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

Congratulations to Niurka, who wins a Sketchpad e-course from the lovely Kelly Purkey.

Niurka, please email me (shimelle at gmail dot com) with your address.

There’s a new giveaway every Friday night, so check back next week for another chance to win just by leaving a comment.

Have a great week!

xlovesx

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This weekend, one commenter will win the new Sketchpad e-course from the lovely Kelly Purkey.

Sketchpad is a brand-new class from Kelly Purkey, spinning off from her series of successful Sketchbook classes. Rather than a course delivered by individual emails, Sketchpad is a downloadable, self-paced class featuring 12 original sketches, 35 exclusive layouts from Kelly + and her talented contributors, 35 additional detailed sketches made from those layouts, and 12 amazing cards based on the sketches from the talented, Kristina Werner all in a full-color 75 page PDF, so you can work at your own pace and in any order. It would be just perfect for your desk at a crop or crafting at home, and as a PDF you can print it or view it on your computer, iPhone or iPad (or any other gadgets that let you see colour PDF files).

Visit Kelly’s blog for more details on the class, including the full list of special guests and the magical sign up button! You can also find Kelly on Twitter. Sketchpad would make a rad Christmas gift for a scrapping friend too, by the way. I contributed a page to Sketchpad and the full PDF has me itching to get cutting and pasting as soon as I hit the publish button on this post!

To enter, just leave a comment on this post sharing how many photos you like to see on a sketch.

Entries close at midnight Sunday UK time and the winner will be posted Monday evening, so be sure to check back to see if it’s your lucky day!

Good luck!
xlovesx

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Sketch of the week, huh? Right about now I’m sure there are some internet police ready to come get me for not living up to the ‘of the week’ and getting myself in a muddle with videos and things. Do you suppose I can distract the internet police with copious amounts of pretty paper? Please officer, I know I am having issues with my Wednesday schedule, but just look at this album about Australia. I know you’ll love it and forget all about my Wednesday problems.

That’s my plan, anyway.

It’s also my plan to post this anyway even though it is Thursday now and this was last week’s sketch and so forth. Sometimes you have to call an amnesty, and right now with my entire flat covered in screen printed Advent numbers and postage labels, and a now-official moving date for casa de cupcake, I am calling an amnesty. I’m still calling this Sketch of the Week, for whatever that seems to mean!

So for this sketch, you’ll need one square photo (or it could easily work with a portrait 4×6 print too), three patterned papers (one full sheet and two partials) and then a handful of small embellishments you can scatter across the page. This layout won’t take you long at all, and it’s perfect for a photo that just makes you smile, with some pretty papers you love.

If you were ahead of the game and popped over to Youtube, you may have seen this already. I am yet to figure out why it took almost a full day to upload, when nothing else seemed to causing any trouble, but we’ll just forge ahead and one day I shall understand the inner zen of Youtube.

Speaking of zen, as always, the weekly sketch is no-stress and just for fun! If you use it, I’d love to see, so please leave a link if you post your page online.

This was the last sketch of the week, and
Click the corresponding link to see any of these layouts in more detail and get to know the scrappers behind the pages. Clockwise from top left, they are from Becky, Jenn, Mel and Tilla.

Now… are you up for some sketchy scrapping this week? Let’s see if I can have next week’s sketch up on Wednesday and no more visits from the internet police. I’d love to share your page next week, so give it a go and share it with us!

The special offer for free shipping at Two Peas in a Bucket ends today – so do your Christmas shopping now! Click here to shop and use code RLRXWA at checkout for free shipping on a $35 order (physical, non-clearance goods) to a US address or $5 off international shipping for the same order. By the way, the Twig collection from Little Yellow Bicycle is now in stock – it’s a lovely wintry blue line with birch trees.

If you’re planning to take part in our Christmas-themed online scrapbooking weekend on the 11th to 13th of November, today would be a great day to order any supplies you would want for prepping your Christmas journal, making Christmas cards, Christmas scrapbook pages, handmade decorations or pretty gift wrap touches. Happy shopping!

xlovesx

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So it’s the first of November – that means I am officially allowed to talk about Christmas! First up: scrapbooking supplies. Every Christmas for the past several years I’ve assembled a ‘Christmas in a Box’, which is a Christmas-themed scrapbooking kit perfect for Journal your Christmas or other Christmas crafting projects. But I’m not a big shop – I’m just one girl really, so I could only send the boxes to addresses here in the UK. This year there are two options for ordering, and one of them includes a way to order in the States (or to ship internationally from the US), so hurrah!

This is the complete kit – Christmas in a Box 2011. This ships to UK addresses only and is available in very limited number. First come, first served.

The Christmas goodie box is filled with supplies perfect for your Christmas crafting, but many designs are not overtly Christmas themed so you can use this stash throughout the year by mixing it with other colours.

Although certainly not a requirement of Journal your Christmas, this kit includes the supplies used in the technique tutorials highlighted in the 2011 class and during the preparation crop weekend (11-13 November), so you can follow along if you like. Or use as you wish for your Christmas journal, December album or any other crafting project.

Kit includes:
15 sheets of 12×12 patterned paper, including one screen printed, two accessory sheets and one mini pattern sheet
Classic Calico 12X12 Alpha Sticker Sheet (Studio Calico)
Peep & Saffron 12X12 Quattrofina Alphabet Stickers (Bella Blvd)
25 Days Of Christmas Countdown Sticker (Simple Stories)
Jingle 12X12 Abcs Stickers (Lily Bee)
Red Mini Brocade Overlay 12×12 Transparency (Hambly)
Black Camera Collection Overlay 12×12 (Hambly)
Jingle Index Journaling Cards (Lily Bee)
25 Days Of Christmas 6X6 Paper Pad (Simple Stories)
Miniatures Christmas Wishes Stickers (Bella Blvd)
Green/Pink Dotted Label stickers (Jenni Bowlin Studio)
Red/Black Dotted Label stickers (Jenni Bowlin Studio)
Red Doily Flowers (Jenni Bowlin Studio)
Hearts Plain Mini Chipboard Pieces (Jenni Bowlin Studio)
Hollyday Glitter Rimmed Buttons Elements (American Crafts)
Garden Café Just Write Journaling Cards (American Crafts) *partial pack – 6 cards
Classic Calico Kraft Star Stickers (Studio Calico)
PLUS screenprinted cardstock numbers, made especially for this box and not shown here. Just a little handmade surprise for you!

Christmas in a Box is available as a kit to UK addresses at the same price as last year – £45 including first class postage.
Christmas in a Box is now sold out. Please consider shopping at Two Peas or use the list above to shop from your favourite retailers. Or use your own stash, of course! Thank you for your support.

But what if I’m not in the UK or I only want part of the kit?
This year there is an answer for that too! Click here to view the Christmas kit items at Two Peas. From that list, you can select the items you would like – some or all of them – and you’re ready to go!

But how about an extra little bonus? Like… free shipping for US addresses or $5 off shipping for international orders? Why yes, we can do that. But just for today, tomorrow and the next day – the 1st to the 3rd of November. Use code RLRXWA at checkout for free domestic shipping on non-digital and non-phaseout product on orders over $35, and $5 off international shipping for the same type of order.

I’ll be back with even more Christmas fun later today!

xlovesx

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Two Peas in a Bucket.

It’s a funny name for a store, I suppose. If you didn’t already know, what on earth would you think such a store would sell? Vegetables. Or gardening equipment, perhaps. But not more than four thousand different styles of pretty paper. Not washi tape and baker’s twine and digital kits and stickers and ribbon and letterpress prints and rubber stamps and well… anything else you might fancy for scrapbooking and papercrafting.

Today you’re invited to the Garden Girl blog hop – a visit to the creative space for the different designers at Two Peas in a Bucket. We each have a new project to share and we each have a prize to win, so we hope you enjoy the journey. And for my stop on the hop, indulge in some Two Peas trivia!

Five little snippets of Two Peas trivia

1. Two Peas is both a shop and a crafting community. The business side is an online store with all the latest crafting supplies. They have some serious choice in their inventory – they stock so many lines and get new stuff quickly. The community side includes message boards on a range of topics and plenty of contests and challenges to keep you creating. Every week there’s both a scrapbooking and a photography challenge, and there is a prize to be won every time. Enter – you never know when it will be your lucky day!

_{Add a zig-zag fold to the front of a card and cut the other side to the folded width, for a narrow card with funky folds!}

2. I joined the Garden Girl team in 2008. I actually got the email just a day before we were due to leave on our honeymoon, and although I was completely excited about the wonder that is Japan, the only thing that made it okay to leave was that I was so excited to get to work on my first assignment. The Garden Girls are the Two Peas design team, and we’re a mix of paper scrappers, digital scrappers, minibook artists and cardmakers. New projects from the design team are posted to the gallery every Monday, plus we work on a range of special projects throughout the year. I’ve uploaded about two hundred projects in my time as a Garden Girl. This page is the ‘most liked’ and this project is my most bookmarked.
If there is ever a product you’re curious about, let a Garden Girl know – we love the challenge of figuring out a fab way to use a new design or gizmo!

3. The education branch of Two Peas is all about providing ideas and instructional content for free. My class 4×6 Photo Love is part of that education programme, but there are three other year-long classes throughout 2011 (Stretch your Sketch, Products You Love and Scrapbook Stamping). Each of these classes and many of the special projects include videos so you can see everything come together and also offer printable PDF instructions, so whether you prefer to read or watch, you’re covered. Other events run for just a set amount of time rather than the full year, like the current A to Z of Stamping event, with twenty-six days of stamping techniques and project ideas. It’s all for free. And I may be working on something extra special for the 2012 education programme. I might even call it super special. But that’s all I can say about that for now.

4. I placed my first order with Two Peas in January of 2000 and am user number – or Pea Number – 2356. That very first order included many sheets of 8.5×11 paper, since 12×12 was still a bit of a rarity in scrapping at that point! I split that order with another scrapper in the UK because we were both looking for some papers we couldn’t find on this side of the Atlantic.

_{I think this is my favourite garden project this year, but I keep changing my mind.}

5. Two Peas has fabulous sales. For anything that isn’t brand new, check out the sale section to see if there is something you would love or check out the Deal of the Day, which changes every day obviously, but often includes brand new products on a twenty-four hour discount. Today the deal of the day is 50% off a selection of Tim Holtz products! As an American-based store, shipping can add up for an international order, so I try to balance things out: I order the things I can’t find here and then I check the sale section for things I know I will use and stock up at a bargain. In the end that works well for me! If you’re a regular shopper, it’s also worth knowing their loyalty program lets you take a further ten to fifteen percent off your bill.

By the way, if you have an iPhone, Two Peas has a free app in the app store that makes it easy to upload to the gallery from a crop, find inspiring pages and projects, chat and shop on the go! I love paging through the gallery while I’m on the train. (Android friends, an app for you is currently in the works!)

Ready to enter for a chance to win? Yesterday, on the 31st of October, I placed an order at Two Peas. How much do you think I loaded into that bucket? Leave a comment with a guess of my order total. Not including shipping or loyalty discounts – just the amount for the items when I hit the checkout button. The person who gets closest to the amount will win a $15 gift certificate to spend on anything you like at Two Peas. There’s no penalty for going over – the gift voucher will go to the person who guesses closest, no matter if you’re high or low.

Entries close at midnight UK time on the 7th of November and the winner will be announced on the 8th… and I will go public with exactly how much I spent on scrapbooking supplies this month!

After you leave your guess, it’s time to visit the next stop on the blog hop! You should have arrived here from Jen Jockisch. Your next stop is Jen Martakis. We’re very pro-Jen on the Garden Girl team.

One last thing…
Later today, check back for some important stuff here at shimelle.com. Like this year’s details for Journal your Christmas. And an optional Christmas kit available for purchase. And a special offer that might help your order at Two Peas in the next couple days. Don’t miss out! That post goes live at midday, UK time.

xlovesx

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Congratulations to Gemma, who wins the pretty enamel earrings made by Alisha Louise.

Gemma, please email me (shimelle at gmail dot com) with your address.

There’s a new giveaway every Friday night, so check back next week for another chance to win just by leaving a comment.

Have a great week!

xlovesx

Comment [4]

_{All class content ©twopeasinabucket.com. Click here to view supplies and full details.}

It’s the thirtieth of the month, so that means it’s time for a brand new edition of 4×6 Photo Love! Since it’s the tenth month of the year, we’re scrapbooking ten 4×6 prints on one scrapbook page. Grab some photos and join in the fun!

This month’s design is essentially a double page layout, but it’s back to back rather than two facing pages, because it’s all built with a divided page protector. This particular page protector is 10×12 and holds three landscape and two portrait photos on each side for a total of ten 4×6 prints.

This style of scrapping is very different than starting with a 12×12 page as the background. In fact, you make the whole page without any paper which is a little different indeed! I like that you can add embellishment on top of the page protectors and keep the photos safe and intact inside. And the 10×12 size means you can add a border or something unexpected to the edge of the page, and I love how that creates a layered effect in the album.

Stop by Two Peas to download a PDF with notes on this project and visit the Education message board for all the Two Peas classes.

This month I’m joined by special guest Piradee Talvanna with her take on the 10×12 divided page protector. At first glance, the page is lovely of course, but then there’s a surprise!

Piradee added 4×6 cards between the photos to hold her writing. Clean design with so much packed into the page – I love how she balanced all the elements. (And her photos are so beautiful. I’m definitely starting to get stir-crazy for having no travel dates on the calendar!)

You can find Piradee’s project here at Two Peas to add to your bookmarks.

Now it’s your turn…
Every month, there are two ways to win a prize for participating in 4×6 Photo Love! The first is at Two Peas: create your page and upload it to the gallery. Be sure to tick the box for this challenge in step four of the upload process. One participant will win a gift certificate to Two Peas to go shopping for whatever you like. But there’s a second chance to win right here: on this post, leave a comment with a link to your page (in the gallery at Two Peas or on your blog, whatever you prefer) and one of those links will win Two Peas shopping money too! The deadline for both is the 29th of November.

Congratulations to Johanna for winning the draw for last month’s eight photo class! (Johanna, I need your email address. Can you contact me at shimelle at gmail dot com please?) Will you be next? Just choose ten 4×6 photos to scrap and follow along with this month’s class prompt.

What if I don’t have those page protectors?
Using these page protectors is not a requirement of entering the challenge. If you don’t want to add these to your stash, that’s fine! There are two more options for you to follow the same design principle: you can create a paper page with the same photo layout, as either back to back or facing pages OR you can use a standard page protector and create your own pockets by stitching and cutting the plastic accordingly. Get creative with whatever you do have and show us how you’ve added ten 4×6 photos to your album!

xlovesx

PS: Feel free to grab the button there on the left for your blog or to share this class with a friend – since it’s free, the more the merrier! And you’re welcome to use any supplies and any photos, so there’s no boundaries to your scrapping with this year-long project.

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Fancy a new scrapbook page starter? Here’s a starting point for this week! I used three papers: one for the background, one for a 4.5×6.5 inch block (for a photo mat? Or maybe you have other ideas!) then I added six 2” circles – three in the same paper as the box and three from another sheet.

But where will you go from here? Layers of embellishments on those circles? Or a nine-letter title? Will you add more to the top and bottom of the layout or keep everything in the centre? That’s the game: start here but then finish wherever your crafting creativity may take you.

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