It's official - paper stroking is bad for your crafty health!!

I am loving these American Craft papers that we recently received in our DT kits!! After I had sat and stroked them for a while (!?), I knew which photos I wanted to use. As soon as I saw this set of papers, I initially thought - christmas! But then I remembered these photos from my mother & father in laws anniversary, and thought they would go well with the papers. I also used the round alphabet tiles from HOTP, to spell out the word 'family'. I chalked the edges using these shimmer chalks, then just went over the edges with some glue to add a bit of shine (wet glues can be found here). I wanted to make the absolute most of these papers and waste nothing, so I used some of the remaining paper to create the little file folder containing the journalling. To decorate the front, I covered a circular slide mount with some scraps of paper pieced together, then added a HOTP Big Brad, with a rub on saying 'good times'. These rub ons come in all sorts of patterns and letters, available in Black and White too, and are just perfect for the big brads - but could lend themselves to any crafty project!

When I was photographing the LO I had a little chuckle to myself, because I thought - Charl - you have barely hacked into the bold patterned sheet!! I think the paper stroking didnt help matters there lol, but I promise - I will be more daring with my next project!!

I made the card using the scraps left over from the LO - I didnt want to waste a single piece of paper - I just cut up the remainder into 2.5in squares and arranged them on the front of the card! The beauty of these papers is that they are double sided so cordinate perfectly! I included a bit of shimmery red paper behind the squares to complement the red in the patterned paper, and added a HOTP artsy additions embossed paper charm to the front, along with the cardmakers word fragments.

So, I hope you love these papers as much as I do - and I promise - no more paper stroking from me!!

Now dont forget - its another DT challenge going live tomorrow at 6pm, any entries emailed in to sales@croptilyoudrop.co.uk are eligible for the monthly DT challenge prize!! Have a look here to see what Rebecca Nash won last month - it's well worth entering!

See you all soon!

Oooh I've just popped back - nearly forgot to say that I used the stencils for the lettering on the file folder on the LO, they can be found here, and are great if you have spidery handwriting like mine, and want to get a neat effect, quickly and with minimum mess!! TTFN

And Im back - again - to say that this is also my go at Looby's sketch challenge - albeit a little different!! Right, Im really going now!