Store News: July's Sale night!

Hey everyone

A quick update from me to let you know that our sale date for July has been announced.

Did you see the sneaks on our Facebook pages? Here they are again incase you missed them :)

Raquel x

STORE NEWS SUNDAY - February Kit Release

We have a February Sale night now announced, that is this coming Thursday!

This is one week later than the usual release night, however some of you may be aware of the Dock strikes in the US. This has had a big impact on scrapbooking products and has held up some of the products in the February kits so I had to be flexible and push the date back a little. Apologies for that.

I am so excited about the upcoming kits, they contain all the latest CHA products and are truly scrumptious.

Here is a little peek into what they contain….think these are my new favourite (though I think I say that every time).

A little glimpse into the Cupcake #scrapbooking kit at #apocd #apieceofcakedesigns for February- we love @hkswapp products and this new line is just totally gorgeous and not limited to the memory planners! So versatile! #heidiswapp #americancrafts #scrapbook #papercrafts

A photo posted by raquelp-apocd (@raquelp) on Feb 19, 2015 at 7:29pm PST

You may find some of the totally adorable @cratepaper Craft Market in the February Main Cake #scrapbooking kit from #apieceofcakedesigns #apocd #kitclub #cratepaper #americancrafts #papercrafts

A photo posted by raquelp-apocd (@raquelp) on Feb 19, 2015 at 7:30pm PST

In others news we have opened a Facebook Group the 'APOCD Cafe' for our followers. Its a place to share your creations, ask for or give advice and chat about all things scrapbooking and APOCD. Basically a little community where we can all gather. I have a little something (possibly a giveaway and competition) up my sleeve for those that join. You can find the direct link to the page by clicking the image below.

Whether you join now or after the giveaway is announced, you will still go into the running to win :)

Stay tuned for some more kit images and inspiration from our Design Team

Raquel x

Paper Cut Labs 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop, a sneak of Dec kits and a tutorial

Hey everyone,

Today we are shifting from our usual 'Tutorial Tuesday' post to bring you something special! A blog hop and a crop, hosted by Papercut Labs. Todays post will contain the crop and hop details so far, a sneak of our December Cupcake kit and a tutorial using that kit. Cool hey !?!

There are some absolutely amazing stores signed up to donate prizes to this hop and it is well worth joining in :) All of the major details can be found here.

Monday, 8 December 2014: Papercut Labs
Tuesday, 9 December 2014: A Piece of Cake Designs << YOU ARE HERE
Wednesday, 10 December 2014: Kellie Stamps
Thursday, 11 December 2014: Heidi Swapp
Friday, 12 December 2014: The Scrappery
Saturday, 13 December 2014: Seriously Scrapbooking
Sunday, 14 December 2014: Maya Road
Monday, 15 December 2014: Stampin’ Up!
Tuesday, 16 December 2014: Scrapmatts
Wednesday, 17 December 2014: D-lish Scraps
Thursday, 18 December 2014: Studio Calico
Friday, 19 December 2014: Papercut Labs

We are donating not one but two kits to this big event:

A December kit from last year which contains a gorgeous and traditional colour palette perfect for documenting your christmas season

And the October 2014 Cupcake kit, one of my faves, so fun, funky and colourful!

So what do you need to do to go into the draw to win one of these prizes or a prize from any of the other sponsors?

*All the below details are from the Papercut Labs site and can be found here*

Everyone who joins the crop party event on Facebook goes into the draw to win one of twenty-four prizes (two from each sponsor, and four from us).

However, to improve your chances of winning one of the giveaways, you can:

a. Create a project (card, layout, OTP, something paper-y) inspired by the challenges and upload it to the event page. Doing this, you’ll receive SIX entries into the giveaway draw. (Make sure you tell us which challenges you used!)
b. Comment on a project on the event page, and you’ll receive another one entry into the giveaway draw.

To see the challenges visit here

The hop and crop are open until December 20 so you have plenty of time to join in.

So onto the hop tutorial we have here for you. Today I decided to create something a little different to my usual. I decided to demonstrate how perfect our kits can be for card making too, and what better than a christmas card for a Christmas blog hop! Plus today you will get an extra sneak peek of some of the contents of our December Cupcake kit.

Here is a sneak of the kit and what I chose from when creating my card:

Featured in the December Cupcake kit is gorgeous Christmas papers by Webster's Pages, a whole die cut pack from Jillibean Soup, a Tim Holtz Christmas mask and more!

This is what I started with from my own stash, a 4x6" card made from American Crafts white card stock and a manilla tag (these are used to wrap washi tape around in our Cupcake Kits).

I wanted to add a subtle texture to the page by using the mask and some Faber Castell 'Whipped Spackle'. I applied the this to cover the entire 4x6"surface.  

I love the texture this medium adds, it is so fluffy but also looks so sharp and detailed.

Next step,  gather a series of coordinating die cuts, I have used a handful of pieces from the Jillibean Soup die cut pack included in the December Cupcake kit. 

Now I begin the layering process on my card.

I love to add dimension to my projects. I do this by layering and using foam tape between some layers. With the die cuts below I have applied all directly to the tag apart from the top right of the poinsettia flower, which I have popped up with a small square of foam tape.  

I completed this cluster of die cuts by adding the 'Ho Ho Ho' label. 

I am enjoying card making more and more and find that I enjoy making cards which look simple, with the white space I love, but that also contain texture and my fave a layered cluster of embellishments.

Heres the final images of the card.

If this inspired you to get creating I would love to see what you come up with. Email me your creations at raquel@apieceofcakedesigns.com.au as I would love to see them and share them with our followers.

Thanks for visiting our blog today, be sure to check back at the Papercut Labs blog and visit Kellie Stamps tomorrow for an amazing hop tutorial :)
Raquel xxx

STORE NEWS SUNDAY - November Releases

Todays update is all about our November releases. I am so very proud of this months kits, I just adore every little bit of the kits contents. Plus we have 2 new flair releases and and abundance of digital releases for November :) 

So lets get started -

Our Main Cake kit for November

This includes the latest Maggie Holmes 'open book', Amy Tangerine 'Stitched' collection as well as some papers from Jillibean Soup. There are also 2 speciality papers; a speciality vellum and a kraft paper. 

You can purchase the Main kit in store here - there are still a couple left 

Our November Cupcake Kit:

This kit highlights the gorgeous 'September Skies' collection from Heidi Swapp. It contains a whole ephemera pack and also a 12x12 Template from Kaisercraft that is so awesome and versatile.  

The 12x12 template included.

You can purchase the November Cupcake kit here

Below are the newest Christmas Cherry Flair releases. I have a couple more designs for christmas in the works but these are the first of them :)

The Cherry Flair can be found here instore

Lastly we have our digital store releases for this month! So much goodness here! Don't forget that most files can be used on all cutting machines and some even include Photoshop Brushes too which you can use to edit your photos like the how to video I created here 

Below are the new digital files now available for instant download :)

So much goodness and so much inspiration from our awesome designers coming up! 

Stay tuned

Raquel xxx

STORE NEWS SUNDAY - A BIG BIG Update!

Hi Friends of APOCD,

I really do not know where to start with this post as there has been SO MUCH happening here at APOCD, so be prepared for a LONG post. Lots of capitals, yes, but very necessary! 

Digital Store

So hmm, lets start at the beginning with the new most exciting change to APOCD. The opening of our digital store.

 The store can be accessed from our main site and can be found here

http://www.apieceofcakedesigns.com.au/digital-store/

We have the most awesome files available from three very talented designers; Jessy Christopher, Rachel Hodge and Polka Dot Creative

These digital files provide you with numerous file types perfect for all digital uses; svg, png, dxf, pdf and some even contain the .abr photoshop brush file so you can use the gorgeous images on top of your photos too!

These are available in our store now. 

*Please note all files are in AUD* 

*The digi files are immediate download and a download link is given via email* 

Blogging…even more inspiration!

Starting this week our blogging will be a little bit different than usual. The DT and I will be providing you with inspiration covering a variety of themes, Messy Monday, Workspace Wednesday and more. You will need to visit the blog regularly to it out!

October Kits

The October kits are released and available in the APOCD store now. I know I say this every time but I do think these are my all time favourite. I love love love the colour combos in them and the kits come with so many bits and pieces that you will be able to create lots of projects with them.

Here they are:

Cherry Flair

As you all may be aware, due to my pregnancy and arrival of my baby boy Jack, I deactivated the flair for a little while. It was something that I know requires a lot of my love and energy and I simply couldn't give 100% to. 

But, our little family have slowly found our feet. Little Mr is 3 months now, so the flair are back up and running on the APOCD site. 

We have two new sets released and available here 

For every Pink Ribbon set sold APOCD will donate $1 to the Pink Ribbon Foundation. 

Well I think that is all for now, don't forget to add our blog to your favourites or blog feed to stay up to date with all things APOCD and be inspired by our awesome design team!

Raquel xxx

APOCD and Scrapbook Creations Magazine Blog Hop......Cherry Flair Lovin'!

Welcome to the Scrapbook Creations and A Piece of Cake Designs blog hop! Join us today as we take an online tour around the internet to show you some of the amazing creative people using flairs out there.

Here is the full hop list:

Scrapbook Creations 
(SC online team: Natalie M – Renee I – Jenny G)

Kayla M 

Alison C 

Lizzy H 

Sharmaine K 

Michelle S 

Kylie C 

Holly C 

Natalie E 

A Piece of Cake Designs

And guess what? There's something in it for you for following along! All you need to do is leave a comment on all of the hop blog posts or you can post a flair project to your own blog and link to our blog hop, you go into the draw to win!

ONE Major winner: $25 gift voucher to APOCD and a one-year subscription (six issues) to Scrapbook Creations 

TWO Minor winners: Variety of flairs from APOCD and a six-month subscription (three issues) to Scrapbook Creations

************************
Now the business side is out of the way, lets get onto some Cherry Flair Lovin' sharing!
I am so honoured to be hosting this hop with Scrapbook Creations Magazine and to be a part of this amazing talented group of ladies, all sharing projects with a common love.....FLAIR, FLAIR and more FLAIR!
Today I have two guest designer layouts to share and one from little ol' me!
Our first share is from our October Guest Sharmaine Kruijver.....lucky you all get to be inspired by her twice as she is also part of the hop! :)

Layout title: Yum Cha in Sydney

This is certainly a 'Cherry Flair' loving layout by Sharmaine! Here she has used a combination of our Painted Version 1 and Painted Version 2 Cherry Flair packs....as well as using our October Main Cake Kit contents.



Here are some close ups of the Flair: This is from the Painted Version 2 - A great way to highlight flair is to add a circle of embroidery thread or regular cotton behind them.

And the Painted Version 1 -

Totally Awesome hey! I agree :)

Next we have a share from our special international guest Magda Mizera. Today Magda's project we are sharing as part of this hop is a card and a stunning one at that!



Card: Dare to Dream

I think this card by Magda really highlights the versatility of Flair, in particular my Cherry Flair :) They can be used as an embellishment on a layout or as the 'statement piece' on a card. So stunning! Magda has used a flair from the Dare to Dream set.

And isn't Magda's photography of her project just beautiful!?!



Gorgeous Flair, gorgeous layers:

And lastly I have a project from myself to share. If you don't know me, I'm Raquel and I am the owner of APOCD and creator of the Cherry Flair featured throughout this post and blog hop :)



Layout Title: Dummy Love

Incase you were not aware, each of the Scrapbooking kits I release each month contains sets of Cherry Flair that are exclusively designed for that kit. Meaning, you can only get those particular flair designs when you purchase that particular kit. This layout was created using parts of the October Cupcake kit, some extras available in the APOCD store and the heart flair which was exclusive to the October Main Cake Kit.



I love to cluster and layer my embellishments, a Cherry Flair is the perfect addition to any cluster and adds a perfect amount of dimension to a page :)

Journaling close up:

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Well I hope that you enjoyed the hop! Your final stop is the Scrapbook Creations  Magazine Blog, where you need to leave a final comment that you have completed the hop :)

Don't forget to leave a comment here too to go into the draw.

You can add us to your bookmarks if you have liked what you see here. I update our blog regularly, so there is always loads of inspiration to be had!

Also, just a little sneaky plug; We were a featured store on the Scrapbook Creations blog last Friday and I am running a little competition over there, you may want to check this post out too.....there may even be a special surprise there as well!

*********************
Lastly, you can pop over to our store to purchase Cherry Flair (or gorgeous kits!) at
www.apieceofcakedesigns.com.au

I have a flat rate postage charge for FLAIR ONLY orders, just select that option in the cart :)



Thanks for visiting,
Raquel xxx