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

Nothing says Christmas like a sparkly Christmas Tree. I’ve seen many cards going around on Pinterest using Washi Tape, and this seemed like the perfect chance to try it out! I love just how easy this was to put together, and think I might make a couple more to send out to friends!
It’s been a very stressful week, and whilst I love crafting and cardmaking, I just wasn’t feeling it today. Still, I pushed on through and tried out a style of folding card I’ve wanted to try for a while. Then my mental demons raised their head and stole my creative energy, but luckily I found a couple of toppers from Papercraft Inspirations that finished it off nicely.
As I continue through this challenge, I’ve realised just how difficult I find it to put what I want in front of everything else. Plus, even if I want something, that doesn’t always give the motivation to actually do it. I want to do this challenge, I want to make time for my crafts. Now it’s something I’ve told myself I have to do, it’s twice as hard!
Now I’m into the final stretch, here’s hoping some inspiration will hit me!
Back in April, I managed to find some time off work to head to the Craft 4 Crafters show. On my best behaviour, I stuck to a strict budget, but temptation came in the shape of these next products. I resisted and put them on my mental wishlist instead, but it was a definite struggle.
I fall in love with anything cute and quirky, so of course I immediately fell in love with Lawn Fawn! The punny sentiments are just an added bonus. Plus, many of their amazing designs combine both dies and stamps, making for some amazing card designs.
It’s impossible for me to pick just one thing for my wishlist this week, so here’s my top three Lawn Fawn products of the moment that I hope to have coming my way soon!
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Image taken from Lawn Fawn |
Pizza. PIZZA. There aren’t many things I love as much as pizza, which is why this cute little stamp set is top of my wishlist. Don’t get my started on the cute little faces that you can add to these slices!
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Image taken from Lawn Fawn |
Hippogriffs and Dragons and Unicorns oh my! I have some perfect fairy tale themed cardstock I could partner with this for some adorable cards.
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Image taken from Lawn Fawn |
I love organisation and planning, and this stamps would made my Filofax even more beautiful! I’ve been tempted by bullet journaling recently as well, and this stamp set might make it a little less daunting! The tooth will definitely make dentist appointments a little less scary as well – just look at that little guy!
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.