I'm back...

Apologies for the lapse in time...been resting and recuperating.

I do hope you all had a memorable New Years, I had a great one spent with some new and old friends. I've also had a lovely couple of weeks recovering from a whirl wind year. It's been great to spend time with family and friends doing things we don't get to do at home - like go to the beach when it's hot or walk to the shop for an ice cream.

I've had alot of time to reflect on last year and as usual make New Year resolutions, although I've tried to make achievable ones. I don't think there is any harm in aiming high - as long as I don't whip myself when I don't always achieve the highest. One thing I have done already is buy a juicer - I want to eat a healthier diet this year...we'll see.

I have been thinking about how much scrapbooking is a fashion industry. Techniques and products are coming in and out of fashion so fast its hard to keep up. Especially in Australia where it takes along time to get products that are new to the market - we get new stuff but its old in America. It doesn't matter though I think...most of us are moving at the same pace. The only consolation is that fashion moves in cycles so products that have gone out will eventually come back I'm sure. I've noticed quite a few stand out products this year, some I've mentioned before - but here's a list of what was hot in 2007;

1. Glitter
2. Bling
3. Felt
4. Scalloped edges
5. Owls
6. Skull and cross bones
7. Birds
8. Ledger paper (is back for the second time!)
9. Brads made a come back
10. Electronic die-cut machines
11. Stamps are back - especially clear ones
12. Journaling blocks
13. Printed transparencies are back
14. Clocks
15. Crowns
16 Die-cut 12 x 12 papers (this is only the beginning!)

It's hard to predict whats going to be hot in 2008 but I have a few ideas.
Tim Holtz (an expert crafter and designer) has come up with a product called GRUNGE BOARD. It's a bit like chip board but more durable and flexible. It can be painted, inked, stamped, embossed and much, much more. I think its finally hit Australia after being on pre-order for some time, so we'll see this soon and my guess is it's going to be big.
I also think that with bling and glitter being so popular, they will continue to do so but also metallic products are still going to get better and become more available. For example, the new range of metallic shapes and chipboard letters by Heidi Swapp. As mentioned in the January edition of Creating Keepsakes magazine, metallic papers and similar products will be available in abundance.
I think we've only seen the tip of the iceberg with die-cut papers. KI Memories Pop Culture laced papers are the beginning and I think there is alot more of this to come.
Who knows what else there may be on the horizon but I'm looking forward to finding out and keeping you informed.

I'm heading home very soon and will be able to upload photos of new layouts I've done since being in Esperance. I'm almost finished my Christmas layouts already - only trouble is I've got alot to catch up on from previous years - maybe I'll do those while I'm on a roll especially with all the lovely Christmas papers available this year.

I'm working on a new project to inspire you. I have a Heidi Swapp blank calendar which I thought was like any other blank calendar on the market but upon opening one that I had in stock I discovered it was a bit different. I has 12 page protectors in it to store a scrapbook page for each month of the year. Once the year in over and the calendar is no longer of use, you can rip out the calendar pages and leave the layouts as a photographic record of the year or better still leave the calendar pages in as a written record as well. It will be great to look back on in years to come. One of my resolutions is to be a better time manager and more organised so a calendar seemed like the perfect solution. It's pretty, fun to make and decorate and its preserving precious memories. I'm going to do a layout per month in themes and maybe a month in advance but I don't think it matters if I don't get the layout done until the first couple of days in the month. I did a January layout on about the 4th of January about a day we had spent at the beach and I'm so happy with the result. Ive decorated the calendar page with stamps and coloured pens to mark birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and so on. I'll be stocking several brands and sizes of calendars, and doing layouts and theme suggestions to inspire you. Join in if you like and see the results, you wont be disappointed!

I'm also working on Valentines layouts and projects for February, and maybe a school layout for Phoebes first day at school - yes my baby's growing up!

Thanks for visiting!