Crafty Creatives Box - First thoughts #CCbox8

After a break from Crafty Creatives for three boxes I missed all the goodies too much and came back. I stopped subscribing as I was only really a card maker and did a bit of sewing too but that was it. At the time I also didn't have any craft storage and my study was just a room of boxes but after Christmas I sorted all of that out. Also during that time I've got into more crafts including jewellery making, knitting and more sewing (especially once my parents got Bailey as I'm now making loads of bandanas, he is a puppy by the way)

During my break I've got more into crafts so couldn't wait to get this box.

Before I tell you what's in the box I was looking recently at buying some craft items, these being:
Head pins
Washi tape (never tried it but want to)
Different materials
Another pair of jewellery tools (I have a three in one tool which I love but needed another to help open links easier and my fingers always get in the way - my hubby works in a jewellers and is teaching me the best way to make head pins, links etc)

In this box all of the above was included! Scary!

I woke up this morning, changed my hedgehog pj bottoms for jeans, chucked on my jacket and shoes, put hot water and coffee in my cafetiere then walked to my next door neighbour....the sorting office. 5 mins 21 seconds and I was back (for most people this is more like 2/3 mins but my Muscular Dystrophy slows me down and it was blummin cold). Got home, pushed the plunger on my coffee down and then sat in my tub chair with my coffee, almond croissant and CC box (in jeans and hedgehog pj top)

This box is amazing, possibly my favourite :)

The art card woke me up! NeonFunk 002 art card from Paul Heard who is actually from my neck of the woods in Essex.

The rest of the box is a lovely mix of spots and stripes:
CC Kit - polymer clay necklace kit - never used polymer clay and can't wait
Washi tape - YEYYYYYYY can't wait to try and its such a lovely pattern. I made a quick card wrapping the tape round some card letters to make a quick but lovely thank you card
Spotty & stripy paper straws - either thinking of using for cake pop sticks or cake flags using washi tape as little flags (since I wrote this I made some flags lol all ready for some cupcakes)
Spotty cupcake cases- I needed more cases! Can use this in conjunction with the above straws
Glass bead
Stripy string - have lots but none in this colour - nice pastel green huge
Resin beads
PVC fabric - thinking of making a pencil case or small make up bag for my handbag
Stripped cotton fabric - bandana for bailey or as part of a cushion
Foam sticky dots - I've used stix2 squares before but never the dots so looking forward to using these - great for round card toppers
Tissue paper - card making or gift wrap
Round nose pliers & headpins - yeyyyy more jewellery making suppliers :)

Now I'm off to finish my coffee, have a shower then vacuum my sewing machine before I have a day of crafting!

Printed.com Review

The is an impartial review by myself having been given credit towards my Printed.com purchase to review their services.


I hadn't heard of Printed.com until I subscribed to Crafty Creatives, the monthly craft box subscription. I have spoken and ordered from other printing companies previously through work and also when I was an Avon rep.

I was approached by Printed.com (through Crafty Creatives) who gave me credit to try out their services as a blogger who had blogged about Crafty Creatives. When I was approached by them I didn't think I had anything to print but then Baileys Bandanas was born, my new project of dog bandanas!

I knew exactly what I wanted....round stickers (as I love Crafty Creatives round ones so much) and leaflets to handout and place in packages with people's purchases. With my leaflets I wanted a double use of both advertising and care instructions so got to work designing them.

I found it so easy to get my quite from Printed.com without having to speak to anyone! There's nothing I hate more than wanting to get a quote in order to make a decision on the options available and then getting sales calls but unlike other companies there was none of this with Printed.com

The options are so clear and easy to navigate through, choosing paper thickness, finish (gloss/matte etc) paper texture, double sided etc. you can then look at the price and then go back to change options if you wish in order to change your quote. As with other companies there are minimum order charges, this was £15 so I amended my order so it came to around £16 as I only wanted a minimal number of leaflets and stickers as I didn't want thousands as my venture is new. I ordered around 300 leaflets and 250 round stickers.

Your artwork needs to be in PDF format and you get templates available in PDF, Adobe In Design and Adobe Illustrator. As I was designing it myself and had knowledge of Printshop I decided to use InDesign. I don't have InDesign on my computer but.....found you can download a 30 day trial from Adobe which was perfect. When I told my Dad he gave me access to training on SimonSezIt.com which helped me know how to get the best out of InDesign.

My Dad kindly took photos of Bailey modelling the bandanas too for my printed items (Bailey was a right diva apparently during the photo shoot!) I must add that my Dad is a professional photographer although dogs are not usually his normal subjects but he got some amazing pictures of Bailey.

I put together my design and after getting feedback from friends and family I sent off my chosen design to Printed.com via their website.

I was very suprised that the next day I was told it was being sent out by Courier and would be with me on Friday (I put my order through on Tuesday late afternoon).

I was a bit worried about the delivery as I live in a gated apartment complex and we have so many problems with couriers actually trying to access the flats and wasn't able to get my order delivered to work. Looking on the website it said were there are small orders they are sent out via Royal Mail, however when my order went through it said it was coming via courier and no other options came up about delivery when I placed my order so I was worried about my items actually getting to me. I contacted Printed.com who advised me my order would be coming on Friday before 5pm and they were able to take my mobile number and advise the courier to call me if he wasn't able to deliver.

On the day my order arrived it just so happened I was at home at lunch so was in for the delivery from CityLink. I couldn't wait to open my parcel but was a little worried that maybe my design skills may have failed and that it would be all pixelated however the stickers and leaflets were perfect. I couldn't have asked for anything better.

Everyone has commented on how professional my leaflets look so I'm really happy with the service, much better than printing your own!


I would definately recommend Printed.com especially for their round stickers!

Stickers on the bandana packaging

Stickers and Leaflets once unpackaged

You can find out more about Bailey's Bandanas on http://www.facebook.com/baileysbandanas where I sell handmade dog bandanas with prices starting from £2.50

To find out more about Printed.com go to http://www.printed.com

Printed.com Overview

With the UK's 1st print reward programme, printed.com is perfectly suited to small and medium-sized businesses looking to order high quality print at the best possible prices. printed.com offer over 35 print products, including business cards, leaflets, wedding and business stationery, bound documents, stickers and much more, all of which all ordered through the easy to use online shop.

Every pound spent earns customer's points to redeem against over 30,000 rewards, such as electronics, travel, high street vouchers, office supplies, free print and much more. When combined with the industries leading digital printing presses, the HP Indigo, printed.com makes a strong case for truly standing out as a small business print supplier.

Backed by online and phone support printed.com delivers print to the customer's door, in around 2-3 days, with a 24 hour express delivery option should they need it. 

Product List

• Business cards
• Business card holders
• Letterheads
• Compliment slips
• Leaflets & Flyers
• Folded leaflets
• Postcards
• Stickers
• Presentation Folders
• Direct Marketing

• Wiro bound documents
• Perfect bound documents
• Saddle stitched documents
• Greeting cards
• Calendars
• Banner stands

• Posters
• Indoor posters
• Standard A2 posters
• Outdoor posters
• Mounted boards
• Vinyl banners
• Self-adhesive vinyl
• Backlit graphics
• Strut cards
• Flat unfinished sheets

 

Finished cards from today

Hedgehog Card from Peerless Designs CD Hedgehog Garden Adventures

Box card made from Fee J's Magical Dreams and Love Be Mine

Happy Crafty Saturday!

Just having a little break for some lunch and then back in the study for a bit more crafting this afternoon.

Today I've started to make a 'new home' card for my Brother-in-Law as he is getting his flat soon and I just couldn't think of a manly card to make him but then had an idea while eating my peanut butter covered bagel this morning.......SHRINK PLASTIC!!!! I've made a little doodly house and cut out 'new home' in the shrink plastic too. As the house was quite big (1/2 A4 before shrinking) it stuck to itself while shrinking and after burning my fingers trying to sort it I gave up and started another one but this time dusted it with talc which prevented it from sticking and I now have a perfect shrunken house!

I'm also making some birthday cards this afternoon for birthdays coming up and.....a first for me......using crafting CD's to print out bits for some cards too!

I recently brought two CDs from Fee J (you may know her from Jammi Panda which has been on Create and Craft TV). I purchased Magical Dreams:

A cute CD ROM full of amazing, colourful full of Unicorns, Angels and Moonbeams that will bring your card making & scrapbooking to life. Decoupage & embellishments sheets teamed together with coordinating backing papers and inserts in landscape & portrait orientaitions, t bag tiles, 3D frames, coordinating png ribbons, bows, lace borders and alphabets, plus a whole host of assorted toppers for your crafting pleasure.


And I purchased Love Be Mine

An amazing CD Rom, Cute quirky characters, teamed with some generic papers and embellishments that coordinate with the characters, perfect for creating a host of Romantic cards for Romantic occasions like Valentines Day, Engagement, Weddings even just cutsie friendship cards and more. Great for cardmaking and scrapbooking.

If you want to purchase either CD pop over to http://www.feej.co.uk the CD's can be used on both Macs and PCs and you can print straight from the disk, nothing to install and no need to use a crafting programme! 

I still also have my Hedgehog Gardens Adventures CD which I've not printed from yet either! I've got my Nenah cards at the ready....just have to sort out the printer as I think the inks have dried up a bit from not being used!

Have a lovely weekend!

 

Something a bit different from sewing, card making and baking...Jewellery Making!

I've tried many different crafts but I've not made any jewellery (well apart from a rose ring from the Craft Creatives Halloween box). I saw a set on Create and Craft from Beaders Companion and looked it up online on the Beaders Companion site and saw I could get the Create sets for around £5 each so brought a teal set and a brown set (it was far cheaper than Create and Craft so it's handy to have a look around especially if they are on sale on the suppliers sites).

My kits arrived the next day (which is also another reason why I preferred buying from Beaders Companion...and I got my points too!)

The kits make 2 necklaces, a pair of earrings and up to three bracelets. I thought these would look nice with t-shirts and plain jumpers to give a splash of colour as I only usually wear gold.

On the Beaders Companion site there are a number of projects including one to go with the kit https://www.beaderscompanion.co.uk/members/projects.html?proj_id=217 but a copy was printed and included with my parcel. (You need to sign up as a member to see the kits but it is free to join but if you are a member of Crafters Companion you will also have access to the Beaders Companion site).

Photo from Beaders Companion Site

I was a bit worried when I ordered the kits as on the Create and Craft site a few reviews said that there wasn't enough cord and the beads were of a poor quality without holes but I thought I'd get it and if that was the case I'd contact Beaders Companion for a replacement. (one person on the C&C site said that they just gave the kit to their children due to lots of the beads being faulty....but if it was that bad I would have returned it).

The kits come with a see-through cord to make a two tier necklace, a coloured cord to make a pendant necklace, elastic cord to make 3 bracelets and findings to make a pair of earrings.

There are so many lovely beads in this kit and few of them are shown below. You lots of small beads and larger patterned and shaped beads. 

I did notice a few beads weren't drilled properly so I went thought them all to check and was able to use a pokey tool to clear the hole but some weren't drilled at all, only about 6 beads out of the whole pack so it wasn't too bad. 

My tip for this kit is to ensure you have enough beads for the earrings and necklaces is to choose the beads you want for your earrings first and put aside (or make), then choose the beads for your pendant necklace, and then make your two-tier necklace. I found that there weren't many big beads left for the bracelets so ended up adding in some beads of my own.

I made both necklaces and a bracelet yesterday but haven't been able to make the earrings yet as I don't have the tool to make the loop on the earrings (hubby works at a jewellers so is going to do that bit for me rather then buy the tools myself as I don't usually make jewellery and don't want to buy lots of things I won't use but may look at getting some in the future).
 
I really liked these kits and can't wait to start on the brown kit. For the price I think it was brilliant (I got mine for just under £5 with my Beaders Companion membership discount).

I'll post photos of my finished items shortly (currently in puppy safe clothes as we are puppy sitting Bailey today)

If you want to buy this kit, head on over to Beaders Companion where the kits are reduced from £12.99 down to around £5! http://www.beaderscompanion.co.uk/create-1299/create-jewellery-kits-1757/super-beading-kit-teal-20508.htm





A little tip....measure the necklace before putting the bead and loop on for the pendant necklace! I just went to wear it for work and it was way too long! I'll be fixing that later or tomorrow! Silly Sara

Cookies are served!

I made my cookie dough this morning and chilled it until this afternoon when I put walnut sized balls of the dough into a baking sheet and popped them in the oven at 5.30 for hubby's arrival home at 6.

I had so much dough I've chilled it so we can make them when we want more or freeze the dough.

They taste so yummy too and hubby loved them!

The recipe can be found here on BBC Good Food http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1580654/millies-cookies-recipe

Today I will be making use of the advent chocolates

Between Lee and I, we had 3 advent calendars, 2 malteaser calendars and one Simpsons calendar. We always forget to open the windows on them so had a small bowl of chocolates left after Christmas that have been sitting in our fridge.

Today due to the ice and snow I've had to take another days leave so today I'm going to use the chocolates, chop them up and make cookies!

Once made I'll post them here.

Due to the snow I've also been making lots of cards but can't post them at the until after valentines in case they are seen!