Paper Vineyard

New Facelift for Paper Vineyard

2012-01-24T11:21:00.001-08:00

Most facelifts occur when one is a little older; however, at four years old it was time for us to take the big plunge. Our facelift has started with a new website and blog.

Our updated website launched today. It is the same web address www.papervineyard.com but a new look.
From the new website there is a blogger link (small orange icon in upper right hand corner) that takes you to the new blog which does have a new address blog.papervineyard.com If you have us bookmarked you will need to update it to our new blog address.
Keep following us as more changes will happen within the next couple of weeks as we open Paper Vineyard launches the new Grapevine Designs store on-line.

Thanks,
Adriana

Monday Madness Fun

2012-01-23T11:00:00.000-08:00

Comfortably moving forward on this Monday morning. Getting ready for tonight's Make 'n Take from 4p-7p. We are making a birthday card in the shape of a ice cream cone. The project is cut for us by Grapevine Design. You will be using the Big Shot to decorate the ice cream and We R Memory Keepers Sew Stamper to decorate the cone. Great project for $2.

We are adding a twist to the next design challenge for our store. Design Challenge #3 for our Design Team is to make a layout with any paper collection using the following sketch as a jumping point. Paper Vineyard is opening this challenge up to customers. One lucky person bringing in a layout using this sketch by Monday 1/30/12 will win a gift bag with paper collections from Graphic 45. Hope you join in for the fun! If you do turn a layout in you will get it back but after I take photos and brag about all the genious creative people on our blog first.
Speaking of prizes, part of the festivities this weekend was the raffles for liking us on Facebook. Congratulations to Eilene and LaVonne who each won a prize. Thanks to all of those who participated. Facebook is a way for the store to post current happenings and photos.
Have a great week!
Adriana

Grand Re-Opening Day...Long but good day

2012-01-22T06:00:00.000-08:00

Muchos muchos gracias for helping us have such a wonderful day! There was so much going on that the whole day was amazing, hectic, fun and exciting. Thank you very much for participating. I chatted with so many people and really appreciate the well wishes and positive thoughts.
The day was so fantastic I was surprised with flowers from our wonderful friend and customer Barb. Beautiful flowers from a sweet person who is absolutely amazing to me. This cutie patootie is my niece Olivia who is one of about 40 people who made the Valentine Make 'n Take yesterday. She of course chose to rock hers out in pink which is her favorite color.

I also taught a sold out class of the 2012 Calendar project. By then the store was busting at the seems with people so I failed (shame on me) to take any photos of the class...however, here is a shot of Amanda who worked late Friday night and came in early on Saturday to prepare the kits for the class. She absolutely made it all come together. The class loved the project!
The day ended with a "perfect" group of croppers. We had so many we had to open the suite next door for the extra folks but both groups of ladies were productive and sweet. It was a nice combination of folks who scrapbook all the time and those jumping back into it.

These types of days are very important to me and my "fourth baby" Paper Vineyard. I was here from sun up to crop close down. The long day is so worth it. Thanks for making me feel so blessed!
Adriana

Design Challenge #2 of 2012

2012-01-21T17:59:00.000-08:00

This week the design challenge was to make a thank you card featuring stamps from Impression Obsession.

The first card is from Marijo. As usual she does a great job with the details that helps build a project. There are always so many different elements to look at in her work.
Here is Scraptastic Granny's (aka Marijo)card recipe:
Kraft Card Stock (from stash)
Print paper - Graphic 45 Tropical Traveloque Paradise Postage paper
Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Sizzix Die
Tim Holtz Tea Dye Distress Stain
Brad (from stash)
"Thank You" stamp from Impression Obsession
Versamark Ink
Stampendous Stamp 'n' Stuff Clear Embossing Powder
Embossing Heat Tool
Shaping tools (for flower)
Dimensional glue dots
We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

Krista of Red Car Productions made this thank you card that is embellished with sewing that creates a beautiful vintage look.
If you'd like to recreate this here are the measurements. Card base is A2 kraft.
The patterned paper base is 4 1/4 x 5, the blue patterned block is 3 1/4 x 4 1/4
with a second pattern sized 1 1/2 x 4 1/4 matted and stitched on top. Krista used a zig zag stitch with deep orange thread to stitch the 2 patterns together and a cream thread with a straight stitch around the edges. Tag was simple inked after alterations. There are lots of ways to attach ribbon to the tag. This time she chose to thread the orange & blue thru the hole and then tie them with the 2 colors of twine in a bow.

If you love the look and technqiues of Krista's card she is teaching classes here at Paper Vineyard. Krista has a Copic Technique and Copic Projects class on January 28th.

Thanks for reading our blog and happy crafting!
Adriana

Flower Crop "Peace Love & Creativity"

2012-01-20T08:04:00.000-08:00

Another sneak peek at our upcoming Flower Crop event on Saturday February 11th from 10am - 10pm. The crop fee is $50 and that includes three projects, a make n take, games, prize drawings and dinner.

The 12-hour crop is to celebrate the store's 4th anniversary. We have ten Cricut Swarmers already signed up for the crop so people will be cropping and rocking their die cut machines. But there is plenty of room for more people! Great day to socialize, make some amazing projects and play with different crafting products. The food is always a plus too!

One of the projects will be an apron that you will use the Copic Air Compressor to create designs with a custom stencil made by Grapevine Designs. You can sew on a unique crochet flower and then finish off the apron with the iRock tool. Fun project that everyone is going to love.
Everyone will leave with the apron and the stencil! As well as other goodies. Hope you can make it. Paper Vineyard's all day crops have had great feedback from paticipants. But I have to tell you....we are taking this one to the next level.

Happy Friday! Today is Competitor Coupon Day if you want to stop by the store today.

Adriana

Upcoming Events at Paper Vineyard

2012-01-17T18:21:00.000-08:00

Hello Crafty Friends,

We are gearing up for a great week! Friday 1/20 is Competitor Coupon Day. Everyone can use one valid competitor's coupon from Hobby Lobby, Joann or Michaels to make a purchase on one regular-priced item. In addition, store opens at 8am for Make 'n Stay. Come in and purchase a one-page layout for $5. You are more than welcome to stay and put together your kit and crop on your own projects at no additional cost. The layout is "Love is in the air" in beautiful purple anc creme colors.
Saturday, 1/21/11 kicks off with a 2012 Calendar Class. The calendar is 8x8 and is a great project to keep for yourself or give to a friend. The project features a chipboard album by Grapevine designs. Class is from 10:30am - 3:30pm and is $40. Friends & Family Crop is also on Saturday from 1/21 from 5:00pm - 10:00pm. There is no fee for the crop itself but everyone cropping is required to spend $10 on product during the night.

The ultimate highlight of Saturday is the celebration of our new suite "Re-Opening" celebration. There will be make n takes in the morning and storewide sales all day long. Very fun fun day!

Sunday 1/22 is the very anticipated card class of Kelly Wann. Everyone will make five valentine cards. Class is from 1pm-3:30pm and is $27.

There are more photos and information on our website www.papervineyard.com

Hope everyone is having a great week!
Adriana

1st Design Challenge of the Year

2012-01-11T08:44:00.000-08:00

The new year is here and we are happy to have the first post from our Design Team. This week we are featuring the Tropical Travelogue Collection from Graphic 45. The paper is vibrant in aqua, greens, oranges and just the right balance of coral and beige.

Paper Vineyard has the entire collection including the stamps. There is a lot of images of Hawaii embedded into the beautiful patterned papers.

Pam made a layout that showcases the images of the paper with a pop of color through bling, ribbon and journaling. The frame over the photo is a wonderful technique.

Next is a card that includes the paper, cardstock, small piece of ribbon, flowers and a brad. Very easy! This paper is so pretty it makes the card all by itself.

Hope this spring boards some ideas for your water vacation photos. Paradise is a wonderful thing to craft about!

1st Sunday of 2012 - Crafty Corner

2012-01-10T08:31:00.000-08:00

I had an excellent weekend. Ushered the new year in with time for a little crafting, something I didn't do enough of in 2011. So I dragged a tall sofa table and a stool from the kitchen and made a make shift Crafty Corner to indulge in a couple of hours of fun time right in front of the big TV. Here is my set up and supplies. In February the store will be celebrating its fourth anniversary so we are having a 12-hour crop with three projects. The plan is to spoil our croppers with some fun gifts when they arrive at the event. The traditional fourth anniversary is flowers so it is a "Flower Crop: Peace, Love & Creativity" So I am putting together a flower clothes pin decorative item. Using my Big Shot, a Sizzix die that cuts 1 1/4" circles, clothes pins, paint, foam brush and my hot glue gun. FYI, the white zinfandel and bit-o-honeys are optional.
I picked four complimentary fabrics at JoAnns and went to cutting out circles. I ended up making 20 clothes pin flowers in two hours and I could have done them all with one of the squares from JoAnns but I wanted to mix and match them up some.
Painted the top of the clothes pins. I did some of them purple and the other half a light pink. It was easier for me to paint them clipped on to a thin sheet of chipboard.
The only time I used very graphic adjectives was in attaching the circles with the glue gun. I folded the circle in half (applied a little glue) then folded in half again (added a little more glue). I glued them down to the clothes pin forming a little circle. For this project I would only trust it to my glue gun. This is because ultimately it holds the best and is the most cost effective then glue dots etc. The only problem is that it is HOT. You have to move quickly and just ignore the glue spider webs that are forming as you move through the circles as quickly as possible. You can sort of see the clump of glue building at the end of my nail. Price you pay for cuteness.
Most of them have six circles but some do have seven. I kept layering until I like how they looked. Here is the shot at the end of my two hours. I won't post the finished look because I want to surprise the ladies at the crop. Since Sunday I have already added magnet pieces to the back of the clothes pins. The finish products will have some bling, glitter and buttons to make the oohhs and aahhs official.

Monday Make 'n Take

2012-01-09T04:45:00.000-08:00

Today PV always hosts a Monday Make 'n Take from 4pm - 7pm. You can stop in anytime, plan on about 20 minutes per project. The time depends on the number of folks there to make the simple yet adorable make 'n take. Each project is $2.

Very excited about todays! We are making a wine tag that you can easily drop over a wine bottle to dress up a hostess gift, birthday gift or an anniversary gift. The tag starts out with a black cardstock base which we will add a little purple cardstock and patterned paper to. We will paint a chipboard wine bottle and glasses and add a touch of ink to the edges. Stamp some leaves, cut them out and pop them up. Slide over the wine bottle. Ta-Da! Sorry ladies, wine bottle is not included....I know at least one person will ask.

HUGE Christmas Sale 1/7/12 - 1/8/12

2012-01-07T08:45:00.000-08:00

All Christmas product is 50% off today and tomorrow. Great way to get the goods to finish your 2011 photos!

Today we are open 10am - 7pm and Sunday 12pm - 5pm.

This Week's Crafty Opportunities

2012-01-04T04:28:00.000-08:00

Welcome Wednesday! It looks like it is going to be another beautiful day today. Today's post will summarize different activities that will be going on over the next few days in the store. Hope you have a few minutes to check it out.

NEW EVENT!! Dana Edwards will be hosting a Technique Thursday Make 'n Take every Thursday from 4:30pm-7pm. Tomorrow, January 5th will be the first one. Each project is $5 and the kick-off project is this beautiful card that features stamping, die cutting, staining with Rangers Disstress Stains and using the iRock to add the much needed bling.

Make 'n Stay is now on Fridays. This Friday, January 6th you can come in at 8am and make a one page layout for $5. There is no additional charge to stay and crop on your own projects. Another great incentive is that Friday is also Competitor Coupon Day. Here is this week's project.

Friends & Family Crop Friday Jan 6th 5pm - 10pm. There is no charge for the crop, we ask that everyone spends $10 in the store on product while cropping.

365 Days A Year, Saturday Januar 7th 10:30am - 2:00pm, class fee is $40. Make a perpetual calendar featuring 100 Days of Summer from Simple Stories. The class also features the Home Pro Tool (aka Purple Monster).

Sunday is a great day to come in and crop. We are open 12pm to 5pm. There are no classes planned so it is the best hang out day.

Enjoy the first week of the year!
Adriana

2011 in Review

2012-01-02T12:46:00.000-08:00

It is January 3rd and in my family life this is the first day back to reality. January 2nd is my daddy's birthday so it is our families normal last day of two weeks of visiting, eating and goofing off. I spent a lot of time at home last week with my boys. Today, it is back to the regular 8-hr work days. Normally, I would be bumming just a little bit about that but I am extremely excited for 2012.

Paper Vineyard made a lot of significant changes over 2011 and we are in a fantastic position for 2012 to be the best year we have had yet! This blog posting will feature a reasonably short recap of what made 2011 such a learning and growing year. I have a lot to be thankful for. This starts with the friends, customers and supporters of my fourth baby....Paper Vineyard.

2011 started off with my first trip to CHA. Craft Hobby Association hosts the trade show with all the vendors for the incredible world of paper crafting and more. My buddy Jean went with me and we ran into Lindsay of Cosmo Cricket and Els of Elizabeth Craft Designs and many more folks. The trip was amazing and I am gearing up for this year's trip at the end of this month!

I wanted this blog post to be "reasonably short" but there are so many pictures and moments to pick from. Here is a really short summary that includes multiple Cricut Swarms, our first Copic Coloring Day, Monday Make 'n Takes, guest instructors Debby Schuh, Donna Salazar and Els Van de Burgt. Pictures also feature some great customers and friends.

Of course the biggest change is the move to suite 32. The setting up continues but everyday we get a little bit more fabulous....if I do say so myself. Jean finished off 2011 in a beautiful way with the last class of the year sold out with 13 ladies! Then on Sunday the first crop of the year was booming with 18 ladies! Again, fabulous!!

Thank you for your patronage, friendship and ideas. Last night we had so many ladies in for the make 'n take, other ladies in seeking help with their current projects. I love the little community that has grown in our new space. For that I will be forever grateful for. Today I look forward to kick starting 2012!

Feliz Ano Nuevo!
Adriana

Squeezing Even More In....

2011-12-29T04:20:00.000-08:00

This time of year the simplest metaphor I can think of is Paper Vineyard receiving more inventory is the same feeling of someone trying to squeeze their new slightly larger tushy into the old favorite jeans. Yeah....that is the sensation.

This is a snapshot of our counter as we received new product last week. Paper Vineyard is now stocking 120 cardstock colors from American Craft, the new Valentine's line from Crate Paper (yup, I said Valentine's) and an Easter line from We R Memory Keepers. Last week we also checked in Copic, Bazzill, Elizabeth Craft Designs and more.

Excited for this weekends End of the Year Blow Out Sale. All regular priced product will be 20% off in the entire store. Plus their will be paper pads, specific cardstock and embellishments with even greater savings. The sale starts Friday 12/30 at 10am and goes through Sunday 1/01 at 5pm.

Hope to see you this weekend. This type of reduction is way funner than a diet plan.
Adriana

Final Week of the 2011

2011-12-27T07:18:00.000-08:00

I remember as a child my parents grumbling about how fast time flies as you get older. Well....they were speaking the truth! Hopefully everyone has a had a wonderful holiday season with tons of laughter, love and friendship.
Another sign of "older" Christmas times is that I can't seem to get my entire family in one room together for those special photo moments. My oldest son is missing from this photo but I it is one of my favorites from this year as I snagged a photo with my folks, two of my kids plus my baby brother. A special perk is that my youngest boy dressed up as Santa this year for the Hernandez Christmas party. Very very Feliz Navidad!

Yesterday was quiet in the store until the wonderful ladies came in for our weekly Make 'n Take. They brightened the store right up as they enjoyed the fun New Year's Eve party favor.

The rest of the week looks like this:
Make 'n Stay at 8am Wednesday 12/28. This one page layout is $5. You can come in and put the layout together and hang out and have some hot chocolate. This will be the last Make 'n Stay of the year on a Wednesday. Starting next week we are moving it to Friday mornings.
Jean's Crafting Class on Sat 12/31/11 from 10:30am - 1pm. Everyone in the class will make a planner for the upcoming year with pockets and sections to take notes. Great way to kick off an organized year. Class fee is $40.

SUPER Friends & Family Crop on Sun 1/1 from 12pm-8pm. This crop is FREE but the catch is each person needs to spend $10 in product while they are cropping. Uuuummm looking at the list of those who have already signed up this is going to be a fun one! Betting on a lot of laughter.

End of Year BLOW OUT sale begins Friday 12/30 and goes through Sunday 1/1/12! All regular priced product is 20% off. Plus there will be three bins of cardstock, paper pads and embellishments on sale.

Thanks,
Adriana

Home Decor Inspiration

2011-12-16T09:50:00.000-08:00

Paper Vineyard has custom wood frames that are 24" x 24". They perfectly show off a 12 x 12 spot in the middle for your favorite scrapbook page. The frame was designed with a scrapbooker in mind as it is so easy to trade out the middle section with your current favorite page.The frames are $40 and come plain jane bare. This allows you to spend a little bit of time to make it your very own treasure. With normal acrylic paint we used a foam brush and turned the plain jane look into simple basic black. Most crafters have a stash of acrylic paint. The frame took two coats and approximately 45 minutes of painting and drying time. After the frame was dry, we used a stencil and another acrylic paint and added some accent flourishes on two of the corners. Again with the foam brush. The paint was left a little heavy on the edges that added some great dimension. Pulled the stencil straight up.

The finished product is very simple, clean lines but beautiful to display your artwork treasures.

New Deal from San Tan News

2011-12-14T13:12:00.001-08:00

Paper Vineyard signed up with New Offers Weekly and we are happy happy happy to have this calendar kit as a deal this week. SIGN Up for San Tan Sun News new coupon program! New Offers Weekly (now!) offers 50% and more discounts: http://www.newoffersweekly.com/ The PV Deal is in alignment with organizing your 2012 year!

The Deal from Paper Vineyard is a kit for a 2012 calendar. The calendar size is 8 x 8and features great pattern paper to show off your photos all year long. This kit is usually $40.
Here is January - April 2012.A gander at May - August 2012.And the final four months of the year!

If you buy it through New Deals this kit is $20!!! Can not beat this level of cuteness for 20 bucks.

Paper Christmas Tree

2011-12-13T14:55:00.000-08:00

As our store is a wee-bit smaller we needed to be creative on how we set up a tree in the store this year. The result is great! We cut out circles from an SEI Christmas collection in various sizes to create the outline of a tree.Each employee was given a 7" circle to decorate and enhance with their own photo and fun ideas. Everyone's was absolutely different and adorable.Sue featured her grandson listening out for Santa to approach.Have fun guessing who this fun 3 year old is. HUGE thank you to Amanda for organizing the tree building, assembling it and cutting out the star and trunk.

Feliz Navidad,
Adriana

PV Weekly Happenings

2011-12-12T12:35:00.000-08:00

Today, Monday 12/12 between 4pm - 7pm we will be making this adorable cup with its own cupcake! We will make a snowman tag and tie it off with ribbon and a spoon. Great idea for a teacher's gift, party favor or just to eat it up. Each project is $2.

Wednesday 12/14, Make 'n Stay starting at 8am. PV open's its doors early and you can come in for some hot cocoa and make a one-page layout for $5. This week's layout features Authentique paper and We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy for Ribbon.

Friday is Competitor Coupon Day. You can bring in your Michael's, Jo Anns or Hobby Lobby valid coupon. Limit one coupon per customer.

Dana's Mini Book Madness class this month features a Recipe Box. The first class is Friday 12/16 from 10:30am - 2:30pm. Class fee is $28.
Friends & Family crop night is the same day 5pm - 10pm. There is no charge, each person is asked to spend $10 in product while they are cropping. This is the last one of the year! Great time to finish (maybe start) some projects.

Saturday 12/17 Scrapbook Design Workshop is from 10:30am - 1pm and fee is $25. This month's project features a Christmas theme and the focus areas is color theory and utilizing patterned paper and cardstock.

Dana's Recipe box is offered again 2pm - 6p on Sat 12/17.

Sunday 12/18. Dana's Recipe box is offered for the last time this month from 1pm - 4pm.

Have a great week!
Adriana

Devotion Altered Book Kit

2011-12-07T10:46:00.001-08:00

Creative Imagination's Devoption line was used to make this altered book kit. The kit includes the chipboard shapes and embellishment pieces with matching paper already cut out to match. Everything pre-cut makes putting this book together incredibly easy. The entire kit is $30.

There is plenty of room for photos and other embellishments.

The kit includes a little bit of tulle to make the flower super sweet.

Baby It's Cold Outside.....

2011-12-05T05:23:00.001-08:00

Can you believe this weather?? Love having to bundle up and in planning my morning I know I need an extra ten minutes to warm up and defrost my car. LOVE IT!! Although I have grown up in Arizona and am use to not so cold winters this weather really makes me feel like Christmas is coming. Makes me want to put up those Christmas decorations up soon.

If you want to step out of the cold weather and check in with PV for some warmth this is the line up for the week. Hope to see you!

Monday 12/5: Make n Take Monday from 4p-7p. Making a cute mini mini book out of coin envelopes that you can glue dot in a gift card or add photos for a stocking stuffer. Each project is $2.

Tuesday 12/6: Store is closed. My Christmas decorations are going up!

Wednesday 12/7: First day of Make 'n Stay. For $5 you can make a one page scrapbook layout and then stay and do some cropping. Store opens early 8am, looking forward to scrapbooking with some early birds. PV will have hot chocolate available as well as this adorable "Jingle Bells" layout.

Thursday 12/8: Thursday Therapy has the crop room booked until 2pm and then the room is opened back up for open cropping.

Friday 12/9: Open cropping all day, PV is open 10am - 7pm. All We R Memory Keepers product will be on sale this day for 30% off. Happy Shopping!!

Saturday 12/10: Private Crop booked 10am - 4pm. Friends & Family Crop from 5pm - 10pm. There is no fee for F&F crop, we ask that each person spends $10 on product while cropping.

Sunday 12/11: Jean's Crafting Class features a 12 month round up. The class is from 1pm - 3:30pm and you will make 10 thank you cards for $15. All the cards have the same format and you get to pick from her stash of paper that she has rounded up from all her classes this past year.

Hope you stay warm and are blessed with the joy of crafting this week,
Adriana

Take on Time was TREMENDOUS!!

2011-12-04T11:04:00.001-08:00

Dana did an excellent job walking this group of ladies through twelve tags with countless techniques. Her helpers were fabulous and everyone stayed on track and mastered all twelve. Long but great day!!

Everybodies favorites were a little different but there was a whole lot of enjoying the distressing and the Big Shot!! When I say Big Shot I am not just talking about Time but also that wonderful machine.

Big thank you to everyone who participated!!

A Gift Idea Today

2011-12-02T12:16:00.000-08:00

This is a sample of Kaisercraft's Swap Card Photo Display all decorated up for Christmas. We used Wonder & Wishes collection from Little Yellow Bicycle. The frame is painted red and then loaded up with paper and embellishments. A couple of small pieces of ribbon from our stash and the sample is all done!

This particular sample is great to decorate your home during the festive season. If you add few photos into the individual spots it would make a great gift for a grandparent or special someone in your life.

The actual wooden tray retails for $24.99. It has 12-spots which also makes it great to display annual school photos or a mini calendar. What is great is that the individual spots are the perfect size for ATC (Artist Trading Cards), decorate with paper from your scraps or cut a 12x12 page of paper into 12 rectangles and arrange in the squares. Many many options to make this project your own!

Make 'n Stay...Starting Dec 7th

2011-12-01T08:07:00.000-08:00

Come join us for a fun morning of crafting. Beginning Wednesday, Dec 7th the store will open early at 8am for a $5 Scrapbook page Make 'n STAY! Come in pick up your kit but stay for no additional charge and crop. Paper Vineyard will have either hot tea or some hot cocoa to help with the overall warm and fuzzy feeling. The pages are adorable yet quick and easy. Knock out your page in 20 minutes or so and then spend the rest of the morning on your own projects.

The first week's project is "Jingle Bells" on December 7th:

December 14th will be "Always Smiling" featuring Authentique:

December 21st bring in your Cookie Exchange photos for this one:

December 28th is a Live Laugh Love featuring paper from Canvas Corp:

So if it works out for your schedule, drop off those kids at school and come in! Sweat pants and pony tails are more than welcome....the theme is comfy. And YES!! if you just want to get the kit you are more than welcome to pop in and get it but we would rather work towards the more the merrier way.

Happy Thursday,
Adriana

Mini Book Treasures with Debby Schuh

2011-11-30T06:56:00.000-08:00

Debby Schuh brings many years of both teaching and design experience to her popular paper art classes. Her students throughout the US and Europe and even Africa have enjoyed the innovative techniques with paper and products. design details, and the meaningful themes that she includes in her class projects.

Debby is blessed to be able to do what she loves… share her passion for telling our stories through photos and words in unique ways, travel the world and meet wonderful people, and do a little shopping along the way. You can read more about Debby’s adventures and ideas on her blog at debbyschuh.typepad.com.

The first class is on Sunday, Dec 4th. Grace's Notes will be from 11am-2pm and the class fee is $65. If you love vintage, layers of embellishments and detailed mini books this class is for you.

The second class she will teach on Sunday Dec 4th is the Christmas 2011 Album. Vintage Christmas beauty that can capture your 2011 photos or there is plenty of room to track your preparation for the 2011 event. The class is from 3pm-6pm and the class fee is $65.

There is limited seating for both classes. Debby has been requested by some of our regular loveable customers and the entire staff team is happy to bring her classic, organized and amazing projects here for you to complete and meet her! If you are taking both classes PV is providing food for you during the break. Call the store to book one of the final spots.

The Power Word For The Day .....Custom

2011-11-29T08:21:00.000-08:00

This week's design team challenge included one of our favorite things. That is to Customize a project to give someone a hand crafted gift that is perfect for them. Each of these ladies gave Paper Vineyard a six letter or less word that they wanted a custom book made of.

Gayl chose XMAS to make a Christmas gift for a friend.

Her "recipe" for the book includes:
Custom Chipboard Book - Grapevine Designs from Paper Vineyard
Letters inked - Tim Holtz Winter Distress Ink
Paper - Little Yellow Bicycle - "Wonder & Wishes", Best Creation Inc - "Merry Christmas", Cosmo Cricket
Chip Board Ornament - Ikea, "Merry" button Evalicious, Snow Flakes - Cost Plus

A fun aspect of making a "mini book" is that you can add so many different things to the book. This book features pockets, tags, book-in-a-book and a Christmas card that Gayl made in Jean's Crafting class.

Marijo picked a book that is very very close to her heart. Violet is the name of her granddaughter and she is going to love getting this book!

Marijo used different shades of violet cardstock from Bazzil to cover the chipboard book. She added purle ribbon from her stash and used her Cinch to pull it all together. Her final additions to the book are still underway as she is on a quest to collect purple inspired embellishments to make the book a one-of-a-kind for her one-of-a-kind granddaughter.

Starting December 1st there will be a "Check-In Deal" on Facebook. When you come into the store and check-in the deal will pop up and you can have paper purchased at Paper Vineyard cut to fit a custom book that you order. This is a minimum $13 savings. Normal turn around is two days to get your custom book completed. If you have ever traced a book and cut it out getting the paper cut to match is well worth it!! This is a great time to LIKE us on Facebook to get this deal.

Thanks to Marijo & Gayl for putting together these books. Over the next couple of weeks the store will be proud to show you some more samples.

Happy Tuesday,
Adriana

Happy Black Friday!!

2011-11-25T09:12:00.000-08:00

Today is the one time a year we sell $50 gift certificates for $35. FANTASTIC to buy one for yourself or as a gift.

Also great buys today include:
50% off of all Grapevine Designs
30% off of all Sizzix product
$25.00 for a 100 American Craft Cardstock pad (normal MSRP $50)
50cents for a 4 ft spool of satin ribbon (normal MSRP $1)

Hope to see you today and take advantage of our sales!!

First Holiday Project For Me On Bacteria Day

2011-11-23T05:49:00.000-08:00

For me personally I can feel the buzz of the holiday season! I happily took a few days off this week and yesterday Perry High School was closed due to "bacteria" being found in the library. So suprisingly the boys had a day off with me. Of course here in Chandler/Gilbert area we are not accustomed to what to do on our version of a "Snow Day" so we improvised.

Of course we all slept in (that is a given with teenage boys) then mom made pecan pancakes, bacon, eggs and hashbrowns. I snuck outside and enjoyed my latest magazines and my first cup of hot chocolate for the season. Perfect morning!

Then I was able to play in my craft room in the afternoon. Put together one of the latest Grapevine Design Christmas items. A tree separated in four pieces. On the one I put together I did pictures of Andreas' first Christmas last year featured on the beautiful new Wonder collection from Authentique.

Added a little zip dry to glue down the paper. Then chalked the edges with my favorite Chestnut Roan. Follwed with matting my photos on Bazzil Kisses cardstock.

Tied all the pieces together with some Olive Swirl Organdy ribbon and my first Christmas project is already up! I love easy peasy items.

Grapevine Design Christmas items such as this tree, SANTA book, MERRY book, PEACE book and Jolly book will all be 50% off on Black Friday. Great ideas for presents!

Have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving,
Adriana

You Go Girl!!

2011-11-22T06:23:00.000-08:00

This year I boycotted watching the Kardashian show because Kortney and her comments on being a mother just bugged me, yes she irriated me enough to turn off E! tv....well for a little bit. I did break my rule a little and created a mental loop hole to justify watching the Kim & Kris wedding. Just couldn't help myself.

When Kim meets with the wedding coordinator there is a conversation that she wants her colors to be black, white and bling. Probably the only thing I was in touch with on this four hour wedding show is that bling should be in every color chart!

Stickles are a great invention that allows the paper crafter to add a little bit of sparkle that absolutely can finish off a project perfectly. This glitter glue from Ranger comes in 42 colors in addition to 42 Distress Stickles, 6 Glitz Stickles and 12 Ice Stickles. Tim Holtz loves to add lots of choices to this world's color chart!

Marijo of our design team used the latest Glam Pink stickles to dress up her gorgeous tag. Up close and personal with this tag you can see how the stickles just adds the right amount of ooohh & aaahhh to her beautiful tag.

Sue of Paper Vineyard used stickles and bling to dress up these new chipboard ornaments designed by Grapevine Design. Simple paper on the ornaments is absolutely dressed up when the stickles are added some holiday sparkle.

I know Marilyn Monroe and Kim Kardashian feel "Diamonds are a girl's best friend" but heck it is a recession and most of us don't have their assets. Lets add the bling within budget and from an amazing and powerful bottle of stickles.

Have a great and sparkly day,
Adriana

Big Week...Big Thanks!!

2011-11-21T08:57:00.000-08:00

Can you feel the holiday scurry beginning. I hope everyone had a great weekend and of course most of us are getting through this Monday telling ourselves that it is a short week.

At Paper Vineyard we have a few things going on as well. Tonight there is a Make 'n Take from 4p to 7p. This week's project is $2 and features a Thanksgiving Card. Great to make one to give to a hostess or friend this Thursday.

~Store is closed on Tuesday.
~On Wednesday we are open 10am - 5pm. Closing a little early so we can get our food-groove on. Check our blog for early sale items..
~Store is closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving.
~Friday we open at 10am and our Black Friday specials begin right away! Our customers love the buy a $50 gift certificate for $35 which is only available on Black Friday 11/25. You can call in with a credit card to purchase the gift certificate to make sure you lock in the deal. We will also have three chipboard books 50% off, specials on ribbon and cardstock. More details on Wednesday.
~Saturday Jean's Crafting Class is 10:30am - 1pm and the class is making 10 Christmas cards featuring new paper from Reminisce. The class fee is $25. In the afternoon there is a Super Saturday Crop from 1p-9p. The crop is $20 and includes pizza and a dessert bar to pump up the volume on your sugar intake. Anything to make your paper crafting even sweeter.

Have a safe and happy holiday week.
Adriana

The Magic of Chipboard

2011-11-19T07:18:00.000-08:00

Grapevine Designs is designing and cutting chipboard words and images to meet the requests of our customers. Many new words and phrases are available. A common question we get is "what can I do with the chipboard?" Our staff team is going to have a lot of fun showing you what you can do to transform basic chipboard into a featured item in your crafting project.

These words are very simple. The font elegant enough to fit on any scrapbook page, card or shadow box. Today we are going to talk about adding "BLING" to your chipboard. This simple technique of blinging out the chipboard is quick and is very easy to match your current project.

Paint or gesso can be applied with a paint brush directly onto the chipboard. It takes less than 10 minutes to dry. In this sample self-adhesive dots from Els Craft Designs are being applied. The artist (our own Amanda) is changing up the sizes and colors to decorate the word. You can use any brand of three dimensional self adhesive bling or you can use Zip Dry, 3 in 1 glue or your favorite liquid glue to glue down rhinestones.

The finished BLING sample is a magic touch to any project! Remember Paper Vineyard can cut your custom words, if you want to bling out a name, place or thing of your choice just let us know.

Happy Crafting,
Adriana

LOVE LOVE LOVE New Product Arriving At Store

2011-11-17T04:54:00.001-08:00

The new Enchanted line by Bo Bunny is here and they have added black glitter to the classic black and white paper. The pages are stunning. Embellishments include 3D pieces, buttons, stamps, stickers and chipboard pieces. Perfect for a Valentine book, Anniversary Book or Bride Book. This photo is a mini-book sample in the store of this collection. The "LOVE" in black glitter is how the paper came. The collection will make whatever project you choose come together easily!!

As the mama bear to two male cubs it isn't always easy to find scrapbooking paper that satisfies the male world. We R Memory Keepers new Vintage-T collection is here and it is an amazing combination of Vintage images blended in with silver metal and denim highlights. The photos are of a scrapbook page and a card. The vintage images such as a 60's camper trailer, Pacman, cassette tape the ever famous "Don't worry, Be Happy" saying add a whimsical touch to the line.

Adding to our Canvas Corp inventory with new canvas and burlap pieces. These are great to make banners, sew onto a card or create a gift tag. The other item customers are going crazy for is their kraft paper. This page layout and card sample feature the Live Laugh Love paper. Paper Vineyard also has Halloween and Christmas patterns on the kraft paper.
I can't talk about new inventory without doing some bragging about Grapevine Designs. Sue & Amanda have been working (maybe a little design playing) putting together new inventory for Paper Vineyard. Check out the new font set. Made from chipboard it is sold as a set of 31 pieces the alphabet plus one extra of the a, e, i, o and u. The lettes are approximately 2" tall. As with any chipboard product they can be painted, stickled, embossed and more.

So many options....so little time! Thanks for taking the time to check in with our blog. Check back in tomorrow to see more Grapevine Design product.
Gracias,
Adriana

Vintaj Baby!!!

2011-11-14T23:18:00.000-08:00

Oh wow.... LOVE the new Vintaj metal goodness. Adriana told you it was coming and the design team DID NOT disappoint!

Up first is Marijo's BEAUTIFUL mix of metal, beading and acetate! GORGEOUS!!! While this Vintag metal flower is looking stunning on the cord necklace.... could you imagine what this piece would do for a scrapbook page???? NICE!

Gayl did quite a bit to her piece to make it the perfect accompaniment to just about any project you can think of. She stamped and embossed using UTEE, fine-line gold. Applied Tsukineko glaze came back over with a layer of Fuschia Staz On and another of black then added the metal flower piece from her own personal stash and a small red glass bead. Wonderful Gayl!!!

And finally is Pam's OUT OF THIS WORLD message board. What a GORGEOUS backdrop to show off those Vintage dragonflies! hahahahahaha! So Pam used the Paper Vineyard wood frame with insert

(she finished the insert with thin cork board on one side, and batting, fabric, and ribbon on the other) that she painted with Plaid Folk Art acrylic paint in Yellow Citron, while still wet, she applied mod podge and rubbed with a rag. Then she applied Glitter Ritz glitter in Latte and Java Bean. Finally she used DeNami Design ribbon with Prima embellishments and (OF COURSE) Vintaj dragonflies. Simply Stunning!!!

Here is a close up of Pam's dragon flies! Clearly it's time to stock up on the Vintaj. What an incredible addition to ANY project!!!

Happenings This Week at Paper Vineyard

2011-11-08T07:00:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!

Due to our recent move to suite 32 I did not get my act together for the Design Team so they have this week off. Next week they will be featuring a design challenge using the Vintaj product.

Just wanted to give an overview of what is happening in the store this week. We have a lot of different things going on. Hopefully, something will peak your interest.

Thursday 11/10/11 - Copic Techniques 5:30pm-8:30pm This is a Copic technique class taught by Danielle. Class fee is $32 This is a "revolving" 12 point program that will feature a new project each month. The class will cover three to four techniques each month. This will be a regular club/meeting, very easy for folks to come in every month or skip a month and drop right back in to learn more magic that can be done with your Copic markers. This month's techniques are (1) Basics, what is alcohol ink? What are copic markers? (2) Getting to know Copic coloring (3) Basic blending with copic markers and (4) coloring teqchniques.

Friday 11/11/11 - Mini Book Madness 10:30am - 2:30pm Dana guides you to make a stunning Fall book featuring the Forever Fall collection from Bo Bunny. Class fee is $45.

Friday 11/11/11 - Friends & Family Crop 5pm - 10pm. The crop is free but everyone is required to purchase $10 of product during the course of the crop.

Saturday 11/12/11 - Twilight Release Crop 10am - 7pm. Crop fee is $30. Watch all three Twilight movies, two make 'n takes, games and prizes PLUS a discount ticket to see the new movie on Thursday 11/18 at 8pm all for $30. If you just want to do the Make n Takes they are available 1p-6pm. The Make n Takes are $5 for Notes Journal and $8 for Trio. Join in the fun!

Sunday 11/13/11 - Copic Airbrush Class 1p-4p. Class fee is $35. Learn how to play with Copic markers with an air compressor. An amazing technique class. Class is designed and taught by Danielle.

Monday 11/14/11 - Make 'n Take from 4p-7p. Each project is $2. This week's project is a card.

Hope something intrigues you! Have a great Tuesday.
Adriana

Now Hear This!

2011-11-05T08:45:00.000-07:00

YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE: Paper Vineyard now has DISCOUNT tickets available for OPENING NIGHT of Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1 for sale at the store. We have booked our own theater JUST for our Paper Vineyard peeps but there are limited seats still available and these babies are going to go fast. If you are interested in joining us, call the store at 480-656-2058. When they are gone, they are gone. Here are the deets -

Opening night showing: November 18, 2011

Showtime: 8 p.m.

Where: Chandler Fashion Harkins

For those who would like to participate in our release party festivities as well, we have the make n' take samples set up by the customer service counter... be sure to check them out. Seating is limited for the release parties too... I think there may only be 19 spots total available for BOTH parties... so get em while they last!!!

Dana's November Mini Book Madness Class

2011-11-04T08:59:00.000-07:00

This month's Mini Book Madness class designed and taught by Dana Edwards features the stunning colors, dragonflys and sunflowers of Bo Bunny's Forever Fall collection.

The class is offered three times during the month. Class fee is $45. Each class is limited to eight spots so if you are interested sign up soon! Class options are:
~Friday, Nov 11th 10:30am-2:30pm
~Saturday, Nov 19th 2pm-6pm
~Sunday, Nov 20th 1pm - 5pm

A great book to capture all you are thankful for.

New Space & New Smiles

2011-11-03T12:11:00.001-07:00

The store has officially moved to suite #32. About twenty feet closer to Florindinos :)

New inventory from Tim Holtz, Sizzix, Simple Stories, Authentique, Stampendous and the SMASH journals are all here for you to come in and check out.

There are two Friends & Family crops this week. One on Friday 11/4 and Saturday 11/5. Both are from 5pm - 10pm and there is no fee for the crop but everyone is required to spend $10 in product purchases during the crop.

Hope to see you soon!
Adriana

When The Title Says It All

2011-11-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

Ok, with all the ruckus of our move to the suite next door, things have been quite crazy. So to stop and spend some "me" time crafting, well, you KNOW I was all over that. ENTER this week's design team challenge.

I've been working for some time on my Vacation 2011 scrapbook and this week's challenge featuring our very own Grapevine Designs custom cuts made this particular page a breeze because sometimes the title really does say it all. Grapevine Designs cut the word "La Push" in two different fonts for me to use on this page. I used Tattered Angels glimmer mist to color them. MY title is actually a quote from the movie Twilight which is the reason I went to La Push... is anyone else excited about the release of Breaking Dawn??? Whoops, I segued! Here's my page:

For Marijo, the title SO says it all!!! hahahahahaha! For her, Grapevine designs cut her last name "Swartz". Honestly, Marijo's wall plaque is beautiful and elegant and really showcases how the right titling makes a project really pop. With little else, a special-cut title gives any project the WOW factor. Marijo used the "Swartz" from Grapevine Designs (of course), Tim Holtz Distress Coredinations paper in red and tan, additional words cut on black vinyl using her Cricut and applied to the outside of the glass in a frame from her local dollar store. Nice Marijo... very nice!

That does it for today, but before I go, I just want to congratulate Kathy Uhles. She is the winner of yesterday's drawing and has won herself a 30 second shopping spree. Stay tuned for the fun details from her experience grabbing as much product as she can get her hands on in the store in 30 seconds. Everything she grabs she gets free..... how fun is THAT!?! We're all jealous of you Kathy!!!

Have a great one gang and we'll see you at the new store tomorrow!!!

Get A Jump On Some Unique Christmas Cards

2011-10-27T13:29:00.000-07:00

Jean's Crafting Class is this Saturday and the class is making adorable "pull" cards. Each card has a sentiment that you pull out of the bottom of the card. Festive, cute and your Christmas card recipients will love the unique card.
The class is from 10:30am - 1pm on Saturday 10/29. The class fee is $25 and you will make six cards PLUS decorate a tin. The tin is great to put a gift card in for a present. Come join in the fun!

A Journey Into Fall

2011-10-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

Heya crafters!!! Danielle a.k.a. FitterTwit here to showcase our design team's journey into fall!!! This week our design team was challenged to use the BEAUTIFUL "Joy of the Journey" stamp with the new Reminisce Thanksgiving paper line. Yah, I'd say they nailed this one!!!!

Marijo created this GORGEOUS decor project by using a frame that she had around the house, covered the mat with Reminisce Autumn Harvest paper, distressed the white paper stamped with "The Joy of The Journey" using Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink, and cut the flowers from the Cricut Flower Shoppe cartridge using a quilling tool to roll the center. The flowers were cut from Coredinations Tim Holtz & Ranger Distress collection, Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo. She glued the flower on the front of the frame with Beacons 3-in-1 Advanced craft glue.... we LOVE that stuff!!!! This project is PERFECT for the fall season!!!

Next up is Gayl's Fall tag! The Reminisce paper she used for this tag is WONDERFUL with her oh-so-mad skills with that sewing machine of hers!!! She embellished that wonderful "Joy of The Journey" message using Mulberry paper leaves, Coffee Stickles and an acrylic leaf and beads from her own stash. The gold, browns and sparkle work wonderfully together on this AMAZING tag!!!

Krista actually used the "Joy of The Journey" stamp as the sentiment on the inside of this inventive card. I purposely use the word inventive because Krista actually used THE PAPER BAG that her products came in at the store to create those whimsical flowers!!! Of course she incorporated that warm Reminisce paper with Spellbinders dies, tulle, ribbon and decorative brads to create a stunning dimensional card that is sure to put ANYONE in an Autumn state of mind!!!! Again, the stitching is just a wonderful surprise!!! Don't you just love paper stitches???? WE DO! :)

So that is just about it for today. Thank you for joining us for another week of inspiration as we start to move into the Thanksgiving season. Paper Vineyard is here to help you with your holiday planning needs. From invitations to table-scapes to home decor and even custom holiday albums, Paper Vineyard is sure to help you cultivate some creativity this holiday season!!!

Make A Connection

2011-10-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

There are people out there who just don't get paper crafting. I have an uncle in particular who always asks how my "Crapbooking" store is going. He is just bitter because it is one of my aunts favorite places to be and shop :) He'll get over it.

I started with cardmaking and it is still my favorite. Love to make them and really really love it when the person who receives it adores it and appreciates the time it took for me to make it.

Making that connection...reaching out and making someone smile is a great reason to paper craft.

This cute card sends the clear message to "Call Me." Anyone can use this card to make a connection. It is a Unity Itty Bitty stamp. Card is using paper from Bo Bunny's ETC line plus some simple metal eyelets and a Tim Holtz pin.

If you want to connect with your inner crafter our 25% off all product sale continues today. There is space for open cropping this afternoon. We are open from 10am - 8pm. Kristan is sweet enough to be here from 11am - 12pm for a FREE make n take.

Thanks for reading,
Adriana

The Twilight Zone

2011-10-21T16:31:00.000-07:00

This is my baby boy TJ (now currently 18) with his school photo in the 3rd grade at Humphrey Elementary. Simple layout showing off his big smile. He has always been super smart, great sense of humor and ...well we will call it an active mind. He is currently a senior at Perry High.

Enter the Twilight Zone... he has a job at Fry's Grocery store and now gets the pleasure of shopping with his mama so I can score the employee discount. On a totally side note, this makes me very very happy. We shop, talk, he fills me in on the inner workings of Fry's it really is a good time. We get to the register and I start unloading the groceries pretty much like I have done for the past 23 years. He stops me. He tells me to move out of the way because I am doing it wrong. I am so stunned I can not speak. He simply walks over tells me to move out of the way and begins doing it himself. I'm telling you...the Twilight Zone!

I whip out my blackberry to score some photographic evidence. Say a quick prayer of thanks and head home with my groceries. Two days later I am dropping him off at work and at the busy shopping center I do a double take because there are horses in the parking lot. Again, whip out the blackberry.

I am declaring the corner of Gilbert & Chandler Blvd a new Twilight Zone. One I plan to visit more often.

Thanks for reading,
Adriana

Mini-Mini Cute-Cute Book

2011-10-19T06:22:00.000-07:00

These mini-mini books are made from four coin envelopes glued together with the flap on the back of the envelope to the front of the next envelope. I used Zip Dry but really any adhesive will do.
I made both of these albums with in 45 minutes with three double sided paper, a couple of different punches and on the monkey one I used a sticker sheet. The coin envelopes are approximately 3" x 6" so you could technically put these togethers with two 12x2 patterned papers. I just did three because I like the paper and wanted the pages different.

These samples were done up with Reminisce monkey paper and Marikkesh from Creative Imagingations. For the tabs of the books I used my circle punch, decorated them up a bit and glued them so they were half way sticking out.

I already used the Monkey one as a shower gift. Used a glue dot to secure a gift card on the last page and gave to my cousin to load in baby pictures of her about to be delivered bundle of joy. She loved it!!

Thanks for reading,
Adriana

DT Faves!

2011-10-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

Ok gang, Danielle a.k.a. FitterTwit here with a REALLY fun one for our design team. This week the design team was asked what OUR favorites are; our favorite tools, products and papers!!! So buckle up and pay attention.... I'm sure this one won't disappoint!!!

First up is Marijo's project featuring her all-time-favorite Cricut Expression!!! She created this treat bag to share with our wonderful Cricut Swarm gang at Paper Vineyard. She actually made one of these babies for EVERYONE (ahem... including me! YUMMY!)! So, along with her Cricut Expression, she used Bazzill cardstock, paper from Authentique's Halloween line, Happy Hauntings Cricut cartridge, Peachy Keen stamps for the faces, Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake Art Cricut cartridge, Orange Peel Stickles, and bags from her own stash. These treat bags were nothing less than spectacular for the swarm and PERFECT for our DT challenge!!!

Next up is Pam's GORGEOUS card featuring some pretty, pretty embellishing! I'm completely gaga for that torn paper mixed with blingy pearls! For this one Pam used Bazzill cardstock in Lily White, Core-Dinations Tim Holtz Distress Broken China, Crown stamp from Stampendous, ColorBox ink, Kaiser Craft Pearls, Aqua tulle, Hampton Arts embossing powder, Memory Keepers metal eyelets and the Crop-a-dile to set them. This is simply beautiful Pam!

Pam also created a second regal masterpiece using the Stampendous crown stamp. Along with that she used Bazzill cardstock in Lily White, Core-Dinations Tim Holtz Distress Crushed Olive, Little Yellow Bicycle's All Things Princess & Tiny Yellow Stripes, ColorBox Pigment Brush Pad in Shabby Pink and Orchid, Kaiser Craft Rhinestones and pearls, Recollections Lace tape and Hampton Arts embossing powder. The Fiskars trimmer was also used for both projects. That trimmer is definitely a favorite tool for sure!!!

Gayl created this WONDERFUL book. While it looks like she used quite a few delicious tools to create this (Big shot for the Tim Holtz Tree die, The Cinch to bind the book and her sewing machine for those awesome stitches) wonderful book, Gayl focused on the flower using Authentique paper and 3 different 5-petal punches in graduated sizes. She also used the Crop-a-dile to punch hole in the center of the flower to fasten all layers with a brad. She spritz the flower with water, pulled petals up and crumbled. She finished off the flower by bringing the petals down with an awl and arranging them to desired effect. Not only do we get to enjoy this wonderful book, we also got a mini tutorial... thank you Gayl!

Krista gives us this GORGEOUS card also using the Authentique paper, her Spellbinders and.... oooooo.... it looks like her sewing machine!!! It's easy to see why these are her favorites!!!

Welp... we end this with me. MY card is created using Authentique Paradise and Euphoria papers, Bazzill Cardstock, a Creative Impressions Rub on, the Home Pro to attach the antique brass nailheads on the bottom of the card, Technique Tuesday Sweet Somethings "Best Friend Ever" sentiment, The Big Shot with Spellbinders dies, and ColorBox Chestnut Roan Chalk ink. Of all my favorites, I'd have to say that my HomePro (also known as the beloved Purple Monster) would have to be my favorite. I'm finding that it is my "go-to" tool for just about EVERY project.

Now with all these fabulously favorite products and tools, don't forget the most important of them all.... YOUR CREATIVITY!!! None of these creations happen without first doing SOMETHING. That's where Paper Vineyard comes in.... we're here to help you cultivate your most valuable tool. Come visit Paper Vineyard anytime and one of the girls on the floor would be happy to get you movin in the right direction.

That does it for today, I'm hoping our DT favorites has inspired you to find your own faves.

*** Update: Kelly submitted this GORGEOUS craft paper card last week and SOMEONE (uh, me!) forgot to post it. This one SHOULD NOT be missed!!! She used a GORGEOUS Stampendous image with LOT'S of bling to create this masterpiece. And I'm thinking that it is perfect for this challenge because I'm suspect that bling might just be Kelly's favorite! LOL! CHECK IT OUT!!!

Bride or Baby To Be

2011-10-17T08:25:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of milestones in a given lifetime. Here are a couple of books we have in the store that will help you capture a couple of moments. Grapevine Designs has three new Plain-Jane BRIDE, GROOM & LOVE chipboard book. The Plain-Jane version lets you make the book to match your color choices and theme. Here is a sample of our BRIDE book all decorated for a store sample. Ranger crackle paint was used on the letters. The letters are separate chipboard pieces you can easily paint, shimmer and paper then adhere to book. Makes for decorating the book easier.
The sample includes beautiful paper and embellishments from Creative Imagingations and Petaloo flowers. Finished book is 6" x 12" and provides great space for your photos.

If you are working on the baby milestone we have a large cake book that can be decorated for a baby book or birthday book. This particular sample is with paper from four different vendors. We just looked for creme, pink and brown colors that complimented each other.
We used the Copic air compressor to edge the book and to paint the chipboard pieces we used to trim the pages.
Book is close to 12 x 12. Depending on how you bind the book you could simply bind for a book or tie together the edges on different sides to have it stand up for display. Either way it is a fun way to show off your pictures!

Paper Vineyard is kicking off a sale today! Come in and save 25% on all product, that includes these chiboard book kits.

Playing Hooky!

2011-10-16T06:35:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that in high school I was a nerdy goody two-shoes who just didn't cut class. This past Friday I did the grown up version of playing hooky and scheduled myself off of the calendar to spend a day crafting at my wonderful friend Jean's house.

I was suppose to be there at 10am until 9pm but life (those pesky responsibilities) always mess with a good plan. Arrived at 11:30am and left by 5:00 pm BUT had the most amazing and productive time. These wonderful ladies made my day special. Jean is on the left, new friend Loretta, Ms Lee and Cindy. Girlfriend laughter is one of my favorite things and it was a very good day. Not pictured is Nicole who left early to pick up her girls from school. Einstein that I am forgot to get a group shot before she left. However, I am mentally inserting her in this photo :)Did I mention productive.....look ma at what I made in one day! Three cards, two layouts, two cheesy mini-mini books and a small hanging picture. For anyone who tries to keep up with a blog I am gleeful on the inside with the ulterior motive of look how many blog postings I can get out of this! So make sure you act surprise if you see any of these goodies up close in later postings.

Jean was an amazing host and gave us all goody bags of product. We are all suppose to send her photos of a project we make with the goods. Plan on working on mine this afternoon.

Love the girlfriend day! Thanks for reading,
Adriana

Bling, Bling, Bling

2011-10-12T19:00:00.000-07:00

Grapevine Designs has created a new book that features a high heel on the front cover. The book also contains the word "Bling" and a chipboard ring. The high heel comes in chipboard layers so you can play up the colors and the accessories.

This book would be fantastic for bridal shower, bachelorette party or a girls night out. The sample is done up with a mix of Kaisercraft, Anna Griffin and Teresa Collins paper. The shoe and ring are all blinged out with our favorite Elizabeth Craft Designs.

We used Zip Dry to glue everything together and our wonderful Cinch to bind it all up. Hope your feet come in to check out the shoe possibilities.

It's Stampendous!!!

2011-10-11T00:06:00.000-07:00

Hi crafters!!! Danielle a.k.a. FitterTwit here with another installment from our wonderful design team... well, at least part of it. With the long holiday weekend and kids on break from school, a few of our teamies are taking a little break. The rest of the design team, however, turned up the heat to bring you some FANTASTIC designs featuring Stampendous images. Let's check it out!!!

We're gonna kick this off with Gayl's surprising project. It's a rare thing for Gayl to show off her card making prowess so I'm even more thrilled to not only share it with you all, but REALLY see how she put this one together cuz it's GORGEOUS!!!
The image is Stampendous stamp called Christmas Dreams. She added painted Radiant Pearls and flocking and finished with a gift tag. I'm LOVING all those holiday layers to her matting. This card is just so vintage and absolutely wonderful!!!!

Next up we have Marijo who is trying her hand with my beloved Copic Markers! I'd say she's well on her way by the looks of her AWESOME winter card!!! It looks incredible!!! Tis the season, right folks???

Here is a close-up of Marijo's masterpiece. It features Angel Kisses stamp from Stampendous with the image being stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black (important when coloring with Copic markers). For the snow and the fur on the jackets, she used a Snow Marker made by Marvy Uchida. It certainly gave her beautiful creation quite the dimensional effect!!!

With these amazing cards I'm reminded that Christmas is right around the corner. If you're looking to get started on your Christmas cards this year, head over to Paper Vineyard for everything you need to get started right and see these wonderful creations in person! Don't forget that Grapevine Designs for the holidays is also in-store now!!! What a great way to get a jump on gift-giving too!!! See you there!

UPDATE: TWO ADDITIONS!!! Not that I'm a slacker or anything, but here's MY addition to this week's DT Stampendous Challenge... sorry so late! It features Stampendous' Tweet Top Hat (minus the birds) Copic markers (hiya Marijo), Graphic 45 paper, Bazzill paper and my beloved Purple Monster (for the corners).

And Krista ran her colored Grapes Stampendous stamp. She sure knows what she's doing with those Copic markers. Easy to see why Copics are such a favorite around here!!!

Debby Schuh is coming to teach at PV

2011-10-09T18:00:00.000-07:00

Debby Schuh brings many years of both teaching and design experience to her popular paper art classes. Her students throughout the US and Europe and even Africa have enjoyed the innovative techniques with paper and products. design details, and the meaningful themes that she includes in her class projects.

Debby is blessed to be able to do what she loves… share her passion for telling our stories through photos and words in unique ways, travel the world and meet wonderful people, and do a little shopping along the way. You can read more about Debby’s adventures and ideas on her blog at debbyschuh.typepad.com.

The first class is on Sunday, Dec 4th. Grace's Notes will be from 11am-2pm and the class fee is $65. If you love vintage, layers of embellishments and detailed mini books this class is for you.

The second class she will teach on Sunday Dec 4th is the Christmas 2011 Album. Vintage Christmas beauty that can capture your 2011 photos or there is plenty of room to track your preparation for the 2011 event. The class is from 3pm-6pm and the class fee is $65.

There is limited seating for both classes. Debby has been requested by some of our regular loveable customers and the entire staff team is happy to bring her classic, organized and amazing projects here for you to complete and meet her! There are more photos and information on our website www.papervineyard.com

Easy Peasy Halloween Decoration

2011-10-05T07:26:00.001-07:00

We had a lot of fun decorating a Halloween table for the front of the store. If you are looking for a project to do with your kids the spider decoration is a great one. We do recommend this as a parent child duo project. It is not difficult at all just time consuming and a wee bit tedious. However, the results are fantastic!

Cut a foam circle in half and cut or punch a bunch of paper circles. Our spiders are made with a couple shades of purple and some grey paper. Roll each individual circle in a tight cone and insert into foam. Add pipe cleaners, fuzzy ball and googly eyes to finish off this fun decoration.

Happy Wednesday!
Adriana

Show Us Your...... State.

2011-10-04T10:11:00.000-07:00

This week the design team was challenged to pick their favorite state and Grapevine Designs (only at Paper Vineyard) went to work custom cutting those states for us to use in our design team projects. This is what we came up with:

Everyone, please give a warm welcome to our newest teamie KRISTA!!! Krista created this WONDERFUL album cover featuring her favorite state of Texas! And Krista certainly got into the spirit of her favorite state with the red, white and blue coloring as the perfect backdrop for her Grapevine Designs "Texas". And check out all that stitching! Woo Wee!

Marijo is up next with this WONDERFUL two page fall layout! Perfect timing too with the season change. Marijo used the Grapevine Designs "Pennsylvania" wording on Bazzill cardstock. She also used her Cricut with Plantin Schoolbook and Creative Memories Cheerful Seasons cartridges finishing everything off with Colorbox Chestnut Roan ink. As Adriana would say.... "SUWEET"!

Next up is Gayl's enchanting album cover.... she SO good with these!!! Gayl used Authentique paper (she loves this stuff), rabbit and "Georgia" cut by Grapvine Designs, button embellishment, Bazzill bling, incredible stitching, and Diamond Glaze for the glossy finish! Great stuff Gayl!

Mindy, who also worked on an album cover used the "Arizona" Grapevine Designs cut with Mt. Vernon Floral paper by Daisy D's and Mabel "Joy" by My Mind's Eye. She added that special touch by embellishing with ribbon, brads and the beloved HomePro (also known at The Purple Monster). She inked "Arizona" using Time Holtz alcohol ink in gold. I'm thinking this is going to be a special, special album!

Pam made this exciting layout using Bazzill cardstock (lily white) as a backdrop, Coredinations for the layered torn border, distress inks from Tim Holtz (Crushed Olive, Barn Door, Rusty Hinge, and Faded Jeans) to color the Grapevine diecut "Alaska", natural chipboard American Crafts Thickers (Sunrise), and Tim Holtz Idea-Ology lavish rosette and ruffle trims. She finished the beautiful layout by edging the entire page in Colorbox Chestnut Roan. I'm thinking I could use a trip to the Alaska Zoo... looks like it was a really fun day!

Finally is MY layout. I just recently returned from my vacation and have THREE locations to include in my scrapbook; one of the locations was Forks, Washington (you all HAVE to know by now that I'm sort of a Twilight freak). So for this layout I used Adirondack Acrylic Paint to stencil around the word "Washington" directly on the white backing the die cut word came on. I then peeled the word away (to repaint another color and use somewhere else in my book) to reveal what looks like a "mossy" title. I LOVE IT!!! I also used Tim Holtz Forest Moss Distress paper, Tim Holtz Grunge paper that I painted with brown Kaiser Craft Acrylic paint. I also used American Craft Campy Trails Box Park Forest paper as the background and finished this baby off with Purple Monster nailheads..... EVERYWHERE!!! I finished this out with rub on transfers and a Cricut-cut title "Moss" to go with my title cut with the Old West cartridge. I'm transported right back to my trip in August! :)

So what do you think? Aren't these albums and layouts PERFECT with the new Grapevine Designs State word cutouts? These are just one of the MANY new offerings by the new Grapevine Designs at Paper Vineyard. Swing by and check out ALL the wonderful designs to choose from. Paper Vineyard is definitely a one-stop-shop for those wonderful memories!!!

The Winner Is.....

2011-10-03T14:09:00.001-07:00

Danielle's Elegant Halloween book is the winner of the Design Team book competition. A HUGE Thank you to all our customers who took the time to check out the books an cast a vote. Very excited about the turn out and it was very very hard to choose. If you love this book Danielle will be teaching a version of this on November 5th from 1p-4p.
Danielle won an I-Rock bag filled with goodies that will rock her world.
We had a mini kid's class going this morning and one of the kiddos picked out the customer winner which is Leslie Pine! She won her own bag filled with paper and embellishments. Congratulations to both lucky winners.
Plus I want to thank the members of the Design team Mindy, Gayl and Marijo for making such exquisite books for us to show off here in the store. Speaking of prizes we are ready for our full day of cropping on Saturday October 8th! During the 12-hour crop we will play our version of "Let's Make A Deal" Every hour you have a choice of picking two copic markers or one of 12 bags. There are still a few spots open if you are feeling lucky to crop and win!

Jean's Crafting Class kicks off Christmas

2011-10-02T19:59:00.000-07:00

Jean has always had amazing Christmas classes and her first Christmas card class of 2011 is just as amazing. This class is set for Saturday 10/29 at 10:30am to 1:00pm. The class fee is $25 and you will make six Christams cards plus decorate a tin to store them in. Great project to keep for yourself or to give away as a gift.
The cards and tin are decorated with Crate Paper collection. Each card pulls out to display a holiday message.
Super cute and whimsical. Your will need to bring your basic tool kit and prepared to put together the paper, use border punches and enhance with stickers to make each card so special.
These cards and the tin will be in the store on Wednesday 10/5 for you to check them out...and sign up!

Halloween Mini Madness Book

2011-09-29T08:26:00.001-07:00

Dana has out done herself this time. She has designed her own Haunted House shape, worked with Grapevine Designs to cut the chipboard and all the matching paper out to create this one of a kind Halloween treasure. The book is approximately 8 1/2" x 11" an amazing size to show off your spooky photos.

The class is offered four times but there are only 25 books available. If you are interested sign up soon! Class fee is $50 and the class times are:
Friday 10/7 10:30am - 2:30pm
Friday 10/7 5:30pm - 9:30pm
Sunday 10/16 1pm - 5pm
Saturday 10/22 2pm - 6pm

Call the store to sign up! The pictures do not do this book justice. There are so many layers and embellishments that are charming and just make you oooh and ahhhh.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

2011-09-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

Ok gang! Danielle a.k.a. FitterTwit here with some pretty wonderful design team projects in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month which begins in less than a week! October is a pretty important month and I hope that today's post really motivates everyone to get involved any way they can whether it be to donate those crafty items with proceeds going to find a cure or something as simple as reminding your girlfriend, sister or mother to "do the check". Don't forget to take care of yourself.... the magic word is MAMMOGRAM!

So our design team created some really great projects to get you all on your way!

Mindy created this PERFECT card featuring brown cardstock, "Believe" paper by Melissa Frances, Stickers: Celebrate Life, Sparkle stickers from Kaiser Craft, and a cardboard butterfly. Check out that stitching... NICE!

Here you can see that Mindy took that gorgeous stitching inside the card as well. I LOVE IT MINDY!!!

Next up, Gayl created this AWESOME plaque also using the Melissa Frances paper and some Kaiser Craft bling! That bling is OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!

Finally, is MY Breast Cancer Awareness candle. I've gone a little "candle crazy" as of late with my Halloween Copic Candle class coming up October 9th. But this one is super important because I will be donating this project to an auction where the proceeds go to finding a cure. So my project features my own FitterTwit Design image colored with Copic markers and decorated simply with ribbon and a Prima flower blinged with a rhinestone using the American Tag HomePro (yes, my beloved Purple Monster). Simple can be quite moving... can't it?!?

Alright folks. That does it for today. Here's to every one of us making a difference this upcoming October! Swing by Paper Vineyard and check out ALL the new Breast Cancer Awareness themed product as well as a sneak peek of the all the new holiday lines. Sooooo much to see!!!

Halloween Is Almost Here!!!

2011-09-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

The countdown has begun to my absolute favorite holiday and do we have a calendar PACKED with spooktacular goodness for the month of October at Paper Vineyard! So today the design team is offering up some scary-fun Halloween projects to get your monstrously creative juices flowing!!!

Marijo used her Happy Hauntings Cricut cartridge to create this AWESOME Halloween card along with Fancy Pants Oct 31 paper, Bazzill cardstock, Creative Impressions Orange Web ribbon and Jolee's Boutique glitter spider. I gotta say.... this is scary and cute all rolled into one intricately folded card!!! Just so great Marijo!

Mindy created two creepy fun projects! The first is these two Halloween tags. To make these fun tags she used Bazzill Chips tags, Fancy Pants Design Strips Oct. 31 paper, purple and orange ribbon from Paper Vineyard and Ranger Beeswax..... I LOVE THAT BEES WAX MINDY!!!!

Next, Mindy created this wonderful vintage Halloween decor using Fancy Pants Design Strips Oct. 31, Creative Impressions Orange Web ribbon, Jolee's Boutique Glitter Spider, an old photo and overlay and more Ranger Beeswax. Yep... I'm adding the "Bees Wax Must Do" to my to do list!

And now we have Kelly's fun cards. These cards are two of five cards being featured in her upcoming card class THIS SUNDAY, September 25th from 1-4:30 p.m. Call Paper Vineyard for more information on Kelly's class or to sign up! You're sure to get a jump on Halloween with Kelly!!! For this cute pumpkin card Kelly used a stamp image from Impression Obsession, "Bubbles" Cuttlebug embossing folder, Fiskar's edge punch and Spellbinders dies. Cute, Cute, Cute Kelly!

But I have to say that THIS ONE has got to be my favorite! I can totally relate to embracing my inner witch!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA! This card also features a stamp image from Impression Obsession, in addition, Kelly used We R Memory Keepers design paper and lots of glitter to make this SUPER SPARKLY! And it really is SUPER sparkly... LOVE IT Kelly!

Ok folks, FitterTwit signing off! That wraps up another feature for our design team. Stay tuned for even more Halloween fun as Halloween is just around the corner! You might also want to swing by the store to see these fun projects in person and to check out ALL THE AWESOME Halloween inventory that Paper Vineyard is getting in the store... this stuff ROCKS... trust me!!!

Beauty Repurposed

2011-09-13T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hiya Blogland!!! Danielle a.k.a. FitterTwit back from my 3 WEEK vacation!!! WOW! I cannot believe that I was away that long! And in looking back over the past few weeks, I can tell I missed A LOT of good stuff!!!! This week the design team was challenged to recycle or repurpose items for their crafting. Luckily I didn't miss ALL the good stuff. Let's see what they came up with!

Marijo created this WONDERFUL blingy keepsake that started out it's life as a steel cut oatmeal container. Impressive Marijo!!!! Marijo used Pink Bazzill Polka Dot paper, Glitter paper, EK Success border punch, Grapevine Designs Custom "Treasured Moments", Teresa Collins trim and miscellaneous items from her stash.

Next up is Gayl's scraptastic mini book!!! Gayl really took this challenge to a whole new level creating this GORGEOUS creation using NOTHING but scraps and "re-dos"!!! This project includes scraps from Bo Bunny, Kaiser Craft and Imaginations. I LOVE how she revisited the quilting technique from our beloved Jean's class. AWESOME project Gayl!!!

Next is Mindy's ADORABLE tag!!!! I just love how much she loves the beloved Purple Monster (American Tag Home Pro.... see my upcoming class featuring this AWESOMELY FUN tool on September 24th)! In keeping with this challenge, Mindy ALSO did some serious repurposing! Mindy's project includes a recycled tag from Paper Vineyard (we carry tags in different sizes and colors), Fancy Pants Shadows paper and Bazzill cardstock. the pocket was created using recycled fabric and recycled eyelet trim. Flowers: note worthy blossoms from Making Memories. Two thumbs up Mindy!!!

And last but certainly not least is Pam's AWESOME plaque! Pam actually included a little mini tutorial for her recycled masterpiece: "I painted the Kaiser Craft Long French Plaque with Shimmerz Blingz in Hottie Pink and sprinkled with Glitter Ritz in Warm Highlights.
I decoupaged Crate Paper patterned paper on the front and back surfaces, then fussy cut flowers from the same paper and decoupaged them on as well for dimension (Mod Podge). Letter are from JilliBean Soup (corrugated cardboard) and My Mind's Eye Lush (chipboard blue flocked and then spritzed with Shimmerz in Rockafella Blue. Flowers are Petaloo by Flora Doodles and Prima Craftables spritzed with Shimmerz in Bed of Roses. For the frame I layered a chipboard die cut with patterned paper (all from Crate Paper), then traced the vine pattern with my Sakura glue pen and sprinkled with Elizabeth Craft Design GlitterRitz in several colors to get the bronze color. I trimmed the interior of the frame and the edges of the plaque with KaiserCraft pearls, and used an SEI metal-trimmed pearl to dot the 'i'!" Incredible project Pam!!!

Well, that does is for today's post. I sure did miss this massively creative design team while I was gone and they've certainly inspired me to get on repurposing some stuff.... I might have to start with all the Ziploc bags I used for packing on my trip! ;) See you all next week!

Where were you when the world stopped turning?

2011-09-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

This is a pretty somber day. Prayers of love and support are abundant as we think of this day ten years ago. I was still working at Intel at the time. Had the tv on but on mute as I was on an early morning phone conferece. When the first plane hit all of us on the phone conference call started talking about it...a freak and sad accident.

During the conversation my five year old son came out of his room and crawled into my lap which was his habit to do in those days. I was cuddling him and watching the news only half listening to the call. Then the second plane hit, as all Americans watched you knew something very sinister was happening...before your eyes.

What is strange is the movie Red Dawn went through my head. A war on US soil...that is where my head went. My brain was spinning with the possibilities of what I am actually viewing live on television. I think my brain froze on I literally just watched people have their lives taken away. Unnecessary death. Broken and shattered families. I was crying. Didn't feel it start but I was crying.

As the news coverage becomes more intense and everyone starts to summarize and review what is happening I feel this little hand on my cheek. Jon whispers to me "don't cry mommy, godzilla didn't mean to do it." My innocent child thinks it is a godzilla movie, his brain is not capable of comprehending what he saw as an evil act. He is just a little kid comforting his mommy.

Today will be a day that America is united in comforting others, praying for those lost and praying for those left behind to grow, love and embrace one another.

Peace be with everyone today,
Adriana

Keep It Simple Saturday

2011-09-10T05:55:00.000-07:00

Every day at the store I see a lot of different people working on different projects. What makes a project special? What comes to mind is the mom from "Everybody Loves Raymond" that always talked about the first ingredient in her recipes was love. The love is what made her food so good.

I feel that way about paper crafting projects. It is the love of the photos, maybe the love of knowing the person receiving the project is going to feel or the love of the process. Something kicks up the happiness inside you when you are working on a project.

Each month I teach an OCD class (Owner Creativity Devotion) that features stuff that I love. Stuff that I want to share. Stuff that I simply enjoy. This month's class is a LOVE book. It features paper from We R Memory Keepers. It has tabs and cardstock inserts that spell out LOVE. Bring your photos in for us to complete or bring in your memory card and for an additional fee (small one of $5) we can print out photos for your book.

This class is Saturday Sept 17th starting at 10:30am for $30. Plan on about 2 1/2 hours to put the book together. The chipboard pages, paper and photo mats are all pre-cut. The kit includes some really cute metal (or metalish) embellishments included in the book. The paper and layout are going to do an amazing job of showcasing your photos. Everyone is going to see the love pop out of your book! What makes me "OCD" about this book, besides the simplicity of the page layouts, is a cute trick to put together the metal-looking embellishment on the cover. This will be the best tip of the class!!!

Hope you can make it in and share your love of this wonderful paper crafting hobby.

Holiday Card Class with Extra Joy

2011-09-08T07:06:00.000-07:00

Jean has been teaching at Paper Vineyard since we opened our doors. Her card classes have always been successful and this month's will not be an exception!! You will be making two cards each of five different designs. Ten cards, baby! The theme is holiday cards made with joy. All five cards have a "joy" fold that make them unique, clever and adorable.
The first two cards are just in time for Halloween.

One card to share all your Thanksgiving well wishes in.

Two adorable Christmas cards.

Customers are always drawn to her cards because the finish products are adorable plus they are always fun to put together. Layers of paper, punches and embellishments complimented with a loveable (reuseable) format is fantastic.
Jean's Crafting Class Sat Sept 24th 1pm - 4pm
$25 for 10 Holiday Joy Cards

Since we all love and have had ample time to get to know Jean here is a Jean challenge. If you guess which one of these facts below is NOT true. PV will give you a $5 gift certificate to be used towards one of Jean's classes. The max winners is 2. Place your winning guess as a comment to this blog post.
Jean Facts:
1) Jean has lived in six different cities her entire life
2) Jean was very active in high school gymnastics
3) The first car she drove was a 1965 Suicide Door Thunderbird
4) Jean was born in Columbus Ohio
5) Jean had a bird named Petie when she was growing up

Good Luck!!

ABC Primer Collection Helping Us Make The Grade

2011-09-05T21:48:00.000-07:00

Graphic 45 released a new paper collection ABC Primer. The collection is classic in its colors and images of school life from a few decades ago. They are beautiful images of chalkboards and children enjoying the school day. Eleanor Roosevelt (one of my favorite ladies) once said "the giving of love is an education in itself." This week's challenge was to make some beautiful projects featuring this new collection. Let's see what our wonderful design team gave their love this week.

Pam made a beautiful thank you card. Her project includes Bazzill Kraft and Sugar Cookie cardstock, Graphic 45 Patterned paper and chipboard diecut accent Graphic 45 An ABC Primer. The ribbon and jute twine from Paper Vineyard. Cutting out the stamp images to spell the word THANKS is genious!

Mindy is dazzling us with her ability to create a stunning vintage style book. The base of her book is the Bazzill Board Book, Graphic 45 paper in: An ABC Primer, School Days, Games and Playtime. Mindy sanded and inked edges and the ribbon is from my stash.
Marijo made two projects. An 8x8 layout plus a composition book. The 8x8 page is made from the Graphic 45 Back to School paper. The "2nd Grade" title was cut from the Cricut Locker Talk Cartridge. The shadow was cut from some scrap black paper. Inside the frame (also from Graphic 45) is a slide out paper to mount a picture of Marijo's granddaughter once she gets the picture. Marijo cut out the flashcards and mounted them on foam-tape. The little Mini Composition book is covered with the scraps from the layout. I added some paper roses from her stash and the Tiny Type letters from Cosmo Cricket.
Kelly gets a big shout out for the frugal project (yeah Walgreens!!) Kelly found a $2calendar/planner at Walgreens that she decided to convert into this weeks project by decorating the front, inside, and back covers. Kelly is betting a teacher would really appreciate this!! For supplies, it was kept simple using black cardstock with the Graphic 45 ABC Primer collection paper, black brads and distressed with brown ink.

Kelly's Front Cover

Inside Front Cover
Gayle made two Lunch-pail cards which are 3 x 3.5 inches.
She used Graphic 45 paper and embellishments for the outer card and on the inside Gayl printed a riddle or something fun. Perfect way for Mom to make kids at school feel special. If I had a time machine I would go back in time and make sure my kids had these in their lunch boxes.

One of the things I love about Graphic 45s new collections is that they have converted the tag cardstock sheet into tag chipboard pieces. They give such amazing dimensional look to projects. All of these projects have one thing in common, they all let the paper be the focus. The lovliness shines through....as does their talents.

Thanks for reading,
Adriana

Keep It Simple Saturday

2011-09-03T13:47:00.000-07:00

One of the perks of owning your own store is having an abundance of supplies to help a family member put together some cards. My niece Desi is graduating from Pima Medical at the end of this month and she came in today looking for some help making invites to her graduation party. Easy peasy...
She brought her two helpers with her and we put them to work asap. When working with kiddos the easier the card layout the better to put together an assembly line approach. Sierra inked the edges of the card. Benji used punches to cut a black circle and a gold scallop circle. Desi used a border punch on basic blue paper which also served as the base card.
We picked a beige paper with gold highlights that say congratulations. The paper had all the bling and pop to make the card look great. Once all the pieces are cut we worked fast assembling all the pieces. Used Paper Company Graduation Cap and Diploma stickers to top off the cards perfectly.

Everybody pitched in and we were done in less than an hour! Pima Medical's school colors are blue and gold so everything worked out great. Desi is going to print out a map and information on the party and will mat on the same blue paper on the inside of the card. This was a super easy project that was only made better by some family time. Thanks for coming in Desi, Benji and Sierra!!

Kick Up Your Level of Crafty

2011-09-01T18:31:00.000-07:00

With our new Grapevine Design department the store has the capability of providing you custom books, images and words. This is great if you want your children's names cut out of chipboard, or the name of cities that you visited this summer or a chipboard book with a specific family name.

This month we are introducing a book of a month. The first book is a Halloween book in the shape of a coffin. It is etched with a skull and cross bones. It has a front and back cover with two pages inside. Price is $14.99 and it is 11" x 6".

You can also order a 6x12 book made from wood with your family name or the title of your choice etched on the cover. The book comes pre-drilled with three holes and three rings. Retail price is $16.99 and this includes you customizing the cover with the words of your choice.

With in two business days we can deliver the words, images and books of your choice. This is also a great option if you want a bunch of shapes cut out for an invitation project you are working on.

New inventory also includes words for your wedding and baby pages/projects. These images are just a few of the new items available.

Tuesday's post included information on a friendly competition we have going on with books the PV Design Team created with our new books. Here is one more book to add to the competition. Gayl made this stunning Flashback book with our standard Plain Jane Square book.

Come in and vote by the end of the month. You just might win a groovy PV Product bag. I hope we have triggered your creativity juices, come in and I am sure we can provide some goodies that will absolutely take your projects to the next level.

Mini Book Madness

2011-09-01T09:11:00.000-07:00

Dana Edwards continues to be one of our favorite teachers here at Paper Vineyard. She teaches one amazing book each month four times at the store. There are plenty of spaces to get into her classes.

September's class is canvas book featuring paper from Authentique. You can choose from three of the new lines Blissful, Journey or Uncommon. Essentially you are picking a yellow, blue or pink pallet. Class fee is $40 and the class options are:
Fri Sept 2nd 10:30am-2:30pm
Fri Sept 2nd 5:30pm-9:30pm
Sat Sept 17th 2:00pm - 6:00pm
Sun Sept 18th 1:00pm-5:00pm

Super, super excited about Dana's Halloween class. It is a Halloween House Dana designed and Paper Vineyard will cut the book including the paper specically for the class. No tracing!! It will all be done for you. Here is a sneak peak of the cover. The Halloween book features Pink Paislee's Phantom line. The class dates and time for October are all set up but we won't have a final class fee price until Dana completes the masterpiece. October dates will be:
Fri Oct 7 10:30am- 2:30pm
Fri Oct 7 5:30pm-9:30pm
Sun Oct 16 1:00pm-5:00pm
Sat Oct 22 2:00pm-6:00pm

Dana also teaches a monthly scrapbooking class called "Scrapbook Design Workshop" that is features a specific technique and tool each month. Great for beginners but also great for customers that just want to leave with finished pages. Her classes are the third Saturday of every month. What is unique about this class is the information you receive from Dana. Her handouts have samples and show you in layers and colors the techniques she is featuring. Each month is a new handout that ultimately builds in to an excellant reference manual.

Happy Thursday!

Fall in Love With Grapevine Designs!!

2011-08-30T00:01:00.000-07:00

This weeks design team challenge is especially close to my heart. Paper Vineyard is very pleased to start a new department called Grapevine Designs. The store has the capability to produce custom chipboard product. You will see fantastic products only available here!!

The ladies of the design team spent a lot of time and effort decorating a few of our new chipboard books. The finished products are amazing and absolutely showcase so many different ways that YOU our wonderful customers can take these books and make them your own. This is a long blog posting, it takes a lot of space to brag about these projects. Make sure to read all the way to the end as you can help these ladies win a fabulous prize plus maybe win a matching prize. Pour some coffee...start reading....and fall in love with Grapevine Designs.

Newest member of the design team Kelly decorated the Plain Jane Tree book.

The book features We R Memory Keepers Spookville paper, chip board and stamps. Kelly also used the Fiskars Grass border punch and Spellbinders Graveyard Scene and Shapes set (airbrushed with Copics). She added Crystal Lacquer to the polka dots on the background paper and black glitter to the tree. So much fun!!

Mindy used the same exact book but took it a completely different place by designing a vintage album.

This album was made using the Plain Jane Tree Book, metal birds and white lace-rose trim by Tim Holtz, Paper by Vintage Collage Stack, rhinestones, fabric, burlap, paint and stamping from Mindy's stash. Amazing what a good stash can do.

Danielle decorated the Plain Jane Candelabra book.

Danielle put her book together with product from Paper Vineyard. The paper is from various sections of the store, not necessarily Halloween paper but she selected items that were elegant and tied with her theme beautifully. Her candelabra is decorated with glitter and rhinestones. She used rub ons, bling and We R Memory Keeper embellishments to create this amazing book.

Marijo used the Plain Jane Man and Woman book and turned it into a beautiful travel book. She used her cricut to make little suitcases and the title. She covered the man and women with travel paper and added photos and paper to make this album one you will want to treasure forever.

So here is our friendly competition that kicks off tomorrow. Come into the store and vote for your favorite Design Team book. We just might have a couple more dropped off at the store. Cast your ballot and the winner receives a Paper Vineyard product bag worth at least $40. A little added bonus is that we will select one of the ballots and one lucky customer will win a PV Product bag as well. Everything will be displayed until September 30th when the winner and the lucky customer winner will be announced. So take a few minutes and come in and vote!

Grapevine Designs is a great opportunity for the store and it does have an impact to the customers immediately. All good impacts....I promise.

First, beginning today Tuesday 8/30 PV will be closed on Tuesdays. This will allow us one complete day to design, cut and prep our new products.
Second, beginning Wednesday 8/31 we will be ready to start taking your custom orders. PV can cut your kid's names, places you have been to, shapes/embellishments for your invitations or a custom name book.
Third, boss us around...tell us what inventory you want to see. We would LOVE your input as we continue to grow. We want to be your local scrapbook store of choice, tell us what you want.

Thank you for reading such a long post!!! Come in and vote (by Sept 30th) and check out the new stuff. There will be a lot more information to come and a lot more chipboard product to help everyone cultivate their creativity.

Thanks again,
Adriana

Picture This....

2011-08-23T04:46:00.000-07:00

Let's talk about the joy and energy you have when you are crafting on a project and it is turning out fantastic. Add to that picture loud music playing in the background and sipping on a glass of wine...maybe coffee...depending on the time of day and the thrill and pride as you turn unique individual things into a cohesive work of art.

This week's challenge for the Design Team was Shimmer & Shake. Ladies, it is all about the movement (and I am not talking about pesky cellulite!) Adding physical movement and light movement. So picture a little "Shake, Rattle & Roll" music playing in the background while these ladies put together their Shimmer & Shake projects.

Marijo made a card with removeable tags. Each tag pulls out and they are made from Kraft cardstock. The patterned paper is paper left over from a class she took at PV. The flowers were cut from the Mother's Day Bouquet Cricut Cartridge. Marijo added the shimmer with stickles on the brads. The brads were the perfect size but not the perfect color so she modified them with a black sharpie. Genious! She added rub-ons from her stash at home. Beautiful results. Marijo, thanks for sharing.

Mindy created movement with her Composition Book. With back to school sales going on sometimes these books just call my name. They are inexpensive right now and so easy and fun to doctor up. As you can see Mindy made a personalized masterpiece.

Mindy traced scrap paper that was left over in her stash to cover the book. Scrap ribbon is wrapped around and tied off. Ribbon always adds texture and movement to any project. The tag is from PV and is shimmered up with Shimmer Pearlz Grammie Berrie color. Mindy attached the tag with a metal chain that also adds to the bling and movement.

Both ladies did a great job! Make sure you check in with us next Tuesday as the challenge is to decorate a custom album created here at PV. The ladies are creating with a prize in mind as you, our wonderful customers, can come into the store and vote on your favorite. There is a prize for the designer who wins plus one prize for a customer who takes the time to come in and vote. Good healthy competition also creates a little movement :)

Thanks for reading our blog! Have a great day.
Adriana

Welcome! Welcome! Creative Escapers

2011-08-20T15:06:00.000-07:00

Nothing sounds so luxurious and fun as attending Creative Escape. It is fantastic to be with new and old friends sharing your love of crafting. Try to cut out some time to come to Paper Vineyard where we are offering all Creative Escape attendees 15% off of their entire product purchases from Tuesday 8/23 - Sunday 8/28.

The store always has make 'n takes on Mondays from 4p-7p which you are more than welcome to come join us. We are adding a make 'n take session on Thursday 8/25 from 4p-7p.

If you can come in early in the week and check out our custom books! Place your order and we can do your custom chipboard book within a day. Lots of creative opportunity for you to take home something that you will only have.

Halloween In August!

2011-08-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

Oh Wow!!! Do I have a post for all of you! Danielle a.k.a. FitterTwit here to bring you some ghoulish delights from our design team. After hearing "Christmas In July" for an entire month, we felt that Halloween also deserved its due, so we now bring you.... Halloween In August!!!

And to kick off all of the spooky festivities is our newest design team member KELLY!!! Everyone please show Kelly some love as she ROCKED her very first store challenge!!!

Along with all of the design team members, for this challenge Kelly featured We R Memory Keepers Halloween line that is now in the store.

She also featured the cutest stamps. You all should SEE the AWESOME Halloween stamps Paper Vineyard has stocked!!! Kelly, these three cards are FABULOUS and we are so excited to have you as part of this design team. Swing by the store to see these beauties in person and see all the glossy-accent-goodness!!!

Next up is Julie's AMAZING layout!!! Along with the new We R Memory Keepers Halloween line, she also used a slew of wonderful scrappy tools including Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink Blender, Martha Stewart circle punch and the Zutter Distrezz It All. Yah, this girl's got taste!!! I love it!!!

Speaking of love.... check out Gayl's fabo GRAPEVINE DESIGNS ALBUM!!! Stay tuned for more on these incredible new CUSTOM albums that are available ONLY at Paper Vineyard!!! Yes, Yes, I have MUCH more on that. Today I want to focus on how BRILLIANTLY Gayl took the simple girl/boy album and turned it into this AWESOMELY WICKED creation!!! She used the We R Memory Keepers Jumbo brads, My Little Shoe Box Trick or Treat Paper, miscellaneous embellishments and produced Halloween perfection! Creepy!

And then we go from creepy to CUTE! Check out Mindy's Halloween bag!!! She also used those We R Memory Keepers Jumbo brads along with We R Memory Keepers tags, a tote (available at Paper Vineyard) and loads of ribbon! I would LOVE to go trick or treating with that gorgeous Halloween bag!!!

And last, but certainly not least, is our resident Cricuteer!!! Marijo created this beautifully scary Halloween frame using her Cricut (of course) and We R Memory Keepers paper and embellishments with Bazzill cardstock. She also added some digital downloads and a flower from her own stash. SO wonderfully ghoulish!!!

Well, that does it for today's design team features. Clearly Halloween In August suits this design team perfectly well judging by these FABULOUS creations. Stay tuned for more upcoming Halloween goodness and, of course, more on the Grapevine Designs Custom Albums only available at Paper Vineyard!!!

Banana Split

2011-08-09T00:01:00.000-07:00

Ok gang! Danielle a.k.a. FitterTwit here with ANOTHER AMAZING inspiration post by our wonderful design team here at Paper Vineyard. While Marijo and Pam are taking a break this week, we are super excited to welcome back MINDY!!!! And she couldn't have picked a better time to jump back into things than with this week's Banana Split challenge. So our team was challenged to create a project inspired by the Banana Split pictured below. Yum-meeee!

Now, I gotta tell you that I didn't intend to design anything the entire month of August as I'm preparing for a trip, but I just couldn't help myself with this particular challenge.... I'll explain in just a second, first, let's see what Mindy turned out!!!

Mindy created this fun cookbook stand using Kaiser Craft stand kit, So Delish Stripe paper by TPC Studio, acrylic paint and ribbons from her own stash. I really do love those Kaiser Craft project kits. Be sure to swing by the store to check out the completed Cupcake Stand that is currently displayed!!! It's FABULOUS! So glad to have you back with us Mindy, this is absolutely fabulous!!!

Julie created this gorgeous layout using American Craft's Hello Sunshine, Stella and Rose label stickers, Ki: inkjet calendar scallop, Heidi Swapp cherries, Love Birds Sending My Love, Pebbles bird and white flower, EK Success edge punch, Zutter Distrezz It All, AC Thickers along with misc. die cuts and cat eye inks.
I would have to say that Julie won this week's challenge simply with the amount of Paper Vineyard products she used!!! WONDERFUL project Julie!!!

Next up is our resident artist Gayl. Gayl NAILED this challenge using Bazzill cardstock in chocolate, strawberry & vanilla, Mini rose trim, Glitter Paper and what looks like the new H2O shimmer colors! This is STUNNING Gayl. I'm kind of afraid to follow that! hahahahahaha!

So here is MY inspiration project. Now, honestly, I didn't create a THING until just about an hour before this post was set to go live. You see, BO BUNNY just arrived in the store yesterday afternoon and I went BERSERK!!! It isn't just ONE line that came in, it was something like FOUR!!! I used paper from two of those lines in this project: Et Cetera and Double Dot Designs! I also used Glitter Ritz in various colors for the Elizabeth Craft cupcake sticker. I then finished this off with the Bo Bunny Et Cetera button and a rhinestone brad (the ribbon is from my scrap box). Whew! This is simple but elegant in it's simplicity because of that Bo Bunny goodness!!! Not to mention, the colors match this challenge PERFECTLY....wouldn't you say?

Well folks, that does it for me today. You have GOT to swing by the store and check out all the AWESOME Bo Bunny lines (there's Christmas goodies in there too)! I just KNOW you'll find your own inspiration!!!

What did you do this summer? Blog Give-Away!!

2011-08-04T07:49:00.000-07:00

Love it when the kids go back to school. The sweet smell of victory of surviving another summer. The sweet satisfaction of living life with more daily structure. All these things are just poetic to my simple brain.

One of the first activities most kiddos do is "What did you do this summer?" I thought I would put a spin on it for Paper Vineyard. Post a comment here on our blog page or a photo/comment on our facebook page and we will randomly select someone and give you a great product PV bag. Easy-peasy to win a prize. We will select someone on Sunday Aug 7th.

Here is some insight into one of my summer projects. Setting up a craft room! I haven't had one in several years and I missed it. The last one I had (the only other time I had a craft room)I paid big bucks to have a closet built out with shelves. I had a huge desk and shelves of product. This time both the budget and room are smaller. The other slight change is that it has to double as an office/homework area and my grandbabies alternate bedroom. Minor tweaks. But checkmark ~ done! I am very happy with results.

The boys are using the computer and not "hindered" by any foo-foo crafting stuff.

Andreas little baby bed that is so cute it makes me smile when I am working and look over and see it.

Re-purposed some vases and baskets to house stamps and embellishments.

Only one picture hung up so far but I love this one and have owned it for over a decade. Two beautiful Indian girls working diligently but working with amazingly beautiful flowers.

The big picture. I had the boys go every two weeks to Ikea to buy a new piece so I could score my U-shaped desk. Just have the basics around me and a filing cabinet and one box underneath with my paper stash.

Don't forget to post a comment here or a photo and/or comment on Facebook by Sunday for a prize. I am pretty sure there is some brand new Bo Bunny product in that prize bag.

Thanks for reading,
Adriana

Have You Seen It Yet?

2011-08-02T00:01:00.000-07:00

Ok folks... if you haven't been in to Paper Vineyard to check out the new card shack, then you are missing something AMAZING!!! And to prove it, the design team is showing off a few more cards to entice you even more! So to kick things off we have Marijo and her super fun travel card!

For this gorgeous creation Marijo used Black Bazzill paper, Kaisercraft Timeless Camera Rub On, EK Success Fleur De Lis Edge Punch, Corner Rounder, and stamps from her personal stash.

And the inside is just as fun as the outside!!!

Next up is Gayl's artistic masterpiece! She used stamps by Stamp a Mania, Ceasarina, and the very first stamps she purchased to create desert flowers back in the 90's. Ok Gayl, retro is ALWAYS cool! She also used card and tag heavy weight card stock that was custom cut adding stamping, embossing and water color.

Now we have Julie's PLAYFUL creation!!! For her fun card she used TaDa Straight Laced, Fancy Schmancy and Mommy's closet, Colorbox brown roan, Anna Griffin 3D stickers, Martha Stewart lace edge punch, brown ribbon, craft stock as base. Julie also wanted to share her tool list (she's a gadget girl like me)! Julie's tools were a bone folder, a Crop-a-dile corner chomper and a circle punch! GREAT JOB!!!

TERRIFIC job ladies!!! These cards are wonderful and are sure to inspire more fun creativity!

Upcoming Classes at Paper Vineyard

2011-08-01T20:41:00.000-07:00

I am finally jumping into modern times and with the help of my daughter put together a little information on the two classes I am teaching this Saturday, August 6th. Thanks Alyssa for helping me!! Did everyone know but me that I talk a lot with my hands?

Follow the link and check out the information on you tube.

Hope to see you soon, Adriana

Keep It Simple Sunday

2011-07-31T08:27:00.000-07:00

Sunday is always a great day for reflection and quiet moments. This morning was the first time that my grandson spent the night and at about 5:30am he woke me up with laughter and baby talk. LOVED IT!! Upon reflection, I need to put together a baby bed for him. This is a photo of when he crashed last night. He falls asleep like his Tio Jon did. Plays and plays and plays and then you turn around and he is passed out. I am sitting in my chair reading the latest Scrap & Stamp Arts magazine and all of sudden silence and only tiny feet are visible.

Yesterday was a busy day. On July 29th our family actually celebrate FOUR different birthdays. Birthdays range between 8 to 80+. One of these birthdays is my nephew Ray. Ray's party was at the bowling alley where I never actually saw him bowl...saw a lot of video games though. He is posing with the hurry up and take the picture you annoying aunt grin.

For my keep it simple thought for the week we made some "Concentration Cards" this week. Punched out a bunch of shapes from scrap paper and then punched out circles from duplicate photos that I will never use. Then we glued them together making sure there was a matching pair. The actual time it spent to put together was about 30 minutes and it was a lot of fun. Threw the pieces in a sandwich bag and I have a game on the run that can provide a lot of peaceful game moments.
This simple game can also be done with stamp sets you have or take pictures that are specifically for the game. Like photos of your kids favorite toys, friends or places. I used up scrap paper and extra photos which is always a plus for me. Kids love things personalized and every time we play we get to talk about the cousin, siblings and grandparents in the photos. Keeping it simple is so rewarding!

Darling Donna Is Headed Back to AZ

2011-07-29T20:36:00.000-07:00

PV is thrilled to have Donna Salazar back in our store on Friday August 12th & 13th. She will be here for three classes and one demo hour. She was amazing last time and got rave reviews. The folks taking her class love the techniques and her amazing embellishments.

Flower Technique Tag class is from 6p-8p on Friday 8/12. The class is only $27 and look at the finished tags. Each tag will be a keepsake of a different way to make a flower. As we head into the holiday season, translating these techniques into making themed flower tags will make your tags sweeter than the gift inside.

This summer Donna introduced the world to her new Smooch spritz and Mix'd Media Inx from Clearsnap. Clearsnap also makes all the fun chalk and pigment ink cat eyes that we all have several of. Her Saturday morning class is Magical Inky Tags on 8/13 from 10:30am-12:30pm also for $27. You will learn about the difference in various inks on the market and how to incorporate them in to your paper crafts.

If you want to meet Donna and see a demo she will be set up to show off her fun products from 1:30pm - 2:30pm. No charge just lots of fun!

Her final class with us is an amazing cute 4x6 Chunky book that utilizes the Distress It All, Zutter, Cardboard and more. Very cute! Class is $27 from 3p-5p on 8/13.

Donna mailed the samples to us and they should arrive and display in the store early part of next week. Come in ...check them out...and sign up! You will LOVE these classes.

Grapevine Designs!!!!

2011-07-26T00:06:00.000-07:00

We love them.... those AMAZING albums that are always so hard to find! But what if there was a place to find specialty, custom albums? What if you could create that CUSTOM album AND have all of the patterned paper cut to fit the project??? Say, maybe special cupcake-themed birthday party pics that you want to make into a special keepsake for years to come? Enter the NEW Grapevine Designs at Paper Vineyard!!!

So, the minute I saw this cupcake, I KNEW EXACTLY how I was going to decorate it! Wouldn't you agree that the cherry on top was SCREAMING for some sugary Glitter Ritz??? I achieved that effect by using the cool highlight and then coloring over it with Copic markers. Yah... this custom kit bit is going to be SOOOOO much fun! Check out what Adriana herself created....

Inspired immediately by the new Grapevine Designs, Adriana created this GORGEOUS gate album using the Graphic 45 Once Upon A Springtime paper line with Ranger Alcohol Ink for the chipboard gate cover. Can you just imagine finishing this gorgeous album off with some Tim Holtz hardware???

Welp... there you have it. An AMAZING introduction to the new Custom Albums and Kits by the new Grapevine Designs at Paper Vineyard. Feel free to swing by the store and check these out in person. Also, stay tuned for some exciting news regarding Grapevine Designs as we roll out more and more wonderful album creations and our design team gets to play with the new designs!!!

Congratulations to Cindy B!!

2011-07-25T18:15:00.000-07:00

Cindy B won the customer challenge to make a four-square card. She did a great job picking the paper and enhancing with beautiful embellishments. The flowers and lady bug are absolutely stunning.

Cindy won paper and stickers from TWO of Reminisce's new Christmas paper lines. She can pick up her prize and have these papers in her hands two weeks before the shipment arrives in the store.

The next customer challenge will be posted on othis blog August 4th.

Non-Cards

2011-07-19T00:01:00.000-07:00

Ok crafters! Danielle a.k.a. FitterTwit here for an EXCITING celebration post!!! While we are still sort of celebrating the installation of Paper Vineyard's awesome card shack, the challenge for our design team this week was to create a birthday project that WAS NOT a card!!! They were all given super fun products from Kaiser Craft's Party Animals Birthday line and here's the AWESOME OUTCOME!!! WARNING: The team was very inspired, so sit back and relax cuz there's a few pics in this post! hahahahahaha!

First up is Julie's birthday canvas. No surface can be discounted when we are talking about scrappin and Julie shows us that canvas is the perfect, well.... canvas! LOL! For this masterpiece she used Kaiser Craft Party Animals, Lil Davis chipboard alpha, canvas banner ribbon, fabric, Making Memories metal mesh (yes I pulled out the old stuff!), Fancy Pants chipboard star, chipboard numbers, felt, Prima flower, Martha Stewart edge punch, black Stazon, Stampendous Pearlustre in sapphire and Tim Holtz distress embossing ink & distress ink in brushed corduroy. Whew Julie... that is quite the list for an amazing project!!!

Next up is Marijo's ADORABLE mini album!!! Marijo also put a lot of products and a lot of love into this WONDERFUL creation: Chipboard book pages, Bazzill paper, Kaiser Craft Party Animals Birthday line, Stamps also from Birthday line, Assorted Cricut cartridges, gems, letters, lace, ribbon, buttons and twine, Circle punch, White Signo Pen, Brown Sharpie pen, Colorbox Cats Eye ink - Chestnut Road and Burnt Sienna. AMAZING Marijo!!! Check out a couple more pages for this wonderful book!!!

When we stretch beyond cards, I'm always amazed at how creative we all are!!!
Speaking of creative.....
Here is Pam's UNBELIEVABLE project!!!

Pam's 2 page scrapbook layout REALLY showcases the awesomeness of Kaiser Craft's birthday line. She really worked the line's designs. Here is her recipe for success: Bazzill Cardstock, Kaiser Craft Party Animals Birthday paper and stamps, Kaiser Craft Dated Alpha and Frames/Tags, Memento Ink (New Sprout and Summer Sky), ColorBox pigment ink (Black), ColorBox Fluid Chalk (Chestnut Roan), StazOn (Jet Black); Copic Marker Multi Liner (0.3 and 0.5), My Mind's Eye buttons, We R Memory Keepers eyelets, Crop-A-Dile, scalloped circle punch, EK Tools Binding Edge (notebook) punch, Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment border punch, Hampton Arts a la mode clear embossing powder and yellow waxed twine from Paper Vineyard's ribbon cabinet.

WOW, WOW, WOW! That is perfection. Here are the pages individually.

I just can't get over how perfect this Kaiser Craft line is!!!
Check out Gayl's artwork!

Not to be outdone by the rest of the team, Gayl whipped up a little masterpiece of her own! I really cannot get over how unbelievably talented our design team is. Gayl, this is STUNNING!!! Gayl used 12X12 press board exclusive to Paper Vineyard, Imaginations paper for background, Tim Holtz Tattered Flower/pleated center Sizzix, Glazed Bazzill dot, Tim Holtz photo strip trim, glitter dotz and ribbon. Just gorgeous Gayl!!!

And finally, MY project. Well, my project isn't really a work of art or a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but it IS the project that we featured at last week's Cricut Swarm at Paper Vineyard. This super fun cupcake box was the make n' take for the event and we at Paper Vineyard wanted to extend a huge THANK YOU to everyone who joined us for the mega-successful day. It was a lot of fun (always is) and I look forward to doing it again in October.... OOOOOO, Halloween Cricut Swarm?!?!? My FAVORITE holiday is going to make for a VERY interesting event, I'm sure!!!

Welp, that does it for today's Non Birthday Cards post. Hope you are as inspired as our design team was. We'll see you next week for even more design team fun. Be sure to swing by the store this week and check out our Card Shack (if you haven't already).... there's a whole OTHER world of inspiration there!!!

Cards, Cards and More Cards!!!!

2011-07-12T00:33:00.000-07:00

That's right crafters.... after a terrific holiday, the Paper Vineyard's design team is back and with an AWESOME feature!!!! In celebration of Paper Vineyard's new Card Shack (swing by the store... you really MUST see) that went in over the holiday break, the design team is showing off their own card-making skills!

First up is Marijo with this OH-SO-YUMMY card! She used Bazzill cardstock for the base and Bazzill Pink Fairy Glazed cardstock for the layers. The small ice cream cones are from SEI's Fair Day borders and finally, the large ice cream was created on the Cricut using the Sweet Treats cartridge. This is just the perfect card for anyone dealing with the increasing temps outside!!!

Next up is Pam's vintage-beautiful card. She used Bazzill cardstock and Melody Ross for GCD patterned paper (girl image), miscellaneous ribbon, Prima blue jeweled rosette, red and white hat pins from Websters pages, A-muse pearls, Kaiser Craft sentiment stamp, Memento ink and Colorbox ink. Clearly this card was made for someone very special.

Next, say "Hello" to our old friend Julie. YAY! Julie's back! And she brings us the WONDERFUL card using kraft stock, My Mind's Eye Good Day Sunshine, Martha Stewart butterfly punch (a classic) and am Martha Stewart lace edge punch. She also used Tim Holtz distress ink in Brushed Corduroy adding the ultimate embellishment..... sewing machine stitches. We LOVE it Julie and welcome back!

Finally is MY fun card featuring the Little Yellow Bicycle Sweet Summertime line and Jolee's Drinks Repeat dimensional stickers. I just LOVE that Sweet Summertime line with their paper lace ribbon and their dimensional fabric stickers!!! The summertime images certainly don't hurt either!!! I also used the MFT Die-namics banner set to complete the "Hot Summer" banner. GREAT SET. The MTF Die-namics can be found in the Card Shack.

That does it for today's card goodies... there is more card inspiration located in the Card Shack at Paper Vineyard. See you there!!!

Christmas Classes & Next Customer Challenge

2011-07-07T16:26:00.000-07:00

Intro music please...."It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" Well, it really isn't but it just might get your mind off of the blazing heat to start mentally picturing the upcoming Christmas season. Or, I could be just crazy...
No matter what time of year it is fun to work on holiday projects. The paper, the image, the abundance of opportunity to make someone happy by making them a card, book or home decor item. It is just fun to work on Christmas stuff!

The store is featuring a weekend of Christmas in July classes. July 30th & 31st there are a total of three great classes to jump start your holiday projects. There is a gorgeous wooden frame featuring a 12x12 layout, a holiday planner and Elegant Christmas Cards with Kelly Wann. Please check out the website for more details.

Next Customer Challenge
When a person starts thinking about Christmas it is natural to start worrying about the impacts to the budget. So this month's Customer Challenge is to make a Four-Square card. Great card to make on a budget because you can always use your scraps. Pick two to four coordinating papers and layer four different shape squares on a standard A2 card. You can embellish with ribbon, stamps, buttons, bling, flowers ~ you pick it!

The first sample is made with Cosmo Cricket's Odds & End collection. It is all paper with two buttons. Easy peasy. The second card is made with two patterned papers from the Magic of Oz line from Graphic 45. The cards are embellished with ribbon and a painted chipboard heart with a stamped sentiment.

So enough babbling, here is the challenge. Make a Four-Square card and send us an image to our classes@papervineyard.com email account or post it on Facebook by Friday, July 22nd. The winner will be announced on this blog on Monday 7/25. Good Luck!! The winner gets a Christmas paper sampler set from Reminisce.

KISS - Keep It Simple Saturday

2011-07-02T06:57:00.000-07:00

Today we are introducing a new segment to be posted every Saturday. Keep It Simple Saturday!! I can not tell you how many times in the store I hear how overwhelming paper crafting can be. The purpose of this segment will to do something easy-peasy, not overwhelm with costs, the design or even the idea. "Scrap lift" this idea and have fun with it. If you want to practice it before officially scraplifting it, this will be the store's Make 'n Take on Monday, July 11th 4p-7p.
The project is made with the Tin Man page from Graphic 45's Wizard of Oz line. The card is a standard A2 card with the measurements of 5 1/2" x 4 1/4". The red mat is 1/4" smaller which is 5 1/4" x 4" then the patterned paper is another 1/4" smaller which makes it 5" x 3 3/4". What I love about this is the mat and the patterned paper at these measurements you can cut enough to get six cards. When you are making one card might as well make six! Nice to have extra on hand. I used a decorative corner punch on the mat and the patterned paper. Layered them up and glued them down. Keeping with the Tin Man theme I coiled a piece of wire as an embellishment on the card. Painted two chipboard hearts a bright red to match the card. Wonderfully ties in with the theme plus sturdy enough to use pop dots to be able to secure the wire to the card. Used my handy-dandy Crop A Dile to make a hole to run the wire through. Sometimes you look at a card and think it just needs something else....bling is always a great option! Added three small self-adhesive rhinestones onto each heart for a little more charm. When I did put the wire/hearts onto the patterned paper each card was put down a little different as I didn't want the hearts to cover the Tin Man's face on the paper.

"You make my heart flutter" was stamped on the inside and there are six completed cards in a very short timeframe.
So how do you convert this for your project. The format is so simple and can be repeated over and over again. Use paper you have on hand. Instead of wire you can always use ribbon or tulle. To add some texture you could tie knots in the ribbon/tulle. The hearts and bling can always be other shapes you might have with your punches and buttons always serve the same purpose of a little bling.

Have a safe and wonderful Holiday weekend. Paper Vineyard is open today and hosting a FANTASTIC Red, White and Blue sale. Store is open regular hours 10am - 8pm today but we are closed on Sunday & Monday. So sorry ladies, no Make 'n Take this Monday 7/4 but this card will be the project on Monday 7/11.

Happy Crafting,
Adriana

Customers Strutting Their Skills!!

2011-07-01T07:17:00.001-07:00

Last week Ms. Cindy S won the Pet Challenge making a beautiful page featuring Anna Griffin's Fifi & Fido collection. Today I wanted to share some of the other ladies who sent in photos. I need to give a little more credit for everyone's hard work and crafty creativity.
Cindy's layout was great because of all the different layers. She tied everything together (LITERALLY!!) with eyelets and ribbon. A beautiful technique that added a pop on the page. Cindy is wonderful at being the "poster child" for just putting layers and embellishments on a page. I tend to go for simple, the less is more approach. However, this lady is a master at making all the colors and texture look perfect. Her pictures are always enhanced by the goodies on the page.
Ms. Lois is not a scapbooker, her claim to fame is making AMAZING cards. She took on this challenge to stretch her paper crafting wings. Her layout features the new puppy in her life Gambit. So technically she had two inspirations to make this great page ~ her personal challenge and this gorgeous puppy. Lois used the store die cut machine to create the black mat and Martha Stewart's fringe scissors to make the grass. I LOVE the glittered crown placed directly on Gamit's head. The title is playful and perfect to frame in this puppy.The third layout is from Ms. Tiffany who made her dog wear pink tulle to get the right shot for the layout. Thank goodness Daisy knows the perks of getting the perfect shot. Tiffany painted cardboard and layered with mesh. Daisy's face is framed in with the beautiful dimensional flowers plus the Anna Griffin alphabet stickers that go with a lot of different themes.

Thanks to all three ladies for sharing their talents and pet pictures. Continue to check back onto this blog. I will announce the next customer challenge on Thursday July 7th!! Today is competitor Coupon Day, great day to come in and save a little extra money.

Thanks for shopping, reading our blog and sharing your skills at Paper Vineyard!
Adriana

Dana does it again...

2011-06-29T15:07:00.000-07:00

An amazing Mini Book Madness project this month! It is titled "A Book in a Box". We will take a 5X9 box and paint and paper it with the 7 Gypsies Botanical line . Then we will create a mini book that is mounted inside the box using the new Tim Holtz 2-ring binders. Lots of techniques and embellishments. You can also choose to bring your own paper to use in lieu of the Botanical paper.

The class has a limited number of spots due to the amount of boxes Dana was able to get her hands on so sign up early if you plan on taking the class. There will be no kits for this one, a very hands on FUN class. The class is $45 and the first two classes are this week...yikes!

Friday, July 1st 10:30-2:30
Saturday, July 2nd 2:30-6:30
Sunday, July 17th 1:00-5:00
Friday, July 22nd 5:30-9:30

Dana's classes never dissapoints, secure your spot for this wonderful project.

The Magic of Oz is In...

2011-06-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

I forsee a reorder on the horizon.... I LOVE this new line from Graphic 45!!! This time we challenged our design team to create Wizard of Oz themed projects featuring this new line, and I gotta say, I don't think this one was very tough! LOL!

I (Danielle a.k.a. FitterTwit) used the new Magic of Oz papers and chipboard tags from Graphic 45 along with Copic markers and Bazzill cardstock to create this project. I also used some twine that I had on hand to make that tag pop a little. It was a nice touch that seems perfect for the "woodsy" feel of this one. I was torn when I completed it.... wasn't sure if I wanted this to be the start of a layout, a wall hanging or a greeting card.... hahahahahahaha!

Gayl used the Graphic 45 Magic of Oz papers along with the chipboard tags and SEI's White Elegance line to create this really fun and quite layered butterfly bloom project. That Martha Stewart butterfly punch sure does come in handy!!!

Marijo used the Graphic 45 Magic of Oz papers along with more chipboard tags (yes.... we love those tags!!!) with miscellaneous flowers and embellishments to create this wonderful frame. I'm tellin you... I'm NUTS for this line!!!

Finally is Pam's WONDERFUL layout! Pam used these AWESOME Graphic 45 papers to highlight the love of a girl and her puppies. Sooooo Wizard of Oz-like! Wouldn't you say???

She used her Sizzix Big Shot with the new Donna Salazar Spellbinders Carnation dies (stay tuned for yet ANOTHER visit from our friend Donna Salazar coming in August) with TONS of goodies to make this sparkle and shine. From Shimmerz and SmoochSpritz to chalk inks and alcohol inks, Pam went to town making the perfect embellishments for this masterpiece!!!

Pam had a blast showcasing her new journaling talent encorporating stamping and printing to tell such a wonderfully heart-warming story. FANTASTIC job Pam!!!

Welp, that's it for this week's design fun. The design team will be taking a short break to observe the upcoming Fourth of July holiday, but will be back soon for more crafty inspiration. Have a safe and fun holiday and I hope we've inspired you to also enjoy some crafty-goodness!!!

The Challenges of ALL Challenges

2011-06-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

Hi Scrappers! Danielle a.k.a. FitterTwit here with another fun design team challenge this week!!! I gotta tell you.... THIS ONE WAS TOUGH! The entire design team had a hard time staying on task just to bring you this inspiration. The challenge: Design an original project with a gambling/bunco theme using Sizzix products... no other company's die cut/embossing products allowed.

Pam, who stayed on task, used Sizzix Flourish with Hearts to create this WONDERFUL layout of her and her card club... so fun Pam!!! She also used Bazzill cardstock, Anna Griffin Chipboard Alpha Stickers, Kaiser Craft rhinestones, Copic multiliner, Sukura white gel pen and beautiful red ribbon to finish out her design.

Marijo, who swears she stayed on task (we know how hard it is for this Cricut Queen), used the Sizzix cards embossing folders with Sharpie markers on lightweight metal sheets from Quickuts (you might also try this on heavy-grade aluminum foil). She says that the keno balls and dice were hand cut, but I couldn't fault her if she ended up breaking out her beloved Cricut!!! You'll want to make sure you swing by Paper Vineyard for super fun titles and embellishments for a fun Las Vegas themed layout!!!

Here is a close up of Marijo's embossed card.... I LOVE those Sizzix/Tim Holtz Alterations Cards embossing folders!!!

Next up is Gayl's Gamble project. She actually went in a completely brilliant and different direction with our challenge theme. This is just WONDERFUL!!! As can always be expected from our oh-so-artistic Gayl, she managed to touch on life with this inspiring work of art and the definition of a true gamble. She used Sizzix/Tim Holtz tattered flower, Sizzix/Tim Holtz Movers and Shapers Large Cabinet and We R Memory Keepers Travel Light Paper. It seems that last week's We R Memory Keepers Travel Light challenge really got her going....

This is the cover to her All In album also featuring We R Memory Keepers Travel Light as well as Sizzix!!! GORGEOUS!!!
And now for MINE.....

YES, OK, so I failed this challenge miserably!!! I CANNOT NOT play with all my toys!!! So, while I did use Sizzix quite a bit in this project, I just couldn't follow the rules!!! So featured in my project are the Sizzix Mini Paper Rosettes (I only used one of the two that come on this die) using the Sizzix Big Shot.... my FAVORITE die cut/embossing machine. But then I used the Cuttlebug Clockworks embossing folder in my Big Shot along with Spellbinders dies! It is NOT my fault!!! First, the Tim Holtz Gears embossing folder was sold out within something like 48 hours of arrival at the store last week. AND THEN.... is it MY FAULT that the Sizzix Big Shot is compatible with just about every die on the market??? With the Big Shot, I don't HAVE to buy Sizzix dies exclusively!!! That is just a fantastic feature of owning one, I gotta say.
I also used my new DCWV papers and embellishments from the Immortal Love line, the Martha Stewart Circle Cutter for the photo mat, my EK Success card suit punch, Creative Impressions Red Swirl ribbon, washi tape and Bazzill Basics bling to finish this off. I just gotta say a special "Thank You" to my friend Cindy S. who inspired those SUPER FUN ribbon stitches on my photo mat (check out yesterday's post)!

And finally, here is my FIRST attempt at this challenge which didn't even turn out to be part of the gambling theme at all!!! Again, I used my Sizzix Big Shot to emboss the Cuttlebug Clockworks folder and cut the Spellbinders Nestability dies as well as the Sizzix/Tim Holtz Alterations Gears die. I was just so inspired by the new Technique Tuesday stamps that arrived at Paper Vineyard last week, that when I pulled out everything to get started on this week's challenge, well.... the project above is what came out!!! hahahahhaahhahahhahaha! I thought it turned out beautifully using the Cosmo Cricut scraps from a previous challenge, so I wanted to share it with you.

That does it for today's design team projects. Be sure to swing by Paper Vineyard to check out all the new stuff that has arrived... it's all pretty great!

Pet Challenge Winner!!

2011-06-20T16:08:00.000-07:00

The winner of the Customer Pet Challenge is Cindy S! She married together papers with ribbon linking them through eyelets. The page is embellished with 3-D stickers to make a pet friendly Family Fun page.

Time for Vacate!!!!

2011-06-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

This week we are featuring the new Travel Light line from We R Memory keepers! The design team was SOOOOO inspired by this line and we even have a guest designer this week.... Kristan Paolacci of Southwest Crafters!!!!

First up is Pam's graduation card... is that ingenious or what!?! So for this one, Pam used Bazzill cardstock, We R Memory Keepers Travel Light, Kaiser Craft rhinestones and Color Box Fluid Chalk in Charcoal she also used a Hero Arts stamp on the inside for the sentiment....awe... I wish I knew which one.

So because her genius was on a roll, Pam also turned out THIS gem! I know for a fact that the Monopoly-like game board paper is AMAZING and inspiring all by itself, so it's not surprising that it inspired Pam's layout. Pam used Bazzill Cardstock, We R Memory Keepers Travel Light paper, Jillibean Soup patterned paper, We R Memory Keepers Layered chipboard embellishments, a tag that Paper Vineyard sells individually or in bulk, miscellaneous ribbon, Jillibean Soup twine and Color Box Fluid Chalk in Chestnut Roan... yep, this one is AMAZING!!!

So for MY project, I used the We R Memory Keepers Travel Light paper to create the Gypsy project that will be featured in this month's Gypsy class at Paper Vineyard! The patterns in this line are just so versatile... swing by the store to check out the whole line in person or to book the next Gypsy class and make this gift bag for yourself!!!

And speaking of gifts.... check out what our guest designer Kristan offers us!!! She went a little nuts with the We R Memory Keepers Travel Light line and we LOVE it!!!!

Check out these cards!!! With Father's Day just a few days away, the cards are the perfect personal touch!!!

To quote Pam's card, "Oh and the places we will go...."

Clearly this line is just as perfect for uber-cool layouts!!!

So if you aren't already on vacation, this line will certainly make you want to take one, take lots of pics and run home to scrap it!!!! hahahahahaha! Here's to scrappers and their vacations everywhere.

It's A Great Day For A White Wedding

2011-06-07T00:01:00.000-07:00

Ok crafters.... Paper Vineyard's design team is back, and this time we are helping to inspire those summer weddings! Hi folks, it's Danielle a.k.a. FitterTwit, and I'm thrilled to present our design team creations all featuring the new SEI wedding line that just arrived in the store. SEI's White Elegance line (full-on with embellishments) is absolutely stunning and we all had so much fun with it!

First up is Gayl's mini album that she put together for her grandson's kindergarten graduation. While her project isn't really "wedding", this will EASILY fit the bill for anyone wanting to create a commemorative wedding mini album.

This paper with all it's monochromatic patterns and style will add elegance to ANYTHING you create with it!

Next up is Marijo's name plate made with the SEI White Elegance papers and embellishments. The embellishments come in a handy assortment making it easy to accessorize all your wedding projects.

Here is a front view. Gotta love those flashy flowers! Be sure to swing by the store to check out the new inventory of Color Me Crazy flowers!

And finally, MY project is a Wedding Compilation CD Jacket. I made the jacket using the Martha Stewart scoring board, an EK Success border punch, Spellbinders die with the coordinating Want 2 Scrap pearl bling and vellum glue, all from Paper Vineyard! I finished this off with red and black ribbon and a single red rhinestone. This happens to be my favorite wedding color combination.... there's just something about the black and white with a touch of red (it's all very "Twilight" to me... don't laugh!).

Welp, that does it for another week of design fun. Swing by the store to see these projects in person. We also have hand made, congratulatory wedding cards available for sale at the store for $2 each. Hope these projects help inspire you with upcoming wedding goodness and we'll see you here next week, same time, same channel for more design team creations.

Sidewalk Sale & Friday Fun

2011-06-04T09:27:00.001-07:00

Hello Everyone,
It is a beautiful morning and Paper Vineyard is about to open its doors for an Indoor Sidewalk Sale! We hope to see you this morning. First hour is always the best for deals and choices.

So what I am I going to scrapbook this week? I went to the Diamondbacks game last night and traveled for the first time on the light rail.

You can't see much of the light rail in this photo but we had fun. It was really easy to do.

For a June night, it was absolutely beautiful at the ball park. Weather perfect and had a blast with friends.

Our friend Mike wore these shoes to the game and there were several conversations on whether those shoes were conducive to him finding his next lady love. I have to tell you that I phrased that WAY MORE delicately than the actual debate...I mean conversation.

The night ended with Sheresa getting us kicked out of Copperstown. Not really, but it was a great photo op.

Hope everyone had a great Friday night and that good memories were made whether you are a scrapbooker or not.
Adriana

Pet Lover Challenge

2011-06-02T12:55:00.001-07:00

Whether your greeting at home each day is "woof-woof" or "meow" most pet lovers who happen to scrapbook sometimes have a hard time finding the best paper and embellishments to showcase their wonderful pet.

Anna Griffin released the Fifi & Fido Collection and it is amazing! A great combination of pink, blue, greens and yellows. The images, words and papers can be combined with just about anything!

We thought we would start out the summer with a little customer challenge. Please make a 12 x 12 layout featuring your pet as the star and at least two elements that are from the Fifi & Fido collection. Send a photo of the layout to classes@papervineyard.com by Saturday June 18th at 3pm. A winner will be picked by Monday morning the 20th. The winner will win all of these goodies!! Paper Vineyard will show off the winner on our Facebook page and blog.

All of this loot includes a 12 x 12 paper pad, journaling cards and eight embellishments. A pet-acular prize!! If you need some inspiration here is a link to Anna Griffin's website with a ton of amazing project ideas.

Good Luck,
Adriana

“If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.” - Milton Berle

2011-05-31T21:28:00.000-07:00

My nephew (former employee of Paper Vineyard) graduated from Marcos de Niza last week. All of us enjoyed this pretty significant moment. As a very proud aunt it gave me goose bumps to watch the event. It is wonderful to see Ryan's emotions and the enthusiasm of his cousins watching the event as well. You know the family warm and tingles when you know something special is going on. All the planets are in alignment and everyone understands the importance of the moment.

I had to share this photo. Ryan is over 6' tall and here is Andreas (my 1 yr old grandson) who is obviously way less than 6'. The image definitely shows that a whole lot of stuff happens between the life of a one year old and the life of an eighteen year old high school graduate. So much life happens in those years. I am excited to watch the choices Ryan is going to make as he enters the next chapter of his life. What doors will he kick open?

Below are some snapshots of scrapbook pages inspired by the photos and the memories of graduation nights.

Yup, that's me! Chandler High School in 1985. It is a cliche but time sure does fly by. Also scary is that in 1985 we all had one fabulous chin each!

My daughter Alyssa's graduation, Basha High School 2009. I will carve out some time to do Ryan's pages this weekend. Plus I have one more relative to go...congrats Demetri graduating from Chandler High tonight!!
Adriana

Happy Memorial Day!!

2011-05-30T08:33:00.001-07:00

So many solidiers have paid the ultimate sacrafice so we can be here today celebrating Memorial Day. In a lot of ways it is a bittersweet day. American history is not compelling to everyone. I have to admit I am one of those geeky people who enjoyed sitting with my Dad watching the History Channel. On Memorial Day and Veterans Day my childhood home watched all the war-time movies that played all day long. The drama and tragedy intrigues me. To not only understand the big picture history but the individual stories of those who gave there all is important to remember. Breathes life back into so many stories that are worth retelling.

Paper Vineyard was only open about four months when a lady came in with a scrapbook of photos, letters and newspaper clippings from her uncle while he served in the Pacific during WWII. The scrapbook was amazing and the women was working to preserve her family's history. I love it when people share their history, their joys and I am even a good one to hear a few sorrows.

On this bittersweet day enjoy the ones you love that are here with you and talk freely and joyously about those not with you.

Happy Memorial Day!
Adriana

Anna Griffin Takes Over

2011-05-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

Hi gang... sorry for the late post.... Danielle a.k.a. FitterTwit here to show off this week's design team brilliance! You can tell by the title that Anna Griffin is in the spotlight today and all of our teamies had a blast with the new Anna Griffin lines at the store. Be sure to drop by Paper Vineyard to check it out in person. In the meantime though, I'm thrilled to present what our design team created for you.

While the summer months are around the corning and the weather is heating up, Gayl is giving us a chilly winter preview with this AMAZING album featuring Anna Griffin at Christmas. This is just lovely featuring gorgeous imagery perfect for an upcoming Christmas in July??? Great work Gayl!

Marijo is featuring Anna Griffin in the beautiful layout of her and her husband on their wedding day. I have to admit that Anna Griffin has a way of making even the simplest of layouts look stunning. This is lovely Marijo!

Finally for today is Pam's breathtaking layout! She really did the new line justice! I would have to say that this is probably the EXACT picture Anna Griffin had in mind when she created it! I'm also loving the addition of the tag to her layout. Tags make a wonderful addition to cards and layouts as well as working beautifully all on their own. Be sure to check out Paper Vineyard's new monthly Tag-a-long classes to create these wonderful additions in a pinch.

Pam, I love the use of all the Anna Griffin embellishments that go so perfectly with this paper line. Great job!

That does it for today's post. Be sure to swing by the store for more features by our design team as well as samples for Paper Vineyard's line up of oh-so-fun classes! See you next time crafters!

ALERT!! ALERT!! Mom Bragging About To Begin

2011-05-20T13:37:00.000-07:00

You have been warned! I am about to brag on one of my children. He had a project to make something to represent a verb in his Spanish class. He picked the verb CREER, which means to believe. He asked to go to my parents house last week and with my Dad's guidance he built this amazing cross out of wood. It is stunning.

When he brought it home he asked me to "Cricut" out the letters for creer and believe. Yes, my baby knows what a Cricut is and how to apply it's powers. He told me the size and font and wha-la they were cut out. He glued the letters on and made an incredible showcase. I am almost more proud of the concept as well as the workmanship that went into his project. It is good to see the creativity apple not fall to far from the tree.

OK...bragging time is over. How about a little work related information. Paper Vineyard's customers also love the Cricut and there are many different ways to learn and create projects with this tool. Here are some upcoming opportunities.
The Cricut Basics class on 6/5 from 1p-4p. The class fee is $20 and it will help you learn the basics of your machine while making a beautiful card.

Intermediate Cricut Class: Recipe Book, Potluch & Crop. 6/12 from 12p-5pm. Make a recipe book from scratch, potluck some food and fill your newly completed book with recipes of folks you are cropping with. Fee is $40.

Cricut Swarm is July 16th 9am to 9pm. One spot is $40 but if you want the whole table for yourself the fee is $50. Breakfast, dinner and prize drawings are all included. This is a 12-hour crop where EVERYONE brings their Cricut. Great way to share cartridges, tips and projects.

Photos and more details for all these classes and more are on our web site www.papervineyard.com

Hey Cupcake!

2011-05-17T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hi crafters! Danielle a.k.a. FitterTwit back with more design team fun. Our feature this week is cupcakes!!! KaiserCraft has a GORGEOUS line especially for cupcakes. Once you've seen some inspiration from our design team here, be sure to check it out in person at Paper Vineyard!

First up is Mindy's Happy Birthday Cupcake card. The color scheme here is WONDERFUL!!!! The KaiserCraft paper and bling work perfectly together... don't you think?

Next is Pam's super fun cupcake creation! In addition to KaiserCraft paper and bling, Pam had fun with My Little Yellow Bicycle papers, Bazzill cardstock, Copic markers, Colorbox inks, Stickles and a Fiskars scalloped edge punch. This is just sparkly goodness!

Oh, and Marijo is wowwing us with her cupcake card featuring a die cut from the Cricut Sweet Treats cartridge along with Bazzill cardstock, Stickles, bling set with her new i-Rock and, of course, KaiserCraft goodies.

And Gayl rounds us out with her "My Sweet Cupcake" masterpiece. Gayl shares that this is her first attempt at Christy Tomlinson's "She Art". Beautiful job Gayl. Gayl also used Kaisercraft paper and cupcake wood cut out along with canvas board and tissue paper. This really is just so striking!

These projects really are a sweet treat for the week. Design team projects can be seen up close and personal at Paper Vineyard, so swing by any time for a closer look. We'll see you next week for more fun inspiration.

Yankee Doodler

2011-05-10T00:01:00.000-07:00

Welp... WE'RE BACK!!! Danielle a.k.a. FitterTwit here to march you through our AWESOME designs after a two week break for our design team. I think that you will EASILY be able to see that the little break was WELL WORTH it based on the SO-VERY-GREAT projects they turned out.

With Memorial Day and Fourth of July right around the corner, the design team was challenged to create masterpieces featuring the new Americana products available now at Paper Vineyard. We'll kick things off with the wonderful Pam!

Pam has created this COLORFUL patriotic card using a BUNCH of fun goodies including Stickles, Memento ink in Paris Dusk, Copic Marker in R46, the Marvy Scalloped Oval, Bazzill cardstock and (of course) We R Memory Keepers Yankee Doodles Tag, glitter brads, eyelets, layering chipboard, Sew Easy floss with piercing mat, brad setter tool, Crop-a-dile AND the corner chomper. Whew! Pam, you nailed it!!!

The AMAZING Gayl turned out this incredibly inventive 4th of July Triptych. A Triptych is defined as a work of art that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together and folded (I looked it up, as did the rest of the design team! hahahahahahahahaha!). Great job not only with this creation Gayl, but also with expanding our vocabulary!!!

She created this masterpiece using Creative Imaginations key tags, WeRMemoryKeepers Yankee Doodle paper and soft plastic charms, Bazzill bling, Jolee Wooden pieces, Fabric tape and vintage digital images.
It's just INCREDIBLE.... here's a close up of one of the "panels".

Let's check out the magic that Marijo brought us. And when I say "magic", I mean it!!! These magical blocks are currently on display at Paper Vineyard, so you'll want to RUN not walk to check it out!!! Why are these blocks so magical? Well, when they are arranged, they spell out 6 DIFFERENT patriotic words: America, Freedom, Veterans, Heros, Patriot and Courage.

Marijo created this wonder-project using 3" x 3" wood blocks, We R Memory Keepers Yankee Doodles paper, Bazzill paper, Xyron adhesive, Creative Memories star punch, and sealed with Mod Podge. These blocks REALLY take "patriotic" to a new level.

Well that does it for this week's designs. Our designers really ARE dandy Yankee Doodlers... LOL! I hope that we were able to inspire your upcoming patriotic holiday projects. Also, be sure to swing by the store to check out the Americana scrapbook page kits that we have available. Paper Vineyard is here to help you cultivate those patriotic creations.

It's A Circus!!!

2011-05-05T19:43:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's a circus of fun and activity here at Paper Vineyard during the month of May! Be sure to check out our complete class schedule at PaperVineyard.com for classes including mini books, Copic marker, scrapbook pages, Cricut and Gypsy as well as card making, AND.....

HURRY, HURRY, HURRY!!! Step right up to see PV's newest circus delight brought to you by our very own Mike and Lesley! This is a class you DON'T want to miss! All you have to bring to class is yourself.... EVERYTHING is provided. The class is Saturday, May 14th from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and the price is $52.

It's always so much fun when the circus comes to town!!!

Now Selling 2-Page Kits!!!

2011-05-03T10:42:00.000-07:00

We are very happy to start carrying 2-page scrapbooking kits. The kits are pre cut and include photos for you to put together. Simple as 1 - 2 - 3!! You will have two completed pages together that are simple, beautiful and waiting for your photos!

The first kit features Graphic 45's Once Upon A Springtime Collection line. This collection is great for your Easter, Spring or baby photos.

Paper Vineyard will have a new kit available every two weeks. Each 2-page scrapbooking kit is $15. Happy Kitting!

New Product and Ideas Hopping To Town....I mean PV

2011-04-21T16:42:00.000-07:00

Little Yellow Bicycle's latest collections Tiny Princess and Baby Saurus arrived today. The are both adorable additions to our baby section. One features princesses and the other dinosaurs. They both feature all the amazing embellishments that LYB is known for.

Egg Mania begins at 10am. You can come in and participate in the FREE egg decorating contest. There are two baskets ~ one kids winner (age 12 and under) and for big people (13 and older) available to win. Winner will be announced at noon! Everyone coming into the store can pick from our eggs and see their savings purchase inside. Great way to play decorating eggs and saving some $$$ in your special egg.

Our employees will be spending time with their families this weekend over the Easter holiday. Store will close early on Saturday at 5pm. Store is closed completely on Sunday, 4/24.

This is my families Easter "line up" from last year. My girl was about to pop with Andreas. This year I get to put together Andreas' first Easter basket!! I am so excited to think about what this year's pictures will be.

Happy Easter,
Adriana