here we go!!!!!!!

The response to the Ki Memories challenge was fantastic!!!! We had a ton of entries which are below, check them out

THe first one is by Helen..

This one is by Lynn

This one was done by Shirley

THis one is done by Audrey

This one is by Angela

Claire sent this one in...
This one was sent in by Janina

THis one was done by Rebekah

This is done by Sandra

This ones was sent in by Laura

And this one was sent in by Laura


And just to leave you all on tender hooks, i will post the winner in a few days!!!

The sun is shining.....

....here in California!! Yes, it's that time of year again, it's come round so quickly! The craft industry's biggest trade show gets underway tomorrow, and I'm all ready for it! I arrived in Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon, and have spent a couple of days enjoying the Anaheim area and adjusting to the time difference. This morning I went along and registered for the show and doors open in just under 15 hours time!! Keep an eye on the blog to see what's new, what's hot and what will be coming your way soon!

tick tock!!!

Okay guys you have but a few hours to send in you KI Memories pages!!!! The deadline is midnight tonight!!!!!!

It is that time again....

Another holiday!! another time too buy a present and make a card. So i thought we could give you a few examples of Valentines cards.

These cards are all made using a 3 bugs in a rug love line.


I have chosen one of the two cards that i made to show you step by step of how to make it.

Okay first you start with a card size 6 by 4.

Then using a corner rounder with the guard taken off punch out scallops on the card at the bottom. Then cut out a piece of pink cardstock to the same size as the card before sticking it on cut the same scallops out and stick together..

I inked every piece of card with a black ink pad.

I then added gems on every scallop and drew faux stitching all round the outside of the card.

Using a chipboard heart shape ( this one is the Scenic Route heart packet ) cut out and stick to brown paper.

Again using a white pen add false stitching all round the outside.

And then using gluedots adhere to the right hand side to the card.

Cut out a piece of black card size 6in by 1cm, again add the stitching with a white pen..

Because you have used a chipboard heart, you will have to use foam pads. Then attach to the bottom of the card, just so you see a little bit of the heart at the bottom...

Next cut out a strip of green ( i know it looks brown but it is green!!!) card size 6in by 2 1/2 cm. Add the stitching with a black pen..
Then attach it using foam pads to the card about the black card. DO not leave a gap.
next cut out a strip of red card, 6in by 1 and 1/2 cm and scallop the edges with the punch. Using a white pen add a border.

Attach to the card above the green strip using foam pads!

next cut out several of the flowers from the 3 bug paper

And attach to the lefthand side of the card with foam pads...


I then used American Crafts chipboard letters and add the 4u and the brackets




Here is another card i did using the 3 bugs paper as well. Gosh it is really yummy!!!


So the time is nearly here to make your card. So the challenge???? lift one of the two cards above and send them to wendy@bbbweb.com. All the cards that are entered will be put on the blog on Valentines day!!!
happy card making!!!

Book Review: Designing with Details

Designing with Details - How the little things make all the difference in your pages
Publisher: Autumn Leaves
Contributors: Leslie Lightfoot, Renee Camacho, Cathy Blackstone, Marilyn Healey, Jackie Bonette, Jennifer McGuire, Lisa Russo, Kelli Crowe, Jamie Waters, Mellette Berezoski, Gillian Nelson, Rhonda Bonifay, Patricia Anderson, Margie Scherschlight, Ashley Calder, Danielle Thompson, Robyn Werlich and Candice Carpenter
104 pages
£15.99

Designing with Details explores the idea that the 'wow' of any layout comes in part from the little details. The book aims to show us how to add these irresistible touches to our own layouts. There are four chapters: Handmade, Everyday Delights, Unexpected Treasures and Gallery of Miscellany.

The Handmade chapter opens with a comment about the joy of finding a handmade treasure and then goes on to show ways to create a treasure of your own. Handmade touches such as stitching, quilting, knitting and knotting are just a few of the ideas demonstrated here.

Everyday Delights focuses on the inventive use of older products in your stash. Let the designs inspire you to rummage through your stash for that pack of embellishments you bought on impulse some time ago but never found the perfect photo for. Here you'll see that maybe you do have the perfect photo after all.

Unexpected Treasures will have you looking at hardware stores, haberdasheries and even your kitchen cupboard in a totally different way. Wooden mouldings, hooks & eyes and washers all get a look-in as the designers use things which would not usually find their way into our stash

If you're looking for an inventive way to use that particularly vast collection of something or others, this is the section for you. Pages with hundreds of buttons or tags or brads or just about anything really. Each spread in the chapter sees the designers challenged to use a particular element. And use them they do! Of course, you may not have a vast collection of something or others, in which case, you may find yourself heading out to buy one!

Of all the books in the 'Designing with...' series, this has to be my favourite to just sit and browse through. It keeps me coming back for a second (and third and fourth!) look, poring over the detail in every layout. And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to the hardware store...

Here are a few samples of how you can scraplift pages from books from our design team...

This one is done by Deb. The first page is from the book...

This one is the scraplift that Deb did. As you can see she kept alot of the same elements as the page from the book but gave it her own touch.



This lift is done by Chloe. This is the page from the book...

Chloe's decided to take the tag elements from the top of the page and use them as the basis on her own page.



I chose to scraplift this one by Jamie Waters...

I turned the page round to accommodate my portrait photo but otherwise lifted it pretty much as is.


Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned paper: Fancy Pants True; Ribbon: Basic Grey Hang 10; Buttons: foof-a-La Dad's Ties; Rub-ons; Gin-X and American Crafts; Other: clip, stamps, Versamark and Staz-on.

Have you tried Jumbo Chipboard Letters?

Scrapping layouts for our albums is always fun, but sometimes its nice to try something a little bit different and make something we can display in our home. So Vanessa from Papermaze set three of us the challenge of using these plain chipboard Rusty Pickle Jumbo Letters to create a word plaque that could be displayed on the wall to provide inspiration and a splash of colour! The letters are sold with both the letter itself and its cutout portion, allowing you to create the plaques below.

First up is my word plaque (the clue is in the name!) - I decided to decorate it with Scenic Route Loveland papers which matched the pink and white colour scheme in my spare room, a range of flowers and some of my Autumn Leaves clear stamps to add interest. I decided to leave the chipboard bare, just using a black pen to outline the letters to make them stand out.

Next up is Wendy, who decorated the word Love:

And finally, Angie, who decided to dedicate her word to her hobby! Angie decided to paint her letters to make them stand out from the darker background colours.

All the word plaques have totally different styles and colours, and prove that you can make one of these to suit any decor or taste. They can be as simple or as decorative as you like - you choose what will suit your room best. And of course, they can send any message you like too - the chipboard letters are bought individually, allowing you the freedom to pick any word you choose.

Ki Memories challenge...

We have had sooooooo many gorgeous pages sent in by you for the Ki Memories challenge. There is still time to send in your entry and get a gift voucher for Papermaze.

But i thought i would give you a preview of just a few of the pages i have been sent.

keep them coming!!!!!

This gorgeous page was sent in by Audrey.



This one was done by Claire.


This was sent in by Angela.