Featured Projects!

We only had one entry into the past few challenges, but it's a fantastic one!

Anita was inspired by the Scraplift Challenge for her layout:

We really love doing the challenges but we're curious, What would you like to see that would encourage you to enter the challenges more? We'd really love to see more of your projects.

Inspired By... Challenge #2

For today's Inspired By.. challenge I browsed through my pinterest boards looking for something that I thought could easily be transformed into a layout. When I stumbled upon an image of these tape frames, I knew I could do something with this photo!

For anyone new, here's how the Inspired By... challenge works: We will provide the inspiration (usually something we found on Pinterest or elsewhere on the Internet) and some sample projects, and then all you have to do is link up a project inspired by whatever it is that inspired us!

Source: Dorm DIY on Design Sponge

Katie's Layout: I saw this as the perfect opportunity to use some of my washi tape stash. I had a hard time not using any patterned papers, but I knew that if I did, I wouldn't get the same picture frame look with my washi tape. I cut my washi tape in half that way it was a bit thinner.

Mini Album Challenge #1

Emily is taking this week off from scrapbooking, but I (Katie) have got a fun challenge for you today.

I like doing mini albums as a fun challenge, they're something different than the normal 12x12 layout. For my mini album, I cut tag shapes out of patterned papers from the Amy Tangerine Yes, Please line. The ribbons and most of the stickers are also from the line.

Todays challenge for you is to make a mini album!

I used photos from a recent camping trip, I love taking photos of flowers, fungi and other plants.

Freebie Friday #4: Summertime Journaling Tags

We offer free downloads every other Friday, which you can find here.

Today's download is by Emily:

I had this page of watercolored background that I had been experimenting with techniques on that I thought would be perfect for a set of journaling cards to celebrate the beginning of the summer!

DOWNLOAD THE FREEBIE HERE

I used all four cards on this digital Project Life page! I don't normally do Project Life, but I had a bunch of photos from the last few weeks that I thought it would be fun to document in this style. I went with digital so that I wouldn't have to wait for the printed photos.


Katie also used one of the cards in the digital layout she did for Sketch Challenge #2!

Scraplift Challenge #2

Today's challenge is another scraplift! This time, I (Emily) chose a layout I've had pinned for awhile that I've been meaning to use as inspiration for a layout. It's a great page by Deb, a current member of the Studio Calico design team.

Emily's Layout: I kept pretty close to the original in my lift, except that I scaled everything up a bit to accommodate a 4x6 photo (my standard), and I layered up four strips of thinner washi tape because I don't have any like the wide tape Deb used. I really like this page; I love the contrast of the papers against the white background, because my favorite thing about the photo I used is the contrast of the bright colors against the black.

Katie's Layout: Another digital layout for me today. For this layout I used some digital freebies from Persnickety Prints. I really like the use of washi tape on the layout we're scraplifting, so I used some washi tape from Pugley Pixel and added patterns to them to embellish my layout.

Sketch Challenge #2

Ready for another sketch challenge? We hope so, because that's what we have for you today!

Sketch:

Emily's layout: I've been meaning to scrapbook these photos for awhile now and I'm really happy that I was able to get them on a page, and together, even! Scrapping 8.5x11 makes it a challenge to get more than one photo on a page sometimes, but I succeeded by cropping these down to 4x4 and layering them a little bit. The sketch involves just a bit of layered paper, too, but it's easy to add more if that's your style!



Katie's layout: I hardly ever do digital layouts. I don't really dislike them, I just prefer to get my hands dirty playing with paint, etc. But I'm currently on a bit of a vacation so I don't have all of my supplies with me. So for this sketch I decided to challenge myself and go digi.
I loved the layering in the sketch, so I used different blocks of color and added patterns to them. I don't really own digital supplies so I just used my own design for the most part. The journaling block is a freebie Emily has coming up this week!

Featured Projects and Giveaway Winner!

We love seeing your projects and as a thank you for joining our challenges we feature some of our favorites in a post!

Since no one linked up to either of our Mother's Day challenges, I'm going to feature both of the projects linked to our Art Journal Bonus Challenge.

By Salla

By Patrice

Featured layout from the Recipe Challenge:

by Taylor.

And the winner of the Recipe Cards by Document Life Workshop: WeLove.

Be sure to check out this weeks challenges and link up!!

Kit Challenge #2

Each month we create our own kits using supplies from our stash and then create projects using these kits. We post our projects from the previous months kits and share our next kit.To see the April kits that we used for these projects, click here.

Katie's April projects: My kit for April included lots of bright pinks and oranges which made it perfect for spring photos. (and a Halloween photo!) I made 4 layouts and 4 cards using my kit, so I'm happy about that!

Katie's May kit: For my next kit I decided to challenge myself by using colors I don't use much.. Bright primary colors. I tend to stick with more lighter colors instead of bold reds and blues.

Emily's projects: I wanted to make April's kit a real challenge to use, so I included some pages I was actually skeptical about being able to use, but I'm so happy with what I did with this kit! These are some of my favorite pages, I think.



Emily's May kit: For May's kit, I went with a 6x6 pad (the very summery Dear Lizzy Neapolitan) instead of 12x12 papers. I may do some kind of mini album, or I may just use solid colored card stock for backgrounds and incorporate the smaller patterned papers onto regular-size layouts. Along with the pad, I threw in a bunch of matching washi tape, a couple alphabet sticker sets, a background stamp and a clear stamp set (the same one that's in Katie's kit!), and a pack of Elle's Studio Tiny Tags.



Go ahead and link up your May kit!

Color Challenge #2

I (Katie) love using new color schemes as a challenge to combine different papers and supplies of mine that I might not normally use together. My favorite place to find color schemes is Design-Seeds. For today I'm challenging you to use the color scheme below- blue, red, yellow and pink. Or a combination of a couple of those colors.

I think these colors are very bright and summery and perfect for my stand-up paddleboarding photos.

I used Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft Gelatos to color the waves and sun, then I added doodles with a fine black marker on top. The letters and Stickers are Thickers by American Crafts and the washi tape is by KandCo.

Link up your layouts below by May 30th!

Freebie Friday #3: Chalkboard Journal Tags

We offer free downloads every other Friday, which you can find here.

Today's download is by Katie:

I love using journal tags in my projects. You can use them as a place for a sentiment on cards, in project life or just stick them on a layout. Chalkboard textures are also super popular right now so I thought "Why not combine the two?"

DOWNLOAD THE FREEBIE HERE

I used the "LOVE" tag on my layout for the Mother's Day Photo/Journal Prompt. I added a bit of doodling because that's more my style and I think it looks fantastic on my layout.

Photo/Journaling Challenge #1: Mother's Day

Today's challenge has less to do with the style of the page or the supplies you use and more about the subject of your layout. With Mother's Day coming up, we thought we'd issue you the challenge to scrap about your mom (or your grandmother, or any other person in your life you consider a mother-figure)! Perhaps you could even make a layout to frame and give to that person on Mother's Day. And there's plenty of time before the challenge closes to wait and scrapbook about Mother's Day 2013, if that's something you'd like to do!

Emily's Layout: I started out with a few photos I have of my mom and myself from our Christmas and New Year's Eve celebrations last year. I wanted to include both photos on one layout, which is a first and a real challenge for me, being an exclusively 8.5x11 scrapper! So I went for a sort of "Project Life" feel with a simple grid. It's probably the simplest layout I've ever done, but I spiced it up with some fun title work in the form of these great alphabet stamps I received in a RAK last year. I've never been able to use them before, and I love what they added to this page.

Katie's Layout: I'm lucky to have such an amazing Mom who is also my best friend. For my layout I wanted to journal about just how awesome she is. I printed out a large photo of My Mom, Sister and I and I wrote out my journaling on white cardstock which I then cut up into strips and placed around my photo.

Card Sketch #2

We've got another card sketch for you today! With Mother's Day coming up, we figured it would be a great time to provide you with a simple sketch that's easy to add more embellishment to, or easy to stick in an envelope and mail to your mom as it is.

Emily's Card: I followed the sketch exactly with some simple coordinating My Mind's Eye papers, a strip of washi, and a stamped label to house the sentiment. I stamped out the sentiment with my favorite Studio Calico Stepping Stone alpha stamps and then filled them in with watercolors that matched my papers. I put the label up on foam adhesive to give the very simple card some dimension and interest.



Katie's Card: I like how nice and simple the sketch is. It's easy to customize. I used the sketch for a horizontal card instead of vertical, but I kept the same design. I added a couple of fussy cut paper flowers to make more of a visual triangle and added a couple of doodles to my sentiment.

Featured Projects and Giveaway Winner!

Another two weeks of challenges has come to an end and it's time to share some of the projects that caught our eye! We love every project that our readers enter in our challenges, but here's just a sample!

Scraplift Challenge #1:

Magiczny widok from Blog Kreatywny

Technique Challenge #1:

You & Me from Crafty Scrapbooker

Inspired By... Challenge #1:

Blossoming Beauty from Irit Shalom's Designs

And now, for the giveaway!

The randomly chosen winner of the Faber-Castell prize pack is: 1. Irit!
Congratulations! Please contact us to claim your prize!

As always, check back every week for more fun challenges!

Art Journal Technique Challenge

Once in awhile here at Paper Lovers Studio we do Bonus Challenges, which means that we will be challenging you to do a paper craft other than a layout! Today's bonus challenge is an Art Journal Challenge.

Instead of a journaling prompt, it's an art journal technique prompt. What technique? Combining Paper, Paint and Ink. I'm sure you've used all three mediums in your layout at some point, but have you tried using them all together to create fun patterns and designs?

Katie's Art Journal: There are so many different styles of art journaling and this technique can be used in so many different ways. Instead of doing something busy like my page, you could also do a more simple approach, just adding a little but of paint+paper+ink.

 How to: 1. Cut shapes from your paper and adhere to page. 2. Outline with different colors of paint and a small brush. 3. Let dry. 4. Using a pen doodle around your designs, drawing random patterns, etc.

Emily's Art Journal: I had a lot of fun with this technique prompt! My usual style is more just collage with paper, but I have been wanting to paint in my journal more often lately, so this was a perfect way to experiment.