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