An Irish Thank You

Hello there! 

Today I have a card I made for a friend to give to her Irish dancing teacher. I took some papers from my stash and cut a layer for the base of my card and then made my sentiment panel using MFT rounded rectangle dies. 

I cut the sentiment out of some green card using the Avery Elle Thank You Die and adhered using Multi Medium Matte by Ranger. 

I created the little clover by cutting 3 hearts out of the same green card and attaching with tiny foam squares and putting a tiny green rhinestone in the centre. I cut the stalk out just using my scissors. 

That's my card for today, I hope you enjoyed it!

Thanks for stopping by :)

The Wedding of...

Today I thought I'd share a personalised wedding card that I made for a friend. The Wedding was around Christmas so I incorporated some red to give it that festive feel.

The main reason for sharing now is to showcase the Lawn Fawn Milo's ABC's alphabet stamps because they are so great for building custom sentiments.

To layer the focal point I used two spellbinder dies (mentioned below) for the smaller two layers and for the largest glitter paper piece I used scissors to cut it out, using the smaller piece as a guide. 

Products I used:

• Spellbinders Nestabilities Dies Labels 36
• Crate Paper Wonder 12x12 Paper Pad
• Silver Glitter paper - Hobbycraft
• We R Memory Keepers Metallics 12x12 paper pad
• Lawn Fawn Milos ABC's stamp set
• White Card
• Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
• Adhesive Rhinestones
• Foam Tape/Squares

Thanks for stopping by!

Hayley

My 2015 Favourites: Other

Welcome to Day 6, the final day, of My 2015 Favourites series and today I am going to be talking about my top 3 out of everything else that I have been using and loving over the past year.

• Sequins
• These little things are like opening little bags of joy. I love them just to look at but I do also use them on cards to add a little bit of sparkle! They are also great for creating shaker cards with. I enjoy the Pretty Pink Posh sequins as they have a great colour selection.

• Washi Tape
• I love this stuff! My collection started out small, but has rapidly outgrown the box I store it in! I use this for decorating cards, my planner, envelopes and even holding my dies down as they go through my die cutting machine.

• Paper Pads
• My hoard of paper pads is every growing. I like both the 6"x6" and 12"x12" size as they are both handy for different things. I especially like the 6"x6" size because they are great for making project life sized cards. 

So that's it! My final day of  my favourites series. I hope you have enjoyed reading my posts over the last 6 days and thank you for sticking with me! Do let me know in the comments anything else you've loved over the past year.

Thanks for stopping by :)

My 2015 Favourites: Storage

So It's Day 5 of My 2015 Favourites series and today I'm going to be talking about my favourite kinds of storage. I can't believe we're on day 5 already! There's only one more day after this

• Really Useful Box - 9L
• The first thing on my list has to be the Really Useful Box company's storage boxes. I discovered them a few months ago and I've quickly been replacing all of my shoe boxes and cardboard boxes with them. I now have 4 of them filled with my crafty things and even have a couple more around my house. I've seen these in places like Hobbycraft, Staples & Ryman. 

• Docrafts Die and Stamp Storage Folder + Inserts
• I bought this towards the beginning of the year as a more effiecient way to store my dies and I just love it. It is very compact and could be stored on a shelf. It is a zipped case which keeps everything together and comes with 10 of the pages with magentic inserts. I also picked up a refil package and I am still yet to fill it! Very spacious.

• Magnetic Sheets
• I also use magnetic sheets to cut up and slot into the back of my stamp packets to store the matching dies so that I always have them to hand when using the stamps. I got mine on eBay but you can pick these up from many places for not much money!

• Websters Pages Folio
• I recently bought a couple of these folios to use as on-the-go carry cases and they work perfectly. I have one with my planner supplies in and another with pens. Its amazing how much they actually hold too!

• Wilko (UK) Baskets
• A bit of a random one now, but I was on the look out for some baskets or boxes that I could use to hold things on my table without marking it. I'm currently crafting at my dining room table as I don't have a desk in my flat and these baskets have come in really hand to help organise my supplies. I think this pack of 3 cost me £2 and I also got a set of 4 slightly smaller red ones that was only £1.50-£2, bargains!

• Papermania Expanding Craft Carrier
• My last storage favourite is this expanding carry case by Papermania (Docrafts). I picked mine up from The Works (UK) for around £8 which I thought was a great deal. It has a lot of pockets on the inside and is big enough to store 12"x12" paper. It also has a smaller expandable pocket on the front (approx 6"x12") that I use to store some stickers.

Thank you so much for stopping by again to check out the fifth installment in my My 2015 Favourites. Come back again tomorrow for the final installment where I will be talking about all the other things I have been loving this year!

Let me know some of your favourite storage solutions in the comments :)

My 2015 Favourites: Tools

Welcome to Day 4 of My 2015 Favourites series. So far we have looked at my favourite stamps, dies, Inks & Pens of the year and now its time to look at those all important tools! I haven't mentioned every tool here (i.e scissors, craft knife etc) because I tend to alternate which I use depending on what mood I'm in, so I've just stuck to other interesting things I wanted to mention. Enjoy! 

• Cuttlebug Die Cutting Machine
• If you want to die cut then you need a die cutting machine! I decided to go for the Cuttlebug for may reasons, some of which that were important to me were: the price, the size and its versatility. This little machine is perfect for me. The feature I love the most is that you can fold it up into something that can easily be stored. As I moved a lot when I was at uni, and all of my belongings had to be kept in one room, this was something that was very important. 

• We R Memory Keepers - Corner Chomper Blue & Yellow
• The first corner rounder I bought wasn't very good, it couldn't cut through more than one layer of card and left the edges feeling quite rough. So I bought a corner chomper and I never looked back. The first one I bought was the blue one (1/4 & 1/2 inch) and I loved using it so much that I bought the yellow one too (1/8 & 3/8 inch). These have also come in very handy for my project life!

• Foam Tape & Squares
• These are a craftroom essential. If you want dimension on your cards, these adhesive pads and tape are the way to go. I don't tend to stick to a specific brand, I tend to pick quite a few up at a time, whether that be from a poundshop, the works or hobbycraft etc, it depends where I am at the time.

• Double Sided Tape
• Another essential is double sided tape. This is pretty self explanatory so all I will say is that Hobbycraft tape is pretty good and the often have some quite good offers on it. 

• Fiskars Paper Trimmer
• I have tried many a paper trimmer in my time and never quite found the right one, until this one! Many of the others I tried were in an attempt to find a cheaper trimmer available to me in the UK to avoided having this one shipped in from the USA. But after many breakages, tears and wonky cuts I finally bought the 12 inch Fiskars Trimmer. I love the foldable arm that allows for easy storage and the fact I can cut 12"x12" paper without cutting it with scissors first. I do need to get some more blades for mine though, I had used it so much that both of mine have worn out.

• Cutting Mat
• A cutting mat is an essential for any crafter, especially if you are using a craft knife. I use mine normally just as a worktop saver and something to lean on. Mine has grid lines which come in very handy when lining up sentiments on an acrylic block. I picked mine up fairly cheaply from a shop here in the UK called The Works. 

• Apple Pie Memories Round Acrylic Blocks with Grips

• The set of acrylic blocks that I use the most are my Apple Pie Memories blocks. I bought them as a set of 4 in the sizes 1.75-inch/ 2.5-inch/ 3.5-inch/ 4.5-inch. I love them because of their shape. The indents/grips and the fact that they are round make them so easy to hold. The grid lines are also great for lining up stamps.

• Ranger - Mini Ink Blending Tool and Refils
• These little tools are perfect for using with distress ink pads. I will admit they did take a bit of getting used to, I think I was putting too much pressure/ink onto the pad and so when I was blending I was getting patchy circles on my card. This went away with a bit of practice and a lighter hand :)

That's all for another day. I hope you can join me again tomorrow where I will be talking about my favourite crafty storage! 

Let me know some of your favourite tools in the comments below.

Thanks!

My 2015 Favourites: Inks & Pens

Welcome to Day 3 of My 2015 Favourites series. Today I will be talking you through my favourite inks and pens of the year! Let's get started.

Inks

• Memento Tuxedo Black
• This is by far my favourite black ink of all time. I have tried a few over the years and have finally found one that sticks. It doesn't bleed with alcohol markers, it doesn't stain stamps, it cleans off really easily and it dries quickly.

• Versamark Ink
• I use this ink solely for embossing. It is a great sticky ink that takes a while to dry so is perfect for attracting embossing powder. 

• Distress Inks - Gathered Twigs, Peacock Feathers, Picked Raspberry, Spiced Marmalade
• Distress inks are great for blending and water colouring. I usually use the ink pads for creating an ink blended background and spritzing with a bit of water to help it blend even better. I have picked out a few of my favourites. Gathered Twigs is great for edging to help distinguish between layers or creating an aged look. The other three are some of favourite colours. 

• Avery Elle Pigment Inks
• These inks are great for solid image stamping or adding a pop of colour to your sentiment. They stamp nice and evenly and you can also use these inks for embossing as they take longer to dry too. They are great for stamping a sentiment and then embossing with clear embossing powder for an added shine.

Pens

• Distress Markers
• These are the pen version of the Distress Ink pads and I mainly use these for a quick and easy water colouring. I tend to colour my image in with these and then add a touch of water to give a nice water coloured effect. 

• Spectrum Noir Alcohol markers
• These are the marker pens that I do all of my colouring with. I found them a really great option for my budget. There is a great range of colours and they also blend really nicely. 

• Wink of Stella Clear Brush Pen
• I've classed this as a pen because it looks like one. Its basically really fine glitter in a brush pen. I use this when I want to add a little touch of shine to my coloured images. Its brilliant! The best thing is, when its run out, you can open it up and refill with water to get a second life out of it!

Thanks again for tuning in for my third installment of My 2015 Favourites. Pop back again tomorrow to see the next chapter, My 2015 Favourites: Tools! 

Let me know in the comments what your favourite inks and pens are.

Thanks for reading, 

Hayley :)

My 2015 Favourites: Dies

Welcome to Day 2 of 'My 2015 Favourites'. Today I am going to be showing you my favourite dies and die sets of the year.

Nesting Dies

• Mama Elephant - Femme Frames
• First up is the two most useful dies I have ever bought. They are the perfect for a card front and creating your scenes on. I love the scallops and the stitching on both frames and they are great for layering. I usually cut the scallop in a patterned paper and the stitched in a plain cardstock. 

• Pretty Pink Posh - Stitched Duo 1, 2, 3, Stitched film strip
• These are another 4 die sets that I use very often. They are great for a focal point on your cards and for using with your critter stamps to have them poking through the holes. I also love that stitching!

• My Favorite Things (MFT) Die Namics - Rounded Rectangles
• This is a good example of some stitched nesting dies. I love the rounded rectangle look, they make great toppers and you get a good range of sizes.

• Little B - Scallops 
• The Little B dies are brilliant. They come in their own magnetic storage folder and they have the outer edge shape separate from the decorative part so you can have the shapes with or without the decoration.

• Lawn Fawn Small & Large Stitched Rectangles, Squares and Circles
• These die sets are a staple for any die collection, they come in handy for any card, whether that be to create a card base or a topper. 

Word Dies

• Clearly Besotted Word Dies
• The word dies from clearly besotted are great. They cut out so fine and are a great font! 

• Avery Elle - Simply Said Word Dies
• I also love the Avery Elle word dies. They are a slightly thicker font and are bigger than the Clearly Besotted dies which makes them a great addition to your collection. 

• Avery Elle Numbered Balloons Elle-ments
• These balloon numbers are such a great alternative to regular number dies. You can get creative with string to make them look like real balloons or draw lines with pen. Either way, they look great on a card. 

•  Lawn Fawn Scripty For You
• Lawn Fawn also do some really great word dies. I like this one in particular because it fits perfectly into a circle die cut. 

Border Dies

• Avery Elle Dotted Borders Elle-ments Dies
• This was the first border set that I bought and I love it. The decorative edges look great down one edge of a card and the landscape lines are great for creating hills or a snow drift. 

• Lawn Fawn Grassy Border Die
• I heard lots of good things about this die so I added it to my collection and I'm very glad I did. It is such a great grass border!

Shapes/Other

• Avery Elle You're Invited Elle-ments Die
• I've featured this die set here mainly for the outer label shape. Although I do love the word die for creating invitations, I have had so much use out of the outer die on its own. One thing I like about it is that it has stitching on either side of the cutting line so you can either use the solid shape or create an aperture. 

• Avery Elle Balloons Elle-ments Dies
• Everybody should have some balloon dies in their stash and these are a great choice. You get lots of different sizes and extras and they also co-ordinate with the Balloons stamp set that I featured yesterday.

• Avery Elle Wine & Margarita Shaker Elle-Ments Dies
• These dies are perfect for creating a shaker card with a difference. If you don't just want a rectangle or square shaker window you can go for these dies and get a bit more creative. There is also a coordinating stamp set that has lots of great sentiments in it that you can purchase separately.

• MFT Die Namics - Game Controller
• My Favourite Things always come out with great companion sets that consist of a die set (normally the main image) and coordinating stamp set (normally full of sentiments). I like these dies in particular as I have a few gamers in my life that this set is great for! It's also great for creating generic male cards. I also love the stamp set that goes with these (MFT - Level Up).

• Clearly Besotted Tag Along Die Collection
• Last but not least is this lovely little collection from Clearly Besotted. Although I do love the little tags in this set, my favourite piece is the fishtail banner. It comes in so handy for just stamping a sentiment onto and adding to a card. 

So that's it for today, all of my favourite dies of the year. I hope you have enjoyed this post and will join me again tomorrow for "My 2015 Favourites: Inks & Pens" :)

Let me know what some of your favourite dies are in the comments so that I can check them out!

Thanks for stopping by, 

Hayley

My 2015 Favourites: Stamps

Hello there and thanks for stopping by! This week I will be showcasing my favourite craft products for 2015. I have never done a crafty favourites before but I have really enjoyed looking through my products and picking out things I have loved this year and will now doubt continue to love. 

The 'My 2015 Favourites' posts with run from Monday 4th January 2016 - Saturday 9th January 2016 and will cover a whole array of products. Day 1 is stamps. Where would we be without these lovelies!? I have split them into categories which include; Alphas, Sentiments, Critters, Holiday and Other. Enjoy!


Alpha's

• Lawn Fawn - Milo's ABC's
• This set has definitely been my go-to alphabet set. It gets bonus points for its skinny, tall font, multiples of each letter, and it includes numbers and punctuation. What more could you want?

• Avery Elle - Elle's Alphas
• This alphabet set is also featuring on my favourites because of its small font. This set is a great addition to a collection as you can make your own small sentiments which could fit anywhere on a card or a scrapbook layout. This is also a good size for planners!

• Dovecraft Mini Wooden Alphabet Sets - Available from Hobbycraft and The Range (UK)
• These little wooden sets are just adorable. Again, they have a small font so that you can squeeze a sentiment into any gap and they come in a little box. These are great for beginners that are just getting into stamping as you can pick them up pretty cheaply, I got my sets (around 5-6 of the ones below) for 99p each from The Range. That's right, 99p each! 

Sentiments

• Clearly Besotted - Many Mini Messages, Sugar & Spice, Mini Basic Banners
• Many Mini Messages: I love this set to add a quick sentiment to a card. Because they are so small you get so many different sentiments for all different occasions!
• Sugar & Spice: I have featured this set simply to focus the beautiful dotty words that Clearly Besotted do. Stephanie has quite a few sets available with this font and I just love it. Great for a focal point on a card. They also stamp brilliantly!
• Mini Basic Banners: This is a smaller set than the other two featured here but it still has as many uses. I love the generic sentiments and also the empty banner that you can add your own sentiment to. I would also recommend picking up the co-ordinating banner die to cut these out, it makes things so much easier!

• Avery Elle - Berry Good
• I've included this set in the sentiment section (even though I love the whole set) because I love funny sentiments. Give me a stamp set that has a bit of word play or a pun or two and I'll go sit and giggle in a corner for a while :P

• Lawn Fawn - Chit Chat
• I liked this set because its a bit different to the usual kinds of sentiment sets that you find. The speech bubbles come in really handy for adding a sentiment to a critter or a person. I think its a really playful way to add a sentiment to your card.

• Dreamees - Gift Sentiment A5 Stamp Set
• Dreamees are another company that I love. Very different to the big American companies, these are a Mother & Daughter duo that started off making products in their shed. One thing I love in particular are their delightful sentiments. They are always filled with love and affection and are bound to make any recipient feel very special! 

Critters

• Mama Elephant - Lunar Animals, Three Amigos
• Lunar Animals: What can I say about this set other than IT IS FREAKING ADORABLE! When I first saw this I knew I had to have it. Mama elephant critters are always so cute, but I particularly liked this set because of the variety of animals you get in one set. 
• Three Amigos: I must admit I haven't actually had a chance to use this set yet but it is featuring in my favourites because of how much I love it! I love the idea of sacking the three amigos up and being able to mix and match the words and phrases.

• Mama Elephant - Tandem Ride & Tandem Extras
• Again when I saw these sets my heart swelled. The animals are so cute and I love the idea of them sitting on a tandem bike. I bought these with some birthday money I had and so allowed myself to get both sets. Can I also draw your attention to that balloon... It makes my heart so happy!

• Avery Elle - Ellie
• This year saw a bit of an elephant trend and I of course jumped right on the back of it. This is only a small set and so wasn't very expensive at all and I just had to buy it. Even if it wasn't for the elephant, for that adorable little bunny that could be added to the nose of any critter!

• Wplus9 - Unforgettable
• This was of course the stamp set that started the elephant craze. Unfortunately it was out of stock for a very long time but I did eventually get my hands on it. The elephants are a dream to colour, all you need is one or two shades of grey (not fifty :P) and you're set. I also love the mix of fonts in the sentiments. I'm a fan of stacking sentiments together, but in this set it is done for you. Pure excellence. 

• My Favorite Things - Happy Pandas, I Knead You, You Make My Tail Wag, Somebunny, You Gnome Me. - Something I love about MFT stamps in general is the matching sentiments that come with every set. As I mentioned before, I love punny sentiments and that is something that, in my opinion, MFT do very well!
• Happy Pandas: I adore pandas! One massive bonus with this set is that you don't need to colour the pandas in! If you area total beginning and want to try out stamping a card for the first time, you could pick up this set and a black ink pad and go. 
• I Knead You, You Make My Tail Wag & Somebunny: Of course I had to get these three sets, one for the cat lovers in my life, one for the dog lovers and one for the bunny lovers. Again, adorable images and great sentiments. 
• You Gnome Me. I have two words for this set, FREAKING GNOMES! I have never seen another set with gnomes before. In short, I didn't know I was a gnome fan, until I saw this set :P

• Lawn Fawn - Hedgehugs, Whale You Be Mine, So Jelly, Wheelie Like You
• Lawn Fawn are known for their critters and I did find it difficult to pick my favourites. However, I decided that their mini sets were my favourites because you can literally pick up one of these sets and you've got all the elements you need to make a card. Sometimes with the bigger sets I struggle knowing which elements to put together as I just want to make every combination possible. They are also not very expensive (£3.50ish) and it takes the hard work out of stamping. The images don't take much colouring and you have a sentiment ready to go, perfect!

Holiday

• Clearly Besotted - Santa Baby, Little Elves, From Our Home
• These are the three stamp sets that I used for my Christmas Cards this year. I used the wreath for the more 'adult' cards and the elves and santa images for a more fun card. This is the first Christmas I went completely handmade on cards and these sets made it so simple.

• Mama Elephant - Alpine Carolers, Reindeer Games
• Alpine Carolers: I have wanted this set since last Christmas and finally took the plunge and bought is late this year. I like that the people can be used on cards for more occasions than just Christmas but those sentiments are just perfect for the holidays. And the top one is from Elf, one of the best Christmas films! :P
• Reindeer Games: Unfortunately this set was out of stock this Christmas so I couldn't buy it, however I will definitely be purchasing it for next year. The images are adorable and I also like how you get the mirror image of the reindeer. 

• Lil' Inker Designs - Oh Deer Christmas
• This is one of the cutest deer heads I've seen ever, so I had to add it to my stash. I stamped a few of these out and coloured them in very easily, but when it came to making my cards I couldn't remember where I'd put them, typical! I found them the day I posted my cards...obviously. But they will make a gorgeous addition to my cards next year!

Other

• Dreamees Ditsy Stitches, Tacked and Treasured
• The wonderful Dreamees are getting another feature in my favourites. Another thing they do incredibly well is their flower stamps! I have the two sets below and they make beautiful flowers whether stamped and cut or stamped on top of each other (as featured in my one layer cards). 

• Avery Elle - Balloons, Bunting
• Balloons: This is an unusual set that has come in very useful. The images are large enough to create a whole card front with and because they are solid stamps you only need ink pads and no pens. 
• Bunting: This set may look like a collection of random shapes, that is what I thought at first, however, I saw lots of lovely cards and samples made with it and then realised its potential. It has so many different types of bunting that it will match any sets you already own, very versatile!

• Clearly Besotted Birch Background II
• This stamp is a great background to put behind your woodland critters. I havent had chance to use it yet but I want to stamp it in a pale grey or brown as a background and then layer my critters in front.

• Docrafts Gorjuss Stamps
• Last but by no means least are the beautiful Gorjuss stamps by docrafts. Gorjuss is a well known brand in the UK and features heavily in gift shops and on printed cards. These stamps allow you to created cards that already have an established brand and are easily recognised. They are also a dream to colour!

Phew, that was a lot of words. I think that is the longest blog post I have ever written! Hopefully you have enjoyed looking through my favourite stamps of the year and that you will tune in again tomorrow for Day 2 which will be "My 2015 Favourites: Dies"!

Let me know some of your favourite stamps in the comments :)

Hayley