The next question is usually something like “how do you remember the inspiration in order to use it in your crafting?” My answer… “simple, I save a copy of the scrapbook page or card on my PC and then I can refer to it whenever I like. ”

If I want to make a page, I refer to my collection of examples and choose which ones suit my current project best.  I then print out a sheet full of various pictures and I can now look at that when I craft (or even take to a crop).

The next question is then…. “How do you do that then?”

So I have made a video to show you How to View, Save and Print scrapbook pages, cards and other projects to refer to for inspiration when you make your layouts.  I hope it helps..!

The venue for the last three years has been at the Village Hall at Ditchingham, but as of April this year it is moving into my Tearooms on Tuesday evenings.

So Every 2nd and 4th Tuesday Evening of every month, the ScrapBuddies Scrapbooking group (which is also about cardmaking and other paper crafting, by the way) will be held at The Tally Ho Tearooms in Mettingham (which is near Bungay in Suffolk, UK) on the B1062 - Here is a map.  Times are 7.15 till 10pm (although y0u can arrive later and/or go earlier) and the cost is £3 per person.

The first to be held at the Tearooms will be on Tuesday 27th April.

So in Summary:

• 2nd & 4th Tuesday of every month
• 7.15-10pm
• £3 per person (bring your own materials)
• Free First Session if you bring your own materials.
• There is plenty of parking and ramps for rolling totes.
• I hope to continue with demos/workshops once a month (probably on the 4th Tuesday each month)

I am hoping to be able to help everyone create page kits and card kits for themselves so that members can get lots done each time they come along.

For more information about the group go to the ScrapBuddies website.

In the stamp set for the cupcakes, you build the cupcake with separate stamps.  For instance the image on this card is made up from a cupcake case, then I added the icing in pink, finally the sprinkles/half cherry.

I did colour the cupcake case with pens.

The “keep calm and eat a cupcake” quote is a stamp from the set.

I printed a number of cakes, colouring their cases in different colours and adding some stickles.

I then cut around one and made a card.

I added some self adhesive lace and a simple tied ribbon, and with the background patterned paper and double matting of the cupcake image, the card was finished.

 Below is a close-up, could have been used for valentines day, I suppose, with regard to the colour scheme!

No, I haven’t taken this long to get them out, I only received the gift mid February!

I tried to “vintage it up” with the background papers for selling in the tearooms here, but I’m quite pleased with the end result.

£2.50 in the Gift Shop?  What do you reckon?

We are now on the home straight.  We had the whole Tearooms carpetted yesterday and today… hoorah!

I do realise that unlike putting the carpet into a residential place, when all you have to do is put your furniture in, we still have tonnes to do! 

However, we have ordered the tables and chairs,  all of which are being hand painted, the builders have finally finished all their work and we finally have 17 new double wall lights fitted!

Miles has finished painting the main Tearooms area and is now refurbishing the toilets! Well the walls anyway!

Interviews for the various vacancies we have created start tomorrow and continue next week.

I am meeting more suppliers tomorrow too, and possibly doing some grouting in the kitchens!

Oh, and do you like my photo (above)?  I took that today for the website, which by the way, I have updated with some more photos of the refurbishment.

I gave the children a general idea of the content of the paper bag album (instead of an envelope album for the juniors) but focused on showing them different techniques each week, rather than the step-by-step page layout I did with the younger children.

It was good to see all the different interpretations, use of colour and design and general technique and there was a wide range of skills in 5 young people.

Although I provided the kits, which included scrapbooking papers and cardstock, the bags and ribbons, they also made good use of magazine pages for images and blocks of colours and this is a great way to provide for children’s scrapbooking.  Use the glossy magazines, as they have whole page size photos which are great for larger areas of colour to use as background papers on small albums, I provided a couple of copies of vogue.

As there was no colour dictated by this focal point I worked the colour around the diecut butterflies, a sheet of which a friend had given me a while ago.

As my other half likes chocolate so much (but is currently trying to abstain) I tend to go for a chocolate theme for valentines day and hence the colours here.

Quick, freehand and it probably shows, but it’s always better than something from a shop!

Well you have probably guessed from the photograph… yes… ribbons.  Those annoying ribbons you (and your friends) find in the inside shoulders of blouses, jumpers, t-shirts and even on the inside waistbands of trousers and skirts (although they are handy for hanging the skirts on hangers so might be worth keeping those!).

Tell all your non-scrapbooking friends that you are happy to recycle all the ribbons from their clothes, and they will gladly hand them over!  They get rid of the menace of peek-a-boo hoops from under their clothing and you get 2 x pieces of ribbon per garment (usually 10-12 inches each). 

When I went into the office one morning these were waiting for me on my desk! And I keep finding the them, all different colours… and the pal concerned is very pleased they have found a use rather than just throwing them in the bin!

Now that HAS to be a “Win-Win” situation!!

The blanks for these were very easy to make and I used C5 (take A5 size paper) envelopes from Tesco! 

I just sealed them up, sliced a thin slither off one end of each envelope and then put 3 of them together, punched holes, bit of string and there you have a nice blank canvas which includes 3 pockets for the children to enjoy decorating. 

The theme for these was “This is Me” and each double page spread was about them in some way, their bedroom, their family, what they like, etc.  The idea was that they would add photographs (or drawings) when they got home and so they were given white rectangles to take the place of the photographs in the meantime.  I did take a photograph of the group and gave them little printouts of it at the following session so that they had at least 1 “real” photograph in their mini scrapbook albums.

It was great to see how different all the little creative minds were and how they worked… whether they neatly laid out their papers and embellishments, or whether they just slapped stuff on willy-nilly! 

I learnt a lot, very quickly!  The first thing was not to give them much choice in materials, as they can’t cope with that… and the second thing was to keep it very simple and show them something quickly and then just let them do their own thing really.

Especially in scrapbooking… there are no rules only techniques to learn!

I have taken children’s workshops before, but not as young as these children (I had taught 7-11 year olds).  Also in my previous workshops the children were given small kits and the whole thing was made in a single two hour session.  These sessions were weekly half hour sessions!

Still both groups of younger children really enjoyed themselves!