Art Journal

This art journal is my "white whale." It has taken me way, way longer to accomplish what I wanted to do with it. It's turned out really well, but I had no idea how much time it would take.

The result is a one-of-a-kind journal with painting, stamping, and every type of embellishment you can imagine.

It's the perfect place for a diary, lists, drawings, doodles and more. It could also be used as a personal SMASH-book style scrapbook.

-Susan

Envelope Notebooks

These are found airmail envelopes glued together with paper pages stapled in. These make a tall skinny notebook that (I think!) looks very hip.

As usually happens with me, each notebook has different papers inside.

- Susan

Floral Patterned Paper Card

Continuing with my floral paper theme from the earlier notebook post, here is a card made with cardstock, kraft and patterned paper.

The layout is from Casual Fridays, and the patterned paper is for the Lilypad Challenge. I love the print on this paper and I'm sure I'll be doing more with it, possibly a set of small all-occasion notecards.

-Susan

Floral Notebook

This notebook was a thrift store find. I ripped off the existing front and back cover pages and recovered the existing chipboard with patterned floral paper.

I then added the ribbon and created the double punched flower with a center stamp. I also added a little "To Do" banner to give the notebook a purpose.

This notebook is posted at the Tuesday Trigger Winter Blossoms Challenge.

-Susan

Miss You Card

This card was created using the layout at the What If Wednesday Sketch Challenge. It is also entered at the Anything Goes Challenge.

The card and background sections are created with cardstock. The front layer is a shipping tag that has been inked. The sentiment is stamped onto a scrap of ledger paper and attached with patterned tape.

The tag and ledger paper on this card are both office scraps that I picked up at one of my favorite thrift stores.

-Susan

Clean and Simple Flower Card

I created this card for the Clean & Simple Stamping Challenge and the Dutch Dare Buttons Challenge.

The flowers are stamped then punched with a 1 1/2 inch scallop punch. I then colored the flowers and background with colored pencils. The flower centers are buttons tied with baker's twine.

- Susan

While You Were Out

I found a stack of the pink "While you were out" message pads at a resale store and decided to dress them up. I created custom covers out of upcycled chipboard then added embellishments.

These would have looked lovely on my desk back when I was an Administrative Assistant.

-Susan

Vintage Images

These are plain notepads that I've decorated with vintage papers, including an old sewing pattern and magazine clippings.

I have a "crisis in the kitchen" often at my house, so this seemed appropriate!

-Susan

Garden Collage

Ready for Spring??

I just finished this garden collage on an old book page, using a variety of paints, stamps, rub-ons, tape and other embellishments. I think I'll be putting this one in a frame!

-Susan

Disk Notepad

I found a giant barrel full of these old 3 1/2 in floppy disks at one of my very favorite stores, The Scrap Exchange (more on them later)! Since they already have a hole in the upper left corner, I knew I could turn them into a cool one-ring notepad.

Some of the notepads have plain paper inside, others have lined, graph or other interesting paper from old books that I've found. I particularly like the paper from old accounting and record keeping pads.

-Susan

Vintage & Upcycled Notebooks

One of my favorite things to do is scout out thrift stores and other resale shops for old books and paper that I can make new again. I also rescue plenty of stuff from the recycle bin when creating notebooks.

If the pages in a book become old and brittle, the cover may still be usable. Old magazines can be cut up (or photocopied) to save their old images from the trash heap.

It's fun to mix and match pieces and come up with a new notebook that's one of a kind!

- Susan

Embellished Notebooks

I like taking a boring store-bought notebooks and adding my own paints, papers & embellishments to really jazz up a plain jane book. Here are a few recent examples.

-Susan

Birthday Gift Card

I started with a blank card turned horizontally as the base. Using the Cricut Plantin Schoolbook cartridge, I cut out the 3 1/4" envelope. I used a cute button and cotton thread to make the enclosure. The candle embellishment pocket on the front is held on by brads. I adhered the pocket to the card with glue dots and tucked the envelope into the pocket.

Art After Dark Craft Show

Paper Craft Team held it's first craft show in Fuquay-Varina on Friday 1/13. We learned that less is definately more when it comes to displaying our crafts. We had a good time and look forward to more shows in the future!

Chalkboard Frame

I love leaving little messages for my family around the house. Just a little note can make a big difference! I decopauged this picture frame with cardstock and a ribbon. I used chalkboard paint where the photo would normally be placed. I finished it with a button and flower.

Spray paint and more

For the Moxie Fab Around the House challenge, I used items from around the house to make my card.

The background of this card is made with red liquid acrylic paint in a travel-size spray bottle. I sprayed through a rubber textured kitchen gripper (used for opening jars) like a stencil to get the cool texture. I used scrap paper to mask the rest of my card so the spray paint only covered the top right.

Once the spray was dry, I used a 1 1/2 inch scallop punch and yellow & red layered cardstocks to make my sun. And a mini heart punch on the red cardstock for the center of the sun.

Then I used my paper cutter to cut the suns rays, and assembled the sun over the spraypainted area. Finally, I stamped and layered my sentiment and attached it with pop dots.

- Susan

Valentine's Day Cards

I've been playing around with making a few things for Valentine's Day. Most of the cards and embellishments I've seen are of the traditional pink/red/hearts style, and those can be fun. I made some traditional cards, kid-style mini flat cards, and some confetti.

I also wanted to try a less traditional, more subtle style. I think this is something a little more masculine that I'd be happy to give my husband.

-Susan

This post is a part of the Paper Issues "All We Need is Love" Challenge!

Just to say Hi

Blue & brown is one of my favorite color combinations, and I used it here in a card just to say "Hi." This card is entered in the Designer's Choice Challenge and the Lily Pad Palette Challenge.

I'm so glad to find so many stamping challenges to participate in, it's really given me a lot of inspiration!

Susan

Simple Flower Card

This card was created for the Clean & Simple challenge #173. I really love the simple design and I've already used this layout for a few more cards to send personally.

- Susan

Paper Pieced Bookpage flower

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I'm trying the Japanese stab-binding method for my notebooks. This book at a wallpaper remnant for a front cover with a coordinating card stock back cover. The binding is a thin brown ribbon.

I paper pieced the oversized flower embellishment using a Scrapbooks, etc pattern cut out with my craft scissors. The paper I used is from a vintage scientific education book about flowers. I love this old book paper because it's such nice thick paper with a great off-white color. The center of the flower is finished off with an old button.

-Susan

Garden Journal

This mixed media garden journal is handmade with upcycled papers and monthly dividers. I've added paint, chipboard accents, garden quotes, stamping and a few other embellishments. I really love the way it turned out, especially the beautiful cover.

-Susan

Stab bound Notebook

I made my first book today using the Japanese stab-binding method, aided by this great youtube video. Once you get the hang of it, the sewing technique isn't too hard.

This book uses cardstock front & back covers with vintage dot-matrix paper for the book pages. The binding is a glittery green ribbon that I had leftover from Christmas. The cover embellishment is from a notecard that I found in my supply stash.

Can't wait to practice this style some more!

-Susan

Composition Books

Embellishing composition books is a fun way to add some art to your day. If you have to make a to do list, why not make it in a pretty notebook instead of a dull one?

-Susan

Art After Dark Craft Show

I took a few pictures of our booth setup at Art After Dark. We had a lot of items and in retrospect should have put out fewer at a time, so that the displays weren't so crowded. It was our first craft show and we definitely learned a thing or 2 about booth setup.

The photos are available in my Flickr set.

-Susan

A good place to start

When I went to "Archiver's" in Raleigh for the first time with Susan and Taneal, I was completely overwhelmed with their amazing selection. I had taken quite a break from crafting so to start I purchased a kit and made these adorable cards. 


My creative spirit got a great kick start as well as my confidence to play with my own layouts.

Journey Card

I was really inspired by this quote, especially combined with the word 'Journey' laid on top of some adorable vintage tricycles.

4x6 Index Card Books

These notebooks are 4x6 in size, with decorated covers and plain index card pages, bound with 2 book rings at the top.

The styles of these are almost infinite in possibilities- they can be covered with any paper, stickers, drawing or mixed media and laminated or left as-is.

I love the book ring style because the notebooks can be hung up if needed, and when opened up the pages always lay flat.

-Susan

Scalloped Card

My original intention was to make this card for the Clean & Simple Layout #172 Challenge. I didn't have a scalloped rectangle for the base layer, so I used my 1 1/2 inch scalloped circle punch instead. Lucky me, that fit right in with the Moxie Fab Punches Challenge!

The piecing of the scalloped circles into a semi-rectangle was a bit challenging, and I'd definitely like to expand my stock of punches into some larger & different shapes to make it easier to add variety to my card layouts.

-Susan

Heart-shaped Map

I love old maps - funny, since my sense of direction is terrible! On this card, I used a map page torn from an old European travel guide.

I folded the map into a rosette, then hand-cut it into a heart shape. That part was tricky and the heart I ended up with is a lot smaller than the rosette I started with!

The sentiment is hand-stamped with individual letters because I didn't have a sentiment stamp that said exactly what I wanted, but this sentiment really makes the card perfect to me.

This card is posted in the Moxie Fab "Map to your Heart" Challenge.

-Susan

Butterfly Card

This lovely butterfly card was created for the Sunday Sketch & Stamp Challenge. This is more layers than I normally do in a card, but it was a fun challenge for me! I especially like the addition of the little glittery jewels at the top right. It really adds that extra little something to the card.

-Susan

14 Card

This card highlights the number "14," for Valentine's Day of course! In addition to the focal point, I also stamped "14" in each of the background grid sections to add a little variety and depth to the card. I wish the stamping showed up better in the photo, need to work on my photography skills!

This card is posted in the "We've got your Number" Challenge at Paper Issues, and also the Spots & Stripes challenge at Simon Says Stamp.

-Susan

Pocket Planner

This planner is something I made just for fun and I'm really happy with how it came out. It's done in an accordion style with pockets, tags and notecards. Some of the embellishments are cut from old magazines. I love the old-fashioned style graphics.

-Susan

Fuquay-Varina Art After Dark

This Friday, January 13th, we'll be participating in Fuquay-Varina Art After Dark, presented by the Fuquay-Varina Arts Council. The Artist & Crafter's Market will be a part of the Art Walk from 5-9 PM, located at 101 S. Main St in the Mitchell Building. Hope to see you there!

Pucker Up, Valentine

This is a new card layout for me, inspired by the January Sketch for You to Try Challenge at I(heart)to stamp. I used a double heart stamp to make the pattern on the top layer. The focal point is a K&Company embellishment.

I like the finished look and especially like the black & pink color combo.

- Susan

This card is posted in

January Sketch for You to Try Challenge at I(heart)to stamp.

Craft Junkie Too's Valentine's Day Projects

Tags

I love making tags! They are a work of art in miniature. Because they are quick to make, I can feel like I've accomplished a lot in a short time by turning out a stack of tags. Here are some recent ones.

-Susan

Premade Mini Album

Here's a look at a premade mini-scrapbook, 8 chipboard pages, fully decorated and ready to add 4x6 or smaller photos.

I had fun making this, it put me in the mood for Summer!

-Susan

Welcome!

Welcome to the Paper Art Team blog. This site is a collaboration of friends who love paper, and together we craft handmade cards, journals, dry erase frames, home decor items and more.

We'll be posting pictures of our work here soon. In the meantime, see Taneal's Dry Erase Frames on her etsy shop.

-Susan