Today's crop class

I released another crop class this morning and its already being booked like crazy and I don't blame you because its a really lovely kit. The delivery came yesterday and because it was a frantically busy day we didn't get much of a chance to really look at it. When I got everything out this morning to photograph it for the shop I had a lovely surprise, some of the chipboard is velvet flocked!! Its so strokable and lush, I can't wait to use it.

I ordered quite a few kits for this class so as soon as the classroom places sell out, I'll have the kits to sell on their own. I can't release them for general sale just yet as those attending the crop have priority but if there are any left after the 11th October then anyone can have them. I had a couple of emails last night from people keen to get their hands on the crop class kits and I completely understand that not everyone can get down here but I have to keep the classes for the crop days - there aren't enough class places to go round as it is!

Anyway, I should have more classes for both crops over the next week or so - keep watching this space for more info

K :o)

First of the September kits

Wow - hasn't the school holiday just flown by? It hardly seems like 5 minutes ago that Jack was bursting through the door singing "School's out for Summer........!!!" at the top of his voice! Now we're sorting his uniform out again and getting ready for his German exchange student to arrive.

I thought for our first club kit in September that I'd like to try to hold onto some of that Summery feeling (not that we've had much of a Summer!!) with shades of pale terracotta and beige and a bit of worn aqua - colours that remind me of a Tuscan villa. The kit has loads going on, 2 sheets of Bazzill cardstock, 4 patterned papers, a colour rub-on title, a whole pack of chipboard (I only used a fraction of what comes in the kit!) and a pack of flowers. The only things you need to add are a creamy brown inkpad, 3d foam pads and some brads. I used a 7" x 5" portrait photo for this one but there is scope to use multiple pics or an even bigger photo if you prefer.

I played with my BasicGrey precision file set when I was putting the sample page together as I always struggle to get a crisp finish when I cover chipboard - those little files are fab! A scrap of sandpaper can do the job too but the very fine angles and circular punch-outs are always a challenge. I have to say that there was a file for each and every job I needed them for and the end result was really sharp and clean - I'm impressed with these and they are now part of my basic toolkit!

Clear album project

A week or so ago we had some of the Fancy Pants clear shapes packs delivered, both of which looked really fab. I've been desperate to have a play with some of them and over the past few days I've had a few minutes here to myself (but not many!). I chose the 'Tabbed Book and more' pack and grabbed some of the new Vita Bella papers and embellishments to make an acrylic book for Dave as its his birthday next week.

I was surprised at how easy it was to put this together, the fab 6x6 size meant that it didn't take much to fill each page once the photos were in place and there were plenty of pages - not too few and not too many! I loved the fact that the pack contained loads of clear accents as well, there are scallop frames, arrows, flowers, stars, hearts and loads more -I used 2 frames back-to-back in the middle of the book to create another page. I've got loads left over and I'm looking closely at the clear pack it all came in as a potential second album!

I had to give a bit of thought to the pages that were clear as the reverse side of the chipboard could be seen but fortunately there were plenty of similar sized accents that could be used on the second side to cover the gluey bits.

I used the Cropodile to punch the holes alomg the spine as my office is in upheaval right now and I can't find the Bind-it-All (Dave is remodelling it for me and everything is boxed and in the attic!). Its held together with a BIA wire and I added ribbons from my stash. I love the end result and hopefully he'll like it too!!

Another Kent crop class on sale tonight

Right now there are quite a few boxes of goodies winging their way over the Atlantic for our forthcoming crops but fortunately you don't have to keep waiting as one is already here! This has to be one of my favourite colour combinations - brown, blue and cream (sorry Julie!!) and I really love all of the papers in this kit. So much so in fact that I chose every single paper in the range - all 9 of them!! Add in a sheet of cardstock sticker embellishments, 12x12 acetate and a whole pack of flowers and you have one doozy of a kit here!!

I ordered quite a lot of this one because I don't want anyone to be disappointed and so the classroom places have gone up first and then once these have sold out I will release just the kit. At the moment these can only be booked by those who are attending the crop on 11th October but we do still have a couple of places for the crop if you are tempted by the kit!

Give me strength!

You may recall that when we moved we had a nightmare with BT, I think in the first 2 months of living here we had 3 different phone numbers and had to wait months for Broadband. Today we find that we've got a fault on the line and can't make or receive calls! Apparently it'll take a couple of days to fix it - aaaaggggghhhhhh!!

In the meantime we have a Broadband number which we can use but I'm taking deep breaths and trying not to scream!!

Second August kit - repost

We had Kent club last night and despite it being the Summer holiday period, we still had an amazing turnout. So amazing in fact that we sold out of our August kit#1! Its so fab to see the range of different photos going onto the kit page and the totally different look it gives - we had everything from babies to hubbies going on! It was lovely to see Sue N again after her recent surgery, she had been extremely ill and everyone has followed her progress over the past weeks so we were all chuffed to bits to see her looking so well - take it easy hun!

I'm reposting the second August kit page with details of my photo sizes (special request from my Essex club girls!!). I used three photos - the main pic is 7" x 5" landscape, the second one is 3.5" x 4" portrait and the third is 2.75" x 4". Obviously, you don't need to print photos to these exact sizes in order to complete the page, you could use a large landscape and a large portrait together or even one really big photo!

I thought that this would be a great page for swimming pictures - I don't know about you but I have shed loads of them and have never done much with them. The strong blues can be a challenge to anyone and I probably wouldn't go into a shop and choose paper etc that would match. Thats why I'm really enjoying putting these kits together, I am really stepping outside of my box and love the end result! The papers that I think would be the most challenging end up being the easiest to use for some reason. Of course, you don't just need to find swimming pics for this page, anything with strong blues, bright greens and/or whites would look fab (I have some photos from a holiday in Greece with the white houses and blue shutters that nearly made it onto this page!!).

We have even more gorgeousness coming in our September kits - I'll add them here very soon!

Take care, K :o)

First 2 Essex crop classes

We opened the bookings for the Essex crop at club this week and were a bit naughty - we showed the first class kit as well! I know it was awful for those who can't make the 13th September because they really wanted the class kit!! I have to admit that the first two classes we have are really beautiful and I've been in my element putting the sample pages together.

The first class uses Webster's Pages papers and I've really fallen in love with these! They are a modern take on pretty, watercolour images of flowers and foliage mixed with formal prints - very me! The kit includes 4 patterned papers, a whole pack of chipboard letters and shapes plus a whole pack of 3d foam pads (big clue here, foam pads + me = lots of cutting!!). The finished page is really lovely and the theme is 'Peace' so start looking for a single portrait photo that typifies peace.

The second class is absolutely gorgeous and is from Melissa Frances, so you know what I mean when I say 'GORGEOUS'!! Its a fab kit with 8 patterned papers (yes - 8!!), 12x12 sheet of die-cuts, 12x12 sheet of chipboard alphas, 3d stickers and a whole packof Melissa Frances ribbon (lushness!!). The colours are so soft and pretty, soft greens, pale blues and pink.

I've added the classes to the shop now so they are available to book if you are booked onto the crop on 13th September. We are only about 40mins away from the Kent crop venue so not that far if you fancy joining us and usually come to Kent. The classes will be all new as well - all the more reason to come over the water!

Hope to see you here! K :o)

The first kit page for August

OK - I'm reposting the sample page for the first August kit as I've had a couple of requests for details of the photo sizes etc... Having been super organised with this page, it was posted a few weeks ago now and so I'd thought it would help to refresh your memory about what we'll be up to over the next couple of weeks!

I used three 6" x 4" portrait photos of the kids for my page and then cropped them down tight so that the kids' faces were predominant - they ended up being 5" high and 3" wide which fitted perfectly onto the 10" x 6" photo mount. Obviously, you could use photos of different sizes to mine and even a single landscape pic if you prefer. I'm trying to do multi-photo layouts to use up more pics and after a special request from the girls at my Kent club.

Just to remind you if you are coming to either of my clubs, you'll need a red inkpad and some 3d foam pads for this page plus you might want to bring some 2-way glue (Zig or Sailor glue would work) for attaching the transparencies. Everything else you see on the page is in the kit, including the template for the brackets!

Take care and if I don't see you before, I'll see you at club! K :o)