A Year of Giving Back

Brandy Jesperson

I know it’s cliché, but time flies when you’re having fun. I distinctly remember talking with the Paper Crafts team and dreaming up a blog full of interactive challenges, beautiful pictures and prizes galore! Sure enough, two blinks of an eye and one year later here we are! 

One of our goals when we concepted this blog was to encourage people to serve those around them. After all, card making is innately generous. We make cards for our loved ones to celebrate events, give condolences and simply say “hi.” 

As I think back over the past 12 months, we’ve not only had the chance to give back, but we’ve also had a lot of fun doing it. So put on your magical time machine hats (you’ve all got one, right?) and join me for a quick trip down memory lane.  

Last Fall Kelly joined forces with some crafty friends to crop for Cystic Fibrosis. Not only did all the proceeds go to a great cause, but it was also a chance to meet new people and create into the wee hours of the morning!

Here's Roxanne (Becky's sister), Kelly, Megan, Brenda and Becky.

In November we continued our tradition of decorating and donating a tree (complete with oodles of donations from manufacturers and designers) to the Festival of Trees. All the money raised at this event goes to the patients at Primary Children’s Medical Center, and over the past three years our trees have made more than $5000 for this great cause. 

Ta da! What do you think of our finished tree?

Even our Go-to Gals got into the act this year! Ms. Maren shared a delicious assortment of chocolate-covered creations (accompanied by a hearty dose of papery goodness) ideal for teacher gifts. With two former teachers on our team, we love and respect the fine people who teach our children each day.

Switch out the tag and you've got a yummy Valentine's treat!

In December we joined forces with Creating Keepsakes magazine and Creativity Heals. This program encourages people to donate time, creativity or extra crafting supplies towards improving the lives of others. We invited all of you to donate cards to Operation Write Home and were blown away by the generosity you showed on our blog and Facebook pages. We’ve been associated with this charity for years and love their support for our nation’s armed forces. We also donated hundreds of cards to this charity following our World Card Making Day Card Contest in October.  

All of these cards were sent in to Operation Write Home.

At each turn we have been struck by the kindness and willingness to give all of you readers have shown. Thanks for making 2009 a year of giving back. As a thank you I’d like to give ONE lucky person two copies of our new special issue Stamp It! Cards, two Fiskars stamp sets and two of our sassy Betty t-shirts. All that I ask is that you keep one prize package for yourself and give the other to a friend. To be eligible to win, please leave a comment telling me how you like to give back to those around you. Perhaps we’ll be able to take something YOU do and work it into 2010. All comments must be received by midnight (MST) on Wednesday, Feb. 3.

Thanks and love,
Brandy

P.S. It’s time to announce the 10 winners from Jennifer’s Sharing the CHA Goodies post and the five winners from Kelly’s January/February I-Spy post!

Jennifer’s winners:

1. Diane S. (Jan. 29, 7:59 p.m.)
2. Carisa (Jan. 28, 3:17 p.m.)
3. Brandy Jarvis (Jan. 28, 2:12 p.m.)
4. Tammy Wisterman (Jan. 28, 8:08 p.m.)
5. Carol (Jan. 28, 3:31 p.m.)
6. Iris Soscia (Jan. 28, 1:48 p.m.)
7. Diana N. (Jan. 28, 6:40 p.m.)
8. Sue B. (Jan. 29, 7:56 p.m.)
9. Letisia Chubbuck (Jan. 28, 6:43 p.m.)
10. Jennifer Hansen (Jan. 28, 11:15 p.m.)

Kelly’s winners:

1. Carol H. (Jan. 29, 9:53 a.m.)
2. cards4ever (Jan. 29, 10:39 p.m.)
3. Wendy M. (Jan. 30, 8:47 a.m.)
4. Kerry A. (Jan. 31, 9:43 a.m.)
5. Mary Ashby (Jan. 29, 8:04 a.m.)

Congrats, winners! Kelly will be contacting you shortly to discuss your prizes and get your mailing addresses. Thanks to all who left comments!

Tips, Tools, & Techniques Trivia!

Susan R. Opel

It’s time for another edition of Tips, Tools, & Techniques trivia! Open your gorgeous copy of the January/February 2010 issue of Paper Crafts magazine (is that cover not a serious stunner?), turn to page 86 and answer the following questions for the chance to WIN (and who doesn’t like to win?):

• What size circle will you get from the largest Marvy Uchida punch?
• What product did Nichole Heady use to intensify the white dots on the basket that appears on her thank you tag?
• What seven items do I suggest could make a circle shape for free, even though you’ll have to free-hand cut your circle?
• Grab a magnifying glass! What’s one thing on my to-do list on the finished MakeMemo Board?
• What idea is your favorite from this issue’s Tips, Tools, & Techniques column, and why?

Now for the fun part. Two winners will be selected at random to win the following:

• The Circle Cutter from Fiskars and the Mega, Giga and Extra Giga punches from Marvy Uchida shown on page 86.

OR

• The unfinished MakeMemo Board from Canvas Corp. shown on page 88. I’m keeping the finished one since it matches my scraproom. 😉

Are you in love? There’s not much more to do before you are qualified to win!

• Send me an e-mail with your answers to sopel@papercraftsmag.com. Put “TT&T Blog” in the subject line of your message. Be sure to leave a comment on the blog, and let me know which prize makes your heart go pitter patter!
• Entries are due no later than midnight MDT on Friday, Jan. 8. From the correct entries received, two winners will be selected at random and contacted via e-mail. Note: Due to the number of e-mails received, I’m unable to respond to each message individually. Please know that I do read your comments and totally appreciate your participation. Thanks!

So…What are you waiting for?

Can’t wait to see your answers!
Susan

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Jennifer Schaerer

Sometime during the months leading into December, my life becomes one that is characterized by Christmas carols because I start thinking in lyrics. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and it’s definitely the most wonderful time of the year. 

Although I love the drama of the decor, the sweet sounds of singing voices and the promise of tasty pastries and other festive holiday foods, it’s the spirit of giving that really helps me dance my way through the season. There’s nothing better than the feeling of helping those who need it most. 

In the spirit of giving, the elves in the Paper Crafts workshop have been busy the last few weeks. Monday was decorating day for our donated tree for Utah’s Festival of Trees, and this year’s labor of love is now complete. 

This was Holly's very first Festival of the Trees. Judging from that big smile, she really enjoyed herself.

Cath, our moxie fab elf, helped us wire ornaments.

Our chief wire elves Brenda and Kelly whistled while they worked.

Brandy became our chief garland elf and did a great job.

Susan was our chief bag elf since she went around and picked up little bits of trash. After all, every artist needs a clean workspace!

And every artist needs a canvas to paint on. I happily took on the role as chief tree elf. Does it look straight?

Ta da! What do you think of our finished tree?

This event is an annual fundraiser for the patients at Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City, and every penny raised at the event goes directly to the children at the hospital who couldn’t otherwise pay for treatment. 

Brandy Jesperson, our managing editor, has been involved with this fundraiser for 10 years after being a patient at Primary Children’s as a teenager. She urged us to get involved, and we decorated our first Paper Crafts team tree a few years ago and have been doing it ever since. 

Here's last year's "Home for the Holidays" tree.

This year’s tree was auctioned off to the highest bidder and we’re certain that it brought a generous sum for the hospital. All of us at Paper Crafts are grateful to the manufacturers who helped make this tree possible with their heartfelt donations: 

• Karen Foster Design 
• Clearsnap 
• Cornish Heritage Farms 
• Marvy Uchida 
• BasicGrey 
• American Crafts 
• Fiskars 
• Little Yellow Bicycle 
• Hambly Screen Prints 
• Doodlebug Design 
• Provo Craft 

We’d also like to say a very special thanks to all the designers who sent in handmade card sets for us to include with the tree: 

• Debbie Olson 
• Alicia Thelin 
• Kim Hughes 
• Cindy Etienne 
• Charlene Austin 
• Linda Beeson 
• Latisha Yoast 
• Gretchen McElveen 
• Laura O’Donnell 
• Lori Roop 
• Carolyn King 
• Jean Cross 
• Becky Olsen 
• Melanie Douthit 
• Sandy Rollinger 
• Jennifer Scull 
• Debbie Seyer 

All of our lovely donated cards!

It’s definitely the most wonderful time of the year!
Jennifer

Ready? Set! Access!

Cath Edvalson

I’m coming up to my four-year anniversary as creative editor here at good ol’ Paper Crafts magazine and I’m amazed at how much things have changed in that amount of time.

One of the most obvious changes has been in our staff. I miss Stacy, Jennafer, Megan, Junko, Neko, and Marissa, but I love working with Brandy, Susan, Kelly, Matt, and Jennifer. Brenda and Stace have been here since before I arrived—and thank goodness for them! They are the keepers of our history and we turn to them often for continuity as we grow our brand.

Back in the day, we had columns such as Gifts from the Heart, Celebrations, and Paper Finishes; while now we have columns such as the Joy of Card Making, Moxie Fabs, Photo Finish, and Get Inspired–with new ones in the works for 2010. (Sshh…that’s a secret!)

But perhaps the biggest change I’ve seen in the four years since I started here is in the many ways you can access Paper Crafts magazine and the people who put it together.

Like this fun blog, in point of fact. Here you get to go behind-the-scenes, get important info, get to know our Paper Crafts Pros, win prizes, and participate in super fun challenges with the winning projects being posted for all to see.

Our other blog, Moxie Fab World, focuses on the trends in paper crafting. It’s a spot for inspiration, contests, Q&As with your favorite designers, and lots of chances to win fun prizes.

In addition, all of the editors and most of our Pros have their own personal blogs, so you can get to know what really makes us tick.

We’ve also got a group on Facebook. You can become a fan or join our group and receive updates and hot bits of news. I like this type of access because it’s an instantaneous reminder of the fun things we’ve got going on here at Paper Crafts. And of course, you can become a friend of all of us editors on Facebook, too—just look us up and ask!

We’ve even got a new, slick way to submit your projects to our calls. We’ve got a call out right now for our January/February 2010 issue, so why don’t you give it a try by clicking here. Talk about access—we publish brand spanking new designers in every issue, maybe one of them will be you!

You can enter our sweepstakes contests in every issue, download cool sentiments and patterns, check out our online bonus projects, and soon you’ll be able to upload your cards to our World Card Making Day web site. You can email your questions for our Pros here, you can give us feedback here, and you can comment today on your favorite way to access Paper Crafts magazine! Leave a comment by midnight MST on Wednesday, May 20 and I’ll select one random winner to receive an Easy Stamp Press from Fiskars along with their new clear stamp set called Tartan ‘n Time.

Will you be the lucky one to take this home?

Maybe, like me, your favorite way to access Paper Crafts is by finding it in your mailbox and flipping through its pages. Whatever your preference, we sure are glad you’ve found us, for without you it just wouldn’t be the same.

Yours in celebrating four fun-filled years,
~Cath