Here also, just before I head on home for Christmas, is the list of upcoming readers' gallery slots I'm looking for pages for. Drop me a line at lindsey.hopkins@practicalpublishing.co.uk if you have a page that suits any of these themes:
>Favourite Foods
>Me, Myself and I
>Mum
>Dancing
Cheers
Linds
Friday, 24 December 2010
Christmas Wishes
Wow, it's been a busy one here this month!
Just enough time to wish you all a fabulous Christmas and all the best for the coming year. I hope your Christmas is full of laughs and love, and you all have a great time.
Here's to a brilliant 2011!
Cheers
Linds
Just enough time to wish you all a fabulous Christmas and all the best for the coming year. I hope your Christmas is full of laughs and love, and you all have a great time.
Here's to a brilliant 2011!
Cheers
Linds
Saturday, 13 November 2010
Tradition
Huzzah! Finally I've finished my mammoth Christmas project, so here are the pics and steps for creating your own advent calendar with a difference. But first, a little back story.
For the past few years my sister, mum and me have been taking it in turns to pass between us a cardboard, pre-printed Christmas tree advent calendar with our own little treats inside. It's always been from me to mum, mum to Emma and Emma to me.
Last year the cardboard tree finally gave up the ghost, so this year I decided to finally get round to decorating the wooden advent tree I've had for about 5 years now to create a long-living alternative.
I've been working on it for a couple of weeks and finally finished the project last night, so here it is.
P.S. Ignore the appauling quality of my photos. Here's hoping Santa brings me a new camera this year!
Materials
Wooden Christmas tree
Kiki Art Sunny Bay Collection patterned paper
Lily Bee Three Little Birds Double Dutch patterned paper
Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 Ginger paper
White paper
Chestnut American Crafts Hildi MiniMarks letter rub-ons
Craftwork Cards Card Candy
Paper Cellar glitter star embellishment
Pearlescent star embellishments
Blue Cath Kidson thread
Ribbon
Heliotrope ColorBox pigment brush inkpad
Lilac and Tide Pool Eco Green Crafts acrylic paint
Zig 2-Way glue pen
PVA glue
Foam pads
Tools
1" tag punch
Hole punch
Step 1
Remove the drawers and paint the main body of the Christmas tree with Lilac paint. Set aside to dry.
Step 2
Paint the outsides of the drawers with Tide Pool paint, leaving each to dry before turning and painting the next. This also helps fight against the looming threat of cat hair invasion that I have to tackle on a regular basis!
Here's a little piccie of the drawers back in the tree unit once everything had dried nicely.
Step 3
Punch 24 tags from three different patterned papers using a 1" tag punch. Punch a hole towards to top of each tag (I used a medium eyelet hole punch for mine).
Step 4
Take a length of thread and fold four times to give you a long enough length to tie through the tag and create a loop. Do this with every tag.
Step 5
Ink the front edges of each drawer. Pass the thread loop over the handle and secure the tag in your chosen position with foam pads. Tie a length of ribbon around the handle.
Here's a little piccie of a close up on the drawers in position once the tags, Card Candy, ribbon and ink have been added to each.
Step 6
Apply rub-on letters to white paper and cut each out. Adhere to the tags with a glue pen. For the 24th drawer, attach a glittered star embellishment to the tag before adding the numbers. Stick a pearlescent star embellishment to each drawer.
And here's the finished advent calendar!
For the past few years my sister, mum and me have been taking it in turns to pass between us a cardboard, pre-printed Christmas tree advent calendar with our own little treats inside. It's always been from me to mum, mum to Emma and Emma to me.
Last year the cardboard tree finally gave up the ghost, so this year I decided to finally get round to decorating the wooden advent tree I've had for about 5 years now to create a long-living alternative.
I've been working on it for a couple of weeks and finally finished the project last night, so here it is.
P.S. Ignore the appauling quality of my photos. Here's hoping Santa brings me a new camera this year!
Materials
Wooden Christmas tree
Kiki Art Sunny Bay Collection patterned paper
Lily Bee Three Little Birds Double Dutch patterned paper
Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 Ginger paper
White paper
Chestnut American Crafts Hildi MiniMarks letter rub-ons
Craftwork Cards Card Candy
Paper Cellar glitter star embellishment
Pearlescent star embellishments
Blue Cath Kidson thread
Ribbon
Heliotrope ColorBox pigment brush inkpad
Lilac and Tide Pool Eco Green Crafts acrylic paint
Zig 2-Way glue pen
PVA glue
Foam pads
Tools
1" tag punch
Hole punch
Step 1
Remove the drawers and paint the main body of the Christmas tree with Lilac paint. Set aside to dry.
Step 2
Paint the outsides of the drawers with Tide Pool paint, leaving each to dry before turning and painting the next. This also helps fight against the looming threat of cat hair invasion that I have to tackle on a regular basis!
Here's a little piccie of the drawers back in the tree unit once everything had dried nicely.
Step 3
Punch 24 tags from three different patterned papers using a 1" tag punch. Punch a hole towards to top of each tag (I used a medium eyelet hole punch for mine).
Step 4
Take a length of thread and fold four times to give you a long enough length to tie through the tag and create a loop. Do this with every tag.
Step 5
Ink the front edges of each drawer. Pass the thread loop over the handle and secure the tag in your chosen position with foam pads. Tie a length of ribbon around the handle.
Here's a little piccie of a close up on the drawers in position once the tags, Card Candy, ribbon and ink have been added to each.
Step 6
Apply rub-on letters to white paper and cut each out. Adhere to the tags with a glue pen. For the 24th drawer, attach a glittered star embellishment to the tag before adding the numbers. Stick a pearlescent star embellishment to each drawer.
And here's the finished advent calendar!
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
Readers' gallery call
Here are the themes for upcoming readers' galleries I'm looking for layouts for:
Winter
Pets
Children's Toys
Get scrapping and email your layout pics to me at lindsey.hopkins@practicalpublishing.co.uk.
Winter
Pets
Children's Toys
Get scrapping and email your layout pics to me at lindsey.hopkins@practicalpublishing.co.uk.
Off to work we go
We're cooking on gas here at Scrapbook Magazine HQ as we add the final touches and make the last minute tweaks to issue 51 which prints next week.
There are more treats in store this issue with a new Make Your Own feature by Kirsty Maluga for a scrapbooking essential, we check out another different style, get the designers scrapping their adult siblings and much, much more!
Here's a sneak peak of just one of the fabulous layouts in the next issue.
Issue 51 goes on sale 2nd December, so keep your eyes peeled for it in the shops for more inspiration, ideas and competitions to get you scrapping.
There are more treats in store this issue with a new Make Your Own feature by Kirsty Maluga for a scrapbooking essential, we check out another different style, get the designers scrapping their adult siblings and much, much more!
Here's a sneak peak of just one of the fabulous layouts in the next issue.
Issue 51 goes on sale 2nd December, so keep your eyes peeled for it in the shops for more inspiration, ideas and competitions to get you scrapping.
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
After Five
If clean and classy is your thing, then be sure to check out the new After Five Collection from Australian manufacturers Kaisercraft.
After Five is an elegant range with a black, white and grey colour scheme. Perfect for scrapping those wedding pics, using with black and white photos or creating a thing of beauty for home décor.
As always with Kaisercraft, there's a great selection of Beyond The Page products available which sit perfectly with all of their paper ranges. After Five is featured alongside this amazing Photo Display Pack which comes as a creative kit and includes the photo frame, Cufflinks paper (with patterned sections perfect for adding a different style to each of the sections on the photo frame), wood flourish embellishmens and even paint, allowing you to create a beautiful piece of artwork for your home as well as a way to display your photos.
Head over to Merly Impressions to get yours!
After Five is an elegant range with a black, white and grey colour scheme. Perfect for scrapping those wedding pics, using with black and white photos or creating a thing of beauty for home décor.
As always with Kaisercraft, there's a great selection of Beyond The Page products available which sit perfectly with all of their paper ranges. After Five is featured alongside this amazing Photo Display Pack which comes as a creative kit and includes the photo frame, Cufflinks paper (with patterned sections perfect for adding a different style to each of the sections on the photo frame), wood flourish embellishmens and even paint, allowing you to create a beautiful piece of artwork for your home as well as a way to display your photos.
Head over to Merly Impressions to get yours!
Go Blitzen!
BasicGrey have given new life to yet another must-have retired product range with the digital release of the Blitzen Collection.
This hugely popular Christmas range is suitable for all kinds of festive crafts as well as scrapbooking and is available in a great selection of digital forms. Choose from starter kits, textures, elements, card templates, and you can even buy the individual digital paper designs themselves.
A real Christmas treat!
This hugely popular Christmas range is suitable for all kinds of festive crafts as well as scrapbooking and is available in a great selection of digital forms. Choose from starter kits, textures, elements, card templates, and you can even buy the individual digital paper designs themselves.
A real Christmas treat!
Bits and Pieces
Take a look at the fab new Bits embellishments from American Crafts!
These cute little accents are sure to help you add those finishing touches to your pages and are available in a selection of colourways and styles to suit your theme.
Each tag embellishment features a patterned paper or title element with metal trim and eyelet-sized holes, making them super easy to add string, ribbon or Scrapper's Floss and use them as extra accents on your pages.
They're available to match American Crafts paper Collections to be sure to take a peek!
These cute little accents are sure to help you add those finishing touches to your pages and are available in a selection of colourways and styles to suit your theme.
Each tag embellishment features a patterned paper or title element with metal trim and eyelet-sized holes, making them super easy to add string, ribbon or Scrapper's Floss and use them as extra accents on your pages.
They're available to match American Crafts paper Collections to be sure to take a peek!
Wednesday, 20 October 2010
Readers' Gallery call
Calling all Scrappers!
I'm looking for the following themes for upcoming readers' gallery pages, so drop me a line with a pic at lindsey.hopkins@practicalpublishing.co.uk if you have layouts which would suit the following:
>Winter
>Newborns
>Pets
Cheers!
Linds
I'm looking for the following themes for upcoming readers' gallery pages, so drop me a line with a pic at lindsey.hopkins@practicalpublishing.co.uk if you have layouts which would suit the following:
>Winter
>Newborns
>Pets
Cheers!
Linds
Mellow
If you've got masses of Autumn pics to scrap (not that it seemed to be very long between the last warm day and the first morning I had to de-ice my car!), then consider the BasicGrey Mellow Collection.
With a great Autumnal colour scheme, fab 12x12" paper designs and fun little characters and icons on the die-cut sheet, you'll get great pages from this pack.
As well as the usual high standard of distressed-style patterned and plain papers and die-cuts, you can also get coordinating black and white rub-ons, buttons, buff chipboard shapes and monograms ideal for titles.
Check out Charmed Cards & Crafts to get yours.
With a great Autumnal colour scheme, fab 12x12" paper designs and fun little characters and icons on the die-cut sheet, you'll get great pages from this pack.
As well as the usual high standard of distressed-style patterned and plain papers and die-cuts, you can also get coordinating black and white rub-ons, buttons, buff chipboard shapes and monograms ideal for titles.
Check out Charmed Cards & Crafts to get yours.
ScrapRat
This fabulous little company got in touch with me last week and I love the product they're offering.
With a focus on a vintage style, ScrapRat have a fab range of products available for really unique creations. They recently opened a new online craft store specialising in vintage and vintage inspired crafting products so be sure to take a look. Everything they sell is either handmade by ScrapRat or a genuine vintage find. There are also a selection of page kits and other goodies available.
With a focus on a vintage style, ScrapRat have a fab range of products available for really unique creations. They recently opened a new online craft store specialising in vintage and vintage inspired crafting products so be sure to take a look. Everything they sell is either handmade by ScrapRat or a genuine vintage find. There are also a selection of page kits and other goodies available.
Still Joyful Hearts
We love NitWit Collections here in the office and it's no wonder really considering how adorable designer Mary Fran's artwork is.
Being a huge fan of quilting and patwork styles, the majority of NitWit ranges are available in FQB (Fat Quarter Bundle) download sets and paper and embellishments have a distinct fabric look to them.
The new Still Joyful Hearts Collection (drool now)...
...is no exception, with a lovely homespun printed texture look and a whopping amount of coordinating and embellishments to make your winter scrapping a doddle. This kit was specially altered for us here at Practical Publishing from the original Joyful Hearts Collection so that the lovely Diane could have a contemporary colour scheme paper pack with her Simply Cards & Papercraft magazine.
Incidentaly, we have a NitWit Winter Wishes paper pack with issue 51 of Scrapbook Magazine (on sale 2nd December), so be sure to get your copy so you can experience these lovely designs for yourself!
Cheers
Linds
P.S. Issue 50 goes on sale tomorrow!!
Being a huge fan of quilting and patwork styles, the majority of NitWit ranges are available in FQB (Fat Quarter Bundle) download sets and paper and embellishments have a distinct fabric look to them.
The new Still Joyful Hearts Collection (drool now)...
...is no exception, with a lovely homespun printed texture look and a whopping amount of coordinating and embellishments to make your winter scrapping a doddle. This kit was specially altered for us here at Practical Publishing from the original Joyful Hearts Collection so that the lovely Diane could have a contemporary colour scheme paper pack with her Simply Cards & Papercraft magazine.
Incidentaly, we have a NitWit Winter Wishes paper pack with issue 51 of Scrapbook Magazine (on sale 2nd December), so be sure to get your copy so you can experience these lovely designs for yourself!
Cheers
Linds
P.S. Issue 50 goes on sale tomorrow!!
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
Retro Chic
What a scrummy new vintage style collection Cosmo Cricket have just released!
The new Circa 1934 Collection was just released this week and features all kinds of lovely products for vintage and retro style scrapping, as well as those all important accents to suit any theme.
As well as this fantastic crafting kit including papers, cut-apart elements, borders and stickers, you'll find the fab little 6x6" Mini Deck as well as all the other products available for purchase seperately!
Check out their blog for sneak peaks and project ideas!
The new Circa 1934 Collection was just released this week and features all kinds of lovely products for vintage and retro style scrapping, as well as those all important accents to suit any theme.
As well as this fantastic crafting kit including papers, cut-apart elements, borders and stickers, you'll find the fab little 6x6" Mini Deck as well as all the other products available for purchase seperately!
Check out their blog for sneak peaks and project ideas!
First glance
Woopee! The first copies of Scrapbook Magazine issue 50 have arrived in the office and wowzers does it look different!
We've just had the initial bindary copies through from the printers so far, so just a handful of the mags and paper packs individually, but I'm really pleased with how it looks now I've seen it together in magazine form. It looks like we've used about a gallon of bleach to clean up the busy pages, and the layouts and projects look fantastic. Much better!
Actual finished copies are due in later this week, so the designers will soon get their hands on the new and improved mag as well!
On sale 21st October, so keep your eyes peeled!
Cheers
Linds
We've just had the initial bindary copies through from the printers so far, so just a handful of the mags and paper packs individually, but I'm really pleased with how it looks now I've seen it together in magazine form. It looks like we've used about a gallon of bleach to clean up the busy pages, and the layouts and projects look fantastic. Much better!
Actual finished copies are due in later this week, so the designers will soon get their hands on the new and improved mag as well!
On sale 21st October, so keep your eyes peeled!
Cheers
Linds
Saturday, 9 October 2010
Weekend plans
Ok, I have a problem. This is something I've been coming to terms with for the past few weeks and I'm finally ready to accept it........I'm a Matalan addict!
We had a new one open up here a couple of months ago and I can't seem to stop myself going in! I've been up there every weekend for the past month and I just can't help myself! There always seems to be a bargain that just so happens to be exactly what I'm looking for, and it seems as though I'll be going up there again at lunchtime hehe.
Prepare yourself Matalan! There's a Hopkins coming!
Other than what has apparently become my weekend norm, I'll also be partaking in my usual crafty bits and bobs this weekend. I've an article to do for Papercraft Essentials, a Four Ways layout and a couple of designer gallery pages to do for Scrapbook Magazine, so will be working on these around housework and my Matalan visit!
Hopefully I'll get a chance to head out with my sister and her dogs at some point. This is the fabulous Peiper. The ball in his mouth seems to turn off his brain!
We had a new one open up here a couple of months ago and I can't seem to stop myself going in! I've been up there every weekend for the past month and I just can't help myself! There always seems to be a bargain that just so happens to be exactly what I'm looking for, and it seems as though I'll be going up there again at lunchtime hehe.
Prepare yourself Matalan! There's a Hopkins coming!
Other than what has apparently become my weekend norm, I'll also be partaking in my usual crafty bits and bobs this weekend. I've an article to do for Papercraft Essentials, a Four Ways layout and a couple of designer gallery pages to do for Scrapbook Magazine, so will be working on these around housework and my Matalan visit!
Hopefully I'll get a chance to head out with my sister and her dogs at some point. This is the fabulous Peiper. The ball in his mouth seems to turn off his brain!
Friday, 8 October 2010
One down!
Well, issue 50 went to press on Wednesday so I'm waiting with bated breath to see the actualy finished copies of my first issue as editor!
We should get our delivery to the office around the middle of October, so here's hoping it looks as good as it did on single pages! Let me know what you think of the new look Scrapbook Magazine by emailing me at lindsey.hopkins@practicalpublishing.co.uk.
Issue 51 has been commissioned and the very good girls on the design team have already started getting their layouts to me. Again, it's looking lush so far!
I've planned out issues 52 and 53, so am going to jump on the commissioning of issue 52 this afternoon, which now also includes sending a lovely selection of new goodies out the the designers to use in their articles. Lucky scrappers!!
Here's a sneak peek for the issue 51 Four Ways kit, supplied by the fabulous Bellaboo. This stunning kit includes some beautiful new My Mind's Eye releases, so be sure to get your copy 2nd December to see what the DT did with it.
P.S. Ignore the terrible photo taken with my phone!
We should get our delivery to the office around the middle of October, so here's hoping it looks as good as it did on single pages! Let me know what you think of the new look Scrapbook Magazine by emailing me at lindsey.hopkins@practicalpublishing.co.uk.
Issue 51 has been commissioned and the very good girls on the design team have already started getting their layouts to me. Again, it's looking lush so far!
I've planned out issues 52 and 53, so am going to jump on the commissioning of issue 52 this afternoon, which now also includes sending a lovely selection of new goodies out the the designers to use in their articles. Lucky scrappers!!
Here's a sneak peek for the issue 51 Four Ways kit, supplied by the fabulous Bellaboo. This stunning kit includes some beautiful new My Mind's Eye releases, so be sure to get your copy 2nd December to see what the DT did with it.
P.S. Ignore the terrible photo taken with my phone!
Marvellous Momentos
All I can say is NOM NOM NOM!!
American Crafts have just announced the release of these lovely self-adhesive Mementos embellishments as part of their new Dear Lizzy Collection so get your scrapping spends at the ready!
These gorgeous accents are charming and fab for ephemera and vintage accents with a modern twist.
There's a fab selection of these engraved metal accents available, and various packs feature really nice resin elements with fab colourways and images/wording for adding designer flair.
Keep your eyes on Sarah's Cards.
Gallery glory
Does anyone else love the fact that BasicGrey are bringing back some of their retired collections in the form of digi kits?
I think it's fab that we can get our hands on some of the older ranges again, as there were some real stunners! It's well worth taking a peek at the website as there are always new goodies to be had, including the new and improved gallery feature.
Jen Williamson from BasicGrey says, "You’ll love the new format, which includes a 'tagging' feature that allows users to highlight pages for theme, color, style, techniques, etc. Gallery guests can leave comments for designers and friends who have items posted in the gallery and easily share favorite posts on Facebook".
They're even adding a sweetener to the deal with an Upload Drive Giveaway until the 15th where one project will be picked every day and the creator given a free BasicGrey Collection pack or $20 voucher to use on their digi downloads.
Go go sign up!
Have a good one!
Linds
Friday, 17 September 2010
Snatching seconds!
Gah! I've been trying to get on and sort another hello for the past few weeks. Can't believe it's been nearly a month since I got round to doing it last!
Things have been busy, busy here as I've been finalising my first issue of Scrapbook Magazine. I'm loving how it's looking so far! I hope you enjoy the tweaks I've made and the articles I've chosen to include. Two more weeks until the magazine prints and then on sale 21st October. Get yourself a copy and let me know what you think by emailing me at lindsey.hopkins@practicalpublishing.co.uk.
Following CHA I've had loads of lovelies flooding into the office, so will be getting these sent out the the designers for issue 51 (on sale 2nd December) to use on their pages. Maybe I'll be lucky and there'll be a few left over for me to have a play with as well! I'm particularly coveting some fab Washi tapes from Papermash and amazing Nikki Sivils products, so here's crossing my fingers!
Time to get commissioning issue 51!
Here's hoping you all have great weekends!
Cheers
Linds
Monday, 23 August 2010
Busy, busy!
Boy, have I been a busy bee since my last post!
I've been crafting like crazy with commissions for the mags, as well as trying to crowbar in some of my own scrapbooking! Keep your eyes peeled for articles I've done in Simply Cards & Papercraft issue 77, Papercraft Essentials issue 60 and 61, as well as the usual Four Ways challenges and Designer Gallery layouts in the coming issues of Scrapbook Magazine.
I've been hard at work sorting the layouts and written bits and bobs I've had from the talented Scrapbook Magazine Design Team ready for issue 50, and there are some real treats in store with a whole host of fab inspiration and design work to get you scrapping.
Here's a taster for you! Check out the new Inspired by... series where a selection of designers make pages inspired by elements in the world around them; we explore the Shabby Chic style for a broad choice of colour and a classy vintage style; there's also the usual and brilliant Activity Pack with more layouts for Scraplifts and even more Sketches than ever before. You're in for a treat! I'm loving just looking at the stuff! Can you tell I'm excited? XD
Speak soon.
Cheers
Linds
I've been crafting like crazy with commissions for the mags, as well as trying to crowbar in some of my own scrapbooking! Keep your eyes peeled for articles I've done in Simply Cards & Papercraft issue 77, Papercraft Essentials issue 60 and 61, as well as the usual Four Ways challenges and Designer Gallery layouts in the coming issues of Scrapbook Magazine.
I've been hard at work sorting the layouts and written bits and bobs I've had from the talented Scrapbook Magazine Design Team ready for issue 50, and there are some real treats in store with a whole host of fab inspiration and design work to get you scrapping.
Here's a taster for you! Check out the new Inspired by... series where a selection of designers make pages inspired by elements in the world around them; we explore the Shabby Chic style for a broad choice of colour and a classy vintage style; there's also the usual and brilliant Activity Pack with more layouts for Scraplifts and even more Sketches than ever before. You're in for a treat! I'm loving just looking at the stuff! Can you tell I'm excited? XD
Speak soon.
Cheers
Linds
Friday, 13 August 2010
A big hello!
Hi one and all!
Finally I got round to starting a blog. It's not like I've been 'getting round to it' for the past 2 years or anything!
Well here it is. A place where I'll be posting musings, thoughts and project images I'm working on, as well as sneak peeks of what's coming up in Scrapbook Magazine as I once again start seeing my face on the Editor's page! Woopee!!
Here's hoping you enjoy what you see here and that you're as excited as me about the upcoming changes to Scrapbook Magazine.
Here's a little something to get you started (and also a good way for me to figure out how I upload photos on this thing!). This is a layout I did for the issue 44 Four Ways challenge using some spiffing products including manufacturers such as Crate Paper and Doodlebug.
Cheers all
Linds xx
Finally I got round to starting a blog. It's not like I've been 'getting round to it' for the past 2 years or anything!
Well here it is. A place where I'll be posting musings, thoughts and project images I'm working on, as well as sneak peeks of what's coming up in Scrapbook Magazine as I once again start seeing my face on the Editor's page! Woopee!!
Here's hoping you enjoy what you see here and that you're as excited as me about the upcoming changes to Scrapbook Magazine.
Here's a little something to get you started (and also a good way for me to figure out how I upload photos on this thing!). This is a layout I did for the issue 44 Four Ways challenge using some spiffing products including manufacturers such as Crate Paper and Doodlebug.
Cheers all
Linds xx
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