I absolutely adore this humble tool! It is practical and easy to use, yet adds character to any page or photo. The best part?  It comes in so many different shapes and sizes - zig zag patterns, jagged, scallops etc…

For this layout Yesterday Once More, I used old photos of my childhood.  I scanned and printed them black and white. They looked to clean if you know what I mean. . . so I pulled out my decorative scissors and cropped and inked the edges.  It resulted in a more old charm look, just the look I was going for.  So I challenge not to celebrate this forgotten tool - and truly appreciate it for all it’s wonders! 

 Emeline Seet, Design Team Member

Long before I got my hands on the Baby to Bride line, I yearned for one particular sheet in this collection.  You know the one I’m talking about, “sentimental baby.”  It reminds me of ceilings in Versailles. If you’ve ever been there, you know what I’m talking about: opulent scenes of Greek mythology with Louis XIV depicted as Apollo himself. And there are always angels and cherubs surrounding all the scenes on the ceilings of Versailles. 

Well, I tell you that this is a baby/cherub throw down, because I think my own baby cherub rivals any of the ones I’ve ever seen on the ceilings of Versailles or any other palace/chateau for that matter.  I am no professional photographer, so I make do with what I can, and once in a while, I managed to capture a moment that tugs on my heartstrings like this one. Everything I love about my baby is captured: round cheeks, tight fists with hand dimples, knitted brows, big eyes, chubby tummy, quirky toes… I can go on… The subtle colors of this line go so well with the photo and I cannot be happier to cut out some actual baby cherubs to accent my layout. 

Jing-Jing Nickel, Design Team Member

Spruce up your next invitation or announcement by finding household items that are lying around and kicking them up a notch with just a few simple art supplies. Many ‘things’ lying around your home are perfect for incorporating into your next craft project; you just need a little imagination, some beautiful papers (G45 of course) and a few basic tools. For this baby announcement I took an empty spool of ribbon, pulled a part one of the end caps to create my lid, added some beautiful papers, created an announcement, and in no time had a very ‘Tweet’ way to announce the arrival of the new little one to the nest.

Don’t be limited on only the supplies you have at hand; some of my favorite household items to utilize in my crafts are:

Toilet/paper towel rolls, Jars, Tea tins, Wood boxes (cigar boxes), Old Books, Wooden Spools, Metal Containers and Fabric Buttons

Challenge yourself to utilize different mediums in your next project- you’ll be surprised at what you can come up with!

Happy Crafting!

Heather Mellstrom, Design Team Member
www.pppaperprincess.blogspot.com

By Amanda Johnston – Graphic 45 Design Team

Then again there are one’s own childhood stories like the time my sister got to stay home from school and there was a fire in the chimney. I remember being glad everyone was o.k. and a little miffed that I missed the fire truck. But I was only seven or eight at the time.

All of those little stories are fodder for a scrapbook page. The great thing about all the Graphic 45 papers is that it is perfect for vintage pictures, and modern stories with a vintage twist.   

After spending several hours creating a treasured page, sometimes I get totally stumped for words.  People with few words (like me) can find it difficult when this happens.  That’s when I turn to little sayings, song lyrics, poems, advertisement jingles and beautifully phrased quotes for inspiration to save my plight.  A beautiful quote sometimes reflects what you want to convey ; what is important to you.  So many times, by using quotes it has helped me to overcome my writers block .  Here are a few websites I fequent that making finding the right words easy!

Here are some frequent websites I found useful :
www.Quoteland.com
www.brainyquote.com
www.quotationspage.com

Do share with us your source of quote-inspiration too!
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Emeline Seet -Design Team Member