New Trends in Crafting

Creating Keepsakes, Creative Editor, Megan Hoeppner shares five hot trends that will transform everything from your paper projects to home décor.

Trend #1: Flower Accents

Flowers are in bloom on paper crafts everywhere! And they’re not your mama’s flowers. These hip accents are made from a wide variety of different mediums and come in a garden of amazing styles. Here are just a few options on the market now:

Melody Ross Designer Collections, Crochet Flowers, by GCD Studios

BasicGrey Fabric Flower Bloomers

Little Yellow Bicycle Fresh Print Clothesline Fabric Flowers

K&Company Handmade Fabric Art

Technique: Make Your Own Flowers

Make your own flower accents is easy, creative and fun! Here are a few ideas taken from the May/June 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes to get your creative wheels turning.

Technique A: Cut a Flower from a Cupcake Liner

Fresh flowers are only a kitchen cupboard away with this creative idea, designed by Cindy Tobey.

1. Color a cupcake liner with ink or paint and cut it into a spiral.

2. Outline the edges of the liner with a marker.

3. Adhere liner to cardstock circle backing to form flower shape.

4. Add glitter to edges.

These flowers make a great accent on a birthday themed scrapbook layout, like this one designed by Cindy Tobey. And they’d also look super cute on a birthday card!

Technique B: New-Sew Fabric Flowers
Creating fancy fabric flowers for your paper projects is easy, thanks to this idea by Maggie Holmes. All you need is a few scraps of fabric and a stapler.

1. Cut fabric circles from cotton and a sheer fabric, such as lace.

2. Bunch the circles in the center to form a flower shape and staple them into place.

Have fun layering different textures, as Maggie did on this pretty layout!

Trend #2: Designer Buttons

Beautiful and unique buttons are popping up all over the place. Here are just a few of the stunning options that are currently on the scrapbooking market:

Bazzill Buttons from Modern Collection

Jenni Bowlin Vintage Sew-On Buttons

American Crafts Printed Chipboard Buttons

Technique: Make Your Own Buttons

Create your own bitty buttons with the new and super cute Bitty Buttons set, the Itty Bitty Bits stamp set, and the coordinating Punch Pack, all from Stampin’ Up! (Available for purchase on May 1.)

Trend #3: Designer Brads

Many scrapbooking companies have introduced decorative brads created from a variety of different mediums, such as fabric, canvas, epoxy, and more. Here’s just a sampling of what’s new and hot in the world of brads:

Melody Ross Designer Collections, Fabric Brads

Melody Ross Designer Collections, Vintage Brads

BasicGrey Stitched fabric brads

Technique: Make Your Own Brads

With the iTop Tool from Imaginisce, you can make your own, completely personalized brads, as well as pins, magnets, badges, and more!

Create brads for paper crafts, home décor and even fashion. Here are a few project ideas, courtesy of Imaginisce.

Trend #4: Genealogy and the Family Tree

Yes, tracing our heritage and the importance of ancestry has been a longstanding tradition. It also goes hand in hand with scrapbooking, as it’s all about preserving your story. Today, Hollywood is recognizing the importance of this hobby with shows like NBC’s Who Do You Think You Are?, which explores celebrity roots. And Hollywood isn’t the only reason this noble act is considered a “trend.” Several paper companies have product lines available that support genealogy. Here are a few family-tree products to consider:

KaiserCraft Family Tree

Karen Foster Kids’ Ancestry Line

Fancy Pants Designs My Family Line

Teresa Collins Family Matters Collection

Family Tree Technique: You don’t have to trace your roots on a computer or in a scrapbook to express who you are. Paper crafted projects and home décor pieces are also excellent ways of showing who you are. Download Creating Keepsakes‘ free calendar template (as seen in the May/June 2010 issue), and share a piece of your family tree in a calendar format. All you have to do is print it and add your own photos for an easy-to-make and adorable piece of family memorabilia (or a great Mother’s Day gift!).

Trend #5: Vinyl on More Than Just Walls

Vinyl is all the rage in home décor, but did you realize it’s also popular in paper crafting? Several manufacturers of die-cutting machines offer vinyl that works with their machines. And other companies sell pre-cut vinyl designs. Take a look at the vinyl options available:

QuicKutz Adhesive Vinyl

Little Yellow Bicycle Generation Z Vinyl

Stampin’ Up! Décor Elements Vinyl

Vinyl Wall Art wall and car vinyl

Vinyl Technique: Go beyond walls and add vinyl to your crafts. It will easily adhere to frames, home décor pieces and even journals. This dresser makeover will be featured in the July/Aug. issue of Creating Keepsakes. It was done with wall vinyl from Vinyl Wall Art. Look how easy it is to give old furniture new life!

Vinyl even works on canvas. I created these wall hangings for my craft room using car vinyl from Vinyl Wall Art. For complete (and easy) instructions on how to make these, please visit my blog.

Megan is the Creative Editor of Creating Keepsakes Magazine – you can check out her articles at:
www.creatingkeepsakes.com