Kit #1 for February

This gorgeous page was designed for us by Jackie using kit 1 for February. The soft shades of peach, green and cream will work with all sorts of different themed photos from feminine to vintage/heritage. Jackie used a 6" x 4" portrait and a 4" x 3" portrait together but she reckons that a 7" x 5" would also work with this design. There is a bit of craft knife work here - perfect for those who like to do fiddly stuff!!
The kit contains cardstock, 3 double-sided heavyweight patterned papers, 12x12 sheet of titles, tags and borders, paper template and a whole pack of paper flowers.
You'll need to use soft brown and green inkpads (the sample uses Colorbox creamy brown and dark moss), brads/buttons or crystals for the flower centres and 3d foam pads to complete this page. Don't forget to dig out your craft knife and cutting mat as well!!

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has very kindly stepped in over recent months to help keep things running while Karen has been out of action with her back. Special thanks go to Jackie and Pauline for keeping the clubs running in her absence - you really have been stars and we can't say 'thank you' enough. Thanks also to our customers who have shown real patience as deliveries have slowed right down as our volunteers have struggled to get orders picked, packed and shipped without Karen to lead the way! Its at times like this that we realise what amazing people we have around us, thank you again.

Lynda x

Kit 2 for January

The snow seems to be playing havoc with everything right now but hopefully it means you are wrapped up nice and snug at home and maybe even getting some scrapbooking done! Our second kit for January is a double page in shades of purple and green with a dash of warm cream thrown in for good measure. We have included a great technique to make shabby chic flowers from acid free tissue paper. These flowers are soft and delicate and can be colour matched to any project you are working on - just choose co-ordinating colours of inks and you are good to go! We are also playing with paper doilies to create gorgeously delicate and lacy effects using inks.

The kit includes cardstock, 4 sheets of patterned papers, 3 A3 sheets of acid free tissue, paper doily and a pack of jewel brads. You'll need to use green and purple inkpads (sample used Peeled Paint and Milled Lavender Distress Ink pads - Colorbox Warm Violet and Olive Pastel also match but are a little darker), a blending sponge, needle and white sewing thread, 3d foam pads, a short length of green ribbon and a paper pricker. The sample used Thickers in green felt for the title but there is ample paper and card left to cut a title and this will also co-ordinate brilliantly. The sample uses two 6" x 4" portrait photos and one 6" x 4" landscape pic but as usual the design will work with a number of different sizes of photos in the same theme.

Hopefully the snow will alleviate sufficiently for clubs to run this month, in the meantime stay safe and warm! Lynda

Club cancelled tonight :o(

What a difference a few hours make, Karen tells me that this morning Jack was gutted that the forecast snow hadn't amounted to anything and he had to go to school and this afternoon he is stuck on his bus as it struggles to bring him home - so far he's an hour late! Anyway, after watching the snow through my office window this afternoon I have decided to cancel club tonight. I'd really rather that everyone stayed off the roads as there has already been an accident at the end of the road (the main road through the village). So please stay wrapped up warm and off the roads while they are dangerous.
Enjoy taking loads of snowy photos and stay safe!!

Lynda

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!!