HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Where oh where did 2009 go!!

This is the year I devote at least ten minutes a day to my blog site!! - snow permitting!

This is also the year that I organise my life. I still believe that to be truely creative you can not be tidy but I will at least endeavour to be organised in my untidyness!!

As I type there is 8 inches - sorry 20 centimetres - of snow on the ground.

Having spent christmas and new year against a very white backdrop in Scotland we thought that the south would be green and damp. How wrong was I!!

Ollie is in his element! just like a small child he wants to spend every minute outside - which is all well and good but those of you who have a spaniel will know just how much snow can gather in those long dangling ears!!

Lots of great things planned for 2010. Those of you who have seen the latest newsletter will have seen the dates for our popular Make and Take Demo days. They proved very popular at our studio in Langley but were always very busy and restricted the way in which we demoed and organised make and takes.

Moving them to Allington will give us lots more room and enable lots of new products to be on show and for sale.

I am very aware that lots of you used to come to The Studio for inspiration so there will still be lots of new designs on show for your viewing. The Gallery will be added to regularly and I will be displaying lots of different papercraft designs in with my blog postings.

I have already beeing buying for the new year. Lots of great products to play with including Prima flowers and patterned papers. Jim still finds it difficult to understand why The Studio needs sooooo many patterned papers. You would think that after so many years he would learn - patterened papers are like golf balls - you just cant have too many of them!!

I am heavily into mini books at the moment. The Binderie has been in constant use since we introduced it. Teamed with Teresa Collins journal kits and Prima accesories I have come up with the two designs below.

Black and pink has been very popular with designers. Great easy on the eye patterns combined with strong accents can produce stunning results. My top tip would be to keep to the same depth of colouring. Try not to introduce too many shades of a colour.

For the base of the book I have used 7gypsies 8"book boards in black. I have covered these in Bazzill pink and black and decorated using the 7gypsies moulin 97% complete journal kit - this really is a bumper pack including 8"x8" pages, tabs, envelopes and journalling blox. I have finished with large Bazziill paper flowers and a selection of Bazill and Creative Expressions ribbons. The tuille really adds dimension to the centre of the flowers. The main feature on the front is a large envelope from the journal kit and I have used a magnet closure hidden under the printed Prima flower.

Teresa Collins produces many great journal kits and the one I used here fitted the biill perfectly for books to give as gifts to Katies friends. Great fashionable colours finished off with a Tim Holtz frame and Bazzill paper flowers!

Once again I wish all our customers and friends a very happy and crafty 2010!!