Chewing Paper - Confessions of a Paper Addict

Valentine's Cards

This is a little late being posted up as I it turns out when your mum says "Be careful out there!!  You'll catch pneumonia!!".  Well...it turns out you can.  Add a chesty cold, a winter vomiting bug and a good dose of overworking in the last few  years, and I guess your body eventually says STOP!!  So, I'm home from hospital and recovering slowly.  The girls - Agnes, Di and Sabina have been holding the fort at work for which I am eternally grateful, and my mum has been helping me out endlessly at home.  In the meantime, here's some of the great Valentine's Cards sent in over the last couple of weeks.  I trust you all had nice days?  Which card is your favourite?  The creators are: Petrashae, Brenzer, Elisa, KiKid25, Sandidune, Lara, CraftyKate, Firefly, Dianne, Cecilia, Orla, Littlebit, MayoMom.  If I've missed anyone's name or card - let me know and   I'll add it in (entirely possible I will miss someone at the mo).  

Scrapbook Heaven - CHA 2008 Previews!!

CHA - the American Craft and Hobby Association, have just announced a list of product previews that will be debuting at the show this year.  And they are TO DIE FOR.  Check them all out HERE.

Please - tell us - add a comment and let us know WHICH ARE YOUR FAVOURITES!!!  We'll do our best to get the most popular ranges in!!  We have Cherry Arte already on order, what else would you like for your collection??

Send us Your Valentine's!

Well, ignore it at your peril, for Valentine's Day is upon us and we'd LOVE to see any Valentine's Cards you have made!!  To us, Valentine's Day is about showing those you love that you love them.  Not just partners...friends, parents, relatives - who wouldn't be happy to receive a card showing that they are loved?  So - email us a photo of your creation and we'll post it up on the BLOG for everyone to see!!  We'll be posting up all cards sent to us.  Beginners welcome - don't be scared!  I bet your cards are way better than you think they are :)  By the way - if you need more supplies for your cards, stop by the Valentine's section of the shop - lots of stuff there!

My Hero Stamps

After a bit of a hiatus over Christmas, I'm finally getting back into the swing of things when it comes to the blog.  Hope you like the posts!!  Do leave a comment and let us know.  While rooting through craft stores Stateside on that trip I've mentioned a few times :), I have to say I bought no rubber stamps at all.  I wasn't inspired - until I came home to the shop and saw the new delivery in from Hero Arts.  We're going to have to re-order again soon because I, and Di, and all of us - want to take them home for ourselves.  Just some of the fantastic designs from their NEW catalogue are below - well...my favourites anyway :)

Clear Stamps - we love these so much - great value, easy to use, easy to place ..just fab.  The first one titled "Friends Always" is SO good for your stash.  Look at it - it covers birthday, congratulations, thank you, thinking of you, best wishes and then some more generic ones like a warm hello.  It throws in an "&" for good measure too so you can say "Thinking of you & a Warm Hello".  Fantastic.  The next one we loved because so many Scrapbooking Layouts look great if you can mark them with a date - and this makes that so easy.

Next come the wooden stamps - still a quick and great staple for every stamper.  I'm sure we're biased as two of us in the office have little boys, but this dinosaur stamp was just too good.  Cheeky - could also be used for someone who's getting a bit older :) Lots of scope for colouring in with gel pens, paints or watercolour pencils.  Speaking of which, a new departure for us - we just got in a brilliant Watercolour Wheel with 24 colours from Hero Arts.  Perfect for colouring in all those stamped images.

I loved this strong flower image - in single or multiple inks at the corner of a card with a simple "Happy Birthday" at the top right - and you're done. 

Last of my favourites - this set of 5 borders were so beautiful in their intricacy (plus two have no words at all so can be used in lots of ways) and were just *begging* for some Stickles Glitter Glue or dabs of fun Sakuras to finish them. 

What do you think?  Do you like them?  What's your favourite Rubber Stamp brand?  Tell us and we might get it in!!!

Project for a child's room

While in the States recently, I mentioned I paid a visit to my favourite paper shop over there - Paper Source.  While there, I picked up some blank paper letters about 10" high for my little boy's room.  You can see them on their website here (and yes they do ship outside the USA), and here's what they look like blank:

They were fantastic value at just $3.00 each and I bought some scrapbook papers that weren't too thick at the time to cover them with.  Well, I got papering tonight, and here's the result (sorry for a not-great-quality image).  Lots of PVA and sticky hands and cutting later, and VOILA!!

My little boy picked out the papers, and they were fairly easy to do.  I figure I can re-paper them again in a few years when they'll need to be blue/red/white to support whichever football team will be the favourite :)  A great project and I can't wait to hang them on the wall of his bedroom.  What do you think?  Do you like them?  There's a great video on the Paper-source site too which shows how to paper them with handmade papers, or paint them and add embellishments like flowers, blossoms or gems.