Reduce, Reuse, UPcycle...

It's true, today was the last day of school with kids, so you know what that means?! 3 whole months of creating in my sweatshop craft room! Well, after my National Boards Exam, that is... (It's on Monday morning, so pleeeease send good vibes, thanks!)

Lately, I've been obsessed with upcycling. What the h is upcycling, you may ask? It's simply the process of converting an industrial nutrient (material) into something of similar or greater value, in its second life. Since I'm a coffee addict, it's been easy collecting Starbucks coffee sleeves to make pretty little mini albums:

Here are a few photos from a birthday mini album that I'm planning on adding to our Etsy site really soon:

And this is an album that I made for my bf, Andrew:

They took me about an hour or so to make each mini album, and it's easy to add journaling tags and notes in the pockets. Aren't they fun? You should try to make one!

I challenge you to begin looking at used/useless items and transforming them into something better, prettier, and charming!Click here for a tutorial that you can follow. Happy crafting!

Free at last, Free at last....

... Well, at least one of us is. And only partially. So, maybe that was not the most appropriate title after all. Hmmm.... will strive to improve my blog titling skills.

What was I referring to? Gracie's last day of school is tomorrow! She is free of fourth graders for 3 whole months. But, she still has to study for her National Boards exam so cross your fingers for her. Good luck Gracie - have a great last day tomorrow!

For the other two Paper Dolls, its business as usual. No 3 months off for us, suckers. But, there is still something about summer in Vegas that makes you feel free. And hot! So, its that time again -lets ramp up the sweat shop. The Harvest Festival is coming up in September and we would really like to participate. There is a lot of work involved in even registering - you have to have a photo or sketch of your display, descriptions of your product, photos of you making your crafts, oh, and a $500 fee. Sheesh! But, we're going to make it happen. We'd love to hear from any other crafters who have participated in the Harvest Festival - let us know how it went, any tips you might have, dos and donts, etc? If you don't make crafts yourself but have attended the event before, tell us what you love the most about it and what your favorite crafts to shop for are. Are you buying gifts for fall holidays or Christmas or are you just out shopping for things you love with your favorite friend?

Finally, a big thank you to all of our new followers! We appreciate you baring with us while we figure out the technical side of blogging. Have a great Thursday tomorrow, we know Gracie will. Keep crafting

Minding Our Business

Hi, soon to be loyal blog-reader-friends, I'm going to introduce you to another regular segment on our blog. It's going to deal with the steps we're taking and progress we're making in opening our own brick-and-mortar scrapbook supplies etc. shop. This highly anticipated event will hopefully take place a year from now and be appropriately and charmingly, if we do say so ourselves, called: Paper Dolls. This week, the progress we've made is in our blog. Now this is still definitely a work in progress; we're planning lots of changes and improvements. I don't think we'll continue to have Spanish captions for example, fine language though it is. So keep checking back with us and live vicariously through the many successes and failures we're bound to experience along the way to realizing one of our dreams. You are hereby given an invitation to share in our journey and a save-the-date card to our Grand Opening on July 1st, 2012. Talk to you soon and see you there!

A beautiful and crafty friendship....

Ruth & Lauren in Germany

In the beginning... there was a Gracie and some twins...

Gracie Baula, Lauren Boitel & Ruth Boitel that is. The Paper Dolls! 

Gracie as a baby in The Philippines

Lauren & Ruth were pre-mature twins born a month early, in Germany, at an Army hospital in December of 1979. Yeah, it sounds cool but they don't remember much about it. Gracie was born a month later, in January of 1980, in Quezon City! She says we knew each other in heaven but Ruth & Lauren just couldn't wait and came out early. 

Our Alma Mater - Class of '98

They reunited 14 years later in 9th grade at Cheyenne High School - class of 1998, go Desert Shields! Gracie was the only other girl in Mrs. Borg's English I Honors class who's projects were as good as Lauren's. They even fought over drawing Henry VIII for a Renaissance magazine! Lauren introduced Gracie to Ruth and the three became quite close through-out high school, followed each other to UNLV and barista jobs at Starbucks, created a Fair Trade non-profit together, volunteered for Oxfam, and are now embarking on our latest venture - Paper Dolls. 

Gracie is a elementary school teacher for second through fourth grade. She loves scrap booking, couponing, cleaning, ice cream and family! Gracie is a lucky bug and tries to keep us all positive. She's also the glue and Switzerland - keeping balance between the sisters.

Ruth's is an Assistant Manager at a local card shop. She has a perennial admiration for Viggo Mortenson and the color blue. She finds inspiration in fashion, hair, and home decorating magazines. Her favorite books are the Fountain Head, Little Women and Jane Eyre. Ruth is a realist and keeps Paper Dolls grounded. She has a tactile jones but is not a technophobe, she just gets techno-frustrated very easily!

Lauren works for a clean energy non profit during the day. She goes crazy for red shoes, displays of passion and talent, good food and cheesy love songs. Lauren brings a little business savvy to the trio - emphasis on a little.

Paper Dolls is a labor of love, and a desire to bring our passion to like minded people who appreciate the craft in art and the art in craft. That's us in a nutshell - three weird, nerdy, funny, crafty girls. So, your turn. Whats your story, faithful follower? We're dying to meet you!

Paper Dolls logo

Art Felt

We heart felt (especially because some felt is made out of 100% recycled plastic soda bottles)!  These are a few other reasons to love felt:

• it doesn’t biodegrade
• is hypo-allergenic
• is moth-proof
• is mildew and odor-resistant
• is light
• contains no irritants or carcinogens

Look at the fine, fabulous, felt art that caught our eyes this week:

Ruth: "Just checking out felt art, saw this and LOVED it! I really like the use of differnet colors and mixing the felt with buttons. The maticulous needlework is really impressive. Don't forget to also check out "A long time coming" by A Little Bit of Just Because!"

Lauren: "I don't know exactly what these are but I love them. They look like colorful little deviled eggs or cell cross sections that give me flashbacks to Bio 190 at UNLV and a cute lab GA who wore old school Doc. Martens with black socks and shorts! But, either way, they make me happy. One wouldn't have done it - you need the montage!"

Gracie: "How yummy are these cupcakes?!  The detail is delicious... the glass beads, the blanket stitching, I can't even take it.  You could use these as pin cushions, or place them in "exploding cards" that we'll be posting soon, as gifts.