Sorry for the delay with the newsletter.  I spent the last 15 hours trying to create a really pretty newsletter template, and failed miserably.   I finally decided that if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.  This one will work fine.  Enjoy!

	TUTORIAL: Super Nova Lyn Bernatovich will show you how to take ordinary tin foil and create extraordinary backgrounds, trims and flowers for your paper crafting projects.Aluminum Foil Flowers, Trims and Backgrounds Tutorial
	SCRAPBOOKING: The amazing Wendy Price shares this week’s Scrappy Sunday layout all about incorporating stamps into your layouts. Take the challenge.
	The Paper Craft Planet Super Novas and the i{heart} papers design team have joined forces to deliver a showcase of the 2012 trends that we spotted at this year’s CHA show. Check out those trendy blogs.
	3D CHALLENGE: Taylor Usry is rocking our 3d Challenge this week with this precious Shaker Bag! You can use the same technique to create interactive cards too. Come join the fun.
	True Scrap 3 is on the horizon and I couldn’t be more excited. Lain Ehhman is letting me give you BOTH of Jennifer McGuire’s True Scrap stamping classes as a bonus when you sign up for True Scrap through the Planet. ALSO, the price is increasing 4/1 to $147… another impetus for you to sign up early! Click for more info

PICKS OF THE WEEK & COOL STUFF

	Pre-orders are being taken for the Tim Holtz Distress Markers over at Simon Says Stamp. The white picket fence maker is a cool blend between white and versamark and will blow your mind. At only $3.50, it’s a “must have” in the craft room. You can order it here. (Check out my video on the markers!)
	Congratulations! Our lucky winner from last week’s blog post is Jengd. Jengd has won some special goodies from our generous friends at Stampendous! Please be sure to contact Susanna Boyd within 30 days to claim your prize and be sure to provide your shipping information so we can get that package out to you! And thank you to EVERYONE for playing along!

LEADERBOARDS:

• Top Blog Post: Fabulous Freebie Friday 2-24-12  Posted by Regan
• Top Photo: Sassy Cheryl Challenge #103, no embossing
• Top Video: CHA 2012 Preview, Tim Holtz Distress Markers
• Member of the Week: Regan

In the Forums:

Suzanne Banwell wants your opinion on what camera to purchase. Any suggestions?

Wanda Rohlfing has a question on the Martha Stewart scoring tool. Join the discussion.

Support the Planet

You can do your shopping and help promote the Planet at the same time. We started an Amazon store on the site to help put food in our children’s mouths and wine in our glass. You can shop for paper crafting supplies here — but if you want to shop for ANYTHING Amazon sells, use this link and you’ll be supporting the Planet.

News From Around The Planet is published each week by Paper Craft Planet as a free service to our members. Update subscription preferences

 

Ready for some inspiration? Check out the Planet Super Novas and our friends at i{heart}papers for some great paper crafting trend ideas:

ihp DT members:

• Carolyn
• Deb
• Gretchen
• Loretta
• Lori
• Lynn
• Tracy
• Kate

and the Super Novas of Paper Craft Planet:

 

Welcome to another Scrappy Sunday challenge. This week, we’re challenging you to break out the paper and glue and stamps and start creating. So quickly we forget how versatile stamps can be in our layouts!

How about a closeup of the Color Fragments? So much fun to play with! They come in Taupe, Rose, Sage, Powder Blue and Chiffon. I used Chiffon on my title. You can adhere it with your favorite adhesive or even embed them into embossing powders.

For my title, I painted my chipboard letters with yellow acrylic paint. I wanted them to have a base coat just in case I missed any areas with the fragments. Next, I crushed up a bit of the fragments. After giving the letters a thick coat of Elmer’s craft glue, I sprinkled on the crushed fragments.

Using the Kreaxion punches (905 and 304) I punched borders to tuck under my photos. The orange border started as a piece of white cardstock. After punching the design I used the same orange watercolor from the flower centers to color the border. Next I wiped Elmers glue over the entire piece with a highly technical tool….my finger. (wink) All that was left to do was sprinkle on some Stampendous crystal glitter and watch it shimmer!

Join our Scrappy Sunday group – scrapbook in all sizes and often provide FREE digi templates!

The sketch I used is from http://papersecrets.friendhood.net/ Feb sketch challenge.
supplies used: Stampendous (Chiffon Color Fragments, Cling Jumbo Cameo Frame, Charm Collection Perfectly Clear Stamp Set,  Altered Type Alphabet Perfectly Clear Stamp Set, Journal Border Perfectly Clear Stamps, Crystal Glitter ), Tsukineko (Memento Ink & Platinum Planet Brilliance Ink), Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink, watercolors, Basic Grey chipboard letters, Elmers Craft Tacky Glue, Kreaxions Punches (punch #304 & punch #905), SEI rubons, Fontwerks rubons, Faber Castell PITT Pen, Copics

 

How to Make Aluminum Foil Flowers,

Trims and Backgrounds

A Tutorial

For Paper Craft Planet

By 

Lyn Bernatovich

Today’s tutorial begins in the kitchen where we will grab a box of aluminum foil and take it to your craft space!  I used Reynold Wrap.  This technique is not my idea but I added some of my own tricks to take it a little further.

To begin, you will need a crimping tool and aluminum foil.  Tear off a section of foil and fold it in half (do not forget this step!).  My crimper is really small (3″) and I was limited by the size piece I could work with.  Run the folded foil through one way and turn it 90 degrees and run it through again.  Here’s how it looks after crimping the second time.  The foil is now fairly sturdy, has a nice texture and is ready to be punched or diecut.

I chose to diecut flowers, leaves and flourishes using my Sizzix and here’s what the pieces looked like on the left.  The photo on the right is actually three layers of folded aluminum foil that I ran through my embossing folder.  This trick isn’t as sturdy and I recommend using this as a background or punching (see scallop circle on sample card).

Coloring the the foil seemed like a good idea and here’s what I used to add color:

Create flowers using 3 layers.  Using Copics works great and don’t be afraid to work with a few colors.  Do be careful not to tear the foil when coloring with Copics and sometimes dabbing on color rather than brushing works better.  The flourishes were too fragile so I spritzed color on with Glimmer Mist.  Worked great especially on the larger scallop punched circle as in the sample card at the beginning.  Misting was definitely a faster step too.

Here’s another card sample with Copic colored flower and leaves.  A large gem is affixed to the center of the flower.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and now it is your turn to try making aluminum foil flowers, trims and backgrounds!

 

Hi everyone!  It’s Taylor here today, with a fun way to jazz up your cards and projects.  I’m excited to be your host for this week’s 3D Tuesday over at the PCP 3D Tuesday group!  How long has it been since you creates a shaker box?  It’s been awhile for me, but with the introduction of some great new products from Stampendous I’m going to be making them all the time.  I had forgotten how much fun they are to create!

There are several tutorials floating around, but I created a shaker box tutorial  just for Paper Craft Planet.  You’ll also find a discussion about it over in the 3D Tuesday Challenge Group.

To play along this week, use the keyword 3d152 and upload your photo HERE. As an added bonus, Stampendous has graciously decided to give away a jar of glass glitter and a jar of color fragments (products I used on this project) to one lucky player!  Be sure to upload your project by next Monday night, so I can draw a winner!

Supplies:
Stamps: Cowlik Cake (Stampendous)
Card Stock: Pink, Purple (Bazzill), Cool Mint (WorldWin Treasures), White (Neenah), Acetate (Stampendous)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Coloring Medium: Copics
Accessories: Fresh Green, Lavender Glass Glitter; Rose, Powder Blue Color Fragments (Stampendous)
Tools: Classic and Scallop Oval Nestabilities, Pennant Shapeabilities (Spellbinders)

 

Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day!  I’m the proud mama of crafty sons — they each made me a homemade card!  We have a lot going on this week and a lot of ways for you to get your hands on some free goodies…

	TUTORIAL AND GIVEAWAY:  Wendy Price always takes my breath away — this week’s tutorial is all about masking to create a variety of images when you have a limited amount of stamps.  She takes it up a notch by offering a challenge giveaway from Stampendous!  Leave a comment HERE ON HER POST and you could win these Stampendous stamps: Butterfly Post and SSC1124 Charm Collection
	SCRAPBOOKING:  Our Scrappy Sunday group is learning how to use Lightroom as a scrapbooking tool.  Create cool collages and manage your photos all in the same place.  Check it out.
	PREVIEW: Want to see the new Distress Markers from Tim Holtz and the folks at Ranger?  I’ve got the CHA preview video up and running!
	3D CHALLENGE:  Adella Rossol can whip up the cutest things in the blink of an eye.  This week, she shows you how to make these precious milk cartons to use as gift boxes.  Hope you play along!
	True Scrap 3 is coming! I’ve done this event twice now and both times I learned something new. In short, it was AMAZING! True Scrap brings papercrafting inspiration right to your desktop. No need to change out of your PJs because you’re logging on, right from home! 15 instructions and 2 days — all recorded to watch now or later. Be the first to know about teacher and class updates, special announcements, and more…Join the True Scrap “Early Notification” Email list. Click here to view more details. Bonus for Planet members: sign up through us and you’ll get Jennifer McGuire’s AWESOME stamping classes from True Scrap 1 & 2 for FREE!

PICKS OF THE WEEK & COOL STUFF

	Have you seen the new Amy Tangerine albums?  I saw these at CHA and they are truly adorable.  Plus, they are small enough to mail to someone really special as a gift.
	Jaydekay shares our photo of the week with this card for the Sassy Cheryl Challenge #102, No Designer Paper
	Bonnie is member of the week for two weeks in a row! Thanks Bonnie for all you do around the Planet!  YOU GO GIRL!

Support the Planet

You can do your holiday shopping and help promote the Planet at the same time. We started an Amazon store on the site to help put foods in our children’s mouths and wine in our glass. You can shop for papercrafting supplies here — but if you want to shop for ANYTHING Amazon sells, use this link and you’ll be supporting the Planet.

 

This week, I thought I’d give you a video tutorial on how to use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to create photo collages.

I have been trying to figure out my personal style.  I spent some time cruising my Google Reader and Pinterest and reflecting on the items that I tag for inspiration.  I love digital, but for a page to really draw me in, it has to have some tried and true paper and glue.   However, I like the clean lines, even spacing and simplicity of printing my photos on a collage and then adding them to a larger 12×12 page for embellishing.  Is this you too?  If so, I now pronounce you a hybrid scrapbooker.

I usually create collages in Photoshop, but since I manage my photos in Lightroom, it’s kind of a pain.  Finally, a light bulb went off for me and I realized that I could create hybrid templates in the print module of Lightroom.

Here’s a video on how I did it:

I promised a snapshot of my Project Life journey.  I have to say I’m loving it.  I’d love it more if the @#$%@#$% dividers would come back in stock.  In the mean time, I’m altering regular 4×6 dividers and using a lot the digital templates.  Still, it’s a great easy way to keep up with your memory keeping.

(By the way, I’m dangerously close to figuring out how to make this template in Lightroom too.  Comment here if you want the video.)

One last thing, did you see this week’s masking tutorial?  Wendy Price is rocking the stamps on some amazing scrapbook pages.  Click here if you missed it.

Also, for those of you interested in True Scrap 3, you could win a free spot.  We’re also giving everyone who signs up through the Planet,  Jennifer McGuire’s True Scrap 1 and 2 classes as a bonus. This event is really fun and you’ll be blown away by all the stuff you’ll learn.  Sign up now and get the early bird discount.   

Click HERE for our Scrappy Sunday group. It’s free, and we always have a template, video or other goodie.

 

Happy Valentine’s Day! Adela here, and I’m your host for this week’s 3D Tuesday over at our PCP 3D Tuesday Group! I’d like to share with you my version of the milk carton box — with a touch of {heart}!

There are several milk carton templates available out there, but yesterday I decided to make a couple of version of my own! You can find the PDF download link over at the 3D Tuesday Challenge Group of one of them (instructions are included), but of course you can use any milk carton template.

To play along, just create your own version of this box and upload a photo of it HERE. Be sure to use the tag 3d151 so I can add it to our album!

SUPPLIES: 
Template: Carton of Milk; Hugs & Kisses, Stackables (Creations by AR)
Paper: Coredinations, SU!
Acc: Bling (Maya Road); Ribbon (SU!); Glue Pen

I hope your day if filled with lots of love!

 

PRIZE ALERT: Stampendous is generously giving away a Butterfly Post Cling and Charm Collection Perfectly Clear Set! Leave a comment for a chance to winner! Due to shipping restrictions, all winners must have a US/APO/FPO mailing address.

Ever find yourself wishing you had a stamp to match a similar one. Or maybe you’ve dreamed up a stamp and its not even on the market yet. Today I’m going to show you how with a supply of your favorite stamps and some scrap paper, you’ll be able to create your own custom stamps with no stamp surgery involved. Take a peek at my layout and you’ll see running down the left side are three stamped postcard images that I created with the Stampendous Butterfly Post stamp and a handful of other favorite Stampendous images. The Butterfly Post in its unaltered state can be seen on the right hand corner.

I LOVE the butterfly postcard image as it is,  but I was wanting to have a collage of different postcard images on the layout. Since I didn’t have any other postcard images, it was time to get creative. Here’s how you’ll do it.

Supplies Used:

• Stampendous stamps (Butterfly Post, Cling Botanical Daffodil, Cling Lone Bird, Perfectly Clear Charm Collection, Perfectly Clear Nest Egg, Carte Postale, Cling Blossom Spray, Cling Fall Tendril)
• Stampendous glitter/embossing powder (Crystal Glitter, Gold Halo Glitter , Aged Ivory Embossing Enamel,  Aged Gold Embossing Enamel)
• Bazzill cardstock
• Kreaxions Punch #304
• Distress Inks (Peeled Paint, Tea Dye, Antique Linen)
• EK Success typewriter stickers

1. Using your favorite ink, ink up just the edges of the stamp. You’ll see I also included some of the text and images on the stamp. I wasn’t overly concerned with it because I was going for that vintage look. Watercolor markers or the new Distress Markers would make inking up select areas of your stamp super easy! Once your stamp is inked up, stamp it on your cardstock.

2. I went ahead and colored the image using a technique I’ve heard referred to as Sepia Stamping. Basically its pulling ink from your stamped lines.  Use a wet paintbrush and run it along your stamped image. The color will lift up and bleed onto your cardstock like watercolors. You may have to experiment with cardstock to find one that works the way you wish.

3. Now you need to create a mask. Stamp your image onto a piece of scrap paper. Using a craft knife, carefully cut the image out. You will be left two masks. One is the actual stamped image and the other is the outside remaining area. Save both pieces because you’ll need them.

4. Line your outer mask over the stamped outline that you previously stamped. With it in place, ink up one of your favorite images that you want to place in your postcard and stamp. You have just created your own custom stamp image!

5. To create the collage effect where the postcards overlap, you’ll need to do some more masking. Using the other mask, place it over your stamped image. Ink up the outside edges of the stamp as we did in step 1 and stamp. Continue on with all the steps to fill the postcard with more stamped images. Be sure to leave the mask in place over the stamped image to protect it.

Here is the finished collage effect. I sprinkled a variety of Stampendous embossing powders on the layout and heated from underneath.

Here is a peek at the original stamped image, Butterfly Post. I stamped an extra butterfly, cut it out and covered it in Stampendous Crystal and Gold Halo glitters.

This challenge is now closed. 

Congratulations! Our lucky winner is jengd. jengd has won the Butterfly Post Cling and Charm Collection Perfectly Clear Set from Stampendous! Due to shipping restrictions, all winners must have a US/APO/FPO mailing address. Please be sure to contact Susanna Boyd within 30 days to claim your prize and be sure to provide your shipping information so we can get that package out to you! And thank you to EVERYONE for playing along!

 

	True Scrap 3 is coming!  I’ve done this event twice now and both times I learned something new.  In short, it was AMAZING!  True Scrap brings papercrafting inspiration right to your desktop. No need to change out of your PJs because you’re logging on, right from home!  15 instructions and 2 days — all recorded to watch now or later. Be the first to know about teacher and class updates, special announcements, and more…Join the True Scrap “Early Notification” Email list. Click here to view more details.
	Did you see Adela Rossol’s tutorial on embossing on metal?  She took a soda can and transformed it into this beautiful flower.  You can use heat and dry embossing techniques — she shows you how.
	I’m hosting this week’s 3d Challenge.  We’re getting ready for Valentine’s Day with this heart card/mini-book.  Sized to fit in your standard card, but stuff with pages to show the one you love just how much you appreciate them.  Fill it with reasons why they are special, or even coupons!
	Wendy Price rocks our Scrappy Sunday challenge this week — learn how to incorporate stamping into your scrapbook pages, work with damaged photos and generally just get inspired!
	Did you check out our recap for CHA 2012? We cover all the latest trends and share lots of pictures. Videos on some of the new goodies are coming soon.

PICKS OF THE WEEK & COOL STUFF

	I have a “pick” this week to share — it’s not new, but it’s new to me. I just signed up for the Studio AE club through i{heart}papers. Each month, Ali Edwards and the Technique Tuesday team release a new 4″x6″ stamp set. The stamp sets feature Ali’s handwriting or fonts that she picked to fit the words and phrases in the stamp set. Only a limited number of each of these sets – enough for the people who are members of Studio AE are made. The stamps are discounted 17% and Kate is offering free shipping plus a 15% coupon for 6 months. I’m NOT an affiliate — I just truly am so excited about this product. I saw Ali and the Technique Tuesday booth and what’s coming is SO exciting. If you are a Project Lifer, or love Ali’s style, this is a great investment for your crafting collection.
	Anna R is shares our photo of the week with Sassy Party. CUTE!
	Mary posts our top video this week with her hilarious “taking photos isn’t easy”.  Leave her a comment with your tips and tricks for getting a good picture.
	Bonnie is member of the week!  Thanks Bonnie for all you do around the Planet!

Support the Planet

You can do your holiday shopping and help promote the Planet at the same time. We started an Amazon store on the site to help put foods in our children’s mouths and wine in our glass. You can shop for papercrafting supplies here — but if you want to shop for ANYTHING Amazon sells, use this link and you’ll be supporting the Planet.