Papers are for life, not just for Christmas!

Who says Christmas ranges have to be used just for Christmas projects? Check out the gorgeous Holly Jolly Range by Fancy Pants - and don't let the name fool you - they're very versatile!!

When Guv sent us our new DT kits - I just knew that this Giant Butterfly from the CI Bare Elements Dimension pack was destined to be a wall hanging for my craft room! These packs are on special offer at the moment - and you get 3 12 x 12 sheets full of shapes too!

For this project I covered the Butterfly with the Snowflake paper from the Holly Jolly range, and then die cut my name from the Merrie Merrie paper. I added a butterfly and a heart from the die cut sheet and then added some flowers and a crown from the Fancy Pants Fashion Sense Felt (With Love) fabby little felt die cuts and you get LOADS in a pack!

For the actual hanging part, I plaited together 3 lengths of satin ribbon from this amazing clearance pack - 15m of ribbon for just £1!!

I'm in the Mood For LUUURVE!

I found out about this fabulous event through Adriann, who commented on my blog & really wanted to take part in it - so much so that I thought the store could do with joining in too.
The rules are simple enough:
Leave a comment on this post by 10am GMT on February 14th. Please also make sure that I have a way to contact you, either through your blog or leave me an e-mail address.
I will use a random number generator to pick the winner from all the comments on this post and announce it the same day.
This draw is open to everyone, whether or not they are hosting a giveaway for One World - One Heart or not (& yes DT, that means you too! LOL).

The winner will receive: A4 vellum, peel offs, charms, ribbon, a rubber stamp, card blanks, a pack of Inktense pencils and a storage box to keep it all in! It's all wrapped & tied with a red bow - ready to pop in the post to the winner.

I'll also do an extra draw for some surprise goodies for anyone who brings their friends over. So for every comment that mentions the name of the person that sent them here, that named person will go into a separate draw. I'll announce the winner of that draw on Valentine's day too!
Good luck everybody ... & spread the Luuurve.

Challenge #28 - I'm in the mood for love.

The DT Gals have finally let me post a challenge of my own - and about time too! LOL. So here goes: As it is Valentine's Day next Thursday the challenge is simply to create something on the theme of love - could be a card, layout, altered item, ATC - cupcakes even!

Next, e-mail us a piccy to put in the challenge gallery (and possibly to feature in the link here on the blog) THEN post a comment so that we all know that you've taken part & can go take a look in the gallery. At the end of each month, the DT vote on their favourite from all the entries to win a prize!

Feel free to put a link to your blog in the comment but you must e-mail the image to us as well!

To get you in the mood (as it were!) here is a li'l gift box I've made for my upcoming class over at MCC. So if you want the instructions etc - you'll have to join me there! All the materials are from the Personal Shopper February 2007 Kit, which is on sale in the webshop now.

Be sure to pop back again tomorrow - there's a li'l announcement coming up!

Kids & Layouts

Hiya. Well I'm not much of a scrapping kind of girl but..... I just couldn't bring myself to cut these fab papers up too much!! If I'd have made anything else it would have meant cutting them up and then you don't get to see just how lush they really are.
So this first one is of my daughter at her leaving assembly. Though she hasn't really left she is in the 6th form now! I used the Creative Imaginations - Renae's House for this layout. They are double sided so I used the stripe side as the base and then added a torn off strip along the bottom from the other side of the paper. Sacrilege, I cut out some of the flowers from another sheet of paper from the same range and used 3D pads to stick them on so they would stand out. I also added some red buttons so that they could co-ordinate with Sigourney's top. Along the bottom of the torn strip I added some red and white spotty ribbon to co-ordinate again. The title is computer generated.

The next layout is using a recent school photo of my two youngest. I loved the sepia photo best. Don't they look angelic? Not always like that though!
For this one I used the American Crafts Bookshelf range. To add a bit of detail to the paper I added a strip of contrasting paper , again from another sheet of the Bookshelf range. To cover the joins I stuck a strip of ribbon on the top and bottom, which I think went really well with the circle and stripe paper. Then to add a fun touch I stuck buttons onto the circles, trying to match up the same colours. The little rub on words "hug" and "pal" seemed just right for this layout. (just to let you know these rub ons are great value as they are in the shop with 50% off!!!!) And again the text was computer generated.

And if you are thinking that I've used a lot of buttons well... for only £1 a bag, how can you go wrong????

Quite simple to do but I think really effective!

Let's kit together!

I love the HOTP Personal Shopper kits - everything you need in one box and all perfectly co-ordinated for you!

For this LO I used the February 07 kit. I used a plain paper for the background, a couple of lengths of the patterned paper, some ribbons and the gorgeous crocheted trim. The little circles come from the artwork sheet in the kit. The "family" acetate overlay is also from the kit, and I attached this to the photo with brads. I then added a doodled frame, and some doodling in the bottom corner.

You can purchase this kit from the webshop HERE (and at an amazing 25% off!!) And if you want some more inspiration on how to use it, why not check out Guv's class over at My Creative Classroom? It starts on February 14th and runs for 6 whole weeks. It includes tons of projects, all from this one kit, including scrapbooking, cards and altered items. You can find all the details HERE.

Challenge #27 - Make your own embellishments!

Hi everyone!

Remember the days when crafting was about *making something* out of whatever you had to hand? Well this week I've gone a bit nostalgic...and I'm putting aside all those beautiful ready made embellishments in favour of something I've made myself...

My challenge to you is to do the same! You can enter a card, a LO, an altered item or an ATC...but the embellies must be all your own work...and not *bought*, OK?

Here are some ideas to get you going:

My first card is really far down the nostalgia track...its embroidered fuschias...done with an eyelet hole punch and some HOTP sheer ribbons from the Classic Collection {plus some green which I randomly had!} The greeting is from the HOTP word fragments.


My second card is a handmade shaker box card, made from a HOTP slide mount and two little pieces of acetate left from the HOTP acetate overlay we had months ago!! I've covered a blank card and the slide mount with pp's from the Boy to Men Busy Scrappers set, added a little chunky crystal glitter to the inside and a cute charm to the outside. I've also popped an offcut of ribbon from the HOTP Citrus Embellishment set and 4 gold square brads onto the box. Finally, I've drawn around the box and written my sentiment in by hand...do you remember hand writing? lol
How about a bunch of flowers to cheer the day along? These flowers on sticks {and hearts and butterflies too :) } are in all the shops atm...and I love them! Here I'm showing how many different styles of flowers you can make from just your offcuts of pp, a felt pen and some odd brads and charms. The large brads are the HOTP Really Big Brads. You could also use, felt, buttons, bottle tops...anything you like the look of to make the centres...let your imagination go wild!

Finally, I've made and embellished a box to give my loved one his favourite biscuits in on Valentines' Day. :-x I've used the same Boys to Men pp's, a HOTP alphabet sheet, some heart shaped brads from the Cooking set of Brad Buddies and a pair of scissors! Pretty cute, huh? :)

Ok, so you've seen my examples...do join in the Challenge and let me see what you can do. Simply e-mail your entry and then comment in this post to let us all know your work of art is in the gallery to be admired.

Good luck...and remember to check back at the end of the month to see if you are Feb's Challenge Winner!!

Check out MCC!!

WOW! I have been spending loads of time over at My Creative Classroom this week where our very own Guv is teaching! There are loads of free classes, tips, techniques, competitions and chats going on all the time and have I been having some serious fun!! I have made absolutely loads of stunning stuff. The hard bit is deciding what to show off first!!

First one, was this page using gathered flowers, I love making these and these were just strips of old torn material. I used Creative Imaginations Paper Drop Dead Red, a HOTP Great Big Brad with a Great Big Brad rub-on and some buttons for the flower centres.
This was a fantastic technique and I will definately be doing more of these in the future!
Incidentally, my beautiful boy isn't at all dangerous unless he's hanging off your finger!! LOL! Bless him!

This card was also for the gathered flowers I used a piece of organza ribbon for the flower this time and the card itself was made from the HOTP Personal Shopper Kit December 06, I LOVE that brad that came with it, these kits are amazing, I STILL have loads left!! Think I will go and find some more classes to do!

This little giftbag was for one of Beverley's classes, using a patchwork technique, you can all the information and template over at MCC. I used Renae's House Aubrey papers, this one is Blossom, I used a lilac gel pen for the stitching, added a little charm, a scrap of ribbon and a sticker that I found at the back of the drawer!!


Next week Beverley is doing a kit class (can't wait!) Lets Kit Together: LOVE class using the HOTP Personnal Shopper Kit Feb 07 (and it's on sale in the webshop!!!) It looks really good, will definately be doing this. Have a look over at My Creative Classroom for more information.