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

Lo and behold, I have finally come out the other side of a giant stack of deadlines that meant I could return to something I’ve been wanting to do so much: Sketch to Scrapbook Page. I’m going to see if I can make this a weekly event but that’s not a guarantee – just an aim at this point. If you’re relatively new around here, you can work your way back through plenty of sketches and videos here, by the way.

I don’t always work with a sketch, but I find I scrap more quickly when I do. This week I wanted to create a sketch from an existing layout – one of my favourites from my 2010 album. From this page, I took the idea of the two landscape 4×6 photos in the top left corner, plus three blocks of cardstock and a bunch of journaling cards and came up with this as the page sketch:

I combined that sketch with a stack of various American Crafts products to make a new page. And you can watch that entire process if you like:

I’m not quite sure why I’m drawn to so much orange lately, but I loved this mix of papers even though every single paper was from a different collection. And I have to admit Gardenia is a lot more fun in person than I first thought. For some reason it struck me as a line that would be a bit tough to use (maybe because it has some gardening themes and we don’t have so much as a potted plant?) but once I had it on the desk and started chopping it up, my opinion changed. I love the richness of the colours and I have a few more Gardenia projects coming up soon.

You can find all the supplies for this page here, at the bottom of the page.

Here’s a closer look at that finished page. My only wish was that we would have had a photo of the two of us together for the top left corner, but we don’t, so that’s how it is! I do have a picture of The Boy in that same spot, so I’m going to scrap that on the facing page in the album. Hoping that will work to emphasise that’s an ‘our favourites’ rather than just my favourites! It’s a plan. (And also, we’re working on our self-portraits.)

In other news, this layout was featured here on the American Crafts blog, and their blog includes plenty of inspiring projects made with all sorts of American Crafts products. Worth checking out if you’re not already a reader there!

Why not grab this sketch and two of your own 4×6 pictures? Give it a go and share your page with us!

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Today brings a little fun from the blog teams at American Crafts and Scor-Pal, with twenty-three brand new projects featuring American Crafts papers and embellishments and folding, scoring and pleating techniques that can be made with the Scor-Pal scoring board. (And a big welcome wave if you’ve just hopped here from Lilith’s blog!)

I am down to my last few sheets of the Campy Trails collection and there is no more where that came from: this line has now done its time and has been replaced by all the brand new lines, but I wanted to share at least one more Campy Trails project before I’ve used every last scrap. But how to include scoring in such a project?

My favourite scoring technique is the rosette or paper pinwheel (something Britta included in this five ideas with scoring post from the archives), but even I couldn’t quite put that together with what I wanted to create with this page. The beauty of a scoring board is that it is super-easy to get perfectly lined up creases so you can fold a box, a card or a design and have it come out just right every time… but what’s a girl to do with a scoring board when she likes to embrace the wonky? She ignores all the directions, basically.

I decided I just wanted to use the scoring board to create texture and dimension rather than something so rigid and parallel. I cut a wide strip of patterned paper and placed it on the board, then moved it this way and that, slightly angled to the right then the left and so forth. I did absolutely no measuring and just scored the lines until they covered the entire length of the strip then folded each one forward and backward to create some sort of folded mess, like if you asked an infant to try fan folding perhaps. And then flattened it all out on the table again, and placed foam squares behind the tallest points. From there on out, I added it to the layout like any other piece of patterned paper, but instead of a flat pattern, it’s covered in haphazard folds- and with the scoring board it took just a minute rather than ages of trying to fold back and forth by hand.

To follow the hop, head on to the next stop with Julie Koerber, who creates gorgeous hand-coloured cards. There are giveaways sprinkled all around the hop, so I hope you can find a minute to make the whole circle for projects and prizes.

Speaking of which – a little American Crafts giveaway for you right here! You know how this date stamp and this camera stamp from the new Dear Lizzy line are selling out so quickly everywhere? I have BOTH of them to give to a reader! To enter, leave a comment on this post. Easy! Entries close next Thursday at midnight UK time, and the winner will be posted on Friday.

Have a beautifully crafty weekend!

xlovesx

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In addition to their designer brands Amy Tangerine and Dear Lizzy, American Crafts had quite a few new products in their classic branding, so let’s start today with a look at all that, shall we?

Fresh Squeezed is a summery home-themed line, with plenty of kitchen and fruit motifs mixed with a Scandinavian vibe.

Lots of red, brown, yellow and turquoise.

Sorry about this slightly rubbish photo, but I wanted to show you that last b-side paper – patterned quadrants! One of my favourite ways to mix patterned papers except now it’s already done. Perfect for quick scrapping.

Thickers in a lush spring green, plus layered and flat stickers. The phrases on the flat stickers would be particularly useful for cards, as the reverse includes quite a few things that would work well as greetings.

Recipe cards. Quite pretty and could make a lovely gift.

And hurrah: paper pinwheels are still here. Even if even lighting is not. Win some, lose some.

AC’s new DIY line is something for anyone who ever wanted Thickers in a particular colour or style that wasn’t in the line up… now you can make them yourself.

Start with your choice of font – these are all styles we know from previous Thickers collections.

Then customise with your choice of sparkle, including extra-fine and chunky glitters, tinsel (like glitter in little strips) and microbeads. There were also samples that were heat embossed with embossing powders and coloured with markers, though I’m not completely sure how the colouring with markers works if there is an adhesive layer on the top. Will investigate that further sometime soon.

Chromatics is a new marker line out this spring, and basically American Crafts’ answer to Copics and Promarkers. Chromatics are alcohol-based inks that blend gorgeously with ease. I gave these a try and they do shading and faded colour so very well on the very first try, so these are promising if you’re in the market for markers. Plus there is something they have done that is oh so smart:

They come packed in threes of perfectly picked shades for fading from one colour to the next. No more looking at a zillion markers and wondering which ones will work best or where to start. Choose a colour of the rainbow and then the shades are already ready for you. Smart.

Glitter Tape was a new focus where American Crafts would usually have an entire new section of ribbon. Perfect for adding sparkle that won’t fall apart on the page and has no mess. It comes in half-inch and quarter-inch widths and the colours, like those in the bottles of glitter, match the American Crafts cardstock colours.

Which of course led me to ask ‘is there kraft glitter?’ to which I was looked at with bemusement. Um… apparently if you make kraft metallic, it’s essentially gold.

I may not have thought of that when I asked.

There are, at least, shades of gold and silver so there really is one that is perfect for kraft and not overly yellow. Disaster averted.

Then we have Gardenia, a garden-themed spring that doesn’t go anywhere near the pastel shades. The Thickers for this collection have a new hand-drawn look.

I especially love that green swirl! I must admit gardening lines make me a little wistful from my little flat with no grass to call our own, but on closer inspection these aren’t overly themed and can be used for any number of topics. Just treat them as any other floral or polka dot or butterfly.

Plenty of layers in the embellishments, and again one particular pack that seems well-suited to cards.

These two are must-haves: a really versatile thank you stamp and plain wooden buttons that can be left as-is and look great tied with brightly coloured threads or you can paint them to match your project. You can even sparkle them with some glimmer mist.

Cute printed clothes pegs, but a bit big for most scrapbook pages. Handy for mini books and all other sorts of things that don’t require packing into a page protector. Or break them in half to use them on a layout for the illusion of a whole peg.

The printed die-cut shapes from the original Amy Tangerine collection were so popular the idea is now cropping up in several AC collections. Plus there’s an additional flat alphabet sticker set in the right colours for these papers.

And a few projects from the AC in-house designers to illustrate that Gardenia is useful for far more than gardening photos!

Ship dates: The glitters (called Wow, Pop and Spark) and DIY Thickers ship right now. Glitter tapes and Fresh Squeezed ship later in February. Chromatics markers and Gardenia ship in March.

Click here to shop for American Crafts products.

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Next up: the second scrapbooking collection from Amy Tangerine, entitled Sketchbook. It’s bright and watercoloured and looks great with kraft cardstock and graph paper. Sketchbook ships to stores this March.

New Thickers letter stickers in foam, glitter, and wood-grain chipboard.

Another pack of mixed die-cuts to match this line. I am on pack four from her original collection, so definitely looking forward to these!

So much happy here! From left, a Camera. Printed. Album. YES! It’s a fabric-covered D-ring album in 12×12, and you can add anything you want to the window in the middle. Then the new set of clear stamps (includes the phrase ‘how lovely’ which I will obviously overuse). Paper rosette details. And two new Daybooks: one in white and one with a spiral binding to add to the existing five volumes in the Daybooks series.

Canvas stickers – love this texture. I was curious how the colours would print on canvas but I’m happy to report they look great and match the other items perfectly. There are also new tapes (black and white prints) and ribbons to coordinate with this line.

A look at the lovely papers – cameras, dots, hearts, splashes of colour.

This line makes me ready to be done with grey winter. Bring on summer photo opportunities and scrapping in happy colours.

And some general prettiness around the booth! Are you itching to cut and glue and layer now?

This made Amy the first of the Two Peas Garden Girls I found on the show floor. Amy has some fabulous fun scheduled for later in the show with some interactive art, so I have to head back to see that! (Don’t worry: I’ll take pictures.)

*Click here to shop for Amy Tangerine scrapbooking supplies.

If you’re attending the show, you’ll find Amy Tangerine in booth 1057, as part of the American Crafts family of brands.

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All of the two trees thank you cards have been written, addressed and posted, so it’s time for something new with Saying Thanks. This time it’s not two trees but three hearts!

American Crafts sent me their new punch system to give it a try, and this project is the first thing I’ve created with it. You can see how these border punches work in the video, even if you want to skip the rest of the card. (But you know, it would be awesome if you watched the card too. Just sayin’.)

For these cards I used the Pebbles With Love papers, American Crafts thank you stamp and border punch system, Hero Arts woodgrain stamp, and white mist along with baker’s twine, rickrack, brads, and a heart punch.

Thank you for reading and watching. Always.

xlovesx

PS: New Glitter Girl video is on Two Peas now, and will be live here tomorrow.

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If I could only scrapbook with the supplies from one collection this year, it would be the Amy Tangerine collection. (Admittedly, I might cry first. Because I really, really like mixing collections. But since this is an imaginary restriction, I’m going to try to keep the tears and tantrums to a minimum.) I love the colours – rich turquoise, ripe raspberry pink, avocado green – and the motifs are inspiring without being sickly sweet. Cameras, maps, handwritten affirmations. All things that rate highly in my book.

So it is with great anticipation that I look forward to Amy’s new release for American Crafts: Sketchbook.

Think an updated, summery colour palette and a bit more freedom in the designs. With the tag line Splash some color on life (which you know I want to respell, but I’ll cope for today), this line promises an artsy twist, but still easy to craft with, no matter what your style, just like the American Crafts tradition. Sounds good to me. My intention is to use the two collections together, so I’m especially interested to see how they coordinate.

But really I don’t know all that much more than you do at this point! Today you can hop through ten different blogs to get a peek at the new Sketchbook collection, and my contribution is this canvas camera sticker. Yep, I think I can find a spot for that in my albums!

To continue on the journey, head over to Jennifer McGuire for the next look. Once you’ve made the full circle, be sure to visit the American Crafts blog, for the chance to win the full Sketchbook collection. A pretty fabulous reward for a bit of crafty blog reading!

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By the way… I will be covering Winter CHA right here on the blog – that’s the big craft trade show where all the new collections (like this) debut. The show opens on the twenty-ninth of January, and I’ll be blogging one brand at a time, so you can come right onto the show floor with me, except you can stay on the sofa and avoid paying nine dollars for a cheese sandwich in a convention centre. Sound like a deal? Awesome.

xlovesx

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_{Click here for supplies.}

2011, you were a year of adventure. A year of 50,000 miles and thirteen countries, yet moving house by only a quarter mile. Of backpacks and notebooks and cardboard boxes. Of no scrapbooking for the first three months followed by falling head-over-heels in love with it upon getting back to my desk. Of becoming the house-of-freelance wherein neither of us did anything that seemed like a ‘normal’ job. Of a few hopes being completely dashed and unfulfilled. A few others doing their best to make up for it. A year of growing and giving and letting go of what I cannot control.

I will remember this year as one that changed my perspective. That made realise the real definition of luxury and unnecessary. That an adventure through new places followed by coffee with a stranger would lead me to find a way to support and help even when I can’t physically spend all my life building schools in places where there are none. (One day I will help build one. Not in a someday maybe kind of way, but in an my eyes well up at the thought sort of way. Some part of me was meant to do that and not all that long from now.)

It was the year that I raised my hand a great deal. Who wants to volunteer? Who wants to help? Who wants to give this a try? Who wants to audition? My hand was in the air. Seriously: 2011 was the year we ATE SPIDERS*. On purpose. That’s a year of adventure, right? A year of signing up, pitching ideas, meeting people and constantly rewording my explanation of what I do for a living. But always ending with the idea of ‘it’s not really traditional, but it’s perfect’.

I hope the adventures of 2012 are just as lovely.

_{Click here for supplies.}

And can I just say there are some very new things coming here to shimelle.com throughout the new year? December has been quiet on the blog as we worked behind the scenes so much. But I am excited. I love this craft. I love pretty paper. I love creative people. And I love the idea of sharing even more of all that with you throughout 2012.

Best wishes for a beautiful new year.

xlovesx

*I say ‘we ate spiders’. I mean ‘he ate spiders’ and ‘I ate a spider femur’. But I still think it counts. The menu asked ‘who wants to try fried tarantula?’ and my hand my have been very timid, but it was somehow in the air. I’m calling it a win. And I’m making no plans to eat spiders on purpose any more. They aren’t as crunchy as you imagine.

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Have I finished my Christmas cards? No.

Do I have more finished than this time last year? Yes.

I’m calling that success, so far.

So here’s a little share of some cards I’ve been making. You’ll find a tutorial for the card set above here on the Jenni Bowlin Inspiration blog, and there are cards from the whole team throughout the month.

And these you’ll find on the American Crafts blog as part of their Christmas card week. These use the Hollyday collection, plus a little Christmas-themed washi tape.

So that’s at least five cards done. Perhaps I should number the list to see how many I really need?

Have you been making and sharing cards on your blog? Share a link so we can all see!

xlovesx

PS: if handmade cards are just so not your thing at this time of year but you still want to sort some pretty greetings, these letterpressed cards (including Christmas designs) are already 30% off.

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