Kit 1 for January 2010!

We kick of 2010 with an elegant kit in black and white which Jackie has used to create this stunning sample page using a 6" x 4" landscape photo and a 3.5" x 5" portrait photo. The kit includes cardstock, double sided papers, menu cards, a sheet of borders and journaling cards, a pack of die-cuts and a gorgeous set of Prima stamps and crystals.
You'll need to bring along a black pigment ink (Versafine or Stayzon would be fine), an acrylic block or similar for your stamps, a selection of black and white flowers, a 1" circle punch and a large brad. We'll have the fabric brads that Jackie used in the shop but numbers will be limited so you can reserve a pack by emailing in advance of club if you want them.
While Jackie has used wedding photos, this design would look equally great with heritage photos or in fact any two photos in the theme of 'Remember This' - pretty much any goes then!

Lynda

Kit #2 for December

The second kit fof December uses the fab and retro looking 'Jolly by Golly' line in non-traditional colours of pink and aqua with dashes of red and green. The sample page has been very kindly designed by Jackie and she had so much left over she was able to create a second page with just an additional sheet of cream cardstock. Jackie picked up on the Wintry elements in the kit and used snowy photos on both pages, the great thing about this line is you can either go snowy or Christmassy, whatever you have photos for!

The kit includes; cardstock, 4 sheets of double sided patterned paper and a whole 12x12 pack of adhesive chipboard elements.

While the kit does not include instructions for Jackie's second page she has very kindly agreed that it be included on the instruction sheet so you can see what she did - thanks hun!!

Lynda

Kit 1 for December

Our first kit for December is in the traditional red and green colourway that immediately makes you think of Christmas. The gorgeous double page has been designed by the very talented Tracey from our Essex club and is great for getting loads of Chrustmas photos onto one page!
The kit comes with 4 sheets of cardstock, 4 double sided patterned papers, an accessory sheet, adhesive crystals, paper shape templates and red twill. There is plenty left over if you fancy making a few cards or even another layout, you may just need to add a bit of cardstock.
I'm starting to feel a bit Christmassy just looking at this layout - thanks Tracey!!

Lyndal

Just married!

As many of you know, a couple of weeks ago Dave and I flew off together to the beautiful island of Mauritius to get married. We wanted a very personal and private ceremony that focused on what was important to us rather than what we felt was all the nonsense of cars, wedding favours, table plans etc that seem to go along with the 'traditional' weddings here at home. So we booked a gorgeous hotel in a stunning part of the island and had a simple beach wedding that was incredibly romantic and very 'us'!
Just the two of us went which was lovely and romantic but I have to be honest, I really would have loved for our three children to have come along with us. Every day I thought about them and how much they would have loved everything but we had decided that if they couldn't all come then we would go alone (and Dave's children would not have been supported or encouraged to come). We missed them all terribly and to make things harder Dave could not even talk to his children while we were away. That said, this was the only black cloud in our otherwise sunny skies and my Jack was thrilled at the prospect of our wedding - in fact he sent me a text telling me to have a great time and to bring him a Step-Dad back!!
Planning and organising a wedding abroad was so relaxed and easy, I just had to come to terms with the laid-back attitude in Mauritius! We could have practically anything we wanted and so we were able to tailor-make our wedding to suit us individually rather than have a 'cookie-cutter' day. Plus, we were the only wedding to take place at the hotel in the entire fortnight we were there! I did have concerns about our wedding being one of many on a conveyor belt but one of the reasons for selecting our hotel was the fact that they only hold one wedding a day to make sure that they could put all of their effort into each wedding. But in the end we were the only wedding in a fortnight and so practically became mini celebrities amongst the staff and guests with everyone recognising us!
Dave looked so handsome on our wedding day, in fact I almost broke down when I caught my first glimpse of him waiting for me at the top of the steps to the beach - he took my breath away! I had an amazing day, I felt beautiful and was so proud to be marrying Dave, something that I can see that shining out of our wedding photos. I was smiling so widely I thought I was going to burst with happiness! I am happy to report that that feeling hasn't gone away since - I am carrying around my very own bubble of happiness and can't stop smiling!
We had an incredible honeymoon but the fun stuff didn't stop there. We had a beautiful blessing in my local church when we got home followed by a fab wedding reception! We planned things so well that we even managed to 'borrow' the huge firework display that night which just happened to be in front of our restaurant on the beach!
So many people commented to us that they had never been to such a great wedding reception - the venue was stunning, the food was phenomenal and our entertainer was brilliant and incredibly good fun (and what more could you ask for??). The highlight for me was my Jack's speech - he had come up with it all by himself and spoke from the heart and it was perfect (even if his impromptu singing wasn't!! LOL!!). We had a great time and just want to thank everyone who came for giving us one of the best night's of our lives!
So now its down to the business of settling into being Mrs Anderson - new wife and Step Mum! Who knows what the future holds for us but all I do know is that it will be filled with lots of love and laughter!

Anyway, does anyone have any idea how long it will take me to scrap 2000 photos??!!! I have a feeling it'll be a while!!

Kit #2 for November

Claire has designed a gorgeous second kit for November using the My Little Shoebox 'Imagine a Forest' line. I love how Claire isn't afraid to use unusual colours on boy pages and makes them work - so for those of us surrounded by guys we have no excuses this month!

The kit includes cardstock, 2 double sided patterned papers, a die-cut shaped paper, a 12x12 pack of die-cuts and a glaze pen. The design uses one 6" x 4" portrait photo and two 3"x4" potrait pics. You will also need to pop some 3d foam pads into your tool kit - but thats about all you will need!

Lyndal

Kit #1 for November

Kit 1 for November uses the new Earth Love line from Cosmo Cricket in soft greens, creams and browns with a touch of dusty pink. The gorgeous double page sample layout has been designed by Claire F who is an extremely popular teacher at our crops and we are very grateful that she has agreed to design both of the November kits for us!

The kit contains cardstock, 3 double sided patterned papers, a 12x12 sheet of double sided journaling cards & titles, a 12x12 sheet of double sided borders and title strips and a length of luxurious May Arts ribbon (this is definitely one for stroking!!). You will need a 5" x 7" and two 6" x 4" potrait photos for this design and you will need to pop a creamy brown inkpad and a scalloped border punch into your toolkit together with some double-sided tape and 3d foam pads.

Keep checking here for November's kit #2................................

Lyndal

More for your money this month!

At the Kent club last night Claire B brought along not only the sample page that she had made with kit #2 but also this additional page which she had made using all of her leftovers from the kit. I loved it so much that I asked if she would mind sharing it with everyone and she very kindly agreed! With some careful positioning of her template in the centre of the cream cardstock when she made her first page she was able to make this gorgeous page with the addition of just a few scraps of ribbon and some flowers from her stash. She used some of the lush Martha Stewart punches to create the punched and embossed decorative strips and reused the chipboard leaves from kit #1 as a template. Now that is budget scrapping at its very best!!
Claire very proudly showed off the small handful of diecuts and bits of patterned paper she had left even after all this creativity, no doubt she will found something else to use them for by the time I see her next!!
Now I thought that our kits were fab value but with 2 meaty pages out of just one of the 2 kits available each month, this has to be one of the best ways to stretch the scrapbooking pennies!!

Kit 2 for October

When Claire B chose this brand new paper line from Pink Paislee I was thrilled, I had had my eye on these papers too!! It's funny that we have the same taste in paper and we weren't the only ones - Claire F wanted these for one of her kits next month too!! In the end Claire F chose something else and equally yummy so watch this space to see what...
Back to kit #2 for this month, this one includes cardstock, 4 double sided patterned papers and a pack of two 12" x 6" sheets of die-cut titles, journaling boxes and embellishments. Claire's photo is a non-standard 10" x 5.5" landscape but she suggests that two 6" x 4" portrait photos would look really great side-by-side on this design too.
The only extra things you will need are some 3d foam pads and a creamy brown ink pad. Claire added some journaling to her page using Safmat - you can find packs of this in our shop at www.totalpapercrafts.co.uk

The new member of our Kent club!

Just to let you know that after what seemed like a very long wait Maria finally had her baby girl! Chloe Louise was born on Tuesday 29th September 2009 at 4:34pm weighing 7lb 5 oz. That makes 3 new baby girls born to club members this year!
Congratulations to Maria and Tony and we hope to see Chloe at club very soon - I'll definitely be wanting a cuddle!

Kit #1 for October

This month we are fortunate to have Claire B designing our two kits for us and this is the first of her stunning designs. The kit uses the new BasicGrey Indian Summer papers released this Summer at CHA - absolutely delish!!
The kit includes cardstock, 5 patterned papers, an ink pad, a pack of chipboard leaves and a sheet of 12x12 chipboard. Claire added a few flowers from her stash and used a Lime Pastel inkpad in addition to the ink colour in the kit. She has used five photos each of which is slightly smaller than 6" x 4" (they are actually 5.5" x 3.75"), three are portrait and two are landscape. The title letters are stickers from Claire's stash but there is ample paper left for you to cut your own out to fit with the theme of your photos.
Thanks Claire for this beautiful design - it is gorgeous!!

Another German visitor has come to stay

On Monday we received an urgent phone call from Jack's former German language teacher asking if we could provide accomodation for an exchange student after a family pulled out at the last minute. Apparently we received such great feedback as a host family last year that he kept us on the books 'just in case'!!
So, yesterday afternoon we collected our exchange student - a very lovely young lady who speaks really good English. Jack seems to get along with her (of course it helps that she is drop dead gorgeous!!!) and they already seem really comfortable in each other's company so hopefully that will continue.
Its a lovely change of pace to have another young person in the house and its something else to focus on in the countdown to our wedding (only 5weeks to go now!!!!). I'm really looking forward seeing what the next 10 days bring!

Kit #2 for September

Here is the second kit for September, full of rich autumnal colours because much as we might hate to admit it - it is now Autumn!! This is a huge kit with 3 sheets of cardstock, 6 sheets of patterned papers, a whole pack of Petaloo flowers, a ColorBox chalk inkpad and a sheet of Safmat. For those who have no idea what Safmat is, it is a clear adhesive sheet you can put through your home printer and then peel and stick whatever you have printed onto a whole variety of surfaces. It is fab stuff and so easy to use! I kept it very simple on the sample design because I know that lots of club members were quite apprehensive about using this. I just printed some single words and added them to my photos, lightly rub over it and the Safmat is virtually invisible! I thought it would be a great way to try something without having to buy a whole pack of it, I know you're going to fall in love with this product!
I used 5 photos on the sample, three 3" x 4" portraits, a 7" x 5" landscape and 5" x 7" (ish) portrait. I added some adhesive crystals to the centres of the flowers and a scrap of ribbon from my stash together with some white chipboard letters that I had left over and inked to match the colours of the papers. Pop some 3d foam pads into your tool kit and you are good to go! See you at club :o)

Kit #1 for September

The Bank Holiday has thrown me a real loop and I just realised today that I hadn't even started on the September kits and here we are in September already! Anyway, here's the first kit for this month using one of the brand new paper lines from 7gypsies. The kit includes three sheets of double sided papers, 3 sheets of cardstock, a pack of 7gypsies 'family' stickers and a pack of adhesive pearls.
If you are coming along to club you'll need to bring some flowers from your stash in shades of greens, blues and cream together with a couple of inkpads - you could get away with just a black if you like but I also used prussian blue, ochre and lime pastel (I'm having a love affair with colour right now!). I used a single 6" x 4" landscape photo but you could make this same design with a larger portrait or even a couple of pics if you prefer. Chuck a few extra 3d foam pads into your bag because you know with my pages you'll always be using them but at least this time there's not too much fiddly cutting out!!

Peeks for tomorrow's classes

I know its a little later than normal but I think I have a good excuse - I've been doing all the prep for the crop on my own and time just ran away from me! Anyway here we go in no particular order......

Fabulous

Using Chatterbox's sumptuous 'Fabulous" range , this layout has a funky, vintage hippy-chick feel. Patterned papers in the hip colourway of teal, yellow and brown with handfuls of sparkly treasures looking like they've spilled from a magpie's nest ! We'll be using co-ordinating butterfly and bird stamps, stamping on canvas, putting together a layered embellishment and adding a water- coloured border. Lots of techniques to try and not a straight line in sight - leave your trimmers in the crop room !
Tool Requirements: Dark brown Colourbox inkpad, Staz-on in Timber Brown and Teal Blue, acrylic blocks, 3/4" circle punch, foam dots, a very fine paintbrush - but don't worry - these will also be available to borrow during the class.



Ooh La La

We have the brand new Ooh La La range in shades of jade and ochre for you to play with in this class. The design uses two 6" x 4" portrait photos and you'll need to pack a scorer/bone folder if you have one. Throw in a jade green and an achre coloured inkpad if you have one, oodles of 3d foam pads and a corner rounder would be handy too!

Happy Feet

Claire Bell's Happy Feet class uses two main photos, one is a 6" x 4" portrait and the second is a 4" x 4" but the fantastic hidden book on the page has space for loads more 4" x 4" or smaller photos - so you can go crazy with this one! You will also need 3d foam pads, 1.5”” and 1” circle punches, scorer & bone folder and a single adhesive crystal to complete this design.

Flower Power

I warned you that this woud be a feminine kit and by george it is! You'll ned a single 6" x 4" landscape photo - but you could use a larger pic or even a portrait if you have it so don't fret! Pack inkpads in shades of pink, jade and tangerine and a scallop border punch if you have one.

Amber Glow

The grey and amber colours of this page will work with all sorts of different themes of photos. Claire Bell used a single 6" x 4" portrait photo for her design which left loads of room for all of the gorgeous Prima crystal swirls you'll have to play with!! You will need to bring along 3d foam pads, Yellow Cadmium inkpad, 5/8” and ½” circle punches and an embossing tool or stylus.



Teen angst

You'll love this grungy black and red page if you have teenagers but to be honest, it would also be perfect for any of the men in your life as we haven't gone too heavy on the teen theme! You'll need a 6" x 4" portrait photo but you could easily use two this size or a larger landscape if you prefer. Pack yourself a black inkpad, a notebook edge punch if you have one and some 3d foam pads, the rest is in the kit!

Jenni Bowlin Folded Book

This clever little book designed by Claire Fader has secrets galore for you to discover - don't worry it is easier to assemble than it may at first seem! You'll need nine 2" x 2" photos to fill it up and then you'll have hours of fun opening it this way and that to see them all! Pack a dark brown inkpad, a paper pricker and a 1" circle punch.

Swine flu has hit!

I called my Mum this morning and she sounded awful - no voice and apparently feeling dreadful. I suggested that she might want to check her symptoms online or via telephone and she has been diagnosed with Swine Flu. So armed with her Tamiflu prescription she is now in quarantine for the next week, so it looks like I'll be running the crop on Saturday without Mum!

Get well soon xx

Kit #2 for August

After the madness of the classes yesterday, Dave and I have having a bit of a mini-break at a fancy hotel. Nevertheless, things don't stop just because we are being pampered and so I've squeezed 5 mins to get the second sample page for this month up here!!
The kit includes 3 sheets of cardstock, 4 Chatterbox papers, a sheet of chipboard titles, embellishments and brads, a sheet of alphabet stickers (not the ones I used here) and a chipboard frame (which I have turned over and stamped as I preferred it to the pink glittery front side!!).
I added some brown flowers from my stash, a scrap of ribbon and some adhesive crystals which I dotted on one of the papers. I also used up the turquoise Thickers I used in kit #1 but you do get a fab set of stickers in the kit plus I had a whole sheet of card spare which you can use with a die-cut machine if you prefer.
If you have one of those cool little distressing tools then you'll get loads of use out of it with this design but no need torush out and buy one because I simply used a pair of scissors to get the same effect. Bring along a dark brown inpad if you fancy doing the stamped frame together with a swirl stamp - I'll try to remember to bring mine but as Jack comes home this week after three weeks away and I'm so excited, it'll be all I can do to get to club with the kits!! Hope to see you at club for this one!

The crop classes went up today

The classes went up today and as usual started to go right away! We had a few classes where we had extra kits and so there are a few places left in these ones just in case you weren't around at 2pm today. For those who are interested, here's what we have for you next weekend in no particular order......

Teen Angst
Think grungy reds and blacks, add a dash of sulky teenager and you'll have the perfect recipe for this class using Bo Bunny papers and cardstock stickers. We've added 4 double sided papers and 2 sheets of cardstock stickers to this kit that will be perfect if you have teenagers - but remember you were one once as well!!!

Ooh La La

The brand new Ooh La La paper range in soft greens, cream and saffron is really easy on the eye and works beautifully with all sorts of different photos. We have chosen 4 double sided patterned papers together with the matching 12x12 sheet of die-cuts. We have also added a pack of braids and trims, a green inkpad and a pack of green adhesive pearls to this gorgeous kit.

Jenni Bowlin Folded Book

Claire has put together the most gorgeous folded book for you using the brand new Jenni Bowlin mini papers and matching journaling cards. The finished project is absolutely stunning - you will love it! The kit includes a whole pack of 24 Jenni Bowling papers, a pack of journaling cards and a pack of ribbons.

Happy Feet

Take a set of 6 travel-themed papers, journaling cards and a set of Thickers, put them all together and you get a fabulous page kit that also holds a secret book for more photos and/or journaling. This is a gorgeous page that holds loads of pictures - you will LOVE it!


Flower Power

Lets get girlie with this really pretty kit using Bloom papers, flowers, crystals, ribbons and a rub-on title. The 5 unashamedly pretty floral papers are soft and feminine - perfect for summery pics. Think gardens in full bloom, sundresses and bright sunny days and you'll have the right vibe!


Fabulous!

Claire had her eye on the new Chatterbox Fabulous line right away and has created a fabulous page using 3 double sided papers, one of the flocked papers from the line and a whole pack of the Fabulous Treasures. The Treasures are amazing, a pack of gorgeousness including felt shapes, crystal buttons, epoxy shapes, buttons, sequins and more!


Amber Glow

As the sun catches the beautiful amber crystal swirls in this kit you will catch your breath - they are just stunning and you get a whole huge pack of them in this class. We have matched them with papers in the same tones, cream crochet flowers and an inkpad for a fab class kit that is sure to be a winner!

I hope that you like what you see and we hope to see you next weekend!

Kit 1 for August

For our first kit for August we have used gorgeous summery colours - shame we don't seem to having a Summer this year!! This double page kit includes 4 cardstock, 4 patterned papers, a pack of rub-ons and a pack of white crochet flowers. The dominant colours are blue and white but there is a little of all sorts going on in the patterned papers including hot pink, orange, kraft and green.
I used four 6" x 4" photos, two landscape and two portrait. You will also need some brads for the flower centres, 3d foam pads, and ink pads (the sample uses ColorBox chalk inks in Tangerine, Ice Jade and Azurite). I also added some Prima crystal swirls but you could use black pearls or even just draw on swirls with a black pen. I used Thickers for my title but you can gut one of the pages to release blue card that you could cut letters from to make your title. If you have a scallop edge punch you might want to dig it out for this kit, the sample used the Fiskars 'Threading Water' punch but any small scallop punch will work fine.

Be warned - I did a LOT of cutting out from the patterned paper!!

A great weekend!

This has been a really great weekend - for a start we got to spend some time with the kids, the first time Jack and I had seen them since Christmas and the first time in ages that Dave has seen them other than in the street for more than 10 minutes! Dave had asked to take the kids swimming as it is something they have aways loved to do together and at the last minute he got a text saying that he could meet them at the pool as his ex was taking them. We had all planned to go together so it wasn't a big deal to meet them there and it was amazing to see Dave interacting with LJ and Melissa. It was so obvious how much they absolutely adore him and I just couldn't stop smiling the whole time! He played with them the whole time and had limitless patience as they wrestled him, jumped on him and poured water over his head. My Jack was thrilled to see his brother and sister again as he has missed them so much and the boys played together as if no time had passed at all.

I think it was a bit awkward as Dave's ex was there sat at poolside and it was obvious that the children didn't really know how to react. Its a difficult situation as the children feel in the middle and don't want to upset anyone. I know my Jack has talked to me at length about being between two parents and his Dad and I get on quite well so I can appreciate how hard it must be for LJ and Melissa and I was so proud of them on Saturday. Its so important that divorced parents accept that their children absolutely need regular contact with both of them in order to develop into happy, healthy adults and I hope that this is the first step towards that happening. The alternative is that they will grow up with a deep seated resentment towards the parent that 'stopped' them from having a relationship with the other one which is why I actively ensure that Jack has quality time with his Dad and sees him every week - the way I see it, thats part of my job as a mother.

Sunday was an equally fab day as we ran our 'Finish your Pages' day in Kent and had an amazing turnout, in fact we sold out of places weeks before the event! It was a really chilled out day with a great fun vibe in the hall the whole time. We got loads of work finished, the final tally was;

7 double page LOs from scratch
39 single page LOs from scratch
63 LOs finished off

Thats one heck of a lot of work done in one day!! We are looking to run another day to finish off work some time in September so watch this space for the details as soon as we have them. Next on the agenda is our August crop day on the 22nd, the classes are coming in thick and fast and I'll be releasing them any day now.........

Kit #2 for July

Things have been more than a little bit crazy of late especially as my Jack has had a horrid sickness bug this past week. I'm a bit behind and the subscription kits will ship this week - my apologies for the delay but poorly kids come first!

Anyway, this is the second sample design for July. We are using another one of the templates from the fab set that comes with this month's kit, this time its the largest template which I think works really well on a double page design. Kit 2 also includes cardstock, 3 double sided patterned papers, a sheet of double sided cut-outs and a whole box of assorted flowers. You'll just need to add a dark brown inkpad (the sample used ColorBox Dark Brown) and a handful of mini brads. I used some leftover brown Thickers letters frommy stash for the title but you could easily cut letters from brown cardstock for the same effect.

For those of you who like to know photo sizes, the sample uses two 6x4 landscape, a 7x5 portrait and a 3x4 landscape. You could use a different combination really easily so don't fret about finding the exact same sizes!

Total Papercrafts kit #1 for July

Here we go with the first of our kits for July and we've chosen some really summery papers but combined them with cardstock colours that stop them from getting too sugary!! This is a fab kit as we have not only included cardstock and three patterned papers but also a whole tag pad and a complete set of nested templates for 12x12, 8x8 and 6x6 bracket shapes. I'll be using the templates for both of the kits this coming month as they are so versatile!

If you are joining us at one of our clubs in July and want to make the sample page you'll need a single 6" x 4" landscape photo, a handful of flowers from your stash (or a flower punch), some small adhesive crystals for the flower centres and bird eyes and a selection of inkpads (the sample uses ColorBox Prussion Blue, Lime Pastel and Amber Clay but any mid-blue, light green and orange would probably do!). There isn't too much fiddly cutting out on this one (just a bit!!) so you should get this completed at club which I know everyone loves.

I have ordered in yet more kits for the Soft Vintage class we had at the Kent crop earlier in the month as I know that lots of Essex club members particularly loved that one. As you may have read, we sold out of absolutely every kit at the crop but I have re-stocked just that one and will have them on Wednesday evening along with the very few kits left from the New Forest crop (layout class only).

A little something for the weekend......

We've just had our magazine delivery and I really want to curl up with a coffee and have a flick through! The August issue of Scrapbook Trends was in the box and it was nice to see a few additions from UK designers. I really hope that they keep the bulk of the designs from their strong pool of US designers as that was what always made this a mag that I was drawn to. A smattering of UK designs could prevent it from being too '4th of July' so I suppose its a matter of balance, it will be interesting to see what happens. I've added all of today's magazine delivery to the shop at www.totalpapercrafts.co.uk and all kit subscribers get free P&P as well!!

If you are at a loose end this Sunday and fancy an afternoon out, we will be at the "Craft & Hobby Taster Day" at the Old School, Great Wakering, Essex from 12noon to 4pm. It looks like it will be a fun day where all of the local classes offer demonstrations and small tasters of each of their crafts. We will be running a free mini-book make & take all day, we had great fun making up the samples and they make fab small gifts! We'd love to see some friendly faces on the day so if you fancy a freebie then come along!

It looks like it will be another mad weekend for us as we have tickets to see the Royal Philharmonic at an open air concert tomorrow. My only hope is that the weather is kind to us - keep your fingers crossed!

Something for free

Last year I did a fab free online class with Jessica Sprague and so many people loved the little album of journaling prompts that came out of it that I ended up sending the link to the class all over the place! To celebrate her company's 2nd birthday Jessica is offering free registration for another class, this time its a photo editing class and it looks absolutely beautiful! Registration is all this week and the class starts on 6th July. If you sign up at www.jessicasprague.com you'll also find she's offering daily freebies that are only available for 24 hours - today's one is a digital page template together with digi paper and frames.

I have to say that Jessica's classes are extremely professional and very well done so if you fancy learning a little something about using your computer to make your photos look fab this is definitely worth checking out!

Finally putting our feet up!

It has been a hectic past couple of days but in a good way if you know what I mean? A bit of hard work never hurts and we certainly worked really hard over the weekend with the Kent crop on Saturday and then a trip down to the New Forest for another crop on Sunday!! We got back very late last night and after running on adrenaline for 2 days we both suddenly hit the wall and were exhausted. I decided to have a bit of a break today and while I still had work to do I took things relatively easy (the joys of working for yourself I suppose!).

Saturday was a really lovely day, I really enjoy these crop days in Kent as we get such a fab group of people come along. The classes seemed to be quite popular and for the first time ever we have absolutely no class kits left at all - not a thing and thats despite ordering loads of spare kits for quite a few classes! I've already had emails asking about crop class kits and have had to disappoint quite a few people, perhaps you can make one of our next crop dates?

Pauline had the challenge of using our brand new stock control system (complete with scanner!) on Saturday and coped brilliantly well despite her admitted dislike of technology! I don't think it will be long before she's happily scanning away like mad without even thinking about it, in fact she was more of a pro at it than I was by the end of the day!! Thank you so much Pauline, you really are amazing and we appreciate everything you do for us especially on the crop days - we couldn't cope without you!

I also owe a huge thank you to Claire who despite being otherwise engaged and unable to come to the crop (we missed you!!) still designed a class for us - she is such a sweetheart!! It wasn't the same without her there and she promises to be back with us for the Summer Stay-cation crop in August with two amazing classes!!

Jackie was an absolute star and offered to teach for us after popping in one day and seeing me drowning in deliveries while trying to prepare for the crop! She taught Claire's class and also designed a beautiful class of her own which was hugely popular. Thank you so much hun, I really appreciate you taking some of the pressure off me and if you ever need the favour returned you know where I am!

Dave has become such a pro at running the clasroom side of things that I barely even have to think of something and he's already sorting it out. Anyone who has ever delivered a class will vouch for how important a good classroom assistant is and I think I have the best!! Add to that all the lifting, carrying, setting up, breaking down and driving that he did and all with a great sense of humour and I have a keeper there! You know what, I might even marry him!! LOL!!

We drove to the New Forest straight from the Kent crop and stayed in a gorgeous hotel - we thought we'd earnt it by this point!! All I wanted was a hot shower and a fluffy robe by the time we got there and while I was choosing what complimentary drinks to have courtesy of the very nice night manager, Dave surprised me by running me a huge candlelit bubble bath. I was in absolute heaven and could have quite easily stayed there for hours!!

After a great night's sleep we drove into the heart of the New Forest and joined the girls who were cropping there for the weekend. They had booked a huge cottage with something like 9 or 10 double bedrooms and had come from all over to spend the time scrapping together. It was a great mix of people and I loved hearing the story of how they all got to know each other thanks to UKS and a year-long scrapbooking challenge. Everyone was really friendly and made us feel very welcome and we had the chance to really chat to quite a few during the course of the day - I'm not sure if some of them are talking to me now though after the amount of sanding I left them with for the project class!! I loved Kay's solution to the frustration she began to feel at the propect of sanding masses of fiddly chipboard scallops - cut them off!! I agree, life's too short and it is only cutting and sticking after all!! LOL!!

Thank you to everyone who made the weekend so much fun, we had a blast and look forward to seeing everyone again very soon :o)

Class peeks for the Kent crop this Saturday

As usual, here are are the sneak peeks of the completed classes for the Kent crop this Saturday together with the additional bits and bobs you might want to bring along. They are in the runnig order for the day.....

10am Viva Victoria

Claire has designed a beautiful class for you here - you'll need a 7" x 5" landscape photo if you want to copy the sample but Jackie is teaching this class and is going to use a couple of smaller ones. You will also need to bring along a black inkpad, a bone folder, paper pricker, some double sided tape and a corner rounder.

11.15am Soft Vintage
Although this class has 'vintage' in the title, it will work equally well with modern photos. You'll need one 6" x 4" portrait and three 2.25" x 2.25" photos - you can crop these from larger prints. You'll need a black inkpad, a decorative border stamp (to stamp the edge of the paper as above), 1" and 0.5" circle punches - there will be punches available in the classroom if you don't have these sizes.

1pm In Full Bloom

This eclectic and colourful page cries out for photos that are fun and include colour! The sample uses two 6" x 4" potrait photos but you could opt for one larger landscape. The kit includes an unmounted stamp so you'll need to pack a stamp block. Throw a selection of inkpads into your bag in ice cream colours (the sample used ColorBox Ice Jade, Lime Pastel, Amber Clay, Rose Coral and Rouge but you don't really need this many!!). If you have some adhesive crystals just pop them into your bag, you only need one so don't panic buy!

2.15pm Classic Cool

Grab a 7" x 5" portrait photo, a red inkpad, white gel pen and a paper pricker and you are good to go for this class - its that simple!!

3.30pm A Pinch of Saffron

A simple 6" x 4" potrait photo would work really well with this butterfly themed page. You'll also need a creamy brown inkpad and you'll be good to go!!

5pm Whatever Will Be

This eclectic, shabby chic page uses ephemera to the max so opt for a simple 6" x 4" landscape photo - a heritage one work look great! You'll need a purple inkpad, some mini brads and a paper pricker to complete the project.

6.15pm Mad About You

This stunning page by Jackie cries out for a large heritage photo, the sample design uses a 7" x 5" landscape although you could also use two smaller photos if you prefer. You'll need a selection of inkpads, Jackie used ColorBox Creamy Brown, Dark Moss and Dark Peony together with a dark brown dye-based inkpad. If you have a distressing tool pop that in your tool kit although you could also use scissors. A scorer and bone folder would also be handy together with some double sided tape.

If you have any questions then give me a shout - see you on Saturday!!

Peeks of the New Forest classes

As quite a few for the New Forest crop are leaving very early on Friday morning I thought I'd better get the sneak peeks for the classes up nice and early for you!! The project class has sold out but there are still a couple of places left in the LO class if anyone fancies it.

Breakfast at Tiffany's project

This fab little album is stuffed full of good things (a bit like those gorgeous blue boxes from a well known jeweller!!). You'll need up to twenty small photos (around 2" x 3" or 3" x 4" but no larger) to fill all of the gorgeously scalloped pages. Bring loads of glue sticks, sandpaper or a BasicGrey file set, a black inkpad, a single hole punch, double sided tape, a corner rounder and a sense of humour because this will take a while!! LOL!!

One Way Traffic LO class

Pack a load of 3d foampads for this class that uses one 7" x 5" portrait photo and a 3" x 4" also in portrait. You'll also need a glue pen or ideally a small Xyron dispenser to get the best glittered effects on the chipboard in this kit. Pop a handful of mini brads into your bag to attach the whole box of mixed flowers I've added to this fab kit! You'll need a green or orange inkpad (the sample used ColorBox Olive Pastel chalk ink). Unusually for me, there's no fiddly cutting out for you to do in this class so you can breathe easy!!

We're really looking forward to coming down to see everyone, we've booked a posh hotel nearby so it'll be like a little holiday for us as well!! See you all on Sunday!

Two more dates for your diary

I have just got off the phone after booking some more dates for over the Summer for those who fancy coming to play with us! First up we have another of our really popular 'Finish Your Pages' days - the date is Sunday 26th July. As usual everyone will have a whole six foot table to themselves for the entire day so you'll have loads of room to spread out - although I seem to be able to fill the space in five minutes and end up working in a 13" x 13" square every time! LOL!! We'll have unlimited tea, coffee and soft drinks plus the very naughty muffins for morning coffee and carrot cake for afternoon tea! Spaces are very limited so bookings will be on a first come basis. I love these days, they are really relaxed and chilled out with a fab friendly, chatty vibe!

For those who aren't going away during the Summer holidays we've decided to offer you the chance to take some time out for yourself at our 'Stay-cation Crop' on Saturday 22nd August. This will be our usual all-day event but with a fun holiday theme - including a floral lei to get you in the holiday spirit!! We'll have seven classes for you to choose from with a great mix of designers teaching on the day, you won't want to miss out on this!! Add in free refreshments and afternoon tea and what else could you ask for?!!

Both events are now available to book online at www.totalpapercrafts.co.uk for only £10 each!

Kit 2 for June

The double page kit for June uses the goregous Lillian paper line and is masses of fun! The scanner had a bit of a thrombie with matching the centre of the pages and cut off a bit of each but in real life the die-cuts go across both of the pages. As well as three double sided patterned papers, the kit includes cardstock, a shaped patterned paper and a whole box of Lillian glittered diecuts. I fell madly in love with these gorgeous birds and birdhouses and just had to have them so I hope you love them too!!

The sample page uses four 6" x 4" photos - one portrait and three landscape. I used three different shades of inks on this one, a teal, a rose and a creamy brown but to be honest its not essential. You'll need some 3d foam pads and a few small adhesive gems for the bird's eyes (the idea of sightless birds freaks me out!). Nothing else is needed as the gorgeous papers and diecuts do all the work for you here - and no fiddly cutting either LOL!!

Class peeks for the New Forest crop girls

We have been invited to spend the day at a crop in the New Forest on 21st June and have a couple of classes which we have put together specially for the day. Here are the peeks.........

Breakfast at Tiffanys
Whenever I think of the film 'Breakfast at Tiffanys' I think of Audrey Hepburn in that fab black shift dress with the rope of classic pearls - sophisticated style that never dates. We have put together a project class that has that same sort of feel, after all you can't go wrong with black and white can you? In this mini album class you'll make a self-contained concertina book with scalloped pages that just oozes style and sophistication. The kit contains cardstock, chipboard, a chipboard album, 3 double sided patterned papers, a whole pack of rub-ons, pearl/crystal brads and crochet flowers. You'll need a selection of small photos around 3" x 2" in both portrait and landscape - you can use either black & white or colour photos but try to keep them all of the same person/theme. You'll also need a black inkpad, a bone folder or scorer, corner rounder and lots of glue stick (I got through three making up the sample!!). You won't get to the photo stage during the class so don't worry if you don't have the photos ready for the class.

One way Traffic

This scrapbook page class uses 7" x 5" and 3" x 4" portrait photos on a layout that is predominantly in shades of hot oranges, creams and greens. Think of hot summer days, orange ice lollys and freshly mown lawns and you'll be on the right track! We'll be playing with glitter so you'll need to bring along a glue pen, glue stick or Xyron and be prepared to leave this class with a delicate shimmer about you!!! The class kit contains cardstock, double sided patterned papers, 12x12 sheet of die-cuts, whole pack of adhesive chipboard alphabet, glitter and paper flowers. You'll need to bring a green or orange inkpad, 3d foam pads and some mini brads for this class.

These classes can be booked on the day but if you want to be sure that you have your kits then you can book online through the shop at www.totalpapercrafts.co.uk from 8pm this evening. Please only book these classes if you are attending the New Forest crop weekend!!

The last 2 crop classes for 20th June!

The last two classes for our crop on Saturday 20th June have just arrived and we love them!! Both of these will be taught by Jackie who many of you will have met at a previous crop where she demonstrated some gorgeous stamps and punches. These classes are the first and last ones of the day, please only book for them if you are going to be there for the class as it can be very demoralising to walk into a class that is empty, particularly at the end of a long day!


Viva Victoria
This elegant and classic kit uses the brand new Andrea Victoria paper line in shades of pale gold, charcoal, chocolate and white. The fab scrapbook page designed by Claire has a brilliant folding book that opens up for hidden journaling or more photos! The kit contains cardstock, 5 double-sided patterned papers, a 12x12 sheet of die-cuts, a whole pack of ribbons together with brads and beads for the finishing touch!


Mad about You
Bring a touch of vintage romance into your life with this gorgeous kit using Madeline papers and embellishments. Think old country roses, rich velvets and sparkly crystal chandeliers and you'll be right in the mood!! The kit contains cardstock, three patterned papers, a whole pack of rub-ons with crystals and a whole pack of velvet flowers with pearl and crystal brads. Very indulgent but you're worth it!!

Both classes go on sale tomorrow evening at 7pm and if the past releases are anything to go by, you'll need to be prompt as everything has sold out in minutes!