Leave A Paper Trail :)

It's time to spotlight our awesome sponsor! :)

 

Hi everyone, my name is Karen Garbacik and I am the owner of The Paper Trail. I have been paper crafting for over 13 years now and really feel that it is an invaluable service to my family and generations to come. I love the creative outlet it provides me and seeing the pages come to life gives me great satisfaction. You may ask “Why the name The Paper Trail for your store?” Well, for me, scrapbooking is all about leaving a paper trail of you for your family and future generations to come. Webster’s dictionary defines paper trail as: documents from which a person's actions may be traced. Doesn’t that just sum up exactly what we do when we create a scrapbook page? We leave a trail of us – what we have done, who we are, etc.

 

I have created this store so that you have options available to help you create the best trail that you can. Our coordinated kits are a perfect way to spend less time choosing and matching papers, embellishments, etc. and allow you to get straight to the process! Our open stock items in the store will help you enhance and add those special touches to your projects that make them personal to you.

 

Thanks to you all and Happy Trail Makin’
~Karen 

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Karen has a store full of the newest and trendiest scrappy supplies, and also those beautiful monthly kits! And you have a chance to win a $25 certificate and pick your prize! Woot! :)

 Our challenge this week is Polka-dots! Click here for all the details, see the great DT examples and to load your project! :)

 You have until Tuesday noon to enter your polka-dot paper project. If you link up before Sunday evening, you have an opportunity to have your blog spotlighted right here! :)

Thanks so much Karen 
and The Paper Trail!

Have a great weekend!

- Abby

We want to see your Polka- Dots! :)

It's week 31 at TPV!! We hope you all had a

wonderful Easter and are enjoying this beautiful first
month of Spring as we soon head into May.
Warm weather is on the way! Yay! :)

~Challenge~
Our challenge this week is all about polka-dots or dots!
Polka-dots are a timeless staple in crafting and designing,
they're everywhere! And we want to see yours! :) ~Sponsor~
We are so excited to welcome a new sponsor,
The Paper Trail!
The Paper Trail is an online store that offers gorgeous
monthly kits as well as a huge supply of scrappy goodies!
And you'll be able to choose your prize with this generous
$25 gift certificate if you're this week's lucky winner! :)

Be sure to return on Friday when we share more
about The Paper Trail!

~Inspiration~

And here are our awesome designers with their gorgeous
polka-dot examples to inspire you!

AmyPolka Dots Everywhere! The green background paper has polka dots, there are purple dots around the scalloped paper, the ribbon even has polka dots! This was a lot of fun!

AprilThis is my amazing brother-in-law and his wife (also my BFF!) at the Marine ball one year. I love this picture so wanted to keep my layout simple and let it shine. ;)

MarilynI love Polka Dots so this challenge was very easy for me!! I used this Polka dots Prima paper to make the frame and gave it little accents to my page. I took this lovely photo of my daughter Paola that was my inspiration to create this page.

Suzy

Fun...fun...fun challenge! I used polka dots paper and ribbon for this layout.

Theresa

I was inspired by this digi image of a dressform and wanted to make a vintage card. I inked the pp with distress inks, lightly misted it with water and crinkled it into a ball to give it a wrinkled worn look. I made the flower and added lace, a feather, and a small strand of beads.

YaraI was inspired in the magenta colors from the playground's tubes for this layout. The patterned paper used to mat the picture, the big star, the fabric button and the cardstock sticker banner have polka dot patterns.

AbbyI created this little doggy treat bag, an idea I found on Melinda Spinks' blog. She's so very creative and I've wanted to lift her project for a long time, I'm so glad I finally did - so is my dog, Cooper :)

Let's get started!!

Link up your polka-dot paper project before Sunday night for a chance to have your project/blog featured and before Tuesday at noon to be entered to win
a $25 Gift Certificate to The Paper Trail!

Just one entry per person, please. View our rules and guidelines here.

Have fun! :)
-Abby

Winners Times 2 :)

Good evening! Thanks SO much for all of the wonderful birthday wishes this past week. I had a little contest on the challenge post, asking you to guess my age. I gave a few clues (that I inadvertently led some of you in the wrong direction), but gave you a second clue (Child of the 80's) on the spotlight post for a second entry. 

We had 101 comments ranging from 27 to 43. So how many candles were on my cake?

Drum roll please....

There were 9 people who guessed correctly and Random.org chose a winner!

The first person to guess 29 was...

Sandi said...

Have a wonderful birthday Suzanne! I think you are just a youngster so I am going to guess that you are 29 today...have a very happy birthday!

April 20, 2011 7:07 AM 

Congrats Sandi! You won a goodie bag from the birthday girl :)

Please email me at thepapervariety@gmail.com with your snail mail address.

But wait... we have another winner to announce!

We had 47 paper crafters participate in this week's challenge:

Our sponsor this week was We Scrap Kits

Be sure to stop by their Etsy store.. they have some great deals going on! Right now they are offering a free gift with each purchase!

This week's winner will receive their Whimsy kit :)

And the winner is..

Entry #11 was Fern with this adorable Easter layout!

What a sweetheart :) I just love the soft colors!

Congratulations Fern!

Here's a blinkie for your blog.

code on our sidebar ---->

Please email us at thepapervariety@gmail.com with your snail mail address and we will pass along to We Scrap Kits! :)

Congrats again Sandi and Fern!

Stay tuned for a fun new challenge tomorrow and fabulous prize!

-Suzanne

Happy Easter! :)

..for those that celebrated today! We had a nice dinner at our home with both sides of our family. It's so fun to have a full house, but I'm enjoying the peace and quiet tonight while I catch up on blogs and plan some projects for the week :)

Loving all the numbered entries this week!!

Suzy from TeamA chose to feature Melleney Ams' layout!

She said "Love the neat and simple design, and great choice of colors and patterned papers that can match with the photo, and the corrugated heart gives a special touch to the layout". I totally agree! Love those Jillibean Soup 

papers.

I chose to feature Pam's unique "5 fingers" layout!

What a unique photo landmark! I love how Pam used one focal photo and 2 smaller photos. The papers and embellishments she used just pop off the kraft background. Great job!

Congratulations Melanie and Pam!!

Please grab a blinky for your blog!

The code is on our sidebar --->

You still have until Tuesday at noon to enter your layouts for this week's prize sponsored by We Scrap kits!

See THIS POST for details :)

Have a great week!

-Suzanne

You scrap... We scrap!

You Scrap!

Wow! So many fabulous projects inked up for this week's challenge..

Our sponsor this week is We Scrap!

Sarah says, "WeScrap offers monthly and limited edition kits always at low prices and never with any commitments!" Gotta love that!

Sarah has donated her  "Whimsy" kit for one lucky winner:

You can also purchase this kit for only $19.99 and every purchase receives a FREE gift! :)  See We Scrap's etsy store for all of the details. You can also find more information and specials on Sarah's blog! There is some AWESOME design team inspiration there.

See all of the details on this week's challenge and prize on THIS post. Link up your projects this weekend for a chance to be featured on Sunday evening's submission spotlights. You have until Tuesday at noon though to enter for the prize!

Also on THIS post: I had a little giveaway if you could guess my age. I apologize for leaving some of you astray with my clues! So if you're stopping by tonight to check out We Scrap Kits, you're in luck. I have a second clue for you {and you can enter ANOTHER comment to change your guess too!}

I had such a wonderful birthday and can't wait to spread the love with a winner on Tuesday!

-Suzanne

It's all in the numbers...

Yep, it's Suzanne here and today is my birthday! Ah!

As my students so eagerly have been asking all week, "Well, how old are you going to be?!" Ah, the things we learn in the first grade. Never ask a woman her age. LOL. Of course, their "guesses" were all over the map. 55? 79? 45? Ah, the second thing we learn in the first grade. Always shoot lower when guessing a woman's age. Oh, so around 15? Gotta love six year olds! One extreme to the other.

Here's some hints for you {that of course were not so helpful to them!}

I played with...

I watched...

I *may* have been caught wearing my hair like this..

What do you think? How old am I today? Leave a comment on this post with your guess and I will be sending a birthday "goodie bag" to one lucky correct guess!

So, as you can see. Our challenge this week isn't a birthday one (well it could be). But it's all about the numbers!

And we have a new sponsor to welcome to The Paper Variety!

We Scrap Kits is a lovely Etsy store with wonderful (and budget friendly!) kits full of papers, embellishments and inspiration.

This week's winner receive their Whimsy Kit!

To enter to win this prize, just submit a paper project that includes a NUMBER! ;)

The Team B designers have wonderful examples of inspiration to share with you!

Shannon

Shannon's layouts never disappoint, with her unique scrappy style. Love this candid pic of her kiddos and the title she made with mixed alphas. The different numbers are neat in the collage mat she created!

Jan

Jan said, "April is a big month for us!  Lots of birthdays, Easter, Spring Break and of course, Tax Day!  I used a variety of numbers on my calendar; stickers, Thickers, bingo markers, a domino, a clock face, birthday candles, rubs, and words out of beads and metal alphabets."

Mindy

Mindy said, "I spent Spring Break at my Mom's house & while I was there I climbed through the attic to find a wonderful box full of pictures.  I had been keeping this paper for the longest time, and I finally found the perfect picture to go with it!"

Patti

Patti said, "In December of 2010, I turned 50 years old. It was the first birthday that I was really not looking forward to. It was a wonderful birthday though, one that I will always remember. Being 50 is not bad -- I was able to get my first senior discount this week! I saved 10%!! :) :)"

Tessa

Tessa said, "Doing all these senior portrait layouts of my sister Elizabeth makes it easy to include a number :). Whoo hoo class of 2011!"

Welcome back.. Mel!

Mel said, "Sure feels good to be scrappin' again after a pretty long hiatus! When I saw this new line from Colorbok the first time, I had to have some of it right away, and I loved using so many different patterned papers to accent this photo of me, my Mom, and my niece Olivia from January."

Suzanne

I decided to make a card this week using the sentiment "Just 4 You". I just love this crocheted flower and the Aisan elements!

This week, we want to welcome guest designer..

 Sandi Pressley!

Sandi created these adorable counting flashcards for her granddaughter using supplies from her stash and an upcycled swatch book! You can go to Sandi's blog to see more pictures and information on how she created this project ;) Love how it is adorable and educational! 

Now, it's your turn! 

Upload your paper projects that include a number for a chance to win this week's prize. 

One entry per person. Please see our other guidelines here :)

Don't forget to leave a comment guessing my age today for a chance to win a goodie bag! :)

Winner!!

Wow! Such a great response to our flower challenge! We'd like to again thank Tiffany Rice for providing us with this great challenge prompt and for joining our DT this week - thanks Tiffany! It was a pleasure to have you with us! :)

We broke a record with participants, almost 150 - Yay! Flowers, flowers everywhere! Such a beautiful array of colors and blooms :)

Speaking of beautiful collections, our random winner will receive this Citrus Tree Studio kit which was donated by our TeamB Designer and friend, Patti! Thank you so very much for supporting and sponsoring TPV, Patti! :) :)

And now our Week 29 winner....Congratulations Tamara!!

What a beautiful card! So full of bright colors and many types of flowers.
So lovely!

Tamara, please email us with your mailing address so we can get your prize sent out to you soon. thepapervariety at gmail dot com
And you can grab the special winner blinky for your blog, it's located on our sidebar. :)

Be sure to join us tomorrow for a fun new challenge
and we happily welcome a new sponsor!

Want a hint? Here's a sneak peek!Tomorrow is a special day for
a very special gal at TPV!!

We hope you'll join us!

-Abby