Vintage and Retro #dicraftswap

The theme of last months #dicraftswap was vintage/retro, a theme I thought would be super easy - turns out it wasn't, as there were just too many possibilities. I was sending to Jenny from the blog Pretty Column, who it turns out is actually not far away from me up north. She listed as her vintage interests the campaign of knitting for soldiers during the wars as well as war posters and propaganda (which made me happy because I'm a bit of a fan too!). I decided to embellish a wooden photo frame with buttons for Jenny to put her own 'retro' memories in, although I did include a 'make do and mend' postcard from the Imperial War Museum.

...Which is what gave me the idea for my bought gift. I sent a copy of the 1943 make do and mend guide produced by the government to advise people how to patch things up and reuse scraps. As Jenny is a knitter too I thought some of it was particularly appropriate...

I put in a few extra treats as well. The post office man laughed at my doily-decorated envelope!

Jenny wrote a post about what she sent to her own recipient here. Her crocheted bunch of flowers are just fantastic!

My parcel arrived from Jess at Dear Wildflower. I had said I loved the 1920's era, and so Jess sent me this beautiful notebook that made me instantly think of The Great Gatsby...

...so when I opened up the rest of the beautifully packaged items I wasn't surprised too see Jess had included a little page cut out from the book itself! She had also included an array of vintage floral patterned and polka dot craft papers and some lovely card blanks and envelopes, as well as a little hedgehog cross stitch kit. I think I'll incorporate the Great Gatsby passage into a card design using some of the flowers from the craft paper sometime. 

 Thank you so much Jess, and thank you as always to Hannah at Dainty and Ivory for organising the swaps. The next theme is Christmas, but is a little more general to allow people to incorporate other ideas too. If you want to sign up get in touch with Hannah by the 15th of November - I promise it's great fun! 

Crafty What Nots Review

So this is a post I've been planning to write for ages, however I've needed a little break from blogging in the last few weeks. At the beginning of the month we had just moved house and I was just starting a new job, never mind adding to the family with a very demanding little kitten who behaves like a princess! It's been a busy few weeks, but I'm hoping to blog more now things have settled down.

Way back at the end of September Jenny from Jennysis Crafts got in touch with me about a new subscription box she was setting up. The idea was that the boxes would contain a range of craft supplies, inspirational ideas, instructions for a project and a personalised handmade gift, all with a value of around £20 for the price of jut £12.50 per monthly box (even less with a subscription!). It's no secret I'm a bit of a fan of crafty type subscription boxes, and having tried a few I was interested in seeing how Crafty What Nots (named after Eeyore's pot of 'what nots and etcs') was different. The box sent to me had the theme Floral Pavillion.

The box reminded me a little of the Linky boxes I've seen popping up on blogs, with its emphasis on papercrafts, but also a little like the old style Crafty Creatives boxes with a selection of bits and pieces in (although I've heard they are bringing out a papercrafting box too). When I opened my Crafty What Nots box (which, by the way, was HUGE) I was greeted with absolutely loads of items, all beautifully packaged. The first thing I saw was a little package with my name on, and Jenny had also included a cute little card to introduce herself.

Inside the wrapping was a personalised notebook Jenny had made for me. A personalised handmade gift is something Jenny plans to include in all boxes, which is a great idea. 

Some of the huge selection of goodies included wooden and card embellishments, buttons, stamps and ink, and a little stack of blank cards for card making. I like that these can be used for anything, really, as they are quite general - I've already been using some of the above embellishments when I was decorating packaging for a recent craft swap, and I'm planning on making some Christmas cards soon so the card blank will certainly be used. All these little bits and pieces could be used to pretty up any wrapping on gifts too. 

There was also a selection of textured craft papers in pretty floral patterns, my favourite bit of the box! I do love cute printed paper, you can use it for making cards, gift tags or boxes, which is exactly what Jenny suggested in her DIY instructions for a gift box in the design of a miniature handbag! 

Jenny's instructions were very easy to follow and with lots of detailed measurements, although it was a nice simple quick craft. and it looks pretty cute! I'd happily put together a few more of these to give people gifts in. 

Jenny also included a leaflet of other ideas of what to make with the box contents - I think some floral bunting to decorate my new craft room desk space might be next! 

If you're interested in subscribing to Crafty What Nots, or just reading more, head over to the Jennysis shop. Thanks Jenny for letting me try it out!

My #DIcraftswap Kawaii experience

Last month, I took part in my first craft swap, hosted by Hannah over at Dainty and Ivory. Although the craft swaps have been taking place for a while, I've been reluctant to join in as firstly I didn't really have the time to commit to it, and secondly I'm not that great at making things (at least, to send to other people... When you're creating things yourself at home you don't mind the flaws and imperfections, but others might!)

I thought I'd give it a go this month, as the theme lent itself to perhaps easier craft ideas. The theme was KAWAII.

I was sending to the lovely Rhiannon from The Sparkly Panda. Here's what I sent...

For the 'made' item I got hold of these cute happy cloud buttons and added magnets to the back, for memos or to brighten the fridge. One of Rhiannon's 'likes' in the craft swap form was weather with faces - quite specific, but perfectly fitted these! 

For my bought item I took a bit of inspiration from Rhiannon's blog, where she had mentioned her love of Totoro. I found this cute ring from a handmade seller...

 I added in a couple of other goodies, stickers, tea and chocolate. Can't go wrong there I think!

The partner sending to me was Hannah from Cupcake Mumma, a blog I only discovered through the craft swap. Its actually proven really great for getting to know different blogs and other bloggers! Here's what I received.

This eye mask has proven very useful to get my forty winks as I just moved house and we don't have dark curtains up yet. Its also super cute! 

A cat notebook I'm using for list making (she obviously knew I was a fan of all things cat!)

A whole bundle of cute other little goodies, more than I photographed. I was spoiled! 

 And finally, Hannah made me the most awesome cookie necklace. I really love this, its just the sort of thing I'd choose myself. Thank you so much Hannah!

So my first craft swap experience was actually really fun, thinking up ideas and getting excited when a parcel arrives in the post. I'd definitely recommend it - I've already signed up for this months, with the theme of retro and vintage. If you want to find out more or join in, head over to Dainty and Ivory for happy mail and happy crafting!

Lucky Dip Club Review - Pet Parade

On Saturday, I received what I can only describe as the most awesome post ever to come through my letterbox. That's no exaggeration. The previous Tutti Frutti themed Lucky Dip Club box (which you can read about here) really impressed me, but this month's Pet Parade box was like it was made JUST FOR ME!

As usual, everything was beautifully packaged, and with a handwritten note from Leona, who is behind the Lucky Dip Club boxes. Having seen the huge piles of boxes she has to post out every month on Instagram, I really don't know how she has the time to do everything!

On opening up the little packages, the first thing I found was this, a wooden necklace featuring some super cute kittens in a basket. I thought it went perfectly with my red dress.

Some stationary in the form of postcards and kittycat gift tags.

A kit to make Budgie Bunting (see below for the finished product!), and what can only be described as the most outrageously bright kitsch socks I've ever owned. My boyfriend, who knows nothing, strongly proclaimed how much he hated them. I, on the other hand, absolutely love them <3

And in the final little wrapped parcel, I found this months personalised item. Leona asked those ordering boxes to let her know their favourite animal or pets name, so instead of something personalised with my own name this month I received this little wooden balloon brooch featuring my baby kitty- my favourite thing in the box! I did try to get Pancake to pose with it for a picture, but unfortunately he isn't very bright... Instead he picked up the brooch and decided to have a little nibble, naughty boy - so that's the best picture we could manage!

Thanks Lucky Dip Club and Leona for making my day! Next months box will be on the theme of 'Think Happy Ice-Cream Parlour' - I'm expecting summery prints and candy colours. You can order here, if you'd like - I really can't recommend highly enough :)

Post Inspiration

After agreeing to participate in Miss Beatrix's PostCircle, I got to looking around for ideas and inspiration to make whatever I send look beautiful. This is a few ideas from Etsy that caught my eye - I love all the recycled decorative envelopes, especially those comic book ones <3

 The vintage typewriter is probably a bit over the top (and certainly beyond my budget!), but I have always wanted one - I can dream!

Small notecards - mini notec... dkshopgirl $6	30 Alice in Wonderland Notec... PlantablesAndP... $27	Set of 5 Highly Professional... supah $12	Dollhouse Postcard Set - 10 ... lisachow $18
Snow White Writing Set, Enve... jeanpatchbymk $15	Avengers Comic Envelopes / R... ReGrowRoots $6.5	Deer Gold Plated Wax Seal St... BacktoZero $20	Argyle Hearts Mailbox With M... CardsandMooreb... $12
Letter Writing Set Stationar... HaloandMeme $22	1920s Corona 4 Typewriter La... KentonCollecti... $625	Botanical .. Estate .. UNuse... VerdeStudio $6.75	Easter Bunnies - 3 Assorted ... StoriesDivinat... $13.5
Washi Tape Set: Postal Air M... whimsicalcraft... $8	Handmade Hello Card and Enve... thepaperpunch $5.89	Vintage Music Sheet Stationa... differentdesig... $12.5	Vintage Alphabet Stamp Set -... AllisonDIY $9.8

Treasury tool supported by the dog house