And Another Sketch Challenge

So I've done a bit of crafting today, which was nice. This was another of Valerie's sketches - I love hers, they always turn out so well! I flipped the sketch as it called for three landscape photos & I really wanted to use this combination of pics and papers. I've lierally turned the sketch through ninety degrees and left it totally intact. It was such perfect so I've not messed with it in any way!! The papers are a mix of HOTP, MAMBI & English Paper Company (micro dots & perfect posies). The circles and photo corner are die cut - I used chipboard for most of the circles to add a bit of depth. The title is handcut from a template I've had for years & the alpha stamps are a Hero Arts (i think) set - again that I've had for years. It's been fun revisiting some of my old tools - they do seem to get neglected as soon as there's a new tool (toy?) to play with!! Ironically, I used photos from this same set for the last of Valerie's sketches that I did - isn't that weird??

Seeing Stars

I'm involved with a ATC Jam with my team (The Doodlebugs) over on UKS. The deal is, each person picks a theme, starts the series with their ATC & sends it to the next - a round robin or circle journal sort of affair. Anyway, I've got the first sent to me on the theme of stars - so this is what I made - & I'm really pleased with it! The stamp is Hampton Art 'Star Goddess' (possibly discontinued now - I've had it for years), backing paper from the new English Paper Company Christmas Collection & I've coloured it lightly with Tombow brush pens, adding a bit of sparkle with a Sakura Stardust glaze pen in clear. Gotta say, I really love it - shame I gotta give it away now LOL

Clouds In My Space ...

The HS:MS prompt today is clouds, which I thought might be a bit of a problem. You see, I don't have a flash camera with a million functions - it is strictly a point & shoot thing - auto flash, night setting, close up setting & that's it. But you know what? I'm amazed at what it can do. I did want to take a pic of the sun behind a cloud but this was as close as I could get without blinding myself. The line across is a telephone cable but it was by far the best shot to take, so it stays. The neighbours saw me standing out front taking pictures of the sky, so the word is out - I'm officially barking!!

Monica's Celebration

The challenge over on Monica's blog is to make a celebration card (any celebration). I narrowly missed forgetting my stepfather's birthday yesterday - he's 73 (i think!) so I made this card for him with some left over bits from the October 2006 Personal Shopper Cardmaker's kit by HOTP, a red button and a little red chalk (gotta love primary chalks!!) Then I forgot to put it on my blog LOL - so here it is, better late than never.

Got Candy??

As promised, I've drawn the blog candy winner today who is ...
Jules!!!
Big congrats - I'll be contacting you v. soon to get your postal address. In case anyone wants the ins & outs of how I did the draw, this is it: The comments on the blog post come first, then any stragglers that wound up commenting on the wrong post; then the names of the referrers, once each for every time their names were mentioned. That gave me 68 entries & the number picked by the random number generator was 49 & that was Jules - easy really!

Check out the shop blog today - there's still time to make a comment & have a chance at winning more blog candy! Be quick, you only have until midnight GMT!!

The Big Apple

Well, it's quite a little apple really & it's for today's HS:MS prompt. I'm sure other people will come up with a more unusual take on it but for me it's one crisp Pink Lady (the only ones I'll eat) recorded for posterity just before I ate it LOL.

Wearing Many Hats!

I luuuurve bank holidays now that I don't open the shop LOL. I spent the day locked in and didn't answer the phone or the door at all! So I had a whole day to craft and finally got a Pencil Lines sketch challenge done. You see, they come on the wrong day for me. I only have sundays to craft usually (days are spent on shop stuff, evenings on web stuff) & with the challenge being Sunday nights ...
Anyway, this is it. I used The Personal Shopper April Kit (bohemian collection) & all I've added are the wooden Alpha stickers (I haven't used them for a while) & TLC monograms (Soooo glad I got them before we sold out!) Can you believe I've never inked chipboard before??? I've covered it with paper, painted, stamped, used as it & wrapped with fibres but never inked! And I love ink LOL. For these letters I used Fluid Colour Chalk Ink (in prussian blue, creamy brown & chestnut roan) & they matched the papers perfectly - so I guess I'll be inking chipboard more often LOL.

Finding Balance!

One Little Word. Balance. I was up for a challange and came accross OLW. A new challenge fortnightly on Wednesdays. The word (obviously) was balance & this is a big issue for me right now. It's not so much finding balance between work & family (if only) but between the crafting I have to do (for shop samples, classes, member's only club projects etc) and the crafting I want to do.
So this LO contains loads of bits from my stash that I can't usually use (insufficient quantities for a class, free stuff from magazines, stuff that we don't stock any more, stuff that brings a LO over budget) and in a totally organic style. So what I actually mean is I didn't think about it at all & just put on what I wanted as I thought of it & finished when it was done. I took the photos a couple of weeks ago - there's something really satisfying about the way my tables look when they are in use - tons of tools & stash out & a pile of completed projects. If only every day could be like that!
Quick note about the green floral papers: English Paper Company (again!) - you'll find them here (micro dots & perfect posies).

Sketch This!

I thought I'd missed this challenge but on my morning blog-hop realised that I hadn't. It's another sketch & I have to say, I'm loving them! It's also the new English Paper Company Christmas Collection again cuz I still have loads of bits left and these are my fave colours for Christmas! I stayed pretty much true to the sketch except I flipped it as I have a vertical sentiment. All the edges are inked with Fluid Chalk Ink (prussian blue - I love it!) & I've stapled pink & blue chiffon ribbons from the HOTP Icy Rainbow collection to the sentiment block. The snowflake is cut with a sizzix die - I have this gripseal full of odd bits of chipboard left over from other project (I guess you all do LOL) & there's usually a small bit that will do the job. I covered it with paper first and then die cut - less fiddly! The edges were coated with PVA (I use a glue pen) & dipped into pale blue glitter. It doesn't really show in the picture but trust me, it's there - just a subtle glimmer.

My Second Ever 8.5x11 Layout

The first 8.5x11 layout I did was about 3 years ago & I binned it - haven't touched one since. But having discovered Valerie Salmon's sketch blog, I really wanted to do one. Great sketch & I'm really pleased with the result. I took these photos yesterday. We walked through the park on the way home and Fish was his usual bouncy self LOL. I've used the 'seasons' papers from this month's Personal Shopper kit by HOTP with just a couple of additions. The Karen Foster ID bracelets are in the kit - this one is 'spring'. I don't really do seasonal photos (of the garden or whatever) so I thought I'd look at using it in a different way. I've layered a definition from a school dictionary (belonged to my eldest on starting at secondary school, so it's 10 years old now - can you believe he wanted to throw it away!!) under the ID bracelet & written an additional one on the tag. It reads:
SPRING; 1. To leap from a crouching position to running in one move. 2. A state of 'bounciness' reserved for the under fives.
The title was die cut & I've used a chipboard bracket, covered with papers from the same set. Brads from my stash - I've no idea what brand but they were a perfect match (lucky me!)

Di's Daring Technique For Cardvaarks!!

Phew! That was one mean title, so I guess I should explain LOL. I've been running late all day but had a fabby afternoon locked in my shop crafting. I made this card. Cheryl said I'd soon be making multiplt challenge cards and this one fits the bill LOL. I used Di Hickman's sketch #4 (just shifted the focal image to the right a little bit - I like off-centre); Daring Cardmakers want buttons; Technique Thursday's challenge is 'use red' (oops! that was last week, it's circles now but the paper has circles on it so I guess it still counts!!) and Caardvarks are all about fibres this week, so I make that four!! I'm doing a few Christmas cards at the moment - it's being in the shop that does it as we are getting lots of people making a start. But I guess if you have lots to make or you are making cards to sell, you'd need to make a start now, right? It does remind me of when I used to write for a few craft magazines - August was always spent up to my neck in glittery bits and red papers LOL. Happy Days! Oh! And the papers all came from last November's HOTP PS Cardmakers kit!

SOS

Much prefer today's HS:MS prompt - Show Off Sunday - or SOS. Pick a fave photo & say why (I'm paraphrasing here as I'm desperate to get to the shop & lock myself in for a full day's undisturbed crafting!). I took this photo in April. It's a normal moment of a normal day, taken by the roadside as we walked home from work. Fish loves to blow the seeds off dandelion clocks & I captured this natural shot when he was completely oblivious to the camera (he's a devil for the lens & adopts the most affected poses when he sees it! LOL). It's probably not the best shot in the world but I love it & have scrapped it several times already!

Yet Another Card Sketch Challenge

I made this card for the CPS sketch challenge (#27) this week & I have to say, I'm not that keen. It's definitely not the papers (I Luuuurve everything else I've done with them!) & some of the other designs I've seen using the same sketch are lush! So I guess it's got to be the combination of papers & embellishments together that I just don't care for. Anyhow, it meets the criteria for the challenge so I guess it serves some sort of purpose LOL. The papers are from the new English Paper Collection - I tend to use 12x12 even for cards but they are also available as a 6x6 pad. The bottle caps are Dovecraft & on Buy One Get One Free at the shop.

Self Portrait

That was the prompt on HS:MS today - can't say I was happy about it tho' LOL. So this is me, after a long day that started badly. I much prefer the one on my profile over on the shop website - but then that has been airbrushed (a favour from a loyal friend LOL). It was only taken in February. Anyway, here for all to see is the real me - just shy of 40 & wondering whether it's time to start using those anti-wrinkle creams!

What's Stone?

In my space, stone is this: Gargoyle Heads! They don't have names, I don't even remember where I got them from - or when. Now they are getting quite old, the back one is broken and the front one is very, very cracked. One day they will no longer be stone - they will be decopatched. But for now, they are stone & in my space!

What's White?

In my space, with so many males about - not a lot! LOL. This is the first photo prompt I've done for My Space: Her Space & I've not taken part in the past for 2 reasons.
First, I am not a great photographer - in fact I'm better known for scrapping bad photos. This has never done me any harm, in fact a lot of my magazine work was due to the fact that I scrap 'normal' photos - the ones that we all have (including the accomplished photographers - they used to be 'average Joes' too y'know).
Second, I have no photo editing software to speak of & I'm well aware that the rest of the world overlay the word on their images. I don't 'do digi' & I'm happy not to. I'm a collage artist (OK - a posh way of saying I like sticking stuff on other stuff!)
But I do like the idea of having a daily prompt to make me think in pictures, not paper - so this is me, having a go. Ironically, I still ended up thinking paper LOL. 'White' in my space is a yummy pack of card blanks and envelopes - although I guess they won't be white for long.
So if my bad photography doesn't get me banned from this site forever maybe I'll have another go tomorrow - with another bad photo!

Daring Cards!

Or more like Daring Cardmakers. This week's challenge was to create a card with frills on. First, I have to say I found this quite hard. The various things I thought I'd do didn't pan out for a whole bunch of reasons (couldn't get the stitching to sit right, couldn't find the lace I'm sure I have in my stash etc) so eventually I settled for this scalloped panel (hope it counts - it's kinda frilly!)
The notecard & rubber stamp are by A Muse & the greeting is computer journalled on to sticky vellum.

I did want to share this second card with you though. Sarah made this card for the same challenge & wasn't entirely happy with it. I posted a comment saying how much I liked it - so she sent it to me. How lovely of her is that? Sarah's card is now proudly displayed in my shop & the picture really doesn't do it justice. All the papers are machine stitched with red thread as is the ribbon. Absolutely gorgeous!

Don't forget to post your comment by clicking here & getting your chance to win this blog candy! 1 comment per day with extra chances when your friends join in.

And we've just announced the new DT over on the shop blog. Check it out here!

Stamping For Wednesday, With Thursday's Technique!

Here's a little card I put together for the Wednesday Stamper challenge. The card must use at least one stamp and last week the theme was 'stitches'. So the stamp I used was a little cross stitch clear stamp from the A Muse clear stitched numbers set. There's still time to take part in this challenge as it closes on August 29th. And following Cheryl's lead (she recently posted a card that satisfied three challenges!) this card also satisfies Technique Thursday's challenge to use tags - OK I'm late on this one cuz the new challenge is up LOL. Mine are large white manilla clothing tags - I love them and do use them alot!! This time I've covered them on both sides and embellished with paper images, staples and yummy American Crafts ribbons. All the patterned papers are from the new English Paper Company collectionThe whole card was inspired by a gorgeous tag card that I received from KTP for my birthday!

Better Late Than Never!

I promised you a peek at the blog candy up for grabs & here it is (well some of it, anyway!) so all you need to do to be in with a chance of winning the candy, is put a comment on the bottom of the post here. You can make a comment every day if you'd like more chances to win and you have until midnight (BST) on August 28th to have a go.
You can get an extra chance in the draw for every person that comments and mentions your name - so tell your friends, put a post or link on your blogs and spread the word to increase your chances!

Playing Catch Up

Spent a bit of time today catching up on all the swaps we hold over on the forum. Since I know you all luuurve piccies - here are the ATCs for the August & September HOTP swaps. The August ones (top) were on the theme 'doodlemania'. On UKS, I'm in the doodlebugs team - but haven't been a very good team member of late (I don't post often!) so I guess that must have been on my mind when I doodled these bugs LOL. The doodle template (& pen) were free with scrapbook inspirations a couple of months ago & this is the first time I've used them - love 'em already! I coloured the images with Tombow brush pens. The ladybirds are done by making a large dot with a Dottariffics pen & then drawing on the wings with the fineliner. The spots are made with a Dottariffics pen too. Papers are by HOTP - from the April 07 Personal Shopper kit (well, it is a HOTP swap after all LOL)

The September swap has 'precious things' for its theme. This could have been the embellies, bling etc but I chose 'time', which is definitely precious to us all, I guess. The papers are from the HOTP Ivory Sarabooks papers - I haven't used these for a while, so it was nice to revisit them. The first ATC has a piece of embossed metal (from a HOTP Artsy Collage pack). I used Ten Second Studio tools to embellish it - not a great photo I'm afraid - but it says 'Time'. I've not done anything with dry embossing metal before but was quite pleased with this for a first attempt! The second ATC, I made clock hands from ribbon (HOTP, Earth Tones) finished with a brad in the knot & antique letter brads to spell 'time'. In the last one, I've used cork letters. I used Fluid Colour Chalk Ink, Chestnut Roan on all three - it gives a much softer finish than regular dye ink.

The August swap is closed now but we'd love some new members to join in for the September one. All you need to do is register on the forum & then post on the swap threads. Fabyon organises the swaps & he'll take care of you!!

Don't forget to click here and post a comment to win blog candy. Enter every day for more chances to win!! You'll find more blog candy up for grabs here too!

WhoooHoooo! Blog Candy!!!

As promised, there's blog candy up for grabs to celebrate my 2,500th visitor - which happened today!! All you have to do is post a comment & I'll pick one using this random number generator (quicker than bits of paper out of a hat!!) on August 29th! You have 10 days folks (until midnight GMT, August 28th) & if you post a comment every day that's 10 chances!!
As I'm feeling really generous, I'll give you an extra chance for every person who posts a comment & mentions your name - so spread the word & win the stash LOL.
Look out for a peek at what you could win on Monday!!
If you're in the mood for a challenge, check out design challenge #4 over on the shop blog. It's open to everyone, so if you're in a 'card phase' right now submit one - if not, what about a LO (any size), altered stuff, ATCs, inchies - whatever you fancy - just have fun with it!!

Time To Scrap!

I found this article on finding time to scrap via Mary Chong's blog, which I hopped to having seen the fabulous boxed round wedding album that just won a competiton over on Craft Critique. Of course, if I spent a little less time bloghopping I'd have already uploaded the new products on to the webshop & then maybe I'd have time to scrap LOL. There has to be an irony in that!!
I found all this through scrapscene - so if you haven't visited there before, it's well worth a look. I save (or not, cuz I always end up bloghopping!) a few minutes a day by subscribing for e-mail updates - soooo much inspiration in my inbox every day! Check out the link in 'the best blogs' on the right of this page!

Are You A Bad Girl???

Found out about this on Leigh's blog & after a bit of searching, managed to find the original image. So the deal is, you put the Bad Girls blinkie on your site & on Fridays the Bad Girls DT go searching the web/forums etc for turned on blinkies - took me ages to work out how to have it on LOL - seems my technophobia still raises its ugly little head from time to time. Anyway, here's the blinkie - must get Gandalf to update our DT logo (wonder if we can have a blinkie one?)

What's Wiggly?

The entries in the DCM little extra challenge - that's what. It's a sketch this time & I just happened to have the perfect papers from the November Personal Shopper for Cardmakers Kit by HOTP (feels like I've said that before LOL). The focal panel is double matted onto red glimmer and then the black paper. I've added a mini brad buddy (HOTP Creative Kits) to the centre of the 'thank you' artwork and finished off with black mini brads. Both layers are mounted on foam tape for a bit of depth.
I guess it's time I started scanning stuff - the photos always make it look like everything is wonky - but I promise I don't make wonky cards really LOL.

Another Sketch Challenge

I enjoyed doing Di Hickman's sketch challenge so much last week that I really want to keep doing them. August #3 is up now & I made not one but two cards for this challenge. This is such a great way to use up my scraps too (not that I'll ever run out of scraps LOL). All the papers & overlay greetings for both cards came from last November's Personal Shopper for Cardmakers Kit by HOTP. I love these kits soooo much. For the first card I matted the overlay on to glimmer paper (also in the kit) and sewed them together. Can you believe I've had one of those mini sewing

machines for around 4 years & this is the first time I've ever used it!! It wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be (it is sewing after all!) so I guess I'll use a bit more machine stitching in future!!
For the second card, I turned the sketch (just so as I could use the vertical greeting!) lots of inked edges on this one - I don't think I'll ever tire of using ink!

I've Been Tangoed!!

The Challenge over on the store blog this week has one simple rule: Use Orange!! This all came about from a conversation on the forum about Looby's OH & his passion for orange clothing - in fact he now boasts head to toe orange - including underwear. So that was what inspired the challenge (oh! you'd be surprised how little it takes to amuse us!!)
I'm sure after my recent orange bashing posts that everyone will be completely surprised to learn that I did have the perfect papers for this layout - everything came from my stash. The papers are Making Memories 'Maddie' collection, along with a plain pink for matting and lettering. The big orange flowers were cut out from the cellophane wrapping on some flowers that looby bought me last week (I'm gonna use photos of them for the Pencil Lines sketch - but I'm out of ink, so It'll have to be Saturday!). The buttons were in my stash - I think I have every conceivable colour LOL (the bottom flower actually has an orange button layered on a larger cerise one - but it hasn't photographed too well). The lettering is the fabby A Muse Artstamps clear alphabet 'Paisley Uppercase' - sooooo yummy!

The journaling along the edge of the page to the title reads: They sell fakes locally called 'Geckos' and in the US they have clogs. Mine came from Malaysia and they are definitely ... (clever huh? having the title as the last couple of words in the journaling???)

Getting closer to that 2,500th visitor - which means blog candy time. Try and pop in every day if you want to help me get there quicker!!

Mad For Mini Books

I just wanted to share a few images from the mini book I made today for my niece. She's just got her first car & is made about it, so I've added a few photos & decorated the rest of the pages for her to add more pics later (new seat covers for car, first driving lesson in car etc.) The album & stickers were free with Scrapbook Inspirations & the papers - which work sooo well with it, were free with Simply Cards & Papercraft (I think!). If you can't get copies, I have a few left - so e-mail me if you want one (actual postage applies).
All I've added are a few charms & some rub ons from my stash & some travel bits left over from the July Personal Shopper kit. I hope you like it!

Oooops!

It seems I completely missed the traditional 2000 hits blog candy post (DOH!) but the good news is ... I'm just under 100 hits away from the 2,500 hits mark - so blog candy is on its way!!! To get to the goodies quicker, visit more often & maybe leave a message while you're here - it can be lonely in this virtual world of mine LOL. The shop blog isn't far off the 2,000 hits either - so keep an eye on that too - there'll be blog candy to win there soon!

This is the layout I was working on Sunday that provided the spare photograph for my 'Photo Finish' card, so I thought I'd share it with you. The papers and ribbon are American Crafts (which happen to be on BOGOF over in the webshop!). The yellow letters are Basic Grey Dawson (also on BOGOF - but in store only!) & the red photo mats & lettering are glimmer paper. The initials are stickers from Cloud 9 Design, whichI cut out with a 1" punch & matted on to a 2" punched circle of co-ordinating cardstock.

I'm Dreaming Of A Pink Christmas

This is the last of the challenge cards that I made on Sunday. The challenge is posted over on Ger's Blog in her 'something for the weekend' spot. The papers are a free download from Pink Petticoat - All I've added is a sentiment rub on & a little bit of American Crafts ribbon (on the tree trunk), which just happens to be a great match! The card is very simple - I used a HOTP card blank (I like the larger-than-C6 American size for collage cards) & tore the background papers. The tree was handcut (I've no idea where my sizzix die has gone!) & it was all just layered up. Phenominally quick to make (or would have been if I'd not spent so long looking for the sizzix die LOL!)

I'll have more stuff to share with you tomorrow so please pop back soon! And pop over to the shop blog while you are surfing - there's loads of challenges, comps & free stuff up for grabs this month.

My First Sketch Challenge

I made this card for Di Hickman's latest sketch challenge. I've never used a sketch for a card before & I must admit it did make it very easy. Because the composition is already done, all you have to do is pick the papers, embellies & theme. I needed a card for the August HOTP Card swap over on the forum. That gave me the theme, 'for a friend' and the paper manufacturer. The papers, fibre & button brad are all from the July '07 HOTP Cardmaker's Kit so I just added a trio of fabric blooms (cannibalised from a spray of artificial flowers) a rub on sentiment & some purple mini brads from my ever increasing stash.

Photo Finish

I hardly ever use photos on my cards. This one was for the weekly challenge at the Daring Cardmakers blog. The challenge is to make a card for any occasion but it must include a photograph. I'd just earmarked a selection of photos of Fish playing in this Noddy car for a class layout & thought it would be perfect for a 'congrats on passing your driving test' sort of card.
I matted the photo & die cut the 'L' on red glimmer paper. The L Plate was made from a scrap of white card & cut with deckle edge scissors. The background paper is from 'Bookshelf' collection by American crafts. The edges of the mat were finished with eyelets and 3mm red satin ribbon. This was such a quick & easy card to make.

Are You Up For A Challenge??

I kinda thought it was time that I was - I do craft a bit but mostly for the shop, with all it's limitations (making sure I have enough materials for a full class, being cost effective (ugh!!), keeping to what can be achieved during class time etc...) so it was nice to create something just for fun - & doing a challenge gives you a starting point, whether it's a word, sketch, theme or particular materials to use.

So yesterday I went blog-hopping & found all these cool challenge sites. And today, I had a go at a couple of the challenges - here's what I came up with for the first one: This was the Daring Cardmakers Little Extra challenge - to create a card for any occasion using 3 circles, 3 arrows and a square. I used HOTP papers from the July Cardmakers Personal Shopper Kit, arrow brads came from the HOTP July Scrapbookers Personal Shopper Kit & the alpha stencil is from Helix. I layered my 3 circles to make a single embellishment & the centre panel is square. I coloured the stencilled letters with a brush pen, having outlined them with a black fineliner (Sakura Pigma Micron is my personal fave!)

I'm gonna post the others as separate posts (so this will be a mega blogging day then!!)

Let's Celebrate ...

... Because it's my birthday & I'm not 40 'til next year LOL. So I want you all to be able to celebrate with me & I've announced a birthday card competition over on the store blog - the prize is worth £18!!
But that's not all! There's also 20% off birthday themed products in the webshop & 10% off all Personal Shopper Cardmaker's kits - you'll find them all in the new 'specials' section (& there's a few other offers there besides!!). You do need to be quick though - my birthday ends at midnight and so do these offers!!

Another Crafty Moment.

I popped into the shop on Sunday to do a bit of secret crafting while we were closed. It's the only real time I get now. I've made a couple of applications to design teams, so I've had to get a few extras on to the gallery - partly because the bits I consider to be my best are all currently under consideration. As I have 5 or 6 filled albums (and that's just the layouts that came off the walls when we moved shop 6 months ago) I'm sure I have loads of stuff that hasn't even made it to the gallery yet! Anyway, I have some classes coming up at the store, so I spent Sunday creating just two new layouts. I'm guilty of being in a bit of a rut lately & just knocking out a couple of quick designs as & when I need them.

I really enjoyed spending a bit more time on these ones & going back to all the little touches that add minutes but you only notice when they are not there - eyelets instead of brads (although now I have a crop-a-dile they are just as effortless as brads); inked edges; lots of layers etc ... & mixing up the titles a bit - I've not done that for a while.

The first has photos from when I moved into the very first shop, almost three years ago & uses Basic Grey 'Dawson' papers & alphas. All the accents were handcut using the new 'Thinga-ma-jigs' template from Hot Off The Press.

Looby has set the second weekly design challenge over on the shop blog - so this week I'm particularly thinking about hand cutting. This second layout is another I've been threatening to do for ages. The papers are American Crafts 'Bookshelf', Dawson Alphas again but mixed up with Ellison Junk Drawer die cuts for the title. The flowers were all handcut from the AC papers - the smaller ones were stencilled from the Thinga-ma-jigs template, as was the ampersand (how much do I love this template!!) The journaling is direct on to the page - no matted blocks & there's just a touch of stapled ribbon & button embellies.

I do have another double layout from the July personal shopper kit to share with you - but I'm gonna save it for another day! After I share it with the personal shopper class this friday night (who'd have thought fridays would be such a popular night for a class?) You can see the first one here over on the shop blog.

Oh! and all the Basic Grey & American Crafts papers are on BOGOF in store. If you can't visit the physical shop, keep an eye on the new webshop in the next few days - they'll be on there by the end of the week - American Crafts 'Bookshelf' are already online here - I'll be adding 'The Goods' next ;o)