Winner Winner

Thanks everyone for your kind comments and interest in our little blog hop.
I've just spend the last little while adding up all the entries from both here and on Instagram and then counting through them all again once random.org spits out his magic numbers.

So the winners are....
agnus.k for the Aussie Prize, and aj_scrap for the Everywhere Else Prize.
By chance both of these ladies came from my Instagram entries and are being contacted over there. But I didn't want you guys left wondering if I ever picked a winner ;-)

And a great big thank you once again to our generous sponsor Spotlight!!

Tutorial: Christmas Ribbon Stamping (and a winner announcement)

I don't know about you, but sometimes it feels like I accumulate stash at an exponential rate. I definitely buy more stuff than I use, and yet two things remain true....
1. The lure of buying more stash never gets less. I have never once used the excuse of 'but I have so many things I don't need any more' to stop me buying something,
and
2. It's way too hard to throw stuff out. Give stuff away and give it to the kids I can do, but there's still sooooo many things that are in the "that's too pretty, I'm sure I'm going to use it someday" pile.

One such "too pretty to throw away" product that I've been hoarding for years is this seam-binding ribbon. I have no idea where I got it from or what my initial plans were, but for at least the last couple of years this little collection has been sitting inside that jar and biding it's time. Well today is the day I'm going to use it all up!

Pulling out some new products to pair it with is a great trick to reinvent some old stash, so I'm going to use my new Kellie Stamps Joy Clear Stamp Set to motivate myself!

My idea here is really simple - all I want to do is stamp a design along the length of the ribbon to jazz it up a level. But seam binding ribbon is by it's nature wrinkled and crumpled, that's part of its appeal... but not very conducive to straight stamping. So I moistened the ribbon with a few spritz of water and then ran the iron over it to flatten it out. I think it's quite pretty like this as well because now you can more clearly see all the gradations of colour in it.

I chose a couple of sentiments from the Joy Stamp Set which fit nicely within the width of the ribbon and used my StazOn Ink to stamp with. Choosing a waterproof ink is really important because if you want to crumple the ribbon again at the end you'll need to dampen it and scrunch it up in your hand... and I can just imagine what mess that might make otherwise!

So I just started at one end of the ribbon and stamped each sentiment until I reached the other end! Nothing hard about that! But it's got a completely different look now doesn't it? Gone is the shabby-chic appeal of the scrunchy seam binding, and welcome instead the clean and graphic appearance of typography ribbon!

This will do nicely for some present wrapping :-)

I also tried out the re-scrunched version on this quick layered tag I whipped up.
Obviously this is a really quick and simple technique to try out, but I just think it adds a new level of design detail to some otherwise pretty (but plain) ribbon.
Plus I'm quite chuffed that I'm going to be using up all that old stash this season ;-)

On a completely different topic, it's about time I announced this...

My winner (chosen by random.org) is
Joanne
SC username: jazzyjay

Yay Joanne! I've already forwarded your details onto the powers-that-be at Studio Calico, so I've got no doubt they'll be shipping out your Underground Scrapbook Kit real soon.
Thankyou to everyone that joined in on the fun of the Blog Hop, it certainly was inspiring wasn't it?

Happy Scrapping,
xx

And the winner is....

Just popping in real quick to share the winner of the Flashy Cards Fast giveaway.
We've combined the entries from both my blog, and the Papercut Labs blog and then let random.org choose the lucky winner.

Congratulations to .......
Beejay!!

Can you email me your postal address so I can get your card kit in the mail as soon as possible?

And because I couldn't leave you without offering one more sneak peek of what you can expect in the class, here's a Flashy Card I made real fast for the week of Congratulations - because that seems quite fitting right now!

Did I mention that's how the class is going to run? Each week will be focused on a specific 'occasion' so there will be a week of Birthdays, a week of Thanks, a week of Sorry, a week of Baby and a week of Congratulations. In each week there will be 5 different cards with lots of different ideas and techniques, so you'll find plenty of inspiration to build up your stash for when the occasion arises.

Registration is still open. You can find out all the details right here. 

The Story of the Forks... and a winner!!

Thanks everyone for your interest in my latest giveaway - a seat in the upcoming BPC "Grammar-Free Journaling" Class. I've combined all the entries from my blog and my facebook and then let random.org choose a winner.

A great big congratulations goes to.....
RUTH BONSER!!
Yay! Please get in contact with me via email and I'll hook you up with a code to get free access to the class :-)

For everyone else, don't forget that if you sign up for the class and use the code:
GOGRAMMAR
You'll get $7 off the full price. But hurry, because the offer ends on the first day of class which is the 24th of July. I can't wait! 

And just because a post feels empty without some kind of photo or project I thought I'd very randomly share this wooden cutlery set I altered back when I was a Guest Designer for American Crafts. 

A very simple project, mainly consisting of dipping cutlery in paint and then covering them with glitter! But really... messy painty glittery projects are quite possibly the best kind ;-)

My girls quickly claimed these after I was finished photographing them, and have been using them for afternoon tea parties ever since. I have to admit, I love it when my kids enjoy what I make.

Big Picture Classes Winners

This afternoon was all about picking winners from my Big Picture Classes Giveaway. My girls had been begging me to choose my winners the 'fun way' rather than with random.org which is my easiest go-to method. Once upon a time (if you look through all my old archives searching the word 'winner') my winners were chosen in much more interesting fashion ;-)

We compromised, and I put everyone's name in a bowl (twice if they had earned it!) and let the girls each choose a winner. It just so happened that they did it perfectly, and each chose a winner who had elected different classes.... so that worked well. Rather happy with that!

Bethany's winner is....... ELOQUENCE, who asked for the "Here & There Inspiration Class"!! YAY!

Whilst Moriah's winner is..... SOFSTERFRENCHY, who asked for the "Phone Photography Project 2 Class"!!

Can each of the winners contact me via email (natalie@onescrappydoctor.com) and I'll hook you up with the class code.

Thanks everyone for your encouraging words about my upcoming Grammar-Free Journaling Class. I'm so excited for this to begin! The start date is July 24th which still gives you plenty of time to register. Before I go, I'll leave you with one more sneak peek of a page I'm contributing....

It turns out the class prompts were just what I needed to finally get around to scrapping my 'One Little Word' for this year. We're only 7 months in.... that's not bad in my books ;-)

The Story of the Dream Catcher card (and a winner!)

Hope you've been enjoying all the fun during the Frosty Festivities? It was awesome to be a part of the blog hop, thank you Jennifer! Don't forget that even though the giveaways might have ended you've still got time to enter the challenges. And of course I've got the winner of my October Afternoon goodies to announce. But you're going to have to wait until the end for that ;-)

Remember the set of Dream Catcher Tags I made and shared here? Notice any similarities? Well this was actually the card that inspired it all. I made this first, but not being happy with how the ribbons had to be cut short (or else the card wouldn't stand up) I had to come up with another solution. And that's why the tags were created instead!

I went with a very neutral colour scheme here. I seem to be doing that a lot lately! But added lots of texture via that gorgeous Manor House Creations flower, the buttons, lace and Prima butterflies. This card found a new owner on the weekend when I went to a very exciting birthday party. You might have seen the photos on my Instagram or Facebook with us dressed up as Superheroes (click on the links to see them)? That's because the theme was 'capes'! How fun right?!

Another person who should be excited is my winner!!
Congratulations go to.....
phaerygurl!!!!

Please email me your postal address and I'll get your prize sent to you ASAP!

The Story of My Confessions....

.... and the winner of the Evalicious giveaway will be posted below too!

Working as a doctor I get to do my fair share of night-shift stints. In fact, in some of my rotations I spend as much as 1/3 of my time rostered onto it. It's quite a different world, and it takes some getting used to. Anyone who does it will tell you their own little tricks for coping. My main staples include lots of coffee, plenty of carbohydrates and some fast-paced comedy entertainment (love 30 Rock!!)

Whilst that sounds like a bit of fun actually, there's also a down-side. It's socially isolating, patients (and even other staff) are more aggressive, I question myself constantly and worry more, I'm perpetually tired and often fall sick. However, I also tend to build better relationships with the other staff when we get the time to sit around and chat because we're much more honest with each other! And it's quite satisfying when everything goes well and you know you've played a vital role in that.

In making this layout I started off with a sheet of Flea Market Jenna paper. You know how I always like to have a border of contrasting colour around my layout? Well this paper already has one built-in! Then I chose some of the chalkboard elements from the Chipboard Stickers and Heirloom paper because I liked the idea of the black representing the 'dark side' of what I was journaling about, and it contrasts nicely against the other pastel colours.

On the other hand, I used the Vellum Gold Doily behind my photo to represent the sun coming up. After all, when you're on night duty that's what you're hanging out for. Seeing the sun rise is the promise that you're soon about to knock off and be able to crawl into your own bed! It's a mini victory every single morning!

I had a lot of comments on this layout that I shared when posting about the Evalicious Giveaway. Specifically, a lot of you were asking about the paper I used, or whether or not I had added the paint splashes/stiches/rubons in the background. The answer is no! All the white that you see is just part of the paper... fabulous isn't it? Makes it look like I had done a whole lot of work when I really hadn't!! It's by a (?French) company called ICC and whilst I can no longer find the exact one I've used here I can see only this one from the same collection that you can buy in Australia.  

Now onto the winner!! Sorry to keep you waiting!

So by random draw the winner is......
LEANNE!
Leanne, send me an email with your postal address and I'll get your prize off to you ASAP :-)

Have a good long-weekend Melbournians!

The Story of Gold Doilies (and the WINNERS!!!)

My giveaway ended last night so it's time for me to pick some winners. But I can't let a post go by without sharing a little project, and since it's been all about the fabulous new JBS products, and given we're in birthday mode at my house today I've got a Birthday Card to show you.

This was up on the JBS blog earlier and features my favourite new release - those awesome gold doily rubons. Jenni has the best rubons for sure. They are so easy to apply, you can even just rub them on with your fingernail and they'll come out smooth and complete every time.

For my card I applied the gold doilies to vellum so I could cut them out and pop them up for some extra dimension. Then I layered on a button, a sequin and a red pearl for the total blingy experience to suit the celebratory mood of the card.

Speaking of celebrations, here's 2 ladies that should be getting a little excited right about now....

The winner of Giveaway #1 (the August JBS Papercrafting Kit) is.... Kaitlynne Roile
and the winner of Giveaway #2 (the exclusive new JBS products) is..... Kiranmayee Karumuri.
Can the 2 lucky winners email me your mailing addresses and I'll get your prize out to you ASAP. 

The Story of My Instagram (and the Winners)

Have you caught the Instagram bug yet? I started Instagramming 2 years ago or so, and now have over 1000 photos posted. I post on most days, sometimes even twice. I try to leave it at that as I don't like the idea of 'spamming' everyone's feed.

The majority of my photos are craft related, whilst some are family related too. If you're a follower of mine (my user name is: natalieelph) then here's some of the things you're going to see over there. There's projects that I'm not otherwise planning on sharing on my blog such as the tag at the top and this birthday card.

There's snippets of my craft room and how I organise my supplies. I share products I've purchased with little reviews on their performance. Here I've shared the book I keep with my stash of Evalicious stamps so I know which ones I own.

There's cards I've made for other people, and colourful displays of projects I've made en masse.

There's previews of off-the-page projects getting planned well in advance of Christmas, and sneak-peaks of pages that are destined for publication so can't be shared in full.

It's possible you even saw my latest giveaway promoted there and that's how you came to enter it?

I'd love it if you followed me over there, and be sure to leave some love so I can return the favour. But now, you've been waiting to hear the winner of said giveaway....

Congratulations to Nicole McNamara and Mary Bennetts. Your names were chosen by Random.Org to win the vintage prize and glitter prize respectively. I've already shot you an email, so let me know your postal address ASAP so I can get your goodies out to you.

Sharing the Love (FWAB winner announced)

A bit of a random posting today with a few items on my list of "things to share"....

Firstly, can you believe Mother's Day is around the corner already? I mean, I only recently just took down the Christmas tree (yes, yes.... in March... ahemm) I contemplated leaving it up until next December. Might have saved a bit of effort.

Someone who scored a few more organisational genes in our family was my sister. Since she started maternity leave she's opened up a Facebook store called Jasper Lane Designs, and in a couple of months she's already got more than 3500 'likers'. She sells the most gorgeous vintage-inspired kids clothing and jewellery. My girls have done some modelling for her recently and I was tempted to buy half the stuff myself!

What does this have to do with Mother's Day and the cards I'm showing you? Well...... this weekend she's hosting a "To Mum, With Love Showcase" where she's gathered a bunch of talented artists from around Australia to showcase some of their wares for sale. All of the products are handmade and would make great Mother's Day gifts. Because she's my sister and she asked me every so nicely (and because I love crafting so very much) I'm selling sets of these personalised cards as my contribution.

This is what is looks like up on the Showcase. I would love it if you checked them out. But it's not just me of course. There's 70 or so other sellers with everything from jewellery to aprons to wall art to maternity products.... the list goes on.

Alright... now the next thing that I couldn't help but scream from the rooftops was finding out that one of my recent layouts became a 'featured project' at Two Peas in a Bucket!! Super stoked!

Not only that but it's also hit the "Top 3 Projects by Views" which is just unbelievable to me. Here I am nestled in between projects by scrapping celebrities Waleska Neris and Celine Navarro, so forgive me for jumping up and down over here please?!

And lastly, it's time for me to announce the winner of the Flourish With a Bling Blog Hop. Congratulations Gillian - you've won the RAK from my blog! Shoot me an email with your address details and I'll have your prize in the mail as soon as I can.

xx