Berry Basket Desk Storage ~ Stampin' Up! Artisan Blog Hop

It's the new year (it still is right?) and I've been spending time reorganising my craft area. One thing I read recently was to make it easier to put things away than to take them out. {See 8 How to Organise your Home tips here.} To be sure, crafting is NO fun if you can't make a mess (hence why I photographed these on the coffee table, not my desk) but it is so good to have the things I use the most close by in open-top storage.

I stuck the Birthday Bash Designer Washi Sheets to some of our heavy backing card from the Designer Series Paper packs and then cut it with the Berry Basket die. Beware this task is a little reminiscent of putting duraseal on school books. The sheets are thin though so the few wrinkles I had came up ok.


Supplies:
Inks: Tuxedo Black Momento
Papers: Birthday Bash Designer Washi Sheets, Smoky Slate, Crushed Curry, Calypso Coral, Bermuda Bay
Stamps: Alphabet Rotary Stamp
Accessories/Tools: Berry Basket Bigz L Die, Project Life Cards & Labels Framelits Dies, Handheld Stapler

Time to go get dazzled by Teneale's project this week...

Indescribable Gift (to ME) ~ Stampin' Up! Artisan Blog Hop

This is my creative journal. In here I scribble ideas and sketches, plan classes and larger scale projects, work out costings etcetera etcetera. Nothing quite like the etching sound of a pencil in this technological age. 

We made this in my last class and the ladies did a fabulous job of making those flowers work in many other colour options. It was amazing how it took on a different character with each hue. You might have noticed my leftover demo piece on my layout last week in orange. 

Don't the words from this Easter set, Indescribable Gift, make perfect goals for 2015? Lovin' it. 

Why hello if you've clicked through from our February Facebook showcase! Glad you stopped by - actually - glad you ALL stopped by. Love your support and your comments :)

Supplies:

Inks: Elegant Eggplant, Tuxedo Black Momento, Blendabilities - Rich Razzleberry, Wild Wasabi, Smoky Slate Assortments

Papers: Large Kraft Journal (137865), Whisper White, Crushed Curry, Gold Fancy Foil Designer Vellum, Tea Lace Paper Doilies

Stamps: Indescribable Gift, Remember Rotary Stamp

Accessories/Tools: Note Tag Punch, Basic Black Baker's Twine

Time to hop on over to Teneale's wonderful creation...

Sibling Love Layout ~ Stampin' Up! Artisan Blog Hop

These two definitely have their moments (what siblings don't?!) but most of the time they're great friends, playmates and adventurers. Gotta love 'em.

Just a quick post this week! Feel free to post any questions in the comments though :)

Supplies:
Inks: Wild Wasabi, Night of Navy, Blendabilities assortments - Wild Wasabi, Pumpkin Pie, Crumb Cake
Papers: Fancy Foil Designer Vellum, Whisper White, Baked Brown Sugar, Wild Wasabi, Crisp Cantaloupe
Stamps: From the Garden, Indescribable Gift
Accessories/Tools: Stacked With Love Designer Washi Tape, Artisan Embellishment Kit, Honeycomb Embossing Folder

Time to hop over to terrific Teneale...

Butterfly Basics + From the Garden ~ Stampin' Up! Artisan Blog Hop

Our Butterfly Basics and From the Garden pair up beautifully! Gotta love it. While I was making this birthday card I stamped over a corner on the inside and decided I liked it so much that I made a set of eight 3x3s to match. 3x3s are awesome - can't really beat one sheet of 12x12, straight stamping and colouring.

Psst - that bread tag framelit from the Handpicked Dies = so cute!! Loving digging in my February box and looking forward to showing you more as the month progresses :) Have a happy blog hop... xox

OOOO - Do you love Crisp Cantaloupe as much as 'I do'?? Click HERE to see the wedding invites we made just before Christmas. My bro-in-law and his lovely fiancee get married in March. Not far away and very exciting!! 

Supplies:

Inks: Tuxedo Black Momento, Crisp Cantaloupe, Smoky Slate. Blendabilities Assortments: Soft Sky, Night of Navy, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi. 

Papers: Soft Sky, Whisper White, Crisp Cantaloupe, Tea Lace Paper Doilies

Stamps: From the Garden, Butterfly Basics (Occasions Catalogue)

Accessories/Tools: Handpicked Framelits Dies, Linen Thread

Time to check out Teneale's creation! I bet it'll be awesome - as usual. 

Wedding Invitations for Love

My brother-in-law and his beautiful fiancée are getting married this March at 'what I call' (Miranda reference) the wedding of the year!! I have so enjoyed the process of helping prepare a few of the paper side of things for their wedding. We had a great time together just before Christmas (sleepover and all -  oh my) making 60 of these babies. See some of my invite tips below.

Tips for making invitations en masse:

- Listen to the bride and groom to be. It's a given that their opinion is important here and they're trusting you with setting the first impressions of the mood for their wedding.

- Think economically. How many cards can you squeeze into one A4 sheet with minimal leftovers? 

- Incorporate the wedding colours. 

- Keep it simple - the more detail, the more time consuming it is to reproduce. 

- Use a quality laser printer and paper for graphics (photos, digital stamps, text etc). 

- Consider a magnet for the back so guests can keep it handy on the fridge. I picked some strong sticky ones up from the local print shop for 6c each.

Details for this Invitation:
Smoky Slate - 9.9 x 17.8cm (3 per A4). Score at 2.8cm and partially punch with 11/4" circle.
Crisp Cantaloupe - 9.9 x 14.8cm (4 per A4).
Photo printed on textured white card from the local print shop.
'LOVE' silver embossed using Alphabet Rotary Stamp and hand cut.
50cm Venetian Crochet Trim
16cm Black Baker's Twine
'Choose Happiness' (from Choose Happiness 134198) hand stamped on back in Smoky Slate (no pic).

Photo Credit: Nisha Ravji Photography
Graphic Design: With help from the handy husband, Mr Jason Wong. xx. 
Special thanks to the happy couple for letting me share :)