Yes, it is winter in Australia – not too much swimming going on but still many beautiful places to visit as things begin to open up after the initial lockdown. Sorry, Victoria – I think you may be headed back to lockdown, but look on the bright side – more time at home to do some scrapping!!

This was my Christmas in July. Brought back so many happy memories of our last Christmas in Sydney. I created the page with the Nairobi stencil released this month but used two of the AZZA Large stamp sets that are so versatile; Christmas Star and Silent Night. A lot of the stamps on both sets can be used throughout the year, so don’t discount them to ‘just another product’. The Mail Out Ladies also got a little ‘Christmas in July’ this month and received one of the sets of stamps I have used on my pages.

The AZZA Nairobi Duo is a 30 x 60 stencil which means it is designed to have a continuous design across both pages, that is, a double page. Obviously they can also still be used on single pages just as well. As you can see on the stencils below, one side is a lot narrower than normal. Those two sides are used to sit beside each other.

There is not a Studio kit with this stencil, but it does come with a booklet showing the many ways it can be used to create a page or set of pages.

I used a double page, the front page I cut vertically along the curve of the stencil and then folded it back upon itself.

Above you can see the page with the front flap open, I managed to get 4 photos onto this page. The stamp I used was:

This stamp is under our ‘Christmas Star’ selection in the online shop. The circle can be used throughout the year to highlight a title or a smaller photo. I have used the Bauble and the Trees on my page. I dusted the Trees with a little snow using one of the stamps from the Silhouette selection released last month. Don’t ever tell anyone you had to buy a stamp to put dots on a page, if they are not a Crafter, they will never understand!!

The ‘bauble’ and ‘star’ are great as you can use one or more, depending on the space you need to fill. They can hang from a horizontal line as I have done on my page, or a vertical line as Jennie has done on her page below.

Jennie has turned the central star shape on her page into patterned paper using the second large stamp set I wanted to highlight. The star used on her page is from this set: Silent Night

This is my centre spread and you can see how the stencil translates onto the page. I have used the larger music stamp both on paper and straight onto my page. If you want your whole piece of paper covered in the music you can stamp it a couple of times or combine the small and large stamp as I have done on the right-hand page. I also used one of the stamps to include the date on the page.

Always remember to bring your stamped images to life with inks, chalks or pens. A few pearls add a little texture to the image. If you have any AZZA Pearl Maker pens, these can also be used on your decorations – remember to leave them overnight to dry. We do have a few left in stock.

Hilary Hamilton created these beautiful pages below using the ‘Little Beasts’ themed products also released this month.

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My favourite use of these decorations is by Christine Ronsin, I do love her work. Christine has used the AZZA Cancun stencil (No 1) to create her page but just look how she has used the ‘Little Beasts’ products for her decoration ……..

She mentioned she modelled her page on a layout she had seen in the new Scrap & Moi magazine. If you are struggling with inspiration, why not sign up for a year to the magazine, you can get either a Gold or Regular subscription (4 = regular or + the 2 Bonus editions = Gold). We do have single magazines on sale in the shop if you would like to purchase one and see what you think. The magazines do not only cover the new AZZA products – in the latest No 55, one section covered ”Treasures” which had layouts of Aqua, AZZA Scrap kit Nature (Reve) and Orlando.

A competition is also run in the magazine and the winning layouts are always posted. Many of these feature older stencils. The Bonus editions have more pages and generally include ‘Special’ projects.

A beautiful double page by Jennie, our Consultant in the north of Queensland. I love the way Jennie has used the Silhouette die with the Nairobi stencil and she hashes photos through her die instead of paper. This always looks so good on the page as the tones are perfect.

AZZA butterfly die used with a photograph instead of paper. A stunning little decoration on the AZZA linen sheet.

Rachel in Queensland created the page above, striking page with just the one colour tone on black and white photos. Rachel has used the texture stencil around both sides of her photos, both on the page and on her paper. She has matched the colours on the page with the AZZA Ribbon behind her small photo. Never forget the little flight path of your flying ‘Little Beasts’.

Below, a few layouts by Sue Talbot in New South Wales.

Sue has used the Nairobi stencil, the silhouette papers released last month and the Butterflies from the Silhouette stamp set shown earlier.

I love this double page created by Sue. She has used one of the new colour pages released last month, perfect for her photos. She has used both the Floral and Winter Song dies and the stamp is from our ‘Nature’ set – this was a lovely release now available only in a kit form currently on sale. Do pop along and look at the kits on SALE as they are great value for the current price.

Deb, down in Tassie, created the page above using the Stockholm stencil, the Silhouette stamp I have shown you earlier and the beautiful little Dragonflies in the ‘Little Beasts’ products. Note how beautiful both the dots and the writing are to turn plain paper into patterned paper, but still not take the focus off the photos. The page below shows stamps from the same set, but this time used directly onto the page. This page was created with the AZZA Cancun stencil. These decorations are so gentle on the eye.

Our Consultants have been busy this month, a layout by Anita Day also up in Queensland.

The small frame Anita has used will be released in Australia next month.

Here is a link to Domonique Spirlet creating a page with the AZZA Nairobi stencil. She is just so talented, you will always learn something new when watching her create. You will notice some of these decoration products are not for sale in Australia. The beautiful embossing folder we have on order with Belgium, we are awaiting their arrival so will place them in the shop hopefully next month.

Lastly, don’t let this delicate set of dies slip by without taking a look at them.

Perfect for Card making too …..

And one of my own:

Happy Scrappin’

Lyn