Hi Everyone - Lowri here

I have a couple of bits and pieces to show you today - mainly projects that I have been trying to finish for a while!

Class of '87 Mini Album
I have made this in advance of my son starting school in May. My Mum will be staying with us and I am going to take heaps of pics on his first day, fill it with his art from his school visits and first day so she can take it back to the UK when she goes home. It will be great for her to be here as it is a real milestone!


I have used the technique shown in the tutorial on my blog here to make the book and then embellished it with a few goodies from the collection. 


From the Class of '87 Collection I have used the Sports Day and Science Project patterned papers  as well as the B/W rubons,Colour rubons and a couple of elements from the 6x6 paper pad.

To make the flag I cut an element from the Sports Day paper, mounted it onto come chipboard to give it some body and then cut around it again. I used used a bamboo kitchen skewer to make the flagpole part!


I am excited about getting it filled up with some great pics!


Nan's Favourites Cards
Now - I am not much of a cardmaker but I like this collection so much I thought I would try and make a couple!


Here I have used one of the Recipe Cards from the Collection as a card base and simple added a journal element from the 6x6 paper pad, a cut out piece from the Lemon Slice paper and a Chipboard Lemon! A piece of garden twine round the fold of the card just adds a rustic feel.


I got the idea for this from a card on the front of a magazine and I thought it was really neat. It's the first time I have used a black outline pen so the lines are a little wobbly. I probably should have inked the edges of the pieces too for more definition - but it was a first attempt! It was a great way to use up the scraps I had from my other projects. I have used the garden twine again - just 'cos it looked so good the first time!


Easter Cupcakes
I made these flowers a while ago one afternoon (you can see how on my blog here) and I was wondering how to use them. I have used some old Cosmo Cricket paper - but it is a great idea for using up some scraps you might have lying around...
I used some as cupcake toppers and stuck some onto kitchen bamboo skewers for using as a "bouquet".




It's just a simple and fun idea :-)

Hope you have enjoyed these and don;t forget to enter our challenge to win a spot on the Design Team for a month. All the details are here.

Lowri :-)

Hi Everyone - Lowri here

We have had a crazy week here in Blenheim - we are in the throes of grape harvest and my eldest started his school visits. You may remember I posted about the Desk Organiser using the Class of '87 Range.. well I have a few more ideas using this range that is just so much fun!

This post might be long on pics and short on info - so please post a comment with any questions!!


For these I have simply cut out the individual letters from the "Show and Tell"  paper and laminated each one in an individual pocket, punched a hole and used a book-ring to bind together

The awesome thing about this book is that you can use it for letter teaching AND letter writing as the reverse of each letter has plain lines where you can practice writing!!


This was just a fun box I put together to hold some crayons I made. Yes - I made them and I have a tutorial on my blog showing just how easy they are! You can see it here....

Here are a couple of close-ups



Pen Holder
For this project I simply painted the edge of a blank box and covered the side in some of the paper from the 6x6 Paper Pad.

To decorate I have used some of the chipboard pieces, die cuts and stickers.

Money Box
This was a matter of buying a money box from the $2 shop and wrapping some paper around it!!


Here is a picture of all the bits and pieces together!


Hope this has given you some inspiration!

Lowri :-)

Hi Everyone.
First off a big hello and thank-you to Liz and all her fantastic staff and customers who made me so welcome at the shop last weekend. I had so much fun and it was really great to meet so many of you.

I have a couple of ideas this week - SO easy to do and heaps of fun for a party

Placecards
One of the great things about visiting the shop at the weekend was being able to actually have a really good look at the products.


These Theresa Collins papers are of an amazing quality and I have used a spellbinders labels die to cut the shapes and simply folded them in half

Each of these are slightly different and again I have used the Cuttlebug die to create the notes.


Wine Glass Markers
Baubles
Here I have used a cuttlebug die to cut paper, chipboard and acrylic and sandwiched them all together!


I have used the Christmas Carnival Collection from Kaisercraft for both the paper and the buttons. Liz has these at a fantastic price at the moment too. A printed name label and a couple of rhinestones and these are completed in under an hour!

Holly
These really could not be simpler!


This time I have used the Kaisercraft Tis the Season Chipboard Holly Leaves and added some red rhinestones and a painted chipboard letter.

Circles
I have used the packaging from the Imaginisce Cottage Christmas Stickers and cut 2 scalloped circles, used one of the Stickers to decorate the front and decorated with an eyelet for a neat finish. 

A few beads on the ring for extra sparkle and again, these are put together really quickly.

I hope these have inspired you to have a go at creating your own wine glass markers! They are a great way to use up scraps and make a great keepsake from a party!
The rings are available from any bead store or you could just use a piece of wire tied around the base of the glass.

Any questions - just leave a comment!

Hi Everyone - Lowri here.

I have a couple of ideas you can create easily with leftover bits and pieces from any of your papers. They certainly wouldn't have to be Christmas papers and in fact plain cardstock jazzed up with some gold or silver paints and sprays would look fantastic!

Border Punch Trees
I was inspired to create these by a picture I saw on a blog-post by Lolly Chessie - an AMAZING artist in the US who is on the DT for Crate Paper http://www.lollychops.com/lollychops/2010/07/warning-gratuitous-crafts-alert.html
Now she is a real artist and these trees she created are just awesome - so here is my version!

Kaisercraft "Be Merry" Tree


To create the tree I started with a four sided, tall triangle made of paper. I then glued pieces of border punched paper to each side in turn using double sided tape and trimmed off each side after glueing.

You could use any border punch and any paper for some really neat effects.

I cut a shorter cone from the same template to slip over the top - mainly because I couldn't figure out how to finish the top neatly! I also foolishly cut my paper cone out of scrap paper that did not at all blend in with the PP I was using on the tree, so I have attached some painted bamboo skewers down the sides to cover up! It actually gives a bit more definition to the tree too





Cosmo Cricket "Jolly by Golly" Tree

This was the first one I made and really I learned from this that the pieces should not be too close together and look much better when more "random".


I also learned from this to cut each piece as I glued and NOT to leave it until I had done a complete side and then try and trim the sides!




Ruffled Flowers
These flowers are so hot right now! Tina has used them to fabulous effect on her banner she posted yesterday.  I have created these really simple ones with the Kaisercraft Be Merry Collection and Cosmo Cricket Papers.

I have a tutorial on my blog on how I made them - so please check it out here - http://papervinenz.blogspot.com/2010/12/ruffle-flowers-with-tutorial.html

Kaisercraft "Be Merry" Flowers



Cosmo Cricket "Jolly by Golly" Flowers



Cone Paper Trees


OK - so my husband has said these look like three paper cones stacked on top of one another - and I have to say I agree with him!!! However - I think there is definitely a possibility of doing something a little more creative with them - I just ran out of time though! I found the template here and for the larger tree just enlarged it on the computer.