Kawaii Halloween Swap

Hello!

Since it is Halloween tomorrow I thought I would share with you the items that I sent and received in the Kawaii Halloween Swap! This was a swap organised on Instagram a few months ago and I couldn’t resist signing up! Halloween is my favourite holiday and I cannot resist anything Kawaii so it was the perfect swap for me! Thanks to a drop up shortly after sign ups I manage to steal a last minute spot for the swap and I was thrilled! It was the first Instagram craft swap I had taken part in and it was a great experience – I’d definitely get involved in another one in the future!

Here are the items that I sent to my partner Snow:

As usual, I had planned to make loads of stuff that I didn’t have time to complete before the shipping deadline! But overall I was pleased with everything that I put together for the package and Snow really seemed to like everything which was great. I’m always anxious my partner will be disappointed with what I send!

Here is a closer look at everything I included:

Sweet Treats! June #Paperhaul Box

Some of you might have seen my post last month reviewing my first ever #Paperhaul subscription box. It was a brilliant collection of retro 70s inspired paper goods; many of which I thought would be ideal for my music loving Dad and brother. This month’s box has arrived this week and this one is certainly all about me!

This months box is a sweet treats summer explosion of ice creams! Yum yum! This box has really got me down to a tee. It is crammed full of pretty pastel treats and retro inspired yummy goodness that I really appreciate all the more since I’m being good and can’t actually eat the real thing! Here is a closer look at what I got inside:

May 2015 Crafty What Nots Box

Hello!

I can’t believe June is here already…just where did May go to? It has gone by so quickly that this is the first opportunity that I have had to show you the May Crafty What Nots box…and the June one will be turning up this week! What’s worse…I’ve hardly had the time to make anything from the May one yet! I was off to a bit of a slow start because James was away at the beginning of May and we usually sit down to do the projects together, so I didn’t want to make a start without him. We did manage to squeeze in one project when he got back from the US though, and it was out first papercutting project!

How adorable are this tiny cards? They were a really cute little project that was really quick and easy. It was a great project for someone new to papercutting to get in some practice – they aren’t incredibly neat but I’m thrilled with how they turned out! Me and James took it in turns cutting out a shape each to complete the cards together – we will have to invest in another craft knife! The purple inserts were also included in the box so once we had finished cutting we just had to tape the insert in and we had some lovely little notecards ready to go!

My First #PaperHaul Box!

Hello!

As you all know, I love a good subscription box! And thanks to a post by Stephanie Pomfrett I was introduced to the #PaperHaul box. #PaperHaul is a box of paper goodies for paper lovers. Each box contains a whole host of goodies suited to that month’s theme, and my first box was a very groovy 70s themed box. Typically each box contains two greetings cards, three postcards, three gift tags, a roll of washi tape, a sheet of stickers, two sheets of double sided printed craft paper and mini notecards. Here is what I was lucky enough to receive in my first box:

Look at all of these wonderful paper goodies! I couldn’t believe how much was in my box when I first opened it up – I didn’t know where to start! You can see a breakdown and close ups of all of the individual items below.

Books that Inspire…

Hello! I hope you are all having a lovely bank holiday weekend!

As you all know, I’m a book lover. I always have been since I was a child (a long time before I was old enough to read them!) and right now my house is crammed full of bookcases as well as boxes of books that I can’t fit on them!

What I do love more than anything though are the books that really inspire you, and I was lucky enough to find two of them on a recent trip to Salts Mill with my parents while James was away.

What inspires me most about these books is that they are completely unique – I have never encountered books like them before. They have stunning graphics  that really speak for themselves, so prepare yourself for a photo heavy post. Because of this, I’m only going to  give them the briefest of introductions, then let the pictures get you inspired too!

The first book that I bought was Snail Mail: Celebrating the Art of Handwritten Correspondence which is simply an essential for anyone who, like me, loves snail mailing. It is a stunning hardback volume with over 200 pages crammed full of inspiring stories, tips and crafts for avid snail mailers. The author is truly passionate about the art of snail mail and really presents it as an art form through the beautiful photographs. Mackintosh shares the origins of her love of snail mail from her Dad’s romantic telegram messages to her mother, and walks you through the etiquette of the hobby. The most inspiring thing about this book however, is the wonderful abundance of ideas that this book invokes – everything from font styles to handmade envelopes and gifts, to stamps and decoration, which really urge you to dig out you stationary straight away and get started! See if you can make it through the next twenty photographs without rummaging around for a pen and the address book!

Crafty What Nots – Springtime Posy

Hello! Sorry I have been MIA over the last week or so! I’ve been working really hard to achieve some of my monthly goals – I promise! But I did realise earlier today that I never showed you what I made from the latest Crafty What Nots box! Due to when Easter fell this year I never got round to posting what I made, but this is how me and James spent Easter Sunday!

The first thing that we made were these adorable little Easter baskets! How cute are they??? I love these and they are cute for popping a few little Easter goodies in or great for little ones on an Easter egg hunt!

Happy Easter!

Hello Everyone! I just wanted to stop by and wish you all a wonderful Easter Weekend, and if you’re not celebrating Easter then I hope you have a wonderful weekend too 🙂

I quickly wanted to show you my one Easter craft that I have completed this year; I put some of my Tatty Teddy decoupages onto cards! Nothing fancy or extravagant (a bit of a rushed job in the end to be honest!) but I needed a few cards to send to relatives so here are the three I put together:

Luckily I had some lovely pastel card blanks in my stash that were wonderful spring colours and they match the teddies perfectly!

A little something that made me smile…

Yesterday I got a lovely surprise in the post that I really wasn’t expecting. We all know how post-mad I am, and the best kind of post is the unexpected kind (not including bills!) I was sat in the middle of a busy day at work, when a familiar looking box dropped onto my desk. I definitely recognised the shape/size of the box (plus the washi tape decoration) as a Crafty What Nots box, but I knew I wasn’t due one! Then I had a mad panic in case it had come early and I needed to renew my subscription when payday is two week away! But no, it wasn’t my regular subscription box, it was a lovely surprise from Jenny to say thank you for loving her boxes! I was completely surprised and it really made my day! I don’t understand how anyone could not love the boxes really, and I love to share them with you on my blog and Youtube channel because I’m sure you’ll love them as much as I do! I certainly never expect anything for writing about what I love and it is very rare that I do sponsored posts (all of which are labelled as such when I do) because I just love to share things I am passionate about with my readers! I am incredibly grateful to Jenny for the amazing parcel, and especially grateful that she picked out everything pink! She knows it is my favourite colour 😉 Here is a peek at what I received in the box:

 

So do you want a closer look at the goodies I got? The first thing I spotted in the box was a lot of paper goodies! There is a great range of papers, including 2 A4 sheets of pink paper, 11 8×8 floral papers, 23 6×6 pink and yellow patterned papers, 5 mini card blanks with envelopes and a notebook.

Crafty What Nots Garden Wonders Unboxing!

Hello!

My recent blog posts about the Crafty What Nots subscription boxes have been proving really popular, so I have filmed an unboxing of the latest box – Garden Wonders! Watch my unboxing as I share the items that I received with you. A wonderful spring themed box featuring tutorials and resources to make embellishments, cards, notebooks and much more!

Which is your favourite item in the box? Let me know in the comments!

Recent Projects – A Catch Up!

Hello!

So, while I was on my unintended lengthy break from blogging, I did succeed in putting my time to good use by doing an excessive amount of crafting! I have recently been on a bit of a run in working my way through the projects that I have had lying around for a long time. Many of them were small craft kits that have been building up in my stash that I really wanted to complete and cross off my list. They have been a really good way to pass winter weekends when it has been cold and wet outside, plus it has seriously cut down my backlog of craft projects in my stash – which is always a good thing! I’m still on a purging spree and I’m trying to refrain from buying too many new craft supplies until I have put the ones that I have got to good use! So anyway, here is a summary of what I have been up to for the last few months while I have been out of blogging!

Christmas:

One of my very quick but favourite crafts over Christmas was this adorable Christmas bunting. It was a kit that I picked up on a trip to Rose Apothecary the year before and I finally got round to making it for Christmas 2014! It was really quick and easy to do because the fabric squares were already pre-cut, so I just had to pin and sew them to the binding. It was a project that only took a matter of minutes but the finished project looks really adorable and I’m so pleased with it!

 

While we’re on the subject of Christmas, how do you like my paperchains? Probably not fully qualifying as a craft project, me and James still had a lot of fun putting these together! When I was younger I used to spend hours stringing together miles and miles of paperchains at Christmas, and I had bought a couple of packs of these waiting to put them to good use. It was fun to spend our first Christmas in our new house doing a project like this together in the run up to Christmas and I swear you are never too old to make paperchains!