Do you follow us??

I know we have a whole bunch of regular visitors, so I've added the li'l 'followers' gadget to the blog. Sadly, it's looking a bit sad right now ... so come on over & let the world know that you are following us!
I'll be doing a random drawing at the end of the month from all our followers & sending some luscious goodies out. There's no telling how many li'l prizes there might be ... let's see how many followers we have first! LOL.
Oh! I guess I should say, international followers are also very welcome!!

Check out my blog too - there's another random drawing there for followers!

The Penultimate One!!!

Day #39 of my 40-Days birthday event ... & the very last round of Guv's Celebrity Squares today.

As you can see ... my baby Auryn, #8, AKA DS4 was holding the prize for the last round ... I announced the winner on my blog yesterday, Stampinc. Now the boy is a li'l obsessed with stickers ... so there's a whole bunch of them on way to Cathy in the USA (TN if that means anything to you ... my American Geography is only marginally worse than my UK knowledge! LOL)
As we are not getting the thousands of correct entries that I'd hoped for each time ... this round is again open to everybody! Get your guesses in by midnight on August 14th for our final draw of this particular event! Good luck to you all ... & thanks sooooo much for joining in my birthday bash ... I hope that you will all become regular visitors and maybe join in with some of our other events in the future.

In case you need a reminder of who we all are: #1 Alix; #3 Guv (that's me!); #4 Elliemook; #6 Sean (DS1); #7 Phoenix; #9 Jay

Silly Pix!

For most of us, a big part of our crafting is scrapbooking ... & that means photos. So, for today's 40 Day event we want to see your silliest photos. We all have them, so from the mildly amusing to the downright daft, leave a comment with a link to your blog/gallery so we can come see. No blog? e-mail them instead!
And here's mine: DS4 has a big thing for clothes pegs ... and will beg & plead 'peg me, peg me!' whenever we hang out the laundry. Silly? I think so! LOL
Get your entries in by Midnight BST on August 8th & the DT will pick their fave to win a scrappy RAK from us!

Guv's Celebrity Squares ... Round #3

Oh dear! We aren't doing too well with this li'l game so far! LOL. Our first winner hasn't been in touch & nobody guessed that #2, Dean (DS3) had the prize this time. Now my Dean is known to be a bit of a charmer ... so the prize he holds is a bunch of charms!
The good news is that we'll be drawing both prizes from everybody that entered round #2 ... and anybody can enter this round ... so we are starting afresh in effect!!
So, using the random generator to pick our two winners (the first one for this round; the second is the re-draw from round #1) from the comments on this post, we have ...

3 5 

Timestamp: 2008-07-28 22:09:26 UTC

Congrats to: Jacey's Mom, who get's the charms & Ruth, who gets the metal stuff from the last round!! Get your snail mail addys to me & your prize will be in the post!!

OK - so this round is open to everybody (whether they have played so far or not!) All you have to do is post a comment by Midnight BST Saturday 2nd August & guess who has the prize ... your choices are:

1: Alix 3: Guv (That's Me!!) 4: Elliemook (Laura) 6: Sean (DS1) 7: Phoenix (Ruth) 8: Auryn (DS4) 9: Jayne (Jay670120)

Check back tomorrow for a sneak peek of something new & exciting!!

40 Days Recycling Challenge

Guv is ongoing guest DT member for the Arty Girlz Recycling Challenge. In honour of that and because I can never bear to throw stuff away, today's 40 days challenge has the theme of recycling.

I created a layout using a sheet of plain paper from my March 07 Personal Shopper Kit as the base. I used a piece of lovely wrapping paper I had saved from a gift instead of patterned paper and then created the title using letters cut from a magazine and a flattened bottle cap from a bottle of beer.

So basically, I challenge you to rummage through all those bits of useful stuff (rubbish ;o) ) you have collected and create something beautiful. Use found items to make a card, layout or atc or maybe alter a piece of packaging to make a gorgeous storage box for your scraproom. Post a link to your creation in the comments or if you don't have a blog then email your entry to the Guv. Closing date is Midnight BST Tuesday 5th August 2008.

Guv will be by later with details of the yummy prize up for grabs!

40 Days ... Guv's Celebrity Squares!!

You guys, LOL!! So the majority picked Auryn, my li'l cutie but that was just a li'l bit obvious for the first round, I thought. The guy with the prize was #5, Martin but as only one person picked him, I'm making up the rules now as a go along (cuz its my birthday bash & I can if I want to!) So what we are going to do is this: everybody gets to go through to the next round!! But before we get to that, lets talk winners & prizes ...

Now Martin is a bit of a metal-head ... so the prize is also a bit metal: Check out this bunch of metal embellies, which are gonna head on over to Fiona, who posted anonymously ... so long as she e-mails me by Sunday, July 27th - if not, we'll have 2 prizes drawn on the next round! If you enter online competitions, please do make sure to either give folks a way to contact you (blog links are fine) ... or keep checking back for the results!

1: Alix 2: Dean (DS3) 3: Guv (That's Me!!) 4: Elliemook (Laura) 6: Sean (DS1) 7: Phoenix (Ruth) 8: Auryn (DS4) 9: Jayne (Jay670120)

So, this round will end on Saturday, July 26th at midnight BST & the winner will be announced (I promise this time) on Sunday!!

All you have to do is post a comment and guess who is holding the prize this time - all those that guess correctly will be entered into a draw to win this round's prize & will also go through to the next round!

Good Luck!!

10,000 Hits Winner

Ooops! Sorry - posting a li'l later than promised - loooong day!
Anyways, I used the random integer generator, & it said #6. That was...

GINNY

who said: 'I love Laura's Bo Bunny Album'.

So Ginny gets the goodies ... & I'll be sending a li'l something to Laura (Elliemook) too!!

Guv's Celebrity Squares ... Round #1

Today we have a brand new game to play as part of the '40 days' celebrations ... Guv's Celebrity Squares! The Grid below contains pictures of 9 well-known celebrities (!) and one of them has a fabby prize to give away ... In case you are not up on the celeb gossip they are ME (obviously - a legend in my own lunch hour, me! LOL), the rest of the DT & my four fabulous boys! To help you, the squares are numbered & the list of names is below.
1: Alix 2: Dean (DS3) 3: Guv (That's Me!!) 4: Elliemook (Laura) 5: Martin (DS2) 6: Sean (DS1) 7: Phoenix (Ruth) 8: Auryn (DS4) 9: Jayne (Jay670120)

To play, All you have to do is post a comment with THE NAME of the 'celebrity' that you think has the prize. Everyone who guesses correctly by the closing date Friday July 18th, Midnight BST, will be entered into a draw to win the prize. Only those who guessed correctly will qualify for the next round and another fabby prize!
As it is all random (& no-one knows who has the prize ... only me!) I'm going to let the DT play along with this game too!
Please make sure that you check back on all the 40 days events that you have entered - we have a few winners who have not yet claimed their prizes - if we don't have e-mail addresses for you, we can't let you know!!

There are also tons of events still open - and even more still to come, so do be sure to check this post daily to find out!

I'll be back a li'l bit later today with the winner of the 10,000 hits draw & maybe a li'l project to share!

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!! :)

Do you want to win stuff???

Ooooooh! Bumper freebie post today! LOL

First up, it is your very last day to enter the Guest DT Challenge - all entries must be e-mailed by Midnight (BST) We have decided to hold a public vote to find our winner. Voting starts tomorrow, so if you have entered, make sure to let everyone know to come on over & place their votes!!
Find all the deets here - but remember, you only have until midnight tonight!

Next, you might already know that I, the Guv'nor, am to turn 40 later this year ... in 40 days to be precise! So I decided to share out the birthday treats & along with a whole bunch of my blogging buddies we have a blog-fest to beat all other birthday bashes. Check out my blog for all the deets

Ta Daa...the monthly challenge starts here!!

Well hello again and welcome to the all new Monthy Challenge on Blog til you Drop!

We have decided to abandon the weekly challenges, and instead run single challenge for the whole month, to give people more time to join in! At the end of the month the DT will choose a winner and they will win...actually that is still under negotiation at CTYD HQ...but trust us...it will be good!! :)

Ok, so the first of these challenges is to *repurpose* something for your crafting. In my examples I've repurposed 2 lots of packaging {a wooden draw that contained small screws and a cotton bud pot} but you can use anything you like or have lying around waiting for a new *purpose*. Its a lot like recyling really :) A few suggestions might be bottle tops, magazine pictures, the ribbon from your Easter egg...you get the idea...

As always you can enter a card, LO, home decor item or ATC...whatever you like really...we try to be pretty inclusive to all crafters here at BTYD. Just e-mail a photo over to Beverley and leave a comment in this post so that we all know to go and check out what you've done! You can also click on the gallery icon at the top of the page and comment on other people's entries too which is fun...

To get you started here are my examples. Firstly a wall hanging {what is it with me and wall art atm!!!} that I've made from a wooden draw that contained small screws. I've painted it, lined each section with off-cuts of paper from the Coffee House collection, and then stamped some stars onto the paper using a wooden star as a stamp. Then I've added some photos, charms and buttons, and some of the amazing felt die-cuts which are available here. For my purposes I've roughed them up a bit by finger painting some paint onto the edges :) *i do love to get messy*

Then I've used my Cropadile to make holes for the sheer ribbon, and added another charm hanging at the bottom. I have to say I'm quite pleased with the end result!

My second example is very simple and uses a cardboard pot covered in stips of ribbon, and then embellished with an assortment of felt and paper flowers to give a fun, funky place to store all sorts of crafting bits and bobs!

Righty ho then, I hope I've given you something to think about...and you'll join in with the new style challenges...and I look forward to seeing all your creations!

the all new monthly challenge...

is coming...but it seems my camera is almost as poorly as my MIL atm...and its just unformatted itself...which means i've lost all my photos!!!

i'm off to take some more...but its pretty dark here now...so please bear with me!!

it will be worth the wait...*promise* :)

and the February Winner is....

Elaine Charters!!!
Well done Elaine, we all loved your handmade dream catcher and overall card design. Remember to e-mail your postal address to the Guv so she can send out your prize! :) I hope to see you entering again next month...and come on all you shy types out there...give it a go...you might just win too!!

OK, so what else do I have to share? Well, here is a 12x12 LO of my OH and me at our engagement dinner {looking a bit hot and flustered but there you go...lol}.

The base card, the two matts and the chipboard embellishments are from the Promenade collection {one of my current faves :) } The flying embellishment is made from my left-overs from the Crush collection {papers and die-cuts} and they are tied together by inking all the edges with red chalk ink {currently 20% off...see here}. The title is stamped using an old alphabet {sorry don't even remember who its by!} but could just as easily be die-cut or made from stickers, etc. Finally, I have a useful notebook to show you. I am cognitively challenged and find life much easier if I constantly write down the things I need to do/remember...so I thought I'd make myself a cute little notebook! I've used one of the huge butterfly chipboard shapes and cut it in half to make book covers. These chipboard shapes are 30% off atm...so get them while you can!!

As you can see, I've covered the covers {so to speak} and made the pages from the Vanessa Arbuthnott papers...which are a staggering 13p each {75% off!!!}. These papers are super pretty, pale enough to write on, and at that price...cheap enough to use for a super pretty shopping list!! The book is tied together with ribbons from the Lucky Dip selections and although the satin has sold out...the organza is still available here. The embellishments on the from cover are some I made a while ago from the Friendly Felt selection...and if you still haven't tried this stuff...please do!! It is a dream to work with...looks fantastic...and is available here with 50% off !

So that is me for today...off for a lie down and a browse through a wedding magazine...its getting pretty close now!! Have a good day yourselves...and see you again soon.

xx

It's my turn to blog today, so here's a couple of layouts that I have taught in our classes locally. The first uses Fancy Pants Holly Jolly papers and the second is Fancy Pants Sweet Pea. Check out the sweet li'l chalked flowers on the second layout - they started life as these. If you don't live nearby & moving house is out of the question, watch out for deets of my new online classes coming to the webshop - and this blog - within the week.
Anyway - let's talk bargains. Today, I have added more A Muse wood mounted rubber stamps to the sale - at 75% off. There are now around 90 designs to choose from (with more coming v. soon!) I also added a special offer on the Fancy Pants Fashion Sense Felt - 25% off while stocks last - but you'll have to be quick - there's only a couple left!
If that's not enough to tempt you, we still have a few 8x8 albums at under £4, Brad Buddies at £1 and 500+ products all at big discounts. These offers are strictly while stocks last & I don't suppose it's much of a surprise that they are selling out almost as fast as I can get them online! LOL.
There are 10 days left to write a review and enter the draw to win £30 of absolutely free stash - so what are you waiting for??? Get all the deets now!

I also have a li'l bit of v. big & exciting news myself - check it out here!

6x6 Paper Pads for 75p???

Yep! that's right! As part of our massive clearance sale we have English Paper Company 6x6 paper pads from 75p and looooads of other bargains under £1. Be sure to check out our clearance section; special offers and new 'Pound Stop' for huge savings.
You'll find bumper packs of ribbon - Satin Ribbons:15 metres for £1.00, Bo Bunny Ribbons at 62p, Organza Ribbons: 5 Metres for £1.00.
Love stamping? Look out for A Muse stamps at under £1.50, HOTP clear stamps sets under a fiver with lots more designs still to be added.
We've got some great Deals on Fancy Pants Biggest Board, Bo Bunny 'My Word' albums & Bare Elements books at 20% off; 50% off friendly felt (our DT's favourite product!!); Stickers from 45p; Brads and charms at under £1 per pack.
Not yet tried HOTP Personal Shopper kits? Choose from Card Makers kits at £6.99 (60% off!) or Scrapbooking at £9.50 (53% off!)
We are adding new sale products every day, so be sure to check back regularly for the best bargains!

Want Free Stuff? Write a review for any of the products you see in our webstore and be entered into the draw to win £30 of goodies. It only takes a few minutes & absolutely no purchase is necessary, so why not write more than one & increase your chance of winning! The draw will take place on March 16th, so hurry if you don't want to miss out! Check out the deets here!!

and the winner is...

the winner of last month's competition...is...Katy! Check out the winning LO here

well done you...and your yummy prize will be with you asap.

don't forget to enter the weekly challenges this month...to be in with a chance of winning next month's prize.

Challenge 24!

Hi Everyone,

Its *that time* again...time to set a lovely new Challenge! This week I am thinking all about the New Year and new possibilities...so I challenge you to do something new...anything new! This is a very open challenge, you could try a new technique, use a new product, try a new craft...or even just use a new colour {one you usually avoid makes for an interesting challenge!!}

To get you started I've done a few *new* things myself:

I've tried my had at box making and I'm really pleased with the results! I've made this little cutie out of friendly felt {which is on an amazing special offer in the webshop}, embroidery thread and a button.





















Thinking about what other new ideas I could conjure up for this yummy felt...I hit upon the idea of making a little giftbag {I am always short of these and I love them because they are so much more fun than wrapping paper.}

All thats left now is for you to show me your creations. Remember this challenge is open to all types of paper crafter...cardmakers {maybe use a new sketch}, scrapbookers {maybe try a new technique} and I think this time we'd better include general crafters too {as my examples use no fabric...why should yours!! lol}

As usual send your entries by e-mail and be sure to post a comment so that we all know to go and see what you've done! There is a fabulous prize awarded at the end of the month to the favourite entry as judged by the DT...so go on...I bet we'll love what you do!!

Challenge # 23

Hello folks! Hope everyone has had a fab Christmas and a great start to the new year! This here, is challenge # 23, a 8.5 x 11 LO sketch. I dont do this size scrapping much so it was a welcome change - hope you enjoy it! As always, feel free to flip, reverse or interpret it any way you will. It would work pretty well as an ATC or a card too maybe, would love to see what everyone comes up with.

Here is my interpretation of it, created using the Vintage Sarapapers available from the Crop Til You Drop webshop. I cut the title and the photo mat from Bo Bunny winter papers but thought they complemented the blues in the layout, and you cant tell they're wintery/christmassy papers!

So good luck folks - dont forget to email your entries into sales@croptilyoudrop.co.uk to be in with a chance of winning our monthly competition, judged by the design team! Leave a comment on this post so we'll know you have entered and we can pop over to the gallery here to have a look! And dont forget to check back daily to see more of what the DT have been creating!

Challenge # 21 - A stitch in time.....

Hi guys and welcome to this weeks challenge!!

Charli here - and my challenge to you this week is to use sewing on your projects!

Now in case you're like our Looby, and you're not keen on sewing - fear not!! The sewing or stitching could be real, doodled, rub on, or could be already on your paper as it is on the next LO I'll show you. First though, my really really stitched on LO, using the vintage sarapapers available from Bev at this email address - sales@croptilyoudrop.co.uk

I made my own flower petal template, cut round it a few times using different papers from the vintage sarapapers kit, then used a zig zag stitch to attach them to the page. I sewed a border around the page and made my own little tag with the quote on, also using papers from the kit, and a bit of stitching on too. I also added some tiny metal flower shaped embellies on the tag too. Added some button brads, and a naked chipboard button, painted pink and jazzed up with a little bit of ribbon.

Next LO - not a real bit of stitching in sight!! Used the English paper company collection of Christmas papers on this one, but just cut out the Christmas squares as my pic was not Christmas related!! Cut the title out of the same papers et voila!

So come on - have a go!! You could win yourself some fabulous goodies - email your entries to the above email address, and leave a comment here to let us know you have entered - then we can all have a peep!

Happy crafting to you folks!