Our 2009 Design team met Wednesday night for their monthly get together with Melissa. At the meetings they discuss the layouts they turned in using the products we challenge them with. Then they paired up and created layouts using products that we picked out to challenge them. I stayed a little while for the meeting and was amazed not only of their talent, but of their loyalty to their other design team members. It was like they were one big family! They are all amazing!!!!
In the challenge they took home, they had one month to complete the layout. We gave them all different paper lines, Coordination’s Black core Cardstock, a new way to use buttons and the new product “Smooch” to play with. I asked them how they like “Smooch”, and they all loved using it! They said it’s a great way to change or add a color to your layout to match your layout! here are their creations:
Liz always fills her layouts with tons of techniques. She always puts lots of thought into it and you can see the result is stunning! Can you see where Liz accented her layout with the purple Smooch? She also sanded the Coordinations cardstock for the word “Maids”. (I also like the fact that she used tons of products!!!)
This layout was created by Patti. I was totally shocked to find out it was Patti’s, because the style isn’t what I’m usually use to seeing when I see her work. Patti usually fills her work with lots of flowers. There is not one flower on this layout!!! Melissa likes to challenge them to use different products and to get them out of their box. Patti did an awesome job….. I just love this layout! Notice she used a real CD and used rub-ons on it. Her techniques with the chipboard are really cool…you have to see it up close to see the details she put into it. The felt accent is from Prima and accenting with pearl “Smooch” gave the layout that perfect touch!
Paula. Everyone knows Paula. She is so talented. She loves going to Scrapfest, and always seems to win all the contests there!!! She also has started getting together scrapbooking events at her lodge! There you can see her create all weekend long!!! She is amazing!!! This was actually a layout that I was shocked was Paula’s! When I think of Paula’s layout I think of bright, bright, bright colors. Melissa gave Paula subdued colors to work with to make her think out side her box. I think she did an awesome job!!! The layout was really cool with lots and lots of layered vintage school papers! Paula had the orange colored Smooch that she used to accent her letters and accent the die cuts. Notice how cool the journaling block is? Also, look at all the details Paula did on her grouping of the buttons. When I see the layout my heart just melts!!! I know she’ll cherish this layout for a long time….
Brandy did a really cute layout of her dog growing up. There are so many details about this layout that you can’t really see by looking at the picture! First of all, she used one small piece of “pet” paper. She then chose other lines of paper to add to it. That is such an awesome technique that we try to stress to all our customers…mixing papers and paper lines is ok! Brandy did an awesome job creating her paw prints on the Coordinations cardstock and sanding it to give it dimension and texture. She also used the Smooch to change the color of her journal block. How Clever! You can’t see it, but she created a cool fringe across the layout that added a cool touch. And the title…so cute!
Lisa Hebert created this awesome layout also using a mixture of different paper lines. Her big challenge was using “Smooch”! I have to laugh because she discovered all the ways you couldn’t use “Smooch”. First of all, Smooch is a product made for paper products, not plastics. If you put it on a button, Lisa said it didn’t dry even after 3 days! Lisa was given the gold Smooch, and I have to say, it almost looks like putting on gold paint with a very fine brush! Where all did she put the Smooch? She added smooch to the center of her flowers and she accented her printed papers. Look at the cool technique she did with her buttons…. she created the coolest starfish!
Tanya’s layout. Well, where do I begin. Should I begin to tell you that this girl wins contests at every scrapbooking event she goes! Her layouts are a work of art! When you see her layout, you just want to touch everything and ask “How did she do that?” Look at the flowers!!! She created those with Black Coordination’s Cardstock with the white center!!! Wow!!! What an awesome way to demo the use of of Coordination’s Cardstock! The buttons are group together with Scrappy glue, but because she wanted it to be more secure, she added a thick coat of Crystal Accents to make sure it didn’t move! There are so many details that you can’t see (you can check out her blog for all the details). The butterfly was actually once a t-shirt. The chair on the layout was only a half of chair. She created the other half of the chair with different textures of paper. Where did she use the Smooch? We’ll I know she accented her butterfly with it, but I’m sure she created several other different ways to us it in this layout. The layout is really a work of art!!!
Kay Lynn also had a beautiful work of art!! With everything going on in this layout, the pictures stand out beautifully! First of all, I just loved her pictures. These pictures are pictures of her great, great Grandparents, which date back to the 1800’s! If you want an excellent example of using Coordinations Cardstock, take a look at Kay Lynn’s creativity! She actually embossed the edges and then sanded the embossed images. The result is a beautiful border! She used beautiful vintage lace to make flowers and accented them with Vintage buttons! The clustering technique with the flowers was done beautifully! The result is a layout that I’m sure Kay Lynn and her family will enjoy for the next 100 years….
Aphra is just amazing. She is also an awesome designer and if you keep up with her blog, you’ll notice she designs for many different companys and she just started designing for Imaginisce! Congratulations!!! Aphra created this layout with Pink Paisley’s Amber Road. This is one of my favorite paper lines for the fall! She took the papers and created a boy layout!! I think that is really an awesome way to show everyone…you don’t always need boy papers to create a stunning layout! She actually created the beautiful flowers by hand! She taught me the trick for making beautiful paper flowers at the meeting!!! It’s an awesome technique! She also distressed her flowers and used antique buttons as the centers. Aphra actually used the Smooch on her buttons. She said she heat set it with the heat gun. So maybe using it on slick surfaces is possible. Aphra uses sketches, and you can actually create this same layout using different papers and pictures! It’s called paper layering!!! I think that is the key to a perfect layout!!!
Group Challenges
Ok…now that I’m finished bragging on my wonderful design team, the following layouts were group challenges. Each design team member paired with another member and created layouts using paper lines we chose.
Brandy and Tanya worked together with Webster’s Pages and created this really cool one page layout. Different papers and techniques were combine to show how to create a “Vintage” look. Notice, they used corrugated box board to create part of the matting. They distressed the corrugated box with scissors and distressed inks. Watching Tanya work magic with her fingers distressing and tearing was a real treat! Both Brand and Tanya worked together to make this layout amazing! Ribbons, lace and stick pens add that final vintage touch! The colors and textures are beautiful!
Aphra and Lisa got to work together with Graphic 45 paper. Notice how Aphra actually made a sketch. She also taught me how to make paper flowers. They put these flowers in the middle of their other flowers. Really cool technique!!! I’m sure we will be using this technique in a future class! Lisa and Aphra did an awesome Job paper layering and clustering. Throwing in the Blue and red paper in the layout was very clever! The end result is a classic Graphic 45 style layout….simply awesome!!!
Paula and Patti worked with Cosmo Cricket’s Christmas line. The colors are a little different, but very pretty. They cut up the swirls and used chipboard swirls to create the cool look of winter winds! Lots of different snowflake punches make up all the different snow flakes on the page. The layout is so “cool”, you almost don’t want to put pictures on it!!!!
The last layout pair was Liz and Kay Lynn. First of all, I do not like this line of paper. I ordered the line because I had several requests for it. It is the boyfriend line from Cosmo Cricket. I chose it for the Design Team challenge because I wanted to see what the design team could do with it. I was amazed how awesome this layout came out!!!! Good work girls!!! From the hand stitching to the cool use of all the chipboard…this layout was actually one of my favorites!!!!
How else can I brag on our wonderful design team! They are amazing and very devoted to their job of designing here at the store! Melissa is also amazing! She has been heading the design team from the very beginning…and she makes being on the team lots of fun!!! A special thanks to all of these people for sharing all your wonderful talents with us and our customers!!!! If you want to check out more of their work, please check out their blogs! You’ll be glad you did!!!
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