Christmas Flower

Today I challenged myself to make a christmas card using up some un-christmassy stash. I covered the background of the card with some paper from the March PS kit and stamped over it using a christmas text stamp and silver ink. I then wrapped some yummy american crafts ribbon around the card and fixed it on the inside by stapling it to itself. The embellishment is made from one of the flowers from the september scrapjunkie embelishment kit which I coated with some silver glitter glue. The centre of the flower is a circle cut from some felt from the same kit and secured with a brad.

Don't forget that there is 20% off in the store right now, check out the details here.

Celebrate the Season

Well we are finally back after our little break, all refreshed and ready to go. Have you missed us??

I am going to kick things off with a challenge. Because I love autumn so much, I challenge you to celebrate the season!! Create something with an autumnal theme. Scrap your autumn pictures or use the colours of autumn as inspiration for a card. Perhaps even create an autumn themed altered art project.

I have created a layout with one of my recent photos. I used a sheet of white bazzill cardstock as my base. The patterned papers are yummy american crafts which came out of the 12x12 lucky dip. The leaves and the word autumn were cut from the reverse of some of the papers and doodled on with black marker pen. The rest of the title is made up of colour rubz alpha rub ons. These rub ons are fab value for money as you get loads of each letter in two different colours all in a cute little tin (they go on perfectly as well even onto photos). Finally to finish off I made a photo corner from a piece of felt from the september scrapjunkie kit and some brads.

I can't wait to see what you come up with...

Guv here! Just popping by to say, we will have a random drawing for the winner(s) this month. & there'll be shopping vouchers for our store up for grabs!! how many & how much is totally up to you. More entries means more vouchers/£££!! So spread the word!!

Thanks!

For this card I used some of the gorgeous Cloud9 Designs Cocoa Mint range. The papers I used here are Simple Stripes and Mint Swirl. The topper is a Heidi Swapp Mirror Bird (there are also mirror butterflies and flowers available) which I layered on a piece of brown felt from the September Scrapjunkie Kit. I edged the felt with a gold pen for an extra bit of bling. To finish the card I used a strip of American Crafts Ribbon and some Cosmo Cricket So Precious Rub Ons.

I love mumwitches

This layout is all about the fact that my mum makes such yummy sandwitches. For the base I used a sheet of White Bazzill Cardstock. I then printed out my photo A4 sized and cut it out to remove the distracting background. To make the sunburst effect I used strips of American Crafts Ribbon (I think most of these ones are 'cyan' and 'coral'). I die cut the letters for the title from papers out of the March Personal Shoppers Kit and hand cut the heart from a piece of felt out of the September Scrapjunkie Kit. To bling it up a bit I inked the edges of the heart and covered it in glitter.

The journalling reads "My Mum makes the tastiest sandwitch's. Even if its just ham + bread + butter, she can make it taste so amazing! Everyone loves her salmon sandwitches, but for me this one sandwitch has to be the best ever. Made by my Mum in Spain - it has to be the tastiest sandwitch of my life to date. I 'heart' mumwitches - summer 2008"

Caterpillar card

I made this card for my friends little boy who is about to turn one. His mum loves anything fun and funky so when I saw the pompoms in this months Scrapjunkie Embellishment Kit I just knew what I had to do with them!

If you've not had a look at these new kits then check them out. This months kit is titled Can You Feel It? and is full of yummy textures. There's velvet ribbon, lace, felt, grungeboard and the coolest ever 'leather' alphabet stickers. I've done nothing but stroke since I got my hands on it all!

Anyway, back to my card. I used a sheet of KI memories paper from the Lucky Dip as my background. I then worked out where my bug was going and pierced holes at either side of each pompom. The pompoms from the kit have a little tube running through the middle of them so I threaded them with wire and wired them on to the card rather than trying to glue them on (much easier and neater as I always get in a mess with glue, lol).

To make the bug's legs I cut very thin strips of lime green felt from the kit and threaded this through the hole in each pompom. I finished off my bug with a couple of eyes made from white card and a couple of adhesive gems and a mouth cut from fuchsia felt from the kit.

To give an added bit of interest I made a tab from a bit of American Crafts Ribbon which I attached with three brads.

Finally for the greeting I hand cut a large '1' from blue felt from the kit (handy tip - white journalling pen is great for drawing your design on the felt before cutting out). I then added the word 'today' using the Color Rubz Rub Ons in yellow/orange. I love these so much, you get loads of each letter with two different colours in each set and they come packaged in their own cute little tin. To make me like them even better, they're on offer at the moment in loads of different colours!

Creatures mini book

Firstly I want to apologise for the dreadful photos. Grrrr to the British weather, can't remember when I last managed to get any natural light shots of my creations!

Flicking through my photos recently I found I had a lot of "wildlife photography" dotted throughout my collection. None of these photos were particularly good shots (most taken in rather a hurry) so I hadn't used them on any layouts. When I saw the new Cloud 9 Cocoa Mint collection I knew it would make a perfect mini book to display my photos.

I made the pages from some thick card (a cereal packet) which I cut into circles and inked round the edges. I then covered both sides with patterned paper from the collection. The papers are double sided with a plain colour on the reverse so I made one side of each page patterned and the other plain.

I journalled directly onto my photos in photoshop before I printed them out, with little arrows pointing to the creature. I inked round the edge of each photo with brown ink before sticking them on the pages.

Finally I punched a hole in the top of each page and used a bookring to fasten them together. I decorated the bookring by knotting some American Crafts ribbon around it.

For the cover I stamped the individual letters of my title on to strips of the reverse side of one of the papers (Simple Stripes). I cut each letter off the strip and stuck them all down with foam pads.

Finally I added two flowers cut from another sheet of paper also attached with foam pads for extra dimension.

Don't you just love that monkey's face? He really looks like he's enjoying that rock. He stole it from a little old lady when we were at the top of the Rock of Gibraltar!

Birdie Cards

For this first card I used two K&Co Urban Rhapsody papers (Word Confetti and Sugar Rush) and covered the join with a piece of ribbon from the American Crafts Lucky Dip. I then cut a birdie from the Birds the Word paper and edged him in gold pen to make him stand out from the background before attaching him with foam pads. Finally I added the "hello!" greeting using some Color Rubz rub ons. They come in a wide range of colours (I used yellow/orange here) in an adorable tin and even better they're on special offer in the store right now!

For my second card I used a piece of card from the March Personal Shoppers Kit as my base. Because it has a white core I was able to sand it to distress the edges. I then created a border using more American Crafts ribbon and a couple of American Crafts brads (which are also on offer at the moment). I cut another birdie from the Birds the Word paper and used more of the Color Rubz rub ons on a couple of scraps of the same paper for the "hi" greeting. All of these were edged with gold pen before being attached with foam pads.

Monthly Challenge

Its time again for the monthly challenge, where did July go? For August, because I love getting messy, I'm challenging you to use paint in your crafting. Paint a background for your layout, card or atc, paint journalling strips on a photo, use paint to alter your embelishments. I'd love to see the ideas you all come up with.

For the base of my layout I used a sheet of textured cardstock from the March 07 Personal Shopper kit. I then used a sheet of paper from the lucky dip pack and hand cut scallops to make a frame. I edged the scallops with acrylic paint to make them stand out from the background.
I then marked the position of my photo and painted a mat for it with more acrylic paint. I also braved painting my title by hand too.
I created a flower embelishment from some American Crafts ribbon by sewing along one side and drawing the thread tight to create a kind of rosette.

You have until the end of the month to enter and the prize is a fab kit of yummy stuff from the shop and a guest design team spot for October ... we work months ahead here you know! LOL.

Cloud 9 Birthday Card

Have you checked out the range of Cloud9 Design goodies in the shop yet? The designs are beautiful and each sheet has a plain colour on the other side making them so versatile for card making or scrapbooking.

I used a sheet of Paradise Large Floral paper for this card along with a chipboard butterfly from the Li'l Butterflies pack. I inked the butterfly with pink pigment ink and then embossed with holographic embossing powder. For the greeting I stamped onto a piece of ribbon from the American Crafts lucky dip using a permanent ink.

Don't forget to check out Guv's blog to see where the 40 days party is today!

Helping hands!

Just a quick layout from me today, using some American Crafts papers that came in the 12x12 lucky dip which is on offer at the moment giving you 12 assorted sheets for just £1! What a great bargain! I used a full sheet of double sided paper as my background, used a second sheet as a large mat for the photo and then used the reverse of another sheet to cut out my title and journalling strips. If I keep going at this rate I'll be able to make about 6 or 7 layouts for just a pound!

Don't forget to keep checking out Guv's blog as there's something new each day during her 40 days celebrations. Also if you haven't already done it then pop over to my blog to tell me what you love to do on your birthday and you could win my mini book. As if that wasn't enough goodies then the pink challenge is open until midnight on Sunday so don't forget to email your entries before then!

Birthday wall hanging

More Urban Rhapsody from me today - I really do love these papers.

It was my mums birthday last month and because she has always kept all the cards I've made for her I thought I'd make something that could be displayed even after her birthday.

I used some chipboard which I covered in patterened paper on both sides and punched holes along the edges. I then laced them together using lots of yummy American Crafts ribbons and tied another ribbon at the top to hang it up.

I decorated the front with letters cut from scraps and a few blossoms. On the back I stuck photos from our recent holiday to Spain.

Just a reminder, have you checked out Guv's blog to see where the 40days blog hop is off to today and what yummyness is up for grabs?

40 days - the pink one!

Do you like pink? I know that the Guv does and so do I. My challenge to you today is to create something predominantly pink. A card, a layout, a mini book or a piece of altered art, whatever you fancy. If you email your creation to the Guv, she's is going to select one lucky winner to receive all this scrummy pink stash. Don't forget to put a comment on here so we can all go and have a look at your work.

I created my first card using papers from the March 07 personal shopper kit and a chipboard birthday cake from the chipboard bumper pack. To embellish it I used a piece of American Crafts ribbon. For the greeting I used a Tim Holtz Adage Ticket, I added the words "make a" with rub ons and attached it with a cool paperclip which came in the ps kit.

For my second card I used some of the fab Core'dinations cardstock which I embossed and then distressed with an emery board. I got out my craft knife and cut one of the cute feathered birds in half and stuck him to the front of the card (I know it seems cruel but I couldn't fix the whole bird on there and now I have another one to use for something else!) I stamped the greeting onto some more paper from my ps kit and raised it up on foam pads. To finish off I embellished the bottom of the card with some American Crafts ribbon and a cute little arrow brad from the ps kit.

Just to let you know, you need to email your entry by midnight BST on Sunday 19th July 2008.

Happy Birthday Countdown!

Have you been following our 40 days blog hop? Well in case you haven't...we're celebrating the upcoming 40th Birthday of our very own *GUV*, with a prize challenge every single day until the day itself!

Today is day 6 {I think!}, so you're not too late to join in...and here is today's challenge...I want to see your LO's, minibooks, cards or ATC's celebrating the best thing that ever happened on your Birthday...whatever it is...a special someone coming to visit...and special present...or a super outing...I want to know what is the best Birthday you've had, and why?

Because its Challenge Saturday, you have all month to enter, by e-mailing your projects to our Guv, and posting in the comments section below. The prize will be...to win the little book I've made below *40 things that make me happy* and a selection of goodies to enable you to easily finish the book {with your own journalling and photos...you probably don't want a book recording the things that make *ME* happy, right? ;) }

You will also get a kit from the Guv, enabling you to be the next months' Guest Designer...so what are you waiting for!!!

The book I've made is bound on a BIA and all the papers are from the Fancy Pants Crush and Sweet Pea collections. I've used velvet ric rac, American crafts ribbons, a cute charm and assorted *bling*.

Do join in the fun...and I can't wait to see all your creations!! :)

new DT members...new challenges...are you keeping up?

Hi everyone!

Alix here, and wow its busy around here lately! Have you checked out our new DT members? Welcome to both of you :) and have you entered our monthly challenge yet? *if not...what are you waiting for...their is stash at stake here!!! lol*

Here is my latest project...altered mini-cubes. These wooden cubes are only 99p for three, which I think is a bargain...and they are little so they sit perfectly on your desk, or window sill, even on the mantel piece without taking up too much space.

I've decorated mine with pp from the HOTP PS Kits, using a glue stick. Easy. I've stamped some sides with our initials using a selection of alphabet stamps {but you could use letter stickers or a die-cutter}, and added photos of us both {me on the A cube and him on the D cube}. The other cube is stamped on each side with an ampersand or a star from the HOTP Thingamajigs stamp set. Even the other half likes these, so they must be quite cute!! lol

Project #2 today is the evening LO from my friend's recent birthday. Its called *Lets drink...PINK* and I've made it using the gorgeous Mira collection papers. Do check these papers out, they are such a fun, artistic, colourful and happy collection...perfect for all sorts of occassions.

I've also used American Crafts ribbons, red blooms, pink flower gems and some felt accents. The circle is from the die-cut felt sheets and the pink butterfly is punched from Friendly Felt...you remember how much I love this stuff, right? ;)

So there it is...my contribution for today. I hope it inspires you in some little way to get on and make a little something *NOW*

Enjoy.

:)

Happy days...

Hi everyone,

Here I am again with 2 projects both in honour of special, happy days. Firstly, a LO of the trip out Katy and I had on the morning of her birthday. And secondly, a cute idea for wrapping up a Fathers' day gift!

Lets start with the LO. Here I've used 3 of the Mira collection papers which are scrummy! They are totally on trend with all the flowers and colours and birds...there will be more projects coming up using these papers...because I just can't get enough of them!!! :) I've co-ordinated the papers here with some of the American Crafts ribbons (still on special offer), a couple of blooms, with foam spots as their centres {covered with orange glitter}. I've used a cute ribbon slider for the date and 1 of the yummy journalling cards...for...my journalling! To make the arrowhead, I simply cut the corner off a slide mount. Finally, I added a little acetate tag from one of the HOTP PS Kits.

My second project today is a decorated bottle box, for Fathers' Day. This box originally was given to my other half for Christmas with a bottle of his favourite tipple in...but now it houses a single Malt Whiskey! ;)

I covered the whole tube in one sheet of 12x12 from the HOTP PS Kits and adhered co-ordinating ribbon around both the top and the bottom (to cover the gap!) I used another of those fantastically beautiful journalling cards to make a giant gift tap and stamped *happy fathers' day* on it in Stazon.

As you can see I made an error in my stamping...stamping Bay instead of Day...*rolls eyes*...but rather than cover it up, I decided to make a feature out of my mistake and attached a smaller tag which reads *from your Dyslexic daughter-in-law*!!! I'm sure it will make him smile...jokes at my expense seem amuse most people!! lol The tag was made using one of the giant paper punches now only £5!!

That's all for now folks...have a great weekend...I'm off to SAG for some intensive scrapping and catching up with my girlfriends. So I should have lots of new ideas when I come back! :)

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

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!!

Challenge #31

My turn to challenge you all this week!

In honour of Mothering Sunday tomorrow, the challenge is to create something for/about the special women in our lives (not necessarily mums!). It could be a Mother's Day card, a minibook or LO about a special woman or even a little handcrafted gift for that special lady!

For this LO of me aged 18 months and my wonderful mum, I've used the Fancy Pants Holly Jolly papers and die cuts (they're not just for Christmas! LOL) and some American Crafts ribbons (which are on an amazing deal in the webshop!). The journalling spot was cut from this paper, with a Marvy scalloped punch.

Don't forget to email your challenge entries to sales@croptilyoudrop.co.uk so that we can put them in our gallery (also leave a comment on this post so we know you've done the challenge). At the end of the month, the DT will pick their favourite and the winner gets a fabby little stash prize!

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!

Mother's Day & New Home

Hello, well Mother's Day comes early this year on 2nd March so I thought I'd do mine early!

Here's a little pressie idea, a plant pot decoration. So easy to do you could get your children to make it. I found an old plastic drinking straw and decorated it. First I cut out some flowers using the friendly felt . As I'm not too good at drawing I used some chipboard flowers to act as a stencil. For the leaves I used a template free from the net. To add a bit of decoration I threaded some ribbon through one of the buttons that I had from a big bag of buttons that you can get from the Crop til you Drop webshop. And what a bargain!! A bag of buttons for only £1!! To the "stalk" I added more ribbon and a "Happy Mother's Day" which I printed off from my computer.

My second piece is a Mother's Day card. I had to use the Vintage Sara Papers from Hot Off The Press again for this one. They are so right for this sort of card. So I covered the card blank in the papers, tearing a co-ordinationg piece to add to the right side and also some little corners. To the corners I added the little star shapes. In the middle I used two big blooms held together with a big brad. The "MUM" was made by sponging distress inks onto vellum letters.


My third piece is a "New Home"card. I used the American Crafts papers to cover the card, adding a strip of co-ordinating paper to the side. The little house was just right so that went into the centre and then I added some buttons for a bit of dimension. Finally the "New Home" was printed out on my computer and layered onto some card.