Collage Press

Collage Press Studio Site is up!!!

One of my summer projects was to get a new website finished. Its finally up!! I feel like Collage Press Studio is finally official! Here's a peek...

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. :)

Vintage Vogue Winner!

Thanks for checking out Vintage Vogue! The winner for the giveaway is:

"I am loving the colors in this new collection! So fun and fresh! I can't wait 'til it hits the stores! :)" Amy Baldwin

Congratulations Amy! Please email me at collagepress@yahoo.com with your mailing address.

Two Peas has Pink Paislee CHA video up with a giveaway! Just post a comment over there to enter to win! Have fun watching all the CHA videos. I love this time of year. :)

 

 

Vintage Vogue Preview & Giveaway!!

Vintage Vogue previews are up on the Pink Paislee blog! Working with Rebecca and Shawna at Pink Paislee has been fabulously fun. Head on over to get a look!

Leave a comment here by the 19th and enter to win a a 12x12 paper pack and ephemera pack! Pink Paislee is also doing a giveway of a 12x12 paper pack. So you can double your chances of winning!

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

5 Days, Family of 5 Road Trip

So the downside to this licensing thing (which is a dream come true for me) is that I can't show you a sneaky peeky of anything that I'm working on....so instead you get to see some pics from our recent family road trip.

Jace talked me into taking 3 children on a 3200 mile, five day road trip. His family was having a get-together in the Seattle area, and I thought we could squeeze in a quick visit to Portland and Spokane, thus adding 1000 extra miles to the trip. So I guess he really just talked me into a 2200 mile trip. But still...

We survived thanks to the advice of my amazing SIL Janice. I asked "what am I going to do with a 5 yr old, 3yr old, and 7 mo old for 14 hours in a car?" (this was the Orem, UT to Portland, OR leg of the trip). She's a veteran of road trips and her simple response was "portable dvd player". It worked! My children logged more "tv hours" last week than they do in a year. Now that we're home, I'm trying to keep them in the yard as much as possible.

Portland (Troutdale, that is)

 

First stop. We met my Aunt Elm and Uncle Robert in a park in Troutdale, OR. I'm ready to move! We are Northwest natives and know better than to fall for clear blue skies in June. And yet I keep plotting...how can we relocate to Oregon. :)

The play area in the background was covered with kids. I think they hid right before I took the pic.

There's Robert, Jace, and baby C. We had perfect weather for our perfect lunch. Elm and Robert brought sandwiches and chips. Gideon and Elise ate ALL of the strawberries. We had a wonderful time visiting.

That's me with my aunt and sweet baby Charlotte, who was the easiest of the three on the road. Actually, she's the easiest one at home too. :)

I had a hard time leaving Oregon. It's always hard to say goodbye to family.

 

Seattle

Just before Charlotte was born, Jace took the kids up to Seattle with his sister and her kids. When they came home, I heard tales of the "scary" masks that they loved at their aunt's house. So I had to get a photo of them. I think she told me she bought them in Mexico years ago. I thought about putting a bikini top on the bug lady before posting.

 

All of the cousins outside of the Children's Musem. My BIL Jason is a photographer. He's trying to get the kids ready for photos. I'm just clicking my camera hoping to get lucky. I think I took about 20 pics of the group. I've found that if I wait for the perfect photo, the moment is gone (and I'm a terrible photographer).

I'll have to get the "good" one from Jason. I think all of the ones I took the kids are moving around. :)

 
Whidbey Island, WA

 

Jace with the kids on the ferry. Aunt Amy gave all the girls sunglasses. Well, Elise only took them off to sleep. So most of the pics of her show her with them on. Just minutes before this was taken, I was up on the deck too with Charlotte. She was cold so I wrapped her in my red jacket. You guessed it...she spit up all over both of us. For some reason, I didn't bring a burp cloth with me upstairs.

Gideon HATES the shirt he is wearing. Sunday morning was the first time he ever saw it and instantly disliked it. He said "That's a girl shirt mommy! I am not wearing that!" He pointed to Elise's blue shirt on the bed (shown in the picnic photos) and emphatically added "See! It's the same color as Elise's shirt. Girls wear light blue, boys wear dark blue!". Later that day when we were heading for Spokane, Gideon threw it into the front seat with a grunt. I threw it back to him, and I could hear the power window button clicking (but we had the lock on!). Jace and I were laughing and hoping he couldn't hear us. So he was ready to throw it out the window on the freeway. I guess I won't be able to get him in that again any time soon. 

So there's a peek at our trip. We made a few other stops. It's was a whirlwind tour. We traveled through 5 states in 5 days. Two hours into our trip, Elise was saying "I want to go home". The last night of our trip Gideon was upset we were coming home. He wanted to keep traveling. We visited with family we wish lived closer, and that made coming home hard to do.

 

Chocolate Anyone? (Pics added)

Pictures added--I had some interference from my three year old who unwrapped and ate one of the bars. Can't blame the girl, just started a domino effect for getting pictures and then putting these in the mail. :) Sorry for the delay in posting pictures.

What's better than a birthday card? How about a birthday candy bar! :) It's a card and a gift wrapped into one. May is a big birthday month for us. This little stack is about to go in the mail and hopefully none of the birthday boys and girls are looking at this post for another week.

I've wrapped up several candy bars in Hometown Summer. I've been wanting to make some projects with this line ever since my sample box arrived...two months ago! Here is the easiest project ever.

I know, it's pretty self explanetory, but just in case you need instructions...

It's just a piece of pattern paper sliced into two strips, 7.5" and 4.5". I'm using giant Hershey bars and 7.5" covers the brown wrapper perfectly. I center the small strip on top and tape them to the chocolate bar, then wrap around and tape it together.   Anyway, I know it isn't rocket science, but it's fun gift to give. And who doesn't love opening up a candy bar?

 

USPS recently came out with small priority boxes that fit the 2-3 stacked candy bars really well. Just passing it along. I never have small boxes on hand.

Click to Select > $5.20  Priority Mail® Small Flat Rate Box 8-5/8" x 5-3/8" x 1-5/8"

 

 

 

Hometown Summer Sneaky Peeky

Pink Paislee is posting sneak peeks for Hometown Summer today!

So now you know how I spent September (when I wasn't doing the mommy stuff). :) Summer was still fresh in my mind when I designed this line. I really enjoyed working with Pink Paislee and I'm so excited for all of you to see the final product. A special thanks to Lynn Ghahary for getting this started. :)

Oh alright, here's a close up. And if you get on over to the Pink Paislee blog be sure to leave a comment for their giveaway! Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

Happy 2011!!!

I'm really excited about 2011. This is the time of year I swear I'll finally get organized, lose the baby weight, and get lots of projects finished. :) I'm looking forward to designing exclusively as Collage Press Studio. Yay!!! I've started sketching and scribbling projects for the coming year.

Our daughter Charlotte was born Nov 3rd. She's the sweetest little baby. We're so happy she's with us.

A few weeks after she was born, Jace went back to work. He'd taken a few weeks off for paternity leave and we made the most of it. I actually got some sleep! His first day back at work happened to be the day I'd been up with Charlotte the night before. I went to bed at 6:30 am. And the little darlings (what I call them when they're really being bad) were in my office at 9:30 (I know, no mom should be asleep that late with a 2 & 4 yr old afoot). I was so tired I didn't even hear them get in there until they were shrieking with laughter, which is usually a bad sign with unsupervised toddlers. Needless to say they were up to no good. I walked in to find them with sharpies in hand, my laptop screen covered with ink and the beautiful silver keyboard keys scattered on the floor. They were just starting on my big mac (my main design computer) when I walked in. Thankfully the mac laptop is used for press checks, travel design, photos and netflix. :) The "big mac" only has a few purple scribbles in the bottom left hand corner. Relaying the story is a form of therapy I guess. Most of my family and friends have heard the terrible story, but I wanted to share it one last time. 

 

Introducing Collage Press Studio

It's way past time for an update! For those of you who don't know, I have a 4 yr old, a 2 yr old, and baby due any day now. We're looking forward to the birth of our baby girl (at least we think it's a girl--2 ultrasounds and they aren't sure...). I've been trying to get things ready for the baby and now that I'm ready for that (who's ever really ready for that?), I wanted to fill everyone in who's been asking about Collage Press and the next release.

Just for some background, with the last two pregnancies I worked from the beginning to the end of each one. And I assumed that's how this one would turn out too. I was wrong! The first three months I was absolutely exhausted and spent the 2nd trimester playing catch up on the new lines I had designed and was getting ready to release in July/Aug. In the end, rather than have to choose between having a life and having a business, I decided to make some major changes to Collage Press.... It's a much better fit for a SAHM of 2 with one on the way. :)

 

So here's the news: Collage Press will no longer manufacture its own designs, but instead license them to other manufacturers as Collage Press Studio. With my time shrinking to create new product and run a business, I've decided to focus on what I love the most. So that's what I've been doing lately. I spent September and part of October creating a new line for another wonderful company, craft manufacturer Pink Paislee, LLC! Our first collection as Collage Press Studio, Hometown Summer, will be revealed during the CHA Winter Show in LA, after which it will be available directly and exclusively from Pink Paislee. Here's a peek at the new line!!

We are thrilled to be joining their prestigious list of licensed designers (not to mention having more time to dress up the new baby!). :)

Thank you to my Design Team

I've had the privilege of working with the most wonderful designers this year. I want to thank them with all my heart for their contributions to Collage Press. Each designer had a unique style and turned our papers into beautiful projects. So thank you to the best DT!

I'll be posting news regarding some great changes to Collage Press soon. In the meantime, here's a look at a few of my favorites from each designer (I couldn't use any that are out for publication).

Jennifer Beason:

Tonya Dirk:

Renee Dowling:

 

Kristin Faust:

Lynn Ghahary:

Nicole Harper:

Cheryl Kelly-Van Domelen:

Lisa Kisch:

Lori Mancini:

Julie Overby:

Piradee:

Roree Rumph:

Jill Sprott:

Sketch Contest Winner!!!

Yes, we have a winner! Thank you so much to all that applied. We really received some beautiful entries. Drumroll please.........................................................................

The lucky recipient of the Sweet Shoppe Crafting kit is Karenika with this stunning layout.

 

Could that beautiful photo be any more perfect for our Cambden papers?!

Congratulations Karen! Email me at ktdirk@comcast.net and we'll get your prize sent out to you.

We would also like to give recognition to another layout that we all thought was lovely, this on was sent in by Abby...

Thank you to all of you that entered!

The Collage Press Design Team

June Sketch - Roree Rumph

Hello all!  I know it is not technically June anymore, but I thought you wouldn't mind if I went ahead and posted my take on the June sketch anyway. 

I just love to work with sketches, because it takes the guess work out of the design and let's me do what I love to do... mix and match papers and embellishments.  I know some of you may look at a sketch that is purposely designed for a layout with space for photos and think, "how am I supposed to use this sketch for a card?"  Well, it's really not that hard.  On this card I made using the sketch, I turned the sketch upside down and replaced the photo blocks with patterned paper.  I replaced the journaling with ribbon, and  I also added cross stitches for the embellishments at each of the corners.  

 

Collage Press supplies used:
Knave of Hearts Collection: Charming and Loveable
Knave of Hearts Collection: Die-Cut Shapes and Die-Cut Journaling Tags
Sweet Shoppe Collection: Alphabet Stickers

Just remember, it is not always necessary to adhere to the exact layout of a sketch.  Sometimes it can be the jump start you need to get your creative juices flowing.  Hope this one gets you inspired to get out your Collage Press papers and embellishments and get scrapping.  Have a great 4th of July!  

~Roree

Design Team Sketch Challenge by Renee Dowling

Hello,

Today is the last day to get those entries in for the Sketch Challenge! you have until midnight tonight and we can't wait to see everyone's take on the sketch.

Here is my take, I have used paper from the knave of Hearts Collection and also some elements from the matching die cut sheet. My LO is titled "He has awsome Hair" and beleive me, for a 9 yr old he sure does gives Rob Patterson aka - Edward Cullen -  a run for he's money and with no product in at all - it's just naturally thick and strong! I love it.

 

and for some close up's

 
 

 

June Sketch - Piradee Talvanna

"Through Your Eyes"

by Piradee Talvanna

 Hi everyone!! here's my take on the june's sketch and using some of the yummy Sweet Shoppe collection (which happens to also be the prize for the sketch challenge). It's definitely one of my favorite collection and the colors are just perfect for all the summer fun.    

  

And I also had some fun with a new roll of the japanese washi tape (I think that's what they are called); added a bit to the layout and also covered the chipboard house with it.

  

 

Collage Press supplies used:
Sweet Shoppe Collection: Sugar on Top
Sweet Shoppe Collection: Naturally Sweet
Sweet Shoppe Collection: Fruity Twist
Sweet Shoppe Collection: Yum

Other supplies used:
Thickers, Adhesives, Pen: American Crafts 
Mist, Chipboard House, Leaf Pins: Maya Roa
Stamp: Studio Calico
Edge Punch: EK Success

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget there's still a few more days left (entries are due on June 30th) to send in your submission - can't wait to see your take on the sketch! For full details, please refer to this post. 

June Sketch - Jennifer Beason

  Hi all!  This is my take on June's sketch.  As you can see I kept my layout fairly simple and just added some fun elements to make this layout  "All Boy".  Most of the patterned papers and die-cuts are from the Knave of Hearts collection.

 

I love these photos of Jacob.  I can just see him thinking up ALL the trouble he's about to get into with that stick!!! (lol)

Here are a few close ups.

 

These chipboard letters were originally from the Seeds collection. But to match this layout I covered them with patterned paper.

Don't forget, you still have time to enter your layout into our June contest. Get all the details on this post. 

Second post of the day...

Next up is me, Tonya, with my layout based on Lisa's fabulous sketch. You'll notice that I chose to stick pretty close to the sketch with the exception of the photos. I had three smaller photos to use, so they are placed a tad differently. I used the Sweet Shoppe line for this layout...it is my all time "favorite-est". 

 

 

I want to make sure that you don't miss Lynn's fabulous layout that she posted earlier today, so, if you scroll down you won't miss it. Plus, you'll get all of the fabulous details on our sketch challenge. We'd love to see you participate.

June Sketch: Lynn Ghahary

Hi everybody!  It's Lynn here and I wanted to share with you my project I created using the June sketch.  Now I am the first to say that I LOVE a good sketch.  Whether you decide to follow a sketch exactly or use it as a starting point sketches can be invaluable time savers and goodness knows I need all the help I can get in that department!  LOL!

For this layout about my son Brandon I used my favorite Collage Press collection Knave of Hearts.  I kept my design pretty close to the sketch which helped me create this layout in no time at all.

My little guy is definitely a mama's boy and I feel so very lucky to be able to call myself his mama and that he loves me the way he does.  I used the "lucky" die cut for my main title popped up with some dimensional adhesive and placed on a journaling die cut.  I slightly overlapped the bottom of my main photo to help ground all of the elements.  

Since my layout is about love I decided to add a couple of hearts.  I punched these hearts from a few different patterned papers, zig zag stitched down the centers, and folded up the edges for a bit of dimension.

We'd love for you to play along with our sketch contest as well.  To enter simply create a layout using the sketch posted here.  The topic can be whatever you choose-- the only rule is that you must use 80% Collage Press products.  E-mail us a copy of your layout to cpsketchcontest@gmail.com by midnight PT on June 30th, and our design team will choose a winner to be announced July 5th.

The winner will receive a Sweet Shoppe Collage Crafting Kit, which includes patterned paper, die-cuts, two alphas and more! Good luck!

Bring it On! by Julie Overby

I'm not one to follow sketches to closely but they do bring some great inspiration!  This layout is of my son is who is just lovin all the water that his sister's are squirting on him.  Hot days are very rare for us so he just couldn't get enough of the water!

I created this layout using pattern paper, die cuts and alphabet stickers from the Knave of Hearts collection.  Thanks for taking a look!

 

June Sketch Contest: Cheryl Kelly-Van Domelen

"It's a {BOY}" by Cheryl Kelly-Van Domelen

I love sketches!  Sometimes I follow the sketch closely and sometimes I use it as an inspriation and switch things up a bit. That's what I did with this layout.  I used the general theme of the sketch, but since I had a horizontal photo I did some re-arranging too!!

This is one of my first ever "male" layouts, and as you can guess from the title of the layout, I'll be doing a lot more of them in my future!!!  I used some wonderful papers, alphabet, and Collage Cuts, and journaling cards from the Jackson Lodge line as well as the Gideon Alphabet Journaling Cards.  I used a paper punch to punch out the due date of the baby on the journaling card.  I also cut a Seeds journaling card into a tag for some hidden journaling.  It was so much fun using these CP lines that I fell in love with years ago!  I can't wait to see your take on the sketch!

 

 

Sketch Contest

It's contest time at Collage Press, and you don't want to miss out! Design Team member, Lisa Kisch, has provided an original sketch to challenge you to use those Collage Press supplies to the fullest. Here are the contest rules:

We want to see a layout-- 12X12, 8.5X11, single or double page-- using this sketch for inspiration:

 

 The topic can be whatever you choose-- the only rule is that you must use 80% Collage Press products. E-mail us a copy of your layout to cpsketchcontest@gmail.com by midnight PT on June 30th, and our design team will choose a winner to be announced July 5th.

The winner will receive a Sweet Shoppe Collage Crafting Kit, which includes patterned paper, die-cuts, two alphas and more! Good luck!

To keep you inspired our design team members are presenting their own versions of the sketch this month. Check back every few days for  new inspiration!

Today we have layouts by Lisa Kisch and Jill Sprott-- two very different layouts coming from one very simple sketch:

Jill:

Patterned Papers:

Camden Itinerary
Seeds Portico
Seeds Vines
Seeds Japanese Garden
Seeds Mille Fleur
Scrooge and Marley The Counting House
Scrooge and Marley Business Partners
Sweet Shoppe Yum

Lisa:

We can't wait for you to wow us with your creations!

"Vintage CP" Design Days - Roree Rumph

I was really excited about the "Vintage" assignment this month.  For me (like I am sure for many of you), my older collections get filed away when the new ones come out and sadly, they are usually forgotten about.  So any excuse to use some of older stash is always good.  ;)  But since my desire for "New" tends to be pretty strong, I decided to mix a little bit of old with a little bit of new.  The best of both worlds! 

For this card, I mixed Camden and Sweet Shoppe.  I just love when a manufacturer can come up with collections that are different enough to stand apart but can still work well together.  These lines really blended together perfectly.  

   

Collage Press products: 
Camden Logbook patterned paper 
Camden Collage and Journaling Cards 
Sweet Shoppe Hey Cupcake patterned paper  
Sweet Shoppe Alphabet Cardstock Stickers

Other supplies:  ribbon, brads, journaling pen

Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day!