
1. Cricut Explore Air 2 Machine (Affiliate)
2. Big Shot Plus Starter Kit (Affiliate)
3.KnitPro Symdonie Rose Interchangeable Needle Set (Affiliate)

I have never made my love of Lawn Fawn products a secret on this blog. They regularly feature on my wishlist. So, it was with great excitement that I awaited news of their new products for this Spring. When I came across this video by Lesley Oman from Creativation, my excitement tripled.
I love making box cards, but I very rarely make them. Why? Because they’re such a pain! All the measuring and hand cutting the box and then trying to fit it all together? I just don’t have the patience for it. So when I discovered Lawn Fawn were releasing a die to solve all my problems, my heart soared.
This video from Lesley perfectly demonstrates what can be done with the new die, as shown by the range of designs on display in the video. It looks super easy to use, which is great for a crafter with a busy life! Unsuprisingly, I’m also quite taken with the Meow You Doin’ Stamp and Die Sets – check out the inspiration from Lawn Fawn below!
How amazingly cute is this beautiful card by Lizzy Criman!? Check out more of her work here
Long story short, I cannot wait for Lawn Fawn’s new offerings. I am always uneasy about ordering from outside the UK (mainly due to shipping costs), but with a big enough shopping list, I think I’m going to bite the bullet and go ahead with an order!
How about you guys? Has anything from Lawn Fawn’s new range taken your fancy?
I feel like I’m slowly, slowly, pushing the edges of where I feel comfortable crafting, taking creative risks and trying new stuff out. This is one of those cards that’s pushed me a little bit further. It still feels really simple, but I’m happy with how it’s come out and I’m keen to try this out again in the future!
I don’t really know what I was going for with this prompt, other than I didn’t want it to be your stereotypical ‘Winter Scene on a Card.’ It took a little bit of fiddly, but I’m really happy with the overall look of this card.
Of course, I went and ruined it with the sentiment on the bottom. A few months back I bought a Memory Keepers Heatwave Foil Pen, and after the first play put it in a box and haven’t looked at it since. So I thought I’d have a play with it today. Rather than actually try it out on scrap first though, I got over excited and just went straight for writing on the bottom of my finished card.
Long story short, it was a waste of money that I just can’t get to work, and I hastily stuck a stamp over the top and called it done. I just wish I’d read the reviews before I spent my money. Still, I think I’ll be revisiting and refining this card later – and I’m glad to have finally found a use for my pile of coloured acetate.
I am so pleased with how this came out! I have a huge selection of snowflake dies, which is originally what I planned to use when I came up with this prompt. Then, when I was going through my paper collection for inspiration, I came across this from a selection I picked up in the post Christmas sales earlier this year. I instantly wanted to use it, and came up with this simple but contemporary card. To top it off, I used ‘Snowflake Tinsel’ embossing powder on the sentiment, to really give it a feel appropriate for the time of year.
I definitely think I’m going to be making a couple more of these to send out to family members! And I’m sure I’ll find a use for the snowflake dies later on in my challenge.
I’ve really fallen in love with card making recently, but I’ve found myself with a couple of problems:
Searching the internet for some inspiration, I found this video from Gabrielle Pollacco, demonstrating a type of card I haven’t attempted yet.
Inspired by the video, I set about making my own, including these adorable stamps from Lawn Fawn – one off my ‘not used’ list.
But then I got thinking about the rest of my stash, and decided to set myself a little challenge – thirty cards, thirty days. My adventures into my craft stash will be posted daily over on my Instagram, or you can look out for the weekly round ups each Sunday.
If you fancy a peek at what’s to come, check out the list of prompts I’ve created for myself below!
When I was very young, I was gifted with a copy of The Hobbit by my grandmother. I read it immediately, and then again, and fell in love with Middle Earth and it’s lore. Even though an amount of it went over my head at the tender age of ten, I still sat entranced watching the original trilogy of movies. As times gone on, my passion has only grown.
But I digress. This is not a post about my love affair with Middle Earth, but rather an introduction to a product I’ve loved creating.
My sister’s university housemate (and close friend) is getting married this summer. Shortly after I bought my Big Shot Plus, I got a request to make something for the wedding. “We’re not sure what yet, but something.” Time passed, and they came back with a request.
New address cards, that would suit the ‘Hobbitness’ of their new address.
Well, how could I refuse a request like that?
So, for the past month my mind has been buzzing with ideas for these new address cards. When given a theme you love and almost free reign it’s amazing what you can come up with. I experimented with embossing, combining different dies, using new card shapes.
Here’s just a select sample of my early designs. I don’t want to show all of them as it may spoil the surprise! I made the cards with a mix of white and coloured card, mainly so I could show colour ideas without spending too much money on card stock just for samples. The samples and my notes went off to the Bride-to-Be, and I’m off to Cardiff this week to settle the final design to start making.
I imagine not all bespoke requests are this fun, but I’m enjoying it while it lasts!
Since I bought my Big Shot earlier this year, I’ve become completely obsessed with card making and my crafty stash has exploded. I’ve expanded out into stamping and embossing, as well as getting more imaginative with card shapes and designs. However, I very quickly needed some inspiration and found it amongst the hundreds of Video Tutorials on Youtube.
This one by catherinestamps gave me the idea of creating my own design, shown below.
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Dies used are both Sixxix Framelits |
I’ve been aware of die cutting for a while now – it would be difficult to make so many trips to Hobbycraft and not see the rows of dies on display. But I never really understood the appeal. Apart from my on and off again relationship with ‘Project Life’ and the occasional greetings care, my crafting interests lay far away from paper craft.
Fast forward to 2016. It’s not been the best year so far, with a lot of time spent off work. Lazing in bed for hours on end lead me to the discovery of my latest addiction – Create and Craft TV. Despite my joint loves of spending money and crafting gear, I’ve yet to fall into the teleshopping trap. But, anyone who has seen the channel will know it’s full of die cutting. The more I watched, the more I wanted one of those machines. And so, in a moment of weakness and stood in Hobbycraft, I picked up the Sizzix Big Shot Plus Starter Kit.
Thanks to work, I hadn’t had a chance to experiment with my latest purchase before my next trip to Hobbycraft (Cardiff.) I got chatting to a lovely member of staff there called Alison, who knew everything you need to know about die cutting, and pointed me in the right direction. Armed with a bagful of goodies, I headed home and unpacked my kit.
After many hours watching Create and Craft, I was pretty confident with what I was doing, but if it wasn’t it still would have been easy to get started thanks to the instructions printed on each of the platforms. I started with a couple of little shapes, but then got on with I’d been planning since I bought the kit. The kit comes with a number of dies, including a box die. And since unpacking the box, my house has steadily been taken over by decorated gift boxes.
I’m sure I’ll talk about the Big Shot Plus more in the future, but right now I’m just excited to keep experimenting! There may also be more dies on the way after payday.