Absolutely Fabulous

You already know I adore card making and scrapbooking, and so you won’t be surprised to hear that I’m crazy about papercrafting as well—3D items really challenge my creativity and I love creating something that’s completely unique. So do you, I learned, as Close To My Heart held its recent papercrafting contest during January’s National Papercrafting Month. CTMH is just announcing the judges’ picks of the winners, and after seeing all the incredible submissions and our amazing 15 finalist entries, I just had to rave about them!

We opened a call for entries in three categories: small, medium and large, and were rewarded with hundreds of absolutely fabulous original creations, from clocks to wall hangings to organizers, boxes, altered albums, pails, buckets, lunchboxes, even jewelry! I was completely in awe by the diversity of entries, not to mention the beauty of stamping and the thoughtfulness of the work. Our panel of judges narrowed the field to 15 finalists (5 in each size category), and I thought I’d share a little bit about some of the artworks’ winning features.

First, let’s take a look at the finalists from the “small” category. Measuring 6”x6” or under, these little items pack a big punch—Christina S.’s darling mint tin is fresh, dimensional and springy, and the simple elegance of Emmy R.’s stamped bookmark was too cute to resist. LeAnn H.’s decorative tile was a real pleaser—check out her innovative use of “snow” designing the windows of her winter scene. What a great idea! I love mini albums, and we had many to choose from in this category. The mini-car chipboard album with the Route 66 papers was eye-catching, and I wish you could see Elaine S.’s perfectly built layered paper flowers on the pages, each secured with a designer brad.

The winner from this category was an acrylic album using the “Key To My Heart” promotional papers submitted by Brenda B. of Lubbock, Texas. There are a lot of things to like about this super-blingy album, but one of my favorite features was how Brenda spelled out “family” on its pages, using Dimensional Alphabets covered in paper and lacquered in Liquid Glass. Great touch!

For the “medium”-sized items, we had a great array of different pieces, and our judges selected wonderful finalists, including Lynda B.’s “Colten’s Coins,” proving that modge-podge is back and beautiful! Eva C.’s “ocean treasures” box is a showcase of elegant simplicity—her stamping is clean and fresh, and her color choices as restful as a summer day at the beach. The inside of the lid even includes a place to record the box’s keepsake memories! Cyndy R. and Shelli W. each submitted items using the National Papercrafting Month promo papers—Cyndy’s Memory Keeper was well executed and the photo she chose for the cover really made the art special—adorable! Shelli’s purse was actually a gorgeous wedding album, featuring 6x6 layouts tucked inside the purse’s Velcro closure. Simply unique, Shelli!
After much deliberating, our judges selected a winner—truly an inspirational piece: the “Card Dodecahedron,” envisioned by Brad S. of Provo, Utah. Brad hand-built this chipboard shape with beveled edges, beautifully paper pieced and inked flowers, and a hinged opening. The outside is impressive enough, but hold on when you open it! It’s actually a card dispenser, featuring 25 different mini cards (5 each of 5 different themes), all nested inside a flower-shaped dispenser. Each card was perfectly stamped. This one had our judges “ooh-ing and aah-ing” for hours. Congratulations Brad for creating a true masterpiece!

Finally, I’d love to share the “large” items, all 12”x12” or larger. Again, creativity reigns! In this category, I loved the wall hangings, including Jennifer D.’s cheery use of our new colors and Shauna B.’s great photo canvas—notice the subtle stamping on the corners and the fabulous scalloped edges and layered botanicals. Wow! Danielle L.’s True Fit Folio album incorporated several different stamp sets and made great use of the “That’s Amore” papers, and Elaine S.’s photo clock combined papers, photography, and practicality in a single piece; wonderful work (and special applause to Elaine for being a finalist in TWO categories)!
You can see that our judges had their work cut out for them… and speaking of “cut out,” huge cheers to Gini W. from Hendersonville, NC, for her over the top “Boom-Di-Ada Bag,” featuring a full bouquet of hand stamped and cut flower images. This bag also has other amazing attention to detail, including duck cloth hand dyed in Hollyhock re-inker, “beaded” fringe made from tightly rolled paper, and a meticulously woven shoulder strap secured with designer brads. Congratulations, Gini for taking our breath away—you had this one “in the bag”!

All 15 finalists won their choice of stamp sets (they’re on the way to each of you!), and our three grand prize winners earned a shopping spree of Close To My Heart products. Everyone who entered the contest has earned my admiration and applause. Thanks to each of you for your absolutely fabulous artwork and congratulations to all our winners!