Sunday, October 31, 2010

Joanne - Layout

***Quick note from Liz. The layout theme continues this week. Send us your pictures by Sunday 6pm, 7th November to be in the draw to win some Bo Bunny Winter Joy products***

Hi Everyone! Joanne here. Hope your all having a great weekend.

I was supposed to post yesterday (so sorry about that!) but I've had a bit of scrappers block :( I've read a lot online about ways to get through it and one that stuck with me was to just push through it and make something, so I did! Hope you like it :)



Ive still got to do some journaling and when I do it will go on the ticket on the right. On the ticket above the title will either be more journaling if I need the extra space, or more title, ie "Your first visit to".



I love these little ornaments that come on the Echo Park Merry Christmas Element Sticker Sheet. Ive pop-dotted them for some dimension and added some twine to look like they are hanging from the top of the page.

One last thing, I would just like to thank everyone that viewed my blog and became followers :) It really made my day :)

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Our SPECIAL announcement...

We'll give you the short version... (not the version the ladies at the all-day crop got today...). Basically we are MOVING shop!!

We are moving into bigger and better premises just around the corner. We'll have 320m2 of useable space. Over 130m2 of shop floor, 70m2 classroom and a wonderful foyer/atrium area for the couch, displays etc. (Along with 6 offices to store our mess!)

We will be closing up shop on the 2nd Dec and will be reopening on the 6th December. (Crazy timing I know!!)

We will be introducing some new initiatives. There will be 6-monthly retreats run at the shop with national and international tutors invited to run classes. We'll have some local talent on board to run more classes and will continue with the 10am - 10pm monthly crops and Midnight Madnesses. We'll aslo start up an after-school Craft Club, more holiday programmes, and will branch into Wedding Invitations. There is a huge demand for this in Timaru since Pure Impressions closed down.

So, that's the news. More information about the specific location will be coming really soon (once all the official documents have been signed off!!)

We're excited (of course) and will be busy preparing the new shop throughout November. Because of this there will be a reduced class schedule :-(

So, I'm off to craft with the ladies until 10pm tonight!!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Tanya Leigh - Christmas Layout

Hi guys

Tanya Leigh here!

I was meant to upload yesterday but for whatever reason blogspot wouldn't let me upload my photos.

My layout this week is using a mix of Teresa Collins Noel papers and Making Memories Mistletoe Paper...yes I know, I have mixed companies. For those who know me know that I don't often mix papers but hello! today I have...LOL!!
This photo is of my older 2 boys, now 11 and 13. Makes me laugh everytime I look at this photo. I have also used part of the Making Memories Mistletow Garland Kit on this layout and some of my own products, very old music paper and old lace.



JOY Layout!
by Tanya Leigh


Be Merry Layout - Clarissa

Hi everyone. This is a layout I did using Be Merry from the October Scrappin' Sensations Kit. I designed it so that is could be used for a portrait photograph like this one, or rotate it and have a landscape orientation like the one I used for the kit.




I was pleased with how well Be Merry worked with both modern and vintage photographs. I get all nostalgic looking at this photo. One of my favourite childhood memories is going to see Santa at Farmers Department store in Timaru. It's amazing how good he still looks after all these years. ;-)

I'm off to finish my layout for the November Scrappin' Sensations Kit. I hope you get some time to be creative. Have an fantastic day!
Clarissa

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Tina's Christmas layout

Hi there everyone!  Just a quick layout from me, this one probably took about an hour. I used Graphic 45 papers & tag, layered some ribbons, and Glimmer Misted a doiley, which I used as a mat for my acrylic title by Kutalicious (a new Australian company) .  I added some Stickles to the egde of my photo mat to add some subtle bling.



Monday, October 25, 2010

Shirley Towan Christmas LAYOUT

This is my favourite christmas photo of my beautiful daughter Shianne, I really enjoyed doing this layout I really love this range of paper, I did use a bit of Kasiercraft's "Dear Santa" paper from last year as it matched so well with the flocked & Die cut paper from 'Tis the season'
I have heavily distressed all the edges the rougher the better, if you don't have a edge distressing tool you can use the edge of your craft knife or sissors, another way to distress is to use sandpaper, I have scratched around the edge of the photo and also inked it.
I love using lace as it adds a old world feel to the project, the new lace packs from kaisercraft are fantastic and come in 4 different colors.

I just love christmas as there is so many photo opportunities which means more scrapbooking!!!

POP back to the Blog each day this week to see more fantastic layouts from the rest of the team

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Christmas Countdown - 9 weeks to go!

Good evening! Many thanks to the Design Team who I’m sure you’ll agree have come up with a splendid array of Christmas Cards to inspire you. We’re now down to 9 weeks to Christmas…

Thanks also to everyone who submitted cards which we’ve uploaded to the Competition Gallery. We’ve pulled a name out of the hat for our random draw and the winner is … Lianne. Well done and thanks for joining in. Let us know your details and we will send you the Teresa Collins pack.

We want to encourage everyone to submit their projects in line with the weekly theme. This week and next week's theme is LAYOUTS! So get scrapbooking and send us your pictures of Christmas layouts. This week’s prize pack includes a set of papers, brads and 3-D stickers from the new Winter Joy Bo Bunny collection that just arrived in store this week. The draw will be random – so come and join in the fun. We also really appreciate the comments you leave us on the blog and Facebook. It reminds us that we’re not just speaking into cyber space! We can tell form the blog hits this week that there is a large number of people following the countdown – so join in the fun to win prizes!

Before we finish we need to see Betsy’s Card delights! She’s used the Graphic 45 Christmas Past 8x8 Pad to create this set of cards.

Card One

A very effective horizontal card with a circle protruding over the top. She’s used the Spellbinders circle and petite circle dies and then added rhinestones around the edge. Cut out Santa and add some Kindy Glitz to his beard. Add some ribbon and a sentiment from the Kaisercraft Christmas Sentiments Stamp set and you’re done!

Card Two

Betsy has got her sewing machine out again and her Martha Stewart punch. She’s stitched the backgrounds together then cut out one of the pictures form the 8x8 Pad. Use your Nellie Snellen die to create the border on top of the picture. The ribbon has a button stitched in the middle and then Fancy Tags Spellbinders with the sentiment. Easy Peasy!

Card Three

An elegant, simple card using a Santa picture, doily, buttons and a hat pin! Who would have thought to put all those items together? Love it!

Card Four

Betsy has coloured the Rubbadubbadoo stamps with water colours pencils and a waterbrush pen. Then she’s added some kindy glitz on the holly berries. Betsy has used the Spellbinders circles dies and the Martha Stewart double-loops corner punch. She’s used papers from the 6x6 Tis the Season pad (more coming next week).

I haven't had time to create a Christmas card this week (too busy moving house!). Maybe I'll do one this week!

So folks, join in the fun and send us your layouts over the next two weeks and be in the draw to win some Bo Bunny products.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Shirley Towan - Christmas Cards

Good Morning crafters!
Everyone that knows me knows I'm A Kasiercraft junkie, so I was thrilled to recieve the "Be Merry" collection of papers, die cuts & rub-ons..there were some fantastic ribbons & fibres in my stash too so I set to work and made these four cards....the die cuts make fantastic elements for cards and its always best to mount them on foam tape to make them pop!
There are also lots of elements on the paper that you can cut out & mount...like the little "joy" tag





Next up I sat and thought about christmas and I thought how I love the way the tree looks on Christmas morning after Santa has been and done his work, so I wanted to create a card that reminded me of that!
A glitzy tree loaded with presents..its was very easy to "make" the presents, I just cut up some chipboard into small squares and "wrapped" them complete with ribbons & bows...I added a red bling flourish to set off the "Merry Christmas" sentiment which I just stamped then heat embossed it in white ....








The next card was lots of fun...I found a piece of random Gold paper in my stash so I mounted it onto some chopboard then ran it thru my cuttlebug with the swirl embossing folder...it looked great then I just added some red rhinestones and I cut out some holly from a piece if the Be Merry Specialty paper...this card was a bit difficult to photograph as I kept getting my reflection on the card, so after about 50 photo's (will maybe 15!) I thought well this is the best that I can get, so I'll just run with it!







My last card was very quick and easy...I used a small piece of "tis the season' Flocked paper just added some lace, a kasiercraft wooden flourish which I heat embossed in gold then just added some flowers and some pearls along with a rub on...very easy & very effective!




I'm looking forward to next weeks coundown...LAYOUT!! my fav!

Friday, October 22, 2010

Graphic 45 cards.

Hi, it's Tina here with a few cards to show you, made from Graphic 45's Christmas range. If you haven't had a play with the Graphic 45 papers, you're missing out. They are fabulous. The papers are quite thick, so they emboss really well, and hold their shape (great for creating your own flowers!)



I stamped the reindeer image using  the new Papermania Classic Christmas stamps, and blinged him up with some Papermania Glitz It.  I distressed all my edges and used some Stickles to add a bit more bling.  The label was cut out using Cuttlebug Embossing Plus folders.



I combined Kaisercraft diecuts with ribbon, pearls, and Martha Stewart's Rain Drop edge punch. (...and of course had to add some gold Stickles.....it is Christmas after all!)





I used Diamond Dust (my new favourite thing!) to give the illusion of icicles.



I made my rosette by punching a 12 strip of paper, then folding it all the way along. I joined the ends and then coaxed it into the rosette shape by pushing the punched edge outwards, and gluing to secure.


Thursday, October 21, 2010

Simple Christmas Cards - Joanne

Hi everyone! Its my turn to show some Christmas Cards today.

I was sent some gorgeous papers from Echo Park - the Merry Christmas range (available here). I have been waiting for these papers ever since I saw the sneak peek on the Echo Park Facebook page :)

For both of the cards I made I only used two 2inch x 12inch pieces of double sided patterned paper. So if you needed to make a lot of cards it would be a very economical way of doing so.

Please click on the images to see them larger and better quality. I'm not sure why they are coming up slightly blurry when small.

 
This first card is very simple to do. I have used a Christmas Cuttlebug embossing folder on the white card, and then I ran the card through the Cuttlebug without the folder to 'squash' the pattern a little so it was more of a subtle pattern. I picked four squares of patterned paper, inked the edges and adhered them to the card. I drew some faux stitching and chose the Kaisercraft Embellishment for the center. Then I simply added the bling and the sentiment. 

Here's a little closeup...


Here's the second card:


Another very simple card. I used another Cuttlebug Embossing Folder for the background and 'squashed' it like the first card. The scallops are circles I punched from white cardstock.

Supplies used:
Echo Park Paper one and two
Kaisercraft Bling

I hope I have inspired you to create some lovely handmade Christmas cards of your own! If you do make some I would love to see them!
Joanne.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Tanya Leigh - Cards

Hi everyone, Tanya Leigh here

Liz sent me a wonderful box of goodies along with the awesome Christmas papers by Teresa Collins


I am a fan of Teresa Collins products and was rapt when these papers arrived on my door step. Get in early as these papers won't last long.
I have one card to show you today using these amazing papers, I was planning on more but due to another big aftershock here in Christchurch yesterday I lost it and just couldn't do anything.

25 December Card



I have done lots of de-stressing and inking and love the old style of Christmas and these papers were perfect for that.

Don't forget to keep checking back for more inspiration from the Design Team girls.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Lowri - Cards

Hi Everyone - Lowri here.
In my box of Christmas Goodies were the latest papers from the Imaginisce “Cottage Christmas” collection.

There are some lovely colours and a real variety of prints suitable for everything from cards for kids, bold brights – some of them even have a retro feel to them.
I have three cards to show you today – they may take a little time to figure out, but once you master the technique, it would be easy to repeat quickly. These first two cards look impressive but actually use very little product – making them very economical too.
If you are in Timaru – pop into the shop to take a look as I have sent these cards to Liz! I have also uploaded instructions and more pictures in my gallery.

Tri-Fold Shutter Card

I had seen a few of these in magazines and on-line and I have been waiting for ages for a suitable time to try one out! It looks complicated but it’s really not. Just follow the diagram carefully and remember to use EITHER the inches or cm measurements. Either set of measurements will result in a card to fit a standard envelope.
When I try something new like this – I always give it a go with scrap card first (even a cereal box for thicker cards) to get a feel for how it works, double check measurements etc. It’s much easier to make adjustments at this stage, where if you make a mistake you haven’t spoiled any of your good quality paper.


Once you have made your card base following the diagram – then the fun starts and you can get decorating. I used plain cardstock in co-ordinating colours to make a mat for each panel and then cut patterned paper to decorate. I used a 1/8 inch margin (3mm) each time to get a layered effect.

The beauty of this card is the structure, so I wanted to keep the decoration simple. Saying that I have seen some really ornate cards in this style online which work very well too.

Here is the template for this card


Tri-Fold Square Card

Once again I have provided a diagram for the basic card which I made from plain white cardstock. Once you have done this , place the card down in front of you right side down, and glue the top left triangle to the bottom left triangle.


I printed some invitation wording onto acetate for the inside – but of course you can write any note or greeting you like. I have highlighted some of the stars on the patterned paper with rhinestones and used Kindyglitz on a chipboard accent for additional decoration.




The chipboard present on the front of the card was a precut piece I had from last year, so I covered it with the Imaginisce patterned paper, then a layer of glossy mod-podge and then a little bit of Kindyglitz over the top for extra sparkle. I used Kaisercraft’s tiny red pearls for Holly Berries. The ribbon is glued across the back only, leaving it free to be tied easily at the front.

Here is the template for this card



Pull Apart Card

This was a cross between a labour of love and hate! I had seen a couple of cards like this online and I even followed a tutorial to make one – but the end result was really flimsy. My kids have a set of pull apart flashcards which I wanted the feel of, so I carefully prized it apart to see the mechanism and copied it.



Basically it involved a lot of frustrating cutting of chipboard and paper and them some very fiddly gluing to get it to work properly.
So - bottom line is this was a lot of work for one card – but if anyone has an easy template for this card I would really like to see it!
I love the effect for a card/invitation so I am definitely going to stay on the lookout for an easy pattern.

The Kaisercraft Flourish star on the front I dabbed with white ink and sprayed with silver glimmermist. The inside had to be kept simple as any extra dimension would mean the card won’t open properly.


Set of Notecards

Finally, I wanted to use some of the Bella Blvd felt pieces Liz sent me – so I created these mini cards using the Kaisercraft Sheet music stamp, and then also stamped on the felt for a bit of added detail.

I used Stayzon Ink and it worked really well. I hardly do any stamping, but this was a fun idea which has left me inspired to try a few more projects!!


I hope you enjoyed these - if you have any questions please leave a comment and I will try and answer.

We have heaps more posts coming this week, so keep an eye out for some more inspiration from the Design Team

Monday, October 18, 2010

Clarissa - Cards

Hi everyone.
I get to bring you the first Christmas card of the Countdown. With all these fun Christmas projects I get to make, I've had the urge to dig out my Christmas CD's and really get in the festive mood. Anything that helps the creative flow!

My inspiration for this shaker card is a very cool product called Diamond Dust which adds gorgeous sparkly texture to flowers or anything you care to stick it to. As soon as I saw it I thought SNOW!


If you've never tried a shaker card I would encourage you to give a go. They are a lot of fun to make and there are lots of things you can use to fill them such as glitter, confetti, or even some coconut for a different snow effect. All you need is some acetate and double sided foam strips to make an sealed space so the contents don't fall out of the card.

The papers I've used are from the DCWV Christmas Combo paper stack, which has a great selection of traditional and non-traditional colours, and the stamps are from Kaisercrafts 'Tis the Season Collection.

Looking forward to seeing your creations in the Competition Gallery!
Clarissa



Sunday, October 17, 2010

10 Week Christmas Countdown begins!!

PRIZES TO BE WON!
Who can believe it's only 10 weeks until Christmas!! Artfull Crafts wants to celebrate the lead up to Christmas on the blog and so we've got our Design Team on board and want to invite you all to join in the fun! We know that people often take the opportunity at Christmas to make gifts, cards and create special touches for the house and dinner table. So we've put together a useful set of 10 weekly themes to inspire you!

Each week's theme will be announced on this blog on Sunday night and each day throughout the week the Design Team will be blogging their creations. That means you'll want to pop back each day to see what they've been up to. You are also invited to send us your submissions throughout the week and we'll load them up in our Competition Gallery. Each week there will be a prize pack up for grabs. To be in the draw you just have to email us your project that matches the weekly theme. We'll do a random draw and announce the winner on the next Sunday night's blog.

This week's competition prize is a set of Teresa Collins Noel papers (9 in the collection), chipboard and ribbon (see below):



So the theme for this week is CHRISTMAS CARDS! Any style is welcome - big, small, colourful, plain, flat, bumpy - there are no rules - except it needs to be made by you. There are so many styles to think about. Vintage seems to be a big trend this year and have you looked at the Kaisercraft blog lately? They've done some great Christmas cards with the fabulous 6x6 pads. They have 4 pages of die cuts in the back - along with all the specialty papers.

What can you use? Anything!! Have you noticed all the little scraps you've got sitting around? Why don't you go on a little "treasure hunt" around the home this week. Look for buttons, scraps, bits in the bottom of drawers and see what you come up with? Why not pull some old cards apart and make a remodelled version. How about getting a 3D decoupage sheet and make a card that pops off the page.

Why not get your kids involved in the weekly challenges?! In fact, I think that's a great idea. I'm going to put up an EXTRA weekly prize for the under 18 years age group. Let me know when you email if you are in this age group. Remember the prize is randomly drawn - and you've got to be in to win!!

So, now we've set the guidelines and given you some ideas. We'll give you daily inspiration throughout the week and all we want from you are your submissions!!

We can't wait to see your cards throughout this week. Please make sure your submission gets to us by 6pm Sunday next week (24th October) - so we can do the prize draw before the next blog.

We also want to give a prize away tomorrow (Monday 18th October). So if you want to win a $25 prize to get you started on this 10-week countdown, then just leave a comment on this blog by Monday midnight!

All the Design Team have been sent parcels filled with different brands and styles of Christmas themed products. They will use these as the basis of their Countdown projects - although they are also welcome to use any other products they choose. Here's a few photos of the packs we sent out:

Janine has been given a set of Websters Waiting for Santa papers and a mix of delicate products and projects.
Lowri has been given the Imaginisce range of papers (Cottage Christmas)

Tina has got Graphic 45 Vintage papers (Christmas Past)

Shirley's parcel had lots of the Be Merry Kaisercraft Collection

Joanne will get to play with Echo Park's Merry Christmas Colletion

Tanya has been sent Teresa Collins' Noel products and Clarissa choose a random selection of goodies. Betsy has been playing with Kaisercraft's Tis the Season products to create a card kit that will be available in November.

In summary there are two things you need to do... put a comment on the blog to go in the draw to win a $25 pack by Monday midnight 18th October and then send us a Christmas Card picture by Sunday 24th October 6pm to go in the draw to win the Teresa Collins products shown above.

The final part of the blog post each week will be portions of Scripture that outline the Birth of Jesus Christ - a reminder of why we celebrate Christmas. Even I can get all caught up in the crafts, gifts and busy nature of the end of the year, and forget that there is meaning to the celebration. This God-man Jesus split history and is still changing lives today. We start with a passage in Luke. 1:26-38
The Birth of Jesus Foretold
26In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

29Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

34"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

35The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37For nothing is impossible with God."

38"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

Next week we'll look at Joseph's response to the news of the impending birth.

Have a great week and let the fun begin!
:-) Liz