Graphic 45 Design Team Audition 2016

Oh my goodness, it's that time of the year, and what time is that you ask?  It's time to strut your best Graphic 45 designs, of course!  I've seen so many beautiful projects lately on social media and I'm always in awe of all the fabulous works I see from all of Graphic 45's followers.

SO ON TO MY AUDITION!

1.  A mini from the City Scapes Collection
I begin with a new project, a Surprise Mini, that I created using lots of the new Graphic 45 Staples.  You are going to love the new Policy Envelopes, tags, keys, and the small Door Knob and Plate.   These new Staples are so great for making minis!

I call this my Surprise Mini because 3 of the 4 pages are made from Policy Envelopes and you can tuck surprises into each envelope.  Imagine getting this mini stuffed with love  notes, money, gift cards, little chocolate bars, movie tickets, how about an airplane or cruise voucher??  Now we're talking, right?  The possibilities are endless and the recipient of this cute little mini will be so thrilleod to find the gifts you've tucked inside.

I recorded a video tutorial for you that takes you through making and binding all the pages.

The last page is constructed from cardstock, all the others are made from policy envelopes.

 I left 1/2" between each page so that I could have some dimension and flowers.

Graphic 45 washi tape makes a great finishing binding for your minis too!

2.  A project with it's own mind!

This next project is one of my favorites from the past year as it was just so much fun to do.  Most projects, I plan out in my head and they usually look the way I plan, but not this one.  It was all free form, I just picked up the scissors, started fussy cutting and building the project.  It had its own life and I love the end result.  Details and more photos here.

3.  World's Fair is also great for layouts!

An audition from me wouldn't be complete without a layout or two because they really are my first love.  Oh, I get a big kick out of making off the page and altered projects but what I really love the most, is a layout  made from bright beautiful Graphic 45 colors!

Yep, that's me at CHA Las Vegas in 2013.  Of course I spent some time at the Graphic 45 booth dreaming!  This was one of my early design team projects so I thought the photo was quite fitting.

3.  My new favorite collection!
Well, truth be told, all the Graphic 45 collections are my favorite but I have completely fallen in love with the Voyage Beneath the Sea collection!  It's one of those collections that really gets my imagination going.  I'm just dreaming of being a mermaid.....

Here's a video tutorial for making this wall hanging.

4.  These are probably my most favorite tags ever, they are just so fun!  How can you not love the fun imagery and brilliant colors?

5.  Speaking of bright colors....

Bohemian Bazaar was the perfect collection to showcase this awesome photo of my husband and his cousin whom we both love so much!

6.  My softer side

I think it's apparent by now that I am a bright and bold color gal but I do dip into the pastels occasionally. This is a card and tag set that I did with Once Upon a Springtime.  I have a Snapguide tutorial for the step card.

 Check out How to Make an Easel Card by Maggi HARDING on Snapguide.

7.  Halloween fun with Rare Oddities!

I love Halloween for two reasons.  1)  I love playing with skeletons and ghouls and goblins.  2)  I get to eat all the Halloween chocolate because we never have any trick or treaters.  ☺ 

This is an altered Letterbox Printer's Tray.

8.  Another favorite project

This is one of my top 3 faves from the year.  It was such a fun and messy project to make,  as it has lots of mixed media on it - mists, masking paste, embossing enamel, ink etc etc.  The flowers are handmade from the design papers too.

I recorded a video to show you how to alter your own tin can.

9.  Just one more Halloween project:

I made this boot for my parents and filled it with their favorite chocolates for Halloween.  It's special to me because my Dad passed awaya few weeks after I gave it to them.  It makes me smile when I remember how he dug down to the bottom of the boot to get the Turtles out.  Then he handed my Mom a couple of the Mounds  and said, "these are for you honey."

 

10.  My all time favorite collection is Raining Cats & Dogs.

If you're a pet owner, I'm sure you have many funny stories to tell about their antics.  One of our assignments was to create a mini album with a vacation theme so I decided to have our dogs tell about their vacation antics  in this mini. 

I'll just share a couple of the pages.  If you'd like to see the whole mini and read our furbabies' stories, here's a link.  

I used the back of the Ephemera Cards for my journaling and then just hole punched them and added to my mini.This is a great way to use the Ephemera cards since they have such pretty images on the front and the backs are perfect for handwriting or printing on a computer.

11.  If I'm not scrapping, you'll find me in the kitchen...

I garden all summer long so I do spend a lot of time freezing and canning the bounty from our harvests.  I love to  share my homemade goods with others so this project was a natural for me.  I used Home Sweet Home and A Christmas Carol to alter this pretty wooden basket, and then filled it with apples and applesauce.  It was a perfect thank you gift for my parents' neighbor who has been so good keeping an eye on them.

Thank you for taking the time to view this very long post!  I really do appreciate it.  It's been nearly a year now, and truthfully, I'm still a little shocked that I made the 2015 design team. What an honor and what a great year it has been!  Thanks to all of you for leaving such kind comments about my work on the G45 blog, my blog, Facebook, and all the social media sites.  You will never know how much that means to me and how your words have pushed me to reach for higher and higher creative goals.  AND a  very big thank you to Diane, Charee, Aimee, and everyone at Graphic 45 for trusting me to design for Graphic 45 with their gorgeous and fabulous products.