An Magical adventure kit

Hi Everyone, the much anticipated kit is around the corner with the last of the stock arriving today.  A slight delay, but sure to excite everyone with some REALLY cool product in there.  This kit will also feature at least 3 videos!  YES how awesome is that!  Worth the wait for sure.

Here it is, our new September kit.

I had SO MUCH fun with this kit probably my favourite to date!

This kit features some cool less consumable product and filled with LOADS of techniques to learn!  All teamed up with newly released Simple Stories papers, Cardstock lot so fun to boot!  Each kit has Fireworks sprays (not your normal colour sprays - and you will see why), Goosebumps, Metallic Melts, Stencil, twine and my favourte paper collection I have ever worked with!  

You will have fun learning another way to use your Metallic Melts teaming it up with some of the kit product for a fun effect.  We will also be playing with the stencil in a few different ways as well.  You will also get to play with a product not readily available in Australia, as well as working with co-ordinated patterned papers.  The products in this kit are quite unique and so I have included THREE videos to help you nail those techniques!   

Kits are still $39 + Postage with LOADS of value for you money.  International shipping available so please enquire.

Here is some more information for those wanting a to know little more information about our kits.

They are self-paced class kits to complete in the comfort of your own home or with a group of friends

Each premier kit comes with:

• Video AND written  instructions of the featured project
• Tips (and sometimes additional technique videos) to complete additional projects with the kit contents
• Feature a particular technique or product to be used well after the life of the kit.  (With all of our kits you will have plenty of product and knowledge to add to future projects)
• Photos of each project including close up detail pictures
• All the product needed to complete the project with a list of additional basic items used such as ink/ paint/ gesso/texture paste you will need out of your supplies.

The kits focus on how to use various products teamed up with some pretty paper to compliment them, so there is always less or non-consumable products in our kits, to not only help you complete some beautiful projects, learn many techniques and ways of using the different product as well as taking them well beyond the kit projects.

Kits are $39 + postage

To order e-mail us at orders.scrappychatdesigns@gmail.com

Scrappy Chat Designs Kit club Membership:

This lasts for 3 months is $135 and includes 3 kits at 5% off and postage for all 3 kits (they are released monthly).  I also pop in a little something extra as a thank-you for being a member.  As a member you also get ‘insider’ info on what is coming up in the next kit – sometimes even a pic!  You are also guaranteed the kits which do sometimes sell out VERY quickly.  If you are interested in membership, you need to pay the membership fee by the 15^th of the month prior.  So to commence in November you need to have your membership fee paid by 15^th October.

Current Kit stocks:
We currently have a few of the following kits available after re-stocking:

Friends for Life Premier kit $39

Treasured Memories - class kit $ 25 (reduced price)

Playground Fun Premier kit  $39

A Giraffe from Dad

I just LOVE stars and this layout show it so much!

I have a quick share for you today with a layout I created of my eldest boy when he was about 6 months old.  I just LOVE this pic I took of him with the toy his dad bought for him while we were still in hospital from the birth of him.  He is now 4 yrs old and still has that giraffe on his bed which is so cute to see.  I really enjoyed all the layering of Spellbinders 'Stars Five' die teamed up with Bazzill Two scoops cardstock, plain cardstock and Bazzill pattern papers oh so much fun!

Here are some detail pics as well showing the dimension and layering

 The circle with the star has some dimension through some scrap dots that I allowed to dry without adhering it so that the journal piece could still be taken in and out.

 You can see a list of all the products I have used on this layout over that the Downunder Direct blog here

Spellbinders goes to the Emmy Awards!

Well how exciting is this!  The spellbinders crew are going to the Emmys!  Yes you heard it right!  Stacey along with some of the wonderful designers on the Spellbinders team are going to be walking the red carpet and giving the stars something to remember!  You can check out all about it here

So as part of the celebrations I have created a couple of 'must have' items to literally walk the red carpet in and finish off any beautiful outfit.  I am by no means an experienced jewellery maker in fact I have never made any altered jewellery before, really just strung beads or crystals together into VERY basic earrings or a string of beads type necklace.   All that aside, I still have a little tutorial for you to have a go at altering pieces for your own jewellery making.

I started out by wanting to use one of the beautiful Susan Lenart Kazmar for Spellbinders Bezels as a buckle for a high heel.  So I headed down to our local thrift store for some old shoes perfect for altering.  To my surprise I found a pair that didn't need much more than some dressing up!  I wanted them to have a bit of a glitzy feel so added some Jo Sonja's opal dust to them... it made them so sparkly!

I then took the following Spellbinders products and set about creating.

MMM-001 Spellbinders® Artisan X-plorer™ Machine 

MT1-005 Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™ Texture Plates

MB6-004 Susan Lenart Kazmer™ for Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™ Flowers One Brass Blank

MB6-011 Susan Lenart Kazmer™ for Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™ Birds One Brass Blank

MB1-002 Susan Lenart Kazmer™ for Spellbinders® Media Mixáge™ Squares One Bezel 

I added a beautiful jewellery piece inside the bezel and not much more was needed with that - it looked just how I wanted it to.

Some pearl chain and assorted other chains along with some simply beautiful crystal pieces from Connie Crystal that made the glitzing it up further, just so easy!  I also added some crystals that were left over from my wedding where I beaded lots of crystals onto my flowergirl's dress into the design. I also used the Beadalon  Jump ring mandrel to hold all the pieces together with various sized jump rings from Beadalon silver wire.

As part of the design I really wanted to include my favourite of all the blanks, the birds.  How beautiful are they!  Some time ago I tried adding texture to them with no luck... why... because I was treating them like paper I guess!  Well I have figured out how and I am going to show you how I did it.

First take your Spellbinders Media Mixage Blanks by Susan Lenart Kazmar and sand them to reveal a beautiful shine.  I just used an old fine sanding blog.  In the picture below I have only sanded the right half so that you can see the difference.

Place the bird face down onto the metal embossing plate.  I created my own unique sandwich of Base plate -> Texture plate -> metal blank face down topped with the cutting plate.  All pretending like I was cutting it knowing that the embossing plate never would and I then proceeded to run it through the machine.   

 After it had been through the machine and I turned it over, this is what it looked like.  Don't you just love that texture it suddenly has!

 I loved it SO much I wanted to enhance it more so I set about using a technique John Petersen taught us at the Spellbinders retreat which was to colour up metal using Tsukineko StazOn. Oh how I'm addicted to that technique!!

 Still not wanting to stop there I sanded the StazOn back to reveal the most divine pattern on the bird, perfect for my project.

There are SO many different texture plates that you can really have fun with this technique.  So I hope you give it a try.

The perfect accompaniment to my design - the flowers - came from artist Linda Peterson who a week ago showed us all how to create the most stunning pair of earrings on the Spellbinders Media Mixage Monday Segment - you can check it out here.  The little flower blank she altered and used was going to be perfect.  I don't have any fancy jewellery making tools, but was able to easily take the techniques learnt and create my own take.  

My shoes and handbag really turned out to be the perfect accompaniment to her earrings I thought!  

Here are some detail pics of my altered jewellery making efforts and how all of the above really came together on my project.

Make sure to check out the Spellbinders Blog and Facebook page.  There is so many Emmys inspired projects being shared on both, you are sure not to be disappointed for lack of inspiration.

I hope I have inspired you today to Explore Beyond.

Ladies of the Manor Retreat only 4 weeks away!

I have been VERY busy creating and now starting to be able to show what I have been up to...

How exciting that the Ladies of the Manor Retreat is only 4 weeks away!  I can't wait to teach all the lovely ladies coming along to this 'Special Event' retreat.  It is going to be SO MUCH fun!!  The event includes some wonderful tutors that you can book in to do classes with including Karen Shady, Trudi Harrison and Heather McMahon.  You can check out all the details here

My class will be featuring creating a layout with a grungy mixed media background through layers of various products and mediums including some new ones from Tsukineko/Imagine Crafts.  This all teamed up with some Spellbinders Dies for a beautiful accent.  We will also be creating a quick and easy elegant card, using one of the new release Spellbinders Dies teamed up with Tsukineko ink and Manor House flowers for a beautiful effect in a choice of colours.

Here is a sneak...

Ladies of the Manor Retreat 4-6th October 2013

If I have your mouth watering, come along to the retreat and if you already are, get your booking in. The classes are going to be so much fun!