January 2017 | Combine Craft Haul

Hello there, well it's the 12th January already and this is my first post of 2017, this is because I've had quite a few things on and it's got in the way of my valuable crafting time. Better later than never, I'm here now and is there no better way of starting a new year with craft haul!. Many of my regulars to my blog will know that since spring last year I've been on "Craft No Spend" and manage to do this for nearly ten months now and decided that there were a few things I needed and thought why not treat myself..  

First off I'm a little late to the party (Usually I am lol) with my first purchase, these Loew Cornell Simply Art 36 Watercolor cakes. I've been after these for quite some time but been holding off each time. Heard so many great reviews regarding these watercolor cakes and how pigmented they are and they allow you to try so many techniques too and are also not too expensive either. Really can't wait to get my hands on them and start playing with these fabulous paints. 

Many of you may know I love my colouring pencils and have used the WHSmith brand for some many years now and simply adore them as there artist quality and blended perfectly but unfortunately in the past they have only been available in 36 pack until I was searching the web one night and notice that WHSmith had just started bringing out pack of 48, So they went straight into my basket that was must has the extra colours will be so helpful to extend my colour range. Just couldn't believe my luck that evening as I have always wanted a larger pack.     

The next purchases are ink pads, before I hadn't got many dye inks in my collection and the ones I did have by Memento were London Fog and Tuxedo Black, So I felt that more colours were definitely a must to improve by collection. My favourite stamps are the layering ones and you tend to need three colours to create that three dimensional technique, so when purchasing I particular made sure that there were as least three colours from each colour family. In my favourites craft items 2016, one of my favourite ink pads was perfect medium but have been a little disappointed as my most recent one didn't seem to last as long before it seem to make down in the fibres of the ink pad so decided to give Versamark watercolor ink pad a try. Never tried Versamark watercolour before, so hoping this suits me better from now on.         

Must admitted its been nice to treat myself after such a long time from not purchasing but I've thoroughly enjoyed my no spend and its teach me a few things that you don't need everything and to make sure the items you do buy, you actually need and are going to be used. I hope you have enjoyed my first post of 2017 and will be back soon with another post. Enjoy the rest of your day.

Interested in the products purchased, click on the images or the wording to be taken to the stores used, no affiliate links are used.

Loew Cornell Simply Art Watercolor Paint Cakes 36/Pkg-Assorted Colors	WHSmith Colouring Pencils (Pack of 48)	Tsukineko Versamark Watermark Ink Pad	Tsukineko Memento Dew Drop - Cantaloupe	Tsukineko Memento Dew Drop Ink Pad	Tsukineko Memento Dew Drop - Angel Pink
Tsukineko Memento Dew Drop - Lilac Posies	Tsukineko Memento Dew Drop - Bahama Blue	Tsukineko Memento Dew Drop - Desert Sand	Tsukineko Memento Dew Drop - New Sprout	Tsukineko Memento Dew Drop - Lulu Lavender	Tsukineko Memento Dew Drop - Rhubarb Stalk
Tsukineko Memento Dew Drop - Pear Tart	Tsukineko Memento Dew Drop - Sweet Plum	Tsukineko Memento Dew Drop - Lady Bug	Tsukineko Memento Dew Drop - Rose Bud	Tsukineko Memento Dew Drop - Danube Blue	Tsukineko Memento Dew Drop - Summer Sky
Tsukineko Cottage Ivy Memento Dew Drop - Cottage Ivy

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Hugs To You From Me

Hello there, today I'm sharing a card that was inspired by my previous blog post, when I had ago at designing my own embossing folders. I decided to use the embossed card from my experiment and put it to good use and create a card.  

Started with A2 US card blank folded to the left, embossed a piece of pink crelando card slightly smaller than the A2 card and embossed the card using a make your own embossing folder and ran it through my Cuttlebug. Cut a strip of Paperchase transfusion vellum (unfortunately not currently available to purchase) and folded it around the embossed card just slightly off to the middle and adhered the vellum with double sided tape at the back and used some glue dots to parts of the front behind the vellum for added security. 

Cut a piece of fun foam just smaller than the panel and applied double sided tape to one side of the foam and adhere to the panel then I applied double sided tape to the back of the panel and adhered this the A2 card blank. Using my Silhouette Cameo and the cameo software I typed word Hugs using Corey Font purchased from the Silhouette Design Store, placed a piece of sliver glitter card on a cricut mat and cut out using the cameo. Then cut a strip of black card and rubbed little cornflour (anti static) and stamped to you from me using the WW the big the bold and the beautiful stamp set using clear embossing ink pad and my DIY stamping tool. Poured over wow bright white embossing powder and heat set with heat tool.

Applied some micro glue dots to the bottom the H,U,G,S and placed on the black strip just above the to you from me and then I placed double sided tape to the back and adhered to the bottom of the vellum and using a ruler to make sure it was straight. I didn't want a lot of dimension due this was going in the post and what with postage costs on the rise.  Added three sequins and adhered them with micro glue dots.

Hope you have had lots of time to craft this holiday season and have had relaxing time too. I thought this card would be perfect to send to friend to let her know I'm thinking about her. I think a hug means so much and can make a difference too, even when it's sent as a card it does the same. What do you think? Enjoy the rest of your day. 

Entered into the Simon Says Stamp Anything goes | Wednesday Challenge

Interested in the products used, below is a list I've prepared and all you have to do is click on the images. No affiliated links are used .

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Make Your Own DIY Embossing Folder | Silhouette Cameo | Recycling

Hello there, well many of us love embossing folders don't we? but I decided to have ago at making my own using my Silhouette Cameo. These are also easy on the purse strings and that always comes in handy doesn't it? Anything that allows me to create on the spot is always a winner for me.

To start off you will need cereal packs that you would usually pop in your recycling bin, this is chipboard on budget and is such a handy tool to have in your crafty stash. I have a big bag of cereal boxes in my craft space that I've collected over so many years and it's overflowing too.

Using the silhouette cameo I placed the cereal packet on a cricut mat and cut two panels ever so slightly bigger than A2 card blank and then took a element that was purchased from the Silhouette Store and cut that from the same cereal box material. 

To make the folder, applied four strips of sellotape to the top edge then adhered the positive cut out to one side of the folder with zig fine glue pen then placed the individual negative strips into the gaps then apply a little zig fine gen pen to the back of the strips and carefully close the folder and press firmly, then open out the folder and that's it done. I have Cuttlebug machine and used two B plates and my A plate with a piece of cereal box material on top of the folder as shim and piece of pink card in the folder and found this worked perfectly, these would work with all machines too, you would just need to find what works better for your machine. As you will see from the finished result, it works a treat with a crisp embossed effect just like a normal embossing folder.

Enjoy the rest of your day and the holiday season. 

Interested in the products used, click on the images below to be taken to those stores, No affiliate links used.

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