Fun in the sun with the Gnomes for Summer scrapbooking kit

 Hello & welcome to my blog,

My name is Alison & I live in beautiful Melbourne, Australia. For those of you who have previously visited my blog & are now returning, thank you. For those of you who are here for the first time, welcome!

 Here's a little bit about me. I love creating cards & gifts for my loved ones & this blog will show you how to create something special for those you love. I blog twice a week, once on a Sunday where I mainly showcase a stamp set or dies, embossing folders, projects & sometimes special DSP and Wednesday evenings when I highlight a technique, fun folds or tools & tips. I would love to hear from you if you have any questions or suggestions & my email address for that is craftedbyalison@gmail.com.

Stampin' Up® launched their new Annual Catalogue in May & it's a beauty! It's set out quite differently to previous catalogues but there are benefits to that. They now have sectioned it to have beginners, which is a step by step collection of materials in kits, then there is quick & easy where you select base materials & packs of pre-printed or diecut materials plus some stamp sets then there is create your way where you choose all the materials, stamps etc yourself & create your way! In the quick & easy section Stampin' Up® have also provided some inspiration with a colour wheel & information of various ways to use colour combinations. There is a section explaining 4 different ways to vary your colours - Monochromatic, Complementary, Analogous & Triadic. It's a wonderful tool to help with creativity & I shared my first post using it in my midweek blog of 29/5/24 & also in my midweek blog of 24/7/24 but it's not what this week's post is about, that is something I will explore more in future blogs.

Today I have something completely different to my usual blogs. Today I am sharing some scrapbooking with you. Some of you may know that Close To My Heart closed their doors earlier this year & Stampin' Up® welcomed many of their consultants & also purchased some of their stock. Stampin' Up® have slowly been introducing this stock into their inventory & today I am sharing a kit that is perfect for capturing those fun, sunny summer memories called Gnomes for Summer. It's bright & cheerful & perfect for showcasing cherished memories. 

I used to scrapbook when my children were very little but setting up all of the supplies, packing up & time meant that I put it aside to 'do another day' & never got back to it. As my children are all very grown up now & I have a dedicated craft room I want to return to some more scrapbooking to pass on their memories to them. This kit has sparked my desire to do just that & today I have the first of the layouts from the kit. It was loads of fun & quite easy as the kit comes complete with very comprehensive instructions. I hope you enjoy this lovely double page spread.

Firstly though, lets start with a look at what comes in the kit...

There are both coloured & white sheets of cardstock, sticker sheets, a stamp & die bundle, an extra die set, white photo placement pieces & a very detailed set of instructions that walk you through how to cut each colour of the cardstock & which scrapbook page they will be added to plus suggestions on how to decorate each page.

I used the instructions as a guide for my pages & followed along with the basic layout but swapped around a few details. The cutting instructions even include pictures of what needs to be used for the diecutting with each colour of cardstock or DSP! 

Here is the first double page layout. There is a pic of them with blank photo places & a pic with the 'place photo here' piece included to give you an idea of how the page will look with the mattes less prominent.

The placement of the banners, addition of photo mattes & stamping of images are included in the instructions & you can choose to follow it completely but I added a few extra stamped images, switched the striped edge strip to the side of the pages instead of the top & added a couple more stickers & stamped images.

There are a couple of images that are two toned. To achieve this I inked part of the stamp one colour then stamped the rest of the image the second colour. Here is what I mean...

For the pineapple I used Crushed Curry & Garden Green. For the ice creams I used Pecan Pie, Melon Mambo & Crushed Curry. Cute huh?

Here is the first page as it is before I will add photos...

and with the photo placement notes.

As I don't have any of the CTMH ink colours I chose Stampin' Up® colours that were close to them. They are Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Daffodil Delight, Summer Splash, Garden Green, Basic Beige & Pecan Pie. The banners were cut to the recommended dimensions and trimmed to create the tail. 

The second page includes a super cute gnome because the kit is after all called Gnomes of Summer! He was made by piecing together diecut pieces. I did add a little bit of blending to the gnomes skin areas & beard & I added some dots to his hat that were left over from diecutting a hat for a second gnome which appears on a different project because I liked the look of the hats with complementary colours. 

Here are the pics of page 2.

This was such a fun & easy project and something that I really enjoyed revisiting. This layout is just one of three that you can create with this kit. I will share the other two layouts with you in next Sunday's blog.

That's it for this creative episode. I hope you enjoyed seeing how easy it is to preserve your precious memories by creating scrapbook pages with a kit.

Now I'd like to share some of the latest news from Stampin' Up®.

Stampin' Up® has a number of ways to purchase their lovely products. You can look through their physical catalogue or browse through the catalogues online but there are also some products that are only available exclusively online that don't appear in any catalogues. These products are called the Online Exclusives & are only available under the Online Exclusives section of the Stampin' Up® shop. Check out the online exclusives in my online store. Stampin' Up® adds more product items to the online shop so don't forget to keep checking the store to see what's new. There are some lovely new products now available including kits, embellishments, stamps, dies & embossing folders. Something for everyone! If you would like a copy of the catalogue please send me a message at craftedbyalison@gmail.com or on my Facebook page, craftedbyalison. 

As a demonstrator I've been lucky enough to see an advanced copy of the new Jan - Apr '25 mini catalogue & can order some of the items in advance. Oh My Goodness there are some pretty things in there and I have to sit myself down to whittle down the list of things that I want to order! There will also be another Sale-A-Bration happening in the new year where you get free stuff, just for ordering product! YAY for free stuff!!!! More info on that in a later post.

NEWS & REMINDERS: 

1. Stampin' Up®'s newAnnual Catalogue is a beautiful piece of artwork as well as an amazing resource for crafting. As mentioned before, it's very different to any other catalogue that I've seen from Stampin' Up®. They have changed the front cover from featuring cards or supplies to a casual stamping picture as well as a radical change to the layout of the contents. There are still lots of beautiful pics of the products & ideas aplenty, it's just set out differently. I think you'll love it. If you would like a copy of the new catalogue then send me a message at craftedbyalison on Facebook or email me at craftedbyalison@gmail.com & I'll send you one. 
2. The new Mini catalogue was launched on 4th September. There are lots of gorgeous items ready to inspire your creativity. If you would like me to send you a copy, send me a message on my facebook page or email me. Remember, this catalogue will finish at the beginning of January to make way for the new one coming on January 5th!
3. Some of you may know that Stampin' Up® purchased a quantity of scrapbooking materials when Close To My Heart folded. They have taken on any CTMH demonstrators that wanted to cross over & have slowly been including scrapbooking products into our supplies. They now have a dedicated digital mini catalogue, exclusively devoted to scrapbooking products available here at my online shop. There are a number of kits available if you'd like to start your scrapbooking journey or if you already scrap then check the kits out!
4. Don't forget the Online Exclusive products with new products added and available now. Check out my online shop here. Stampin' Up® release a new items regularly. The last release date for a new selection of products was on November 5th and there are some gorgeous new products to tempt you. Why don't you check them out?

Stampin' Up® have a great range of Kits including crafting, card making & gift giving. Click here to check them all out in my online shop. As Stampin' Up® have so many beautiful kits available I will be featuring a different kit in each blog so that you can see the range. 

This week's featured kit is a cute one for the kids or anyone who loves the circus. It's called Circus Celebrations & is a bright & cheerful card making kit that makes 8 cards.

Here's how Stampin' Up® describes the kit...

Make magical birthday cards with the Circus Celebrations Kit! This DIY card making kit has all the pieces you need to create four birthday cards in two circus-themed designs with adorable animals doing tricks for your audience. The playful designs are perfect to celebrate birthdays for all ages. This is a stamp-free kit making it even easier to craft than most so it’s great for beginners!

If you feel that you need to add this to your list then click here to purchase one from my online store. 

A lot of demonstrators use the special Host Code for their customers but I'm trying it this year as a new idea to see if this is what you, my customers would like to use. If you shop with me then don't forget to use this month's host code  WKY7FV3H. This will allow me to pass on any hostess benefits to customers when the sales reach the required qualifying amount.

Lastly, there have been lots of great items added to the clearance rack so make sure you check them out using this link to my online store.

If you would like to purchase any of my creations that I feature in my blogs they can be found in my FaceBook shop at craftedbyalison or you can order something unique. 

If you would like me to send you a copy of the current Annual catalogue then please message me via my FaceBook page, Crafted by Alison or send me an email at craftedbyalison@gmail.com.

My next blog is on Wednesday & I will be creating using the colours selected in a colour challenge. These challenges are always so much fun!

Next Sunday I will share the next two projects from the Gnomes of Summer kit. 

I'm really looking forward to sharing these creations with you & hope you can join me for both the Mid week & Sunday blogs.

Well, that's it for another week. I hope you enjoyed this post & come back for more next week. Til next time, take care & keep creating! XX Alison.

Here are some links to the products I used today & some craft room essentials.

Shop with me

Stamps, Dies, Embossing folders & punches

• Gnomes of Summer Scrapbooking kit

Cardstock, DSP & paper goods

• All cardstock & DSP are included in the pack 

Inks & Markers

• Pecan Pie Classic Stampin' pad
• Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' pad
• Summer Splash Classic Stampin' pad
• Garden Green Classic Stampin' pad
• Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' pad
• Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' pad

Embellishments

• No additional embellishments used this week

Adhesives

• Multipurpose liquid glue
• Tear and tape
• Dimensionals
  
• Mini Dimensionals
  
• Foam adhesive strips
• Mini Glue Dots
• Adhesive sheets

Tools

• Paper Trimmer
• Take Your Pick tool
• Paper Snips scissors
• Stampin' Cut & Emboss machine
• Water painters
• Heat tool
• Blending Brushes