A Farewell.....

It's always a sad time for Suzanne and I, when we say farewell to our design team. For the past 6 months, these eight fabulously talented ladies have brought us laughs, friendships and provided TPV readers with an enormous amount of creativity and inspiration. Suzanne and I are most appreciative for all their hard work and dedication to our lil blog... they're really the best and we're so lucky to have had them with us :)

We hope that you'll visit/follow their blogs (just click on their photos) so you don't miss out on any of their future projects. 

Stay tuned to TPV in the following days as we share the DT's "Anything but.." projects.. they're going to wow you! Be sure to show em lots of love! :)

Ladies, thank you so much for everything. We wish you all the very best in your creative journeys.
Abby & Suzanne 

TPV Design Team Call! :)

Hello crafty friends!

It's that time again... when soon we will sadly say farewell to our current Design Team and excitedly seek creative crafters who would like to join our TPV family. 

We're looking for several designers to share their love of paper crafting and inspiring others - artists of all styles and experience levels. If you love paper and enjoy using it to create a variety of projects, then we hope to hear from you!

Here are some DT requirements:

• Be able to create a variety of paper projects including layouts, cards, mini-albums, altered items, banners, decorative pieces, gift bags etc
• Submit a project every 2 weeks which follows the scheduled challenges
• Once a month, submit a tutorial (photo or video) with detailed recipe and instruction of your project
• Have a blog and link our design team blinky on your side bar
• Post current TPV challenges and your projects on your blog, linking TPV and sharing sponsor information
• Be aware of project due dates and be able to meet them
• Use mostly current products on your projects
• Comment on participant entries
• Commit to a 6 month term beginning June 15th

Presently there is no compensation for your DT commitment. However, sometimes sponsors may provide product for our designers.

Applications will be accepted until June 8th midnight. Those chosen will be notified shortly after. Public announcement of the new team will be posted on our blog on June 15th and each designer will be introduced daily following the announcement. :)

If you'd like to apply, please email us at thepapervariety@gmail.com with the following information...

• Your full name and a brief introduction of yourself
• Your blog address
• Links to your online galleries
• Current/Previous Design Teams (DT experience not required)
• Photos of 3-5 projects that best showcase your papercrafting style. Please provide at least one layout, one card and one other paper project (such as a mini album, altered item, gift box etc)

(International crafters are welcome to apply, however they will be asked to pay shipping for any sponsor product provided for the DT if such an occasion should occur.)

We hope to hear from many creative paper crafters!

Abby & Suzanne

Meet Abby! :)

Abby Laubenstein

Hello everyone! I'm Abby, a single mom in central Illinois. My son, Braydon, is a 12 y/o handsome sweetheart who is full of energy and creativity. I also have a couple furry ones- our cat, Logan and dog, Cooper. I've worked for our school district for nearly 10 years, the last few years as a substitute.

I've always been the artsy creative type. In grade school and high school I won many awards for my pencil drawings. I also enjoyed painting and crochet. But 12 years ago, I discovered the world of scrapbooking and have been hooked ever since.

I would consider my scrapbooking style as fun, trendy, colorful, layered, dimensional, whimsical and with many embellishments. Most of my layouts feature my son or my young nephew so I tend to go with bright colors and fun, kid friendly designs. I love to fussy-cut, hand sew and I doodle on almost every project :)

 Here are a few of my favorite projects...

You can see more of my projects on my blog, Midwest Memories.

Join us tomorrow as we kick off the new year with our new team, a new TPV and our 1st challenge of 2012!! We have many improvements in store for TPV and you this year and we can't wait to get started!! :)

Meet Suzanne! :)

Suzanne Spokus

I'm Suzanne, co-owner of this little challenge blog along with my bestie Abby ;) and author of Scrap With Suzy.

I've been married to my wonderful hubby, Dave, for 3 years and counting. We live in Pennsylvania with our 4 year old high-maintance puggle, Jax. We are looking forward to (hopefully and finally!) expanding our family this year. Until then, I'll keep teaching my lively class of 26 first graders. I really love it - hard to believe my first class are going to be in high school next year! :)

I started scrapbooking in 2006, just 2 weeks before I met my hubby Dave. I had returned from a week in Hawaii and determined to document my trip in photos, memorabilia and stories. So glad I was "bitten by the bug" because I have all our memories in albums from the first date to present. Pretty neat! My favorite subjects of course are family and friends, children in our lives, and our travels.

Here are a few of my favorite projects! :)

I'm looking forward to working with a new group of ladies and seeing your takes on our challenges this term!

Welcome back, Sandi! :)

Sandi Pressley

I am so excited to be returning for another term on The Paper Variety! I am Sandi Pressley and I am married to Elvis -- well, his real name is David but everyone at work calls him Elvis.  We are lucky enough to work together....I am in sales for a large building/roofing material supplier and Dave is the warehouse manager.  We have been married for 8 years and he is extremely supportive of my hobby.  In fact after hearing me bemoan the fact that I needed a good place to photograph my projects, he researched on the internet and found and bought me an awesome lightbox off ebay.  Dave takes many of the pictures I scrap leading me to say "he snaps them and I scrap them!"

I am originally from the Chicago area and after marrying Dave we took a company transfer to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where we lived and worked for 4 years before transferring with the company again this time to Florida.  We live in Palm Coast which is on the northeast coast of Florida halfway between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach.  We love the beach and Florida and have settled down here, bought a home 2 years ago and planted our roots.

I am the mother of two grown sons and have 4 beautiful grandchildren, all of whom still live in the Midwest.  I started scrapping about 4 years ago because it helps me not miss my family so much.  They provide much of the inspiration for my layouts.  I love to do scrapbook pages, mini-albums, cards and altered items.  My style runs along the clean and simple lines.  Some of my favorite manufacturers are Jillibean Soup, Echo Park, Bella Blvd. and October Afternoon.

Working with Abby and Suzanne is so much fun and they are so easy to work with -- it is truly a priviledge to be on this Design Team.  I am really excited to be able to challenge and inspire you for the next six months.  Hopefully something you see me do will make you say..."I can do that!"  

Here are a few of my recent favorite creations:

Welcome back, Theresa! :)

Theresa Neubaum

Hi, I’m Theresa…and I am an addict! A craft addict that is. From as long as I can remember, I have been involved in some form of crafts. From making mud castles as a child, to drawing, painting, and crocheting through adulthood. I have been scrapping for just under five years, and my style ranges from simple to eclectic, to shabby chic.

I live along the gulf coast in southern Texas. I am married to the most loving and irritating man for 21 years. We have 3 children, and four beautiful grandchildren who are my inspiration.

I am honored to be a part of the design team here at The Paper Variety, and hope to inspire you play along with the challenges.

Welcome, Caroli! :)

Carolina Schulz

My name is Carolina but everybody calls me Caroli (Ca-ro-lee), I'm a 31 years old Chilean girl in love with crafts, especially with paper crafts. I live in Santiago, the capital of this long and skinny country called Chile, literally at the end of the world!


I live in a little cute house with my fiancé (we've been together for 14 year now, we are forever engaged, haha!), our 3 years old little girl named Isidora and our crazy dog named Hachiko. I have a Bachellors Degree in Translation and Linguistics and I work full time as translator and foreing trade assistant in an international company.


When I'm not at the office I am at home baking, scrapbooking and playing with my little girl, she's the love of my life and I managed to get her into scrapbooking already! We scrap together every friday, that's our weekly scrap time :) My fiancé is very supportive with our hobby and proudly shows our creations to the family and friends.


I started scrapbooking in 2004, after a 2 months trip I made to Japan (I am a English and Japanese translator). I was so excited that I wanted to capture all those memories in an album, but not a regular one, I wanted something special. An American friend told about scrapbooking and it was love at first sight. What I love about this hobby is that it mixes lots of my previous hobbies: photography, paper, decoration, and embellishing. I took a break on 2007 and started over again last year but this time with way more energy and resources that on my begginings. Here in Chile it is really hard to find scrapbooking materials, there are just 2 or 3 stores with very old and expensive stuff, so online shopping is my best friend.


Since here in Chile scrapbooking is something almost unknown, there's no one to hold crops and chat about paper, so I almost forced my friends to get into this hobby. I and I can proudly say that my 2 best friends are into scrapbooking due to me :D


I would define my style as simple, clean, colorful and sometimes childish. I love big tittles, dimension and bright colors and since like 70% of my layouts are about my little one, I adore cute and bright colored paper brands such as Echo Park, Pebbles, American Crafts, Bella Blvd. or My Little Shoebox. Anyway, lately I have been switching into more adult layouts too, featuring my fiancé and me, vacations or important situations of our lives, so Cosmo Cricket and My Mind's Eye are my favorite brands in this style. Most of the time I work on layouts, but just few time ago I started making home decor projects like banners and collages, I loved the idea of decorating my home with paper.


These are some of my favorite projects so far:

Welcome, Holly! :)

Holly Gagnon

    Hello...I'm Holly Gagnon from Ribbon's & Glue and I'm thrilled to be part of the Paper Variety 2012 Design Team!

 I live in Las Vegas, NV with my husband of 12 years along with my 7 year old son, Jonas and my 5 year old Diva-daughter, Reese.  I'm a Registered Dietitian who now has the privilege of being a stay at home mom.  I absolutely LOVE to papercraft!   My obsession started over 8 years ago with scrapbooking and now my passion has turned into card making, party and home decorations and my true favorite, creating unique personal gifts for friends and family.

     My papercrafting style is all about the small details.  I love double-sided paper, texture, chalks, glitter, ribbons and buttons.  I love to work with dimensions and I'm a sucker for a fun box or bag!

Here are a few of my favorite projects:

Welcome, Marcia! :)

Marcia Dehn-Nix

Hi I am Marcia Dehn-Nix and I am so excited to be a part of the Paper Variety! I am married to the most  wonderful guy (28 years!) and we live in Maple Grove, Minnesota. We have three kids; Naomi (22), Colette (19), and Trenten (17). Naomi is working on her Masters degree in Fine Arts with an emphasis on creative writing. Colette is in her second year of college with a pre-vet major. Trenton will graduate from high school this spring. So it looks like we will be empty nesters next fall. Maybe this is why we are acquiring more pets. Currently in residence are cats Delta and Spook and dog Satchel. We sometimes foster for a rescue organization, so the number of cats and dogs varies. It is sometimes hard to part with these temporary pets and we do adopt them ourselves. Spook was one of our fosters and so was a cat my daughter Naomi now has.

I have been scrapbooking for just over 10 years. My scrapbooking evolved out of a love for photography. In fact, I used to be a wedding photographer!  I did portrait sittings of my own kids at home. Because I am always the one behind the camera, we never had a family portrait sitting until my daughter Naomi was about to leave for college.  Here is a layout made from that family portrait sitting.

I love to make cards also, and knit, and sew. This past summer I volunteered to turn old marching band uniforms into these awesome pillows. The pillows were sold to current and former marching band members as a fundraiser.

I do have a 9-5 job working as a senior software engineer creating software for electrical utilities. The senior just means I am old. I celebrated 25 years with the company last summer. My creative side helps to balance the technical side of me.

And here are some of my favorite projects .....

 

Any craft involving chocolate, especially M&Ms is a favorite of mine! Like this Thanksgiving turkey.