Baby Layout: July 2008

July 2008, first vacation for my niece, sea, sun and lots of fun!
I wanted a two page layout and at first I tried to use two different background papers, but then I thought to use this paper on both pages (from the K & Co "Sea glass" collection.
I positioned the photos and then I wanted something to accent the smaller ones, so I made some frames with mt nesties. Then they seemed too flat, so I added the yellow lines (Sakura Glaze) and then I covered them with Ranger's "Glossy Accents". It takes a while to dry but the results are shiny and it adds volume if you spread it in a thick layer.
For the rest of the photos I just used white Sakura Souffle and draw the faux stitches.
I used my American Crafts "Giggles" white thickers (I have a stash of them, bought them on ebay really cheap) and colored them with my copics, perfect results!
At this point the pages were almost complete, but I wanted to add something like a base, so I cut by hand white cardstock and used yellow distress ink (I'm a distress addict, it's a fact!).
For the finishing touches I stamped and colored the boat and the lighthouse (Inkadinkado) and then covered them with the Glossy Accents. Finally I used the Fiskars "Threading Water" border punch and added the blue string.

At this point I thought to leave it as it was, I liked it this way because it is not too loaded, I just added the date with the "Baby Face" cuttlebug alphabet.

They look like a summer breeze in my album!


 

Delivery Day: Patterned Paper and Cardstock

I just received my goodies and I'm so excited, I love all of them!

K & Company Bailey 30x30 paper pad, 36 two-sided papers, classic flowers and paisley designs in rich colors, really beautifull.
Also K & Kompany Hopscotch Girl 30x30 paper pad, 36 two-sided papers, really yummie colors and designs, I adore this pad.
Finally I bought a cardstock pack, Core'dinations Elements Super Assortment, http://www.coredinations.com/index.php/products/super-assortments/ , I can't wait to try it and find out what I can do with the colored core, definitely a little sanding or even tearing, who knows!

Now, ordering 12x12 paper pads or cardstock packs does not come cheap if you live in Greece, since delivery costs quite a bit when you order them from abroad, even when I'm buying from ebay. So, that's what I do:

On ebay, I choose a european site, for example ebay.co.uk. Then, I search for the desired object and on the tab "Preferences" -> "Location" I choose "European Union", since these items are heavy and large in size and even if I find something at a good price at ebay.com, there is the risk to pass through the greek customs, and if it does, well, that's a sad story...
Choosing European Union in the preferences, there is not such danger.

Besides ebay, there are a few (that I at least know) online retailers, in Europe, that I use, and recently I discovered two french sites:

• la fourmi creative
• la boit' a scrap

The difference with these online retailers is that they charge a fixed sum for delivery to Greece, 12 and 10 euros respectively, and not accordingly to weight, value or volume, so if you want to buy heavy or large objects, it comes quite cheap. For example, I bought from la fourmi creative 2 paper pads (36 sheets each), a cardstock assortment (80 sheets) and an album, all 12x12 inches, and the delivery cost was 12 euros, delivered to my door (and not at the post office) 7 days after the day I ordered them.
Another aspect is that they have promotions and sales quite often, for example each K & Company paper pad cost me about 10 euros, I think it is a really good price.

If you happen to know and trust an online retailer in Europe that delivers to Greece, you're welcomed to share it with me!

Tips: Buying from Ebay

Buying my crafts stuff from ebay has became a routine for me.

Reasons:

1. Huge variety of choice
2. Prices are varying from good to really good to unbeatable!
3. Hard to find stuff, like retired or new releases

What it takes to achieve a purchase that will make me smile is just searching for a while:

1. I use the ebay search engine (advanced mode) and there I define what I'm looking for. My standard criteria are: new, available to Greece, buy now (I don't have the patience to monitor an auction) and then the description of the object I'm looking for, i.e. fiskars trimmer
2. Then, I sort the results, usually by the price (lowest to highest) and go through them.
3. I always calculate the total cost (price + shipping) to determine what I should consider buying and what not
4. If I'm looking for something small and light, i.e. clear stamps, thickers, embelishments, punches (not huge ones), I prefer USA because the prices are really good (with shipping costs included). I also pay antention not to exceed 30-40 euros of total cost (I'm scared of greek customs!). If I 'm looking for something heavier or more expensive, I always prefer europe ebay (uk, ireland, france, italy, whatever)
5. Once I decide what I want to buy, I check the rest of the stuff that the seller has for sale, because they combine shipping costs, and if I find something else that I currently want and is within my budget limit, I choose to buy the object I was searching for and the extra object that caught my attention.
6. I go through the checkout process but I request the total from the seller, so as to receive a total invoice with the shipping costs recalculated.
7. Once the seller sends me the total invoice, I pay via Paypal
8. ALWAYS USE PAYPAL, if there is a "safe" way to send money via the net, that is Paypal.
9. The delivery varies from a week to a month (rarely and only when buying from usa)
10. Once I receive, I leave feedback for the total experience.

So far, everything I ordered was received as described, no bad surprises, with one exception: a dcwv matstack was corrupted on one corner (not something that could happen from bad handling from the post services). I sent an email to the seller with a picture of it (before leaving feedback), the seller was kind to send me another matstack free, I left positive feedback, everybody happy!

What I'm not buying from ebay?

1. Heavy cardstock packs because the shipping costs are very high. I usually purchase them form online retailers in europe (I like american crafts and I usually buy them from http://www.sarahscardsltd.com/).
2. When I need something asap, I always choose http://www.scrapbooking.gr/.
3. When I want a specific object from a well known brand and can't find it, I always send a quote to http://www.scrapbooking.gr/ and ask about it.

So, I have to leave you now, I 've got some nestabillities hunting to do!