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

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

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



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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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




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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Card One

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

Card Two

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

Card Three

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

Card Four

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

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

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

Good Morning crafters!









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

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



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



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





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



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

Hi everyone, Tanya Leigh here

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

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

Tri-Fold Shutter Card

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


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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Janine has been given a set of Websters Waiting for Santa papers and a mix of delicate products and projects.