Guest Blogger Lisa Falduto: 5 Sources for Paper Crafting Inspiration

I’m so pleased that my crafty BFF & paper crafts specialist is back for another post- so take it away, Lisa!

Have you ever had a time where you felt like sitting down to craft and you just couldn’t seem to get started?  Or you felt tired of crafting with the same style and wanted to try something new?  You just needed some kind of crafty inspiration to get you enthused and rolling?

I can tell you this has happened to me many times.  Sometimes I can sit down and it all just comes pouring out of me and I have vision and techniques just rolling on to the paper crafting project I have started.  The next time I sit and look at the papers and embellishments and have no clue where to start.  I struggle to get a vision.

So what to do?  Well, I have 5 favorite blogs that I visit when I get stuck to get things moving along again.  Today I am going to share my 5 favorite blogs with you so you can find paper crafting inspiration when you feel stuck for whatever reason!

1.  Scrapbooking Layouts: PageMaps

When I need inspiration it is usually because I feel intimidated by this 12×12 surface staring at me…blank.  And I go blank!  So I head over to Becky Fleck’s PageMaps website and find a sketch to spur me on!  There is more than meets the eye!  Make sure you click on the archive link because you will find years of sketches just waiting to be used!

2. Cards: Debbie Olson

I absolutely adore Debbie Olson’s card designs.  I think her work is brilliant!  She has such a way with paper and embellishments and her cards look as if you just walked out of the card shop.  Anytime I am in a card rut I head for Debbie’s site and start scrolling to see how she layers, does color shading, uses ribbon, etc.

3.  Altered Paper Crafting items: Tammy Tutterow

To be honest, it isn’t often that I don’t know what to do with an altered item.  This seems to come very easily for me.  Something about a dimensional item opposed to a flat sheet of paper that works wonders for me.  But when I do need some inspiration and sometimes a different way of looking at an altered item I head straight to Tammy Tutterow’s website.  She is an amazing altered artist!

4.  A variety of projects: Valerie Salmon

There are a couple of places that I tend to go to look at a variety of projects.  They always seem to have a little something for everyone.  Usually some layouts, cards, stamping, crafty projects for kids, etc.  I have been a fan of Valerie Salmon for many years and have always been inspired by her work.

5.  Rubber Stamping: Jennifer McGuire

I actually started in the paper crafting industry as a rubber stamper about 15 years ago.  I went to a party and got hooked, became a Stampin’ Up demonstrator and had a blast with that for about 4 years and then discovered other paper crafts and branched out.  I still stamp plenty to enhance my projects.  When I need some stamping inspiration I head over to the blog of Jennifer McGuire to see what she has been up to! 

I absolutely love paper crafting and this has and continues to be such a huge part of my life!  Not only the projects and techniques, but the people.  I have met so many friends as a result of being tied to Paper Crafting, right Jenny?  If it were not for paper crafting I never would have bumped in to Jenny and would not be posting at Craft Test Dummies today!

Happy Crafting!

Lisa

PS– make sure you visit her PaperFashions facebook fan page, too!