Urban Rhapsody

Have you checked out Guv's blog for her 40 days post today?

I really love the K&Co Urban Rhapsody range, the colours are nicely muted and the birdies are beautiful. My mum wanted a place to store the plant tags from her garden so I made her a little book full of pockets for her birthday.

I used a sheet of Active Imagination paper which I cut into 6x6 pieces and stuck to the front and back of 2 pieces of chipboard to make the covers. I then cut some cardstock to 6x12 and folded it to make tabbed pockets. (If you want a pattern for this post a comment to let me know and I'll try and work out how to post it on here!) The new Core'dinations cardstock would be good for this, especially if you want shabby chic look, just sand it lightly to distress it and expose the different colour underneath.The lovely blingy frame on the front is in the sale at the moment and comes with 2 cute photo corners which I'm saving for another time! I backed it with a scrap of paper and stamped the title on (you could print your title on the pc and stick it behind the frame instead)

My mum is going to draw a little plan of each part of the garden and pop each one into a pocket with the relevant plant tags, care information, etc for the plants in that area.

New DT Debut!

I promised earlier to show some of the yummy creations that our new DT girls submitted as part of their entries - a bit late as it is technically tomorrow! LOL.
First Jayne: The first layout is a Cogsmo number - & anyone who uses this very 'boy' range on a girly pic & can make it work has to be worth taking a look at! LOL
Jayne's mini album in a baby shoe is simple but very effective - what a lovely keepsake either of your owns kiddie (as Jayne's is) or as a gift for a new parent - great idea ... & that's what we like!
I have included a third piece from Jayne, solely as it was DS1's choice. Those of you who know him will already be aware that he's not easy to impress but he really liked this one & thought I should pick Jayne on the strength of that alone. Obviously there was a bit more than that to it! LOL. It was the busy black & white with just a little colour that drew his eye (even if it is pink!!!) & I have to agree that it's very effective - and very different to Jayne's other entries.


I loved Laura's Bo Bunny Album - & it was also nice with both these submissions to see a product or two there that we stock/have stocked in the past - Makes it soooo much easier to see what they might do with our DT kit! With Laura's entry, I was really drawn to her mini books - luuuurve mini books! The 'Believe' one is just plain pretty! With the Bind It All book, it's the clever use of tags & pockets that I liked. I love to cram li'l hidden bits in my albums, so seeing something with all those hidden spaces was a big bonus.



So that's what I thought - but I'm sure you'll all have your own opinions & please do feel free to post your comments. Which is your fave???

All that's left is to say a huge thank you to everybody who sent in submissions - it was a tough decision to make and did give me a sleepless night or two along the way! LOL.

Don't forget the GDT Challenge - the deets are here!

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

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!!

Well did you??

make any Valentine cards I mean? :) I did!! and a LOVE book! There is so much gorgeous stuff in the webshop atm...I am totally in love with the Fancy Pants collections...and have used the Crush option for my Valentine card and book...If you haven't checked them out yet...get over there quick...this stuff will not hang around long!!!

This card is for my OH and is made from the Crush cardstock and embellished with the Felt Fusion borders which are just delicious {there are squillions of these to choose from and they are already self adhesive so super easy to stick down!}

To go with the card, I've made a mini-album using the Bo Bunny Love chipboard album...again there are several of these to choose from and they are currently 20% off!! I've decorated mine using 4 sheets of the Crush cardstock, the co-ordinating die-cut tags, and lots of ribbon from one of the Lucky Dip bags which are only £1!!!!

Apart from this, I've added photos, penwork, inked the edges and used a heart charm {these charms are also part of a huge selection which are on a phenomenal deal atm only 90p a pack!!! I think the Guv has gone a bit mad myself...they are a crazy 70% off and they are sooo sweet...perfect for all sorts of occasions and projects!}

Finally, I've made a card for my MIL2be to give to her OH :) This uses the heart vellum from the Lucky Dip selection, another of the heart charms and some more of the ribbon from the Lucky Dip satin selection. I've made the little frame from a slide mount embossed with twinkly powder, just to add a bit of bling! lol

I have really loved working with all these products...and I would recommend them to any one...and just in case you haven't noticed...we have a Pound Stop now...where you can get some amazing bargains...do be sure and check it out! We all love stash, right?

Happy Valentines' Day...Alixxx

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.

Gotta lurve those decorations!!

We really go overboard with the decorations at Christmas so I decided to make a little mini book to record this year’s decorations.

I used papers from the Bo Bunny Homespun Holiday range as well as papers from the HOTP December 2006 Personal Shopper kit, all the brads, ribbons and overlays are also from this kit and the buttons are by Craftime.

I cut 8 scalloped squares (5” in size) and then decorated the pages with papers and embellies and added my photos and some doodling and journaling – mainly about where the decorations came from and when we bought them. For the title page I die cut the title (our house is referred to as “The Grotto” at Christmas!!) from the black cardstock, then drew over with a white gel pen. The back page (not shown) is just plain cardstock and I simply journalled about what dates we decorated this year, how long it took etc.

I then stuck all the pages back to back, so I ended up with 4 double-sided pages and bound them together with book rings.

All the products used for this project are still available, despite the webshop being down at the moment. Simply email Beverley at sales@croptilyoudrop.co.uk and she’ll be more than happy to help!

Oh I wish it could be Christmas.....

Mind you if it was Christmas every day I would need a bigger book for all my journalling! This is my latest project with my kit. I was thinking of making an advent calendar with my Bo Bunny Advent paper, but Alix already made a fab one here, so I thought I would try and do something a bit different with mine. So I though - why not make a Christmas Journal and use the numbered squares to date the pages? So that's what I did!

And also - it gave me another excuse to use some of this fab and very friendly felt again - this time for the covers of my book. I just did a rough drawing of the Christmas tree and cut it out, and then set eyelets into it, and tied a bit of ribbon around for tinsel - which I also added to the book rings that I held it together with. The ribbon is from the classic cardmakers ribbon pack from HOTP, and comes packed full of cool coordinating Christmas colours. I then pierced a couple of designs - the lime green border and the red shape in the corner and stitched into the felt. Added a star brad to the top!


As you can see here - I cut out the squares from the Bo Bunny paper (advent) and stuck them back to back on each page (also Bo Bunny Papers, I used Frost and Ornament - fab papers and double sided!!). The Advent papers also come with some really cute Christmas art on them - great for embellishing your projects - I'm going to use them to add to the completed pages. These papers have a 20% discount on them at the moment so its well worth popping over and having a good old shop (lots of other bargains and discounts to be found too ;o)!

I'm going to take a pic of my son each day leading up to Christmas day, and write a little bit about each day now he's starting to take more notice of it all.

Hope you like it - why not make your own Christmas Journal?

Oky doky guys I shall see you next Thursday when I post my next project - but don't forget - its challenge night tomorrow - and there's some fabby prizes up for grabs!! You'd be mad to miss it!!

A 'busy scrappers' mini book and some Christmas bits n pieces!

Good evening guys!! Thought Id share with you some of my most recent crafty makes with my DT kit. First, a couple of cards I made with some of the lovely Christmas papers available over at the Crop Til You Drop webshop. The card on the left is made using papers from the personal shopper kit for Dec 06 (which are on special offer by the way!!) - love the paper on the bottom half of the card because it reminds me of those lovely and very cheesy Christmas jumpers that everyone should wear around this time of year!! The card on the right is made using Bo bunny papers , which are fab quality papers and have a lovely sheen to them - hence the shine on that card due to the flash on my camera! I tied some coordinating ribbon through a chipboard frame, and added this to the card. You could paint or ink this white but I embossed it with some white embossing powder. I stamped into a few layers of silver embossing powder to get the snowflake image you see inside the frame.

Next is this little mini book (click on the image for a better view). I made this using the busy scrappers boys to men papers and embellies. These papers are really fun to work with, and perfect for a little boy layout or book - this book is a pressie for my sons uncle. I kept with the star theme of some of the papers and stamped or cut out some of the cool little star images available in the pack. I used a bind it all to bind my book together but you could easily use book rings or ribbon. There are some lovely truck, rocket and sport images in this pack, and some really handy letters and numbers. All you have to do is cut them out and add to your projects!

And finally, a little something I made using my new best crafty product - friendly felt. Now this is just a little project - a little photo frame I made. It would be perfect to keep in your bag or to give as a little gift - the felt is really durable and tough, and it is perfect for stitching. I have a mini book on the go with some of this felt - it is perfect for the covers of my book as it is stiff - hence the name friendly felt! It is a fab way to incorporate felt (which is so popular at the mo!)into your crafting projects.
Hey - did you see the challenge uploaded last night by Roo? Fab scraplift challenge - and dont forget - all entries will be eligible for this months DT challenge prize, judged by the design team! We have had some fab entries to our previous challenges and have so enjoyed seeing everyones interpretations - why dont you join in? Come on, you know you want to!!

See you soon guys, and happy crafting!