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

Welcome to a weekend of Christmas Crafting! This weekend includes a mix of tutorials, challenges and ideas all related to Christmas – be it scrapbooking the season with Journal your Christmas, creating handmade cards or making handmade gifts. And every challenge includes a chance to win!

So let’s get the weekend started with giveaway! Leave a comment on this post listing just one thing you like about the holidays. Absolutely anything – but just one thing! One commenter will win a class pass for herself and two friends (three passes in total) for Journal your Christmas. Entries close at midnight UK time on Sunday, the 13th of November 2011.

What if I am already part of Journal your Christmas? You can still enter the drawing! You’ll have your choice of inviting three friends to join you (if you blog, you could host your own giveaway if you don’t have three friends in mind) or you can invite two friends to join you this Christmas and keep your class pass for any shimelle.com class in 2012!

Go on then – tell us something you like about Christmas!

Join in all weekend for Christmas crafting posts – tutorials, challenges, prizes and more! First tutorial coming up in just thirty minutes (7pm UK time).

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So you may have noticed not long ago there was a little bit of a crazy weekend of scrapbooking here on the blog and lots of challenges and prizes and all sorts of cool stuff like that. I hope you noticed, anyway. It looks like you did. Because there were some entries for those challenges. In fact, there were 1,476 entries to those challenges! I am rather excited that there are 1,476 more scrapbook pages in the world as a result of a weekend of creativity.

Each of the challenges had a prize to be won, and the entries have all been pulled from the hat and here they are! A little drumroll, please…

The prize for the Sketch of the Week challenge goes to Abbey for this layout. She wins a class pass for herself and a friend.

The prize for the Printable Challenge goes to Sanna for this layout. She wins a prize pack of scrapbooking supplies and printable elements for hybrid crafting

The prize for the Stickery Challenge goes to Steffi for this layout. She wins a prize pack courtesy of American Crafts.

The prize for the Starting Point Challenge goes to Chipper for this layout. She wins a prize pack courtesy of BasicGrey.

The prize for the Chop your Paper Challenge goes to Julia for this layout. She wins a prize pack courtesy of Pink Paislee.

The prize for the Add to the Story Challenge goes to Jennifer Grace for this layout. She wins a prize pack of assorted scrapbook goodies.

The prize for the Grid it Up Challenge goes to Jane for this layout. She wins a prize pack of assorted scrapbook goodies.

The prize for the Colour Story Challenge goes to Janelle for this layout. She wins a prize pack of assorted scrapbook goodies.

The prize for the From the Heart Challenge goes to Cynthia for this layout. She wins a prize pack of assorted scrapbook goodies.

The prize for the Go Retro Challenge goes to Funkipickle for this layout. She wins a prize pack of assorted scrapbook goodies.

The prize for the 3 is a Magic Number Challenge goes to So.Creative for this layout. She wins a prize pack courtesy of Studio Calico.

The prize for the Half Page Challenge goes to Amanda for this layout. She wins a prize pack courtesy of Pebbles.

The prize for the Signature Accent Challenge goes to Fay for this layout. She wins a prize pack courtesy of Lily Bee Design.

The prize for the Butterflies & Bingo Cards challenge goes to CinniBinni for this layout. She wins a prize pack of Jenni Bowlin Studio goodies.

The prize for the Hot Pink Hoopla challenge goes to Sarah for this layout. She wins a prize pack courtesy of Cosmo Cricket.

If you are a winner, please email me (shimelle at gmail dot com) with your mailing address so I can either send your prize or have it sent to you by the challenge sponsor. I’ll be hopping around to leave you a comment today in case you haven’t checked this post.

Thank you so much to the sponsors of this event – I am so glad I could offer great prizes like these! And thank you ever so much for being part of it, whether you just shared a link or created a dozen scrapbook pages. If you are proud to scrapbook and love this crafty thing we do, you are pretty awesome in my book. I really hope you’ll stick around and join me for another weekend of fun in the future!

And just in case you’re still feeling crafty, you can find two challenges here every week – sketches on Wednesdays and starting points on Saturdays! Or you could join in a class and Learn Something New, you know.

New sketch later today!

xlovesx

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And with that, Sunday is quickly drawing to a close on this side of the world, so I want to pause and draw up a handy list of links to all the challenges so far, but also tell you a bit about what to expect in the week ahead.

These challenges are open now until the end of next Sunday, the 21st of August:
Sketch of the Week
Printable Challenge
Stickery Challenge
Starting Point Challenge
Chop your Paper Challenge
Add to the Story Challenge
Grid it Up Challenge
Colour Story Challenge
From the Heart Challenge
Go Retro Challenge
3 is a Magic Number Challenge
Half Page Challenge
Signature Accent Challenge
PLUS these challenges added throughout the week:
Butterflies & Bingo Cards
Hot Pink Hoopla
Scrapbooking Sketch of the Week (This one is open until Tuesday.)

So there is certainly plenty to create and many chances to win! But wait – there’s more to come. There always needs to be a surprise, right?

This week on the blog, you’ll find four scrapbooking tutorial posts, with videos and a chance to win prizes from Jenni Bowlin Studio, Cosmo Cricket, Simple Stories and Little Musings. And the details (and a kit option) for the 2011 run of Learn Something New. So while I promise not to stand here issuing you challenges every few hours for the entire week, I do promise to keep the creative fun rolling with some very special things in store. I really hope you’ll stop by each day to see what’s new!

Thank you very much for all your fabulous creativity and I am so very happy to have met so many lovely ladies who are proud to scrapbook! While the crop was going on this weekend, I ended up in a conversation with one of those people who dismisses scrapbooking as less than cool, and it was pretty fabulous to know there are plenty of us who are happy to set her straight!

US readers, you have a few hours left to use the code SHIPSL for free shipping on a $35 order at Two Peas so go get some goodies in your bucket as a special treat!

Okay happy, scrappy friends — I’ll catch you tomorrow!

xlovesx

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Remember this post wherein the lovely Julie shared her favourite techniques with Lily Bee papers and embellishments?

Or how these letters from Lily Bee have become something I add to almost every layout recently?

Well, therein lies another challenge: create a page with a product or a technique you love so much you use it relatively often. Maybe it’s become your signature accent! Whatever it might be, put it on show and share it with us!

Many thanks to Lily Bee Design for sponsoring this challenge! You can find them on Facebook and Twitter, so you can find their updates on the site of your choice.

One entry will be selected to win a prize pack of scrapbooking supplies from Lily Bee Design. Entries close at midnight next Sunday (21st August 2011).

Feel free to use the comment section to chat about this challenge, as the entries should go in the linky widget!

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This idea of how individual pages make a full album is something that’s on my mind so much recently. It applies to that idea of adding in more photos or writing to help things make sense, but it also applies to the design. We can create pages with so very much in that 12×12 space – plenty of photos and patterned papers and accents. As we turn the pages in our albums, those sorts of pages become less appreciated when our eyes get a bit tired from taking in all the details.

Every once in while, I love the break from a really detailed page to go with something simple that leaves plenty of room for your eyes to relax. It helps if you really love the patterned paper, like this lovely and simple floral from the Ever After collection by Pebbles. That helps a minimal design not look too stark, but still less overwhelming than some more crowded pages. So this page will work like that – with the design kept to just two colours and half the page space!

One other product I love from Pebbles that is easy to miss – Candy Dots. They are simple little dots in pearls, jewels or buttons, with a glue dot there on the back so you can just add them without any messing about with the adhesive. This pink and green wedding was accented with grey, so I used grey Candy Dots in the middle of each butterfly. They are such a simply way to dress up a layout with that special something!

How about a challenge? Create a layout that only uses half the page. It can be whatever half you would like, but somewhere around half the page space needs to be breathing room!

Many thanks to Pebbles for sponsoring this challenge! You can find them on Facebook and Twitter, so be sure to follow them!

One entry will be selected to win a prize pack of scrapbooking supplies from Pebbles. Entries close at midnight next Sunday (21st August 2011).

Feel free to use the comment section to chat about this challenge, as the entries should go in the linky widget!

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So for US scrappers, there’s the free shipping offer this weekend, but I promised something for UK scrapbookers too, and that’s a different kind of bargain.

While I don’t have all the latest CHA releases like some fabulous scrapbooking stores, I can offer you a huge bargain on an assortment of past-season releases. So I’ve set aside a limited number of scrapbooking bargain boxes. Each box includes a variety of things like minibooks, cardstock, patterned paper, stamps (some clear, some wood-mounted rubber), Thickers and other stickers, embellishments and ribbon. There are no duplicates within one box (there is duplication from box to box, though they are not necessarily identical) and all supplies are brand new, they just aren’t this season’s releases. There are no split packets with the exception of ribbon cut from long reels. Almost all of these items are supplies I have used in my workshops, so they are all products I love. The sample above gives you an idea of the brands included – Bazzill cardstock, American Crafts Thickers and so on. All box contents are major brands I’ve used on my pages!

Each box is £20, which includes first class postage to a UK address. The contents of each box would retail for at least double that, sometimes more, so there’s a savings of at least £20 with each box. And no extra shipping! To keep the shipping costs down, I am recycling cardboard boxes! But everything is packed safely and prettily inside! If you would like a bargain box, click the button and do make sure you’re leaving the correct address for posting, please!

All Sold Out! Thanks so much!

Once the boxes are sold out, I’m afraid that’s it on this particular bargain. But if you fancy a bit of a surprise at a great discount, I hope you can grab one while they last!

Sorry, I cannot take non-UK orders for this offer.

xlovesx

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If you’ve been scrapbooking all weekend, it’s time for a little entertainment break, right? So I give you a little something from my childhood: Schoolhouse Rock. Something that essentially every American in a ten year age bracket (at the very least) knows by heart, and yet the Brits know just this one song and not the rest of the schoolhouse full of songs. Sigh. But it’s this:

And yes, three is a magic number, even in scrapbooking. It’s handy when you can repeat something on a layout three times, like a splash of colour in three points that creates a triangle or three daisies in a row. Three photos is the perfect medium between enough but not too much on a single page. But let’s be honest: there are a huge amount of supplies that just don’t give you three in one pack. Stickers rarely repeat on the same sheet, die-cut packs tend to have a variety or maybe just duplicates but not three of each. And so there’s another way that magical three can help – in groups of embellishments.

For this page, made with almost entirely Studio Calico supplies, the embellishment grouping to the right of the photos doesn’t repeat the same thing three times, but instead groups three single embellishments with something in common: three types of flower-shaped embellishments. One is a paper notions flower, another is a flower made by ruffling a FabRips strip then twisting it into a spiral, and the third is a resin flower attached to a punched circle and sticker. All different, but all flowers, and three of them together seems just right to me.
Here’s your challenge: Create a project (layout, card, etc) that includes a group of three in the embellishment. It can be three kinds of flowers like I used, but that’s not a requirement – you could use three squares, three butterflies, three things that are red, three apples, three hedgehogs… whatever group of three takes your fancy!

Many thanks to Studio Calico for sponsoring this challenge! You can find them on Facebook and Twitter, so don’t miss any updates!

One entry will be selected to win a prize pack of scrapbooking supplies from Studio Calico. Entries close at midnight next Sunday (21st August 2011).

Feel free to use the comment section to chat about this challenge, as the entries should go in the linky widget!

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Ready for a third day of challenges? Here’s an easy one to get your Sunday scrapping started! I have loved the chance to scrapbook older photos recently, so it’s time to pass that on to you. But sadly, I know not everyone found a stack of old Polaroids so as fun as that would be, I promise to make the challenge a little easier to fill.

For this challenge you have to scrapbook a photo from before 2011. No current pictures allowed. If you can, embrace the idea and scrap something a bit retro or something from your childhood, but I totally understand not everyone has pictures like that at the ready. So anything that is not 2011 will be acceptable!

One entry will be selected to win a prize pack of assorted scrapbook goodies. Entries close at midnight next Sunday (21st August 2011).

Feel free to use the comment section to chat about this challenge, as the entries should go in the linky widget!

More challenges to come! And don’t forget today is the last day to use the shipping code if you fancy a little reward for all the older supplies you’ve been using!

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