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Are You Ready To Take The Challenge??

Join Elliemook's November challenge for your chance to win shopping vouchers for our store! All the deets are here

Join our followers & be entered into a random prize drawing on December 1st. Check it out!!!

Thursday 29 May 2008

It's a GIFT!

Have you had a good look at any of the HOTP Personal Shopper Kits? They are currently less than half price...which I have to say is practically a GIFT!!!! In honour of this...I've used some of the papers to make a birthday gift bag {fankly at this price its much cheaper than buying one...and sooo much more fun!}.
This bag is made from 3 sheets of patterned 12x12, a small section of the co-ordinating cardstock, one of the matching birthday ribbons. I've also added a couple of tiny pieces of white mini ric rac and made a co-ordinating embellishment with some UTEE and one of the stamps from the bargain priced Lucky Dip selection!!
This is the back of the bag.
and this is the side view...

Continuing my thrifty gift theme...I decided to wrap the gift itself in my favourite style, which is plain tissue and a gorgeous ribbon. (This even works with plain copy paper if your gift is small enough and it looks fabulous!) The ribbon I've used here is from the American Crafts Lucky Dip which gives you 5 fabulous ribbons in metre long lengths for a mere £1!!! So another bargain!!

I hope my friend doesn't think I'm *cheap* if she reads this post!!! lol

Thursday 22 May 2008

Drop Dead!

Hi everyone, me again {Alix} with a wee offering for your amusement and possibly inspiration.

I've really enjoyed doing this project. I've used the Drop Dead Red pp (which can be found here) and a wooden blank {you could just as easily use thick card to cut out the shape} to make a door hanger for a stroppy teenage girl. I've painted the blank with acrylic paint and used glue to attach the torn strips of pp and the skull that I cut out with scissors. I've then added the felt shapes from the Die Cut Felt Sheets. Actually the shapes I've chosen are officially the *waste* but I really liked thier quirky swirly nature so I used them anyway!


I then inked the edges in black using a permanent inkpad, added gemstones to one of the felt shapes and to the torn strips. I tied a heart charm on with some oddments of ribbon {there are a huge selection of charms here}, added a holographic flower shaped button and another piece of ribbon near the bottom and placed one spotty flower with a red gem centre at the top. And there you have it...


This is exactly the sort of thing I would have loved...and I dare say there are a few stroppy teenagers left in the world now...do you know any of them?? {I do!!!}

Friday 16 May 2008

Do You Google???

We have been having major problems with our pop3 e-mail accounts - affecting both my personal & the store e-mails that I've finally given in and got a seperate gmail addy for the store. If you have sent us an e-mail in the past week I probably haven't got it - please send it again using this new address

That also means that I've not received account requests for the forum or DT entries - I will be extending the deadline to reflect that - it's only fair!! Best bookmark the new addy now so you have it when you need it! LOL

Thursday 15 May 2008

want to make quick cards? for any occassion?

...then this could be just the solution for you!! Our amazing Lucky Dip Stamp Offer gets you an incredible *THREE* wooden backed stamps for *£1.00*!!!! I've designed a very simple sketch to use any of the stamps to make a cute card in less than 5 minutes...are you ready? ;)


my sketch is this:














its incredibly basic...but it works...and here are the 3 cards I made with my Lucky Dip:




I've created a happy birthday card{cake stamp},
an invitation for drinks {cocktail glass stamp}
and a invitation to watch a school rugby game {ball stamp}.




What will you create? I'd love to see them so do e-mail your examples in to the gallery! :)

Sunday 11 May 2008

And the search is on ...

Due to family commitments, Looby has had to leave us - leaving a huge gaping void that needs to be filled. We have said our goodbyes so all that is left is the question: could you fill that void? The search is on for two new members to join our team. Interested? Read on ...

Each DT member is required to do a minimum of:

  • 1 blog post per week - you may choose to post twice per week (& receive a bigger kit to reflect this).
  • You will also be expected to take part in setting challenges for visitors to the blog (by rota, once every 3-4 months) & to take part in challenges set by the other DT members.
  • Post daily on our forum, organise swaps and other events & generally to help to build our online community.
  • Promote the webstore through your personal blogs, message boards (where permitted) etc.

This is quite a commitment, so please do think carefully about whether you have the time & enthusiasm to take part before you apply. So, are you up for it?

If you'd like to be considered, please email scans or photographs of your submissions to us with ‘DT entry’ and your name in the subject line by midnight (BST) May 31st, 2008. Please keep your file sizes under 200kb.

  • Create a total of 5 pieces to enter. Your collective works should cover at least 3 of the following categories to demonstrate your ability to work in various mediums.
    • Layouts (any size)
    • Mini Albums
    • Home Décor
    • Cards
    • Other Paper Crafts (art journals, ATCs etc.)
    Please let us know if you have used any special techniques & give a brief breakdown of the products you have used. If you have products that we stock, please do show us what you can do with that - this is encouraged but not compulsory.
Please tell us the following information (if applicable):
  • Please give links to any blogs, public galleries, online resumes etc that you might have.
  • What scrapbook/art-related message boards are you active on? What is your user name on each?
  • Are you currently or have you ever been on a design team? Whose/when?
  • Have you ever had designs published in the scrapbook industry? If so when/where?
  • Have you ever/do you work at a local scrapbook store or craft chain store? If so when/where?
  • Full name, address, e-mail address, telephone number
  • Please also write a paragraph about why you’d like a place on this Design Team
  • Come & join us on the forum – we want to get a real sense of who you are. We require all entrants to have a minimum 10 posts prior to the close of the DT call. Be sure to include your username for this forum in your application.
  • Write a review for any product in our webstore – you will need a login account, which is free to create & no purchase is necessary.
Age & experience are less important than your passion for craft. I'd need a commitment for 6 months, although you could be invited to stay for longer. There is no pay as such but you would receive a kit of goodies each month & the chance to showcase your work - anything you make is yours to keep & we only ask that you do not post it elsewhere before it appears on our blog.
As we are a small store with a limited budget, we can only accept entries from the UK/BFPO at this time (sorry!) UNLESS international applicants are happy to contribute the additional postal charges.

Questions?? Please post to the forum, where answers will also be posted.

Friday 9 May 2008

Got Birds???

I'm loving the current trend for birds right now & whipped up these simple collage cards from just 2 sheets of Brenda Walton's Mira Collection (K&Co) & this week's Di Hickman card sketch. The first one is embellished with die cut velvet ric rac, the second with Bazzill mini ric rac, the third with ribbon from our lucky dip and the fourth uses a combination.
I've also used a tag from this pad - super value at just £1.99 for 24 tags & the 'bird greetings' are A Muse stamps, which are now sold out (you gotta grab these bargains quick! LOL)
This is one of TWELVE new collections that we have added in the last month or so - check them all out here.

Oh! and a quick heads up ... you might want to be stalking the blog over the next couple of days ...
there's an announcement coming up soon!

Saturday 3 May 2008

May Challenge



Yep, it's my turn to challenge you this month, and that challenge is to create a project that includes felt or fabric.


Here are a couple of examples for you, both using the Fancy Pants Holly Jolly range. For this layout I used some gorgeous Queen & Co felt fusion, the title was hand cut from friendly felt and I also added one of these really cool fabric yo yos. For the card I used this really yummy pink swirl felt fusion.


There's lots of ways to incorporate felt and fabric into your projects, and we can't wait to see what you come up with! You have until 7th June to get your entry in, and just leave us a comment with a link to your project.


Have fun!!

Thursday 1 May 2008

We Have a Winner!!

HUGE congratulations to BIBI whose name was first out of the hat to win April's Monthly challenge.
E-mail us your addy & favourite colours & we'll pop it in the post!

Wanna know what Bibi won? A big bunch of American Crafts ribbons with a RRP of over £30!!!
We have these on a fabulous special offer right now - bundles of 5 individual metres for just £1 - & at that price, why not treat yourself to a bundle or 3.

Looby will be setting the next challenge this Saturday - & with it being National Scrapbooking Day in the US (although we're prone to joining in too!) there will be an extra special prize this month - so don't forget to check back then!!