How do we choose?!?!

Someone pinch me!! 80+ entries? How will we ever choose who to feature this week on..

Luckily, I have 2 girls from our Team B design team to help me out! ;)

Patti chose to feature Rkokes' "ruffle and clouds" layout!

Patti said, "I love that she used a photo with a special memory attached to it. I love the ruffles to mimic a big girl's bed skirt and the clouds that she punched from paint chips and then added faux stitching too. The entire lo is wonderful!!"

Shannon also picked a favorite, Teresa's "ticket to ride" layout.

Shannon said, "I love the sentiment of her layout and the pictures are so sweet. :) Each sweet detail is placed just right and she created such a beautifully simple layout, yet it's complex as well! :) The perfect blend!"

And I chose to highlight Crystal's beautiful "mom's day" card!

 

I just love the overal design - patterned papers, colors, heart scallop, ribbon, charm, sentiment - I love it all! Any mom would be honored to receive this beautiful card.

Congratulations Rkokes, Teresa, and Crystal!

Here is a blinky for your blogs.

Remember, this week's challenge is..

And our prize is...

You have until NOON on TUESDAY to enter your card, layout, or other PAPER project :)

Click HERE to go to the challenge post and link up! 

Have a great night!

-Suzanne

PS: Be sure to come back Tuesday night for our winner and Wednesday morning for our BLOG HOP!

Challenge 22 and A Special Announcement :)

Good morning friends! We have a new challenge that is going to be SEW much fun, an awesome prize, amazing design team projects -- and a special announcement... so grab a cup of coffee and take it all in :)

First up, this week's challenge!

This is such a hot trend - whether you use a sewing machine (my nemesis.. lol), your paper piercer, needle/tread (my favorite way to go), or a faux-look (love the talented stuff I see on blogs with just a pen!) - we hope you join in the fun this week.

And if you do, one random project will win this sweet prize! My partner in crime fellow founder Abby is offering October Afternoon's Modern Homemaker 8x8 pad and chipboard! Perfect for this challenge, don't ya think? I'm no modern homemaker, but I want this! LOL!

The design team had a fun time stitching up this week's projects :) Take a look!

Melissa

Melissa said, "We've been getting a little teaser of spring here in Michigan, so I was inspired to do a springy layout, especially since I was able to get the brand new Springtime collection from Echo Park from one of my local scrapbook stores a few days ago. The colors and patterns are so fresh and bright! I really enjoyed working with this collection and daydreaming about spring. :)"

Shannon

Shannon's layout is brought to you with determination! Her daughter accidentally got her camera lens wet and she was unable to fix it. Her hubby brought a camera home from work, just so she could share this layout. Didn't she rock the challenge?!

Jan

Look closely at that center photograph..

Jan said, "I tried to think out of the box for this challenge and decided to do some hand stitching on my photo. I added some machine stitching along the borders of my layout as well."

Mindy

Mindy said, "I don't get to play with "boy" colors often, but I thought why not!  I stitched around the circle and as well as here and there on the layout!  Now I think I'll have to start looking at the "blue" stuff when shopping!"

Patti

Patti said, "

My altered metal cake plate project was "sew much fun"!!!

I chose to work with jillibean soup pps. After punching several squares (2 sizes), I lightly adhered them to a piece of cs. Using a small zig zag stitch on my sewing machine, I stitched around each square. After cutting into the shape of a circle, I stitched down the brown trim. 

I am so happy with how my "home sweet home" project turned out!

"

Tessa

Tessa said, "I don't know how to sew :(. I do a lot of hand stitching on my layouts, but I don't know how to use a sewing machine. I've made it a goal to learn how this year, so as soon as I get my hands on a machine, I'll dive in. After brainstorming this layout, I decided that I really wanted to do some machine stitching, so I called my mom :). I took my ribbons and cardstock over to her house and she sewed the ribbons onto my page with her machine. I love every little crease, wrinkle and pucker. It's just the texture I wanted :)."

Suzanne

It's been a while since I worked on my wedding album, but I knew if I was going to do a lot of hand-stitching (an did I ever!!) I wanted it to be an extra special layout. This is one of my favorites in that album! And my poor hubby isn't in it LOL.

I hope we've inspired you to join in the sewing fun ;) The link for your projects is below!

But I promised a special announcement...

Next week, The Paper Variety will be hosting our first BLOG HOP! Mark your calendars for next Wednesday, March 2nd. You won't want to miss this...

Have a great week!

-Suzanne

Winner!

Good evening, everyone! Wow! What great cards you posted for Abby's sketch!

And even a few layouts, too! Such talent!

Our prize this week was a kit by Citrus Tree Studios donated by our generous DT member, Patti!

Thanks again Patti! And the winner is...

#34 was the lucky Silvana with this super sweet birthday card!

Congratulations Silvana!! 

Here's a blinky to display on your blog:

Please email us at thepapervariety@gmail.com with your snail mail 

address and we will send this kit right out to you!

Be sure to stop back in the morning for the new

 challenge and prize - it will be sew much fun ;)

-Suzanne

Spotlight night! Is it you?

Goodness gracious!!
I have to admit, this is one of the toughest tasks here at
The Paper Variety - choosing 2 paper crafters to spotlight!
So many beautiful projects to choose from- we honestly
wish we could choose them all! And what a nice surprise

to see layouts this week, too!

We're starting something new on Spotlight night :)

Each Sunday, Suzanne or I invite one of our fabulous TPV

Designers to help us choose 2 great crafters! This week,

Amy from TeamA is assisting. :)

Amy chose to feature "So happy for You" by Mary Brown. 
Amy says: I love that she kept to the sketch. The colors are stunning
and the embossing ties the whole thing together!

I chose to feature "Scare Hair" by Ange. I absolutely LOVED to

see some layouts following the card sketch this week, I know that's 

not easy to do. This layout is so cute with all the embellishments, 

mixed title/journaling and those precious photos! Great boy page!

Congrats Mary & Ange!

Here is a special blinky to display on your blogs :)

There's still time to enter this week's challenge!

Link up before noon on Tuesday for a chance to win
a gorgeous scrappy kit (from Citrus Tree Studio)
donated by our very own, Patti!
Ain't she the sweetest!? :) 


For some odd reason, blogger isn't allowing me to
post the prize image tonight, so click here for the image and
all the details :)

Have a great week!

And don't forget to invite your friends...

-Abby

TPV Card Sketch Challenge!

It's week 21 at The Paper Variety!! Thanks for joining us

for another great challenge.. we're so glad to have you back! :)

~Challenge~
TPV challenges you this week to create a card using
this sketch, designed by yours truly! You can flip it, mirror it,
rotate it, and also use it to create a layout or otherpaper project.

~Sponsor~
This week we have a sponsor you all should know :) She is
our sweet Team B designer, Patti! Patti is offering this awesome
kit from Citrus Tree Studio full of beautiful Jillibean Soup

paper and embellishments, and much more!

  

~Inspiration~

Just in case the sketch and awesome prize aren't enough
inspiration for you, check out these beautiful DT examples!!

Marilyn

I made this card about "LOVE's theme". I used my copics with a
Stampavie' stamp. The quote is from Close to my Heart. Handmade flowers. -Marilyn

Suzy

I'm having so much fun creating this card, love the sketch! -Suzy

Yara 

Love this card sketch created by Abby. I created a "Love" card! This one is the one I gave to my mom on Valentine's day. Love the combination from the pink damask patterned paper from Glitz "Love Nest" collection combined with SU! River Rock cardstock and ribbon, rose shaped metal brads from Dear Lizzy and cardstock sticker from Tim Holtz. -Yara

AmyI'm not much of a card maker, but this was fun! -Amy

Lisai made my card with the basic design in mind, but added some touches to make it my own. i added some machine stitching, ink, and some homemade buttons with my epiphany crafts button maker! this was such a fun sketch!! -Lisa

***Designer April is ill this week.. so Team B's
Patti has kindly stepped in for her. Get well soon, April!! :) ***

PattiI chose to keep the "hello" sentiment from the sketch inspiration and used Jillibean patterned papers (included in this week's prize). I think this card is perfect for Spring. :) -Patti

Abby

 My nephew's 2nd birthday is in a few weeks and I thought

Echo Park's "Little Boy" was the perfect collection for this
fun sketch. -Abby

Let's get started!!

Link up your projects before Sunday night for a chance to have your project/blog featured and before Tuesday at noon to be entered to win a beautiful Citrus Tree Studio kit generously donated by our very own, Patti!!

Just one entry per person, please. View our rules and guidelines here.

Have fun! :)
-Abby

Announcing the Cupcake Winner :)

Wow! Seeing all of those delicious cupcakes submitted this week has made me crave some sweet frosting! Good thing I have paper to play with to satisfy me instead ;)

Our challenge this week was to include/incorporate a cupcake on your paper project! Our sponsor was Tracy at The Treasure Box Club! Thanks again Tracy for offering this gorgeous kit.

Please go browse the Treasure Box Club! Some wonderful kits and add-ons being offered right now!

The winner of the January kit is..

Lucky number 15 was...

Sue's super cute pink and white cupcake. Don't you love the embossed background? Great work Sue! And congratulations!  Please email us at thepapervariety@gmail.com with your snail mail info. Here's a blinky to display on your blog, too.

Abby will be back tomorrow morning with a new challenge and prize!

Have a great evening :)

-Suzanne

The spotlight is on....

..you! When you submit your project for our weekly challenges before Sunday evening - your project and blog may appear in our spotlight post!

This week's challenge was to make a paper project that includes/incorporates a cupcake!

Abby chose to feature Adora's cupcake tag/card! She loved the glitter, heart pins, and velvet ribbon as frosting.. be sure to visit Adroa's blog to see the other 5 tags! All are so pretty!

Suzanne chose to feature Doris' cupcake card!  Doesn't it look good enough to eat?! I love the folded cupcake wrapper and how she dressed up her cupcake with sprinkles and a button cherry ;) The sentiment is super sweet too! Great card Doris!

Congratulations Doris and Adora!!! 

Here's a blinky for your blogs.

These girls are in the running for our gorgeous prize, sponsored by Tracy at The Treasure Box Club!

Just link up your cupcakes to THIS post by Tuesday at noon EST for a chance to win too ;)

Have a great week!

-Suzanne

Sponsor Spotlight!

We are so excited to welcome back Tracy from..

Tracy says, "I started The Treasure Box Club over 3 years ago after being a scrapbook instructor for many years.  Each month's kit includes access to color photos and written instructions to make either Six 12x12 pages or a 20 page 8x8 album.  And, I even include sketches of each page in the instructions so that you can use the designs again with your own paper stash."

There is NO LONG TERM COMMITMENT...  you can cancel your membership at any time, or even just purchase a single kit with no further obligation.  I pride myself on having excellent customer service...  read what others have to say here.

This week you could win her January kit..

  

 Isn't Tracy and Treasure Box Club awesome?! Please check out here website and shop around - what a sweet offer for you. 

Be sure to link up your project by next Tuesday on this post for a chance to win!  :)

Have a great weekend!

-Suzanne