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Scrapping Angels Class

scrapbooking class page

Right then: back to work! Today’s to-do list seems pretty never-ending, but it ranged from the completely dire ‘clean the refrigerator’ to ‘finish final details for Scrapping Angels class’. Can you guess which I haven’t actually done yet?

The Scrapping Angels retreat is the 25th and 26th of April at Wyboston Lakes, and you can book in for the full weekend or just one day. All the details are here.

If you’re coming to my class, we’ll be making a 12×12 layout in teal, pink and green. The kit includes American Crafts Thickers, Craft Fair patterned paper, one of my all-time favourite ribbons, some giant and fabulous monograms and the pinkest, sparkliest brads I could find. Plus we’ll be using the new ‘It’s All About…’ stamps from Banana Frog. And if you’re already packing your crop tote for the retreat (or at least thinking about it), you will need:
1 landscape (horizontal) 4×6 inch photograph of something very happy
scissors
trimmer
adhesive
black pen
black ink pad
acrylic block
paper piercer
Optional:
pale pink ink pad
alcohol ink applicator (we won’t be using alcohol ink, but I also love this tool for blending regular stamping inks)
3 to 8 lines of journaling on white cardstock, no wider than four inches (if you’re happy to handwrite, you can do this in class with no problem. if you prefer to use a typewriter or your computer, write it before class and leave plenty of space between each line so we can cut it into strips.)

That should be everything! If you have any questions, just let me know. I’d love to see you there!

xlovesx

ETA: Looks like this class is now sold out – thank you so much! If there are any extra kits after the event, I will let you know…no promises though!

Comment [2]

A scrappy Monday in Paris

A totally fabulous Monday with beautiful weather and nothing on the agenda but walking around with scrapbooking wonder women Sande Krieger and Rhonna Farrer. We may or may not have done things that included shopping, eating and taking pictures. I am sworn to secrecy.

I will tell you that if you ever need to travel to a place where you feel you will be robbed, take Sande with you. These two lovelies helped me trek back to the train station with all my luggage on the Metro and a not-so-lovely character tried to empty Sande’s handbag, but Sande kept her cool, shouted at the would-be thief and got her off our train carriage. Sande = brilliant.

Now…to try to find a way back into the normal day to day! Actually looking forward to staying in England for a while…until June.

xlovesx

Comment [20]

Merci!

scrapbooking class

Merci infiniment de venir pour classer des dames! Il était beau pour vous rencontrer à la chute de Version Scrap. Je voyage à la maison le mardi, ainsi ceux dans les classes de minibook recevront des images par l’email mercredi et jeudi.

(and I apologise if that is the worst French you have ever read!)

xlovesx

Comment [48]

Time for some scrappy shopping

^{©twopeasinabucket.com}

Two cool things at Two Peas today: *A new garden of ideas…lots of stamping goodness this month. *For today only, 20% off pretty much the whole store.

Sales count as cool, right?
(And I promise it’s not an April Fool.)

xlovesx

Comment [5]

A little wooden scrapbook

Brain slightly boggled.
Counting to the same number repeatedly, making sure there is enough of everything.
Reviewing step by step instructions and taking and checking pictures.
Giddy about woodgrain!
Hoping Cropodiles are pretty popular with French scrappers. I only have one.
Remembering that I speak pretty much NO French.

Catching train to Paris on Thursday morning!

Version Scrap is this weekend. I’m teaching four scrapbooking classes there and very excited, in case you couldn’t tell. If you’re coming to class and have any questions, let me know! I now have someone helpful to translate these things for me! (Seriously need to bring her the biggest gift I can.)

Possibly more sneak peeks tomorrow, assuming my eyes have uncrossed and everything fits in my suitcase. Please may the weather report be accurate!

xlovesx

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Sunday sweets

Out with one crazy week of work and in with the next: we are both in a state of working more hours than we can count. Some of it happy fun work, some of it work that has to be done, some of it we’re just trying to get through and call it finished!

Apparently we both react to overwork with…baking? Over the past few days I made Cannelle et Vanille’s Rhubarb and Pistachio Tart and some not-too-sweet sugar cookies. The Boy made rosemary and raisin rolls, partly to celebrate his amazing skill at nursing the rosemary back to health after I spent most of the winter killing it.

Super Easy Not-Too-Sweet Sugar Cookies
makes a bunch of dough to keep in the freezer and bake as desired
250g unsalted butter
150g icing sugar
50g caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
350g flour, plus extra for dusting
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Cream butter, sugars and vanilla in a mixer. Add the egg and mix until even. Stir in flour and baking powder and mix until it magically balls up as a big lump of cookie dough. Wrap that up in plastic and pop into the fridge for an hour or two.
Remove from the fridge, unwrap and roll out on floured surface. Roll up whatever dough you don’t want to cook, wrap in plastic and freeze. Roll out dough you do want to cook until about 1/4” thick. Cut with cookie cutters and place on greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with extra caster sugar.
Bake at 180C for about 10 minutes.

And now? Back to work.

xlovesx

Comment [14]

Getting the most from free digital scrapbooking kits

digital scrapbook papers printed out

I am not ashamed to repeat time and time again free is my favourite price. Because it really, really is. I have been a bargain girl for years and years, and if you offer me something for free, I will probably say yes before I actually realise what it is. Which is perhaps slightly dangerous, but so far I haven’t been offered hard drugs for free so I’ve been okay. Brilliant!

So yes, I am all about the freebies to be found in the world of digital scrapbooking, even though I am going to choose paper over pixels almost every time. I might just be amassing quite the collection of these freebies here on my computer. Seems to me I should be doing something with them in order for the freeness to be a bargain, right? A little challenge for myself today then: can I get three proper projects by starting with this free digital kit?

Idea #1: Put the freebies together
An all-digital page made entirely from free kits…and hopefully it doesn’t scream ‘I made this for free!’ too loudly. The majority of the layout is all from the All U Need kit, but I’ve also added bits and pieces from other free kits. The spotty orange paper is from Indie Pops Celebrate, the shape in the middle and the date strip both come from this kit, the faded scrolly frame behind the photo comes from Color my World and the stitched ribbon is part of Spring Fever. So somehow yes, I do seem to have a big folder full of freebies. Of course they don’t all match at first…but replace colour is my friend and eventually it all matches!

Idea #2: Mix freebies with investment pieces
You know that theory that magazines tell you will make your wardrobe absolute perfection—how you should have a few investment pieces that last years and years that represent the bulk of your spending, then inexpensive items for trends that will come and go in a season or two? I think this is pretty sound advice for digital scrapbooking too: buy the kits you would use over and over again without them ever going out of style, then dress them up with freebies that are in style right this second. Definitely Dotty is my little black dress. It will go with everything and always look appropriate…dress it up, dress it down, that sort of thing. I’ve also used the Bada Bing Overlays so many times that I must be into pennies per use, so that seems like a good investment to me! And well, there is so much packed into Made in France that is just pops up on my pages pretty often—here it’s the round stitching. Everything else on this page? Totally free.

Idea #3: Print them out
Hello hybrid! Made a new document that was A4 sized, covered it in the free kit papers and printed it out to make a page. And I’ve even got a bit leftover to make a card. But if I don’t finish this blog post I am going to be in trouble for both not finishing all of today’s work and being late to dinner, so perhaps I should go now!

Hurrah for free!

xlovesx

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A Year in a Scrapbook

Today is the 25th…and the 12th 25th at that. That picture marks a dozen shots taken early in the morning out the very same window. And the final album prompt is online here.

Thanks so much for all your support throughout this yearlong project! There will be new things to come, but I need to wrap this up first, so make sure you post a link to your album online if you haven’t already.

If you want to continue the project after today, you can set email reminders to yourself here and the materials will still be here for you.

If you want to hear about the next project, be sure to sign up for pretty paper. true stories. in your inbox., which once or twice a month will let you know the highlights of what’s going on around here!

So for one final time, Happy Scrap your Day Day!

xlovesx

Comment [13]

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