#CCBox9 has landed! SPOILER

When I found that CCBox9 had been posted on Monday I was all upset.....because I knew I had work Tuesday (today) and it would mean that my box would have to stay overnight in the sorting office waiting for me to collect it Wednesday but....due to the awful icy/snowy weather I had to take today off as holiday as it was too slippery for me to safely get to my car and to drive to work.

I have been waiting for Mr Postie alllll day and at 1pm I saw him walk past (can you tell I'm excited...I've not opened my box yet!) and stood in the hall waiting for him. He recently has not knocked with parcels (even when I've been in) and just left a card saying we weren't in so I was hoping that he actually knocked today and had the parcel....14 minutes later and the knock came on the door!

Now time to open my lovely box of goodies.....

I've just looked and I'm not going to lie.....I'm not really a fan of Steampunk :o( it's one of the only things I don't like and was a bit disappointed. I know quite a lot of people like Steampunk but it's just not for me. There are some nice bits in the box and I'll use them in someway I'm sure.

The box contains:
Art Card - from this I thought maybe it was a doll theme
CC Kit - Decoupage trinket box
3m Brown Leather Cord - may try and make a knotted bracelet with this
Pipe spacer beads
Crackle glaze
Metallic transfer foil - quite looking forward to using this on some cards
Bundle of leather scraps
Reel of wire
Bulb and clock charms
Lock clasps
Watch parts - My husbands a jeweller and works a lot with watches so may pretend I've taken one of his watches apart lol play a trick on him
Brown tweed fabric (can never have too much fabric! - bow tie for Bailey I think!)

It was a bit of an anticlimax for me but at least the steampunk box is out the way lol I'm sure others will love the box and the products are lovely and a high quality as usual, just not for me this month unfortuately.

Some of my uses of Crafty Creatives packaging

I love the Crafty Creatives boxes and one of the things I enjoy seeing is that months packaging paper/material.

For my valentines day cards I used the Halloween theme box rose material (I only sent one card but made cards for friends and family to give).

This month I loved the polkadot print and used it for my Mum's Mother's Day present (a handmade pin cushion and some flower head pins). I wrapped this with some twine (similar to that in the box this month but I have lots of reels of different colours from a competition) and also used a tag I think was in a past box. No tape needed at all either!

I've used the printed brown paper for small gifts previously too as think it looks so lovely and have used it in my Big Shot with my hedgehog die as it gives a great texture and colour for my hedgehogs. (The picture below shows this on our hedgehog's house sign, he is such a messy hog, he rearranges his cage at night)

What have you used your paper wraps for?

My New Cushion Cover using freebies and Crafty Creatives bits

Over the last few weeks I've been working on a cushion cover using bits and bobs I had laying around, mostly from free gifts. This started after getting a cross stitch from Simply Homemade which they showed on a cushion in the magazine. I did the cross stitch over a few evenings while watching TV with my husband and then got to work making it into a cushion cover.

I had some lovely fabric from Crafty Creatives box 8 which I used on the back of the cushion and for the front I used some Tilda fabric squares which I got as part of a subscription gift from Simply Homemade magazine.

To frame the cross stitch I used some Tilda ribbon and buttons.

The only thing I brought was the zip for the cover, and the cushion was an old one from round my parents house (it's quite small so perfect to go behind my back in my tub chair).

I was a bit annoyed that I didn't line the front up properly as the cross stitch isn't right in the middle but I wasn't following a pattern and was just having a play around with the fabrics but I do like the final result.

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!