Paper Pile Kitten's Blog

My Addictions

Hi, My name is Margareta and I'm addicted to Glossy Accents. Lately, I've been scrapping a lot more than I usually do. Although I try to vary my style and to use different techniques, just so I won't get bored, I have noticed certain inclinations of mine. There are products I cannot do without. 

1) Glossy Accents from Ranger

 

Ranger Ink - Glossy Accents - Clear Dimensional Embellishment - 2 ounces
Scrapbook.com

 

If there's something that need to be glued onto a layout or a card, I'm reaching for Glossy Accents. In fact, if there's something that need to be glued in our household (like that small bit of plastic that fell off the front of the dishwasher machine) I do not hesitate to rush to my scrap area and grab the Glossy Accents bottle. I know that Glossy Accents is not primarily an adhesive, and I do love the dimensional and glossy effect, but you can't ignore the fact that Glossy Accents is the best... well, adhesive! I'm thinking that I should get a bottle of Glossy Accents for my purse, in case of emergency when I'm away from home. Yes, this addiction is bad. :)

2) Foam letters

 

Pink Paislee - Expressions - Foam Stickers - Cushies - Alphabet - Lemon
Scrapbook.com

 

Oh dear. Have you ever seen a card or a layout of mine that didn't had foam letters on it? Not very often, no. Lately, my Big Shot has been glowing hot from manufacturing set after set of foam alphas from my four Tim Holtz alphas Sizzlits Decorative dies. And my local craft store owners are probably laughing all the way to the bank after pushing a good deal of their old foam sheet stock to that crazy lady in the city of Stockholm (that would be me). I mean, who is buying that stuff aside from me? No one!

My stash is constantly too low on those precious foam letter stickers from American Crafts and Pink Paislee and I desperately roam the online stores in my hunt for more more more. The thought of Pink Paislee's Expression foam stickers being discontinued is giving me bad dreams at night. But I can't stop! I love how those foam letters add a dimensional effect without being bulky. I adore the texture and the feel of the foam. I think I'd need an intervention before I'd stop using foam letters.

3) Tim Holtz Distress Inks

 

Ranger Ink - Tim Holtz - 2010 Collection Distress Ink Pads Kit
Scrapbook.com

 

Ink pads, reinkers, stains... any form of Tim Holtz distress ink is always within arms reach when I'm scrapbooking. I have a drawer stuffed with inks from other brands, but it's always the Distress ink that I'm reaching for. I use it to stamp, color and dye embellies and other elements on my layouts and cards. Those inks are so easy to work with, the result always turn out pretty, and I adore every single one of those 36 colors! 

So, now you know all my weaknesses. What's yours? :)

Out of Print Birthday Card

I made this birthday card for my sister. I love the Out of Print collection from Basic Grey! Everything you create with it looks so pretty! There's a tag inside the card for birthday greetings and sentiments. Thank you for looking!

Do I Really Need Another Scrapbooking Class?

With the Big Idea Festival just finished, and with Design School at Two Peas and the Mother LOAD at BPC going on, do I really need another scrapbooking class in September? Apparently so, because suddenly I found myself signed up for Boot Camp at Ella Publishing September 19-24. You see, they sent me this enticing e-mail revealing that Lisa Dickinson and Nichol Magouirk will be among the teachers. They rolled out their amazing program before my eyes:

• Mixing and combining patterns like a pro
• Adding an urban look to a photo
• Visual Journaling
• Beautiful black and white photos for a timeless look
• Heat embossing and resisting
• Connective Journaling
• Daily lunchtime inspiration videos
• Challenges and prizes
• and much more

Oh, I want to learn all of that! And they topped it off with a great price if you sign up before September 1. That was it. I caved. 

The great thing is that I will be using up so much of my stash during all these September classes, that there will be plenty of room for those gorgeous new collections. :)

 

Gone Scrapping!

Maybe you are wondering why it's been so quiet around here? I've been back from Iceland for a week and still no blog posts? The simple reason is: I'm scrapping! It's like Back To Scrapbooking School all over the internet right now. Big Picture Classes are having the yearly free Big Idea Festival and, in addition to that, I'm signed up for the Big Mother LOAD scrapbooking marathon! Two Peas In A Bucket are spoiling us with a free 3 week series of Design School. Soon, Ella Publishing will kick off the Boot Camp in mid-September. Whew! I'm having so much fun but it takes time to do this much scrapbooking. Not that I have to join every event or challenge, but I love to jump in where I can. The good thing about all these events is that I really get things done, and it is very satisfying to use my stash and see some results. I'll get back to you with peeks of the results soon.

And yes, that's my messy desk on the photo above. :)

 

October Afternoon Sneak Peek: Holiday Style

via octoberafternoon.typepad.com

What a fun surprise! There's going to be a new Christmas collection from October Afternoon! This is super exciting! This sneak peek looks promising! Read more on OA's blog.

 

Pink Paislee Warehouse Sale 2011

Just a quick note before I'll rush to my class: Pink Paislee are having a warehouse sale again this year. A box weigh 7 pounds (!) and is worth more than $250 (retail), filled with goodies from last year's (and CHA Winter!) Pink Paislee collections and a couple of papers from the new limited collection Phantom!

Although the international shipping fee is almost as high as the cost of the box itself, I couldn't pass on this opportunity because most of these collections are on my top list of scrapbooking lines, ever. Yup, I've put in my order for a Pink Paislee box. Can't wait to get those goodies! Read more about the warehouse sale and order your box here.

Webster's Pages Goodie Box 75% off today only!

via websterspages.typepad.com

It's that time of the year again. No, not exactly Christmas but the jolly time when I go to Iceland to learn about old manuscripts. So if you've been wondering why it's been so quiet on this blog lately - that's why.

But wait! It IS Christmas after all?? Today, I wanted to alert you all to a great offer. Webster's Pages have filled a big box with loads of their gorgeous products for only $25! It's worth $100 so it's a great deal! But it's only good for today, so hurry over to their blog and check out this offer before it expires. I would order it myself if only they would ship to Sweden, but they don't *sniff*. See you soon! :)

 

Creative Imaginations Sneak Peek: Old World by Marah Johnson

via creativeimaginations.typepad.com

I've always loved Marah Johnson's collections for Creative Imaginations and Old World is no exception. Gorgeous maps! Yes, I happen to have a thing going for old maps too. So it makes me very happy that there are old maps on several of the collections this CHA summer season. I'm going to stock up on those! :) More on the blog of Creative Imaginations.

 

Butterfly Birthday Card

Yesterday, I made a birthday card for my sister in law. I used some products that I won in a challenge at Two Peas in a Bucket this spring (rub-ons, alpha, buttons and stamps). I added some more things from my own stash and here's what the result looks like. 

I glimmer misted the die cut butterflies on the front with Key Lime Pie and some drops of Tattered Leather. The English Ivy color that I used on the back of those butterflies was gorgeous! Those back sides were almost prettier than the fronts. lol! I chose this paper from the Basic Grey Basics line because the pattern is similar to that of the rub-ons butterflies, and I think that the idea turned out quite well.

I really liked the Studio Calico rub-ons. I'm not a big rub-ons user and I would never have thought of these rub-ons unless I've won them in that challenge. Well, they were really good! Super sticky and beautiful. So now I'm hooked on Studio Calico rub-ons. 

The letters were quite big, which was good. I spelled "Congrats!" in Swedish over the inside spread of the card. And those button stickers were so pretty!

Here's a list of what I used for this Butterfly Birthday card:

Alpha: Pebbles ABC Ever After Stickers

Buttons: Pebbles Button Candy Dots

Studio Calico Rub-ons

American Crafts: Courtyard clear stamps

Distress ink pad: Walnut Stain

Tim Holtz Sizzix die: Butterflies Magnetic Movers & Shakers

Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists: Tattered Leather, English Ivy, Key Lime Pie

Paper scraps from Fancy Pants Happy Together, Basic Grey Out of Print 6x6 paper pad and from Basic Gray Basics line.

 

Creative Imaginations Sneak Peak: Barb Tourtillotte - Dear Santa

via creativeimaginations.typepad.com

Here's a sneak peek of a new traditional Christmas line from Creative Imagaginations. It's Barb Tourtillotte's Dear Santa. More on the blog of Creative Imaginations.

UPDATE in October: Now in stores! Buy it at Scrapbook.com!