Author Archives: admin

Introducing TINY WOODS

Hello Everyone!

When I was first sent the catalogue from Kaisercraft with the new collections I wasn’t really too excited about Tiny woods, but now its in store and I created 2 layouts with it last night (will share a bit later this week 🙂 ) I must say I really love it now. Very versatile, suits many themes and has lots of cute little animals on it.

Here are some of the projects featured in the FREE magazine available in store now.

Placemats and coasters

Rewards Chart – Full instructions to make this great rewards chart is in the Workshop magazine!

February Kaiser Release – Now in Store

2 brand new collections from Kaisercraft are now available in store.
Kit club members: On Tuesday all parcels will be posted or available for pick up in store. If you haven’t yet put in your preference for either Tiny Woods or These Days please let me know today. Thanks!

 Tiny Woods is a woodland inspired range featuring all hand-drawn, cute-sy forest animals in warm tones. It’s playful and fun, and is made up of simple small patterns that are versatile enough to be used for either boy or girls.
This range has six 12 x 12″ Double Sided Papers, two 12 x 12″ Specialty Papers, Sticker Sheet, 6 x 6″ Paper Pad, Coloured Rub Ons, Clear Stamps, Collectables and Layered Chipboard.

Rekindle memories from past treasured days gone by with our These Days Collection. Designed with heritage and ancestory projects in mind, this range lends itself to all sorts of themes. The green blue and browns are easy to use for a male project but alternatively the florals and warm orange/coral papers are perfect for friendship/mother daughter, or any vintage style project. If you have been tracing your family tree, this is the range for you! This range has six 12 x 12″ Double Sided Papers, one 12 x 12″ Specialty Paper, Sticker Sheet, 6 x 6″ Paper Pad, Brown Rub Ons, Clear Stamps, and Collectables.

SMASH!

Hello! Welcome to sneak peek of what is coming to your favourite Scrapbooking Store!
These are not a new release – but are new to Australia.
Kand Co had a few issues importing these as the brand shares the name with drink bottles here in Australia. But the legalities have now been resolved and Smash is due in store end of Feb / beginning of March.

SMASH – For the moments and musings that stick!


Would you like to see the products in more detail? Click here to go to the K&Co Smash Catalogue.

Can’t wait for these to arrive. They will be perfect to add on to the special classes our resident Mixed Media Artist is planning…..

SHE ART sneak Peek – bought to you by pink paisley :)

Hello Everyone!

This week we will introduce you to some of the beautiful collections being released at this weeks CHA. We have order 7 new collections from prima, plenty of Christi Tomlinson and lots more. Make sure you come back every day to have a look.

The following is from the Pink Paisley Blog. We have pre-ordered these products and will let you know as soon as they are available. Probably towards the end of February.

________________________________________

We are so proud to show you our very first sneak peek of 2012 because we are huge fans of this artist and crafty diva! Christy Tomlinson has been working with us to develop a “mini paper collection” that includes products she uses over and over again while creating her adored SHE ART canvas’ designs.  Now you can get “her favorite” items all in one place: Press ons, tissue paper, patterned papers, masks and of course paper bits and pieces.  We hope to expand this line later this year but to kick it off we would like to show you these amazing bold, colorful and inspirational products that will be shipping to stores in late February!
HEADED TO CHA?
Join us in BOOTH 2091 to watch live demonstrations with Christy Tomlinson on Sunday and Monday from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
SHE ART  | 6 x 6 Petite Paper Pack
SHE ART  | 12 x 12 Inspire
SHE ART  |  12 x 12 Soar
SHE ART  |  12 x 12 Courage
SHE ART  |  12 x 12 Hope
SHE ART  | 12 x 12 Truth
SHE ART  | 12 x 12 Leap

SHE ART :  RUB ONS (ARTSY TEXTURE AND DOODLE ART STITCHES)
SHE ART:  COLLAGE TISSUE SHEETS AND VINTAGE DOILY MASK (REUSABLE STENCIL)
SHE ART  |  DIE CUT BITS AND PIECES (38 PIECES)

mixed media project examples:

She Art Canvas  |  by Christy Tomlinson
She Art Girl  |  by Christy Tomlinson

paper crafting project examples:

She….  |  by Greta Hammond
She (close up)  |  by Greta Hammond
Twirl  |  by Vicki Boutin
I heart U  |  by Mona Pendleton
Sweet  |  by Mona Pendleton

Otober Afternoon – Farmhouse

Have I told you lately how much I LOVE October Afternoon? When Farmhouse arrived in store a couple of weeks ago I couldn’t wait to use it.

My Stash

Narrowing down the papers to use…

Once the papers are chosen, i then choose which photo to use.

I then have a look through my stash to see what card stck matches as well…

Start cutting and placing where I might stick which paper

Don’t forget to ink the edges…



Stick on some of the embellishments.


Final Product…. What do you think of it?

T
This kit is available as papers and embellishments but no instructions.
Hope you had a great day.

Basic Grey Page of the Month Kit

BASIC GREY page-of-the-month Subscription
We are happy to once again offer the  BasicGrey Page of the Month Program. It’s a year long program where you will receive all of the beautiful Basic Grey products to make a double page lay out ever month. The first month is March and will run till February 2013. The kits are posted / distributed every 2 months to save on postage.
This year’s theme is Past, Present and Future – but as always you can easily customize a page to suit you.
With every kit you will receive full colour (very detailed) instructions, the latest releases, approx.. 10 – 12 sheets of double sided paper + plenty of embellishments and alpha stickers.
In each kit you will be provided with themes and journaling prompts so that you can scrapbook about whatever you choose. You could also use your BasicGrey Page of the Month to scrapbook about a specific theme.
BONUS GIFT: BasicGrey are offering an exclusive Designer Tote Bag at the end of the program.
DELIVERY DATES:
We expect kits to be posted to you in the following months.
Kit 1 and 2 –early March
Kit 3 and 4 –early May
Kit 5 and 6 –early July
Kit 7 and 8 – early September
Kit 9 and 10 – early November
Kit 11 and 12 – early January 2012
SUBSCRIPTIONS CLOSE FRIDAY 3rd FEBRUARY 2012.
You can choose one of the below subscription offers to receive your year’s worth of kits:
 
1. Payment made per kit (MONTHLY). $60.00 + $10 postage charged every 2 months. (you must choose for the credit card option – not the paypal option so we are able to deduct bi-monthly)
OR
2. Payment made for all 6 shipments in advance. $330.00 (=$55.00 per 2 kits) paid for when your initial subscription is purchased. Plus you will receive FREE EXPRESS POSTAGE on ALL 6 of your kits!
CANCELLATIONS: If you choose to cancel your subscription at any time you will not be eligible for the bonus gift tote. Any free postage received will be deducted from the money refunded.

Choose the option you prefer – Monthly or Annual. You will be charged at the time you place your order.
Click here to order.

Paper Cutters

Hello Everyone! 
Did you do something fun on Australia Day?At least the heat eased of a bit for todays celebrations.

Today I would like to tell you a little about the cutters we have in stock. We have 3 main ones as well as a couple of others. The 3 I’m blogging about today are the ones I would recommend.

I’ll start with the Making Memories Precision Trimmer.

The good Points:
* It’s self sharpening = never needing a replacement blade.
* It has 1/2″ grid across the whole cutter, making measuring more accurate.
* The grid also contains pre-measured sections for 4″ x 6″, 5″ x 7″, 8″ x 10″ and 8.5″ x 11″.
* You can cut thin slivers of paper easily.
* It’s sturdy
* Magnetic ruler for holding paper in place while cutting

The not so good Points:
* Its a bit more bulky
* If you align the paper flush against the top it won’t cut straight – you need to align with the grid lines.
* Its a bit of an investment.

make sure you shop around when purchasing a tool like this, but I think you will find we have a very competitive price of $89.97 This is our everyday price.

The next Cutter I will tell you about has to be my absolute favourite. The Kaisercraft Rotary Cutter.

I have used mine for over 2 years and have only just replaced the blade. Replacement blades cost $7.99.
There are also replaceable cutting mats which costs $4.99 per pack of 2. The average person would replace them about every 6 months.
You align the paper along to top edge to cut a perfectly straight line. Measurements are in cm and inches. 
This cutter is also perfect for the left handed person.
This cutter costs $44.99.

Finally let me show you the Provocraft Paper Trimmer.

This was the first trimmer I ever used, mine was the previous edition in pink and green. Love it, very light weight and easy to take to crops. I also find this the easier trimmer if you want to take an exact square or rectangle out of the centre of the paper.

The down side, blades get blunt quite quickly. This is a great cutter for the beginners and kids.

We sell them in store for $16.99 – What a bargain!

I hope this little break down has been helpful to you. We always stock these 3, but we also have a couple of others we get in from time to time. We are able to order in practically any cutter available on the market at very competitive prices.

Only a couple of days left and the kids will be back at school. (insert happy dance) and this year is extra exciting for me as I will have 2 kids at school! Mathijs is very excited to be starting Kindy. My poor little baby will be lonely without his partner in crime…but only a year to go and he will be at school too.

Take care!
Marijke

Raising Money for Lifeline….

I don’t normally blog about my personal life….but I feel very strongly about this cause so have made an exception.

My little sister is in the RAAF (Royal Australian Airforce) and all the people around her are sent away at various times for various important jobs that make our lives nice and save. Including helping to evacuate and relocate Queenslanders when they where flooded last year, bringing emergency aid overseas, patrolling our borders – The list goes on and on.

My brother in law has been sent to a couple of not very nice places the past few years (including the clean up after the Tsunami in Indonesia, and twice to a very violent war zone. Everytime he is lucky enough to come back in one piece…BUT memories stay with you. These husbands, wifes, parents, brothers, sisters see things we will never see in our life. They are haunted by what they have seen and what they had to do. They might be soldiers trained in the field but they remain humans with human feelings and emotions.

When most come back home they need lots of counseling to help them get back to their normal lives. And Lifeline plays a very important role. If only the veterans from world War 1 and 2 had of had access to Lifeline – a lot of lives would have been saved!

ANYWAY, my little sister (she is not that little – she is in her 30’s!) has rounded up some of her colleagues from the RAAF, Army and Navy to walk to raise money. So far they have pencilled in 2 walks. One in Canberra in March and 1 in July in Nijmegen which is 4 days long – 50km per day!

Their aim is to raise $10 000 for Lifeline.
To help them raise money I have ordered in some non-Scrapbooking items and for each back pack sold I will donate $5, for every lunch bag $3.50 and $2 per bib. The products are already below RRP. This are not our normal line of stock – these have been purchased purely to help fundraise.

I have listed all of them online and there are limited amounts of each. To make the paper work a little easier for me could you please purchase them from my website even if you are coming in store to pay and pick up?
You can buy them here

Here are some of the products:

Sizzix Texture Boutique

A new tool we will be stocking although its not new on the market – the Sizzix texture boutique.

This is smaller to the Cuttlebug and BigShot and it only embosses – not die cut. It has some great features. They are due in store in about a week (in transit) . At the moment we only have the bundle coming as shown below, but can order the machine on its own which would be a bit cheaper. The bundle will cost $74.95.


What the manufacturer says:
Fun is in the cards for you! This amazing cardmaking and embellishing system creates cards for any occasion, while transforming ordinary cardstock into elegant embossed art with the help of Sizzix Textured Impressions, Texture Fades or Texture Trades Embossing Folders.
Resembling an ornate purse with a beaded handle (measuring 8″ x 5″ x 9″, plus 2 1/2″ handle), this fashionable cardmaker embosses and embellishes in just seconds, using Textured Impressions, Texture Fades or Texture Trades Embossing Folders and a pair of Embossing Pads. A tremendous value, this Beginner’s Kit offers everything needed to get started creating beautiful cards and embellishments.
The Texture Boutique Beginner’s Kit includes these products:
• Texture Boutique Embossing Machine
• Textured Impressions Embossing Folder – Flowers, Daisies (Small)
• Textured Impressions Embossing Folder – Flower & Dots Border (A2 Medium)
• Textured Impressions Embossing Folder – Swirls & Dots (A2 Large)
• 1 Pair of Standard Embossing Pads
• 1 Mylar Shim
• 10 White Cards
• 10 White Envelopes
• 10 Ivory Cards
• 10 Ivory Envelopes
• 40 Assorted Samples of Core’dinations ColorCore Cardstock
• 1 Sheet of Black Rub Ons
• 1 Sheet of White Rub Ons
• 1 Rub Ons Applicator
• 1 Sandpaper Sample
• 1 Idea Booklet
• 1 Instruction Booklet
Please note, the Texture Boutique Embossing Machine embosses only; it does not die-cut.

Click here for more info.

 What do you think?

Do you prefer the Cuttlebug or the Bigshot?

Do you own a Die Cutting machine? What made you choose the one you have? we sell both the Cuttlebug and the BigShot/Kick in store.
Here are a couple of different colours available from Sizzix. I have included the blurb from the manufacturer under each photo, but they are all pretty much the same – you just get to choose the colour. We will have the Pink and Black Big Shot and the Vintaj back in stock in about a week. (its in transit). All 3 costs the same – $149.00.


Sizzix BigShot Machine (Pink and Black)

There’s a big reason why we call our shape-cutting and embossing machine a Big Shot. It’s because the stylish black-and-pink Big Shot works with our smallest dies to our big 6″ wide plastic-backed treasures and embossing tools. If that wasn’t big enough, this portable roller machine cuts and embosses many different materials.

Included with the Big Shot are a pair of Standard Cutting Pads and the adjustable Multipurpose Platform, which makes all makes all Sizzix components thinner than a Bigz Die compatible with the Big Shot Machine and even works with other brands’ dies and embossing tools! The diagrams on the Multipurpose Platform offer easy guidelines about how to make the perfect Sizzix sandwich.
The Big Shot Machine measures approximately 14 1/4″ x 12 3/8″ x 6 5/8″ and features a three-year limited warranty.
For more info click here.

Sizzix BIGKick Machine (periwinkle)

Give a great BIGkick to your creativity! The BIGkick works with our smallest dies to our big 6″ wide plastic-backed treasures and embossing tools. If that wasn’t big enough, this portable roller machine cuts and embosses many different materials.

Included with the BIGkick are a pair of Standard Cutting Pads and the adjustable Multipurpose Platform, which makes all Sizzix components thinner than a Bigz Die compatible with the BIGkick Machine and even works with other brands’ dies and embossing tools! The diagrams on the Multipurpose Platform offer easy guidelines about how to make the perfect Sizzix sandwich.
The BIGkick Machine measures approximately 12 1/4″ x 6″ x 14 1/2″ and features a three-year limited warranty.
Click here for more info.
VINTAJ BIGKICK
Included with the BIGkick are a pair of Standard Cutting Pads and the Solo Platform & Shim, which makes all Sizzix components thinner than a Bigz Die – including Sizzix DecoEtch and DecoEmboss Dies – compatible with the BIGkick Machine. Add a Solo Wafer-Thin Die Adapter (sold separately), and the BIGkick Machine can even work with Framelits as well as other brands’ dies and embossing tools! The diagrams on the Solo Platform, Shim and Adapter offer easy guidelines about how to make the perfect Sizzix sandwich.
The BIGkick Machine measures approximately 12 1/4″ x 6″ x 14 1/2″ and features a three-year limited warranty.
If you would like to know more on how to use the BigKick click here.
Cuttlebug from Provocraft
Here is the blurb from the manufacturer:
Using unique rolling technology, the Cuttlebug® can cut shapes, emboss shapes, or cut and then emboss shapes to add texture and dimension to your latest creative endeavors. 

Combine Cuttlebug® dies and embossing folders to easily create inspired, professional-quality designs for scrapbooking, school projects, home décor, and more. 
Features
  • Cuttlebug® accepts the dies you already own.
  • Cuttlebug® loves the materials you love, freeing you to cut and emboss from a wide range of crafting materials.
  • Compact fold-n-store profile allows storage in less space than other leading machines.
  • With a built-in pop-up handle, Cuttlebug® goes wherever you find inspiration.
Box contents include: Cuttlebug® Die Cutter & Embosser, 1 A Spacer, 2 B Cutting Pads, instruction booklet and 1 5×7 flower embossing folder.

             * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

We sell the cuttlebugs for the same price as the BigShot and BigKick at $149.00.
Personally I have the Cuttlebug, have used it for years and love it. I don’t know if I like the news version V2 as much though. The handle is not the same and so far only comes in the one green colour. (My cuttlebug is ivory with teal accents and a pretty teal swirl on the side). I presume that there will be limited edition colours released in the future.
When I bought the cuttlebug I hadn’t seen or used the BigShot, and I must say I actually prefer it. It seems to be a bit stronger. The down side – the side do not go up so it takes up more room when not in use.
You can use most dies on both brands, they both work the same. So it is really down to personal choice. I do like the new colours Sizzix have released though 🙂
Which do you prefer and why?