Wednesday 25 February 2009

Basic Grey Porcelain.



Just gorgeous, just really gorgeous. I was worried about this line, it looked washed out whenever i saw it online, and i dont really do wishy washy pattern paper. But when i saw it in real life it was GORGEOUS! Really online photos do not do this line justice!




So that is the latest releases from Basic Grey. I know there are a few more coming and personally i love the look of Wisteria! and cannot wait for it to arrive!

Monday 23 February 2009

ahhhhhhhh it was a good day when i got to Papermaze and there in front of me was the new Basic Grey. And it was all so gorgeous! i had to grab some and create!!!
So i introduce you to Marrakech. The colours,patterns the whole of it is just perfect!

First i did a page with it. Now i know some people have said it is to loud and to over patterned. But there is a way of using these types of papers. Here is how i do it...

( again sorry about the blurry bits on the pages, my camera is still not working properly)

I chose one of the pattern papers as the background. I then make sure that the papers that i add touching it where plain, as two really pattern papers together ( unless you are lucky ) dont go that well together. Then i pick a few of the other pattern papers and use them in small amounts so not to overwhelm the page.

For the lettering i used the new Jenni Bowlin Letter stickers.







Talking of the new Jenni Bowlin stuff, i pick up all of it at the shop the other day as it just called to me when i saw it!!! lol.

I dont think any pictures can do these gorgeous products justice so i photographed some of them for you to see what they really look like!

The letter stickers are my favourite. One of the reasons i like thickers so much is the dimension, how they stick out from the page. I always kept away from letter stickers because they always looked flat on the page. But on this page above i used them with foam pads so they stuck out from the page and didnt look flat. These Jenni Bowlin letter stickers are big enough that you can use normal size foam pads on the back and not have to cut them up into smaller squares.



These chipboard buttons are gorgeous as well. Just waiting to be inked round the edge!!!

You can find all the Jenni Bowlin Products here. Tommorow the shop is open and i am sooooooo going to be there as the doors open to grab some of the new My Minds Eye lines. Check them out they are just gorgeous!!!!!!!! and there are so many that i am not sure which ones i will buy!!!!

Sunday 22 February 2009

A real friend to me...

I loved the Kelly Panacci papers I was sent this month to make my Valentines mini book with. They do have a 'love' theme, but I think they are equally versatile for lots of different layouts. I decided to use up my leftovers for this layout, which celebrates a friendship.







I created my own scalloped edge on the striped paper by hand-drawing a scallop line and cutting around it. This allows you to create an irregular, cartoony look. Other scraps of paper were cut into small squares and rectangles and layered up to make the most of them. I added a strip of brown cardstock which I cut with scalloped edge scissors and punched small holes in using a Cropodile to add interest.




I created photo corners with small scraps of paper, and made my embellishments and title by cutting words out of one of the sheets of paper.



I wanted to make the page quite funky and doodly, so I added lots of handrawn lines, stars and dots with a white pen. I also added some stitched doodles too. A few 7 Gypsies and Kelly Panacci stickers completed the page.



Here is the finished layout, I'm really pleased I managed to use up so many of the leftover pieces of paper!


Wednesday 18 February 2009

My Minds Eye.

Did you see that the new My Minds Eye is in at the Papermaze shop. You can find it here, and it is gorgeous and so much better in real life!!!

I went over to Papermaze the other day and picked some up to play with. I wanted to make some cards and a small present for a friend and this line was perfect!!!!!

I need a general hello how are you card for a friend i had not seen for a while and i ccame up with this...



I needed a birthday card for another friend and came up with this one...

FOr this card i cut out two circles the same size. One for the front of the card and one for the back and secured the two together at the top with a small piece of double sided tape. It needs to be really strong double sided tape so when the card is open it does not come apart.

I then cut out the centre of the front circle and added some transparency to the centre to stamp on the image. When i finished i covered up the back of the front circle so you couldnt see all the glue.


I also made a small quick bookmark. I folded the card over to the size that i wanted and before cutting i left a little bit for folding over to make adhere it all together.



I cut out the letters ABC from my Cricut machine. I have had to leave the actual bookmark empty as i want to put a photo of me and my friend on there but have yet to take it!! lol.


You can find the new Minds Eye papers here. tfl xxx

Monday 16 February 2009

Valentines Frame - Basic Grey Bittersweet

I mounted my photo on light pink bazzill cardstock, then took the Basic Grey Bittersweet - Mousse paper, turned it on to the reverse side and drew a scalloped frame using my matted photo as a guide for the size.


I cut the frame out and inked the edges then using a white pen I also drew a line just inside the frame, then stuck my matted photo into the middle of the scalloped frame.


I cut my brown bazzill cardstock to the size of my picture frame and stuck my scalloped frame photo in the middle.




Using my cuttlebug I cut some heart shapes from light pink bazzill cardstock and Basic Grey Bittersweet - Rocky Road paper using the Cuttlebug 3x3 Die - Concentric Hearts die


I chose 2 of the stamp stickers from Basic Grey Bittersweet - Element Stickers and stuck these to the left of my scalloped frame, using a brad I attached a heart charm inbetween the stamp stickers.

Next I took the large heart from the pink bazzill that I cut with my cuttlebug and the smallest heart cut from Basic Grey Bittersweet - Rocky Road paper and attached these to my scalloped frame in the bottom left hand corner, I added some bling to the larger heart and a flower in the middle of the smaller heart. I took the love sticker from the Basic Grey Bittersweet - Element Stickers ans stuk this under my scalloped frame.




I added a BasicGrey Heart Swash White Rub-on to the top right corner and attached 3 buttons using some thin ribbon.



And here is my finished frame






Thursday 12 February 2009

Old and new.

I know that one of the releases that i look forward to is the new Basic Grey. It is the one i know that is going to cost me the most money lol! and the one i will use over and over again. Seeing the new releases that are coming makes me realise that the new lines that are coming is again not going to be exception to the rule.

But before i got dug into the new releases i want to just go back and use some of my favourite older lines that i love.

The first one isnt so old actually but it has got to one of my favourites that they bought out. It is Granola.

So i grabbed some of my left overs and do yet another layout with it ( i have done many and a mini book). Please excuse the parts of the following pictures that are not in focus. I am still fighting with my camera even after it was 'supposedly' fixed.

The next line is the Archaic.This paper is just one of the cutest that i have ever seen, and my son has it stuck on his wall at home as a poster.
Here is the page i did with this line.



And here is the card. I loved the little dinasour sticker on the elements sticker sheet.

And lastly my all time favourite is the Stella Ruby Line.
Now the colours and the papers in this line, i think have to got to be the most gorgeous Basic Grey have ever put out. Seriously.

Here is the page i did with this line. THere is no story behind this page, sometimes i manage to just take a nice photo and i want to scrap it. When that happens i normally just find a relevent poem and use that for the journaling.



I love the fact that there are a few of these papers in the line

makes it so much easier when planning the layout as it feels up half the page before you even start.

And here is the card that i made as well.



For the shape of the layout and the shape of the pattern paper inside, i used these.
these are Technique Tuesday Fundamental Swanky frames, and how did i miss these for so long!!!! i have passed them in the shop for ages and not seen there true potential. The come apart into sections...



And they are easy and light to use and raw so you can cover them or paint them. But before i used them on my page i drew round them so i could use them for templates for shapes to use on another page. THe middle pattern paper on the page is done by drawing round the outside of one of the frames and then cutting it out and the shape of the base pattern paper was used by tracing round and cutting out the biggest frame! seriously loving these, they start at just abit smaller than a 12 by 12 and then go small enough to use on a card. Prepare to see a lot of these shapes on my pages in future.

I am going back to Papermaze next week to buy the rest of the ones in the line!!!

Tuesday 10 February 2009

Valentines card - Basic Grey Bittersweet

I cut a rectangle of pink bazzill card stock and edged the card stock with some white paint. I then but a bigger rectangle using Basic Grey Bittersweet - Mousse paper slightly smaller than my finished card size and again edged the paper with white paint.



I cut a rectangle of KI Memories Frosty Lace Cardstock and mounted this in the middle of the pink card stock.


Using a chipboard heart as a template I cut a heart fom the Basic Grey Bittersweet - Almond Toffee paper, then attached this to the chipboard heart, I filed the edges then drew round the edge of the heart with a white pen.





I took a feather and some wedding decoration beads and twisted them together.





I attached the feather and beads to the back of the chipboard heart using pva glue, then attached the heart feather decoration to my card using 3d foam pads







I tied a length of pink satin ribbon and cream lace into a bow and put a heart pin in the top of the bow.





I attached the bow to the bottom of the heart and added my card greeting. I then attached all of this to my card blank




Here is my finished card