Artfull Crafts

Christine - Ball Layouts.

2012-02-02T05:00:00.040+13:00

Hi everyone Christine here with some Layouts to share.

These are of my youngest son’s school ball in his last year at the school. The backdrop they had for the photos was very bright! So when I saw these fabulous papers from Teresa Collins – Carolina Breeze, I knew they would go perfectly with the photos I had.

Love black & yellow together – so this is what I used.

Here are my 2 Layouts….

I absolutely adored doing these and have 2 more to show you later in the month!

Supplies used: Teresa Collins – Carolina Breeze 12x12 papers -Nellie, Gentry, Myrla, Miranda, Shannon and stickers.

Kaisercraft -Rhinestones. Prima Rhinestones

BakersTwine,

TFL

Have a great day and happy crafting!

Christine

Day Six - A photo with Tim Holtz

2012-02-01T21:55:00.001+13:00

Today has been a most fruitful day. I have been to a lot of booths and we have managed to gather a large number of companies to join us in a Brand Education programme that Artfull Crafts has devised. It's really exciting and lots of your favourite brands are really keen to join with us!

First up on the show floor today was Core Impressions. We already stock a good number of their products, but there are some fun additions to their range. They have teamed up with Pink Paislee for a new 12x12 pad, a new spotty and dotty range along with a 6x6 pad, coloured and white tags, fab packs of card fronts that fit perfectly in embossing folders and for the fronts of cards (no need to cut them to size!), a fabulous new Tim Holtz Kraft Core range in 3 sizes, along with a Sanding/Dust Buddy combo pack.

Next up was Spellbinders. They have a great new innovation called the Fold and Tuck Dies. It's probably one of the coolest things I've seen on the show floor this year. They are a breeze to use - cut and then fold and tuck over the cuts :-) SMART TIP: To prevent your little pieces getting stuck in the dies, use wax paper for a first few times until the die naturally builds up a waxy surface. Now the little pieces will fall out. Now that's SMART! They also have new embossing folders that flip over and reveal another pattern. It's like having two folders in one! I love their new Edgeabilities and the fun Bitty blossoms that roll up into perfect little flowers.

Jenni Bowlin's stand was possibly one of the best ones I've been to this show. I love her style (even though it's not my natural scrapping style) but her products are simply perfect! They have a vintage, eclectic feel and at times when viewing her ranges online they can appear a little mis-matched, but they aren't in real life. Her Magpie range is simply a MUST-HAVE! She has the most wonderful collection of pockets, tags, buttons, spools, pins, bingo cards, tickets and more. Her husband is a super nice man and spent a lot of time chatting to us. Some of her new products include an easel, a hotel key holder, kraft die cut papers and new clear stamps. We really look forward to working more closely with Jenni to bring you her lovely products.

Fancy Pants is a popular brand and they have released another 4 ranges - Be You, Childish Things, Wave Searcher and Summer Soul. Their new brag book has a range of photo sleeves and teamed with the inner kit creates a great journalling book. These types of books are very popular at the show.

Basic Grey is a tried and true scrapbooking favourite and their 4 new ranges are pretty - What's Up, PB&J, Plumeria and Konnichiwa. They seem to have reduced the number of matching embellishments and now only design 12 papers - instead of 18. That's good for retailers! It was hard work finding space on the shelf for all their papers. They also have some lovely Canvas Art projects also on offer. I forgot to take photos! So I'll have to post them up tomorrow for you :-)

I fell in love with Maya Road again today. These guys don't have a big presence in NZ - but they deserve to be represented by someone. So with any luck we will try to introduce their products to you. They are producing top quality chipboard albums, elements and the cutest embellies you've ever seen! I love their burlap flowers, trinket pinks, bottle tops, dress form clips, felt flowers, wooden spools, bingo pieces, wooden rulers and more! Their chipboard elements were fantastic and I can't wait to get my hands on their sewing set. They also carry lines in fabric - beautiful brag books, flags, purses and more.

Jillibean Soup is a great place to go if you are hungry. These guys will satisfy your appetite - for crafting food! Their ranges are fun and I love Coconut Lime Soup the best. They have released Southern Chicken Dumpling Soup, Neapolitan, Heart Barley, Homemade Bean Soup, Game Day Chili and Sweet and Sour Soup! I love the names. They also have a fab range of embellies including popular flag pins, wooden buttons, stamps, chipboard and corrugated alphas and more. We look forward to bringing you more of their wonderful products.

Across the path was another company who we have only just started stocking - Lil Bee. The owners are lovely and we had a great time chatting to them. These guys have beautiful designs and we're excited about their new ranges - Handmade, Double Dutch, Buttercup and Victoria Park. They are also keen to be involved in our Brand Awareness programme. We look forward to working more closely with them. Their latest release Be Mine was very popular in the shop :-)

La La Land Stamps are fun and quirky. They are perfect for colouring and we have Teresa Abajo joining us at the end of March to teach Copic Colouring. We'll be using this brand of stamps :-)

Ranger Industries. Where do you start?! They are a big company that have a few brands under their wing - Inkessentials, Tim Holtz, Adirondack and more. Of course you just want to know about Tim Holtz. Well here he is....

Tim Holtz is in a few places during this show. Here he is at Ranger demoing the Distress Markers - basically a water marker that you can use to colour images - but also stamps etc. They are juicy and full of colour.

But he's also been at Sizzix working with the new dies and his own Ideology booth. The new dies look great and are proving popular. I particularly like the small movers and shapers dies. Perfect for card makers and scrapbookers.

Tim's new Ideaology line has a hot travel range (Destinations), new mini words (chit chats), alpha cards, wire pins, gem clips, pullies, faucets, gears and more. His new embossing folder sets also have diffusers - where parts of the designs can be kept free from texture - leaving room for a verse. And we can't leave out his new Compendium of Curiosities Volume 2 which is filled with great ideas, tips and techniques for how to use all his products.

We also love the new Storage Cases that open out like a fishing tackle box.

Ranger have put out a new water brush, ice stickle colours, liquid pearl colours (beautiful!), sticky glue sticks and a fabric medium. There new Studio 490 range (from Wendy Vecch) is exciting. The range is called Art Parts and I LOVE them! There is a big move to anything off the page - and these fab designs are really unique.

I've also been on the hunt for some good storage solutions - and I've found some at Cropper Hopper. They have a great photocase, totes, stamp books and storage paper units.

Next up was Cosmo Cricket. We had a lovely time here as Lowri has had some of her work featured on their blog this year (and it's her most favourite company). They remembered her immediately and I was able to give them lovely little mini books that Lowri had made for Eric and Julie Comstock and Lindsey Moore from their Design Team. They are looking forward to seeing more of Lowri's work and gave me some product to take home to her. Keep watching this space... Their new releases are great - Tea for Tow, Evangeline, 23 and Baby Jane. The have introduced some new element decks to their ranges, tiny text (super cool) and great washi tape designs. We look forward to working with them this year.

I headed back to the Prima booth to spend some more time with the girls - Sharon, Cari, Sherry and Jamie. They are all so lovely and so we couldn't resist another photo op. Their products are also really lovely - it was very hard to decide what to photograph! I'm pretty excited about their Doodle Deux range. It's a bit of a departure for them - but it's fun. Their wooden buttons and clock faces have been sell-out products this show.

Bo Bunny is one of our favourites and it was nice to meet up with them again. They have 5 new lines Serenity, On the Go, Ambrosia, Weekend Market, Alora and Country Garden. Matching them are new card kits with a lower price point and more product in them. Their basic range has been expanded with a Vintage double-dot cardstock range. I also love their Enchanted Black and White glitter which came out before Christmas. Fabulous for weddings.

Webster Pages have long been an industry favourite and their ranges this show are no exception. They have developed a new concept called Clean and Simple. It's a range of papers that coordinates with each collection for those people who don't like too many fussy designs. Their ranges are In Love, Palm Beach, Everyday Poetry, Game On and Sunday Picnic. Their new designer threads, sparklers, and push pins are lovely.

October Afternoon have splendid designs and we are really looking forward to stocking more of their product this year. We want to promote them more down here in NZ and so we're pleased to tell you about their new collections - Cake Walk, 9 to 5 and Woodland Park. They have some new products as well - washi tape, mini books with chapter pages and dividers and new mini market stickers that you will love...

SRM Stickers were really pleased to meet us and are really keen to work in with us to promote their product in NZ. They have a wonderful range of clear stickers and tubes. I can just imagine some of our DT girls having a field day with their products! They have also started a card kit which will be perfect for classes. They've even cut up all the paper... They have a great range of stickers with sentiments, calendars and loads of themed ones.

DCVW has finally won a CHA award. Their stalls have always been fabulous - and this year they have been recognised. Check out the peacock! I love their new Stacks too - Serenity, Tres Chic and Coral Couture. They have also released some fun chalkboard and fabric papers.

Next up was Queen and Co. I was really excited to see their releases - a great range of trendy tapes, twinkle motifs and borders, goosebumps, rhinestones, twine spools and cool buttons. Simply fabulous!

Doddlebug is a range that we haven't started stocking yet - but they are interested in some NZ exposure - so let's see what we can do for them! They have some pretty ranges, great kits, mixed pearls, glitter paper and their new Candy Dot papers. Their stamps are also great value.

Bella Blvd are another company with cute designs. I love their chipboard, new alphas sets (5 on a sheet), washi tape, buttons, flags (you'll love these) and their sophisticates papers. Their ranges are Baby Girl, Baby Boy, Sunshine Happiness and You're Expecting. They also team with Unity Stamps to produce high quality stamps.

Meeting the owners of Clear Scraps was a pleasure. They stock wonderful clear albums and tags and spent time telling us how the business got started. They have created an innovative product that made the top 20 of innovations at the shop this year! They are very excited about our new brand programme and gave us product then and there to get started! Betsy Clark is going to love their cards. They are made from a thin clear material and then you decorate them up as you see fit. You can sew the paper on for a great effect, as well as emboss it, ink it etc. There are 8 new designs and 3 of them have a tuck-in closure system which adds interest. We look forward to seeing more of their range.

NZ seems to lack a great range of storage solutions - so I sussed out some options with Creative Options. They showed me their top products and we've photographed them for you. We sure do hope to start stocking some of their products soon.

Stampavie is a company I hadn't heard of before - but I liked the look of their sweet stamps. I can imagine Louise and Betsy playing with these beauties. This company are also promoting another brand of alcohol ink markers called Pro Markers. I had a play myself and I was VERY impressed. They are cheaper than Copics and even though the end was a hard chisel, the blending was excellent. They are coming out in sets in March and we'll be seriously thinking about stocking them.

Trends I noticed today: There are loads of brag books/journalling books, vintage collections in lighter colours, sewing sets, coloured twine, bright cute designs (a lot of these), and anything for spring. The Americans are really into themed holidays and so Easter and Spring ranges are everywhere...

Whew! And that's the end of today! I think I deserve a good night's sleep now. Tomorrow is the last day of the show. I only have 2 more aisles to go - and then I will spend my time doing make and takes and chatting to the owners/designers again.

Please leave a comment on the blog if you are reading these posts. I like to know I'm being usefu! This one has taken 4 hours to prepare (no Disneyland tonight!).

Day Five - Graham gets his education...

2012-01-31T22:02:00.001+13:00

Day Two of the show is now over. We started out in the morning with a great business seminar about the economic forecast for 2012. America’s seem reasonably positive about the outlook – even if the stats don’t line up!!

By 10am Graham and I were off to the shop floor to catch up on some of yesterday’s work. My camera had died just after lunch and so I needed to go back and get some photos taken! I banged into Jodi from Scrapaholics in Auckland and she’d teed up a meeting for us with Donna Downey’s husband Bill. We had a great time with him and have some special events planned. More to come on that later. We caught up with the lovely Sharon Laakonen from Prima again and I gave her a little kiwi gift. She told me she’s back on the team for the Roadshow in October – yay!

Sharon then took me over to the Ranger booth to introduce us to Tim Holtz – but he was deep in the middle of some great demo and there was a large group of ladies around him. So we got a photo with Mario his business manager instead! We’ll go back to the booth and get a shot with Tim another day. We didn’t stick around in the stall to see the new innovations – we’ll do that later too (keep you reading these blog posts!)

Next up was off to Teresa Collins. We love her ranges and have all new 5 collections on pre-order. We’ve chatted before in Brisbane and so it was great to have another photo taken with her and to chat about a fun kit concept I am developing and a possible trip to NZ sometime. More on that another day!

My Mind’s Eye is a great company and their products are ALWAYS stand-outs. Interestingly they had loads of guys on their stall – so Graham fitted in perfectly! They stood and chatted about hand and feet wounds they had received… Meanwhile, I was busy checking out the gorgeous new collections. – Miss Caroline. Follow Your Heart, Kraft Funday, On the Bright Side and Lost and Found 2. Their Kraft Funday range looks fantastic.

La Blanche Stamps are the most beautiful detailed stamps on the market with a huge range of pretty designs. They are made from a light-weight product with a foam block for use of use and a silicone-type material for the stamp. You can also pour hot utee onto them and create amazing resin shapes embellies.

One of my favourite companies is Simple Stories. They have a great style and they have finally released their wonderful albums that work in with their papers. All their ranges have a lot of little tags that you can cut out – and now we have the albums to slide them in. It’s a way of simply putting together an album with photos and tags with minimum fuss. There are a range of basic products which match all their paper collections for use in the albums too. Their new ranges Year-O-Graphy, Documented, Awesome and Fabulous are all great.

Imaginisce always put out quality collections and this show is no different. Their newest most innovative product is the ribbon cutter. I LOVE this new tool. It’s basically a small hot wire that cuts through ribbon slightly melting the edges so it doesn’t fray. Imaginisce also showed off some of their products (distresser, petal roller, coloured foam tape, Click it blade, Cut bright and the i-top etc). Their new ranges are called Sole Sister, Hippity Hop, making Waves and Hello Cupcake.

Making Memories had a HUGE stall! I love their new Children at Play ranges and the cute fabrics. The Modern Millinery range is great for cross crafting (home décor etc). Their Cabochon packs of mixed embellies were beautiful and I liked their 8x10” journal album – smash book style. It has protectors and pockets, envelopes etc.

Graphic 45 is a VERY popular brand in the industry and so far I would award them the Best Stall award. But I haven’t even got around half of the stalls…! They have released Kraft Reflections, Old Curiositie Shop, Tropical Travelogue (already on our shelves) and Little Darlings – a runaway success. This range is the most beautiful baby line I’ve seen in years!

We love the Glitz Girls and here we are at their stall enjoying their 3 new ranges – French Kiss, Pretty Glitz and Happy Travels. They also have some new stones, layered stickers, 6x6 pads, and a chipboard album to add to their collections. The Glitz girls are also going to be working with Artfull Crafts on a fun kit concept.

Magnolia Stamps are certainly cute but I couldn't chat with the man on the stall as he didn't really speak very good English and they didn't have a colour catalogue or price list either! But the stall looked great :-)

Little Yellow Bicycle is a great company. Lowri did some guest design work for them last year and it was lovely to meet the head of the Design Team. They spoke very highly of Lowri and they loved her work. Their new ranges are Hello Spring, Escape, Splash and Swoon, Saturday and Paradise.

Artbin have a wonderful array of storage bins and they have designed a new container for holding your Spellbinder dies with magnetic sheets. We think this will be a popular product. They also have a cricut cartridge storage set up too.

Pink Paislee is another company that Lowri was a guest artist for this year. They also commented how much they love her work and we think it’s exciting that there’s a kiwi out there getting so much exposure in the international market place. Lowri is a hard worker and gets more than 10,000 hits to the blog a day... so you should go and follow her! Pink Paislee’s releases are beautiful and I’m in love with the new ribbon spools in the London Market range, the well-sized ephemera packs, and the gorgeous tags in Indigo Hill and Prairie Hill. They also stock a great range of wooden alphas at an excellent price. Finally they re-released their Mistables collection due to its popularity at the last show. It’s a range of products that you spray/ink/stain to reveal the pattern underneath.

My Little Shoebox is a company we haven’t stocked before – but they have some lovely ranges and a fabulous set of great value alpha stickers and roll-up die-cut papers we think you’ll like.

Just Rite stamps are phasing out their ribbed block stamps and are joining in the trend of cling and acrylic stamps. But they have teamed with Spellbinders to create a range of 5 dies that match many of the Just Rite stamp ranges. They were most impressed with Betsy’s card work for Kaisercraft – so there may be an opportunity for her to display some work here too.

We are Memory Keepers is always coming out with great new products. These guys released the Sew Easy system last year and experience great success. They have now put out a Stamp Easy system along the same lines. The head is interchangeable and rolls along the page. Their new stack packs are fab value and we can’t wait for the Lucky 8 punches. We saw them months ago in Brisbane and have been waiting for them to be in stock. They are MASSIVE punches with the ability to create up to 3 different effects around the edge of 12x12 cardstock. You can make your own die-cut papers at your house!

Melissa Frances had a beautiful stall and we think you’ll love some of the items she has on offer. Her 3 new ranges are c’est la vie, Fifth Avenue and Attic Treasures. But most exciting are the cute mini houses and churches kits. They look great decorated up. She also has fun glass domes, banner stickers, envelopes and the hottest seller for them at the show is the mini hangers!

Juanita will be thrilled that they have released cute Cat and Dog albums – where you get to write in their details as they get older…

Finally I ended up at the HeartFelt Creations store. These guys are teaming with Spellbinders as well to create die/stamp packages. Some of these designs are pretty special – and we suggested Betsy would be a good fit for them as well!

There is soooooo much to do and see at this show – but I think I’m on target to complete the whole circuit before it shuts on Wednesday at 2pm. I just might not get to do any make and takes!!

Today the emerging trends appear to be resist papers, a LOT of off-the-page projects, and Spellbinders teaming with different stamp companies to make matching sets. There’s a big trend back to home décor pieces too.

So while I was walking around the show floor, Graham was sitting in on seminars. Lots of them related to Social Media interplay and website information – which is timely as our website is just waiting for its overhaul to speed it up and make your shopping experience better and quicker.

There will be loads of work for us to do once we get back home. What fun!

Take me to the Photo Gallery to see more photos.

Take me to more product preview Sneak Peeks.

The evening ended with Jacob's 40th birthday dinner. The family and us went out to a restaurant for dinner and then spent the rest of the evening at Ray and Sue's enjoying the laughs and company of the extended family. They have 3 children, 8 grandchildren and a dog named Sam - so there was plenty to laugh about! We gave Jacob some more lollies and chocolate and 8 cans of L&P! And we all indulged in the new Cadbury Mousse chocolate. The verdict was a big thumbs up (look at all the kids hovering around Rachel while she opens it up!). Now it's past midnight and my eyes are dropping to the floor! Enjoy the read :-)

Betsy - With last Blog for January

2012-01-31T14:02:00.000+13:00

Hello all - Betsy here today to follow Liz's blog entry for yesterday.
I'm afraid it is a little mundane after reading all the exciting CHA news. Great to be keeping up with the excitement though!

Another two cards to show you - do hope you're not all too bored with cards!! I haven't branched out yet into scrapbooking or off the page projects - afraid I have a one track mind!!
Maureen's 70th birthday card was made with the VERY latest DCWV, The Coral Couture matstack - just released at CHA. The die I used was a Marianne Creatables. I really love this colour range! No hand made flowers on this card - all Kaisercraft.

For this card I used the Kaisercraft, Sweet Nothings collection. Using my Garnd Calibur, I cut out the base card, then some paper and after attaching it, sewed round the edge with my sewing machine. Then of course, I had to sponge it with sepia ink. Cheery Lynn Doily die was used to cut the green card, a doily was sponged and adhered over it. I cut out a framed circle, in green, with the Spellbinders die. The label and the group of flowers were from the collectables in this range.

Well that's all from me today - looking forward to the next instalment from CHA.

Happy crafting,
Blessings,

Betsy.

Day Four - Let the Show begin!

2012-01-30T21:28:00.001+13:00

The first day of the CHA show is over - and I'm glad to be sitting down for a couple of hours to tell you all about it! The show has 10km worth of aisles - that's quite a walking circuit. Fortunately there is carpet and really, really kind retailers upgrade their carpet and also use thick squishy underlay. So it's not as bad as it could be. My back is aching because I am a show novice... I didn't want to take a backpack (I would bump into people) and I didn't want to take a trolley (who wants to put that in their suitcase) and so I went with a small shoulder bag - just enough for my notebook, drink and camera. FOOL! Within 3 stalls it was crammed with catalogues. Fortunately some kind person gave me a bag (with some cute freebies) and I loaded that up instead and hung it over my shoulder. After 20 stalls I was walking pretty lopsided - so I checked them in with the Baggage Service. At the end of the day I saddled up and walked the 1km back to the motel - feeling like a Granny. I am going to take Graham's little suitcase tomorrow :-)

The show takes up a number of exhibition halls and today I made it
through just more than a third of the Scrapbooking Stalls. There is
about the same number of general craft stalls that I hope to be able to
visit too. I decided that I wasn't going to do Make and Takes until the
last day, but rather walk around, takes notes, talk to designers,
collect catalogues and take photos. I just decided to start at the
right-hand side and work left during the weekend.

What a pleasant surprise when the FIRST stall I arrived at was Kaisercraft! I was hugged and welcomed like an old friend and it was a thrill to see OUR work on display! We've been holding onto a secret and it's time to reveal it. Miss Betsy has been doing cards for Kaiser for a few months now - but this month I had the privilege of working with their Tiny Woods and Technologic ranges! I have been published in the February Kaisercraft Workshop magazine (yippeee!) - although you may laugh when you see the spelling of my name (Geoffry!?). I can assure you that it's my work - and we've had a few giggles over it. Anyway, here are some of my projects on display at CHA:

Not only that, Lowri McNabb has worked on projects for Technologic & Fine and Sunny and she'll be featured in upcoming issues of the Kaiser workshop magazine. Yay! Here are some of her creations (banner, magnet board, photo display)

And of course, our lovely Miss Betsy who keeps making the most delightful cards. Her work was EVERYWHERE on the stall!

My impression from walking the floor all day is that Kaisercraft is well established in the craft market. A lot of their Beyond the Page projects were being used by other big companies to show off their designs. Kaiser's designs are top quality, professional and we love being New Zealand's biggest supplier. Yay for Kaiser!

I moved on and found myself at Echo Park. Their new mini theme 6x6 pads and paper collections are super exciting and I LOVE the new chipboard albums. They are interactive - with pull out pieces. They have 5 new collections - This and That Charming, This and That Graceful, Note to Self & Hello Summer. Lowri did some guest designing for them recently and we are pleased to continue stocking their products.

Next up was the Best Creations stall. Sandy Ang from our Design Team is also on their team and it was fun looking around for her projects on display. These guys are bringing out a fab new range of World Traveller papers and we've got the Europe ones arriving this week!

The next stall also had Sandy's work on display - Ruby Rocket. The Artfull Crafts Design Team all seemed to have their work down this one aisle! They spoke highly of Sandy and they LOVE her work (and so do we). You can see Sandy's cards on display behind us in the photo. These guys have released 3 new paper collections and a fun new bling range. We already stock their Wedding range in store and we hope to expand into some others soon.

At the end of the first aisle was Tattered Angels (who have just been purchased by Canvas Corp). They have released 3 new ranges of mists called Plain Jane. None of them have any glimmer in them. There's Baseboard (an opaque chalkboard), a Stain and a Sheer mist.

Opposite them were Canvas Corp and this one probably excited me the most! It's not a brand I had ever heard of - but they are HUGE in America. They cross over into card-making, scrapbooking and off-the-page (which I love). Most of the products are brown, white, black or cream and as their name suggests many products are made with canvas. They also use hessian, calico and most of their papers are printed on kraft card. Their stuff is super cool and has been designed to be used with other companies decorative products - like mists and flowers, paint and ribbons. Their range includes placemats, aprons, bags, mini books, banner, pillow cases and more. We are planning on getting some of their products instore. Canvas Corp have also purchased 7 Gypsies and they are a perfect fit.

Fab Scraps is a relatively new company on the scene (a year ago) and they are everywhere in South Africa. Their ranges are along Vintage, Shabby Chic lines and I particularly liked these wooden buttons.

GCD Studios embellies are very popular and their new paper ranges are fabulous. We may have to start stocking their products again! They are looking for a new Design Team - applications close 1st Feb though - so be in quick!

Nikki Sivils was an award winner in the morning ceremony for her philanthropic work after a devastating tornado hit her hometown. She organised a Scrapbook pickup and it ended up being a massive operation with over $50,000 of donated goods. She got to deliver them to ladies who had lost their entire craft rooms. Nikki doesn't have much coverage in New Zealand and so we'd like to team up with her and start stocking her products. She has a lovely style and we think you would appreciate her designs. She has 4 new ranges - Noah, Audrey, Exit Here and Messages.

I saw some fun transparencies at the Hambly Screen Prints stall - perfect for cardmakers and some great colours of washi tape. This stuff is very versatile...

At this point it was only 2pm - but my camera ran out of battery after only 200 photos. I was pretty gutted - so I picked up the pace, collected catalogues, speed chatted and visited another 30 stalls. You'll have to wait for another day to hear about those ones!

Some popular themes and trends appear to be kraft papers, washi tape and anything vintage.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Graham gets to join me for a couple of business seminars and then onto the exhibit floor. He can't wait...

Jan Wrap-Up, Feb Challenge, LOVE Kaisercraft!

2012-01-29T22:29:00.001+13:00

Hi Everyone - Lowri here.

Well - January has kind of gone - and that's pretty scary! School starts for us on Tuesday and I am both looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time! HEAPS to share today so grab a tea, coffee, glass of wine or whatever takes your fancy and read on!

Manufacturer Focus - Kaisercraft
Each month we are gong to be focusing on one of the manufacturers we stock, telling you about them, their collections, offering some great deals and showing you some fabulous examples of what you can create with their products. Of course we are starting with Kaisercraft!

We have the largest selection of Kaisercraft products in stock in New Zealand - and if we don't have it - we will get it for you! They are the only scrapbook company in the world releasing two complete collections a month as well as having a fabulous range of core products they add to on a regular basis.

This month they released cardstock in an amazing range of 64 colors and we have it at the even more amazing price of $1 per sheet. You can order them individually or buy all 64 at an AMAZING price of $55.

January Challenge
We had a small number of entries this month but a couple of new people sent us their projects - and that always makes us REALLY excited! Take a look at these:

Dita Russell

Morgan Southgate

Dita Russell

Michelle Durdle

Tanya Watson

The winner for the First Entrant prize is Michelle Durdle and the Overall Winner is Dita Russell.
Congratulations Ladies - please contact us to claim your prize

February Challenge

This month the Challenge is:

♥♥♥LOVE, LOVE, LOVE♥♥♥

We don’t just want to see your Valentines projects (though we want to see them too) we want to see anything and everything that you love! Layouts about LOVEd ones, Cards made for someone you LOVE, Maybe you LOVE to do BTP projects, A layout about how your kids LOVE pizza, Maybe you LOVE Cosmo Cricket, Or you LOVE the colour orange...

Entering the Challenge
To enter the challenge - send a picture of your project to us.
Email us a picture of your project and PLEASE name the file you send with your full name as this makes it a lot easier for us to administer the competition! Send your entry to entries@artfullcrafts.co.nz

If you can - please remember to include the following :

Your name! (You would be surprised how many people forget this :-))
Tell us if this is your first time entering - (if it is you are eligible for the First Time Entry prize too)
Your blog (if you have one)
If your project has a special story behind it - we'd love to hear it!

You can send us as many entries as you like. We will be featuring all entries at the end of the Challenge and you can find all the entries on our Competition Gallery.
THE PRIZE FOR THIS CHALLENGE WILL BE SOME GOODIES FROM THE UPCOMING MARCH KAISERCRAFT COLLECTIONS. HERE IS A LITTLE LOOK AT THE UPCOMING COLLECTIONS!

Please post a comment if you have any questions - we really look forward to seeing your entries!

Lowri :-)

Day Two - Prima Party and Dinner with Friends.

2012-01-28T21:41:00.004+13:00

Hi everyone.
Liz here - posting from Los Angeles. Click here to see the Day Two in LA blogpost. A fun day at the Prima Headquaters and dinner with friends.

Chat tomorrow
:-) Liz

Two Days in one and double trouble!

2012-01-27T20:44:00.002+13:00

If you want to find out what we've been up to in Los Angeles today, then click this link and read all about it!

Let's just say, there had been a missing pink coat, trouble with customs in America, some religious promotion and some wild Disney rides...

Also check out Liz's photo gallery to see what they have been up to and then click here to see more craft sneak peeks that will be revealed at the show next week! We've dedicated a whole section of our website to the CHA show. You can click here to go to it, or access if from the Artfull Crafts homepage.

:-) Liz and Graham
Your LA foreign correspondants!

Louise - Some Cards....

2012-01-27T15:12:00.000+13:00

Have you been to the shop and seen the bag a bargain packs????? If not you should definitely check them out. My first 2 cards are made with Cosmo Cricket (one of my very favourite companies) Material Girl papers and my sewing machine.

aren't they cute! I also used my sewing machine on paper (arghhhhhhhhh) a personal first for me as I always feared wrecking my precious sewing machine, but now I have started, I LOVE IT! I worked out you still need to backstitch just like on fabric.

Next up is a lil' primrose card, made with a 6.5x6.5 pad. The flowers are from my stash and the leaves were punched. The cage and bird were cut on my cricut.

You can see I made this card before I discovered the joys of "real" sewing, although the faux stitching looks great too and is very therapeutic when we are nearing the end of the school holidays :)

Christine - Hummingbird Cards

2012-01-26T05:00:00.029+13:00

Hi everyone Christine here with another couple of Cards to share.

I have tried to use a few more colours together using the Hummingbird Collectables and 6x6 papers from Kaisercraft.

I think I succeeded with this first card and can count about 5 of the colours in this range!

Not so good with this second card!

Enjoyed layering up the hearts!

Supplies used: Kaisercraft - Hummingbird 6x6 paper pad, Collectables, Rhinestones.

BakersTwine, Tim Holtz mini stapler,

TFL

Have a great day and happy crafting!

Christine

Betsy - Random Cards

2012-01-25T10:22:00.000+13:00

Goodmorning everyone.
Betsy here today with some more cards that I have made using three different collections from Kaisercraft.

The Kaisercraft Lil' Primrose collection is absolutely lovely for little girls but I decided to make a sympathy card as a trial. The flowers are from the collectables, so it was relatively quick to put together. Maybe it's a trifle fussy for a sympathy!! Nothing like giving things a try!

Kaisercraft Hummingbird range is fun to work with. The card was cut out using my Grand Calibur and again the collectables do make an easy card. Three Kaiser flowers just complete it, I think. A bright and cheery colour range.

Well, anyone would think I was paid to promote Kaisercraft, wouldn't they!!
Yes, this card is made with the Madame Boutique range. I love the trellis effect - I used my Cheery Lynn Lattice die, then after glueing it to the script paper, sewed it with my sewing machine. Martha Stewart punch for the border with rub-ons from the collection, down the folded edge. The two gold roses were made using the Marianne Rose die - the remaining flowers are of course, Kaisercrafts. I must say I do get a lot of pleasure out of using all their goodies - I love them all and find them so easy to work with.

In closing, I must add another card I made using the Lil' Primrose. As the collection has cups, saucers and teapots included, I made a ' Time For Tea' card as well, just using the collectables. There is an amazing choice with each collection.

The challenge at Artfull Crafts for this month is ' All The Best', hence my Kaiser cards! Don't forget to enter, as you never know, you could be a winner and we love seeing what you do, as the previous post shows us!
Love the cuckoo clock Dita!

Off to Timaru now to catch up on Liz before she heads off on the big CHA trip. Should be fun to see all the new products etc, as the sneak peeks we've had, sure 'wet ones appetite'! Dare say we'll have to exercise a little patience though, I'm thinking!

'Til next time,
With blessings and love,

Betsy.

Dita's FABULOUS Cuckoo Clock

2012-01-24T21:36:00.000+13:00

Hi Everyone - Lowri here

We received an entry to our Challenge last week that was so fabulous we wanted to feature it!
Dita sent us this Clock and also some really detailed instructions on how she put it all together. You should also take a look at Dita's Gallery - she has some fabulous work on there.

Time spent on project - 3.5 hours
I did this in one afternoon.. I used a hairdryer to dry the coats of paint speeding up my project immensely! After all, I have two very young kids and finishing time to do this project in batches, was not an option for me.

Materials used:
Kaisercraft Cuckoo Clock - Beyond the Page pack.
Paint: Kaiserkraft paints: Antique white/ Red/ Mango
Flowers: Prima (large flower) - Mini spray roses red- Prima small organza gold ribbon roses
Laser cut embellishment- birdcage and birds
Prima pearls (used on the scalloped edge of the roof)
Liquid pearl- Emerald Green
Distress ink- Vintage photo
Jute Twine
Dry twigs - picked from the back yard- Sprayed with gold paint and then lacquered
Super glue - a must if you are doing this in a short time as it adheres really quickly.

Method Used:
Unpack the Kaisercraft Cuckoo Clock from packaging.
Sand the edges gently to remove any ragged edges- I used a nail buffer to gently scrape the edges & smooth it out.
Painting the main peice of the clock (the body): I used the Antique white paint and a flat brush for the first TWO coats, drying them with a hair dryer to dry the paint in each layer. I then used a roller brush to go over the piece TWO more times. This gave a nice finish to the main piece and no ridge marks etc.
Painting the roof pieces: I painted the scalloped edge with the Red paint and uses Mango for the top piece. I used THREE coats of paint on these, and dried them with a hair dryer after each application.
Painting the fence peices: I used Mango for the Upright peice - Again THREE coats and drying after each coat with a hair dryer. I used Red for the base piece which slots onto the main body piece.

Assembling:
After the pieces were fully dried (the hairdrier helped dry it in 10-15 minutes max), I assembled my Cuckoo Clock, as shown in the picture. It was pretty easy to slot the pieces in like a jigsaw puzzle.
Preparing the embellishments: I cut the birdcage embellishment to fit the side of the "Window". I then stainted the cage using a cotton bud and distress ink- I kept the application light in some places and darker at the edges to give it a shadowy effect. I then painted the birds RED (same colour used on the roof)and used a contrasting piece of MME paper dot to mark the tummies.. I then used the liquid pearl to bring out the leaves of the branch. I painted the large bird using Mango and distressed its borders so it could stand out against the pale background.
Other Embellishments:
Using the Superglue, I mounted the main Prima flower on the left corner of the fence. I then stuck the large branch behind the fence using a foam tape. The smaller branch was stuck on the front of the fence itself to give it a 3D effect. The spray roses gives the fence a bit of dimension. The Organza roses tied all the colours in together.
The Pendulums:
I used a couple of Hooks and hammered them into the base of the clock. I painted the Pendulums Red and dried them off. Then I twisted Jute twine and hung the pendulums at different heights off the base of the clock.

Thanks so much Dita for sending this to us - if you would like to enter the Challenge - please see all the details here.

What on earth is CHA? Liz explains...

2012-01-22T13:41:00.002+13:00

Hi everyone!
This week I'm off to Los Angeles to get the inside scoop on the Craft industry! Yipppee! So what and who are CHA? They are a Craft and Hobby Association who coordinate shows where manufacturers, designers and retailers get to meet, mingle, watch demos, complete make-and-takes and see the new products that will be released in the next 6 months. There are hundreds of booths at these shows - and ALL of your favourite scrapbooking and cardmaking brands will be there. (Tim Holtz, Teresa Collins, Bo Bunny, Basic Grey, Kaisercraft, Prima, Echo Park, Pink Paislee, Best Creations etc).

CHA runs twice a year. The winter show is always in Los Angeles and this year runs from Sunday 29th January and finishes on Wednesday 1st February (NZ time Mon 30th Jan - Thurs 2nd Feb). The July summer show is held elsewhere in the US. Manufacturers (like Prima etc) design and manufacture their products in time for the CHA shows - giving retailers the opportunity to see what's coming up in the next few months. Retailers are only able to order at the show - so I won't be coming home with my suitcases filled with new stock! But I will have plenty of brochures and catalogues though to wade through...

The show is not open to the public - only retailers, designers, tutors and manufacturers - and so I'm taking Graham with me to be an extra set of eyes and ears. He will be attending some of the business seminars that deal with websites and social media. Meanwhile I will be walking the floor visiting every booth possible to see what's new in the craft world.

The internet has transformed the craft world and if you look at craft blogs or craft shops on facebook it would impossible for you not to have seen the CHA hype. Contributing manufacturers have been putting out "Sneak Peek" product previews of their new releases.

Artfull Crafts is already posting links to the product previews on a daily basis - so be sure to check in each day to see what your fav brands are up to! We love the new Pretty in Pink from Glitz Designs (right).

Each day after the show we are committed to blogging about what we see, writing diary entries, uploading photos and videos, and letting you know any other information. Think of us like your foreign correspondant for the next week or two! The easiest way to know if we have updated the info will be to LIKE us on Facebook. Then you will be in loop and won't miss out on any of the updates. Alternitavely pop back to the CHA section of our website regularly to catch up on all the fun, or sign up to our website to receive our weekly newsletter filled with new products, specials and more.

So, come join us for a fun little trip to America...

CHANCE TO WIN!
If you plan on tracking our progress through the show, then leave a comment on this page (or on facebook) and we'll pop your name in the draw to win a set of the Pretty in Pink Papers (shown above) and some matching stickers. We'll send them off to the winner when they arrive instore.

Sandy - Ad Lib Cards

2012-01-21T09:39:00.005+13:00

Have you checked out the Shop lately ? There are lots of specials such as Limited Offers and Weekly Specials. My favourite is Bag a Bargain at 40% off ! Each bag has a selection of papers and embellishments from a particular brand or collection.

Here's an example of what you can do with the Bag a Bargain #65 - Bo Bunny Ad Lib.

Happy Shopping !

Sandy – Printery Flip Book

2012-01-20T01:15:00.000+13:00

Hi Sandy here. This week I used my favourite CHA Summer release from Prima : the black and white Printery collection. The project I created is a Valentine's Day flip-book commissioned by a friend for his wife.

To build the base of the book, I divided the Love Ledger paper into three 4"x12" sections. Folded them in half and glued the backs together. Then used Pressman and Page Four papers to decorate the cover and the inside pages.

Controlling colour is one way I achieve coherence in my work. Here I was free from having to make colour choices. Every element could be considered based on their pattern, scale and size. The creative process went quicker than usual : with the whole book completed in one morning.

I enjoyed working on this sans-colour project. If you like the classic look in black and white, the shop also carry Kaisercraft's Timeless, After Five and Teresa Collin's Notations. All of them would work beautifully for Valentines.

Supplies : Prima Printery (Pressman, Page Four, Love Ledger), Prima Madeline Rub-on, Basic Grey Capella Rub-on, Pink Paislee Buttterfly Garden Clear Pops, Echo Park Be Mine Element Sticker, lace trim, flower charms, pearls

Christine - Hummingbird Square Cards

2012-01-19T05:00:00.034+13:00

Hi everyone Christine here with 3 Square Cards to share.

I have used the Hummingbird Collectables and 6x6 papers from Kaisercraft again!

Love Blue & yellow together – so this is what I used this time. I really like the colour combinations in this Collection it makes it very versatile! I have yet to use all the colours together though – that might be a challenge for me!

Here are my 3 cards….

Supplies used: Kaisercraft - Hummingbird 6x6 paper pad, Collectables, Rhinestones. Brads.

BakersTwine, Tim Holtz mini stapler, Paper Doilie.

TFL

Have a great day and happy crafting!

Christine

Betsy - Hummingbird cards

2012-01-18T17:03:00.000+13:00

Betsy here today. I have just returned home from Christchurch, after a great couple of relaxing days, with my daughter Rachelle. Just what I needed before the busyness begins, for another year.

Now to put up some cards made with the lovely Kaisercraft, Hummingbird collection. I must admit I am cheating a little, as these cards were made for the recent Kaisercraft Workshop magazine.I feel very honoured to have them shown and I thank the team for that honour. They are even on the front and back covers!!
Jess and Clare are doing some amazing designing - it sure makes it easier putting cards together. To be honest, we're holding our breathe for May's collection now!!

I just love the colours in this range - don't you all agree? Stitching round my cards with the sewing machine adds a bit of interest I think and I do enjoy layering different papers together. Bakers twine is one of my favourite products at the moment - mind you there's plenty of other things, as well!!

The grand calibur is another favourite necessity, now! Spellbinders dies I couldn't do without either as no doubt you will have all noticed! In this range there are so many collectables which does make things so much easier.

Well ladies, that's the selection in the magazine. What do you think?
Artfull Crafts have an amazing range of Kaisercraft products and they also have the Worshop magazine free, so do check out their wonderful web-site.
Liz and Graham are off to CHA next week, in America - am feeling a little green eyed! Dare say, Liz will be coming home, bursting with more fabulous ideas. She does wear one out with her energy!!

Until next week then ladies, happy crafting.

With blessings to you all

Betsy.

Louise - A Few Favourites from 2011

2012-01-17T19:31:00.000+13:00

Hi Louise here after what has seriously been "One of those days!". I had planned to have some altered lovliness to share with you but sadly it didn't quite go to plan. So instead I have a few of my favourite projects from 2011 to share with you.....

First up we have this quick and easy layout using White Bazzil Cardstock, Prima papers, distress ink, prima flowers, prima butterfly, CC mini alphas, AC Thickers and a spray of glimmermist.

Next up this Marcy Penner inspired layout using White Bazzil cardstock, MME papers and AC Thickers letters.

A quick and easy Thank You card using Baby Steps papers, twine, a button, punch and AC Thickers.

Next up a general purpose card using Cosmo Cricket papers, copics, stickles, kaisercraft pearls and assorted flowers.

And lastly this cute little boys card using MME Papers, twine, buttons, distress inks, scallop punch and coloured with prisma pencils.

So those are my fav 2011 projects, what are yours?

Product Feature - Kaisercraft Layout Kits

2012-01-15T14:41:00.001+13:00

Hi Everyone

Hope you have had a great week! The sun has decided to come out at long last in Blenheim - though it seems to have bought the really strong winds too - I guess you can't have everything! Don't forget to enter the Challenge this month too - all the details can be found here.

Today we are featuring our FABULOUS Kaisercraft Layout Kits. There is one for each of the last 6 Kaisercraft Collections and they are jam-packed with product. The kits include the full paper collections, matching Bazzill cardstock, embellishments and more. All these kits have approximately $70 worth of product and you can now order them for only $55 (offer ends Wednesday January 18th at midnight)

The kits were designed by Melissa Kennedy, Creative Director at Kaisrcraft and they include detailed, full color instructions.

Let's take a closer look

Madame Boutique

Cock a Doodle Doo

On the Move

Sweet Nothings

Hummingbird

Lil Primrose

Challenge
We are running a short challenge which runs until the end of the month and then another in February encompassing Valentines projects and an opportunity to send in projects featuring anything or anybody you LOVE!

January Challenge

***ALL THE BEST ***

We want to see your BEST and FAVORITE projects from the last 12 months!

To enter the challenge - send a picture of your project to us.
Email us a picture of your project and PLEASE name the file you send with your full name as this makes it a lot easier for us to administer the competition! Send your entry to entries@artfullcrafts.co.nz

If you can - please remember to include the following :

Your name! (You would be surprised how many people forget this :-))
Tell us if this is your first time entering - (if it is you are eligible for the First Time Entry prize too)
Your blog (if you have one)
If your project has a special story behind it - we'd love to hear it!

You can send us as many entries as you like. We will be featuring all entries at the end of the Challenge and you can find all the entries on our Competition Gallery.

Please post a comment if you have any questions - we really look forward to seeing your entries!

Lowri :-)

Louise - Lil Primrose Projects

2012-01-14T12:58:00.000+13:00

Hi Louise here after another busy week with it being the School Holidays but I have still managed to sneak away and get a few things made to ease my crafting bug. Although with my SIL's birthday in a week or so I had the perfect excuse. She loves pink and pale green so the new collection from KaiserCraft "Lil Primrose" is just perfect for her.

Firstly here is her Birthday card......

I have used a selection of papers from the Lil Primrose 6x6 paper pad, cute frilled Gingham ribbon, prima innocence 2 flower, oval spellbinder nesties, distress ink and a KaiserCraft Lil Primrose stamp all available from Artfull Crafts.
The chipboard is some I won from Kellie's Blog when she was doing a 12 Days Of Christmas giveaway, and the other flowers are from my stash. I coloured the image with prisma pencils.

Now the Art Journal......

Again I used papers from the Lil Primrose 6x6 Pad. I fussy cut some flowers from one of the sheets on both the art journal and the card. I used Glimmermist on the lovely Prima resist canvas (teapot and butterfly), I cut out the label and the word "CREATE" on my cricut. there is 1/4 of a container of modge podge on here too, which is why the project took days instead of a few hours as I had to wait for layers to dry before moving onto the next one.

Well hope you enjoyed these, I will be back next week with an altered breadbin hopefully, all going to plan that is :) See you then.

Sandy - Two Cards

2012-01-13T04:00:00.003+13:00

Sandy posting a couple of cards today. First up is a non-traditional Valentine's Day card created using Cosmo Cricket's Odds and Ends collection. It's predominantly green and inspired by the pair of hand-holding mannequins. Since they're so eye-catching, I needed something to draw attention to the sentiment. Red swirly circles sewn onto blue buttons did the trick.

Next is a Bon Voyage card. As I got to play with October Afternoon's Boarding Pass this month, it was only fitting that I did one. It's a lovely retro-style travel collection. In particular the Miscellancy pack is filled with lovely ephemera cards and buttons which I used on this card.

1st Card Supplies : October Afternoon Boarding Pass Miscellany, Basic Grey Out of Print Impasto, Cosmo Cricket Odds and Ends (Spare Change, Trinkets, Sampler) Echo Park Victoria Gardens Journalling Cards
2nd Card Supplies : October Afternoon Boarding Pass (Venice, Berlin, Miscellany), twine

Sandy - Teresa Collins Diary Cover

2012-01-12T15:46:00.000+13:00

Hi it's Sandy posting today. In 2012 I've decided to keep a diary - somewhere to jot down my daily thoughts and experiences. As an incentive to make regular entries in my book, I prettied up it's cover this way :

I used a mixture of bits and pieces from five diffferent Teresa Collins collections. Isn't it wonderful that she designs products that continue to work with each other across seasons ? Just love how the classic designs stand the test of time : the winged frame and days-of-the-week die cut are from the 2008 Journal It Collection !

Supplies : World Traveller 6x6 Paper Pad, Notations Alphabet paper, Posh Die-Cut card set, Timeless Die-Cut card set, Journal-It journal notes, Cosmo Cricket Salt Air Jewels

Betsy - Two Lil' Primrose cards.

2012-01-11T10:15:00.000+13:00

Betsy here today with two cards I have made using Kaisercraft's Lil' Primrose. This collection reminds me so much of the ' Holly Hobby' frocks that I made for my three little daughters, many years back. I thought they looked gorgeous - biased maybe!!

This is a simple step card which I feel is self explanatory. There are so many collectables etc with this collection that the possibilities are endless.

As I check on 'Card-Making-Magic' site reasonably frequently, I discovered that Christina had made a similar card, using acetate on the front, bowing it slightly. I decided I would give it a go and this is the end result. You could put more embellishments behind the acetate but I felt I had enough - simple yet effective.
It doesn't show up particularily well in the photo, but I can assure you, it is lovely.

This is a sneak peek of another two cards that I made for Kaisercraft, a few months back, using the same collection. I won't bore you all, with the rest. Maybe some will be shown in the January Workshop Magazine. I do love working on the new ranges when I am sent them - Kaisercraft is outdoing itself well and truly, thanks to Jess and Clare who do the designing. You're all going to love the newer collections!
Next week I will add a couple more cards using the lovely ' Hummingbird ' papers etc, which are featured in the recent Workshop Mag.
Until next week then - remember the challenges at Artfull Crafts.

With blessings to you all,

Betsy.

Christine - Hummingbird Layout and card.

2012-01-10T06:10:00.001+13:00

Hi everyone Christine here with a Layout and a Card to share.

I have used the Hummingbird Collectables and 6x6papers from Kaisercraft again

This time I chose the pink pieces from the HummingbirdCollectables to embellish my LO of my cute great niece, Jordan. Her Nanny, my sister, loves to take photos of her! And I am happy to scrap them!! Loved layering the collectables up and then adding a bit of bling!

I then had to make a card! A pink & red combo- something different for me! There are a few hearts in the Collectables which tie in nicely with Valentines next month, but I would give this card to someone special any time of the year!

TFL

Have a great day and happy crafting!

Christine

NEW CHALLENGE!!

2012-01-09T21:36:00.000+13:00

Hi Everyone

Just a quick post today to launch our new Challenge. We will be running a short challenge starting today which will run until the end of the month and then another in February encompassing Valentines projects and an opportunity to send in projects featuring anything or anybody you LOVE!

January Challenge

***ALL THE BEST ***

We want to see your BEST and FAVORITE projects from the last 12 months!

Here are a few of mine from my blog.

Your name! (You would be surprised how many people forget this :-))
Tell us if this is your first time entering - (if it is you are eligible for the First Time Entry prize too)
Your blog (if you have one)
If your project has a special story behind it - we'd love to hear it!

Sunday Scrapping - Wedding Stationery

2012-01-08T21:58:00.000+13:00

Hi Everyone - Lowri here. We have been taking a well earned break after all the Christmas craziness here at Artfull Crafts.

Everyone is relaxing a little and enjoying the school/summer holidays but I thought I would share a couple of projects I created as part of my Pink Paislee Design Team Application (did you see I was awarded a Guest Designer Spot - I am SO THRILLED!!)

I created these for my Sister's fabulous wedding party here in New Zealand. She was married earlier this year in the UK but seeing I my brother and I were unable to go - we did it all again just before Christmas - but just the reception part without the wedding. It was SO much fun!

Placecards

To create each card I cut two pieces of paper using Spellbinders, creased them in the middle and glued one on top of another. I printed names onto clear labels and added one of my rolled paper flowers (see below).

Candy Favors

I have made these many times before (I have a tutorial here if you would like to see how!) but they are so elegant and perfect for hiding a couple of after-dinner mints.

Confetti Bags

I collected all the paper scraps from the other items and punched butterflies using a small punch. I then punched the same shape from layers of baking paper to create confetti. (Note - 8 layers of baking paper at a time was perfect!)

Flowers 

I also created some paper flowers for decoration using my favorite Tim Holtz die! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of them after they were arranged as I was doing all the cooking for the reception and it was a little busy!

Here are a couple of pictures of what was an absolutely fabulous day with family and friends (and my three crazy children!)

Please post a comment with any questions

Lowri

Sandy - Boarding Pass Cupcake Holders

2012-01-06T00:10:00.000+13:00

Happy New Year ! I'm happy to share something fun for my first post of 2012. Back in November Christine showed us these amazing cupcakes. I was inspired by her to create cupcake holders using October Afternoon's Boarding Pass Collection.

Boarding Pass brings to mind the by-gone days of glamourous travelling with steamer trunks and driving gloves. Tongue-in-check, I made my holders in the shape of top hats. My seat might not be at the front of the plane, but there's the comfort of tasty treats in these stylish holders.

Each of the three holders have a different shape and size. That was because I used various circular and oval ephemera cards for the top of my hats. For textural interest I added some buttons, ribbons and tags which came in the Miscellany pack together with the ephemeras.

Hope you like my whimsical project. Travel collections (especially retro styled ones) always seem to bring out my quirkiness.

Boarding Pass Supplies : Venice, Berlin, New York, Hong Kong, Miscellany

NEW Kaisercraft Collection - Lil Primrose

2012-01-05T07:00:00.001+13:00

Hi Everyone

Kaisercraft has released 2 new Collections this month and the second is Lil Primrose.

Paper Collection

Full Collection

Stamps
This collection also has 6 sets of matching stamps which can be purchased individually or as a set. Each stamp set measures 3" x 4" and contains between 3 and 5 acrylic stamps

Project Samples

Here are some fabulous examples of projects made using this collection. These images are all taken from the Kaisercraft Workshop Magazine - January 2012

We have all the products needed to make these fabulous projects available on our website here.

If you have any questions - please email us at info@artfullcrafts.co.nz or leave a comment on our blog or Facebook Page. We will be happy to help you :-)

Lowri

NEW Kaisercraft Collection - Hummingbird

2012-01-04T07:00:00.044+13:00

Hi Everyone

Kaisercraft has released 2 new Collections this month and the first is Hummingbird.

Paper Collection

Full Collection

Project Samples

Here are some fabulous examples of projects made using this collection. These images are all taken from the Kaisercraft Workshop Magazine - January 2012

Christine - Hummingbird Diaries

2012-01-03T08:59:00.000+13:00

Hi everyone Christine here with some Diaries and a Card to share.

I have used the Hummingbird Collectables and 6x6 papers from Kaisercraft. After Christmas I realized I hadn’t made myself a Diary for 2012! So I got to and covered one with this lovely Hummingbird paper, I used the Collectables to embellish it.

I then made another one for a dear friend who had a Birthday yesterday! This time using the red pieces from the Collectables pack.

This is the card to go with it.

These Diaries are quite quick and easy to make. I used Modpodge to stick the paper on and give it another coat on the top. I also cover plain journals the same way to use for notes/ records etc. Quite handy to have a few made up for a last minute gift!

TFL
Have a great day and happy crafting!

Christine

Christmas Countdown Wrap-up!

2011-12-27T19:37:00.000+13:00

Hi Everyone

Well - if you are anything like me you are completely over the indulgence of Christmas and are now looking forward to being able to relax a little! It's usually the women in the household who bear the brunt of the organizing, cooking and all the other Christmassy jobs - so ladies - I think you deserve a break!

Weekly Special

All Christmas Stock - 40% discount

We are continuing to offer our Christmas stock at a 40% discount so now is a great time to either stock up for next year or even scrap some of those Christmas photos you took last week! Stock will be selling out very fast, so please bear with us if we need a little extra time to check if items are available when you place an order!

Final Challenge Winners
Here are our entries for the final Challenge!

Christine

Dallas Turner

Karen

Sue Oliver

Tania - with her kids making awesome T-shirts!

First prize winner is Karen for her gorgeous little boxes and second prize goes to Dallas!
Congratulations Ladies - please email info@artfullcrafts.co.nz with your mailing address and we will get some goodies out to you! I am just about to load all the entries for Weeks 6 and 7 onto our Competition Gallery too.

Thank you to EVERYBODY who sent their entries in over the weeks. It was great fun to see them all and they offered us some great inspiration.

Stay tuned as over the next day or so - NEW KAISERCRAFT COLLECTIONS!!!

Lowri :-)

Lowri - Christmas Tags

2011-12-23T08:00:00.000+13:00

Hi Everyone – Lowri here again with a few easy ideas for gift tags to share today using the Holly Jolly Christmas Collection from Echo Park.

Secret Santa Tag

I really enjoyed creating this quick and easy little Secret Santa tag. First of all I highlighted the Santa from the Holly Jolly Christmas Element Stickers with some glitter-glue and then punched a hole in the sticker and tag using a very small hole punch.

On the back of the tag is an element cut from the Journaling Cards patterned paper and a little gingerbread man who was hiding on the stickers sheet!
This fun idea would be great for jazzing up an otherwise plain Secret Santa gift

Gift Tag for Wine Bottle

You'll have to excuse me doing another wine-tag - but I do live on a vineyard so hopefully I am forgiven! This time I have created a tag using some of the patterned paper backed with cardboard to give some added weight.

To decorate the wooden stars I used Glimmermist in the Chalkboard and Mel's Diner colors and added a small rhinestone to the center. The combination of the element cut from the paper and the journaling tag is a fun way to let the recipient know when they should be opening in the wine. I hope my father-in-law can wait that long!

Tiny Tags 

I made these mini tags with some of the spare stickers I had from the Element Stickers Sheet. They co-ordinate with a similar set of Christmas cards I made – you can see those on my blog here. I have used the Postage Stamps Spellbinders to create these tags - making sure that one edge of the card was inside the die - leaving a seam to create a hinge for the tag. Throw on a sticker and that’s it!
Please post a comment with any questions
Lowri :-)

Lisa with a Christmas Pudding & Bon Bon using My Mind's Eye - Lost & Found Christmas...

2011-12-22T06:00:00.094+13:00

Hi Everyone. Lisa here. Today I am sharing some Christmas projects I have made using "Lost & Found - Christmas" range from My Mind's eye. This is another one of my favourite Christmas ranges this year. It is made up of lovely warm traditional colours & also has some beautifully glittered components.

My projects are a Christmas Pudding & a Bon Bon.

Here are some close ups of the detail & a top view of the pudding for you.

The pudding is made using the same principal as the cupcakes you will see in my Gallery. Some time next year I will get to making a tutorial of this project for you. The pudding is basically a foam ball partially covered in sequins, then decorated with a patterned paper patty pan, gathered ribbon & embellishments. I used elements from the pack in this range. Every time I make one of these, the next one becomes my favourite....this one is definitely my favourite to date! It seriously looks good enough to eat!

This is a really quick & easy bon - bon to make using a paper napkin, cardboard & scrap paper. Here are some simple instructions.

For the insert cut a piece of recycled cardboard approx 10 x 14cm rectangle (I used a cereal box). Roll the piece of cardboard & join with tape to form a cylinder.You can use an empty toilet paper roll, but I prefer not to. Fill your cylinder with your small gift or chocolates. Open out the paper napkin so you have a rectangle. Lay the cylinder on one edge (the untidy seam edge of the napkin) gently roll the napkin up around the cylinder & tape the join. Tie the ends off with ribbon.

I have used two co-ordinating papers, so I have two layers. I cut the base patterned paper 9x15cm then the top layer at 7x15cm. Adhere the smaller rectangle to the top of the larger rectangle of patterned paper using glue or tape. Wrap around the bon-bon and tape seam/join ensuring the join is on the underside of the bon-bon. Decorate to suit, using co-ordinating embellishments. I made a tag using one of my punches, this can double as a table place card for your guest.

These Bon-bons are so quick & easy to make. You still have time! This is perfect project to do the night before...lol....depending how many you need of course!

This is my last post before the BIG DAY...so I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy spending time with your loved ones.

Lisa :)

Christine - Christmas Stocking Fillers

2011-12-21T07:34:00.000+13:00

Hi Christine here- today I have some little Kraft boxes I made to put 2 Whittakers Peanut Slabs into to dress them up. I used this tutorial from Splitcoast Stampers- but I have adapted it to fit x2 peanut slabs. Again I have used Kraft card stock and combined it with the Simple Stories 25 days of Christmas 6x6 paper pad. In it there are miniature labels/ATC cards- so cute!

I widen the card to 8 x 6 1/4 inches to fit the peanut slabs - I then just scored on the short side 1 1/2 inches in from each side and down the long side the score lines were at 1 3/4, 3 1/4, 5, & 6 1/2. Follow the same directions for scoring, cutting & putting together.
They are held shut with the Bakers twine.
Two of these are for my 2 sons who are now in their early 20s but still like having their stocking filled to open on Christmas morning. I started the stockings for them when they were little so that they had something to open while hubby and I had to milk - they then had to wait until we got back and we had had breakfast to open presents that were under the tree. Now these 2 wonderful boys milk for us on Christmas morning and we get to have a sleep in!!
Wishing you all a lovely Christmas!

TFL

Christine

Sandy - Liz Mini Book

2011-12-20T04:00:00.001+13:00

Hi, it's Sandy sharing a gift I made for Liz. It's a mini-book created from one piece of A4 size paper. The accordian-folds in the spine gives the pages good separation so you can include chucky embellishments like chipboard and buttons.

Tutorial :

divide your paper into 16 rectangles.
cut along the solid lines and crease on the dotted ones
fold according to the photos
glue together the accordian folds of the spine

Hope you like this fun, little project idea and be inspired to try your hand at making one. It's perfectly sized to slip into those Christmas stockings. This is my final Christmas project but the other designers will be posting their projects for the rest of the week.

Lowri - Christmas Journal

2011-12-19T20:00:00.000+13:00

Hi Everyone – Today I am sharing my "December Daily" album, created using a combination of the Echo Park Season's Greetings paper and digital collections. First of all I should tell you I had to google to find out what a December Daily was – and then when I saw some of the amazing examples online – I was totally intimidated at the thought of creating one!

What I decided to do was take a little album I had started working on (seen here) and expand it into a Daily Journal.

December this year is going to be exceptionally busy so I have decided to just have a little space where I can write each day and easily just slot a photograph in when I take one of something special.

To expand my existing book, I created some numbers from the Season’s Greetings Alphas and Borders and added them to each page. To create additional pages I printed some journaling tags from the Season’s Greetings Element Pack.

I decided to create a few fold out pages within the book to allow for a series of photos to be added. This page with the Santa is for Christmas Eve where I hope to get some great photos of the kids leaving snacks for Santa!

At the beginning of the book I have added in a few of my favorite photos from the last couple of years to get me started and to show how the pages fold out.

I hope this shows that a December Daily album can be really simply put together. I see mine as a personal and intimate record of the month – just for me to look at and remember in the future.

Here are a few more pages ready and waiting to go!

I hope this inspires you to create an album for yourself. You can always just make a simple little book and write it it each day.
Check my post here for a tutorial on how to quickly make the journals below using scraps of scrapbook paper and regular copier paper like these shown below using Holly Jolly Christmas.

Please leave a comment with any questions :-)
Lowri

Christmas Countdown - FINAL WEEK

2011-12-18T21:28:00.000+13:00

Hi Everyone and a HUGE Welcome to our final week of our Christmas Countdown. We have seen some simply amazing projects from the Design Team as well as heaps of fabulous entries from our customers and blog-readers.

Weekly Round-Up
Here are some of the great projects posted this week (click on the name to go to the post!)

Lowri

Lisa

Christine

Louise

Betsy

Design Team Focus
Today, more of the Design Team share their Christmas thoughts!

BETSY
1)What is your favorite holiday album or song?
I just love Susan Boyle singing O Holy Night. Mind you I love her singing full stop!
2) What is your favorite holiday tradition?
I made our 10 grandkids BIG Christmas stockings and just watching their faces as they delve into the bottom of them to retrieve the last perssie, is gorgeous.Upon reflection, I could have made them much smaller- would have been less expensive to fill!! Even the older ones still comment that it's the best part of Christmas. It's great to see their enjoyment.
3) What was your most memorable gift?
Last year I managed to get a new right hip- the disadvantages of getting older!!Maybe Santa will present me with a new left one this year! No harm in hoping!!
4) What does Christmas mean to you?
What a wonderful time to remember the birth of our Saviour. I absolutely love hearing Grandad read the Christmas story to the kids- what a responsibility we have as grandparents to pass on what has become precious to us. Having all our family round is just great- it happens every second year as we have to share them all with their in-laws. We are so thankful for each one.
5) What would you love to find under the tree this year?
Maybe an exercise machine to help the weight problem! One of course, that doesn't use any time or energy, as I haven't any spare of either!!

This is one of Betsy's fabulous Christmas creations!

LISA

1)What is your favorite holiday album or song?
Away in a manger is one of my fave songs of all time...I have lots of compilation CDs of Christmas carols old faves sung traditionally by Bing Crosby etc also some sung by Delta Goodrem, Michael Buble easy to listen to.
2) What is your favorite holiday tradition?
I love to catch up with family & friends, exchange gifts etc. My kids still go along with the santa theory (well my daughter does for her brothers sake - and Im sure she thinks she will get more gifts if she goes a long with it!) so - I love the element of surprise with gifts etc. We still leave out milk, chocolate- treats & carrot for reindeer etc too.
3) What was your most memorable gift?
Hmmm as a child we were quite spoilt...funny how you dont always realise that until your an adult yourself! One Christmas I got a typewriter....I was very happy comes in very handy as a kid playing offices, shops etc. Many a doll a barbie bus to name a few
4) What does Christmas mean to you?
Cacthing up with family & friends, making special food to share,a few drinks, giving of gifts. I love the joy, the magic the kids look forward to, the anticipation. The chance to reflect on the year & look forward to what the next one brings
5) What would you love to find under the tree this year? Jewelry for example Pandora ..lol...Chocolates (always good) but really any surprise is good, I love something that my husband & children choose for me & that thought has gone in to it. Not a roadmaps book that one year my husband suggested!

Here is one of Lisa's amazing creations

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN
WEEK EIGHT
Stocking Stuffers

We are going to be sharing some ideas this week for Stocking Stuffers. This covers SUCH a wide variety of ideas - it will be great to see what the Design Team and YOU can come up with! This will be our last Challenge - and you may submit ANY Christmas project.

Challenges
Don't forget you can see ALL the Challenge entries in our Gallery.

Weeks Seven and Eight Challenge

We are combining these weeks and you may enter ANY Christmas themed project!!
PLEASE SEND IT TO US BY DECEMBER 23rd.
We will be giving away a prize for every 5 entries we receive so you have a great chance!
Email us a picture of your project and PLEASE name the file you send with your full name as this makes it a lot easier for us to administer the competition! Send your entry to entries@artfullcrafts.co.nz

Here are the entries for the Week 6 Challenge.

Dawn

Jenny

Krithika

Morgan

Pat

Sandra

And the winner is - Morgan Southgate!

Congratulations Morgan and thanks for joining in the fun!
Please email info@artfullcrafts.co.nz with your delivery details.

Heaps more to come this week!

Lowri :-)

Lowri - Christmas Gift Idea

2011-12-18T08:39:00.000+13:00

Hi Everyone - Lowri here.

Well - I have to say that the fabulous Design Team have been so busy with posting that I haven't even had a CHANCE to squeeze some of my stuff in - but given Sunday is my dedicated day for posting Sunday Scrapping I thought I would you show you a few of the projects I have created for Echo Park this Christmas!

Quick Christmas Gift Idea
First of all - a quick and easy gift - It’s really two gifts in one as the decoration for the main gift serves as a mini-gift too!

First of all I have taken some of the Fa-La-La-La-La paper from the Holly Jolly Christmas Collection and used it to cover the lid of my jar.
You can see a tutorial on how to do that on my blog HERE.
I have also used some of the Element Stickers to add some extra detail around the edge.

I filled the jar with my Christmas bark and for decoration I created a few blank tags that could then be used be the recipient to decorate their Christmas gifts.

I used a few of the digital journal tags, printed them onto matte photo paper, and used double sided adhesive chipboard to give them some weight and add a plain paper backing so they can be written on. I secured them round the treat jar with a generous length of bakers twine that can be used to attach the tags to gifts.

To make the Christmas Bark – melt some white chocolate, throw on some crushed green and red M&M’s, a few smashed Candy Canes and try and hide until December starts!!

More from me later on today!

Lowri

Christine - Christmas Bags & Tags

2011-12-17T05:00:00.055+13:00

Hi there - Christine here to show you how I am going to wrap some of my Christmas presents this year- In a Paper Bag! I have got a couple of sizes of brown paper bags and using left overs from my Christmas card making session I have decorated my bags.

Here are a couple of them-

I have also made Gift tags and have attached them to the bags with a decorated peg.
Here are a few more I have made - Haven't added the names on yet.

I have used Simple Stories-25 Days of Christmas as I did with my Christmas cards. Love how this goes with Kraft cardstock. The Flash cards make it a quick & easy way to put things together.

TFL
Have a good day and happy crafting!

Christine

Supplies used: Simple Stories-25 Days of Christmas, Bakers twine,
Holly Punch, Rhinestones,

Sandy - Merry Christmas Tags

2011-12-16T04:00:00.000+13:00

Hi, it's Sandy here on Tip Tuesday. I thought I'd share some tips for photographing your Christmas projects. For those of you who facebook, blog or submit your projects for publication; Christmas is the perfect opportunity to jazz up your pictures with some fun staging. Here are three ideas to try.

My December 25 Tag is fairly large-sized measuring 2.75"x5". I sat it on a saucer and propped it up on a teacup. Then threw down some tinsel to create a festive mood. You want to frame tightly on your tag so that the tinsel meanders in and out of your picture anchoring the main image.

In this one, I placed a Christmas wreath on top of a sheet of textured wrapping paper. Then placed two smaller tags against the bottom edge of the wreath. Again crop in tightly on the tags so that only part of the wreath shows up in the picture. That way it works to enhance the mood but isn't too distracting in the background.

You can also give your project a whimsical treatment like this. I placed my giftcard holder between the handles of a binder clip (some people call it a bull dog clip). Sat the clip on a baking tray and encircled the clip with tinsel to hide it. To add an element of surprise, I tilted my camera slightly before snapping.

Supplies : Best Creation Merry Christmas (Christmas Labels, Red Swirl Bells, Element Stickers, Expressions Chipboards, Combo Stickers, 6x6 Papers), Maple Treehouse ribbon, Basic Grey Bling It

Lisa with some Christmas tags using Echo Parks 'Seasons Greetings'

2011-12-15T06:00:00.089+13:00

Hi Everyone. Lisa here. Today I have made some cute little gift tags and a matching gift box using one of Echo Parks' Christmas ranges' "Seasons Greetings". This is a fantastic range that is a little different from the usual traditional or brights ranges available. It has a vintage/retro feel yet still traditional in theme. I really love it and it was great fun to work with. As I made this set of gift tags for a friend as a present, I have decorated a recycled chocolate box to store them in.

Here is a photo of the box when it is open. This particular recycled box has a slide out tray. I cut all separate pieces of patterned paper for each side of the box. Cut the pieces of paper slightly smaller than the box walls so that there is no overhang and no need to trim or sand down. Glue all your pieces to the box. Once dry, ink or sponge paint on to the edges. The Merry Christmas embellishments are chipboard stickers from the same range.

To make these sweet little gift tags cut a piece of card stock 2x4 inches - I used vanilla coloured card stock. Fold the rectangle piece in half to create a 2x2 square card.
I then cut a square piece of card stock slightly smaller than 2x2 square, which I embossed to add a bit more interest. I used a swiss dot & an ornament embossing folder in my cuttlebug to do this. Ink the edges & layer the embossed square on to the gift card. I then decorated the gift tags using various pieces of chipboard from the pack. I also punched out elements from the patterned paper using various sized square punches. I added some bling, mini alphas & twine to complete.

How are you all going with preparations for Christmas? It's very crazy at my house....I'm sure my husband would tell you that its me that's crazy! lol. Lots of shopping, cleaning, planning and catching up with friends for the silly season. I am so time poor at this time of year. However I really do like to be able to make a homemade gift or two. Have a great day.

Lisa

Betsy - More Christmas projects.

2011-12-14T08:57:00.000+13:00

Hi all - Betsy here today, showing some more Christmas projects.

The weeks have sure flown by - where to I don't know - not long now until the BIG day. Isn't it amazing how everything centres round one day, the 25th of December, the deadline for all things or so it seems. Even when we were farming, the swedes had to be sown by Christmas day, deadline! Why I don't know! I was married to a very conscientious farmer, I'm thinking! There are certainly benefits being retired, I can assure you!

Firstly, don't you agree my two grandkids are beautiful?! Just a little decoration - the Spellbinders pointsettia die was used for the flower, also their long trailing leaf vine die. Kaisercraft pearls just finish it off round the edge of the photo.

Here are some tree ornaments that I decided to trial. The Cuttlebug snowflake die was used to cut the foundation piece, after glueing it, it was dipped in glitter, both sided, then let dry. Tim Holtz rosette is sure one of my favourites - attached a rosette back and front then a bit of bling in the centre. I think they look quite effective and are very easily made. Here is a close up of the ornament, so as to get a better idea of how I put it together. I do use a heat gun on most of my projects as I find it dries quickly and is permanent.

Lastly, using Tim Holtz birdcage die I made this ornament. You can see what I mean about the Tim Holtz rosette die - it certainly is used a lot!!

Well, that's all from me as I think the countdown may be running out. We're off South again for Christmas, as Hugh is very keen to get back to the farm, so will catch up when we return.
Trust you will all have a safe and happy Christmas.
May all experience God's blessing especially at this time of the year as we remember the birth of our Saviour, and of course enjoy all our families.

God bless,
Betsy xx

Louise - 3 Tags for Christmas

2011-12-12T20:53:00.000+13:00

Hi Louise here with a few gift tags to share with you. I have actually made these for my children as decorations for the tree, hence the monogram letter on each one.

Firstly we have Connor's Tag.......

For all three cards I cut 2 labels on my cricut with the George and basic shapes cartridge and stuck them together to make the tags a bit firmer. For this tag I embossed a background in white ep with the music notes stamp from the December 25 clear stamp set by KaiserCraft, I then painted with glimmer glam be positive, once the glimmer glam was dry I buffed with a chux cloth to bring out the white embossing. I stamped the "25" from the December 25 stampset with versamark and embossed again with white EP, I then inked over with Distress ink in Fired Brick. I finished the tag with some spotted organza ribbon, bakers twine and an AC Thickers letter.

Angus' tag took a lot longer to complete and looks very shiny and textured in real life. I started by inking the tag with a sponge with Distress ink in Fired Brick, I then stamped the flourishy stamp from December 25 stamp set in versamark and embossed with copper ep, I then painted over with be positive glimmer glam, once again I burnished when it was dry with a chux cloth. I then sprayed with glimmer mist in iridescent gold and dried with my heat gun, I brushed the edge of the tag with glimmer glaze in sea kelp and stamped the sentiment with black stazon. The chipboard star is painted with glimmer glam be positive and covered with royal coat gloss, once dry I I edged it with a gold inkpad. I used a kaisercraft wooden flourish and coloured it with a gold inkpad. the A is another AC Thicker.

And lastly Jodie's tag. Painted completely with glimmer glam heffalump and I then stamped the angel from December 25 stamp set and embossed in silver. The roses and crystals were attached with my heat gun and a pink organza ribbon tied and bowed at the top to finish.

Christmas Countdown Week 7

2011-12-11T20:16:00.001+13:00

Hi Everyone - Lowri here and welcome to Week Seven of our Christmas Countdown. We have some great specials this week, we are launching our new theme and be sure to scroll to the bottom to see the entries and winner of the Christmas Countdown Week Five Challenge!

**Shop Specials**

THIS WEEK OUR WHOLE CHRISTMAS STORE HAS A 30% DISCOUNT

CHECK HERE TO SEE ALL THE CHRISTMAS PRODUCTS

**NOTE THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE SPELLBINDERS**

Here are some great projects from the blog this week:

Betsy made this beautiful Lumiere.

Liz created this fabulous Dusty Attic Advent Calendar

Sandy made these stunning candles

Louise wowed us with these decorations

Sandy shared this Wreath Tutorial. BRILLIANT

Lisa showed us a really neat trick with chipboard!

Design Team Spotlight

Liz answered our Christmas questions this week!
1) What is your favorite holiday tradition?
We get up after a sleep in and have to wait for EVERYONE to get ready (I wasn't so impressed the year that my brother came home form England and didn't get up until 11am!). Then we sit in the lounge and I get to give out the presents. One at a time...! My mum got to do that job a few years ago when I was sick with the flu - but I've claimed it back!
2) What was your most memorable gift?
One year our car blew up on the way down to Timaru 2 days before Christmas. We had to turn back home and a friend had a car yard and kindly let us use the only car that was warranted and registered - his father's car that had been traded in. On Christmas Day another set of friends rang up and said they had bought the car for us! What a blessing that was! That car just passed another warrant this week and has done 290,000kms. Every year we wonder if it will make another one!
3) What does Christmas mean to you?
Christmas to me is about the celebration of Jesus Christ (the God/Man), coming to earth and ultimately dying on the cross to pay our sin debt. I sing the Christmas carols with great gusto as I'm grateful for His sacrifice. (I do smile when I sing Grandma got run over by a reindeer though. Who wrote that song?!!).
4) What would you love to find under the tree this year?
Mmm, this year I have nothing I need or want! I haven't even thought about it. I do like pineapple lumps and little surprise packages! I'm excited this year because my brother and his wife and my neice are coming to spend Christmas with us all. My neice is one and I haven't met her yet! So that will be a treat!

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN
WEEK SEVEN
Wrapping and Gift Tags

We are going to be sharing some ideas this week for wrapping and gift tags. This covers SUCH a wide variety of ideas - it will be great to see what the Design Team and YOU can come up with! This will be our last Challenge - and you may submit ANY Christmas project.

For some additional inspiration - here are a couple of projects created by the DT last year.

Tags by Clarissa - details here

Tags by Tina - details here

Challenges

Don't forget you can see ALL the Challenge entries in our Gallery.

Week Seven Challenge

This will be the last Challenge and you may enter ANY Christmas themed project!!
We will be giving away a prize for every 5 entries we receive so you have a great chance!
Email us a picture of your project and PLEASE name the file you send with your full name as this makes it a lot easier for us to administer the competition! Send your entry to entries@artfullcrafts.co.nz

Week Six Challenge
You can WIN yourself a great prize by entering YOUR Home or Table Decoration into the Week Six challenge by Saturday 17th December.
Email us a picture of your project and PLEASE name the file you send with your full name as this makes it a lot easier for us to administer the competition! Send your entry to entries@artfullcrafts.co.nz

Week Five Challenge
The entries and winner of the Week Five Challenge can be seen below! If you entered more than one project I have shown only one here - though all will be available on our Gallery (hopefully later this evening).

Colleen

Kay

And the winner is - Kay O'Connor!

Congratulations Kayand thanks for joining in the fun!
Please email info@artfullcrafts.co.nz with your delivery details.

Stay tuned for heaps more fun Christmas Inspiration this week.

The Christmas Foyer

2011-12-08T20:18:00.000+13:00

Hi everyone - Liz here

I have finally got around to photographing the Artfull Crafts foyer ahead of the Christmas event this weekend.

Diana (who also has a gorgeous Christmas house in Timaru) helped me. We went off to the Crow's Nest (the local dump junk shop) with an empty car and came back with a full one! We found old cupboards, Christmas Trees, records, trolleys, cushions, curtains, speakers and a bed frame (we'll be hoarding that for next year's display that I'm already planning!).

I LOVE junk shopping! The car load only cost $35!
So here is the vintage Christmas lounge...

The view from the clasroom. There's enough room here for our Christmas Carol sing-along on Saturday night!

I know the theme this week if Table decorations - but I'll have to organise them next week. We will be using the table at the Christmas event this weekend for our lovely afternoon tea!

A nice area to display all the staff and Design Team cards and decorations.

That's a piano hiding in the corner!

The lady who owns the Cafe next to us (MJC) gave me this trunk and I love it! Diana has lent me one of her short and stumpy trees to go in it (spot the cute teddy in the bottom left). My staff love teddybears (and it's become a bit of a joke!)

I bought this organ from the local junk store - it was only $20! It's a pump organ and it works - but once you start pumping you have to stop. It's got lots of leaks! I suppose it's one way of working off all that Christmas chocolate. I have my Grandma's clock ontop of the organ and my Great Grandmothers Gramaphone to the left. I've also inherited Grandma's two vintage chairs. I used to sit on the one on the left everytime we went to visit them! It was my special chair :-)

Here's the front window display. Excuse the glare (how do you remove glare?!). We picked up the cute white cupboard (bottom left) at the junk shop too. I haven't finished decorating the tree yet but at night the LED lights look great.

I hope you enjoyed that sneak peak. Have a great night.

Betsy - Home and Table Decorations.

2011-12-07T08:54:00.000+13:00

Goodmorning all - Betsy here today to show some odds and ends I have made for our Christmas Countdown. My interpretation may be a little loose on the above theme, but will nevertheless add the projects I have put together. I really am JUST a cardmaker so am well out of my comfort zone doing all these extras. Do hope you get some ideas though and that you are enjoying what the DT comes up with - some talented ladies on the team, don't you reckon?

How about an aluminaria! You can't really get a good idea of this, as it has a battery operated tea light inside and of course it doesn't show up in the daylight. It has vellum insets on the four sides, which I stamped then put through the crimper. The light shines through the vellum which looks rather pretty in the right light , maybe on the Christmas table.

I just love the Graphic 45, Christmas Emporium papers, so decided to make a wallhanging - I have used my Grand Calibur to cut the shapes and I rather like the finished project. Hope you all agree! You may have to click on it to get a better image.

Lastly, I have put together a calender, again using Graphic 45 papers. This perhaps is my favourite Christmas collection as I do love the vintage look. Plenty of sepia ink round the edges finihes the aged look - love it!! I couldn't buy a calender block any where but I eventually got a Choice Gleanings block from the Christian Bookshop. It is lovely to have a little daily reading throughout the year, I think!
Well that's all from me today. Off to Timaru to check on the girls at Artfull Crafts. Remember the challenges at Artfull Crafts- we are enjoying seeing all your lovely work so far and congratulations to all who have won up 'til now.
God bless you all, and thanks for checking this out.

Betsy xx

Liz Gregory - Christmas Ideas

2011-12-06T21:02:00.000+13:00

Surprise! I'm doing a blog post. I do enjoy reading all the DT posts and every now and then I find myself with an hour or two free to do some crafting!

I've been working on the Dusty Attic Advent Calendar. It's a one night project but I haven't quite finished with all the final details - but I'm best to do this post now!! I chose the Nativity scene as I want to put it on an easel stand in our fabulous Christmas foyer at the shop (yet to be revealed online!). For me Christmas is another day to remember the birth of Christ - so I'm not a huge Santa fan. Although if you look closely, the background paper from Kaisercraft's December 25 range has the words of Silent Night written in lovely script - but with a picture of Santa above it!! I'm going to cover him with a wood flourish star instead. I've used the Kaiser December 25 Believe paper to cover the fronts of the boxes. It's as easy as cutting the squares 4x4cm and sticking them on! It can't be easier than that.

Please excuse the poor lighting and photography! The lights in the house are dim and it's wet outside. On top of that I've got a new point and shoot camera and haven't really had the chance to figure out the best settings!

I love the way the Dusty Attic Advent Calendars have a choice of inserts. There other 3 other inserts - a sleigh, Christmas morning and trees. Unfortunately the nativity scene has all sold out (and there is only one more sleigh left too). We are giving away free inserts with the Advent Calendar - so be in quick to purchase yours today.

This one is from the Dusty Attic website and shows off the Sleigh insert. Stunning indeed! Head to our website to see the options.

The next project is made using the new Layered Poinsettia Spellbinder die. I LOVE that die! I've cut out the flowers and then inked through the stencil area before peeling them off the die. This gives the patterning in the middle of the petals. I've done the same for the leaves. I've put foam mount behind the petals and then strong glue in the middle of each set. I've layered them up and added the leaves behind. I've used my favourite Martha Stewart Vintage Floral punch for the edging and backed it with Sweet Nothings papers - the music pattern and colours from "Sincerely" were perfect! Add some seam binding and voila! We'll be making this card in tomorrow's card class.

I hope you have a fab evening.
:-) Liz

Sandy - Merry Christmas Home Decor

2011-12-05T00:01:00.000+13:00

Hi, Sandy here to share how I use scrapbooking supplies for Christmas home decor. I started with some plain candles from Ikea. They are 2.5" tall with a diameter of 2". Then embellished with papers, stickers, and chipboard from Best Creation's Merry Christmas collection.

I stuck the Snow Fun sticker and two present stickers on a journal card. Then embellished with two star brads and baker's twine bow. To glue the journal card on the candle, I used glossy accent to get a good adhesion. Total of five minutes to complete the whole project.

My second candle has a band of Red Swirl Bell and another of Red Wallpaper wrapped around it. For added dimension, I trimmed the leaves off two poinsettia stickers and stuck them on a third poinsettia with a brad. That goes in the center with a line of bling to finish off the look.

Placed on a glass plate with some tinsel and silver bubbles, and you have lovely little table or mantel accents. Just remember they are only for decoration and you shouldn't light the candles.

Supplies : Best Creation Merry Christmas (Red Wallpaper, Red Swirl Bells, Christmas Labels, Expression Chipboards, Combo Stickers, Element Stickers), Basic Grey Bling it, Basic Grey brads, Baker's Twine, candles

Christmas Countdown Week 6

2011-12-04T17:53:00.001+13:00

Hi Everyone - Lowri here and welcome to Week Six of our Christmas Countdown. We have some great specials this week, we are launching our new theme and be sure to scroll to the bottom to see the entries and winner of the Christmas Countdown Week Four Challenge!

**Shop Specials**
We have some AMAZING specials for you this week!!

Spellbinders Special!
Spellbinders are $33.90 this week and $99.90 for sets of 4. Click here to flip through the online catalogue to see what is available and then purchase them, leaving the code at the checkout of the ones you'd like. We'll order them and we expect the ETA to be anywhere from 7-14 days. A great stocking stuffer idea!!

Dusty Attic
Dusty Attic Advent Calenders ARE NOW IN STOCK. Buy one NOW and we'll give you a free insert!
You can make this project below - we have all you need instore! Click here to see my Echo Park blogpost with this project.

Cuttlebug
This week in the shop - all our Cuttlebugs, Christmas embossing folders and dies are discounted up to 30%. (30% folders, 15% dies)It's a great time to grab a bargain and start making your Christmas cards and gifts! Buy a Cuttlebug at 20% discount ($127.20) and we will send it to you free of charge.

CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN
WEEK SIX
Home and Table Decoration

We are going to be sharing some ideas this week for home and tree decoration. This covers SUCH a wide variety of ideas - it will be great to see what the Design Team and YOU can come up with!

For some additional inspiration - here are a couple of projects created by the DT last year.

Project by Shirl Towan - details here

Project by Lowri McNabb - details here

Project by Tina Connolly - details here

Project by Lowri McNabb - details here

Challenges

Don't forget you can see ALL the Challenge entries in our Gallery.

Week Six Challenge
You can WIN yourself a fabulous prize by entering YOUR Home or Table Decoration into the Week Six challenge by Saturday 17th December.
Email us a picture of your project and PLEASE name the file you send with your full name as this makes it a lot easier for us to administer the competition! Send your entry to entries@artfullcrafts.co.nz

This week the prize is a Display Frame Kit designed by Al Hannah at Kaisercraft. This will be perfect for a friend or family member. (rrp $49)

Week Five Challenge
You can WIN yourself a Kaisercraft Christmas Journal and a set of Making Memories Twinkle Papers by entering YOUR Home or Tree Decoration into the Week Five challenge by Saturday 10th December.
Email us a picture of your project and PLEASE name the file you send with your full name as this makes it a lot easier for us to administer the competition! Send your entry to entries@artfullcrafts.co.nz

Week Four Challenge
The entries and winner of the Week Four Challenge can be seen below! If you entered more than one project I have shown only one here - though all will be available on our Gallery (hopefully later this evening).

Colleen

Tanya

Jenny

Krithika

Maria

Michelle

Sandra

Colleen

And the winner is - KRITHIKA!

Congratulations Krithika and thanks for joining in the fun!
Please email info@artfullcrafts.co.nz with your delivery details.

Stay tuned for heaps more fun Christmas Inspiration this week.

Louise - Pretty Little Baubles

2011-12-03T17:02:00.008+13:00

Hi, Louise here on what is a stunning day her in the Southern Hawkes Bay!!! Nice to see the start of summer arrive. I am going to share some Christmas deccys with you today. Every Year I buy clear glass baubles from a craft shop and decorate them however the years mood strikes me. The boys also do a bauble each every year as well, it has turned into a kind of tradition . So here are some that I have done so far this year.....

The first one is my favourite so far, keeping in mind these are all super easy to make don't be expecting any mind blowing techniques here. I spray painted this one with gloss white spray paint and when it was dry stuck buttons all over it using my glue gun so they will never fall off. ;) I finished it by tying some pink ribbon around the top.

This one took a bit longer than the rest to make. I painted this bauble with 3 coats of glimmer glam in Heffalump, on the last coat I sprinkled irridescent glitter on while it was still wet. Once it had dried I glued the roses on. i then tied a bow with seam binding ribbon.

The next one is again spray painted with gloss white spray paint. I stuck red ribbon around the middle then stuck the bells on with my glue gun. You could also sew on charms

And lastly this one was spray painted in silver and then I put pink pearls on. EASY!!!!

These are so cool to make and you are only limited by your imagination.

Sandy - Origami Wreath Tutorial

2011-12-02T04:00:00.003+13:00

Hi today Sandy is posting. My origami wreath is made up of 12 interlocking units. It's based on Mette Pederson's modular folding technique. I used 12 pieces of 6"x6" paper for mine which measures 6" in diameter. If you vary the paper size, you can get a larger or smaller wreath. It's a great way to use up scraps from your old or new Christmas collections.

Tutorial :

Draw these lines on your 6"x6" paper and valley fold along them
Fold according to these steps.
Make 12 units
Insert the tab of one unit into the pocket of the other to form the wreath

Supplies : Best Creation Element Sticker, gcd studios Christmas Sleigh papers, Maple Treehouse ribbon

Lisa with some Christmas decorations made using Echo Park Chipboard Accent stickers.....

2011-12-01T06:00:00.115+13:00

Hi Everyone. Lisa here. Have you seen these fabulous chipboard accent stickers from Echo Park?

I just received these this week and I was instantly inspired by them! I love this range by Echo Park which is called "Seasons Greetings". I really like to make handmade decorations, but as it is a busy time of year I don't always have time. These are perfect. They are very quick and easy to make & also quite cost effective. You get lots of chipboard shapes in the pack. Even after making seven decorations, I still have lots of bits & pieces left over to make more decorations or embellish other projects, cards or layouts. The possibilities are endless.

So here is what I came up with......

When using this type of product to make decorations it is important to retain the look that appealed to you in the first place, while adding your own personal touch to jazz them up.

Start by gently pressing the shapes out from the packaging. You can either retain the sticker backing on the individual pieces, or peel it off then rub baby powder on the reverse to remove the stick.
I inked all the edges of my shapes with silver ink using a sponge. I used a paper piercer to make a neat hole in any pieces that did not already have a hole for ease of threading ribbon or string through. I pulled out all my Christmas ribbons, embellishments, embossing powder, stickles, & bling from my stash and decorated away.

Use your embellishments to replicate what is already on the image. For example add dimension by using bling to replicate the berries on the holly. There are lots of great choices in the shop for embellishing with trinkets, buttons & bits & pieces. You must check out the little gingerbread men & holly...too cute!

Handmade decorations are a great gift idea and can become a family tradition that you can all get involved in...even the kids! Its also great way to build up your collection of decorations.

Have a great day.

Lisa

Christine - Christmas Cupcakes

2011-11-29T10:55:00.040+13:00

Hi everyone, Christine here to share with you some scrummy Christmas Cupcakes! These are Fat free, Sugar free and Gluten free! Just what we all need at this time of the year. So go grab a coffee and have a cupcake with me!

First up are these cute little cupcakes made with the Paper rosette die.

Yummy!

These would look nice displayed on your Christmas table at each place setting with the person's name attached to it with a toothpick.

Next up are some cupcake chipboard shapes that I have covered in patterned paper and embossed card for the icing - topped with Kindy Glitz to give it some sparkle. Some holly leaves and some red rhinestones. I have stuck a little hook in the top tied some Bakers twine and will hang these on my tree.

Teresa Collins - Christmas Home

My Minds Eye -Lost & Found - Christmas

Kaisercraft - December 25th

Just to finish off I have to show you these 2 cards I have made with cupcakes on them! Just by using Christmas paper and holly leaves you can make them look festive for the season!

Well hope you enjoyed all of the cupcakes I have shared with you today.

TFL !

Christine

Supplies used: Paper rosette die. Kindy Glitz . rhinestones. Bakers twine. Teresa Collins - Christmas Home . My Minds Eye -Lost & Found - Christmas. Kaisercraft - December 25th.

Lowri - Echo Park Advent Calendar

2011-11-29T10:16:00.000+13:00

Hi Everyone - Lowri here - I have another advent calendar to share today - this time using the Season's Greetings Collection from Echo Park. I created this project as part of my month as Fresh Face Designer on the Echo Park blog.

This fun project was a lot of work – but really worth it! The fabulous mix of colors in the collection make for a nostalgic feel and I am really excited about using this as a home for little treats during the Christmas countdown!

Each drawer front is decorated with paper squares cut from the 6x6 paper pad, stickers from the Alpha Stickers Sheet and a brad.

To create the centerpiece I have layered more stickers and made the little 3-d trees using symmetrical die-cuts I cut from the papers using Spellbinders. A chipboard “Merry Christmas” painted red completes the scene. I really wish you could see and touch this project in person - it was very hard to photograph and get a sense of dimension and I don’t feel the pictures do it justice!

Please post a comment if you have any questions.

Lowri :-)