Bonscraft

Congradulations to Marie our First Giveaway winner.

2011-12-14T08:35:00.000-08:00

Please contact me with your email address Marie and I will give you your Download Code, thanks for commenting.

My Memories Suite V3 Free Software Giveaway

2011-12-07T08:03:00.000-08:00

I am also Hosting a free giveaway for a copy of the all new MyMemories Suite v3, so if you are interested leave a comment and I will choose a winner on the 4th of April 2012, and post it on the blog. Check out MyMemories Suite, the #1 Rated Scrapbook Software and use my DISCOUNT CODE ( STMMMS9893) during your checkout to receive: $10 off the software purchase, (if you are not the lucky winner) and a $10 gift certificate to the online store.

Congradulations to Marie our First Giveaway winner. Please contact me with your email address Marie and I will give you your Download Code, thanks for commenting:)

My Memories Suite Freebie

2011-12-07T07:59:00.000-08:00

Click Here to Download

Click Here to Download

These freebies will be updated every 14 days, so remember to call back regularly. Please note that all of these are .png files only, not MyMemories Suite Templates. They are usable in any software. These freebies include 2 Quick Pages, and all of the papers and elements used in creating them. The elements and QuickPages are.png and the papers are .jpg format.

Check out MyMemories Suite, the #1 Rated Scrapbook Software and use my DISCOUNT CODE ( STMMMS66353) during your checkout to receive: $10 off the software purchase and a $10 gift certificate to the online store. You can also use this Discount code when purchasing other digital items from their website:)

2011-11-25T09:47:00.000-08:00

Please note that all of these are .png files only, not MyMemories Suite Templates. They are usable in any software. These freebies include 2 Quick Pages, and all of the papers and elements used in creating them. The elements and QuickPages are.png and the papers are .jpg format.

I am also Hosting a free giveaway for a copy of the all new MyMemories Suite v3, so if you are interested leave a comment and I will choose a winner on the 4th of December 2011, and post it on the blog. Check out MyMemories Suite, the #1 Rated Scrapbook Software and use my DISCOUNT CODE ( STMMMS66353) during your checkout to receive: $10 off the software purchase, (if you are not the lucky winner) and a $10 gift certificate to the online store.

http://www.mymemories.com/store/share_the_memories_kit_1

http://www.mymemories.com/store/share_the_memories_kit_2

http://www.mymemories.com/store/share_the_memories_kit_3

Wow

2011-11-14T02:53:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone that has visited my blog so far and for all the lovely comments. I am working on Tracy's (CraftyCat957) Christmas Papers and will be postings previews of those shortly and will also post a PDF preview of the Halloween Papers I did (n I know it's a bit late but personal live got in the way of posting those out in time.

Above that I have to do a marketing banner and Christmas Cards for the company I work for so all in all I am pretty busy at the moment.

More Previews to follow.

Blog Candy Coming

2011-11-11T00:28:00.000-08:00

As most of you that have been following me for a while know December is a busy month for me. It is my birthday on the 4th and then we have Christmas and the kids birthdays. David is on the 21st and Bianca on the 29th of December and little Juliet is on the 11th of January. So to celebrate all of these I have a Hougie Board, Hougie Instruction Book and Rule and are trying to get the second Instruction book in time to add.

I will post a photo and updates on how to get it this weekend, so call back soon:)

New My Memories Suite Freebie

2011-11-10T23:39:00.000-08:00

Here is a lovely freebie for you. I will be posting regular links to these freebies so you can start your own Digital Scrapbbok Album to share with loved ones and friends. Each Kit includes: 2 Digital Papers,3 Page Elements and 2 Quick Pages (a lovely double page layout). Use the digital paper and elements to create some of your own pages or collect them all and mix and match the papers and elements. I am also Hosting a free giveaway for a copy of this software so if you are interested leave a comment and I will choose a winner on the 4th of December 2011, and post it on the blog

Get this lovely Freebie here.

Check out MyMemories Suite, the #1 Rated Scrapbook Software and use my DISCOUNT CODE ( STMMMS66353) during your checkout to receive: $10 off the software purchase and a $10 gift certificate to the online store.

Don't foreget to vote in our polls and remember that these freebies can also be used in image editing programs.

Free Digi Stamp

2011-11-09T11:08:00.000-08:00

Today I have a lovely free digistamp, just in time for Christmas, from craftycat just for you. Please pop round to her blog for a thank you and do look out for the other freebies she regularly post.

While you here do not forget to vote in our pole to determine the size and format you prefer for future freebies and papers that will be for sale in her store or mine.

Simply right click and save as to a folder of your choice. I suggest strongly you create a folder for all me and craftycats goodies as we will be brining you lots more.

Pls come back tomorrow when I will host another My Memories Suite Freebie and remember you can also use these freebies in other software packages not just My Memories Suite. I am also Hosting a free giveaway for a copy of this software so if you are interested leave a comment and I will choose a winner on the 4th of December 2011, and post it on the blog

Check out MyMemories Suite, the #1 Rated Scrapbook Software and use my DISCOUNT CODE ( STMMMS66353) during your checkout to receive: $10 off the software purchase and a $10 gift certificate to the online store.

Polls regarding the Digipapers

2011-11-08T00:22:00.000-08:00

Thanks for all the lovely comments about the papers on both my blog and CraftyCats blog it is really appeciated.

Now to make sure you enjoy our futute papers and downloads I need to know what exactly it is you crafters prefer so have a look on my sidebar and pls vote for the format and size you prefer.

I will also later have tutorials to help you change the size of the papers yourself using free image and photo editing software. There is a few good options out there like GIMP and Paint.net.

Remember your opinion count, so please vote.

Two Freebies from My Memorie Suite

2011-11-06T03:58:00.000-08:00

Each Kit includes: 2 Digital Papers,3 Page Elements and 2 Quick Pages (a lovely double page layout). Use the digital paper and elements to create some of your own pages or collect them all and mix and match the papers and elements.

Grab this lovely freebie here.

Grab this lovelt freebie here.

I am also Hosting a free giveaway for a copy of this software so if you are interested leave a comment and I will choose a winner on the 4th of December 2011, and post it on the blog

Check out MyMemories Suite, the #1 Rated Scrapbook Software and use my DISCOUNT CODE ( STMMMS66353) during your checkout to receive: $10 off the software purchase and a $10 gift certificate to the online store.

Webite is up and running

2011-11-04T09:46:00.000-07:00

Ahh at last I have my website active after having to fight with the previous hosting company to release my Domain Name. I have to compliment MRSite for the easy of use and good customer services I have received.

Bonscraft is the name of the website and I will soon have a shop up with all sort if goodies and I will also be hosting freebies on there:)

Free zipping software to help open the freebie below.

2011-11-04T09:43:00.000-07:00

A Big thank you to Tracy for finding free software for us to use to extract our free papers. I am also downloading it and will use it in future to compress our downloads.

The new free jZip 1.3

Create, open and extract Zip, TAR, GZip and 7-Zip. Open and extract from RAR and ISO.
jZip is absolutely FREE for everybody, home and enterprise users
jZip is an easy to use and fast archiving software
jZip is based on proven 7-Zip technology by Igor Pavlov

Good news is that I am nearly finished with the next batch of papers for Tracy these will be for sale on her Website and I will post a Link as soon as we have them uploaded.

Freebie and my part in a Design Team

2011-10-29T06:43:00.000-07:00

Just to let you all know I am now designing digital Backing papers for CRAFTYCAT957. You can see her lovely creation on her Blog, YouTube or Facebook Pages.

This lady is truly talented and have become a great friend over the last few months. I hope you will all love her designs as much as I do. This freebie is for papers to match her Fantasy Fairytale pink Princess and Castle.

Download your freebie here. Contact me if you prefer to download the pages individually. I have how added the Jpeg's images here, for those of you that could not get the previous link.

Giveaway and freebies

2011-10-26T12:42:00.000-07:00

http://www.mymemories.com/store/share_the_memories_kit_1

I am also Hosting a free giveaway for a copy of this software so if you are interested leave a comment and I will choose a winner on the 4th of December 2011, and post it on the blog

Check out MyMemories Suite, the #1 Rated Scrapbook Software and use my DISCOUNT CODE ( STMMMS66353) during your checkout to receive: $10 off the software purchase and a $10 gift certificate to the online store.

Review Digital Scrapbooking Software (Layout Programs)

2011-10-11T00:18:00.000-07:00

There are two types of programmes available to digital scrapbookers; Layout programs and Photo Editing programs. Today I will be telling you a bit more about layout programs. There are many different ones to choose from. These programs have all come a long way since I started digi Scrapping in 2003. My all time favourite is My Memories Suite II, because it is so quick and easy to use and there are easy to follow tutorials on Youtube. My 7 year old completed a whole Mini album in about 3 hours, from never working with the program to printing the complete album.

Program	Price	Buy Here:	Quick Review
Nova Scrapbook Factory Deluxe	$39.99	Nova Development	Used a few times when I started digital scrapbooking and allows you to save your project as a PDF to make sharing easy.
LumaPix FotoFusion Enhanced	$119.95	LumaPix	Easy to use and great for photo Collages
My Memories Suite	£39.97 or £29.97 if you use my discount code	My Memories	You can save any of the items you work on in JPEG format for use on other programs or to make uploading them to Facebook or your blog super easy. Even my 7 year old created a lovely mini album as a school project.
Serif Digital Craft Artist Platinum	£39.99	Serif	Bought it, installed it, looked at it but never actually done more then this as it seemed like to much work.
Scrapbook Max	$39.99	Scrapbook Max	Tried it but was honestly not very impressed and uninstalled it the same day.

You can find a more details review with more options here. My review is purely based on Packages I have used myself. Hope you find this useful.

David's 2011 Summer holiday Scrapbook homework

2011-09-27T04:54:00.000-07:00

David made this album all by himself using My Memories Suite II Scrapbook software. Remember David is only 7 and if he can do it anyone can. Using my Special Code will give you $10.00 of this lovely software package: STMMMS9893. And there are also training video's on Youtube if you wanted to have a look at it first. I will defintely recommend it and have already had a friend buy it for her and her kids to play with.

I am also Hosting a free giveaway for a copy of this software so if you are interested leave a comment and I will choose a winner next Wednesday evening (12/10/11) and post it on the blog. I think it is brilliant software and will post my review on it shortly.

Something to think about

2011-09-22T00:49:00.000-07:00

I am a Christian and I feel that everyone should be free to believe as they wish and that we should respect each others religion and believes as Ben Stein so kindly puts it. Maybe if we start respecting each other and ourselves again things on earth will improve for all of us. This is my Very early New Years Wish for all on earth.

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God ? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Hurricane Katrina).. Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'

In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said okay.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

If you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein

Changes and Challenges for the next 2 months

2011-07-08T03:19:00.000-07:00

The UK School holidays will start shortly and I will also have some family visiting from abroad. The best news however is that we got the house at last, after what feels like a million attempts. This means only six weeks of no crafting and then I will have my own Craft Space. We will be moving after the 12th of August 2011, so if all goes as planned I will be back on track at the in September after the UK school start again.

My mother-in-law will also be moving to the UK shortly after our move to help out with the kids. This will give me and the Hubby more time together but also give me a bit more time to do the other things I love.So there is a lot of things going on in our lives at the moment and we are both excited and bit stressed at the same time about these changes.

Great site for Video Tutorials

2011-07-07T02:49:00.000-07:00

Nancy Watt does a few special fold cards using the Hougie Board.

Update on my little mini album

2011-06-22T04:58:00.000-07:00

The little girl in question absolutely loved it and her mother was just as impressed. David was in seventh heaven with his "commission". He love setting mum little challenges to create custom presents for his friends. ~He even had me make a little toilet roll mini that he then decorated to give to an occupational therapist that has been working with him at school. He should be seeing her on Friday and will give it to her then. Unfortunately he would not let me take photo's of it but promised that I will be allowed to showcase the next one we make together.

My newest Project

2011-06-15T05:02:00.000-07:00

I made this little mini Using a Sainbury's Recipe folder and free recipe cards, you can pick these up in your local Sainsbury's for £0.49 for the folder and the recipe cards are free, you can not get a cheaper mini album any where:)

I simply sprayed the outside of the album with Stick and Spray and then covered in the paper of my choice and cut the title with my CraftRobo. As it is for a little girl (7 year old) I also covered it with a protective self adhesive plastic. I used the recipe cards as a base to create very sturdy pages. Then I pasted coloured card on one side and turned it over to punch the holes in the right place, turned it over and repeated the process before decorating. Hope she likes it. We are giving it to her this afternoon.

Here is the rest of the pages, hope you love it:

Paper Used: Petal Party Scrappin Kit by Stampin Up

My Kids, My inspiration

2011-06-09T13:11:00.000-07:00

At last I got a photo of all three monkeys together. It was not easy as Bianca and David always try to steal the spot light from each other as well as poor Juliet. I took about 15 photos, thank goodness for digital cameras, and could not get one where all three are smiling or looking at me:)

Support Epilepsy Research

2011-04-29T12:37:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine makes the loveliest Knitted Bears which she sells to help raise funds for Epilepsy Research. Please pop over there and have a look:). She will also be adding other items from time to time and does personlization as well, wow that it just brilliant. Well doen Deb.

Lack of Tutorials for Hougie Board Yahoo Group

2011-04-29T12:29:00.000-07:00

I am sorry I have not been able to post any as so many things are going on at the moment in my personal live.

I have been hoping to move just before Christmas, so all my crafting stuff are in boxes, but the 3rd attempted House purchase has just fallen through due to the vendor not disclosing all the info needed.The first one changed his mind just before exchange, 2nd one got a better offer just before exchange and 3rd one bought the property from the council, who still have a hold on the property till october unless she pays the penalty. Each time we have paid solicitors, search fees, morgage arrangement and valuation fees, so over £3000.00 later we are still without a new property and its not for a lack of trying. What upsets me the most is that all my crafting goodies, half my baby clothes and most of my kitchen appliances havce been packed up since before christmas as we were suppose to move before Juliets birth. At this rate she'll be walking, talking and getting married before we get something:). Fingers crossed we will find another house to buy, this time without any complications, soon so I can start crafting and adding stuff to the Hougie board group. There is a few other members who have tutorials on their blogs. As I say between trying to sort out the house purchase, a seven year old that wants to craft as much as mum does and my 2 little girls (15 months and 15 weeks old) I have neglected the blog and both my Yahoo groups a bit:)

Nappy Cake and Booties

2011-04-25T11:05:00.000-07:00

Here is some Photo's of a lovely gift I got from Dawn my StampinUp Demonstrator, after Juliet's birth. Thanks again Dawn:) It is a simple Nappy cake made with a few nappies, a few bodysuits (onesies) rolled and wrapped in a gorgeous fleecy baby blanket and secured with a nappy pin. She also made a lovely keepsake and card to go with it.

Here's some close close-ups of the pair of paper baby booties, aren’t they just gorgeous!

Go have a look at all het lovely creations, she is so talented and have really great gift ideas.

Even more reason for absense

2011-04-15T11:14:00.000-07:00

Ok now it is taking really long and I am getting frustrated. We have been trying since 24th of December 2010 to get a bigger house sorted out and it was suppose to have happened before Juliet's birth. I even packed most of my crafting goodies so I would not have to worry about it while in hospital but then our buyer had issues and then the person we were buying from pulled out, just one thing after the other. Now at last it looks like the move might just happen in the next few weeks. It better I so need to craft even just making one card would be excellent stress relieve. To add to it all it is school holiday in the UK and because most non essentials have been packed my seven year old is doing my head in.
More news soon hopefully.

I have however found the most beautiful digi papers at Bearly Mine Designs. I think Donna makes the best papers I have ever seen, I am hoping to use them in some mini albums I plan to do ones the move is over and everything is in it place. Oh just remembered I need a new printers as Bianca managed to reck the one I got two Chrismasses ago, cause Daddy up it on a low shelf and his little Princess dad great fun with it while Mummy was out to have her eyes tested. Please pray with me that this happens quickly.

Take care till next time and please do go look at Donna's blog.

Reason for my long absense

2011-01-24T01:10:00.000-08:00

Sorry to all of you who used to follow my blog for my long absense, the reason for this can be seen in the photo below:

Her name is Juliet and she was born on 11-01-2011. yes I do now have three children: David who turnrd 7 in December 2010, Bianca who turned 1 in December and our precious little Juliet. I am sure having two littlw ones will take a lot of my time and limit Crafting time but even busy mums need to relax sometimes, so I will have to make time for crafting. Maybe when everyone is asleep at night I will get a chance, providing I do not fall asleep myself.

Envelope made with the Hougie Board

2010-05-18T05:43:00.000-07:00

I got this Idea after looking at the Martha Stewart Scoreboard. Everybody have a 90 degree triangle and if you do not they are very cheap from any stationer or even a Pound shop.

Making Envelopes with you Hougie board is very easy. Simply follow the steps below and soon you will be making envelopes in minutes. Using the metric side you can also make envelope boxes for your 3d products.

Before starting line up your trinagle as shown in the photo above, the size of the traingle does not matter as long as it is has a 90 degree corner to fit nicely on your board. I use a smaller if I make smaller envelopes.

Decide what size envelope you want to make, check the table below to find out what size paper you need to start with and cut your paper accordingly.

Envelope Size	Start With in cm	First Score	Second Score
C6	21x21cm	6.5cm	9cm
DL	24.5x24.5cm	6.5cm	12cm
C5	28x28cm	9cm	12cm
5"Square	21x21 cm	8.5cm	8.5cm
4"Square	17x17cm	6.5cm	6.5cm

More to sizes to follow.

Now for the steps:

Place your paper on the board against with the edge of the paper firmly against the traingle and score down the indicated line.
Rotate the paper 180 degrees and score along the same line again. Then score the remaining two sides on the second indicated line. I use a corner rounder to soften the corners and make the envelope look more profesional.
Fold the two outside corners toward the centre.
Apply your choice of adhesive along the bottom edges of the flap.
Fold the bottom flap of your envelope and press down to secure.
To add the finishing touch tuck the top part into the envelope or use a decorative corner punch for a nice effect.

Next time how to do a envelpe box and line your envelopes.

Easel Card and Envelope made with the Hougie Board

2010-05-18T05:11:00.000-07:00

Here is a Easel Card and Envelope both mede with my Hougie board. The Grahpics used came from the Purple Pansie set at Fred, She Said Designs .

For the Easel Card:

Cut you cardstock 12" by 4".
Score at 6" and then again at 9". Fold at 6" to create your standard 6"x4" card base. The 9" fold will be on the front of your card and will be the part that help the card stand up.
Cut a second piece of cardstock to measure 6" by 4", this is the piece that you decorate.
Adhere you decorated Card stock to the bottom 3" of you card front.
Open the card and decorate inside. Remember to use a bit of foam tape or double sided foam pads to raise a part of the inside decoration as this is where the top flap will rest when the card is standing up.

For the Envelope:
A full tutorial in the next post.

Hougie Board

2010-05-17T03:35:00.000-07:00

As I told you before I have just about every scoreboard available in the UK, but I just had to buy this one as well as it is a great double sided board.  Centimetres and 1/2 cm on one side  and inches and 1/2 inches on the other so there's   no need to try and convert cm in to inches.

It makes Measuring super easy and accurate first time. With this knowledge comes  confidence to try any project and with confidence comes speed. So you can now make more  projects in the time you have. 

I already have a tutorial ready for the magix box, an A6 Easel card and envelope and also how to make any size envelope with you Hougie Board.

You can order yours here. 

New Goodies for May 2010

2010-05-17T03:27:00.000-07:00

This is the first time that I actually show you my newest acquisitions, the only reason for this is that I am so impressed by them.

I think the Wobblers CD by Kanban is the absolute best CD I have bought in a long time, already made a Magix Box with it. I just had to get the matching stamps as well. I am also bidding on the other Kanban CD Seasons Collection on Ebay and the Two stampsets to go with that I will same for my June Projects.

I will be doing quite a few Tutorials witht he Hougie Board and have started a Hougie yahougroup, contact me if you would like an invitation. The Slice cutting tools I got because they match so perfectly with my Hougie Board and I can also use them to cut on my Hougie board in the grooves with a Ruler. The ceramic blade is just the right lenght so I do not damage my Board.

The 20cm Ruler from Marianne Design is ideal to create perfect matting and Layering bits. I have also invested in quite a few Marianne Design Creatable dies but will show you these as I use them in my projects.

Creativity! Cancer Research Campaign Update >> View

2010-05-12T08:41:00.000-07:00

Even more funds are being raised through sales of two new clear stamp designs from Papermania launched earlier this year!

>> Click Here to visit the Cancer Research Uk website and find out more about the work they do.

Show your support today and download this great avatar to use!

>> Click here

Folded Mini Album

2010-05-05T03:28:00.000-07:00

Front Cover

Back Cover

What You Would Need:

12"x12" Patterned Paper

Double sided Tape

Glue Stick

TOOLS

Piercing Tool or Crop-a-dile

Cutting Mat

Bone Folder

Fold each of the 12x12 papers into 16 equal sections. With the pattern side down, fold the paper in half. Unfold. Fold both sides in to the centre crease; this is commonly called a cupboard fold. Open the paper up and repeat these same folds, but folding in the opposite direction. The paper now has 16 equal sections.

With the pattern side up, fold all four corners to the centre. Unfold. With the pattern side down, fold all outside corners in to the first intersection, or mountain fold. Glue these folded corners down with a glue stick.

The folds in the paper form a 4-section square in the middle. Reinforce these folds by folding the paper in along these existing creases, folding one at a time. Bring the centre of each raw edge inward and down to the centre of the square along the reinforced fold lines, collapsing the corners along the existing creases.

When flattened, the corners of the paper now form a frame. Cut eight 6" squares from a sheet card stock. Insert a square into the four corners the folded page. Make as many pages as you require.

Join the pages together with card stock hinges. Cut five 4" squares from a sheet of card stock. Fold each of theses squares in half diagonally. Open the square and fold on the same crease, but in the reverse direction. Apply double sided tape along each side of the crease. Or Punch holes and use

Remove the backing from the tape. Carefully slide the “hinge” between the layers of one of the pages made in Step 4, lining up the edge of the page with the crease. Press down to adhere. Slide the other half of the hinge between the layers of the next page and press down to adhere. Repeat until all pages are connected.

To secure book closed, apply adhesive to one end of a 18" piece of ribbon. Adhere the ribbon to one side of the back cover, sliding the end between the layers of the cover. Repeat with another piece of ribbon for the opposite side of the back cover.

Decorate the inside pages with mini envelopes, stamped images or photos. Slide each photo into a small vellum envelope stamped with simple words and phrases.

Happy Halloween

2010-04-30T03:12:00.000-07:00

I made this card as a Thank You card for a mother that invited David to her Daugther's Halloween Party. She loved it, it was also a great way of giving her my Contact number in case sonething went wrong at the party and she needed me to come pick him up.

Mini Waterfall Anniversary Album

2010-04-30T02:31:00.000-07:00

Here is a Little Anniversary Album I made for my Husband.

Page one is a photo of me on our Weddingday on the beach

Page two is "The Kiss"

Page three is a family photo taken during our holiday on South Africa when my son, David, was 9 months old.

Page four and five does not yet have photo's as Bianca was not yet born when I made it.

I am in the Process of making another and will take photo's as I go for the Tutorial I will add later.
Materials:
1 piece of 12" x 6" firm cardstock    - for the cover (Purple)
1 piece of 12 x 12" firm cardstock    - for the 5 pages
cut 5 pages from this sheet with the following dimensions. (Red)
5½" x 5¼
5" x 5¼
4½" x 5¼
4" x 5¼
3½" x 5¼
1 Strip of 11" x 5¼ firm thick cardstock - for the waterfall slider
1 Strip of 1½" x 6" firm cardstock
1 pull tab: 2"x2" piece of cardstock folded in half
Adhesives - wet glue and double sided tape
Paper trimmer
Paper scoring tool
Pencil

Step 1 - The cover
Take piece of 12"x6" and fold it at 5 7/8" and 6 1/8".
Take the 1½" x 6" strip, apply tape to the ends and stick it to the right inner cover 1" in from the rhs. Set the cover aside for now.

Step 2 - Pages
Cut the pages and set these pages aside.
5½" x 5¼
5" x 5¼
4½" x 5¼
4" x 5¼
3½" x 5¼

Step 3.
Take the 11" x 5¼ Strip and score a fold at 3", 3½", 4", 4½", 5, 5½".

Step 4
Stick the tab onto the right hand side

Step 5.
Fold at the first score line, use a bone knife or your thumbnail to create a nice crisp fold. Open the sheet and fold at the 2nd score line, create a crisp fold and apply glue to this section. Take the shortest of our 5 pages (the 3½" x 5¼) and stick it to the fold.

Step 6.
Open the sheet again and fold at the 3rd score line, create a crisp fold and apply glue to this section. Take the 4" x 5¼ page and stick it to the fold.
Repeat Step 6. for the remaining 3 pages.

Step 7
Open up the page slider (the pages should be underneath) Slip the slider under the strip and center the page lot onto the back cover. Take some double sided tape and stick it on to the strip.

Step 8
When the slider and pages are centered then close the album sticking the slider to the top of the strip and stick it down good.

Test your album opens ok by pulling on the pull out tab and decorate.

I'm Back

2010-04-22T03:52:00.000-07:00

After a long absense I am back with a vengence. I will be uploading a lot of photo's of the cards and creations I have made in the last 4 months.

Bianca is growing quickly and now that she is a little less demanding I can get to crafting and blogging. I will also be taking up some online challenges and try post at least 3 to 4 times per week. I will also be uploading the tutorials and tips and advise promised earlier.

Graphics on my Blog

2010-04-13T07:39:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Ingrid at http://cute-bloglayouts.blogspot.com for the lovely graphics.

Magic-boxes

2010-01-29T00:45:00.000-08:00

For all of you who have been admiring the Magic Boxes on Create & Craft and in the MAKING GIFTS magazine have a look at Eliane's site. She is the original creator of these little beauties. You can see her website and gallery or follow her blog to see more of her wonderful creations. The stamps and goodies she use to make these are all available in her shop. I have bought quite a few of the stampsets and have to say they are excelletn quality and the customer service I got from them was brilliant as well.

There is also a tutorial for a Small Butterfly Box and how to create a 3D Flower.

Advise on choosing colours

2009-11-25T01:11:00.000-08:00

It does not matter what type of projects you do colour is all around us and choosing the right colours can be a challenge.

Here is a nice site that gives you a lot of useful info on colour and the effects it has on our day-to-day lives.

Other Useful links:

Colour Wheels
List of Crayola colours
Prismacolor Tutorial
Other Coloure Pencil Tutorials

Christmas Cards Needed

2009-11-09T04:24:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone!!

Here is a email message i received from the Pink Stamper, who's blog I follow.

It would be fabulous if we could all take a few minutes this week and send this little boy a card. Please help us make this little boy's last Christmas request.

"5yr old boy named Noah Biorkman , is in the last stages of a 2 1/2yr battle with Neuroblastoma Cancer.The family is celebrating Christmas next week and Noahs request is to get lots of Christmas cards..Let's get him some.

Please send cards to:

Noah Biorkman
c/o Scott Biorkman
3480 Petoskey Way
Milford, MI 48380

Lets see How many cards we can Get to this Little guy, Thank You!"

Thanks to all that have send Noah some cards, his parents have now send a request to pls stop.

Goodies for sell

2009-11-02T06:01:00.000-08:00

I have had a few request to ship things abroad, I am afraid I can not do this due to the Shipping costs and also the fact that Royal Mail is on strike again:0

Quilling Tutorials

2009-10-31T03:10:00.000-07:00

Quilling or paper filigree is the art of rolling thin strips of paper into different shapes and using the shapes to form designs. Quilling has been around since the Renaissance age, but I was only recently introduced to it. This is just the basics and more info will be added later with links to site with free patterns and galleries.

Tools
The tools needed for this craft are very basic. Paper strips, something to wind the strips around and glue are basically all you need to get started. Paper comes in many different weights. You select the weight according to what you want your finished design to look like. The strips of paper are usually cut anywhere from 1/8" to 1" wide with 1/8" being the standard. In the examples I used ordinary construction paper cut into 1/8" strips. I used a toothpick to wind the coils, but some prefer needles, pins, hat pins or some specially designed tools for quilling. Ordinary clear-drying white glue is good for most projects. If you are using a paper that has been sprayed with metallic paint, a heavier clear-drying glue may be used.

Other tools that may be helpful
Scissors for cutting the strips of paper, although you can purchase pre-cut strips of paper for quilling in some craft stores.
A small plastic cap or plastic bottle to hold a few drops of glue so the rest of the bottle won't dry out.
A ruler is used to achieve uniformity in the size of the pieces.
You can use a piece of corrugated cardboard covered with waxed paper as a work board. A pattern can be slipped between the cardboard and the wax paper and if glue gets onto the wax paper it can easily be peeled off. Another alternative is styrofoam covered with plastic wrap.
Tweezers and a muffin tin are good to have handy for organizing by different size or shape and the tweezers will help you pick up or place the smaller pieces into position.
A damp sponge or washcloth is helpful to keep your fingers free of glue and to moisten the strip when you start a coil.

Basic Shapes

"V" Shape
Fold the strip in half and roll the ends on the outside of the paper, away from the inner crease.

Feelers
Roll only a small part of the paper strip, leaving the rest of the strip straight. Feelers can be made with the strip folded in half as in this example, or just with one coil from an unfolded strip.

Peacock Eye
This can be made from either a loose or tight coil. After the coil is made pinch one side. A petal can be formed by bending the tip of the peacock eye slightly to one side.

Contoured Peg
After rolling a tight coil, push the peg up from underneath the center to contour it's shape. Used to add dimension to a design.

Peg oll a strip of paper tightly and glue the end while the coil is still tight. Pegs can be used in the design or glued to the underside of another shape to raise it creating dimension.

Quotes
Fold the strip in half, roll the ends in the same direction. One coil will be rolled toward the center crease, the other away from it.

Open Heart
Fold the strip of paper in half and roll the ends toward the center of the crease.

Tendril (Note this got smashed in the scanner it should be open and springy looking)
Roll in a spiral shape around the toothpick as tight as desired, also known as a spiral, rope or twist.

"S" Shape
Roll from both ends of the paper but on opposite sides of the strip.

Diamond
Made from either a loose or tight coil. After the coil is made pinch two opposite sides. Also called a marquis or an eye-shaped coil.

Leaf Shape
If you bend one or more ends of the diamond, you form a leaf shape.

Oval
Squeeze a loose coil into an oval shape, but try not to point the ends.

Square
Roll a loose coil and form a diamond. Pinch the smooth sides into points forming a square.

Rectangle
Squeeze first into an oval then pinch the corners to form a rectangle.

Star of Leaf Shape
Form a diamond first. Grasping the ends push in toward the center forming two newer points with a curve between them.

Triangle
Pinch a loose coil into a 3-sided shape. Usually this looks better if you keep the center a round as possible.

Closed Heart
Pinch a triangle, then push in one side to form an indent.

Half Moon
Pinch a loose coil on two sides while placing your finger in the middle of one side, this will cause an indentation on that side.

Tulip
Pinch a loose coil on two sides while pushing in toward the center at one side.

I have tried so many different techniques over the years and always give each one a fair change. I love the finished effect but find quilling something a bit to fiddley when you have a 5 year old running around. I do use it from time to time for specific projects and when I do I will post Photo's. Hope this helps you and maybe introduce you to another fun and easy way to create lovely layouts for both your cards and scrapbook pages.

Have a look at Monica's blog for more in depth tutorials, video's and great ideas.

Techniques and tutorials to look forward to

2009-09-25T05:23:00.000-07:00

I will be posting information on the following techniques over the next few weeks. Tutorials and projects will follow by the end of next month when my maternity leave start and I have some more time to make the projects and take photo's. So if you have or know about a blog or website that specialize in any one of these let me know and I will add a link to it in that specific section

Stamping
Decoupage
Die Cutting
Embossing
Iris Folding
Quiling
Spirelli
Tea Bag Folding
Paper Pricking
Lace
Peel Offs
Scrapbooking
Using Sketches for both Card Making and Scrapbooking.
Making the most of your craft CD's

Choosing Adhesives

2009-09-25T04:50:00.000-07:00

Please note this list is not complete and many more adhesive products are available. Adhesives, or glues, are an essential component of paper craft. Choosing and using the correct adhesive for the job in hand is vitally important to achieve the correct result. Different types of adhesive are required for particular purposes, no one adhesive does the job for all sticking requirements. In many cases adhesive choice comes down to personal preference. I will be adding Pictures and links to this later.

To cover all your crafting needs, you will need, one adhesive from each of the groups below

Dry adhesives
This group of adhesives are a craft box must have as they are quick and easy to use, nonmessy and in most, cases, give an instant bond like :
Double-sided tape
tape on a roll that is sticky on both sides. Available in different widths. Great for sticking card and paper, quickly and easy to use
Glue dispensers
glue on a roll inside plastic casing with a rolling dispenser at one end. The snail or mouse shaped dispenser is simply glided along paper/card and the glue is laid onto the paper/card. Good alternative to double-sided tape. Available in permanent and repositionable format
Dots of glue
sticky circles, in various sizes on a carrier sheet or roll. Invaluable for sticking embellishments

Dimensional adhesives
Used to provide height and depth to papercraft projects. Perhaps most commonly associated with 3D decoupage but often used to raise just one element off a card for instant dimension.
3D foam pads
small foam pads, in various, depths and sizes, sticky on the top and bottom. Provide an instant bond
Silicone glue
glue in a tube that is squeezed out and applied to the back of work before applying to project. Silicone glue requires drying time but this can be advantages in decoupage as it provides time to move and shape layers.

Wet glue
Most of us will be familiar with PVA and “white glue” as it is often used in schools! This type of glue requires drying time and gives a strong bond.
PVA
available in tubes, often with a fine tip nozzle for precision application. PVA has a multitude of uses including as a varnish when watered down. Water based and dries clear
Glue stick
traditional glue, often used by children. Available in a solid, stick format that you twist up to use. This type of glue is, generally not as strong as liquid glue; suitable for card and paper
Glue pen
wet glue in a pen format, allowing precise application. Generally glue is blue, so that you can see where applying it and dries clear. Stick items when glue is wet and blue for an instant bond or when glue is tacky and clear for repositionable use. Great for sticking small embellishments such as flat backed gems.

Things to consider
Check adhesives used for scrapbooking are acid free. Always read instructions and follow safety Do you want an instant bond or time to reposition work?
Working with children? Make sure the adhesive is suitable – non toxic, washable etc
Take time to consider what you a re doing and which type of adhesive is most suitable
for the project.

Hints & tips
• Always replace lids to stop glue drying out, blocking nozzles and accidental spills
• For precision application of wet glue use a cocktail stick to apply to project
• Use PVA sparingly on paper/card as it will wrinkle paper/card as it dries
• Consider the decorative potential of adhesives – glitter sprinkled over double-sided tape or dots of glue, for example!
• Ask other crafters and demonstrators which adhesive they use if you are still not sure