Crafters Challenge: Halloween!

I know everyone out there is creative and I've seen some amazingly cute Halloween decorations and invites this year. BUT. . .Can you be as creative if given specific items to use??

Paper Zone is challenging all of your crafty minds to come up with new and innovative ways to use seemingly simple holiday product that we are referring to as the "Secret Ingredients". You can create any project using the Secret Ingredients: invites, thank you's, party favors, trick or treat goodies, anything. We hope to see ideas that surprise, delight and most importantly inspire!

So here is your challenge. What creation can you concoct using two of the three Secret Ingredients shown below?


All of these items are available at Paper Zone and won't break the bank. If you are up for the challenge, you can post a picture of your entry on Facebook or email us at blog@paperzone.com (warning, your entry probably will be posted on our Facebook wall). All entries must be received by October 18th. The winner will receive a $20 gift certificate good at any Paper Zone.

So put your crafty hands together and come up with something good!

--Kim

Update: We are adding American Crafts Halloween dollar ribbon to the list of Secret Ingredients. Any of this great Halloween ribbon that is only 99 cents can be counted as one of the two required items in your project. And it's super cute!!

Fringe It!

Ah fringe...for some reason or another that word always seems to conjure up images of hippies frolicking through the fields, flowers in hair and suede fringed jackets on their backs. It also reminds me of Minnetonka shoes, another flower child favorite. But I digress. Fringe has more than 60's era connotations. Just take Martha Stewart's Fringe Scissors, for example.

Man alive these things are great! Talk about endless uses. You can make grass, hair, confetti, snow, whiskers, funky looking ribbon to decorate packages, and more! You can even use the scissors to shred documents. With the holidays fast approaching Martha's Fringe Scissors are sure to be a go-to item. So come check them out and tell us what you envision doing with your fringe and if it somehow involves skipping through a field so much the better.

Peace!

Tiffany

Quick and Easy Bookcovers. . .with Style.

Now that schools are back in session I thought I'd share some ideas for quick and easy book covers. All that is required for a great book cover is paper and scissors. Any sturdy paper can be used, but the Cavallini line of single sheet wrap is academic and beautiful at the same time, which makes it perfect for school books! Plus it's available by the sheet so you can get multiple styles without buying a ton of extra paper.

Embellishments are optional. I picked these great Paris stickers (also Cavallini) and repurposed some old gift tags.
Step 1: Place the OPEN book on the back side of the wrap and cut the paper so there is an extra 3 - 4 inches on all sides of the book.
Step 2: Fold the top and bottom in so that it is the same height of the book. Try for exact height, because extra paper results in a crumpled look once the book has been used.Step 3: Fold one side of the book cover over the front cover of the book. Carefully insert the book cover into the resulting pocket.Step 4: With the one side nestled in the book cover, close the book to create enough give so that the cover will fit over the binding once the book is closed.Step 5: Fold the last side over the back cover and carefully insert the back cover of the book into the pocket. And voila you have an instant bookcover!

I used the Cavallini stickers and some alphabet stickers to note the subject on the outside of the books (see above). Creating a bookmark with the student's name also adds a personal touch. Use your imagination!These covers are inexpensive, easy, and will not only save wear and tear on the book, but will show the student's personal style.

--Kim

Gate Fold Card

Hi Everybody

Today I have made a simple Gate Fold Card. I am always quite busy in the Fall with school starting and getting back into that old swing of things. Then it is time to start thinking about Halloween and Christmas cards and decorations. Even though there is a lot of crafting to be done, I still want to be able to create a unique card to say Hi or Happy Birthday. That is why I think the Gate Fold card is great. It is still simple, but gives just a little bit of a twist to the standard card.

Materials For This Project

One 4 ¼” x 11” piece of cardstock
One 2 ½” x 3 ½” piece of cardstock

One 1" square of cardstock
Adhesive
Embellishments and stamps

Step One
Place your 4 1/4" x 11" piece of cardstock on your scoring board, and score at 3 1/8 inches and 8 3/8 inches. This allows for a slight overlapping of the folds.

Step Two
Use your scoring tool to pre-fold your score lines.

Step Three

Decorate the inside of the card

Step Four
Take your 2 ½ by 3 ½ piece of card stock and decorate it with stamps or embellishments.

Step Five
Place the 2 ½ by 3 ½ rectangle of cardstock in the desired position over the flaps.

Adhere one side of the rectangle to the right flap with adhesive

Put a small dab of adhesive on the 3 corners of the triangles and adhere over the two opposite corners of the rectangle. *****Be careful to adhere the triangle on the left flap to the only the card and not the corner of the rectangle. This will allow rectangle to be secured under the left corner triangle while still allowing the card to open.

For this project I used

Cardstock - Wild Cherry, Banana Split, Poptone

12x12 cut for decoration - Sassafras Smooth Sailing

New Product Arrivals from EK Success & Kolo!

EK Success Heavy Duty Punches

These great new punches from EK Success offer a new solution for punching through heavy materials like cardstock and even chipboard. Before the only option for punching items that heavy weight was the Crop-A-Dile or Corner Chomper, but now EK Success has given us a more affordale solution. This new punch comes in a standard 1/8" circle punch, a vertical slot punch (pictured below and often used for making ribbon holes) as well as the all-too-important corner rounder.

Kolo Geneva Album/Guest Book

Kolo has released a great new product that is already flying off our shelves after just a week in the stores. The Geneva (available in red, black or ivory) has 30 heavyweight pages, ruled on one side and blank on the other. Its simple design allows for a variety of uses such as a photo journal, recipe book, sketch book or, of course, a classic guest book.



We also have tons of Halloween and Christmas with new arrivals coming in daily. Stop by and check them out! Happy Fall Everyone! -Amanda

Zine Scene

I want to talk for a moment about self publishing. Sure you can blog, tweet, or facebook your ideas to the world on the internet, but there's nothing more satisfying than holding your own published work in your hands. That's why I'm a huge fan of zines. It's hard for me to define a zine, so check out the Wikipedia entry on zines for a better idea.

Anything you're passionate about can be turned into a zine. If you don't fancy yourself a writer, you don't have to use words. You can draw a comic or showcase your art. Seriously--I can't stress this enough--there are no wrong answers when it comes to making a zine.

This last year pretty much all I did was paint my nails, so I wrote a zine about it. As I was in the final stage of finishing up my zine (just in time for the Portland Zine Symposium, which PZ proudly sponsored this year!), I unpacked the store's shipment of Halloween punches from Martha Stewart. The drippy goo punch had my name all over it! It was like Martha sent this punch to the store just for me.

Drippy Goo in full effect on the "helpful art tips" page of my zine. Just because we can tweet our every thought for all the world to hear, doesn't mean we should forget about the printed page. It's like the difference between an e-vite in your inbox and getting a beautiful handmade invitation delivered to your front door. They're both important, but some occasions call for a little extra attention to detail. If you're interested in learning more about making your own zines, pick up this very helpful book, Stolen Sharpie Revolution, and head on over to the PZ to see what you can come up with!

--Mayzie, Portland Paper Zone

Paper Lantern

Hi Everybody!

Well today is my baby girl's first Birthday! And this mommy has a party to get ready for this weekend... I wanted to share with you one of the many crafting projects I've been working on for the party: Paper Lanterns!

I can not believe how easy they were! All you need is paper, scissors a border punch and a little adhesive!

First you'll want to take your paper (any text weight paper will work, I used Stardream) and fold it in half hot dog style.

Next cut on the folded edge about 3 inches into the paper every quarter inch, or so. (Note: If you want to make this go faster you can use the Martha Fringe Scissors!)
Unfold the paper and punch the edges:

Finally glue the two raw edges together to form the lantern:
You can customize these to fit any occasion by using a different border punch along with any color paper.
What party can you make these for?

Christina