In the upcoming November issue of ScrapBook inspirations we've got details about the Country Living Christmas Fair. Held 12-16 November at the Business Design Centre it's the ideal way to get a headstart on your Christmas shopping, or simply indulge in some of the yummy festive food and drink that's on offer. Get all the details about ticket prices at the Country Living website or why not enter our competition to win one of 12 pairs of tickets? Visit http://www.futurecomps.co.uk/sbk46/ to fill out the entry form. The competition closes 1st November. Good luck!

Every issue I write a column in the news section of the magazine highlighting blogs we're enjoying. I like to include all sorts of blogs - not just scrapbooking ones and it's really fun to choose every month. Here are the blogs from the October issue:

* Eat breath sleep scrap – the name of Natalie Jubb’s blog says it all! We love Natalie’s style (above), check it out at eatbreathesleepscrap.blogspot.com

* Sandie Vincent’s gorgeous layouts have graced our pages from time to time so we were pleased to discover she also keeps a blog of her scrapbook projects. allscrappedout.blogspot.com

* American scrapbooker Wendy Anderson is one of the talented designers for Making Memories. Her layouts are packed with photos of her family and, as you’d expect a good amount of Making Memories’ goodies! You can take a peek into her scrapbooking world at wendysuegallery.blogspot.com

* Relive the 80s with these surreal downloadable paper robots, including Optimus Prime! www.paperrobots1999.com

Hello Elise! Glad we could help you achieve something in your to-do list! (You can see Elise's album in the August issue)

The October issue (45) of ScrapBook inspirations goes on sale Friday 19th September.

In this issue you'll find...

* Ideas you can count on
The Design Team come up with creative ways to use numbers on pages, including Mary Anne Walters' bingo card, the blank version of which can be downloaded here.

* Seasonal inspiration
Shirley Toogood makes her photos shine with a striking black and white colour scheme!

* Celebrate the unusual and unique
Thanks to Shimelle Laine we've got the first (but let's hope not the last) appearance of llamas in ScrapBook inspirations. Plus, don't miss The Spoon!

Plus all your favourites:
* The Sketch Collection - start your next layout today
* Your layouts about autumn and using digital supplies
* The latest products tried and tested
* Seriously tempting shopping ideas
* And so much more - phew!

The current readers gallery call closes tonight (monday)at midnight so don't dilly dally

We are looking for your original page designs for the following themes:

You! What has 2008 meant to you, or what does 2009 hold in store? This is the time to put yourself centre stage, because we want to see your 'Book of Me' pages!

Stamping - It's one of the oldest craft techniques around and deservedly one of the most popular. Show us your layouts with stamped effects ­any theme goes!

Email a digital image of your layout to me at our dedicated address sigallery@futurenet.co.uk. Remember to add your choice of theme to the subject line. All we ask is that your layouts are your own work and that you haven¹t submitted them to any other magazine. ScrapBook Inspirations does not accept layouts that have been published elsewhere, that are being considered for publication or have been entered in any competitions.

Every issue I write a column in the news section of the magazine highlighting blogs we're enjoying. I include all sorts of blogs - not just scrappy ones - and it's really fun to choose every month. Here are the blogs from the September issue:

Frugal photo tips Developing an interest in photography can be an expensive business, so that’s why we love the Frugal Fotog blog. It’s packed with tips and advice for taking stellar photos on a budget - including a quick-to-make tutu for fairy photos. Visit frugalfotog.blogspot.com to see for yourself.

We love this birdy mini book cover from skalovingeek.blogspot.com.

Ska-Loving Geek We love the name and we love her scrapping! Stephanie Peachey is a super-talented UK scrapbooker who posts photos of her projects (including the birdy mini book above, and layout below) and tempting pics of her latest crafty buys! Her blog can be found at skalovingeek.blogspot.com

A layout by Stephanie aka Ska-Loving Geek

Art journaling If you’re a fan of art journals or looking for some colourful inspiration (see image above) to get those words flowing, take a look at Dawn Sokol’s blog, d’Blogala. She shares pages from her own journals and interviews with other journal keepers. Go to dblogala.typepad.com for an inspiration boost!

Pink Candy Caroline Scattergood’s blog is a sweet as it sounds as she shares photos galore of her latest papery designs! She’s into scrapbooking, card making and ‘Off the page’ type projects. Visit bubblyfunk.typepad.com/pink_candy_by_caroline to see what she’s up to, or take a peek at our recent interview.

Make a Wordle! This addictive website wordle.net) can be used to make intricate word patterns (you simply add the words or use text from a website). Choose colours and a font, then print for a unique journaling idea.

If you've got a blog you'd like us to review drop me an email at scrapbookinspirations@futurenet.co.uk and let me know.

I love this idea for turning old record artwork into wall-mounted pockets. You can read the tutorial (with photos) over on Paper and Stitch. 12in record sleeves are of course perfect for scrapbooking papers (I spy American Crafts in the photo above!), but you could mix in some 7in pockets for scraps too.

[Via Craftzine]

My mum emailed me a link to a story on the Guardian website about Louis Armstrong's wonderful collages.

Throughout his life Louis decorated hundreds of tape boxes with photos, ephemera and notes - mostly adhered with sticky tape (def. not acid-free!). The Louis Armstrong website has a few images (including a small photo of his scrapbooks) as does the The Paris Review (I love the one with cut-out faces of the man himself).

The lovely Michelle Jackson-Mogford has kindly agreed to bare her scrapbooking soul for the next installment of scrappy interviews. Take a step into her crazy colourful world...

Rosie:Do you have a favourite colour combination?
Michelle: I love all colour... no sorry not loud enough... I LOVE ALL COLOUR!!! Ah that’s better! I love all shades and tones of colour from dirty grungy colour to in your face bright! I especially love any colour combination that people shy away from and then say ‘I would never have thought of putting them together’ like fuchsia pink and lime green or purple and orange. I think sometimes people are scared of colour but all you have to do is look around and see all the crazy colour combinations nature puts together and celebrate them. My 3 year old niece recently argued with me that all fish are green so I took her to see some salmon trout in a lake so she could see the pink, purple and turquoise in the myriad of its colourings and of course the green! So really for me my favourite combination is the one that speaks in the right way for the piece of work I’m working on.

What’s on your desk right now?
Right now?... let me see... OK I have a twirly round office pen pot thingy full of tweezers, lolly sticks, pokey tools, glue pot nibs, a spoon, some embellies, paint brushes and a pen! A pile of foam pads and rolls of different tapes, blue tac, some scraps of card, 2 empty coffee cups and half a cup of cold coffee, my cutting mat, sketch book and pencil, a stapler, a remote control, my phone, a pink feather, a pot of tiny shells, a xmas bauble, some invisible thread, a mickey mouse clock a pile of cd roms and camera memory sticks, my computer, a piece of rock from the grand canyon, oh and my wedding photo! Quite tidy really!

What’s your most recent scrapbook purchase?
That would be my new A2 cutting mat I love it and a new steel ruler that is a full 12in long as I’ve been fighting with a 10in metal ruler for ages and it got plain annoying! (The metre long one I found is on my xmas list LOL) oh and a whole stash of BasicGrey papers which I have a little addiction to!

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever done a layout about?
Hmmm... Now anybody that knows my work may be laughing at this question! Sometimes I worry myself with the ideas that fall out of my head! I have scrapped me dressed as a teabag and me having a nervous breakdown (not an actual one! it was a challenge to use a Rolling Stones song title and not to do the obvious I had to pick 19th Nervous Breakdown!) Another layout was to show my pride and joy which is my new toy... a scroll saw, I love it! (see above) And of course the LO that I was very proud to win the readers gallery with in the July issue of ScrapBook inspirations of me and my friends in a boat as the Jumblies! Oh and there was a challenge to scrap the a.b.c of something. Again I had to go left of centre and while brain storming with hubby we came up with the police alphabet, when he said C for Charlie I immediately thought of Charlie Brown, that tickled me a lot to be able to use a pic of him on a LO!, me being me though I then had to do the whole alphabet and had great fun with 26 1in squares of chipboard (boy are they small!) and googling images on the internet for each letter to go on them! (see layout below)

Scrapbooking or chocolate?
Well as I sit here polishing my halo having lost 64lbs to date and being only 4lbs from goal I have to say scrapbooking! However, if we were walking past the old fashioned sweet shop in Bourton on the water and you waved a bag of their most delicious chocolate ginger under my nose then resolve would be thrown in the river that runs through the town! But, of course, the most perfect answer is to take the bag of said choccy home, lock myself in my studio and munch away while scrapping to my heart's content LOL!

Thanks so much to Michelle for telling us a bit about her scrapping. If you'd like to nominate someone (or yourself) for a scrappy interview, drop me an email at scrapbookinspirations@futurenet.co.uk and we'll make it happen!

** This prize has now been claimed! Well done to Jayne, Katy, Theresa and Karen - you'll all be getting a surprise in the post! **

Things are changing at ScrapBook inspirations - we're moving to a new part of the office - and so we're taking the opportunity to have a massive clear out. I've got a box of mystery stash here on my desk and the first person to leave a comment telling me why they love scrapbooking can have it. Completely free.

Just leave a comment and your email address and if you're the first person, I'll get in touch. GO!