I scream, you scream, we all scream for... Gelatos!

I'm very excited to see more and more "art supplies" sneaking into our traditional craft toolboxes. Our newest addition to the shop are Faber Castell's Gelatos. That's right, like the ice cream. We're still not 100% sure why they are called Gelatos, but my guess is that it is because they are creamy, rich and smooth and come in a whole array of colours.

When you take off the cap of the Gelato, the top looks like a lip balm, but the consistancy is closer to that of a lipstick. When you draw on a piece of ordinary paper, the top glides along the paper as you would expect a lipstick to. You can then smudge them with your finger, or use a waterbrush to thin the color and spread it across your page. Here is a small roundup of some projects we love using Gelatos.

Blending with Gelatos - Pink Paislee Blog

Gesso, Gelato & Stamping on Printed Paper - Design Memory Craft

How to Stamp with Gelatos - Art, Scrap & More

A 12x12 with Gelatos - UmWowStudio

We are currently stocking the Double Scoop range, as well as the Mix and Match Set. Come in store to see more samples & inspiration!

- Heather

Splendid Sunshine Project Life Page

Last week we unpacked this gorgeous range of Echo Park papers called Splendid Sunshine. While Summer seems further and further away every day (is anyone else out there layering on the jackets - it's only May!), I thought these papers would look gorgeous cut apart and mixed together in a Project Life style to scrap my 21st birthday! I'm also swooning over the new Bella Blvd washi tapes and the Chevron Combo pack in particular caught my eye straight away.

I mixed different pages from the range to create my journalling cards and punched 1" circles from the scraps and from some gold glitter cardstock to add interest to the page. I also scattered Prima Bloom florals around the page. While I love the bright colors of Splendid sunshine, I wanted to make the overall layout a little bit muted to match the colors in my photographs. To do this, I added some soft kraft Bazzill cardstock cut down into journalling card size and added embellishments from the leftover pieces of scrapbooking paper.

Finally, I added some chipboard cloud sentiments above where I will do my journalling about my birthday!

Products used:

• Echo Park Splendid Sunshine range of papers and journalling cutaparts
• Bella Blvd Designer Washi Tape Chevron Combo 3 pack
• Prima Bloom Flowers
• Chipshapes Scrap Words
• Gold glitter paper
• Bazzill Kraft cardstock

Have a wonderful week!

Heather

Relaunch Week: Day Three

Our third and craziest day of the relaunch is drawing to a close. Tracey & Kerrie, our Couture Creations goddesses packed out their classes to the point where we had to steal chairs and squeeze people in! Our car park was full and we had three people working the registers with most of our customers taking advantage of our 25% off sale! We now have a bigger coffee spot, which is fantastic because of the numbers of ladies (and husbands) wanting to have a cuppa while they craft.

We  can't wait for another busy day tomorrow and we hope to see you there!

The Craft Girls

25% Off all craft and beading!

 Calling all paper crafters and beaders!

Pssst!......If you have attended one of our fabulous relaunch classes you will have no doubt enjoyed our 25% off Sale!!

(This sale excludes already reduced items or electric die cutting machines and means no layby or back orders!)

So now is the time to come and see us or jump on line and bag a bargain!  But remember there are no back orders at these hot prices so get in quick and don't miss out as the sale ends at close of business on Saturday May 3rd 2.00pm.  So come on, catch the bus, drive the car, organise a group of friends, catch a train or let your fingers do the walking but don't miss out! Visit Photo Continental at 1480 Logan Road, Mt Gravatt Central QLD (near the intersection of Logan Road and Creek Road).

Also we have had wonderful feedback from our customers now they don't have to climb the stairs to come and indulge in their craft fantasies!  Entry is now at ground level through the area that was formerly our clearance room and direct from the car park.

The coffee machine has been running hot as usual. So much to see, you'll need to rest and have a cuppa.  New dies from Elizabeth Craft, Tattered Lace and Spellbinders. Full range of Distress including stamp pads, stains, paints and more.  Plus new deliveries of Project life and Snap!

See you soon!

The craft girls!

Meet Our Relaunch Teachers

The excitement is building around Photo Continental in anticipation of our Relaunch of the brand new Scrapbooking & Beading section! One of the best things about our Relaunch will be our $10.00 classes. These classes include everything you will need to create your beautiful craft, including materials, tools and instruction. Here's a little introduction to our fabulous teachers who will be gracing us with their expertise next week!

Frances: Frances is one of our newest teachers at Photo Continental. She is a designer for Elizabeth Craft Designs and writes regularly on her blog.

Tracey: Tracey has been invited to teach at many major events and is the “special projects” designer for Couture Creations.

 Mabina: Mabina is a professional interior designer, and jewellery maker. She was recently featured in the Brisbane Times. 

Kerrie: Kerrie is the design team co-ordinator for Couture Creations. She has been invited to teach across Australia, USA and South Africa.

Debra Clarke: Debra is a punch art specialist and has written and published many books showing technique and use of our favourite punches.







Sofie:  Sofie has over 28 years of experience and is the designer and teacher for the Australian range of Scrapmatts products.

Can't wait to see you at the relaunch!

The Scrap Girls 

Show Time!

At the Melbourne Scrapbook & Papercraft Expo, Photo Continental's stand won "Best Large Exhibit". Here is Teena & Stevie looking very pleased to win! Well done both of you!

Now they're down in Sydney, and their stand is ready and waiting for all of the Sydneyside crafters. Will we be seeing you down there?

The Scrap Girls

A VERY Silly Success!

Thank you to all of our amazing customers who came to support us on our BIGGEST Silly Sunday yet! This year we had nine cashiers working non-stop, five make-and-take tables overflowing with customers, and thousands of craft items flying off our shelves. We count this year's Silly Sunday as a complete success! Here are some photos of Photo Continental's craziest day of the year!

Let the fun begin.......

Teena and Stevie hit CHA (Craft and Hobbie Association) Trade Show!!

Opps!!!!  Wrong photo!

That's better!  For those not familiar with the process, CHA is the industry show where all the new craft products for the next 12 months are put on show for retailers to consider and place orders for the up coming year.  Not all items are released immediately, with many being released gradually throughout the year.  However Teena and Stevie get to see all the new product before us so all us girls in Scrapbooking  begged for our favourites to be checked out!  Karen wanting lots of new papers for scrapbooking - Prima, Crate Paper, Pebbles, Carta Bella and more, Heather for her favourite - Bo Bunny and Linda anything grungy and Tim Holtz!

So stay tuned and as we hear what might be coming we'll let you know!!

Cheers for now.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

From all of us at Photo Continental (especially Teena, Karen, Linda, Karen and Heather!) to all of you, our fabulous, faithful friends and customers, we would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year!  And we look forward to sharing our passion for beading, scrapbooking and cardmaking with you all in 2014.

Calling all beaders and wire jewellery fans!!!

Psst! .... Our beading Queen has caught the mark down bug from Teena and has reduced a huge range of beading and wiring books. Many have been reduced by more than 50%!  Such popular titles as 500 Beaded Objects and Stringing Style.  Also Bead and Wire Jewelry Exposed , Making Elegant Jewelry for Special Occasions and many more titles. 

There are also books to help new beaders' start such as Katies Basics of Beading , Jewelry Making and Beading for Dummies,  The Beading Answer Book and The Beaders Bible plus heaps more!! 

So why not come in and have a look and grab a book for Christmas and simply because you want to try something different.

So have a look online or come and see us and get a great deal on Beading books.

Bye for now

Linda