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

I have to admit I did something really stupid at the October Afternoon booth. I forgot to take a picture of the front of the booth, which was built to look like the front of an old wild-west saloon, complete with those swinging doors. This really isn’t an acceptable omission and I can only hope you will look past it and instead focus on the pretty paper. If you were shopping for saloon doors, I’ll never be forgiven.

Apparently I was distracted by map papers. Because I love them.

There’s also paper with the lyrics to the Kansas state song. I’m glad they stopped where they did, because the next verse talks about zephyrs and I’m not really sure how well that would appeal to scrapbooking consumers. And let’s not even mention how terrible the third verse is. But as it is, I think it’s pretty cool as a paper. This is from the Sasparilla collection, which is cowboy themed and also features quite a few playing card elements.

Okay, let’s look at collections. This is Boarding Pass, which was actually introduced at CHA Winter, but hasn’t really hit stores yet. It’s a travel line with rich reds, blues and greens.

That miscellany pack has elements that look like old travel tickets and suitcase stickers. There’s even a British Rail die-cut.

More map paper – yay! (And I am particularly happy to see world maps. There are a lot of map papers that just cover the states and I like being able to choose from the whole globe. But I’m an oddball, I know.)

The stickers from Boarding Pass – labels, words and letters on boxes or circles. I love the minimarket letters (the boxes) and I pretty much buy every colour they release.

Softer colours and silhouettes in the Farmhouse collection. Silhouettes were a huge trend at this show.

Gorgeous projects from the October Afternoon design team.

I love papers you can cut apart like this (still Farmhouse collection). The boxes are a good size for both cards and scrapbook pages, and I like that paper is usually cheaper than die-cuts.

New colours in doily and lace papers, plus a different look in those one-inch squares and a subtle cross-hatch on the far right. I’ve used their older doily papers a lot, and I love that there is a grey lace. I can’t get enough grey patterned paper.

Sidewalks is a line with a bit of a childhood theme but without being overly cartoony. There are both masculine and feminine elements in the set, and it’s just a little bit fifties without being over the top. Like this a lot and I’ll be using it on grown-up pages too, I think.

Aside from the lovely products, I just wanted to share this layout from the October Afternoon design team because the photos are so cool. I’m guessing they are the result of a mother asking her daughter to dance in the grass (although they could be professional shots – or mum could be a pro photographer. I honestly don’t know.) and the pictures look so lovely and spirited, and I think they will be very special to that dancing girl many years from now. Just cool, yeah?

Many companies have mists – at October Afternoon, they are called Sprinklers. This is the full colour line up now, so it’s pretty extensive. They are matte finish. I haven’t used these yet, but they have not one but two shades of grey, so you better believe they are on my wishlist.

Boarding Pass should be the next of these lines to hit stores, then others over the coming months. Click here to shop for October Afternoon products!.

xlovesx

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Next up, chillin’ with the gnomies from Jillibean Soup

These little label stickers are adorable, affordable and something I will definitely use by the bucketload. There’s a set to match each new collection, plus several general themes like days of the week, birthdays and general happiness. The individual stickers are a nice size and not the same as all the other labels out there, so they will complement your existing collection. (What? You don’t have a label collection? Sure you don’t.)

Christmas Eve Chowder has penguins and a mix of red and pink plus robin’s egg blue and spring green. (This ‘whimsical’ colour scheme was popular around the show floor this year.)

The valentine line (though it wouldn’t necessarily need to be for valentine pages) includes lots of kraft backgrounds. Gorgeous. But then there’s this one specific paper:

Woodgrain? On kraft? WITH TINY LITTLE HEARTS? Oh yes. Must-have.

Sweet & Sour Soup is my favourite as a whole collection. There are brightly coloured typewriters but also grey graph paper, this lovely matte finish to the cardstock stickers and just generally lots of patterns that are not for one specific theme but balance a unique look with being nice and easy to use. Looking forward to working with these papers.

A collection inspired by quilts. Love that layout from their design team.

Very pretty minibook. I may have been lured in by the woodgrain, but the whole book was a treat.

That particular woodgrain is from this collection, which is autumn and home themed. With garden gnomes in the best way possible: cute but not crazily all over the place.

Pretty flowers made from scraps, buttons and wire. Would make a lovely something for the table or a windowsill, right?

And a make and take clip that sticks to your fridge with a magnet. Here’s a look at that project so you can make it at home!

(At the beginning of the video, there is a moment of big-time blurry when someone walked into me, but you don’t miss anything in the visual there so I left it in so you can hear the audio. The rest is not going to win me any prizes for cinematography, but you should be able to see the project, and that’s what counts, right?)

Jillibean’s new collections will be hitting stores in a few weeks.
Click here to shop for Jillibean Soup scrapbooking products!

xlovesx

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After the success of the Dear Lizzy line (pretty much entirely on awesome sale here) by American Crafts last year, I wondered if they would start collaborating with other uniquely styled designers and indeed they have. This is the new Amy Tangerine line by Amy Tan and American Crafts. It’s a little quirkier than what you would expect from American Crafts usual lines. (Oh, and there are new ‘usual’ lines from AC too – I’ll cover those in another post.) This promotional video gives you an idea to the line’s inspirations and also shows you the clever minibook that is a centrepiece of the collection.

The line has four points of inspiration: fashion, craft, travel and office. So there are airplanes, cameras, stitches and graph papers.

The papers have two things that are a little unexpected for American Crafts: some of the papers have stitching and some of the designs are not an all over pattern, but a blocked design. There are also fabric papers and flat papers.

Love that sheet of Details embellishments in the tiny embroidery hoops.

Ribbons, two sets of printed washi tapes, fabric-covered brads, leaves, stamps and a very cool pack of die cuts in all different shapes and sizes.

Layered stickers at the top and fabric stickers (plus shaped paper clips) below. I love the fabric stickers in both design and texture.

The big booklet of coordinating sticker images – love that bold woodgrain silhouette!

Here you can see everything in the pack.

Crafty goodness from Amy and the American Crafts design team.

The minibook is definitely worthy of an ‘Oh cute!’ exclamation. Kraft cover, woodgrain embossed clear panels on the outside, pages inside are a mix of sizes, colours and patterns.

Amy’s book as it was taking shape over the days of the show. You can use this ‘smash’ style or with more planned designs like a traditional scrapbooking mini.

More cute creations to show what you can make with the products…

Of course it wouldn’t be American Crafts without Thickers! One all caps, one all lower and one with both.

And there’s Miss Amy herself!

The Amy Tangerine line from American Crafts will hit stores in August. Click here to shop for scrapbooking supplies from American Crafts.

xlovesx

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Getting ready to head home from CHA and have lots of photos to share! Think I can quickly manage one before I leave, so let’s have a look at the new things from Studio Calico! The collection above is called Autumn Press – there are a few leaves, but mostly just warm colours in non-themed patterns.

A clean, neutral line called Classic Calico, with the idea that they will continue to release new patterns in this same versatile colour scheme. Chevrons, woodgrain, dots and all sorts of things that will be so easy to use. Beautiful papers and embellishments that will definitely go with anything and let your photos shine.

Stamps – both clear and cling red rubber – designed by Studio Calico and produced by Hero Arts. Sounds like a good match to me!

A familiar sheet in a new finish – kraft cardstock letter stickers. Lovely for scrapping pretty much anything.

An addition to their Mister Huey mist collection – Calico Shine. It’s a white pearl finish and sprays really well. Saw this sampled in the booth and it’s lovely look – less glitter than other sprays, more a warm pearl.

Pages from the Studio Calico design team. Love the looks from their new collections, with the giant painted butterflies and the big ampersand mask.

A fab little minibook: kraft chipboard cover embossed with woodgrain…

lots of graph paper pages inside. That cover looks beautiful with paint!

New products from Studio Calico will hit stores soon. Click here to shop their current range.

Okay – must head home and I’ll share photos and videos plenty more companies when I arrive!

xlovesx

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I have a terrible secret to tell you. You’ve never noticed. I’ve kept it hidden all this time and now I’m ready to come clean and tell you.

I’m rather partial to scrapbooking with butterflies.

Oh. I guess it really wasn’t a secret after all. In fact, it’s so much not a secret that Two Peas in a Bucket is throwing a special one-day sale to say thank you to shimelle.com readers. And what did we come up with? Mark down the butterflies!

So today only (Wednesday, 20th July 2011), butterflies are on sale here. And that’s hundreds of products! Papers, punches, stamps, stickers – you name it, they’ve put a butterfly on it. So today is the day to stock up and save. You don’t need a special code, just click here to go to the sale and check out when you’re ready! Be ready before midnight central time. If you spend more than $50 (on any physical product – not just butterflies!), you can get free US shipping as well with code YQTUVC.

A little something else you might not know… for real this time. When you shop at Two Peas via a link here, you help support all the extra fun stuff on the blog. As a Two Peas affiliate, I make a small percentage for sales I send their way (when you click). That’s pretty common practice in linking to stores online, but since I first became a Two Peas affiliate, I have always taken those funds and put them back into the shimelle.com community. It pays for prizes, postage for giveaways, special guests and weekend crop events. I love that I can send it right back into this circle of readers. I hope you like that idea too.

Thanks Two Peas for the special sale and thank you to all of you who support this little site of mine!

xlovesx

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The Haven collection was a mid-season release so it’s already in stores… and it’s ready to give away! Jenni Bowlin Studio have provided a lovely Haven prize pack to a lucky reader. *Leave a comment on this post anytime before Midnight UK time Friday 22nd July 2011.

That page in the middle of the photo is one of my favourite new things in Jenni’s lines – an accent sheet. It includes the cute journaling cards she’s always made, but including them on printed cardstock makes them more affordable plus you get all the other coordinating stuff to go with it – like all those green labels plus some border strips. And it’s double-sided with a polka-dot pattern on the back, so if there’s anything you won’t use, you can use the scraps so easily.

I have to show you this project because it is partly made by The Boy! He is slightly addicted to Pinterest, despite not having an account, and saw a pin with gifts wrapped and stamped. Next thing I knew, he was wrapping a father’s day gift for his dad and searching through my letter stamps. So he did the wrapping and I used those green labels from Haven to create the card to match.

I know Jenni really loves the versatility of the thinner, single-sided papers of the older collections but I adore the cardstock weight she uses now. It takes paint just perfectly!

On another note, I guest posted on Ali’s blog today and you can read (and watch) that here. I will probably talk more about that everyday adventure idea soon. So happy that it seems to have resonated with some of you today!

Don’t forget – comment on this post to be entered to win a prize pack of Haven goodies from Jenni Bowlin! (Thanks, Jenni!)

xlovesx

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Congratulations to Tracey – her name came out of the hat for all the entries in the latest giveaway and she wins a place for herself and one for a friend in Explore, the new class. If you’re still considering Explore, you can sign up at any time, but please know I don’t have future plans to run it again live. I prefer to offer new classes and only repeat the two seasonal classes each year – it’s most fun that way! So if you want the live experience, go ahead and join us!

And a little heads up: this week will be a bit different around here! I’ll be reporting from CHA – the trade show where manufacturers of scrapbooking and other craft supplies release all their new collections for the next six months. So stay tuned for plenty of show photos and I’ll keep my eye out for what new things look like must-haves. But then there’s some other very cool stuff in the mix:
…a special giveaway from Jenni Bowlin Studio on Tuesday,
…a very different type of giveaway from Friday, and
…a special offer at Two Peas in a Bucket just for shimelle.com readers on Wednesday!
If you want to partake in that extra discount, you can start shopping now and have your bucket at the ready! But it’s only on Wednesday, so don’t miss out. You can check out their huge summer sale here.

So… with only a few hours left until the floor opens at the show, are there any companies you’re excited to see? Tell me which booth you would want me to check out first!

xlovesx

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Tomorrow is the first day of a brand new online class – Explore! To celebrate, today I’m giving away a class pass for one winner and a friend to enjoy the class for free. Plus it’s not too late to sign up and join in the fun of twenty prompts, four videos and more to keep you inspired, documenting and creating!

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment on this blog post. Easy! (If you’re new, it’s worth knowing you need to click the preview button when you post your comment.)

I’ll pick a winner bright and early tomorrow so you can start with everyone and not miss any of the fun. So be sure to leave a valid email address on your comment so there’s no delay if you win! If the winner has already registered for the class, that’s okay too – I will send a full refund of the class fee and you’ll still get the extra pass for a friend to join you.

Throughout this four week course, we’ll be exploring the world, even if you’re not going anywhere. Each prompt covers a different aspect, from days when we’ll focus on photography to videos that cover crafting techniques to do something new with your existing supplies. We’ll be taking pictures, making journaling easy and stretching ideas so you’ll keep creating long after the final prompt appears in your inbox. If you’re worried about being too busy for the next four weeks, then the workbook is your answer! You can print it from day one and follow along in a quick format then come back to the full prompts when you have a bit more time to explore those ideas.

Ready to sign up? Click one of these!

Registrations are processed individually, within 24 hours of a completed payment (though usually faster). A welcome message will be sent to the email address on your payment — if your paypal address is not where you would like your prompts to be sent, please leave a note on your payment or email me. If you have not received a welcome email within 24 hours, please check your spam folder. If it’s not there, please email me at shimelle at gmail dot com so the information can be resent.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch through the comments or by email. I’m so excited to teach this class and I very much hope you’ll join me for the fun!

Right – time to leave a comment if you’d like to enter for a free place for you and a friend and spend the next four weeks taking part in a brand new scrapbooking class from the comfort of our own home!

xlovesx

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