Congrats and THANKS to everyone who entered the June/July Challenge - Flaps, Flags and Folders. Again, we're really pleased with the level of participation and the quality of work is making judging harder and harder! Winners are announced below.

Please head to the Gallery to check out the fabulous entries and leave comments to encourage the crafters. The comments are now enabled. We all love positive feedback. And check the blog again tomorrrow to find out what the next challenge will be.

DID YOU MISS THE DESIGN TEAM CALLOUT? Don't worry, you have a few days until applications close (Saturday August 3rd). Please head to the website Home Page, scroll down and read all about it!

Congratulations to:

1) Overall Challenge Winner

Congrats to Lisa Macfarlane! Lisa popped into the shop whilst passing through from Dunedin to show us her File Folder. We photographed it as best as could - but with so many flaps and folders it's hard to capture them all. We created a collage photo so you could get the general idea.

Lisa told us that she was inspired by the Heidi Swapp File Folder system (which I also thought was a fantastic idea!) She set about creating a folder with Kaisercraft's Back to School range and she put all her old school photos in it with the names of her classmates. Great work, Lisa.

 Lisa has won $50 worth of Files, Folders and Flaps.

1) Runner Up Challenge Winner

2) Sketch winner

Congratulations to Jessica Toulmin for winning the Sketch Challenge. We loved your choice of paper, photos and your attention to detail.

Jessica said, "I found this wonderful paper in my stash and wanted to use it as is, without covering up those cute trees. So I flipped the sketch over and used a mirror image of it. And instead of using a big piece of patterned paper under the photos, I roughly sewed a rectangle and splattered some mist in there. I also did some sewing detail on the trees. The tree on the left will be filled with all the personal details of his birth."

Click here to see Jessica's blogpost for more details on how she created the layout.


Jessica has won a $30 pack of Kaisercraft's new Blast Off products.

Jessica also submitted the start of a very cool mini album with all sorts of flaps and folders. Check out her blog post where you can see more images. 

3) New entrant winner

Congrats to Adriana (who is only 12 years old!) for winning a $20 gift voucher.  It's her first time entering the Artfull Crafts Challenge and we were impressed with the fun use of washi tape and the choice of colours.

Adriana wrote, " I am 12 years old and this is my first time entering into a challenge. My flag cards using washi tape."

Hi it's Sandy with my final post for Artfull Crafts. I've had a fabulous two years on the design team and it feels bitter sweet to say good-bye. This card is created using Kaisercraft's Sweet Pea Collection to thank Liz, the rest of the team and everyone who works in the store.


I'm looking forward to the reveal of the new Design Team next month and am sure they will be providing lots of scrappy inspiration for us all.

Supplies : Kaisercraft Sweet Pea (Nifty, Sassy, Pretty), Basic Grey Candy Dots, Wycinanka Chipboards

Betsy here this morning, to share some cards made with Kaisercraft's Blast Off collection, which came out in June. It is a super range, specially for little boys, what with all the space-ships, moons, stars, monsters etc. The colours are fun as well.











A little out of my comfort zone, but it is amazing what one can do with all the collectables, that come with the collections. There certainly is plenty to work with, in each range.
Do click on the photos for clearer viewing.

All today ladies, remember the challenges at Artfull Crafts.

Happy crafting and many blessings,

Betsy

Hi it's Sandy with a bright and bold page inspired by fashion today. I'm scrapping about a Kenzo Padogon tote that my cousin loves and base the style of my layout on Missoni knitwear which combines geometric and florals in a kaleidoscope of colours. There is also a subtle sixties vibe that I try to replicate on my page through the selection of patterns and the use of retro fonts.

Hi it's Sandy having fun with my Dear Lizzy Wild Heart paper scraps. I cut my leftover pattern paper into strips and wove them into a pair of earrings. Topped with a couple of brads and attached to earring hooks, they make one-of-a-kind gifts for friends and family.   




If you enjoy making your own paper jewellery, you might like to check out the Triangle Earring tutorial on my blog.

Hi it's Sandy playing with a large, layered flower on my card today. I layer a Kaisercraft Ribbon Rose on top of a satin peony and a Green Tara Camelia. Combining these textures gives my flower a luxurious look and ensures it becomes the center of attention.




When using a large floral embellishment on a card, here are some tips to help you achieve a balanced look. Keep the colour scheme fairly simple by going monochromatic or pairing one colour with neutrals (green with black and white in my case). Limit the use of patterns and go with a fairly small scale pattern. Introduce some geometric structure such as this Crate Paper frame or a shipping tag which will allow the organic shape of the flower to stand out.



Hope you find these cardmaking tips useful. Next week I'll be sharing a layout using more die-cut products so see you then.


Supplies : Crate Paper (DIY Shop Tags, Maggie Holmes Die-Cuts, The Pier Slide Frame, On Trend Chipboard), Kaisercraft Ribbon Rose & Teal Pearls, Green Tara Turquoise Camelia, Trinket Track Satin Peony & Acetate Butterfly

Hello, Tracy here. Liz sent me over some of the new Inkling images to play around with last night. I printed out 5 last night and finally sat down this afternoon and coloured them up. I wanted to do quick easy cards to show you that even if a card takes 20 minutes to do, it can still look great if you have coloured it in well. I used all my left over Kaisercraft collections to make the card up.

First Inkling image I coloured is called Blast Off. Kaisercraft paper Collection -  Blast Off!! Perfect match, and great for those of you that enjoy bright colours.
Close up of coloured image




Third card is using new Inklings image Enchanted Ella. (Think she's my favourite so far) I used Kaisercraft collection Hopscotch

Hi everyone, Jo here with a new blog for Artfull Crafts in Timaru, it is just about the end of my stint with Artfull Crafts, and I must admit it has been fun meeting a whole group of new people.  I have seen photos of people on our Face book group, and obviously we comment on each others work, but it is so much fun meeting them in person. 

Today's project is a Kaisercraft Shadow Box, but I thought lets try something a little different.  What can I do that is going to make this pop? so I made it up, and then sat and looked at it for a month.  It just wasn't happening, yes I could cover it with paper, yes I could make the shadow boxes have something inside them, but then after working on a recipe book, I thought, why don't I make a shelf full of mini books.

But then I was hunting through my room, collecting bits and pieces, and I found this huge earring I purchased from the $2.00 shop for just this occasion, and then I put it up against the box and then I was off, goodbye mini books hello top shelf.

The Kaisercraft Shadow Box Unit available from Artfull Crafts

 The two drawers have ribbon, flowers and Tim Holtz sayings on them.  


What is going inside the shelves? I have no idea, but something will find its way in to here.   

Hi there Christine here .  After the post yesterday about the Artfull Inklings I wanted to show you the 2 cards I have made using Hunting Harry...

 With the first card I coloured him in with the Kaiser Fusion Markers and fussy cut him out, put him on to a background from Kaisercraft's Sweet Pea paper pad - this Collection works well for my male/deerhunter card! I added a map button from Papervine, the flags from the Collectables and the sentiment is stamped onto a MFT tab die.


For the 2nd card I used my Copics to colour Harry, this time I didn't fussy cut him out but left him on the white card and much to my joy the Spellbinders Oval die fits around him perfectly, I could even go the next size up or cut him out with a rectangle. Again I used the Sweet Pea Collection for the background and some Papervine bakers twine to embellish.

Here is a look at the 2 Harry's just after I had coloured them in....

A good comparison between the Kaiser Fusion Markers and the Copics.  I have had my Copics for a while now and love them, but after using the Fusions I found them good to work with- especially after Juanita gave me a few tips! It was interesting that on both images I got a bit of bleeding, so I have to put that down to the user not the pens! I think it is a case of practice, practice, practice!

The Artfull Inklings are now on the website and in the store to buy, as are the Fusion pens - such a good deal on them!

TFL

Happy Creating and Colouring!

Christine

Hi there Christine here with some exciting news about the new Artfull Inklings that Liz and the Team at Artfull Crafts have put together. There are 12 different images to choose from - and there are Male ones!!
This is the Enchanted Ella one...

                        
                                       

Colour them! Cut them! Mount Them! Each package comes with 5 identical uncoloured images printed onto card suitable for use with alcohol markers, pens, pencils, paints, inks and more. Use them on cards or layouts, or give them to anyone who loves colouring.

Package is 7.5cm x 10.5cm. Images approximately 8cm x 6cm.

Artfull Inklings are exclusively manufactured by Artfull Crafts in Timaru with original images hand-drawn by Joe Ramage.

While up at SENZ we had a session of having a go at colouring in some of the Inklings - Ella, Juanita and I were keen to colour in with the new Kaiser Fusion Markers Liz had brought over from Kaisercraft in Melbourne. Ella and Juanita coloured in Enchanted Ella ( Ella's sample is on tag above) I coloured in Boy and Buddy.  We then got Miss Betsy to 'fussy' cut them out and we put them onto Tags and embellished them with 'Goodies' from Lowri's Papervine stall (which was next door to our one at SENZ).