my2angels RETREAT-fest of the Year – 2015

So it’s on again!!!!

The my2angels ‘RETREAT-fest of the Year – 2015’ is once again up for booking. Get your deposit in FAST – last year we sold out in less than 72 hours.

We’ve learnt a lot from our inaugural Retreat. After reviewing all your feedback, checking out the embarrassing photos and some pretty hard-core drinking to convince us – it’s SCRAP ON.

2015 will be bigger, better, messier and scrappier than ever!!! Tracy promises not to hot-glue herself together this time; Ngaire might even manage to turn up (instead of paying for it and then going to work) and Michele is going to try shopping less and scrapping more (the excess luggage fee was a killer).  We just need you to put your name on a seat and join us once again in at the best Retreat of the year.

The Retreat is to be held at the Runaway Bay Super Sports Centre. We will be sleeping in one of the lodges and it is quad bunk share.  (Please advise if you can’t sleep in a top bunk.) Yes you can pick who to sleep with ;)  – just let us know who you want to be ‘bunk buddies’ with. Linen and pillows are provided, but please bring your own towels. You can check it out at the link to the Super Sports Centre here. 

Please advise us of any special dietary requirements in the comments section at checkout when submitting your deposit order. 

This year we will be having dinner over the road at the Runaway Bay Leagues Club – a 1 minute walk from the Retreat. (A set menu especially for us will be advised when we know all your dietary requirements.)  Here is the link to the Club, so that you can suss them out. 

Cost:  $240.00 - which includes:

All meals for the duration of the retreat (2 dinners, 2 breakfasts and 2 lunches)

Bottomless cups of coffee, tea, water and lolly bar to eat between meals.

All accommodation

Conference room for scrapping for the duration of the retreat

Goodies bag upon arrival 

Classes are additional to this cost – if you choose to add them into your package. Class information will be provided closer to the Retreat.

To secure your place, please pay a non-refundable $40 deposit upon Booking (Please note: if you should need to cancel, we may be able to refund this PROVIDING we are able to replace you.)

With plenty of prizes and challenges over the weekend and lots of inspiration and advice should you need it - you have no excuse for not letting your creative juices flow.

One of the prizes throughout the retreat will be our Lucky Door Prize of a Basket full of goodies from popular ranges like Prima, Tim Holtz and Scrapmatts - valued at over $200.00.

The Retreat kicks off at 2pm Friday 24th July and we party hard scrap until 2pm Sunday 26th July.

For our local scrappers, we have a Saturday Special for you.  A $60 day pass that includes lunch, dinner, drinks and lollies.  

To secure your spot, pop over to the website now to book.

Rudolph & the Baubles Limited Edition Christmas Kit

As ever, Tracy has made an awesome selection of Christmas embellishments for your scrapping pleasure.

I used the Rudolph & the Baubles Limited Edition Christmas Kit to make a pretty card for my reindeer collecting BFF. Simple too - I find I don't have heaps of time to make complicated cards because I'm always rushing from one thing or place to another. Tracy to the rescue :)

I started with a card and envelope from the C6 White Card Pack and covered the front of the card with some old music book paper - a great find in the local op shop. I punched the bottom edge and inked all around with Vintage Photo Distress Ink followed by  Festive Berries Distress Ink. While I was there I also lined the envelope. I think it's a nice ''hand made'' touch. 

I used three of the elements Tracy has included in this kit - the Gold Rhinestone Cup Chain, the Golden Reindeer Charm and the cute little scalloped wooden button with the reindeer motif.

The Cup Chain forms a garland at the top of the card. Right in the centre is a die cut snowflake with the button in it's centre. Hanging from a piece of  Maraschino Red & White Bakers Twine is the cute gold Reindeer Charm.

The snowflake is popped up onto dimensional tape so that it doesn't interfere with the hanging garland, as is the ''Merry Christmas'' journalling spot (a punched out piece from a Kaisercraft Yuletide 6.5'' Paper Pad) so that it doesn't stop the reindeer from hanging straight down.

Fast, minimum fuss, very pretty and sparkly....love an embellishment kit :)

Christmas buttons and cards from scraps

Love them or loathe them, we all have them.

I'm talking about paper scraps of course.

Ordinarily, I'm quite ruthless and throw out anything that's smaller than a photo... unless I totally love the collection (which happens a lot) and then I can't throw anything out. I end up with a whole pile of this:

A work in progress folder is great for keeping them all together, by the way.  ;)

Too small for a layout. All the cool bits already used up. What to do? The choice is obvious: Chuck it or card it. 

Here is a quick and easy way to whip up a couple of cards:

Step 1:

Keep one bigger piece of the plainest paper (about 2x4" per card) Cut all your other papers into strips. Mine were 4" long and any old widths:

Step 2:

Glue them on a piece of paper 4" wide:

Step 3:

Sew a line along one side of each strip:

 

Hate sewing? Skip that step!

Step 4:

 Run some double-sided tape along the back of the paper, catching all those threads as you go:

Step 5:

 Glue it on a card, trim and place the bigger, plain piece of patterned paper along the top. The edge where the papers meet needs a border to hide any mess. I used silver sequin string and some cotton lace (see next photo)

There you go, the base is done and you have made enough for 2 or 3 cards in one go. 

 Step 6:

Now on to decorating! You'll just need some pretty embellies to spruce it up. Look in the Christmas embellishments section. You'll be spoiled for choice. 

I like the cute Christmas buttons. Here I used one with a star flower, a holly charm and some red & white twine on a white ribbon rose:

 And here is one on a mini doily surrounded by a pearl wreath. To make that, wrap some pearl garland around 3-4 fingers 3 times, overlap the ends slightly and tie them together with some thread. The pearl garland will fall into a circle all by itself. Glue it down with some strong glue or glue dots.

And there you have it:- 2 pretty cards made from some tiny scraps and a few embellishments, including silver sequins that come in 1 metre lengths from my2angels.

Now you have no more excuses to let those scraps overtake your craft room!

Charming Christmas – Golden Baubles DIY Embellishment Kit

Hi Everyone, Susan here. 

When I first saw the Golden Baubles DIY Mini Picks kit (and at only $2) I had so many ideas my head was spinning.  

 After a nice cold drink and a few deep breaths, I started to create. I had so many ideas it was hard to get them all out at once. I've popped my favourites below. Assemble as per the instructions and let your imagination do the rest.  
 

Bon-Bons

I use these for holding great little gifts (eg earrings) and I place them in the tree as part of the decoration. I also use bon-bons for place names at Christmas lunch – with a little pressie inside of course.

 After making the basic bon-bon, I used the 'Golden Baubles' DIY Embellishment Kit to decorate it. Putting the bauble together is as simple as 1, 2, 3.

If you take two kits, you can glue them back-to-back to make a stunning Christmas Tree decoration.

Christmas Cards

Running short of time to make Christmas cards?  Use this kit to make your job easy.  Add some gold and patterned paper matting to the card base, a red circle slightly larger then the gold scalloped bauble and go for it. Here are three examples to suit any skill level.

With the last card, I added Christmas Holly Gold Charm and used a red alcohol pen to colour the berries.  I also used a gold coil decoration which I straightened and tied into a bow.

 

 

 

 Changing colour / look of Charm  

If you don’t have the correct colour charm, you can paint any colour.  Add some stickles for a bit more bling.

Vintage Christmas Tag with Beaded Holly Mini Pick

New 'Mini Picks' Kits

Sweet little stocking stuffers for one of your scrap buddies. At only $2.00 each, they include instructions and all products needed to create them.

Beaded Holly DIY Kit

Each Kit provides the materials (embossed flourish, beads, pins and ribbon) to create this stunning handmade piece.  

Michele here, 

As much as I want to deny it - and I am never ready for it - Christmas IS on the way!!
 

 As usual, Tracy has made card-making easier by creating some beautiful embellishment kits, ready to be assembled and added to your basic cards or tags to make them very special.

The one I have used here is the 'Beaded Holly' DIY Kit, in the my2angels Christmas Embellishment section on the website.

I love making pretty tags to add to simply wrapped parcels ... I think this one has a vintage feel.

I took a simple Manilla Tag and covered the front of it with a piece of Christmas themed book page. (This one is from the Kaisercraft Yuletide 6.5" paper pad, but there are thousands of similar papers around - you could even use a real book page :) )

I used a damask stencil and dabbed embossing ink onto it, then heat embossed the pattern with Zing Clear Embossing Powder. When Inked with Tea Dye and Vintage Photo Distress Inks, the embossed pattern acts as a resist and after a swipe with a damp paper towel, the pattern stands out beautifully.

 

To the bottom half of the tag I added an Idea-ology Ornate Plate - using the included long fasteners to attach it to the card. The stamped ''Merry Christmas'' is also inked, and covered with coats of Glossy Accents and then Crackle Accents.

Because this is a gift tag and the back is visible, I covered the back with the same patterned paper (after attaching the Ornate Plate so that the backs of the fastening brads would be covered and would not poke holes in my gift wrap).

The black accents are rub-ons from the Idea-ology Christmas Time Remnant Rubs pack.

Finally, I added the Beaded Christmas Holly, cascading downwards from the top of the tag. I covered my green embossed flourish with a coat of clear Glossy Accents to make it a little more robust - because some presents under the tree get a good shaking before it's time to unwrap them ;)

Craftalive Show this weekend on the Gold Coast, Qld

Due to our attendance at the Craftalive Show this weekend – our stock levels may vary from that shown online. Where possible (for handmade items) – there will just be a slight delay as we make another one especially for you – but for manufactured items we apologise, as they may no-longer be in stock. 

Our local customers are welcome to come join us at the Southport Community Centre (behind the Southport RSL) – we would love to meet you

Julie Nutting Christmas Ornaments

Have you seen these cute little Julie Nutting Wood Ornaments in the New Arrivals section!! I don't know how there are still some of these left....they look gorgeous decorated, and would be a great Christmas activity to share with the kids. 

They are totally customise-able (is that a word? It is now!!) and so much fun to play with. I have decorated mine (''Joy'') to match this year's Christmas colours at our house - red, white and gold.

First up the wooden pieces, the centre and two wings, had a coat of white primer and a light sand to prepare them for other media. Starting with the wings I added a few coats of gold metallic paint and followed that when it was almost but not quite dry, with a dry brush and a coat of Gold Perfect Pearls. This last powder coat gave the colour a smoother look and added a lovely shimmer.

On top of that I added a fairly thick, but deliberately uneven coat of Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint. I love the old, antique look of crackle and wanted this for my ornament. While the crackle was still wet I sprinkled a little Stampendous Champagne Glass Glitter onto the top. Christmas should have a little bling ;) The back of the wings is exactly the same.

While I was waiting for the wings to dry and the crackle to activate I painted the bauble element. I just used ordinary acrylic paint - nothing fancy or expensive. There are a couple of coats of each colour, mostly to minimise the brush strokes and get an even coverage. The wood is etched quite deeply, so it's pretty easy to paint inside the lines. The entire back is painted with the darker red as well.

Loving the delicate shimmer of the Gold Perfect Pearls on the wings, I brushed Forever Red Perfect Pearls over the darker red section of the front, and over the whole back. 

I was still waiting for the wings to dry, so a little bling was added - five tiny Red Rhinestones around the neck of my ''Joy''s dress and a length of Gold Rhinestone Cup Chain circling the cut out centre of the bauble.

And STILL waiting for the wings to dry (it was a dampish sort of day down here in Sydney and some of my crackle paint was quite thick), I coated the back of the bauble with Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint. Then I did the front as well and left it all overnight.

This is what it looked like when the pieces were finally dry.

Assembly and decoration was the easy bit. The wings are attached to the centre bauble with Hot Glue - they are a bit too heavy for Glossy Accents. The ribbon and tassel are both included in the kit. Colouring the silver cap on the tassel with a yellow Copic Marker made it gold. Copics are alcohol based, so they colour metal and rhinestones easily.

Gold Toned Jump Rings and Gold Iron Chain hang from both the top and the bottom, decorated with Christmas Charms. Tracy sent me these pretty dangles a couple of Christmases ago, made  using Golden Eye Pins, Gold Bead Caps, Gold Rhinestone Rondelle Beads, Golden Stardust Beads, a Christmas Holly Charm, and a Small Gold Star Charm.
Small Red Roses cover the middle of the bow and decorate our Christmas ''Joy"'s hair.

You could also cover these pieces with patterned paper and use distress inks and stains. How about adding some feathers for fun?
I've seen the kit divided up and made into two separate ornaments too - one made from the centre section, and one made of just the two wings...drill a hole through the top and hang them together, slightly offset.

Have fun!

   

Off the Wall from Kaisercraft now in store

This is a seriously awesome paper collection for the boys from Kaisercraft  now in store at my2angels in the new arrivals section

Plus Kaisercraft cardstock in Marine, Blue Jeans and Navy to match 

And don't forget to embellish your creations with our boy embellishments found here

Introducing WINGS AND THINGS

my2angels is excited to bring you a new range of handmade embellishments.

'Wings and Things' features a range of polymer angel wings, butterflies and frames combined with charms, flowers and assorted embellishments. 

Antique Wings

A vintage inspired collection of butterflies, bronze charms and a stunning angel wing in soft, natural tones. Adorned with roses, pearls and muslin, with just a touch of shimmery gold, this shabby chic assortment is perfect for soft, vintage or feminine style layouts, cards and OTP's.

Priced at just $6.99, be sure to get in quick to get your set.

Included in this collection is an epoxy circle (self adhesive) that is designed to fit inside the bronze frame. This allows you to include a quote or photo or a piece of patterned paper - customising this piece to suit your project.  See example below:

The Key to Steampunk

This stunning, edgy collection of steampunk inspired winged objects is breathtaking. Each piece is a feature on it's own - together as a collection they will make your creation pop. Featuring lots of metal - chain, gears, keys and time elements - with lashings of glimmer and colour - this range is a must for grunge and steampunk themed projects.

At just $4.99 they will walk out the door by themselves.

(You will have to get in quick for this set - Ngaire already has her greedy eyes on them and when she tells Michele about them, they might just sell out before anyone else can get one.)

Sweet Purity

The shimmering white on white tones of this collection are perfect for wedding, christening or baby themed projects. Adorned with flowers, silver charms and a touch of muslin, 'Sweet Purity' will be a delightful addition to your creations.

$5.99 is a sweet price too.

Please note:

• Due to the handmade nature of this range - pieces will vary in look - as colouring the polymer elements is an individual process.

• The angel wings face both left and right - as they are produced in a 2 wing mould and are easier to do both at once. If you have a particular directional preference, please write this in the notes section of the order process.

And to show you just what can be done with the new 'Wings and Things' range, Tracy has created a layout using the 'Antique Wings' collection.

"Time for a Selfie" Layout

 using our new angel wings and bronze frame

 

I started with Kaisercraft Base Coat Linen and sprayed brown mist as the photo shows.  I sprayed in this pattern as it allows me to frame my photo
.

NOTE:  I always cut a piece of scrap paper the same size as my photo & mount to use this as a guide to where I am spraying and stamping.

 

 

Then I grabbed a texture stamp and stamped over the misting. (Kaiser has a fantastic range of texture stamps that are just perfect for backgrounds here in our stamp section).  This time I have used my all time favourite script and Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink.  

Then I repeated the stamping process with a darker brown ink and another stamp, going over half of the previous stamping in a random pattern. 

 

While things were drying, I used my craft knife to distress the edges of my photo. Then I inked it with Stazon Timber Brown and mounted it onto cardboard (with a piece of acid free cardstock between the photo and cardboard to protect it).   

 Adding a strip of washi tape down the side, I then found a piece of patterned paper with the patterned strip left on it, which was perfect to add a little of the "pink" from the photo.

I popped our angel wings up the top, right -and corner with a little washi tape (you could use ribbon if you don't have any tape).

I found this old chipboard arrow in my stash - I inked it with Jumbo Java and then stamped it with my favourite Kaiser script stamp using Pinecone ink.

Now a little something for the journalling - I sprayed a piece of sticky-back canvas with various brown mists.  Leaving it to dry, I then typed up my journalling in Word and printed it onto the canvas.  It's so easy to cut and put on layouts, as it is a soft canvas with an adhesive backing.

I also stamped "smile" onto the canvas and placed it inside the small bronze embellishment.

 So here it is ... BUT it needs something more ... CHARMS of course!

Our bronze clock charm to replace the dot for the "i" in the title.

And a bronze camera charm is the perfect embellishment for a 'selfie' layout!

NOW it is finished ... a nice simple layout with lots of bits here and there, but still not taking too much focus away from the simple 'candidness'  (is that a word? - if it isn't it should be)
of the photo which I love.

So grab your own 'Wings and Things' collection now from our store.