Exciting news + new layouts!

Hey hey crafty friends...how have you all been?

I have a gazillion updates to post, but wanted to quickly share some exciting news with you!

I am proud to announce that I am now designing my own scrapbooking lines for a well known company in the industry...oh yeah! It has been something I have been wanting to do for a while now & gratefully was given the opportunity a couple of months back. It has had it share of learning curves...but I am thrilled to say it is in China being manufactured as we speak...so watch social media for more about it with exciting sneaks etc closer to the time. 

I am still pinching myself...woohoo!

Another wonderful opportunity was given to me by my scrappy friend, +Kimberly Hutchison who is the talented owner of +Hip Kit Club. I am now designing PL cards for her kits. The pretty June just landed from the printer & I just had to share it with you. I designed to co-ordinate exactly with the June main kit & embellishment kit. 

Here are the cards, just unpacked & looking awesome!

JUNE journal cards for Hip Kit Club as part of their Project Life kit by Kim Watson

HIP KIT CLUB – JUNE 2015 – (main kit)

Hip Kit Club Member Price:  $29.95
(requires a 3 month minimum subscription) CLICK HERE to join!
Individual Kit Purchase Price:  $34.95

Products Included:

• 1 sheet Elle’s Studio – Let’s Eat – Meal Planner Paper
• 1 sheet Pink Paislee – Atlas – Altitude Paper
• 1 sheet Pink Paislee – Atlas – Latitude Paper
• 1 sheet Fancy Pants Designs – Summer Fun – Floral Paper
• 1 sheet Fancy Pants Designs – Summer Fun – Sandcastles Paper
• 1 sheet Fancy Pants Designs – Making Waves – Blazing Paper
• 1 sheet Crate Paper – Poolside – Sunshine Paper
• 1 sheet Simple Stories – Summer Vibes – Shine On Paper
• 1 pkg. Crate Paper – Poolside – Twilight Thickers
• 1 pkg. Crate Paper – Poolside – Glitter Ephemera
• 1 pkg. Crate Paper – Poolside – Glitter Chipboard Frames
• 1 roll Freckled Fawn – Navy Triangle Washi Tape
• 1 pkg. Crate Paper – Poolside – Layered Embellishments
• 1 pkg. – Crate Paper – Journey – Cork Stickers

Here is the whole kit at a glance. If you aren't already a subscriber...I urge you to think about changing that...their kits are amazing! Beautifully put together, fabulous colors, great value for money...& the best customer service I have ever experienced.

June 2015 Hip Kit Club

Here are some of my latest pages designed with the April kit.

Hey Babe by Kim Watson

The April papers are amazing! The colors, the patterns… everything Kimberly chose for this kit is so perfectly coordinated, it makes sense to mix them together!

Enjoy These Moment by Kim Watson

Inspired by the chevron paper by Webster’s Papers, I decided to play around with diagonals for this page.

And that's it for today...I am glad you stopped by!Be sure to come back later this week for more crafty projects.
Happy Thursday to you!

A special announcement!!

I am super excited to be joining Hip Kit Club design team and working with these uber talented ladies. They have a membership forum on Facebook, where everyone chats, shares their latest projects using their Hip Kits & just hang out! And the Hip Kit Club blog  where all the DT members post a project a day through out the whole month, making sure you have a ton of inspiration to draw upon. I am so looking forward to getting to know them better. 

I am waiting in anticipation for my first kit, which will be the February kit, and from what I have seen, it is gorgeous, filled with trendy patterned papers, amazing embellishments, puffy stickers, flair buttons & more!  

Here's an idea of what I look forward to receiving in my box.

The Main kit

 The Embellishment kit

 The Color kit

 The Cardstock kit

If you haven't heard of them, or had a chance to check out the February 2015 Hip Kit & Add-On Kits. They are super value for money, their customer service is outstanding & they SHIP INTERNATIONALLY...(yes South Africa too :D ) So make sure to visit their website to get yours, before they are all sold out! 

Fancy pants Designs & Tombow team up!

Are you getting ready for the Holidays?? What are you talking about woman, you are probably asking right about..now??!

Let me give you heart failure...........                

Erm...I'm nasty aren't I? :)

8 weeks friends....8 weeks.....could someone please resuscitate my crafters heart!

Well in light of that jolt...shall we get cracking with some Christmas crafting ideas?

Today I have a few projects + a tutorial to get you in the holiday mood.

Seasons Greetings by Kim Watson 

Supplies- Cardstock: +AmericanCrafts; Patterned papers, Die-cuts, Tags, Vellum paper, Foil Paper, Tickets, Stickers, Mini trees, Sequins, Buttons: +Fancy Pants Designs; Wood Veneer: +Studio Calico; Adhesive: +TombowUSA; Glitter: +Martha Stewart; Metal Die: +TechniqueTuesday; Cutting Machine: +Silhouette America

*Glitter Chevron tutorial

  

Oh! Deer from +Fancy Pants Designs 

    Adhesives by +TombowUSA 

 STEP #1:

 Using Tombow adhesive tape, create a chevron shape directly onto your base page.

 STEP #2:

 Remove backing tape & sprinkle liberally with fine silver glitter.

 Press glitter well into sticky tape & tap off any loose glitter.

STEP #3:

 Using Tombow foam tabs, I raised die cuts & small items, adding dimension.

STEP #4:

 Using Tombow power tabs, attach your cute little bottle brush tree!

STEP #5:

 Tombow Mono glue rocks my world for all those hard to reach places!

 Now for a cute Snow Owl for your Christmas mantel!

To make this littl' cutie, simply cut +Fancy Pants Designs corrugated cardstock into strips & roll ém up. Create a teent top hat from patterned paper, add little feet & die-cuts...& voila! All done!

Supplies- Cardstock: +AmericanCrafts; Patterned papers, Die-cuts, Corrugated cardstock, Stickers, Buttons: +Fancy Pants Designs; Adhesive: +TombowUSA

We like to Chill by Kim Watson 

 Supplies- Cardstock: +AmericanCrafts; Patterned papers, Die-cuts, Tags, Vellum paper, Foil Paper, Tickets, Stickers, Mini trees, Sequins, Buttons, Flair: +Fancy Pants Designs; Adhesive & Marker: +TombowUSA; Ink: +Tattered Angels; Metal Circle Dies: +TechniqueTuesday; Cutting Machine: +Silhouette America

Layered clustered elements with a mixture of textures, raising them with foam squares for dimension & height.

Mix vellum & foil, creating the feeling of a chilly, snow flake filled page. 

Use a large die-cut snowflake with ink splatters & sequins, adding further 'chill-treatment'.

 Ok... now that I have  shocked you...not only with my friendly Christmas reminder, but x3 posts in one. LOL. What can I say, some strong motivation behinds the scenes got me in the mood. (Watch this space).

I love that you stopped by!
Happy Thursday!

I [heart] sketches by #fancypantsdesigns!

Yes...it is almost time again, for us at #fancypantsdesigns to select a winner for the #August sketch #contest as seen in our August newsletter!

Need a little inspiration?

This is the amazing August sketch by the talented Jenny Evans. 

My take on the sketch...interpreted into a 8.5"x11"version!

Collection used: Me-ology by Fancy Pants Designs.

Hello Cut-file: Fancy Pants Designs can be purchased in the Silhouette online store. 

Collection used: Me-ology by Fancy Pants Designs, Vellum Paper by Fancy Pants Designs, +Thermoweb , +Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L, +TombowUSA adhesive and watercolor crayons, Veneer by +Studio Calico, Other: #Homemade Enamel dots. 

So hurry...you have 5 days to get your entries in. I can't wait to see your awesome work!

Thanks for stopping by!

FREE cutfile + a new Sketch!

Every month #fancypantsdesigns runs a sketch contest in their monthly newsletter/ emag. The amazing this about it is, it is FREE!! You can download from their website, or even easier, have it sent directly to your inbox, all you have to do it sign up.

This is the sketch contest from the July newsletter... to give you an idea of how cool they are. You get a FREE sketch to work from, as well as a bunch of sketch support from the Fancy pants Designers. 

Each month the selected winner not only wins a Fancy pants Designs hamper but also has the chance to be the featured designer in the monthly newsletter too.

Collection used: Everyday Circus by +FancyPantsDesigns

My take on +Jenny Evans  fabulous sketch!

BONUS! free Ampersand cut file!

NB: This cutfile is for your personal use only! 

ENJOY!!

DIY: Make your own enamel dots!

If you are like me & are having a HUGE problem paying R76.00 (retail) for a teeny pack of gorgeous coloured MME emanel dots, then this post is for you.

My scrapping budget is tiny....so paying almost R100 for a few enamel dots just doesn't sit right with me :) I thought, best I get off my lazy, scrapbooking butt & put some of my years of scrapping experience to good use & try & make my own DIY emanel dots.

To get my head in the game, I hit Pinterest, which had loads of different ideas...from melting Perler beads (which I can't get here in SA without a huge amount of effort), painted googlie eyes, hot glue, blobs of texture paint etc etc.

This is the result that worked best for me.

Supplies:

• Glossy Accents from +Ranger Ink 
• Wax paper
• Cheap nail varnish

Step #1

Use the squeeze, lift & pull technique to get puffy glue dots.

Step #2

 Once dry.... you have to be patient here. (Too soon & you'll get a mangled dot.) Carefully apply different colours of nail varnish.

Step#3

The result: Piles of  pretty 'almost free of charge' enamel dots.

You've gotta love the fact thatbecause they cost virtually nothing, you don't have to ration yourself to a few per page! 

Go wild...& add dots to everything I say. (Erm... yes....I have that problem right now. Every project coming off my craft table is covered in dots :)

Stamps 3 ways & a tutorial

You might be like me & have a gazillion stamps calling to be used in creative new ways? Today I want to share a page using a variety of techniques. They might be one you know well or not...but either way I hope this will spark you to haul out those stamps & get stamping :)

The same stamp used in x3 different ways, oh yeah...I am a lover of getting value for my money.  

1. Inked in tonal colors & stamped onto patterned paper.
2. Inked in contrast color & stamped onto wood veneer.
3. Stamp pressed into hot foam.  {This is a technique I saw some years back shown to me by my friend Amy Peterman.}

These are the stamps I used from Fancy Pants. 

Scrapbook.com still has one set left to buy...so be quick if you want it! I linked it up for you :) 

{sorry I am shamless in my enabling}

My lil' Stinker by Kim Watson

Dry Emboss onto foam using an ordinary Acrylic stamp- seriously, it works!!

1. Heat the craft foam with your heat gun. Not too much...the stuff could melt or catch fire which would be problematic even from the most adventurous of crafter. 
2. Whilst still warm & soft, firmly press acrylic stamps onto surface. Hold it there for a couple of seconds for the designs to 'take'. 
3. When cool...cut out with sharp scissors. LOVIN' my Fiskars shears. 
4. Go on & embellish your page :)

 Here is a close up of what the cute accents look like.

Now for the next idea. Stamp onto wood veneer.

1. Ink your stamp well with a color that will show up onto the veneer base.
2. Once dry, cut circle out with your Fiskars Shears {which are so cool, they can cut almost ANY substraight.}
3. Lightly sand away any burrs
4. Layer with your other completed circle accents.

 Here is a close up of the wooden accent complimenting the fun layered cluster.

 Now on the subject of Fancy Pants Designs. Have you heard? Fancy pants are having their first ever warehouse sale.... packs like these one are being sold at ridiculously low prices in comparison to their actual value.

So I strongly suggest, if you like a good bargain, and you'd better grab one of these babies before they sell out. See HERE for all details, prices & to purchase online @GetFancyStudio {PS: they are shipping internationally too...woop!}

OK... crafty post over. Have a super day, I'm really glad you stopped by!