Basic Grey & Back to School

As promised here is my layout for the Thirsty Thursday challenge and the letter B.

The background lined paper is Basic Grey from their Basic White collection which can be found HERE. I have now used 17 of the 18 sheets in my collection pack, probably the most efficient use of a Basic Grey collection pack ever by me!! I then scrapped Back to School, another of the prompts from the challenge - my two boys finally at the same school and my youngest couldn't be happier. I have deliberately blurred out the school logos on my sons sweatshirts as there is no need for the world to know where they attend. The red ruler and school title are stickers from October Afternoon School house which I coupled with some papers from Fancy Pants Off to School range.

How are you all enjoying the weekly challenges? Hope you are happily playing along when you can.

Learning Something New

Along with Mel and many others I am taking part in Shimelle's Learn Something New Every Day class throughout the month of September. I chose to make my album 8x8 this year and used the new Prima Printery papers as the base for my book along with some Bo Bunny Etcetera papers.

I covered my book in old book pages from a recycled French/English dictionary and am using these mixed in with the papers throughout my month. I know this means it isn't acid free, but the book will be in page protectors and I am not concerned it may wear in time, indeed it is quite grungy to start with!

The Prima Printery papers can be found HERE in the shop, and the Bo Bunny Etcetera HERE (which also forms part of the B categories in this weeks Thirsty Thursday challenge)

I have scrapped my page for this week's challenge - a Back to School page of my boys, once the light is better I will photograph and share.

*B* Thirsty Thursday

Welcome back to week two of Thirsty Thursdays! To remind those new to the blog Thirsty Thursday is where we quench your creative thirst with out our alphabet challenge series which this week is on the letter B. Your challenge is to take inspiration from one or more of the "B" prompts below to make a layout, card or another crafty project. You can join in every week or as and when you are able, there are no deadlines just plenty of crafty fun! So lets get inspiring with the letter B...

B is for Back to School - Plenty of school children including my own are back at school this week after the summer holidays, indeed it is my youngest sons' first day today! How about creating a back to school themed page for this weeks challenge? If you've no children, well then how about some school days lined/grid paper being used on your page, or maybe a ruler?

B is for Bo Bunny - Use your favourite Bo Bunny papers on a layout for this challenge. Have you seen their latest collection Etcetera? It is a bit different from their usual style of papers.

B is for Buttons - I'm sure we all have plenty of these in our craft stores, lets dig them out and use them for this challenge

B is for Basic Grey - we have over 300 different Basic Grey products in the store and one of my favourite ranges from them in their Basics line - even includes some lined and grid paper! Why not dig out your favourite Basic Grey products this week.

B is for BRADS - Add that finishing touch to your projects this week with some brads be they mini, ornate, flocked, fabric or even glazed - lets use them on our pages this week.

As promised we will not only provide some challenge prompts each week, but also share a couple of projects from the design team that meet one or more of the challenges.

Mel is sharing this layout she made using Bo Bunnys "Olivia" range. Ironically not scrapping her Olivia but Isabelle instead! The colours in the range make it perfect for scrapping spring, summer and autumn layouts so very versatile! You can see all the Bo Bunny products HERE and the Bo Bunny Olivia range HERE

Karen shares this gorgeous Button and Brad framed monogram project she has created for her daughter. So vibrant and fun!

Remember you can pick these challenges up as and when you like, they will stay up on the blog indefinitely. If you've not has a chance yet take a look at the letter A challenge posted last week and we will be back next Thirsty Thursday with the letter C.

We look forward to seeing your layouts, cards or other papercraft creations using the letter B prompts - be sure to share your projects with us using the link below and leave us lovely comments letting us know how you are getting on with the challenge! At the end of the month we will draw a random challenge entry from the Thirsty Thursday entries of that month to win a little something from the store.

HAPPY CREATING - GO QUENCH YOUR CREATIVE THIRST!

Balloons!

Well I am not organised to get a photo in good light so on a dark evening under the spotlights in my kitchen will have to do!

The balloons are for a "Key Person" display, one of us is the "Key Person" for Red and Green groups (Me) and my Nursery Nurse is "Key Person" for Blue and Yellow groups - hence the colour schemes!

I am sure I will put something more meaningful in my Learn Something New Everyday journal but one thing that I learned this morning is that if you have stuck paper patches to a piece of card with double sided tape and then coat the whole lot with diluted PVA in an attempt to make it more durable you are actually creating a whole lot of work because the patches lifted like crazy and took me ages to restick with more tape!

No time to scrap so far this week apart from balloon patchworks but good news - I get to spend all day Saturday at a crop so I know I will get some done then!

Giveaway Winner!

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Comment number 7 was posted by Steph. please email us your details Steph and your box of goodies will be on its way to you this week :)

Hope you have all had a good weekend and that some of you may even have had a play along with Thirsty Thursday.

For many tomorrow is "Back to School" and perhaps a little more time for hobbies. For me it is back to work though and I promise to get a photo of the now almost complete hot air balloons once they are up on the wall!

Drowning In A Sea Of Paper!

Something about the beginning of September and a new school year made me decide to sort out my paper!

I have a lot of paper. too much. There is a pile i moved to a holding area a while ago to see if i needed it or if i could donate it. Well I wasn't brave enough to say I haven't used it so it can go but i did sort through it and ruthlessly culled it!

It has gone in to two piles, one for a craft group at my friends church and one for my collage box for the children at school. In fact there was a third pile also for papers which were predominantly one colour in either red blue green or yellow. I started using that pile tonight making a giant blue and yellow hot air balloon! Tomorrows plan is to make another but in red and green - they are for our "Key Person" display at school. It was kind of liberating hacking into whole fresh sheets of 12x12 to make patchwork hot air balloons and hopefully they will look pretty good flying in the entry way at nursery! (will try to get photos before I add the childrens photos to them.)

So what have you been up to? Any sorting or clearing? Big projects? Or does the beginning of September mean nothing more than the end of summer?!

*A* Thirsty Thursday

Welcome to the start of Thirsty Thursdays! We are so glad you joined us. If you are new to our blog, welcome, and please take a couple of minutes to read this post which will tell you a little more about Thirsty Thursdays.

Thirsty Thursday is where we quench your creative thirst with our alphabet challenge series which, as you would expect, starts at the beginning of the alphabet with the letter A. Your challenge is to take inspiration from one or more of the "A" prompts below to make a layout, card or another crafty project. You can join in every week or as and when you are able, there are no deadlines and no need to feel pressured to participate - it's all good fun! So what do we have to inspire you with for the letter A?

A is for A Trip Down Memory Lane - you can take your "A" inspiration from this if you like. Maybe choose an older photo, recall when it was taken and what memories it brings to mind and create a page based on this.

A is for Ann (me) from the Design team - you could scraplift one of my layouts from the 2011 gallery for your challenge this week.

A is for Authentique - one of our newer manufacturers that we now stock. The papers are deliciously textured, heavy weight and in scrumptious colours, and the alphabet stickers to coordinate are great value too. Why not create for this challenge using Authentique papers?

A is also for Alphabet & American Crafts - we have a broad range of alphabets stickers in the store including Thickers a-plenty! Why not create a page heavy on alphabet lettering on your layout to meet the "A" challenge.

A is for AQUA - Finally a colour challenge for you. Use aqua coloured products on your creation and check out our store for examples of Aqua products.

Each week we will not only provide some challenge prompts but we will also share a couple of projects from the design team that meet one or more of the challenges.

This week I wanted to share a layout I created recently as part of a challenge to scrap in Aqua combined with Red and White - not something I would have necessarily thought of doing but with the right photos (or even black and white images) a great fresh looking layout with a punch of intense colour can be created.

Karen Moss shares her "In this family" layout to illustrate the use of multiple alphabets on a page.

So are you eager to partake in this challenge and create along with us?
We will post the next letter in the alphabet challenge next week and every week thereafter on Thirsty Thursdays. We would love for you to join us each week but remember you can pick these challenges up as and when you like, they will stay up on the blog indefinitely.

We look forward to seeing your layouts, cards or other papercraft creations using the letter A prompts - be sure to share your projects with us using the link below and leave us lovely comments letting us know how you are getting on with the challenge! At the end of the month we will draw a random challenge entry from the Thirsty Thursday entries of that month to win a little something from the store.

HAPPY CREATING - GO QUENCH YOUR CREATIVE THIRST!