Childish Things!!

Have you seen the gorgeous new collection from Fancy Pants Designs yet?

Childish Things is packed with bright colours and fun designs!

I sent Lisa-Jane the papers, alphas, stickers and buttons to "play with"!! By using some of the bolder designs alongside the plainer "b" sides she has really made the bright designs "work" and I love these layouts.

The title and green gingham border are from the strips paper and LJ used glossy accents on the "dreamer" title to give it shine and dimension. The little blue journalling box is from the cards paper and a few buttons and stickers added to finish.  The heart was collaged with scraps.

Lisa Jane explains ...

One of my favourite papers is the orange woodgrain which marries so wonderfully with the orange and aqua polka dot.  I used my sewing machine to stitch around each block and around the page edge.

Taking inspiration from Glitter Girl's hand-made embellishments and loving the double sided designs on the papers I made my own pin-wheels. I added some brown glitter Thickers, and letter stickers and a few other embellishments from my stash.

For my next page, I knew immediately which story and photo I was going to scrap with these bright and bold papers.  Last Christmas my son got the weekly trophy at football club and the colours and stars on the imagination paper were perfect for this layout.  The alpha stickers in this collection are a good size for titles and there are loads on the sheet with plenty of punctuation marks too.

For the chevrons, I was inspired by this fab tutorial and again used my sewing machine.

I also made a card for my daughter's birthday using the bookshelf paper. I love the bright floral pattern with its bold colours and the cute chipboard piece is from October Afternoon.

This collection may be called Childish Things and it really is great for layouts featuring children of all ages but many of the papers would work equally well for more "grown up" themes.  A lovely, versatile collection that was a real joy to work with.

To see more of LJ's work pop over to her blog here!

Summer's End Mini Kit ~ On Sale Now!!

The first of our mini kits is now on sale!!

***  Grab yours here!  ***

The kit is full of gorgeous papers and embellishments from the Fancy Pants Summer's End collection and I've matched it with some little blue buttons and flowers. The kit is available with a pack of Thickers letters for £11.50 or if you really want to keep it even more affordable choose the kit without Thickers for just £6.95!! Bargain!!

So, inspired by this layout by DT member Louise (who in turn took her inspiration from this layout by Tessa!) I came up with a page using the kit.

Sorry about that awful reflection on the photo .... there is virtually no decent daylight here these days! I will get a better photo and upload it!

I left plenty of white space on this page and clusters of embellishments!. All the edges have been inked with a brushed corduroy distress ink pad . The only extra bits I added that are not in the kit are the little number stickers (for the year) and the blue gems.

The kit will contain a selection of embellishments, buttons and flowers but actual designs, sizes and colours may vary slightly from thoise shown here!

If you create a layout inspired by Louise or Tessa's use of white space or made with the kit please do leave a comment on this post with a link!

Mini Kit Sneaks!!

As you may recall a couple of weeks ago we launched our monthly kits and the first kit sold out within a couple of days of it's release.

The response has been fantastic ....

"affordable kits with patterned papers and embellishments already co ordinated for me, with no tie in to a subscription" 

.... "so I can just sit down and make my layouts without worrying about finding co-ordinating embellishments!"

So, with these comments in mind we have put together not one, but two mini kits, the first of which goes on sale early next week!!

So do you want a sneak of what is in the first mini kit??

The kit contains 5 patterned papers (12" x 12"), a sticker sheet, a selection of matching embellishments (designs may vary from those shown) which are a lovely heavyweight paper, a selection of flowers and buttons (shades of blue and sizes may vary to those shown) and is available with or without a pack of Thickers letters in chestnut.

Mini Kit 1 without Thickers ... £6.95

Mini Kit 1 with Thickers ... £11.50

And a little peak at a sample layout made with the kit!

Mini Kit 1 goes on sale early next week and is limited in numbers!!

Special Offer: 2 For 1 on Papers .... And Beach Boys Layout

Beach Boys Layout ~ By Design Team Member Louise

For this layout Louise has used the Summer's End Collection again but this time using the patterned paper as the base and a single black and white photo to give a very different look.

Supplies: Fancy Pants Summer's End Papers : Abundance and Growing, Bazzill cardstock, chipboard banners, American Crafts alphas, Orange star ribbon, Orange Paint.

A close up showing the chipboard banners

You can see more of Louise's work here.

So, we are still celebrating our new Design Team here at SJ Crafts so this week's special offer is....

 2 for 1 on selected 12" x 12" Papers

The collections in the offer are:

Fancy Pants Summer's End 

AND

   Crate Paper Random

AND

My Minds Eye Quite Contrary

No code required, just add the paper you want to buy to your shopping cart and checkout as usual. I will add another sheet of the same design to your parcel when I pack your order. So if you order quantity 1, you will receive 2 sheets!

This offer is for UK delivery only and runs from 7pm today (28th sept) to 7pm on Sunday 2 October or until stock lasts.

Click here to go shopping now!!! 

P & P free when you spend £15 or more!!

Thanks for stopping by! x

Summer's End Layouts ~ By Louise

I know Louise was very nervous about taking on her first Design Team contribution but I have to say I think she has done an awesome job!!

I sent her a selection of products including the new Summer's End collection by Fancy Pants designs, some assorted Bazzill cardstock and Jenni Bowlin Chalkboard Stickers.

Today I will share her first layout which I hope will give you a few ideas. This layout tells the story of a photo shoot with a 7 year old in charge of the camera!!

A great idea for using the fall frames paper is to make journalling spots. By cutting them out and postioning them along the page they provide an ideal area for telling the story.

Louise carefully hand cut the individual doily shapes out of the changing paper and used them as a line of embellishments under her photos! This really draws the eye along the pictures

The Jenni Bowlin alphas make a great title, framed by the Summer's End Chipboard Banners.

Other tools and supplies used: Martha Stewart Butterfly and scalloped circle punches.

I'll be back tomorrow to show you Louise's second layout and I will have a great offer for you too!

You can see more of Louise's scrapbooking on her blog!

What's New!!

I have been busy unpacking deliveries and adding some new stock to the shop !!

So I have a quick run down of the new arrivals for you....

The  Random Collection  from Crate Paper arrived yesterday, I'm especially loving this chipboard and can't wait to use it on my layouts and cards.

These letter stickers from Jenni Bowlin are great for titles, we also have the tiny circle letters and the very popular chalkboard stickers in various colourways.

The new collection from Fancy Pants designs, "Summer's End" has also just landed, I've got to finish unpacking it and upload it to the website but I love the colours and can't wait to use these chipboard banners.

A huge thank you to everyone who has e mailed me to apply for the new S J Crafts Design Team, I have to say I am a little overwhelmed by the great response and I know I am going to have a tough job selecting the team! I'll be in touch with everyone who applied as soon as I can.

In case you are wondering I haven't forgotten about the giveaway from last week, I will draw the winner as soon as I am done uploading the new stock!

Enjoy the rest of your day! x