Scrap, Paper, Scissors

Guest designer today

2012-01-31T09:34:00.000Z

Morning all...we often have guest designers on here...and this is one we have had every once in a while...Welcome back Anna Parker.

I sent her a sketch a little while ago...this one from Sketchy thursdays....

and here is what she sent me back!

and here are some close ups...

here is the link to Anna's blog - http://www.mycreations-anna.blogspot.com/... there are some gorgeous pages on there!

And don't forget that everything on the website is 65% off ...so check out the last of the bargains!

Use it up!

2012-01-26T14:25:00.000Z

Hi everyone! This month I was excited to work with the Basic Grey Picadilly collection, which will be in the shop really soon! One of the things I love about collection packs is the cover sheet with mini pics of all the papers and goodies inside - they are so pretty laid out all together like that. So I got to thinking... there must be something I could do to make use of the front sheet and incorporate it into a project.

I was inspired to cut out the little squares of patterned paper and see where they led me...

After a little bit of playing around I figured out how to make a folded flower using 5 tiny squares of paper. I love how they turned out so thought I would share with you how I created them.

1. Take a mini paper square

2. Fold it diagonally across the centre

3. Fold the 2 sides inwards to meet the centre 'corner' of the triangle. (When you hold it flat it will be square)

4. Where the 2 flaps meet in the middle, fold those pieces back on themselves.

5. Repeat with 4 more squares until you have 5 pieces like this

6. Using a wet glue or strong adhesive, slot the folded pieces together and glue each 'petal' in place to create the flower shape.

7. Cover up the uneven centre with a pretty embellishment

8. Use the finished flowers to embellish your project :)

I hope I've inspired you to find some interesting ways to use things up! I'd love to hear your ideas or see your projects :)

Amanda x

a different kind of...

2012-01-23T18:06:00.000Z

Morning all....while looking though the boxes at Papermaze i found some of the new Basic Grey Picadilly and some small little reels. Keep an eye out as both of these will be going up on the website very soon!

As soon as i saw them i knew i had to make a card with a difference and this is what i came up with.

i cut a strip of paper to match the length of the reel and it is about 12" long. I rolled the paper round both ends and adhered them with really strong glue. I cut out some of the flowers from some of the other papers to decorate inside. I kept it all flat as it had to be rolled.

I added some pins through the holes at the top...( please excuse my thumb...covered in brown ink!)

I then rolled it up and tied it off with some twine...and some Prima flowers.

Cropping tomorrow...

2012-01-20T17:31:00.002Z

Tomorrow sees our first crop of 2012! And we're very lucky because the talented Lou has designed this month's kit :) She's used some of the latest BasicGrey papers from Picadilly, as well as a splash of glimmer mist. We'll be at Otley Village Hall from 10am until 5pm if anyone wants to join us!

the best of...

2012-01-17T19:23:00.000Z

A quick shop update...Vanessa has lots of photos to show you in another post...but i wanted to show you what we have been up to today at the shop.

The walls are done, and the carpet is down...the trays have been washed and put back, so todays job was this....

taking out and sorting out over 500 packs of new cardstock! We have to unwrap them all and put them in colour order!
I took this photo of some of the boxes with new stock in that are mounting up and need to be unpacked..

.rumour has it that is being done next week! i cannot wait! though the shop still looks like this! lol...

as you can see there is no longer a hole in the roof or in the side of the wall...i had no idea before this how much a fire can do...and how long it takes to put everything back to normal!

anyway...onto pretty things...i asked our design team member Lisa to send me her three best layouts that she loved of 2011...and here is what she sent me...

7Gypsies Printer Tray

2012-01-13T11:01:00.000Z

I adore these 7 Gypsies Printer trays. They are a blank canvas to decorate whatever your style. I chose to fill mine with photos and comments about the best parts of 2011. It is a round up of the year, and I enjoyed doing this so much, and love the result, I may be doing one at the end of every year!

I used the largest section to hold my title and some clustered flowers. I made sure I used my favourite colours and techniques to shoow my scrapbooking style this year too.

All the photos I used were momnchrome to avoid them clashing with the colours of the embellishments.

A couple of the sections I used for journalling on a tag. These were mostly about events I didn't have photos for but were still worth a mention.

To stick the swirls down, I cut around them, keeping them on their backing sheet, and glued parts down with PVA glue which then dried clear. This avoided the swirls that should be 'floating' from sticking to other embelishments.

Hello all.

2012-01-10T09:49:00.000Z

Morning everyone...the shop is slowly getting back together...carpet being laid...more new products arriving at the door....and we should be open again soon.

But today i wanted to introduce you to our new design team member...please welcome Amanda Jones to our team.

Hi everyone! I'm Amanda and I live in sunny Devon with my big man Tony and little man Lewis, who’s nine years old. I’ve been playing with paper and glue since I was a little girl, and have been scrapbooking in the format we currently know for more years than I’d care to mention out loud! I love all kinds of papercrafts but scrapbooking is where my heart lies. I have an eclectic style, one day creating a very minimal, graphic project and the next a textured project with layer upon layer of pretty papers and embellishments. It all depends on my mood and the product/photos that are inspiring me at that moment. My love of creating has blessed me with the opportunity to work for some of my favourite crafting companies both as a designer and teacher. I'm excited to get to spend time here with you on the Papermaze blog!

Here are some of her recent pages that she has made...

Amanda is going to be in charge of our sketches that we are planning to have once a month, as soon as we are up and running again properly....so lots of new inspiration coming! So welcome Amanda to the team and we are excited about what you are going to show us.

Christmas cropping..

2011-12-23T22:31:00.000Z

We had our last crop of the year on Saturday :) The hall always looks so festive with its Christmas decorations, and we keep up the spirit with food, bingo and a special challenge kit! This year's was one of my favourites - it featured MME Lost & Found Christmas and Authentique Wonder, as well as a variety of embellishments.

And it's always interesting to see what people do with the kit. I thought I'd show you a few of the layouts that people made. Jackie hadn't added her photos yet, but I love how she cut the holly of the MME paper..

This is from one of our young scrappers...

Timandra managed to get two layouts from the kit...

Sadie incorporated some hidden journalling under the centre photo...

I love Sue's twisted paper across the centre - reminds me of paper decorations we made as a child!

Pat has yet to add photos, but has made a great use of the embellishments in the kit...

And finally, this one is from Liz, who made lots of presents for her layout!

Thanks to everyone who happily shared their layouts, and those who have supported our crops throughout the year :)

The Messy Look

2011-12-14T19:51:00.000Z

I confess to being a messy scrappy.
Not messy as in having a messy studio to work in, that part of my scrapping is tidy, but my creations tend to end up being messy.
I try neat and tidy but they look unfinished to me, so I add something else, then splatter the ink and before you know it unintentionally, I've created another 'mess'.

I thought I'd share with you today some of my favourite 'messy' techniques.
I made this Cup Cake LO using some Emma's Shoppe papers from Crate Paper.

I love patterned paper, but I find it hard to work straight on to. It feels very busy to me and I feel like I need to tone it down a little.
My favourite way to do this is to reach for the gesso or moulding paste, apply some to the end of a strip of thick card or an old credit card and spread in to the paper/card in various directions. Sometimes I add some paint too if I need a contrast (like I have done here).

I cut the squares from this next sheet. Before sticking them in place, I've roughed up the edges of each square with the side of my scissors. I've lightly inked them and then stuck them in place but not applying any glue to the edges so they lift slightly. I also distressed the edges of the LO with my scissors and distressed ink.
I've used a faux sticthing technique here.
Take a paper piercer and pierce holes in a line. Then using a journal pen join the holes up. Like a dot to dot. You now have a faux stitched line.

I wanted to added a kind of frosted look to my title. Those thickers are lovely, but just a bit to clean and tidy looking for this LO : )
So I stuck them down and then rubbed over each one with my Basic Grey file 9sand paper or a nail file will also work) I then got carried away and rubbed the heart over too.

I then applied some crackle glaze to the title and the heart, sprinkled over some glittery pink embossing powder and heated over with the heat gun. I let it bubble and crack and ended up with this effect. Fab texture!!

And there you have it. My kind of messy, distressed, painty, inky kind of page.

Lisa xx

The Rock Cafe with Bo Bunny

2011-12-09T19:58:00.000Z

Hello everyone - Kim with you here today.

I am TOTALLY into papers that have musical notes or old newspaper clippings printed onto them - why, I really don't know but I just cannot pass them by and have to have them.
Imagine my delight when I was presented this month with a selection of Bo Bunny's Et Cetera line - a paper line after my own heart *swoon*

For the following layout I went to town with an array of circle punches and made good use of the Symphony paper. After distressing the edges with some Chalk Inks from Clearsnap, I stared to randomly place the circles on my background and also raised some of them with the aid of adhesive foam dots.

Cutting various bits and bobs from the Et Cetera Cut outs paper and adding a little bit of punchinella and American Crafts chipboard thickers and my layout was completed.

Now I need to get me some more musical note papers :)

November with Simple Stories

2011-12-06T13:13:00.000Z

Good day fellow crafters.

Kim here with you again showcasing how fabulous and effortless you can create a quick page with the papers of Simple Stories' Life Documented line.

To create my layout I made use of the following papers:

100% Real Life
For The Record
Journaling Card Elements #2

In order to get a little dimension onto my layout I adhered a few circle punchies with some adhesive foam pads to the background and also added flowers on top of a journaling strip with adhesive dots.

Xmas Tipple with Simple Stories

2011-11-30T11:23:00.000Z

Hello there everyone!

I (Kim) would like to share a page with you which I created with the help of the fantastic Simple Stories papers. This manufacturer has been around for some time now and their designs are made in such a way that your pages are put together in a doddle.

This page came together within the matter if 15 minutes and I think the most time I spent on one single thing was to cut the banner from the papers. With the aid two different sized circle punches, I removed the "date" circle from its outer lines and adhered them separate from each other to the background for added dimension.

Before I started adding the cut outs from the Life Documented, Life is Good and Journaling Card Elements #2 to the cardstock, I added some stamping to the background with one of my favourite Kaisercraft stamps.

To finish the layout off, I doodled a frame around my main cluster of papers and added some flowers and pearls.

Bo Bunny meets Simple Stories

2011-11-27T20:17:00.000Z

hi..., Kim here with you today to share how easy it can be to mix and match papers from different manufacturers.

This month I have been playing with Bo Bunny's Et Cetera and Simple Stories' Life Documented lines and they are just so perfectly combinable with each other, it's almost spooky!

I started off with an 8.5 x 11 sheet of white cardstock and gave it an aged look by spritzing some "home-made" walnut spray onto it. If you have an empty spray bottle and one of the Distress Ink Reinkers from Ranger Industries, just add some water and a few drops of the reinker to your empty bottle and you have a perfect walnut spray.

I then cut a few pieces of paper from Bo Bunny's Et Cetera Cut Outs and Symphony, as well as Simple Stories' Life Documented and layered this randomly onto the cardstock.
The final touch was a piece of trim onto which I added a sentiment using adhesive foam pads.

And there you have it - a mixed manufacturer layout

Sale update

2011-11-22T22:45:00.001Z

Although we are putting all our energies into packing parcels at the moment, I thought I would spend a few minutes to give you a little update on the progress of our sale, and address some of the issues that keep cropping up.

So far we've packed over a month's worth of orders in 2 weeks, so we're getting through them! However, the bulk of those orders were received on the 6th and 7th November. This means we are slightly behind our estimated despatch rate at the moment. We are aware that originally we didn't state a delivery time - we were not expecting to be as overwhelmed as we have been. The subsequent estimate was simply that - an estimate, and we would like to thank everyone for being so patient with us. Most of the orders placed on 6th have now gone out, just one or two outstanding.

Each order is picked and checked before it is processed and any refunds are worked out - this can be quite time-consuming itself. We had one order today that took 2 hours simply to pick. We are working in a space half the size we're used to, but we have extra help every day.

I generally go through emails in the evening - if you have emailed and not had a reply, please re-send it - we've had over 5000 emails since the fire and it's possible I've missed some! We try and answer the phone as often as we can, but we are working in a different room and it's not always possible.

Order statuses are also updated in the evenings, and refunds given then too. So we would like to thank everyone again for their patience, we are working hard and hope to get on top of things very soon.

Crate Paper Farmhouse

2011-11-21T17:15:00.000Z

With Autumn now in full swing, it is lovely to find some papers with the warm tones of yellows, browns and oranges to match the colors outside. Crate Paper's new line 'Farmhouse' is just these colours, along with some green and teal too.

Here I used a spring photo, but the bright green grass in the photo matched these papers perfectly.

I kept all the detail of the page to one side, to make one brightly coloured busy panel, with just a bit of paint splattering and the title coming over onto the other side to break up the white space.

For the title I used the gorgeous new Corrugated Alphs from JillyBean Soup, which can be found here. I simply brushed a white inkpad over each letter to make it look slightly worn.

I could search with october afternoon

2011-11-18T20:30:00.000Z

I really like the October afternoon boarding pass papers, but was really stuck for ideas how to use them. We've had holidays to various countries but I've scrapped so many holiday photos that I wanted to think of something to do, and here it is.......slightly cheesey maybe but having just celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary the sentiment is true.

I started by using the amsterdam paper

and then tore a strip from the new york paper, inked and made small tears around the edges and attached to the amsterdam paper.

I matted my photo onto black cardstock & stuck down. Adding some black sequin waste under the photo, I cut out 2 hearts from some cardboard and inked them.

I added some photo corners with red brads,a tim holtz book plate which I covered in distress crackle paint as I did with the keyhole.

I finished with a couple of heart pins & some thread & used alphabet stickers for the journaling.

October afternoon

2011-11-16T19:26:00.000Z

I guess it's fairly strange to decide to make a anniversary card using the October afternoon Boarding pass papers! but as my husband works away frequently and usually on our anniversary I decided they were a 'apt' paper to use this time!

I used the sydney patterned paper as the background for my card. Cutting the paper slightly smaller than my card and rounding the corners. I then inked the edges to make it stand out from the cream card.
I inked and distressed a kraft tag by sanding the edges & tearing and added this to the patterned paper.
I cut out 2 hearts from the pizza box my supplies are delivered in and tore some of the outer card from the front again giving a aged feel. I attached some small red brads to each heart and inked the edges & attached to the card having cut some sequin waste and attaching it to the side of the tag.

I finished with some glitz teeny alpha stickers and a few mulberry roses.

Scrapping the Everyday

2011-11-14T19:36:00.000Z

It's so easy to scrap the big things in life.
The birthdays, the special days out etc. But sometimes I like to scrap about the little things that don't actually mean anything.

Like this photo that I took of my button jars lined up on my window.
I love this photo. They look so pretty and daily I look at these and find them inspiring.
So why not scrap this photo?!

I wanted a pop of colour to be the main feature of this LO, so I've left it quite plain.
I used this amazing green patterened paper (Crate Paper - Peppermint) as my base.

I cut a journal tag from this 12x12 sheer of accents (Crate - Peppermint) and layered it under my photo. I drew around a large circle in pencil and then stitched along the circlular edge.
I went through my tray of loose buttons that need to be sorted and stuck them in place.

Here are some other 'everyday' subjects that can be scrapped:

- Your breakfast
- Favourite outfit
- Workplace
- The car you drive
- Favourite mug
- Book you are reading right now
- The daily jewellery you wear
- The view from your window

Enjoy : )

A winner and an update...

2011-11-11T19:55:00.001Z

First off we must give the winner of the UKS blog hop...things have been busy here at Papermaze and we apologise for not having it up earlier...the winner is
lemon said...great idea for a flower uks lemon

email me at wendy@bbbweb.com to claim your prize.

Okay onto another update about the shop........as you may be aware last weekend we had a everything at half price sale on the website.Thankyou to everyone that has ordered in this sale. To say we have been inudated is an understatment. Within 48 hours we had more orders than we typically pack in just a month.
We have been working hard since then to get these orders out, but please be patient with us....the amount we have to pack has been staggering...we have drafted in extra helpers but even then it is going to take some time to process them all, pick the orders and send them to you.
Vanessa took some photos today to show you...

As you can see there isn't much room in between everything...i woke up this morning with little bruises around the tops of my arms where i keep bumping into the hooks!!!

As you can see in the photo above...lots of stuff is in boxes...this box holds some thickers..there are another 3 huge boxes like this...so finding just one pack is fun!!!

We took all the cardstock out of the paper trays to be washed...ready for new cardstock to arrive...these tubs hold all of it...There were over 500 different colours, they all had to come out, be placed into plastic bags, labelled and then put in alphabetical order...that was alot of fun i can tell you!!!!

The shop has finally been painted...in a really bright orange...Vanessa loves her orange...and it looks brillant! So finally things are moving forward...and each day new parcels arrive with new stock in...ready for when we re open again.

Again all of us at Papermaze want to thank you all for offers of help and support,we have had some wonderful emails from our customers and we cannot thankyou enough. Love Wendy x

Scrapping with Lists

2011-11-07T18:19:00.000Z

Please take a look at the blog post below for an update on the fire and the shop.

Hi, Lisa here with you today.

I'm a big fan of 'the list'. I live by my lists daily.
A list for chores, work, scrapping projects, weekly menu. It's how I work.
I'm lost without them.
So it's not a surprise to learn that I love to scrap with lists too.
It's a great and very easy way to journal.

I've used the Christmas 'Snow Globe paper' 'Peppermint' range from Crate Paper.
I love this patterned paper.

I then used a circle cutter and cut lots of pretty circles out of it.

I stuck them in place with a small piece of double sided tape on each circle, placed my photo and matching jornal card in place.
Then using a piercing tool, I pierced lots of holes all over the circles making stars.
I have then very loosely sewn over purposely making it look slightly messy.

I decided to list 8 things we did this summer.

I like this messy cotton look.

Scrapping with lists, ideas are endless.

- Favourite foods, toys, books, movies
- Scrap what you like or dislike right now
- A LO about what you've done this past year
- New Years resolutions
- Ambitions
- Things that make you laugh

The list goes on : )

Update...

2011-11-05T08:20:00.000Z

It's been two and a half weeks since we had the fire here at Papermaze, and life has been very busy since as we're trying hard to get things up and running again! I thought I'd bring you all up to date with what's happening and share some pictures. These were taken on the day of the fire itself. By the time the fire engines arrived the stock room was well and truly ablaze. You can see the shop in the foreground of this picture. The stock room was a lovely 17th century granary barn next door - all that remains here are a few posts.

We were lucky that the fire didn't really spread to the shop - fortunately there was a gap between the buildings which acted as a firebreak. The roof tiles were taken off by the fireman to check that the insulation wasn't smouldering.

And this is where the stock room stood :( The whole building and its contents destroyed. My husband used a digger to take loads of rubble and rubbish from this site to the field behind where the fireman hosed it down to stop it smouldering.

And here is the stock room plus several thousand scrapbook goodies scattered on the field.

Inside the shop, the plasterboard of the ceiling either fell or was taken down to get to the insulation. The fireman moved everything down to one end of the shop...

And so the next day, the clean up operation began. The farm machinery came in very handy again!

And while the men were working here, I had some willing volunteers (friends, customers & family) who came and helped sort through the rubbish, separating paper and other items from stock room fittings.

We came across pieces we could still recognise which was quite sad. With the charred papers we played 'guess which manufacturer it is'! I think it's Echo Park here...

... and some October Afternoon...

It took a good couple of days to sort through it all, and then the field was back to normal. Remaining papers were burnt completely, metal items pulled out and the rest of the rubble went in a hole in a field! Then it was on to the shop. We moved all the shelves and products out of the shop....

.... and into the one next door, that fortunately my husband hadn't yet occupied!

And you can even see boxes of new products in the picture above, already arriving! We've sorted out everything that was in the shop, and although it's a much smaller space, we're ready to go again! So, everything is now half price!!! Yes, 50% off everything! It has obviously been exposed to smoke, but many items seem fine, even some of the papers and cardstock have survived remarkably well!! So there are plenty of bargains to be had :) The shop is not ready for customers yet, so we are only taking online orders and there is a flat postal rate of £2.75 for UK orders. We hope that most of our stock figures are right, but there may be occasions when we find we don't have items in stock, in which case we will issue refunds rather than send replacements.

We've been very touched by the numerous emails and offers of help that we've received - thank you for all your support :)

UKscrappers blog hop...

2011-11-01T07:59:00.002Z

Hi and welcome to the UKScrappers blog hop...you can find the original post and your first stop on the UKS forum which is here.You have come from Happy daze team and i hope you loved what you saw!!!!

Today as part of the blog hop we have two cards to share with you using the new Authentique line...

To make the pattern circle...punch out a scallop circle using card...the cut through to the centre...making a heart shape... every two scallops and you end up with something like this...really easy and simple but very effective, especially if you using contrasting colours.

Thanks for popping to see us...now pop onto the next blog in the line....which is Pickleberry Papercrafts...i hope you enjoy the rest of the hop...make sure you comment on here to be in with a chance for a prize of a £10 gift voucher!!!!!!!!!!! thanks! Wendy x

Birthday Card

2011-10-31T12:14:00.000Z

Using some of the scraps left over from the Authentique Blissful collection. I made this birthday card with some of the circle flowers.

I used a oblong card & cut a piece of patterned paper slightly smaller than the card. I then cut some small slits along the paper and threaded some ribbon through.
Having cut several sized circles I then distressed the edges with sandpaper & bent the circles slightly to give a '3d' appearance. I then layered them and added a button & leaves.
I finished with a inked and distressed tag and a smaller flower.

Authentique Blissful

2011-10-28T21:00:00.000+01:00

This page was created using papers from the Authentique Blissful collection. This is a gorgeous collection.

I started with the Pleasant paper and matted my photo onto cardstock and attached to the paper at a angle.

I cut several circles from the various patterned papers and some leaf shapes & distressed the edges with sandpaper, then I made up some flowers with the different sized circles & finished with a button in the centre of each

I positioned the flowers around the photo, some cutting in half before attaching the button centre & added the leaves to finish off.

The page was finished by stapling a inked & distressed tag to the top left corner and again adding some smaller flowers.

and the winner is...

2011-10-25T21:49:00.000+01:00

Hi...because of all that has happened over the last week, the competition slipped my mind....luckily the stamps that we were giving away were at my house to photograph...so we still have some to send out...so drum roll please...............the winner of the set of stamps is...

Sue said...BEAUTIFUL!!!
As the store sell such gorgeous (Notice the play on words;))stamps, I would like to see more stamping like this as i Love stamping.

8 October 2011 14:44

send me your address and i will get them in the post to you...my email address is wendy@bbbweb.com.

Crate Mini Books

2011-10-23T11:31:00.002+01:00

Hi everyone...Even though Papermaze is not up and working at the moment we have decided to still keep this blog going....so keep a check back here for the design team girls posts. We are in the middle of clearing up after the fire. So please bear with us for a while until everything is up and running again. Again if you have any questions email vanessa@papermaze.co.uk. We will be back with a full update soon x

I'm a big fan of Mini Books, but I loose interest quickly.
I like to be able to make one during one stitting. If it's something that takes weeks of work I get bored and end up moving onto the next project before finishing.

I find the 12x12 Crate Papers perfect for making quick mini books.
They come in a variety of themes.
I like to buy 2 sheets of each.
And then I cut out each journal card and stick them back to bake so a different card is showing on each, but matching them up so all the same sizes are stuck back to back.
Once you've done this, the edges can be trimmed up tidy and then inked.
You are now ready to stick on your photos and add your journaling.

I've added some of the crate stickers that you can buy to match the collections too.

I just love how quick and easy it is to make and everything goes together so well.

To finish punch a hole in the top and add a large book ring.

Papermaze.....

2011-10-19T07:25:00.002+01:00

Unfortunately we have had a fire at our premises yesterday. We have lost a lot of stock but we are grateful that nobody was hurt. We have closed the website for the time being while we sort things out. This will obviously take a bit of time, but we do intend to be back up and running as soon as possible. Please email vanessa@papermaze.co.uk if you have any queries.

October Sketch with Kim and Wendy

2011-10-17T08:14:00.001+01:00

Good morning all!

I hope you enjoyed last months sketch as much as we did and we are excited to bring you another one this month.

Sketches are such fun to work with as it really is up to the individual on how they look for inspiration from the blueprint. I generally start out with the intention of doing an exact replica of a sketch but in then end my projects tend to take on a life of their own :)

Without further ado, let's have a look at the October Sketch for you:

And here is my (Kim) example:

Products used:
Papers - Authentique: Original, Foundations Bi-Fold
Stickers - American Crafts: Lullaby, Dymo tape
Embossing Powder - Stampendous
Die Cuts - Spellbinders: Creative Tabs by Donna Salazar Designs

And here is Wendy's take on the sketch,for this page she used the papers from the Christmas collection called Peppermint from Crate Paper.

October's Crop Kit

2011-10-14T14:02:00.005+01:00

Another month has flown by, and here with are with October's crop kit! I've used the lovely Jillibean Soup papers from the Homemade 6 Bean Soup range - I love the colours in this! My layout uses a 6x4.5" photo. We've still got room for a few more people if you fancy coming along to join us tomorrow!

Echo Park scraps

2011-10-12T09:46:00.000+01:00

I made a 40th birthday card using the scraps I had left of the Echo Park country drive papers.
I used some cream card and spray it with the tattered angels chalk boardcotton candy glimmer mist

I then made the card with some of the floral paper scraps from the country drive collection

Thanks for looking and don't forget check out our giveaway on the post below!

something a little cute and a giveaway...

2011-10-08T09:59:00.000+01:00

Not sure if you have seen these that are up for sale in the shop...

There are some seriously cute images in this particular range....so cute that they caught my eye...this one in particular....

Now...those of you who know me, know...i am not a stamp person...i am not an ink person...!

But i have found myself in a rut lately and wanted to break out and try something different. So i grabbed this stamp and just had a go.

Here is what i came up with...

For the image of the little girl... i wanted it to have some dimension...i don't like flat things.
So i stamped out all the different parts of the girl and cut them out...

and then adhered them to the base stamped image....

i did this to even the tiniest details...ie...the little hearts on her boots are cut out..yep very small but worth it!( and i had nothing else to do that day !!!lol

For that little extra detailing i added some real lace to the bottom of her skirt! so very cute!

So to all you card makers out there that are like me..not stampers and find them intimidating...just have a go...you never know...you may enjoy it...i know i did!

Supplies used...I used a range of Crate Paper for this page..and the small white flower are done using the Paper Frills.

Okay so onto the giveaway... do you fancy winning these stamps?

If you fancy winning these stamps shown above ...leave a comment about what you would like to see more of here on this blog... You have till next Saturday ..... Thanks for popping in.

xmas or not?

2011-10-03T09:30:00.001+01:00

Morning all....this weekend i set myself a challenge...to make some normal cards from a set of christmas papers.....hmmmm...was fairly easy to be honest lol!!! as i picked the xmas line from Crate paper.

I know the primary use of this line is for xmas, but there are many pieces in this that i think are not that xmas related and can be used for something else...so if you stay away from the christmas papers ( like me and dont really scrap christmas) there are many sheets of this that you can still buy...let me show you some that i picked up...

the stickers...which i didn't pick up but will next time i go to the shop...you can so use for something other than Christmas...

and i picked up these...as i know there are some of them that have Christmas on them...but most of them have not and the ones that do. i was thinking of still using them and perhaps covering up the bits of the stickers with some flowers etc? i love my label stickers!!!!!

i wanted to make some quick cards with these...and i challenged myself to make two cards in half and hour!!!! Now one card normal takes me about 4 hours to make ( sad i know)....but i did it!!!!

I loved the green on this pattern paper

...matching it with dark kraft and the contrast really show up! Match that with a Jillibean Corrugated shape...

and some pretty bling and pins and you are done!!!

The next card...

I used the same sketch for this one as the one above to keep it simple...

I punched out a scalloped circle using this punch ...it is one of my favourite scallop punches that i have, as the scallops are just that bit deeper....i then cut lines nearly down the the centre....inked the edges and scrunched it up a bit for some texture...

Thanks for looking!!!!

Creating with Crate

2011-10-01T08:17:00.000+01:00

Crate Paper never disapppoint.
I love the feel, the look, the colours, just everything about each of their collections. They are always so beautifully put together.

Today I have a card to show you that I made using the Emmas Shoppe papers.

I love how feminine this line is. I backed the card with some bazzill and used a border punch which made for a quick and easy card.
I love the stickers that you can buy to match. Lots of alphas and cutesy words.
I finished it with some Bakers Twine and used an old chip board number 3.
The 3 was the wrong colour so I painted it in pink and aded some stickles.

And that's it!!
An easy to make, no fuss card.

October workshops

2011-09-28T10:18:00.000+01:00

Hi, Here are the dates and details for the workshops in october. If you want to come email me at wendy@bbbweb.com and let me know :)

The first one is on the 5th October at 7.30pm at the shop. Bring with you , your normal cropping tools, scissors and glue etc...on this workshop we will be using....

the happy days line from Echo Park.

The next workshop is on the 19th october at 7.30pm. Again bring your normal cropping tools with you.This workshop will be a page done using the October Afternoon line called Passport...

New people welcome. We make a page, drink tea and eat chocolate...lots of fun! Hope to see you there!

sketch time...

2011-09-26T09:14:00.000+01:00

Are you a big lover of using sketches...i myself love them but find it hard...to adapt the sketch to my style of scrapbooking...but sometimes i get a sketch that i love and use it over and over again...

Today and for a few months, design team member Kim and i are going to give you a sketch and show you how we used it. Though i have to say i have this one easy as the sketch is a 12 by 12 and Kim scraps 8 1/2 by 11...so she has had to change it up a bit...
Here is the sketch...

I created this sketch a long time ago and as i said it is one that i love and have used over and over again...here are some old samples of pages i used for this...some of these you will have seen on the wall at papermaze.

This is done using various Cosmo Cricket collections...i just grabbed all my bags of cosmo cricket that i had and picked out the most brightest colours that i could find...

I used this sketch again on this page...

On this one, i added bits around the outside of sketch....i used some old Echo Park...one of my favourite lines from them called For the Record

And then there is this one...

again all made from the same sketch....sometimes i have moved some of the elements of it up and down a bit but basically they are all the same.

So to the new challenge of this sketch...here is my new one....

And here is Kim's take on the sketch...as you can see totally different to any of them that i did or have done with it.!!!

I love how she used the flowers as the circles...it just show you how two different scrappers can interpret one sketch differently!!!!!

Next month Kim has made up a sketch for us to use....see how they turned out then!

Echo Park Papers

2011-09-24T09:13:00.000+01:00

The colours of the pink scalloped bazzill and the echo park papers were perfect for these photos of my daughter on a recent cupcake making day.

This page was made using leafy tree tops paper

I started with a sheet of pink scalloped bazill and some scraps of the above paper. I sprayed some cosmic shimmer chalk mist on the cardstock.

I added a flower stamp and some foam flowers. I added some pink dew drops to the centres of the foam flowers. I finished with a journalling card. Hope you enjoyed this page!

Three Musketeer's with Authentique

2011-09-20T19:54:00.000+01:00

Good morning everyone.

This month I had the pleasure to work with he papers of the relatively new company Authentique. TO be honest, the pictures of their products do not do them justice: I was blown away by how fabulous the patterns and quality of the papers are.

When I had the papers of the Uncommon line in my hands I could not wait to get started....fantastic card stock quality papers and gorgeous patterns, which scream to be used for a vintage look.

I wanted to scrap the picture of my Mum, Auntie and Nan for ages but never had the right papers at hand, until now :)

With the use of adhesive foam pads, I raised some of the punches shapes and hand cut flowers to give the layout more depth.

And I also added one of my tags, which I create a few months back (see THIS post) to the layout...I knew it would come in handy to have them prepared!

I love how the colours grey and pink work fabulous with vintage photographs.

But what do you think fits well with this colour combination?

Products used:

Papers - Authentique: Foundations Bi-Fold, Gifted, Unique, Special

Cardstock - Bazzill

Stickers - American Crafts: Lullabye

Mists - Cosmic Shimmer

Guest designer...

2011-09-17T10:09:00.000+01:00

Today we have a wonderful guest designer...her name is Karen Barker and she has made this amazing page for me to share with you!

new october afternoon rocket age papers.

She has used the Line from October Afternoon called Rocket Age to make this line...

She used Bakers Twine for the smoke from the Rocket...such an amazing idea!!! And misted the background!

I think you will agree that this is an amazing page! Thanks Karen for sharing it with us!

September's crop kit

2011-09-16T18:31:00.002+01:00

Here we are then, a little late in the day maybe, but it has been rather hectic! This month's kit uses one of our newest manufacturer's Authentique. I chose their Blissful line - yellow is a colour I hardly ever scrap with, but I'm really pleased with the results and I love the black and white photos that complement it so well :)

Echo Park Country Drive

2011-09-14T10:19:00.000+01:00

This month I received the Echo Park Country Drive papers & alphabet stickers. I made a quick simple page using Birds on the wire paper.

and leafy tree tops paper.

Flower tutorial with KI Memories

2011-09-12T10:24:00.000+01:00

Today I would like to show you, how you can create you own custom made flowers/blossoms from patterned paper.

I don't know about you but I always find that I very rarely seem to have the perfect colour fit embellishments for my projects at hand. That's where your handmade embellishments come into place - they are fun to create and leave you with a sense of achievement, when you look at the finished project and think "I made that flower!!!"

First gather a few supplies in addition to your papers:

Wet adhesive

Flower shaped punch or dies

Ink pad (optional)

Mists (optional)

Pearl, brad or bling (optional)

Embossing tool or burnishing tool (optional)

For this tutorial I have chosen to make use of the Cuttlebug Flowers die set, which is perfect for layering you own blossoms.

My chosen papers are

Love, Elsie - Claire Gossip

Love, Elsie - Forrest Ranger

Love, Elsie - Claire Diary

Cut out as many flower shapes as you wish (I always like to create a few "spare" blossom for later use) and lay them out in front of you.

If you like, you can spray them now with some mists, or enhance their edges by running an ink pad along. Alternatively, just leave them as they are.

I then like to carefully roll the end of my embossing/burnishing tool in circular motion along the middle of each flower. If you don't do it too hard, you will soften the middle of the paper and the edges should slowly raise up by themselves.

Or you can just carefully crunch the flower upwards and unfold it a little afterwards.

Once you have crumpled/burnished all your layers, adhere them on top of each other like so (you only need a small amount of glue in the middle section).

If you want you can add either a piece of bling, a pearl, a brad or a button in the middle and your blossom is ready.

See, really easy and the results are definitely worth it. Besides, it is a good way to make use of any scrap paper that you have lying around.

Sketch week, day three.

2011-09-09T06:52:00.000+01:00

Hi and welcome to the last card for this weeks sketch week.

Here is the sketch again for the last time...

and this is the card...

The background for the top part of this card is from here...

and here is a close up...

Thanks for popping in this week to see the cards, let me know if you use the sketch so i can put it up here on the blog. I will be back next month with another sketch and another three cards!

card sketch...day two

2011-09-07T11:34:00.000+01:00

Hi and welcome back to card sketch week here on the blog....today i have another card to show you using the same sketch as before...

And here is todays take on the card...

and here are some close ups...

to make the flower, i cut out several different petal leaves, and adhered them onto a small square to keep them stable and together.
I cut out a small flower from this pattern paper..to put into the centre of the paper flower that i made.

The 'Joy is a flower' strip that you can see in the photo above, is taken from this die cut set..again they match this line perfectly!!!

Come back in a few days to see the last card in the set!

Card sketch...day one

2011-09-05T06:54:00.000+01:00

Hi...this week is going to be a bit a bit quieter for me and i am sure for alot of you as well, with all the children going back to school.

So with all that spare time we are going to have ( ha!) i thought i would give you a card sketch this week.

So...here is the sketch...

I have three cards made with this sketch...the other two i will show you during the course of this week.

For all of these cards i used the new line from Crate Paper called Random which is gorgeous. I also used this with it as it matches perfectly...

you can find this here...have a search though the new products here...there are so many gorgeous stickers, chipboard stickers and letters in there...i bought lots the other day and have used them lots!

Here is the first card for this week...

and some close ups...

I also used these on this card for some of the sentiment...

And trust me when i say...if you are buying this line...then you have to buy this paper...

I know it looks scary when you look at it like this...lots of big patterns...but trust me cut up into smaller sections this paper is just divine!!!!!

Come back on Wednesday to see the next card.

Basic grey...

2011-09-02T11:02:00.000+01:00

As usual, before all the new lines come out, i try to make sure that i have at least cut a few sheets from the last CHA....and as usual, i was hoarding my Basic Grey...so i made myself cut up those gorgeous papers....

For this page i used the line from Basic Grey called..Hello Luscious...you can find the line here....

I used these to centre all my embellishments and lettering on...

so gorgeous, you can find them here

and some close ups!

Just have to get my hands on the new lines now and hoard them for months as well!!!! do you do that?

Jillibean soup...

2011-08-31T10:32:00.000+01:00

Morning everyone....i was very lucky to be on the Jillibean soup team for a while....and i was even more honoured to be asked to design a page and a card to put on the wall at CHA a few months ago.

I used all the new gorgeous papers from the line called Watermelon Gazpacho soup but i forgot to show it on here...have you used it yet? It is perfect for all those summer pictures that you took!

and here are some close ups...

I also made a card with this line as well...

and some close ups...

I Know that the new Jillibean soup is due to come out soon and i cannot wait for it to be around to buy...have you made anything out of Jillibean soup recently? Email me to let me know and i can add them on the blog here!

Got Nuts? - with KI Memories

2011-08-29T10:34:00.000+01:00

Good morning and welcome to another post, featuring the wonderful papers from the Love, Elsie product line - which came out at the beginning of 2007.

Today's layout features a combination of old and new, showing that it can be so much fun to breathe some new life into some older papers.

Let's start with the new, as I sprayed a generous helping of various Cosmic Shimmer mists onto a piece of white cardstock, and also onto the flip side of the Forrest Ranger paper. On the screen it looks kind of cream but in reality it is BRIGHT yellow and would have taken the focus away from the photographs.

After the mists dried, I started layering my papers, added the pictures and highlighted one of them with a metal tag frame.

A few fussy cuts from the paper and a random arrangements of pearls, bling, brads and buttons and the layout was finished.

** click on image to enlarge **

So, what do you think? Do these papers really look THAT old? I think they are still as awesome and fun to work with as they were in 2007.

If you have some papers left in you stash from that year, show us what you do with them - we'd love to see!

Products used:

Bazzill Cardstock in white

Love, Elsie - Forrest Ranger

Love Elsie - Claire Gossip

Love, Elsie - Claire Diary

Chipboard buttons - Roxxie

Alphabet Stickers - Claire

Ticket - Jenni Bowlin

Cosmic Shimmer

Golden Oldies with KI Memories

2011-08-26T08:34:00.000+01:00

Today I would like to take you back a few years in time - four, to be exact.

What do you remember of the year 2007?

In sports: Lewis Hamilton made his Formula 1 debut

In music: Rhianna took the Number 1 spot in the UK charts for a total of 10 weeks with her hit Umbrella

In foods: a pint of milk was available for 42p, a loaf of fresh bread for £1.04, a pint of beer for £2.25

And in the crafting world the fun and funky paper collection from KI Memories - Love, Elsie - had everyone squealing with delight. In 2011 we all get excited about Echo Park and Bella Blvd but it really was Designer Elsie Larson (formerly Elsie Flannigan) who got us all hooked on cute and whimsy.

This month I want all of you to go a rummage through your old stash - dust off those papers from years gone by and see for yourself that they are not really that outdated. The Love, Elsie collection is as fresh looking as it was four years back.

For my layout I mixed and matched papers from the Claire, and Jack & Abby collection and added quite a few of Elsie's adorable chipboard buttons and stickers.

** click on image to enlarge **

What I really loved about the packaging for the chipboard buttons, is the fact that you get a 3.5" x 4.5" piece of cardstock with a lovely grid pattern, which you can re-use - as I did here:

So, are you gonna join me this month in using up your old supplies?

I always find it a good enough reason to go shopping for some new stuff afterwards :)

Products used:

Jack & Abby - Words

Claire - Diary

Claire - Gossip

Chipboard Buttons - Roxxie

Alphabet Stickers - Claire

Mini Alphabet Stickers - Making Memories Tina Alpha

Ticket - Jenni Bowlin

Tag along - with Jillybean Soup

2011-08-24T07:56:00.000+01:00

Hello everyone, it is Kim here with you again.

Today I would like to share a quick post on how to create some easy embellishments from your scrap left overs.

** click on each of the images within the post to enlarge their view **

The above three tags were all done using scraps and stickers from the Watermelon Gazpacho line of Jillybean Soup. They can easily be used to adorn layouts, minibooks or cards - just make sure you chose your sentiment stickers accordingly.

Here are now the tags individually for you to view.

Enjoy!

Additional products used:

Cardstock: Bazzill
Plastic Flower: American Crafts Greenhouse
Pens: Uniball Signo, Zig Millenium
Other: Pins

Me & Mom

2011-08-22T09:14:00.000+01:00

I loved working on this layout about me and my mom. I don't tend to scrap myself much but need to do it more often.. As you can see this is a simple layout with layered card stock and patterned papers. Most of the embellishments are hand made too, so it is definitely a cheap layout to achieve .. I placed some patterned paper behind the doily, and was pleased with how effective it is.

Layer Up!!

2011-08-17T18:24:00.000+01:00

Hi, It's Lisa with you today.

I've made a layered LO to show you.
I love the layered look. I love the process of adding colour and texture as I create.
This page 'Best Buddies' has been made using the My Minds Eye 'Lime Twist' papers and stickers, some Paint, Mists and homemade stencils.

Our first layer is paint. I like to use the Jenni Bowlin Acrylic Paint Dabbers here. But I don't dab with them. On this page, I have tipped the dabber up to empty some where I would like it to go on my cardstock.

And then I've taken a piece of card and started spreading from the top and move the piant down the page towards me. I like this effect.

Once the paint is dry, I layered up some of the Lime Twist Papers forming a base for my photos to go on. I've also added some of the matching stickers.
I then decided to add some random misting.
I took a small hole punch and punched out some holes in a 6x6 piece of pp. Then laid this on my page where I wanted to mist. I covered up the rest of the page first as I didn't want my photos to get misted and then lightly sprayed over.

When you remove the punched piece of paper, you are left with this look.

I have then done the oppisite at the bottom of the page.
The circles that were punched out have been placed on the LO (the rest of the page covered up again) and then misted over.

I also like to layer up my stickers. I've stuck the stickers onto the coordinating papers and cut around and some of them have been stuck onto the page using 3d foam tape for extra dimention.

I punched out some more circles from the Lime Twist papers and printed my journal strips on the pc.

I hope you like the layered look and feel inspired to give it a go : )

Thanks Lisa x

The London Look - Jillybean Soup

2011-08-13T14:16:00.000+01:00

Hello everyone, it is Kim here with you today sharing my recent Jillybean Soup creation.

Whenever I work with a paper collection that at first glance "dictates" as to what kind of projects you should use it for, I tend to rebel against it.

Take the Watermelon Gazpacho Line from Jillybean Soup for example, with its watermelon and swimsuit designs. It pretty much screams "summer", "juicy", "hot" and "fun" and you wouldn't really use it for anything else but Summer/Beach layouts, right?

Wrong.

There is SO much potential in such papers, just think out of the box and embrace the flip-side, which is more often than not of a less prominent design.

Watermelon

Sprig of Mint

Ice Cubes

I decided that the pictures I took of one of the guards at Rosenborg Castle would be complimented perfect by the above papers, wouldn't you agree?

** click on image to enlarge **

And while I was in my "rebel-phase" I thought might as well go really mad and do what it generally seen as a "no-no" these days - to cut the object of the picture out of the photograph...yeah, I know: shocking!

But I LOVE using photographs as embellishments and this way my layout does not look dwarfed by including two photographs.

I simple raised the cut photograph with the help of some Stix2 Adhesive Foam Pads and stuck it on top of the other picture.

Another fun tip to make parts of your title stand out a little bit more from the background is to add some highlights to individual letter with the help of a White Signo Pen.

I hope my post has somehow inspired you to embrace your inner scrapbook rebel and to look for the alternative use of some themed papers.

Additional products used:

Cardstock: Bazzill
Stickers: Jillybean Soup, Jenni Bowlin
Pearls:Other: Doilies, Pearls

COSMO CRICKET odds and ends

2011-08-10T10:15:00.000+01:00

My daughter didn't want this stacker box in her bedroom so when these beautiful paper collection came through my door i thought what a perfect way to give them a revamp..... Needless to say when my daughter saw the finished product she was only too keen to make the stacker boxes a new feature on her desk.... I always love altering products it is so easy to do and the finished project is always so rewarding... have a go ......

Find the new Cosmo Cricket Odds & Ends collection that was used here!

Summer Lovin' - with Jillybean Soup

2011-08-07T21:04:00.000+01:00

Hello everyone and welcome to another blog post with me, Kim.

Do you sometimes look at some of you new crafting purchases and just sigh because you cannot seem to find the necessary inspiration? It can be frustrating if you are stuck and are just hoping for anything that may trigger your creative process.

Well here is how I usually snap out of it:

Take the papers that you have decided to work with and just lay them out in front of you.

Watermelon

Sprig of Mint

Ice Cubes

More often than not you will find a recurring dominant colour scheme within your papers, in the case of the Watermelon Gazpacho line from Jillybean Soup the blues and greens stuck out to me the most, so I decided to go with blue as my main colour and add a touch of green. To help kickstart my creative juices I went to search for images on the net, via Pinterest and found these two beauties

Browsing for the colour combination "blue and green" and looking at the pictures - which my search returned - got me straight into creative mode and this is the result.

**click on image to enlarge **

Once I started there was no stopping me and I was pleased with myself that I managed to even come up with a little embellishment money saver along the way! See those flowers on the right bottom corner, the ones with the twine and buttons?

You could spend a pretty penny and buy them ready made (which incidentally may leave you with a pack of flowers in a colour you don't really want to use again), or you can grab some of your older stash such as American Crafts Greenhouse Lucy Flowers

and some WRMemory Keepers Bakers Twine in coordinating colours

and just wrap this across the flowers (which are actually scored along each petal, so it makes it super easy to fasten the twine).

Finish it off with a button on top and you have a very unique embellishment.

The other rosette flower on the left bottom corner was created from the cut off-strip of paper which I usually have left over from trimming the 12 x 12 papers to my favoured size of 8.5 x 11.

I love those rosettes, as they are really easy to make. Recently I have created a step-by-step tutorial on my personal blog on how to create the rosettes. Hop on over and have a look if you don't know yet on how to make your own rosette flowers.

Additional products used

Stickers: Jillyeban Soup - Watermelon Gazpacho Cardstock Stickers
Mist: Cosmic Shimmer in Twilight Black
Stamp: Kaisercraft Grid

Lime Twist Wall Art

2011-08-04T14:02:00.000+01:00

Hello,

Lisa here with you today and I have this piece of wall art to share with you.

Here's what I started with.
A small canvas
My Minds Eye 'Lime Twist' 6x6 papers
My Minds Eye Lime Twist Love Journal Card
My Minds Eye Twine
Pins

To make my heart embellishment (which could be used on all kinds of projects) I took a plain piece of paper, folded it in half and cut out my heart template like this.

I decided which of the patterned papers I wanted to use. The 6x6 pad was perfect for this. A great size. I cut my papers into thin strips and covered the heart template with pva glue.

Then I covered the heart with these strips, each one overlapping.

You end up not seeing the heart at all.

Turn this over and this is what you will see.

You can then cut around the heart, to give you a multi coloured heart shape.

And it should look something like this.
I inked the edges and doodled fake stitching along each paper join. You could also stitch if you have a machine.

Then layer your canvas up. I used 3d foam tape to the journal card and the heart for extra depth. The twine was wrapped around under the heart.
I stuck the pins into the foam tape that is attached to the journal card.

And once finished I took 2 different mists and just flicked the ink.
And this is the finished piece.

I hope you like it : )
Thanks
Lisa x

Pink Paislee part 2

2011-08-01T14:08:00.001+01:00

Using the pink paislee butterfly garden papers again I created a page of my little boy. The blues are perfect for this and the double sided paper is great as I was able to make both girl/boy pages from the same range of papers, blues/beiges etc & natural with butterflies/flowers etc ideal for more feminine pages.

I tend to use my sewing machine alot for my scrapbook pages as I think it adds another dimension to a page.

BASIC GREY OXFORD COLLECTION

2011-07-28T16:39:00.000+01:00

Hi all ooh i just love this paper collection great for school layouts.... I decided to incorporate my teenage daughters feelings into this layout and getting her to school once in a while can prove a struggle as she thinks she is way to cool for school....... This is such a simple layout i wanted to have a grunge feel to it .... This can easily be achieved using splashes of paint .... give it a try and see the effects are well worth it.....

A Royal page!

2011-07-25T20:00:00.000+01:00

Last month we were lucky enough to see the Queen & Prince Philip when they arrived on the Isles of Scilly to open the new 5 islands school sports hall. For those of you who don't know where the scillies are, they are a group of Islands situated approx 28 miles off the southwest coast of Cornwall. The total population of all 5 islands is approx 2000 people. My in laws live over there and we were visiting them for the Whitsun holiday when we heard the Queen was arriving on Friday the 3rd June 2011. The Queen last visited the islands back in 1967.

For this Scrapbook page I used the gorgeous Basic grey sweet threads papers, I'm lucky that they actually matched the coat & dress the Queen was wearing that day!

I used a sheet of green cardstock which I then distressed with sandpaper & painted the edges with some white paint to age it.

I covered the centre in newspaper cuttings from the royal visit and then using a sewing machine sewed a square frame over the top of the newspaper.

I made the large flower in the bottom corner using a catseye ink pad as a template. I cut out several petals and then made slightly smallers ones. I finished it off with a button in the centre.

I cut out some swirls from the patterned paper & finished off with some thread & mulberry roses.

For this LO I used Basic Grey Sweet Threads Knotted shirt paper

                                                                    and Lacy organic

July's Crop Kit

2011-07-22T13:14:00.000+01:00

As requested by one of our crop ladies, we're posting up the monthly crop kits on our blog, so you can see what sort of photo to bring with you! So here is the page for tomorrow's crop...

This has been designed by Lou and uses MME Lime Twist papers, with a portrait 6x4 photo. I'm sure you'll agree it's lovely! There's a bit of paint splattering in there, so if you have a paintbrush, bring it along.

We'll see you tomorrow!

Basic Grey Sweet Threads

2011-07-20T17:46:00.000+01:00

This month I received some gorgeous Basic grey Sweet threads papers. I've always loved basic grey especially the earlier collections and the sweet threads collection is no exception it's absolutely gorgeous.

I made 3 cards for a teenagers birthday, all using the same retro flower punch, lacy organic basic grey paper, bakers twine,buttons & dewdrops.

Relaxing...with Basic Grey

2011-07-18T11:11:00.000+01:00

Hello everyone, it's Kim here again with another layout using the Basic Grey Lauderdale collection.

**click on the picture to enlarge - this will also sharpen the image **

There are some papers within this collection, which I found at first glance a little overwhelming such as the Beach Towel. I usually shy away from papers with stripes, as I have no idea how best to use them.

But as Basic Grey is double sided, I simply focused on the flip page, which has a nice hue of blues and some cool retro rectangles. I quickly decided that I wanted to create a page that somehow involves water/sea and the picture of my Mum taken on her first ever voyage on board Queen Mary 2 just screamed to be used :)

First off I wanted to tone the blue down a little, so I added some Gesso with the help of a few stencils and finally added Cosmic shimmer in Blue Ice to create the base of my background.

I hand cut a few flowers from the Coastline paper and layered them around the edges of the photograph. The picture itself was matted with some more of the fantastic Lauderdale - Element Stickers.

Products used:
Papers - Basic Grey: Lauderdale collection
Stickers - Basic Grey; Jenni Bowlin
Mist - Cosmic Shimmer
Pearls - Mark Richards

Scrap That!

2011-07-15T09:26:00.000+01:00

Hello everyone, it is Kim here.

What do you do with your paper scraps?
I used to collect them in a box, promising myself that I would use them eventually....yeah, right. I found myself drowning in scraps and ended up throwing boxes of them away.

These days I challenge myself to create a card and/or tag as soon as I finished a project with some of the left over scraps. Right now I am totally addicted to make tags, because you have the best of both worlds with them - either use them to adorn a gift or stick them on a blank card and you have a quick greeting card when you need it.

Here are two examples I created from a few left overs.

** click on images to enlarge their view **

Cardstock: Bazzill
Papers: Crate Paper - Portrait "Something Blue"
Beads: Dew Drops "Clear"
Pen:Uniball Signo "White"
Ink: Staz On "Blazing Red"

Cardstock: Bazzill
Papers: Crate Paper - Emma's Shoppe "Sweets", "Quilts"; The Girl's Paperie "Birds of a Feather"
Stickers: Jenni Bowlin - Black Tiny Dot
Mists: Cosmic Shimmer - Aqua Lagoon, Ancient Copper; Tattered Angels - Olive Vine

Punches: Woodware
Beads: Dew Drops "Clear"

Guest Designer....

2011-07-11T19:29:00.000+01:00

We have a guest designer today....her name is Janet Warren...she sent me this gorgeous page that she used, created with Papermaze products...

I fell in love with this page as soon as i saw it, the whole zip idea showing off the photo is outstanding!!!!! Janet this is an amazing page!!!!
Here is what she used!
White card , Pink Paislee paper's : Flower Blooms, Dew Drops & Butterfly Wings for the leaves, Tim Holtz paper distresser, Yellow eyelets & yellow bakers twine, Distress inks : Wild Honey,Aged Mahogany & Spiced Marmalade, Martha Steward "Frond Branch" punch for leaves, Tim Holtz die cut's Banner & Butterflies with the same papers as above,Bling,Prima Voila Ivory die cut felt strip.The flowers are stamped on same papers.

Again..thanks for sharing your wonderful page with us...and dont forget if you have used some products from Papermaze, email me you page or project, my email address is wendy@bbbweb.com....so i can show all our readers your wonderful work!!!!!

It's the Little Things

2011-07-06T09:54:00.000+01:00

Today I am going to show you some pieces I have made using the Fancy Pants line 'It's the Little Things'

Firstly, here are a couple of cards...

This one was created but fussy cutting some details from the 'spring fever' paper. I added a sentiment cut from the sheet of borders, and layered them up onto a paper doily. To strengthen the card, the doily was backed with some cardstock. I also used dewdrops around the inner circle of the doily to add a bit of sparkle!

This next card was created using the 'honeysuckle' paper, some corrugated card and a Technique Tuesday 'Swanky Frame' I painted crackle paint onto the frame, and allowed it to dry before distressing it further with some brown and cyan inkpads.Then I cut elements from the Fancy Pants papers, and layered these up with lace, flowers and a border strip. The title is from American Crafts Flat Thickers

Lastly, here is a layout. I used the mostly the neutral tones of the papers as this was a page for a boy,

I clustered together elements cut from the papers, along with some corrugated card pieces, some twine and a few yellow flowers with leaves...

There is a sheet full of these tickets just ready to be cut out and used...

Bo Bunny...

2011-07-03T19:33:00.000+01:00

As you can tell from my previous layout using the same paper collection (Bo Bunny's Vicki B)how different each layout can look. My last layout was so full of eye candy, but for this layout i decided to keep it really simple. A simple thing such as adding a rim of lace around your card stock circle can give so much detail and texture to your layout.

Basic Grey - Lauderdale

2011-06-28T20:42:00.000+01:00

What is better fitting for the summer than to create a layout with fun and bright papers, like those from the Lauderdale collection of Basic Grey?

The wonderful colours and bold images make creating a breeze.

For my layout I worked with these two papers, which compliment each other perfectly.

Coastline:

Sun Glow:

I like to punch and hand cut images from bolder patterns, outline the edges with some Ink and adhere them to the background with the aid of some Adhesive Foam Pads - I just love the raised effect.

(for all pictures: click onto them if you wish to enlarge their view)

I also wanted to make use of some really lush Maya Road Organza Rose Ribbon but found that the white colour was too bright for what I had in mind, so I just took some Cosmic Shimmer in Mango Blaze, to tone down the brightness of the ribbon.

For the final touch, I added some stickers to work as the matting for my title and the layout was done.

Products used:
Papers - Basic Grey
Stickers - Basic Grey, October Afternoon, Jenni Bowlin
Ribbon - Maya Road
Pearls - Mark Richards
Pen - Zig Millenium
Ink - Clearsnap Inc
Bakers Twine - WR Memory Keepers

Basic Grey - Sticker love

2011-06-23T09:36:00.000+01:00

I don't know about you but I used to dislike stickers a lot, probably because I was never sure on how to use them. Once they were stuck down - that was it...trying to peel them off used to result in the top layer of the paper or card stock being lifted in the process.

But over the last year or two, I have embraced stickers as the fantastic embellishment and tool they are and by now I can't get enough of them.

When I received a box of Basic Grey goodies, this sheet of stickers screamed out to me to be used as the focal point for a project: no patterned papers, just cardstock, ink and stickers.

When I mentioned that I use stickers as tools, I wasn't kidding: they are perfect for stencilling and they are still

sticky afterwards. For my stencil-project I chose that large blue branch of leaves and placed it sticky side up on a piece of cardstock.

(for all pictures: click onto them to enlarge their view, if you wish)

I used some Cosmic Shimmer in Aqua Lagoon to spray generously over the background

Then I flipped the sticker over and placed it back onto the cardstock.

note: the residue of the ink will transfer to the cardstock, as if the image was stamped. If you do not wish for this effect, just wipe the residue off.

Now I sprayed some Cosmic Shimmer in Golden Mint over the cardstock to lift the outline of the second stencil from the background.

To add a few colour accents I unscrewed my bottle of Cosmic Shimmer in Candy Pink and just dropped some blobs of ink randomly onto the background.

Next, I chose which stickers I would like to use for embellishments and I decided to go with a floral theme and make good use of all the different sized flowers. As I like to layer stickers, I tend to first stick them onto a plain sheet of cardstock and cut them out individually. Once that is done, I take either an ink pad or black pen to run along the edges, to make the shape stand out a bit more.

Finally, with the help of some adhesive foam pads I layer the stickers on top of one another to create my embellishment.

As a final step, I used a black Zig Millenium pen to doodle outlines onto my stenciled images and outline a few more of the stickers as well as some of the ink splashes.

In addition to the stickers I used some colour-coordinated tags, which I hand-cut from various sheets of Bazzill cardstock, as matting for the photograph. To finish the layout off, I ran a Cats Eye Chalk Ink pad in French Blue along the edges of the cardstock.

And here is the final result - not one piece of patterned paper in sight, only cardstock and stickers.

Products used:

Cardstock - Bazzill

Stickers - Basic Grey, Jenni Bowlin, Dymo

Ink - Cosmic Shimmer, Clearsnap Inc

Pen - Zig Millenium

Pearls - Mark Richards

Get the LOOK

2011-06-20T20:30:00.000+01:00

Today I am showing you how to get that 'Cath Kidson' look by using 'Girls Paperie' products.

I am a big 'Cath Kidson' fan and last year gave my kitchen a mini make over with these colours in mind. I love the combination of pale pink, red, white and blue.

When I saw the 'Kitch' collection from Girls Paperie, I wanted to make something to go in my kitchen. So today I am showing you how I made my little recipe wall hanging below and then my 'EAT' sign.

To make these I used the products below.

I took these matching alphas

And JBS paint dabber, so the alphas would stand out better. These can then be left to dry whilst you work on the rest of the project.

I cut a piece of corrugated card to approximately 13x14cm. This will depend on how big you print your recipe and photo. Print these first so you can gage how big to cut the card.
You can then cut your patterened papers to size. One piece larger than the corrugated card and one piece smaller.
Before sticking in place, I have lightly inked the edges and added a small piece of transparency that I had in my stock and a small doilee which I finely misted.

To make two flags I painted 2 cocktail sticks white and cut these 2 banners from this paper here.
The flags/banners have then been stuck to the cocktail sticks.

I had these 2 pins, but I wanted them to be red, so I brushed them slightly over with JBS paint.

Now the preject can be pieced together. The recipe and photo stuck in place followed by the flags. I cut out a heart and added that and then the alphas spelling 'cookies'.

I then pushed in the pins and added some Bakers Twine to bring a little more red to the project.
And it's then finished : )

I also made this large EAT sign using the same Girls Paperie papers.
I had some large MDF letters and laid each letter onto a piece of paper. Drew around, cut out and stuck to the MDF. I then sanded down the edges for a smooth finish and painted roughly around the edges with some gesso.

The letters now rest above my kitchen door.
I hope you like these projects and feel inspired.

Lisa xxx

looking for your pages or projects....

2011-06-17T14:16:00.000+01:00

A call out for all you scrapbookers ( and not just the UK ones) I am on the lookout for pages, cards or projects that you have done using Papermaze products....

What i need you to do is to take a photo of this project and email it to me, my email address is Wendy@bbbweb.com

I need your name, the supplies that you used, a brief description of what the page is about...You can send as many detailed photos as you like, in fact the more the better. In fact you can send as many projects as you like..the more the better.

We really want to see how you use the supplies that you buy...and what you do with them!

thanks!

Pink Paislee

2011-06-13T12:59:00.000+01:00

1st papermaze design team contribution!

When I opened up my first box of goodies from Vanessa I was a bit stumped as I haven't used pink paislee papers before and I thought they were just a bit too vintage for me! But once I got started I have to say I really do love this butterfly garden collection.

I made some spiral paper roses and added some of the dew drop beads in the centers and also glued the beads with my hot glue glue to create some flourishes.
The spiral roses are so easy to make. Cut a small circle then cut from the outside in to create a spiral. Using a cocktail stick or similar start rolling the outside edge of the spiral all the way into the middle, then finish by gluing the bottom.

I tend to rip,sand,ink,curl and even crease my papers which adds to the vintage look. The lace and doilies were a perfect addition.

If you'd like to create your own vintage themed page, you can find the butterfly garden collection here.

Introduce you to....

2011-06-10T12:24:00.000+01:00

Today i am pleased to introduce you to our newest design team member...Maria! Here is what she has to say about herself!!!

I’m Maria and live in the south west of England. I’m married and am a very proud mum to my 3 wonderful children. I’ve always been ‘crafty’ and am a florist by trade. I started scrapbooking about 5 years ago now after card making. I enjoy trying new arts & crafts although have just taken on a rather large allotment which is taking up slightly more time than I realised!

I’m looking forward to joining the fab papermaze design team.

Here is the link to her blog...Maria so pop over and have a look at her gorgeous pages!!!! You will be able to see her work this month on the blog!

Whimsy Cards

2011-06-08T16:20:00.000+01:00

I love that whimsy style right now.
The vintage look with a little sparkle added.
I love this look so much.

Here are some cards I've made with that look in mind.

I've used the Girls Paperie 'Vintage Whimsy' papers to help me create that syle.
I really love the colours of this collection, the slightly worn look but with such a girly feel to them.
I made this sketch first before making my three cards.

Have you seen all the 'Bakers Twine' in the store recently?
I'm a huge fan of twine and love adding this to my projects.
I've added a small amount of stickles to my butterfly and twine to add some good sparkle.

I have also used this Martha Stewart butterfly punch, this border punch and some diamantes.

I hope you like these pretty cards.
Lisa xx

glitz papers

2011-06-06T16:09:00.000+01:00

Oooh i just love this paper collection from glitz designs. This layout started off to be very basic but the more i did the more detail i felt it needed. As you can see on the butterfly i have used some old clock pieces i have had for a while but never used i am really happy with the end result.
Keeping this layout vintage style worked for me i hope it works for you too happy inspiration!!!! xx

Going round in circles

2011-06-04T09:11:00.000+01:00

Have you ever challenged yourself by trying to stick to a certain shape when creating a layout? I adore using circles, I think there is hardly ever any layout of mine which does not sport a circle shape somewhere. There is something smooth and subtle about circles.

When I got my hands on the Root Beer Barrels paper from October Afternoon, I most probably squealed with delight...how can you not whip out your circle punch and start punching out those darling images?
There was no question that I had to go circle mad on my layout and started tracing cups and saucers on various papers and started cutting, like a woman possessed.
I also love stamping with bubble wrap on the backgrounds of my layouts, so when Papermaze got this fantastic stamp from Kaisercraft, I was all over it like a rash - it already is my favourite stamp in the world

Whilst not strictly speaking circles here, the Lemon Drops paper just called my name and the flowers were round enough for me to include them as accents for my layout.

And here is the finished project - I even made sure that I used a photo from a year which would have "rounded" numbers, i.e. '68 to keep as close to my circle theme as possible.

** click on image to enlarge **

If you fancy trying your hand at creating a layout using shapes, you can recreate the above layout with the following products from Papermaze:

Papers: October Afternoon - Root Beer Barrel * Lemon Drops * Rock Candy
Stickers: October Afternoon - Found Alpha * Sticky Keys Playtime; Jenni Bowlin - Tiny Dot
Stamp: Kaisercraft

Scrapology....

2011-06-02T10:00:00.001+01:00

something a bit different on the Papermaze blog today...we are part of a blog hop for Scrapology...

Pop over to Scrapology to see what the design team came up with for June.

New for this month, they have arranged a blog hop for you. You should have arrived here from the lovely Maria's blog. If not please return to the Scrapology blog and the 'Start of the Blog Candy Hop' post to begin. To take part in the blog candy hop leave a comment below, follow this blog, for easy future reference, then proceed to Scrapology and the 'End of Blog Candy Hop' post to finish."

To go with the blog hop Cindy Tobey has made a sketch for everyone to use...

and here is her take on the sketch...

Have a good time exploring all the blogs!!!!!

Monochromatics

2011-05-30T11:41:00.000+01:00

There is something about monochromatic projects - they are somewhat challenging, but look oh-so-delectable when finished.

** click on image to enlarge **

I always find that if you do not restrict yourself too much within the boundaries of monochromatic design, such as adding one other colour (i.e. black or white) for titles and accents it can be so much fun to create a project using varying shades of a specific hue.

For the above layout I have been playing with October Afternoon and as soon as I saw the 5 & Dime collection I knew which colour scheme would work perfectly: brown as it would suit the vitage look of the papers.

I dug deep and found a picture of my from 1974 (in those days most photographs turned out with a brownish tint, so very perfect for the look am trying to achieve) and started spraying my background paper with a helping of Cosmic Shimmer. After this dried, I outlined some of the bigger slashes of colour with a black pen and added some pearls as accents.

Now I could start to shuffle layering the tags, journal cards and my picture until I was happy with the arrangement and using some adhesive such as Herma, stuck everything in place.

Have you tried your hand at monochromatic projects yet? If you want to recreate the above layout, you can purchase the product used directly from Papermaze:

Papers: October Afternoon - Rock Candy * Root Beer Barrels
Stickers: October Afternoon - Sticky Keys Playtime * 5 & Dime Found Alpha
Tags: Maya Road
Journal Card: My Minds Eye
Pins: Maya Road
Pearls: Dew Drops * Prima

bo bunny...

2011-05-25T22:20:00.000+01:00

I had so much fun making this layout .. i love the fact that there are so many wonderful things to cut out and use on your layouts with this collection of papers...

STEPS

1 Start off by gluing your patterned paper onto brown card stock pealing back the scalloped edges to make this raised.

2 cut two different size patterned papers and glue into your background , roll the edges of your patterned paper as shown.

3 glue your photo into place cut your flourishes out of the patterned paper and place as shown

4 cut a few flowers from the patterned paper ,, using white flowers stamp scripted writing to give them more detail sew buttons into the middle to complete the effect

5 take three large fabric flowers fold them over to get your desired effect as shown

6 finish off the layout by adding butterfly's your title and stick pins ..

Take Note...

2011-05-23T15:06:00.000+01:00

My last creation with BoBunny's Gabrielle line was very masculine (despite all the beautiful butterflies) so for this piece I wanted to go totally feminine.

I started with a 7 Gypsies album but I took it apart by pulling back the wire binding and gently taking the pages off the wires. Whilst the front and back covers were off, I had the chance to cover them with one of the sheets of BoBunny paper. I cut it to size, stuck it down with wet glue, and then sanded the edges when it had dried. I repeated this for the reverse of the covers too, but in different coloured paper. I then used acrop-a-dile to make holes and set eyelets where all the original holes had been on the covers.

I then started decorating each of the pages inside, and constructed the book back together with bookrings instead of the wire binding.

For the front cover I embossed the edges in a copper colour, then grouped together some Tim Holtz metal embelishments, with some prima ribbon and pearl swirl, and a butterfly cut from one of the gabrielle papers. I embossed the butterfly with UTEE so it was more durable, and added a sheen.

I decorated two pages (four sides) with each of the design. Some were a little more plain like these ones...
Some had Maya Road kraft envelopes for storing appointment/contact cards.....

...and others were really spritzed, inked, stamped and distressed. I always made sure the shade of background was kept light enough to write over.

I also added some Fancy Pants note cards, cut down to size.

And for the back, a small message with a few embelishments that echo the front design.

River Side

2011-05-20T21:11:00.000+01:00

A quick 8.5x11 page, using up the leftovers from the Jillibean soup papers. I wanted to remember this gorgeous photo I took during the Easter holidays when the sun was blazing and it felt like high summer. The bright green backing paper was perfect as a backdrop, and I used Kraft cardstock to provide a basis for the title and some journalling.

I used EK Success border punches to add interest to some of the cardstock edges, and used Autumn Leaves alphabet stamps for part of my title - American Crafts foam thickers were used for the rest.

The hearts were handcut from one of the papers, and embellished with gems. A few stickers and some ric-rac finished off the page nicely.

A little note...

2011-05-17T14:45:00.002+01:00

Just to let you all know that we are updating this blog in the next few weeks....so if you click on here and things look funny...bear with us...thanks!

Jillibean Soup

2011-05-16T17:19:00.000+01:00

I had never used Jillibean Soup papers that much before receiving this little lot in the post from Papermaze, but I have to admit to becoming fairly smitten with them! The Dutch Mustard soup papers are gorgeous browns and greens and oranges - some of my favourite colours to scrap with. If you haven't checked out Jillibean soup before, go and take a look - all of their ranges are lovely!

This page was made by layering up a number of the papers, along with a scrap of notebook paper and some lovely adhesive trim in a floral design.

The butterflies were punched with Martha Stewart punches, and the title is made using American Crafts chipboard thickers.

Three Cheers for Jenni Bowlin

2011-05-13T19:45:00.000+01:00

Hi,

Today I am raving about Jenni Bowlin Studio products.
These products seem to get better and better.
I have made this LO below using mostly Jenni Bowlin proucts to show you what a wide range of products this company has to offer.

Have you seen that you can now buy Acrylic Paints from Jenni Bowlin?
I have quite a few of these now and love them. I can't recommend them enough.
They are so smooth to use. I don't tend to use the dabbers, but prefer to remove the lids and use with a brush.
You can see the collection of paints here.
My favorite has to be Seed Packet.

To make the flower above I have used some pages from the little Memo Note Books.
The note books come in a variety of colours, lots of pages inside with 4 different styles and a page of stickers too.
To make the flower I have hand cut 3 circles, roughed up the edges and spray misted. They have been layered and finished with a button.

The tickets are one of the most well known products I think from this company.
There are so many to choose from now. I just love these.

I have backed the larger Alpha stickers onto some card to help them stand out a little and used 3d foam tape on the back so they are slightly raised.
There are lots of the Alphabet Stickers to choose from that coordinate well with everything else. You get alot for your money too.

I have also used a Butterfly on this page. These come in a pack of 5 and there are a few colours to choose from. Each one has a sticky pad on the back so they are really easy to use.

If you aren't overly familiar with the products, I recommend you take a look.
I highly recommend them. You can see all that we have to offer from Jenni Bowlin here.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Lisa x

BoBunny 'Gabrielle'

2011-05-11T09:13:00.000+01:00

Recently, Papermaze has started stocking four new fabulous lines from BoBunny, and today I want to show you something with the 'Gabrielle' collection.

These papers are filled with delicate butterflies, but this page proves you don't have to save these gorgeous papers for your girly pages...

The colours are perfect for more masculine pages, especially when combined with distressing techniques and twine.

To cretae the fence, I diecut the shape from cardstock, then applied a thick layer of crackle paint. Once this had dried and cracked, I brushed a thin layer of brown distress ink over to highlight the cracks and age the white paint further.

Soon I shall be back with a feminine side to these papers!

The First Cut Is The Deepest

2011-05-09T17:24:00.000+01:00

Hello everyone, it is Kim here with you again.

Today I would love to share with you another obsession of mine: fussy cutting.

Give me a sheet of paper with bold patterns and a pair of scissors and you have one happy scrapper :)

I used to shy away from bold, bright patterns in the past as I just could not see me making use of a "loud" pattern such as these examples (all available from Papermaze)

Crate Paper - Emma's Shoppe Quilts

Cosmo Cricket - Snorkel Current

Usually I would just roll my eyes, push the paper aside and scrap with something completely different and subtle instead.

But these days, I see the potential in busy patterns - you can make your own embellishments just by cutting along the different patterns. See that Cosmo paper up there ^^ ? I don't just see waves, I see circles, which I can layer and create my own flowers, I see dinosaur outlines...I see endless possibilities and that one sheet of paper can last me for a number of different layouts, just by using bits and pieces of the pattern.

For today, I have chosen to go with a combination of The Girl's Paperie and Crate Paper and used subtle and busy patterns to create this layout.

** click on image to enlarge **

If you want to try your hand at fussy cutting, you can purchase the products used to create the above layout through Papermaze.

Papers: Girl's Paperie - Vintage Whimsy "Birds Of A Feather"; Crate - Emma's Shoppe "Quilts", Portrait "Something Blue"
Stickers: Jenni Bowlin - Chalkboard Alpha Red, Circle Reverse Brown
Journaling tags: My Mind's Eye - Little Miss Muffet Journal spots
Mists: Cosmic Shimmer - Candy Pink, Angel Mist