Patterned Papered Dreams

Some published projects

Hello friends! It's been a while since I've shared my published projects on the blog, so today I have two of them. I love submitting cards, tags and other paper crafted stuff to Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking magazine. Their current submission calls are listed here and right now are two different ones for the iconic Card Creations and for the April 2015 regular issue. If you've never submitted, go and give it a try! The PPC&S team is a joy to work with :)

Ok, now on to the projects.

First, a little clean and graphic Christmas number from my favorite issue: Holiday Cards & More Volume 9. This publication is jam packed with Holiday inspiration, from cards to tags, to gift packaging and everything in between. A must have! You can get it here.

 

 

For this card I designed a cut file than you can download for free with your copy of the magazine :)

Here comes another project. This tag is published in the October 2014 digital issue that just went out for sale yesterday! It shows a fun hand stitched pattern using the rhinestone feature on the Silhouette Cameo.

 

 

You can purchase the October issue here or even get a year subscription for as little as $9,99 a year. Is that a deal or what?

I hope you leave inspired to try your hand at submitting to the magazine because it's a fun and rewarding process. Thanks for visiting!

 

 

 

World Card Making Day Winner 2012 Blog Hop

Hello friends and happy day-before World Card Making Day! Today, all the winners from last year's WCMD have joined in a blog hop to celebrate this very special occasion. I will never forget the wonderful surprise it was to open my email one night and find an email from Holy letting me know I was one of the winners! I screamed out so loud it freaked out my husband and son. Oh yeah, and the neighbours too :)

I had entered a few cards, but the most surprising thing was that the winner card was one with no stamping on it. No even the sentiments. I am mostly a stamper but when I created this particular card, I decided to stretch out of my comfort zone. I ventured the path of electronic die cutting and stickers. However, it still was a "me" card. It had bright colors and an overall clean and graphic feel.

With this, my friends, what I try to say is that you can be true to yourself and try new things at the same time. It worked for me :)

Here's today's card...

 

 

I wanted to make a card in the same fashion as the winner one: a floral die cut design and a simple sentiment. No embellishments. So the white pannel was die cut, and I adhered colored cardstock behind the open areas inside the flowers. This time, though, I stamped the sentiment instead of using stickers.

And there you go! Here's the complete blog hop list. It was such a honor to see my name beside such talented ladies! I still can't believe it... Thanks for stopping by!

   

1.      Agata Pfister

2.      Amber Kroening

3.       Angeline Yong Jeet Leen

4.      Ashley Marcu

5.      Carolynn Wilson

6.      Chunyuan Wu

7.      Emily Leiphart

8.      Heather Hoffman

9.      Jamie Greene

10     Jocelyn Olson

11.    Kerrianne Bowen

12.    Laura Bassen

13.    Leigh Penner

14.    Lorena Cantó Lavería <----- You are here

15.    Mercedes Weber

16.    Mignon Jessica Bear

17.    Pamela Ho

18.    Sarah J. Moerman

19.    Stasia Sloma

20.    Tarynne Wise

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Handmade Cards Blog Hop

* For my CAS-ual Fridays post just scroll down*

Hi again, friends! Today I get to help celebrating the newest Paper Craft Magazine special issue: Handmade Cards. Look at this pretty cover...

 

You don't want to miss this one! It's jam packed with ideas for using your stash of supplies! Because let's admit it: we crafters tend to have quite a little bit of supplies. What? You don't? Then, head on to the Fru-Gal magazine web, because you probably landed here by accident *wink*

Ok, so I am lucky enough to be blog hopping with a bunch of talented designers. We have created cards using a limited number of supplies: 3, 5, 7 or 9. I liked number 5, and here's what I did with my allowed number of supplies:

 

 

I used cardstock, stamps, ink, an acetate stencil and a tiny embellishment. Hope you like it :)

Time to keep on hopping because there's still a lot more to see! You should have arrived from the lovely and talented Lucy Abrams blog (for Godness sake, how does she sew so perfectly on her cards???) and your next stop is stamper extraordinaire Sarah J. Moerman.

Here's the complete list:

    Ashley Marcu

·         Chan Vuong

·         Lucy Abrams

·         Lorena Cantó Lavería <--- you are here

·         Sarah J. Moerman

·         Vera Wirianta Yates

·         Vanessa Menhorn

·         Emily Branch

 

Aaaaand... of course, there has to be a giveaway, right? Leave me a comment telling me about your favorite supply for your chance to win a copy of Handmade Cards courtesy of Paper Crafts Magazine. You have until Tuesday, September 24. Best of lucks and thanks so much for hopping by!

A published card

The lovely Cath featured today on the Moxie Fab World this little card of mine that appears on the September-October issue of Paper Crafts Magazine.

 

 

This card broke a 2 year spell, because it's the first time I have a project published in the Sept-Oct issue :) I used a double embossing resist technique and some masking for this card. You will find more details in the issue. Get your copy here! It's SO full of ideas! And I love the chalkboard inspired cover!

Thanks for stopping by and happy weekend!

Holiday Cards & More Vol. 8 Blog Hop

 Hi everyone and welcome to the Holiday Cards & More vol. 8 Blog Hop! First of all, I want to apologize. I don't know how, the system published the draft I have made for this post instead of the correct one, so I'm rewriting it at super full speed!!! I promise I know how to write, lol! Thanks for your patiente :)

 

 

So today we are helping to launch my favorite issue. It is so full of Christmas goodness that I don't know where to start. Really. Just go. Get. It. Here.

And to help you get into the Christmas spirit, what better that some Holiday treats with a pretty packaging? We were asked by the lovely Paper Crafts Mag team to share a favorite Christmas recipe. I have to confess I am pretty much a disaster at the kitchen. And franckly, a whole stuffed turkey wouldn't fit in my pretty box. So I made Christmas chocolates (super simple recipe to come later). And here's how I packaged them. I tried my hand at classy and elegant, even when I'm unable to tie a big satin bow. But twine? That I can do!

 

 

I promise the chocolates are there. Down there, can you see them? Lol! They wouldn't stay put when I was taking the pic, and although I almost stuck them in place with a glue dot, I thought better. Because that's not exactly my idea about how sticky and sweet should be ;)

 

 

And of course, a coordinating card had to be done. I just switched the colors instead of making the pannel identical to the one I made for the box.

 

As for the recipe for the chocolate? Please, don't laugh... And also forgive the lack of super technical kitchen goddess terms (I never understand those when I read a recipe, anyway)

1. Melt a bar of your favorite chocolate at very, very, very slow fire. Use a non stick pan for this. Ask me how I know.

2. Pour the melted chocolate into a silicone mold. There are super cute ones out there! I used a simple one :) At this step, you can also add some grounded nuts, finely crushed candy canes or even spices (chili chocolate, anyone?)

3. Let it become solid, pop the chocolates out of the mold and stuff them in your mouth put them into the pretty box. Done.

See why I thought you would laugh at my lack of cooking talent? And now, it's time to start hopping!  Your next stop is the blog of the fantastic Kalyn Kepner. I love the softness and delicacy in her creations! Here you have the complete blog hop list. Right now you are at the first stop:

 

Kalyn Kepner

Erin Lincoln

Jeanne Jachna

Nina Yang

Amanda Coleman

Karolyn Loncon

Kelly Griglione

Vera Wirianta Yates

Maurine Anderson

 

And of course, the lovely Paper Crafts Mag team kindly let me give away a free copy of the issue to one lucky comenter. Just leave me a comment before Tuesday, August 13th at midnight and I'll pick a winner shortly after.

Thanks for stopping by and Merry Christmas in August!

 

Paper Crafts presents: 75 Creative Card Challenges Blog Hop

Welcome to the 75 Creative Card Challenges blog hop! Today I'm lucky enough to help promote this special issue along with some amazing designers.

 

If your mojo is nowhere to be seen, if you love challenges, if you would like to stretch your supplies and try some fun techniques... Then, believe me, you need this issue (you can get your copy here).

 And what else could we do in this blog hop but giving a try to one more card challenge? One as fun as the other 75 you'll find in the issue...

...use song lyrics on a card.

Because I love music, I really struggled to decide which song to choose. Some were out of the game because the lyrics were, let's say, not very appropiate. Others, as much as I love them, where so easy that I thought it would be almost like cheating ("Hello, goodbye" by The Beatles or "You are my sunshine").

But then I remembered one of my favorite songs. One that I love in two different versions, the original and a modern one. Want to try and guess it?

Here is my card:

Get it?


It's "You were always on my mind", first by Elvis, later by Pet Shop Boys. I adore both. Here's the PSB version :)

 

 

So, how about winning a copy of this awesome issue? Leave me a comment -maybe you can tell me about your favorite music for crafting?- until Tuesday, January 15th and I'll pick a winner after that date. Also, once you're done blog hopping, don't forget to stop at the Paper Crafts Connection. They have a prize up for grabs too!

Your next stop is the blog of no other than one of my stamping idols and bold geometrical designs queen, Laura Bassen.

 
And here's the complete list of the hop:

Heather Campbell

Chan Vuong

Lorena Cantó Lavería <--- You're here

Laura Bassen

Julia Stainton

Kim Hughes

Sarah J. Moerman

Amber Kemp-Gerstel

Emily Branch

Vera Wirianta Yates

Thanks so much for visiting!

Paper Crafts presents: Holiday Cards & More 12 Blogs of Christmas

Hello and welcome to the Holiday Cards & More 12 Blogs of Christmas Blog Hop! This blog hop is the cherry on top for the promotional week of one of the most beloved Paper Crafts special issues, the one and only devoted to all things Christmas! You can't miss it, and here is were you can get a copy.

I always love creating for this issue because as I've said before, it's like having Christmas twice a year ;)

Today, on each of the 12 Blogs of Christmas you will find a card created using one of the simple sentiments from this issue. It's my first time using a digital sentiment!

 I wanted to make an unconventional Christmas wreath. It started by printing the sentiment on red cardstock. Then I die cut it with a circle die, and used a woodgrain plate for debossing. To highlight the sentiment, I used a white gel pen to fill in some of the areas and doodle a frame. Isn't that handwritten font lovely?

Next was die cutting the big scalloped image from patterned paper (Lily Bee's Handmade collection) and adding some Hero Arts rhinestones. The card is finished with a chevron bow, and because the focal point is so big and saturated color wise, I decided to leave the card base plain white.

Now it's time to keep on hopping! Your next stop is no other than my very admired, stamper extraordinaire and CAS queen Cristina Kowalczyc!

But before, the lovely Paper Crafts Magazine lets me give away a copy of Holiday Cards & More to one lucky commenter, so go ahead and leave me a comment before next Tuesday telling me what makes you happy about Christmas and I'll pick a winner! And don't forget to stop by the Paper Crafts Connection once you're done hopping, because there may be some prizes up for grabs there too ;)

Thanks so much for hopping along! Oh, and here's the whole blog hop list:

1.      1. Chan Vuong

2.  2. Angeline Yong Jeet Leen

3.  3. Heather Campbell

4.  4. Kalyn Kepner

5.  5. Lorena Cantó Lavería <----- You're here

6.  6. Cristina Kowalczyc

7.  7. Amy Wanford

8.  8. Vanessa Menhorn

9.  9. Latisha Yoast

10.    10. Jocelyn Olson

11  11. Meredith MacRitchie

12  12. Clare Prezzia

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Card Design Handbook Blog Hop: From Good to Great!

(this is my second post for today. For my CAS-ual Fridays post, please scroll down).

Hello, hello again friends! Today I am lucky and honored to be part of a super special blog hop that marks the end of a whole week dedicated to celebrate the release of Card Design Handbook, the latest special issue by Paper Crafts Magazine. - If you arrived here from the fabulous Jaclyn Miller's blog, you're on the right track! If not, you can start hopping at the lovely Chan Vuong's blog.-

I can honestly say that this is my favorite Paper Crafts special issue to the date. It is the definitive resource for cardmakers, or as I told Creative Editor Susan Opel some months ago while designers were working on contributions for this issue, "an amazing compendium of knowledge". Boy, did I learn about the principles of design while creating for this publication!

You can find out more about it both in the Paper Crafts Connection blog and in the Moxie Fab World, where it has been celebrated all week long and there are also some great challenges going on. Of course, you can buy your copy here. It owns a permanent place near my crafting desk :)

So today, 10 contributing designers that appear in Card Design Handbook are showcasing samples of 10 of the principles of design reviewed in the issue, and how that principles can magically bring a card from good to great.

I chose to work with the Colour cathegory, particularly with adding a pop of color to a black and white design (you can find more about this in pages 67-70).

Here's my first card. It is pure black and white, and while it has a nice and balanced graphic design, and even some texture added with the woodgrain debossed polaroid frame and the twine bow, I still find it needs a little something...

... a little something called color! Tadaaaa!!!

 

So? Doesn't it make a huge difference? While the black blooms and leaves gave a coll graphic look to the card, I find that stamping them with red and green inks simply brings the card to life.

And now, let's keep hopping! This is the whole list of designers, and your next stop is no other than the amazing Amy Wanford!

1.       1. Chan Vuong

2.   2. Kalyn Kepner

3.   3. Julia Stainton

4.   4. Jocelyn Olson

5.   5. Angeline Yong Jeet Leen

6.   6. Jaclyn Miller

7.   7. Lorena Cantó Lavería <--- you're here

8.   8. Amy Wanford

9.   9. Emily Branch

10  10. Vanessa Menhorn

Now, what about a prize? The lovely Paper Crafts Magazine team is letting each of us give away a copy of this amazing issue. Just leave me a comment before Tuesday August 28th and I'll pick a winner and post it on Wednesday. Oh, and when you're done hopping, head over to the Paper Crafts Connection blog because a little birdie told me there's an awesome prize up for grabs there too!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a lovely weekend!

Supplies: Cardstock: Canson; Stamps: (blooms and leaves) Lawn Fawn, (polka dots) PTI; Ink: (black) Versafine, (red, green) PTI; Dies: (polaroid, alphabet) PTI; Debossing plate: (woodgrain) PTI; Twine: The Twinery.

Practical Solutions for Papercrafters Mini Blog Hop

(You should have arrived here from Emily's Blog)

Hi crafty friends! Today we're blog hopping and celebrating a very special Paper Crafts issue: Practical Solutions for Papercrafters.

I really had a blast brainstorming and creating projects for this issue. It forced me to look around and find lots of things that I would never have thought to use on a card: household items, product packaging, the tiniest of scraps... All the designers came out with amazing ideas! You can get your copy here.

One of the features in this issue shows ideas for making 5 cards for $5. Yes, it can be done! And that's what we're showing you in this mini Blog Hop.

For my project I went with the same idea I had featured in the magazine (see pages 156-157): cardstock (I got 5 3x3 card bases out of a $0.20 white Canson sheet and still had tons left!) and a $2.99 stamp set. Instead of buttons and twine, my other "big" investment was a $1.49 sticker sheet full of beautiful sentiments. I also used a simple black pen and a ruler to trace the frames for a little more interest.

2.99 + 1.49 + 0.20 =  $ 4.68

And here they are:

Super easy! I just played around with the different stamps and used a bit of masking too. I can tell you that the hardest part of all the project was taking a decent picture of all the cards together! Which makes me appreciate even more the amazing way that Paper Crafts Magazine has to showcase our projects in print.

Don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win a copy of this amazing issue! I'll announce the winner on Monday :)

And now, time to keep on hopping! Here's the complete list of participants. After Aga's blog, you can go back to the Paper Crafts Connection because they have a prize up for grabs too!

Emily Branch

Lorena Cantó ------} You're here

Chan Vuong

Vera Wirianta Yates

Agnieszka Malyszek

Paper Crafts Connection

Thanks so much for blog hopping with us and have an amazing weekend!

Supplies: Cardstock: Canson; Stamps: Basic Grey; Ink: (Pool, Tomato Red) Impress; Stickers: Cosmo Cricket; Other: Stabilo black pen.

March/April Paper Crafts Magazine

Hi there! Well, in case there's still someone out there, because I've been a terrible blogger. Almost two weeks without posting. What can I say? This busy, crazy life of mine always getting in the middle...

Today I'm sharing a card published in the Paper Crafts Magazine March/April 2012 issue.

You can get your copy here. Don't miss the "You color my world" feature. If you're a sucker for rainbow colored stuff, you're going to be in heaven! Oh, and the Letters and Numbers feature is super cool too!

Thanks for visiting and have a fantastic week!