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 Chrimbo LO!

Hey guys! Its me again, just one project from me today - a page of me and my sis a couple of Christmases (?) ago.

I mixed and matched products on this LO. I used papers from the Personal shopper Dec 06 kit (which I believe is on offer at the moment!!) for the base, cutting a decorative border on the right hand side (that's for your challenge Phoenix!!!). Then I scrunched up the light green paper, unfolded it, then sanded it to get the distressed look. I used Bo Bunny Hot Cocoa paper for the heart - love love love these papers - they're double sided and they come in a fun range of colours and designs! I stamped around the heart using the Winter Swirls stamps. I used some ribbons from the classic cardmakers ribbon pack - I weaved some on the left and bottom sides of the LO and used the sewing machine to attach the criss cross underneath the title - sister sister - which I cut out using papers from the personal shopper Dec 06 kit.
I used a HOTP Big brad to attach the plastic tag word 'Christmas', with some of the ribbon from the classic cardmakers kit, and hand wrote the journalling onto some strips of the red papers from the kit.

And in case you're wondering, anyone who has looked closer at the LO and seen the journalling about the green hippo thing, I was wearing a green top, was pregnant at the time and ready for popping any second!!

Now the webshop is undergoing essential maintenance at the moment - as you can see from the above post there has been a slight techy problem, but it is being sorted as we speak! So for any orders please contact Beverley, the store owner on sales@croptilyoudrop.co.uk .

Have fun creating guys and dont forget - another challenge tomorrow! Be sure to stop by and check it out, enter and you could be in with a chance of winning some fabulous stash!

See you soon!

A couple of quickie cards!

Its that time of year - as Looby said yesterday - so busy for a lot of us! So here are a couple of quick cards I made using some stuff from my kit, plus some gorgeous Winter Swirl stamps available at the Crop Til You Drop Webshop. The stamps are so versatile - I have a few different sets of swirly type stamps, but as soon as I saw these stamps, I thought - gotta have em! The swirls are really elegant, and one has some gorgeous little snowflakes on. The pic of my Christmas card doesnt really do the stamps justice at all - you get a nice clear and crisp image - I decided to do something a little different using a resist technique on this first card. You can achieve similar results by randomly stamping onto a piece of card and embossing with clear powder (in fact you could use any colour, just bear in mind that whatever colour you use will be visible after you have inked over it!). Then ink over with your chosen final colour. This technique works particularly well with gloss card. I added the chipboard frame after painting it with red acrylic paint, then giving a quick coat of clear glue like these here, to give a shiny finish. Added a little red wire heart and some ribbon, matted and layered onto a red card and hey presto! Oh not forgetting the snowflake brads, snowflake border overlay and that gorgeous little glittery red heart - I hope our Guv will step in here to pop in where I can find that though because I have hunted high and low and cant find it! Check out our Guv's blog for some more fab ideas for the winter swirls too!

Next is this little card for my brother's birthday next week! For this I used the busy scrappers boys to men paper pack - and all the letter tiles and little star embellies that come with it. The only thing I used that wasnt in the pack was the little brad buddie present that you see to the right of the card, but I thought it went well with the colours of the card (after I inked it up with blue ink!) and added the little red bow!

So thats all folks - if you invest in anything over the Christmas crafty season though (apart from all the fab paper and other crafty bits on offer at the webshop!!) I would definitely get my hands on some of the winter swirls stamps (PS why not take advantage of this fab offer and subscribe to the stamps only kit?? There's a freebie in it for ya, check it out!!) - they're not just for Christmas you know - they're for life! Lol have fun creating!

Edited by the Guv to say: more than happy to jump in and solve the mystery of the missing red glittery heart! LOL. They are actually in this mixed pack of buttons & flatbacks. HTH

It Just Gets Better & Better!

The September kits from Hot Of The Press arrived today & I just couldn't believe it! First up: September's Personal Shopper kit. Obviously we already knew that this kit was showcasing the new 'Use 'Em For Anything' Pastels range - but what I hadn't realised is you get a whole pack of everything! That's the new book of papers; a whole book of monograms (1 sheet of every letter in various fonts, plus numbers and punctuation); a whole pack of the new pastel florals (25 blooms in various sizes; a pack of the new brads & mini brads (that's 200 in total!). The retail value of these items alone is just shy of £32 - you also get two 8x8 overlays, a pack of co-ordinating ribbons, an 8 page newsletter & the fabby new DVD (plays on PC or DVD player). So a retail value of over £35 for just £22.50 (plus P&P for non-subscribers!) Even better value than before methinks!
Next: Stamps Only! This is a brand new kit & as with all HOTP kits, exclusively available in the UK through us. As well as the 33 stamps & mini project sheet there is a FREE acrylic block available only to subscribers - strictly while stocks last. All the subscribers info is here.
If you'd like to subscribe to any of the HOTP kits, simply e-mail us for a subs form & we'll get one back to you post haste (well, later tonight - I'm back off to the shop now to play with all the yummy new kits! LOL)

Sneak Peek #3!

By popular request here is a little peek at the brand new Stamps Only bi-monthly acrylic stamp kit from Hot Off The Press! Every other month, we will have the latest HOTP clear stamps available with a fabby project sheet full of great ideas from the talented designers at HOTP. All that, available post free & delivered to your door - dispatched as soon as we have them in!
E-mail us to subscribe or pop over to the webshop if you'd just like a one-off kit. All HOTP kits are exclusively available in the UK through Crop 'Til You Drop, so you won't find them anywhere else.
All three kits (Stamps Only, Personal Shopper Scrapbooking & Cardmakers kits) are in the webshop now - available to pre-order. Stamps Only will be officially launched at Ally Pally next weekend - if you are going, make sure to pop by stand 17 & say Hi. We'll have a few great offers, as well as demonstrations and free make n takes going on over both days.
Don't forget to have a go at this week's challenge - you could win a prize in our monthly competition (unless you're on the DT - they are only allowed to play along for fun!)

Stamps Only!

I have not had enough sleep & I have a banging headache - so I'll keep it short LOL. I now have all the info I needed for the new Stamps Only bi-monthly kit & we are ready to go! The kits will be arriving in about 6 weeks - along with the fabby Personal Shopper September kits. The only way to ensure you don't miss out is to subscribe! Here's the nitty gritty ...

• Bi-Monthly kit - first issue due to dispatch to subscribers September 18th 2007
• Cost - £17.99 post free - first payment debited on/after 16th September 2007
• Contents - 5x7 clear stamp and a mini-newsletter with ideas on using it. The Sept. stamp will be Thinga-ma-jigs.
• How it works - Each month, the mini newsletter will give a preview of the next kit. You have the option to opt out of the next kit - by e-mailing or telephoning us by the end of the month. We will also preview the next kit on the blog - so if you have opted out of one issue, you will still be able to see what is coming in the next one. If you have not opted out of a kit, your payment will be processed and kit dispatched automatically. If you opt out of one kit, your next one will automatically be processed and dispatched unless you opt out again(by the end of that issue month).
• There is no minimum number of kits that you are required to take. However, if you opt out of three consecutive kits your subscription will end. You may still be able to purchase a kit from our webshop if we have any spare ones - but you will be required to pay our usual postal charges.
• Why subscribe? Your kit will be reserved for you, dispatched post free & will include a fabby newsletter full of cool projects and tips on how to use it. You will not have to risk missing out because we have sold out before you had a chance to order. These kits will NEVER be available anywhere else in the UK!
• How to subscribe - simply e-mail us & we'll send you a subscription form. Complete it & e-mail or post it back to us - it really is that easy!

Here's what they are saying about the first cool stamp set!

Thinga-ma-what? We couldn't decide what else to call these cool ampersands, brackets, asterisks and other punctuation marks! Whatever you call them, we think you'll love them as clear acrylic stamps-they add a stylish touch to cards, tags, scrapbook pages and other paper crafts. Simply peel your stamp off the backing sheet, place it on an acrylic holder, ink it up and stamp! Clean your stamp with a stamp cleaner, baby wipes or soap and water, then return it to the sheet, positioning it to match the printed image. (Please don't use acetone, bleach or any oil-based cleaner.) Our special acrylic won't yellow. Stamp sheet measures 5 1/2"x7". Images range in size from 1/2" to 3 1/2". Total of 33 stamps.

I Love Hot Off The Press!

Oh my! There are some exciting things going on at Hot Off The Press!

Fortunately, Paulette says I'm allowed to tell you all, which is just as well cuz I'm not much good with secrets LOL. The first is all about the Personal Shopper Scrapbooking monthly kits:
From September these will include a fabby DVD (plays on PC or DVD player) containing around 90 minutes with Paulette & Sara (who are my favourite ladies on the entire planet!!). The DVD takes you step by step through all the projects with tons of extra hints & tips. There'll be a new DVD every other month. And if that wasn't enough, the September issue also features the brand new 'Use 'Em ForAnything' Pastel Papers with 259 pastel Monograms, 200 pastel brads, 25 pastel flowers and some overlays and ribbons too.

It is only fair to warn you though, the current kit (July) has practically sold out since we took delivery 6 days ago (at the time of writing we have four spare kits). The only way to make sure we have a kit for you is to take out a subscription(to do so, e-mail me), the rest go on a first come first served basis.

You may have heard that we are exhibiting at Sandown Park in September 2007. The most exciting thing about that is that we will be launching a brand new kit from Hot Off The Press. The Stamps Only Club, does what it says on the tin! Every other month, our subscribers will receive a yummy set of Clear Acrylic Stamps & a fabby newsletter full of tempting projects to get the creative juices flowing. This is sooo hot off the press (geddit?) that the projects are not yet back from the photographers! And as it is all totally top secret (oops! I spilled the beans!) I don't have all the details to share yet. If you'd like to be kept informed, e-mail me & I'll tell all as soon as I know!

Oh! OK then! 1 little clue: the first set are Thinga-Ma-Jigs. Not the same as the Thinga-Ma-Jigs Template in this month's Personal Shopper Kit but another big bunch of cool ampersands, brackets, asterisks and other punctuation marks! Images range in size from 1/2" to 3 1/2". Total of 33 stamps.

Ooooh! I've said too much! Better go before I give away any other big secrets LOL