Aug kit 1 contents

Its been a fraught few days but the delivery of the August kits has just arrived and we are so excited by them!  I have the contents for our double page kit to show you today and its a faberoonie.

The colour palette is cream/duck egg blue and chocolate brown, one of my favourite combinations as it can be used for so many different types of photos including the really difficult to scrap ones of the guys in our lives.  We have 4 double sided sheets in the kit so there are still some surprises to come with the 'B' sides.  The journaling tablet has 24 diecut sheets in it and includes words such as 'Family' and 'Memories'.  We have also included a pack of cardstock stickers with clocks, cogs and flowers together with 'Cherish' and 'Sweet Memories' titles and a friend themed quote.  I think you'll agree that there is something for pretty much everyone there!!

I am now getting stuck into designing with this kit so I could very well add a few more bits to the kit as I go along but I love it just as it is and can't wait to start cutting and sticking....

Fab free Prima printables

If you're a fan of Prima then you might want to check out the latest free printables they have on their Facebook page right now.  I love vintage style and so these are right up my street.  I thought they were well worth sharing so if you fancy them too you'll need to 'like' the page on Facebook here

Missing you!

Hi there! As you may have gathered there has been a reason why things have been very quiet on here as late, we've taken a much needed break to rest and recharge our batteries. It was lovely to take some time away from work but being a bit of a workaholic I found it very difficult to leave everything behind. I didn't have much choice in the matter though, we had absolutely NO Internet save for the free wifi offered at a restaurant about 30 mins walk away. I was forced to go cold turkey from work and I found it hard!! Needless to say we have come home to a mountain of mail, literally hundreds of emails to wade through and masses of orders to ship. Back to reality with a bump! Obviously it will take some time to wade through the backlog and get back up to speed so please bear with us, we will try to get on top of things as fast as humanly possible. It has meant that the July kit shipment has been delayed a little but again, we will work on that as fast as we can. Despite all of the stresses that taking some time off brings with it, we had a smashing time. I did miss writing my daily blog posts and hope to be back into some sort of a routine pretty soon. Glad to see the weather perked up while we were away!!

New Tim App!!

 Exciting news today - Tim Holtz has released his own App for iPhone, iPod and iPad!! There are plans for it to be released for Android very soon as well.  This is how the App looks on your iPhone....

How amazing to have all of Tim's inspiration at your fingertips, I love that all the information sources that he uses are on one screen - his blog, Facebook and Twitter.  Having access to all of his fab videos on my phone is a great bonus too and it is totally FREE to download!!

Here is the official release info:

“The journey continues in a whole new way… Now you can keep inventory of your favorite Tim Holtz signature products from Ranger, idea-ology, Sizzix Alterations, Stampers Anonymous, Tonic, and Core’dinations with this interactive app right at your finger tips. Create a wish list of the products you want to explore, and watch Tim’s technique videos right on your device. Keep up with Tim’s many adventures with quick access to his events calendar, blog, facebook, and twitter.”

I'm off to download it now.....!!

Kit 2 for July

Claire has just dropped off the layout she has designed for us for our second kit this month and it is totally goregous - to be honest the picture doesn't do it justice as it is really fresh and summery and full of Claire's usual fab techniques!  The theme of this kit is resist - read on to find out why....

There are a few things that are tricky to see on the sample page, one of them being a fab resist design she has created on the new Bazzill newsprint paper included in the kit.  If you look closely you might see the butterfly image to the right of the laced ribbon, that is stamped and then embossed using the clear embossing powder from the kit.  She has then inked over the embossed image for a delicate resist effect.  There are more images along the bottom edge of the newsprint too, lots of fun to be had here and you can really tailor the stamped images to match your photos.  Claire has also used a 'spritz & flick' technique on the background to create a mottled effect that is unique to waterbased inks - you HAVE to try this out, its simple and oh, so effective!!  There is also a cool resist butterfly in the kit from Prima, you simply add ink and spray with water to reveal the gorgeous resist design within the fabric. 

The stitched border and laced ribbon corset effect add touches of fresh white to keep the page bright and clean - perfect for any Summer photos.  Claire used two 6" x 4" landscape photos but you could use two portrait or even mix one of each, this is a very adaptable design.  The kit includes a whole pack of chipboard embellishments which include the titles; 'beauty & grace', this is me', 'simply you', 'she', 'lively' and 'vivacious'.  At first glance these would tend to lend themselves towards feminine photos but Claire has shown how you can use one of these titles with Summer garden pics.  There is even a blank chipboard block which you could use to create a bespoke title.

The kit contains; cardstock, 3 sheets of patterned paper (one glittered), pack of adhesive chipboard shapes and titles, length of white ribbon, length of embroidery floss, clear embossing powder, Prima resist butterfly.

You will also need; pink, orange, green and blue inks (sample used Distress inks in Picked Raspberry, Wild Honey, Shabby Shutters and Tumbled Glass), black and white inkpads, clear embossing ink, heatgun, background stamp (sample used a sequin waste design but any repeated small design will work), small design stamps to match your photo theme.

If you are attending my clubs the inks colours and stamps used on the sample design will be available for you to use if you don't own these. 

Thanks so much Claire for yet another gorgeous design!!

New in stock at Total Papercrafts

Check out this fab spinner unit by Ranger!  I have lots of blending tools as I like to keep one for each colour family I use and so that means a lot of tools hanging around.  It gets quite messy having them all out and even having them in a drawer together so this spinning organiser is ideal.  The footprint of the spinner is surprisingly small - it only uses around 8" of desk space which is less than the loose blending tools take! 
I already have one of these living in our house and I don't know how I ever managed without it!! I love the retro styling of it and its sturdiness.  The other great thing is that the clips can take more than the blending tools, you can store paint dabbers upside down in them so they are primed and ready to go, pop your Stickles bottles in upside down to get the most out of each one or mix it up with tools and products.
We have the Craft Spinner in stock at Total Papercrafts and to go directly to the site to order one just click here, they are just £19.99 each and kit subscribers get free P&P on all orders.

Free thank you printables

I was in a supermarket today and was greeted at the entrance by a huge 'Thank You' card display aimed specifically at teachers.  I had a brief browse through the cards and was horrified at the price of some of them.  This gave me the idea of searching online to see whether there were any free printables that would fit the bill and the picture above is just one I came across.

The simple graphic style of these cards really appealed to me, they would be quick and simple to create which would make them a project that you could make together with your kids (or not if you prefer!!).  The download prints onto two sheets of A4 card which would make 6 cards, perfect for the teachers, classroom assistants and other staff members you might want to thank as the end of the school year nears. 

If you'd like to print some of these fun simple cards for yourself, you can find the download here