I wanted to start a feature called Flashback Friday where I would showcase a project I had done in the past. And I had it all planned out for this last Friday to showcase my wedding paper creations. I had photos, ideas, I was even starting to write out the post in my head.

Then I got sick.

It happens every year at the end of school. My body shuts down, whether from exhaustion, relief, or all those little preschool germs finally getting to me. And every year, I forget about it till I actually get sick! So Friday night and all day Saturday, I was out with my yearly cold and unable to write my Flashback Friday. Now that it's Sunday, I thought about writing something else, but I am so excited about telling the story of my first huge jump into cards and invitations, I decided that this will just have to be Flashback Sunday instead.

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My husband Mike and I were married on June 29, 2007. But this paper creation story starts well before that. When we started making wedding plans in the spring of 2006, we knew we wanted to save money. The first, and most obvious choice was to make all the invitations ourselves. Well, not ourselves, myself. Since I worked a second job at a scrapbooking store (Artsy Tartsy) at the time, I had tons of resources and supplies at my fingertips.

Usually, brides pick out their dresses, their flowers or at least their colors before anything else. I picked out my paper before anything else. No joke! I could not move ahead in any of my planning until I had picked out paper that I loved. And I fell in love with this:

It was funky and girly and all of my favorite colors in one. I quickly bought out all we had in stock and asked the owner to order more! I began by making myself a planning book. And how perfect to have my color right on the cover - no need to drag around samples; there were right there with me all the time!

After pouring over books and magazines dedicated to weddings and invitations and cards, I finally came up with a samples of all the things I was going to make. I measured, cut, inked, and assembled, and with the help of my sister, I finished all our wedding invitations!

Simple, elegant, and with a touch of personality. But I wasn't done.

I didn't like the tradition of a simple guest book. Too impersonal. After all, I knew who was at my wedding, why did I need all their signatures? So I got an idea from a wedding magazine for reception cards. 4x6 cards that you put on the reception tables for people to write down their well-wishes, advice, and (as in the case of our friends) humor! So that's where I put in more personality and color!

Way cute, right?

But again, not done.

I was on a creative roll. And I was loving every minute of it! Next on the list was thank you cards.

And slightly less creative; programs:

The hardest thing about my wedding day was the fact that I could not have my camera in my hand. Seriously! Everything else went beautifully, there were no major problems. But I was constantly seeing photos I wanted to take. Now, I had done some major research on photographers and I had chosen a husband-wife team who I knew would capture my vision perfectly (and they did), and I had several trusted friends and family members armed with cameras of their own. But I still wanted all the photos I could get. From every perspective. So Mike and I made up these:

Little business cards with our contact info on them so people could send us their photos. And we took that photo on the front ourselves. For those of you who are confuse; it's a video gamy controller wound around a calla lily (our wedding flowers). I call it "Gamer Romance".

So that about wraps up everything from my wedding! This was the most ambitious, most time-consuming, and most fun project I have ever done. The things I learned from this giant project was:
1) Adhesive is expensive - buy in bulk.
2) ALWAYS use a good quality, SHARP cutter.
3) One step at a time to prevent getting overwhelmed.

Thanks for reading my giant post!

One of the added perks of being a preschool teacher is the gifts you get at the end of the year. This year, one class got together and gave me an exceedingly generous gift card to Michaels!

So since I never pass up an opportunity to go to Michaels (and since the gift card was burning a hold in my pocket), I went last night at 8:00 and spent a full hour there till they kicked me out at 9:00! I wandered up and down all the isles; my brain teeming with possibilities.

I finally decided on a few pieces of paper, matching flowers, and an adorable pair of hedgehog stamps. I only spend $10! Which ensures that I'll have plenty more shopping trips and opportunities to get more goodies! I actually like to buy a lot of little treats all spread out rather than one big purchase (unless I've been eying something big of course!).

So when I got home, I immediately set to work with my new supplies and here's what came out:

Aren't the hedgehogs adorable? I love hedgehogs, and they are  beginning to make their way into the crafting world.

I will be adding these cuties to my Etsy page in the next week, so if you want them (sets of 8 cards), check HERE!

I'm done with classes, so all I have to do this week at work is clean up my classroom, then it's on to summer!

Hope everyone had a great week!

One of my most recent big projects was 4 boxes of all-occasion cards I made for Christmas for my mom, my mother-in-law, my grandma, and my aunt.

I had a lot of fun making these boxes because it was a little different than my normal way of making cards.
Usually, I will set out to make anywhere from 10 to 100 cards of the same design. It takes a lot of planning and preparation. I have to gather all the materials, make a demo, measure out all the pieces, cut everything, ink everything, put it all together, etc. But with this, I only had to make 4 of each card. And they didn't have to be the same! It was very freeing and it allowed me to revisit some old sets of paper that I had stayed away from before because I didn't have enough to complete a whole set.
So without further ado, here are some of the cards:

I ended up making a total of 15 cards for each box. Most of them were generic, like the colorful rainbow one above, and some of them had specific purposes, like the baby ones.
I think what I liked most about this project was that I knew who the cards were going to and I knew they would like them. So often when I make cards and put them up on Etsy, I feel like they just sort of disappear into the aether of the internet.
I'm hoping this website makes things disappear a little less. :-)

I guess I've always been drawn to create. I grew up in a house with a mom who was (and still is), and early childhood teacher and a musician. We always had supplies and encouragement and I always felt comfortable trying anything creative.

I've dabbled in drawing, painting, dancing, piano, singing (which I still love to do, just not in front of an audience!), knitting, crocheting, origami, poetry, pottery, photography, scrapbooking, and card making. I have held hard and fast to the last three.

I LOVE taking pictures, sharing them with people, and creating scrapbook pages with them. In the last few years my scrapbooking has declined and my photography has increased (and improved!). But my favorite creative outlet is card making. I have always made cards for family members' birthdays and special days, but a few years ago I began giving them as gifts, and selling sets to coworkers and family members. After much encouragement and brainstorming, Little Paper Creations was born and now my cards (and other paper creations) are available to everyone! I have set up a store on Etsy (Click here: Little Paper Creations) and post new items there a couple times a month. I have yet to sell anything through that store, but I have sold a lot to friends and coworkers! I'm hoping to get my store off the ground and start taking special orders this summer.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be updating this site with photos, cards, invitations, and other creations. I hope you enjoy seeing and reading about them as much as I enjoyed making them.

For now, I'll leave you with a photo of the Christmas card I made in 2008, one of my personal favorites!

Enjoy!

Welcome to Little Paper Creations! I am so happy to finally have a little place on the internet I can call home! I have big plans for this site, so many creative ideas, so much to share. I hope you enjoy the journey with me!