Summer seems to have descended on us with gusto! I can’t quite believe the change in weather conditions over the last few days. I hope you are all well and staying hydrated.
I did my stall at the school fair last Friday and it was pretty hot. We were outside and this year there was no gazebo to take shelter under. It was also rather windy, so I rather limited the stock I put on the table as I didn’t fancy spending the time chasing it all around the playground! As is usual for this fair, I sold only a couple of cards and lots more little knitted and crochet creatures.
I was disappointed that I didn’t sell any of my newly crocheted keyrings, but I did sell a few of the bookmarks and I have plenty left over to donate to the Guides fundraising evening in a couple of weeks time.
So whilst it’s been crazy hot for the last couple of days and I’ve been hibernating inside due to the farmer cutting the fields for silage, I’ve also been subjected to the nightmare of pile driving in the site that once was a wildlife haven. It’s awful. I’m still waiting for responses from the local planning dept and the construction company – I think I’d best not hold my breath!
To try to take my mind off the noise and vibrations, I’ve been working on a couple of box cards for orders and trying to decide what to make for Bury Show next weekend. I’m also looking out for some more possibilities for stalls, do let me know if you know of anything locally.
Well I’d better get back to my orders. Have a good day.
Christmas has come to all the crafting companies! Yes, I know it’s only June and we haven’t even had anything like the start of Summer yet (in North West England). But that’s the way it is in the crafting world. In order to get ready for the biggest time of the year, we have to start early. Having said that, I’m not quite in the mood for Christmas yet, so whilst I’m keeping an eye on what’s new and going to be ‘on trend’ this year, I’m still working on florals and birthdays.
I’ve committed myself to a few things in the next couple of weeks. First up there is the local Primary school Summer Fair. This is going to be on Friday (June 21st), so not much notice this year. So I am trying to get together a stock of low cost items to take. I’ve had a first go at making bookmarks and I’ve put together a large collection of £1 cards. I’m also trying to do a bit of crochet to take too. I think it’s going to be a busy couple of days/evenings!
I’m also aiming to take part in several of the craft categories at Bury Show. I haven’t taken part for several years as it’s usually the same weekend as my Dad’s birthday. But this year I’m going to be able to have a go. I’ve highlighted about ten of the handicraft classes, so wish me luck on being able to make something for them all.
Finally the week after the show, Crafty-teen is helping out at the local Guide unit fundraising craft sale. They’re raising money for Bury Hospice and Bleakholt Animal Sanctuary. So I’ve been roped in the bring some makes along for them to sell. I think I’m going to see how the bookmarks do at school as I can make those relatively quickly and with a box of letter stickers, they can be personalised too.
So I have a lot going on, making wise (and that doesn’t include the orders I have for some pop-up boxes, my Dad’s birthday and my brother’s 50th coming up too).
Last week was Hunkydory Fest, with lots of great fun live shows as well as some extra special festival prices and the best part of any festival – the goody bag!
For £20 they guarantee at least £50 worth of products, and like their larger goody boxes, these include new products, not just old stock. So what did I get?
I did order some of the card blanks, so I could get free delivery and every order got a festival wrist band too.
There were a few small items in the bag, including some glue and a pack of glue dots. Then a fantastic background stamp set and a lovely roll of diamond sparkles gem stones (Aurora Borealis). I’m not a big stamper, but these stamps look really useful so I must have a go at doing more than stamping a few sentiments. The gems will be really useful. Finally for the smaller items, there was the little square book of Vintage Journeys. This is a matt finish pad of 20 different images (6 of each) and they are gorgeous. Lots of reminders of holidays past – Rome and Paris, as well as some lovely vintage images of campervans and cameras. This is definitely one I need to start crafting with. This little pile alone would cost over £20, so all the rest of the bag is essentially FREE!!!
Hunkydory are well known for their topper sets and there were a few included here. The Swan Lake and Sit Back & Relax are from the Topper Favourites range. I think both of these will be useful for family and friend’s cards.
Next were the Just married topper set (including 2 pieces of patterned and foiled cardstock) and the deco-large – Go Ape. I have the full deco-large kit with this in, but I’m ok having it duplicated. I think it’s a fab image (although at a push I might have preferred the red panda!)
These are another decoupage sheet of a princess tiara and a butterfly – not really my style, but I’m sure there will be someone out there who likes these images. But I love the bicycle stepper card and this will be fun to make.
Finally came a collection of cardstock, both shimmer glitter card in lavender and a full collection of pearl patterned card. I didn’t have any of these in my stash already, but I do have other collections of the patterned card packs and they are great for backgrounds.
So all-in-all I’m pretty happy with this little lot. It’s a goody bag and you have to be willing to take the chance with what you get. Whilst I wouldn’t necessarily have bought some of the items, it does mean I go outside my comfort zone with some of them and I get to have a try of something new (stepper card). I have seen a few bag openings on the internet and there have been a few quite like this bag, but not everything is the same. The people who ordered more than one bag do seem to have got a good mix of things, although all are along the same lines. In my opinion it’s worth the risk in what you get because the products are of great quality and it’s a nice surprise to get in the post (and who doesn’t want that once in a while?!)
Time to get on with some actual crafting as I have a few things coming up in the next couple of weeks.
Happy crafting
x
(Parkrun was Clarence, time 49:18 – it’s a mud bath!)
After my ‘no spend’ decision going to pot after less than a day, I thought I’d catch you all up on the other recent Hunkydory orders that have arrived in the last couple of weeks.
First up was an order from the sale. I was after a stock up on some mirri card as I’ve been without any full sheets of rainbow mirri for some considerable time. As the price was too good to miss, I added in some gold too – I use it all the time these days and only have a couple of A4 sheets left.
As the paperpads were half price, I added in this shades of browns and greys. It’s a colour selection I didn’t already have and I think it will go nicely with some of the animals, wood and more masculine themes I have in my stash.
I then went a bit mad on inserts and papers sets as they were great value (reduced from £9.99 down to £1.99). I don’t actually have all the corresponding kits for these, but I do have some of the little books and even so, the papers are so lovely, they will work in their own right.
Finally for this order were a few essentials – isn’t everything essential though really?! And who doesn’t need a spider web stencil?! It was so lovely I just couldn’t resist it.
My other order was from their Club birthday event and included the new set of Delightful Die-cuts which covers sports, birthdays and music. These will be so very useful for all the pop-up boxes I make and it means the image quality will be better than having to print out from the internet. I’ve also picked up the most recent club gift bundle – Moonlit Moments. The colours of this kit are so vibrant I can’t wait to find an event to make use of them. I’m not sure why I didn’t take pictures from this order, but I’m sure they will pop up on some makes soon.
I do love the quality of Hunkydory products, they really are lovely to work with and last a long time too. I’ve had to place an order during their current Hunkydory Fest, just so that I can get the limited edition wristband (it would be rude not to) and that’s including one of their festival goody bags – I can’t wait to see what I get in that one.
I told myself I wasn’t going to spend anything on craft supplies this month as I have several regular payments due (website hosting and Hunkydory club membership) and I have made a few purchases recently. But that seems to have lasted all of about 5 minutes!
I spotted a local lady selling a stash of craft items on Facebook Marketplace and it was too good an opportunity to pass up. (Plus, whilst the others are away I must play) So I walked over to her house this morning and collected a box full of crafty goodies.
There are loads of stamps, embossing folders, die sets and masks as well as few other bits and pieces (papers, toppers, stickers, punches, glitter, magazines and ribbons). I think crafty-teen might be steeling the colour pencils! Certainly a bargain for £30. This was me trying to cram everything onto the desk.
There is plenty for me to have a go at and lots of things I wouldn’t necessarily have bought, so a chance to try out some new products and techniques too.
It turns out that the lady I bought them from is on several craft design teams and has her own YouTube channels, so check out
There’s lots of arts and crafts inspiration on these and her tutorials are really easy to follow. I shall definitely be having a go at some of them in the future.
Time to try to find somewhere to put all this lot now!
