Challenge # 10 Round & Around

This week it is my turn to set the challenge. Seeing as it is the end of the month I thought I would set a simple one. So my challenge is...
Make something round and only use 3 colours.
My first piece is made from an old CD. I used the October HOTP kit for all of it bar the photo. I used the colours blue, green and yellow. In each kit there are 3 mini themed kits. So for this project I used the Friends part of the kit.


For my second piece I made a round card. I used the Fall and Halloween parts of the kit. Again I used just 3 colours, brown, orange and green.
I'd love to see what you can do with this challenge. Why not enter and send your entries to us by email . You will need to send them in by next Saturday and you will be entered into our monthly competition, where you could win a prize. So that the DT team and others can see your work please leave us a comment to say that you have entered.
Good Luck!!

An mini index book and an LO

Hello there again folks! My turn to show you what I have been up to with this fabulous

and plentiful personal shopper kit for October 2007. First I created this LO of young Shamus (Shaun Jr), road testing his new halloween outfit! These papers are fab - really bright and fun - and they come with the 'dress up' brads - thats the little pumkin head you see there with the yellow brads for eyes. They really add the perfect finishing touch to your projects - I love them! The kit also comes with another pumpkin and a dress up word 'Boo' which is equally as fun and versatile. A really generous helping - Im sure you'll agree!! Everything co-ordinates perfectly too - paper crafting made easy!

Second is this mini index book I made, to store my photos from Autumn this year, and I thought of putting a few of my favourite Autmun poems in there too. I love John Keats' Ode to Autumn - hence the name for the book! I thought that I wouldnt have much left over after my last LO and card I created using the 'fall' collection of papers and embellishments (I was very generous with the embellies and paper) - but going through my pizza box last night - I was amazed at how much I had left over - still plenty to keep creating for a while yet!! I cut out the letters to spell 'fall', and basically just stuck them on to the sides of my book, a page for each letter - creating a little tab for each page. Quite pleased with how it turned out, and it was really quick to make too! All I need to do now is fill it up!

Thats all from me this week folks, be sure to check in tomorrow at 6pm, ready for another challenge!! All entries (up to challenge #10 so far) are entered into our monthly DT challenge competition! Good luck!

The Funky Chicken!!

Hi all,

Alix here...sharing my latest offering using the HOTP PS Kits. This LO uses a mixture of the fall papers/ribbons and the halloween papers/ribbons. Obviously I supplied my own chickens!! muahahaha

This is a very easy LO to recreate. I printed the picture as large as I could and added *the funky chicken* text in the editing program. Then I trimmed the orange paper to just larger than the photo and the brown to about the same as the photo, and layered them as you can see. I then stuck on the photo, added some arrows cut out of another sheet of fall paper (made by drawing around my DSST roll!). The journalling was done onto the scraps of orange and brown, and layered in the corner and finally the ribbons were stapled into place. et voila!

I hope you like it...its meant to be fun afterall this scrapping malarky, eh? :)

Ooooh and have you entered this week's challenge yet? Or popped over to the shop...there are some superbly yummy things coming in atm!!!

Harvest Festival

For the recycling challenge, I made a pen box by recycling a washing powder box!! For my post this week I’ve used the same type of box to make a harvest festival box using the Personal Shopper Kit, October 2006.
Where I live the infant and primary schools all take a little food to school on the day of Harvest Festival which is then distributed to old peoples homes in the area. Usually you just grab a box and cover it with brown paper. I thought the leaf print paper in the kit would be perfect for this and obviously looks so much nicer that a bit of brown paper. I covered the outside of the box in the leaf paper and used the ‘harvest’ tag and added some of the ric rac braid. I use the large letter to begin the work festival and layered some of the scraps from the kit to write the other letters onto. I added a piece of the printed twill and added a few of the leaf brads. I used an ink pad to colour the leaf brad at the bottom dark green and added one of the square metal embellishments marked ‘autumn’ to the box. I covered the inside of the box too and inked the edges. It holds quite a bit of fruit but it’s not too big and heavy for little hands to carry.

The second item for my post this week was actually started for Alixs’ challenge but I didn’t finish it in time, sorry Alix! I was inspired by her pop up card so I used the idea in a Halloween layout.
I used the black 12x12 sheet and some of the striped 12 x 12 sheet. I thought I’d never use the black sheet unless it was for matting something but when I had the idea for the layout it was perfect! I printed the picture in black and white and matted it onto some of the orange paper and black card. I had some of the 12x12 sheet decorated with pumpkins left, so I cut them out and used them to embellish the layout . I used the orange brads as the dots of the exclamation marks. I used ric rac braid between the two papers and put two spotted button at the ends.
To make the pop up I folded some black card. I left a small border at the bottom to write on. I attached the metal pumpkin embellishment with the square yellow brads. I held the pop up down with the two turn mounts fixed with brads. I cut the colour photo for the pop up out of its background on the pop up out for a better effect. I added the metal ‘boo’ embellishment onto a scrap of red vellum to mirror the red in the cape. I did the writing in white pen. The only things I added to the October Personal Shopper Kit were four brads and the scrap of red vellum. Thanks for the inspiration Alix my son ‘The Count’ loves this layout!

The kit that keeps on giving!

That's right folks - even more stuff from the October HOTP Personal Shopper kit - will I ever use it all?!

The first project is a LO using the friendship papers and one of the Heidi Swapp embellies, which I wrote the date on with a permanent marker. I wanted to keep this LO simple as the photo is so lovely (my OH took it!) so I hand wrote the title with a black fineliner and went over it several times.

The next project will be hanging on my door on 31st October (let's hope it doesn't rain!) and I used the Halloween papers (obviously!) and 2 yellow eyelets. I drew on the pumpkin brad buddie with a permanent marker to make him a bit more interesting!

And finally - a couple of ATCs with my scraps!

It Just Gets Better & Better!

The September kits from Hot Of The Press arrived today & I just couldn't believe it! First up: September's Personal Shopper kit. Obviously we already knew that this kit was showcasing the new 'Use 'Em For Anything' Pastels range - but what I hadn't realised is you get a whole pack of everything! That's the new book of papers; a whole book of monograms (1 sheet of every letter in various fonts, plus numbers and punctuation); a whole pack of the new pastel florals (25 blooms in various sizes; a pack of the new brads & mini brads (that's 200 in total!). The retail value of these items alone is just shy of £32 - you also get two 8x8 overlays, a pack of co-ordinating ribbons, an 8 page newsletter & the fabby new DVD (plays on PC or DVD player). So a retail value of over £35 for just £22.50 (plus P&P for non-subscribers!) Even better value than before methinks!
Next: Stamps Only! This is a brand new kit & as with all HOTP kits, exclusively available in the UK through us. As well as the 33 stamps & mini project sheet there is a FREE acrylic block available only to subscribers - strictly while stocks last. All the subscribers info is here.
If you'd like to subscribe to any of the HOTP kits, simply e-mail us for a subs form & we'll get one back to you post haste (well, later tonight - I'm back off to the shop now to play with all the yummy new kits! LOL)

Birthday Card

I still had loads of papers left over from the Friends part of the October Hot of the Press kit and some embellishments, so I also made this card. To show off the gorgeous papers I cut a panel off the right side and put some of the paper onto the inside of the card so it would show on the front. I put a co-ordinating paper on the front. The kit comes with a die cut sheet so I used the flower from that to put on the front overlapping the panel.

A 12x12 layout

Well I don't normally do scrapbooking but the friends papers , part of the October Hot of the Press kit was just right for remembering my daughter's visit to Cambridge Uni.I wanted to use most of the Friends papers onto the layout, they were so lovely.The kit came with a plain blue pocket which I decided to cover in pieces of the lovely papers. To co-ordinate everything I also used the same papers to create a little border at the bottom of the photos. My daughter loved it!!

Sneak Peek #3!

By popular request here is a little peek at the brand new Stamps Only bi-monthly acrylic stamp kit from Hot Off The Press! Every other month, we will have the latest HOTP clear stamps available with a fabby project sheet full of great ideas from the talented designers at HOTP. All that, available post free & delivered to your door - dispatched as soon as we have them in!
E-mail us to subscribe or pop over to the webshop if you'd just like a one-off kit. All HOTP kits are exclusively available in the UK through Crop 'Til You Drop, so you won't find them anywhere else.
All three kits (Stamps Only, Personal Shopper Scrapbooking & Cardmakers kits) are in the webshop now - available to pre-order. Stamps Only will be officially launched at Ally Pally next weekend - if you are going, make sure to pop by stand 17 & say Hi. We'll have a few great offers, as well as demonstrations and free make n takes going on over both days.
Don't forget to have a go at this week's challenge - you could win a prize in our monthly competition (unless you're on the DT - they are only allowed to play along for fun!)

Challenge #9 - Pick a pocket or two!!

Hi guys! Today it's my turn to set the challenge. This is my little Pockordian book!! So called because its kind of like an accordian book, and it uses the cute little pockets and library cards in the Personal shopper kit for October 2007.

When I was puzzling over my challenge I thought - why not challenge people to use pockets on their project? It's something that can be used on a wide variety of projects, and I guess the smaller the project, the more challenging it would be to include a pocket!!

Are you sad, like me lol, and save all your little tickets and other little mementos from your holidays or trips out? These pockets are perfect for storing your precious memories and heartfelt journalling, which you may not want to share with everyone!! I know I usually have a severe case of verbal emotional diarrhoea (lol) but there's some stuff even I like to keep secret!! I also put some more pictures and the ticket stubs from our trip on the snowdon mountain railway and from Portmeirion, when we went to Wales recently.

So go on, try using a pocket on your project, we'd love to see what you come up with!! And if anyone manages to use a pocket on an inchie I, for one would be well impressed!! Good luck guys, and remember to check back daily for more crafty projects and updates! And all challenge entries from challenge #6 to #10 will be eligible for our monthly DT challenge competition!!

Oooooh! Another Sneak Peek!

So I thought a little peek for all the cardmakers out there would be a good idea! Pink, chocolate & shopping, all in the one card & Designed by the fabulous LeNae Gerig - how fab is that??? This is just one of the 10 card projects you could be making with September's Personal Shopper for Cardmakers Kit - which will be with us on Monday (yay!).

Subscribers always get theirs shipped first (& post free) so if you'd like a subscription form, e-mail us & we'll get one e-mailed straight back. Or if you'd just like a one-off kit, pop on over to the webshop in the next couple of days - they'll be added very soon for pre-orders! All HOTP kits are exclusive to us in the UK - so you won't find them elsewhere - & when they've sold out - that's it!
A sneaky peek of the brand new HOTP Stamps Only kit coming in the next day or two!!!

Hello, and welcome to the weekend!

Hello again everyone. For those who keep "normal hours"...... it's the weekend!!! Hope you've all got good things planned!!

I've had great fun playing with the January '07 Personal Shopper kit. The first thing I made was a layout using the "Black Tie" part of the kit. The swirly background paper that I used was just right for cutting with a craft knife, so that it would overlap the dotty paper. The black and silver ribbons, silver photo corners, frame, watch face and the sooooo gorgeous wine glass brads were just perfect for a celebratory layout. I kept this layout quite simple and classic, but the papers are equally suited to be used with funky, lively colours too. In fact there's so much of it to use. I think I'll do another layout during the week to show just how different the same papers can look. Everything you see on this layout, apart from the photo of my wonderful Mum and Dad, adhesive and pen, are from the kit........ there's still so much left, and so much more fun for your money!!

Talking of more fun! My next project came from the "Brights" part of the January '07 Personal Shopper kit...

Again, everything you see, apart from ink and adhesive is from the kit. It's such a fun vibrant selection of papers and embellishments, and is perfect for many happy occasions..... or even for a "just because" card!!

So, don't forget, if you like the look of this kit, get yourself to the Crop 'Til You Drop Webshop - there are lots of other fab kits and goodies to tuck into your shopping basket!! Treat yourself to some well earned fun in a box! Go on.... you know you deserve it! Anyway, whatever you've got planned for your weekend, I hope it's a good one, and thanks for looking. x

Ideas...they keep coming!

Hi everyone,

I'm posting a couple of cards i've made with my kit this week...to show that you don't have to stick to the colour schemes suggested in each kit. I have mixed and matched them and had great fun in doing so!

And here is another LO done with the stunningly elegant fall papers. A record of Rosie's birthday...including the card i made her with the same papers!!

I do hope everyone is having a productive month and looking forward to getting next month's Personal Shopper kit...i do hope you order yours in time...and how cool is it to get a DVD in the kit!!!

Cards, Cards, Cards!

I've done a batch of cards, all made from the October 2006 Hot Off The Press Personal Shopper Kit. The only thing I used for the cards that wasn't from the kit was a rubber stamp. I covered the front of an A6 card with pale green paper with a combed effect on it . I folded down the top right hand corner of the card and covered it with daisy paper and inked the edge. I put a triangle of square patterned paper on the top right inside corner and also on the opposite left bottom corner. I edged the bottom corner with a strip of plain green paper. I cut two mini tags from the embellishment sheet, inked the edges and fixed them on with pale green brads. the one was pre printed and I added 'for you' to the other. I cut a large daisy from the daisy paper. I fixed it with a brad to the folded down corner to hold it in place. I also used a tiny flower punch to make a flower for the bottom tag.

For the next card I covered the top of an A6 card with the pale green combed paper and the bottom with daisy paper. I attached a piece of green ribbon across the centre of the card and put three brads on the left hand side. The brads puckered the ribbon slightly but I quite liked the effect and didn't bother to change it! I cut the bottom piece of paper so a large daisy was showing and used one of the gorgeous Heidi Swapp buttons as the flower centre. There is a whole pack of these in the October Kit. I cut a strip of pumpkin orange paper and matted a strip of daisy paper onto it. I stamped a thank you greeting onto some plain green card and layered that on top of the daisy paper. I fixed it at an angle with foam pads. To finished it off I added a silver dragonfly brad on the top corner.

The last card is my favourite. I've used darker colours for this but I really like it! I covered a 5 x5 card with green striped paper at the top and plain green paper at the bottom. In the kit there are 12 x 12 Halloween papers, one of which is striped. I cut an orange stripe out of the sheet and stuck it on the front of the card. I cut the greeting from the card making section of the kit and using what was left from the orange strip, I made a faux ribbon to go behind the greeting. I used two different sized flower punches to make the flower. I punched two 3 inch flowers from orange and yellow paper and two 2 inch flowers, one from the striped paper and one from the yellow. I curled the petals in different directions to give the flower dimension and put a spotted button in the centre. I wasn't sure the colours would work but I think they do and I'm very pleased with this card!

Finally, I made an ATC. I used plain green card and matted a piece of the green leaf pattern paper onto it and inked the edges. I stuck a piece of the twill printed with the words 'falling leaves' down the left hand side and put a white metal embellishment out of the kit, embossed with the word 'fall' in the centre. I finished it off with two leaf brads. This ATC its quite plain but I think it works.

Sneak Peek #1

Ok, so it's a bit more than a little peek - this is what you can expect to find in the new September 07 personal shopper kit - due in store on September 24th (that's next week!!) - Fabby papers (all true 12x12), monograms, blooms, brads & ribbons all in lush pastels! And the first of the bi-monthly DVDs! To subscribe, e-mail us and we'll send you a form or for a one-off purchase, keep an eye on the webshop - we'll be making them available for pre-order in the next day or two.
We have just 3 August kits left & if you'd like to see what our brilliant DT have been doing with a back issue kit - just check out all their posts from this month - fabby or what? We have Personal Shopper kits specifically for cardmakers too!
Keep an eye on the blog for another sneak peek tomorrow! There's lots more to see! LOL.

Mini Book

With the bigger pieces of paper that I had left over from the HOTP October Kit I made this mini book. Each page has different papers from the Fall theme of the kit. A simple idea but it means that I can put all the best pics I take into one little book for the Autumn and show it off when I'm out and about. I tied it all together with the gorgeous orange ric rac that you get in the kit.

Fall Layout

The October HOTP kit never seems to run out! I have made sooo many items with it and I still have left overs to make some ATCs or inchies.Here is a 8x8 Fall layout that I made with the kit. Everything I've used is from the kit. Even the large letters were on the die cut page ready for you to cut out. So easy and simple.

Loving these flower papers!

These flower papers from the October 06 HOTP Personal Shopper kit are simply gorgeous!

For this card I cut 3 different size flowers from the art sheet and layered them onto one of the pockets, attaching the "birthday wishes" tag with a brad. I then die cut the tag and added the sentiment from the art sheet, and attached a length of ribbon and one of the Heidi Swapp embellishments, which I doodled a flower on with permanent pen. I covered the card with 2 papers, then doodled around the edges of it all, and added another Heidi Swapp embellishment and wrote "for you" again in permanent marker.

Once again, everything is from the kit!

Challenge 8 - Make it Move!!

Me again...and this time i'm here to set my first Challenge! I'm calling it Make it Move because that is what i challenge you to do...make something with moving parts. Ok, stop panicking it doesn't need to be difficult...and i have several examples to get you thinking.

First of all I want to stress that this competition is open to all papercrafters, your entry can be an ATC, a card, a scrapbook layout or even an altered item. Secondly, you need to send your entry before next saturday to us by e-mail and you will be entered into the monthly prize competition. Thirdly, just leave a comment to let us and others know that you've entered so that we can all admire your work!

Here are my examples, all made using the HOTP Personal Shopper Kits and i'll start with the simplest one first!

This card is made with an apperture cut into the front and a metal charm suspended into the gap with a series of jump rings. Obviously, it moves because it is hanging free!

This second card moves by *popping-up* when you open it..scary stuff, eh? and very suitable for a Halloween card i thought!

Finally, i have made a couple of waterfall cards. The first one opens to the left and the second one opens to the right! No reason...just for fun!

For those of you who have been lurking on our forum this is the card that I won the crop competition with this month! I made it for a friend who started a new job and she seemed to like it too...so i'm quite chuffed with this one (its all from the HOTP PS Kit)

My final example is a very sweet baby card that i made (also from the kit!) for a friend who has just had baby number 2...this card is going all the way to Hong Kong!

So there you have it...my examples and my Challenge...go on give it a go...you might even win!!