Shop discount code plus giveaway winners announced!

Morning all.

After my morning walk [which you might think sounds like a really wholesome and healthy way to begin my day ... but that just proves you didn't see my pink perspiring face and messy hair when I stumbled in through the door just now!!] ... anyway ... after I'd got my breath back ...

... I read through all the comments on the washi-themed giveaway, drew up two lists [one containing entries from my readers and ones who headed here from Chamby and Cor] then used an online random number generator to select two winners. and here they are:

I've contacted both Sandie and Zsuzsanna and as soon as I have their details then Rose and I will be posting out the prizes!

 

Thank you to all who took part ... and I'm sorry if you missed out this time, I hope you're not too disappointed but if you are ... 

 

... will this help any??

 

All you need to do is:

•  choose which crafty kits or suppliesyou'd like me to post out to you before the weekend ...
• place your order in my Etsy shop ...
• enter the code EVERYLOSERWINS15 when asked if you have any discount codes / offers at the checkout and Etsy will recalculate the cost of your order.

And I'll get it packaged up and in the post to you ASAP!

 

[Offer closes 2pm - UK time - Friday 20th June 2014]

 

To help you choose ...

• There's the washi-storage hoop that was part of the giveaway ... if you missed out, it's a good time to grab one with 15% off
•  There's lots of new Junk Journal kits in summery colours in stock now [including a travel journal pack]
• And there's some brand new very cute little clear PVC display pockets perfect for adding into journals and on to scrapbook pages etc
• Plus all the usual vintage pages, sheet music and more ...

Thanks again to all who supported the giveaway and wishing you all well on this start of a lovely fresh new week!

 

Julie :-)

Washi tape tip for crafters: Think 'how cats mark their territory'. But with tape.

Hello hello.

Call me a facilitator if you will but ...

... just like with yesterday's 'How To: turn scraps of washi into crazy-quilt style embellishments' I'm here today to share another way you can put washi-tape to good use. Y'know ... just in case you need another excuse to go and buy more ...

BTW: If you're a washi fan and you're reading this between 9th - 15th June 2014 then you're in luck ... I've teamed up with Chamby and Cor a wonderful purveyor of washi to bring you a tape themed giveaway this week so - if you haven't already then  do hop over to this post for all the details!!

But, unlike the tutorial yesterday, this tip isn't so much about what you make as a crafter but more about what you own. And, moreover, what you'd like to keep as your own!!  

Now ... don't get me wrong, I'm not saying any of my crafty friends are kleptomaniacs or anything but when we all get together to craft it can result in a veritable shop's stockroom worth of tools and equipment and so ...

... it makes life much easier if we can easily identify whose bits are whose!

Especially when we tend to gravitate toward the exact same tools.

Exhibit A: Just a selection of the many Scotch ATG guns we own between us; on the table of our latest crafty weekend getaway this March:

If you look closely you'll be able to make out that two of those are tagged with tape to identify them with their owner. And I'm feeling smug that one of those is mine! 

So ... yes, naturally, mine are tagged with zebra tape and so it's easy for everyone to see they're mine. Which means we each take home the right tools without having to resort to anything drastic.

Like taking swabs for a DNA test.

And honestly, this is how I actually ID my tools, it's not a 'Top Tip' that the tipper has just mocked up for the sake of a blog post [the fact that my scissors are authentically grubby hopefully supports that!].

So, it's a quick and easy way to mark your equipment without having to write on it with permanent ink or anything like that and so ...

• if you ever craft in company; if you attend a crop, workshops, classes or you just get together to craft around a friend's table occasionally
• and if you have a washi tape that you can clearly identify with and that others can identify with YOU ...

... then give washi-tagging your tools a try!

-----------------------------------

But before you go ....

So mine's zebra print [if you don't know the origins of my zebra affinity you can catch up here. It's a tale of how I moved on from depression with a striped friend in my pocket!] but ...

• I'd be interested to hear which style / design / pattern of tape YOU would instinctively choose to represent you.
• Is there a print out there that's just 'you'?
• If not ... why not have a think about it ... it can be quite enlightening to realise what's your 'signature style' or your 'brand of you'!

Let me know below in the comments!

At least it'll stop me from ever stealing your tools ...

Julie x

How To: turn scraps of washi into crazy-quilt style embellishments [photo tutorial]

Hello hello.

Do you own some decorative paper tapes? Like washi?

[And by 'some tapes' I mean 'an ever-expanding planet-sized amount of tapes'.]

Me too.

It's addictive isn't it.

BTW: If you're a washi fan and you're reading this between 9th - 15th June 2014 then you're in luck ... I've teamed up with Chamby and Cor a wonderful purveyor of washi to bring you a tape themed giveaway this week so - if you haven't already then  dohop over to this post for all the details!!

It's so small, pretty and pick-up-and-pop-in-my-basket-able isn't it?

So very just-one-more-won't-break-the-bank-ish.

And so in light of its irresistible allure it's always useful to have a new idea for what you can actually do with it!!

This way you can either:

• (a) feel wholesome about using it up ... OR ...
• (b) simply use it up so you've got a great excuse to buy some more!

... whichever it is for you, allow me to present you with this crafty and thrifty idea all about turning even the smallest of precious off-cuts and scraps into fun patchwork-style embellishments.

HOW TO: Turn scraps of washi into crazy-quilt style embellishments

Why not 'Pin' this photo-tutorial for future reference? Or share it on social media.  [That's a polite way of me saying 'Pin it!! Go on, do me a favour. Share my tutorial won't you? Pin it! Pin it!!! Oh, have I already suggested that?']

Here it is ...

 

 

 

And finally ...

TIPS:

• This is one of those projects that you can have on the go for a while and which can fit in alongside other crafty 'doings'.
• Collect up the scraps over time, just keep some paper nearby to keep adding to then, once it's complete just put to one side and emboss + die-cut whenever you've got the machine out for something else.
• This way you can gradually and painlessly keep topping up your supply of these fun, colourful embellishments and use them whenever you want something just that little bit different!

If you enjoyed this project please do show your support by sharing it with others. Thank you!

And don't forget to enter the washi tape and storage giveaway!

Julie :-)

Giveaway: Win Washi Tape + Washi Tape *Storage* from Julie Kirk & Chamby and Cor

Hello hello.

 

PLEASE NOTE: the giveaway has now closed. Thank you to all who entered!!

I'm Julie. Yes, I know you knew that already  ... but they didn't - did you people-who've-headed-over-here-from-Chamby and Cor?

But now they do.

So, now we're all acquainted ... how do you fancy a treat? Well ...

...  I've teamed-up with Rose, from Chamby and Cor a fellow Etsy-based craft supplies store, to bring you the chance to win something washi-flavoured this week:

Chamby and Cor is the home of fun and colourful craft supplies including a huge selection of Washi Tape, Glitter Tape, Bakers Twine and more which I somehow stumbled across when searching Etsy for a plentiful supplier of washi tape in the UK.

 

And you know how I like my washi tape!

So much so in fact that this year I began stocking the rings I use to store my own collection in my own Etsy shop.

 

And as I've got the storage rings ... and Chamby and Cor have got the tape ...

 

** it made perfect sense for us to join forces to offer TWO of you - our readers, customers and friends - the chance to win a little collaborative something from us ...

click photo to view the available designs

 

click photo to read more about the hinged hoops

So washi lovers how does that grab you?

[And if you're not yet a washi-lover ... then winning 5 tapes of your choice is going to be a great way to kick-off a collection!!!]

Here's what you need to do to be one of the lucky 2 ...

----------------------------------

 

Competition Details:

 

How to enter:

1. Take yourself off for a browse around the washi tape section of the Chamby and Cor Etsy shop.
2. Select a few of your favourite tape designs - the type you'd like to receive if you're one of the two lucky winners!
3. Come back here and leave us an idea of what's on your 'Washi Wish List' in a comment on this post right here. 
4. Mention in your comment from which of us you heard about the giveaway. Did you get here following something I [me, Julie, hi!] said? Or have you popped over after being directed by Rose from Chamby and Cor? [This means we can pick one winner from each side!]
5. And finally ... an optional extra ... you could tell us how many tapes you reckon you could squeeeeeeeeze on to your storage hoop![Have a look at the hoops in my shop here]. OR ... what else you could store on yours.

***The DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES is: 11pm [UK time] Sunday 15th June 2014
 

  ... and the winner will be announced both here on my blog and around social media during Monday 16th.

• Entrants will be compiled into two lists depending on where you heard about the competition: Julie Kirk / Chamby and Cor.
• Then one winner from each list will be selected at random using an online 'Random Number Generator'.
• I'll get in touch with the winners for their postal address. [International entries are welcomed from anyone who accepts that they will have to cover any customs charges / taxes incurred]
• Prizes will be posted out separately from the 2 shops, in two parcels.

IMPORTANT NOTE: When you leave your comment you'll either need to:

• be signed into an account which will allow me to click through to a blog etc where I can leave a message if you win.
• OR ... you'll need to leave a contact [eg. Twitter name / email] that I can use to get in touch.
• If we can't contact you ... we can't send the prize! And another winner will be selected at random.

----------------------------------

So ... ready, steady ... washi ...

 

Best of luck everyone!

 

Julie

Collage: L'espirit d'escalier or 'why didn't I think of that *then*?'

Hi hi.

I've got a new collage page to share in a second but, before I leave this post without saying something important [which is appropriate ... you'll see ...] let me tell you about the new kits I've compiled and put in the shop this week.  There's a new batch of themed 'Ephemera Bits' with packs titled:

• 'Retro Summer Days' [bright, girly, pin-up, floral]
• 'Inspired by Suffragettes' [strong women, suffrage] 
• 'Places to go People to see' [turquoise, green, retro, travel] and
• 'Golden Vintage' [vintage, warm, textured]

There's also a few new of trimmings and ribbons [in gold and chocolate shades] which I thought you might like, plus vintage map packs and sheet music, and finally 3 new Art Journaling 'bit of everything' packs over there too.

Right then, now that's done, I can move on to a way you can actually use some of the kids of ephemera and vintage paper you can find in my shop.

Here's the latest entry in my collage-style journal which was inspired by the idea of staircase wit ...

Yes staircase wit ... or as the French put it - in their splendidly French way: l'espirit d'escalier.

[p.s: if you're a Francophile you might like the Modern European Languages text packs I've got in stock]

I can't recall why I wanted to make this page now ... it's just been on a list of things I'd like to illustrate for a while now.

I guess I just love it when I discover there's a neat and tidy phrase out there to defines something much broader; something of the wider human experience. Something which puts a pithy spin on those woolly 'tell me it's not just me' feelings we all get from time to time.

And staircase wit, if you don't already know, describes that moment just after a heated debate, an argument, an interesting conversation, a chance to impress etc etc ...

... when, on your way out, after they've left the lift, once you've put down the phone ... on the stairs afterwards ... you suddenly think of the perfect response!

When it's too late

Don't you hate it when that happens??

And it goes round in your head. And you wonder why you couldn't have thought of it sooner!

And the best you can do is to tell someone who wasn't there, and who doesn't really care, your really funny if-I'd-thought-of-this-at-the-time-it-would-have-been-a-killer-comeback.

Or else you tweet / Facebook it because why let a good punch line go to waste?!

So, next item it happens, while it won't stop you kicking yourself ... at least you can now take a tiny snip of comfort from the idea that someone coined a beautifully elegant phrase purely to describe your predicament!

[Then say it in French. It'll make you feel clever again.]

---------------------------------- 

And here's my chopped-up staircasey / snail-witted brain collage in situ in my notebook journal:

Can you think of any [not too personal!!] examples where you've had a dose of staircase wit?

Fancy sharing them in the comments?

Or on my Facebook page?

I wish I could think of one of my own to share but I can't. Won't it be ironic if I think of one as soon as I've hit 'publish' on this post?

Julie :-)

p.s: don't forget to browse the new kits in my shop when you get a minute.