Pleats, Pleats, Pleats Everywhere

How cute is this skirt?!? Oh my goodness, flirty, fun, and I lurve the added oomph that the pleating adds. Why in the world am I chatting about skirts? This is supposed to be an article about paper and glue. Maybe you like this one for my daughter a bit better. Just what every 1st grader needs for Valentine's Day, huh? Can't you see this skirt paired with a cute little red & pink number? Maybe one with some bling or chunky buttons?

Why all the talk about pleating? Isn't it obvious? I absolutely love to add paper pleats to my pages. I just pick up a scrap of paper and start folding away. Sometimes I fold in a nice uniform manner. Other times I just throw caution to the wind and just fold away all haphazard-like and irregularly. Or, I may choose to manuever the paper to follow another element on my page. I may even add some machine stitching down the entire pleat. Here's a look at a completed page with two examples of pleating...

Here's a closer look...

I really like the added layer the pleats add to my projects. Note the ends I cut on this one...

Just a small pleat added to another grouping of elements...

Here I layered 2 pleats one with tiny staples and another backed with some pop dots...

Buttons anyone?

Hope you found a little bit of inspiration in the pleats. If you do, we'd love to see your creations. Please add them to our Gallery. Have a great week. And see you around the Boards.

scrappinJenoffive

CHA Giveaway Winner #3!

The snow and ice didn't only close down stores and roads... It affected my internet for a bit yesterday, so sorry that I didn't get this posted!

The winner of giveaway #2 -

#15 - a post by Jennifer who said, "well I have signed up as a friend and on the forum - even left a comment ;-) thanks for the chance at this great prize!"

Congrats Jennifer! - Make sure to send me your mailing address at CroppinParadiseDT@gmail.com

(I'll be back later - I might have another giveaway or two!)

xoxo
Trish

Ready for Another CHA Giveaway?

We are!

While Natalie has been away gathering and ordering fun new stuff for the store, we were left behind!! But that doesn't mean we cannot have some fun, right?

Today we will be giving away this:

It is a collection of pattern papers and a tag sheet from the new 3 Bugs in a Rug Animal Stackers collection!

You can earn three chances to win; all you have to do is complete one (or all) of the tasks below and then let us know in the comments section!

For one chance - Are you a Facebook friend of Croppin Paradise? If not, become a friend/fan and then come back to let us know!

For a second chance at winning the collection - Are you a member of our FORUM? Become a member and say "hello" on the CHA giveaway thread!

For a third chance - Pop over to the Croppin Paradise Store and find an embellishment that could be used to create a layout with this collection, link us back up in the comments section!

Best of Luck!

Meet Our CP Ambassador - Kathy!

Kathy has been a member of the Croppin Paradise Team since March, 2008. She has filled our forum with fun and our gallery with loving praise! We didn't want to loose her as part of our team, so we asked her to stay as an Ambassador! We are happy that she agreed to hang around!





I am Katt, currently the chattiest member of the team.
I am from a small town in Wisconsin. I wear many hats Mom, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, Nurse. I am loving being an empty nester and married to my hubby and best friend of 28 years. Looking forward to see what life brings us for the next chapter. I have a daughter 24, who is a special education teacher, and is my scrapping buddy, and a son, 22 in college, studying to be a teacher. I work at a large public high school as a school nurse; I totally love what I do and making a difference in young peoples lives. I enjoy playing cards, dancing, camping and spending time with my family and friends, on and off line.

Scrap booking has become my passion!! I love making layouts, cards and altered items. My subjects are usually my friends and family, especially my great nieces and nephew. Scrapping has served for me as a creative and social outlet. I enjoy creating fun and beautiful memories for my family and there future families to have and to hold forever. It is a hobby that allows be to be my self and be creative
I look forward to my new role as CP Ambassador!!

CHA Giveaway Winners!

Wondering who won the GenZ CHA giveaways???
You can check the forums HERE
to find out!

and keep checking back because we have more giveaways coming up!

xoxo
Trish

Last, but Not Least!!!! Meet Wendi!

Croppin Paradise is very happy to have found Wendi to join our team! Her fun style is sure to bring lots of inspiration to our community!

Here is a bit about Wendi:
My name is Wendi Robinson and I am a scrappin addict. I love creating pages, making cards and altering anything. I'm a total Cali beach girl, who happens to be living in the dessert in the beautiful mountains at this time. I am married to my hottie, Jeremy for 11 years, and have two wonderful kids that keep me on the go, a boy and a girl. I work part time at the school district office doing mainly AP, and also usually coach my kid's soccer team. I am a HUGE fan of Depeche Mode, my ipod, walking, baking, Diet Cherry Pepsi and going to concerts. I am soo excited to be a part of the Croppin Paradise Team and looking forward to it.

Meet Joan!

Joan is another fabulous new addition to the Croppin Paradise Design Team! She has served as a Guest Designer for the site before and now we are happy to call her one of our own!

Here's the 411 on Joan:

Hello Everyone – My name is Joan and I live in Shelby, Ohio with my husband Randy of 30 years. By day I’m an Education Specialist for an agency that serves around 900 children and families. By night I’m an avid scrapbooker. I have been scrapbooking for about 12 years, preserving our present for the future and our past for the present. Scrapbooking is a wonderful opportunity for me to put my personality as an artist into every page/project.
Paper crafting for me is not only therapeutic but a passion, a part of who I am.
I’m very excited to be joining the talented design team here at CP

Meet Mara!

Croppin Paradise is very excited to add Mara to our team! Here is a bit about her:

Hi Everyone! I’m Mara and I’m very honored and excited to be part of the Croppin' Paradise community. I live in Southern California with my 2 active children and my homebrewing husband. I work full time as a molecular biologist for a biotechnology company by day and I love to scrap and get crafty at night. I’ve been scrapping for over 15 years and I love the creative outlet. Give me some patterned paper, paint, chipboard, and buttons and I’m a happy girl! I feel my scrap style is pretty simple and linear and I enjoy trying new techniques and products.

I am also very interested in photography and have slowly been trying to develop my photography skills. I love being outside, working out, camping, hiking, running, and chasing my family around with my camera. I also enjoy being in the kitchen, baking, eating and trying new recipes. I can't wait to share my scrappy self with everyone here at Croppin' Paradise!!

FREE CHA Give-Away!!!

We are so excited for the newest items in the scrapbook world to come to Paradise! And now, we are offering them to you for FREE! :) With each new release from CHA we will give away an assortment of great products! To increase your chances, you will be given up to 3 entries to win (details below). To kick it off, we are giving away 2 prizes from the newest Little Yellow Bicycle Collection - Generation Z.

The first prize is worth more than $60!!!


Includes 1 of each of the papers - including the 2 Acetate papers - and a great selection of 13 embellishments!

The second prize is worth over $20!!!

This selection includes the fabulous Generation Z Acetate Album and 4 great embellishments!

Some of our favorite items from this collection are the Vinyl Silhouettes - they can be used on a Scrapbook Page, walls, desks, and mirrors! And the Metal Gears actually turn! So, wanna win these amazing prizes? Here is how:

To get 1 entry - Become a follower of our blog - and then say "hello" in the comments section, if you are already a follower say "hello" and tell us about yourself!

To get a second entry - Check out Generation Z on CroppinParadise.com and come back to tell us your favorite item - post a link!

To get a third entry - Post a link to Croppin Paradise on your blog or facebook then link us up in the comments section.

We will post our first 2 winners on Saturday - and come back soon - we will give away another prize in the next few days!!!

-Croppin' Paradise
www.CroppinParadise.com

Meet Jenny!

Croppin Paradise is also proud to introduce to you another new member of the 2010 Design Team: Jenny!

Jenny is the momma to five younguns and the wife of a Navy pilot, Patrick. Her kiddos and their escapades are the usual subjects of Jenny's pages and projects. She has been crafty forever and made her first scrapbook WAY back in high school. Jenny started scrapbooking for real after the birth of her first child, for the typical reasons, to document the milestones and remember the moments. It quickly became much, much more. Jenny says that scrapping keeps her (relatively) sane; It is her therapy on those long days when she plays both Mommy & Daddy while DH is off saving the world. She says she just don’t know what she would do without this crazy little hobby we call scrapbooking.

We hope you will all come over to the CP forums and meet Jenny (and the rest of the team!)

Meet Nubia!

CP would like to welcome Nubia Posey to the team! Nubia lives in Alabama with her husband Trey and boys Isaiah and Preston. She was born and raised in Texas till her move to Alabama about four years ago. Nubia works part time at a retail store and loves cuddling up with a good book.

Nubia started scrapping four years ago when she got my first digital camera and had more pictures then she knew what to do with. She still remembers picking up her first scrapbook kit at Joann’s. She thought it was the greatest thing ever till she walked in an lss scrapbook store. That opened up a whole new world and she have never looked back. Besides recording some of our family moments Nubia really loves how much of a creative outlet this hobby has given her. She loves being able to just cut and paste all night and watch the stress melt away.
Nubia shared that she is very excited about being on the Croppin Paradise Design Team. When asked what the best part of CP is, she said, "This place makes it so easy to just dive right in and feel at home. I can’t wait, with the help of the rest of the fabulous DT and myself, to see this place grow even more!"

Meet Andrea!

Andrea lives in Nampa, Idaho and is married to her truck lovin’ husband of 6 years. They are blessed to have two beautiful red-headed daughters ages 6 and 3.5. She is a 3rd grade teacher who loves to read books, craft, and watch movies. You can find Andrea spending time with her family or enjoying a cup of coffee with her friends.

What she likes most about crafting is that natural high that she receives after finishing a project. She loves working with products to create a work of art. Andrea's favorite thing would have to be the look on someone’s face as they are looking at the art piece that she has hand-crafted especially for them.

Andrea has been scrapbooking off and on for the past 12 years. It all started with a Creative Memories party as the story often goes. She soon grew out of Creative Memories and now finds herself buried in cardstock, patterned paper, and lots of fun embellishments! Andrea's style is fun and sometimes a little quirky. She loves to hi-light photographs and works really hard to capture a special moment in time- be it a photo of one of her daughter’s birthday or a simple flower.

Meet Lisa Spiegel

Lisa Spiegel is thrilled to be joining Croppin Paradise for a second term on the Design Team! Lisa lives in West Hills, CA with her very understanding hubby and their three daughters (aka photographic victims). She started scrapbooking while she was pregnant with her oldest daughter and has been in love with this hobby ever since. She finds scrapbooking to be her preferred form of therapy for the stresses of every day life and finds that her hobby takes over all aspects of her life with it's crossover hobbies of photography and decorative arts.


Lisa has had her work published in all of the major scrapbook / paper crafting magazines, as well as some web-based scrapbooking publications. When she is not scrapbooking, Lisa is a SAHM by day and Lamaze Instructor and Girl Scout leader by night

CP Has a New Design Team!

On January 2, 2010 CP announced our new 2010 Design Team! (you can check out the announcement HERE)

This week we want to give you all a chance to meet the new team - I hope you will all help welcome them!

Since I am here, I will go first!

My name is Trish Harwick. I am a 30-ish Mom of 4 wild kids, a full-time Speech Pathologist, an Army Apache pilot spouse and an avid scrapper! From what my Mom tells me I have pretty much scrapped since I could cut and paste! I started with magazines; which I used to make up stories of family vacations and special days... then I moved onto the family vacation photos; creating large albums full of memorabilia and finally, to the obsessed scrapper I am today!

I am honored to continue to serve as the Design Team Coordinator for Croppin Paradise and hope that you will come join the new CP Team for some fun and friendship on in the CP Forums!

Stay tuned the rest of the week to meet the rest of the team!