Exciting Scrapbook Kit News!!

Hi Everyone!

I have put together a couple of kits ....

These are made up with some slightly older patterned papers hence the great value price of the kits.

This is Kit 1:

Kit #1 contains:

6 sheets of 12" x 12" patterned papers (3 x Teresa Collins Daily Stories, 2 x Crate Paper Flea Market, 1 Pink Paislee Hello Sunshine)

2 sheets of cardstock (1 each of white and pink)

3 smaller pieces of patterned paper

3 doilies (1 of each colour shown)

Sheet of alpha stickers (a random selection from 2 colours)

6 Cork Die Cuts (3 each of scallop circles & butterflies)

A small selection of wood embellishments -  Each kit has a random selection but typical pieces are arrows, people, butterflies, hearts, chevrons, cameras.

1 wood word (actual word received may differ from that shown)

2 wooden buttons.

A strip of pink gems

A length of twine

** Please note actual contents may differ slightly from those shown in the photograph. **

Kit #1 Costs £12.00 which includes Postage and Packing 

Please note I do sometimes recycle good quality boxes to keep P & P costs down.

Please note - I have Very Limited number of this first kit available!

Should you wish to purchase a kit, please e mail me at sarah_sjr (at) hotmail (dot) com stating which kit you require and  your e mail address for a paypal invoice to be sent to you.

Kit will only be dispatched on receipt of payment and payment must be received within 24 hours of receipt of invoice.

As kit numbers are limited, it will be a strict "first come first served" !

Here's a layout I made using some of the kit:

Extra supplies I used which are not included in the kit: Cosmo Cricket pink label stickers, Heidi Swapp Colourshine (used to create the ink dots)

For a quite a while I have wanted to have a go at making a scrapbooking process video .... so when I was making the above layout I decided to give it a try .... you can see the video below on youtube. Please excuse the "umming" and the annoying red box .... if I do another I will definitely invest in a tripod!!

I'll be back soon to show you the second kit.

I am also looking at possibly getting in some brand new released papers and offering further kits ..... I'd love to know if this would be of interest to you.

Hope you like the first kit!

Adding Texture with Cork and Wood!

Hi everyone, Annie here today!

I love using natural materials like wood and cork to add texture and depth to a layout. You can leave them natural, or add colour and pattern to them by stamping, painting, inking and so on. For this layout, I've altered some wood and cork embellishments to suit the style of this page about my favourite Uncle ...

I still had loads of my February Kit left after using it to make my Flip Book Album, so I thought I would use some of it to make a page for Case File #113 over at CSI, because the bright pastels and all the butterflies in the Teresa Collins Daily Stories collection would be the perfect for the page I had in mind. Here are my leftovers ...

The kit included some Wood Veneer Butterflies by Studio Calico and a Prima Wood Word, and Sarah also sent me some Cork Sticker Butterflies to play with, so I thought it would be fun to mix it up and use the cork stickers and the wood veneers together.

I also threw in a handful of Wood Veneer Stars ... I love the contrast between the texture of the wood and the shiny Enamel Dots and Decorative Brads too - they really make you want to reach out and touch the page ... or is that just me?! :o)

The ledger paper from the collection made a perfect background for my layout and I used a couple of the cut-aparts and some scraps and offcuts to build up layers, distressing and inking the edges for extra dimension ...

Now for the butterflies to add a burst of colour and movement to my page ...

... some wood veneers, some cork stickers and some paper ones cut from a sheet of the patterned paper from the collection - these were lovely just as they were, but I couldn't resist experimenting with some Distress Inks, Paints and Stains ...

The paper ones were just inked all around the edges and finished with an enamel dot or pearl in the centre of each one. The wood and cork ones were given a base coat of Distress Stain in 'Picket Fence' and then I used different colours of Distress Ink and Paint to create an ombre effect - it looks much more subtle on the cork as you can see ...

To attach the paper butterflies to the layout, I added foam dots to the tops of the wings, then just a spot of glue to the centre - this lifts their wings off the page for a fluttery effect!

I love the look of the paper, wood and cork butterflies all mixed together and I'm sure there's lots more you could do with these - I might try stitching through the cork ones with embroidery thread and knotting it on the top ... now why didn't I think of that before?! 

Thanks for looking, and I hope you have fun playing with wood and cork on your pages!

Cheerio! Annie x

Annie recently joined the S J Crafts Design Team. She blogs her brilliant projects at her blog: Artyfarty Annie so please take a look there too! 

Creating with our Monthly Kit

Earlier this year, we launched our kits. These are released on a bi monthly basis, usually around the cusp of the month. The current kit for May/June was released at the start of June and is called "Hipster"!! It's packed with the very funky Basic Grey Hipster papers and embellishments. I sat myself down to create with a "Hipster" kit and this is the page I made.

The kit has a variety of patterned papers, some are floral, some quite generic and a few which called out to me "Teenage Boy"!!! Perfect for scrapping a photo of my nephew!

 

The only things I added that weren't in the kit are the black/white thickers letters, the grey striped MME washi tape and a few staples.

 

 

 

 

I used staples, wood veneers and enamel dots to hold the acetate pieces in place as glue or tape would show through the acetate.

 

 

 

The little Cosmo Cricket letters are ideal for adding details to titles or for journaling. I love how they look almost handwritten on the paper!

 

I often find it tricky to find papers and embellishments suitable for boy layouts, especially teens but these are spot on!!

 

I still have loads of papers to make another layout.

 

There's some lovely floral papers like this one:

 

 

and this one:

 

 

 Perfect for a more girlie layout so I'll pop back and show you that soon!

 

Here's a picture of everything that's in the kit:

 

 

Please note: Each kit may have slight variations, such as different wood veneers, different coloured enamel dots, metal tab designs.

 

Click Here To see Full Details and Order a Kit

 

Plans for the next kit (July/August) are well underway and it's due for release around the end of July/early August, so keep an eye out for that too!

 

Thanks for stopping by and if you do buy a kit, be sure to link us up in your comment so we can pop over and see!

 

Sarah x

Monthly Kit Samples ... All About A Boy

Hello ... hope you are well!
It's Louise here today!
SJ Crafts have released two new kits and and I had the opportunity to create with the

"All about a boy" Kit
 

This kit feautires gorgeous Echo Park papers and is full of colour with a big selection of chipboards and stickers to embellish. At first the name of this kit might suggest that it is more suited to layouts featuring young children. I wanted to show you that not only is it suitable for the younger boy but for the bigger boy too. In fact I used the kit to create three layouts, one for a little boy, one for a big boy and one for the biggest boy of all!!

I used the kit exclusively and did not dip into any other supplies at all - not even my favourite washi tape ... the tape I seem to reach for constantly.

For the little boy layout I used layers with all the patterned papers. I love the colour orange and use it a lot on layouts of my boys.
 

The big boy layout uses one of the 12x12 patterned sheets. It reminds me of denim and I just know that this paper will be falling into my shopping basket next time I place an order with SJ Crafts!  It's fabulous!
 

Onto my third layout ....
This layout has a photo of the biggest boy of all who just couldn't help himself!
I wanted space to journal and created the flap on the right hand side to record some more details from our holiday.
 

After creating three layouts I had one sheet of cardstock left and lots of scraps so I made two cards. A Happy Birthday Handsome card ...
 

and a Thank You Best Friend card ...

 

The kits are currently available in the shop ...

  Click here to buy "All About A Boy" Kit!

   Click here to buy "Sweet Girl" Kit

You really will not be disappointed!!

Enjoy the rest of your day!
Louise x

See more of Louise's crafting projects on her blog:
Boys, Bugs and Beautiful Buttons

Kit Release Day!

Hello!

As many of you will be aware, earlier this year we introduced our kits!

 

Our kits are released on a bi monthly basis and contain beautiful patterned papers, cardstock and embellishments.
Each kit has enough "scrummy" stash to make at least 2 layouts (probably a lot more!)

No more spending lots of time gathering together your stash to make a layout .... we have selected beautiful co ordinating producs for you ... all you have to do is CREATE beautiful layouts with it!!
Today we have released our March/April kits!

 

This month there are two kits to choose from or why not treat yourself to both!!

 

This is the "SWEET GIRL" kit containing papers from the Echo Park collection of the same name!

 

 

and this is the "ALL ABOUT A BOY" Kit - again papers are from the Echo Park collection of the same name!

 

See all the details and buy the kits in the shop here!

 

Sample layouts made with the kits will be right here on the blog and also on our facebook page very soon!

January Kit released Today!!!

Yes, the January main kit is finally ready to go!!

The last few products arrived in this week's stock delivery and the kit has been uploaded to the shop.

Click here to visit the shop for full kit details!!!

The kit is packed with lots of My Mind's Eye loveliness including 5 double sided patterned papers and a 12" x 12" sheet of chipboard elements!!

I've loved playing with this kit and want to show you this first layout today.

The photos are quite old taken on holiday back in 2008!! I used some big alphas from my stash for the title and inked all the paper edges with brushed corduroy distress ink but everything else was from the kit, although the borders and tickets may vary in design and colour.

The colours work equally well for boy or girl layouts.

The "Fun Days" kit is priced at just £13.99 and contains around £16 of stash so it's great value for money as well!

These kits are limited in numbers and already orders are coming in so if you want one don't delay!!

Have a great weekend!

Sneak of the January kit

Did you like January's mini kit? I have just a couple left now so if you have your eye on it, make sure you don't miss out!

The main kit for January is out later this week, I'm just waiting on a couple things to arrive from the suppliers.

Do you want a little sneak peek at the kit?

Featuring MME Funday this kit is great for scrapping all kinds of photos ... girls, boys, heritage, days out and so much more in between!! If you are a fan of kraft and love the distressed look then you will love this kit!!

The Main kit for January, "Fun Days" is due for release later this week, pending my stock delivery with the last few bits of the kit, so don't forget to check the website and keep an eye on the facebook page!!

I hope 2012 has got off to a fabulous start for you. I have lots of plans for this year including a new S J Crafts Monthly challenge, some blog giveaways and also a new series which will focus on getting the most from your crafts tools and stash! So lots happening in 2012, I do hope you will join us!!

Scrapping with January's Mini Kit

The January Mini Kit is now available right here!!

This bright and fun kit contains 3 sheets of patterned paper from the Crate Random collection, 1 sheet of pink bazzill cardstock, 1 sheet of Crate stickers, various ribbons and flowers!

Lisa-Jane got to have a play and came up with 2 very different layouts.

I simply adore this page of her little girl playing in the autumnal leaves!

 

Over to DT member Lisa Jane to explain how her pages came together:

When I got the kit, I immediately thought of the orange and the pink together, which initially you wouldn't expect to work but it DOES!!  I remembered the million or so pictures that I took of B in the Autumn leaves several weeks ago. I wanted to use the pink cardstock as one of the layers so I decided on kraft cardstock for the base. So that I could use both sides of the patterned papers (and also I couldn't bear to waste any!) I gutted them all to make full use of all the patterns. I wanted a really shabby chic style so I distressed all the edges with my scissors and inked them with Brushed Corduroy distress ink.  The pink of B's top is highlighted using the bright pink ribbon and I added some flowers and some of the stickers. My title is made up of letters from my stash and the layout is finished off with a few buttons and leaf shaped brads.

 

Having done one girly layout, I wanted to balance things out a bit and show you that the Random Collection can also be used for more masculine layouts too. I loved the denim paper so I looked for a photo of L in jeans. I came across some pictures of L wearing denim dungarees and an orange top which worked perfectly with the offcuts from the first layout.

This design came together quickly and I love how there is plenty of space for my journalling. I used a border punch on the denim paper and the cream ribbon from the kit to break up the thicker layer at the foot of the page. A sticker from the sheet that came in the kit makes up part of the title along with some rub-ons from my stash! I added some raffia and another sprinkling of buttons to finish the page.

 

I love the way this turned out - starting with an essentially feminine collection and ending up with a layout perfect for a little boy and his Daddy out walking in the countryside.

I still have some of the gorgeous rose print paper left to make a card! So that's 2 layouts and at least one card from a kit that costs less than a fiver! Result!  

January Mini Kit~ A sneak peek!

Our second mini kit goes on sale tomorrow!

Here's a quick sneak peek ...

The mini kit contains 3 patterned papers, 1 sheet of bazzill cardstock, stickers, flowers and ribbons. Priced at just £4.95, it is perfect for kickstarting your 2012 crafting!

Lisa-jane has created two beautiful layouts with the kit which I'll pop back and show you tomorrow!

The main January kit is almost ready ... I'll see if i can get you a sneak peek of that one too!

Have a lovely day!

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!!

November Echo Park Kit Layouts ~ By Louise

Today's post is brought to you by Design Team member Louise with two very different layouts created using the new November kit.

Louise says:

The kit really is full of great papers and with the sticker sheet, alphas and the journalling cards, there is plenty of choice. The papers are gorgeous on both sides so the biggest decision was which side to use. I love patterned papers......and some of them were very busy patterns!! It's funny as I thought on first sight that I would use the plainer patterned sides......but the bolder sides kept calling me!

This first layout I based around the moustache stickers and used photos of my three boys and my nephew where they were playing around with Keith Lemons mouthboard, a download application on the phone!! Rest assured the boys have no idea who Keith Lemon is!!

For the second layout I chose a photo of my great grandmother and grandfather - I have had him on my mind this week......there is a very sad story to go with this layout. My great grandfather died in WW1 at the Battle of Somme, left behind his two daughters (shown in the photo) and his pregnant wife. My grandmother was born one month after he died. Last weekend I found myself explaining to the boys that my great grandfather (and lots of others) is the reason we wear poppies and have a two minute silence to remember them all.

For this layout I added a doilie and used some AC brads and two pins. It is a very full kit and there is plenty leftover to make another layout or some cards.................a job for this weekend hopefully!!

***   ***   ***

Two fab layouts!! You can see more of Louise's scrapbooking or maybe join her on her photography challenge here.

If you want to grab yourself a kit pop over to here or you can buy the Echo Park papers individually here!

* November kit is now sold out!! *
* Watch out for our December kit coming soon! *

Thanks for stopping by!

Times and Seasons November Kit Layout!

As I mentioned in my last post I have been asked by lots of customers if I could sell kits in my shop that are affordable and available without having to take a subscription. So, as I always like to try and help I have been busy selecting some lovely products to create the very first S J Crafts Monthly Kit which went on sale here earlier today and is already flying off the shelves!

The kit is packed with Echo Park's gorgeous Times & Seasons Papers and matching stickers and alphabet, kraft bazzill cardstock, along with some Tim Holtz tickets, brads and ribbons, all for just £12.99!!



Other sides of papers and close up of stickers!

This is the layout I made with the kit, the only extra thing I added that's not included was some blue shimmer mist to the background and I inked the edges of the papers with brushed corduroy distress ink.

Sorry about the flash reflection! I took the photo early this morning!

I cut the flowers from the trinkets paper and layered it up with stickers and a little brown brad. The swirl trim is fab as it is self adhesive so no need to mess around with adhesive, just peel the backing off!!

The kit is limited in numbers and available here!!

Have a fabulous evening!

Monthly Kits launch Today!!!

You have been asking for them, so now we have them!! I am very excited to be able to tell you that today sees the launch our very first S J Crafts Monthly Kit!!

Our November kit is now on sale here and is packed with gorgeous Echo Park Papers, alphas, stickers and co ordinating embellishments and ribbons!

The contents are worth £15 but the kit is available now for the special price of just £12.99!!

Limited in numbers so don't miss out!

I'll pop back later to show you the layout I've made with the kit!