It's with a little bit of a heavy heart, but a whole lot of love that I write this post today.  A few weeks ago we found out that a beloved magazine that has been a staple in the crafting world for a VERY long time is closing its doors.  It's truly an end of an era.  I haven't been super involved in the publication side of crafting for a little over a year now, but I have really great memories of being in Creating Keepsakes & Paper Crafts when they were separate magazines.

I was reminiscing a little bit this past week about the ways this magazine has been involved in my life.  I was one of the Creating Keepsakes 2007 Hall of Fame winners (if you want to read some drama just google that...lol!) and I still remember how excited I was when I got that call.  I remember how fun it was to create an anonymous profile at Two Peas as one of the winners.  I remember when our issue came in the mail and I poured over it for hours, just looking at all the amazing layouts from my fellow winners.  And even though it was plagued with drama at the beginning, the year as a group was SO fun.  We had a great time getting to know each other in our own private forum, and cheering each other on, and sharing our love of this amazing hobby.

The following year I was a Creating Keepsakes Scrapbooker of the Year finalist, and I got to spend a few days at the CK HQ & at a CKU.  It was terrifying, & overwhelming, & amazing, & so much fun all together.  I wrote this overview blog post not too long after returning home from the trip.  I got a little bit of a spoiler while I was there though, and saw that a layout of mine had been picked for the cover of Creating Keepsakes.  I didn't know FOR SURE, but was pretty positive when I saw it hanging on the wall underneath the caption "COVER", with no other layouts in sight.  Lol!

I took a break from scrapbooking, (technically I'm still taking a break.  Lol!  I'm trying to get into digital, but it just takes time to be more consistent.) but continued on with my love of paper crafting in card form.  And while I've never been highly published in Paper Crafts, I had some things here & there each year, and that was enough for me.  I am still proud of my contribution to the Color Inspiration for Card Makers special issue, which included my card on the cover & 15 cards on the inside.

And while it was fun to go over my little resume from Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking, I am most reminded that this magazine is the reason we have this wonderful community of crafters.  And for that I will be forever grateful!  And I am not the only one, because we have this HUGE blog hop going on to express our gratitude to everyone who touched our lives during the tenure of PC&S.  You should have arrived here from Julie Campbell's blog!!

I created this diamond themed encouragement card with a watercolor galaxy background for my addition to the hop.  It just seemed fitting, and it totally reminds me of Susan Opel!!  Check it out!
This is a peek at some new Lil' Inker Designs product that will be releasing on Saturday....so be sure to check back with me for a few days of new release projects then.  Other than that, I'm not going to do a supply list or anything on this card, but if you have any questions...please feel free to ask!!

Your next stop on the hop is off to Taylor Ursy's blog, but I will also post the entire link list below!  Seriously...there are over 200 people doing this swan song hop...so it is going to be FULL of inspiration.  It might take me awhile, but I can't wait to start seeing what everyone else created for today!!



Well...I hope you have an awesome time on this epic farewell blog hop!  Once again, thank you to PC&S for all the inspiration & amazing times over the years....they will never be forgotten.

If you want to see more of what I will be creating this December, be sure to like my Lea Lawson Creates Facebook page, and become a follower of my blog in the right hand column! :)


Until later,
~L.

Happy, happy Friday everyone!  Today is my birthday, and I am SO excited that I get to share the day with you while celebrating the latest special issue from Paper Crafts magazine called "Color Inspiration for Card Makers".  I have 15 cards in this special issue, and that makes it very special for me.  I am so honored to be on the pages of this book, among some of the most amazing card designers in the industry...sometimes I have to pinch myself when I am looking through the book.

So, for the blog hop today we were asked to use the color combo that is featured on the cover.  In Bazzill Basics speak...the color combo is Great Lakes, Tink Pink, Lemon Lime & Lemon Drop.  Here is the card that I created using FTL #122 from the Clean & Simple Stamping blog!

• Julia Stainton
• Chan Vuong
• Latisha Yoast
• Teri Anderson
• Betsy Veldman
• Lea Lawson
• Kim Kesti
• Kalyn Kepner
• Kim Hughes
• Lisa Johnson