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.

have you *bagged* yourself an entry yet?

Hi everyone!

Today is my day on the 40 days blog hop, so do pop over to my blog, you just might *bag* yourself some goodies!! Good luck!!

Today's LO is another one for my sister's wedding album...its that great moment when you sign the register and use your *new* name for the first time!!

The pp's I've used for this are from the Mira, HOTP PS and Day by Day collections. I love to combine ranges, it means that your page is a one of a kind, as its pretty unlikely that anyone else will choose all the same pp's! All I've added except pp is a few dots of acrylic paint, a flower shaped charm and a length of ribbon! Easy as pie really :)

Remember to vote above...and to look out for the new challenge which will be here on saturday!

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! :)

what do you make with cardstock?

...well...cards obviously!!! ;)

Here's one I've made for my bro-in-law. I've used a HOTP PS Kit, which makes life really easy, as everything is co-ordinated for you :) I like that...lol They are an absolute bargain at £9.50 each...you'll be amazed how much stuff you get...even an ideas booklet...just in case your mojo has taken a wander without you! I've added a slide mount {which I covered in the co-ordinating paper} and a bottle top, which was flattened in a Big Shot {I normally use a hammer, but I was at a friends' and couldn't resist trying it...so easy!!}


This card is one of those *exploding* ones, and I made it for Katy for her Birthday. My apologies for the dodgy photos...I only just got it finished before she arrived...so I had to photograph it super quickly!!! lol

The cardstock for this one is all from the Promenade Collection, which has a wonderful distressed look to it, in soft oranges, yellows and blues. It would be perfect for beachy themed LO's too. The chipboard embellies are from the same collection and I've used that yummy cake stamp again from the Lucky Dip Stamp Selection. I can't resist 3 wood mounted stamps for £1!!! Can you?
When you open the card up this is what you see, and its all tied together with a piece of ribbon.

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

More Personal Shopper!

Here's another Layout from the HOTP Personal Shopper kits - this time I've used the July 06 kit.

Again, everything on the LO is from the kit, with the exception of the Queen & Co Black Celtic Felt Fusion.

I used 3 of the papers from the Retro designs. For the scalloped circle I used a Marvy punch, then threaded the turquoise grosgrain through the metal book plate and positioned over the top. The "remember" card was attached using this gorgeous little clip, and I attached the plastic tile with black brads and then wrote on it with a permanent marker.

You can find all the Personal Shopper kits, at just £9.50 each 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!!

Challenge # 30 - Innovative Scraps

Hi everyone it's my turn to do the challenge this week and it's "Innovative Scraps". I have lots of scraps left in a box and I didn't want to throw them away so I thought what can I do different with them. So I have made two cards and two ATCs using the papers as strips. I paper weaved with them to give them a different look.

My first two pieces are baby cards. One for a boy and one for a girl.

I used HOTP papers from a HOTP personal shopper monthly kit for all of the card. All the kits from the shop have massive reductions on them, card kits and scrapbook kits. You can't go wrong with them , there are stacks of papers and embellies in the box. And you can make soooo much with them. They even come with a little idea booklet if you get stuck for ideas!
So for the large square in the middle of the two cards I weaved two contrasting papers. I also added a strip of one of the papers to the top of the cards. I then added the text using a rubber stamp. Lots to choose from at the shop and lots of bargains to be had on these too! 75% in most cases! To finish the cards off I added a little tied ribbon to the left hand corners of the text layer.

My next two items are ATCs. Again I used papers from a HOTP monthly kit. Both backgrounds are paper weaved in contrasting papers. For the first one I added a little label covered in two papers, tearing one to add some dimension. I then added a good luck charm to a little bit of ribbon with a brad and attached it to the label. The charms are brilliant I think I've added them to almost all of my projects. And if you take a little look in the shop you'll see that they have 70% off making them 90p for 6 metal charms!! What a bargain! There are lots of different themes to choose from too. For the second ATC I again used some paper weaving for the background and added a black slide edged with a silver pen. To the middle I again added one of the good luck charms which says "Go for it" and attached it to a piece of ribbon. On both ATCs I used a button for the right hand corners. They were both originally red but I coloured the second one silver with a pen. I thought they both needed some sort of text on them so to simplify I added the "good luck" on both of them by using a Helix alphabet stencil.

Why not try an "innovative way" of using your scraps and show us all here at Blog 'Til You Drop? You could win a prize at the end of the month by emailing us and we will then put your work in our gallery. If yours is the best one judged by the Design Team you'll be winning the prize.

Don't forget to leave us a message at the end of this posting so that we can all go and see your work.

Dad's Album

With all the Mother's day and Valentine's day cards and gifts going round I thought I'd do something different. So today I'm showing a little album that you can make for your Dad . It doesn't have to be for a Dad it could be for any male relative.

For the "pages" I have used the giant playing cards. The front page is covered with a paper from the Christmas 2006 HOTP kit. So it is quite versatile and not just for Christmas. The strip of transparency is also from HOTP. I added a little beer mug with a tiny little safety pin to the strip. The beer mug is from a set of charms, there are 6 in a pack and ... they are only 90p as they have 70% !!!! off. To add the title I cut out some of the circle letters and added a brad to adhere them.

For the 2nd and 3rd pages I again used some papers from the Christmas kit. I used the computer for all the text. On the 3rd page I used some of the lovely black glimmer paper and again added a charm with some ribbon. The little photo corners are made by cutting some triangles from a square of fabric swatch sticker. And just to let you know the fabric stickers have 75% off so they are only 45p!!!





Again the 4th and 5th pages were covered in the Christmas kit paper. The 4th page I added another fabric swatch sticker for a photo to go on. Another charm which says "beer beer" and that is held on by some ribbon and a brad too. And guess what the brads have 50% off too!! For the 5th page I cut out a rectangle so that some of the playing card showed through. I added a square piece of co-ordinating paper and cut out a spade to add to the corner. To finnish off this page I added a little silver domino. So this would be the "games" page .

For page 6 I again used the papers from the Christmas kit adding a strip of the fabric swatch sticker to the top. I then added some HOTP copper charms with the theme of travel. Page 7 was covered with the black glimmer paper but I cut out a circle so that the 8 of the playing card showed. I again added a transparency to the bottom and finally added some metal buttons.

To hold the album together I punched two holes and tied it all up with some ribbon.

With all the bargains to be had in the shop it works out to be a very inexpensive gift.

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!

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!!

Eye of the tiger

This LO is a fab way to use up scraps of paper. I used scraps from the HOTP Boys to men busy scrappers solution papers.

First I took a piece of plain beige paper, inked the edges and then stuck it to the centre of a piece of brown cardstock. I then tore random strips from the different patterned papers, inked the edges with a chestnut roan fluid chalk ink pad and randomly stuck them down to the left hand side. I matted the photo onto some plain brown paper, again with torn and ink edges, then added 3 brads from the HOTP masculine embellishabilities.

The title was stamped with A Muse alphabet stamps and then cut out. I then added some journalling and doodling with a brown fineliner. Finally I swept a cream ink pad around the edge of the LO.

Don't forget there's still time to take part in my challenge this week to use EYELETS - you can find all the details in this post.

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.

Scrapping with scraps!!

Hi Guys,

I'm thinking that everyone is a bit skint in Jan/Feb, just like me...so I've done some projects that literally do use the last scraps of my kit, to show just what you can achieve with not much stash!!

OK...umm...no laughing please ;-p This is my first school photo and yes...I do want to run and hide now!! lol

I've used the remnants of 4 sheets of American Crafts The Goods pp's and a sheet of plain purple cardstock. I've made my own embellishments out of Friendly Felt and a couple of brads. I've journalled with a white pen, using my non-dominant hand...which is all wobbly and reminiscent of my 4 year old writing! Finally, I've stamped a huge bracket and an exclamation mark {fromt the HOTP Thingamajig stamp set} in white to tie the papers and my stylish shirt together!

Et voila...something out of *nothing.*



This little card really does use the scraps! If anyone remembers the Advent Calendar I made back in November...well the felt frame on this card is made by cutting around the waste from the title letters which I cut using a friend's Big Shot! I've embellished the frame with more felt, some butterflies, a circle and 2 different flowers all of which I punched out using regular punches. However please do be careful...in my enthusiastic jumping up and down to punch through the felt...I did break one of my punches!!! Ooooops! Finally, I added a jewel brad to the flower and inked the edges all the way around. Job done!

Finally, I've used the remnants of all those yummy sheets of Friendly Felt...did any of you notice just how much I loved this stuff!! I've made an assortment of embellishments ready for my next projects...very handy when you're in a bit of a hurry to have something ready made!

I hope you like what I've done? Do leave me a comment to let me know...and E-mail Beverley for any of these productts...apart from that...happy *scrapping*...and see you again soon! :)

A Vintage Set

My turn again and today I'm showing you a vintage set comprising of a tag, a door hanger and an ATC.

For this tag I cut out the basic tag shape from some card and covered it with the lovely Sara's vintage papers from HOTP. The little piece at the bottom is black glimmer paper torn and decorated with a fabric sticker and some ribbon and the vintage looking button. The dog check fabric square in the middle is also a fabric sticker. I added some little corner pieces by cutting out triangles from some of the vintage papers. The little stars are also from HOTP.





The door hanger is along the same lines again I covered the hanger shape with the lovely Sara vintage papers. Everything is made by HOTP bar the little charm . To add a vintagey feel I sanded the white button and the brads. I tied the little grandfather clock charm to some ribbon and then added it to the hook.








And finally the ATC. Again covered in the Sara's vintage papers with some torn corners. The little tag is also in the vintage paper range. I added the little stop watch charm with some ribbon. Then to finish off I added "wish" which is another HOTP product.







If you would like to buy any of these products you can email Beverley at sales@croptilyoudrop.co.uk as they aren't showing on the web shop at the moment.

I'm in the mood for LOVE!

Yep, I've been thinking about Valentine's day already. If you want to send that special someone a card to tell them how you feel, here's a few ideas for you.

I've made all these cards using the gorgeous papers from the February 2007 HOTP Personal Shopper kit. (These aren't in the webshop at the moment, so email Beverley at sales@croptilyoudrop.co.uk if you'd like one).

For the last card I also used some of the fabby Friendly Felt (which is on an amazingly cheap bulk offer in the webshop!) I cut out some heart shapes, and then stitched some buttons onto them.

Don't forget to check out Ruth's fabby challenge this week - it's great fun and will really get those creative juices flowing!!

Have you got a *buddy*?

Have you tried the HOTP Brad Buddies yet? There is a buddy for every occasion...they are yummy lightweight metal embellishments and they attach to your LO's with brads. Easy peasy...which works for me! lol

For obvious reasons, I've used the Graduation selection on this LO...but there are all sorts of themes, just e-mail Beverley if you want them :)

This LO also used several sheets of HOTP paper, including the stunning shimmer paper {used in blue here but it does come in other lovely colours too...again...e-mail Beverly if you're interested! Other than that, I've used basic cardstock and a journalling pen.

So what are you waiting for? Get yourself a buddy...and get crafting together! :)

A non-Christmassy project

I don't know about you, but I'm beginning to get fed up with Christmassy projects! Mainly because I'm love Christmas, and don't want reminding that it's all over for another year! And as the weather is generally grey, dark, foul and miserable I thought a nice bright project might cheer us all up a bit!

All the supplies for this LO came from the September 07 Personal Shopper kit, which includes the Use 'em for anything pastel papers, monograms, blossoms and brads, and some ribbons. I love these gorgeous pastel shades and they were just perfect for this picture of my mum and future MIL - and the perfect excuse to use loads of flowers! LOL

Don't forget, there's still time to take part in Charli's sketch challenge - the new challenge goes up at 6pm on Saturday - and you could win yourself a fabby stashy prize!