Collage Press

June Design Challenge Winner

First off, I just have to say that I loved every single one of the layouts posted in response to the June Design Challenge.  Not only did you all rock the Collage Press, but you amazed me, with page after page celebrating fathers.  It was just what I had hoped to see when I posted the challenge, and you all delivered!  

Alas, only one of you can win the giveaway (this time around, at least!).  Since all of the layouts were equally wonderful to me, the winner was chosen randomly.  The winner of the challenge is the creator of this awesome layout: 

Congratulations, Heather!  What a sweet (and funny) layout!  Please send us your shipping info:  collagepress@yahoo.com. 

Also, if you all haven't yet seen the other pages posted, be sure to click on the links in the comment section of the June Design Challenge post.  You won't be disappointed!  

While you are waiting.....

How gorgeous is Jill's lattest LO created for the fathers Day Challenge? Mmmm just stunning!.

I've been checking out all the gorgeous creations from Jill's challenge and I must say, WOW, WOW ,WOW ..you girls have created some beautiful LO's with the Collage Press Products..so while your waiting for a winner to be announced, I thought I'd let you all know that I have another giveaway over on my Blog for some Sweet Shop goodness - so please pop over, leave a comment on my BLOG  and let me know you want the stash and leave a comment right here too - just to double your chances!!!

 

Show and Tell...

If you'd like to enter to win a Knave of Hearts Crafting Kit for Jill's design challenge, be sure to post a link to your project in the comments!

We've been told about another giveaway by www.ScrapAttackScrapbooking.com . They're featuring some of our products in their newest kit. Take a look below...

,

Just head over to their blog, {SAS}sy Blog , (http://scrapattackscrapbooking.blogspot.com/) and leave a comment! Their contest is open to US residents only. 

We've been receiving Collage Press projects from some of our retailers. Just wanted to do a little show and tell...

Tricia from concroption.com showed me this beautiful frame which I think can be made from this month's kit:

http://www.concroption.com/Scrapbook/Product/June-2009-designerKIT-10395.aspx

And here are some wonderful projects from La Scrapinerie in France...

Thanks for sharing your great projects with us!

June Design Challenge

Hi all!  

I'm happy to be hosting the first of our monthly challenges, each of which will be brought to you by a member of the design team.  

Since Father's Day was just days ago, and I'm sure you're just bursting to scrap those pics, this week's challenge is to create a father-themed layout.  Whether you are creating a layout about your own father, your grandfather, the father of your children, or someone who has been like a father to you, hopefully this challenge will help you to take a moment to reflect on the special connection that we have to the fathers in our lives.  

"Connected"

By Jill Sprott 

I created this layout about the bond between my daughter and her daddy using the Knave of Hearts collection, with a few additions from Sweet Shoppe.  I can't get enough of the colors in these collections.  

Supplies: 

Dollop Ledger die-cut cardstock
Knave of Hearts Lovable PP
Knave of Hearts Witty PP 
Knave of Hearts Charming PP
Knave of Hearts Queen of Hearts PP
Sweet Shoppe Hey Cupcake PP 
Knave of Hearts and Sweet Shoppe Die-Cut Tags 
Knave of Hearts and Sweet Shoppe Die-Cut Rounds 
Knave of Hearts Journaling

(I also added letters from American Crafts)

Now it's your turn:

Create a father-themed layout using at least 75% Collage Press products (from any past or present lines), and then leave a link to your layout in the comments by midnight EST on Wednesday, July 1.  

One lucky winner will receive a special Collage Press giveaway:

 

That's right! The lucky winner will receive a Knave of Hearts collection kit!  

In the meantime, don't forget to link us up to your challenge layouts, so that you can move one step closer to holding this incredible collection in your hot little hands. 

Meet Kristin Faust (and find out who won free stuff!)

We'd like to introduce Kristin. She's already posted 2 great layouts. We're glad to have her on the Collage Press DT!

                                   

Tell us a about yourself...

I live in Pennsylvania with my husband and four year old son. When I'm not scrapbooking I work full time helping children and families at a community health center.  I wear many hats in my current position and my scrapbooking skills often come in handy when preparing presentations or teaching.   

How did you start scrapbooking?

I have been scrapbooking since 2007.  I started getting involved in scrapbooking because it was the only neutral topic that I could discuss with my boss.  Since that time, and that job, I have embraced every aspect of this hobby and continue to learn more each day.   

I think that I fell hard for scrapbooking because I feel so strongly about documenting all of the little things that I don't want my heart to forget.  I always try to think about, what would I want my family to know if I'm not here tomorrow?  My family won't care if my page was published but will care if the journaling is meaningful and heartfelt.

What projects are you working on now or wishing you had time for?

I wish I had more time to edit and print photos.  This is the part of the process that takes the most time for me.  I currently have over 2000 photos on my hard drive and I'm sure about 80% of those I've not printed.  This is a major goal that I have for myself this summer.  I want to be able to place these photos in albums so everyone can enjoy them while they are waiting to be scrapped.

----------------------------------------------------------------

What a great insight: "My family won't care if my page was published but will care if the journaling is meaningful and heartfelt." Thanks Kristin!

And the winners are...

Thanks to everyone who stopped by. Here are the winners (selected at random) of the Sweet Shoppe Kits and Die Cut Papers. So many of you left comments that we decided to give away 3 sets!

Cheryl Kelly Van Dunelen
Lynn (posted June 16th 5:00am)
ames

Congratulations! Please send us your shipping info: collagepress@yahoo.com

Next giveway will be June 25th. Jill Sprott will host our first Design Challenge!

Latest Design Day!! (update)

Take a look at what our designers have been up to! We're so proud to have such a talented group of designers!  

Remember, leave a comment and you'll be entered to win to a Sweet Shoppe Kit and other goodies. (We'll announce the winners this Friday, June 19th.)

Renee Dowling

Amazing

My inspiration for Amazing  came from some of the names given to the individual papers from the  " Knave of Hearts"Collection. I loved all the expressive names such as  Witty and Charming and also Summer Days - I found a photo of my middle boy(Kye) where I  had  captured alot  of expression in his face, while having water play with a hose  during the Summer. Who couldn't sum up the one's they love, with all these gorgeous Knave Die cut Shapes?.

 

and for some close up's....

 

 

 

 

Materials Used...

Knave of Hearts - Summer Days

Knave of Hearts - Charming

Knave of Hearts - witty

Knave - Alphabet Stickers

Knave - Journaling cuts

Knave - Shapes

Knave - Die Cut Rings

Die Cut Dollop - Dreamy

Black Brads.

Rewind...1982
by Nicole Harper

 

I recently found an old photo booth strip of myself at my Mom's house and thought it would be fun to use them. Was I really 9 years old when these were taken?!

Supplies:
Sweet Shoppe: 'Yum'
Sweet Shoppe: 'Fruity Twists'
Sweet Shoppe: 'Sugar on Top'
Journaling Cuts: 'Sweet'
Die-Cut Rings: 'Sweet'
Sweet Shapes
12x12 Die-Cut Dollop: 'Old School'
Knave Alphabet Stickers
Ledger Journaling Tape
Paint: Making Memories
Punch: Martha Stewart
Vintage Buttons

“10 Summer Resolutions”

by Jill Sprott

As a teacher, I look forward to summer vacation even more than my students.  However, two months away from my usual routines can be somewhat disorienting, so I always set a few (flexible) goals for myself at the beginning of summer.  Just two weeks into summer, I’m already making progress and enjoying myself.  When I saw the “top ten” Knave of Hearts journaling card, I knew that it would be perfect for this layout.  

Supplies:  

12 x 12 Scallop Paper:  1934

Knave of Hearts:

Papers:  Lovable, Witty, Charming, Knave Crafting Strips

Journaling Cards

Collage Cuts Die Cut Rings and Die-Cut Shapes

Knave Alphabet Stickers

Sweet Shoppe: 

Collage Cuts Die-Cut Shapes

Crafting Strips Sweet

Other -- chipboard letters (Basic Grey), paint, rhinestones

“The Boys of Summer”

by Jill Sprott

This time of year always makes me a little wistful, thinking back to the summers that I spent with my brother and my cousins at my grandparents’ house.  Every time I see this photo I break into a huge grin, because it so completely captures the spirit of those summers -- dirt, tools, wheels, friendship, and laughter.  

Supplies:

Knave of Hearts: 

Papers: Queen of Hearts, Summer's Day, Charming, Knave Crafting Strips

Knave Alphabet Stickers

Collage Cuts Die-Cut Journaling Tags and Die-Cut Shapes

I also made use of the cover sheet that came with the collection; you can see it behind the photo as well as in some of the title letters.  

Sweet Shoppe:  

Paper: Yum 

Other -- letter stamps (Studio Calico)

Cheese

by Kristin Faust

Cardstock: Bazzill. Pattern Paper: Collage Press Sweet Shoppe. Die Cuts: Collage Press Knave of Hearts and Sweet Shoppe. Letter Stickers: Collage Press Sweet Shoppe. Brads: Queen and Company. Buttons: Creative Cafe. Mini Letter Stickers: Making Memories. Other: String, Staples.

  

I added regular adhesive behind the star die cut in the center.  I then added foam pop up dots around the edges to make an impressive photo corner.  I really enjoy mixing up the sizes of my letter stickers, it just makes everything more fun!

Sticky, Yummo, Mickey Mouse Lollypop!

Kristin Faust

(Kristin's Bio will be posted later today!)

     

One of the things I love the most about this line are the Collage Cuts.  They are super easy to use and with a little creativity, can be used for more than just journaling.

 

To accent my focal point photo I hand cut three journaling die cuts and then layered them around my photo.  The best part is that by cutting out the middles, I still have journaling spots left over to use another time. 

These photos were taken by my mother in law while in the airport with her point and shoot. Some of my favorite shots are out of focus so I printed them at wallet size.  The blurriness is much less noticeable and I still get to use my favorite photos!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Bazzill. Pattern Paper, Die Cuts, Letter Stickers: Collage Press. Photo Corners: American Crafts. Brads: Queen and Company. Jewels: Kaiser Craft. Buttons: Sassafrass Lass.

Sweet Anticipation

Julie Overby

 

The moment I layed my eyes on ‘Sweet Shoppe’ by Collage Press, I knew exactly which photos I wanted scrap with it first.  It the photos I had just taken of my daughter getting ready to perform the Nutcracker.  She loves ballet but when it got closer to the performance, she became very uncertain about getting up on the ‘big stage.’  I wanted to get some shots of her in the dressing room before the big debut so that she would remember those excited and nervous feelings and also how much she ended up absolutely loving it. 

 

Journaling:  Before your very first ballet, you said over and over that you did not want to go on the big stage.  But you were brave and in the end, you loved being in the Nutcracker.

 

Collage Press:  Cardstock - Sweet Shoppe (Yum,) Pattern Paper - Sweet Shoppe (Hey Cupcake,) Die Cut - Sweet Shoppe (Die Cut Rings, Die Cut Journaling Tags)

 

Other: Chipboard Alphabets - Maya Road , Glimmer Mist - Tattered Angels, Stickers - American Crafts, Bling - Creative Impressions, Flower – Prima

CRAZY COUSINS

Lori Mancini

Wow am I ever in love with the new Sweet Shoppe Collection of Papers!!! The colours are so vibrant and fresh...perfect to scrap happy, silly and fun layouts with! As soon as my box of goodies showed up on my doorstep and I looked inside I knew I had the perfect photo's to go with  this beautiful paper.  My only problem was deciding which ones to use...and decide I couldn't...so I used them all!!  This was a little out of my comfort zone as I am such a strong one photo scrapper...but I love how it turned out and I hope you are inspired to dive into this delicious paper as well. My layout this month is of my son and his little cousin who is attached at his hip when they are together.  They are so much alike - both crazy personalities - I was estatic one day when she "allowed" me to take some photo's of the two of them.  I love how their personalities show through in the photo's and I wanted a bright and vibrant layout to showcase this.  The best part is that this entire layout took only about 30 minutes to complete with the help of the awesome Collage Cuts (Die Cut Shapes), Crafting Strips, Alphabet Stickers, Journaling spots and the incredible new Die Cut Rings and Paper.  

Here are some close up shots to see more details: 

 

Material List

Die Cut Paper - Scallop "1934"

Sweet Shoppe - Crafting Strips

Sweet Shoppe - Collage Cuts Journalling Tags

Sweet Shoppe -Collage Cuts Die-Cut Shapes

Sweet Shoppe - Alphabet Cardstock Stickers

Sweet Shoppe - Die Cut Rings

Sweet Shoppe - Sugar on Top

Bazzill Cardstock

Maya Road Pom Pom Ribbon

Maya Road Leaf Pins

Buttons

Sewing

Meet Nicole Harper

        Well, it's time to introduce the newest members of the Collage Press Design Team. We'll start with Nicole Harper.

 

Tell us a about yourself...

I live on the shores of Lake Erie, just 30 miles west of Cleveland, OH with my husband (and high school sweetheart) Mike, our 10 year old daughter Allison and one kitty named Lola.

How did you start scrapbooking?

As one of those kids who was ecstatic when the new school supplies came out, I suppose it was a given that I turned to scrapbooking when our daughter was born back in 1999. I played around with it for about a year, and then time ran away from me and I stepped away from my hobby for a few years. Imagine my surprise when I picked it back up in 2005...wow, had it changed!

What projects are you working now or wishing you had time for?

I don't really have any specific projects that I'm working on right now...I just continue to focus on stories that I want my family to be able to reference for times to come. It makes me smile from ear to ear when I find my daughter sitting on the floor with a mini-book or an album reading every single word...asking questions and trying to absorb it all.

Thanks for letting us get to you a little better! Nicole, and the rest of the DT will be posting projects on Monday. Be sure to stop by...we'll be giving away some great products. Take a look...

Sweet Shop Crafting Kit

Sweet Shop Crafting Kit

12x12 Die Cut Papers

Sweet Shop Die Cut Rings

When you leave a comment on any of the DT members project posts you'll be entered in a drawing to win all of the papers you see here! All comments left between Monday and Thursday we'll be considered for the drawing. Winners will be announced Friday, June 19th.

Have a great weekend!

Happy Friday!

I thought I loved Fridays way back in my school days. But now with two little kids running circles around me all week, I really love Fridays b/c my husband will be home and I'll have some "backup" with the little rascals.

Thanks for your compliments on the banner! I've wanted to change it for a while and think it's a better fit.

It looks like it's taken a bit longer than I expected to post an update. So here it is:

Next Design Day will be June 15th! We'll be giving away a few kits so be sure to stop by. And our two newest designers still need a proper introduction, so I'm hoping to get that up BEFORE the 15th.

Have a great weekend!

Big Day...The Newest DT Members

First, thank you for your nice comments in the last post!

It's 4:58 PM and almost the end of the "work day", so I guess it's time to post this! It would be misleading for me to try to sound casual about posting this as if it's just another thing on my to-do list. This has been tough, and I've been tempted to put names in a fishbowl and pick that way! (Don't worry, I resisted the temptation and did it the hard way.)

Thank you to all of you talented designers who took time to introduce yourselves, and to show off your projects. I enjoyed visiting your blogs too--which got me side-tracked, because I start reading all the posts! But of course I had to narrow it down. And so here are the names of the new Design Team Members:

Kristin Faust
Nicole Harper

Congratulations Kristin and Nicole!

I'm going out of town for a friend's wedding, but should be back at the computer Thursday night. Looking forward to working with these new designers!

The Dog Ate My Homework....

Um, today I'm supposed to post our newest Design Team Members, but I'm not ready yet! Should I duck from flying tomatoes? We've been swamped shipping the new release and taking care of the overload of calls and emails from customers. Sorry, sorry, sorry for the delay, but we will need another week to sift through the extraordinary number of DT applicants. The silver lining in all of this is that the new designers will not miss out on the next round of projects with the DT. Thanks in advance for not posting any mean comments! :)

DT Call Closes Tonight!

Wow! We've received many more emails from designers than we expected. We will consider all emails received until midnight tonight (MST). Please give us a week to carefully review the submissions and to post the new designers. Thanks again to all of you talented designers who have submitted your work!

New Product Images & DT Openings

(This entry is a repeat of our April 14th newsletter)

New Images

Die Cut Rings

These rings didn't make it into our catalog and we've just posted the images on our website (http://www.collagepress.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=92). Many of you have contacted us for images, so here they are in case you haven't seen them.

New Products

"Roman Holiday" & "Dreamy"

We've added two more designs to our 12x12 Die Cut Papers collection. These images are now posted on our website (http://www.collagepress.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=107). They were also not included in the catalog.

Collage Press Design Team

We have two openings on our design team! If you're interested in joining, please send us a link to your online gallery (email: collagepress@yahoo.com, subject: Design Team). We will be viewing portfolios through April 21st. Just so you know, we will not be accepting designers who are currently on more than two design teams.

Next Design Day

Hi Everybody!

Our DT is still waiting on the new release, so we'll let you know when we've got a date fixed for their next posting. Thanks!

Forgot to enter your promo code? No problem!

Hi Retailers,

We've been hearing from many of you that you forgot to enter your promo code "spring" for a 10% discount. That's okay, we'll do it for you. Any orders placed before March 31st will receive the discount.

Have a great weekend!

Order Form with be sent out Friday

Hi Retailers,

In case anyone is checking in today for order form updates, here it is...we'll send it out on Friday. We're experiencing a delay with one of our manufacturers on pricing. If we haven't resolved the issue by Friday, we'll send out order forms for the new release anyway (and just leave pricing for that product blank).

Thank you for all of your emails. We usually get an overload during a new release! If you're waiting for a response, we're working our way through them as fast as we can.

February 28th Design Day

We're so lucky to have such a talented design team! They continue to amaze me with each new set of projects. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I did.  Take time to check out the journaling. A beautiful layout that includes your thoughts about the photos is a treasure.

(They don't have the new stuff yet to work with, so they used Citrus, Fresh, & Seeds for these new projects. )

Lori Mancini

I spy....

 

Supply List

 

Collage Press - Citrus Collection - Citrus Paisly (Hand Cut Pink Flowers)

Collage Press - Fresh Collection - Portico - Side 2 (Green Stripe)

Collage Press - Seeds Collection - Seeds Mums (Hand Cut Green Flowers)

Collage Press - Journalling Cards - Citrus Collection (Pink)

Collage Press - Collage Cuts - Fress & Citurs Collections

Collage Press - Alphabet Cardstock Stickers - Seeds, Fresh & Jackson Lodge Collections

Collage Press - Collage Chip Letters - Citrus & Seeds Collection

Bazzill Cardstock - White and Brown

Heidi Swap - Crystals

Jenni Bowlin - Mini Bingo Card

Fancy Pants - Chipboard (leaves)

Ranger Industries - Stickles (Brown dots)

Julie Overby

Laughter is the Best Medicine

 

Journaling:

 

Even on a cold winter day, you love to

walk and get the mail.  When you fall down,

you just get back up and keep giggling.

 I’m going to miss these walks when

you go off to school! 

Supplies:

Collage Press Supplies: 

Pattern Paper – Fresh (Portico), Citrus ( Paisley , Portico, Mille Fleur)

Chip Letters –Citrus

Die Cut Tags - Citrus

 

Other:

Cardstock – Bazzill

Stickers – American Crafts, Creative Imaginations, Making Memories

Ribbon & Buttons – Misc.

Jill Sprott

These Are My Hopes for You

 

Supplies: 

Papers: Citrus Mille Fleur, Citrus Portico, Citrus Vines, Citrus Paisley, Fresh Blooms, Fresh Portico

Citrus Collage Cuts
Fresh Collage Cuts
Citrus Collage Chip Letters
Fresh Journaling Cards

Other:  glitter, thread, and brads, cork paper, ink, cardstock

The glitter flower was created by cutting out the pattern in the Citrus Vines paper and accenting it with pink and green glitter.

The journaling reads: 

that you will know love
that you will make a name for yourself
that you will see with your own eyes
that you will laugh heartily
that you will learn constantly
that you will embrace change
that you will dream awake
that you will live fully
that you will choose wisely
these are my hopes for you

Renee Dowling

Seek and Explore the World Around You

 

Supplies:

Citrus Collage Chip Letters

Citrus Collage Cuts
Grayson World Traveler Black paper
Citrus Vines Paper

(I forgot to get a supply list from Renee, but I'll add the other products for this layout when I get them.)

PS- I'm having some formatting issues. Some of the designers names are bigger than an others, I've tried to fix it, but with no luck. So in case it looks like I'm playing favorites, I'm really just "blog challenged". :)  Thanks for stopping by.

The Big Day...

Here they are...the new papers!

Knave of Hearts

Patterned Paper

Collage Crafting Kits

Journaling Cuts (Die-Cuts), Crafting Strips, & Journaling Cards

 

*Knave of Hearts*

Everyone knows a Knave of Hearts. A bit of a twist on the well-known nursery rhyme, this knave's mischievousness only makes him more endearing. Not only does he get away with stealing our tarts, the next time around we're hoping he eats them while they're still hot. When I started this line, it was going to be for the "big boys" in our lives, but living with a 3-year-old boy made me think that it should include the "little boys" too! So I added some bright, playful patterns.

The following products will be posted as soon as we have pricing:

Letters--Waiting for pricing

Die-Cut Rings -- *New Product Category*-Waiting for pricing

Collage Cuts (Shapes) -- *New Product Category*-Waiting for pricing

12x12" Die-Cut Sheets -- *New Product Category*-Waiting for pricing

Sweet Shoppe

Patterned Paper

 

Collage Crafting Kits

Journaling Cuts (Die-Cuts), Crafting Strips, & Journaling Cards

*Sweet Shoppe*

And then there's Sweet Shoppe (spelled "Sweet Shop" in the previews). This was a fun line to design. Who doesn't love a treat once in a while? My weakness is cupcakes, and they were the first thing to be designed for this line. Everything else just fell into place. Chocolate is a close runner-up on my list of favorite treats.

The following products will be posted as soon as we have pricing:

Letters--Waiting for pricing

Die-Cut Rings -- *New Product Category*-Waiting for pricing

Collage Cuts (Shapes) -- *New Product Category*-Waiting for pricing

12x12" Die-Cut Sheets -- *New Product Category*-Waiting for pricing

For Retailer Eyes Only (or anyone else who wants to keep on reading): We're waiting on pricing for 2 new product lines--our letters and die cut shapes. To streamline the rush that is common with new releases, we'll wait until we have ALL PRICING before releasing the new order form. I know, what a pain! We'll email it to all of our current customers. We plan to email the new order form by Wednesday. We apologize for the inconvenience but believe it will be more efficient for everyone in the long run.

Image Availability
If you're an online store and would like to get your hands on our newest images, just send us an email with the subject "Image Request". We'll send you a link to download our images. You will be able to download a zipped folder of all our images.

Thanks for looking!

Knave of Hearts & Sweet Shop Preview Dates

The Knave of Hearts

Sweet Shop

Well, has it been long enough?! New images for the release will be posted Friday, February 27th! Order Forms will be ready for retailers on the 27th as well. Details on image availabitiy will be posted on the 27th.Thank you so much for your enthusiasm for our products! We're excited to share what we've come up with.

Next Design Team Day--February 28th

Thanks for checking out the Collage Press Design Team's great projects. I know some of you have been coming here to see their latest (and I love to see what they come up with, too).  They didn't do any projects this month b/c they were helping me with product feedback for the new release. Sorry for not posting this notice a few weeks ago--I've been sidetracked by the new release!

They'll have more projects up at the end of February.

As for the new release, I'm working on that too. One line is ready to go and the other one is almost ready to go. Please keep in mind that I'm a SAHM with an almost 1 and 3 yr old. :) I work on the new release when they're both asleep (if I'm lucky enough for them to both be asleep at the same time). Sorry for the delay, and we appreciate your interest in Collage Press!

Sneak Peek for New Release!

  

  I can't believe it is already time for another release! We are so excited to give you a sneak peek of our Sweet Shop line. We will also have another line released with this one so stay tuned for more sneak peeks!