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

_{©twopeasinabucket.com. Click here for supplies and details.}

This September it seemed I suddenly had more school-themed scrapbooking deadlines than usual and that’s one of those topics that is a little more challenging for scrappers without kids. I’ve ended up with a few more pages for my early years album and this will live there with the story of how I loved the Christmas shows in elementary school. Partially to sing and dance; partially because it was an excuse to wear a shiny pink dress. Priorities.

Also, after that Royal Palace page, I’m really liking just a random scrap of fabric added into the layers of patterned paper. Maybe it’s the loose threads? Or the different texture? But I don’t think I’m done with that idea yet. I knew I was saving all those cute little off-cuts for something!

This week’s assignments have a bit more variety, so my desk is a bit of this, that and the other. Just how I like it! Teach Crafts like a Rock Star starts later this week, so I’ve been recording some coaching sessions for that (this early bird discount is just about to end, if you’re considering it for building your craft-based business) and I’m doing lots of filming this week for True Scrap II, 4×6 Photo Love, Sketch to Scrapbook Page and a few other little things still under wraps. Lots of filming means lots of repainting my nails while I rehearse what to say!

I’ll be back later today in the morning with some Camera School fun too! (I totally need a do-over today. Anybody else? I have been mostly uncoordinated and awkward for the last twelve hours. Good grief the number of things I have knocked over! I think tomorrow morning sounds like the colour of awesome.)

xlovesx

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Two giveaway winners to post tonight! First up, congrats to Angie, who wins a selection of fabric fat quarters, some cute labels and a gorgeous ‘button it’ wrist band pin cushion from Owl and Sewing Cat.

…and to Dawn, who wins a copy of the Power of Making exhibition book, courtesy of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.

Angie and Dawn, 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. Plus this giveaway closes this Wednesday so there is still time to enter!

Have a great week!

xlovesx

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Any day now, this lovely friend of mine is going to Instagram from the hospital with a picture of a brand new baby girl, and although she wasn’t going to have a big party, I may have been quite excited at an excuse to cover my house in pink and throw the teeniest of baby showers.

I think we managed to fool Laura (or at least she didn’t let on if she figured it out!) by inviting her for a day of lunch and photos and crafting with the girls, which isn’t an unheard of thing in our world. But usually when the girls arrive, there are not pink tissue-paper pom-pons hanging from the ceiling and a dozen types of pink sweets in bowls. So the four of us sipped pink lemonade and got crafty with a bit of baby wardrobe embellishing. Thanks so much to Leanne and SJ for your party-throwing and secret-keeping assistance!

First of all, we always reserve the right to spend more than an hour on craft hour. We just like the name.

Second, a bit of DIY onesie creating is super easy and fun and it’s inexpensive enough that it doesn’t matter if something goes terrible wrong and you need to just bin one and start again. It’s actually best to find the bargain baby clothes because the more ‘named’ brands stitch logos on their baby clothes and seriously, does a newborn really need to be advertising for a giant chain? And if you or someone you know has a bit of a fabric scrap collection and they aren’t too precious about it, you can just work from that without needing to buy specific fabric. The clothes are tiny so most everything just takes small scraps of fabric. Cut things to whatever shape you want (and if you’re not a dab hand at drawing them, you can print out a variety of shape templates by searching for colouring book pages) and then either use fusible web to iron it to the onesie or you can sew it on by machine or by hand. Even with just four of us we had quite a mix of techniques, with an appliqued camera, a fabric-pieced fox, a monogram, fabric flowers and bunting. All very cute and in a variety of sizes so Baby H should be clothed in custom gear for quite a while!

And of course all that photo-fun isn’t complete without lashings of pink patterned paper, pearls and paint. But mostly I wanted to share some pink cupcakes with on a Monday morning! Please enjoy one in your choice of vanilla or blackberry, and of course – completely carb- and calorie-free!

Have a beautiful week!

xlovesx

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From this starting point came this page, with so much and so little in common with this layout. Both with the same arrangement of papers and the same idea of boldly striped backgrounds, both with three groupings of buttons (which wasn’t purposeful, but perhaps just something that seemed worth repeating) and both with a single 4×6 photo, but completely different colour schemes and patterns, different placement for the title and the journaling. In the end they look pretty different, which is useful since I didn’t think about the fact that these photos are only six weeks apart chronologically, so the two pages will fall quite close together in my album! But this may be my favourite of the starting points so far.

If you make something from this week’s starting point, please share a link here so we can see even more ways to create something unique from that same background.

_{Top row, L to R: one, two, three, four. Bottom row, L to R: five, six, seven and eight. Click the corresponding link to see the layout in more detail and get to know the scrapper behind the page.}

Here are eight of my favourites from last week’s starting point, but it was so very tough to choose from all the submissions! If you have more time, do check out even more pages from that same design.

I hope the rest of your weekend is lovely!

xlovesx

PS: There are two giveaways open at the moment! This one closes tonight and this one is open until Wednesday. Good luck!

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Hello there hoppers – today we’re hopping through the American Crafts design team blogs and we have all been set the same challenge: make a layout with something from each of the new lines: Amy Tangerine, Daydreams, Garden Cafe, Nightfall and Hollyday!

_{Supplies include Sarah Script letter stickers in white (4133), Fancy glitter Thickers in strawberry (53111), Goodness Thickers in slate (53249), glitter edged buttons (85558), Elements buttons (85573), Savor Remarks stickers (42210), Rose’s Kitchen paper (35540), Joyful Day paper (35603), Fine Day paper (35606), Autumn Cider paper (35519), Yes Peas paper (35549), Wanderlust paper (35548), Cafe Iris paper (35541), all by American Crafts.}

I love the birthday colour scheme that comes from a combination of the Amy and Garden papers, and the b-sides from Daydreams are the most versatile patterns ever – tiny stripes, polka dots and grids. Nightfall includes some very versatile cream patterns. Then I added stickers from Garden Cafe plus buttons from Daydreams and Hollyday. I love the glitter detail on the Christmas button pack. If you stopped by earlier today, you might see a resemblance – this is one example for this weekend’s scrapbook starting point. More striped-background wonderment!

There are plenty of chances to win American Crafts prizes throughout the blog hop today. Leave a comment on this post to enter the drawing for a pack of adorable Details embellishments. Hop through the designers’ blogs for additional chances to win then enter the big drawing at the AC Studio blog where someone will win two full collections of crafty goodness! Both the big AC giveaway and my giveaway are open until Wednesday the 21st of September 2011, 9am Pacific, which is 5pm here in the UK. If you don’t win, you can also shop for all the new AC lines here.

The next stop on the hop is Suzy – go there once you have entered the drawing here. I know she’ll take great care of you!

Thanks for stopping by!

xlovesx

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Oooh, hello there Saturday. You’re looking rather lovely indeed! And just because, I have a little twist for this week’s starting point.

Recently I noticed I love striped papers when I’m shopping and I often use them in small pieces but I still have a sizeable stack of full sheets and I wondered if maybe I should use them as backgrounds more often. Trouble is, a full sheet of 12×2 stripes is quite a statement – either you can go with that or find something to give it a bit of balance – and lately I’m loving the idea of layering a 10×10 box of something more subtle over a boldly striped 12×12 background. So much so that I’ve actually made two layouts from the same starting point this week.

This first example includes papers from the Jenni Bowlin Studio Halloween collection, but the finished layout isn’t actually Halloween-themed. I’ll show you that finished version tomorrow with my favourites from last week’s starting point. (There is still time to add your link to that if you’re scrapping today!)

For those of you who prefer measurements, the only piece I really measured was the 10×10 box, but the others are roughly 4×11.5, 3.5×8, 2×7, 2×6 and 1×8 (all in inches). Is that helpful? (Let me know if you think I should always include the measurements with the starting point.)

The second example is something a bit brighter in colour… and it’s part of a bit of Saturday fun from the American Crafts design team. That will kick off in mid-afternoon UK time, so I hope you’ll pop by to see what those girls have up all their sleeves!

I hope Saturday is looking lovely for you too – and maybe lovely for crafting!

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_{©twopeasinabucket.com. Click here for supplies and details.}

It’s my turn to host the weekly challenge at Two Peas, and I drew the journaling prompt card. It’s a fill-in-the-blank challenge and you can use it for your title or your writing on a scrapbook page. You have to fill in the blanks for Not all ——— are ——-. Like this:

_{©twopeasinabucket.com. Click here for supplies and details.}

Not all astronauts are boys, not all crafters are girls, not all somethings are something. That’s the idea – go against the expected, then tell the story behind the statement with photos and writing. The Tolkien line Not all who wander are lost would work too. Fill in the blanks with whatever would suit your story.

I’m really not a tomboy in any sense of the word and I don’t think I have have been… but while I love all things girly like pink and nail varnish and dresses, I also have a long-term love of maths and science and… space. So I loved the idea of Rocket Age from October Afternoon – an entirely space-themed collection done with a vintage kitsch twist. I thought it was amazing, until I heard people continually comment on how it was a BOY collection. Really? I mean look at that sheet of paper – it’s constellations on a lovely blue background. Is that really something that can the boys get to claim all for their own? I had to put this right (if only for myself) and balance that blue background with some pink polka dots, tiny hearts and chipboard flowers.

Click here to find the challenge at Two Peas including how to enter! I wonder how many ways you can fill in those blanks.

xlovesx

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This weekend, one commenter will win a selection of fabric fat quarters, some cute labels and a gorgeous ‘button it’ wrist band pin cushion from Owl and Sewing Cat.

Owl and Sewing Cat is a pretty sewing shop situated in the seaside town of Eastbourne, East Sussex. The shop carries a range of contemporary ‘easy sew’ (and ultra-cute!) fabrics including designers such as Amy Butler, Michael Miller and Tanya Wheylan. Owner Tracey was excited to share her goals for the shop with us:

Hot on the heels of the latest trend of ‘make do and mend’ and the revival of the sewing machine, Owl and Sewing Cat is pleased to have opened its retail shop and the online shop is useful if you can’t get to Eastbourne!

Owl and Sewing Cat is also on a mission to get as many people as possible sewing, and is running sewing lessons for those wanting to learn, with simple kits available to have you making stunning bunting, bags and cushions in no time. It’s a great way to spend some time with family, friends or simply take some time for yourself.

You can read more about the shop on their blog or stay up to date via their facebook page.

To enter, just leave a comment on this post describing what you would make if you had a whole day to sit and sew.

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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