Organising small embellishments on a shoe string

If you're like me, you probably hoard lots of pretty stuff, most of which you don't even remember you own! And when you're in the middle of creating, you spend a lot of time looking for that special little something and before you know it, the mojo is gone / the kids cry / dinner needs to be cooked etc etc. 

A little while ago I organised all my little odds and ends by colour into one container and I have actually been using them too. 

I discovered that the cardboard boxed that the Aldi coffee capsules come in, fit perfectly into quite a few of my drawers and storage boxes. I don't actually own an Aldi coffee machine anymore. We didn't want to create so much landfill anymore and switched to a machine that grinds coffee beans fresh. It's delicious, but I digress. Anyway, you're bound to know someone who buys the Aldi capsules and you can beg a few empty boxes of them.

I open the empty box, flatten them and use my trimmer to cut them down to fit the height of my storage container (usually just a little under 1/2 the height of the coffee box, so you get 2 storage boxes out of each one) and glue the bottoms shut again. 

I fit 15 of these boxes into a 12x12" storage container from Spotlight. I sorted all my little odds and ends into colours, which is how I prefer it. I manage to fit a lot in each little box! Little chipboard pieces, tags, stickers, butterflies, buttons, flares... anything small gets chucked in there.

Now when I need something white, for instance, I simply pull out the little coffee box with all the white bits and pieces and I'm bound to have something that will fit. 

Apart from the 12x12" storage box (about $12 on a sale), it cost me nothing, I reduced waste and it means I actually use my stash.
Maybe I've inspired you to sort out your stash.

Find your happy place - lots of techniques for boys

Totally inspired by a class I took with Natalie May at the FN workshop, we are going to experiment with mediums, Magicals, Lindy's Stamp gang sprays, Starlight paints and layering. All the colours are black and white with neutral browns and one accent colour, which you will choose to match your photo. Mine is bright green to match Joel's shirt.

We're layering lots of black and white scraps to create our background. 

Have you tried out the Starlight paints yet? They look amazing on chipboard and right now Toni has every colour in stock!



They are not available anywhere else until the next expo comes around. If you ever wanted some, you need to get them now.

As usual, we meet for class on Monday at 9:30am, Tuesday at 10am and 6pm. You must book in for night classes. Please bring a 4x6" photo (any direction)

Puppy love - a layout out for dog lovers or cat ladies

Calling all animal lovers!

Next week we will scrap our four legged family members with an adorable dog / cat layout. 

There is plenty of choice for words and dogs / cats to cut out, maybe you find your pet among them. I chose to cut out some friends for Sunny, as no-one really looked like our puppy.

Remember shrink plastic? It's been around for years and we haven't used it in ages. It's always fun to watch it shrink, so let's make a little doggie / cat charm. I also finally found a use for my little fur scraps that I have kept for just such an occasion for ages. 

Rachel Lowe recently used a similar circles-in-circles design and she very kindly let me scraplift it for our class. It's actually quite easy to make from scratch. The outer edge of the circle is the perfect place for some journaling.

 We will also have a go at some Tim Holtz mediums to age our word strips a little.

You'll have enough patterned paper leftover for a second pocket page, in Project Life style, if you want to scrap more photos.

So, are you a dog lover or a cat lady? We will cater to both in next week's class, as it can be adapted to a cat layout too. If you're not a pet owner, we can pick different papers altogether and go with any theme you'd like. But if you have a cat or dog, I'd encourage you to go for a pet page, as those don't come along all that often.

Meet me at Scappin' With Style @ TJ's 

Monday at 9:30am

Tuesday at 10am or 6pm (you must book in for the evening class!)

Kiss - a tropical escape

Sorry it's a little late, but you'll forgive me when you find out what I bought today.

Next week's page is here! And it's too pretty to keep on one page, so we're stretching it to a double page, which means we can add lots of photos! 

As you know, my favourite medium of the year is Magicals, those versatile little bottles of amazing colours. This time we're going to create a dreamy watercolour effect with just a hint of texture and design. It's easy and fun and of course, everybody's will look different. You'll be amazed at what you can do with 2 Magicals and a sheet of white cardstock.

Then we'll add Island Escape paper (the monstera leaf is already die cut), a few clusters of pretty things, flowers, filigrees and butterflies, sequins, pearls and a sweet little paper bow.

I have used four 3x4" photos, but you can use more, change directions and sizes and make it yours! The photo in the frame is pretty small, so keep that one no bigger than 3x4. 

Suggested themes are:

weddings, beach, Hawaii, cruise, tropical, anniversary, girly.

As always, we'll meet at Toni's on Monday (20/03) at 9:30am

Tuesday (21/03) at 10am & 6pm

$25 gets you a seat in class, all the materials you need and a friendly little chat. Don't forget to book in!

See you there!

2 fairy layouts

In stark contrast to last week's rusty layout, let's do rainbows and butterflies! Or rather, fairies and flowers. 

I have prepared 2 versions of the same layout, a purple and a peachy pink one.

You will get to pick which one you'd like to do. 

The technique of the week is painting with Magicals. Is there nothing these little pots of magic can't do??? I will show you how easy it is to achieve an artsy watercolour look with just 3 pots of Magicals and a paint brush. 

You can't go past those sweet little ribbon roses. They are fantastic for adding a little bit of texture here and there. 

This sweet paper by Fab Scraps comes all the way from South Africa and you can't help fussy cutting these gorgeous details.

Which one will you choose?

You can buy a kit of the other version, if you'd like to do a double page and there's enough papers. Extra kits are $5 and you're welcome to work on both in class. (Please note that I only have 1 tree of life per person, we will substitute it with another charm on your 2nd page) 

Tuesday ladies: If you could, please send me a quick note which kit(s) you'd like, so I can set these aside for you! First in, best dressed.

Let's meet, like always, at Scrappin' With Style @ TJ's

Monday at 9:30am

Tuesday at 10am or 6pm

Father & Son - a rusty layout

A few asked me last week how I get my ideas for classes, so let me take you on a little trip. 

This time the spark of inspiration was started during a conversation with the amazing Di Garling, as Janet and I were taking her to the airport after her class at Workshop Wonders. She mentioned that she works with the team hosting the More Than Words challenge and that not that many Aussies enter the challenges. February's challenge was to use an ampersand and take inspiration from the word "together". Most of the other entries are floral and super pretty, so naturally I had to go manly and rusty. What else?! 

Challenge accepted! (find the challenge post here)

1.) 

I cut out a huge ampersand on the Cricut and found a photo of my 2 men together. I just love how they look so alike in this photo. Please don't giggle at the windswept hair. It is not a comb over.

2.) 

Toni had given me some Finnabair rust paint to use for class and it's amazing. I watched a YouTube video to see how she uses it and in it she glued a whole lot of bits and pieces on an old camera before painting it all in rust. (find it here) So, that's where I got the idea to stick odds and ends together on the ampersand. 

3.) 

The pipes chipboard just happened to be there, so it got rusted too. A few drips from the tap are a must and some of the pipes form the frame for the photo. 

4.) 

Susan has been asking how to make a zipper flower. This is not strictly a flower, but the same principle applies. It somehow ended up rusty too. Can you see a common thread?

5.)

I also found this layout super inspiring:

 I ended up using one little black circle that also wound up (no, not rusty but golden) under the zipper bit.

6.)

 After using Janet's new cityscape chipboard, I remembered I had a stencil a bit like that and I had to dig it out.

As you can see, it's hard to say where my ideas come from. They come from all over the place. Some take hold and some just make me dig out some stuff I forgot I had. 

Actually I'm just super happy I came up with a grungy, rusty class project that I love and I hope you do too. After all, I had a class to plan and now you're all invited to do this project with me! 

You will get to do all the above mentioned, including building your rusty ampersand from scratch (please bring your own windswept hairdo and/or comb over) Maybe you have a couple of bits and pieces you'd like to incorporate, as long as they can get rusty!

Grab a 4x6" landscape photo, your tools and stinky glue and meet me at Scrappin' With Style @ TJ's. 

Times as usual:

Monday 9:30am

Tuesday 10am & 6pm

No hidden cost, all this for $25

See you in class!

A touch of the orient

Some of you are lucky enough to have traveled to Japan and China and next week we will have the perfect class project for your favourite photo! 

If you haven't been (like me), you can still simply enjoy the beautiful colours and designs and scrap any photo. 

We are also having a play with the latest mica sprays to colour our flower and leaves. These are actually shimmery golden but it's hard to capture in a photo. 

The tag with the cranes can be pulled out and used for a title and journaling. I will also have my alphabet dies on me to cut out a title, if you wish.

I recommend you find a 4x6" photo that has a bit of red and/or gold in it or a black & white photo. It can go in either direction. We will have enough of the red paper to mat the photo, if you want.

Would you like to join me in class?

You can meet up on Monday, Feb 27, at 9:30am or

Tuesday, Feb 28, at 10am & 6pm

Cost as always is $25 and includes everything apart from your photo and basic tools. 

See you at TJ's!

Happy trails - with a flip out album

You've asked and here it is: a multi photo travel page! Grab a pile of photos and come along to learn how to make an awesome pull-out photo album!

When you pull on the tab, a whole album flips open, revealing one photo after another. 

You can pick your theme and pick your colour scheme (we're all using the same background paper of light grey and aqua, which goes well with almost anything). I have cut out a boat cause we're on a lake. You will have a choice of any kind of transport and if you don't do travel, then we can cut out something completely different. The choice is up to you. 

Those butterflies from A Mother's Art are so pretty, so let's use them. Several colours are available.

I recommend you simply bring a pile of photos and we will pick and choose as we go. I have used:

One main 4x6" photo (must be landscape)

Two 3x4" photos (portrait)

Four 4x6" photos (landscape) or substitude any of these for two 3x4" portraits. A mix of both sizes works well.

Please don't trim down any photos before class, they have very specific sizes. It's ok if they have white borders.

Don't have that many photos? That's ok, you can skip a few pages or use some for journaling instead. Need to scrap even more photos? You'll be making heaps of those albums in no time!

Please bring a cutter and a score board, if you have one. You will also need glue or the super strong red double sided tape. The cheaper stuff won't do. You can buy your adhesives at Toni's too.

Classes run at Scrappin' With Style at the usual time:
Monday, Feb, 20 at 9:30am
Tuesday, Feb 21, at 10am & 6pm
Cost is $25 and includes all materials

Lovely you

Just in time for Valentine's Day add a little bit of romance to your layout when you come to class next week! 

We'll get a little bit artsy with paint and give the distress tool a bit of a work out. 

There's pink, butterflies, flowers, texture! 

You will love scrapping a girly photo. I used a 4x6" photo. It doesn't have to fit inside the frame, a little overlap is ok too. 

Grab your photos, an edge distresser and a craft knife! Throw in that bottle of glue and a pair of scissors and you're good to go!

Classes are at Scrappin' With Style @ TJ's 

on Monday Feb 13 at 9:30am and 

Tuesday Feb 14 at 10am and 6pm

Cost is $25 incl all materials and please remember to book in!

See you there!

Swim Little Fish with Graphic 45

Time to celebrate summer with another beach layout! 

This time we're using some vintage inspired Graphic 45 papers. You could also scrap some cruise photos, beach weddings etc etc. 

Lots of things are happening on this page! 

shells, a pull out journalling tag...

...a little bit of fussy cutting...

...frames galore and lots of bits and pieces.

You will need two 4x6" photos: a landscape and a portrait one. Please note that the OUTSIDE edge of the frame is 4x6", the visible part of the photo is roughly 1" smaller.

So if you're feeling inspired to try something different, join me at Scrappin' With Style @TJ's on Monday, Feb 6, at 9:30am or

 Tuesday, Feb7, at 10am or 6pm 

(bookings are essential, especially for the night class!)

Cost is $25 and includes everything. Please bring a craft knife, edge distresser and foam tape or squares.

See you in class!

A beautiful life

Let's get artsy next week! 

We're creating our own backgrounds with texture paste and Magicals. Each one will be different! 

And because the Ubud Dreams paper is such a dream, we're using one more paper from this lovely collection. You can make this a matching page to our last class, if you like. 

I have also painted the flowers to match. There are blue flowers at the shop, if you'd rather not paint your own.

Let's get creative on Monday at 9:30am or on Tuesday at 10am & 6pm.
Like always is $25 and includes all materials. 
You will need a 4x6" photo in either direction (or you can improvise with several minis) and a black ink pad for the edges.

See you there!