Which Crafts

We have moved!

2011-05-23T06:37:00.000-07:00

Did you know that Which Crafts? has had a name change and moved?!

Come and check out the new website at
www.trulymadlycrafty.co.uk
and our new blog at
www.trulymadlycrafty.blogspot.com

We also have a new facebook page! If you come and like us then you will receive a 10% discount code to use on your first order in the shop :o)
http://www.facebook.com/TrulyMadlyCrafty

We hope to see you there!

Life & Me #7

2011-04-12T03:30:00.000-07:00

Hi and apologies for missing a fortnight, lots going on here of which will all be revealed end of the month!

Anyways here is prompt #7 of Life and Me.

Topic - Home Sweet Home

Technique - Sketch

And here is my finished layout:

And here is the sketch:

Each small square within the page measures 3"x3" and my photos each measure approx 2"x2". I then simply embellished with ribbons, buttons, punched shapes and sewing. You will notice that the red sewn heart in the bottom right was created using the technique from prompt 5.

I hope you enjoy creating a layout using the sketch and we would love to see anything you do create using the prompt.

Thanks for popping by, hugs and periwinkles,

Maxine xxx

Life and Me #6

2011-03-14T12:41:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Life and Me prompt number 6! Apologies for not sharing my finished layout with you from the last prompt, I will get and do that this week!

Prompt #6 comes to us from Designer Annie Bellamy, make sure you check out her blog here. So take it away Annie!

Prompt – Your Top 10 Memories

Technique – use fabric!

1. I started off with a 8.5 x 12" sheet of kraft cardstock. I then went through my scraps basket and selected some fabrics that I liked.

2. Next, I covered the card in PVA glue and began sticking the pieces of fabric down into a patchwork style pattern. I let this dry and also put some heavy books on top to help the card stay flat.

3. When the card was dry, I used my sewing machine to stitch around all the pieces of fabric using a large zig zag stitch and a bright red thread, so the stitching would stand out.

4. To tidy the edges, I cut four strips of cardstock, about an inch wide, inked the edges and stuck them down to create a frame on the page. You may have to put under a heavy book again!

5. Next I used another scrap of fabric to make a fabric yo-yo, there are lots of tutorials online, but they are very simple to make and look fab! I sewed this into place on the page and also stuck down a few coloured buttons.

6. I created the title of the page using thickers and some brightly coloured alpha stickers. I also wrapped a length of ribbon around and tied into a bow.

7. I typed out my 'top 10' into a word document, printed the page out and cut each memory into a strip, which I then stuck onto the page in a random fashion.

I hope you have fun thinking about your top ten memories and also get creative using fabric!

If you take part and create something using either the topic or technique we would love to see it!

Hugs and periwinkles,

Maxine and Annie

Life and Me #5

2011-02-28T06:22:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone and I hope that you have all had a great February, I can't believe it is over already!

Today I have prompt #5 for you but the finished layout will be shared later in the week!

Topic: Things that make me smile

Technique: Make your own stitching templates

Topic

Take a look around your house and photograph anything that makes you smile. Small simple things, things that are always there, things that are not, views from the window, notes, craft supplies, children etc. Whatever you look at that makes you smile :-)

Technique

Today we are looking at making our own stitching templates. For this you will need

Acetate sheet

Stamps

Permanemt Ink - I used Stazon

Paper piercer/Pin

Piercing mat/cork board

Firstly choose a selection of stamps that are nice simple designs, flourishes and swirls work very well and simple lined images.

On your piece of acetate stamp some of your designs.

Using a paper piercer or a pin (I use a memo board pin!) start punching holes following the design of the stamped lines, trying to keep the holes evenly spaced. It's easier to do this is you back the acetate with a plain piece of scrap paper/card.

And there you have your own stitching template that you can use again and again! Just place the acetate over your layout/card/project, punch through the holes you have already made and then stitch your design!

Hope you have enjoyed this quick and easy prompt today and I will share my finished layout with you later in the week!

Hugs and Periwinkles,

Maxine

Life & Me #4

2011-02-14T09:53:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines day and welcome to Life and Me prompt 4.
Thanks for joining us again. If you want to share your work somewhere other than here then why not join in this thread on UKScrappers or upload a pic to our facebook page here.
So this week:

Topic: My Love

Technique: Paper & Ribbon Tabs

Here is my finished layout

Topic
As today is Valentines Day the topic is therefore love. If you have a partner or children then you can create you page about them, or maybe you want to choose something a bit different; an animal, food, object, cuddly toy etc that you love. It's up to you!

Technique
The technique we are doing today is fairly simple and great for using up those scraps of paper, ribbon and fabric.
Firstly take your photo and trim to size. Using some old cardboard packaging, tear a piece off that is slightly longer than your photo but not as wide. Stick in the middle of your background paper (but don't glue right to the edges so that you will be able to slide bit underneather later) and add your photo on top with one edge hanging off the cardboard.

Now take a selection of leftover papers, ribbon, lace etc and cut into small pieces and fold in half to create tabs, glue the ends togther.
Now you want to start arranging the tabs around your background. Slide bits just under the cardboard and the edge of the overhanging photo. Try to mix up patterns and textures. It works best if you start at the bottom and layer the tabs over each other working your way to the top. I tend to arraging a section of tabs and then stick them down when I am happy with how it is looking.

Finish covering your background in tabs, add a title to the cardboard underneath your photo, doodle a little on the edges (or you might want to do this before you stick all your tabs on, or if your tabs go right to the edge of your paper then you need not worry!) and your done!

I used a selection of offcuts from my own stash and some bits of paper and lace from the Which Crafts? February Embellish Kit - Love notes - which can be seen in the shop here and ribbons from the Pink and Red Mini Ribbon Kit here.

Thanks for coming by and we hope you will share your creations if you join in :)

Hugs and Periwinkles
Maxine

New Products

2011-02-09T11:27:00.000-08:00

Just thought I would share with you some of the new goodies that we will be getting in over the next few weeks. I really can't wait to see them in person!

Echo Park - For the record

Crate Paper - Neighborhood

Crate Paper - Portrait

My Mind's Eye - Stella & Rose

Fingers crossed we will have some Prima and Fancy Pants in too :)

Love Notes February Kit

2011-02-01T06:15:00.000-08:00

Our new Monthly kit ' Love Notes' is now on sale and we have some gorgeous projects created by Annie with the kit to share with you.

Firstly this cute little box - Annie used a bare box, gesso-ed it, used watercolour pencils to decorate and then embellished it with the kit.

Then this cute little card using the handmade embellishment as the focal point.

I love this cute little mini book! Annie is hoping to fill it in during Feb and around Valentines day with little quotes, notes and pictures!

And finally this little tag :)

We hope that these beautiful projects help to inspire you and show just how versatile our embellish kits are - suitable for any kind of project you fancy!

We also have a small add-on kit and some extras that would also work well with the kit, come and check it all out here.

And happy crafting :)

Life & Me #3

2011-01-31T08:56:00.000-08:00

Hello and welcome to prompt 3 of Life and Me. We hope you have enjoyed the last 2 prompts and if this is your first week joining in then welcome and why not go back and check out the previous 2 :)

So for this week:

Topic - I am proud of

Technique - Masking Tape Background

Here is my finished Layout.

Topic

The topic this week is all to do with what you are proud of.

When I first started thinking about this I wasn't sure if there was much as I don't have any Children and I still live with my parents, but the more I thought about it the more I realised that yes even I have some things to be proud of!

So start by thinking of things you have achieved in your life, have you been to university, landed the job you really wanted, been accepted into some kind of group etc.

If you have children then I expect there are many things your are proud of about them and could probably fill up a whole page and more but try not to do that! This project if about you so think of things that you have done as well as family around you.

Have you had a very difficult period of your life that you managed to work through, has life knocked you back only for you to pick up the pieces?

There are so many different angles you could take this prompt so have fun and think about what makes you proud to be you!

Technique

This technique is all about creating a fun and unique background. You will need:

Masking Tape

A non porous surface

Paint/watercolours/mist sprays

Paint brushes

Card

Start by sticking strips of masking tape to your non-porous surface, I just used an old placemat, but you could use your craft mat, chopping board etc.

Try and place the strips as close together as possible without overlapping. Cover the surface until you have enough that it would cover the size of your finished layout (mine finished layout measures 8"x8" but I made the masking tape strips longer so that I could then decide which section I wanted to use).

Now start painting away! I started by randomly applying some gesso (this is not essential) and letting it dry (ok well drying with my heat gun then!) then on top I started adding layers of different blue paints and mist sprays and dabbing the excess off with some tissue and letting some layers dry before applying the next.

I dribbled some green down the page and flicked my paint brush so I would get lots of dots and splodges!

The more layers and messier you make the page the more varied your finished background will be; a more even paint coverage will create a more uniform background.

Once all the paint is dry take some card the size you want the finished piece to be. Starting at the top of your cardstock select a random piece of masking tape and stick down. Then select another random strip and stick under the first, continue covering the cardstock with the masking tape strips but arranging them in a different order than on your placemat. This will create a unique and pretty background and no 2 will ever be the same! Trim the tape from the edges and your background is complete.

Now take some letter stickers or cut a title out of patterned paper and stick in the middle of your background. Finally add words, sentences, bullet points etc of what your proud of. I printed mine using a Typewriter type font (Rough_Typewriter which is free and can be found here) onto plain white paper and cut into strips to add to my layout. I left mine at that but you can of course add extra embellishments if you want.

Really hope that you have enjoyed this technique. We would love to see if you create any layout using either the topic or technique so feel free to link to your project by leaving a comment, we love comments!

Hugs and Periwinkles,

Maxine

Charisma Cardz Challenge

2011-01-27T03:28:00.000-08:00

Make sure you pop over to Charisma Cardz this week and take part in the challenge to be in with a chance to winning some great prizes including this from Which Crafts?

It includes approx 20 lengths of assorted ribbon, 20 buttons and pins and over 50 flowers of which most are Prima!

So get creating, this weeks theme is Valentines/Love.

We hope to see you there :)

Life & Me #2

2011-01-17T05:52:00.000-08:00

Welcome to prompt 2 of Life and Me. I really hope that you enjoyed the first and if you have created a page we would love to see your creations, feel free to leave a comment with a link to your blog or where you have uploaded a picture or you can always pop on over to our facebook page and share there!

So for Prompt #2

Topic - Favourite Things

Technique - Collage Tags (Circle Flower & Sewing)

I decided that for this prompt I would create mine on tags, as we are looking at our favourite things I wanted to keep them seperate but be able to put them on a page together later on.

So here are 2 of my tags.

There are 2 main 'techniques' I will show you for each tag.

Both of my tags were created from plain white cardstock and measure 6" x 3 1/2".

Tag #1 - Book paper background & Circle flower

For the background on the first tag I started with 2 sheets of book paper and scrunched them up. Then I unfolded them and using an ink pad in my chosen 'favourite colour' I lightly rubbed it over the papers. The ink picks up on all the fold and scrunches creating a nice effect, you can rub the ink pad over the papers as much as you like depending on how much of the colour you want.

Next I ripped up the papers into small pieces and using pva glue I randomly stuck pieces onto the tag overlapping the edges. Leave to dry.

Once dry you can trim the edges so you have a nice tag shape again! I also inked my edges with the red ink pad.

Add some stickles or other glitter all around the edges of the tag and leave to dry again and you have your basic background!

For the circle flower you need to cut/punch/die-cut 5 circles (or more if you want to create a whole flower). Mine measured approx 2 1/2". You can use any paper or cardstock you like.

Start by folding your circle in half one way and then the other so it is divided into quarters. From the top of the circle fold the very edge over so that it meets the line at the top and half way down the circle .

Finally flip the circle over and bring the edges in so that they line up with the central fold line.
Repeat for all your circles. You now have your petals!

On my tag I printed some pictures to go with my colour theme and cut some triangles from another red paper for a banner. I layered everything up and finished with a little butterfly and some gems.

Tag #2 - Embossing and sewing

For my background of my 2nd tag I started by covering in a clear embossing ink and sprinkling with black embossing powder. Once I had melted the powder I went back in with the clear ink and added another layer of the embossing powder. I was then left with a shiny black slightly textured background.

To make the criss crossed feature in the corner of the tag I started by punching holes with my cropadile along the edges of the tag. Each hole is spaced 1cm appart and 1cm in from the edges. Don't start your first hole right at the corner.

I decided I set eyelets in each of mine but you don't have to you can just punch the holes with a pin, so long as you can get a needle and thread through!

Start by threading your needle and thread through the hole at the bottom on the left hand side and tape the end at the back of the tag. Now thread it through the hole at the far right on the bottom.

Take your thread up through the hole next to it and thread through the next hole up from the first hole on the left.

From then on you will just be threading through the next available hole. Keep going until you have finished and then tape your end to the back. I added some beads to my thread as I was going to add a little interest. I finished off the bottom with a piece of ribbon.

All I did for the rest of the tag was to add some pictures, a title and an inked flower.

Really hope you have enjoyed this prompt and if you make some tags or use these techniques on a project we would love to see :)

I will be back in the week to show you some of the new CHA goodies we will be stocking :)

Hugs and Periwinkles,

Maxine

Life & Me - Prompt #1

2011-01-03T04:18:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our first prompt of 'Life & Me'. Each prompt throughout this project will consist of 2 sections - topic and technique. Feel free to take inspiration from both or pick and choose which work best for you. So for this week

Topic - Me

Technique - Art Journal Style

My Finished Page

Topic

As this project is based on capturing us and our lives right now I thought it would be logical to start right at the beginning with who we are.

Firstly you will need a picture of yourself, get someone to take a photo or find a recent one. Ideally a full length one would be best.

Then on a rough piece of paper jot down a list of words or short sentences that describe you, things you love and that have meaning to you. If you are having trouble try asking your family or friends or think of things that you couldn't live without.

For example some of my words include: nice, quiet, passionate, red, bookworm, secretive, crafty, unorganised, worrier, messy, night owl...

Now put your list to one side and we will start work on the basis of our page.

Technique

Personally I am not a huge art journaler. I have previously created all of maybe 3 pages, but I decided to start this project with an art journal style page because I thought it would be a great way to express the inner me! Life is not a series of neat lines, things don't always go to plan and with a new year it is a chance to try new things. If you have decided that an art journal style page isn't for you then this page could easily be created with scrapbook papers instead of paints.
If you are a more experienced art journaler you may wish to go about this in a totally different way, but this is the basic way I created my page.

- My final page is 8x8 but I started on an A4 sheet of card which enabled me to choose the section of the page I liked best and cut to size later.

- I began by covering my page with gesso. This is not an essential step so if you don't have it then don't worry. Personally I have found that by using gesso it allows you to get a more even coverage using less paint than without..

- Now you need to choose your paint colours. Ideally you need 3 or more co-ordinating colours. I decided on blue and green as they are 'me' colours. Not necessarily my favourite but colours that I tend to wear and use in my crafting and every day life.

- Using an old credit card I then scraped my background paint over the whole of my page, not worrying too much about the edges. Make sure you have a nice coverage to the intensity you like. If the colour is not vivid enough for you then let the paint dry and apply another coat.

- Choose your second co-ordinating colour and apply randomly about your page. While the paint is still wet you can use a cloth/tissue or a baby wipe to remove some of the paint and reveal the colour or white card underneath.

- Then using a third watered down colour you can apply more colour to the page. At this point I wasn't happy with how my page was going so I went back in with my original background colour to touch up some areas and blend the paints together. I also used a lot of tissue so that none of the colours stood out too much over the rest.

- Once you are happy with your basic background we can now start going in with some stencils. I don't have any plastic stencils so I made my own using some scrap paper and a circle punch.

I then laid this down to one side on my page and with a co-ordinating mica mist I sprayed over it. Be warned however that the spray is likely to leak out under the hole so you don't get complete perfect circles, but I think this just adds to the look.

- Peel the paper stencil off and once this is dry ( I am impatient and tend to dry my page with a heat tool!) using a gel pen (or your choice of favourite pen) outline your circles not trying to be overly neat and precise.

- I repeated this for a few circles on the opposite side of my page and using darker paint colours instead of the mists. You don't have to use circles for this, any shape will work, use what you have to hand!

- Lastly I decided that my page needed a more visual focus so I decided to go in with a mask. Again I don't have any 'proper' masks so I made my own by cutting out a star from scrap card. I placed it slightly off centre and sprayed with a more intense mist spray. While the colour was still wet I went in with a baby wipe and gently removed any colour that had leaked under the mask and smudged the edges slightly.

- Once I was happy with the colour and elements on my age I cut it to size, selecting the area I liked the best.

- To create the boarder I first cut some book pages into 1/2" strips. I wiped 2 distress Ink pads onto my non stick craft sheet and spritzed with a mica mist. Then I wiped the book page strips through the ink making sure that each was completly covered and let them dry. Then all I had to do was stick to the edges of my page.

- Now for me! I printed my full length photo onto plain white card (you can use whatever card/photo paper is your preference) making sure that it was only a bit smaller than the size of my page and then cut me out! If you are unable to print your own pictures at home then just use whatever photo you have to hand that you are happy to cut into, or you can choose to just add the photo as is.

- Place on your page but don't stick down yet. For your title you can use any lettering you like, Stamping, handwriting, stickers, stencils, printed etc. I decided to use Thickers for mine and mount onto another piece of book paper and inked the edges.

- Now decide where you want your elements to go. I decided to stick myself in the middle with my title blocks to one side.

- Grab your list you made earlier. You can go about adding these words to your page in many different ways. You could write directly onto the page, draw lines to write in sentences, write in different colours, print your writing in a block from the computer, write on strips of paper, use journaling spots etc.

I kept mine simple and handwrote my words onto strips of paper, cut them and inked the edges before sticking randomly over my page.

And that's it, your done :) You can of course go back in and add embellishments, stickers, flowers, buttons, brads etc to your page, ink it some more add doodling whatever you want ( I may be going back to add some doodles around some of my words with black, blue and green pens!)

If you are new to art journaling and want some more inspiration then I found these videos on youtube very helpful and this tutorial very inspiring, enjoy!

I really hope that you have enjoyed the first prompt and would love to see if you create a page based on it, please feel free to share your creations. I will be back in the next week to let you know what bits you will be wanting for prompt #2!

Until then, hugs and periwinkles,

Maxine

Life & Me: A 2011 Project

2010-12-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

Starting from Monday 3rd January we will be starting a new year long project on the blog. If you would like to complate a project to capture you and your life right now then this is for you.

There will be a new prompt every fortnight and you can follow along using any type of media you like, be it paper scrapping, digi, blogging etc. If you have children it may even be something you would like to create with/for them, focusing on their life or including your whole family.

There will be plenty of scope within this project to do as much or as little as you like. Being on a fortnightly schedule means that if you lead a very busy life you should still be able to join in. For those of you who scrap quickly there will also be some ideas for extra topcis that you can look at.

During this project we will be looking at the little things that make each of us us and the larger world around us. Each prompt will include a topic to focus on that week, a technique and a paper example.

So what type of techniques and ares of life will we be looking at? Sketches, fabric, sewing, painting, collage, monochrome, favourite things, feelings, surroundings, wishes, loves, hates etc. All prompts will be posted to the blog, there is no need to sign up for anything and you can dip in and out as little or often as you like. If you do join in we would love to see what you create so feel free to leave comments and links to your own blogs :)

If you would like to start getting ready then you can start gathering your supplies. This project should enable you to use any stash you already have. You will be able to adapt anything to suit your own tastes and products. If however you do want new stuff then go ahead!!

I will be creating an 8x8 mini book of my pages, you can of course go bigger or smaller or wait to see some of the prompts before deciding. I will not be creating my cover until we are part way through the project so that I can get a feel for how it is shaping up but you can go ahead and start designing right away should you wish!

For the first prompt you will need:

a picture of yourself (or whomever you are creating this about/for)

paint (I used acrylic but watercolors will work too)

mica mists (any type)

stencils/punches (you can create your own stencils using the punches if you don't have any!)

journaling pen (one that will write over paint)

plain white cardstock (for your background)

scraps of patterned paper/book paper (any types/colours you like)

ink pads (I used distress)

You probably guessed it from that list but we will be creating an Art Journal style page! I am not a big arty inky messy crafter but I love the idea of it and once I started to have a play I really enjoyed it, so if you are an art journal beginner or someone more talented then me you will be able to make this page!

So sit back and wait for 3rd Jan. I really look forward to beginning this project and can't wait to see other's interpretations of the prompts and techniques, really hope that we can get a nice group of us playing along together. If you are hoping to join in then why not leave a comment I would love to hear from you :)

Hugs and periwinkles

xxx

Happy Christmas!

2010-12-24T07:19:00.001-08:00

Apologies for not posting for sooo long, has been manic here! Would just like to wish everyone a very Happy Christmas filled with love, laughter, family and friends. And thank you so much to everyone who has helped support Which Crafts? during our first year :)

We have lots of exciting things to share that will be happening next year, newsletters will be sent out next week with all the details including sneak peeks of January and February kits, our new year long challenge and craft challenge sites we will be sponsoring! 2011 is set to be a fun filled crafty year and we are looking forward to sharing it with you. If you are not yet signed up to our newsletter you can do so here.

Now here are a few quotes I have found that made me giggle and so I thought I would share some of the laughter.

Three phrases that sum up Christmas are: Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men, and Batteries not Included. ~Author Unknown

I once bought my kids a set of batteries for Christmas with a note on it saying, toys not included. ~Bernard Manning

The one thing women don't want to find in their stockings on Christmas morning is their husband. ~Joan Rivers

Mail your packages early so the post office can lose them in time for Christmas. ~Johnny Carson

Anyone who believes that men are the equal of women has never seen a man trying to wrap a Christmas present. Anonymous

Christmas Journal Example

2010-11-06T09:24:00.000-07:00

I have started making my Christmas Journal today and so far am really pleased with how it is going. Thought I would share some pictures so you can see how I have used some of the products from the Christmas Kits.

First I started by creating some of my own transparency sheets. These 2 were done very simply by stamping onto the acetate using acrylic paint.

I also made some other sheets 1 where I stamped the snowflakes in white just down one edge, 1 where I added some paper cut with some decorative edged scissors down one edge and the last one I added a fabric strip and piece of ribbon (as seen below)

For my covers I used the Teresa Collins Brackets. All I did to add a bit more interest was create a frame using chipboard and cover with some of the paper from the Echo Park Everybody Loves Christmas range. I added a sticker from the same range to the middle of the frame and then added some off-cuts of ribbon to the edge. I also plan on using some alphas to put the date under the frame. I have bound my book using some 2" steel binder rings instead of the ones that came with the covers as these are bigger!

For the inside of my Journal I have used a range of different papers, cardstock etc. The Elle's Studio Cardstock that comes in the kit is the perfect size for this album, you can see the red sheet behind the bingo card. I have randomly spread the cardstock, bingo cards and transparencies throughout the book.

I am planning on using the Elle's Studio Mix & Match Vintage Numbers throughout my journal along with the small Elle's Studio papers to create some small backgrounds to mount the numbers onto.

I expect I will use the Echo Park papers to mount onto the cardstock pages as I go through December and other Elle's Studio Tages for Journaling. I also love creating my own embellishments so will be using the text papers and fabric for this to make my journal even more unique, lets just hope that I am able to keep up this year!

Hope you have enjoyed looking at my Journal and it has helped to inspire you/give you ideas. All our Christmas products and kits are available here including many of the items I have used. If you have created a Christmas Journal using any of our products/kits then we would love to see what you have done!

Thanks for stopping by,

Hugs & Periwnkles xxx

Christmas bits and bobs!!

2010-11-04T08:18:00.001-07:00

I can't believe November is here already, only 51 days until Christmas, eek!! Apologies for not posting so often lately, my brother turned 18 the other day, I can't believe it he is not allowed to be that old lol, but hopefully now all will be back to normal and I can get posting twice a week again.

We have lots of new items in the shop, if you haven't been by for a while make sure you go look!

Our November Kit is now out so if you plan on making a christmas Journal/December daily then do take a look. We also have loads of papers and embellishments that you can use to make your Journals, layouts and cards.

See all the Christmas Products here.

We also have some new handmade earrings available including these 2 Christmas Tree Charm pairs. Check all the handamde items out here.

I will be back over the weekend with some example of how I am creating my Christmas Journal using the kit and add-ons!

Hugs & Periwinkles xxx

New Items

2010-10-27T12:22:00.001-07:00

Thank you to everyone who has joined the blog and entered for the giveaway. I can now announce that the winner (Random Org was used) is............. Julie :) Congrats! Just email me your address to sales@whichcraftsonline.co.uk and I will get it in the post for you.

Don't worry if you missed out or didn't win we will have another giveaway at the end of November and another on facebook when we reach 300 likes! So keep your eyes peeled lol.

In the meantime have you popped by the shop lately and seen our newest products?

Yesterday saw the arrival of the gorgeous Elle's Studio Christmas tags, perfect to use on Christmas layouts and mini books.

We also have lots of the lovely Ki Memories papers and embellishments in, although not new products as such still a beautiful christmas range full of pinks, blues and greens.

I particularly love the snowflake lace paper :)

We also have the Echo Park Wintertime collection pack and halloween goodies still in stock but all very limited so grab them quick!

Hope you are all staying warm and remember the clocks go back on Saturday night!

Hugs & periwinkles xxx

Halloween Giveaway!

2010-10-18T06:29:00.000-07:00

Here on the blog we are doing a Halloween Giveaway!

Would you like to win these goodies?

Includes:

- Personal Impressions Frankenstein Template.

- 7"x9" Witches & Spells Fabric

- Handmade Embellishents

- Martha Stewart 8"x8" Creepy Face Craft Paper Pad and Stickers (16 double sided papers and 2 sticker sheets)

All items are available to buy in the shop but we are giving these away to 1 lucky crafter!

So how can you win?

All you have to do is become a follower of our blog and post a comment below. That's it! Then we will select 1 lucky person as a winner.

So what are you waiting for? Get following and don't forget to let all your crafty friends know!

The giveaway is open until midnight on Tuesday 26th October so that the goodies can be posted to the winner in time for Halloween :)

Make sure you go over and check out our facebook page as we have another giveaway over there!

Hugs & Periwinkles

xxx

Christmas & Halloween

2010-10-15T07:55:00.000-07:00

We hope that everyone has had a good 2 weeks since we last wrote! We had a lovely break and managed to just squeeze it in before the weather has got really cold!coming

Yesterday we started to put together the November kits and I just can't wait to share them with you! Make sure you are signed up to our newsletter so you can get the details first! As well as the main kit there will be add-ons and embellish kits too! So loads to look forward to :) Newsletters will be sent out on October 25th.

In the meantime all our Christmas products are here.

Have you started to get your Halloween craft supplies together? While we were away we had some feedback on the October kit and discovered that while lots of you liked it you didn't want to pay the high price, so we have changed it! The kit has now been split into 2 and few other bits added - Fabric & Ribbon and Chipboard & Charms. So now you can choose just what elements you want :) We hope that this will be more to your liking!

Have you checked out our Halloween products? They are all here. The Frankenstein template would be great for decorations as well as on Cards and Layouts!

We also have some new Handmade Embellishments available in Halloween colours as well as pink and blue.

Other colours to come soon!

Hugs & periwinkles

xxx

Holiday, new and free!

2010-10-03T08:28:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow we are off on Holiday :o) so any orders placed in the next week will not be posted until Monday 11th October. We apologise for any inconvenience, however should you place an order with us over the week and spend more than £20 you will receive a free suprise gift with your order :)

Have you seen the new Halloween Embellish kit? Check it out here!

What do we have waiting for you over the next month?

Echo Park have launched their next collection 'Wintertime' and we will be stocking the collection packs.

We are already organising the November Monthly Kit and and ideas for the kits in the new year too! Make sure you are signed up to our newsletter to be kept up to date!

My Mind's Eye have some new collections and they have now introduced 6x6 Paper pads so keep an eye out for those!

We hope that you have a great craft filled week,

Hugs and periwinkles xxx

October Kit sneak peek!

2010-09-29T03:14:00.000-07:00

On 1st October our next kit will be going on sale. This kit will be a jam packed Halloween themed Embellish Kit. Full of fabric, chipboard, buttons lace and more it will be the perfect kit to accent your halloween layouts, cards, decorations, invitations, mini books etc!

Watch out for them going on sale on Friday. And here is a little sneak peek!

Cupcake Charms

2010-09-19T05:20:00.000-07:00

We have had a shuffle of the shop sections lately hopefully making it easier to find things. New, Sale, Monthly Kits, Themes & Postage are now at the top and we have a new section - Handmade Items.

We will be adding some more handmade embellishments & mini books soon but first I want to share with you our handmade charms & Jewellery.

Doughnut Earrings

Cupcake Charms

Hopefully more colours will be added soon! Check them out in the shop here!

Our next newsletter will be going out on Monday with details of our October kit, make sure you are signed up here!

Hugs & periwinkles xxx

New In

2010-09-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

The 2 gorgeous new Echo Park christmas collections are now in stock, both are priced at £12.99 and of course we have free postage! My favourite is 'Everybody Loves Christmas', which is yours?

We also have a new Vintage Embellish Kit on sale today. Full of vintage goodies and fabric including Tim Holtz. See it in the shop here!

Hope your week has got off to a good start :)

Hugs and periwinkles x

Update

2010-09-08T09:16:00.000-07:00

Apologies for not updating lately, but here is our latest news :)

- September Flea Market kits have been selling well, thank you to everyone who has brought one. We only have 3 blue ones left! Hurry on over to the shop if you want one, there is of course the red option still available too.

- We have been having problems with one of our suppliers lately (don't get me started!) so this means that some products that we thought we were going to be stocking we are now not. This includes some items we were planning for the October kit and the Crate Paper and My Mind's Eye Halloween Range. However instead we are getting in the 2 gorgeous new Echo Park Christmas Ranges:

"Merry Christmas" consists of warm traditional Christmas past colours.

"Everybody Loves Christmas" consists of whimsical designs and adorable icons.

We will be stocking both the collection packs and are hoping to have them this week or early next week.

- Our next newsletter will be sent out around the 20th September and will include details of our October kit.

- Our new Vintage Embellish Kit should be going on sale by the weekend!

- Have you seen these cute mini books in the shop?

Well now you can make your own! These Pocket Mini Book kits consist of colour step by step instructions, a template, chipboard and book rings. You can use your own papers or choose from our selection in the shop. And of course once you have the template you can create as many of these cute little books as you want!

- We also have lots of new bits that have been added to the shop in the last few days including chipboard sheets, strawberry ribbon, flowers, buttons and cards.

- Our sale is still going on! Come and grab a bargain and all Bo Bunny Mama Razzi is now 25% Off! Include our FREE postage and packaging and what are you waiting for?!

- Are you starting your Christmas cards? Check out these Christmas goodies and especially this lovely Elle's Studio Card kit to help you on your way.

We will be back as soon as more new kits and stock are on the site,

Happy Crafting x

Sneak Peek

2010-08-28T07:36:00.000-07:00

Here is a sneak peek of our September Monthly Kits due on sale on Monday 30th August. They are very limited in numbers so if you want one make sure you keep an eye out!

Flea Market Blue

Flea Market Red

Hugs & Periwinkles xx

New monthly Kit

2010-08-24T03:23:00.001-07:00

Our new monthly kits will be going on sale next week! I'm all excited and hope that everyone likes them as much as I do!
There will be 2 kits for September and an Embellish Kit too.
Flea Market Blue & Flea Market Red, both shall be priced at £12.99 with FREE postage!
We are just waiting on the last few bits to arrive but both kits are based on the new My Minds Eye Lost & Found collections and will contain:
5 Patterned Papers
4 Sheets of Cardstock
Buttons
Lace
Journaling cards
Flowers
Cardstock Stickers

The Vintage Flea Market Embellish Kit is still coming together and contains a whole range of goodies including Tim Holtz products.

Why not join our mailing list to be kept up to date with our new monthly kits and products. We will not share your email address with anyone else and will only send one email a month. Join up here.

Sneak Peeks will be added over the weekend so make sure you keep an eye open!
And details of monthly kits to follow will be coming soon!

Hugs & Periwinkles x

New, Monthly kits, Postage & sale!

2010-08-16T09:54:00.000-07:00

Phew has been a while since I last posted, lots of updating, changing and sorting going on here! We are pleased to announce that we are now offering FREE Postage and Packaging on ALL orders in the UK! So if you want one of our kits now is the perfect time to get one! And whats more we still have our Summer Sale on which includes kits, stamps, inks, papers, ribbons & more! Go check it out!

We are also pleased to announce that we are going to be starting a monthly kit! How exciting. Each kit will be priced between £10 and £15 and include approx 5 patterned papers, 3 sheets of cardstock and embellishments, embellishments, embellishments!! Our first kit will be going on sale next month and is titled 'Flea Market' and what's more there will be 2 colour choices and an embellish kit that will work well with either or by itself! Phew! We will give you more info closer to the launch date!

And finally have you seen the new Pick 'n' Mix shop section? Looking for individual buttons or lengths of ribbon and lace? Then check it out, lots of choose from and more will be added soon!

New New New!

2010-08-02T06:02:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share with you some new releases and goodies that we are going to be stocking.

Firstly here are some of the yummy Elle's Studio tags that we are expecting in shortly to go along with the Journaling class.

Aren't they lush?! We can't wait to see them in real life. Remember the Journaling Class is less than a week away, to start on August 8th and it's FREE! See the Elle's Studio Blog here.

We also have 2 new Embellish Kits to go on sale this month - Cherries & Strawberries and Summer Sun. We are still waiting for the last few bits to arrive but hopefully they will be on sale in the next week!

And have you been keeping an eye on all the new CHA releases? We would love to stock them all but we can't :o( We are pleased however to say that we will be stocking the Crate Paper Snow Day and Restoration.

We just love these bright and funky colours, not necessarily traditional but fun none the less. And aren't the snowmen cute?!

I think the Restoration Collection has become my personal Favourite! Check out the Crate Paper blog for more yummy peeks and example layouts created by their design team.

And finally what about Halloween you ask.... Do you ever find it difficult to find papers that match the colours of halloween costumes? They always seem to be orange and purple based, not at all what I am looking for however we are very taken with this new My Minds Eye Line 'Haunted'. Haunted features an eerie haunted house complete with candelabras, chandeliers, spiders, black birds and a spooky witch on double sided FLOCKED kraft papers, printed in rich blacks and distressed with white!

Perfect for any kind of costume and any type of halloween party. They can be teemed with colourful embellishments or left on the muted theme and suitable for adults and children alike!

We are also planning some Halloween and Christmas Embellish kits too!

So much going on we can't wait!

Until then make sure you check out our sale with up to 40% off on some items and all Bo Bunny Mama Razzi Products 20% off all through August!

Something exciting is coming up...

2010-07-25T06:58:00.001-07:00

We are proud to be able to say we are sponsoring the free Journaling Class being held by Elle's Studio in August!

Check out the Elle's Studio Blog for more info and make a note in your diary, It's going to be great fun, we are even offering a prize along with lots of other sponsors!

We have lots of new Elle's Studio goodies expected in soon but why not check out what we already have here and check out our Embellish Kits which have lots of Elle's Studo products in too!

The Elle's Studio website also has loads of gorgeous inspiration from their design team, check it out here.

We can't wait for August now and hope to see you all there!

New Chip Kits

2010-07-17T05:20:00.000-07:00

We have 2 new kits in the shop - Butterfly Chip Kit and Bird Chip Kit.

Both kits contain a chipboard shape, kraft and patterned paper, ribbon, lace, pins, buttons and flowers.

Here we have 2 examples of what our guest designers Annie and Katy created with the kits.

Butterfly Chip Kit

And here is how Annie Created it:

1. First of all I used the butterfly shape as a template to cut four extra right hand wing shapes from patterned paper and some kraft cardstock. These would form the pages of my butterfly book. I inked around the edges of these pages.
2. Next I covered the chipboard butterfly shape with patterned paper, trimmed the edges and inked them.
3. After printing out my photos I mounted them onto the wing pages and teamed them with small strips or shapes of co-ordinating paper.
4. I then added flower embellishments to each page along with a small kraft strip to write my journaling on to accompany each photo.
5. Once these pages were complete I used double sided tape to adhere the pages to each other and to the chipboard base of the book.
6. I used various embellishments for the cover of the book and used a combination of two sets of alpha stickers for the main title.
7. I chose two lengths of ribbon and threaded them through the hole in the chipboard shape.
8. To finish off I stuck some lace to the back of the butterfly shape on the left wing and kept it ruffled up to add some texture.

Bird Chip Kit

Katy Created a wall hanging and a layout.

We hope that you have enjoyed seeing the lovely examples of what you can create with these kits and would love to see what you make with them.

Happy Crafting x x x

Yellow Card kit

2010-07-10T12:35:00.000-07:00

Today we have some examples of what Gill has created with our new Yellow card kit and how she created them.

I cut the card base from double sided butterfly cardstock, and folded it in half.
Cut ‘Happy birthday’ using my Cricut and the Wild Card cart. Adhered sentiment (I used Diamond glaze) to the two-tone orange paper and trim to size. Mounted on a rectangle of the reverse side of the butterfly cardstock. Used double side tape to fix the panel onto the card base.

I used some embroidery threads from my personal stash to thread through the buttons and tie at the front, and used glue dots to stick the buttons in position.

Cut two small lengths of the ribbon supplied in the kit and tied in a knot. Stuck the tied ribbon to the rectangle frame corner using a glue dot.

Add some of the gems provided in the kit to highlight various parts of the ‘Happy Birthday’ phrase.

Used card base from kit. Trimmed rectangle of two-tone orange paper (I love this paper!) and using double side tape, stuck this to the front of the card, leaving a small border round the edge.

Cut a frame using my trusty original red Sizzix. Inked the edges of the outer and frames using Tim Holz alcohol ink from my stash. Fixed both to the card base using sticky fixers. Found a round adhesive-back sentiment from my stash in the perfect colours and stuck this on white card. Used one of my monster circle punches to punch out the sentiment, and stuck this to the frame. Added some blossoms from the kit and popped some of the gems in the centres to add sparkle. Took the two ribbons , held them together and tied a simple knot. Trimmed to the desired size and stuck to sentiment.

Folded patterned cardstock to make card base. Used my threading water edge punch to cut a section of scalloped edged paper from the orange cardstock. Inked edges with one of my Tim Holz distress ink pads. Cut the frames using my red Sizzix, inked edges and fixed to card using 3d sticky fixers. I used some Basic Grey alphas that picked out the colours in the base cardstock and stuck these on a strip of the plain background card in the kit. Inked the edges and fixed using 3d sticky fixers to the frame. Added section of knotted ribbon and larger flower from kit. I had some Prima blossoms in my own stash which were a perfect colour match, so I added these. Fixed some of the gems from the kit into the flower centres.

Used the double sided green/orange cardstock to make the card base, I used a plate to draw an arc to create the shaped front. I cut this using my wobbly hand and scissors, and inked the edges to help disguise my dodgy cutting! I kept my scraps from the other cards I’d already made and using a circle punch, cut enough circles to create a scallop edge all round. I inked each one and stuck them to the back of the card. I then cut a duplicate set and stuck on the reverse to neaten up the inside of the card.

I used my large oval scallop edge punch to cut a shape for the front and inked the edges. I had another sentiment from my stash just asking to be used with the card, so I mounted this on the oval shape and fixed the whole lot to the card front using 3d sticky pads. I added blooms from the kit, and gems to the flower centres. I took two sections of ribbon knotted together and tuck these to the edge of the oval shape. As a final touch (I do like gems!) I popped one onto the printed flower on the sentiment . You can’t really see the added bling from the photo but it is there, I promise!.

We hope that you have enjoyed looking at these cards and that they have given you some inspiration, I know that I have got to try the scalloped one!

Thanks for popping by!

New Summer Card Kit

2010-07-08T01:18:00.000-07:00

We have a new Card kit on sale - Summer. Full of lovely bright funky colous and sure to put a smile on anybodies face!
Here we have some cards made by our Design Team Member Lesley using the kit. She also used some of her own stamps and inks.

Come on over to the shop and check out the kit here.

We also have the Papers available to buy seperatly.

Watch out for tomorrow when we will be showing some cards created with another of our new kits!

Blog Party Winners!

2010-07-05T10:13:00.001-07:00

Now that the blog party is well and truely over it's time to announce the winners :o)

Quiz
Claire Salisbury
Ali James

The correct answers were:
1. What is Which Crafts? Slogan? The online site for all your crafty kits.
2. Which Manufacturer makes this paper line? 3 bugs in a rug
3. How many 12x12 Kits does Which Crafts Currently sell? 7 (this has since changed!)
4. Who makes these kits? K & Co.
5. What company make these Journalling tags? Elle's Studio
6. Who makes these stamp sets? Inkadinkado
7. Which Bo Bunny line does Which Crafts Stock? Mama Razzi
8. Which Paper manufacturer does Which Crafts NOT currently stock?
Anna Griffin, Fancy Pants, American Crafts, 3 Bugs in a Rug Fancy Pants
9. How old is Which Crafts? 6 months old
10. How many cupcake items does Which Crafts stock? 11

Mini Challenge
Yvonne
See her contributions here and here

How much ribbon in the Jar?
Karen
The correct answer was 22 pieces of ribbon

Hunt the needle
Shellie
The needle was hinding in #11, the orange buttons!

All one colour challenge
Bev
Just_a_bean

Name the Panda
Kirsteen
The Pandas name was Peter!

If you can all email me (sales@whichcraftsonline.co.uk) your addresses I will send your prizes off to you :)

Thanks to everyone who took part, and keep your eyes peeled for more new kits coming very soon!

New Embellish Kits!

2010-07-03T03:43:00.001-07:00

We have 5 new Embellish kits in the shop!

They are available in Pink, Blue, Green, Yellow & Kraft.

Each kit comes with a selection of embellishments, lace, journal tags, buttons, die-cuts, gems & fabric. Starting at just £6 you get a lots of different bits to use on your layouts, cards, mini books etc.

Kits will vary slightly from the photos for example you may receive a different selection of Tim Holtz Tickets or K&Co Die Cuts.

To see a detailed list of what is included in each kit check them out in the shop here.

Final Blog Party Game & Extended Free P&P!

2010-06-30T08:46:00.000-07:00

I can't believe June is now over :o( We hope that you all enjoyed our blog party. We have one final little game for you all with the last chance to win a prize!

Name the Panda!

You may have seen this little Panda on the blog before, I am planning on making up some little kits with instructions to be able to make one yourself with options of other animals as well! Great as a craft table mascot or for children!

But this little Panda is nameless :o( So all you have to do is choose a name from the list below (only 1 person per name please) and leave a comment with your choice. I will pick a name out of the hat at the end and the winner will receive a prize!

So the names are:

Paul

Pauline

Paige

Penny

Pepper

Peter

Peyton

Phillip

Phoebe

Pippa

Polly

Preston

Patrick

Perry

Parker

Also don't forget our free postage and packaging over £10, we have now extended the offer until Sunday! So if you want a kit make the most of it now!

The blog party is almost over but that doesn't mean that the fun will stop there! We have 3 new card kits to go on sale next week. Yes 3! Here are some sneak peeks of cards created by our guest designer Gill.

Can't wait to share them with you, so keep your eyes peeled!

Summer Dreams Projects

2010-06-29T02:14:00.000-07:00

I have been having a play with Summer Dreams kit and I am in love with the beautiful colour and the summery feel. So far I have created a 12x12 layout, a card and started a journal/mini book and still have loads left!

In addition to the kit I have also used:

Co-ordinating cardstock selection

Elle's Studio Chic Date Tags

Worn Lipstick Distress Ink

Gems (available in this kit)

Alphas (these would go well)

And a few other bits from my own stash.

For the layout I started with the Vanilla Cardstock and splattered with pink & turquoise paint for my background. I cut out a section of the AC paper with a scalloped edge and layered over some of the turquoise lace. I added my photo, 2 Elle's Studio Date Tags, the Prima flower and made my own embellishment using punches and a flair badge. I cut out a butterfly and inked with distress ink and stitched a trail with pink thread. I added my title over the edge of the photo and stapled some ribbon to the bottom.

The card is very simple, I used the same butterfly shape as my layout, layered some patterned paper, stamped a sentiment and added some pom pom ribbon.

My journal/mini book is a work in progress, I plan on adding to it as I fill it. I started with this 5x7" piece of chipboard for my cover. I covered with pp, added the bingo card and attached pom pom ribbon to the edge. I created a lace rosette with the heart lace in the kit by stitching it together. I used lots of different alphas from my own stash for the title.

On the inside I have created a mini envelope and cut some pages to different sizes to add interest. I can't wait to start filling it up with my summer thoughts, dreams and adventures!

Hope you have enjoyed looking at my ideas and I would love to see what you can create with your kit!

Strawberries + Cream Kit

2010-06-22T02:28:00.000-07:00

We have another New kit on sale - Strawberries & Cream, full of pretty reds, creams, lace & strawberries!

Pop over to the shop to check out the kit here!
Our guest design team member Julie created a very pretty mini book with this kit. Here are some photos and words from the lovely lady herself!

:)

The kit has been so beautifully put together that I wanted to make a project which combined lots of the elements in one go. So I decided made a mini album to record some sweet summery treats ... starting with my first bowl of strawberries and cream of the season, well, how could I not!

I really wanted to make 'proper' use of the very pretty strawberry fabric so I cut two circles, larger than my chipboard pages and on the first circle hand stitched the lace, strip of checked fabric, fabulous Martha Stewart strawberry and the flower directly onto the fabric. I then stitched the second circle of fabric to the first, trapping the chipboard inside.

I covered both sides of each of the chipboard pages from a minibook [from my own supplies] with the papers from the kit. To add a little bit of interest and texture I used a border punch along my off-cuts and then trimmed around my photos and journaling blocks with the trimmed edges. I even used the packaging from the Elle's Studio journaling blocks as it co-ordinated perfectly with everything else!

The pages alternate between a photo on one side and journaling block on the other and soon it'll be filled with details and images of my summertime treats. Things ranging from food, drink, sunshine and flowers to new dresses, seaside trips and clear blue skies.

It'll also be a lovely for me to see what you create with your strawberries and cream kit too! And if you want to simply copy this idea and make a mini book of treats then so much the better! All you'd have to do is make sure to treat yourself throughout the summer and take lots of photos ... and I think you can manage that can't you?

Have fun with your kit!

Julie :)

New Summer Dreams kit!

2010-06-19T06:16:00.001-07:00

New kit on Sale - Summer Dreams featuring American Crafts Dear Lizzy and Letterbox.

Pop on over to the shop here to see everything that is included.

All the papers are double sided and there is also a cardstock add-on available. I am planning on turning mine into a summer journal/mini book - we have chipboard and book rings available here if you want to try that too!

Sneak Peeks & Swaps

2010-06-18T02:35:00.000-07:00

We have our first swap up on our facebook page – Collage ATCs. Inchie swap to follow soon.
Pop on over to the discussion section here to see the details and to sign up. If you don’t have a facebook account you can still view the details, just leave a comment here and I will add you to the swap.

Now for some pretty sneak peeks.
Firstly we have this yummy Sneak peek from Julie (http://notesonpaper.blogspot.com/) using the Strawberries & Cream Kit due on sale next week!
Don’t those strawberries look soooo yummy!

Secondly we have a sneak peek of our Summer kit featuring American Crafts Papers including Dear Lizzy. Hopefully ready to go on sale at the weekend!!
Aren’t the colours just lovely!

More details when the kits are on sale and don’t forget to check out the swaps!

Hand Stitching On Layouts + New shop section!

2010-06-14T02:15:00.000-07:00

Today I thought I would share with you one of my favourite techniques to use on layouts - stitching! And make sure you check out the new shop section where we have 12 colours of Variegated Embroidery Threads!

-
I am a huge fan of hand stitching on layouts. And when I looked through my Lo’s to find some examples for this I was amazed at just how many of my layouts do feature sewing in one way or another!
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When getting ready to do some hand stitching on a layout I always use my piercing mat from Papermania. It makes things so much easier! I have been thinking about getting the paper piercer tool but have found that it is easy enough just using regular noticeboard pins! I also find the piercing mat great when I am using brads.
There are lots of different types of stitching templates on the market and I will explain what I have used for each layout.
-
Lets start with a very simple design – simply stitching a boarder around the page, simple but effective.
Here I have just used a regular running stitch. This design can simply be achieved by drawing a faint line around the page where you want your boarder to be and putting a hole at certain measurements. I however have found that this Tim Holtz ruler is excellent for creating straight lines of pierced holes ready to stitch, as all along one edge of the ruler are a set of small holes placed at perfect intervals ready for you to just push your needle/pin/paper piercer through. I use this ruler all the time! Unfortunatly I don't carry this ruler at the moment (my supplier has been out of stock for so long!) but I know that some other sponsors on UKScrappers do stock it.

For this layout I used a dinner plate to draw round and then pierced my holes as evenly as I could by eye and then used a backstitch.

Of course an even simplier type of stitching is the button! I don’t very often glue buttons onto my layouts, I normally stitch them on, ok it may take a bit more time but I much prefer the look.
This layout below took a very long time to sew but I love the result.

To create this I drew a heart on some card the size and shape that I needed it and then cut it out. I stuck down my photo where I wanted it then placed the heart template on the top and lightly drew around it. Then I arranged the buttons around the shape where I wanted them and pierced all the holes. I then had to remove all the buttons so that I could sew each one on individually, so I took a quick photo so that I could refer back to it and see where I had put the different buttons. However it would probably be easier if you just stuck each button down and then sewed them on, as this would save you time!

Of course you don’t have to used quite so many buttons on a layout to get a equally stunning effect! You will probably notice other buttons in more of my layouts.

Next we have simple cross stitches. Again I used my Tim Holtz ruler for this but it is easily achieved by drawing some faint lines and piercing the holes like before.

Another simple thing that can be done is to stitch through plain ribbon to give it more of a pattern and make more of a feature of it. Here I have used a simple running stitch and cross stitches though the centre of the ribbon.

Something else that I often do with ribbon is to create a ruche/ruffled effect by stitching the ribbon in place. I can see that some people may not like this because in some cases you can see the stitching but if you use a colour that matches the ribbon well enough you don’t notice. It doesn’t bother me though as I like the effect once finished.

For something a bit more unusual you can also have a go at stitching fabric onto your layouts as I have done here. I used a simple running stitch and it creates a unique layout.

Now we move onto templates. I personally own some Papermania templates and use them on many layouts. My favourite are the flowers, however as you can see I have used hearts, flowers and butterflies!

Now my personal favourite stitching pattern are flourishes. Bazzill has some lovely ones. However you can also create your own. I use a piece of acetate that I have drawn/printed some designs onto, you can layer this over the top of your layout and as it is clear you can see where you are going to be piercing. Then pierce your holes. As acetate is quite strong you can keep your template to use again and again (as long as you have used a permanent ink!)! You will probably notice that many of my flourishes below are the same ones just in different colours!

Another thing I love when stitching (as you have probably noticed!) is to bring the design over onto the photo or over several layers of paper as this seems to integrate the design into the layout more and connect different elements. Also though, when using very large flourishes they can work very effectively when taken from the centre out to the edges of the paper.

And don’t just stop at using one colour! Why not alternate every other stitch with a different colour or wind 2 different colours together. I find embroidery floss is the best to use as you can decide how thick you want your stitching to be. Also you can incorporate buttons into your stitches as I have done on this flourish or add gems and pearls. You could create your title using a backstitch, or why not use a stamped image and pick our certain bits with stitching? There are so many possibilities!

I hope you have enjoyed this and it has given you some inspiration. Why not share your favourite hand stitched layouts with us?

All One Colour Challenge!

2010-06-11T02:51:00.000-07:00

Today we have the first of our 2 main challenges.

All one-colour challenge – create a layout or a card using only ONE colour. For example you could create a blue-based layout and use lots of different shades of blue – baby blue, navy blue etc. You may also use some black and/or white for writing & inking etc. The layout/card can be any theme.

To take part simply leave a link to your layout/card below. And you could be in with the chance of winning a limited edition 12x12 kit from Which Crafts?!

Below we have some examples from our design team.

Maxine

When I first decided to set this challenge I was convincd that I was going to create my layout in red. Red is my fave colour and I can't get enough of it! However when I came to starting my layout I found that I had loads of green papers and not so many reds, and I had the prefect pictures to go with the green papers.

I started off layering papers at the bottom of the 12x12, I used different manufactureres including Pink Paislee, October Afternoon and College Press.

I then cut out the large flower shape and the butterfly by drawing around some chipboard shapes and inked the edges.

I added some green ribbons and the large flower before sticking down my photos. I didn't have any green alphas so I coloured in some Doodlebug white letters.

I stapled my ribbons on with green staples, added a journalling tag from Elle's Studio (I love these tags! They are available in the shop here!) and using green embroidary floss I stitched a flourish in the corner.

The butterfly and the small white letters were added with some sticky pads to give more dimension.

Julie

It was tricky for me to decide which colour to choose as my one and only for this challenge! Rather than select a colour form the top okf my head [where a lot of colours generally loiter about!] and then go searching for supplies to match, it made more sense to take a look through my stash and find a single recurring colour within my existing papers, embellishments and alphas.

It came as quite a surprise to find that this was a common colour threading through my supplies. What colour would you call it? Acid yellow? Greeny mustard? Or even [as I found on the Dulux site] 'Indian Ivy 4'!!

So as not to distract from the 'one colour' theme, I used a black and white photo, which I printed onto photo canvas and machine stitched to my layered paper [from Crate Paper 'LittleSprout' and Black Market Paper Society 'Letters from Paradise' ranges]. I then siften thorugh my stash for co-ordinating supplies, such as the fabric brad and yellow wire.

My main flower embellishment was made by spray inking some book pages from a mixed media kit, which, on closer inspection appear to be pages from of a Spanish translation of The Hound of the Baskervilles! After the ink dried I tore rough petal shapes from it, fixed them in place with a little double sided tape and ran it through the sewing maine too.

Finally I added a few snippets of journaling and amain title using alpha stickers from the new from Bella Boulavard 'Man of the House' range and I was amazed at how well they toned in perfectly with everything else!

I'm pleased with how it turned out but, for a colour-lover like myself, I found it hard resisting the temptation to sneak at least one more colour in there!

Have fun making your one colour layout. I wonder which colour features most in your stash? I guess I'll have to wait and see .....

Lesley

Lesley went for blue as her colour and created this really pretty card!

Annie

Annie chose the same colour as me! And look we even used the same paper!

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Hope you have enjoyed looking at our examples, now we would love to see what you can create!

Happy Crafting!

Challanges, challanges and more!

2010-06-10T11:56:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the non post yesterday, don't know where June is going, we are on the 10th already! Just a quick post today to share some designs for the mini challenges.

Here is a really pretty card made by our guest designer Annie for Challenge #1 - No patterned Paper!

I absolutly love that cupcake stamp she has used, soooo cute!

And we have some lovely entries from Yvonne here and here.

Want to be in with a chance of winning a prize like Yvonne? Check out the blog post here for the details!

And make sure you pop back tomorrow for a new challange and some gorgeous examples from our design team to be in with the chance of winning a limited edition kit!

Hunt the needle!

2010-06-07T07:20:00.000-07:00

Today we have another game for you with the chance of another prize!
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I've lost my needle under all these buttons, where do you think it is hidden?

There are 15 sections in the picture above - Top Left being #1, bottom right being #15, with the numbers going in the same order as on a phone. For example the dark green buttons are #6 and yellow buttons are square #8.

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All you have to do is pick a square where you think my needle is hidden!

The winner will receive a small prize :o)

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Good luck!

**********

Also today I thought I would share with you another recipe, this time for cupcakes!

Oreo Cupcakes

Ingredients
- 5oz butter
- 5oz castor sugar
- 6oz Self raising flour
- 3 eggs
- 1tsp Vanilla Extract
- Approx 8 Oreo Cookies

Method
- Pre heat over to 180
- Cream together the butter and sugar.
- Beat the eggs in a cup and add gradually.
- Add the flour gradually.
- Beat until smooth and creamy and add the vanilla extract.
- Put 6-8 oreos in a bag and crush them (not too small)
- Add the crushed Oreos to the mixture and mix until evenly distributed.
- Divide the mixture evenly between approx 12-15 cake cases.
- Bake for 15-20 mins.
- Allow to cool completly before icing.

Icing Ingredients
- 5oz butter
- 8oz icing sugar
- vanilla extract
- Oreo cookies (if desired)

Method
- Combine the icing sugar with the butter. Add in small amounts until you get the desired sweetness.
- Add some vanilla extract.
- If desired crush some more oreos in a bag (this time they need to be very small pieces!)
- Add the crushed Oreos to the icing and mix well.
- Spread the icing on top of the cakes.
- Garnish the top of the cupcakes with additional chunks of Oreos!!

Enjoy!
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And a note on the previous post - How much ribbon in the Jar? We have a winner! All winners will be announced at the end of the month!

How much ribbon in the Jar?

2010-06-05T03:49:00.000-07:00

Welcome to day 3 of the blog party!

Today we have a little game for you - How much ribbon in the Jar?!

All you have to do is have a guess to how many different types/styles/colours of ribbon are in the jar for a chance to win it all! (Jar not included!) Each ribbon varies in length but all we are looking for is the number of different ones. So just leave a comment and the person with the correct answer will receive all these gorgeous ribbons!

*Hint there are more than 10 but less than 30!

So here are some piccys of the ribbon in the jar!!

Good Luck!

And a quick note on pervious blog party posts - We have our 2 winners of the Quiz, they will be announced at the end of June, and feel free to carry on taking part in the mini challanges as the winner will not be picked until the end of the month!

Mini Challange

2010-06-03T02:27:00.000-07:00

I hope that you ae all able to enjoy the lovely sunshine today!

For the blog party today we have 2 mini challange to share with you. Everyone who takes part will have their name put into a hat and 1 winner will be picked at random! If you take part in both then you will have double the chance of winning! Just make sure that you leave a comment with a link to pictures of what you create!

Mini Challange #1

Create a layout or card without using any Patterned Paper!! You can use cardstock and any embellishments you want, you could stamp your background, doodle or just leave as is. Can be any theme.

Mini Challange #2

Create your own Fabric/Ribbon Embellishments and use on a card or layout.

*
And today I thought I would also share with you my absolute favourite Cookie Recipe. Normally I am a cupcake fan and that's all I bake, but we had some left over Ready Brek in the house and I wanted to find a recipe to use it up, well I found this one and they have become a firm favourite in my house, just so long as you cook them just right!

New York Cookies

Prep Time: 0hrs 5 mins Cooking Time: 0hrs 10 mins

Ingredients

1tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp baking powder

5oz brown sugar

1 eggs

2oz blended oats (ready brek)

5oz castor sugar

2 tsp soda

7 oz Flour

6oz choc chip

4oz Butter

Method

Cream butter and sugar then add dry ingredients and chocolate chips. Mix together and roll into balls and put on a greasproof lined tray and cook for 10 mins at oven 180 degrees .

(Recipe from http://www.askamum.co.uk/Toddler/Search-Results2/Food-and-nutrition/New-York-Cookies/)

I found they were best when you made them big! And It's best to take them out when they are still a little gooey and eat some of them straight away as they are sooooo yummy when hot! Make sure you don't over cook them, if you make smaller ones then they can easily burn on the bottom.

Well I really hope you enjoy. Make sure you leave a comment if you take part in the mini challanges!

Blog Party!

2010-06-01T02:34:00.000-07:00

Pinch Punch First of the Month!!

June is here and unfortunatly has brought rain, but we won't let that upset the start of our blog party!

Every other day throughout the month we will be posting games, challanges and competitions.

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To help us kick off we have this wordsearch (just click on the link below) just for fun! Who can finish it first?

Wordsearch

http://www.wordsearchmaker.net/wordsearchplayer.aspx?puzzleid=21073a5f-0f0b-48bb-bbb0-337557c7326e

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Secondly we have a quiz! The first 2 people who can email me the correct answers to sales@whichcraftsonline.co.uk will win some goodies! All the answers can be found by looking on the Which Crafts website and here on the blog!

Which Crafts? Quiz

1. What is Which Crafts? Slogan? (hint it's written on the blog!)

The _____ _____ for all _____ _____ _____!

2. Which Manufacturer makes this paper line?

3. How many 12x12 Kits does Which Crafts Currently sell?

4. Who makes these kits?

5. What company make these Journalling tags?

6. Who makes these stamp sets?

7. Which Bo Bunny line does Which Crafts Stock?

8. Which Paper manufacturer does Which Crafts NOT currently stock?

Anna Griffin, Fancy Pants, American Crafts, 3 Bugs in a Rug

9. How old is Which Crafts?

10. How many cupcake items does Which Crafts stock?

Good Luck!!

Blog Party!

2010-05-31T07:37:00.000-07:00

Get ready for the start of our blog party tomorrow! I can't believe how quickly June has come round!

To help celebrate we have got some lovely ladies designing for us this month - can wait to see all the lovely creations with our new kits!

So who are they?

Julie Kirk - http://notesonpaper.blogspot.com/

Annie Bellamy - http://365creativedays.blogspot.com/

Katy Hedger - http://katy-itsmyworld.blogspot.com/

Gill Dickinson - http://molescreations.blogspot.com/

And Lesley Farrell - http://themessycrafter.blogspot.com/

Over the month we will see creations from these ladies and the new kits will go on sale.

We also have 2 main challanges for you to take part in - both of which will have prizes for 2 lucky winners! As well as other mini challanges just for fun!

So get your crafting supplies at the ready and prepare for the Which Crafts Blog Party :)

Next Month...

2010-05-24T13:31:00.000-07:00

Which Crafts? is going to be 6 months old :o) Can't believe how quick the time has gone! To celebrate we are going to be having games, challanges, competitions, swaps and general fun here on the blog!
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We are looking for a few people to help us do some designing. Would you be interested in receiving some goodies and creating something for us? If so then send us an example of your favourite layouts/cards/projects to sales@whichcraftsonline.co.uk and we will let the lucky people know. Everybody is welcome to enter and if we don't select you, don't worry we have lots of prizes and goodies available if you join in with our fun next month! So make sure all your crafty friends know that Which Crafts will be the place to be next month!

Pretty in Pink Altered Clipboard Project Kit!

2010-05-21T02:50:00.001-07:00

Our new Project Kit is now up for sale.

Create this really pretty and useful altered clipboard.

Each kit comes with papers, ribbon, buttons, eyelets, gems, flowers and a chipboard button.

It is available to purchase with or without the clipboard so you can also create other pretty projects.

To create the clipboard above I simply painted with acrylic paint the edges of the clipboard that I wasn't going to cover with paper. Then trimmed the papers to fit, only sticking the bottom one on 3 sides to create a pocket. I punched some holes with my cropadile and set some eyelets and tied some ribbon through. I covered a small blank paper pad with some more of the paper anf finished off with the chipboard button and a ribbon bow. Then I added the flowers and buttons to the bottom pocket and used the left overs to create some tags. Really simple to do and very pretty.

Enjoy!

New Yummy Goodies & Cupcake Recipe!

2010-05-08T04:29:00.000-07:00

We have some new scrumptious goodies in the shop. Firstly these good enough to eat cupcake lip glosses, available in Strawberry, Vanilla or Chocolate.

And to celebrate the up and coming good weather (fingers crossed) we also have these yummy Ice Cream Keyrings and Candles!

Today I also thought I would share with you a recipe for Mini Choc Chip Cupcakes! They were soooo yummy that I didn't get a chance to take a photo before they were all eaten!

Mint Choc Chip Cupcakes

Ingredients

150g butter

150g Caster Sugar

150g Self-raising flour

15g cocoa Powder

2 eggs

Few Drops Vanilla Essence

150g Choc Chips

Icing

approx 200g Icing Sugar

Enough Butter to create not too think butter icing

Few Drops Peppermint Extract to taste

Makes approx 12 cupcakes

- Cream together the butter and sugar.

- Beat the eggs and add to the mixture.

- Gradually add in the flour and cocoa powder.

- Add the vanilla essence and you can also add in some milk to the mixture if it is too thick, needs to be dropping consistancy!

- Stir in the choc chips.

- Cook in a pre-heated oven at 180C for approx 20 mins.

- Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

- For the icing, mix together the icing sugar and butter until you have a creamy consistance that is still easy to spread but not too runny. Add in some peppermint extract to taste. You could also add some green food colouring at this point!

- Spread or pipe the icing over the cupcakes!

- Eat and enjoy, yummy!!

Black and White

2010-05-06T02:38:00.000-07:00

I totally love Black & White Layouts, I think that they look so classy and so versatile as anything goes with black & white! You can change your photos to print in black and white, add in other colours for an accent and match up to cooured photos.

Here I have created a layout using Black, Red & White.

To create this layout I used:

Black & White Kit

Red Paper Scraps

Journalling Tags - Maya Road & Elle's Studio

Red Embellishments

The large flourish at the bottom was cut out from one of the papers in the Black & white Kit and in all I only used 2 papers from the kit plus the black cardstock and some paper scraps. You will probably be able to see a few differences with mine compared to the kit - I had to use some glitter thickers from my own stash as we don't have enough for me to be able to steal the white ones from the shop :o( lol and my ribbon was white with black spots but the one in the kit is the opposite!

You can create a layout like this with any other accent colour you choose! And we have a Pink & Black Kit in the shop which has the same paper designs as the black & white one just with Pink instead!

Hope you like and we would love to see your black & white layouts!

Happy National Scrapbookng Day!!

2010-05-01T04:09:00.000-07:00

We hope that you have a fun filled scrappy day today, unfortunatly I have to go off to 'the other Job' shortly so no scrapping for me today *sigh*. But to help the rest of you celebrate this day we are offering 25% off in the shop until Monday! Just make sure you use the code NSD2010 in the box upon checkout! You can even use it on sale items to get even more of a bargain!!!

Have a great day xxx

Bo Bunny!

2010-04-30T13:58:00.000-07:00

Have you been over to the Bo Bunny blog and seen the cute mini album that they have created with the Mama Razzi collection?

If not you have to go check it out here! Pictures and 2 videos!

http://bobunny.blogspot.com/2010/04/mama-razzi-mini-edgy-album.html

We have the Mama Razzi goodies in stock here.

Including the Mini Edgy Album

Mama Razzi Paper Pad

6 12x12 Patterned Papers

Flowers, Button & Bling packs

Adhesive Chipboard

Cardstock Stickers

May project kit Sneak Peek!

2010-04-26T04:22:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it is almost May! Where has April gone? At least we are now getting to appreciate the beautiful weather and lets hope that it continues for the summer!

Here is a little sneak peek of our May kit - not a layout kit this month a project one!

Look at those pretty pinks!

Kits will go on sale mid May.

Altered Frame Kit & Tutorial

2010-04-21T02:39:00.000-07:00

How do you fancy making a gorgeous Altered Frame like this?

New in the shop we have this mini kit available here

To make this altered frame you need:
Altered Frame Kit available from Which Crafts?
Or
1 wooden frame
Selection of papers
Chipboard butterflies
AND
Black Thread
Needle
Decorated edge scissors, punches etc.
Paint
Ink

To complete the project:
1. Firstly decide what colour you want your frame to be. I painted mine with Ranger Picket Fence Crackle Paint. But you could always keep yours natural or go for a glossy coloured paint. It’s also a good idea to make sure that it matches well to your papers.

2. Cut a piece of scrap paper/card to the size of the glass in your frame (the frames in the kit are A4 so you don’t need to worry about this)

3. Using decorated edge scissors, die-cutting machines, punches or drawing round objects (Bazzill just the edge strips and Sassafras Papers are good for this) cut strips of your papers with pretty edges. You want each of your strips to be about 2 inches wide so that you can layer them easily. I used a total of 8 strips for my frame but you can go as few or as many as you like. For the text paper strips I joined 2 pieces together to make it long enough for the frame.

4. Starting with the strip that you want to go at the bottom of the frame, start layering the papers on top of each other leaving a few centimetres gap between each.

5. Now cover your butterflies. Using a wet glue stick each butterfly to a different paper. I used some small scraps of other papers as well as ones in the kit. When cutting the butterflies out make sure that you use a very sharp craft knife so that the paper cuts and doesn’t tear. Also make sure that you wait until the glue has thoroughly dried.

6. Ink the edges of the butterflies (I used a Walnut distress Ink)

7. Arrange them randomly on the right side of your background and stick down.

8. Using a pencil draw some little dotted lines out from your butterflies (like on the American Crafts Paper) make them wiggly and loopy!

9. Now using a needle or paper piercer, pierce the holes in the paper and sew with the black thread.

10. For the left side of the frame type out (or write on strips of white paper) a saying or poem that you like (I used ‘Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening’ by Robert Frost) Then cut out and ink the edges and stick down randomly.

11. Your finished! Well you don’t have to be! You can add gems or stickles to your butterflies, add flowers or other chipboard to the outside of the frame etc etc.

Hope you have fun and if you make one leave us a link to your blog so that we can take a peek :o) Enjoy!

Inchie Cards

2010-04-20T06:45:00.000-07:00

Here are some cards that I have made while having a play around with some of the Inchie Stamps in the shop. So simple to make but very pretty too.

I have used the following items to make these cards:

Inchie Stamp Set - Flourishes

Inchie Stamp Set - Special Thoughts

Blue Card Making Mini Kit

Pink card Making Mini Kit

Distress Ink Pad - Broken China

Distress Ink Pad - Worn Lipstick (we also sell Tattered Rose)

Ink Blending Tool

Purple and Yellow Inks (we sell Mustard Seed)

Stazon Black Ink

Cupcake Mini Stamp (Forever Friends)

Ribbon

White Card

Foam Sticky Pads

There are so many different stamp combinations you can use to make some cute cards and they are so versatile that they can be used for almost any occassion. What will you make?

Inspirational Inchies!

2010-04-17T04:03:00.001-07:00

Lesley has been having a play with 2 of the Inchie Stamp sets and has made these beautiful Inchies (1" x 1") and Twinchies (2" x 2")!

This first set uses the Trees & Leaves Stamp Set.

This second set uses the Butterflies & Birds Stamp Set.

These stamp sets have such a range of different uses. They can be used for all sorts of things, such as bookmarks, ATCs, toppers for cards etc. as well as just inchies and twinchies!

These stamps are great when used with Distress Ink Pads.

I have been having a play myself with 2 different sets making some simple yet very pretty cards which I will be sharing with you hopefully tomorrow!

Cupcake Toppers

2010-04-10T04:22:00.000-07:00

Maxine has created these cute cupcake toppers using the Elle's Studio Cupcake Clear Stamp.

She used these on some cupcake recipe cards but they have so many uses - Card toppers, embellishments on layouts, tag toppers, an alternative to bows on presents etc..

And so many variations possible, wouldn't they be cute if you used a coloured ink and added some gems as sprinkles?!

We have lots of new items that have arrived in the last week that we hope to have uploaded to the shop in the next few days. And have you checked out our Sale? Lots of goodies for great prices!

New Mini Easter Kit!

2010-03-30T05:55:00.001-07:00

Just uploaded to the site is a new super cute Easter/Spring Mini Kit.

A bargain at only £3.75 it has cute Three Bugs in a Rug papers and stickers, ribbons, buttons & flowers.

The colours are much brighter and very pretty IRL.

We hope you like and don't forget we have other Easter goodies in the shop here!

Bo Bunny Mama Razzi Now in Stock!!

2010-03-25T04:56:00.001-07:00

Yea, we are very excited here, just finished uploading all the new Mama Razzi Goodies to the shop :o)

Come and check out this gorgeous collection.

We have the Mini Edgy Bracket Album & Matching Mama Razzi paper pad.

6 different Double sides papers available to buy seperatly or as a collection.

Cardstock stickers

Adhesive Chipboard

Flowers, buttons & bling selection.

See them all in the shop here!

Easter is on the way!

2010-03-24T03:48:00.000-07:00

Are you looking forward to Easter? Do you go to any events or egg hunts for the children or do you have your own egg hunt in your garden? Do you drawl over all the yummy chocolate in the shops at the moment? Or maybe your not a chocolate fan? Well make sure that you come and have a look at our easter goodies in the shop.

We have this cute Easter Egg Dress Up Kit that is a brilliant little activity to occupy the children in the holidays.

And will you be creating scrapbook pages showing your children egg hunting or scoffing chocolate?! Well we have some lovely easter ribbon and tags what would work wonderfully.

Make sure to check back to the shop soon as we are expecting the Mama Razzi Bo Bunny line shortly!!

Bo Bunny - Mama Razzi

2010-03-15T06:32:00.000-07:00

Yes we are pleased to announce that we are going to be stocking the Mama Razzi collection from Bo Bunny! Unfortunatly we were unable to afford to buy in everything from the whole collection so we just selected what we hope will be the most popular bits! But if the collection sells well then we will get more of it in!

We are expecting the goods in within the next 2 weeks, we are very excited here, hope you are too!!

Card making...

2010-03-10T04:43:00.000-08:00

Sorry I've not been around for a while, things seem to be... I'm not sure just not going as easily as I would like of late!

But anyways are you all ready for mothers day? Made your cards yet? Well we have some new mini card kits in the shop one in blue and one in pink. Hopefully I will get the yellow and purple sorted soon too!

And don't forget our card templates too. As Lesley has shown with this beautiful card they are suitable for a range of different occasions and once you have the template you can make as many cards from it as you like!

And while I am here I thought I would show you a sneak peek of a project I am working on...

Isn't he just the cutest!! His friends will be following (hopefully) shortly!

Oh and before I forget the winner of the Bo Bunny goodies (when we get them in, only a few weeks!) is... MEL!! Well done Mel, send us an email with your address and we will send you some goodies when we get them in!

I would have posted a pic of the random number generator I used that other people seem to be able to do on their blogs but I'm not sure how to do it, it won't copy lol

Will announce the line we are expecting in the next blog post.

Hope your all having a good week xx

New March Kit!

2010-03-02T10:15:00.000-08:00

Our March kit is finally here! Only 1 day late lol, unfortunatly due to the other job... *sigh*.

But anyways make sure you check out the kit in the shop. We have the basic kit at only £9.99

then we have the add-ons, which include a mini ribbon kit at only £2.00

American Crafts Shapes

And Distress Ink pad, Stamps etc.

And as we didn't get around to it at the weekend, here is the final layout created by Lesley using this kit.

Make sure you get in quick if you want this kit as they are very limited edition!

We will announce our winner of the Bo Bunny goodies very soon and announce what line we are expecting in :)

Have a good Tuesday evening x x

Possible new stock & more Layouts!

2010-02-24T06:33:00.000-08:00

Ready to see some more gorgeous layouts from Lesley created using the March Kit? Well here are another 2, the final one to be shown at the weekend!

Those tulip photos are just amazing and they work so well with the kit colours!

Remember the March Kit will be going on sale on Monday 1st March! And there will also be some add-ons that co-ordinate with the kit available.

Now we would like to ask for your help... Here at Which Crafts? we have been told by one of our suppliers that we can get hold of the new Bo Bunny collections in a months time!

We are very excited and really want to be able to stock ALL of the new products, however this is unortunatly not possble so we are looking for your help... which collections and what products do you all like the most? Which would you like to buy?

Check out the Bo Bunny site and the 6 new collections and leave us a comment telling us which are you favourite and which products in each collection you like the most....

Then fingers crossed we will be able to order some in and have it ready for you to buy come end of March :)

Everyone who leaves us a comment will be in with a chance to win some Bo Bunny goodies as soon as we get them in!!

Thanks in advance and good luck!

Wall Hanging Project Kit!

2010-02-23T03:46:00.000-08:00

Have you seen this brilliant kit in the shop yet?

Create yor own record wall hanging with this kit and have something unusual to display in your home!

Maxine created this beautiful wall hanging using the basic elements of the kit but also some different papers and extra embellishments to make it her own.

Each kit comes complete with:
3x 7" records
3x 6x6 Bo Bunny papers
1 sheet of music paper
6 large eyelets
3 Prima flowers
2 handmade button flowers
1x Teresa Collins journal ticket
1ft black ric rak
1ft red ribbon
1ft white ribbon
Tips sheet

To complete the project you will need a cropadile or big bite to punch and set the eyelets.

So if you fancy having a go at something a bit different why not give this a go? Check it out here in the shop. And enjoy!

Sneak Peek of March Kit!

2010-02-18T04:38:00.000-08:00

Here we have a lovely layout created by Lesley using some of our March Monthly Kit.

In total she managed to create 4 layouts with the kit! We will show the others up until the kit goes on sale on March 1st.

In the meantime why not check out the shop and see our January and February Kits that are still available and all the add-ons that co-ordinate with them!

ATCs & Inchies!

2010-02-16T04:03:00.000-08:00

Check out these beautiful ATC's created by our new design team member Lesley.

Lesley used one of our ATC Scrap Kits with the addition of chalk inks, some extra paper and a couple of small stamps. We love what she has created, my personal favourites are the 2nd and 5th ones, although that elephant stamp that was included in the kit is just sooo cute!

So why not have a go yourself at creating some gorgeous ATC's? Each Scrap Kit comes complete with 10 Chipboard ATC blanks, a stamp, paper, flowers, ribbon and embellishments. The kits are especially great if you like a suprise as each kit is different!

We also have some new Inchie Stamps available in the shop, including Trees & Leaves, Butterflies & birds, Spring is Here, Flourishes and Special Thoughts, all available with or without Cipboard blank Inchies!

Whatever you create, enjoy!

Mini book!

2010-02-09T04:37:00.000-08:00

Check out this cute mini book made by Maxine using our Blue & Green Life Page Kit. Just because it's called a page kit doesn't mean that you have to creat layouts with it!

Maxine also used some chipboard for the covers, BIA & O wires (but a hole punch and book rings would work too) Walnut Stain Distress Ink, Brads and some ribbon.

When I saw this kit I had to have it! I just love the colours of the papers and cardstock. I have created this mini book for a short break that me and my boyfriend are going on. I always love to have somewhere to record what we do each day and somewhere to record photos when we come home.

The covers of the book measure 5 3/4" x 4" and the inside envelopes measure 5 1/2" x 3 3/4".

Each of the envelopes I made (you can get 2 from a sheet of 12x12) and punched a half circle with my circle punch so that the items inside are more accessible.

For each day I then created a mini journalling book. Each one measures 5" x 3 1/2" and fits perfectly just inside the envelopes. I just cut a few pieces of lined paper the same size and attached to the corner with a brad. The fronts are then decorated with scraps of paper left over from making the envelopes.

In all a very simple mini book but has so many uses. Instead of the mini journalling books in each envelope you could put momentos of an occasion, I plan to include ticket stubs and leaflets in mine. Or you could use to add extra photos, it could be a mini coupon book as a gift, with maybe fewer envelopes and more blank pages. I just love the colours and think it looks so elegant! So if you buy enjoy!!

Don't forget that this kit is included in our Competition to win a free March/April Monthly kit!

Let them eat Cake!

2010-02-08T05:13:00.000-08:00

Today we thought we would share a few more of our fave cupcake recipes.

Firstly here is our favourite basic vanilla cupcake recipe, great to add your own extra ingredients to or frost in your own way.

Ingredients:
5oz butter,
5oz castor sugar
6oz selfraising flour
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 180C
Beat the butter and sugar together until smooth.
Crack the eggs into a cup and beat with a fork.
Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the butter and sugar mixture and beat together until light and creamy.
Gradually add in the flour and beat until dropping consistency.
Divide the mixture between 12 cake cases and cook for approx 20 mins.
Allow to cool before frosting.

Check out this Blog for some amazing chocolate cupcakes with white chocolate and raspberry frosting!

Don't forget to check out the Cupcake section of the shop!

Enjoy!!

Page Kits! And don't forget the competition!!

2010-02-06T03:19:00.000-08:00

Here at Which Crafts we have a range of different page kits. Each suitable for many different occasions.

Firstly we have our Three Bugs In A Rug 12 x 12 Celebrate Kit, full of Papers, stickers, ribbons, brads and die-cuts with a celebration/party theme. Great for creating co-ordinated layouts of a child’s party or to use to create a cute mini book.

One of our favourite kits here at Which Crafts is the 12 x 12 Black & Pink Kit.

With 6 patterned papers and 2 sheets of cardstock, flowers, Thickers and ribbon.
Great for creating elegant layouts.

And finally we have our 12 x 12 Blue & Green Life kit.

Beautiful patterned papers and we totally love the Canvas labels and flocked alphas. Great for creating layouts that reflect on some part of you or your life and the cardstock works well for swimming and spring layouts!

All these kits are available to buy from the shop here!

Don't forget that along with our Layout a Month Kits if you buy any of these Page Kits and send us a picture of what you create then you could be in with the chance of winning a free March/April Kit! Check out this blog post for more info!

For the Love of Cupcakes!

2010-02-03T03:10:00.001-08:00

“Friends are like cupcakes in my pantry of memories.”- Anonymous

Are you one of those Cupcake lovers like we are? Can you not get enough of the delicious mouthwatering colours and flavours and how pretty they look?

Then you have to come and have a look at our cupcake section of the shop!

We have Bookmarks, Key Rings, Candles, Candle Holders, Stamps and Paper.

And as it’s nearing Valentines Day we thought we would share with you some of our fave cupcake recipes for this time of year.

Strawberry Cupcakes
Ingredients:
150g Plain flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
100g Granulated Sugar
50g Butter
1 large egg
150-170g Strawberry yoghurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g fresh strawberries

For the frosting:
30g butter
130g icing sugar
2 strawberries, mashed.

Preheat the over to 180C
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the egg and yoghurt, blending until smooth.
Measure the dry ingredients into the bowl and mix together.
Dice the strawberries and fold in.
Divide the mixture between 12 cases and cook for approx 20 mins.
Cool completely before adding the frosting.
For the frosting:
Beat the butter and icing sugar together until creamy and smooth and add the mashed strawberries.
Chill for 15 mins or until thick. Frost cupcakes with a spatula or piping bag.

(Recipe adapted from http://cookingwithamy.blogspot.com/)

And check out this link here for this really cute Cupid Cupcake!
http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/sweet-cupid-cupcake-685670/

Have fun!!

Be in for a chance to win!

2010-02-02T02:49:00.000-08:00

Our new February Kit went on sale yesterday. 'Love & Hearts' only £12.99!!

Matching add-ons also available including Ranger Distress Ink Pads, Mini Ribbon Kit & Maya Road Calendar Turn Love is.

With the launch of this new kit we also have a competition to win a free kit!

All you have to do is buy one of the kits listed below from the shop, create layouts, cards or projects with it and send us a picture which we will display on our blog. And you could be in with the chance to win one of our March or April Monthly kits! So which kits are included?

January Kit (reduced in price)

February Kit

Pink & Black Kit

Blue & Green Life Page kit

Celabration Page kit

Just email your pictures (and a link to your blog if you wish) to sales@whichcraftsonline.co.uk

Entries need to be in by Friday 26th February! Good Luck! And any questions feel free to contact us at the above email address.

K & Company Kits

2010-01-29T03:39:00.000-08:00

In the shop we stock some of the gorgeous K& Co. Make & Take kits. Each kit comes will all the supplies and full instructions to make the projects.

If you love making cards and the soft floral designs of the K & Co Bailey Line then you are sure to love this kit.
Or maybe you love making little tag books to carry around with you in your handbag then you will love this little tag book kit.

Or maybe, like me, you love mini books and bright cheery colours and think that this book would be a fab way to record your child’s birthday party!

Which ever is your favourite type of kit come and check out the shop for these and more fun kits and projects!

February Kit Sneak Peek!

2010-01-27T03:31:00.000-08:00

Here is a sneak peek of our new Februry Kit ‘Love & Hearts’ due out in the first week of feb. It includes thickers, ribbon, flowers, cardstock, patterned paper and other embellishments for only £12.99.
There will also be some extra add-ons available.

And don't forget we still have some January kits available, grab them quick!

Layout a month Kit & Extras!

2010-01-25T03:05:00.000-08:00

Are you documenting your year month by month or may be week by week?
Then make sure you check out our monthly kits + add-ons and Journalling kits.

Our January kit is still available and full of cool blues, perfect for those frosty photos. And at only £12.99 there is plenty to create 2 or more layouts & cards.We also have add-ons still available for the January Kit including:
Waterfall stickles, Broken China Distress Ink pad and Blue mini ribbon kit.

In additions to the monthly kits and specific add-ons we also have some Clear Stamps to help you record those special photos throughout the year.And if your looking for more of the bright funky calendars that come in each of the monthly kits then we have a few limited sets from Elle’s Studio available too.

And if your looking for some Journalling goodies then come and check out our Journalling kits section in the shop, we have kits full of Maya Road and Elle’s Studio tags, pens, stamps and alphas.

Make sure you check out the blog on Wednesday for a sneak peek of our February Kit!

Hello & welcome!

2010-01-24T06:53:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our new blog! Here we will be sharing new kits, projects and stock with you over the coming months. Brought a kit from us? Then why not send us a picture of your creations or a link to a blog post and we will share it here!