Trends in Paper Crafting - Part 2

Hello, Memory Bound friends! 

I must apologize for the lack of blog posts over the past few days...but we have a good reason for that! We've been hard at work finalizing details of our holiday season activities at Memory Bound. Our 4th quarter FULL-COLOR newsletter is at the printer right now, and all I can say is you'd best plan to spend a lot of time at Memory Bound this holiday season! We have so much inspiration and FUN planned -- and we can't wait to share it all with you! The newsletter should be in the mail to you in just a couple of weeks!

Meanwhile, I want to share with you the second installment of our TRENDS post from the summer trade show. (If you missed Part 1, check it out HERE.)  Much of the new merchandise we ordered has started arriving at Memory Bound, so you'll soon be seeing all of these trends -- up close and personal!

Hexagons 

The 6-sided honeycomb shape is becoming extremely popular. We spotted it on lots of different products and on many beautiful projects. Take a look at these examples and be on the lookout for hexagons this fall!

Hexagons "sprinkled" on a layout. The designer also used the hexagon shape as a "mask", lightly misting the background with green paint so that only the shape appears in some areas. Fun!

Hexagons as a background on a tag:

A strip of hexagons, with a chevron (another popular shape) motif:

Hexagon paper, cut apart to create a layer on a layout:

 Home and Party Decor

If you're a paper crafter, you've got all the tools you need to create beautiful home decor. With the holidays coming up, there is no better time to make the most of those tools by creating some seasonal home decor pieces! We saw many examples of seasonal and year-round home decor projects, as well as special items created for parties.

Place cards, napkin holders, and more:

Thanksgiving table decor:

Halloween pumpkins decorated with paper crafting supplies -- the white pumpkin is wearing a sweater!

Wall art created by framing a dimensional scrapbook page:

Beautiful fall wall hanging created with large die cut letters and shapes:

Pinwheels create fun party or room decor:

Decorated canvas to showcase a special photo:

In addition to these examples, we have TONS of home decor projects at Memory Bound...with even more to share with you later this fall at our holiday open house!

Layers and Texture/Dimension

If you have a teenage girl in your house, you already know that one of today's fashion trends is LAYERS: One shirt is just not enough these days! Same thing goes for paper crafts...a single layer just won't do! Layering papers and embellishments provides texture, dimension, detail and interest to your projects. Take a peek:

Layered embellishments in a cluster:

Texture created with rolls of paper. What a clever idea!

Texture provided through embossing, layers, and distressed paper edges:

This simple layout still has three layers of paper -- the tan background plus the green and tan snowflake papers:

Another layered layout, with a variety of small elements "peeking" out from behind larger pieces:

Here's a "clean" look layout (it's not inked or distressed) with lots of layers. Notice how the pinwheels and rosettes provide dimension. A dimensional layout like this one would be great in a frame, or you could swap out flatter embellishments if you planned to put it in a scrapbook.

Watch for layers in all the projects on display at Memory Bound, as well as class projects planned for this fall. Experiment with adding another layer or two to your next layout or card!

 Specialty Ribbon

If you love ribbon, THIS IS YOUR YEAR! We saw so many wonderful kinds of ribbon at the trade show -- in many materials and widths. Think canvas, jute, burlap, tulle, and more!

Wide ribbon on a box; lace and twine on the tag:

Burlap, canvas, and twine add texture and dimension:

Burlap and tulle rosettes:

Bonnie and I ordered this wide jute ribbon in holiday colors. It's available NOW at Memory Bound!

It's adorable tied to a tag and would be great wrapped around a package:

Canvas and loosely woven ribbons lend a natural, earthy feel to projects:

Vintage Style

Fans of the vintage style can relax and settle in for the long haul! I'm going to predict that the vintage look, popularized by Tim Holtz, is here to stay.

Vintage cards and home decor:

Cards and framed holiday art. If you've got old mercury-glass Christmas ornaments, put them on display. They're perfect accents to use with the vintage-style home decor pieces you create!

Doesn't this vintage-style tag look great on this old typewriter? My dad has a typewriter just like this in his basement. I'm thinking it needs to relocate to my house... :)

Stop by Memory Bound to see all kinds of vintage Halloween merchandise! With October just around the corner, now is the perfect time to start making a few fun decor pieces.

 Washi Tape

Washi Tape, or Japanese decorative masking tape, has been around for a couple of years, but crafters have now fully embraced it! If you haven't tried it, you need to pick up a roll or two. It's inexpensive and super easy to use! Tear or snip it to add all kinds of fun color to your next project. We'll be offering a class about Washi Tape on our next calendar, so be sure to watch for it!

Surely this is Washi Tape heaven:

Washi Tape strips along the bottom of a card. Just peel and stick!

Washi Tape banners along the side of the layout:

Washi Tape strips add a bit of color to the left edge of the photo:

Be sure to stop in to see all of the latest and greatest products we ordered at the summer trade show! And be on the lookout for all of these trends on the products and projects you'll see at Memory Bound. Which trends are YOU most excited about?

Janet