Sizzix Dies from QVC

Last week on QVC the Todays Special Value of christmas craft papers sold out so they did a one time only offer of Sizzix dies. I wasn't sure at first but after seeing the demonstrations (and not having any Bigz dies or embossing folders) I decided to buy the deal, especially since I had a £10 off voucher for QVC! 

The deal included 3 Bigz (flower with leaves, large flower and large leaves), 4 embossing folders, a cut and emboss die of bluebell like flowers, heart flower sizzlets and a DVD from Sizzix.

The pack arrived on Saturday morning and I sat down to watch to DVD in the afternoon (after a nice little visit to an art gallery in Westcliff on Sea to see my Dads photo on display and a spot of lunch and shopping with my Dad and Mum in Leigh-on-Sea). The DVD is really informative but a bit of a pain as there isn't a 'play all' feature, so you have to click each short clip separately. It did have a lot of great information on, especially about sizzlits and how to build them up.

The dies are really lovely and the Bigz are perfect as they fill up large space so not much is needed on the card if you want to keep it simple.

Below you can see two quick cards I made with the dies (plus a sentiment embossing folder I already had from crafts-too). They were really easy to make and I used a lot of ideas picked up from the presentation on QVC such as making the petals curve by running your nail across them, and making them more 3D by folding the petals.

I'm really loving the Bigz dies and another die arrived on Monday for my Christmas cards which I can't wait to try out.

Excited after my craft drawers were shown on QVC!

Catherine Huntley tweeted pictures earlier of their craft room at QVC and asked for photos of viewers craft rooms but as out study/music room/craft room isn't finished (ie only half my craft stuff is in there so far, the rest is surrounding me in the living room) I thought I'd send a photo of my craft drawers I made on Monday and it was shown on TV!

Quite funny as I was out of the room on the phone and the photo was shown just as I came in the room.

Crafting Adhesives - Updated

I've only recently started crafting, starting with my wedding invites which I started making around Christmas time and I started off with using glue sticks, foam pads and doubles-sided tape.

Foam pads are great for sticking card toppers on cards and decoupage but I always end up with the little square of backing paper getting everywhere! Also I've found that if I have just coloured in a die cut, I have to wait for it to completely dry or the tabs don't seem to stick.

Glue sticks are ok (ie like the pritt stick type) but I find that I need to have a bit of paper under so that I can go over the sides if not the paper/card does not stick down properly and also the sticks seem to dry to quick and don't stick down properly onto cards.

Double-sided tape was my favourite but it doesn't seem to permanently hold and also gets stuck to scissors really easily.

I then went onto trying tacky glue from Hobbycraft. I brought this for when I was making cardboard camera stands for our wedding (which we put business cards in asking people to upload their photos to flickr). This glue is good but does take a bit of time to dry or drys really quickly when you don't want it to. I also find that as it's wet, it makes the card/paper curl which can be really annoying.  I suppose it would help if I got a glue spreader, not just squeezing a little on the thing I want to stick.

Recently while watching QVC craft shows and Ideal World Create and Craft, they seem to use roller glue a lot. I have thought about signing up to the Ideal World Create and Craft Club, and saw they did these glue rollers, but I have problems with items coming via couriers rather than Royal Mail as they can't get to our postbox to leave a 'sorry you were out' card, or they can't re-deliver for weeks. I ended up buying a 'Stick It' permanent adhesive roller via eBay for just under £2. It came yesterday and I've used it on a few cards and while packaging up the die cutters I sold on eBay. It is very easy to use and not messy (unless to slip and end up gluing the wrong thing, or the table instead, and then its a bit hard to remove).

I'm looking to possible buy the gel glue tubes next which I've seen on Create and Craft. These look like a great mess-free alternative to the foam pads as they can give a bit of height from what I've seen and would also be easier to use on more intricate cut outs where the foam pads are too big. Until then I think I'll mostly be using my roller for big items and tiny dots of tacky PVA for more fiddly items.

Update...

Have given in and am purchasing silicone glue! I've found 1 Create & Craft tube with nozzle from eBay and will see how it goes before buying more. I've seen many people moan about the smell of these glues and there are odour free ones on the market but will see how this one is (ie if it gives me a migraine it's going in the bin). For £1 it's not bad.

The roller glue worked great for packing up eBay sells and attaching the printable postage (a first time trying that too). It doesn't seem to like my cards much though as I am currently using textured cards, not smooth ones.

Update on Percy & Reed Products

Two weeks ago I got the Percy & Reed products to review for Glamour Magazine and I've been using this for the last two weeks (I put my L'Oreal Shampoo and Conditioner away for a few weeks)

I do like the products but the last few applications I've been left with areas where my hair still feels soapy or gets greasy very easily. I try to wash the shampoo and conditioner out fully and even when I have, after drying my hair I still find areas of my hair feel like they have a residue on them or strands of my hair separate as if it's greasy. I think I will carry on using the Percy & Reed products but use them in conjunction with my L'Oreal Shampoo & Conditioner, swapping them every few washes as if not the Percy & Reed products seem to build up.

I think the reason for the build up is that the shampoo is so thick so it's hard to distribute and you really have to wash hard to get it out of thick hair or it won't budge.

I'm not overly impressed with the dry shampoo & conditioner either. I tried it on Wednesday morning when I needed to wash my hair but was going to do it later in the day as had a few things to do in the morning, but it didn't really do anything. I followed the instructions of spraying it onto a brush for best results but that just gave me a white hairbrush that I then had to wash as the powder wouldn't go. I then had to spray it onto my hair and rub to get the white marks away.

I like the no oil hair oil which is basically just really a serum but does help tame my hair. I tried the texturising spray but that didn't seem to do much at all but may be because my hair is so thick.

I saw that Percy & Reed were on QVC on Monday (just gone) but I forgot about it and only remembered at 6pm and it had already been on. I was hoping to watch to see how they used the products. I'll carry on using them and hopefully get better results over time.

OPI - Original Nail Envy Review

I've used this product on and off for a number of years and it's the best nail care product I've ever used and I'm a HUGE OPI fan!

I usually use this product when my nails are a bit weak and flaky although I always use it as a basecoat whenever wearing OPI polishes.

The way to use this product is to put 2 coats onto bare nails, then apply a colour polish if you wish, then either use a top coat or you can use nail envy as a top coat (which I recently have started doing and find it's very hard wearing.) Every 2 days you should then put a coat of nail envy over your nails again (over polish or just on top of the nail envy you already have on if you have bare nails)

I've only ever used the Original Nail Envy but I am looking to try the Matt version.

I did see a pink maintenance version of Nail Envy a while ago which I fancied but it seems to be out of stock everywhere so I think they may have stopped doing it but I'm going to carry on my search so that I can wear Nail Envy with a hint of colour as I prefer to wear a coloured polish on my nails.

Some people think that Nail Envy is expensive (its usually around £18) but keep and eye out on QVC as they usually do deals on Nail Envy sets for much cheaper. Word of warning though, I've heard that there are OPI fake products out there, ie products made to look like OPI but they're just imitations so I would try where possible to buy from official stockists.

Caught The Glossy Box Bug!

Saw these when they first came out around May time and was tempted to subscribe but didn't fancy having to wait a few months due to the high demand so forgot all about them.... Until someone posted on Facebook again about them this week.... and my box arrived this morning!
I got it as my skin can be funny with products so getting smaller versions to try it handy as you can never tell if You like a product unless you try it a few times. I also find if I buy a new product I use it once or twice then never again so at least I can gage if I'll use the product regularly. Another reason I got it is as I seem to buy the same products again and again, OPI or Nails Inc polishes, L'Oreal make-up etc in the same types of colours.
This box contained Leighton Denny polish which I've seen in John Lewis before and on QVC I think but to me it looks cheapish packaging so I've never tried it (not that I wouldn't try cheaper things, it just looks similar to own brand polishes which I've tried and haven't been of great quality). I gave it a try last night and it's nice in that it goes on well and the lid/brush is quite weighty which seemed to make it easier to apply. The colour I received was sex kitten, a metalicy silver blue. It'a ok but having applied it while watching a film and not touching anything for a few hours I've noticed this morning marks on my nails like when you go to bed with wet nails so not sure what happened there... Doesn't usually happen with my other polishes. The test though now is how long it lasts....as usually my polishes on last 2 days max even long lasting polishes.
Love the dermologica products, especially the heating face scrub although it made my face all shiney but luckily I was at home all day. My fiancé at one point asked what I had on my chin and it was the light reflecting on my face making it look like I had something white on me.
The lip stuff is also great and really lasts and is making my lips look bigger with the shine.
Another product in the box was Stilla eyeliner in a goldy/greeny/brown colour. I've never used this make before and usually go for black eyeliner but really liked this for everyday wear without eyeshadow and it had a glittery effect to it which looks great. I wouldn't have brought this colour myself normally but love it! Also I've never tried Stilla but it's a good product, not sure I'd go looking for Stilla items but would probably but this eyeliner again when it runs out (or look for similar by my old fave L'Oreal.)
I've not tried the perfumes yet as had lots of migraines over the last few days and heard these were heady fragrances but hopefully will get round to trying them soon.
Very much looking forward to the next box :)