Sian speaks ... I listen

Do you remember Sian's Rosette tutorial way back in March ... I know, March! Where on earth did time go?
Anyway, I've been really looking forward to giving them a go - and using papers from May's kit, Lily Bee, This & That,  I dived straight in.  Well Sian, thank you - they were so much fun to make, trust me, they'll be appearing on more layouts in future.

The picture was actually taken on Easter Sunday, when we took a trip up into London to see the flags - I couldn't believe my luck, a mini, a black cab and a bus, all in a line ... how lucky was I.  Ok, I did have to stand in the middle of Regent Street to take it, but then us scrapbookers suffer for our art LOL.

Please leave links to your creations using either Sian's rosette's or how you used the May Kit.

Your May Cheat Sheet

How's it going with that May kit?

It's so windy here today that any ideas I had for layouts about the lovely weather at the beginning of the month have all disappeared. Instead I think I'll be doing a "Cast Ne'er a Clout til May be Out" page!

I'm also thinking about:

• National Scrapbooking Day. Did you play along with any challenges anywhere? Or go to a crop? I think I'll have to simply scrap my intentions for this one! That lovely black patterned paper would make photos of any layouts you did really pop.
• The first thing I thought of when I saw that black crystal swirl was "black tie" - any May Balls or Leavers Proms round your way? I nearly used it for a page about an antique black jet evening bag.
• Of course, if the bad weather keeps up, I'll be huddling indoors " Ah! There's nothing like staying home for real comfort!" said Jane Austen and this month's kit would certainly suit a Jane page.
• Across the Atlantic it's "National Get Caught Reading Month" - I wish that would catch on here. But I'm going to make a page about books anyway.
• If it picks up, I'll be out practising a few closeup photos of the garden - the flowers in the kit have inspired me to make some more from patterned paper and I'll be adding those to a page with a seed packet I've saved.
• Bunting! May is definitely a month for bunting. my method right now is to use a small circular punch, fold the circles in half and hook them over some twine.

That's it for May. Maybe you have some ideas for June? Let me know and I'll add them to the list!

Girls Paperie

Girls Paperie have brought out some lovely ranges of papers and embellishments recently which you can find in the shop here. The ranges have a pretty vintage feel to them and they mix and match really well.

I've been busy with some of the papers, die-cut embellishments and stickers and came up with this layout.

I really like using kraft Bazzill as a background as it provides a neutral backdrop to patterned papers, and on this layout I also punched some strips from it to add to my page. I inked the edges of my papers with Distress ink  to add definition.

The flowers were made using some of the die-cut shapes from the Crafting Kit along with some other flowers cut from pages of an old book. I used the die-cuts as a template, inked the edges, scrunched them up and then layered them up before finishing off with a button from the kit and an adhesive pearl.

If you get hold of some (or all!) of the ranges on offer we would love to see what you have created with them.

Thanks for stopping by, Clare x

ProMarker Storage Idea

I think I probably enjoy the sorting of craft products, almost as much as crafting it self and I'm always on the look out for new storage ideas.   I’ll happily lose myself in re-organizing my papers and embellishments and always think …yup, that’s much better, and then only to do it again, in a few months time. 

Well my storage of ProMarkers had me stumped for a while – I’d first put them in little A5 boxes of each colour, but that was a bit of a faff to carry around – and what I really was looking for, was a way I could just pick up my pens and either take them away for the weekend with me, or just carry them downstairs, and colour to my hearts content, while watching tv.

So a big thank you, goes to Petra who while attending the Thursday crop, bought along her idea … and oh I so copied it.  She was very lucky in finding her bag at a charity shop.  Now, I love looking through charity shops, but I’m not the most patient person, so waiting to find this bag, really wasn’t going to happen.  But I did go to the local garden centre and found the same thing (ok, a little more expensive than I would have at the charity store but its such a pretty colour), and hey, beggars can’t be choosers.

                                             

I picked up a set of “dot labels” from Rymans and set about putting my ProMarkers in their place, and colouring the dots with each colour, and sticking on top.  I also, downloaded a colour chart sheet from LetraSet, and filled in which colours I have, so I know which I need to add to my collection.  I’ve put a copy of the sheet for you on the site, under Articles, should you wish to do the same.

All I need to do now, is stamp up a lot of images, and let the playing begin.

I’ve just had a re-stock of ProMarkers, so you’ll find them HERE … and don’t forget, ProMarkers are with free P&P, so you can always add the odd one to your collection, to build up.     

Please do share with us any storage ideas by leaving a link to yours and I'm hoping to build on this by giving you all the storage ideas I've found work (and maybe some that don't ... to save you the pain too LOL)

Twine Pompoms

String's the thing at Gotta Craft today. The new MME twine is just as gorgeous as it looks in the pictures! I have been playing around with yellow - but I gotta get some more. Soon.

I've been making tiny pompoms because I love to add a bit of texture to my pages. I thought about how I was going to do this, and then I realised that I had a tiny bowmaker from my dollshouse days. It worked perfectly. Here's how:

Bowmaker, twine and a length of embroidery thread. A bowmaker is easy to make with two nails in a block of wood or maybe a big fork might do?

Wrap the twine round the prongs of the bowmaker about eight times

Thread a needle with embroidery thread and pass it underneath the twine, then tie a tight, secure knot. I used green here so that you could see it. A toning colour would be better.

Slip the twine off the prongs and trim and fluff up your pompom

I turned mine into a sunflower and added it to one of the journaling cards from April's kit to make a quick tag.

This and That: May's Kit

At last! Today I get to show you the the layouts I made with the beautiful May kit. I was delighted when Sandra said she was ordering some Lilybee for the shop. Isn't it lovely?  Have you seen the matching stamps? and the plain colours? Gotta love those.

My first layout uses photos from a trip to an old fashioned haberdashery shop:

I pleated the paper for the outside and sewed it on with my sewing machine. And I have one big tip for doing this - think seriously about stitching a line first and then faking it by hot glue gunning the pleats on the back. That's what I'm going to do next time! I also used the glue gun to make my paper rose (and I have a tip for that too - make sure all the stray strands of glue have been removed before you try to take photos..)

My second page tells the story of a little pie funnel which used to belong to my Grandma. The felt embellishment is one I made a while back and have never used. It just seemed to fit. I kept the rest simple so that there was one obvious focal point.

And finally, my favourite this month, about a half finished sampler. I worked some cross stitch from the sampler chart straight onto the blue paper. Still loving rosettes too, as you can see.

So, now you've seen mine - what are you going to do with yours? I'd love to know.

Who doesn't love Twine?

Happiness is colourful twines .... so I couldn't be happier at the moment, just look what I've just uploaded, and in all 12 colours, find them HERE

aaawwwww ... bliss.

Sneaky Peek time

I always love seeing Sian's take on the sneaky peek and I have to say, this time she's really excelled herself.  Now, I know what the kit is ... and those of you that like to know what papers are coming up in kits, know to check the site for hints, but even with all this ... well, see for yourself, she'll keep you guessing.

I will say that you'll be blown away by the layouts Sian has created, they're stunning.

May's kit goes on sale on, Monday 9th at a slightly earlier time of 5pm.