Janine Koczwara is an amazing designer from Australia who joined the Prima team this year. Let's get to know her a bit better!
"I
live in beautiful Adelaide, South Australia, with my hubby (Paul) of 14
years and our 5 children, (4 boys and 1 girl who dominates my
scrapbooking).
It was Paul who really wanted me to get a hobby, but I
don’t think he expected me to become so obsessed by my hobby!!"
I have
now been scrapbooking for 7 years. My favourite part of scrapbooking is
the creative process. I love the challenge of putting products
together to create my own little bit of paper art.
My pages are one of
the few things in my life that are not “undone” by my family soon after
completion! I love to cook, but it gets eaten. I clean and within no
time at all the kids seem to restore it to chaos. So Scrapbooking is
my lifeline!" ~ Janine
A few FUN things about Janine:
2. Favorite Prima products (ONLY pick 3): SIIP swirls and centres these add that touch of class to your layout. Flowers of course!!!! I cant even narrow it down to a single type as I am flower obsessed. Stamps, just love my collection of these, plus you can keep on using them.
3. Favorite time to scrap? Does every available opportunity count? Mostly when the two littles are sleeping at the same time in the day and the older 3 are at school, which doesn’t give very long, but I just work on a LO bit by bit until it is done.
4. What would we find in your fridge right now? Lots of fruit and vegetables as well as milk and maybe even chocolate!
5. Favorite song to scrapbook to? I don’t listen to music while scrapping, there is so much noise in my house that I take every opportunity for peace and quiet.
6. If someone wrote a biography about you what would you think the title would be? Organized Chaos
7. What makes you happy? Watching the children playing happily together, laughing and hugging one another. And, of course, scrapbooking!!!
8. Favorite part of being on our DT? Obviously
the products I get to work with. But, the friendships I established
with other members of the DT has been one of the unexpected highlights.
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Janine fills this gorgeous page with soft colors and textures...which are perfect with those precious photos! A few cream and baby yellow flowers are the only accents needed for perfection!
Supplies: Prima Packaging-green, stitched paper-813284, patterned paper-813161, flowers-wildwood: 530129, camelot: 533139, mini-roses: 535469
Janine rocks the BOY pages too! She is amazing at using bright colors and lots of patterns. Primary-colored flowers, touches of die-cut voila and gems centers keep this page well-grounded.
Supplies: Little Guy papers-820923, 820879, 820909, 820893, gems-300586, felt-881252, Little Guy flowers-527846, pebble-881856
Janine's daughter really shines on all of her layouts! That sweet face is perfectly accented with lots of pretty Prima flowers, Pebbles, lace and stitched paper cut-outs! Janine uses stamps to create very cool title work and swirls! (Tip: stamp on a transparency then cut out for PERFECT results.)
Supplies: Prima packaging in green and kraft, papers-834813, lace-534950, flowers-Frillies: 527242, Caboodles: 528683, Evelyn Lily: 532680, stamp-850548, pebble-881856, gems-530679, Build-A-Frame stamp
We hope you have enjoyed getting to know Janine better! Keep an eye out for her work in various international magazines and right here on the Prima blog!
I've been hunting in the warehouse again, and found these gorgeous 9" x 9" Memory Trays in white, black and oak finishes. Yes, already finished! What a great basis for a quick project.
I took the blank oak 9" x 9" memory frame and made a nice family window box to send to my Dad.
Want to see how I did it?
Among the Products Used Today:
And if you were thinking that these items only worked well for vintage / heritage projects -- think again!
Collage sheets and lace work beautifully for contemporary layouts too.
And now, to add to the fun...simply leave a comment on this blog post for your chance to win a prize, featuring products used in today's post. We will randomly choose a winner on Tuesday, January 5th, 2010. Open to North America only due to shipping costs, but approx. every 5 weeks or so we will host a worldwide drawing.
From the entries received on our last technique post, using Random.org's random integer generator -- the winner for our previous technique post drawing is:
Sharon Sprouse!
Please contact me so we can mail out your lovely prize at sallylynn@primamarketinginc.com. Prizes will be held for 7 days only. Please contact us promptly.
Best of luck to each of you! And I look forward to chatting with you today and every week with TNT.
P.S. Do you want a Prima Endorsed Artist-Educator to teach a workshop at your store or event? Contact Lu at
~Sally Lynn~
How many of you have "Thank You" cards to write out? Well, I do so I was so happy to see a few fast and easy card designs come in from our amazing design team. Hopefully these cards will inspire you (and me!) to dig out those Prima supplies and make some!
These cards by Janine Koczwara are not only fast and easy....they also use our Prima packaging as the base! That's a double win in my book. So grab some green Prima packaging. Fold it in half. Add pieces of Baby Boy papers with punched edges-601584,601650. Decorate with Prima ribbon-534950 (use Glimmer Mist to color. if desired) and some hydrangeas! Add a simple stamped sentiment popped up with a foam dot. You could whip a BUNCH of these out in no time at all.
Anam Stubbington brings us a cheery card from the Signs of Spring line-881276. A simple punched edge is all you need for some pizazz on this card. Add two layered flowers-529772- with pearl centers-530846- and you are good to go! (Sneak another pearl center on the inside for a special touch.) Simple and guaranteed to brighten anyone's day!
Janine also made this stunner! She used our flocked effect Flirty paper-812775- to create a tree...then added a piece of turquoise Prima packaging, a string of ribbon-534950- and a gorgeous Evelyn flower-532673. Add your sentiment in our very cool small letters-531188- and tuck in some mini gypsum (SA-018-ND-017-1) for the perfect card!
"thanks" by Caroline Ikeji is not only fast, but it takes care of those extra paper scraps you just can't throw out! Add a few pearl centers-530785, 530853- to the punched paper circles and, VOILA!, you have an instant card! Alpha stickers add the punch of color to pull it all together-531072. Paper: 840921, 840785, 840778
Here's to productive card-making for YOU and ME!~Sharon
Nic Howard brings us a lovely layout focusing on her precious daughter, Abby! "Five" is soft and feminine with layered Wink papers-841034, 841010; a Cherry Blossom vine-533649; and a few hand-cut leaves from Blooming Retro paper-841096. (This design was done by Nic for the Guest Garden Girl feature at Two Peas In A Bucket!)
Nic records Abby's favorite things at the ripe old age of five!
See how much texture the dogwood vine adds to this design? Amazingness!
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Janine Koczwara altered this gorgeous wrought iron wall hanging with a few Prima flowers and papers! What a lovely way to customize a piece for your home. Simply add Prima's mini-roses-SA-016-22, vines-529062, 533724; leaves-530266; and your favorite patterned papers-840792. Top off with a few delightful fluttering butterflies!
Pure sweetness!
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Don't forget our Prima Pick that is going on right now...
Along with our Stitched Words give-away!
The winner for the give-away will be chosen this afternoon.
~Sharon
Wishing you the warmest holiday greetings. May your Christmas be filled with peace and joy, and may your New Year be filled with love and laughter!
This tender photo of a special father-daughter moment is perfectly surrounded with elegant Prima embellishments..a felt stem-531041, fiesta flower-529598, say it in stud centers-531010 and delicate lace-534943. Iris Babao-Uy placed it all on a Paradise City paper-840785-and added shabby touches of paint and ink for a one-of-a-kind, angelic layout!
"Angel" by Jen Jockisch is a stunning design highlighting her very precious daughter! Jen added loads of colorful flowers on a neutral backdrop. The flowers add so much depth and design to the page, but still keep the focus on the sweet picture. Lollipop-526870, Baroque Bloom-533250, Painted Lily-532727
Little girl photos are a perfect match for our Dogwood vines-529031, pearl swirls-529307 and Gallery Roses-533274! Janine Koczwara effortlessly chooses a lovely assortment of Prima embellishments to accent her gorgeous designs.
Jaime Warren has her own little angel too! She features her lovely photos on this beautiful design composed of Flirty papers, Fiesta flowers-529581, Pebbles-870300 and black crystals-529321! Simply delightful!
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I'm still having fun with frames. All that blank surface, just waiting to be decorated.
I want to make something with an upscale feel to it. But I really didn't have any holiday paper that would work well. All snowflakes, no glamour. LOL! But then I spotted this beauty. A great paper, with a nice frame already there to work with.
So I removed the inside of the frame and placed the frame over the top of the paper to trace and cut out the design.
Could that frame possibly fit any better? And it allows me to get rid of the baby pink color for the most part.
But the colors still weren't quite right. I needed a bit more red, and a bit more green. So I used some colors of spray ink to apply over the top to enhance the color and add some glamour too. This is what it looks like when wet. Yep, I added a LOT.
You can always dry it off with a heat tool. I then applied it to my wood frame with Fabritac, and used an acrylic brayer to ensure its flat adhesion to the wood.
Now for more glamour I took one of the Donna Downey fabric shapes, a dress form...
And dressed her up with the Holiday Poinsettia mix. I used a crystal and stud center to adorn the waistline.
For the last touches of glamour and holiday spirit I applied a self-adhesive black felt frame along with black crystals and some holiday rubons. A little silver paint dabbed along the outside edtes and here is the end result.
This is ready to give as a gift.
The Glimmer Spray added just the right amount of pearlescent sparkle to coordinate with my snowflakes and add to the glamour.
Among the Products Used Today:
And now, to add to the fun...simply leave a comment on this blog post for your chance to win a prize, featuring products used in today's post. We will randomly choose a winner on Tuesday, December 29th, 2009. Open to North America only due to shipping costs, but approx. every 5 weeks or so we will host a worldwide drawing.
From the entries received on our last technique post, using Random.org's random integer generator -- the winner for our previous technique post drawing is:
Jan Metcalf!
Please contact me so we can mail out your lovely prize at sallylynn@primamarketinginc.com. Prizes will be held for 7 days only. Please contact us promptly.
Best of luck to each of you! And I look forward to chatting with you today and every week with TNT.
P.S. Do you want a Prima Endorsed Artist-Educator to teach a workshop at your store or event? Contact Lu at
~Sally Lynn~
Let's take a fun little break from Christmas stuff and enjoy one of our design team member's creations! (We hope to share special work from each of our fabulous designers over the next year.)
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Jen not only does fabulous feminine designs, but she can pull off a masculine one as well! This layout perfectly features her brother amongst patterned papers, chipboard and, yes, flowers! Supplies: Artistry Flowers - 529611, Tea and Silk Chipboard Monograms - 81003, Windsor Roses, London - 529925, Meredith Flocked Transparency - 850197, Flirty Little Secret Flocked Paper - 812805
Any football fans out there? Well Jen and her hubby are big fans of "Da Bears"! Jen showcases the sports theme with some cool papers, lots of bold stitching and an assortment of Prima's Primrose flowers. Supplies: Country Elegance-533465, Animal Bash paper-840907, Tropics paper-840976, Primrose flowers-530174, Signs of Spring-881306
We hope you have enjoyed getting to know Jen and her work a bit better. Keep an eye out for Jen's work to be featured in upcoming Creating Keepsake's magazines as Jen was just added to their Creative Team! Go, Jen! We love having you on our Prima team!| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
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Love those words! They are so cute and would making adding an extra pop to a layout or card so easy!