Product Spotlight: Tonic Studios Tim Holtz Scissors

How interesting can a pair of scissors be you may ask! But nonetheless I thought I would do a product spotlight on these scissors as they have become an essential part of my tool kit.

Before I got them I just assumed scissors are scissors - ok smaller tips are better for getting little details but beyond that then surely any scissors will do...

Well these scissors go a little beyond your average paper cutting - if you make mini books with the Bind It All they will cut the wires, they can handle cutting things that usually require other tools. For example, a while ago I saw this necklace at half price in my local supermarket. It is not really my style (I'm more of an Accessorize Beads kind of girl!) but I thought the flowers were quite pretty.

Here is the necklace after I took my scissors to it, easily cutting the individual flowers from the chain. I ended up with 8 large sized metal flower embellishments for a lot less than buying specifically produced metal scrapbook embellishments,

Below in the bottom left corner you can see one of those flowers in the cluster of flower embellishments.

In addition to cutting metal they can also cut chipboard and thin acrylic sheets as well as various types of fabrics

The Tonic Studios Tim Holtz Scissors are available HERE and are an addition to your tool kit which will definitely earn their keep!

A Debut Class From One Of Our New DT Members

This gorgeous layout is by Karen Cole and she produced it, along with comprehensive instructions for the website. It has been ready for a while but due to a few technical issues it has taken a while to get it online but I am sure you will agree it was worth the wait!

CLICK HERE for Free PDF Instructions for this class.

Randon dot org says....

...that the winner of our giveaway was

comment number 31 which was Cath. Drop me an email Cath and confirm your address is still as on your account and we will sort out your giveaway (I am intrigued as I don't know what it is either as this was Mums giveaway!)


Thanks all for dropping by to take part!

Another Giveaway!

Just a quick post as I am busy trying to get some new stock on the site, so for the second time this month we are having a giveaway. Just leave a comment on this post by Wednesday at 6pm for a chance to win some new product, and as a little clue, it will be an alphabet themed giveaway this time. We have another delivery tomorrow and possibly another at the end of the week.



We had a great time at Stitches and saw quite a few familiar faces (including Sir Tim) and it was good to see the actual products which will be arriving over the next few weeks, although I am ashamed to say I forgot to take the camera. It was a long day though and the 320 mile round trip meant that we did not get back in time to do very much yesterday - no doubt we will catch up during the week.
Jill

Scrumptious Prima Goodness

As Jill said yesterday in her blog post there is losts of new Prima in the ***Just Arrived*** section of the website. One of my favourite releases from them this year has to be the Madeline collection.

Double sided papers are always extra versatile as if you love being frugle with your supplies like me you can guy behind where photo mats and other patterned papers will go, flip over the piece you've removed and use it on the same page to give the impression you;ve used many more patterns. Saying that I love this collection so much I think a couple of sheets of everything might be in order! I particularly like the 12x12 paper split into four 6x6 sections in this collection, perfect for minibooks!

Another collection from Prima, MELODY, is equally as nice, and how about this for a gorgeous paper?


Just add a photo and a few prima flowers and you're done! Gorgeous! There is a sheet of this in my shopping basket that is for sure!
Something less pink and girlie is perhaps more to your liking? Prima have the stunning Reflections collection to fit the bill.


Spoilt for choice? I know I am!

Stitches

Just a very quick post as Mel is away and she is most definitely the blogger in this household. I have to be up with the lark tomorrow (unheard of on Sundays!) as I am off to 'Stitches' at the NEC. It is the trade show for the crafting industry and an opportunity to see some of the products which this year we have only viewed on the net. It is also a good chance to see what Tim is up to and maybe one or two other celebrity crafters. My sister Helen is coming with me this year so that I will have someone to talk to on the way as I really don't like long drives very much.
I have spent quite a bit of this evening putting some of the Prima products on the website and have made a small dent in it but still have a lot more to do. Shown above is one of my favourite embellishments from Prima, called Angel Eyes and still waiting to go on, I love the combination of soft flowers and crystal like drops - maybe it would make a good tote embellishment.
Jill

Recording The Little Things...

When I was uploading the photos for the Valentines Day Heart feature one of them featured Isabelle with her beloved Monkey. It got me to thinking that a (sometimes) unexpected by product of our scrapping as children grow up is also the documenting of the toys that were important to them.

Some come and go - this layout called Belle & Mr Softy features an elephant that was a brief favourite but which was relegated to the bottom of the toy box long ago before being donated to her little sister!

Others of course remain a long term fixture and for Isabelle that means Mr Monkey - look how much newer he looks in this layout with a photo from 2006!!!

I am really glad that I have a record of many of the "little things" that were \ are important in their lives (and ours) and that I want to remember! The same goes not just for toys but also other things such as favourite clothes, the family car etc....

What are the little things you have documented to remember in years to come?

Gypsy at heart

I love 7 Gypsies and today the first of their two new collections, Lille has been uploaded to the website along with a couple of other bits and pieces. I think it must be the mix of their unique style and the quirky little extras that they always manage to come up with.

I was talking to a friend (another 7 Gypsies fan) when they released the new catalogue and told her they were re-introducing tissue paper 'Oh good' she said, 'that means I can use the tissue I have now' That got me thinking, because I hoard product which is no longer available too. I still have some of their Whimsy range (small metal embellishments, arrows, crowns, frames etc). So, own up, does anyone else hang onto papers or embellishments just because you can't get them again?

Jill

I *Heart* This

OK so none of these technically featured me and my husband but I thought that today, on Valentines Day, I would share a selection of layouts which had large feature hearts.

Of course when scrapping people or things you love it is something that springs to mind - a visual statement which almost anyone can easily interpret. I have a friend who is very reluctant to journal on her layouts because she is self concious about what people looking at it may think - if that is you, forget saying it with flowers this valentines day - say it with hearts on your pages!

The layout above uses October Afternoon Modern Homemaker papers and was for the Jan 2011 DT Gallery

This was an older page using My Minds Eye. The heart was a die cut with the beautiful flourishes on it and I knew I wanted to build a layout around it.

Finally this very simple layout uses a lot of distressing and some transparencies and features the enduring love story of Isabelle and Mr Monkey!

Needless to say I could have uploaded 50 other layouts with various hearts on, some may call it soppy but the are such a simple embellishment and with a selection of heart punches it is so easy to cut a co-ordinating heart and pop it on the page.

Take a trip back through the DT galleries and my UKS gallery and you will find more hearts than you can shake a stick at but I love them and today I wanted to post to celebrate their usage!

New Gallery Coming Soon

Here is just a taster of what is to come in our February Design Team Gallery. This layout by Debbie Jewell showcases the Paddington range by 7 Gypsies. We loved how Debbie used the black and white papers and then injected vivid colour onto the page with the bright photo, zingy embellishments and the colouring of the letters.

To see what the rest of the team did with their 7 Gypsies product be sure to check out the Feb 2011 DT Gallery which will be going up tomorrow evening.

Double Page Layout Challenge Winner

Thanks to those who entered our challenge to create a double page layout, it was lovely to see the entries both linked on the blog and emailed to us - I actually feel quite inspired to have another go although I am still wondering how well they will work out in my D Ring albums!

Our winner for this challenge was Jimjams whose December Double Page spread for her Project 12 album was our favourite. I loved the design and the way she had captured lots of memories in one double page spread.

Drop me an email Jimjams and we will send you your £10 eVoucher for ATDML!

Sketch Challenge - Are you playing along?

Mel posted the sketch challenge for February earlier this week and I noticed that a layout I did at the last ATDML retreat could very well have been inspired by this sketch. The strips are a great way of using up scraps of paper and card with your border punches, or maybe you have some off cuts of lace or ribbon that could be used?


My Pizza layout uses Basic Grey paper ribbons from the Max & Whiskars collection. These are great for adding to your layouts and cards and last forever! I thought this pack was a nice neutral set that could be used for many occasions and it coordinates well with the Crate Paper School Spirit range as well.

I used both the paper ribbons and the Crate paper collection on this layout which I also created at the last retreat based on a scraplift from fellow DT member Suzanne Torr.


The sketch challenge is open until March 5th so why not set aside some time to play along in the next few weeks? You could win a £10 ATDML voucher too!

Giveaway Winner!

Blogger is playing nice today so I can post the image from Random Dot org and let you know the giveaway winner.

The winner is comment number 1 - Handmade Hannah. Drop me an email with your address Hannah and we will get you your box sent out.

Thanks for taking time to comment everyone, keep an eye on the website as although only the Graphic 45 has made it onto the site there are more new goodies to go on the site in the next few days.

New!

Super quick post as blogger is being unkind and won't let me post an image but do come and check out the BRAND NEW Graphic 45 products in store NOW... Curtain Call and Le Cirque arrived today! Click on NEW PRODUCTS to see them.

Some Belated Soup For You

The layout above was my Chicken Soup for Friday. I chose the inspiration this week and although mine ended up looking NOTHING remotely like the original inspiration I did start from it I promise!

I sat down to look through my photos and work out what I wanted to scrap and selected several photos from our 2010 cruise and I just happened to find a selection from our stop in Vigo. We had nothing much planned for that port and just ambled but there was some really cool stuff in the port area itself, the head you can see in one of the photos is part of a huge figure lying in the port - I would estimate that the head is approximately 9 feet high, so quite large! Izzy was ridiculously excited by a really shiny building at the top of some steps which reflected our ship like a mirror and she HAD to have a photo in front of it!

It was only when I was saving the photo of the layout that I realised that I had scrapped another photo from Vigo a few months ago and by happy coincidence the colours of the two layouts go really well together (see below for the other layout)

Don't forget to check out what the other girls did for Chicken Soup this week and try your hand at scrapping from the recipe.

Sketch Challenge

We haven't had a sketch challenge for a while so here is another for you. Just use the sketch below as inspiration and create a layout or card with it. Upload to your blog or online gallery (UKS, 2Peas etc) and post a comment on this post with a link to your entry. Closing date is 5th March 2011.

We will pick a winner and send them a £10 ATDML shopping voucher which should be just in time to use it on some brand new CHA goodies!

CHA New Stuff: Giveaway

We have our first shipment due on Monday or Tuesday with some new CHA products in. To celebrate the arrival of the new goodies we will give away a little box of brand new products to someone who comments on this post.

Just leave a comment here before 6pm on Monday and we will do a random draw to select a winner. Don't forget to check back to see if you have won - we will need you to send us an email if you have won giving us details of where to send the prize too.

Good Luck!

Thanks To Those Who Took Part In Customer Spotlight

As promised the scrappers who shared their 2010 crafting with us were all entered into a draw to win a £10 ATDML shopping voucher. There were four scrappers whose work was shown in January (listed and numbered in order of date their showcase appeared):

1) Wendy Hussey

2) Anna Parker

3) Karen Williams

4) Katie Shanahan Jones

Random dot org says that the prize winner this month is...

So Anna you can look forward to an email voucher arriving in your inbox very soon! Thanks again for sharing ladies, you have certainly inspired me and I hope a lot of our blog readers too!