Sneeky peek??

Hi ya all, do you all fancy a sneaky peek??

Okay, over the next few weeks you are going to see some amazing projects that these dt girls have come up with and i mean amazing. But as its Friday!!!!! i'l cheat and give you a peek of what is to come.

The following project was made using the personal shopper October 2006
Now this kit is huge and when i say huge it has everything you need to do soooooooo many projects it will keep you going for weeks. It has the most beautiful blue papers with gorgeous flowers on with co-ordinating tags and embellishments. It also has everything you could ever need for your autumn layouts and Halloween.

For my first project i decided to make a pillow box for a present for my mother in law.



The colours of this particular set are just beautiful. The original paper that comes in the pack doesn't have the flowers outlined, but for this project i decided that i wanted the flowers to standout a bit so i outlined them with a black pen. Its as easy as that.
I have a little book to go inside it but for that you will have to check back another time!!!

Keep your eyes peeled becuase you are in for some really good eye candy, and don't forget that we have another challenge for you on Saturday . It goes up at 6pm so be here to see it. I was going to tell you who is posting it but im going to leave that as a surpise!!!

See you soon

Wendy ( aka harrysmum)
xxx

Last member of the design team!

Hello everyone!

I am the last member of the Design Team (DT). My name is Katie Perry. I live in Torfaen ( pronounced Torvine),which is in South East Wales. I applied for the DT before I went on holiday a few weeks ago and I didn't find out I was successful until I returned this week.

To say you could have knocked me down with a feather is an understatement!! I was hopping about like a fool when I read the email from Beverley. I am so pleased I got a place!

I have been crafting for ever but got into card making about 3 years ago. I have recently started to try scrapbooking so I hope to be able to produce some layouts and of course some cards!

One of the massive benefits about being on the DT is being able to showcase some of the fabulous products from Crop 'Til You Drop, especially the Hot Off the Press stash, which I love and use all the time already.

The other members of the DT are a really talented bunch I hope I can produce work as good as theirs!

Well that's about it for now. The photo I've included is where I craft. It's a shed in my garden! My own little piece of heaven!

Friendship Blossoms

I wouldn't usually post my entry for the Weekly Challenge on this blog but as it uses the fabby new Personal Shopper kit I will! These are sooo not the usual coulours that I'd choose but I have to say I'm totally pleased with the result. Great fun using a sketch too! Everything I've used is in the kit (with the exception of staples and fluid chalk ink).
The quote at the top right is a fabric sticker, I've just touched the edges with the ink pad (the fluid chalk ones are my absolute favourite at the mo) & let the ink 'bleed' into the fabric. Then I matted it on the pale green solid paper & swiped the edge with more ink, put a brad through the middle of the 'O' & mounted it on foam tape for dimension.
I took the ID bracelet (Karen Foster, also in the kit) apart & threaded some of the spotty chiffon ribbon through the holes, stapling them close to the ends of the metal (no tying required!) then I mounted that with a bit of foam tape too. The top border was cut from a co-ordinating sheet in the kit & the title is die cut.
Looby has also used papers from this kit as the sample for this challenge (her first sketch!) and to see another using the ID bracelets (you get four in the kit) see here
To see all the other entries click here and please feel free to place comments on your favourites - we'd love to hear from you. Why don't you have a go at the challenge too, one of our DT sets a new challenge every Saturday at 6pm!

Challenge #5

This week's challenge is our first sketch! We loved to see your interpretations of it. Here are a LO and a card to give you some ideas, but we'd love to see some other projects too! So whatever your thing is, be it cards, scrapping, ATCs, inchies, altering stuff or whatever - have a go!

For this LO I used the HOTP Personal Shopper kit (November 06) and for the card I used the Citrus Cardmaker's creative pack and instant card art and citrus embellishabilities.

Don't forget to email a picture of your effort to sales@croptilyoudrop.co.uk so we can put it in our Challenge gallery, and leave us a comment to say you've done the challenge.

Have fun!

Well i guess its mine turn!!!

Well i guess its my turn to chat!

My name is Wendy and i live in Suffolk with my husband Russell and my gorgeous son Harry.
I have been scrapbooking for nearly 3 and a half years since Harry was born and my first album was his first year. Since then scrapbooking has become my biggest passion.
Most of the time i can be found sitting at my scrapbooking table in the conservatory with Harry playing in the garden.

I do dabble in cardmaking and altered art but one of my other passions is making mini albums!

Do you want to see one of the pages that i sent in for the DT call??? Well im going to show you anyway hee hee!!!

I think this is one of my all time favorite pages and i love sharing it with people.

I am really looking forward to working with all the other girls on this design team and chatting with you all.

Wendy
xxx

Alix is entering the building (blog)!!!

Hi everyone....here i am!!! and i am super excited to be with you all :)

ok so down to basics:

my name is Alix (doh) and i am 34; funny how in the crafting world everyone wants to know how old you are, but there you go...

i live in a beautiful little cottage with the loveliest man in the world, to whom i'm betrothed. we are at the beginning stages of planning a wedding for next summer...so its all very exciting at the moment here *smiles very large smile*

what else might you like to know?

i'm deeply engrossed in paper crafting; loving scrapping, card making and altering anything that looks a little *ordinary* i especially love to use my handwriting and doodle here and there...i like to include myself in my work, and i never strive to complete a perfect page/project...if i wanted it to look like a machine made it...i wouldn't have wasted all day doodling, right!!

i also love to garden...although i only have a tiny courtyard and no soil, so its all pots...but i'm sure you'd like to see it...so here goes...

wow, i can't believe that happened first time!! lol

so thanks to beverley for including me in the DT, i hope i live up to expectations, and i hope we all have a lot of fun and fair bit of inspiration along the way...

welcome to all the other new team members too...i look forward to getting to know you asap!

*if you're happy and you know it stamp alot...*

alix

Hellllooo

Hiya my name is Sharon , but I'm usually Shary on forums and blogs. I'm 43 (!) ahh the eldest so far! I currently live in Germany along with my hubby, 4 kids, 1 cat and a bearded dragon. We've been in Germany now for 6 years due to my hubby being in the British Army.
I started off cardmaking about 5 years ago now, dabbled in scrapbooking and then about a year ago, ATCs and Altered art. Love to try out new techniques and I'm forever trawling the net looking at blogs for inspiration. I'm looking forward to being able to craft a lot more because I'll have more time to myself as my youngest starts full time school in a few weeks.
I was chuffed to bits to be picked for the design team, looks like I've a lot to live up to judging by all the work I've seen so far.
Hope to get to know you all soon and congratulations to all the other new design team members.

Hiya - Im Charli!!

OO eck - I just pressed the wrong button and it just posted hiya! Anyhoo....

Im Charli, Im 27 and I live in a small village near to Lancaster with my partner of 5 years, Shaun, and our gorgeous and very mischeivous little boy, also called Shaun - he's 20 months old, and features in the majority of my LO's. I love scrapping - Ive tried loads of hobbies and this is definitely 'the one' for me!! I like card making and have just gotten into making ATC's too. Minibooks have to be my favourite thing to make - I love giving them away but every so often I turn into 'Charl - the selfish crafter' and keep one for myself!!

After finishing a short course in photography, I am starting to think outside the box and photograph subjects other than people, and love manipulating my photos (especially when it involves removing a spot or three lol).

Im so looking forward to creating some cool stuff for you all to have a peep at, and hope you enjoy it as much as Im going to love making it!! My 'home is...' LO will hopefully be attached - this was the one that I won the July house challenge for on UKS - hope you like it!

The Honourable Mentions!

Well it could be a rather random name for an eighties pop group but it is, in fact, the four others who didn't quite make the DT but we would like to include in some small way. These ladies all rock!! I'll be e-mailing them all to offer them one of our guest DT spots for a month each between now & December.

Rebecca Nash: Rebecca is another who has taken part in our challenges. Very new to scrapping but we are loving what she's been doing so far LOL. We hope she'll accept a Guest spot on our DT & show us some more of her stuff.

Toni-Leeann Fox: We loved Toni-Leeann's bright & funky style! Hopefully she will agree to share more of her work with us soon.

Laurie Dunn: Laurie is definitely one to watch! At just 17 (or that's what it says on her blog - I wonder whether that is up to date LOL), she already has a good few years crafting experience and even has a challenge blog, based aroung scrapping pet photos. Laurie's Geckos feature quite heavily among her LOs and I'll look forward to seeing more of her work right here.

Denise Phillips: Denise is one of the ladies who first encouraged me to take on the HOTP Personal Shopper Kits that were the springboard for the Forum & I Love Hot Off The Press websites. I love her clean style & can't wait to see what she has in store for us!

The Magnificent Seven!!

Nope! I've not lost count LOL - Five new DT members already announced + Looby = 6. And then there is the absolutely final member of our DT ... Alix Cox!!

As well as submitting some first class designs to us (I hope she will share 'The Secret Garden' with us) she also indicated her understanding both of the level of commitment and the need to be 'visible' within our community.

I particularly love how Alix likes to doodle and use handwriting on her layouts. This is such an important part of laying down that record for the future & giving a sense of ourselves that I hope Alix will be able to inspire many more of us to do the same. Congratulations Alix, I shall be e-mailing you soon!!

There's just one more surprise to come ... At 11.30pm a new post will announce four others to whom we would like to offer a one month guest designer position. These will run, 1 each month from September to December. Sadly, we couldn't take on everybody and these four were sooo close that we wanted to showcase their work anyway, if only for a little while.

So check back in at 11.30pm - it could be you! And do ignore the time on these posts - we haven't hit an 'Alice In Wonderland' moment I'm writing the posts in advance as I'm famous for being late & I guess there's a few people who will be waiting with baited breath. So I'm posting at the right time - but the times shown are when they were saved as drafts LOL.

Gimme Five!

This would have been the fifth & final - except there's just one more member that I have to have - look out for the absolute final DT member in the next post at 11pm!!

Anyway, my number five is ...

Katie Perry (KTP).

Those of you that hang out over on our forum will already know KTP & maybe will even have some of her pieces through the various swaps that we run there. That did make our decision much easier as both Looby and I love her stuff but she did submit a formal application along with everybody else.

KTP will, I hope, provide us with lots of her wonderful cards. She is very new to scrapbooking, so might provide a few LOs but I really see her the resident card maker on our team (and card makers have been seriously under-represented thus far!) KTP has quite eclectic tastes in her projects and as part of her entry submitted the most beautiful slide mailer - simply gorgeous!

Obviously, we've got to know KTP through the forum & she is one of the funniest (in a good way!) people we know. Can't wait to work more closely with her!

Both KTP and Sharon are currently on holiday - so I don't expect to hear from them until the end of the month. Perhaps this will be a nice little surprise waiting for them when they return.

And Now For Number Four!

Our fourth new DT member is ... Wendy Mckee!

Wendy is a bit of a veteran really, being quite extensively published both online & on paper. She has some DT experience and I hope that she will help Looby & me to guide the newbies LOL. I spent far too much time browsing Wendy's annual albums of the adorable Harry (a little bit older than my very own Fish) over on her Two Peas gallery (where she is known as Harrysmum!)

Wendy has a beautiful layered style that appears effortless and simple. She is able to put an awful lot on a page without it looking cluttered. It's a style that I personally love and that emulates the US style of scrapbooking (with the lots of layers).

I can't wait to see what Wendy will produce from her DT packs. Well done Wendy!!

Who Will Be Number Three?

The third new member of the DT is ...

Ruth Ring (AKA Roo/Phoenix Tears). We first saw Roo's work when she entered our very first Design Challenge last month & has taken part in all four to date - who'd have known that within a month or two she would be setting the challenges instead LOL. As well as submitting some first class LOs, we also got a good sense of 'who is Roo' from her blog & e-mail. So we know all about her obsession with her NEW sewing machine & look forward to seeing how it works with her DT packs LOL.

The fact that she has also taken part in the challenges and has us blogrolled also showed that she already has an interest in us and what we do - that certainly didn't hurt her application. Roo is a keen photographer and her stunning nature shots (and a fair few self portrait LOs) will help to balance the baby shots that we'll be expecting from Charlene (and me, of course!). If you'd like to see what she's done for us so far, check out the Design Challenge Gallery!



Glad to have you with us Roo!

Our Second New DT Member is ...

Sharon Nettleship!!

Sharon's work is really quite different to most of the entries we received. As a sponsor on UKS, we did have alot of entries from the scrapbooking community. Sharon is more of an altered artist and has a wonderful array of ATCs. We thought she would provide something extra & we hope that she will be able to use the products in her DT pack to produce stunning ATCs and altered art. Sharon is also involved in many European swaps. As she lives in Europe we are also hoping to get an insight into her crafting & lifestyle outside of the UK.

Sharon previously had some of her ATCs published in an issue of Simply Stamping. Welcome aboard Sharon!

Our First New DT Member is ...

Charlene Lee!!!

I should point out that these announcements are in no particular order (other than which happens to be top of the pile on my desk LOL).

Charlene's enthusiasm for scrapbooking and her love for her family was clear from her e-mail. We were blown away by her layout 'Home Is...' and the journaling that accompanies it truly moved us (I'm seriously hormonal so I was practically in tears LOL). This layout has already won a challenge & I'm in no doubt that it was a well deserved win. Perhaps, when she has received her invitation to contribute to this blog, she will post it for you all to see.

There's an honesty to Charlene's work that I don't think I'd be brave enough to share with the world. I really look forward to seeing what she will do with her DT Packs each month.

Congratulations Charlene & welcome to our team.

Did You Make It?

The new DT will be announced today & we are gonna break all the rules!! So we are going to tell the world what it was about each submission that helped us make up our minds. At first glance, it seems like all we had to do was pick the projects we liked - but not so, that would give us a DT of over 20 people LOL. The fact is that for this call (and all others I suspect) the standard was so high that we had to use lots of other criteria to make a choice.
Sadly, a few entrants didn't follow the rules. So unless the work was soooo outstanding we couldn't ignore it, those entries didn't get any further. For future reference folks, follow the rules LOL.
So, having established the entries we liked, we followed up links to galleries, blogs etc & looked at intro letters & the craft bios supplied. Some gave us a real 'feel' for the person behind the e-mail - others didn't. Then the whole lot was printed off, notes added & carted into the store.

Looby had the dubious pleasure of helping me decide (so if it all goes horribly wrong - I have someone to blame LOL). This involved copious amounts of tea (for me - Looby doesn't really drink tea) & several petits pain au chocolat with a few croissants thrown in for good measure!

I'm happy to say, Looby is gonna stay on the DT for a while longer (don't think she'd let me get rid of her even if I wanted LOL) and, quite frankly, I couldn't manage without her! We are gonna announce our five new DT members, one at a time every hour from 6pm. See you then!

Take A Look At This!!

This is a little selection of the goodies up for grabs in the blog candy draw. Terrible picture, I know, but if anyone knows a good way of photographing bling bits please share your secret LOL. So, there's 4 adorable little screw top jars - 2 of flitter & 2 tiny confetti (both great for shaker boxes on cards, LOs etc); 2 packs of tiny gems (4mm size) & two packs of ceramic flowers (these are soooo sweet!). I'm gonna throw in some other bits & pieces too - cuz everyone likes a few surprises!Don't forget to add a comment every day to maximise your chances, you get extra chances for each person that comments & mentions your name & the person who brings the most people over will also get an extra prize - so spread the word!! There's more to win on my blog, so make your comments on the posts here & here
draft

What Time Is It??

Blog Candy Time! I promised to give away some yummy stash as soon as we reached 2000 visitors - & that happened earlier today. All you have to do is make a comment on this post to be in with a chance of winning. And spread the word, cuz I'll give you an extra number in the draw for everyone who makes a comment and mentions your name! You can make a comment every day until the candy competition closes on August 29th (Midnight GMT) - so pop back every day to maximize your chances! And if that's not enough, I'll also give an extra bunch of goodies to the person who brings the most entrants over - feel free to put links on your blogs etc.
As always I'll be using this random number generator to pick the winner - it has saved me sooo much time every draw we do LOL
Look out for piccies of the candy - I'll post them on Tuesday!

Want more candy? I'm giving more away here. Have fun - & crop 'til you drop!!

Challenge #4

My turn this week and my challenge is to make a card or LO using Tags and Flowers.

I used the bottom section from the 8x8 HOTP retro papers and then 2 smaller panels from different patterns, I covered the joints with contrasting ribbon, added 2 flowers from Dovecraft Embellishment (on top of each other) and secured them with a Big Brad from HOTP and a HOTP rub-on. The tag was cut from the artwork in the retro papers and mounted using foam tape, a button was secured on the end and a rub-on greeting completed the card.

For the scrappers among you, check out the sample layout, supplied by the Guv. The layout uses Masculine Sarapapers and matching Embellish-abilities, the titles were die cut with 'HOLTZ' being mounted on die cut chipboard letters. The bottom strip was aleft open along the top edge so that tags for extra journaling (in this case just the date & location) or photos could be slipped inside.

Don't forget to leave a comment telling us you've done the challenge and email your creation so we can put it in our challenge gallery.

The challenges are open to ALL papercrafters (altered artists, ATCs, Inchies - whatever), so why not give it a go

I'm feeling autumnal!

Well the weather has been pants here today, far more like autumn than summer, so I made a card using papers from American Crafts The Goods - Seasonal Collection. The gorgeous combination of orange, brown and yellow is very autumnal don't you think?! What's even better is these papers are on buy one get one free at the moment, in store and online!

The second card uses my all time favourite A Muse stamp - this cute little penguin! The papers I used are the English Paper Company Siesta range - and yep, you've guessed it - they're on BOGOF too!

Check out the webshop for these and more fabby deals!

Nearly Time For Blog Candy!!

The traditional 2000th visitor is nearly here & I'll be giving away a bunch of blog candy to celebrate! I reckon that's gonna happen this weekend - but if you want to get to the candy quicker, you just need to visit more often - like every day LOL (several times in the same day won't do it!) There'll be exciting new stuff on tomorrow, so it's well worth coming back!

Over on my own blog, it's gonna be blog candy time soon too! So visit me there (it's where I post most of my projects!) too!

More butterflys (but no babies)

Another card for you made with those butterfly's gain but this time on a smaller scale. The butterflys are really simple and consist of a 4cm by 4cm square which is then cut in half to make 2 triangles, they are then folded to make the "wings". They can be decorated with anything and are a really effective embellishment.

ATC time

Thought I would try something else from the usual layout and cards this time and have gone down the ATC route. Again a really simple idea, the flower was made from a stencil I had floating around and the papers were HOTP Vintage Sarapapers, the brad in the centre was from Dovecraft and the caption was handwritten.

Oh and I have now finally managed to put on my own photos (How clever am I??). So thnks Beverley for all your help

Butterflies & Babies

Nina is having a few issues with her PC so I'm posting on her behalf - here's what she says:

Here is my latest layout for the DT, my Mum and Dad looked after my daughter Megan for me while I took her brother Josh and my sister Rebecca to Legoland. My Dad has just invested in a snazzy new camera and was taking pictures of her to test it out, when we got back to collect my Dad had printed this picture out to show us how photogenic she is.The layout uses HOTP Vintage Sarapapers, Icy Rainbow ribbons and some beads from Craftime. The butterfly idea came from Megan's top which has butterflys and flowers on it (although it can't be seen in the picture!!)

Sneaky Peeky!!

& here it is as promised a little sneaky peek of the HOTP Personal Shopper Kits for Cardmakers and Scrapbookers (so that's 2 sneaky peeks really!) The first is a gorgeous little close up of one of the photo mats in the 'Grandma's Garden' double layout designed by Paris Dukes. This uses the 'seasons' set of papers & tag lines ID bracelet from Karen Foster - all of which are in the August kit - and that's all the clues you are getting!! July's kit completely sold out within a couple of weeks (including the display kit in the window LOL), so if you don't want to miss out you might like to consider a subscription. All the info is here & you can get the subs form by e-mail.
The cardmaker's kit contains everything you need to make this yummy card, designed by LeNae Gerig, along with 9 others (& there's tons of stuff left over to make loads of extra one!) Each month there's a Christmas card design, to help you get a head start as well as designs for lots of other occasions. This month there's birthday, baby, a couple of all occasion cards & even one for international 'Talk Like A Pirate Day' (September 19th!) - you gotta love them in the US, they sure know how to have fun LOL. To subscribe to cardmakers, get the info & subs form as above & just make sure you tick the 'Cardmakers' box.

Just a quick reminder: The DT call closes on August 20th & we are also running several competitions with free stuff up for grabs. Check the current comps for details (there's 3 separate posts to read!!) And if you're feeling creative (or even if you are not!) check out the last post for details of this week's Design Team Challenge.

Challenge #3

And this week it's a colour themed challenge and the colour is ORANGE!

It's that simple - just make a card or a LO that includes something orange. This challenge was inspired by a thread over on the I Love Hot Off The Press forum, and stems from the fact that my OH wears a LOT of orange - so obviously I had to do a LO of him.

I cut a 1" wide frame from the patterned paper and stuck it on to some orange card stock and then cut an 8" square from the left over piece of paper and stuck it on the centre, at a angle. The title was cut using sizzix graffiti and ellison block party alphas, and to finish off I put some eyelets (gotta love that cropodile!) around 2 edges and threaded some ribbon through. The frame with "Ash?" in at the bottom comes from the HOTP 8 x 8 retro papers.

The card was made using the HOTP Citrus Cardmakers Creative Pack, creative kit, ribbons, and Instant card art.

Don't forget to leave a comment telling us you've done the challenge and email your creation to sales@croptilyoudrop.co.uk so we can put it in our challenge gallery.

Have fun - can't wait to see your orange creations!

And now for something completely different!

That's right I've taken a little departure from the usual cards and LOs and made some jewellery! This was probably the first craft I ever got involved in; a friend and I used to make jewellery with her mum when we were about 13, and I haven't done much since. Beverley had included some lovely bead kits in our Design Team packs this month, so it was the ideal opportunity to get back into it!

After making the bracelet and earrings, I had a few larger beads left, so made this card too with the HOTP Vintage Sarapapers and Cardmaker's Pretty Ribbons.

We are sailing

Ok, so this wasn't in my desing tem pack but when I bought thse yummy new English Paper Company 6x6 papers called "Get Groovy", I knew I would use them in the weekly challenge. The name has been handcut as have the layers on the card. The papers are from the new collection in store and feature the most gorgeous designs of fairies, circus scenes, butterflys and would be fantastic for both boy and girl cards. There are other designs and I spent a long time on Saturday trying to decide which I couldn't live without, so why not try them for yourselves

Happy Birthday To ...

ME!! It's my birthday today & I'm not 40 yet - so that's something to celebrate LOL. And just so as I can be sure you all get to celebrate with me, I've lots of special stuff for you.
First - 20% off all birthday themed products. Secound, just in case you've a few birthdays coming up and need some gorgeous cards in a hurry - 10% off all Personal Shopper Cardmaker's Kits too! There's loads of yummy supplies & a newsletter too - packed full of the most lush card projects in every box (with plenty of left overs to make even more cards!) If you are thinking Christmas already - check out Oct-Dec 2006 kits as well as the July 07 kit - there's tons there to get you started! You'll find all these offers and a few more besides right here. But you'll need to be quick - my birthday ends midnight tonight and so do the offers!
And while we are thinking about cards, why not design me a 'nearly forty' birthday card for your chance to win a fabby goody bag with a retail value of £18!!! - Just kidding! The competition is actually to design any birthday card, e-mail it to me & I'll pick a winner on September 1st (the bit about the goody bag wasn't a joke - only the 'nearly 40' bit LOL). No random number generator this time - I'll pick my favourite (I'll also post them all in the gallery so everyone can see!) Big Hint: I like pink & purple LOL.

Challenge #2

It's time for our second Design Team challenge, and this week it's for both scrappers and cardmakers!

The challenge is to create a LO or card that includes hand cutting and/or handwriting.

So many of us hate our handwriting (I know I do!) but it can give such a personal touch to a card or LO (especially when it comes to journalling), so this challenge is set to make you use it more!!

And the hand cutting? Well this came about from a personal challenge, I've always been rubbish with a pair of scissors (give me a trimmer, or craft knife and ruler any day!) so I challenged myself to get better. Trimmers etc are all very well but you're limited to straight lines! So on this LO I drew round a dinner plate for the first circle, then sketched and cut the larger ones. The papers I used (for the card and LO) are from the English Paper Company and just happen to be on BOGOF in our new webshop. Check them out here.

Don't forget to post a comment with a link to your creation, or email us at sales@croptilyoudrop.co.uk so we can add it to our challenge gallery.

Have fun - can't wait to see what you come up with!

Edited by The Guv 6/8/07 at 5.25pm: Sorry guys - having problems with the links not being live (& we'd love your stuff in the gallery) sooo please e-mail your images (as jpegs please!) & post a comment to say you've done yours - we also then are able to comment on your entries (ha! I just discovered that bit - so there aren't any comments on challenge #1 as yet LOL) Thanx!!

Stamps Only!

I have not had enough sleep & I have a banging headache - so I'll keep it short LOL. I now have all the info I needed for the new Stamps Only bi-monthly kit & we are ready to go! The kits will be arriving in about 6 weeks - along with the fabby Personal Shopper September kits. The only way to ensure you don't miss out is to subscribe! Here's the nitty gritty ...

• Bi-Monthly kit - first issue due to dispatch to subscribers September 18th 2007
• Cost - £17.99 post free - first payment debited on/after 16th September 2007
• Contents - 5x7 clear stamp and a mini-newsletter with ideas on using it. The Sept. stamp will be Thinga-ma-jigs.
• How it works - Each month, the mini newsletter will give a preview of the next kit. You have the option to opt out of the next kit - by e-mailing or telephoning us by the end of the month. We will also preview the next kit on the blog - so if you have opted out of one issue, you will still be able to see what is coming in the next one. If you have not opted out of a kit, your payment will be processed and kit dispatched automatically. If you opt out of one kit, your next one will automatically be processed and dispatched unless you opt out again(by the end of that issue month).
• There is no minimum number of kits that you are required to take. However, if you opt out of three consecutive kits your subscription will end. You may still be able to purchase a kit from our webshop if we have any spare ones - but you will be required to pay our usual postal charges.
• Why subscribe? Your kit will be reserved for you, dispatched post free & will include a fabby newsletter full of cool projects and tips on how to use it. You will not have to risk missing out because we have sold out before you had a chance to order. These kits will NEVER be available anywhere else in the UK!
• How to subscribe - simply e-mail us & we'll send you a subscription form. Complete it & e-mail or post it back to us - it really is that easy!

Here's what they are saying about the first cool stamp set!

Thinga-ma-what? We couldn't decide what else to call these cool ampersands, brackets, asterisks and other punctuation marks! Whatever you call them, we think you'll love them as clear acrylic stamps-they add a stylish touch to cards, tags, scrapbook pages and other paper crafts. Simply peel your stamp off the backing sheet, place it on an acrylic holder, ink it up and stamp! Clean your stamp with a stamp cleaner, baby wipes or soap and water, then return it to the sheet, positioning it to match the printed image. (Please don't use acetone, bleach or any oil-based cleaner.) Our special acrylic won't yellow. Stamp sheet measures 5 1/2"x7". Images range in size from 1/2" to 3 1/2". Total of 33 stamps.

Aaaarggh!

Just finished uploading our entire HOTP inventory (including personal shopper kits) to the new webshop & now I'm too tired to blog! Look out this evening for: all the news on the Personal Shopper 'Stamps Only' new monthly kit; a sneaky peek at the August Personal Shopper scrapbooking and card making kits and the new weekly challenge from our very own design team! - So lots to look forward to then!

Sweet treats!!

OK so when I saw this jar of cola cubes in Sainsbury's I just had to buy it as it was crying out to be altered (plus I LURVE cola cubes! LOL). However, the poor thing has been sitting on my scrapping desk neglected, that is until I received my DT pack from Beverley and it had these gorgeous english paper company papers in it. They were just the perfect sweety looking papers to use! I used Lazy Daisy Cornflower stripe to go around the jar, Lazy Daisy cornflower floral to stamp the "sweet treats" on (if you don't have stamps you could print this on the computer) and Out and about Cranberry floral for the lid. I then added a couple of lengths of ribbon and a flower and brad to the lid from the HOTP Icy Rainbow Creative kit.

(and I have now re-stuck that pesky bit of paper on the lid, which I didn't notice til I uploaded the photos! LOL)

And these English Paper Company papers are on Buy One Get One Free - so I suggest you snap them up quick!