CRAFT HAUL - November & December

Hello

I have been busy buying a few things over the last few months, its kind of been a bit all over the place to be honest. I attend the London Stitching, Sewing & Hobbycraft show in November so managed to grab a few bargain dies and general supplies.

Here is my craft haul with some of the things I have purchased over the last couple of months. There was a lot more, but mostly craft 'top up' supply's, so I will just be showing the top items (well the ones I can remember!).

Stick It Snail Adhesive & Refills ~ I grabbed a ton of refills which were on offer from the craft show! So I am stocked up for a while at least.

Dovecraft Puffy Paint ~ Saw this at the craft show and it is fab! Use your heat gun on it and it puffs up like snow! :)
Metallic Twine ~ Hobbycraft
Woodware Etch & Pierce Tool ~ Good basic tool to have now I'm starting to get a collection of dies together. Handy to add shape to die cuts like flowers.
Xcut 10mm Corner Punch ~ Best thing ever to add finishing touches to your cards and handmade items. This one was a reasonable price too!

Stampin' Up! Better than Mail Stamp Set ~ If you are making items using any Stampin' Up! products or images to sell they ask that you use the copyright stamp. We just did a small table at a local event with handmade Christmas items so this was a must :)

Phill Martain Sentimentally Yours 'Time for a Cuppa' Stamp Set ~ found this item new on ebay. Fantastic set and came in very handy for a particular item I was making for the stool (that will be another post).
Birthday Note Stamp & Die set ~ free with a craft magazine but I have used it loads already.
Personalised Stamp ~ Wood block 2 rows personalised stamp from ebay.
Xmas Mini Clear Stamp ~ Hobbycraft.

First Edition Gilded Winter ~ 6x6 paper pack. I actually ordered a different pack but they sent me the wrong one. I have been trying to make use of this one which has some lovely rustic looking papers that don't have to be used just for Christmas.
First Edition Paradise Crush ~ 6x6 paper pack. This pack is just beautiful, full of colour and designs. Fell in love with this when I first saw it so just had to grab it.
The Colours of Christmas Vintage Pad ~ 15x30cm. A bargain found in The Works! Has some lovely basic patterns brill for backgrounds on the more vintage style cards.

I also managed to pick up:

Elle-Ments Dies - More Party Animals ~ to go with the stamp set.
Crealies Crea-nest-Lies ~ Circle nesting dies with dot (kinda stitched) effect.
We R Memory Keepers Envelope Board ~ I dont know how I lived with out this!
Fiskars Paper Trimmer ~ I upgraded my paper trimmer which was the best move ever. I also got a few packs of replacement blades as they do wear down quick.
Sweet Dixi Merry Christmas Sentiment Die ~ Large die I found at the craft show.
Sweet Dixi Snow Flake with Let it Snow Sentiment Die ~ Also from the craft show. Both this set and the Merry Christmas die are basics for Christmas cards, a must have!

Well that was the main bulk of it. I have also stocked up on ribbon, twine, adhesive, coloured card stock, ect but as it has been over a couple of months I have put it all away so did not want to get everything out again.

Thanks for visiting :D

Halloween Card Mini Series #1

Hello!

So its that time of year where I can get crafty with the Halloween cards. I love Autumn...Halloween, Bonfire Night and Fireworks, then Christmas!! :D

As you can see from my latest Craft Haul post I purchased the Stampin' Up! Jar of Haunts stamp set and the Echo Park Hocus Pocus 12" Collection kit. To make the most out of the bits I now have in my stash and to encourage myself to make some Halloween Cards, I have decided to do a Halloween card mini series!
This will consist of 6 blog posts with different ideas and inspiration for Halloween themed cards :)

To kick start this mini series off I have a very simple card using the Jar of Haunts stamp set.

I stamped the image with Stazon Black Ink on to Papermill super smooth white card. The jar has been coloured using Spectrum Noir marker pens. For the Liquid I used GT1, GT2 and GT3, for the lid; GG3 and GG5. 

At first I had trouble to get a look I was happy with as the colours I was using were too dark and not 'transparent' or liquid like enough. I found the lightest shades have the best effect...also HB1, HB2 and HB3 have a nice look (below image).

The card base is Stampin' Up! Basic Black A4 card cut in half to make 2 bases then scored in half again. The designer paper is from Echo Park Hocus Pocus 12" Collection kit. I really love the variety in this pack. So many fun papers to chose from!

I then cut a white panel using the Cottage Cutz Stitched Rectangle die from Papermill's white hammered card, and backed this with another layer of Basic Black card stock to help it pop. The 'Happy Halloween' sentiment is from the Jar of Haunts set and was stamped using Stazon Black Ink. 

This set has some cute additions so I could not resist hanging a little spider from the sentiment.

The white layer of the card and the jar itself has been raised using foam dimensionals to make it a little more interesting.

A simple card that is easy and quick to make...

Let me know what you think :)

CRAFT HALL - September

I kinda spoiled my self this month...
For my Birthday I was gifted a Sizzex Big Shot die machine (Lucky I know!) So I wanted to get a few basic bits and dies for my stamps. Mostly though, as we are coming into Autumn I was excited to grab some Halloween and Christmas bits, and place my first order with Stampin' Up!
Items are listed below each image :)

Echo Park Hocus Pocus 12" X 12" Collection Kit; 12 double sided papers, really nice designs and includes a sticker sheet! (From Ebay)

Black Stazon Ink Pad: I was having trouble with another brand's black ink smudging even after being left to dry for like a week, so thought i'd try Stazon.

Black Sharpie Marker.

Stick It Refill. (From Ebay)

Cottage Cutz Stitched Rectangle Nesting Dies; I have seen so many Youtube tutorials where these have been used I just had to grab them. I have used them already and love them, worth the money!

Clearly Besotted; 'Your a Hoot II' Stamp Set & Die 

                               'Hanging Around' Stamp Set

I just love the Clearly Besotted range, beautiful stamps and at fab prices. I grabbed another owl die as it was in the clearance rack and for 60p! The owl set was half price at £2.00, just had to grab it to go with my other owls.

For my Stampin' Up! order I made the most of the bundle offers and thought I'd try out their card stock and ink pads.

These items were brought from the Stampin' Up! Website!

'No Bones About It' Stamp Set; Have some fun ideas for this set which I will share soon!

'Jar of Haunts' Stamp Set; Love, love, love this set. As soon as I saw it I just had to have it...how cute is that mummy! This is perfect for fun cards and spooky treats.

'Cookie Cutter Christmas' Stamp Set & 'Cookie Cutter' Builder Punch: I was in two minds about this one, but glad I went for it. Its fun and traditional...what more could you want :)

'Hang your Stocking' Stamp Set & 'Christmas Stockings' Thinlits; This set is fab, the dies are amazing. This was another set I just had to have as soon as I saw it! The designs on the stocking dies are so detailed and pretty, giving you lots of options to play with.

'Balloon Bouquet' Punch: Thought this was a good standard punch to have in my stash...saves me cutting out lots of balloons for all those birthday cards :D

12" X 12" 'Candy Cane Lane' Designer Paper; Look at all those lovely patterns! Can't wait to cut out those ginger bread houses.

And of course some basics: 

Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock

Basic Black A4 Cardstock

Pumpkin Pie Ink Pad

Real Red Ink Pad

Crumb Cake Ink Pad

Well that was my mega haul for this month (and probably next!)...a Birthday treat to myself :D 

I am now of course starting my Halloween and Christmas cards so will share with you soon. 

Cute Animal Cards...

It's been a busy month but I have managed to have a couple of card making sessions. I was dying to try out the Clearly Besotted 'Still a Hoot' Owl stamp set....

I coloured the owls using Spectrum Noir Markers, which I am still getting to grips with. I do love how the eyes turned out, used darker shade near centre and blended it out with the lighter shade. I found if you use a good 3/4 shades difference the results are better. Added some Wink of Stella to the eyes and finished off with Glossy Accents on the scarfs and eyes.

The bottom card in the pic is for a Harry Potter Fan, hence the themed scarf colours. I am happy with how they turned out and totally adore this stamp set! Looking forward to creating some Christmas themes with them.

Another set of stamps I have been using a lot lately are the Avery Elle 'Whale Hello'. I made some simple note card sets using paper from the First Edition 'Sail Away' 6X6 paper pack. Simple yet cute designs. Again the Images were coloured using Spectrum Noir Markers.

I also used the same stamp set to attempt a nautical themed shaker card. The sentiment was heat embossed with gold embossing powder and the orange rope frame was taken and fussy cut from the cover of the First Edition 'Sail Away' paper pack! I am so so happy with how it turned out. Looking forward to making a lot more shaker cards in the future. 

Please feel free to leave a comment or any feedback you may have... :)

CRAFT HAUL - August

Hello

I thought I'd start my craft blog off with a Haul of items I have purchased this month. I really love watching all the Craft Haul video's on YouTube and getting some inspiration from them.
I have been card crafting for about a year now, so still learning and gathering the basic tools to create the type of cards I love to make or hope to try out. 

Here are some of the fab things I have gathered this month, descriptions below photos: 

WOW Heat it up! Embossing Powder - 10ml Clear

Ranger Mini Blending Tool - plus refills

A5 Clear Acetate - 180 micron (£1.99 for 10 - Ebay)

Card Stock - A4 & A5 (papermilldirect.co.uk)

Tsukinek, Momento Dew Drop Ink Pads - Bahama Blue, Summer Sky, Espresso Truffle & Bamboo Leaves.

Dovecraft Ink Pad - Black

I love love love how Clearly Besotted wrap the items you buy. Its like a little gift for yourself when it arrives :) I took advantage of the clearance rack and grabbed a few Christmas stamps, and how cute are these Owls <3 Love them!

Home at Christmas Stamp + Die

Still a Hoot Stamp + Die

Joyeux Noel Sentiment Stamp

Well that sums up my haul this month. I will be posting some of the cards I have created with these shortly.

Bye for now :) x