Saturday, March 28, 2009

monthly kit clubs & other online shopping haunts I frequent!

I have been keeping track of kit clubs for quite some time...

Always tempted to buy a few kits here and there but international shipping is horrendous, I tell ya. I am still hesitating on which scrap clubs should I choose... I signed up for a few subs here and there and ended up terminating them midway. Subs are definitely cheaper but then again some kit clubs doesn't allow you to skip a kit or something, that's well, rather sad. :(

Here's my comments on a few kit clubs, its just solely my comments and they are in no way the official representation of the KCs ok? :)

Scarlet Lime - A kit club that's certainly worth your money. Has vintage ephemera here and there and also exclusive papers in a few months periodically (I got the Sept and Nov one ;D). I also love the exclusive clear stamps that come with each kit. Super-worth-your-money because you get loads more than what you pay at your LSS. :) However, as the months go on, I have realised the kit colors schemes are kinda not my taste. They always have exotic color combi like black/green/red, blue/yellow/brown. Sure they allow me to go out of my comfort zone but at the end of the day, I still prefer working with colors I love. They also only bring in new products every now and then... However, I am a big fan of their project kits each month. The sad thing is the project kits can go out within days, or even hours!! I want a project kit sub, pretty please?!

Label Tulip - A kit club which regularly brings in new products (Oh, how I love new products!) They also have an amazing design team with monthly influx of inspiration from their gallery as well. Their own exclusive stamps are also cool as well. While not being big on the design on the stamps, its the basic designs that make the stamps very versatile (think speech bubble, honeycomb links and more :D) However, on the worth-for-money part, they're not really working on it. There's quite a lot of papers with each kit but embellishments are mostly kept on the minimal. On the other hand, I am a sucker for exclusive ephemera here and there, and sadly, they don't feature ephemera often in their kits and even when they do, just like its embellishments, its kept to the minimium.

Studio Calico
- This would be the next kit club I am considering. Kits are affordable if you're looking at the sub price ($29.50, eek, finally something below $30, yay!) and they've their own exclusive paper designs that you can't find anywhere. Besides their exclusive papers, they also have their own exclusive embellishments - FabRIPS, those fabRIPS are so cool. They are adhesive-backed fabric strips that you can well, RIP it. (LITERALLY haha). Just the sound of it sounds so exciting and its an innovative venture. :) They also have an amazing team of designers and also have the most number of them that I have ever seen in any kit club so far. For their kits, I could say color combination at its best. ;) I love muted colors with bright colors popping up here and there. They also regularly bring in new products! Their project kits are also awesome and I love the new feature in their site - a shop. You can purchase matching embellies (think thickers, brads and more!) as well as some other tools, like matching Maya Mists, new Fiskar borders punches (oooh how I love thy Upper Crest one :D) As I have not purchased anything yet (I discovered 'em late and I am regretting!), I am unable to commnet on other aspects. ;(

Bad Girls Kits
- Haha, the name is already such a magnet for all bad scrappers out there. Their kits are awesome and packed full of papers and embellies. The best part is they always have loads of Primas, ahhh, how I love Primas! Their new flowers, stitched papers and PINK pearls earn my votes this CHA. :D Their design team also recently expanded and what I love is they always put extra notes at the bottom of each layout! It adds a little touch of coziness to me. :) Isn't that what scrapbooking is about? :D I would buy all the kits there but the prices are really really really... well, not affordable (especially for international scrappers like me) at the hefty tag of $42.95 (not inclusive of shipping). If you add on shipping, it will be about $60USD for a kit... doesn't really solve out to be a good bargain for me. :( But I do love their ephemera... look at the designer fabric and flashcards featured this month!

A Million Memories - I have always been stalking this monthly kit club. Furthermore, they have limited edition kits that come out every now and then so even if you don't like what they offer in each month, you can always go to the limited edition kits section! Beware though, there's only a few of those limited edition kits and you will need to get them fast before they all get snatched up by greedy people like me! Each monthly kit primarily feature new products (they are actually a store by themselves so I believe they always have a lot of stock themselves too!) and I love what they offer. Price is also reasonably priced and the only bad thing is that the embellishments are kept to a minium... but its worth the price after you calculate everything. :)

So what now?! Which ones should I take? :D Should I continue my subs with SL & LT or just register a new sub with any of the kit clubs I have mentioned? These are my favourites so far.

As for those cute ones without any sub... (which I buy incessantly every month since they always have what I am looking for and is also very affordable..!)

QTea Kits ~ Danielle is way too awesome. She puts so many items up for bargains on her shop and there's so many ephemera in each kit! I love to use them as embellishments! The best thing is the shop is based in Australia so international shipping to Singapore is dirt cheap (Yipee!) Is there any excuse for me to NOT buy from Qtea?!

Sweet Twee Lab ~ Oh! I love the mix between the new products and the random paper supplies in each kit. The color combination is also awesome. I always love the color schemes and the papers she put in each kit. Price is also very reasonable especially if you're thinking of getting a preorder at the good ol' price of $25. Kits also sell like hotcakes each month but the good thing is there's always the papercrafting kits that are put up at the end after each month's kit is sold. The papercrafting kit is almost like the real deal except a few embellies and papers are missing here and there but most of the time, at least half of the kits supplies are inside. And they're frigging cheap too! At $10~$15, who would resist?!

Ah I am done! :D I hope to hear any comments that could aid me in my decision. Do note that I am in no way affiliated to any of the kits mentioned here, it's just my honest opinions on each one of them!

P.S: Out of the scrapping world, fredflare.com, thelittlepinkstudio.com and Elsie's shop (redvelvetart.com) are probably the sites I frequent most! :D

Thursday, March 12, 2009

sorry!

for the massive lack of updates here. :) I am back to show some eye candy, seeing that I've been creating. It sure does feels good to know that I am still continuing to become the arty-farty little me.

Oh, and watch out all you blog-headers-lovers people ;D, I've acquired some digi scrapping skills and would probably apply them to help me put on a blog-header. So rejoice! No more boring blog layouts without a colorful header!

Something that I've done but 'still doesn't feel right', that kinda layout. I am not sure whether that makes sense, oh well!

I have added a 'signature style' watermark indicating this is my photograph, even though there's nothing to steal, but I kinda like the effect it brings the photo. I guess I am a sucker for anything that just looks handmade/arty-farty! :D


Sneak by you.

I will be back!

Currently in the midst of creating a birthday card for a beloved friend (and her twin, oh how I wish I can have a twin sister!) who's away on camp (imagine having to spend your birthday with creepy-crawlies) and I would probably be back soon to reveal it when the beautiful recipient is already met with the surprise. (which will be sunday/monday!)