Just wanted to give you the heads up about this. It's the best deal I've seen on the brand new Fiskars Scallop Sentiment Border Punches. Click here to buy the new Fiskars Scallop Sentiments Border Punch for only $8.99! That's 40% off it's regular price! This is a special deal from Scrapbook.com and they expect that it will sell out really quickly, so if you want one you have to get there fast!

Updated to add: Looks like the $8.99 sale is over and the punch is back to its regular price. Sorry if you missed out, but, in my opinion the punch is well worth it's regular price of $14.99- it's a really gorgeous design, and very versatile.

Red White & Black “Be Mine” Valentine's Day Greeting Card With Paper Lace

Red White & Black “Heart” Valentine's Day, Anniversary, Wedding, or Romantic Greeting Card

In my last blog post, I mentioned that some of my paper lace designs were published in this month's issue of The Stamper's Sampler Magazine. The 2 cards that were published would be perfect for use as Valentine's Day greeting cards, but they could also be used for any occasion that requires a loving or romantic touch- anniversary, wedding, prom, or any other time you'd like to send a little love to someone special.

Due to space restrictions in the magazine, the Stamper's Sampler editors decided to present their readers with a greatly abbreviated version of my project instructions. When I saw the revised instructions, I had a sinking feeling that most crafters would read the revised instructions, scratch their heads mumbling "huh?" to themselves, and promptly move onto the next project. Then it occurred to me that I have absolutely no space restrictions here on my paper lace web site, and that there isn't anything stopping me from sharing the full project instructions for these Valentine's Day Cards. So that is what I am going to do! I am posting the projects in chapter 6 of my idea book about how to make paper lace, complete with links to sources of supply for the products I used to create these cards. Hope you will find it helpful having the longer version of the project instructions available.

If you haven't already started reading my paper lace idea book, I recommend that you start at the beginning and work your way through. I am still in the process of posting some of chapters of the book, and I apologize that it is taking longer than expected. At any rate, if you are new to making paper lace, the paper laces shown in this blog post are not the ones I would recommend that you try as your first. I'd recommend that you try a few of the very basic paper laces before proceeding to make these. Of course, if you're an advanced paper crafter, by all means jump right in.

Thanks so much for dropping by! I hope you are having a lovely and creative day.

I have been working on updating Chapter 2: Making Basic Paper Lace. I just added a brand new page with Free project ideas for this chapter. The page is still under construction, but at this point it is finished enough to be helpful. The project shown above, a greeting card with very basic paper lace plus a bit of hand stamping and inking is posted on that page. The complete supply list and instructions are posted. The page also shows a few photos of other projects that will be posted soon too. If you check back in a few days, hopefully there will be more progress to report. I hope you will enjoy these free project ideas! Thanks so much for dropping by. I really appreciate your interest.

(Among other things.)

Sorry I haven't updated much lately. We had been having a lot of power outages and rolling blackouts due to all the California wildfires, and it kept me off the computer much more than I would have liked. In my immediate neighborhood things are looking like they are getting more or less back to normal. For all you Californians who were affected by the fires, my heart goes out to you and you are in my thoughts and prayers. If there is anything else I can do to help those who were affected, please let me know. I am very thankful that we got off as easy as we did but I am concerned for those who did not.

So anyway, I think perhaps I was more productive when I was forced to stay off the computer for days at a time! Haha. Funny how that works, isn't it? The photo above shows a few of the greeting cards I made recently. It actually doesn't even begin to show everything I have either made or have in progress, so I have a LOT of updating to do! With all the smoke, ash, doom and gloom that has surrounded me lately I have been gravitating towards bright, happy, cheerful colors that make me want to smile.

I just posted instructions for how to make this card:

plus the supply list with all the supplies you would need to make it. You can find this information on the Lace Cardstock project ideas page.

Please check back soon for more new paper lace projects plus more additions to chapter 2 of my free book about how to make paper lace. Thanks for dropping by!

Materials and Supplies:

• The patterned paper used for the background is "Flora Bella", from the Fleuriste Collection by Cosmo Cricket.
• The green patterned paper used to make the paper lace accents is the "Garland Green" design from the Snow Globe Collection by Reminisce. Never mind that that's supposed to be a winter-themed line of papers. When I am creating, I feel completely free to ignore how supplies "should" be used. There is no rule that says you must use papers in exactly the way that the designer or manufacturer intended.
• The other papers used to make the paper lace are Strathmore Bristol Board that I hand painted using Jacquard fiber reactive dyes. Yes, you read that correctly: dyes. As in, fabric dyes that were left over after a session of dyeing fabrics for one of my surface design classes. Paper and cotton fabric have some similar properties, and hand-dyed paper is every bit as gorgeous as hand-dyed fabric!
• Narrow ribbon (1/8" / 3mm.)
• Cardstock
• Colored Pencil (for journaling): Prismacolor
• Decorating Chalks: Craf-T products
• Dye Ink: Rubber Stampede

About the Journaling Block:

The journaling block is a block print of my own design. Block printing and rubber stamping are very similar processes; the biggest difference is that, with block printing, you are easily able to design your own stamping block from scratch. Then you carve your design out of an appropriate material such as linoleum, wood, etc. Some people carve their designs using unusual surfaces like erasers, potatoes or styrofoam plates (Sherril Kahn teaches about using stamps cut from styrofoam plates in her book called Creating With Paint: New Ways, New Materials a book that I highly recommend.) My personal preference is to use Staedtler Mastercarve Artist's Carving Blocks, which are much easier to cut than wood or linoleum. That is one very good reason to use them; they cut so easily. Also, they do not crumble up like some other brands that I have tried (although they are still a bit fragile and should be used and stored carefully.)

Here is a picture of what these Artist's Carving Blocks look like when they are brand new and uncut:

And then here is a picture of what mine looks like after having been cut. I am warning you, it isn't pretty, because these aren't easy to get totally clean after you have inked them. Seems like no matter how much you wash them there is going to be some faint staining. But despite that they work well and stamp cleanly.

The block is carved using a Speedball Linoleum Cutter.. It looks like this:

About the Paper Lace Used to Embellish This Scrapbooking Layout:

The paper lace is handmade using techniques that I will be writing about in upcoming chapters of my Free Paper Lace Idea Book for scrapbooking, card making and paper crafts. I haven't yet posted the instructions for how to make the paper lace designs that you see on this layout. However, I will be adding the instructions shortly, so please check back soon!

Thanks very much for taking a peek. Hope you are having a fabulously interesting and creative day!

Materials and Supplies:

Background Paper is [inline] [/inline] by Cosmo Cricket. The paper lace was made using [inline] [/inline] striped patterned paper, which is also by Cosmo Cricket. The round chipboard is from the Book it Biggest Board Chipboard Set by Fancy Pants. The stamp is from the Bella Flora stamp set by Inque Boutique.

About This Greeting Card:

This greeting card is going to be one of the featured craft projects from Chapter 2 of my Paper Lace Idea Book. I will be posting the instructions for it shortly. If you haven't already had a chance to check out my paper lace idea book, you can start by reading the Introduction and Chapter 1 (Materials and Supplies For Making Paper Lace.) Part of Chapter 2: Making Basic Paper Lace is also online but I am still in the process of posting the rest of it. So please check back in a few days for the next installment, which will include instructions for making the paper lace you see on this greeting card, plus the card itself, plus other projects too. Thanks so much for dropping by!

Here's another sneak peek of a lovely paper lace that you will learn to make if you keep reading this web site for more installments of my Free Paper Lace Idea Book. This particular layout was a lot of fun to make, and it is very simple! I love scrapping with the "Fleuriste" line of patterned papers by Cosmo Cricket. They are a no-brainer to use; they are so versatile that you'd be hard-pressed to find photos that don't work well with them. (As usual, excluding your husband's hunting/fishing/ football layouts, that is.)

In this layout I created almost all my own embellishments (except for the brads, which are made by Accent Depot.) See the tiny paper flowers that are attached on either side of the paper lace border? I made those from Cosmo Cricket's Hey Sugar Honey Honey paper. They were super easy to make; all I did was use Fiskars Mini Scallop Paper Edgers to cut around a few of the flower motifs from the patterned paper; then I attached a mini-brad in the center.

Here's a photo of the "Hey Sugar Honey" Cosmo Cricket paper I used to create the flower embellishments:

And then here's a photo of the embellishments before I attached them to the layout (you can click the photo to get an larger picture and take a closer look at them.)

So, you might be looking at that "embellishment" (for lack of a better word?) that is positioned under the lower left hand flower photo. It's another one that I made. I made it out of one of my old business cards (I am into recycling!) that I hand painted. Then for another project I wanted to have multicolored punches so I punched out a bunch of small circles and squares. I thought that the punched-out painting looked cool all by itself, but I couldn't think of a use for it right then. So back in my stash it went. Well, when I was scrapping these pics today looking through my stash I pulled it out and used it. Love doing stuff like that! I have found that if you make a bunch of embellishments from time to time, and you organize them well, you will never be at a loss for things to put on your layouts.

Materials and Supplies

Patterned Paper is "Primrose" from the Fleuriste Collection by Cosmo Cricket. The brads are by Accent Depot.

Additional Techniques Used:

Paper cutting, punching, collage, inking, painting

How To Make The Paper Lace

The techniques for making the paper lace shown on this layout will be covered in detail in my Paper Lace Idea Book. The introduction, chapter one, and part of chapter 2 are already online, so you can get started learning how to make paper lace. So far I have posted the basic information that you will need to get started. Detailed instructions for the paper lace border that you see in this layout have not been posted yet, but more instructions will be posted soon. I invite you to follow my blog for more updates about when the next chapters of the book will be posted.

About This Scrapbook Layout:

This layout features another group of 3 photos of orchids and flowers that I took at the Arboretum in Arcadia, California. I already posted another scrapbooking layout with orchid photos that were taken around this time period.

Thanks so much for dropping by! I sincerely appreciate your interest in my work.

Here's another scrapbooking layout I created using paper lace. The photos show a gorgeous peacock that I encountered at the Arboretum in Arcadia, California. Peacocks roam free throughout the Arboretum, and seeing them is sheer delight! They are so beautiful!

Materials and Supplies

The background patterned paper is "Get Happy: Pop" by Cosmo Cricket. The round epoxy sticker at the top of the layout is from the Narratives Honeydew Collection by Creative Imaginations/ Karen Russell. The other papers are hand-painted and hand stamped by me. The stamp is a one of a kind Indian Woodblock / batik block that I got on ebay. I actually have several of them. Here is a photo of them.

These are so much fun to use. They are different in some ways than using a clear stamp or rubber stamp- but it's basically the same stamping process for the most part. There is a lot of creative potential for using these. I originally bought them because I used to teach textile and surface design to fashion design majors and I wanted my students to be able to try out authentic Indian batik blocks during our classes. Well, they did, and you would not believe the results! Each and every one of them was able to make these wood block stamps look completely and totally different. It was mind boggling!

Making the Paper Lace:

This paper lace was made using The Fiskars Hearts Border Punch. I don't have instructions posted yet for making this particular paper lace, but it is very similar to some of the paper laces I have already posted on the site. Also take a look at this page about the Fiskars Sunburst Border punch and this page about the Fiskars Threading Water border punch because the idea is similar. And then of course keep checking this blog for more updates to my Free Paper Lace Idea Book, where I will be sharing step-by-step instructions for the paper laces and projects you see on this site.

Note: If you do decide to make this paper lace, try to cut straighter than I did! But, if you mess up, don't worry. The craft police are NOT going to come after you.

Thanks so much for dropping by!

Here's a sneak peek of some different paper laces that you will learn to make if you keep reading this web site for more installments of my Free Paper Lace Idea Book. Here I've used multiple paper laces in a scrapbook layout.

Materials and Supplies

Patterned Paper is "Primrose" from the Fleuriste Collection by Cosmo Cricket. The journaling blocks are hand stamped on hand painted Strathmore paper. I used one of the clear stamps from the Stitched Journaling stamp set by Maryann Wise / Autumn Leaves.

Techniques Used:

Paper cutting, punching, stamping, collage, inking, painting, chalking

How To Make The Paper Lace

If you want to know how to make paper lace such as the examples you see on this layout, but you haven't already begun reading my Paper Lace Idea Book, please take a look at it. I recommend that you read through the chapters that are already posted on this web site first. So far I have posted the basic information that you will need to get started. The specific instructions for the particular paper laces that you see in this layout have not been posted yet- which is why I referred to this as a "sneak peek". I will be covering more details about how to make these specific paper laces in upcoming chapters.

About This Scrapbook Layout:

This layout features a group of 4 photos of orchids and flowers that I took at the Arboretum in Arcadia, California. At the time I took these photos, I was taking a class in botanical illustration. It was a wonderful class; I learned how to draw a variety of plants and flowers. During the time the class was in session, I took a bunch of reference photos of different flowers such as these lovely orchids. I still enjoy working from my reference photos when I want to do some floral drawings and paintings. However, nowadays I get even more inspiration from scrapping the flower photos. Flowers are probably my second favorite photographic subject (my husband is my favorite subject. LOVE taking pictures of him, I think he is gorgeous.) Since flower photos and paper lace work well together I will be posting quite a bit more of my layouts and projects that feature flower photos embellished with paper lace. So if you are interested in seeing more paper lace borders used in scrapbooking projects, please bookmark this blog or add it to your feed reader and keep reading!

Thanks so much for dropping by! I sincerely appreciate your interest in my work.

Hello everyone! Happy Wednesday!

I have been hard at work updating my Free Paper Lace Idea Book. I posted some updates to Chapter One: Materials and Supplies, including more detailed information about appropriate papers to use, and more photos and links for various recommended supplies. I hope you will find the updates helpful.

I also posted the first part of Chapter 2. This chapter includes basic instructions for making the simplest/ easiest paper laces. I haven't yet had a chance to post the photos and examples that go along with this chapter, so consider it a starting point. As always, you will want to check the blog again in a few days for more updates. Thanks for your interest! Hope you will enjoy the "book".

Paper lace is really trendy right now, and I am really enjoying the process of discovering all the new die-cut papers and lace-paper effects that have recently been released. I can't wait to get all these new products posted on this web site! I am working on a brand new page on the web site dedicated to Holey Cardstock by Samantha Walker for Creative Imaginations. It looks similar to KI Memories' Lace Cardstock, but the patterns are different enough that I would be inclined to buy papers from both lines.

I recently added a new page to the web site dedicated to the Threading Water Border Punch by Fiskars. If you've spent a small fortune buying die-cut scrapbooking papers (like I have!), then this border punch is a must-have item, because it will allow you to create a scalloped lacy punched edge on almost any paper. I am so excited about that because I have been frustrated about the lack of availability of 6" x 6" papers with die cut scalloped / lacy edges. (I still wish some manufacturers would make a pad of 6"x 6" die cut papers...please??? I'd be happy even if it were only the lower edge that is die cut, like the new Sassafrass Lass papers only smaller...) But anyway, until I get my wish, the Fiskars Threading Water Border Punch looks like exactly what I need. I think I could use it somewhere in pretty much every paper crafts project I do, with the possible exception of my husband's extreme sports layouts- since I have been strictly forbidden to put ribbon or paper lace on his rock climbing / mountain biking/ dirt biking photos, hee hee. At any rate, extreme sports layouts aside, the punch is a versatile design with a lot of different applications; it's a tool that I know I would get a lot of use out of.

I am still working on getting the next chapter of my Free Paper Lace Idea Book ready to post online, and that should hopefully be up within the next few days (if all goes according to plan.) I hope you'll check back soon to see the next installment.

Thanks for dropping by- I hope you are having a fabulously interesting and creative day!

I have been busy updating paperlaces.com with new pages. Chapter one of my free paper lace idea book has been online for a few days now, but I am still busy adding photos and links to it. Within the next couple of days it should be completely finished (if all goes according to plan.) Even now it is finished enough that you should be able to enjoy it, if you want to take a look at it.

Click here to See Amy's Free Paper Lace Idea Book, Chapter One: Materials and Supplies. If you haven't already read the introduction to the book, Please click here to see it.

Other recent paperlaces.com web site updates:

• I made a new page featuring Prima Marketing's Lace-themed paper crafts products.
• I made a new page dedicated to Fiskars' Threading Water Punch.
• I made some updates to my page featuring Martha Stewart's Punches. This isn't a brand new page; it's been on the site for awhile, but I've added some new things to it that you might be interested in seeing. If you are interested in a simple way of making paper lace, Martha Stewart brand border punches are definitely worth checking out.
• My digital paper lace page has been updated. Even if you're not a digital scrapbooker, you might be interested in some of the latest digikits I've posted. I found some amazingly gorgeous digikits for scalloped lacy journaling blocks that could save you a small fortune if you typically purchase cardstock journaling blocks. These are really trendy and pretty.

As soon as I finish up with posting the links and photos in Chapter One of the Free Paper Lace Idea Book, I'll be moving on to posting chapter 2, which is the fun part; it is where we actually get into creating basic paper laces. I'm excited to share these techniques with you! Thanks for dropping by, and please check back soon.

I just posted the Introduction to my free paper lace idea book. You can click here to see it. Chapter One is coming soon. Please stay tuned! Thanks for your interest.

Supplies Used:

Patterned Papers:

• Die Cut "Ava" Making Memories Noteworthy Paper With Artisan Edge
• Making Memories Boho Chic Lauren Paper (From the 6 x 6 pad)
• Fancy Pants Wild Heart / Fancy Free/ Dreamer Paper
• Fancy Pants Key Lime Pie Heavenly Paper
• Creative Imaginations Flora Coral Paper From the Sonnets Collection by Sharon Soneff

Stamps:

• Bella Flora Mini Stamp Set by Inque Boutique
• Stitched Journaling Heart Stamp by Autumn Leaves
• Happy Birthday Calligraphy Stamp by PSX (Stamp is discontinued- If you want this stamp you can try searching ebay for it, and maybe you'll get lucky and find one. That's a link to ebay USA; it is possible that you could also find it listed in ebay Canada or ebay UK or ebay Australia.)
• Rose Bouquet Stamp by PSX. (This is another discontinued stamp.)

Ink:

• Brilliance Pearlescent Orchid
• Dye Inks by Rubber Stampede.
• Colorbox Fluid Chalk.

Punches:

• Heart Hand Punch by Fiskars
• Small Dot Hand Punch by Fiskars

Paper Edgers / Decorative Edged Scissors::

• Victorian Paper Edgers by Fiskars
• Mini Scallop Paper Edgers by Fiskars
• Seagull Paper Edgers by Fiskars
• Plus another unknown pair of decorative scissors

Other Embellishments & Supplies:

• Silver Brad by Accent Depot / Hot Off The Press
• Spin Art Heart Painting by Amy Solovay (Painted using Lumiere Metallic Paints)
• Acrylic Paints
• Gel Pens
• Prismacolor Colored Pencils
• Basic Grey Alphabet Letters From the Romani / Gypsy Collection

The Story of Paperlaces.com:

Back in 2006, I purchased a whole bunch of Fiskars hand punches and paper edgers. One day I was playing with them, just punching and cutting my paper at random, trying to come up with ideas for how to use them. One of the designs I made reminded me of paper lace, and an idea was born. I have lots of ideas - sometimes dozens of them in a day- so at the time it didn't occur to me that there was anything special about that one idea. Like most artists, I have more ideas than I could use in a lifetime. But, as time went on, I decided to develop this particular idea further and see what I could do with it. I spent several months designing different paper lace borders, and it occurred to me that my paper lacemaking techniques might make a good scrapbooking or cardmaking or paper crafting idea book.

At that point, I thought it would be wise to see if anyone else had already written a similar idea book. I was surprised at how little information was available online about paper lace. I couldn't even find that many web sites specifically dedicated to paper lace, although there are plenty of stores that sell doilies and things like that.

I did find several books which have some similar ideas (take a look at my book reviews page and you will see a few of them.) But I could not find any idea books that had projects like the ones I had been creating.

So, I wrote up a book proposal and sent it off.

My proposal was rejected. And rejected. And rejected. I was told that there would not be enough interest in paper lace to make it worthwhile to publish the book. I disagreed then, and I still disagree now. A year later I can say that thousands of people have come to paperlaces.com, and MANY of them have been searching for instructions for how to make their own paper lace. So, I think that the publishers were absolutely wrong!

I decided at one point that I was going to self publish my idea book. But, when I researched the process of self publishing, I decided that it wasn't something I was ready to jump into without testing the water first. Considering that I already have a career as a textile designer- I wasn't sure I'd be able to do all the writing AND all the photography AND all the graphic design AND all the marketing AND all the sales AND all the packing, shipping and distribution of the book. All that seemed like a daunting amount of work.

But, I wasn't ready to let the idea die. I still think this idea is worth sharing with other paper crafters.

Enter paperlaces.com. When I decided to start this web site more than a year ago, Doodlebug Paper Frills were one of the very few commercially available scrapbooking embellishments I could find that resembled paper lace. Fiskars also made some lovely lacy paper punches that thrilled me! Nowadays there are too many lovely lacy supplies to count- diecut lace papers, paper lace stickers, paper lace ribbons and trims and borders, punches galore, and soooo many others. How delightful! It is definitely an exciting time to be a paper lace enthusiast.

However, I still think there is room for handmade paper lace like the kind that I create, and I still want to share these ideas with crafters all over the world.

SO...think of paperlaces.com as your new FREE PAPER CRAFTS IDEA BOOK! Only instead of publishing the idea book in book form, I'll be publishing it in blog format. Within the next few days (hopefully) I will be publishing chapter one online, right here in this blog. You can take a look at the layout above if you are curious about the type of projects that you will learn to make in this "Free idea book" paper lace blog. The paper laces shown there are just a couple of the hundreds of paper lace designs I've developed. So I hope that you will add this blog to your feed reader, or bookmark it and check back! Thanks for your interest.

I'm working on a new page dedicated to paper lace made using the Fiskars Heart border punch. Here's one of the new projects that will be included on the page when it is finished. The page is still under construction as of the time of this posting, but it should be finished shortly. I hope. These posts with instructions always seem to take more time than I expect they will. I have a stack of projects to post and I am getting impatient to show them all to you ASAP.

This project sort of ties into the last project that I posted. Both of these projects were created at the same time. I was in a "green" mood that day- can you tell? Sometimes one idea just flows into the next, and the next, and the next...LOVE it when that happens!

In other news, I am trying to figure out the best way to put together my design team call for this web site. I have sooo many exciting things planned and I cannot wait to share, but I want to make sure that the call is organized well (and that everything makes sense!) before I finalize it and post it.