My Cottontail line is actually a spin-off of holey cardstock. I know what you are thinking..."but it's not die-cut!" Yes, that is true...but if you look at the patterns within the line...they are two tone versions of some of my holey cardstock patterns. I thought it would be fun to have a line of product that coordinated with holey cardstock not only in the color choices, but also in the textures and patterns. I chose to showcase the patterns within silhouettes of Easter imagery so that I could combine many patterns on one paper. The color palette was inspired by a floral patterned dress my art director showed me. I fell in love with the colors instantly--and better yet...many of them coordinated beautifully with the colors of holey cardstock. Their bright tones spoke to a more modern Easter look instead of the more traditional pastels. The end result is a paper line that has the ability to work seamlessly with holey cardstock.
My path to creating Holey cardstock was a long one. It started with my fascination of people's new found interest in die-cuts in the scrapbook market. Die-cut products have always had their place in scrapbooking, but creeping into existence were a more detailed and intricate version of die-cuts to cater to this reoccurring trend...intricate felt, metal, laser embellishments, and people taking the time to create their own little cut-paper embellishments...but one product was missing... scrapbookers should have a 12 x 12 option that incorporated this die-cut trend. Die-cut 12 X 12 paper was the logical way to go! I went to the internet for inspiration and found many fine artists working with paper to create intricate cut designs. Here are a few of my favorite sites--you will find their work breathtaking!http://www.petercallesen.com/index/index2.html ;
Now the real trick was to convince CI that this would be a popular trend and something that would interest many scrapbookers--as the cost for creating the dies for this process is not cheap. When they were convinced, I was given the go ahead to create away...and that is just what I did. To date, this is hands down my favorite product to mix and match with any of the other CI lines, as the colors were hand-picked to coordinate perfectly. You can use a whole sheet as a background, or cut off little bits to give your layout that special detailed feel. I love how the CI design team incorporates this product into their art.
Above layout created by Design Team Member, Cheryl Mezzetti.
Sweetheart and Sassy Girl are two lines that were born of my collage era. With these lines, I wanted to offer the scrapbooker a completely different look-- something totally unlike anything else available on the market. Being that scrapbooking is a collage craft in itself...I wanted to compliment it with a line of products that have the spirit of eclectic collage. I went back to my artsy roots and got messy with both traditional acrylic paints, and magazine collage then married everything together with my scanner and computer. It was a hoot to cut and paste, then paint and then get down to my more serious side with the computer. My favorite part of the Sassy girl line are the whimsical flower prints that seem to dance around the page. My favorite part of the Heartfelt line are the soft pinks and saucy reds played up with black and white--I really think the black was necessary to give the line the bold daring look that this line possesses. It has been so much fun to see how people use these unusual collections as they seem to spark playful creativity.
Sassy Girl layout created by design team member, Jennifer Davis.
Sam's Kitchen and Sweet Tooth...I feel these two lines give the most intimate peek into my real life. I am a chef and a baker at heart. I love to spend time in the kitchen...it is my next favorite creative outlet to design. It has long been a family tradition to love making good food, and use it to bring our family together. There are several recipes in my family that are considered family traditions...Mom's tower high Dutch apple pie, Crazy chocolate cake, Simmered Chinese chicken, to name a few. I needed a line of scrapbook products that could reflect the good feelings we have toward food in my family. I felt strongly, that the line needed the line to be something that would speak from my heart. So I used my home kitchen as the inspiration for this line and my Mother's old vanilla and flour stained recipe cards. The rag stripe paper was inspired by the stripes in my kitchen bar stools. The rooster was inspired by my plate set...I put a home-spun look on the rooster by using embroidery floss to create the design. The colors are the same scheme that is used in my kitchen. Every piece of paper came from direct inspiration in my kitchen. Every photographed item is a piece of my kitchen...the peppers and garlic in the stickers were used to make spaghetti sauce the night after I took the photos. I hope that this line can speak to the hearts, tummies, and traditions of other fellow cooks and scrapbookers out there.
Join us all week as we highlight Artist,Samantha Walkerand learn more about her collections, both past and present. Samantha is married to her “love-at-first-sight,”Jonathan. (good story, ask her about that sometime.) She is living happily ever after with her 3 children in Utah.
In this moment, you've caught me buzzing around in the thick of deadlines. I'm tying up loose ends on my Summer releases, and developing new ideas for Winter 2010 releases...while simultaneously dabbling into the quilt fabric market with spin-off's from my paper lines. In some odd way, I thrive on being crazy busy and enjoy the journey of my creative sparks--as long as things are flowing. I have a love hate relationship with deadlines--and hope that my ideas flow simultaneously with them. They are what drive me, and ultimately get me to complete a project; but yet there are just so many ideas spinning around in my head at any given moment, it is hard to sift through and pick and choose just what I am going to do--so sometimes I don't know where to begin. (It's the ADD in me--maybe some of you can relate.) So what is my process...how do I complete a line from start to finish...would you like to know? I have to say that there is no set formula or method to my creativity. But I can bring you through the process on a few of my recent and past projects to give you a glimpse into how I proceed.
Day by Day...I call this my phone-doodles line. I had a scrap of paper by my phone for about a week that I continued to draw little leafy patterns and flowers. I liked the shapes of the flowers and the squiggly vines and saved it because I thought that maybe there was something I could use it for in scrapbooking. This was also during a time that I was following a thread on a popular online message board where some ladies were saying that they would love to see some new ledger papers released in scrapbooking. My wheels started to turn, and a spark came to me...what if I combined my phone doodles with ledger papers and put a feminine spin on office products. The thought process seemed logical to me...and so I ran with the idea. I took all the elements of my phone doodles and started scanning them into Photoshop. Then I played with them in different arrangements to create a various patterns using the same elements. At first I tried a different color scheme--lavender, sage, taupe and cream...it was a little challenge that I gave myself to pull away from some of the colors I typically lean to...like red. But ultimately I was relieved that my art director wanted to see reds, creams, black , taupe and brown. Yeah!!! Colors that are right from my heart. I love the synergy you get when you work with others. Her input was certainly appreciated--and the colors in this line, certainly make it one of my favorites.
Two of our talented Design Team members will be teaching classes this coming weekend in California and Rhode Island!Stayce Dewidwill be teaching "A Year's Worth of Memories",this beautiful album contains 12 mini albums, one for each month of the year. Each monthly mini book is filled with those special memories for that month. Makes a great gift or even a brag book! You will have the option of 2008 or 2009. Join Stayce at Once Upon a Memory, 19060 Brookhurst St Huntington Beach CA or call Tel: 714.965.0088to order a class kit with full instructions and color photos! To see more of Stayce's work or view her upcoming classes, visit her blog.
Join Dt Coordinator, Cheryl Mezzetti, for a day of creative fun. Cheryl will be teaching two classes on February 21, atBella Artin Johnston Rhode Island. Both of Cheryl's classes start with a unique album she designed using Accucut dies. Her first class,Remember,reveals the beautiful color palette of the Narratives Bloom collection along with some dimensional stickers, frames and chipboard embellishments. The finished project is perfect for your Spring photos, vacation, or upcoming family event!
RememberAltered Album Class
Time: 10:00 - 12:00
Cheryl's second class, You're a Star, combines two beautifulnew releases by Creative Imaginations. The front begins with the Melange flocked papers and the inside boasts Christine Adoph's new Melody Collection, stickers and two beautiful chipboard sheets. Cheryl also shares some alcohol ink techniques using the Felcity white chipboard.This finished album is perfect for any theme, including music, love, family memories, etc.
You're A Star! Class
Time 1:30-3:30
Can't make the class? Just call the store at 401.38.0199 and they will gladly ship out a class kit with instructions and full color photos! For see more of Cheryl's work or view her class schedule visit her blog.
Jennifer Daviscreated this beautiful layout of her daughter, Zoey playing with her baby Lucy. The black and white photos work perfectly with the pretty narratives pink paper, antique cream chipboard letters and paper lace provide a soft playful feel to the finished layout.
Every February 14th, across the country, candy, flowers and gifts are exchanged between loved ones. This year our design team decided to create some homemade, quick and easypresents for Valentine's Day. Design team member, Patty Lennon,created a frame for her husband's desk using theBe Minecollection by Debbie Mumm.
Over the years, I have had the opportunity to work with some pretty incredible products from Creative Imaginations. My career started in this industry after a chance meeting with Marah Johnson during a CKC event in my area. We hit if off instantly and have remained good friends to this day {as our cell phone bills prove}. Initially, I designed with only Marah's product and as she would tell you I was her "one and only design team member" {I still hold this title}. You can see two projects I designed way back in 2005 with her Travel Collection, hereand here. Since that fateful day way back in 2005, I have continued to work with Marah's collections as well as all the talented CI Artists. One release that I continue to use in my personal scrapbooks, is Marah's Love Struck collection. Love Struck is perfect for scrapbooking my niece and nephew's Spring photos or creating a framed artwork for a friend's home.
Be sure to check out the Creative Imagination's gallery for additional inspiration from our Artists and Design team.
Recently dt member, Jennifer Davis created a beautiful layout using Christine Adolph's Mon Ami collection. She even included a quick video with simple instructions on how you can create the flowers she used on the project.
We are thrilled to be posting the first videos from Creative Imaginations Television. Check back here in the coming weeks for more videos including interviews and how to demos with some of your favorite CI artists.
