Brisbane Paper Crafts Festival 2009

I’m excited to announce that Assential Scrapbooking will have a booth at the Brisbane Paper Crafts Festival.

The Festival is one of Australia’s largest exhibitions dedicated solely to scrap booking, stamping and all paper craft interests.  It has been running for the past nine years and is on this coming weekend - 13th, 14th and 15th March 2009 from 10:00am to 4:00pm at the RNA Showgrounds, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane.  The cost to attend is $10.00 for Adults, $8.00 with Concession and children under 16 attend for free.

The Paper Crafts Festival aims to motivate, inspire and educate all who have a passion or potential interest in paper craft activities.  Demonstrations and workshops will run daily. Demonstrations can be watched at no cost however you will need to make advanced booking for workshops and there is a fee for attending them.  To book into a workshop call 02 9674 4488.

I know that Mill Lane Studio will be conducting a couple of workshops - From Trash to Treasure and Bubbled Tyvek - Flower Power.  Free children’s demonstrations and activities will also run daily.

While reading Under The Loupe, I discovered Annette regularly attends shows and expos.  Her table display has inspired me to be a little more creative with my stall.

Assential Scrapbooking will be at Stall 10 on the floor plan and will be selling cardstock, papers, scrapbooking packs, paper packs, embellishments, flowers, ribbon and some off-the-page products.

Please come by and introduce yourself.  It will be lovely to meet you.

Happy Scrapbooking!

Let’s Create for SANDS February 2009

Let’s Create 2009, an all day scrapbooking and card making event was held on Saturday, 28th February.  The aim was to raise money for the  SANDS (Stillborn and Neonatal Death Support) charity and we successfully raised $530.00.

Thank you to everyone that participated.

A great day was had by all with 30 participants, 60 lucky door prizes given away and 6 major door prizes distributed through out the day.

We had many requests to organise another one later in the year.  If you would like to be notified about upcoming events, please send me an email at jenny@assentialscrapbooking.com and provide me with your name and email address.

Happy Scrapbooking!

Venturing into the Online World

Back in December I said I was going to start venturing out into the online world.  I thought I would share my journey with you because it’s all a learning opportunity and you may be able to share your experiences with me.

My first stop on this adventure is to look at what shopping directories are available that cater towards the Australian market.  When I did a google search, I discovered there were many, actually too many to explore all at once.

Here are some that I am exploring further:-

• Hooked On Shopping I found while reading The Tall Poppy blog and now have a listing under the Craft section.
• Aussie Shopping List and I have listed here as well.
• Shop Safe is an interesting concept.
• The Bub Hub was a directory I found but definitely wouldn’t have thought to promote my business.

Can you recommend a shopping directory that has worked for you?  If so, I would love to hear your feedback.

Happy Scrapbooking!

Invisibles by Heidi Swapp

I mentioned in a previous post that I attended Create 2008 with Heidi Swapp and had such a blast.  Today, I’m really excited about her latest range called “Invisibles”.  They are white-on-white paper that has patterns on them so when you ink effects and colours, you end up with a great background or image. It can be a little difficult to explain so instead check out these two video’s where she demonstrates her Invisibles.

I look forward to experimenting with the effects, paper and inks.

Happy Scrapbooking!

Appreciating Life

After such a devastating week with floods in Queensland and bush fires in Victoria, I sat back on the weekend and counted my blessings.

My children may test me, challenge me and some days question my every decision but they are still here with me, unlike many people who lost their children, family and friends in the bush fires.  I cannot imagine what the survivors of the bush fires and floods are feeling.  I cannot imagine being able to move forward amongst such destruction.  I cannot imagine the challenges that these people face to rebuild their lives.

Reflecting on this week has made me appreciate my life even more.  I am empowered by the wonderful support people have offered me during some recent personal challenges.  I can only imagine how the victims of the floods and bush fires are feeling with a whole nation supporting them.

If you would like to help you can do so by donating money, clothes, food, your time or your blood.  While searching the Internet for ways of helping I came across the article, Victorian Bushfires - How You Can Help and if you would like to help the flood victims, please contact your local Red Cross or Salvation Army.

Stay safe and take the time to count your blessings!

Business Vision Board

At the beginning of the year I mentioned that Nicole, my business coach had me ‘visioning’ my future, now she has me scrapbooking what my business will look and feel like in the future.  She calls this my ‘Business Vision Board’ and has asked me to put my words into images.  Instead of using photos, Nicole suggests using a combination of photos, images from magazine and inspring words that can be created using stamps, printed or cut out from a magazine.

The aim of the vision board is to help me not only envision my future, but feel it as well.  I’ll definitely share it with you once I’m finished.

Once I’ve created my vision board, the next step is to create a ‘Vision Statement’ similiar to what Korina at Joliv has about her business.  In her blog post Who is Joliv? she is clear and concise about her service, products and business commitment.  This is my aim… to have a vision statement on my website that describes the uniqueness my business so that everyone feels part of the Assential Scrapbooking family.

Happy Scrapbooking!

Scrapbooking Terms - E and F

As mentioned in my previous post, over the next couple of months I will be sharing with you common scrapbooking terms. Today I’m sharing with you “E” and “F”.

E

Embellishment - Any scrapbooking extra (stickers, die-cuts, punches, etc.) that enhance the pages.

Emboss - To create a raised surface by applying heat or pressure.

Encapsulation - A method of displaying three-dimensional memorabilia and protecting nearby items from acid contained in the memorabilia. Items are encased in stable plastics.

F

Film Speed - Refers to film’s sensitivity to light. Lower-speed films are less sensitive (use these on a bright, sunny day). Higher-speed films are more sensitive (use these in low-light situations).

Fine and Chisel Pens - This pen has a fine tip (0.5 mm) and a chisel tip (6.0 mm). The fine tip is good for lettering and it’s extremely versatile.

Focal Point - The element of a design where lines converge. The eye is naturally drawn to the focal point in an image.

Can you add to this list? If so, leave a comment and I will add it to the list. Stay tuned for more terms in the coming weeks.

Happy Scrapbooking!

Valentine’s Day Challenge

I have a scrapbooking challenge for all my scrapbooking readers.

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I thought it would be appropriate to create a layout that represents L-O-V-E.  It doesn’t have to represent the romantic kind of love, it can be any type of love - love for a parent, a child, a pet or a friend.When you’ve completed your layout, email me with a photo and I’ll profile it on my blog.  I look forward to seeing your layout.

Happy Scrapbooking!

Technique: Embossing

Embossing is a great way to add depth to your scrapbooking page, card or off the page project. Depending on the materials used, you can make a page look funky or elegant.

This technique of “embossing” allows you to create raised images on paper and consists of pressing an area of paper marked out by a template.

Materials Needed:
- A sticky inkpad
- Embossing powders
- A heat tool (heat gun, toaster)
- embossing buddy/antistatic pillow
- folded piece of paper to act as a funnel

Instructions:
1. Wipe your antistatic pillow across your cardstock, this will stop the powder from sticking to areas you don’t want, such as your fingerprints.
2. Ink up your stamp in the sticky inkpad.
3. Lavishly sprinkle your embossing powder over the stamped image, make sure the entire image is covered.
4. Shake off excess powder into your folded paper, and funnel back into the container.
5. If you are working with a toaster, hold your image facing up (you don’t want powder in your toaster) and slowly move the paper around - be careful not to burn your paper. If you are using a heat gun, hold it about 15cm away from the paper and slowly move it over your image. Remember, just gently and slowly and as the powder melts then move on to the next part.

Note: If your images goes flat and dull, you have over heated it.  If it still looks ‘crunchy’ in areas, just heat for a bit longer.

Happy Scrapbooking!

Favourite Quotes

I often use quotes, sayings or poems in my scrapbooking pages as it adds a little something special to photos.  When I stumble upon a quote, I usually type it up in a Word document so that at a later date I can find it easily.  I’m going to start adding favourite quotes to the blog with the aim that one might just be perfect for you.

While reading Business Mums Magazine blog I stumbled upon this quote:

“Reach for the moon, even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars”

Have a great week!