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!