This week one lucky commenter will win a TWO pairs of earrings from Safi & Sasu
Safi & Sasu is a new store on Etsy selling Tibetan silver earrings, featuring charms such as Owls, the tree of life, love hearts and cute little elephants.
To enter, just leave a comment on this post, with a description of your favourite pair of earrings from the Safi and Sasu shop.
Entries close at midnight Thursday UK time and the winner will be posted Friday evening, so be sure to check back to see if it’s your lucky day!
Good luck!
The winner for last weeks giveaway is Nicky!
Congratulations to Nicky who wins the hand crafted egg from Pinkworks
Nicky please email me (shimelle at gmail dot com) with your address.
In this week’s adventure, Glitter Girl takes on the question of how much ‘stuff’ is enough ‘stuff’, an issue currently being discussed here on the General Scrapbooking message board at Two Peas. Her adventure takes her the completion of three layouts this week: one layout that just didn’t feel finished in the album and two pages from a basic starting point to the end result. Plus a review of products that make layering and grouping embellishments very simple – many of which are on sale right now at Two Peas, but more about that in a minute.
About those products… if you have a look at this page you can see a big shopping list at the bottom – it includes the specifics from the three layouts plus a bunch of products I turn to again and again for layering. Some of them are ridiculous bargains at the moment – like some colours of the Studio Calico label stickers are just 87¢, and the stamp set with that lovely woodgrain background is $2.99 – but keep in mind that the big trade show starts this weekend. That means two good things: big sales and new things on their way, but also a bad thing: if you miss something you want now, it probably won’t be restocked. I have learned that lesson the hard way more than once, so there you go!
This layout might look slightly familiar, depending on how much you pay attention! You can see it in its original form here and even then I made a note that it didn’t feel finished, but I added it to my album it has been there ever since, not nearly as dressed up as the other pages in the book. There’s actually nothing wrong with it, of course. It shows the photos and documents the story and it fits the colour scheme I was working with in that section of the album. It’s not a case of right and wrong. It’s a case of being happy with what’s in the album, and sometimes that means I go back and make changes. I am sure there are scrappers out there who would prefer the before with its cleaner design as well as scrappers who would like neither – but I prefer the made-over version and am happy for it to be in my albums. So for me, that was a good use of time and energy.
There’s a chance this page may look a little familiar too – but this one isn’t a makeover. It is, however, a bit like this page, which is also a wedding photobooth page on white cardstock with pink and black and glitter! Some similarities, but certainly not the same layout, which is fine by me.
Proof that I put my stash to use straight away: the Sassafras stickers and the KI Memories tape I mentioned in the recent digest are both here on this page. I have to admit I feel a bit victorious when I manage to do that! (Though not as victorious as I will feel one day when I magically use every single letter on a sticker sheet in genuine words.)
Doily paper is just amazing, right? I love it as a full sheet (like this) or cut into separate doilies to layer and embellish (like this). But I think it’s the title placement that is a bit of a surprise here. It’s not what I normally would expect from this starting point, which makes it seem like all that room on the right is just waiting for a title. But part of what makes layering details work is to keep things very close together, so with the photo facing that corner of the page, it created a little window of space just right for the title, meaning layers of embellishment can go to the right. And because the background is a pretty overwhelming pattern, lots of empty space doesn’t look empty at all.
This idea of adding an extra colour quite near the end is something I do more often than I care to admit. It sometimes feels like a lack of planning when I’m working on a page – I was just going along thinking ‘pink and kraft and cream’ and it just wasn’t enough. There needed to be some sort of visual contrast without adding something that was going to take over the page. So I started with the embroidery hoop embellishment, then added the punched hearts and presto: the addition of an entirely unplanned colour, and it brightened the page and kept it from falling into a dreary bit labelled ‘lack of tonal variety’. Don’t be afraid to add something entirely different when you feel a page is almost – but not quite – finished.
This week Glitter Girl challenges you to make a page with ‘stuff’ too. You can add more to a layout in your album that didn’t make you happy or you can start from scratch. Create something to share with the Two Peas community and in your project description, tell us about how you found inspiration there. Be sure to click the challenge box when you upload a picture to the gallery. You can also leave a link here in the comments to share what you have made!
Onward, covered in glitter, my dear scrapbookers!
The Adventures of Glitter Girl is a weekly series on Two Peas in a Bucket, and goes live every Wednesday. I’ll share each adventure here shortly after that. I hope you enjoy her quests for crafting happiness, and if you ever have a scrapbooking dilemma yourself, you can always call her to action on the message board.
Someone glittery is helping me out with not one but two scrapbook starting points this week. She’s prepared a big mission this week, and these starting points are a little sneak of her adventures. But you won’t have to wait very long at all to see how these pages turned out.
This starting point includes a full sheet of patterned paper for the background, plus a stack of papers just slightly bigger than 4×6, with each layer a bit bigger than the last. One is punched with a notebook edger and a 2×7 strip of paper runs the other direction to all those in the stack.
And the second starting point has a white cardstock background, plus patterned papers by KI Memories, Doodlebug and Echo Park. The tall column is 3×12, the longest horizontal strip is about 1×11, plus a smaller strip at 1×5 and a 4×5ish box. If you’re going to scrap a 4×6 photo on this page, you might want to increase the size of the box to become a photo mat.
A little thought about these two side by side, before I can show you the finished pages: the first looks busier, but it’s entirely down to the patterned paper background as there really isn’t any more to the layers on that page than the second. But the clean white background of the second page makes it appear more minimal! Something to keep in mind if one style or the other suits your fancy perhaps.
Last week I switched gears from thank you cards just temporarily to start thinking a little about all things red and make up a few Valentines. You can see more of these layered envelopes on the JBS inspiration blog.
Which begs a Monday morning question: are you planning on any special Valentine projects? Do tell!
A little something new from the Garden Girls – on the twenty-second of the month, we bring you Gardeners’ Digest, a blog-hop style wrap up of our favourite projects and products at Two Peas in a Bucket. If you’ve just arrived from Shannon’s blog, then hello hello! (And if you’re just starting here, you can following it around, of course!)
First up, a look at what each of us is doing in the garden, and you may have noticed my slightly mysterious job there now! All I know is I’m the mild-mannered scrapbooker. This Glitter Girl person does seem to have some similarities, and I’m not quite sure if I can identify the voice known as the Adhesive Avenger. But I hope you are enjoying the Adventures of Glitter Girl each Wednesday, and if you have any topic you would like her to address in a video, please stop by the General Scrapbooking message board to grab her attention. She’s always on the look out for a good scrapping discussion!
Project by Lisa Truesdell.
If you like scrapbooking videos, I also urge you to check out Memory Keeping Mondays, which now has three different scrapbook pages from start to finish, with a new one added tomorrow. I love that there are four different scrappers working on this series (Jen, Shannon, Nancy and Lisa) so you’ll see a variety of styles, techniques and page themes. And if you’re working on a year-long documenting project (like Project Life or Document:2012), then definitely check out 2012 Captured, a monthly update from Lisa Truesdell with all sorts of creative energy and ideas for keeping that project rolling.
Here’s a little peek into my latest order from Two Peas. We’re each sharing five products we love, so here are five I’ve just unpacked yesterday and I’m looking forward to finding them a home on a layout very soon.
Two stock-up items: the polaroid paper from Echo Park (now 50% off) and all things Sassafras. I’m still mourning the loss of Sassafras and I stocked up on papers, stickers and embellishments (including Foldies!) before they disappear for good. Then three things that are brand new to me: a set of tape from KI Memories, pink, white and red baker’s twine from Doodlebug and Go-themed die cut tags from Ormulu. See if you can spot any of these on projects in the next few weeks – and hassle me if you can’t!
Two things for you:
First, leave a comment on this post to be entered to win a $10 gift certificate to Two Peas. Easy! Enter before the end of Thursday and the winner will be posted on Friday.
Second, your next stop on the way is Wendy Sue. Go, go, go!
Gardeners’ Digest is a monthly update from the Garden Girls, the design team at Two Peas in a Bucket. To keep up with the Garden Girls throughout the month, check out the garden gallery, find us on Twitter or subscribe to all our blogs with just a couple clicks.
This week one lucky commenter will win a hand crafted egg
from Pinkworks. The expression will be a surprise, but it is sure to make you smile.
Angela likes to refer to her items as ‘Handmade Happinesses’. She explains, “I produce handmade contemporary textile items. These range from one of a kind monsters, sweet and unique rag dolls, contemporary teddy bears, and loveable food items, such as boiled eggs each with a unique, hand sewn facial expressions. The essence of Pinkworks combines humour and individuality. Angela’s inspiration is drawn from traditional English toy making, cute Japanese pop culture, her worldwide travels and her view of everyday life.
To enter, just leave a comment on this post describing how you take your eggs in the morning!
Entries close at midnight Thursday UK time and the winner will be posted Friday evening, so be sure to check back to see if it’s your lucky day!
So what’s all this about? This is the January project for And Now for Something Completely Different, a year-long project I’m leading at UKScrappers. Prep notes are always posted on the tenth of the month and the project is always posted on the twentieth… at 10:20am… with twenty steps from start to finish, and a few new things to try along the way.
If you take on this project (feel free to make it your own) and upload your layout to the UKScrappers gallery by the end of the month, you’ll be in the running for some lovely surprises along the way! (I’ve added a share widget here too, but it will be projects uploaded to the UKS gallery that are eligible. Sharing here is just for fun.)
Anyone can join in – you do not need to be based in the UK to join the forum. Join in the discussion here. You’ll find my additional notes on the project there too, so worth a look before you give it a go.
I hope you enjoy this month’s twenty steps from start to finish!
In this week’s adventure, Glitter Girl tackles creative block, an issue currently being discussed here on the General Scrapbooking message board at Two Peas. Her adventure takes her through the reasons why creative block occurs, how to find inspiration here at Two Peas and how scraplifting can become a useful step in the creative process.
Click here for supplies – and a bunch of them are on sale, by the way.
I wouldn’t normally make such a prescriptive list of inspiration points, and would rather take just one element perhaps. But this was such a fun page to create and the more detailed challenge created by all those elements made it come together quickly. I love the look of the finished page and how it looks different than any of those original pages. Proof that creative block can be crushed when we need it to be!
This week Glitter Girl challenges you to take inspiration from something you have found at Two Peas in a Bucket. Create something to share with the Two Peas community and in your project description, tell us about how you found inspiration there. Be sure to click the challenge box when you upload a picture to the gallery. You can also leave a link here in the comments to share what you have made!
Onward, covered in glitter, my dear scrapbookers!
The Adventures of Glitter Girl is a weekly series on Two Peas in a Bucket, and goes live every Wednesday. I’ll share each adventure here shortly after that. I hope you enjoy her quests for crafting happiness, and if you ever have a scrapbooking dilemma yourself, you can always call her to action on the message board.
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Click 
Project by Lisa Truesdell.
