It's {Jubilee} Weekend, and we have NEW stash!

This weekend, Britain and other commonwealth countries commence our Jubilee celebrations with Queen Elizabeth II, and the Royal Family. She has reigned as our Sovereign for an astonishing 60 years.

It’s a very exciting weekend ahead for us here in the UK over the next few days. Apparently a monarch only manages to reign for 60 years, approximately once every 300 years. So clearly we are not going to be in a position to enjoy this kind of celebration again in our lifetime!

As you will no doubt see from news feed images around the world this weekend (Saturday through Tuesday for us), it’s going to be one huge party! Houses, shops, village greens, High Streets and public spaces will be adorned in the iconic red, white and blue St George’s flags, as communities  heartily celebrate together with Jubilee Parties, BBQ’s, balls, galas, street parties, concerts, beer festivals, parades, stunning inimitable Royal Pageantry. Of course there are thousands of events planned across the commonwealth. This is a memorable and patriotic time for us all. England is bright with excitement and anticipation and very proud of our Queen.

I was in London on Wednesday this week.Had a lovely lunch catching up with a school friend from waaaaay back in the early 80's who i have not seen since I was 15 when we finished our 5th form year. Was fabulous to catch up with her.  Here is a shot of the market place roof at the tourist hot-spot, Covent Garden. London is looking magnificent in the summer sunshine all dressed up! Bunting everywhere!

You might be interested in these stamps if you are partial to a spot of British themed creativity!

Hot Pick 1208

NEW Stamps: London themed Hot Picks

The British theme has been very strong as a design trend internationally for several years now. We released a few plates in February which have been great selling stamps, everyone loves a London bus right! (see right)

Hot Pick 1209

London hosts the Olympic Games this summer, and Royal milestones like ‘The Wedding’ and ‘The Diamond Jubilee’ have only made this trend one that’s with us to stay. 

Hot Pick 1210

So now we have 2 new stamps with  some iconic landmarks, flag bunting, a 2-part Union flag so you can stamp the red bits and stamp the blue bits separately to make a distressed Union Jack, as well as some Brit-themed flowers to match the existing dies we have. We are confident this isn’t a passing trend, London is one of the world’s top destinations, so these stamps will always have great appeal - and always a good look for masculine cards too.

These stamps are online to order now, and due to the long Jubilee weekend,the first available day for us to start shipping is Wednesday 6th June, after which we are closed until Monday 11th June for ArtsyCrafts. This means we only have 1 day at HQ next week, as we leave Thursday to build up for ArtsyCrafts, so we will try our best to get as many orders out as possible, but be prepared to not receive orders until 12 June. We will deal with orders on a first come basis.

We also recently added these items to the site:

Substrates: Crunchy

Crunchy with paint, die cut, crumpled

Our very popular Crunchy waxed craft paper (RRP £2.95) for 20 A5 sheets, has received lots of publicity in Craft Stamper, and Scrap365 recently, and customers are snapping it up fast.

Ideas using it:

1. It’s great fun to crumple then die cut crunchy. 
2. It also can be sewn easily. 
3. Try mica powders on it (they cling to the wax) then zap to heat set and create a stunning metallic surface that looks awesome for hearts and flowers. 
4. It also looks super with a wash of Fresco paint, and stamped, before or after crumpling, and layered with other substrates (Metal Card, Crackly etc). 

The more you play, the more ideas you discover with this product!

Substrates: Crackly

New to the noisy family of PaperArtsy substrates is Crackly. This is similar to tissue paper, but crispier, and a tad shinier - intrigued?? It certainly crackles!

Ideas using it:

Crackly stamped with moth, adhered to painted mini canvas

1. It looks fantastic washed with all manner of colouring products; paint, sprayed with dyes, smooched with inks, portfolio oil pastels etc
2. Give it some texture; crumple, die cut, layer - and i mean lots of layers!! (TIP: it's easier to crumple your sheets first and then die cut, its also easier to add colour to full sheets than smaller die cut items)
3. Use it to add an image to an uneven surface, like canvas or wood (moth picture). Stamp your image in archival jet black ink, heat set and fix to your receiving canvas surface with Fresco Satin glaze. I painted the red star from behind, so the image stays black on the front. This is a basic example onto a mini canvas, but I'm sure you get the point!

Substrates: Smoothy

We released this quietly not too long ago. It is naked Thorndon Hall paper! People have loved the quality of Thorndon Hall, and it stamps up so beautifully, so we decided to get in some paper to sell as the perfect stamping surface. As you know, its soooooooo smoooooooothe, and perfectly matte, so it absorbs the ink correctly to give a stunning crisp image, but its not slick, so you can literally use any type of colouring product on it with ease: pan pastels, water based dye inks like distress, adirondak, memento, as well as pigment inks (perfect for direct to paper), markers like pro-markers, distress pens etc, Portfolio Oil pastels, and it will even stand up to paint, dye sprays, gesso....you get it right!! Anything!

10 sheets(A4) in  a pack for £2.85 RRP 

Get it while it lasts: Thorndon Hall 12x12

We have nearly sold out of these, so we have reduced the price to just £9.60 RRP for a pack of 24 sheets of double sided 12x12

NEW Stamps: Haberdashery Themed Hot Picks

Hot Pick 1211

You may remember that we commented earlier this year we had noticed all thing related to fabric were moving away from an 'emerging trend' and into a 'here to stay' category.

We have watched fabric elements arrive in the paper craft sector over recent years; felt flowers, organza, chiffon, silk and vintage trimmings (flowers, buttons ribbons and lace in particular) have appeared in many scrapbook collections, as well as vintage buttons, pearls, and the use of stitching to attach or frame layers on cards scrapping layouts, canvas etc.  

Fabric offers a textural element and versatility to the multi-skilled crafter who flicks between different crafting genres. 

Hot Pick 1212

You don't have to be a sewer to enjoy this trend. The style of sewing required is what I call 8 year-old sewing. The more wonky, random and childish the stitching looks, the better. 

Vintage and retro style imagery is popular on china, tea towels, kitchen and general household accessories as is clearly seen in retail chains like Cath Kidston, Anthropolgie and many independent gift and kitchen shops. We are also seeing this vintage/retro imagery reflected in the fashion and graphic design industries.

Hot Pick 1213

In the Craft Sector we can now see scrapbook and manufacturing companies adding to their 12x12 and A4 paper collections with the same design patterns available as fabric by the bolt, fat quarter or 6” ‘pinked’ squares with co-ordinating embellishments that work for both paper and fabric crafting activities. 

This is a huge cross-over opportunity for the Craft, Fabric and Wools shops as well as those who carry household gifts. Check out the popular Mollie Makes Magazine, which for the last year has reflected all these trends and multi use of many crafting products.

Hot Pick 1214

For 36 months Lin and I have wanted to teach a fabric-infused ArtsyCrafts retreat, and for 36 months Mark and I have been gradually refining a series of haberdashery-relevant stamps, waiting for the right time to release them. 

Finally, our ArtsyCrafts fabric-themed mixed media weekend retreat ‘Fabric Fest’ is happening next weekend, June 8-10, so now is the time for the big reveal of these gorgeous complementary stamps. Good things come to those who wait!

Hot Pick 1215

I think these images are timeless, and I love how the plates have come together so beautifully. I can’t wait to see what you think of these images, please, do email us with your comments if you can find a minute.

Due to the large number of Jubilee bank holidays next week and us being away at ArtsyCrafts next weekend (June 7-10), we shall start shipping all new stamps from June 11^th onwards, so you can order online now, but be prepared for a bit of a wait.

If you are quick to order this weekend, we are hopeful that we *might* get first orders out on Wednesday June 6th next week.

Wishing you all a wonderful celebration weekend! Stay safe and enjoy your Pimms!              

Leandra and the PA HQ team