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

Did you catch the theme in the most recent Glitter Girl Adventure that I may have a habit of mixing manufacturers to create the page kits I like the best? Now it’s your turn to create a project doing just that: mixing it up.

For this page, I started with a background paper from the new Heidi Swapp collection, and the bold floral across the middle is also Heidi paper, so it’s not that I have anything against using more than one thing per collection. But if I break down the rest of what’s there, the grey stripe, the polaroid paper with the bunting and the chipboard border are all from Rhonna Farrer’s Follow your Heart collection for My Mind’s Eye, the buttons, chipboard shapes, journaling sticker, sequins and word stickers are all from Dear Lizzy Neapolitan and the letter stickers are from the two different Amy Tangerine collections. Each of those collections has a signature look and they aren’t an obvious matching, but when I started mixing them on my desk, I came up with a combination I liked and just started cutting and pasting!

By the way: notice how this page really only has a tiny bit of journaling? Two sentences that pretty much tell what is relatively obvious from the photo, given a little bit of context. It’s a start – but I’ll come back to this before the weekend has finished.

For your project, you can scraplift if you like or you can create any design you want! Totally up to you. But you must use products from at least three different collections on your page. Upload it to a page gallery (like Two Peas or UKScrappers) or your own blog and link to it here to enter to win this challenge. Entries should be new projects created in response to this specific challenge and entries close at the end of next weekend!

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In between our crafting challenges, I have a few questions for you. These are the sort of questions that come up in the comments here and elsewhere, and sometimes I’m quite hesitant to answer not because I don’t want to help – but because I really believe there is no single right way to do these things. What works for me may not work for you and vice versa… and in fact, I have tried my share of things along the way that work for others but have failed miserably in my world.

So I want to answer… but I hope you’ll chip in with your answers too.

First up: how do you store your Thickers and other letter stickers?

My answer: First I divide them into a few categories. Thickers, other letter stickers that come on 6×12 sheets, letter stickers that come on 12×12 sheets and mini alphabets that come on sheets smaller than 6×12.

Thickers are what I use most, and they live in the second drawer of my desk (top drawer has pens and adhesive), and they are arranged in colour order. Some stay in packages and some don’t. Mostly depending on how well they stick to the sheet, as I would happily get rid of the plastic straight away but some of them would fall to bits in my desk drawer if I did that!

At the back of that drawer you may be able to see other sheets – that is where all the small letter sheets live. That includes the small Sassafras letters and mini alphabets from both Cosmo Cricket and My Little Shoebox.

6×12 sticker sheets live in a cardboard magazine file on my shelf, with 12×12 next to them – just in an upright stack, not in a box.

And that’s that!

So… how do you store your Thickers or letter stickers? Share with us in the comments!

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Welcome, welcome! Throughout the next three days, you’ll find a whole slew of posts here, including challenges, tutorials, page ideas, photography thoughts, organisation concepts, a few special guests and plenty of prizes along the way. I’m even going to announce my new class before the weekend is out. All of the challenges (and all of the prizes with the exception of a quick draw giveaway or two) will remain open until the end of next weekend, so there is plenty of time to participate and you can pick and choose whatever challenges inspire you most!

But why don’t I stop blathering and just jump right in with the first challenge so you can get started?

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How about some scraplifting for our first challenge? Taking inspiration from another layout is a great way to warm up your creative process! So for challenge one, take a look at this beautiful page by Jaime Warren and take some inspiration. You can scraplift it as closely as you like or you can take away just one or two little ideas and run with them on your own, so there’s plenty of room for your interpretation.

See more of Jaime’s work on her blog or in her page gallery.

I took plenty of inspiration from Jaime in creating this title page for a new album currently in the works. I started with the colours, though I chose different papers, and followed that through with similar placement on the page and the use of one small photo – though mine is a 4×4 square rather than a small landscape image. I loved how Jaime scattered small, round embellishments around the page, and I tried that with buttons and pearls instead of flowers, then echoed the round shape by using the view-master reels from an Echo Park paper as embellishments at either side of the page.

Now it’s your turn! Take whatever inspiration you would like from Jaime’s page and create something new. Upload it to a page gallery (like Two Peas or UKScrappers) or your own blog and link to it here to enter to win this challenge. Entries should be new projects created in response to this specific challenge and entries close at the end of next weekend!

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_{Class content ©twopeasinabucket.com.}

This week Glitter Girl is on a mission to help you get more pages from the older supplies you’ve saved for a rainy day, by finding current collections that complement some of your old favourites. This all started with this message board thread about Love, Elsie papers, but Glitter Girl threw in a few other favourites too, like Narratives and Scenic Route.

In this adventure, Glitter Girl put together several page kits mixing old and new supplies, but she only made one layout in the video. Don’t worry: she let me take the page kits when she was done, and those layouts will all be shown as part of this weekend’s online crop! Plus you can view all the product selections mentioned in the video here – just scroll down below the video. (You can also find the video she mentioned on creating a loose line of embellishments on that page.)

For this page, I mixed older papers from two different Love, Elsie collections with brand new collections like Amy Tangerine Sketchbook, the latest Studio Calico stamps and some new Heidi Swapp letter stickers. The layout itself is an idea that has been brewing in my mind for a few weeks – the idea that someday people will see photos from this era and see certain things that just suddenly were normal in pictures – like holding your phone in front of a mirror. In this case it was to share a sewing project I’d just made, although the writing on this page is about how that will seem a bit funny that all of the sudden pictures taken in mirrors with a visible phone or camera would be quite normal, it was the link between the project in the photo (this tutorial featured on Elsie Larson’s blog) that made me think of the Elsie shelf on my paper rack. Of course, no one other than scrappers themselves could ever make that connection, but that’s okay: it’s just how I got from A to B.

(For the record, that sewing project is even easier than it looks. I ended up using a fine-gauge, light-weight knit sweater, so I couldn’t leave the neckline as unstructured as the tutorial. I cut off the neckline then stitched it back on, with some pink satin piping between the two. I just used one doily – I stitched it once while whole, trimmed of the third that was over the edge and stitched that piece into place, then reattached the collar with the piping in between. The starting and ending spot for the piping wasn’t completely tidy, so I stitched a button over the top to hide it. And people always comment on the button being so cute, which cracks me up. It is only there because I messed up, really. Please keep my secret.)

Looking for more examples of pages that mix old and new collections? You can find a list of links here.

Now it’s your turn! What older collections have you been keeping for something special? This week Glitter Girl challenges you to mix your older supplies with something more current. Take a photo of your project and upload it to Two Peas and check the box for the Glitter Girl challenge in step four of the upload process to share it with us all – and you’re also welcome to share a link in the comments here if you fancy!

Onward, covered in glitter, my dear scrapbookers!

The Adventures of Glitter Girl is a weekly series on Two Peas in a Bucket, and goes live every Wednesday. I’ll share each adventure here shortly after that. I hope you enjoy her quests for crafting happiness, and if you ever have a scrapbooking dilemma yourself, you can always call her to action on the message board.

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Shaking it up a little for my 10 Things post this month!

You ask the questions. I’ll answer ten of them. Simple.

(My plan is to go with the first ten, but I reserve the right to deviate if there is a more interesting question shortly thereafter!)

Now of course… this could fall on its face entirely as you might not ask me anything at all. That will just be awesome, right? So please go ahead and leave a comment with a good question.

Ooooh, first question in! It came from the lovely Nat Williams, via Twitter:
I’ve got a Q for you! What’s your favourite paper/crafty-type shop in London? I know they’re few & far between.
This is one of the most common questions I get by email – scrapbookers coming here on holiday and wondering where they should shop to get some British scrapbook wonderment. Sadly, we don’t really have any scrapbooking shops here in London! And most of the scrapbooking supplies sold at stores throughout the UK are from US-based manufacturers, with a few exceptions. But there are still a few places I will go when I need a fix. Top of that list is the flagship Paperchase near Tottenham Court Road station. We have nearly as many Paperchase stores in London as we do Starbucks stores (and if you’ve never been here, trust me that means A REALLY BIG NUMBER), but most of them are small little card and gift shops. The big store is several floors of fun, with so much stationery but also craft and art supplies, stuff for your house. This place is so big it has its own coffee shop inside, okay? Go there. And for anyone who really wants something specifically London crafty, you’re in the same neighbourhood to pop to the British Museum then keep going to Bury Place for Blade Rubber, which is a stamp store. They have all sorts of things but they do their own line of stamps that have various British themes. My favourites look like old Royal Mail cancellations and such, and their own brand are usually right inside the window (turn left as you go through the door) but if they have moved things around, just ask and they will point them out, I’m sure.

2. From Melissa in the comments: What time will all the fun start on Friday for the online scrapbooking weekend?
I can’t say just yet, as I’m still confirming things and I don’t want to get it wrong and have you waiting. But it will be during the day – UK time – on Friday.

3. From Kerry in the comments: My question is how do you keep your nails looking so neat? Do you have any secret products you use on them?
I never feel they look that neat – I am really messy when I paint them! So my ‘secrets’ would be that I tend to paint them in the evening so they can set up, then in the shower the next morning the messiness tends to come off the skin around the edges without smudging the polish itself. I use the Avon Gel Cuticle Remover (and in fact I’ve lost it somewhere in my house right now and it’s driving me crazy), a strengthening base coat by Rimmel and Seche Vite top coat, plus whatever polish. If you’ve never used Seche, it’s unlike any other top coat I’ve tried, but it does have its strengths and annoyances. It dries ridiculously fast, even over varnish that is still tacky. It’s ultra high gloss and sets up almost like a gel nail, so your nails feel really strong even if they aren’t (mine are dry and peel, which isn’t made better by constantly wearing and removing nail varnish, I promise) and it is very chip resistant for several days. It also works really well over nail art as it doesn’t smudge all the colours together. However… it doesn’t wear like a normal nail varnish: it peels like a whole sheet. All of the sudden you’ll see a tiny gap where the layers of polish have come apart from the top of your nail and then it’s just a matter of time until the whole thing comes off. It is a little spendy (though way cheaper online than in a shop) and it doesn’t have a great shelf life. A bottle lasts me about 4 months and then it’s still one-third full but it has a yellow tone over pale colours and chips much faster. A bit like mascara: it’s amazing when it’s brand new, it’s pretty darn fabulous for a while and then all of the sudden: blech.

4. From Soozee in the comments: Which are your absolutely favourite can’t live without lenses? When are you doing another online class?
Cheeky with the two questions there! I’ll count it as one.
I cannot live without my 50mm. I keep my 50mm/1.4 lens on my camera for everyday use. I use a wide-angle for filming (the 17-40L you can see in the photo), a 100mm macro for detail shots and an 85mmL for extra special stuff, like portraits. But the 50mm is what I use if I can only take one. I really only use those four these days – they serve me very well. And the new class will be announced this weekend – it starts on the 7th of May. (I’ve told that much on Twitter and Facebook but no more info until the weekend.)

5. From Sarah B via Twitter: Who/when do you consider your style/fashion icon?
Oh goodness. I never read fashion magazines because they make me feel so unfashionable, so I am usually unable to pick any current faces out of a line-up. (A few years ago during London Fashion Week a model sorta tripped over me and a few other people in a big crowd at a street crossing and to this day I have no idea if she was someone famous or one of those runway models that would only be known to those seriously into that sort of stuff. But I promise she got up and walked away intact!) But my personal fashion icons are people like Mary Tyler Moore (as much as I love the clothes on Mad Men, I like how she makes those sorts of lines look effortless, and I love how her I’m-a-grown-up-but-I’m-still-playful attitude comes through in the clothes she wore) and Lisa Loeb (for making me embrace my glasses as something that could be me rather than an embarrassment). Of course it is impossible to not thing Audrey Hepburn’s fashion statements were the most fabulous, but I seem to have noticed something in the last ten years: Audrey and I do not share a body type. Sigh. Other things that zone in on my radar – street fashion, especially from Japan and Scandinavia. And dance-inspired clothing. I love the crazy look of the original Fame film and while Black Swan officially freaked me out more than any film I have ever seen, the rehearsal scene at the very beginning before the director comes in, when they are still layered up with their sweaters and tights and skirts? That part is my favourite. I love ballet skirts over slip dresses as normal daywear.

6. From So.Creative in the comments: My question is: are you comfortable in your new scrapbook area, with you high table (that helps you to flex your legs like a ballet dancer)? I had to ask you because I love to know that you are able to scrap AND to dance in a same time! You rock!
This question cracked me up! And I hadn’t read it before the previous answer, so that was extra funny. But anyway, an answer! I love my table – I’ve had the high table we built from kitchen units for nearly five years now, I think. When we built the legs, we measured it to be perfect for my height by figuring out what felt best for writing, stamping, etc. But I am totally a standing-up scrapper, so even though I am really short, I have a tall table. (If you look closely to any of the videos where I’m talking to the camera, you can tell as the table is taller than my waist. Getting that camera angle to not look completely stupid is always interesting. Sometimes I have stood on something just to do that introduction bit!) As to whether I am comfortable in the new area yet – not really. That picture above is where I work now – and it’s in our living room. And that picture makes it look really bright, but it is really bright for approximately five minutes on only the sunniest of days, just as the sun hits one certain spot, and then it goes back to dark again. This isn’t a permanent home for us and we are in general not completely happy with it yet. I am mostly over the temper tantrum stage. I cope and make it work, and I love our neighbourhood so I glad we could stay here, but it is far from perfect.
As for dancing while I scrapbook, I often can’t stand still and when I’m on a deadline I have a ridiculously upbeat playlist to jam to while I work, but I don’t think I’ll be winning any prizes for my ability to step-touch while layering paper!

7. From Joanne in the comments: If you had to take 5 scrapbooking essentials to a desert island what would they be?
Oh that wouldn’t be any fun at all! First and foremost a pen. Then I guess I would need paper, scissors and adhesive. That’s four already! Do I have to count my camera? And the camera wouldn’t be much good unless I could print things, so that would take me up to six already. So let’s forget the camera and I’ll take a roll of cute washi tape instead!

(I’m going to skip the 10 commandments of scrapbooking question – because I haven’t the slightest clue! Maybe ‘thou shalt not make a page without writing something down’ but I know many who disagree. Really I’m a play-by-your-own-rules kind of scrapper.)

8. From Julia in the comments: Where are you going on your travels next? I have loved reading and seeing you scrap about your trips – #envious!
At the end of this month I’m teaching a workshop in Germany (my third year doing this event and I love it!) and this year The Boy is coming along with me so we can head to Amsterdam for tulip season! I am really ridiculously wanting to travel right now but I can’t do any big trips until after the games, as I have a pretty crazy schedule to stick to for that super secret Olympic thing.

9. From Ali in the comments: Looking enviously at your scrap room, how do you remember what stash you have, or do you just collect a bunch of stuff and not worry about the wider possibilities?
When I had more space, I did more collecting. I don’t know: I have purged and purged and I now have nothing that is not either current (and therefore things I can use for work) or something older that I honestly 100% love. That means I now have more supplies than someone who is only a very casual scrapper but significantly fewer things than all those big scrap rooms on youtube and so forth! I have a lot but I also use a lot, as I’m averaging around fifty layouts a month at the moment. Yes, I know that’s crazy.
As far as remembering what I have, I have identified the types of supplies that work for me and I’m going through them constantly, so it’s rare that I stumble on something I didn’t remember. My key is that more has to be going into my albums than into storage. Nothing is precious, nothing is saved for something special. If I ever flip through and realise there is something I don’t love in my stash, it’s out – instantly. I did that this morning actually. I was going through some new papers that arrived just today to put them away and there was one in the mix that I didn’t like in person, and it went straight in my donation box without a second glance because I just know I won’t use it. That’s really rare that I would do that straight away, but I just wanted to share it as an example. I really try to be brutal. (And I have a great group that takes my extras so I have zero guilt about anything that winds up in the donate box.)

and 10! From Anne in the comments: How did you get into scrap booking? Did you always do some kind of craft?
I started scrapbooking in 1998, while I was at university. I was in a play about a set of sisters who have a family scrapbook, except it contains all the horrible things in life because that’s what has ended up in the newspaper: the house burning down, a cousin going to prison, that sort of thing. It was a really small cast and we had a great director and it was just a fabulous experience (and I have performed in shows that don’t ever have that sort of camaraderie, so I am extra grateful for that time) and we wanted to make a scrapbook as a gift for the director. I found a silly kit at Big Lots and I was elected in charge of the scrapbook because I didn’t mind writing things with Crayola markers in every colour of the rainbow. That scrapbook looks nothing like what we do now, but the sort of book where we wrote notes, pasted in lemonade packets and so forth. By the end of the process, I had discovered the scrapbooking aisle at the craft store and Creating Keepsakes magazine. And I’ve scrapped ever since!
Before scrapping, I have always done some bit of crafty this and that, but I flitted a lot and didn’t stick with the same thing all the time. It is the writing and photography aspects that make this my constant.

Thanks so much for all the questions!

And… you can also join in the 10 Things on the Tenth fun by sharing your own post on your blog or making a scrapbook page that includes 10 things and sharing it via a page gallery! The idea is oh-so-simple: on the tenth of the month, we create a list of 10 Things. Any sort of things, as long as there are ten. And we share them!

Now… leave a question – I’m sat here at my keyboard just waiting to answer! (And wondering if this is a very dangerous idea indeed!)

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A beautiful (if rainy!) Monday to you, and a new scrapbook starting point to share. Today I’ve been scrapping with some of the new papers and accents from Crate Paper, including their Storyteller and Pretty Party lines. Just perfect for an older memory here or there.

To create this starting point, you’ll need a 12×12 pattern for the background (I used these polka dots), then a 6×7” rectangle (books from Emma’s Shoppe). With just those in place, I added a diagonal line of splattered ink, though you could replace the ink with another element if that’s not your style (sequins, gems, buttons, brads). Then I added three journaling cards from this sheet and a scrap of chevron paper to balance out that stack of papers.

I tried a few different photo options with this starting point and found a 4×6 or two works fine, as does a group of 2×3s, but I kept coming back to something square. I almost used a currently picture printed at 4×4 but the tones of the papers and the motifs on the die-cut sheet made me think this old polaroid was my real answer. I love that the die-cut sheet included that ‘early years’ label, as that’s what I call my childhood albums. I really finished most of the page with the die-cuts from that same sheet – the doily, the bicycle, the date stamp, the 1-2-3 typewriter keys and the flower are all from the same sheet so I just punched them out, inked the edges and adhered them either flat or with pop dots. For the piece that overlaps the actual polaroid, there is a pop dot there but it’s stuck to a square of cardstock that isn’t attached to anything – so nothing is actually glued to the photo. (I know that will help some of you exhale.) Letter stickers from Sassafras and Studio Calico/American Crafts and the scrap of red patterned paper for the photo mat are the only other extras.

A few favourites from last week’s starting point, and I particularly like how they happened to all choose different photo sizes for their pages! Take a closer look: one, two, three and four.

A suggestion came in this past week for an image that could be used in sidebars or message board signatures, so hey presto – two of those for you! You can find a plain image here and an ‘I’ve been featured’ image here. You’re welcome to use them straight from my server so you don’t need to save them elsewhere, and it would be lovely if you link them here to the page that shows all the starting points.

Last week was also a little extra special with that prize from My Mind’s Eye! The winner is Tammy Lever. Congrats Tammy! I’m sending you an email so we can get your address over to the lovely folks at MME.

And I think that’s all this Monday’s business! Time for you to get scrapping!

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This weekend, we have two giveaway prizes! First up, one commenter will win a place on Amy Tan’s new Two Peas workshop Collect & Create, worth $25!

The Collect & Create workshop explores different styles, as well as Amy’s favorite go-to techniques like embossing, using up scraps, incorporating real memorabilia, misting, mixing products and colors, and using sketches. With 50 brand new projects to admire and inspire, join Amy and contributors as they show you how they create with what they collect.

Already purchased this workshop? Don’t worry – you can still enter, as you will be refunded your class fee, or you can gift your winning place to a friend!

As an added bonus, you’ll receive a free printable with labels and borders designed by Amy. These are only available if you sign up by the 12th, so don’t wait too long and miss out on that useful little extra!

To enter, just leave a comment on this post, including your Two Peas username.

Our next giveaway is a place on Spring training from Ella Publishing.

As Olivia Newton-John famously sang in the ’80s, Let’s Get Physical! For twelve days, April 23 to May 3, join the Ella team in the exclusive Spring Training craftnasium for a series of targeted daily “exercise” sessions—led by five pro scrapbookers—that are guaranteed to:
Jumpstart your creativity and exercise your scrapbooking muscles.
Inspire you to lead a healthy and balanced crafting lifestyle.
Give you new skills to try AND remind you of important foundational principles.
Get you in tip-top scrapbooking shape just in time for (inter)National Scrapbooking Day!

If you can’t wait and want to sign up to the class this week, you can get 15% off using the code DUMBBELL. (If the winner has already purchased the session, she can gift it or get a refund, so no need to wait.)

To enter, leave a comment on this post! Two separate winners will be chosen – one for each workshop.

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

Good luck!

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Congratulations to Maxi, who wins a personalised print from Little Musings.

Maxi, 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.

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Consider yourself formally invited to a scrapbooking weekend… and you don’t even have to pack or make yourself presentable! Everything’s online and it’s all completely free, and it’s coming very soon: the 13th to the 15th of April.

What’s an online scrapbooking weekend? Well, over the course of three days, you’ll find tutorials, challenges and special guests posting here on the blog. You can join in and give the ideas a try, and if you share your work, you have a chance to win prizes from some fabulous sponsors too. Simple as that!

Of course the idea is to join in during the weekend if you can, as that way you can chat with others who are participating at the same time and all sorts of good stuff, but I also believe there should be no such thing as stress in scrapbooking, so there isn’t a strict weekend-only policy. Nearly all the prize-winning opportunities will be open until the 23rd of April, so you’ll have more than a week to complete as many challenges as you like. And should that window of time not work for you in the slightest, then all the challenges and tutorials will of course remain here for your reference at any time – it’s just the prizes that need a deadline to make things work.

You don’t need to prepare anything in advance and every challenge is created so you can use the supplies you like and adapt things to suit your style. If you don’t print your photos at home, be sure you have a stack of pictures you’re eager to scrap. (Like everything here, you’ll find a lot of 4×6 photos in the mix during the weekend, so you don’t need to print special sizes really.)

You don’t need to sign up for anything – just show up and join in anything that takes your fancy! But you can help spread the word. Tell your scrappy friends in whatever way works for you. The more, the merrier for our weekend of crafty fun! (Feel free to grab that chalkboard image if you want to blog about it – how tremendously fabulous.)

Now… I want to keep most things up my sleeve till opening day, but I really hope you can join in at least some of the fun. Paper and photos and glue and pens. And all of you. Perfection!

See you there – oh so soon!

xlovesx

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