Thursday 31 March 2016

Thank you!

 Well today is the LAST DAY of Sale-A-Bration 2016. Just a little reminder for those of you who may have any last minute orders to make the most of the free goodies. I will be closing off the Online Code Club Order around 9am this morning so please do get in touch before then if you want to use the code or if you are local if you want to add onto the order.

I have now been at The Paper Haven craft studio for a month and I thought I would take the opportunity to reflect on my first month. It has been hard work and tiring but it has been so amazing and I am very glad I made the decision to go for it. 
Moving most of my craft things out of the house and down here was a little strange but I am enjoying the fact that when I get home it's family time, as well as all the cooking and cleaning of course. I think I am actually being more productive too! If I do need to nip down and collect something or do some extra work it's only 7 minutes drive! I have received so much positive feedback from my existing customers and also my new customers who have joined me at classes now that I am here at the studio. 21 new class attendees joined me during March which I am thrilled with and I am looking forward to welcoming more people.
I had a lovely open morning with lots of new people popping in to see the new place and sign up for classes. Thank you to those who attended and to everyone who helped me out.
 My Crafternoon Teas are proving to be the most popular event at the moment. I offer one per month on the second Saturday of the month. We make a lovely craft project and then enjoy a full afternoon tea provided by my caterer on vintage china. I have seats left for 14th May and 11th June if you would like to treat yourself. I can arrange for groups of friends to sit together too.
And so as the month ends I am feeling happy and grateful that I have been able to make this leap into the world of owning a craft studio, a dream I have had for a long time. I am looking forward to adding to and enhancing my class lists and in April I am excited to be hosting my first Baby Shower and private Birthday Crafternoon Tea Party. I have lots of events planned including this one to make the beautiful bags and card below. 3 different sessions available, all on my Classes/Events page or on Facebook here
So it's only appropriate to end with a tonne of thank yous. Firstly to my husband Robin who has tirelessly listened to my ramblings and ideas about the studio since the middle of November 2015 and has helped me to lift and shift my old craft room down here, as well as many other jobs. My Dad who has been a big help with the paintbrush and moral support. My Mum and Kate who washed up every piece of cutlery, cup, saucer, plate, teapot, mug, sugar bowl, milk jug and organised my cupboards for  me. To Sharon who came and painted chairs and pulled about 100 staples out of old chairs. To Monica who kindly gifted me the gorgeous dresser (that has had many comments) and came and painted whatever I asked her to and organised my ribbon drawer. To everyone who sent a card, gift, flowers and messages of good luck to me, I was overwhelmed by those. To all my class attendees who have had to change their routes to craft class, some are now nearer, some slightly further away but all have been positive about the space. To my team for adjusting to a new setting and set up for team trainings events and for bearing with me whilst I was a little distracted for the last few weeks. To the staff at Gaunts who were great at dealing with my requests and answering all my questions. To my fellow tenants at the Springfield Centre, thank you for welcoming me to the "family", I feel like I have new friends. Finally to anyone who I have forgotten (huge possibility) and to the many people who I have pitched ideas to, used as a sounding board and have listened to me bang on about the studio for the past few months. I am truly grateful, my glass is brimming and I am looking forward to many many many more months and years at The Paper Haven. 
Julie
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Wednesday 30 March 2016

Last of the ReTREAT projects

Hello there. Well the decorating is starting today, very exciting and cannot wait to see our new room finished. Today I am sharing the remaining ReTREAT day projects with you. I saw some amazing cards on Dena Rekow's BLOG. I am a big fan and I love what Dena did with the Botanical Gardens set so I CASED her style for this gift bag and matching card.
 The flowers on the gift bag have been stamped and then cut out with the dies. The flowers on the card were simply cut from coloured card stock. I think I prefer the flowers on the card.
I went for quite a bright combo of Melon Mambo, Calypso Coral and Cucumber Crush which was a contrast to the papers we used in the morning. We also used a bit of the lush Gold Foil card which goes so well with the black/white combo.
Really enjoyed making these projects but I am not rolling any more of those flowers out for a week or so! I was seeing them in my sleep for a few days, as I am sure most of my ladies were!
There are only 2 days left of Sale-A-Bration 2016. 2 days to get your hands on the free exclusive goodies. I will be closing my Online Code Club tomorrow at 9am, please make sure you order before then if you are wishing to take part and receive a gift in April.
Julie
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Tuesday 29 March 2016

Bucket of flowers

Hello there! The good news is we managed to get most of the former craft room sorted out yesterday. Probably just got another half an hours work in there to do before the decorator arrives on Wednesday morning! Very exciting I must say.

Today I am sharing another project from my ReTREAT days last week. As soon as I saw the cute little flowers in the terracotta pots in the catalogue I knew I had to have a  go at one. I went along to a local wholesalers and tried to find some but there were none to be had and time was of the essence (plus Mr K was with me and was getting impatient) so I had to settle for the metal buckets! But I was really pleased with them in the end.
I filled the bucket with a piece of Oasis and then made the flowers using green floristry wire, the die cut flowers and some strong tape. I should really have included more flowers in my bucket but again time was of the essence. 
My ladies faired much better than I did and some of the Saturday ladies had the fab idea of adding the various leaves at the back of some of the flowers using some Mossy Meadow card! Don't they look amazing, they put mine to shame! Below are Jill and Pat's creations.
If you would like to have a go at these then the Stampin Up products used can be found below and the other items should be available online or in a local garden centre.

See you tomorrow for more projects.
Julie
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Monday 28 March 2016

Retreat Projects - Part 1

Hello there and welcome to my blog today on Bank Holiday Monday. This post has been scheduled as I am spending most of the day clearing out the remains of my former craft room at home to prepare for the decorators who are coming on Wednesday to turn it into a little "snug" for us! I'll post pics after the transformation. 

Today I thought I would start to share the projects we made at last weeks Spring Retreat Days. As soon as I saw the lovely big bag made by Caroline Hallett (a fellow demonstrator) I knew I had to include them at my events. You can find the link to Caroline's design here . Thank you Caroline for allowing me to share these at my class.

At my event the ladies received a generous goody bag consisting of the Botanical Gardens stamps, dies and papers plus more accessories for decoration.  I made 2 different designs for my ladies to be inspired by and the ladies also got a bonus SAB stamp set of the Botanicals For You to be able to decorate the front of the bags.
I just realised as I typed this up that there is one of the perfect accents missing off the left handle of the bag below and it also looks like it's taken a little bit of a beating in the handle department too but other than that you get the drift of what I was trying to achieve I am sure!
 Once I had made 2 of the larger bags I decided to come up with my own measurements for a smaller version using 2 piece of 6x6 paper and you can see the 2 of them below.  We had a couple of hiccups on the day with the measurements but in the end the ladies came up with some really lovely bags and I hope they will make more at home .
 I really enjoyed making these so decided to come up with some in my favourite papers at the moment, the Birthday Bouquet papers from the current Spring Catalogue.
I will be running 3 classes on this on the 20th and 23rd April making the items above. Full details can be found on my Classes and Events page or you can check out my Facebook events page HERE

Thanks for reading today and I'll be back tomorrow, unless I get waylaid with sorting the old craft room out!
Julie
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Sunday 27 March 2016

Retreat Days

Good Morning and a very Happy Easter to you all. I've been up early today despite being shattered after a full on day at the studio yesterday for my Retreat Day. This week I have welcomed 20 ladies to my retreat days, 8 on Wednesday and 12 on Saturday. This is the first time I have been able to offer a midweek Retreat Day and I am looking forward to arranging more.

As it is Easter this week I just had to make sure there was a little Easter treat for my ladies and my lovely friend and downline Anna popped over and helped me make these little treats. They contain a Malteser chocolate bunny. Thank you Anna.


 Here is my table all set up for Wednesday's session. We started at 10 and were supposed to run to 7 but we didn't manage to last that long!
The ladies all received a generous goody bag containing the Botanical Gardens stamps, dies and papers AND the Botanicals SAB stamp set, plus card and accessories to complete the projects.
 When the ladies arrived I had hot drinks and pastries waiting for them. The day includes Brunch, Lunch and Afternoon Tea, provided by my caterer Jayne.
 On the Saturday I changed the flowers around. I LOVE roses and I enjoyed popping these out on the tables to make it look pretty!
We also had a birthday girl in the house on Saturday as Gillian had celebrated her 60th birthday the previous weekend so we just had to make a little fuss of her and I made her this card and got these roses for her.
 I was so busy talking and distracting my ladies that I barely took any photos but I did manage to take one of the cakes we had for Afternoon Tea. Gorgeous Victoria Sponge, Coffee and Walnut and of course, Scones with cream and jam!
 I will share the projects we made over the next couple of days. If you would like details on my future retreats then please just message me on thepaperhavenleeds@gmail.com

Seats have already been taken on some of the days

SUMMER RETREAT DAY - 10-6 - £85

Wednesday 13th July
Saturday 16th July

CHRISTMAS RETREAT DAY - 10-6 - £85

Wednesday 16th November
Saturday 19th November 

Julie
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Saturday 26 March 2016

12th Birthday Card

Hello there. Today I am busy with the second of my two Retreat Days and have 12 lovely ladies joining me for the day. I will report back with all the details of the day(s) soon.

Today's is another quick make from my 10 for £10 class a couple of weeks ago. This card was made using the Cherry on Top DSP stack and I designed it for older girls. It's often hard to come up with cards for teenagers and I think this fits the bill for around that age group.
The papers are cut 14cm x 3cm, perfect for any leftovers/scraps and the balloons are punched out in Watermelon Wonder, Cucumber Crush and Pool Party.
 Apologies for the short post today, got to dash off to the studio to welcome the ladies!
Julie
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