The (paper) Trail Makers Challenge Blog

Time for Winners and a goodbye

2011-11-01T15:52:00.004-04:00

Hello everyone, I am sad to say this will be the last post to this blog. I will miss all of you and my design team girls as well! I greatly appreciate all the participation we have had with our challenges and as promised - the winner of the October Challenge will receive 10 sheets of their choice of paper from the store. Remember, to qualify to win, you had to participate in BOTH of the month's challenges. We had 3 people do that this time and since I hate having to choose a winner each month and tell others that they didn't win - this month, in honor of our last challenges, I am awarding all 3 participants the prize!!! So, Kelsey, Libeeti, and Hilda - e-mail me at customerservice@leaveapapertrail.com and tell me your choices of which 10 papers each of you wants!!

Congratulations ladies, and thank you to everyone for participating in our challenges and following us for these months.

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

Cardboard Projects Challenge

2011-10-30T15:39:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone and welcome to our Second Challenge of October. I have recently opened a brick and mortar store and this challenge came to mind while packing and unpacking moving boxes and also all the boxes I accumulated from all the product and store items I had to order came in. I thought that using cardboard to create some paper crafting projects would be a lot of fun so that is what we are challenging you to do. Use some cardboard on your projects this time - it can be as your base for your layouts, cards, or mini albums, or use it as an accent on your project. You can leave it as is or paint it, ink it or spray it with mists. You can even use it in your Big Shot, or other die cutting tool to make different shapes, etc for your pages. The ideas are endless and projects are only limited by your imagination!!! So, show us some recycling and use cardboard in your projects this time! I can't wait to see all the fun ways you guys use this!

You have until Mon. Oct 31st to upload your project to mr. linky. Remember that our TEN challenge is still going as well and in order to be eligible for your choice of 10 papers from the store, you must participate in BOTH of these challenges.!

Good luck and happy creating!!

~Karen

TEN!!!

2011-10-30T08:42:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone and welcome to October and our first challenge of the month.
Since we are in the 10th month already - we are going to be challenging you to use 10of something on your projects! It can be 10 buttons, 10 flowers, 10 letters in your title, 10 journaling strips, even 10 photos or 10 of anything else you can think of!! (can you use 10 different papers????) :)

This month's prize will also include 10!!!! The winner of October's prize will receive 10 sheets of their choice of patterned paper or cardstock from the store!!!!

We are limiting your chances to ONE project per challenge, and as always you must participate in both challenges that are held this month in order to qualify for the prize!! You can submit as many times as you want, but you only will get 1 chance per challenge.
You have all month to submit to the challenges and a winner will be drawn around the 1st of November.

Happy Trail Makin' and happy month number 10!!!
~Karen

Sniff by Shannon

2011-10-25T07:39:00.000-04:00

I created my layout using the Echo Park Happy Days Collection!! It's bright and cheery and so versatile!! I love the polka dots and all the great stickers that come along with the line. I used some of them on my layout here and they were the perfect touch!! :)

Friends at First Sight - by Tenny

2011-10-24T08:49:00.001-04:00

I love adding corrugated cardboard to my layout. It's a great way to recycle and also giving your layout a unique look.

On this layout, I used the corrugated cardboard as a background and also an accent. Love the way the both turned out.

Love the paper collection, Garden Girl, from Bo Bunny. It's just soo pretty,
Thanks,

Tenny

Vacation by Yara

2011-10-20T08:36:00.000-04:00

This past summer I went to Spain with my family. We had a great time together. I made this layout with Imaginisce Bon Voyage collection which is available at The Paper Trail store. The navy and burgundy colors were the perfect fit for the cardboard challenge. The cardboard was inked with gold ink. It adds a touch of dimension and rustic feel to my page. I love the die cuts from this collection, the stamps with the travel images, and the sentiments. There was no need to use alphabet stickers for my title.

Sincere regrets

2011-10-19T07:27:00.000-04:00

Today it is with a bit of sadness in my heart that I write this blog post for you. I have had to make a tough decision about the challenge blog and design team. I have LOVED working with my design team - some of them have been with me from the beginning over a year ago. I have found that my iron is in too many fires right now so the item that has to go for now is the challenge blog. As of October 31st we will be officially "closed". We will not issue any more challenges and the design team's term will be over with TrailMakers. I will not be taking the blog down completely for two reasons. One - I think the inspiration from the DT work is phenomenal and you may want to stop by occasionally for a look see back at what the team has done over the past year with our challenges. And, two - if the time comes that I can stoke this fire again, then I want to be able to come right back to what we have here.

My online store at www.leaveapapertrail.com will continue to function. As always, you will be able to shop online with us and find current products.

All current challenges are still a go for the rest of the month, it is not goodbye quite yet! Keep playing along so that you are eligible for our prize at the end of the month.

I want to say a huge thank you to every single one of our followers. I also want to thank every one of you who has participated this year in our challenges. YOU are the reason we were able to make this blog a success! I have loved "meeting" each of you and seeing your work - what an awesome group of talent out there.

One last thank you is a heartfelt and deeply sincere thank you to my design team. Krystle and Sandi - you have been with me the longest - from the beginning and you saw and supported each and every change I made with the challenge blog and the store - thank you - your support and patience means the world to me. Tanya, Yara, Tenny, Shannon, Marilyn, Jessica, and Sara - you guys are all so awesome and I have really loved getting to know each of you in this short time.
For all of you - I will miss you - but wish you all the very best in all of your creative endeavors and in life!

Remember, always, that this beloved craft of ours is intended to leave a trail of US for generations to come.
Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

A Special Day by Marilyn

2011-10-18T08:41:00.001-04:00

Well, Marilyn loved this second challenge so much that she posted another project for you all to see this month! Hope you enjoy!!!
~Karen

I really love this challenge because I love the cardboard! I used the cardboard like my photo mats and a small pieces like embellishments. I used the new line of papers from Graphic 45 "ABC Prime" these papers and cardboard tags are beautiful!!

You can find all these materials at The Paper Trail Store...Here.
Have fun with this challenge!

Marilyn

Flower Tutorial by Krystle

2011-10-17T08:40:00.000-04:00

I wanted to show you how I made my latest handmade flower. You need to start with approximately 8 hearts. You can punch out the hearts, hand-draw the hearts, or stencil them. I traced mine using some chipboard hearts that I had in my stash. You will want 4 larger hearts and 4 smaller hearts. The size you want will depend on how big you want your flower to be. Your largest heart will be about 2/3 the size of your completed flower.

Once you have your hearts, use your fingers or a pencil to curve them a little bit, which will make them easier to manipulate later.

Poke holes in the bottom of your hearts and put them on a brad -- smallest hearts first. Arrange the hearts around the brad and you will end up with this kind of flat looking flower.

Mist your entire flower with water so that it is easy to manipulate and then pinch each petal to get this look:

Halloween Banner by Tanya

2011-10-13T07:00:00.000-04:00

I loved the "haunted" look of Echo Park's Apothecary line. It is eerily perfect for making Halloween projects, decorations and layouts. It could serve many of your Halloween needs from creating banners to decorating spooky bottles and creating layouts of your favorite spook!

To create this banner, I used a simple banner template and then embellished with layers of stickers--10+ for the challenge and cutouts from the paper line. The large chipboard letters are from Cosmo Cricket and I painted them white and spritz with Shimmerz. The ribbon and buttons are from my stash.

My Girl - by Marilyn

2011-10-11T07:00:00.000-04:00

For the challenge "ten of something"...I used ten red handmade flowers! I used Graphic 45 one of my favorite papers. I worked with the ABC Primer line and you can find it ...HERE at The Paper Trail Store.

Also I worked with the chipboard tags that are beautiful and the Twinery, look it ...Here and HERE.
Come on and play with us with ten of something!!!
Take Care !!!
Marilyn

You are Fabulous - by Sara

2011-10-08T07:00:00.000-04:00

Its time to use 10 of something!!! I made this card with the fun Happy Days collection from Echo Park! I just love this collections so many great papers! I decided to make a fun long card and lots of layers. I then topped it off with 10 bling accents! Have fun playing along with your 10 challenge!

Trick or Treat by Jessica

2011-10-06T07:00:00.000-04:00

This challenge was a difficult one for me! Use 10 of something. I used 10 flags for my banner with 10 orange letters. I used my favorite paper from Echo Park's Apothecary collection (the spider webs) for the banner and thought it looked great with the black and white polka dots. Orange, black and white are just classic Halloween colors. I also used black and white twine and some alphas. The alphas are also from the Apothecary collection. All of the supplies I used for this card can be purchased at the Paper Trail online store.

Thanks for looking!

:) Jessica

Seize the Day by Krystle

2011-10-04T12:08:00.000-04:00

For this challenge I used ten buttons and ten alphabet stickers to create this layout that features Bo Bunny's Et Cetera collection and Bakers Twine from the Paper Trail store: http://leaveapapertrail.com/zencart/ I love how these pictures from Jesse's trip to Chile just pop against the neutral papers!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!!!

2011-10-02T16:16:00.003-04:00

Well you didn't really win a chicken dinner - but what you did win are some awesome Graphic 45 papers from The Paper Trail Store!!!!!!

And, who won, you might ask??? Well, I went to my trusty friends over at Random.org and told them exactly how many people participated in both of our September challenges here at Trailmakers Challenge Blog and they decided that this number was the lucky one!!!!!

And, lucky number ONE is none other than Erin Reed!!!!!

Congratulations Erin - you are the winner of our September challenges and you are going to receive a package of Graphic 45 papers to work with!!! All you have to do is e-mail me (I don't think I kept your mailing address) at customerservice@leaveapapertrail.com and I will put your goodies in the mail to you this week!!!

For those of you that didn't win, remember you have a brand new challenge here that was posted this morning and it is just waiting for you to work on for October! October's prize will include 10 items in it so you don't want to miss that one. To be elibible for our prizes you need to participate in both for the month and you have all month to do them!!

Congrats again, Erin and Happy Trail Makin' everyone!!
~Karen

It's October!!!

2011-10-01T08:08:00.001-04:00

It's October and it is time to debut some artwork from our Design Team!! Each designer was given their choice of the new products in the store to work with and I think you will agree that these ladies did a terrific job with each line!!!!!!

Layout by Tanya using Echo Park's Apothecary line:

Layout by Sara using Echo Park's Happy Days collection:

Halloween Coasters from Jessica using Echo Park's Apothecary Line!!!

Coasters made with ceramic tiles, Modge Podge, scrap paper, and sealed with clear spray paint! SO easy and can be switched out for each season or holiday.

Cards by Tenny using Garden Girl from Bo Bunny:

Layout by Krystle using Bo Bunny's Et Cetera Line:

A Layout by Yara:

Imaginisce Bon Voyage collection and red/white twine.

Layout by Shannon using Echo Park's Happy Days line:

What I'd Tell This Girl - by Marilyn

2011-09-29T07:00:00.002-04:00

Hi! I love dress forms and they're part of my daily life and for the inspirational photo challenge I chose the one that has dress forms, bright colors, the red door frame, brown and gold-yellow shelves and a lot of more details...the photo captured me at first sight! And this page was my inspiration!
The yellow flowers are handmade and I made a tutorial step by step that you can find here.

I used many pattern papers on my page and you can find them...
Pattern Papers:
Crate-Paper Doll Collection-Tori
Pink Paislee-
Sweetness-Sweetest Day
Sweetness- Love Bloom
Fancy Pants-
It's the Little Things- Strips
Bazzill Cardstock-
Bazzill Yellow

Dusty Attic chipboard-Dress Form #1
Pink Paislee- Metal Frame

You can find all the materials at The Paper Trail Store.
Take Care ladies!
Hugs,
Marilyn

What's your Inspiration?

2011-09-29T07:00:00.001-04:00

Sometimes our creative juices or "mojo" are just not flowing as smoothly as at other times. When you need some inspiration to jumpstart your creativity - what motivates you?
For some people it is a sketch, or by looking through scrappy magazines, or by simply walking the paper aisles of your local scrappy store! For me - every once in a while a picture of something completely UN Scrappy will spark that little bit of juice to start flowing!
These two pictures did just that for me and for our Design Team. Our challenge to you this time is to use one of these photos to inspire your creation! Look at the design, the colors, maybe even the words used in the photo may spark something for you!

Photo One:

Photo Two:

Let us know which photo inspired you and what in that photo you used. You have until Sep 30th to enter your project for a chance at our Fabulous Graphic 45 prize this month! Remember - to be elible to win, you must participate in both of the September challenges.
I truly cannot wait to see how these photos inspire you!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

That is Just So Yesterday!!!

2011-09-29T07:00:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone and welcome to our first challenge of September. This challenge is to create a project with a bit of Vintage thrown in! Your vintage can be in the colors, ephemera, style, products used, photos used, whatever you can come up with that shows us a bit of vintage. Please let us know what element about your project is vintage when you leave a comment!

This challenge will go until Sep 30th. At that time we will choose a winner out of those of you who participate in BOTH challenges. The winner this month will receive a small prize pack of Graphic 45's ABC Primer collection. This prize is shown below and the papers are all vintage school images! It is a wonderful line to show off your "vintage style"!

The prize package will include several coordinating buttons and several feet of Baker's Twine from The Twinery along with the Graphic 45 papers.

We can't wait to see your vintage inspired projects - just link yours up to Mr. Linky below and you will be one step closer to that prize package!!!
Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

A Board Book - by Shannon

2011-09-27T07:00:00.000-04:00

I was completely inspired by this picture...the colors and the warm cozy feel....I immediately knew what I wanted to create...I could picture it all decorated for Christmas and that was the inspiration behind my project.

So without further ado, here is my project...it is a board book..that I upcycled...and I am going to turn it into a winter art journal type thing...and I am steadily awaiting winter and perhaps you think I am weird, but after this Hades summer we've had I am looking forward to cooler temperatures and I can only hope that we are blessed with snow again..otherwise I will have to live vicariously through my relatives and friends. :)

thanks for looking :)

I had some fabulous papers to work with that you can find over at The Paper Trail!

~Shannon

Flower Tutorial by Marilyn

2011-09-26T08:22:00.002-04:00

Good morning everyone, I thought we would share this wonderful and fun flower with you today that Marilyn has created. She put together a wonderful tutorial to share with you and later this week just wait til you see what she did with these flowers on her project - you will LOVE it!!

(Don't be confused by the 2 languages, all directions are there in both English and Spanish!!!)

Marilyn's Punk Flowers:

Voy a mostrarles como hice estas flores. Hay muchos tutoriales con diferentes estilos para hacer flores, yo las trabajo de esta manera.

I will show you how I did these flowers. There are many tutorials with different styles to make flowers, I work it in this way.

Materiales: a flower punch- 3 flowers(2 inches) 1flower(1inch), a stick, chalk ink(cat eye), embossing pad, spray bottle fill with water, heat gun.

Hacer "distressing ink" a cada petalo y luego con el palillo enrollar con cuidado cada petalo hacia una misma direccion en dos de las flores grandes y la pequeña.

Used Distressing Ink on each petal and then carefully roll them with a stick in the same direction on two of the big flowers and the small one.

Debe quedar asi...
It should look like this...

En la otra flor enrollar los petalos en direccion contraria.
On the other flower roll the petals in the opposite direction.

Debe quedar asi..
It should be like this...

Dobla cada pétalo hacia arriba, como en la foto.
Fold each petal facing up, like in the picture.

Rociarle un poquito de agua.

Spray it with a bit of water.

Dejarlo secar o usa tu heat gun.
Leave it drying or use a heat gun.

Con cuidado dobla los pétalos.
Carefully fold the petals.

Coloca una flor encima de la otra con los petalos doblados en direccion opuesta.
Put one of the flowers on top of the other with the petals folded in opposite direction.

Debe quedar asi..
It should be like this...

Le añadimos la tercera flor y entonces le ponemos el centro de la flor (la flor pequeña).

Add the third flower and then put the center of the flower (the small flower).

Y ya tenemos nuestras flores. Espero les halla gustado, Gracias por pasar por aquí!

Cariños,
Marilyn
We now have our flowers. I hope you have enjoy, Thanks for stopping by!!
Hugs,

Marilyn

A Ride - By Tenny

2011-09-24T07:00:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone,

Here's my layout for the photo inspiration challenge.

I LOVE the bright colors and clean background from the photo inspiration and that's what I did with my layout.

I found this picture of my kids while we're grocery shopping...they just look so funny. I picked this photo because of the bright and cheerful colors like the one from the inspiration picture.

All the patterned papers are from Little Yellow Bicycle Cloth lines collection.

The alphabets are from Nikki Sivils Stickers and the flowers are from Sassafrass and Kaiser Craft.

You can find all these products over at The Paper Trail Store.

Thanks,

Tenny

Baptism - by Yara

2011-09-22T07:00:00.000-04:00

I created this 12X12 layout based on the photo inspirational challenge. I was inspired in the range of brown colors from both photos. Somehow, both photos inspired me to dig in my stash of vintage photos.

I chose several patterned papers and supplies from different manufacturers: Crate Paper - Neighborhood; Fancy Pants - It's the Little Things; Bo Bunny - Time Piece; Pink Paislee - Sweetness - Canvas Borders; Parisian Anthology - Corrugated Elements; Jenni Bowlin - Pearl buttons; Alphabet Stickers: Fancy Pants; ribbon: from a past The Paper Trail kit; journaling die cut: from a past The Paper Trail kit.

I love the vintage feel with the chic style from all these collections, therefore I was inspired to scrap a vintage photo of myself dressed with my baptism dress. First, I cut a non symmetrical square frame approximately 9" X 9" from the Crate Paper patterned paper. Then, I distressed all the paper borders. Then I attached the grid patterned paper with pop dots to the Fancy Pants patterned paper. Next I distressed and attached three paper strips at the left side. I placed two photos, chipboard elements, flowers and the rest of the embellishments.

So, which supplies inspire you to create with, the photos from the challenge? Do you have photos with similar colors and/or style feel? I will love to read your ideas!

~Yara

Modern Millie - by Tanya

2011-09-15T07:00:00.000-04:00

I loved, loved, loved working with Sassafras Lass again. Sassafras Lass, Indie Girl collection made this challenge super easy! I paired it with Sepia toned photographs of my daughter dressed as Thoroughly Modern Millie! A perfect match for the feathers, borders and accessories of Sass Lass' Indie Girl Collection. The stickers are great fun to play with, use them by themselves, or go crazy layering them and adding buttons and ribbons to create any vintage project. I took a collage type approach-and I love the results. The possibilities are endless!

Here's a close-up of some of the layers. I also used copper Stickles to give the large feather a bit of sparkle.

A Boy and His Dog - by Sara

2011-09-10T07:00:00.000-04:00

Today I am here to share with you a layout I created based on the current challenge "Thats So Yesterday"! I was able to use some amazing vintage products from the store for this challenge. My first inspiration with the vintage photo of the boy and his dog from The Paper Loft - these comes in different themes they are called Storybook Pages (one of my favorites from the store). Then I pulled together some paper from Little Yellow Bicycle (Clothesline Line), Bella BLVD (Camped Out Line) and a die cut paper from Jenni Bowlin. I love these papers! Some of them were double sided so I got was able to had a bit more for the same price! I cut the photos and the story book page all down to the same size to create this look. Once I was done with the layout of the page I added this amazing chipboard flowers and circles from Lily Bee Designs - they are actually from the Christmas Town collection but they can be used for so much more! Be sure to visit The Paper Trail today to get your hands on these products before they are gone!

With Gratitude by Jessica

2011-09-08T07:00:00.000-04:00

Hello TrailMakers! I wanted to share a little card I made for the "That is so Yesterday" challenge. I really had fun with this challenge because it is not often that I make anything with any sort of "vintage" style. I love the way it looks, it is just not my "norm". I chose to use Pink Paslee's "Sweetness" collection, all of which can be purchased at The Paper Trail. This collection is so not just a Valentine's collection! It can be used for so much more! I chose to use a paper that had beautiful Victorian flowers in the corners. I sewed a base onto my card, added some ribbon, a frame, and a button. I also layered some flowers that I fussy cut on top of the card base to give it a bit of dimension. Oh, and what would a vintage card be without distress ink?! I used my walnut stain ink on the edges of everything!! Thanks for looking!

:) Jessica

Our Marriage Covenant - by Krystle

2011-09-06T07:00:00.000-04:00

The Dusty Attic chipboard in the Paper Trail store (http://leaveapapertrail.com/zencart/) is perfect for those vintage-looking layouts. I paired it with paper and alphabet stickers from Fancy Pants' Its the Little Things line to create this layout of the marriage conference Jesse and I attended earlier this year.

August Winner!!

2011-09-03T17:45:00.003-04:00

Hello Friends - hope this finds you all well on this Labor Day Weekend!! I am sorry to be late on posting August's winner of the "birthday present" but today was the Grand Opening of my Brick and Mortar store and the week leading up to today has been one of those crazy mixed up frustrating and exciting kind of weeks!!!!!

So, as you all know - in order to win the monthly prize you have to participate in BOTH challenges. We had 4 of you that did that, so each entry gets you a chance at winning. My trusty friends over at Random.org helped me pick a winner and she is:

HILDA !!!!! She was our first and last entrant that did both challenges and she lucked out with Number ONE!!!!

Hilda, please e-mail me your mailing address and full name to customerservice@leavepapertrail.com and I will send you a prize package that consists of Shimmerz spray ink and some Dusty Attic Chipboard!!

Congratulations!!!

~Karen

It is just "Sew Easy" to use!!! A Tutorial by Sara

2011-09-02T08:27:00.000-04:00

In my recent shipment of goodies from The Paper Trail I received the Sew Easy Stitch Piercer tool from We R Memory keepers. I love to add stitching to my layouts and cards but I usually do it by hand. I was very interested in the detachable heads that you can get for tool as they will create different patters such as scallops to stitch. Well, I used it and I LOVED it!!! It made adding a designed stitch 'Sew Easy'! Today I thought I would share a demo and a few things with you on how to use it.

To start your stitching have your paper cut to the size you need, a good ruler, a foam mat and your Sew Easy tool.
NOTE- I did try and stitch through 2 layers of paper and this did not work well for me. I recommend only one layer of paper.

Line your ruler up along side your paper where you want your stitching to be. Keep in mind the stitching will be about 1/4 inch from the side of the ruler. Be sure you have all this placed on your foam mat or your tool will not roll smoothly and you will dull the points on the Sew Easy tool by pressing it in to a hard surface. Hold your ruler with one hand and firmly and smoothly press your Sew Easy tool down and forward until you go all the way off your paper.

Here is the scalloped design my Sew Easy tool created for me in less than 3 seconds!!!

I then selected my thread color and with a needle followed the stitching pattern to create this beautiful design!

Here is how I added the stitched strip to my layout. This tool is a very inexpensive and easy to use product that will help you create several amazing stitching designs in no time! Be sure to head over to The Paper Trail to get yours today!
~Sara

Happy September - and a Sale Code for Labor Day Weekend!

2011-09-01T07:57:00.003-04:00

Happy September everyone!! The DT girls have been hard at work using some products from the store. They all chose different products to work with this month and to kind of use up some of the older products to make room for the new products I will be adding to the store next week!!! Each of these lines are still available in the store and for THIS WEEKEND ONLY if you purchase any of these, use the code CleanOut (it is case sensitive!!) and you will receive a 15% discount on your total purchase!!! Just stop by www.leaveapapertrail.com and start shopping!!! The discount will be good through Monday - 5 September!

And, don't forget to stop back here on Sunday to find out what our first challenge of the month is!!! I think you will LOVE it and it will NOT grow "old" on you!!

So, without further adieu - here are this month's inspiration projects!

First up is Sara with this layout using the Crate Paper "Neighborhood" collection. Sara also used the "Sew Easy Tool" and tomorrow she will show us just how "Easy" it is to use!!!!

Next we have this wonderful Mini Album created by Jessica using the "Sweetness" collection from Pink Paislee!

Jessica says:

A "Sweet" mini made using Pink Paislee's Sweetness Collection Flip Notes - packaging and all! I took the pack of flip notes apart, taped them back to back added a couple pages, put it all back together and started adding photos. Easy peasy!

Krystle has created this pretty little card using Bo Bunny's "Timepiece" collection!

Yara pulled out the "Old School" from Pink Paislee and the Basic Grey "Out of Print" to create this lovely layout.

Tanya went way back to last year and used some of the Sassafrass Lass "Indie Girl" collection - love how versatile this collection is!

Shannon's eclectic style lends way to using a great mix of different things from the store - some Bo Bunny Double Dot Cardstock, Jenni Bowlin papers and even some Blue Hills Studio paper flowers to create wonderful cohesion between them all!

....I had so much fun creating this layout!

Marilyn used the Fancy Pants line from this spring called "It's the Little Things" to create this beauty!

And, last but certainly not least is Tenny and she used several different pieces from the "Clothesline" collection favorite from Little Yellow Bicycle and paired that with some Sassafrass Lass flowers for this sweet layout!!

Happy Trail Makin' (and shoppin'!!!!)
~Karen

Birthday Layouts with a twist!!

2011-08-31T07:00:00.000-04:00

As August is winding down our birthday challenges are still going strong!!! To continue celebrating TrailMakers' 1 year birthday this month, we will take the second challenge of the month and create Birthday Layouts with a small twist! Just like with our card challenge, your layout will be all about birthdays, but you cannot use any birthday papers!!!!! I can't wait to see what you all come up with by using non birthday themed papers but still showing us the birthday theme! Stay tuned over the next couple weeks and see what inspiration the Design Team has in store for you!

You will have until Wednesday August 31st to enter the challenge here at TrailMakers. And at the end of the month, we will select one entry from those who have entered both August Challenges to receive a small gift of their own from the Paper Trail Store!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

Happy Birthday Crazee Meg Layout by Shannon

2011-08-30T07:00:00.004-04:00

Here's my birthday with non birthday line papers. I used every last scrap of my goodies from The Paper Trail from the Basic Grey Out of Print collection and TaDa Creative Studios :)

Thanks for stopping by today! Let's see your layout!
~Shannon

Happy Birthday TrailMakers!!!

2011-08-30T07:00:00.000-04:00

So, August 1st was our FIRST birthday and to celebrate this month is all about BIRTHDAYS!!! Our first challenge of the month comes to you in the form of a Birthday Card! But, we have a little twist to this little challenge and that is you must NOT use any type of Birthday or Celebration Themed supplies!!! We want to see what you can create with your everyday non specifically birthday themed supplies!

We will be giving away a present to one lucky participant at the end of the month. To qualify you must participate in BOTH of our August challenges. We will randomly draw a winner from all of the entries.

I can't wait to see the beautiful cards you come up with!

A little side note for those of you who have been following us for a while - we have changed our DT reveal days to Tues, Thurs and every other Saturday. So, stay tuned on Tuesday to see what Krystle has created to inspire you!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

look who turned one Layout by Tenny

2011-08-27T07:00:00.001-04:00

Making a birthday layout with non birthday papers is a really FUN challenge. You will find out after you see my layout.

My trick for this challenge: use lots of birthday embellishments {balloons, cupcake and banner}. In a second your layout will scream a FUN birthday party.

Here's how I made the banners on this project. I punched 3 scallop squares using 2" scallop square punch. Then I folded them in half. Lastly, line them side by side and add twine.

Anyway...I hope you play along with this challenge...because it's FUN!
~Tenny

Happy Birthday Layout by Yara

2011-08-25T07:19:00.000-04:00

It was so easy to create this birthday layout with these so cute boy themed papers from Crate Paper which are available at The Paper Trail Store. I used the B sides from the patterned papers since the colors combine perfectly with my birthday photos. I painted the so fun TADA chipboard frame with yellow acrylic paint. Furthermore, I used glossy accents to attach the so cool acrylic photos. Can you tell which part of my layout is similar to a birthday cake? :)))) Can't wait to see what you create for this challenge!
~Yara

Happy Day Layout by Sandi

2011-08-23T07:00:00.001-04:00

This is what I found on my lawn when I came home in the afternoon on my 40th birthday! One of my friends trying to be funny!!! It's only taken me almost 3 years to scrap these pictures. I thought the Out of Print Basic Grey line would be perfect. I also used the alphabet stickers from the Out of Print line. To give the flowers more texture and pop, I used the acrylic buttons from Unhinged Creative and then added a sticker from the Out of Print collection.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Can't wait to see what you create for this challenge!

Hugs,

Sandi

Extra! Extra! By Tanya

2011-08-18T07:00:00.000-04:00

Below is my Extra Extra birthday card. I love how easy it was to use the Basic Grey "Out of Print" line for a birthday card. Immediately the phrase "Extra Extra" popped into my head and I created this card. The black alphabets, butterfly and background paper are a part of the Basic Grey collection. I used Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type for the subtitles and the string is out of my stash.

Inside of the birthday card

You can find this fun Basic Grey line over at The Paper Trail!

~Tanya

Happy Birthday 2 You! By Marilyn

2011-08-16T07:00:00.000-04:00

Hi!! The first challenge consist in making a Birthday card "without Birthday papers" and I like to have cards that I already finished for when I need them, so this challenge is great for me. For my Birthday card I used the Basic Grey Out of Print- line, Sassafrass lass- glitted alphabet and Basic Grey "Out of Print"-tittle sticker. I made the flower with the same pattern papers. You can find all these materials at The Paper Trail Store.

~Marilyn

Happy Day by Sara

2011-08-13T07:00:00.000-04:00

I don't know about you but I never have enough cards on hand, so I was really excited when I found out about my first challenge! We needed to make a birthday card out of non birthday themed products - this is what makes it challenging! But I love a challenge! I started with the Basic Grey 'Out of Print' paper collection and since these were double sided papers I had so many beautiful designs to work with. I started with a large square card and cut paper just 1/4 inch shorter than the card and inked the edges. I then cut another square 1/2 inch shorter than the last and inked the edges. Next I created a boarder out of paper and a large scallop punch. Before I adhered the boarder I wrapped some twine around it. Then I added the Basic Greg Pop-Sticker to the center of the boarder. Of course then I need a sentiment. With coordination Basic Grey alpha stickers I wrote "Happy Day' and outlined it with black maker to make it sound out just a bit more. You can find these awesome Basic Grey products in the store!

~Sara

Happy Birthday by Jessica

2011-08-11T07:00:00.000-04:00

Hello TrailMakers! The first challenge here on the blog was to make a birthday card out of non-birthday paper. When I received the product Karen sent from the Paper Trail Store I had two paper collections to choose from. I chose to use Basic Grey's 'Out of Print' collection because I love the colors and thought it would make a nice "girly" birthday card. I used a punch, and some distress ink to create the background, and then used some of the 'Out of Print' Pop Ups and alphas, and added ribbon from my stash to finish the card.

Supplies Used:

Basic Grey - Out of Print

Basic Grey - Out of Print Alphas

Basic Grey - Out of Print Pop Ups

Other - Distress Ink, Crepe Ribbon, Punch

~Jessica

Happy B Day by Krystle

2011-08-09T07:00:00.000-04:00

There are a lot of birthdays coming up in my family so this birthday card challenge (create a birthday card with non-birthday papers) is very timely. I used TaDa Studios's Whirlygig Collection papers, Basic Grey's Out of Print Collection alphabet stickers, Creative Studios's rhinestone brads, and Unhinged Creative acrylic charmes. You can find all of these supplies at The Paper Trail store: http://www.leaveapapertrail.com/zencart/. The way I used the charm was to adhere a piece of patterned paper to the back of it and tie it off with some ribbon.

~Krystle

July ReRun Challenges Winner!!

2011-08-02T07:00:00.000-04:00

Good morning everyone - I am here this morning to announce our winner for the July Re-Run Challenges. I am excited to say that we had a total of 33 entries for the month, spread out over the 4 different challenges! Thank you to everyone that played along -especially in the summer and especially those of you that joined us every week - you were very dedicated and I thank you tremendously for that!

I started with the first challenge thrown down for the month and worked backwards listing and numbering everyone who entered. The first person for the month entering was Sylvia and the last person was Cora. So, after doing that I went over to my friends Random.org and asked them to pick a winning number and here is what they came up with:

And, just in case you are wondering #17 is...

LISA FOUST!!!!!

Yippee - congratulations, Lisa! Just e-mail me at customerservice@leaveapapertrail.com with your mailing address and I will get your box of goodies out to you ASAP!!!!

I am sending Lisa a box of various embellishments for her other papercrafting projects!!!!!

Come back on Sunday to see what new challenge awaits you here for August! And, once again we will pick one lucky winner at the end of August for a FABULOUS prize! This time the prize box will contain something newly released at CHA!!!!!! So, plan now to enter both of our challenges for August in order to be eligible to win!!!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

It's August, can you believe it??!!!

2011-08-01T07:00:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone and welcome to August! I can't believe the summer is almost over! I don't know about where you live, but our kids will be starting back to school in just a few short weeks and it seems like summer just started!!

As is our custom here at TrailMakers, the beginning of the month usually brings a bunch of DT projects using the Kit of the Month. However, since we have decided to just go back to open stock purchases instead of kits, the DT will be showcasing a few different products on the first of each month. This is also the beginning of a new term for our designers, so you will be seeing some new "faces" and styles too!

For August, the DT is showcasing several different lines for you and all are available in the store for you to purchase at our fabulously low prices!!!

The first line is "Out of Print" from Basic Grey! I love the feel of this line - the newspaper print along with the really fun colors mixed in with it make some really awesome projects!!!

A birthday card from Tenny:

"Together" by Yara:

"Frozen" by Krystle:

Next up are two oldie, but goodies from Crate Paper. "Orbit" and "Paper Doll" are great for your specifically boy and girl projects!

"Prima Ballerina" by Tanya (using Paper Doll)

A card from Sandi (using Paper Doll):

"Sparklers" by Sara (using Orbit):

The last line we are featuring this month is from TaDa Creative Studios and it is called "Whirlygig" and is full of really fun blues and greens.

"Super Cool" by Marilyn:

"You make my world go Round" by Jessica:

Shannon mixed the Whirlygig and Out of Print lines for this fabulous wintry altered canvas project!
Shannon says:"...call it wishful thinking...but i am very much ready for cooler temperatures...and i was inspired to think outside the box with my scrappy goodness...so i created this 8X10 canvas. :)"

materials used:
Basic Grey Out of Print: Tribune & Impasto
TaDa Creative Studios: Casablanca & Moscow
Sassafras Chartreuse Glitter Alphas
Dimensional Pearls in Stream
Unhinged Creative Acrylic Charms

All of these lines can be found at The Paper Trail. This coming Sunday will be our first challenge for August and I assure you - it will be quite the "celebration" so check back with us on Sunday for the start of a great month of fun challenges!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

Birds Bees and Butterflies Re-run Challenge

2011-07-24T08:01:00.000-04:00

This last re-run challenge was our 3rd challenge here at Trail Makers almost a year ago and it originally aired in our debut month - August 2010. This challenge was all about birds, bees, and butterflies and we would like to see another round of projects using these very versatile creatures!!

Whatever your little hearts can dream up for a project - show us!! You have a little more than a week left of the month to get your projects in for a fun prize! Just add your projects to the link below and voila - you are done!!!!

Thanks for all the fun this month, our regular DT as well as our new members will be back on August 1st with some awesome projects to inspire your creativity with some new challenges coming your way as well!! Later this week we will start getting to know our Design Team better so stay tuned!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

A sketchy little Re-run for you!!

2011-07-17T08:00:00.003-04:00

We have had a couple sketch challenges over the last year "on air" and we would like to see your take on those again! Pick one sketch and create your own version of it. If you are really on a creative roll- you are more than welcome to submit for each sketch! Make sure when you submit that you tell us which sketch you used and any unusual or distinct changes you made to it!!!

This first sketch was done by one of our former DT Members - Amarilys Doria - I love the sketches she comes up with and you can see others at Creative Scrappers that she has done as well. If you use this sketch call it Amarilys' sketch!

This was one of our DT application sketches so if you use this one call it the DT sketch!

This one is from PageMaps from one of our challenges last fall!

Also - feel free to turn these layout sketches into a card too - using the photo part for your sentiment or other image- that will really show us your creativity!!!!!
Remember with sketches you can use the image as it is or you can flip it or rotate where you put stuff - and if it shows a flower, well you can interchange it with a butterfly or a star or whatever else you can come up with! The creations with these sketches are endless and limited only by our own creativity!!!! Have fun with it!

You have until the end of the month to submit your creations and be eligible for our fun little prize!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

Last Day for DT Introductions

2011-07-15T09:00:00.000-04:00

Well here it is the last day of our team introductions.

Once again here is our Full Team:

Karen Garbacik - Owner - Karen's Blog
Sandi Johnson - DT Leader - Sandi's Blog
Krystle Thomas - Returning member - Krystle's Blog
Tanya Lamo - Returning Member - Tanya's Blog
Yara Freytes - Returning Member - Yara's Blog
Jessica Goodpaster - New Member - Jessica's Blog
Marilyn Rivera - New Member - Marilyn's Blog
Sara Zenger - New Member - Sara's Blog
Shannon Morgan - New Member - Shannon's Blog
Tenny Kusuma - New Member - Tenny's Blog

And now lets get up close and personal with the last of the team members:

Shannon Morgan

Hi! My name is Shannon Morgan. I am a Northern girl living in the South.
I am happy about that in the winter months, despite desperately missing snow...probably because of the strange satisfaction I get from shoveling the driveway...no I am not weird, ok well maybe a little bit. <3
I am fortunate enough to be a stay at home mom...that being said, there is never a dull moment!! I capture a lot of everyday moments versus major events. I have a wonderful family...Paddy, my creative, sweet, old soul and Mack, our headstrong, lover of animals.....also, two 4 legged children, CinnaBear and NutMeg (who is also fondly known as just Meg) and my awesome husband who puts up with me despite my whining, caffeine addiction to Coke Vanilla Zero, cartoon obsession and music fan-nerd girl-ness....they make up the memories and I love each moment with them. <3

Oh what can I say about Shannon's style - completely different from mine, bold, bright,and a bit funky!! - and all I could think of when I saw her DT application is "I wish I could scrap like that"!!!!

Tenny Kusuma

I live in Lincoln, Nebraska, with my husband of 5 years, Leo. Together, we have 2 wonderful and very active children, Dustin {4} and Phoebe {2}. I stay at home and take care of the kids during the day, and work part-time in the evening as a Home Health Caregiver.

Originally, I was born and raised in Indonesia. I came to the US about 11 years ago for College.

I’ve been crafting since I was in High School. I believe I got these crafty genes from my mom. I started scrapbooking in 2005 when still in College. I LOVE everything about scrapbooking, from finding the right pictures and matching papers and also decorate it. Scrapbooking has become an addiction, however I think Scrapbooking is my therapy. My husband is very supportive of my hobby. I also let my children to scrapbook with me. My children are my inspirations and motivations. I scrapbook their lives, because I want them to remember their beautiful childhoods.

More about me, you can find it on my Crafty Blog ~ http://createwithtenny.blogspot.com

This was definitely "Tru Luv" for me when I first saw this layout in Tenny's DT application - I love the kraft base and the way she created the grid with the different postage stamps!!

Thank you so much for joining us this week to meet all of our awesome designers! I can't wait to get started with them! They will debut their projects right back here on August 1st and we hope you can join us! August is our One Year birthday so we have some fun projects planned in August and we are going to be giving away a little birthday gift or two so you do not want to miss us in August!!!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen, Sandi, Krystle, Tanya, Yara, Jessica, Marilyn, Sara, Shannon, and Tenny!!!

It's Day Four of our DT Introductions!

2011-07-14T09:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Day Four of our team introductions.

Our Full Team:

Karen Garbacik - Owner - Karen's Blog
Sandi Johnson - DT Leader - Sandi's Blog
Krystle Thomas - Returning member - Krystle's Blog
Tanya Lamo - Returning Member - Tanya's Blog
Yara Freytes - Returning Member - Yara's Blog
Jessica Goodpaster - New Member - Jessica's Blog
Marilyn Rivera - New Member - Marilyn's Blog
Sara Zenger - New Member - Sara's Blog
Shannon Morgan - New Member - Shannon's Blog
Tenny Kusuma - New Member - Tenny's Blog

Up close and personal with some of the team members:

Marilyn Rivera:

I'm Marilyn Rivera, I live in Puerto Rico a Tropical island in the Caribbean with my husband Israel(we've been 21 years married) and my two teenagers Alexander(17) and Paola Sofia(13). I'm a Fashion Designer so during the day I'm surrounded by fabrics, sewing machines, threads and dress forms and when I'm not playing with fabrics, it's with papers...I love to create! My sister Karen introduced me to this beautiful hobby 4 years ago and I Loved it immediately!!!I and now I totally addicted, It's a therapy for me! My style is colorful with lot of textures and layering. I love to incorporate fabric, pearls or some material of my daily work on my pages. I think "Eclectic" and "Feminine" describes my style. I'm happy to be on the team here at Paper TrailMakers!

This fabulous layout is one of Marilyn's application layouts and I just fell madly in love with it when I saw it! I do not usually use Orange on anything but she has given orange a whole new life in scrapbooking and has inspired me to try it on a layout! I love how she even took one of her photos and changed the coloring to orange - WOW!!!

Sara Zenger:

My name is Sara Zenger. I am working mother and wife. By day I manage a convenient store but by night (or any free time) I am a crafty girl! I love photos and I love remembering things I have done and places I have been, so scrapbooking is natural to me! I also love creating home decor, cards and other goodies that require my craftiness! I run my own challenge blog 'ScrapFIT' just for fun - I enjoy inspiring people to try something new! I like to think I have multiple scrapbook styles, it usually depends on my mood and the photos but I am drawn to 'boy' things since the majority of my scrapbooking is my son ;) but I love a good girly layout from time to time!

This layout is one of Sara's application layouts and I have to say I imagine that Sara's personality just matches this one perfectly!! This layout is super sweet and so fun. I love the fun pops of shapes and color throughout that just keep you excited!

Tomorrow is our last day of introductions, so come back and join us to meet the last two designers on our team!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

Day Three of DT Introductions!

2011-07-13T09:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Day Three of our team introductions.

Our Full Team:

Karen Garbacik - Owner - Karen's Blog
Sandi Johnson - DT Leader - Sandi's Blog
Krystle Thomas - Returning member - Krystle's Blog
Tanya Lamo - Returning Member - Tanya's Blog
Yara Freytes - Returning Member - Yara's Blog
Jessica Goodpaster - New Member - Jessica's Blog
Marilyn Rivera - New Member - Marilyn's Blog
Sara Zenger - New Member - Sara's Blog
Shannon Morgan - New Member - Shannon's Blog
Tenny Kusuma - New Member - Tenny's Blog

Up close and personal with some of the team members:

Yara Freytes:

Hi! My name is Yara Freytes, and I am very excited to be designing for The (Paper) Trail Makers. I live in Puerto Rico with my husband and our two boys, Luis (6 years old) and Diego (5 years old). I have a BS in Chemical Engineering, but currently I am a happy Stay at Home Mom. I started scrapping on 2003, when I had been on bed rest from the pregnancy of my first child, and I had not been able to stop. I love it! Love to document my family stories and travels.

I love to do 12X12 scrapbook layouts from my two boys and our family travels. Occasionally I do clean and simple cards with my stamps and punches. I am a morning person, most of my scrapping, I do when my kids are at school. On 2010, I started blogging and discovered many online scrapbook challenges, from which I love to participate!! If you find me at blogland, the name of my blog is It is Summer Everyday!!

I love to work with pattern papers and using bright colors. I love to embellish my pages using stickers, chipboard, journaling die cuts, buttons, punches and some hand stitching. My favorite technique is fussy cutting. Sometimes, I like to distress my papers, and occasionally use glimmer mist, COPICS and stamps. My hobbies other than scrapbooking, are walking/jogging, reading and spending time with my family. Most of my time is spent commuting back and forth between school and my kids extracurricular activities.

I am so delighted to design with the other so talented designers and thankful to Karen for this wonderful opportunity! Hope my work serves for inspiration to you!

Regards,
Yara

This layout is one that Yara submitted for her DT application back in January. We had given a sketch to follow to see what the applicants could come up with and I just LOVED this take on the sketch and wanted to share this project of Yara's with all of you.

Jessica GoodPaster

Hello there! I'm Jessica Goodpaster, married to an amazing guy, and momma to two amazing little boys. My husband is super supportive of my scrapping "habit". My little guys provide me with tons of scrappy material, and I just love the fact that I am preserving my family memories. I have loved all things crafty since I was little, and really "got into" papercrafting about three years ago when I got married. I made all the favors for our wedding, then started making cards, and then started scrapping....and the rest is history! I am so excited to be joining the TrailMakers Design Team, and am excited for what the future holds!

This is one of Jessica's DT Application layouts and I just LOVE it!! It is absolutely adorable and very fun and fresh!

Please Join us tomorrow to get to know some more of the team and their work!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

2011-07-12T08:58:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Day Two of our team introductions.

Our Full Team:

Karen Garbacik - Owner - Karen's Blog
Sandi Johnson - DT Leader - Sandi's Blog
Krystle Thomas - Returning member - Krystle's Blog
Tanya Lamo - Returning Member - Tanya's Blog
Yara Freytes - Returning Member - Yara's Blog
Jessica Goodpaster - New Member - Jessica's Blog
Marilyn Rivera - New Member - Marilyn's Blog
Sara Zenger - New Member - Sara's Blog
Shannon Morgan - New Member - Shannon's Blog
Tenny Kusuma - New Member - Tenny's Blog

Up close and personal with some of the team members:

Krystle Thomas:

"Hi everyone! My name is Krystle and I live in Albuquerque, NM with my wonderful husband of 7 years. I first picked up scrapbooking way back in 1997 and it has been so fun to see both my personal style and this industry grow over the past 13 years. For me, scrapbooking is a relaxing creative release and a beautiful way to preserve memories. I love everything about this craft, especially sharing inspiration and connecting with other scrappers."

This layout is one of my all time favorites that Krystle has done and I just HAD to share it with you!!!

Meet Tanya Lamo:

I began scrapbooking 9 years ago when our first daughter was born. Being the mother of now 3 daughters-5,7 and 9, I am never at a loss for inspiration. I love preserving our memories on paper. I must confess to being a scrap addict. I have always loved paper and art supplies, so the attraction to scrapbooking, with all its lovely embellishments and colors, was natural. I have a large collection of patterned paper, which is my weakness. My favorite manufacturers are Sassafras Lass, Cosmo Cricket, Crate Paper, Echo Park and Basic Grey, however, I am not prejudice when it comes to paper, I love it ALL!! I enjoy trying new techniques and you will find my style ranging from whimsical-distressed, with a bit of funk-however, I always enjoy a challenge and like to scrap clean sometimes too. My sewing machine often gets a work-out in the scrap room-and I like adding a sparkle with Glimmermist and bling as well.

I have to tell you, when I first saw this layout of Tanya's it really made me so "Hoppy"!!!!!!! This is definitely a favorite of mine!

Please join us tomorrow to meet some more of the team!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

Meet Our Design Team - Day One

2011-07-11T08:11:00.006-04:00

Good morning everyone, exciting things going on here at The (paper) Trail Makers Challenge Blog!! We have a brand new Design Team that will be here sharing their projects and inspiration with all of you over the next 4 months! We had so many wonderful applications and it was so hard to pick only 4, so I picked 5 instead which makes us a happy little family of TEN (if you include me!!!)

Today I am posting all of our designer's names and blogs and then over this coming week you will get to meet two per day up close and personal!!

Our Team:

Karen Garbacik - Owner - Karen's Blog
Sandi Johnson - DT Leader - Sandi's Blog
Krystle Thomas - Returning member - Krystle's Blog
Tanya Lamo - Returning Member - Tanya's Blog
Yara Freytes - Returning Member - Yara's Blog
Jessica Goodpaster - New Member - Jessica's Blog
Marilyn Rivera - New Member - Marilyn's Blog
Sara Zenger - New Member - Sara's Blog
Shannon Morgan - New Member - Shannon's Blog
Tenny Kusuma - New Member - Tenny's Blog

Up close and personal with the team:

Karen

Hi, I am Karen Garbacik the owner of TrailMakers Challenge Blog and The Paper Trail Scrappy Store! I have been scrapping for over 13 years and as time passes, my style has evolved as well. I first started scrapping with Creative Memories and would never dream of putting anything on my papers but their products and only used their albums etc. Then in 2005 my mom, sister, aunt and I went on a cruise to Cozumel Mexico and came back with TONS of pictures that I wanted to scrap right away. I went to my local big box chain store and picked up one of their albums with a coupon as well as some fun embellies and went home and started creating an entirely different type of album and pages than I ever had and from that point I became a non-sequential scrapper - I no longer scrap chronologically nor do most of my layouts even make it into an album right away!!! I love the freedom that scrapping this way affords me - it really allows me to be creative with whatever I feel at the moment! The downside is that my twins who will be 21 in October and my almost 16 year old do not have finished baby albums and our family does not have completed albums. I try to make it a goal each year, but...!!!!! I love being a part of this group of ladies. My returning gals are so wonderful and I know that as we all get to know the new members of the team we will find they are just as sweet! I already know they are creative and will definitely give us some wonderful creations!!

Here is one of my favorite layouts that I have done:

This is Sandi Johnson - our DT Leader!!

A little about Sandi:
Hi, my name is Sandi Johnson. I live in a small rural town near Gettysburg, PA. I am a Mom to 3 wonderful children -Gabrielle, almost 16; Katarina, 14 and Jeremy 10. My husband and I have been married for 19 years. We are both teachers. I currently teach third grade in the school district in which I live. We have three dogs in the house: Bentley a Golden Retriever, Stamper a Min Pin/Terrier mix and Gracie a Jack Russell/Yorkie mix.
I don't know if I can truly say that I have a favorite manufacturer anymore. Over the past several months, I have used papers that I NEVER would have picked up and bought. Then turned out absolutely loving what I created. If I had to choose a few, I would say: Sassafras Lass, Echo Park and Webster's pages. I would say my style is classic scrapbooking with an artsy feel to it. I almost always use ink, paint or misting, sanding and sewing on my pages.
I have always enjoyed some type of crafting since I was a little girl. After my son was born I became addicted to papercrafts. When I first started scrapping, it was all about leaving a legacy for my family, but there's also a part now that has shaped into a part of my ME time. The creative side of me which I crave.

This is one of the first layouts of Sandi's that I saw and it is still one of my favorite layouts she has created!

Please join us tomorrow to get to know some more of the gals!!!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

Re Run #2!!

2011-07-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone - Hope you all had fun watching last week's re-run of the Banner Challenge! This week I want you to go back to September 2010 when this one originally aired and work with multiple photos on a single page layout. The original "episode" asked you to use 4-6 photos on a single page layout and we are hoping you can do it again!!! These photos can be cropped smaller, cropped into different shapes or just plain printed smaller!!! But, if you are feeling extra creative maybe you are able to actually get all four photos on this layout in the original 4x6 size!! That could be a real challenge, eh??

You have until the end of the month to submit your layouts to Mr. Linky below and be in the running for a fun prize from my store, The Paper Trail!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

DT e-mails have gone out!

2011-07-05T22:23:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone - just thought I would post a little update here on the DT Call!! I have finally narrowed them all down. I was only going to choose 4 but just couldn't make that final decision between 4 and 5 so I went with 5 new members this time!! That will give us 9 Designers! WOW!!! I was so thrilled with all of the applications and I have to say this is absolutely the WORST part of my job - having to say my regrets to so many of you. All of the applications were top notch - but I have to pick those that I think are the best for the team and the site! I chose several different styles and experience levels. It really was a difficult decision. I am still awaiting a couple responses and I will be introducing you to all of our DT members with their photos and bios beginning next week. I know you will welcome these ladies with open arms!

Thank you so much to everyone who applied.

~Karen

Summer Re-Runs are here!!!

2011-07-03T08:00:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone - well I have given the DT the month of July off so that they can go have fun, make memories, take lots of pics, and come back with TONS of Mojo for August and the rest of the year! So that means that while our little blog is on summer hiatus we will be showing some re-runs in the challenges around here! You may see one or two of our girls pop in and enter a challenge or two - I am giving them the opportunity to win this month as well!!! For the month of July you will have all month to submit to any and all of the challenges. There will be four total - I will post a new "re-run" every Sunday for the month so you all have plenty of opportunity to keep your mojo going (and of course, a chance to win a fun prize at the end too!!)

Okay - so our first Re-run challenge originally aired in October 2010 and it is still a huge design element in scrapbooking and papercrafting so we decided to revisit it once again!

For this challenge we want to see your BANNERS!!! Either in home decor, cardmaking, scrapbooking or anything else your little ol' imagination can dream up!

You have all month to link your project up so happy crafting!!!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

Generation to Generation by Karen

2011-07-01T07:00:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone, well this is my vintage project using the fabulous Bo Bunny Timepiece line that can be found in our June Kit over at The Paper Trail. This is our last monthly kit - we will be going back to an open stock only site so get your kits while you can - the value is awesome and alot cheaper than if you had purchased everything separately!

This photo is of my grandfather and his father way back in the early 70's. Both have long since gone and I am trying to put together a heritage album. My mom has given me copies of tons of pics so I am needing to get to work!

Everything used in this layout can be found in the kit except the twine on the button. The rosette is made out of the paper in the kit and the middle is one of the buttons. I also used the kaisercraft stickers for the father and son on the photo. I edge punched around the entire sheet of patterned paper. It was not one of those around the page Martha Stewart punches, so I had to be really careful at the ends of the page on the corners, but I think it came out okay! I then adhered that to a piece of the Core D Nations cardstock. I used black because I love the punch it gave to the page. I didn't use a lot of embellies because the paper kind of speaks for itself in that respect so I kept my embellies to the minimum and around the photo only.

Hope you enjoy and can find a little inspiration!
Happy Trail makin'
~Karen

Anything Goes!!!

2011-06-30T14:23:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone - I hope you are enjoying the day with your favorite dad in your life! I was too and then remembered that I hadn't done today's challenge post so here I am a bit late, but here nonetheless!!!!!!

So, in preparation for a nice relaxing vacation month coming up our challenge for you here this time is an anything goes challenge. You can link up any type of project you want, BUT make sure it is new - we don't want any backposting to older stuff - make sure that what you post and link is new!!

You will have until June 30th to link up your projects to Mr. Linky. If you are trying out for the design team - try to remember to put DT after your name in your entry so we know!!!! The Design Team Call ends June 27th and the challenge month ends June 30th.

I can't wait to see what your creativity brings out for us!!!!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

Kits - Going Going Gone!

2011-06-30T08:40:00.000-04:00

Good morning everyone - just wanted to update you on some things going on over at my online store - The Paper Trail. As of tomorrow - July 1st, we will no longer be offering monthly kits. I have decided to go back to open stock supplies only. This was a decision based on a couple factors - one of which is extremely exciting for ME!! I am expanding my online business into a brick and mortar LSS here in my town, Fayetteville NC! I will be opening the store sometime in August and will not be able to dedicate time at this point to monthly kits. I thank all of you for your support of the kit club and hope you continue to support us through the open stock supplies we offer!!

In the coming days, many companies are putting out sneak peeks of the products they will be debuting at CHA - I promise you will be seeing many of those wonderful products added to the store as we expand our business over the next couple months!

Thank you for all of your support here on the Blog and over at the store - I am looking forward to lots more fun times with you all!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

Oh - and PS - MAAAAANNNNN am I having a tough time choosing amongst all these fantastic DT entries! Be patient with me and my team as we narrow down the finalists!

It's a Boy's Only challenge!!!

2011-06-30T07:00:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone - welcome to our first challenge of June. This one should be easy and really well timed too!!!! We are not looking for layouts this time!! What we want to see for this challenge are MASCULINE CARDS!! Think Birthdays, Get Well, and oh, yeah - Father's Day!!!!! You will actually have all month to do this challenge. We will continue to have 2 challenges a month, but we will not close them out til the end of the month each time from now on - so you have a long time to play with us!!

I can't wait to see what cards you all come up with.

Thanks for playing along!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

Colorado - by Krystle

2011-06-29T07:00:00.000-04:00

I love challenges, but it was super-fun to just go wild and create a layout without any rules! This kit is my favorite to date -- the color combo is striking and the patterns are so easy to work with! Even though the kit is packed with amazing embellishments, I had fun making a few of my own from this kit. I made a flower using the ribbon that came with the kit and one of the metal embellishments as the flower center. Another fun embellishment that I made with this kit was the centerpiece of this layout -- the clock hands that I fussy cut from one of the papers. The last handmade embellishment was also fussy cut out of one of the patterned papers and I used a rhinestone circle to accent the clock.

I know you will have fun with the kit too -- check it out here: http://www.leaveapapertrail.com/

Love card by Tanya

2011-06-27T07:00:00.000-04:00

I decided to create another card with this beautiful kit! I thought it would be great to use the "love" chipboard as my sentiment. It is always great to have extra masculine cards on hand and I think this kit is perfect for that. All the products used are from the kit.

Only 2 more days!!!

2011-06-25T08:25:00.002-04:00

Good morning and happy Saturday to all of you! This is just a friendly reminder that we have 2 more days left to get your projects submitted to me per the DT directions on the right and also your challenge projects! I will be spending much of next week going through all these fabulous applications once again to decide. Let me tell you - I have received some fantastic work so far and look forward to seeing some more from more of you guys!!!

Unfortunately I won't be able to choose everyone, but I have some plans for upcoming guest designers!!!

For full directions look on the right bar on the side here! If you have any questions, please e-mail me at customerservice@leaveapapertrail.com

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

Picture Frame by Jessica

2011-06-24T07:00:00.000-04:00

Our guest designer, Jessica, used the Anything Goes opportunity to create this beautiful altered picture frame! She used the June Kit from The Paper Trail. I just love how she used the clip that comes in the kit to "clip up" her Family sign!

And, don't you think this would look wonderful on a man's desk at work?! This Bo Bunny line really makes it easy to create things for your favorite males!!!!

43 years by Sandi

2011-06-22T07:00:00.000-04:00

I know I don't thank my parents enough for all that they have done and do for me! So, with this anything goes challenge this month here at Trail Makers I decided to showcase my parents. This picture was taken almost 2 years ago on Valentine's Day at my little brother's wedding. Dad's eyes are all squinty and goofy looking, but if they weren't I would think something was wrong because he truly is a a big old goofball. He comes off all gruff at times, but he's just masquerading that cupcake of a heart that he has. Mom looked gorgeous in that dress. I was so happy that she found something that she felt great in. She truly deserves it! This is a couple that truly belongs together who have raised 5 children!

They truly are heroes that the world doesn't know much about...hopefully this puts them in the limelight!

Everything on the page is from the June kit except the homemade flower that I made and sprayed with glimmermist. I really hope that you will find the time to scrapbook and show us your projects! Can't wait to see them! So glad you stopped by today!

Happy Trail Making!!!

Hugs,

Sandi

Sagrada Familia by Yara

2011-06-20T07:00:00.002-04:00

In addition to vintage and/or masculine project, this June kit from The Paper Trail store is perfect for travel layouts. Here, I documented some photos printed in sepia colors from our trip to see the "Sagrada Familia" cathedral which is still under construction. Love how beautiful are the buttons and sheer ribbon included in the kit.

~Yara

We have a Winner!!

2011-06-17T13:24:00.004-04:00

Hi everyone - well, today my Father's Day project was posted and if you remember I had a little Friday Fun going on for the last two weeks to see who could guess what I was showing you. It started a little slow - some guesses about the product and such so I did a better picture for you all to see and then we had some better guesses and pretty darn close ones too! Unfortunately Blogger was mean to me yesterday when I was setting up this mornings post and gave you guys an even better sneak peak - yep - the whole shebang!!!!!

I have decided that everyone who commented on either post - the first one and the new and improved have been entered into the drawing for the Bo Bunny Timepiece stamp set. If you commented on both, your name was put in twice!! (yes, that is how nice I am!!!) so, here we are - my friend random.org has chosen a winner!!

And WHO is #5?????

KateB - that's who!!!!!

Kate - if you would e-mail me at customerservice@leaveapapertrail.com with your full name and mailing address and I will get this out to you asap!!

Thanks for playing along everyone! Sunday starts a new challenge so stay tuned for that announcement!

Until then:
Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

Happy Father's Day card by Karen

2011-06-17T07:00:00.000-04:00

Well, I sure hate it when my fingers are flying faster than the computer can keep up with and it sends my post when all I have is the picture and one word in the title like it did yesterday!! Pretty frustrating!!!

So, anyway - here is my Masculine Card project for our challenge this time. You have all month to get your entry into this challenge. We would love to see what other masculine cards you come up with. I know I am always looking for masculine ideas! Everything on the card is from the June Kit at The Paper Trail store except for the brown ribbon. I just love this Bo Bunny line - it is perfect for masculine projects, as well as some lovely vintage ideas!!!

If you are interested in how I made this awesome little shirt, then pop over to my blog and see the details!!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

Father's Day Card by Krystle

2011-06-15T07:00:00.000-04:00

It was so easy to make a Father's Day card with this kit! With all of the neutral papers (and amazing pops of red) and great embellishments (buttons and ribbon are so versatile!), this card came together so quickly. I can't wait to send it off!

~Krystle

Masculine Card by Tanya

2011-06-13T07:00:00.000-04:00

This is my take on the challenge TrailMakers. We were to create a Father's Day card using June's kit from The Paper Trail! I love how easy this was to create! June's kit includes all the right elements for making a beautiful hand-made card for the special dad or guy in your life. I love the combination of ribbon, buttons, stickers (that all coordinate) and PAPER! I had fun layering all these elements together!

~Tanya

You're the Best by Yara

2011-06-10T07:00:00.000-04:00

The fabulous June kit from The Paper Trail store facilitated my life. It made so easy to create my Father's day cards like this one. Love the combination of brown, tan and dark red colors from this collection. The patterned paper with the clock images and cardstock stickers included in the kit are just perfect to create masculine cards.

~Yara

A Little Friday Fun to keep you entertained (EDITED)

2011-06-09T09:02:00.003-04:00

I thought I would give you a tiny bit of a peek at my personal project!!

Just for fun (and a prize!!!) I thought I would let you all guess at what this image is of on my project.

I made a card and this image is of something that is ON my card. You all are making some good guesses but it would be too obvious if I just let you win by saying it is Bo Bunny paper! You guys have been following us long enough to know that it would be paper from the current kit or new products in the store!! Ya'll can't get away with this that easily!!!!! Think - this is a Father's Day/Masculine card. Look at the picture and think about what it could be ON my card!!! I am changing the picture out for one that is a bit more clear - maybe that will help you a bit!!!!!

Good luck!! (And Don't think I am giving any more hints to you either!!!! LOL!!!!!!)

For each person with the correct guess your name will go in the drawing for this Bo Bunny Timepiece Acrylic Stamp set!!!

This little bit of fun will be open for 2 weeks until my project is revealed on Friday June 17th!!

Just leave a comment below with your guess!
Good luck!!!
and Happy Trail Makin'

~Karen

Happy Dad Day by Sandi

2011-06-08T07:00:00.000-04:00

The June Kit from The Paper Trail really is very conducive to Dad pages and cards! In fact, I think it's just PERFECT. Here's my Dad's Day card that I made. I decided to try something a little different and make a tag card. I cut it at 51/2 X 4 1/4" and then cut one corner off. After that I flipped over what I cut and laid it on the other side so it would be even. Too cool! All supplies are from the kit except the ribbon, the jumbo brad and the metal clock. Those Kaisercraft miniletter stickers are perfect for greetings. Because they are so stark white what I did was take my chalkbox charcoal ink pad across them to give them more of a vintagey feel. Don't you just love Coredinations cardstock. Karen put some in the kits this time. Take a look at the black. I love how the kraft comes through the black cs when I distressed the edges and then sand it.

Have you made your Dad or husband a Father's Day card yet? Now is your chance! Just think you can make one, then get all kinds of scrappy love for posting it and then give it to your Dad or hubby who will just LOVE that you took the time to make a handmade card!

Hope you are having a great scrappy day! Thanks for stopping by today!

~Sandi

Masculine Card by GDT Jessica!

2011-06-06T07:57:00.003-04:00

On her card, Jessica used the June Kit from The Paper Trail. The Bo Bunny Timepiece collection is perfect for the masculine theme and her card is perfect for either a birthday or Father's Day. I love how she fussy cut the clock from one of the papers and layered a cardstock sticker with one of the buttons found in the kit!! She also used the rhinestones that were in a circle and took them off individually to use on her card!!!

I think this is a fantastic project to give you some inspiration for your masculine projects this month!!!

Don't forget - if you are trying out for our DT Call which goes until June 27th, you need to participate in both of our challenges this month, and just think - this will get you one step closer to having your Father's Day or other masculine cards done!!!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

A little Friday Fun to keep you entertained

2011-06-03T07:57:00.006-04:00

until our first June challenge goes up!! Wait til you see all the DT inspiration! I thought I would give you a tiny bit of a peek at my personal project!!

Just for fun (and a prize!!!) I thought I would let you all guess at what this image is of on my project.

For each person with the correct guess your name will go in the drawing for this Bo Bunny Timepiece Acrylic Stamp set!!!

This little bit of fun will be open for 2 weeks until my project is revealed on Friday June 17th!!

Just leave a comment below with your guess!
Good luck!!!
and Happy Trail Makin'

~Karen

Second Set of Challenge Winners!

2011-06-02T07:00:00.004-04:00

For Challenge #2...Flourish Challenge
Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

Timestamp: 2011-06-02 02:24:27 UTC

So the winner of the gelatins stamp set is Jessica G. Congrats!

For Challenge #3...Create Your Own Flower(s) Challenge

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

Timestamp: 2011-06-02 02:28:03 UTC

So the winner of the Fancy Pants Card Kit is Libeeti. Congrats!!!

For Challenge #6...Paint Challenge

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

Timestamp: 2011-06-02 02:28:03 UTC

So the winner of the Cosmo Cricket prize pack is Sylvia. Congrats!!!

Please email me your snail mail address at starrystamper@yahoo.com, so I can get your prize pack out to you!

A special thanks to all who participated and all our sponsors!

We hope you had as much fun as we did.

First Set of Challenge Winners!!!

2011-06-02T07:00:00.001-04:00

Good morning everyone - here is the first set of May Challenge winners. I have these 3 prizes and my DT Leader, Sandi has the other 3 so she will announce her winners separate from mine and those on her winning group will contact her with their information so she can get those out to you.

So, here goes:

For Tanya's Color Challenge we had 8 entries and my friend Random.org has chosen entry #

And that is AUDREY YEAGER!!!

Audrey please e-mail (customerservice@leaveapapertrail.com) me your mailing address so I can get this awesome prize packet of Nikki Sivil's line - Max and Molly- out to you!!

Okay winner number two is for Yara's Doily Challenge and again I defer to my friend Random.org to help me choose a winner from the 14 entries in this challenge.

And lucky number 8 is VALERIE DURHAM!!!!!!

Valerie - you have won a surprise package from my store, The Paper Trail, and as soon as you e-mail me your information I will get that prize right out to you!!! (customerservice@leaveapapertrail.com)

Okay - the last winner I have for you this morning is for my Paper Piecing Challenge. This challenge had 5 entries and this is who Random liked:

That entry was: IRIT!!!

Irit, please e-mail me your full name and mailing address at customerservice@leaveapapertrail.com so I can put your Lawn Fawn stamp set in the mail!!

Congratulations to all the winners! Our last 3 winners will be announced separately so keep your eye out - you may have won a second time!!!!!

Thank you everyone for playing along in the challenges this past month, it was so fun seeing everyone's projects. Sunday we will announce our first challenge for June so stay tuned!!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

June Kit Debut!!

2011-06-01T07:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to June everyone!! Over at our store, The Paper Trail, We have Bo Bunny's Timepiece collection as the star of the June kit and it is perfect for masculine cards, and layouts, as well as vintage projects!! You will even see this kit used with GIRLS (gasp!!)!!! I love that the design team really reaches deep to see how versatile the kits can be - this shows you guys that just because it looks one way - it doesn't have to stay that way - you can adapt any collection to suit your needs/wants/desires!!!!

Kit contents:
12 sheets DS Bo Bunny Timepiece 12x12 patterned paper
4 sheets Core D Nations cardstock
1 6x12 Timepiece cardstock stickers
1 pkg Timepiece buttons
1 pkg Kaisercraft Mini Alpha Stickers
1 pkg Kaisercraft Rhinestones
1 Kaisercraft Crochet Doily
3-4 Creative Imaginations Journaling Frames (designs vary)
2 Tim Holtz Hinge Clips
3 Tim Holtz Mini paper clips
1 yd Red Sheer ribbon
1 yd brown sheer ribbon
1 yd black velvet ribbon

We also have an add on kit this month. Check out the store for all those details!

Take a look at what the design team has created with this kit!

First off is Sandi - our DT Leader!

Time Flys By so quickly doesn't it? It's so amazing how quickly they grow up. It just seems like yesterday I was changing diapers, strapping them into car seats and lugging that heavy baby seat everywhere! I thought The Paper Trail June Kit with the clocks was absolutely perfect for these pictures. Look at that metal flower in the middle of the paper flower...isn't it gorgeous?! That comes in the kit too!

Krystle's project:

Bo Bunny's Timepiece collection is one of my favorites so I was very excited when I found out that this month's kit features this line! With all of the clocks on these papers I thought it would be fun to make a belated gift card from this kit. I fussy cut the clocks from the patterned paper and added some of the embellishments from the kit to make this card.

Tanya's project:

June's Kit for The Paper Trail goes hand in hand! What a perfect stash of goodies to create wonderful Father's Day projects. The possibilities are absolutely endless! I found a photo of my husband from last year's Father's Day spent at a nearby lake! I knew instantly that this kit would be perfect for this photo. The only product I used that wasn't included in the kit is the alphabet letters. Thanks for looking---I can't wait to see what you all create!

Yara's project:

When I received the gorgeous collection from Bo Bonny Timepiece, I squealed from happiness. I was so happy to finally be able to scrap some vintage photos from my dad. The timing could not be more perfect, specially when Father's Day is around the corner. I combined several Bo Bunny patterned papers for my layout included in June 2011 Kit from The Paper Trail store. I used the Core cardstock to mat the picture and vintage tag from my tag. The clocks were cut from patterned paper and misted with glimmer mist to combine better with the dots background patterned paper. I added the brown rhinestones from Kaisercraft to the clock's center. The Jumbo Cogs are just the perfect addition to the Timepiece collection. I cannot wait to share this layout with my Dad.

Jessica, our guest designer's project:

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

Last Day for Challenges and First Day for our June Guest Designer!

2011-05-31T08:09:00.003-04:00

Good morning everyone - just a reminder that today is the last day for our month long crop. What a great time we have had bringing you some fun challenges and highlighting some of your projects and even learning a little in some tutorials!! You have until 11 pm EST tonight to get your projects linked to the challenges - I am listing them below in case you missed them or don't feel like looking back through the blog for them!!!!!!! Winners will be drawn by myself and Sandi (and our friend Random.org) tomorrow - June 1st and we will announce all the winners on Thursday June 2nd!! Make sure you stay tuned for tomorrow's June Kit reveal and the DT's amazing kit debut projects - you will LOVE them- I promise!!

Okay - here is your link to all the May Challenges:

Tanya's Color Challenge
Krystle's Flourish Challenge
Sandi's Create Your Own Flower Challenge
Yara's Doily Challenge
Karen's Paper Piecing Challenge
Erin's Paint Challenge

Now on to introducing you to our June Guest Designer!! First, I want to thank Erin for spending May here at Trail Makers with us and sharing her amazing designs! Thank you Erin - we loved having you!

Our June Guest Designer is Jessica Souza

and here is what she has to say:

"Hello! My name is Jessica and I am a stay at home mama to two amazing little guys. I am married to a wonderful, and supportive man whom I have known all my life. We live in a super small coastal Oregon community. I have always loved all things crafty, even when I was a little kid. (Paint by Number or Shrinky Dinks!) I started doing some papercrafting when I got engaged, I decided to make everything for the wedding. Then, when I was pregnant with my first son, I was put on bedrest for 6 long weeks. What better to pass that time than use up all the leftover paper from our wedding?! It was then that I became seriously addicted to scrapping! I have really loved working with the goodies in the June Paper Trail kit, and had a great time creating!"

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

Challenge #6 - Paint!!

2011-05-26T08:32:00.002-04:00

From our host - May Guest Designer - Erin Reed

For this challenge you need to use paint. You can paint an item, splatter paint on your paper, use paint and water to distress your papers, or what ever you can think of as long as it includes paint!! I love to use paint on my projects as it adds so much dimension and extra softness to the look of the project.

For my example I used glimmer glam paint in brown to paint the word cherish (wonderful Dusty Attic piece from the May The Paper Trail May Kit). I then also used pink acrylic paint to make the splotches on the brown background paper to match the pink splotches on the Little Sprout blue swirl paper from the Trail Makers Store. I then also used water and a light brown acrylic paint to wet distress the reddish/pink background paper from the The Paper Trail May Kit.

The pic is of my son one day when we were playing on the playground. The Little Sprout paper line (borders at the bottom, blue swirl paper, and paper paper the heart butterflies are punch from) are all from The Paper Trail Store were just perfect for this picture.

Enjoy!!

Erin R.

From Karen~

For this challenge, I used the May kit from The Paper Trail that features the It's The Little Things papers from Fancy Pants and a sketch from Sketch Inspiration. In this month's kit, you get some Dusty Attic chipboard words - one of which is "Cherish". This chipboard comes plain so I used my black paint to paint it. I love the "pop" it gives it! I also used the wooden Kaisercraft piece that comes in your kit too. this time I did a light paint wash over it. I had some pink paint and I watered it down alot - just enough to get some color and I painted the wooden flourish with this sort of homemade "stain" if you will!!!! I didn't want the paint to take over the wood - I wanted it to still show through but blend better with the papers!

Paint is so easy to work with and lots of fun too - I can't wait to see what YOU do with this challenge.

You have until May 31st to get all of your projects for the month submitted to the appropriate linky!! We have lots of winners to announce soon - will YOU be one of them?? Remember - you can't win it unless you are in it!

Happy Trail makin'
~Karen

Paper Piecing Tutorial

2011-05-24T06:55:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone, on Sunday you saw my card with the paper pieced flowers and we promised you a tutorial so here it is!

You will first need to gather the papers you will use for paper piecing your images. You will need a base piece - this is where your original stamp will go and you will build off of this. Mine is the cream colored piece of cardstock. Then, depending on exactly how intricate your image is or how many pieces you want there to be - choose your other papers. Mix it up with patterns and solids. For my card I used the patterned piece for the flowers and the solid green (which is a scrap from my card base) for the leaves. I chose to use accent ink on the bird, otherwise I could have also chosen another paper for the bird.

I then stamped my base image - centering it on the cream piece that I had already cut to size. I re-inked the stamp only in the spots I want to paper piece - not the entire image. This saves ink and paper!!!

I then fussy cut the images out.

I adhered them with a small amount of glossy accents. I used this liquid glue for two reasons, one - it holds your cut pieces very well so they don't end up coming off later or after alot of use/touching/etc! and two - if you don't get the image exactly in the right spot you can shift it a bit while it is still wet.

Then you will finish off your project as normal!!

I used a traditional stamp for this, but you can easily adapt this to a digital image as well. You would simply print your image on several different papers and follow all the same steps!

You still have plenty of time to try this technique and post it to our Paper Piecing Challenge to be in the running for this awesome stamp (Petite Florals) from Lawn Fawn -

which by the way - those flowers are PERFECT for this kind of project!

I can't wait to see what you all do with this fun technique!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

It's a DT Call!!!!!!

2011-05-23T19:37:00.003-04:00

Well, it's that time again - time for a new DT call. I am holding on tightly to my current team and am making room for a few more!!! Are YOU one of them? Maybe so - here are the deets:

I am looking for 4 new creative, enthusiastic, and fun individuals to add to my current design team. I am looking for a variety of paper crafting styles and experience levels that are willing to use the monthly kits provided by my store The Paper Trail.To be considered for a DT position submissions will be accepted from now until June 27th and your entry MUST include everything requested per the DT submission guidelines.
DT Requirements:
- Commit to a 4 month term (from Aug.1, 2011 - Nov. 30, 2011) (you will receive your first kit and assignment in July that will be for Aug. 2011)
- DT members must post one project per month using the assigned challenge criteria, as well as one kit debut project that is always due on the 28th of the month for a total of 2 projects per month.
- DT members will be asked to post at least one article with tips/techniques to the blog during your term.
- DT members will be asked to submit at least one tutorial (either still photos or video) during your term.
- DT members are expected to comment on challenge submissions, and are required to promote the challenge blog, the monthly kit and the store on their blogs and wherever possible.
- DT members are welcome to be members of other Design Teams while serving on the Trail Makers team, however, please consider your other obligations and time constraints before applying.
DT Benefits (What's in it for YOU???!!!)
- Each DT member will receive a partial current monthly kit to use in your DT projects each month.
- Each DT member will receive a 20% discount on all products purchased in The Paper Trail online store during your term along with free shipping as long as it ships with your monthly DT kit.
- Each DT member will receive a permanent 15% discount on all purchases upon "retirement" from the team.
- You will receive promotion of you, your blog and your creations on our blog and store website during your term.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES (please read and follow carefully)
1. Send an e-mail to me (Karen) at customerservice@leaveapapertrail.com with your name and TrailMakers DT Call in the subject line.
Please include the following information in the body of your e-mail:
*Name, address, phone number.
*links to your blog, galleries, and other forums/message boards (with username) that you are active on.
*list of DTs you have been a part of (current and past)
(This is for information only - DT experience is NOT necessary - I am interested in your style and how you interpret the challenges)
*a short paragraph about you, your scrapbooking style, favorite manufacturers, products/tools/techniques that you like to use in your projects, why you are a papercrafter and why you would like to be a Trail Maker!
* Please share with me any special skills/talents you have that would be beneficial to our blog (ex. sketch designer, video tutorial maker, etc.)
2. 3 recent projects (within the last 3 months) that showcase your personal style.
3. We also are requiring that you participate in BOTH of the June challenges. With each entry you must put DT along with your name so that we see that it is a DT entry.

New DT members will be notified within the first week of July. 2011

***Note - I apologize, but at this time I cannot accept International entries.

Challenge #5:Paper Piecing

2011-05-22T09:52:00.002-04:00

We hope you have a had a chance to either catch up or take a break this past week from Our Love of Scrapbooking Crop. We only have 2 more challenges left.

Remember you have until the end of the month to get the challenges done and be eligible for these great prizes.

From Karen, Our Host

For this challenge, we are going to paper piece a stamped image for our projects! This is a great technique to use with your cards and also on your scrapbooking layouts as well! Today I have a card to show you, though. I used the Fancy Pants It's The Little Things papers from the May kit over at my store The Paper Trail, as well as some black velvet ribbon that is also included in the kit. I used some stamps and inks from my personal stash.
If you do not know how to do this technique, there are some great tutorials out on the web, or if you can wait til Tuesday I will show you exactly how I created this card. Believe me, this is a technique that is NOT difficult and can be used on traditional stamps, as well as digital ones!

For this challenge our sponsor is Lawn Fawn and they have given us an awesome stamp set to give away to one lucky participant!!! This stamp set is valued at $15 and contains a whopping 24 stamps!!! The flowers on this set are absolutely PERFECT for this technique too!!

Good Luck and Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

From Yara

It felt so good to use my so many times forgotten stamp collection, therefore I was very happy to have the chance to participate in the Paper Piece Stamp challenge. I used the beautiful Nikki Sivils It's raining, it's pouring collection that is available at the Paper Trail store, to create this scrapbook layout. This layout is inspired using a sketch created by Anam Stubbington.

I used one Unity stamp from my stash and stamped the sun and the cloud using yellow ink at the white cardstock. This white cardstock is used as my layout background. Then, I stamped the same sun / cloud image in the blue patterned paper. Then, I cut with scissors the cloud from the blue patterned paper and attached it with pop foam dots for dimension above the same cloud stamped at the white cardstock. Love this way of creating my embellishments using the paper piecing stamping technique.

This is so easy!! I cannot wait to see your take in the paper piecing stamping technique!
~Yara

Just link your project to Mr. Linky by May 31st at 11PM! Go get stamping!

Wednesday WOW's!!!

2011-05-18T07:00:00.001-04:00

We wanted to take today to celebrate your accomplishments and what you've created with Challenges #3 and #4. We are so thrilled to see all the participants in this May Crop here at Trail Makers! Hope you are having as much fun as we are celebrating our love of scrapbooking!

Challenge #3...Create Your Own Flower(s)!

Sylvia

Libeeti

Lisa

Libeeti

Irit

Hilda

Challenge #4...Use a doily!

Sylvia

Eimat

Rita

Lisanna

Jessica

Laurence

Valerie

There you have it! Give these ladies some love for their scrappy goodness and creating their own paper trail!

You still have until May 31st to get your entries in for any of the challenges!

Can't wait to see what you create with the challenges!

Our next challenge will be posted on Sunday, May 22nd!!!

Ohhlala! We know you are going to love it!!!

Just wondering??!!!

Have you gotten your May Kit here?

It's full of that beautiful Fancy Pants...It's the Little Things line!

Check it out!!!

Second Friday Fun!

2011-05-13T21:23:00.000-04:00

This month here at Trail Makers we're celebrating our love of scrapbooking! For this Friday fun, tell us why scrapbooking is a love of yours!? Can't wait to read why you love this hobby so much!!!

Challenge #4: Doily Challenge

2011-05-12T07:16:00.000-04:00

From Yara, Our Host

Doilies are everywhere. It is not a new trend, but they came to the scrapbook world to stay just as polka dots or stripes patterns. They are used frequently in papercrafting projects because they are both inexpensive and very versatile.

For this challenge, you need to create a scrapbook layout, card or project with at least one doily. Doilies can be from patterned paper, fabric, stamps, crochet, chipboard, cardstock embellishments. But at least, we want to see one doily on your project. This should be easy!

I used the Fancy Pants Designs; Little Sprout collection. The big doilies are made from laser cut chipboard by Dusty Attic. They were inked with "Old rose" pigment brush ink pad. They were embellished with self adhesive white pearls from Kaisercraft. The beautiful fabric roses are from May 2011 It's all the little things'. Sketch is from Creative Scrappers.

Here some close-ups:

The center of the punched butterflies were created with Liquid Pearls platinum which is available at the Leave a Paper Trail store.

This is a view from the beautiful white rose included in the May Monthly kit from The Paper Trail. Even the rose cardstock used as a base for the photos's mat was punched with a doily border punch.

From Tanya

For this challenge it was fun to incorporate a doily into my card. I used a doily off of some Prima packaging--shared from my friend Sandi!! I used May's kit aside from the black and white twine. I love this color combination of black and peach with highlights of greens and oranges. The rub-ons at The Paper Trail are a great addition-perfect for card sentiments and or subtitles on a layout. Looking forward to seeing your doily creations!

Let's see what you come up with for this challenge! We know it will be great! You have until May 31st to get your projects posted. You want to know what the prize is...

well, this one is a surprise pack from The Paper Trail!

Wednesday Wow's!

2011-05-11T07:30:00.000-04:00

We wanted to take a moment and say WOOT! to all those participants so far in our crop for May here at Trail Makers. It's so exciting to see everyone participating and we wanted to showcase you!

For Challenge #1: Our Color Challenge

Sylvia

Irit

Eilleen K.

Audrey

Scrap Els

Libeeti

For Challenge #2: Flourish Challenge

Amarilys

Erin

Irit

Eileen K

Sylvia

Scrap Els

Libeeti

Jessica G

Give all these girls a big pat on the back!!! Wonderful work and all so different!!! Remember you have until May 31st to get all the challenges done, so you never know we could showcase you next week!!!!

Keep those entries coming!!!

Happy (paper) Trail Makin'!

Tuesday Tip: Photo Binder Clips by Erin

2011-05-10T07:00:00.003-04:00

Ever wonder what the perfect gift is for someone special, or what to do with all those leftover scraps of paper and embellishemnts from your kits?

Here is a wonderful idea for you. I was looking through one of my old scrap mags and came across this great little idea.

Using binder clips (like you find in the office supply stores) adhere strips of paper, ribbon, yard, bling, and stickers to make a fun little picture holder.

You take a strip of paper that is the width of the binder clip, and tuck it under the front edge, then trim the back side so it fit under the back edge. Adhere with glue dots of your adhesive runner. For this picture holder, I took some wonderful ribbon and tied it to old side of the clip and then frayed the ends for a fun look.

In this holder I took a tag and trimmed it to fit the clip, I placed a gem in the hole that was left from the tag.

This holder was made from a sticker tag leftover from one the the sticker sheets in the May The Paper Trail Kit, then tied 2 different matching colored yarn bits to it.

The beauty of the binder clip is that it has a flat base to when you clip the picture into the holder it stand upright. You can place your holder on the side of the picture or in the middle, where ever you want it to go!!

I did 2 different sizes, but there are even bigger binder clips that you could make a holder for. There are also lots of colors the clips come it, white, black, green, red, etc so that adds to the fun.

Enjoy!!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Hope I inspired you to make your own photo clip!

Challenge #3:Create Your Own Flower(s) Challenge

2011-05-09T00:26:00.002-04:00

From Sandi, Our Host

For this challenge, you need to create a handmade flower(s) because April Showers bring May Flowers!!!
I used the Nikki Sivils It's Raining, It's Pouring Collection to create this card. The big scallops are just punched out circles. Then I took my Sizzix flower die and created the flower! I cut the rain boots out from the Nikki Sivils paper and added it to the middle of my flower.

From Krystle

I wanted to share this layout I made of some of the fun get-togethers we have had with our fellowship group at Faith Church:

I love handmaking flowers so I knew I had to enter the handmade flower challenge at TrailMakers. I used some ribbon to make a flower that I used on this layout, which features Fancy Pants' Little Sprout and other items that you can find in the TrailMakers store.

Want to see what you could win? A Fancy Pants Road Show Card Kit! It is yummy!!!

Can't wait to see what you create! You know the drill! Make your layout, card or project with your handmade flower and upload your link to Mr. Linky. You have until May 31st to enter!

First Friday Fun Winner

2011-05-09T00:25:00.000-04:00

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

Timestamp: 2011-05-09 04:19:46 UTC

which means that

Sylvia said...

I also posted today:
http://scrapsylz.blogspot.com

May 6, 2011 4:24 PM

is our WINNER!!! Congrats!!!

Please send me your snail mail addy at starrystamper@yahoo.com

Saturday Spotlight..Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker

2011-05-07T07:00:00.004-04:00

Here at Trail Makers we wanted to shout out a BIG THANK YOU to our sponsors for the month! Our first spotlight is Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker. Nikki seems so sweet and genuine and always is very generous with her product! It truly isn't difficult to tell that she has a LOVE for scrapbooking and the people who love the craft!

You can see them here!

The Paper Trail currently has the It's Raining It's Pouring Collection! Hurry on over and check it out!

Hope you are working on Challenge #1 and #2! We can't see what you've created!

Get ready for the next challenge on Monday the 9th!

Happy (Paper)Trail Makin'!

First Friday Fun!

2011-05-06T07:00:00.001-04:00

This one is easy! Help us get the word out about the month long crop at Trail Makers! All you have to do is post on your blog about the crop on your blog and/or facebook. Then come back and link where you posted it! You have until Sunday, May 8 at 11PM EST for a chance at an RAK!

Challenge #2 ...Flourish Challenge

2011-05-04T07:00:00.001-04:00

From Krystle, Our Host:
There are a lot of challenges going on this month at the TrailMakers blog. I am challenging you to make your own flourish! There are so many possibilities -- use Ranger's stickles, liquid pearls or dimensional pearls, doodle some flourishes, or stitch them. I doodled a couple flourishes in pencil on this layout and then went back over them with a needle and punched a couple holes on the lines and used black thread to stitch these flourishes on my layout. I thought that stitched flourishes were more appropriate for this manly layout of my husband, his brother Matt, and girlfriend Merida rock climbing in Socorro. I can't wait to see what you will do!

Don't you just love the May Kit from The Paper Trail?! I also used some papers from Nikki Sivils It's Raining It's Pouring Line.

From Sandi:

When Krystle challenged me to make my own flourish, I decided to use my Kaisercraft black studded arrow as a flourish. You'll see that I just tucked my arrow head under the flower that I made and then carefully laid it down on my card. It was so easy and love how it turned out!

My pattern papers, little blue stitched button and ribbon are all from the May Kit at The Paper Trail. The large button is from the March Kit at The Paper Trail.

I also used the java bazzill cardstock from The Paper Trail.

The prize for this challenge is a gelatins stamp set...Oodles of Doodles II

You have until May 31st to get your projects posted with some sort of homemade flourish. Please link your project to Mr. Linky. We'll stop by and give you some love!!! We can't wait to see your creations!

Challenge #1...A Color Challenge

2011-05-02T07:00:00.007-04:00

Challenge #1...A Color Challenge!

From Tanya, Our Host

For this fun challenge at The (Paper) Trail Makers it is to use these colors:

Here we go...I love color combo challenges. Your challenge is to create a layout or project using the colors below.

Nikki Sivils It's Raining It's Pouring Line is the perfect match for this combo! It is also especially fitting for the rainy spring that we have had! For this challenge you must at least use the 3 colors shown and you may use black, white or craft paper. Here are my 2 cards that I created! Have fun!

From Erin, Our Guest Designer
They go perfect with the new Nikki Sivils It's Raining It's Pouring Line, they are such sweet and adorable pages. The colors screamed to me fun and fresh, so I used pictures of my friend's son and his first dog Goldie. They were playing around in the backyard and Dustin tried to ride him like a horse, so cute!!

Using a sketch from Pagemaps I created the fun layout above. I love to stitch on my layouts, it adds such a wonderful look to the page. I also love those Nikki Sivils buttons, so cute!! I also love to use layers of borders. I used a regular punch scallop border on the bottom, then a strip of Nikki Sivils umbrella paper, then an orange/yellow cardstock to cut the final border trim at the top using my Cricut and a cutter file. I then took yarn and wove it through the holes in the cut border.

Enjoy!!
Erin R.

Now it's your turn! Let's see your take on this challenge!
You could win a Nikki Sivils prize pack of Max and Molly donated by Nikki Sivils!!!

You've got the whole month to finish it!
Just link your project to Mr. Linky!
Can't wait to see it!

May Monthly Kit Debut

2011-05-01T07:00:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone - Happy Sunday and May Day!!!!! I remember as a kid (a LONG time ago!) we used to celebrate May Day by putting little baskets of goodies on our neighbor's steps, ringing the doorbell and then hiding around the side of the house. It was so much fun to see their faces when they saw the basket and no one nearby and it was always a sunny, warm day with lots of birds chirping and kids having fun. It surely has been a long time since I have known of anyone that did that - maybe it was just a custom we had in our neighborhood. Anyway - here at my home we are enjoying a beautiful May Day today and I wanted to share with you our newest kit - Little Things!!

No, the name isn't really very original is it!? Considering the Fancy Pants Line is called "It's the Little Things" but I thought it was really appropriate to call it that. Especially this month and Mother's Day! If you are a mother you know what I mean when I say that the most important things in your life are just little things!!! The things you remember about your children are little things that are so sweet and funny that they say and do! And the things we cherish in our heart are the little things our children and families do for us!! So, without any further sentimental ramblings on my part - I am happy to share some of the DT layouts that have been created using our May Kit! Remember you can purchase these kits from my store as a one time only purchase or as a 6 month subscription. If you are interested in the subscription please read all of the information on the FAQ page here.

Here are the projects and a few words from our DT and our new Guest Designer, Erin Reed.

From Tanya:

May's kit is such a great mix of beautiful papers that can be used for elegant or fun scrapbooking! I adore the bird paper-mainly because my oldest daughter's nick name is Hailey Bird. I couldn't wait to scrap some photos of her with these adorable birds. Aside from the fantastic papers, there are some Kaisercraft Wood vines-I kept this natural and love how it works on the page. Other products not included in the kit are twine, buttons, ric rac and alphabet stickers.

From Yara:

The possibilities with this gorgeous Fancy Pants collection is infinite!! Karen chose the perfect embellishments to go with it in the Paper Trail May kit. Love that golden yellows and sage greens combined with the bright pinks work perfectly with black. Like so much the wood flourish, which I inked with Versacolor Sage Ink. I added the so beautiful Dusty Attic small vine which is available in the Paper Trail store. The black fabric flower made the perfect center to my fussy cut flower. The die cuts are perfect for my journaling and as a final touch. I cannot wait to create more scrapbook projects with It's the Little Things!

From Krystle:

I love the mixture of elegance and fun that Karen put together in the May kit. The kit features Fancy Pants' "It's the Little Things" line and contains some beautiful Kaisercraft wood pieces (which I inked with VersaMagic dew drops) and Jolee's flowers. I used the kit to create this layout of Jesse's first half-marathon with Dave, Sarah, Tiffany, and Dan. A whole bunch of people from our church ran the Duke City half marathon as well, and we met up with them after the race. Everyone did a superb job (especially Jesse!) and Vanessa and I cheered from the sidelines!

From Sandi:

May's Kit from The Paper Trail is yummy! All that It's the Little Things from Fancy Pants. The papers are subtle, elegant, yet fun. I love the hint of gold that is in this paper. It matches my daughter's softball uniform perfectly. I wanted to make it a girlie layout though too. And I think it worked! By the way, in case you are wondering the reason why the 4's are on there is ...that is her number. All things are from the kit except the American Crafts letters, embellishments and the Glitz letters. Also, wanted to tell you that I cut out a frame on the inside of paper, so that I could save paper. Then I used that paper to create the spiral notebook fringes and the scallop circles.

From Erin:

These pics are of my friend's son when he was about 2 years old. He loved playing with the ducks, chasing him all around, until they turned on him and started to chase him, hence the title "DUCK and run".

I used the wonderful papers from the May Paper Trail Kit, full of such wonderful distressing and rich looking papers, that just go perfect with these kid photos!!

I did not have the perfect chipboard for my title, so I painted the letters with acrylic paint to it would match (they started out big bright bright multicolored chipboard pieces). All the edges of the papers are inked with a light brown chalk ink to give it that soft and rustic look.

Enjoy!!

Erin R.

Erin also used some of the papers from the Fancy Pants line "Little Sprout" which is also in the store as an open stock item! Don't you just love it when an old and a new line can come together!!!

Happy Trail Makin' everyone!
~Karen

We have Winners!!!!

2011-04-30T19:28:00.003-04:00

So, tonight I am picking 2 winners for the month of April. One winner is for the Guest Designer spot for June and the 2nd winner is for a gift certificate to our wonderful April Sponsor - Krisi's Kreations!!!

Okay - first up is the winner of the Guest Designer spot for June:

Random.org chose:

Out of the three GDT participants that number belongs to JESSICA G!!!!!!!

Congratulations Jessica - please e-mail me at customerservice@leaveapapertrail.com to give me your full name and mailing information and I will get back to you about what will happen next!!!!

Okay - now on to the gift certificate to Krisi's Kreations -
Random.org chose:

And that number belongs to our very last entry for the month of April - Libeeti!!

Congratulations Libeeti - please e-mail me at customerservice@leaveapapertrail.com asap for your prize - it will expire on May 6th so hurry!!!!!

Interesting - random generator chose the very last number on both of those - how strange is that? oh well, I digress!!!

Small note: - there will be no Guest Designer in July or August so for May we will NOT be having a Guest DT member search. We will be back to the GDT contest later in the summer!

Congratulations to both of our winners!!! What a great month we had with participation and I can't wait to see all of you and more returning in May for our Month Long Crop for tons of challenges and prizes!!!!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

May Guest Designer - Erin Reed

2011-04-30T09:57:00.003-04:00

Good morning everyone, I wanted to take a minute to first say Thank You to our April Guest designer - Heather Topich - she did a great job and I hope she inspired some awesome creativity in you!!

Now I would like to introduce you to our Guest Designer for May. Her name is Erin Reed and she has some awesome work to share with you this month. Please help me in welcoming her and thanking her for being here this month! You can visit her personal blog here.

Here is what Erin has to say:

"I started scrapbooking in 2006 for my oldest son's baby book, I did a few pages and did the odd weekend event, but in 2009 I became a stay at home mom pregnant with my third child and used scrapbooking as my go to personal enjoyment. I was hooked and never looked back. I would say my style is distressed, romantic, and shabby chic, but I also love to dabble in other areas for a change of pace. I love to find new uses for products, create tutorials, make embellishments by hand, and share my knowledge with others. I love the social interaction of the on-line and in person scrapbook network. I am always looking to see what the new products and techniques are, and thinking what my next project is going to be."

~Erin

April Showers!!!

2011-04-30T07:00:00.000-04:00

They say April showers bring May flowers - let's test that theory with a rainy day project!!! Our challenge for you this time involves WATER!! Anything rain or water related - It can be in the photos or the title or all over the project! Use teardrops, rain drops,the colors of water or even umbrellas and clouds for your embellies. Whatever you can think of that is rainy/watery is a go!

You have two weeks to submit to Mr. Linky below. Deadline for this wet challenge is Saturday April 30th, 5pm EST. Wait til you see the many different ways the DT and our Guest Designer interpreted this challenge - you will be very inspired! And I can't wait to see what YOU create for this challenge! Have Fun with it!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

Rainy Day Fun by Karen

2011-04-29T07:01:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone - you have one more day to get your "April Showers" challenge in to be eligible for a prize from our sponsor Krisi's Kreations. Her store is chock full of wonderful templates that you can use on your paper layouts and she also has tons of digital and hybrid items if you are trying your hand at the digital side of scrapbooking!! She has fabulous prices on her products too and that's what I love - a good bargain!! On this layout I used the Nikki Sivils line "It's Raining It's Pouring" which you can find in my store and one of Krisi's gift card templates that you can find here at her store ScrapMatters!!

I printed the scalloped top gift card template right onto my patterned paper since there is nothing solid on this template. Only the lines showed up on my patterned paper and then I cut it out! Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of that step!!! The other thing you could do is print it out onto a solid piece of paper or cardstock, cut it out and keep it as a hard copy of the template and use it over and over by laying it on top of your patterned paper and tracing around it. This is a perfect solution if you want to use scraps of paper for your gift card holders!!!

Instead of using it as a gift card holder, though, I chose to make it a little envelope for my journaling box! I love the look of this and how easy it was to do!

I used one of the journaling spot sayings in the Nikki Sivils' CutOuts paper and cut the saying into strips to break it up and lay it across the layout and my photo. I inked all the edges and then popped up just the last part that was on the patterned paper to keep it from being hidden in the pattern.

Thank you for playing along this month in our April Showers challenge. Stay tuned over the weekend for some REALLY fun and exciting news we have for the month of May - The DT girls are really shaking things up around here with a month long Crop in celebration of National Scrapbooking Day and all things paper crafting related!!!! And, did we mention there will be tons of prizes from some AWESOME Sponsors!! You definitely have to come play in May!!!

Happy Trail Makin'
~Karen

For the Love of Scrapbooking Month Long Crop in May

2011-04-28T07:00:00.017-04:00

May is National Scrapbooking Month, so we decided to change it up a bit this month here at Trail Makers. It's also one of the busiest months of the year for us with baseball, soccer, school ending, so we created a way for you to be able to have the whole month to work on challenges and deal with your busy schedule. There will be 6 challenges posted throughout the month. Sometimes there will be 2 challenges per week and sometimes only 1. You'll be able to post your work all month to Mr. Linky's with the matching challenge. Every challenge will have a prize listed that you could win. We'll also have some Friday Fun for you(games!!!), Wednesday WOW's (where we showcase your work from the challenges) and Tuesday Tips and Techniques that we want to showcase for you using our projects throughout the month. And we'll also be showcasing our sponsors to let them know how much we appreciate their kindness!

For all those who love to plan....

Here's a few dates that you will want to mark on your calendar to start planning out your month!

On May 1st make sure you stop by to see The Paper Trail Debut projects from the DT with the May Kit.

May 2nd...Challenge #1 posted

May 4th...Challenge #2 posted

May 6th...Friday Fun posted

May 8th...Challenge #3 posted

May 11th...Wednesday WOW's posted

May 12th...Challenge #4 posted

May 13th...Friday Fun posted

May 18th...Wednesday WOW's posted

May 20th...Friday Fun posted

May 22nd...Challenge #5 posted

May 25th...Wednesday WOW's posted

May 26th...Challenge #6 posted

May 27th...Friday Fun posted

May 31st...all challenges due by 11PM EST

June 2nd...winners announced

Now just stop back and see what the challenges are going to be and what great prize you'll be able to have a chance at! We can't wait to see what you create for the challenges. It's going to be a fantabulous month where you can show your love of scrapbooking at Trail Makers and we'll share ours with you!!!

Vancouver Layout by Krystle

2011-04-27T07:00:00.005-04:00

When I saw this challenge I knew I had to get my hands on the Indie Girl collection in The Paper Trail store because Sassafras Lass has such cute cloud stickers! I used two of them on this layout and used Krisi's Kreations' flower template to create the sun peeking out behind the clouds!

For a finishing touch I used glossy accents to accent the flowers and faux stitching on the paper.

Can't wait to see what you create for the Rainy Day Project Challenge!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by today!

~Krystle

Puddle Jump Layout by Tanya

2011-04-25T07:00:00.002-04:00

This spring has been a perfect photo-op for rain, splashing, umbrellas, rain coats and boots! It sure has been soggy here! April's kit couldn't have been a more appropriate fit for our very wet spring. I love this picture of my daughter jumping in a puddle! I altered it to black and white to really showcase all of the cute Crate Paper extras. I enjoyed layering some of the sticker borders from the kit and adding some of the fun elements to the page.

Items used not included in the kit are the buttons and alphabet stickers.

You still have almost a week to get your rainy day project linked to Mr. Linky!

I know you will want a chance to win a gift certificate to Krisi's Kreations

who is our awesome sponsor this month!

Have a scrap happy day!

~Tanya

Splash! Layout by Yara

2011-04-22T07:00:00.001-04:00

Splash!! Life's a Splash! This is my son enjoying himself at Toon Lagoon!

They say April showers bring May flowers. This is my rainy/wet project!

I combined these fun photos with a Sassafras Indie Girl kit which is available at The Paper Trail. I liked the combination of a sassafras self adhesive button in a stitch blossoms - deep blue with the ScrapMatters Krisi's Kreations; Create It Yourself: Flowers V.1. For my layout, I used a sketch from Valerie Salmon.

Just wondering...

Have you gotten the April Kit yet? There are still a few available! You really don't want to miss it!

All that Crate paper Neighborhood Collection. It just makes a girl melt!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Have a great scrappy weekend!

~Yara