Scrap Gossip From Aussie Scrapbooking

Creative CommuniquÃÂ© - Mushrooms (Part 1)

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:00:07 +1100

Welcome to my third instalment here on the Aussie Scrapping Blog - Creative Communiqué. (You might like to go back and read the first two instalments - Stepping Stones and Funky Finds - Alice Fettling.)

From what I can tell mushrooms are the new owls – popping up in our crafting every where – and why not they are just too cute. This week I have gathered together some of my favourite mushroom images and found for you lots of fun tutorials too.

These little toadstool sisters (above) are actually what started me thinking about the mushroom phenomenon that is happening right now. Designed by the incredibly creative Erna who I had the pleasure of being with in a Children’s swap (well my girls did) that had been run by Mel Goodsell. Her work is truly delightful as you can see - but don’t take my word for it, pop over to her blog.

Moving right along to home décor - these glittery embroidered mushies (above) were found over at my favourite haunt - anthropologie - and as they say on site there - "Bright stitching, vibrant embroidery and a colourful print add a dash of happy to any tree." Totally what my tree will need – a dash of happy!

(Read on...)

Completing the décor craze are these fabulous silhouettes (above left) found on etsy Elepahnie - don’t you love the little gnome? They come in a variety of colours and would be perfect for a fairy room I would imagine. The second image (above middle) is from none other than Elsie Flannigan – she’s offering her first online class and this little home image is from that class. Erna rates yet another mention. I told you she was fabulous with her classic mushroom wall hanging (above right).

For the digi scrappers and crafters there are a wealth of digi mushroom images (above) but these are my favourites - from Little Dreamer Designs and Cat Scrap.

Stamps - Sassafrass and Pink Persimmon are offering some cute mushroom stamps among quite a few others in the scrapping – stamping market, but I loved the look of these wooden ones (above) from Fred Flare and the Japanese Gift market. Here and here.

Jo Kneller was inspired by some mushroom fabric to turn an old film canister into a toadstool pin holder (above).

I do love the look of cream on black - it’s timeless, but that’s a whole other post – these vintage image tags (above) are truly delightful; - I can see gifts wrapped in brown paper and a tag attached. They are found on etsy at Kisfor Calligraphy.

That's all for today. Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow, I have lots more to show you...

Happy crafting,

Tamar
www.tarisota.typepad.com.au

Inspired Blueprints Designer Call

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:00:35 +1100

Inspired Blueprints is currently looking for a team of talented designers.

Duties:

Create fortnightly layouts based on the sketches provided.
Meet deadlines for submitting layouts.
Participate in our online community.
Opportunities to provide prototype layouts for new sketches, however this is not an essential requirement.
Term is from Jan-Apr 2009.

Perks:

Opportunity to be part of the newest, upcoming sketch blog.
You may get to work with sponsor products from time to time.

How To Apply:

Choose one of our sketches and give us your take on it. We really want to see what you can do!

Also include in your application:

Name, address & email address
Link to your blog or online gallery
Details of any DTs you are currently on

Send your application to inspiredblueprints@gmail.com by no later than 30th Nov 2008. (Please put "DESIGNER CALL" as your email subject and let us know which sketch your layout is based on.) New designers will be notified by 5th Dec 2008.

Free Papercraft Projects at Lincraft!

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:00:50 +1100

Everyone loves a freebie, don't they?! And how good are free instructions to make beautiful crafts??! Love them!

If you agree, then you'll love the free project section of Lincraft's website!

There are 28 different project sheets in the Scrapbooking and Card making section alone! There are cards, scrapbook pages, mini albums, off the page projects, invitations, and even canvases!

(Read on...)

This would have to be my favourite:

What a great project to do with your children - and it would look so good up on the wall in their room! You can get the instructions here.

They also have some brand new Christmas craft projects that you could use your scrapbooking supplies with! How cool are these Babushka Dolls and Festive Plaques?!

They would look awesome done up with your favourite Christmas themed scrapbooking papers!

And I'm a sucker for anything with holly...

All in all, a great resource that is well worth a look - at any time of year!

Enjoy! :)

~Sarah~
My Blog.

Scrapbooking Delights - Weekend Retreat

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:00:12 +1100

Keeping Your Digital Photos Organised

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:00:27 +1100

Do you have a digital camera? Since I got mine a few years back I’ve gone from taking lots of photos to TONS of photos. How do you keep your digital shots organised? Are you an unload and forget sort of girl or do you have some sort of process you run through when you are at the computer?

I’ve been tweaking my photo organisation lately and thought I’d share a few of the steps that help me keep my gazillions of photo files under some sort of control.

(Read on for more…)

When I unload my camera I look through the photos I’ve taken. I take a mix of family/personal shots plus photos of cards and layouts that I use for my stamping/scrapbooking business and I wanted a system to keep them separate, and also to help me keep my photos for printing together.

Have you had a chance to see what your photo software does? Do you have a photo rating system?? Mine (Zoombrowser Ex) has a 3 star rating system that I can adjust as I’m viewing my pics. The default is 2 stars. As I'm looking through my unloaded pics, I select 1 star for photos of cards or scrapbook layouts or other shots that I might want to use for my Stampin’ Up blog, my newsletter or for Aussie Scrapbooking articles.

I select 3 stars for stand out family or other shots that I especially love and might want to print.

This makes it easy then to search through when I’m done and select all the 1 star shots and pop them in a folder for next time I’m blogging or putting my newsletter together.

All the 3 star shots are easily found for printing using search. I copy these straight into a ‘To Print – Month’ folder. The next time I unload the camera I run through the same process and add more shots to my To Print folder. When the folder gets a few pics in it, I just copy it onto a memory stick and take it along to Harvey Norman (or some other photo printing place.)

Bear with me here - I have yet another folder (Old Print Files) set up on the computer with all my old ‘To Print – Date’ folders.(I know – I’m a bit of a folder, sub folder girl!) I shift the one I’ve been using into there and start again next time I unload the camera. I often revisit the Old Print Folder when I want to get reprints or enlargements.

All my original photo files are saved in date folders – one for each month.

Still with me here! Another neat trick I’ve just discovered while playing with my photo software is that I can print out index prints. I’ve adjusted the settings to get tiny thumbnails, the name of the file and date taken.

Makes it easy for me to flick through the pages when I’m scrapping and find when a shot was taken. Yes – I could hunt on the computer for the date but then I’d invariably get distracted and never make it back to my craft desk. I can also easily see if I've printed just one shot or if it is part of a series. This wouldn't be a problem of course if my printed photos were all nicely filed but I'm afraid I have yet to tackle that aspect of photo organisation!

Last but definitely not least – BACK UP. Have you ever had a computer disaster and lost precious photo files? Make sure you regularly back up your digital photos. I’d love to say I do this each month but probably every 3 months is more accurate. What about you??

Now all this is a bit of a convoluted multi folder system but its working for me. Have you got some sort of process you run through when unloading your digital camera? Leave a comment and share your top tips.

Cheers, Sue

More from me on my blog www.madexcreations.com. While you’re there you might like to register for my free monthly e-newsletter. A great way to stay up to date on Stampin’ Up specials, plus my tips and hints for stamping, card/scrapbooking ideas for a dose of inspiration and class details for the Melbourne folk.

Scrap Of Your Life News

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:00:27 +1100

Even though I have been travelling around London and am currently in Wales which is my birthplace, it hasn't stopped me from continuing to run things from this end of the world - (with my hubbie's help of course). Isn't the internet a wonderful thing? Blogging this trip has been a lot of fun as I find using the internet very interactive, friends and family can see what I am up to more or less as it happens. Plus I can add pictures and links to interesting places we have visited. You can check out my travel blog here.

What’s New In Store? - You can see our gorgeous November Inspirational kits featuring CherryArte His and Hers Basics paper and rub-ons (see right). There are three kits to choose from to suit your budget. The Ultimate Scrapper pack comes a wonderful assortment of embellishments such as brads, flowers and ribbons, stickers and much more - plus if you purchase this pack you will receive a Hot Off The Press Swirly Doodles Template for free. For more information see here.

The new Christmas Range is in store from Carolees' Creations so start making those Chrissy cards now as these papers are perfect for cards. Also we have a huge range of Christmas Brads and themed Christmas Ribbon. Choose from "Believe", "Santa and Me", "Naughty or Nice", "Our Little Elves".

Sale 30% Off Storewide - We need to clear stock and of course make room for more, so until the end of November everything in store will be discounted by 30%.

Newsletter - Why not subscribe to our newsletter to receive updates on new products, tips and techniques, product reviews and step by step project ideas, plus be first to see great specials and the monthly freebie product. This month's monthly freebie is a Maya Road Chipboard Heart Album. See store for details...Scrap Of Your Life

'Til next time...Julie

Living Creatively Christmas Competition

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:00:16 +1100

Living Creatively is currently running a competition with a prize of a $150 voucher to spend on anything!

So what do you have to do? Make a handmade Christmas ornament. It can be sewn, knitted, crocheted, collaged, painted, drawn...and I'm sure a scrapbooked ornament would qualify too!

The ornament must be your own original design...made completely from scratch. The judges are looking for...

"We’re looking for contemporary, stylish and beautiful handcrafted Christmas ornaments. The winning entry will be judged on vision, execution, creativity and beauty."

You can enter as many times. To enter send an email with:

2 or 3 images of your design along with a brief description
your name, phone number & email address

to community@livingcreatively.com.au.

Entries close on 12th Dec 2008 and the winner will be announced on 15th Dec 2008.

Read all the details here.

Good luck! :)

Scrap Girls May Retreat!

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:05:07 +1100

SCRAP GIRLS MAY RETREAT

With such an overwhelming response to our SCRAP GIRLS March Budget Cropfest we decided to hold another one just 6 weeks later - YAY!!!!! We are so excited to do this all over again.
The only difference is, we are headed to a new location.

We so hope you can make it- it's going to be GREAT! We have so many exciting things planned for this retreat.

MAY 2009
Budget Conscious CROPFEST
30th April - 3rd May 2009
Long Point Conference Centre, Long Point - South Western Sydney
Price - see below for our package options
Theme - WonderMUM
Don’t miss out!!!

The team at Scrap Girls know that times are tough and finding the time and money to get away and do what you love is hard. That is why we have come up with "The Budget Conscious CROPFEST".

(read on...)

We will provide you the accommodation, somewhere great to scrap, all the normal fun Scrap Girls inclusions and a simple breakfast, morning and afternoon tea. All you need to bring is yourself, scrapping goodies and food for your lunch & dinner. We have access to the kitchen to cook and there is a microwave in your cabins, but better yet why not recharge your scrapping batteries and go up the street to the numerous restaurants, cafes and take aways and grab a bite. We might even go out as a group! If you'd prefer not to prepare and cook your meals then we have this covered too in our catered option.

This is the weekend before Mothers Day, so why not treat your mum to a special weekend away doing the craft she loves. Or even better - treat yourself and bring your mum with you.

Scrap Girls will be giving away special gift bags for all ladies that bring their mums with them to this retreat.

Scrap Girls has come up with a package to suit EVERYONE:

* PACKAGE 1 - 3 night stay (Thursday 30th April - Sunday 3rd May) $190
* PACKAGE 2 - 2 night stay (Friday 1st May - Sunday 3rd May) $135
*OPTION 1 - Self Catered
*OPTION 2 - Catered. For an additional $40 Scrap Girls will provide you with your meals

The price includes:
* Scrapping with a wonderful group of people all weekend long
* Scrap Girls teachers on hand for any dilemma
* Scrap Girls games
* Scrap Girls raffles
* Scrap Girls Challenge Kit
* Breakfast, morning/afternoon teas ONLY provided
* Access to our Creation Station, Journaling Station & NEW Relaxation Station
* Super comfy accommodation in cabins
* loads of laughs with great friends - old & new and heaps more.

Need a shopping fix while at the retreat, we have that covered. Cath and Nicole from Little Scrapbook Shop, a local online store and friend of Scrap Girls will be onsite for the entire weekend with loads of scrapping goodness for you to purchase. See our Retreat Shopping page for pictures and more info.

If the need arises and the ladies coming along to our Cropfest request it we will arrange a class for an additional cost (which seems to be the trend in scrapbooking retreats now anyway)
So what's stopping you???
Come and join us for 3 nights and 4 whole days OR 2 nights and 3 whole days of non stop scrapping and FUN!!!!
Hope to see you there!

Scrap Girls - www.scrapgirls.com.au

Update from Scrapbook Divas

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:57:03 +1100

We still have some Divalicious Kits available in store now at $35.00 this is great value.

For Christmas the Divas Designers have put together some great gift ideas in a kit. One is a hanging frame and the other a clock. These kits come with instructions as well and can be found here.

Newly arrived this week is Crate Paper Mia Collection and coming soon some new papers from Kaisercraft.

Our last Cybercrop for the year will be on Friday 5th December and if you bring a friend along and they complete one or more of the challenges you will go in the draw to win $20.00 Diva Dollars to spend! For registration please click here

Creative Memories To Restructure

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:00:49 +1100

Big news recently in the scrapbooking industy is that the parent company of Creative Memories has applied for protection under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code.

Chapter 11 allows businesses to re-structure and continue as a going concern (as opposed to Chapter 7 of the US Bankruptcy Code which governs liquidation or the winding up of a company including sale of assets and payment of debts).

You can read the press release here:

http://www.ibtimes.com/prnews/20081113/mn-creative-memories.htm

Or this article is quite comprehensive too:

http://www.sctimes.com/article/20081114/BUSINESS/111140028

I also found an really interesting article (below) that has a bit of Creative Memories history and a timeline of events leading up to the Chapter 11 application here:

http://www.sctimes.com/article/20081114/NEWS01/111140029

Creative Memories is putting a brave face on things, saying that no employees will be lost etc...but the fact remains that filing for Chapter 11 indicates they can't currently pay their debts.

We've had indications of downturn in the scrapbooking industry prior to this, lots of smaller scrapbooking businesses shutting up shop here and there, however an event on the Creative Memories scale is probably a warning sign of things to come in 2009.