Fantastic news!!!

Felix is back!!!!!!

After over a week of being missing he turned up this morning outside the back door of a neighbour ten doors away. She very kindly picked him up and brought him round at 6.30am and I couldn't believe my eyes. He was squirming in her arms desperately trying to get to me and as soon as I had him he started purring his head off. He seems none the worse for his little adventure although he is thin and absolutely exhausted. He has spent most of today eating and sleeping but thats to be expected I suppose.

Jack and his best friend Ryan spent a couple of hours delivering leaflets and talking to everyone in our road last Friday night and since then we had lots of people letting us know about sightings but we were beginning to lose hope. We count ourselves so lucky to have really caring neighbours around us who took the time to keep us informed and especially lucky to have him back home safe and sound. Needless to say, Molly is overjoyed to have her brother back and has been pouncing on him and cleaning his face at every opportunity - its so sweet!

Thank you to everyone who emailed with supportive words, I really appreciated your thoughts and prayers. I'm off to have another cuddle........

Sizzix Summer specials!!!!

If you love die-cuts and alphabets then you might want to check out the Sizzix website right now, as there are some amazing deals!! They have been running weekly specials of late where specific themed dies are seriously reduced in price - and I mean seriously!! The latest offer is for Summer themed dies and of the 15 dies included, I think the best deal has to be on the 'Sunset' alphabet which is reduced from £63.60 to £15.90!! At these prices I might be tempted to dust off my Big Shot!

Check the deals out at http://www.sizzix.co.uk/campaigns/weeklyspecials

Extra crop class kits on sale now

We have a few of the class kits left from our crop last weekend and I have added them to the shop site today. These kits come complete with full instructions and everything you need to complete the sample design. I particularly love the Alissa album kit from Bo Bunny, the colours are fun and fresh and the kit has so much paper in it - it weighs a ton!!

We don't have many kits of each left so you may need to be quick off the mark!

New member of our Essex club!

After giving us a bit of a nervous evening at last club when she turned up over 9 months pregnant, Sharon has finally delivered her baby. And the great news is she has no more reasons to complain about pink kits as Sharon has a brand new baby girl!! Baby Cassandra was born yesterday and weighs in at a very healthy 7lbs 12oz. Both Mum and baby are doing well and are now at home - we hope to see you at club soon for a cuddle with baby!!

Felix has gone missing......

My beautiful boy went missing yesterday and we still can't find him - I am beside myself with worry. Felix and Molly went out of the front door while I was dealing with a courier delivery yesterday afternoon which is no big deal as they freely roam in and out all day. Molly came back in about half an hour later but there was no sign of Felix. We started to get really concerned when he didn't come back for his dinner and then Jack knock at all of the neighbours and asked them to check sheds, garages etc but there was no trace. I have barely slept a wink and am so worried about him - he's the "nice but dim" one of the two!
Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Putting my feet up.........

Yesterday's crop was really fab - we had such a lovely group of people there and it was a relaxed and happy atmosphere, something that was commented on to me a couple of times during the day. We had more new ladies joined us and they were really complimentary about how welcoming everyone was, so thank you everyone!!

Pauline was an absolute star and I owe her the biggest thank you for holding everything together in the shop for me and I couldn't do these crops without her. I promise to do everything in my power to have the new shop site up and running before the crop in June to lessen her workload so hopefully Pauline will be able to put her feet up!

I also owe a huge thank you to Claire for her two gorgeous classes. She is such a talented designer and we are so lucky to have her working with us. Claire is already starting to work on classes for the June crop and she has some amazing ideas - watch this space!!

We have a very few class kits left after the crop and I'll put them up onto the shop for general sale tomorrow if anyone wants them. There aren't that many so you will need to be quick off the mark if you want any of them.

The next crop date is Saturday 20th June and booking is now open and we have also opened booking for our 'Finish Your Pages Day' on Sunday 17th May - a great opportunity to get all of your unfinished projects completed. Last time we managed to get over 80 scrapbook pages finished plus a number of mini-books and cards.

So now that the crop is over I am taking a little "me time" and putting my feet up now- thats after spending the afternoon at Bluewater! Thank you once again to everyone who joined us for the day yesterday choosing us over the Stamping and Scrapbooking show at Ally Pally!! We hope to see you again in both May and June!

Sneak peeks of all the classes for the crop tomorrow!

Start your engines because we are ready to go!! Here are all of the peeks at the classes for the crop tomorrow together with details of photos and anything else you might need........

10 am - Birds of a Feather
In this gorgeous class with Claire you'll not only put together a beautiful page but learn how to make stunning flower embellishments - with a hint of danger!! You'll need a 6" x 4" portrait photo and almost any theme would work really well with this design. Bring along a black inkpad, a black journaling pen, 3d foam pads and sand paper or sanding block.


11.15am - All Things Bright & Beautiful

This one is most definitely fun and colourful so perfect for photos with loads of colour that can often be difficult to scrap. You'll need three 6" x 4" photos and they can be either portrait, landscape or a mixture of the two. Pack a green inkpad (sample uses Colorbox Lime Pastel) or any other fresh colour eg. yellow, pink or blue. You'll also need some 3d foam pads, a paper pricker and double sided tape or glue dots.

1pm - Raspberries & Cream

This pink and cream class is very elegant and pretty and would suit a range of photos including heritage. You'll need a 6" x 8" landscape or you could opt for two 6" x 4" portrait photos - they don't need to be black & white as in the sample as a bit of colour would also look fab! Pack a green inkpad (sample used Colorbox Olive Pastel), some 3d foam pads, a 1" circle punch and a paper pricker because you'll be learning how to make a fab folded flower!

2.15pm - Lazy Daisy

The warm, rich colours of this class would work well with all sorts of different photo themes so don't worry about having to rush out to buy a chocolate face mask!! We used a 6" x 4" landscape photo but you could use something larger just as well. Pack a brown inkpad (sample used Colorbox Creamy Brown - my fav!!), a paper pricker and either a notebook edge punch or a single hole punch. By the way the Thickers in this kit look so much like chocolate you'll be wanting to lick them!!


3.30pm - Butterflies & Backstitch

True to my word, there is no sewing to be seen here - just soft ice-cream colours like pistachio and chocolate. This one is perfect for a heritage photo but I think you'll be surprised at just how many different styles of picture would work with this. We used a 6" x 4" landscape photo but you could just as easily use a portrait pic or go a little larger. You'll need 3d foam pads and if you have a scallop edge punch throw that in your bag as it will make your life a little easier in class (but not vital so don't fret if you don't have one) and if you have a Krylon gold leafing pen bring that along as well. Finally bring along a soft brown inkpad - the sample uses Colorbox Creamy Brown.


5pm - Squeeze of Lime

This page is big on drama so you'll need quite strong photos for this class and three of them in the same theme. We used three 7" x 5" portrait pics but you have the option to rotate the page and use landscape if you prefer. Bring along a black inkpad and you are good to go - we're being gentle on you here because its towards the end of the day!!




6pm - Alissa Album

We haven't put this one up for sale yet as we had issues with our credit card machine so we will be takings bookings tomorrow morning. This is the last class of the day but we have left loads of time for you to get stuck into it - and Claire assures me that you'll need it! You probably won't have time to even think about photos but you will need a glue stick, sandpaper, 1" circle punch, a black inkpad and a craft knife. The kit has full instructions so even if you can't stay until the last class you will be able to complete the project easily on your own.

The postcode for those of you who have a bit of a way to come is DA13 0AT. I thnk thats everything but please get in touch if you have any questions about anything. AND if you want to check your diaries, the next Kent crop day will be Saturday 20th June and the next 'Finish Your Pages' day will be Sunday 17th May - hope to see you there!!

Kit 2 for April

Our second kit for April uses the brand new Penny Lane paper line from My Mind's Eye in gorgeous shades of purple and green - perfect for a pic of your Cadbury's Dairy Milk Easter egg!! Instead, I opted for a 6" x 4" portrait photo of my baby sister and I taken about a hundred years ago (or so it seems!) and I think all sorts of photos would work really well with this kit. The papers in the kit are double sided with a pattern and a plain to play with but the best thing about this one is the pack of ribbons we have sourced to match it - you get six different ribbons including the most delicious deep purple velvet and a stunning variegated ribbon that is so perfectly matched I could sing!!
The kit includes 2 cardstock, 3 patterned papers, 2 sheets of die-cuts, a title die-cut and a whole pack of ribbons.
We have had a nightmare this past week with our credit card equipment breaking down and we are still waiting for the replacement machine which is holding up all of our orders including the kit subscriptions. We are working flat out to get this sorted out as soon as possible and then we'll be working flat out to get everything in the post as soon as we can!! We have one more class to release for the crop this Saturday which is our project - drop in tomorrow for a peek at it!

Project class for our crop

The project class kits for the crop on 18th April have now arrived and are absolutely gorgeous! We immediately fell in love with the Bo Bunny Alissa Album class when it was launched at CHA and the kit is even more beautiful than we remembered. It includes one of the brand new 'Edgy' albums, 9 sheets of double sided patterned papers, cardstock, 12x12 sheet of cardstock combo stickers, printed transparency sheet, metal rings, 3" flower, assorted ribbons and full colour step-by-step instructions. Don't worry about the pink book - it is covered in the class to create a stunning album with black, blue and green pages so its not 'girlie' per say.

The project is always the last class of the day but the instructions with this kit are so easy to follow that you can put this together any time - perfect for those who need to leave earlier and sometimes miss the last class.

Watch this space for when the class goes on sale - we can't release it yet as the card terminal has died and we can't process any trnasactions. I've been promised a new one tomorrow so keep your fingers crossed for me!!

Change is a good thing!

I put things in motion today that will produce some huge changes to the online shop. It may take a few weeks for them to be implemented but basically we will be launching a brand new website with a clean, modern look and thats a lot easier to use on all sides. It's something I've been looking into for a long time as over the past 5 years the site seems to have become clunky and difficult to manage and I recently found a company that I am really excited to work with.

So brace yourself for a massive change, it will be a breath of fresh air and a beautiful looking site - much more in keeping with my vision for Total Papercrafts! I suppose change is a good thing but after paying for it all we'll be diving down the back of the sofa looking for it and living on beans on toast again! LOL!!!