My Planner - April Set Up

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.  Hope your day is going well.  A very special welcome to my new followers.  Thank you so much for joining me.

I have another Planner update to share with you.  Around the middle of each month, I start to set up the pages for the following month and I thought I would share the process.  So this is how I have set up my Planner ready for April.

Firstly, these are the divider pages I have made.

In the previous sets of dividers, I actually included a pocket to store the stickers, etc. for use during the month, but now I have actually placed all my stickers and labels and such in a small set of plastic drawers that sits on the top of my work bench.  The page did need a little decorating though so I simply added some ribbon and a couple of labels.

 

I believe I have mentioned in previous posts that the cover page for each month is actually one of Katie Pertiet's free printables.  HERE is the link to her Free Downloads page in case you would like to take a look.

I love Katie's designs and the quotes she uses.  I found a journal card that sort of matched the month tab and simply resized it on Photo shop to fit the page.

The full month at a glance where I record all my reminders and appointments, etc. 

I started doing some stamping and stenciling in my March pages and I have continued that in the April pages.

The stencil used on the middle section of the page is from Tim Holtz and I used  Shabby Shutters Distress Ink.  I wanted it kept in the background so didn't get too heavy on the ink. 

Around the edges I have used a leaf stamp.  Have no idea where it's from .. found it in my stash.  Here I used two stamp pads ..  VersaColor Lime and Kaisercraft Brown.  I actually started off with just the Lime but didn't like the look so added the Brown and simply went a little nuts I think, stamping it quite a few times.  I  do like how it turned out.

I have added a few Heidi Swapp transparencies to my Planner for no other reason but that I like them.  (Good enough reason I reckon'.  LOL!!)

The quotes are a mix .. some off the net and some out of Kaisercraft 6 x 6 mini Paper Pads.  I have tons of these pads (love Kaisercraft papers) and they have some great quotes in the back of them.

The same page with the transparency moved out of the way.  Rather than use up all my washi tape (I don't really have a lot) I mostly use strips of designer paper to decorate my pages but I have added washi tape to the inside edges.  Adds a bit more interest I think.  This particular washi tape I found at Office Works.

The weekly pages where I record what actually happens each day.
  Well, most days anyway.   There will be days where nothing much worth recording happens so, those sections will just be filled with stickers, etc.

Week 1 

Not really happy with the above page .. a bit wishy washy .. but, perhaps, once I get some daily happenings in there and add some stickers, etc. it will probably look better.  I hope!!  LOL!!

Week 2

These weekly pages are basically the same .. just different papers and different quotes.
I have found a design/pattern I like and I'm sticking to it.   For the moment anyway.  Perhaps, further down the track I will find another way to do it but, for now, this suits me.  I know the quotes and paper I add take up a fair bit of the writing space but, if I do have notes I want to record, or if the day sections aren't big enough to take everything I want to write there, I simply add a note page in the center.  To see what I mean, check out my January pages HERE.

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

All the pages for this Planner are actually free printables from PenGems.   I have downloaded the full year of pages but I only print out the month I'm working on.  If you wish to get them for yourself HERE is the link.

The week pages are not numbered so I purchased some Heidi Swapp Clear Number Stickers and added them to the week pages.  They are the perfect size for this Planner.

.. And, there you are .. April all ready and set to go.  In a week or so, I will share  how March finished up looking.  Hope you will come back to take a peek!!

Thanks for dropping by and enjoy the rest of your day!
Take care and God Bless.

Christmas with the 'Gentleman Collection' Papers for Meg's Garden

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.  So pleased you dropped by.

I have finally started making my Christmas Cards.  Yes, I know, I have started them way too late, but my life has been a bit hectic over the last couple of months and hubby and I have been away on the most wonderful holiday as well so I haven't really cottoned onto the fact that Christmas is just around the corner.  Oh My Gosh!!!  Did I just say that!!  Yikes!!  I really do have to pull the proverbial finger out!!
 Anyway, back to the business at hand (before I totally freak out LOL!) I'm here to share a couple of Christmas cards that have been made with some sheets from Meg's Garden's 'Gentleman Collection' and I really love how they have turned out.  You all know that it is not necessary to use dedicated Christmas paper to make your Christmas cards.  For me, it's more about the colour and texture than it is about the designs so I decided that the 'Gentleman Collection' papers would be perfect.

Card No. 1

I did use a small piece of Christmas paper from Kaisercraft underneath but the top layer is 'A Gentleman's Auto' 12" x 12".  Did a tiny bit of spraying with watered down Distress Ink in 'Peeled Paint' and 'Pine Needles'.

Used some fabulous 2Crafty Chipboard  (Element Set 1, Card Word Circles - Christmas and Mini Reindeers) and a die cut  from Memory Box.  The lovely lace is also available from Meg's Garden.  

Love that gorgeous deep red bloom.  Meg's Garden has some beautiful flowers available in her shop but you should check it out on a regular basis as the stock does change from time to time.   To the cluster I added some die cut leaves, berries, gauze, the lace of course and some bits of twine as well.  

The inside was also decorated with the same paper.  Heat embossed the edges with gold and I created a pocket on the left hand side to hold some gift vouchers.  The right hand side was left blank so I could write the sentiment.

Card No. 2
This one is very similar to the first.  The sheet used here is 'Gentleman' 12" x 12" and I've just added some different colours and different embellishments.

Spread some crackle around on this one and inked it with 'Fired Brick' DI.  The tags are a freebie received with a crafting magazine.

Used the same type of flower and lace in the cluster but this time I added some dodo wire and different berries as well as a piece of  gold mesh and some die cuts.

The inside was decorated the same again just with different colours and different stamps and I've added a small piece of dry wall tape as well.

There you have it!!  My 'Gentleman Collection' Christmas cards.  As I said before, I am really pleased with how these cards turned out so I will be making all of my cards this year in the same manner.  I will be posting those up over the next few weeks so I hope you will pop back here to take a look.  In the meantime why not take a look at all the amazing creations from my Teamies over at the Meg's Garden Blog.  You can find it HERE.   To take a look at all the fabulous products Meg has in her online store, click HERE.

Meg's Garden products used
'Gentleman's Auto' 12 x 12
'Gentleman' 12 x 12
Dodo Wire
Lace 1.6cm white

Thank you so much for visiting and enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.

Marg oxox

The 'French Garden' Book for Meg's Garden

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog!  So nice of you to drop by.
I would like to share with you my project using Meg's Garden's very latest Kit,  the French Garden Book Kit.  These papers were designed by Denise Boddey and, if you're into shabby chic, you will absolutely love them.  The colours are so pretty and there are lots of images for fussy cutting as well.  The Kit is available to purchase as both a download and a fully printed version, whichever best suits your needs.  
To give you some inspiration, the DT have been challenged to each create a Book with this Kit and here is my version.  The design for the pages came from Kathy Orta's "My Design Mini'.   She makes the most wonderful albums and has the most innovative designs, I love her work.  HERE is the link to the YouTube video.

All the papers used for this book were edged with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink.

The Title is a 2Crafty Chipboard piece which was coloured with Distress Ink and then brushed with multi matte medium and randomly sprinkled with clear glitter.

The large flowers below are all available from Meg's Garden, as is the gorgeous piece of lace.  The small flowers and the pearls came from my stash.  I also tucked a little gauze in amongst my blooms.

Instead of Texture Paste which can be a little expensive to buy, I use Multi-Purpose Filler which is available at Hardware stores and costs only a few dollars for a 500gm Tub.  I really love it because it is exactly the right consistency and it holds the shape beautifully as you can see below.

Before we go any further I must warn you that this will be a huge post.  There are only 4 page sets, as you can see , but there are quite a few fold outs, pockets and tags etc. to show you so there will be a lot of photos.

Here are the first 2 pages.
Page 1 (the inside front cover) has a butterfly, some small tags and the Queen of Spades which were all fussy cut from the Kit's ephemera.  The 'Queen' was mounted on card stock and attached to the bottom flap.  This flap opens down ...

... to reveal a photo mat and journaling spot ...

... and the top flap opens 'up' to, again, reveal another photo mat and journaling spot.  I have used a magnet behind the card to keep the flaps closed.
 The lace and the washi tape are, of course, available from Meg's Garden.

Here is the page fully opened.

Page 2 is a half page, and here I have done a little stamping for extra interest and added some more washi tape.     

 This page opens up to reveal more photo mats with the same stamp and washi tape.  The stamps I have used in this Album are Kaisercraft's 'Script' and 'Arty' Stamps.  The little white and red butterfly is also from the Kit's ephemera.

Pages 3 and 4.  Of course page 3 is the back of page 2 and it has ...

... two pockets edged with the Sevington Border die from Memory Box ...

... and two tags.  The bottom of these tags fold up when placed back in the pockets.

Page 4 has a belly band which can be used to hold tags or photos and, when you untie the ribbon the page opens up to reveal ...

... more photo mats that are suitable for larger photos.

Pages 5 and 6.

Page 5 has a pocket and tag.  The paper on the pocket is from the 'Damask Garden Collection' which is another range of papers designed by Denise.  I felt it fitted in very nicely with the 'French Garden' papers.  The strip at the top of the tag was edged with Martha Stewart's Floral Vine Deep Edge   Border Punch.

Page 6 is another photo mat.  Isn't the paper beautiful??  If you wanted to you could fussy cut the flowers and leaves and simply use them as embellishments.

Pages 7 and 8.
I do hope you're still with us folks, we're nearly finished.

Page 7 is a pocket ...

... which is held closed by a magnet (also available from Meg's Garden) and holds a tag.

Page 8 is another half page that ties with a ribbon.

... which opens up to reveal (surprise, surprise!!) some photo mats ... and opens out again to reveal ...

... (bigger surprise!!  LOL!!) more photo mats, one of which has a belly band made from a bit of ribbon from Meg's 'Camel Bundle' and the other has some fussy cut tags and tickets from the ephemera pages!!

Pages 9 and 10.

Page 9 is plain and simple, just a photo mat or journaling spot.

Page 10 has a pocket ...

... cut into the paper to hold ...

... a small booklet for photos which was simply bound with some black raffia from the Camel Bundle.  Here I have again used the Floral Vine border punch and also added a fussy cut butterfly from the ephemera sheets.

Finally (Yayy!!) the back cover which was left fairly plain.   I simply repeated the ribbon and pearl trim from the front and also added a metal trinket.

As I said at the beginning, not many pages, but lots of surfaces for photos, journaling and anything else you may think of.

I do hope you have enjoyed seeing my 'French Garden' Album.  I didn't make it as shabby chic as I had intended to but I'm sure you can see the potential.  I hope I have inspired you to try this Book Kit for yourself.  It is gorgeous to work with and there are lots of elements to this Kit which I didn't even use in my book.  To take a look at the full Kit HERE is the link.

Meg's Garden Products used
French Garden Book Kit
Blue & Cream Damask Garden 12 x 12 Sheet
Lace - 2 cm
Lace - 1.6 cm
Ivory Primula
Primrose Posy - cream
Small  white roses - 2 cm
Ribbon and raffia from Camel Bundle
Music notes Washi Tape
Vintage Trinkets - Round Filigree Large
Magnetic Discs

Thank you so much for visiting and do enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg