Graphic 45 Mini Album

Hello All,

Graphic 45 paper and I have a love hate relationship. I often sit and drool over the papers, but when it comes to scrapping them my mojo runs away and hides in a corner shivering. So this time I took on the challenge and made a mini album from a Graphic 45 tutorial and pattern sheet which you can find here. I used the Mother Goose Collection as this is the only Graphic 45 papers I had and some random photographs of my eldest son. As the work progressed on the album I was having more and more fun creating it. Eventually I didn't quite follow the tutorial anymore. Just goes to show when you put your mind to it you can scrap with any paper.

This is the finished album. It is rather busy with lots of bling, fussy cut flowers and ribbon.

Page one: Wow time flies, to think that this little baby will be 21 this year! The "Ring around the Rosie" paper sheet is full of flowers to fussy cut. I used them as well as a music note stamp through-out the whole album to create some continuity.

Page two: Some of the stars were run through a embossing folder and some of them were covered with stickles. The word "happiness" on the tab is a stamp.

Page 3: The tag was embossed. The little stamp embellishments were fussy cut from the "Playful Postage" paper.

Page 4: The little tab at the top as well as the side of the tag was made with a circle punch. Various ribbons were tied through the whole on the tag.

Page 5: This page has a flap on the right hand side. The top of the photo shows the flap closed and the bottom photo shows the flap open.

Page 6: Some rub-offs from my stash were used on the punched out circles.

Page 7: All the words were cut with the Silhouette machine. 

Page 8: The little heart was cut freehand and the covered with stickles.

Last Page: To create the bling flourishes through-out the album I used a stitch template, traced the flourish and then stuck the bling on the trace to make the flourish.

Back page: Page corners were stuck on the back page of the album.

A little hang embellishment was made to hang on the binding rings with the ribbon.

All the stock used to make this album is available from Scrapbook Studio. Thanks for stopping by and looking at my project.

Happy scrapping

Lee

Project Life

Hello All,

Today I would like to share my take on Project Life. Project Life is a great idea but I can not see myself scrapping every week of my life, some weeks are just to boring. I like the Project Life page configurations, and the fact that it can be combined with my conventional scrapping. It is something different and adds interest to my albums. It is also a way to use some of those photos that might not be so good but you still want them in your album because the memory thereof is special.

The photographs I used for this layout are of my middle son on his 16th birthday. We had a fun filled afternoon at the beach and dinner at a seaside restaurant afterwards

 I used the Simple Stories 24/7 paper range, and some dark brown card stock for matting.

This camera is a Silhouette pattern that was cut with my machine.

 The man in action jumping of a rock with the setting sun in the background.

 Another close-up of one of the blocks of the layout.

Remember all the stock I used is available from The Scrapbook Studio.

Happy scrapping

Lee

Setting the Record Straight..................

It has come to our attention over the past few weeks that there are rumours being spread in the Scrapbook Industry about the recent acquisition of Scrapbook Factory Shop by Scrapbook Studio, involving The Wholesaler.

Scrapbook Studio JBay started as an independent Studio in February 2009, teaching classes from a very small studio in Jeffreys Bay. The business expanded and moved to a business premises in Jeffreys Bay, September 2009.

When Scrapbook Studio started, no suppliers in the industry wanted to supply the shop, due to loyalties to other stores. Scrapbook Studio, as a home based Studio, could not purchase from The Wholesaler. This was very frustrating. Other retail stores were kind enough to supply us with selected items distributed by The Wholesaler, at a fixed price, which we could then Retail to our clients at Recommended Retail Prices.

When we acquired a business premises, we could open an account at The Wholesaler and buy directly from them. Very soon we were approached by Home Based stores who could not buy from The Wholesaler. Remembering where we came from, we started assisting them. We had an understanding with all the Home Based Stores that we supplied Wholesaler products to, that if they sold the products for less than the RRP, we would stop supplying them.

When Scrapbook Factory Shop became available for purchase, Scrapbook Studio made the decision to purchase the online business. The website had to be redesigned. This happened over December 2013. Most suppliers were closed for the December Holidays. We approached The Wholesaler, who have had a very good relationship with both Scrapbook Studio and Scrapbook Factory Shop over the years, and asked if we could copy the stock from their website. The Wholesaler has a professional, up to date Website, with current stock and products readily available. They already had a system in place where clients could order stock from their website and have it delivered to the Scrapbook Store of their choice.

Another attraction for Scrapbook Studio in acquiring Scrapbook Factory Shop, was the access to Hobby X. Because several Distributors in South Africa refused to supply to Scrapbook Studio, Scrapbook Studio had to directly import several of the stock they carry. Scrapbook Studio also supplies small home based stores with these imported products.

Scrapbook Factory Shop rented a warehouse in close vicinity to The Wholesaler and appointed staff to run the operation and pack and send the orders. Logistically it made sense to not send the stock all the way to Jeffreys Bay and then to the client, but to distribute directly from Gauteng.

If the purchase of Scrapbook Factory Shop by Scrapbook Studio has in any way lead the SA Scrapbooking Retailers to believe that there is any other relationship, apart from a Distributor/Retailer relationship between said shops and The Wholesaler, then now is the time to set the record straight.

Scrapbook Studio comes from very humble beginnings, and was born out of a passion for Scrapbooking. There was a gap in the market not being filled and Scrapbook Studio started filling it. Scrapbook Studio knows what it feels like to be a small home based store/Studio teaching others to love this wonderful hobby. Scrapbook Factory Shop's agreement to Home Based Stores/Teachers is available to anyone who qualifies. All stores/teachers that we supply, sign an agreement to Retail the products at recommended retail prices.

There are alliances between several Distributors in South Africa and Retailers. We are not in the business of trying to ruin those alliances. We understand that The Wholesaler will not distribute to Home Based Stores and Teachers and we respect their viewpoint. We do feel, however, that there are legitimate Home Based businesses and Teachers who have a following, who would also love to supply their market with some of the products The Wholesaler distributes.

In closing – it is so sad that this wonderful industry is always clouded with nastiness. We just do our thing. We have always loved Scrapbooking. We have sponsored prizes at various Conventions over the years – we did it for the love of Scrapbooking and remembering how amazing it feels to get a gift in that Goodie bag! We have supported Scrapbooking South Africa since we opened our doors and we will continue to do so, regardless of the efforts of others to bring us down.

Scrapbook Studio will continue to host Events, present classes and sell great products in store and online. Scrapbook Factory Shop will continue to supply the public and Home Based Stores/ Teachers online with selected products and bring you the best of Scrapbooking at the Expo’s

We would like to invite anyone who has a question about our businesses, to please contact us directly and not create false rumours that damage the industry

Attention Gauteng Scrappers!

Gauteng Scrapbook Event!

You have asked to have us back...... so..........

Book now for a two day Scrapbook Event at Dainfern Clubhouse, Dainfern, Gauteng for only R1750 with

Jowilna Nolte (from Scrapcouture) and Cariena Basson (from Scrapbook Studio JBay)

Saturday 26 July and Sunday 27 July 2014

Schedule:

Saturday 26 July 2014

8am-8:30am Arrival & Registration

8:30am – 10:30am Session 1

10:30am-11am Tea Break

11am – 12:30pm Session 1 Continues

12:30pm-1:30pm Lunch

1:30pm-3:30pm Session 2

3:30pm-4pm Tea Break

4pm-5:30pm Session 2 Continues

Sunday 27 July 2014

8am-8:30am – Arrival & Tea

8:30am-10:30am Session 3

10:30am-11am Tea Break

11am-12:30pm Session 3 Continues

12:30pm-13:30pm Lunch

13:30pm-15:30pm Session 4

15:30pm-16:00pm Tea Break

16:00pm-5:30pm Session 4 Continues

Deposit of R500 secures your seat followed by 5 payments of R250 - final payment 30 June 2014!

Book now to avoid disappointment! Only 30 seats available!

Join us for a day filled with Amazing New Techniques, Lucky draws, goodie bags!

There will also be lots of Retail Therapy!!

For any further queries, please email events@scrapbookstudio.co.za

We are looking forward to seeing you there!!

 (Please note - images depicted in this email are just examples of Jowilna and Cariena's work and
not the layouts that will be taught at the Event)

The Events Team

Scrapbook Studio

Christmas Fun

Hello All,

Welcome to my last blog post for the year 2013. I hope that you are all having fun wherever you are, and that the time spent on holiday, with family or friends or just some quiet time spent alone, is filled with reflection on the year past and filled with hope for the future.

The layout I made for this post is of some photos taken a long time ago when my kids were small and the excitement around a jolly Christmas Father still made their eyes twinkle. Well the youngest didn't think he was so jolly and the oldest was way to cool to show his excitement. The middle one could not wait to see him as the previous year he was the one screaming on Christmas Fathers' lap and this particular year he went to greet the man at the gate. Life through the eyes of a kid is awesome!!

I used the Simple Stories - December Documented - Collection as well as black and red American Craft card-stock.

With a Martha Steward edge punch I punched strips of pattern paper and then applied Stickles in various colours to them. These strips were attached to the top and bottom of the lay-out. For the saying on the left hand side I stamped a Kaisercraft stamp with embossing ink and then applied Ranger Antiquities Frosted Crystal embossing crystal. This embossing powder does not perform like normal embossing powder. When you heat it up the embossing powder becomes matte. This takes a little practice to get right, I had a few flops trying this. Once the saying was embossed I took ordinary blackboard chalk and applied it over the embossed area and rubbed it with my finger until I got a look I was happy with. The flowers and swirls were cut with the Silhouette Cameo.

The Christmas wreath is a Silhouette pattern. It was cut from the Hello December paper and then a few flowers and diamante were attached to the wreath. A ribbon was tied to the top of the wreath.

I fussy cut the elements from the Special Delivery paper and used them as embellishments on the layout.

Finally I randomly applied blackboard chalk on the top and bottom of the black card-stock. I used my finger to spread the chalk till I was happy with the look. 

This has to be the final step just before the lay-out is ready to be stored in plastic sleeves as the chalk tend to rub off while you handle the lay-out. I think if I ever have to redo this technique I will use a smooth card-stock, it seems to "hold" the chalk better. The heading of the layout was cut with the Silhouette machine from leftover pattern paper. Remember that all the products used are available form The Scrapbook Studio

Happy scrapping till next year - 2014

Lee

p.s May you all have a blessed Christmas time wherever you are!

Advent Calender

t is December. Less than a month to Christmas. Wow.. this year just flew by in a blur of motion and I am still not organised for Christmas.... oh well, so it will be - again. 

When my kids were little there was lots of excitement around Advent calenders. As they grew older they each developed their own take on an Advent Calender. The oldest would take it and eat all the treats on the first day. The second one left it till the 24th and then ate all the treats. The third one left it all till February before eating all the treats - gleefully in front of her brothers. She gets her payback - sometimes.

My first project for this month is an Advent Calender that I made. I had so much fun making this project!! All the products used in this project except for the patterned paper are available from the Scrapbook Studio.

To make this calender I used my trusty Silhouette to cut the calender as well as all the little bits of paper. The calender is a pattern I got from an online store called SVG Cuts. They have pretty awesome projects for various cutting machines. The front, back as well as the inserts were cut from white card stock. After they were cut the inserts and the front were inked with Walnut stain Distress ink and splattered with water.

The back page was coloured with some distress stain. This is the bit of the back you will see when you open the little door.

After this all the little inserts were inked, folded and glued together.

.....and then all the gluing started. Sorry for the bad photo but it was night time and I could not stop working, I was having way too much fun!!

The seam binding that forms the bow were coloured with some distress ink stain and attached to the side pieces with a stapler. The side pieces were then glued into place and the back was glued down. The front pieces of the calender was then attached in place. For the front I used some really old Kaisercraft Christmas paper 'Tis is the season collection from my stash as well as some leftover card stock. 

The background of number 5 was stamped with watermark ink and then some gold perfect pearls were brushed over it. 

I used some Cuttlebug embossing folders to add texture to some of the front pieces and brushed some more perfect pearls over it.

Number 21 was stamped with a Christmas stamp and some Walnut Stain distress ink.  

This picture shows the piece of the background paper visible when the little door is open.

Thanks for stopping by. Good luck to all of your preparations and planning for a wonderful Christmas time. If you are in doubt as to what to give a loved one why not get them a gift voucher from Scrapbook Studio? To all of you traveling on our roads please be safe, to those staying home..... Happy Scrapping!!

Lee

Marion Smith Designs is coming to Jeffreys Bay, South Africa!

Scrapbook Studio JBay is VERY proud and excited to announce our first International Scrapbook Event taking place in Jeffreys Bay! We are already 50% sold out so Book your seat NOW!