Hi Everyone - Lowri here. There have been so many fabulous LOVE projects on the blog - this is the first chance I have had to post a couple of my Valentines ideas! I hope you like them and please don't forget to enter into our LOVE challenge....  Email us any project you LOVE to artfullcraftsdt@gmail.com

Valentines Deck of Cards - FULL DETAILS HERE
This was the last of my Valentines/Love projects - and it might just be one of my favorites.







Spellbinders Treat Bags

Okay - so first off I want to say I am NOT a Spellbinders expert. In fact this post came about because apart from the circles - I only own ONE Spellbinders Set- the Labels One and I really wanted to come up with some ideas on how to use them other than just the plain shape.


This really is as simple as it looks!

Perfect for any party, class treats etc all you need to do is buy some cello bags, cut a plain pieces of card for the background and then use a smaller piece for the decoration. It's a great way to use up scraps and I just added a rub-on for extra detailing


Spellbinders Mentos Favors

I thought I was so clever coming up with this - but I have actually seem something really similar this week on the Spellbinders blog!

1. You need ribbon, 2 x pieces of pre-cut paper (one larger than the other), double sided tape, small hole punch, some means of scoring paper (board not necessary - use a ruler!)
2. Score 1cm either side of the "peak" of the larger paper
3. Repeat on smaller paper
4. Using adhesive tape – glue smaller piece onto larger piece
5. Punch small holes in either side
6. Thread ribbon through holes
7. Tie ribbon
8. Stuff in your mini-mentos!

Spellbinders Banner
OK - so this was my first attempt at a banner! Nothing really matches but it was a good way to show another use of the spellbinders die! 

This picture shows where I placed the die on the paper to get the shape. I repeated the placement for the smaller dies to get the layered effect. 


All of these projects use the Echo Park Be Mine Collection but you could adapt this idea using any papers for any occasion!

Valentines Deck of Cards
This was the last of my Valentines/Love projects - and it might just be one of my favorites. I cannot in any way take the credit for this idea! I saw this project on the A Day in my Life blog and thought it was wonderful!  Here is my version - it was a Valentines Gift for my husband

It's made from a deck of cards, and this blog here (Peppermint Creative) even has some downloadable templates you can use for the insert. I used the Bicycle Series 1800 cards (bought on Trade Me here in NZ)


I printed my inserts onto photo paper, cut them out and stuck them on using a little double sided tape and some tombow glue - which I never use generally as I find it wets and warps the paper - but this time I wanted that to happen to add to the aging effect.

The cards have an antiqued/aged look so I scuffed them up randomly with some sandpaper to make them look less new.

The book is bound together with some Kaisercraft Album Rings. I simply punched holes twice in each card using one of the spare cards in the pack as a template to ensure all the cards had holes in the same spots!
It was a little time consuming - but the hardest part (like others who tried it said!) was coming up with 52 things I loved about my husband (hmm - did that come out wrong?!?)

I hope you give this a go - it's really fun! Again - the idea could easily be adapted to any occasion - it wouldn't have to be a Valentines Book. What about an "I LOVE YOU" book for a wedding anniversary...

Lowri :-)

Banners are a huge trend at the moment and here I have used the banner to anchor my hand written journaling.

If you just cant bring yourself to write on your layouts or dont like the look of it - write on the back of them. Ever since I had my daughter I found my memory just hasnt been able to keep up and Im scared of forgetting all the little things - so now when I complete a layout I write the journaling in pencil on the back of the page. That way when I get around to typing up all the journaling its right there for me, and also if I never get around to doing that the journaling is still there on the layout.

This is one of my favourite ways to journal but it can be quite time consuming. The time it takes for me to do it this way is why my stack of to-journal pages has gotten so high! I dont have access to our printer via my laptop, I have to use my parters computer if I want to print, which can be quite a hassle (hence the influx of hand-journaled pages recently!).

Heres a little sample of typed journaling that I have cut into strips:


There are alot of products available to help you with your journaling. If you like to make your own embellishments there are alot of stamps on the market that can help. These new Kaisercraft stamps are perfect if you have school aged children - but if you dont have kids at school you could be very creative when you ink the stamp and use a baby-wipe to remove the ink off the parts like where the middle stamp says "Subject, Grade, School" etc.

You could also write on these tags and either incorporate them into your layout or hide them behind pictures and other elements.

My post is getting a bit long now, but there is alot of other product in the Artfull Crafts store that would be great for journaling so I will just link a couple more up incase your interested!
Kaisercraft Clear Stamps
Kaisercraft Rub-ons
Die-Cuts (there is alot of different designs of these by Kaisercraft)
Basic Grey Label Stickers and Die-cut Pieces

Oh, and before I go, one last thing :) If you just cant find the words for your journaling - ask someone else to write it for you (like your partner or your children). Its great to have someone else's perspective on an event/photo. And it might also just connect them into your memory keeping just a little bit more :)

Thanks for reading!

Joanne

Hi, It's Tina with some more eye-candy for you all!
This ones using the English Rose range from Kaisercraft.  It's a photo of my Mum when she was a child, taken at her family home in Chicago.  Don't you just love how they have matching dresses!

 The Bazzill Bling cardstock is pearlescent....so pretty!  The  I used Kaisercraft chipboard diecuts, and did a lot of fussy cutting of the roses from patterned paper.  And of course I had to add some Distress Stickles for a bit of subtle bling.

 The mini paper roses are from Sullivans




Here's a few of my layouts, featuring  hearts & love, that I thought I'd share with you.

 I love these Prima papers that you colour yourself!  I used Twinkling H2o's and watercolour pencils.  The twinkling H2o's are used just like a watercolour, but have a gorgeous shimmer.  They are so easy to use and can create magical effects on your layouts. 












And a card,.... simple & quick, but quite striking I think.



Happy Valentine's Day to all of you.
Hugs
Tina

Hi Everyone - hope this Sunday finds you rested for the week ahead.
Our Design Team have been busy! Did you see the great posts this week from Shirl, Joanne, Tina and Lowri


Plenty of inspiration there for lots of LOVELY projects using the new Kaisercraft Collections!  We also have heaps of other new products and tools in the shop - so take a look here.

We have already had a few entries into the challenge - please see our Challenge Launch for details and send your entries to artfullcraftsdt@gmail.com. We love to see them and the week of February 20th we will be featuring all the wonderful entries to our challenge.

You can win some wonderful goodies from the new Kaisercraft Collections!


For our feature this week we are meeting another member of our Design Team - Tanya Leigh.

Tanya is a very talented scrapbooker from Christchurch who uses products in wonderful ways. Here she shares with us three of her favourite projects, and tells us more about her scrapboooking style...


How were you introduced to scrapbooking?
I started making cards 13 years ago and was introduced to scrapbooking at a card class 8 years ago. I always said I would never scrapbook...what did i know!

What inspires you for layouts, projects, cards?
I get a lot from the internet and mags but also can be inspired by reading Home and Garden or NZ House and Garden Mags, signs around town, pretty much everything in every day life.

Class of 1980 This would be my favourite layout so far. My class photo from 1980, don't laugh..LOL!! I love making flowers and made these flowers using my punches. This layout was also done using a sketch but not one of mine.

What other project types do you like to work on besides scrapbook pages?
I used to do OTP and loved doing them but not so much anymore. Pretty much just do layouts now.

What is your favourite scrapbook brand and why?
There is so many brands out there and with new ones coming out all the time it's so hard to have a favourite one but I do LOVE Teresa Collins products. She has a large product range so it fits pretty much anything.

What scrapbooking tools/products can you not do without?
Can't do without my paper trimmer, patterned paper and my pinecone ink. I pretty much use pinecone ink on everything.

KBR Retreat I love how this layout came together. I loved doing all the cutting, layering etc. I even used prima packaging as part of the layering. My friends came and stayed for the weekend and we had a mini retreat and scrapped all weekend. Was bliss!

What is your current favourite technique or embellishment?
My favourite embellishment is the flower, I love flowers and I love making different ones. I have been making different types of flowers lately for my layouts. Flowers look great on those male layouts to.

What do you hope to try or improve on this year?
I love shabby chic and would love to do more of it on my layouts. I want to take more photo's this year so I brought project life, the perfect thing to take more photo's. At least one a day..LOL!!

"Perfect" This photo of my wee Noah was taken when he was a baby and has taken me until last year to scrap it. I used one of my sketches from my sketch blog for the layout of this. I have used glimmermist and diamond dust on this. I also made the flowers for this layout with packaging from a paper pack

What advice can you give to people just beginning to enjoy scrapbooking?
I would say start small. There are so many things to look at and buy and you can be given so much info, tips and techniques it can be so overwhelming. If I was only just starting to scrapbook now I would do a project like a mini album that I could start and finish....like a mini album that Lowri has been showing on the blog. It's nice to start something and see an end to it.

Do you have a blog?
Yes I do, you can find me here http://tanyaleigh.wordpress.com/ 

Thanks Tanya for sharing your wonderful projects and a little more about yourself.

Don't forget to e-mail your challenge entries to artfullcraftsdt@gmail.com and check out all the latest wonderful products in the shop here. This is going to be another busy week on the blog - so stay tuned to see more great projects from the Design Team.

Hi, It's Tina here with my "love" blog post!  I'm not really one for too much lovey dovey stuff, so I thought I'd tell you a bit about a product that I absolutely love, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist.  This is seriously gorgeous to work with, plus you can get messy (which is half the fun!)
A few tips...
* It's very easy to clean up, just rinse with water (but the darker/stronger colours will stain your fingers)
* You don't need to use alot.  The glimmer starts to show as it dries, so you don't need to soak your paper (which is a common mistake, and wastes alot of the product)
* You can wipe off the excess, but this also wipes off some of the glimmer.  This comes down to personal preference.
* Use a cardboard box as a spray booth.
* Holding the Glimmer Mist bottle close to your item will give a strong concentration of colour, holding it approx 20-25 cm away gives a light mist.
* Use it to custom colour your flowers (see below), doilies, and laces (as on the layout above).


* Works extremely well on absorbant materials such as paper, chipboard, & fabric, but it will eventually dry on other materials.
* Spray over stencils and masks to create your own patterned paper.
* Custom colour white cardstock for a unique effect.  Stamp with the Glimmer Mist as I've done with the butterfly on the layout below.
* You can also use the "left-overs" from Cricut cuts, or chipboard letters as stencils.
* Press the nozzle quickly for a finer mist or slowly to create more "blobs" when spraying.
If you're wondering which colour to try I'd suggest gold (which goes with everything), or chosing a colour you use often in your scrapping.

Now to show you some of the new goodies Liz has at Artfull Crafts. I painted the Twiddlybitz Filagree shadow box with gesso, then Kaisercraft white paint, then added some Tim Holtz Crackle paint to the front.

Once dry I applied Distress ink to highlight the cracks and then spritzed with Glimmer Mist

I used the Kaisercraft Wooden Flourishes "Magical Butterflies" and sprayed them with Glimmer Mist.

I also used Glimmer Mist on the Kaisercraft Paper Blooms, Sullivans mini roses,  and Kaisercraft English Rose paper.

I added Diamond Dust and Distress Stickles to the flowers
There was lots of diecuts to choose from, and this saying totally suited my project.

The Kaisercraft rub-ons added that little bit extra, and are a really nice quality.
The final result.....
Let me know what you think!
Happy scrapping,
Tina