Bonus idea from scraps!

Tracey from the Sawbridgeworth club is very creative and always comes up with fab ideas. After making up her sample page with the March kit 2, she started playing with the leftovers and came up with this gorgeous project....
She used one of the new Prima doll stamps and the Prima Lyric papers in our kit to create a gorgeous tag. How stunning would this look added to a card or attached to a special gift?
I love seeing the great stuff created with the leftovers from our kits and sharing the ideas here. If you would like your ideas featured on our blog then please get in touch with a pic and we will share it with the world!!

On the move!

Things have been quiet here in the blog because we are dealing with one of life's big challenges - moving house! This time last year moving was the last thing on our mind, this house was supposed to be our 'forever house' and like many people we said "never again!" as soon as we'd recovered from moving in! Oh how things have changed!!
So we now find ourselves packing our lives and the shop stock into dozens of boxes in advance of a move to Cornwall. We are down sizing so there have been lots of difficult decisions to make regarding our 'stuff' but we are just about there I think. It's been mentally and physically exhausting but there's now a strange echo in the house which means we're nearly done!
So what impact will this have on Total Papercrafts and the kits? In the immediate short term it means that general shop orders won't be shipped for 3-4 weeks. Kits were a bit delayed recently but that has been down to shipping issues from our suppliers to us (more stress I could do without but hey ho!!). The kit subscription will continue as normal, the only difference you may notice is the postmark on your package! Obviously I will not longer be able to teach classes in Kent and Essex but there are things in the pipeline for both clubs. The Essex club is now being run by Jackie da Silva and things are in motion for the Kent group. Evening Masterclasses have now finished but I am still able to teach at weekends. The plan will be to start clubs in and around Cornwall, I love teaching and am already missing it badly!
In the meantime I'm planning something new and exciting which will mean I can still teach but won't need to physically be there. This class will have a kit to go with it which will be available to purchase ahead of time so you can create along with me in real time. You'll need to keep an eye out here for the announcement of when the kits are up on the website to purchase and the date & time of the class. I'm thinking an afternoon at a weekend would be nice, what do you think?
I think that's all my news for now, keep your fingers crossed for us that the move goes ok and I'll catch up with you again when I'm in Pastyland!!!

My Prima Place

Do you know that Prima, the gurus of all things flowery and gorgeous, publish a regular online magazine? This fabulous mag is available to read on your computer or you could choose to print it off if you prefer the feel of paper. I am always blown away by the stunning designs they include and many come with step by step instructions so that you can create something similar at home. What's even better is that this is completely free of charge!! If you'd like to see what I'm talking about you can check it out by clicking on this link -

http://issuu.com/prima-flowers/docs/mppv7?mode=mobile

Total Papercrafts kit 2 for March

Here we go with our second kit for March (after a little wait for the supplies to arrive!) using the Prima Lyric paper line. These papers are crammed full with amazing designs to cut out and layer over one another! Those of you who have known me for a while will know just how much I love fussy cutting out images from paper!!
This kit comes with a gorgeous bottle of spray colour which we use simply to add colour to the base paper. My original idea was to create some paper flowers and spray those too but by the time I'd finished my design I didn't feel this page needed them. If you are a fan of flowers then you have the option to create them , spray them and layer them onto your page!
These papers are full of images of tickets, flowers, lace, chandeliers and much more! The designs work really well with vintage photos and equally well with modern snapshots. The sample design uses a single 6" x 4" landscape photo.
The kit contains; Cardstock, 4 sheets of double sided patterned paper, bottle of colour spray, length of cotton tape.
I have the feeling that this will be a very popular kit so be sure to let your club organiser know that you want this one if you're not a subscriber!

Busy, busy, busy!!

While things may have been a bit quiet here on the blog they've been absolutely the opposite in my life, it's been crazier and busier than ever!! We are very close to completing on the sale of our house which means boxes everywhere and nothing where you're used to it being which is maddening and time consuming to say the least. We had a trip to the hospital for surgery closely followed by a rapid return when infection was suspected. I don't know if I'm coming or going to be honest!
In the middle of all of this domestic madness we have had two new clubs start up. The first is in Sawbridgeworth and is being run by Tracey Camburn. Tracey invited me along to teach the very first club night and it was an absolute pleasure to meet this fab group of ladies. We had such a laugh I found it difficult to believe that it was the first time that they had met one another! The club will meet on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month - if you're interested then get in touch with me and I'll put you in touch with Tracey!
Our second club kicks off this coming Wednesday 3rd April in Southend-on-Sea. The club is run by Jackie Da Silva who is very well known locally as a papercraft teacher and designer. She has hired a hall and has plenty of capacity for anyone who'd like to join the fun! Jackie will also be previewing the two kits for next month and taking orders, it's great to actually see the papers, colours and themes of kits ahead of time so you know what sort of photos to search for. If you'd like to join in with the Southend-on-Sea club then let me know and I'll connect you with Jackie.
In the meantime I hope everyone is having a lovely Easter break and that you find some time to get creative!

Big sale tomorrow!!

In preparation for moving I need to have a good clear out of stock to reduce what we actually take with us. In order to do this we are going to hold a mega sale tomorrow (Saturday 23rd March) from 12 noon to 2pm.
There will be some serious bargains to be had in order to clear out loads of stock! All are welcome and there will be card making, scrapbooking and general craft deals to grab. First come, first served!!

Total Papercrafts March kit 1

Here we go with the double page kit for March using the Prima Engraver line!  We fell in love with these papers at the trade show a few weeks ago and were practically jumping up and down at just how gorgeous it all was.  If I could have I would have ordered everything so it was really difficult to choose!!  The kit has a 'memories' theme so its very adaptable for any kind of photo.  I used a single 6" x 4" landscape photo because I sometimes want to make a statement in my album based on just one moment - in this case it was this amazing snapshot of my sister and I on holiday together in Las Vegas.  I added a shot of teal to the black, tan and white colour scheme to lift it, its very simple to do something like this with just cardstock and it makes such a difference.  I also added a cool wood mounted Prima stamp to the kit and created fun pieces of 'tape' to embellish the design, its a super easy technique that you can use over again with different colours!

The kit contains; cardstock, 4 sheets of double sided patterned paper, wood stamp, tissue paper

You will also need; double sided adhesive tape, flower centres (crystals/pearls/buttons etc.), black inkpad, water spray

Keep an eye out for our second Prima kit for March coming very soon!!