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Tuesday, February 14, 2023

It's a crafty life - more than a hobby *TPC mag article

 It's a crafty life - more than a hobby.. 

find link to the article website  HERE 

For so many of us, our love and passion for paper crafting is based within a hobby. And for that reason, we limit our budgets for many reasons. This time of year, all around the world we hear that there is a decline in sales. The pre Christmas buy up, the focus on back to school items and catching up on household bills always take priority before we allow ourselves to enjoy new products.

Recently through discussion with local stockists in home based businesses, market sellers and store owners I’ve become concerned as they expressed grave outlooks for their own livelihoods and future in the industry with the lack of support from manufacturers and/or customers. 

But as the cost of living continues to climb, should we be leaving this to the last on the list? Crafting is more than just a plain old hobby for the majority of us. It is a creativity release, it is a therapy, it is an escape, it is capturing memories for the future generations. 

With some paper and glue we create beautiful works of art that last for many years. This is more than a hobby for us. This is our life.

We have been programmed to put everyone and everything before ourselves and our well-being. Male crafters seem to be a little more relaxed with their budgets, but the female population tends to be stricter than sometimes needed. Just in case. 

We buy the cheaper glue and tools. We stroll the aisles of the discount mega stores for subpar products and scroll the online sales for hours instead of just buying the best quality product that will last longer. Instead of just buying that actual item we wanted to begin with. 

There is no other sport or hobby that allows for this to be the normal. We don’t attend sporting games with boots that are falling apart, or balls that are deflating. We don’t use a fishing line without hooks, nor do we bake with dented pans. 

We put ourselves last, we put our mental health on the back burner, but why? Our crafting is not less valuable or important to other activities. 

We should be allowing ourselves to grow with creativity without the overly restrictive budget. Of course we should always make sure our bills are paid first and make sure there is food available, but does the crafty cart cost more than therapy? I am diagnosed on the OCD scale, with some anxiety and sensory issues thrown in. It affects most areas of my life, however the only place that I am safe from any triggering symptoms is my craft room. It’s a safe place for me, it brings me joy and I know I get more value and hours from $100 of new goodies than I do from a $230 per hour session. Plus I then have a physical product to show for my time and efforts. 

When we put aside our creativity, so many aspects of our life can start to decline beginning with our mental health and overall happiness. So let’s start thinking of our crafting as more than a hobby. It brings us peace and relaxation. It’s a way of life. It’s our crafty life. 




Let me know what you think! 
Thanks for your time, Happy Scrapping.. 



Tuesday, January 31, 2023

New Editorial Article contributor for TPC Magazine


 G'Day crafty friends and family.. I am back with exciting news to share.. 

I was definitely in big of lull with crafting to end 2022 and the first few weeks of 2023..
But then I knew I had to get my mind back into the right state and reload my crafting mojo.. :) 

It was exciting when I was offered an Editorial Article writer contributor position on The Paper Crafting magazine team.. 

I will be writing a mix of crafty life, what's happening globally in the industry and a few projects along the way also. 

Keep an eye out twice a month for when the articles go live.. 

THE PAPER CRAFTING MAGAZINE 




Friday, January 20, 2023

Double Easel card - Mind Over Matter UC

 Another fabulous Double Easel card.. Of course made for a swap.. 

Using the Uniquely Creative - Mind Over Matter collection.. 

I had an idea for an easel card for this swap, but didn't love it and then I had this picture pop up in my imagination featuring this collection and the gorgeous mushrooms.. 







Let me know what you think! 
Thanks for your time, Happy Scrapping.. 



Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Book fold card

 Book Fold card adapted to add little extra design element. :) 

I was so excited lately to receive the name of one of my favourite swap partners for this project.. 
I knew straight away that I wanted to do something special for her beyond the normal criteria for the swap.. So I added a couple of vellum pages inside, decorated the middle one and also added a pattern paper panel on the very back cover.. All very simple additions, but definitely make the card pop.. 


I used a very old Kaiser - Flower Shoppe collection.. 
As you know, I have made many projects with this collection and am slowly now starting to come to the end of the scraps.. lol



This is the book fold card as per normal basic swap criteria.. 
I made this card custom for my cousin who is expecting a special little girl soon.. 
I used a baby collection from Echo Park. 








Let me know what you think! 
Thanks for your time, Happy Scrapping.. 




Monday, January 16, 2023

Autumn Twilight double page layout

 Threw together this double page layout at the end of October, following an inspirational example sketch used in an online virtual retreat.. Being a "fall / autumn" themed collection felt perfect as the sassy ladies in the USA that were also doing the retreat had Fall themed collections to work with too.

Lemon Craft - Autumn Twilight collection.

Of course, like normal I did change a couple things up with the sketch.. Mostly the photo mats. I kept the 5 panels on the base for both sides and used the smooshing technique underneath for some colour. I am absolutely stoked how this actually ended up. Quite a easy layout to put together and even better since I had pre fussy cut a 12x12 sheet probably close to 2 years ago.. lol







Let me know what you think! 
Thanks for your time, Happy Scrapping.. 

Friday, January 13, 2023

Floral - Romantic Soul layout

 A basic but cute layout put together using the Scrap Boys - Romantic Soul collection for an online challenge group. 

We had to follow a sketch (which I adapted a little bit 😆) and use a Floral theme.. 


Although this one was a little hard to photograph as it looks quite one dimensional on the screen, but in real life the layers definitely pop and it's quite an eye catching layout with the busy background.. 





Let me know what you think! 
Thanks for your time, Happy Scrapping.. 

Wednesday, January 11, 2023

Grand Bazaar Card + Layout

You may recongise vaguely the design of this layout... It's actually one that I did many, many years ago but loved so much that I have scraplifted myself several times.. This time it was for a local class.. Again, another class that was a hit and extra kits with measurements & instructions had to be made up for crafters afar.. 



The collection is from Kaisercraft and with their two sided pattern paper the bold colours popped no matter which side was used.. 













Let me know what you think! 
Thanks for your time, Happy Scrapping.. 

Monday, January 9, 2023

Flower Shoppe Card + Layout

 These projects using Kaisercraft -Flower Shoppe collection were designed for a local scrapbooking and card making class.. Proudly it was well received and loved so much that extra kits had to be packed up for postage to customers at a distance.. Thank you everyone for the support that I received then and now on my new adventures.. 






Cards and Carry holder












Friday, January 6, 2023

Flower Shoppe swap cards

 

Flower Shoppe - Kaisercraft cards.. 






Let me know what you think! 
Thanks for your time, Happy Scrapping.. 

Wednesday, January 4, 2023

Travel / Explore themed cards + layout

 

Have you guessed yet what the beginner class feature technique is yet??


For this one, I introduced the private beginner ladies into the world of stencils.. My favourite!!
Using blending brushes and inks, they got to have a quick glimpse into a mini version of a mixed media layout base. 
Stamping, Stencilling with ink & Stencilling with modelling paste.


They also got to cut out a pattern paper 1" frame and keeping the center scraps for matting..  


While working at the local store teaching classes, I usually tried to keep the theme of the week the same between the cards and scrapbooking classes by using the same collections and products. 








Let me know what you think! 
Thanks for your time, Happy Scrapping.. 


Monday, January 2, 2023

Enchanted Garden layout

 While I was teaching scrapbooking classes at a local store about a year ago, I had a request for a bold girl themed layout.. So using these Enchanted - Kasiercraft papers, I knew I could have some fun.. 

As usual while planning a beginner layout class, I always need to find the feature element or technique.. 

This one used some ink blending to shade the background, fake torn layers and a mini resin embellishment to add to the cluster. I also wanted to show that "straight mats" don't always have to be the normal, so I intentionally layered the top sections off center from each other as an OCD escape element.. 





Let me know what you think! 
Thanks for your time, Happy Scrapping..