!

Hello everyone - welcome to Halloween week!! While many of us celebrate this spooky holiday - there are definitely those who do not get into the whole idea of it!! There are so many gorgeous Halloween papers out on the market, but what do you do with them other than Halloween layouts?? Well, stick around for the next two weeks and we will show you!!! Our Bi-Weekly Challenge this time is to take those Halloween scrappy supplies and use them in a NON HALLOWEEN way!!! The DT girls have done a Fabulous job with their Halloween supplies - you will even see SUMMERTIME layouts using Halloween colors and papers. Go, ahead give it a try yourself! You will have until 5 pm EST, Sat. November 6th to scare up a NON HALLOWEEN project!!

Use Mr. Linky below to link your project. We can't wait to see what you come up with this time!!!

Happy Scrappin' and Happy Halloween to those of you who celebrate it!

~Karen

Scary by Lori

This layout was so much fun! I had been trying to come up with a creative way of scrapping my daughter's first experience with highlighting her hair, and this challenge fit the subject perfectly! I used Scribble Scrabble paper from the Jeepers Creepers line as a base - The Boo Crew #340 - and then used embellishments from Scribble Scrabble, again, the Jeepers Creepers line - Pretty Pieces #345. The "Boo" block behind the photos is from the same line - Spooky Sampler #343. As you can tell, I'm crazy about this paper! The finishing touches were easy with a few simple additions from my stash: title stickers (Basic Grey Aged & Confused), Stickles, Boxer brads, a simple cobweb stamp and black embossing powder.

As you may recognize from previous posts, one of my favorite things to do is to embellish premade embellishments (in this case, stickles, pop dots, brads). On this layout, I wanted to add a little dimension, so I used pop dots to life up one layered flower, and then I used my paper piercer to roll up the flower petals.

Another favorite tip of mine is to make your own journaling blocks. Here, I used a rolodex card, which I embossed using the cobweb stamp. I love the shine on the webs!

This was such a fun challenge - and it made me think of all the other holiday papers and embellishments I have. I'm going to look at them in a whole new way!

Nautilus by Krystle

I decided not only to use Halloween papers on a non-Halloween layout, but I used them on a summer layout! I accomplished this feat by using the papers very creatively. The bright green strips on the top and bottom of the page are Scribble Scrabble's Jeepers Creepers Cats Bats and Hats. and the orange photo mat and flower are made from Scribble Scrabble's Jeepers Creepers Halloween Sampler. I also used Scribble Scrabble's Jeepers Creepers Scribbled Sentiments Die Cuts for the frame around my subtitle.
One fun technique that I used in this layout was to create a zipper flower!

Spooky by Karen

Silly me - I forgot to post this on Friday!!!!

This layout is of a huge spider's web we found one morning in our backyard. My husband just had to get these photos and I am glad he did! I used the Jeeper's Creepers line from Scribble Scrabble for the papers and the embellishments. For the flowers, I fussy cut them from the die cut sheet and spritzed them with water, crinkled them up, let them dry a bit and then carefully unfolded them and reshaped them to my liking! After that I spritzed them with Vanilla Shimmer Smootch spray ink. I hope you enjoy and that it gives you some inspiration to use your halloween supplies for a non Halloween project!

This is it - our Big Announcement!

Our sponsoring store, The Paper Trail, has changed its format from being simply scrapbooking supplies that you have to wade through and do the matchy matchy thing with on your own to customized Coordinating Kits!!! With these kits all of the matching and coordinating is done for you! Now you can get right to the process of paper crafting without the hassle of figuring it all out on your own. But, don't worry - The Paper Trail is still offering some open stock items to help you personalize your pages even more.

Our kits will be offered in two options - either as a one time only purchase or you can sign up for a 6 month subscription. Just visit our home page and click on "FAQ" to read the full details.

Here on the challenge blog you will see the DT use these kits for the challenges each month to bring you some fantastic inspiration to help you create your own paper trail.

I am very excited to show you our first kit "A Vintage Family".



This kit includes patterned papers from Pink Paislee and My Mind's Eye. These papers are from the lines Parisian Anthology (PP) with its resist patterns for great inking projects and the sparkly glitter filled Portabello Road (MME). They are absolutely gorgeous and you will find many uses for them! The DT has created pages that are vintage and also more modern. The possibilities are unlimited! Unfortunately, the kit is not unlimited!!! We have very limited quantities with this debut kit so hop on over to the store to get your kit before they are gone! You will NOT be disappointed in this kit! When you are at the store, take some time to look through the site - some awesome changes have taken place and are still in process too! We will be creating a gallery in our Forum where you can upload the creations you make using our kits and other products. Make sure you become a member and join us on the forums.

Before you go, though, take a look at all these beautiful creations from the DT girls. And, don't forget to comment and leave them some love!!!

Savanna


Krystle



Calie



Karen










Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

The Parade by Calie

When I first saw this challenge I was very nervous! I love Halloween papers but I have never used them for a non Halloween project! So as I flipped though my pictures I noticed that even Halloween paper comes in beautiful matching colors! On my page I used paper from Echo Parks Happy Halloween, and Summertime lines, and paper from Scribble Scrabbles Jeepers Creepers line as well as The Simply Stylish Collection. I used the lime green felt circle ribbon by Creative Imaginations! Don't be shy join us for this challenge at TrailMakers! You might even suprise yourself!


Stay tuned later today the Big Announcement will be made about the store changes at The Paper Trail! Don't miss it!