Avonlea Workshop on the Go Kit

I love the Avonlea papers. The mix of Avolean Teal, creams and browns is beautiful and calming. I love the shapes on the patterned papers and stamps too.

I knew I wanted to scrap something special with these beautiful papers and immediately thought of the photos I'd taken on Father's Day last year. The layout from the Avonlea Workshop on the Go Kit was perfect for these photos as well.

What I didn't realise until I began assembling the page, was I'd learn a new stamping technique!

Did you know you can use BOTH sides of an acrylic stamp? I never would have thought of it. If you have an image that's a symmetrical shape, you can stamp the reverse side of the stamp and get a "filled in" image of the shape. The Avonlea kit suggest stamping the reverse side of the doily stamp in second generation ink, then stamping the "regular" side of the stamp directly on top. The result is a perfectly shaped, tone-on-tone image.

I can't wait to try this technique with my other stamps!

Another feature I love about this kit is the velvet rub-ons. They're easy to use and add a great fuzzy texture to the page. Add a few gems and there's a lovely contrast of texture and sparkle.

Even though this kit provides enough product to complete the two double-page layouts, additional recipe box project plus some, I like these papers so much, I think I'm going to have to buy another pack!

Studio J! Try it Today!

October is a great time to try Studio J, Close To My Heart's online scrapbooking tool. This month's promotion offers a FREE Studio J double-pay layout for every 9 purchased. Buy 9 layouts, get the 10th free; buy 18 layouts, get 2 more free!

Best of all, you can try Studio J, anytime, for free. Just visit the Studio J area of my website, create an online account and start scrapping!

Studio J has streamlined the online scrapping process into 4 easy steps:

1. Start a New Project: This is the starting step. When you want to create a new page, or series of pages, click this button to begin.

2. Upload photos: Upload the photos you'd like to scrap directly to the Studio J website. The photos are stored in your project folder and are available for any projects you create in that folder. You could upload all your photos for a particular event and scrap multiple pages under the same project!

3. Select your layout: Studio J allows you to chose pre-made layout templates, give you the ability to alter them or start from scratch with your own design. It's easy to chose the perfect template with the drop down menu that sorts templates by number of photos.

4. Select your paper kit: Studio J has dozens of paper kits for you to chose from. Papers from the current Idea Book as well as papers from past Idea Books. Whatever your subject, there are multiple paper themes to chose from. And each paper kit comes with My Stickease digital stickers. The stickers include an alphabet, borders and different sized stickers. My Stickease may also include title, quotes, tags, frames and more. To make scrapping even easier and faster, Studio J will suggest paper arrangements for the template you've chose. Just select the one you like best!

Now get scrapping! You can change the papers, colours, embellishments , orientation and add text. You can add brads, ribbon, stitching and even distress the papers. Studio J makes altering your layouts easy by suggesting co-ordinating colours.

And you can do all this, make as many Studio J pages as you like, with no commitment. With no membership fees and no pre-paid access, you can use Studio J, as much as you like for free!

When you love your layouts and have decided to order, just check out, approve your layouts and place your order. Double-page layouts are only $6.95 each and come with free .jpeg files you can download within minutes of placing your order. For scrappers who only want .jpeg files, you can order those without ordering the printed pages, for only $2.95 per double-page layout.

I've said it before, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool paper crafter, but Studio J has transformed my hobby. My scrapbooks are almost up to date, I can easily share finished pages with family and friends via email or on Facebook, I'm saving time and money by working on Studio J. And there are no messy scraps to clean up afterwards!

Try it! You'll like it! I did!