Winner!! Plus a Facebook Giveaway & a reminder! :)

So many great Leap Year projects filled up our Linkz.. how fun it was to see so much creativity!!

Let's get right to our winner! :)

This lucky gal will be receiving this gorgeous Smaller than a Breadbox kit donated to TPV by our wonderful sponsor, 

Apron Strings Designs! :)

Random.org has chosen...

..this wonderful card by Saundra!

Congrats Saundra!!

Please email us with your address and I'll arrange to have that prize sent out to you very soon :)

Here is a winner badge for your blog :)

Also, we'd like to once again thank Tenny Kusuma for being our guest designer!!
Thanks Tenny!! 
It was great to have you join us at TPV! :)

We'll return on March 1st with a TPV favorite challenge, an awesome returning sponsor, talented guest designer, and daily inspiration & tutorials! Hope you all will join us!

But for now...
Head on over to our Facebook page! We have a DOUBLE GREAT giveaway goin on right now! All you have to do to win is "like" TPV and comment! :) Winner will be announced here on the TPV blog on the 1st! Good luck!!! :)

Also.. Don't forget!
There's still a bit over one day left to get that fabulous discount from My Scraps & More! There are brand new collections added to the store recently so don't miss your chance on this fabulous deal! See code below!

Top 5!!

It looks like many of you were inspired by the Leap Year movie poster!

We love all the different projects and how you were inspired. Whether it was the colors, the engagement, the couple, adding frogs, even the design and more. There is a lot of talent here at The Paper Variety! :) Without further wait, here are our top 5 entries:

Rita
(Inspired by colors, frog, leap)

Sue
(Inspired by leap)

Colin
(Inspired by colors)

Charlotte
(Inspired by engagement/wedding)

Libeeti
(Inspired by colors)

Be sure to stop by their blogs and leave them some love :)

Congratulations, ladies & gentleman!! Thanks for participating in the challenge and sharing your creativity at The Paper Variety :) Here's a TOP 5 badge for your blogs!!

You still have until midnight EST time tonight to enter our inspirational photo challenge :) Just link up your entries HERE for a chance to win this great scrappy prize from Apron Strings Designs!:

Have a great day!

Tutorial: Handmade Flowers with Punches by Jenifer :)

2 Different Flowers From The Same Set Of Punches

Hi everyone, Jenifer here today posting for The Paper Variety!
I love all things flowers, I mean SERIOUSLY love, tham I cannot get enough, If Prima's
weren't so expensive I think I'd throw some in my bath water for looks, lol! But who has that
kind of money?!?!? Today I'm gonna show you how to make TWO handmade flowers using
the same punches! These work great on a project alone, mixxed with one another, or they work
wonderfully mixxed in with store bought blooms!

Flower #1


Supplies For 1st Flower
 large azalea punch (or something similiar)

medium azalea punch (or something similiar)

small azalea punch (or something similiar)

spray bottle with water (you could get real fancy and use glimmer mist for this step)

a heavy duty adhesive

heavy weight or cardstock paper

STEP 1

Punch out 2 of each size of flower

STEP2

Lightly mist 1 flower at a time using your water bottle.....like I said if you really wanna get fancy

glimmer mist works well for this too! I doesn't need to be soaked, just lightly wet....it won't work if it's

to dry though.

NOTE: You'll wanna work on one punched flower at a time. I like to start with the largest flowers first

so they have a lil dry time while you finish the rest.

STEP 3

After you mist your flower, you want to gather the flower petals upwards making it sorta like a cone

shape. Then roll in around in your fingers a few times apply prssure, but don't do it to the point you tear

your flowers up.

STEP 4

Once you've done this open it up it up leaving it in a somewhat upwards sp that it has some dimension. Set it aside to dry and reapeat steps 1-4 on the rest of the flowers.

NOTE: On the 2 small punched flowers, leave them mostly closed up after you twist them, just open slightly.

STEP 5

Once all your punched flowers are dry dab some adhesive in the center of each and adhere them in this order

large

large

medium

medium

small

small

And there you have it, flower #1

Flower #2

Supplies For 2nd Flower

large azalea punch (or something similiar)

medium azalea punch (or something similiar)

a pair of school scissors

bling, button or anything you want for the center

a heavy duty adhesive

heavy weight or cardstock paper

STEP 1

Punch 2 large and 2 medium flowers

STEP 2

This is totaly optional, I just find it easier to complete step 3 by doing this.....but if your using a somewhat different punch you may not need to do this.

I made the space in between the petals slightly larger just by cutting it a little deeper and wider.

Here I have 2 petals cut out and the other 3 original just to show you the difference. Like I said, optional, not required.

STEP 3

Use the scissor distress technique around the edges of all of your flower petals.

TPV Scissor Distress Technique

STEP 4

I like to fold each petal at the begining near the center of the flower upward, leaving a nice crease to help it have some dimension. I also fold each petail in half, also leaving a nice crease. Don't leave the petals folded though, you will need to open it back up, this is just to give some realistic dimension to your flower.

STEP 5

Adhere each punched flower in this order once you've completed the steps above:

large

large

medium

medium

STEP 6

Adhere whatever you choose to use for your centerpiece, if your adhesive doesn't create a strong bond, you may wanna use a dab of hot glue instead.

And there you have flower #2


ALL DONE

TIPS

When working with dimensional flowers on your projects, you need to use a REALLY strong bond to keep them adhered. If you do not do this they will pop off later down the road, hot glue works great!

As for storing dimesional pages.....there really is no way to avoid a little smush unless you are placing your project in a shadow box frame or something of the like. But to limit the amount of smush your project receives once you place it in an album, you should store the album upright not lying on it's side. This reduces some of the pressure and weight put on the pages. There will still be some smush especially if you are forced to squeeze the album shut tight to make room for other album storage.

Challenge Inspiration: Jenifer & Abby!

LUCKY


What a fun challenge this was! I was so inspired by the image we were given this week, and this is what I came up with! I choose to do an orange theme, because the actresses hair just jumped off the page at me, it's the first thing I see when I look at the movie image. I was also inspired by the fact that they were a couple which is why I choose to do a couple's layout (my husband and me). Lastly but not least I was inspired by the fact that the box is green, she is fair skinned and red haired.....she has the delicate look of an Irish...what do you think of when you think of Irish?? LUCK!!! And lucky we are, to have the kind of love that we share!!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

For my project... When I see green and gray, I think masculine. Not to mention the fact that I couldn't stop ogling over Matthew the entire time I was deciding what to create lol So it's no surprise that I went with a masculine card using the poster's colors. 

I found that my Echo Park "Times & Seasons" kit includes green, red (her hair), black and a grayish blue... Score! And I absolutely love the mustache paper and stickers! I was stuck for a bit on what sentiment to use, but I decided on using "good luck" since the movie was set in Ireland :)

Tutorial: Button flowers by Sandi!

Hi, Sandi here from Slightly off Center with a quick and easy tutorial on how to make a simple yet pretty flower out something that all of us probably have jars full of -- BUTTONS!!  

Here is what you will need:

I have a scalloped circle paper punch (you could just hand cut a circle but I like to have my scallops showing around the edges of the flower.), 5 smaller and one large button in coordinating or matching colors, some adhesive (I like Tombo Mono adhesive but you could use glue dots also) and an optional paper punch.

Glue your smaller buttons around the edge of your circle and glue the larger button on top.  Let the glue dry for a few minute.  I usually tie my twine bow on the button before glueing it on top of the other buttons but you can also sew the button on the paper and then tie the edges into a bow.  It is just personal preference.

There you have it....just trim the twine and attach it to your project.

Isn't it pretty?

Challenge Inspiration: Sandi & Caroli!

Wow, there was so much inspiration to draw from in this photo!!  I took a picture of a caricature drawing of my husband and I that we had done a couple of years ago at Universal Studios Orlando.  I enlarged it and used it as the focal point of my layout as we are in much the same position as the couple on the movie poster.  I used green designer papers from Stampin' Up in keeping with the color scheme of the inspiration photo....I even added the rusty colored paper along the bottom as a nod to the actress's beautiful auburn hair color. I used part of the movie title for my page title also. There was just so much to choose from...it was an awesome photo inpiration challenge and I am really looking forward to all the clever entries we will have.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

For this challenge I chose the love theme and also used the green/gray/white palette which I do love. I used this pic of me and my hubby during our vacations in the beautiful village of San Pedro de Atacama 4 years ago ❤

This is very simple, but I liked it a lot. I used white cardstock as base and sprayed some green and gray glimmer mist on it. I also placed a lot of flags on the let side, made with the Essentials collections (both, Runaway and Upscale) from Echo Park, don't you just love to have TONS of flags?? LOL!
I used my Dymo labeller to write some lyrics of the song Real Love by John Lennon. The title was made with some light wood letters I found on a local store, which I misted to change the color, and also with a couple of flags.

I wish the pics could show the metallic detail of the mist, it's so pretty ❤  You can see some more details and closeups of this layout on my blog, hopefully it will help you to get inspired to participate with us :)

Tutorial: Paper tearing/chalking by Holly!

Hello, It's Holly from Ribbons & Glue.  Today I'm sharing a tutorial on a few basic techniques that I use for paper tearing and chalking. 

What I like about chalk is it easily adds a subtle enhancement. You can add more or less by simply blending the color with a cotton ball or applicator unlike using ink pads.

               

I actually learned this paper tearing technique from a scrapbooking demonstration that I attended on a Royal Caribbean Cruise years ago. The chalking was something else I've added.

  

What a great vacation, huh?   Sun, food and scrapping!  

To make this card you will need:

*Chalks

*Cotton Balls and eyeshadow applicators (I just use cheap dollar store applicators).

* White Card Base

* 3- 1 inch white-core cardstock strips in blue tones for ocean colors.

*Die-cut with a body or face that can be enhanced with chalk.    I used the Mermaid cut from

   Life's a Beach cartridge.

* Stamped sentiment from K. Andrew Designs.

 When you tear paper you either want to tear towards you or away from you.  In this example, I'm tearing towards me because I want to see the white core.  If you tear away from you, you'll still see the rough edge but not the white core. 

Using a cotton ball, choose a color you want to chalk with and cover the white torn edges as desired . 

Using your cotton ball again, chalk the white background of the card in a circular motion to make the look of clouds or sky.  
Stack and attach the waves to your card.  Remember you're making waves, they're suppose to look uneven.

 Now I want to add a little bit of color to my Mermaid

Using an applicator, I added some pink to her cheeks, a little bit of tan to her skin and some yellow highlights in her hair.   For detailed chalking, I use an applicator and  blend with a cotton ball if needed.

So here she is.......enhanced with a sun-kissed tan and flowing blonde hair.  I mean she is a Mermaid! 

Here are a few more examples of paper tearing & chalking:

  

Add layered torn pattern paper to cards

and use chalk as desired

Use torn paper and chalk to make unique borders and

embellishments on layouts.

Thanks for looking!