pretty paper. true stories. {and scrapbooking classes with cupcakes.}

_{©twopeasinabucket.com}

Remember when I may have mentioned that I was head over heels in love with the photo booth at Laura’s wedding? I think I may have made half a dozen photo booth layouts already but have another to share with you today. This one is from the Garden over at Two Peas – just click to see the full page. I used the chalkboard mists from Tattered Angels and decided I like the chalkboard finish more than the regular glimmer mists — it’s a great mix of opaque colour with a superfine dusting of sparkle. I am really fond of the mist + paint splatter look – I think the combination makes it look a little more purposeful. Though my recent habit of splattering paint on many projects is making it a firm requirement to wear dark nail varnish, as I keep staining my nails with the paint!

I’m also hosting the weekly photography challenge and it’s a challenge to kick it old school – by using film! Read all about it here. The challenge ends at midnight Sunday, and one entry will be chosen for a prize so consider it your invitation to go retro!

What crafty project are you working on or just finished? Tell us about it or link us up in the comments! I’d love to see what you’re making.

xlovesx

Comment [8]

This month I am excited to be the special guest of Hambly Screen Prints. They make such unique products and I love the look, so it was great fun to play with some of their newest products and some old favourites.

One thing I did while scrapping with the Hambly goodies was something I find myself doing more and more: scrapping in two page blocks. So simple really – making one layout then making another, unrelated layout while those supplies are still out and the ideas are still fresh. It makes my scrapping more efficient with both time and supplies, as I use a great deal of half or quarter sheets of paper on my pages, so it’s more likely that I’ll use the full page over two layouts.

These two layouts were done just like that. I love how they have some similarities but are certainly two different pages. If you try this concept, I would love to hear your thoughts on how it fits with your creative process.

You can see a more projects I’ve created for Hambly and enter to win a Hambly prize pack on their blog – check it out here.

In other news, I’m looking for a few inspiring guest posts to feature on shimelle.com over the next couple months. If you have an idea for a project, technique or creative process you would like to share on shimelle.com, please drop me a line. I’m not looking for completed projects at this time – just an idea and a link to your blog so I see the style of your work. These projects would need to be completed by the first of December, so please keep that in mind. You can email me at shimelle at gmail dot com. Thanks!

xlovesx

Comment [5]

_{©twopeasinabucket.com}

Every year I tell myself I will make all my Christmas cards and they will be a magnificent crafting achievement and everyone will love them and appreciate them.

And pretty much every year I never find the time to make that happen and end up with a variety of alternatives:
a) At the last minute, I buy a box of cards at the store and feel tremendously beaten as I sign and address them.
b) At the last minute, I make a few cards only to then stress about who should receive them.
c) I don’t end up sending cards at all.

Somebody tell me that it isn’t just me. Please?

Anyway, I am slightly ahead of the game this year and it’s not because I’ve just given up and purchased cards already (although I must admit I have been swooning over some of the designs at Paperchase this year, as always). Instead, it’s because I’ve taken a half-way handmade stance and gone with hybrid cards. By using digital scrapbooking kits, I could design a custom card once, then print it onto paper and have just a tiny bit of the papercrafting part to finish. And it’s part of the Two Peas Holiday Cardmaking event, which is happening all through November. Each weekend there are new projects to try.

You can see my miniclass here, complete with a PDF of instructions for the digital process and also a challenge to you! To enter the challenge, all you have to do is create a holiday card without red and green – try a twist on the traditional colours by using red and winter blue or green and brown or another combo of your choice. You don’t have to use hybrid techniques on your card to enter – but you do need to upload a picture of your project to the Two Peas gallery and check the box in step 4 to enter the challenge!

SJ took the challenge as a guest blogger during the cardmaking event and I adore what she made. Check out her creative cards here.

Right now, all digital kits, fonts and classes are 25% off at Two Peas, so if there is anything you’ve been considering, go get it now! (This offer includes the two classes I taught through Two Peas – Here, There and Everywhere and Go to Press, both of which you can sign up for in an archived form and have full access to all the class materials. But hurry, because I think this offer ends at the end of today or maybe tomorrow.)

And how about our Jenni Bowlin prize winner? Here’s the winning comment:
MandyK Says:
3 November 2010, 12:58
I think everyone should watch Parenthood Tuesday nights on NBC.Oh and check out Raising Hope Tuesday nights on FOX after Glee it’s so funny!
Love this new collection!

MandyK, please send me an email with your posting address so Jenni can send you some delightful goodies! By the way, the new Jenni Bowlin products are now in stock at Two Peas – find them here.

I hope you’re having a lovely weekend!

xlovesx

Comment [8]

With albums covered, the other big choice for preparing a Christmas journal is choosing the papers and embellishments. Thankfully we are spoilt for choice with plenty of good Christmas ranges in a variety of styles. Just like yesterday, I’m going to start with specific ranges that are available, then cover some general tips for what you might need throughout the Journal your Christmas project.

Above is the Dear Lizzy Christmas line from American Crafts. It’s crisp and light-hearted without being overly cutesy. I’ve ordered quite a bit of this range for my album. I have a lot of last year’s American Crafts Christmas collection (Merrymint) and the two do mix and match quite well. I want to sit down with my stash and last year’s album so they will be sure to have a different feel. I used a lot of the Merrymint last year but it was a big stack of paper so I’m sure I have duplicates of everything!

If you fancy something a bit more traditional, the Noel collection from Making Memories is a good bet. Lots of rich reds and greens and plenty of different embellishments. I’m not sure how it would work in an album but the Noel Advent Calendar is quite cool. There’s also a Bo Bunny Noel collection that coincidentally would coordinate quite easily!

BasicGrey’s Christmas release is called Jovial. I ordered this in the 6×6 stack so I can use it as accents rather than full backgrounds. I love BasicGrey designs but I don’t like to cut them up quite as much as other papers because they tend to have lovely shading at the edges which is lost when you cut a 12×12 down to a smaller size. So we’ll see if the 6×6 is useful in this case. (I’m on a 6×6 kick at the moment having rarely purchased them before. I bought one in a line not long ago purely because the 12×12 collection pack was sold out. Turns out I’ve used nearly the entire stack of papers and I never do that with a 12×12 collection pack, so I’m thinking perhaps I should pay more attention to the 6×6 sets, as they can be a good price too.)

If you love vintage style, your best bet is Tinsel and Twig by The Girls’ Paperie. Seriously lovely collection with reds and greens balanced with white and cream, and a look that feels cozy like a favourite quilt. The Girls’ Paperie sticker books are a great deal – you get a ton of stuff inside – and there is one for this collection too.

Echo Park has two Christmas collections – one in traditional deep reds and greens and the other in brighter tones, plus a third collection that is winter (but not necessarily Christmas) themed. I ordered some individual sheets from the bright collection and it will go well with the Dear Lizzy Christmas.

Crate Paper released Snowy Days for Christmas and it’s in jewel tones rather than traditional colours. I like it! Crate Papers are always excellent for cutting and layering. Again, I ordered this in the 6×6 size. (I did say I was on a kick!)

I lovelovelove Cosmo Cricket papers. Mitten Weather is a great collection of reds and the less traditional colours, so I think this will pull together everything else I’ve chosen.

If you’re a fan of clean and cute, go for Doodlebug’s Happy Holidays collection. I love to look at this range but it’s not the right tone for my album. To me, this is collection is very Christmas-with-children and well, that’s not Christmas in our house right now! But it might be for you.

Okay… now to figure out what you actually need to get ready. I rarely use just one collection in my scrapping – for me the fun is mixing all the different looks together. So when I go through that list and tell you I’ve ordered a little something from most of those collections, that makes it sound like you need a huge stack of supplies. You really don’t. First off, I know I have ordered too much. I can say that because it’s all over my table right now and I’m thinking um… did I really think I would need all that? But also I plan to do way more than just my Christmas journal with those supplies so I hope that will put more of them to use. I’ll have plenty for regular 12×12 scrapbook pages but also cards, gift tags, paper garlands and so on.

What you really need is enough paper to do between twenty-five and forty entries if you would like to make a page each day (obviously it depends on how many days you want to continue in your album). Unless you’re working at 12×12, it’s unlikely that you’ll need a full sheet of patterned paper per day. I love patterned paper possibly more than should be legal in most regions of the world so I know I will use more than forty sheets because I want to include more than forty patterns, but I will end up with tons of scrap pieces left over. (I have a basket for scraps like that next to my table, so it’s easy to gather the left overs and use them for something else.) When assembling your supplies, I would ask yourself how much you love patterned paper and figure out what fits your style. If you like everything to match, pick one collection and stick with it. If you like to vary things, then gather a bit from various collections. If you have plenty of stash on hand from earlier years, then make a goal to use it up this year and don’t buy anything new! In general, use one pattern per day as your rule of thumb: if you really love patterned paper, up the number to more than one pattern per day; if you’re not a patterned paper fan, chop that number in half. Got your number? Then collect that many different sheets from your stash or your order and create the base of a kit for yourself. (I’m not ignoring solid cardstock – I just think it’s easiest to sort that with your album so you can cut everything to the right size, etc, before you get started.

The other paper requirement is something for your writing! If you’re going to handwrite, choose a set of journaling cards or ledger paper or tags or something that will make the writing easy to include. Or include envelopes if you’re going to want to write more than will fit on a selection of journaling spots. Think of this element before you get to the embellishments and you’ll find things far easier along the way. In gathering your journaling items, remember you’ll need one for each day and you’ll also need a good pen. My favourite is the American Crafts Precision Pen in .03 in black or brown.

Now… with album, cardstock, patterned paper, journaling cards and pen sorted… then it’s time to collect the fun stuff. Choose your favourite embellishments – stickers, stamps, buttons, ribbon, die cuts, gems and so forth. If you use punches, you might want to decide if you want to punch things now or just keep your favourite punches out throughout the project.

Whether you need to pack up your crafting supplies during the holidays to make room for other things or you can leave everything out, I really suggest assembling everything into a kit for yourself and popping it into a basket or box to make things easy. When you’re making an entry with fifteen minutes for your sanity, you do not want to search through every sheet of paper you’ve ever purchased just to find the one you have in your mind. If you select everything now, you can make the rest of your stash out of bounds for this project. You can also be flexible and move to another room or take things on the road if you’re traveling during the holidays.

Add your scissors and your favourite adhesive to your basket and anything else that is a requirement for you, like a black/brown ink pad for edges or a clear block if you want to stamp for example. You might want a trimmer or you might not need one if you precut all your papers. Totally up to you!

And that is really all there is to it. Seriously, choosing the papers is what takes me the longest. There is too much loveliness to choose! So good luck with that hurdle… and from there, follow two guidelines: use what you love and create a kit so you’re not searching through all your stash every day!

Journal your Christmas is an online scrapbooking class for the holidays. It starts on the first of December and you are welcome to join us!

xlovesx

Comment [10]

With all of my online classes, I encourage you to use what you have and love — I never say there is one album you need or a collection of papers that are required. It’s all about embracing your own personal style and making things that are unique to you (even if it helps you to make pages similar to those you see in the class materials). This is definitely the case for Journal your Christmas and the participants have used pretty much every size and shape of album you can find or make. There are some things that work and some things that definitely don’t, so first some suggestions for specific albums if you want to look for something new, and then some notes on what to choose or make from what you have on hand.

Starting with some different choices for albums, clockwise from the top left in the image above…
Canvas albums from Prima, available in 6×12, 4×6 and 8×8.5: I like these both for the variety of sizes and because the canvas pages offer something a bit unique. The 4×6 album has a lot of potential for a hybrid project, like making each day’s entry a photo with some journaling over the top perhaps? But also, there is a real shortage of 6×12 albums right now (sad that American Crafts have discontinued this size!) and it has been quite popular with the Christmas Journal crowd over the last two years. So that’s an option. Ali Edwards made her 2009 December Daily with the 8×8.5 canvas album, which gives you an idea of the cool things you can do with this base.

Cottage Christmas 8×8 album by Imaginisce: This is a good choice if you like a cover with a happy pattern. You don’t need to do anything to the cover at all and can just get started with your pages. You will want to add some additional page protectors, most likely. I am pretty sure most brands will fit this album – usually page protectors tend to be pretty universal these days.

Vintage Book Covers by 7gypsies: This would be perfect for keeping things in a small format and they are so much less expensive than a more traditional album – the red cover set is just $1.50. But this isn’t an album when you purchase it – it is literally the front and back cover. You’ll need to make your pages, punch holes and add rings or ribbon to bind it together. I used these for my Why I Scrapbook project earlier this year and I love the way they look even after they have been worn a bit by reading. If you add rings, get large rings — more on that in a bit.

8×8 Modern Album by American Crafts:. I’ve used the Modern Album for three of my Christmas journals over the years, including an 8×8 in blush pink last year. I love American Crafts albums and it’s what I use for all my 12×12 pages. Last year I had a two page spread for each day (one side was a full page photo – not two whole pages of scrapping, I promise!) so I filled the album with forty page protectors and even with bulky pages and being packed in a suitcase multiple times over the past year, it is still completely intact. This is a great choice and you can choose from several colours. If you want to cover the chipboard section with paper, I highly suggest spray adhesive. I covered mine with wallpaper last year and the spray adhesive worked like a charm. (It’s great for anything with chipboard and also perfect for adhering transparencies.)

And a drumroll… this is the album I will be using this year. It’s the Parisian Anthology Portfolio Album by Pink Paislee and it’s 8.5×11 with a canvas cover and a 3-ring binder. I love the cover but I will admit it’s the page protectors that sold me – a mix of sizes and styles. Some 8.5×11 plain, some 5×7 plain, but then some with a few pockets and some with lots of pockets. It comes with 20 page protectors and I bought a second pack of just the varied page protectors in case I need more. This album is thinner than the AC Modern Album, but it’s still a good size and I’m quite excited about having a different format for my book this year rather than a square page every day. I ordered it from Two Peas and it’s here now so I’m starting to work on it… but I’ll share some in-progress pages another day. If you haven’t chosen an album yet and want to try something new, this has your name all over it.

Another option worth noting is the Noel 8×8 mixed media album by Making Memories. They’ve made several of these types of albums in different collections. I don’t have this one, but I used one from another collection on this travel journal and I have another couple sitting on my shelf waiting for the right project. I love the mix of pages – you get 10 8×8 pages in a variety of formats – papers, die-cut sheets and transparencies. You would need to add additional pages if you wanted more than twenty entries, but you could cut them from any paper you liked and just punch holes in the right spot.

If you prefer to choose something from your stash or make your own album, that’s perfect! There are a few things you’ll want to decide and keep in mind as you choose or make your album.

If you intend on making daily entries, you will want something that will allow enough pages. That means 25 if you stop at Christmas day, 37 if you stop at the end of the twelfth day of Christmas or even more if you want to start on a different day (several JYC participants start their albums on the day after Thanksgiving because that is their first real day of the Christmas season, for example). That’s a great deal of pages. And remember there’s a difference between just a stack of paper and a stack of scrapbook pages. If you create pages with dimension – even just Thickers or the odd pop dot – the stack of pages will be pretty deep! Keep this in mind and don’t choose something that will limit you. If you opt for book rings, get the biggest book rings you can find. If you’re thinking you’ll bind your book with a spiral wire, you may want to wait until the end of the project rather than binding it at the beginning. If you’re looking at existing albums on your shelf, see how happy they would be if you put a stack of twenty-five to forty scrapbook pages inside. Every year there’s a discussion of oh no, my album is overstuffed! on our forum, so it’s best to keep it in mind when you’re choosing. Opt for something that will give you too much room – you can always find something to fill it later if that truly turns out to be the case.

If you intend to just make a few entries per year and keep the album going over several Christmas seasons, then you may want to choose a more traditional format like a 12×12 album. Just keep in mind if you want to add to it each year, you’ll want room for more than one year’s entries, so the notes above still apply.

As far as page size goes, it is a personal preference of course. I have used 6×6, 8×8, 9×9 and a 12×12 with a mix of sizes in that album. 8×8 and 9×9 are my favourites – 9×9 albums aren’t as easy to find as the 8×8. I find those sizes to be so lovely because they still give you room and freedom with your photos and journaling, but they are also a size that is easy for someone to hold and read. These books are great to put out with your Christmas decorations and your family and friends will love taking a look, so unless you purposely want this to be a for-your-eyes-only project, it’s worth keeping in mind that this album will be held and read. 6×6 is the most efficient size for supplies, as you can get four pages from one sheet of 12×12 cardstock, but I found it too small for this type of project if you are going to include photos. When I used a 6×6 book it was almost entirely words and just a picture here and there. The whole point of this album is to tell the story so don’t forget you will need space to write! 12×12 I enjoyed it but it was a little too much for me to take on for a daily entry. I found my pages were sparser than I would have liked because I only had a certain amount of time per page. That extra space took time to fill! But if you have plenty of time or are a speedy scrapbooker, then you may really love the 12×12 option. If so, go for it!

Once you’ve chosen your album, the biggest time saver you can do right now is to prepare your cardstock. Choose the colours, cut it to size, even ink the edges now if you know that’s something you will want on each page. Then choose which is easiest for your set up: mocking up the album by putting the cardstock in the page protectors or punching holes for rings or stacking up the papers in order so your album will grow as you complete pages throughout December. Either works just fine – it may depend on whether you can leave your crafting supplies out during the season or if you need to condense to a small and portable solution.

Tomorrow I’ll share part two of the supply talk, including different options for papers and embellishments plus some tricks for making it simple and efficient to create daily entries in an album. See you then!

Journal your Christmas is an online class that starts on the 1st of December. I’d love for you to join us!

xlovesx

PS: The giveaway below closes on Friday, so be sure to enter!

Comment [14]

Jenni Bowlin Studio just released a new collection (and opened a brand new message board) and today a lucky commenter will win the brand new release. If you’ve just popped by on the Jenni Bowlin blog hop, welcome! I hope you’ll have a look around! And of course, enter for a chance to win some brand new Jenni goodness!

Here’s what’s new in November from JBS:

Red and black patterned paper collection… these come in 12×12, plus the six square papers also come in a set of 4×4 sheets – that’s what I used in the layout.

Matching red and black journaling cards – one of each design in a pack.

A new shaped journaling card that comes in a notepad. There are three sets in this shape – this is the vintage set, then there is a calendar collection and my favourite: polka-dots. Be still my heart. I’ve already used about five of the polka dot pages in the last three days!

Three new sets of mini bingo cards: calendars in multi-colours and black plus a Thanksgiving/autumn gratitude set.

And something I have been loving and just can’t wait for it to hit stores: the new Jenni Bowlin for Ranger collection. You can already find them at JBS Mercantile. The collection includes paint dabbers, ink pads and reinkers in Jenni’s signature colours. I love that they truly are a perfect match. I’ve been using all three in the same colour on a layout to make everything coordinate. Very, very cool! The pink is my absolute favourite.

On to the giveaway! You can win:
…a set of the new Red/Black Extension III, including 12×12 papers, die cut paper, mini paper and journaling cards
…one new diecut journaling part (vintage, polka dot or calendar, chosen at random)
…one new mini bingo card set (calendar multi, calendar black or Thanksgiving, chosen at random)
Pretty cool! The prize pack will be dispatched from Jenni Bowlin Studio straight to the winner. Entries are welcome from anywhere in the world!

To enter, leave a comment on this thread suggesting something you think others should read or watch. Easy! (By the way, the comment form works best if you click the preview button first.)

Entries close midday UK time this Friday and I’ll announce the winner by Saturday. Good luck!

For all the stops on the blog hop, visit the Jenni Bowlin Studio Inspiration Blog so you can see all the participants — they all have a set of goodies to give away.

xlovesx

PS: The post with all the supply ideas for Journal your Christmas? It will go up in the middle of the day Wednesday! One slight hiccup – want to make sure something is actually available before I say it’s the bee’s knees. Useful, I suppose! I promise it’s headed your way very shortly. Cheers.

Comment [299]

Today, the first of November, is the first day of the year that I allow myself to jump into the Christmas season. And that’s because it’s the day every year when I get out all my Christmas journals and finish my masterplan for this year’s book. A book that starts one month from today, on the first of December. Not just any book: a Christmas journal.

Journal your Christmas was a little something I started many Christmases ago. The first year it was just something I did on my own as I used my notebook and pen to get through the end of a rough year, determined to take back my Christmas and enjoy the holiday magic once more. And you know what? It worked. It worked so well that others asked what I had done to make the holidays so happy and I told them. They asked to be part of it. The next Christmas, a small group of us completed the very first Journal your Christmas online class. Every year since, Journal your Christmas has grown and I’ve loved meeting so many new friends and learning about Christmas traditions around the world as a result.

This year, consider yourself invited to join the fun.

Every year, Journal your Christmas includes daily prompts from the 1st of December to the 6th of January, the twelfth day of Christmas. The 37 illustrated PDF files are delivered straight to your inbox so you can read them over your first cup of coffee and mull over each topic for a full day. There’s also an archive of the class materials online in case you can’t get to your email or in case something dreadful happens to your computer. And like every year, you can go it alone or be as social as you like, with a private discussion forum where you’ll find other Christmas journallers who will cheer you on and share your excitement, but if you prefer to stick to the prompts only, that’s completely fine too. And like every year, if you’re participated once, you can join us every Christmas for as long as you like at no extra cost.

In addition to ideas for writing topics and styles and notes on photos not to miss, the 37 prompts include more than 300 scrapbook pages to inspire your crafting creativity.

Every year, I change it up a little to make sure there is something new for those of you who keep coming back. This year, those goodies include:
…By request, the return of the photography focus. 37 talented photographers share their tips and examples for taking your best photos throughout the holiday season.
…A brand new digital kit, including 50 papers, 5 full alphabets, 20 square and 20 rectangular page templates, 20 square and 20 rectangular quick pages and more than 100 embellishments. We’re talking crazy amounts of stuff to download from the forum. If you’re a paper scrapbooker, much of this kit is suitable for printing out and adding to your book.
…A selection of step-by-step crafting tutorials for Christmas projects and journal embellishments.
…An online chat party to get things started at the beginning of December.

For those who are joining us again, the class outline remains the same but the prompts are refreshed with new examples and additional content, including tips for how to revisit a prompt you have written about in a previous year.

Like all online scrapbooking classes at shimelle.com, Journal your Christmas includes
…permanent access to all class materials
…private forum for discussion and sharing your work
…prompts delivered straight to your inbox
…ongoing membership — pay just once and participate as many years as you would like at no additional cost.

Because membership is permanent, that means if you sign up this year, you also get access to everything from years past, which includes last year’s digital kits, printable accents and workbook, along with last year’s prompts. All of those things are ready and waiting for you on the forum when you sign up, so if you want to get started before the first of December, all you have to do is click to download and you’ll have everything at your fingertips!

Journal your Christmas is suitable for daily creativity if you like or it can be followed on your own schedule. Originally, the idea was to create as many journal entries as you liked in the first year, then come back the next Christmas and add a few more, and on and on for as long as you wished. Many have opted for daily entries as a way of keeping track during a busy season and maintaining just enough time for reflection and creativity even when there’s plenty to do. Everyone is equally welcome, whether you plan to make one page or thirty-seven. Or somewhere in between!

You don’t need any special supplies to participate in Journal your Christmas. You’ll be encouraged to use what you have and love – there is no set style you ‘must’ follow, and in fact you’ll see a wide variety of styles represented in each day’s prompts. There are guidelines included to help you gather what you will need so you can have your supplies together throughout the project, even if you need to pack up your crafting gear to make way for holiday guests or Christmas decorations. But you certainly don’t need to use a certain album, papers or anything else. New or old or a mix – whatever supplies you would like to use, they are perfect.

You can pay by credit/debit card or Paypal account. If you would like your prompts to come to a different email address than the one on your Paypal account, please be sure to leave a note in the message to seller section with the email address you would like to use. Orders can take up to 24 hours to process, though we are usually quicker. If you haven’t received your class registration after 24 hours, just email me and we’ll make sure your registration is completed and ready for you to get started!

If you participated last year, you don’t need to do anything to join us again. In about a week you will receive an email with some updated info and reminders for you.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll share a few more sneaky looks at what you can expect this year, so keep your eyes open throughout November. You can also see some examples from past participants here. I really did pull out all my supplies and complete my masterplan today, and that means tomorrow I have a special post with notes on the supplies I am using for my album this year. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments and I’ll get right back to you with an answer! I can’t wait to get into the holiday spirit with new faces and alumni in this year’s class!

xlovesx

Comment [210]

If you find yourself needing something to dress up a last-minute Halloween party at home or school, you may want to grab this printable. Just bake some quick cakes, print the PDF pages and use double-sided tape to attach the cupcake flags to toothpicks and you’re all set! (The kit includes printable Halloween cards and posters to match too, with orange, pink and blue all included.)

That said, I should go get my pumpkin cupcakes out of the oven right about now! Happy almost-Halloween!

xlovesx

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