• in 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman in the U.S. with a medical degree?
• in 1901, Annie Edson Taylor, a schoolteacher from Michigan, became the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel?
• in 1903, Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize?
• in 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic?
• in 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus and sparked the modern civil rights movement?
• in 1981, Sandra Day O’Connor became the first Supreme Court Justice?
• in 1983, Dr. Sally K. Ride became the first American woman to be sent into space?

These women, along with so many more, helped shape the course of history, fought for the things they were passionate about, and overcame the odds. 

But what about those women a little closer to home…those that have helped to shape our personal histories? Our mothers and grandmothers who raised us to become the women we are today. Or maybe you know a woman who is a passionate teacher or caregiver that has demonstrated the true meaning of sacrifice. Or maybe it’s a friend that has remained strong through a battle with cancer and has shown you how life can be lived to the fullest even amidst tragedy. We all know women like these that have set a shining example and impacted our lives. Why don’t you take a bit of time this month and create a card, especially for her, to let her know how wonderful you think she is!

Here's a card I created using GCD Studio’s Homespun Chic collection.

I’d love to hear about a woman that has impacted YOUR life. Leave a comment telling me a bit about her and I’ll pick two random winners to take home GCD’s Homespun Chic collection. All comments must be received by midnight (MDT) on Thursday, March 24.

Two lucky winners will take home this GCD prize package!

Let’s hear it for the girls,
Betsy

P.S. Head on over to the Paper Crafts Facebook Fan Page for another chance to win some Homespun Chic goodies!

Cath Edvalson

As you can imagine, we editors here at Paper Crafts magazine use the information we gather at CHA for at least six months until the next show. 

We pore over our notes and photos, we organize and plan, and in my case, I see what rises to the top in terms of trends. We do this so we can bring you the freshest magazines possible filled with products we think you’ll love. 

And while you don’t have to be trendy to be a good card maker, trends are fun, they inspire, and if you’re aware of them, you can pick and choose which trends speak to you most and then decide if/how/when to incorporate them into your work. 

Here is my semi-annual Trends by the Dozen report. These are the motifs, styles, and patterns that kept popping up from booth to booth. And while butterflies, lace, doilies, and banners are still going strong, here are some new players in the paper crafting field. Check it: 

The run-away trend of the show, cameos were absolutely everywhere. I’m not gonna lie, since cameos were the focus of our January/February Moxie Fabs column, I’m seriously loving the timing of this trend: 

Images from Hambly Screen Prints, Maya Road, Webster’s Pages, Jenni Bowlin Studios, The Girls’ Paperie, Anna Griffin, Teresa Collins Designs, and Melissa Frances

Though closely related, these next two trends were hot, hot, hot! We saw a lot of circus product: 

Images from GCD Studios, Graphic 45, and Glitz Design

…as well as a state fair theme: 

Images from Studio Calico and Echo Park Paper

…and related to these two trends as well are fun and funky moustaches: 

Images from My Cute Stamps, GCD Studios, and Hambly Screen Prints

And dare we say that playing cards are tag-alongs in this genre as well? 

Images from Glitz Design, Kaisercraft, Bella Blvd., and Fancy Pants Designs

The single most predominant style of the show is Retro Vintage: 

Images from Vintage Street Market, Webster’s Pages, The Girls’ Paperie, Unity Stamp Company, October Afternoon, Technique Tuesday, and Cosmo Cricket

…and I think cameras: 

Images from Lawn Fawn, Hambly’s Screen Prints, and Maya Road

…and old-fashioned transportation are tag-alongs to that style as well: 

Images from Maya Road, Technique Tuesday, Lily Bee Design, Webster’s Pages, and Crate Paper

Award badges are creeping in to the trendy tableau: 

Images from Jenni Bowlin Studios and Glitz Design

…and lanterns are lighting up the scene brighter than ever before: 

Images from American Crafts, InStyle Stamps, and Lawn Fawn

Botanicals were absolutely everywhere as well: 

Images from La Blanche, Pink Paislee, Jenni Bowlin, and Tim Holtz

…while mixy matchy patterns have become almost commonplace: 

Images from Glitz Design, Making Memories, The Girls’ Paperie, and BasicGrey

And there you have it, my trendy friends, the cream that rose to the top of the winter show. I’d love to know which of these trends you see yourself incorporating into your projects the most and why. Leave me a comment by midnight (MST) on Wednesday, Feb. 23 and I’ll send one lucky person something moxie fab from the show. 

Your trend-watching friend,
Cath 

P.S. Happy birthday wishes go out to our Lone Design Man, Matt Anderson! May the force be with you today! 

P.P.S. It’s time to announce the three winners from Renae’s Back to Stamping Basics post! 

1. Frankie (Feb. 17, 9:48 a.m.)
2. Shanon Gibson (Feb. 17, 8:09 a.m.)
3. Laura M. (Feb. 17, 9:29 p.m.) 

Congrats, winners! You’ve won a copy of Stamp It! Techniques, Stampin’ Up!’s Classic Stampin’ Spots and their A to Z Background Stamp. I’ll be contacting you shortly to get your mailing addresses. Thanks to all who left comments!

Teri Anderson

Ready for some more tool talk?

Today, I’m playing with two tools that work great with chipboard: the Chip Art tool from GCD Studios and the Corner Chomper from We R Memory Keepers.

The Chip Art tool is one of the newest tools in the crafting world. Introduced earlier this year, this tool allows paper crafters to stamp and deboss chipboard with designs of butterflies, flowers, letters and much more.

The tool is a metal stick of sorts. GCD Studios makes a number of interchangeable metal heads with designs on them. The heads fit the end of tool. You then use a mallet to whack the design on the chipboard.

Here’s how you do it:

1. Brush water on a piece of chipboard. You want to just soften the chipboard. You don’t want it to be soaking wet. 

2. Place one of the Chip Art tool’s changeable heads on it. 

3. Set tool vertically on your chipboard. You want the design on the changeable head to be sitting right on the piece of chipboard. Hold the tool with one hand. Use a mallet with the other hand to tap the tool two to three times.

4. Remove the tool and you’ll see the image debossed onto the chipboard.

The Corner Chomper is a corner punch from We R Memory Keepers. The Corner Chomper cuts chipboard, as well as paper and more. It comes with two edges – a ¼” round edge and a ½” round edge. We R Memory Keepers also recently introduced some decorative Corner Chompers, which also work with chipboard.

The way the corner Corner Chomper works is:

1. Open up the Corner Chomper’s two guides all the way. You want to hear the guides click twice. If you hear only one click, you haven’t gone far enough.

2. Place your chipboard all the way in the Corner Chomper.  

If you don’t go all the way, you will not get a nice clean and round corner.

3. Punch.

4. Once you have punched, turn the Corner Chomper toward you. Lift up the black waste bin panel and remove the leftover corner pieces.

I’ve used these tools make three projects to share with you today.

I used the Chip Art tool to decorate the house on my Miss You Card. I randomly debossed words and hearts on the chipboard house’s roof:

To give the house a worn look, I brushed several layers of white and pink paint over the words. I then used a baby wipe to remove some of the paint before it dried.

The Chip Art tool again came in handy for my Friend of Mine Card:

This time, I debossed an ornamental image on the chipboard bird. I brushed white ink over the bird before slapping it on the card.

The kraft panel behind the gray panel is chipboard. I used the Corner Chomper to simply round it.

Finally, I used both tools on my BFF Card:

I used the Chip Art tool to deboss an ornamental design on the chipboard letters. I didn’t brush any water onto the letters before so I had to whack the mallet extra hard. Once I did that, I sanded the letters.

And that yellow panel you see was created with chipboard and a piece of fabric. I glued the fabric to a piece a square cut from chipboard and then used the Corner Chomper to round the corners.

Check out my blog today for another project using these fun tools.

Since it’s Freebie Friday, it’s time for today’s giveaway! Leave a comment telling me about a tool you’d like to learn more about and/or get some new ideas for. One random commenter will win this set of Chip Art tools that appeared in the Tips, Tools & Techniques column of the July/August issue of Paper Crafts.

One lucky winner will take home this entire set of Chip Art tools!

Tooling Around,

Teri Anderson,
Paper Crafts Go-to-Gal

P.S. It’s time to announce the winners of Brandy’s Fabulously Frocked Feet post! (And each of these ladies got four or more answers correct!)

1. Chloe (July 7, 5:47 a.m.)
2. cards4ever (July 6, 8:22 a.m.)
3. Summer Braxton (July 6, 12:32 p.m.)

Congrats, winners! Kelly will be contacting you shortly to discuss your prizes and get your mailing addresses. If you’re still confused on whose feet belong to what team member, hop on over to the Paper Crafts Facebook Fan Page today! We’ll learn the identity of all 80 toes!

P.P.S. Make sure you join us next Monday as Jennifer kicks off our highly-anticipated Card Style Week. All week long we’ll be spotlighting cards from our new special issue Card Style!

Susan R. Opel

It’s time for another edition of Tips, Tools, & Techniques trivia! Open your sunshiny copy of the July/August 2010 issue of Paper Crafts (filled with your favorite things!), turn to pages 86-88 and answer the following questions for the chance to WIN (and who doesn’t like to win?):

• Who designed the GORGEOUS butterfly mini-album using the Chip Art tool from GCD Studios?
• How many buttons appear on the Cutie Tag designed by Paper Crafts Go-to Gal Kim Hughes?
• What do I suggest you do periodically if you store all of your buttons in a big glass container?

• How much would it cost to buy all of the items listed in the DCWV Safari Desk Organization collection (without tax)?
• What idea is your favorite from this issue’s Tips, Tools, & Techniques column, and why?

Now for the fun part. One winner will be selected at random to win the following:

• The Safari Desk Organization from DCWV, Inc., shown on p. 88.

Now doesn’t that sound fun? There’s not much more to do before you are qualified to win!

• Send me an e-mail with your answers to sopel@papercraftsmag.com. Put “TT&T Blog” in the subject line of your message. Be sure to leave a comment on the blog, and let me know how you would use this desk organization set.
• Entries are due no later than midnight (MDT) on Wednesday, June 23. From the correct entries received, one winner will be selected at random and contacted via e-mail. Note: Due to the number of e-mails received, I’m unable to respond to each message individually. Please know that I do read your comments and totally appreciate your participation. Thanks!

So…What are you waiting for?

Can’t wait to see your answers!
Susan

P.S. – We’ll be giving away the Chip Art tool at a later date, so STAY TUNED!

P.P.S. Voting has begun for round 3 of Gallery Idol! Click HERE to see the Top 10’s amazing ribbon cards and to cast your vote! Voting will end at noon (MDT) on Thursday, June 24, so don’t delay!

Jessica Witty

If you’ve met me, you’ve probably seen them. They’re hard to miss. I mean…I’m kind of a small person, but they just keep getting bigger and more colorful. 

I can’t help it.
These days I just love ‘em.  

Accessories, people…accessories! 

Hair clips (usually flowers), necklaces (the bigger, the better), bracelets (why have just one when five is better?)…it goes on and on. Personally, I notice that I like to keep my accessories similar to how I design my cards…only one big statement at a time. 

For example…my latest love… 

I love it. Love it. It goes with everything and always makes me feel great. 

Now, let me be clear; I wasn’t always like this.
I would not have considered myself super girly by any stretch. 
I had two kids…both boys, and that seemed to contribute to me staying on the non-girls side of things.
Boys don’t require accessories other than a stylin’ necktie or cap on occasion.
And I liked it that way. 

And then I had a daughter.
I’m blamin’ it on her. 

She came as quite a shock after five years of mothering those two very boyish boys. 

And then there was the fact that this kid came with a head full of hair right from the get go. Another shock after mothering two very boyish, very bald boy babies. 

And so it came to be that I began noticing a few changes. 
I started to see the reasoning in having accessories to perfectly contrast all of her outfits. {And mine; but that’s a different story.} 

I had to wise up pretty quickly…those tiny little pieces of cuteness aren’t cheap, my friends.  

But I am a paper crafter.  
I have skills.
I have creativity.
And what else do I have? 

That’s right.
Embellishments.  

Ah…the perfect little accessories, right at my fingertips.  

For example…the flower. 

These little sweeties were made with Basic Grey’s Fabric Bloomers and they could not have been easier. Just cover a little clippie with some strong adhesive and stick ‘em on. Done. 

How about in felt? 

This is the same idea, just using a different type of clip and a flower from Little Yellow Bicycle. 

What about in chipboard? 

This cutie chipboard is from Melody Ross’ Artsy Urban line from GCD Studios. I just pulled the flower off of the backing and glued the slide clip directly to the back.  

I’ve even found that brads are super simple to work into hair clips.  

Just put a little adhesive on the clip, then stick the prongs of the brad through the hole in the center of the clip and fold the prongs flat against it. I covered the back with a little circle of felt as well. (The flower brad is from K&Company…I am loving the vintage look on that one!) 

Or, in this case, I was able to just pull the prongs off the back and adhere the top of the brad right to the clip using some foam tape. 

Now that I’ve honed on cutie pie clip-making skills, I’ve moved on to headbands.  

I was able to use a length of wide ribbon that I have been saving for, oh, years on this one. I just took some colored elastic and stitched the ends together. Then I pinned the ribbon in ruffles stitched one line down the center to hold it in place…super easy. 

I’ve noticed that my new obsession has caused me to see products a bit differently. When perusing the Prima booth at CHA, I was so overwhelmed by all the accessory possibilities that I could barely stand it!  

And then there was Webster’s Pages…I am totally imagining Noelle all decked out in a sweet headband using these: 

How about you? 
Have you ever crafted some handmade accessories for yourself or your little one? 
Tell me all about them!
I’m on the search for new accessory ideas, so I’d love to hear yours! 

Later, friends! 

Paper Crafts Go-to Gal
Jessica Witty

Susan R. Opel

Last month while teaching at a Creating Keepsakes Convention in Kentucky, I had the opportunity to meet Windy Robinson, a talented card designer who’s been published in Paper Crafts magazine. She told me an inspiring story about how she became the paper crafter that she is today, and I knew that I wanted to share it with all of you! So, read on for Windy’s story…

Windy’s story: Every year my best crafting buddy and I attend a CKC event. We’ve been fortunate enough to attend CKC-Louisville just two hours from our hometown of Cincinnati for the past two years, but I’ll admit that we’ve gleefully driven 5-6 hours to hit CKC-Nashville. You just can’t beat a weekend of quality crafting time with your girlfriends, abundant new products to buy and new things to learn by taking great classes from the pros.

It’s amazing what can happen in a very short period of time. I say this because it’s hard to believe that it was only a little over a year ago when I made my first card…ever! I entered it in the Paper Crafts Card Contest at CKC-Louisville.

Windy created her You Make Me Smile Card using product she bought at the CKC vendor faire last month.

Prior to making my first card, I was die-hard scrapbooker. I made my first scrapbooks over 12 years ago when I was in college, with magnetic albums and construction paper–yikes! After making that first card and taking a few classes at CKC, I instantly became addicted to card making. This addiction has been one of life’s little surprises for me. I never would have dreamt that I’d be a card maker, but what I hadn’t realized was that card making and scrapbooking naturally go hand in hand.

I began a blog where I shared cards that I’d made from the remnants of my scrapbook pages. Within a few months of sharing my work, seeing others’ inspiring work and playing along with the challenges at Paper Crafts Connection and Moxie Fab World, my card designs started to take over as the inspiration for my scrapbook layouts.

Windy’s classy and elegant style often includes a big dramatic silk ribbon.

As the months progressed, I started developing my style as a designer, submitting my work to Paper Crafts for publication, and building fabulous relationships with paper crafters from all around the world. The end result is that now I am a die-hard card maker (who scrapbooks), and I’ve even been asked to join the design teams for GCD Studios and Piggy Tales Academy! 

I love to share and learn, and this wonderful craft enables us all to do that on so many levels. Better yet, I have learned how to define my scrapbook designs, and I’m loving my layouts even more now. The moral of this story is that you can surprise yourself, but only if you give it a shot. So submit, share and most importantly, don’t stop creating!

Windy and I pause for a photo after the Paper Crafts Card Swap at CKC-Louisville.

Thanks for sharing your story, Windy. And to think that it all started because of a fun and crafty weekend with her girlfriends!

Have you ever attended a CKC event? Follow this link and see if there’s one in your neck of the woods. It might well be a weekend you’ll never forget (for all the right reasons!). 

Join me in giving Windy some Paper Crafts love!
Susan

P.S. You can see more of Windy’s cards in our current issue, as well as our May/June and July/August issues. Her projects will also be appearing in our upcoming special issues – Go-to Sketches (on sale March 23) and Card Creations, Volume 8.

Cath Edvalson

As creative editor for Paper Crafts magazine, it’s my job to make sure that the projects we show are fresh, fun and trendy. So, when I walk the showroom floor at CHA, I’m always on the lookout for what inspires, what’s showing up multiple times in multiple places and what’s getting a lot of buzz as I bop from booth to booth.

On the plane ride home, as I started to process all I had seen, I wrote down the common themes that had risen to the top of my experience. Here are they are—my CHA Winter 2010 Trends by the Dozen:

1. Doilies & Lace. Intricate lovelies straight from Grandma’s parlor:

Products from October Afternoon, Little Yellow Bicycle and Donna Salazar

2. Opaque. It’s been about glitter and twinkle. Now it’s about hard-core shine:

Products from Ranger and Pink Paislee

3. Textured Cardstock. Whether it’s custom to a manufacturer, raised or stitched, it’s all about texture:

Products from Cosmo Cricket, Bazzill Basics Paper and Anna Griffin

4. Canvas. Speaking of texture…

Products from Prima, Canvas Corp. and BasicGrey

5. Peace Signs. A return trend from CHA Summer, these happy icons were everywhere I looked:

Products from Little Yellow Bicycle, Adorn It and Reminisce

6. Altered Art. Anything Tim Holtz is hot and these new tools help seal the deal:

Products from Tim Holtz, GCD Studios and Zutter

7. Music. Carrying its own tune:

Products from Glitz Design, Technique Tuesday and October Afternoon

8. Frames. Picture this:

Products from Teresa Collins Design, Webster’s Pages and 7gypsies

9. Buttons. As in cute as a…

Products from Webster’s Pages, The Girls’ Paperie and Jenni Bowlin

10. Vintage Ephemera. Trinkets, cards, images and more:

Products from Melissa Frances, Glitz Design and K&Company

11. Background Text. These say it all…

Products from Prima, Technique Tuesday and Impression Obsession

12. Sewing—the run-away trend of the show. Keeping us in stitches:

Products from Cosmo Cricket and Maya Road

Which of these trends speaks the most to you and why? I’d love to hear your takes on this trendy dozen, friends! Leave me a comment by midnight (MST) on Wednesday, Feb. 10 and I’d be oh-so-happy to send the Material Girl collection from Cosmo Cricket to one random lucky winner!

Dealing in dozens,
Cath

Kim Hughes

Hello, friends! World Card Making Day is drawing near…have you made plans for this special day yet? I will be teaching at Scrapbooks to Remember in Anthem, AZ, which I’m beyond excited about. I hope to see some of you there! I’m also hosting a fashion/home decor challenge at Ellen Hutson’s CLASSroom blog, which is where I post a technique-based class every Wednesday. Please come say “hi”!

I will also be contributing a card to the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog. They are a Canadian-based magazine that is found in local scrapbook stores and can also be seen online. That’s the wonderful thing about “World” Card Making Day…it’s a day where friends and strangers from around the globe can come together and enjoy what they love…creating heartfelt cards.

This is a great time to get ready for the holiday card-making season. Mass producing holiday cards can be an intimidating task, but there are ways to make your experience an enjoyable one:

• Creating a card that is flat, light weight and standard size (4 ¼” x 5 ½”) makes it easier and more cost-effective to mail.
• Additional postage is required for square and odd-shaped envelopes. 
• You will also need to add postage for ribbon knots and even the tiniest of brads. (Be prepared because this can add a lot to your cost, especially if you are mailing a ton of cards. Might want to rethink that delicious bow!)

I designed this holiday card specifically with mass producing it in mind.

• Get your children involved and design a card that uses punches (I used a large circle, snowflake and small folk heart punches). 
• Create an assembly line by pre-cutting/punching papers and let your family lend a helping hand. 

I used papers from the Merry Days of Christmas collection by My Mind’s Eye. I like using a holiday paper collection because the colors coordinate perfectly. The Cold & Cuddly stamp set by Stampin’ Up! is absolutely adorable, and it can be used year after year (use the bear or walrus to create a different card entirely).

Santa's Holiday Cheer Card is only five steps and perfect for mass producing!

This card was published in the recent Holiday Cards & More, Volume 4 and is easy to replicate. Just cut two slits in a square and add black paper through it to create Santa’s belt. The base papers are by Core’dinations cardstock and the sentiment can easily be created with a bracket die cut. Just stamp a holiday sentiment and add a jingle bell accent.

If you are digital savvy, add special touches to your family photo and use them as your holiday card. Many photo-developing stores offer great printing rates during the holidays. You just have to shop around!

When designing a card to mass produce, use the K.I.S.S. method (Keep It Simple Silly). Keep layers to the minimum and purchase embellishments that come in multiple packs, if possible. That’s a big reason why stamped cards are ideal – you can use the stamps over and over again. You can assemble them while cropping with friends or sitting in front of the television. I love the feeling that I get when they are all completed and sent, don’t you?

I have a fun giveaway today! Two winners will each take home a GCD Studios paper pad, two packages of their die cut chipboard and a copy of Holiday Cards & More, Volume 4 (which is my favorite special publication this year). Please tell me if you make your own holiday cards and about how many you send out. All comments must be received by midnight (MST) on Friday, Oct. 2.

Two lucky winners will each receive this prize package!

Let the holiday card-making begin!

Kim Hughes,
Paper Crafts Go-to Gal

P.S. Make sure you hop on over to Cath’s Moxie Fab World blog! Today on her world tour of card-making, she’s spotlighting cards from the Dominican Republic, Japan, Morocco, the Phillipines, Puerto Rico and Singapore!

P. Kelly Smith

Welcome to Freebie Friday! This week has literally flown by! We had a blast at our annual Editorial Board Meeting. This was the first time all of the new Go-to Gals and the Paper Crafts team were in one room. Our Go-to Gals flew in on Monday, flew out on Wednesday and in between those short 48 hours, we found time to review all of last year’s magazines, concept all of next year’s issues, participate in two photo shoots, enjoy two dinner parties and laugh until our stomachs hurt. Who knew “working” could be so much fun!

And the fun continues because all next week we’ll be counting down the days until World Card Making Day arrives on Saturday, October 3. We’re once again partnering with creative editor Cath Edvalson and her Moxie Fab World blog. She’s taking a really fun approach that plays off the “world” title in her blog. If you thought Paper Crafts magazine couldn’t reach the far corners of the earth, wait until you see what Cath has in store! The global participation begins next Monday, so make sure you check back with us!

Paper Crafts Go-to Gal Kim Kesti turned the WCMD logo into this fun card!

Next week on Paper Crafts Connection:

Magazine Monday– Have you ever wondered what cardmakers are like in England? Well, the wait is over because we’ll be spotlighting the UK-based publication PaperCraft inspirations. We’ll ask one of their editors all the questions you’ve been dying to know like their favorite occasions to paper craft, techniques they love and why paper crafting has such an universal appeal. And there will, of course, be a jolly good giveaway (said in my best English accent!).

Tuesday – Editor Susan R. Opel will spotlight the Celebrate section of the World Card Making Day web site. Who knew there were so many fun ways to commemorate this holiday? She also has some fun product from KI Memories up for grabs!

Wednesday – Since World Card Making Day officially kicks off the holiday card-making season, Paper Crafts Go-to Gal Kim Hughes will give us some valuable tips for mass producing cards. She’ll also talk about what retail store she’ll be visiting on World Card Making Day. And if you’re a fan of GCD Studios, she’s got some of their gorgeous product to give away!

Thursday – Managing Editor Brandy Jesperson will spotlight the Sponsors/Gallery sections of the World Card Making Day web site. She’ll also announce a fun contest, where five cards will be selected from the World Card Making Day gallery and spotlighted on this blog the week of Oct. 5-Oct. 9. If that wasn’t cool enough, she’s giving away some gorgeous Christmas product from SEI.

Freebie Friday – Join us for our “Editor Ask Around” where I’ll reveal how each editor will be celebrating World Card Making Day. I’ve also got two amazing prize packages from Little Yellow Bicycle that are just waiting to go to good homes.

Saturday- Happy World Card Making Day! We want to hear how you’ll be celebrating this special holiday. Pajama party with your closest girlfriends? Reorganizing your craft room? Whatever the answer, I’ll pick one random person to win an unbelievable prize package. Let’s just say this person will win the paper crafting jackpot!

So, are you getting excited yet? We’ve been planning all year and can’t believe that the big day is almost here! To get the ball rolling, I’m happy to announce an exciting addition to our World Card Making Day blog tour! Susan mentioned last week that absolutely anybody could participate. As long as you plan on celebrating World Card Making Day in some fun way, we would love for you to add your blog URL to our growing list of passionate supporters (We’re at 154 and counting!).

The addition is we’ve asked 25 of our most popular bloggers to take part in a fun promotion. In exchange for posting a card to their blogs, they will each give out a 25% off coupon code that’s good for ANYTHING in our online store! So click HERE to see the 25 designers, then go visit their blogs and finally, go shopping! The coupon expires at midnight (MST) on Oct. 12, so don’t delay!

For today’s giveaway, I have three Technique Tuesday stamp sets and a copy of Holiday Cards & More, Volume 4. Leave a comment telling me why YOU think card making has such an universal appeal. All comments must be received by midnight (MST) on Sunday, Sept. 27.

Three lucky winners will take home this fun prize package!

Happy Friday!
Kelly

P. Kelly Smith

Welcome to Freebie Friday! I know it’s been a long, tortuous week for our Top 5 finalists, so I’m not going to make them wait, sweat or twitch any longer. (Belinda, Lizzie, Rae, Shanna and Tessa – are you all sitting down? Good. Now take a deep breath and slowly exhale. Now let’s get on with the results!)

After eight weeks and five rounds of nail-biting competition, you the Paper Crafts online community have chosen the grand prize winner in this third season of Gallery Idol. And she is… (drumroll, please!)

***RAE BARTHEL***

Congratulations, Rae! Your “Make a Wish” card received the most votes in the last and final round, therefore Paper Crafts magazine is proud to name you our 2009 Gallery Idol!

Let’s take a look at the five winning cards that propelled Rae to “Idol” status:

Open Auditions: Make a Wish Card - Birthday Theme

Top 20: Congrats Card - Wedding Theme

Top 15: Sweet Dreams Card - Around the House Theme

Top 10: Wish Big Card - Button Theme

Top 5: Make a Wish Card - Humor Theme

I think this girl has a thing for pink and black! It obviously worked! In addition to the Cosmo Cricket, American Crafts, BasicGrey and K&Company prize packages, Rae will also receive this grand prize from Making Memories:

Many thanks to Making Memories for donating all of this fabulous product!

As the grand prize winner, Rae will also receive these special perks: 

• Winning cards published in the January/February 2010 issue of Paper Crafts
• Name added to the exclusive Paper Crafts designer list
• Free selection of special issues
• Official grand prize winner certificate (our version of the golden ticket)

Prizes aside, a big round of applause goes out to all of the finalists who have stuck with this competition week after week, round after round. Your creativity, passion and dedication to excellence have really made this little contest bigger and better than we could have ever imagined! We hope to see you back next summer for Season 4!

In my very best Ryan Seacrest voice,
Kelly Out

P.S. If you would like to see how Rae reacts to this BIG announcement, make sure you hop on over to her blog. Last week she was “floored, flabbergasted and freaking excited” to have made it into the Top 5. I can’t wait to see what words come out of her mouth this week! (And make sure to check back here on Monday when Rae is our designer spotlight. She hasn’t agreed to this yet, but I’m hoping to twist her arm with that Making Memories Slice!)

P.P.S. I almost forgot today’s giveaway! It is Freebie Friday after all. I hope you enjoyed reading Cath’s farewell post to our art director Stace Hasegawa. Since Stace LOVES the color black and tattoo art like skulls, wings, guitars, etc., today’s giveaway incorporates all of her favorite things! (The only thing missing is Johnny Depp in the flesh!) To be entered to win, leave a comment telling me a few of your favorite things. It can be anything at all. I’ll pick four winners to receive an assortment of metallic papers from Rusty Pickle’s Brass Knuckles collection, as well as black chipboard and stickers from GCD Studios. All comments must be received by midnight (MST) on Sunday, August 2.

Four lucky winners will each take home this black-tastic prize package!