It’s finally arrived – it’s blog candy time!!  I had lots of fun rifling about in the stock room picking out some of my favourite things – I hope you like them as much as I do   These are definitely my picks, so maybe next time, I’ll get Charlotte to pick her favourites!

Anyway, here is today’s candy (RRP over £40!):

We have

DCWV Linen Closet Matstack

Craftie-Charlie ribbon selection in soft neutrals

Personal Impressions ‘Big Sentiments’ clear stamps by Paula Pascual

EK Success Double Embossed Dotted Lace edge punch

American Crafts Ultimate gel pens in white

5 sheets A4 Kraft cardstock

Ranger Stickles in Crystal

Memento Ink Pad in Rich Cocoa

phew!

All you need to do have a chance to win this fab selection is:

1.  Leave a comment under this post (you need to be logged in) and tell us what’s on your crafting wish list. We’re always on the look out for new things to stock so let us know what you love that we DON’T stock!!! Top of my list at the moment is anything by October Afternoon

2.  Post a link to this post on your own blog (if you have one – if not you can still enter of course!) and mention a bit about our candy

The draw to find the lucky winner will take place at 17:00 BST on the 30th June. We’ll announce the winner on the blog and they can then contact us with their mailing details for their prize! Easy peasy!

We’ll keep this post at the top until the draw takes place

Good Luck!

Charlotte & Jane

Woo hoo!  The first of the new collections from DCWV have arrived today. Here’s a quick run down

Mariposa So beautiful… I loved this when I saw it at the trade show and it’s even lovelier than I remembered! 24 antique-inspired prints, 6 with gold glitter and 6 with gold foil – enchanting butterflies, twisting florals, delicate birdcages. Vintage, butterflies AND a light touch of bling – what more could you ask for

Linen Closet This one is Charlotte’s favourite – so cool, so elegant, so classy (the cardstock that is!).  It has a gorgeous light airey feel to it – this  sun-bleached collection consists of a pale blue-green, beige and cream color palette in vintage florals, stripes and textures, reminiscent of days gone by.

Café Mediterranean Perfect for those holiday pics – sat on the terrace, glass in hand, looking relaxed and tanned (can’t wait!!). The beautiful colours and patterns inspired by the Mediterranean lifestyle will bring a little sunshine, while we’re all here in grey old Blighty!

Natural Looking for something for those tricky male cards (or do you love naturals?) – a rich collection of handsome prints in a chocolaty color palette. Deep espressos, warm coffees and creams add a comfy twist to plaids, houndstooth, geometrics, and more.

Happy crafting

Jane and Charlotte

Hope you’ve all had a great week – it’s been crazy here but I thought I’d grab 5 mins to tell you about all the fab things that we saw at last weeks Trade Show in Birmingham.  We had a fab time looking at all the gorgeous new products – we’ve bought loads and it should all be arriving in the next month or so – keep your eyes peeled! Here are just some of the great things on their way:

The fantastic new Tim Holtz Alterations Sizzix line – words can not describe how excited I am about this one! the Sizzix stand was our first stop at the show so we could get this ordered! You can see the whole range here – I’m having a butterfly and a bricked/woodgrain embossing folder set 

Loads of new stacks and embellishments from DCWV including the beautiful Mariposa (which a lot of you have been asking about) , the cool and classy Linen Closet and vibrant Mango Frost.

We spent loads of time watching the beautiful and v talented Claudine Hellmuth at work – we have her new line for Ranger Claudine Hellmuth Studio coming soon. If  you’ve not seen Claudine’s work before there’s loads of information and ideas here

Lot of new stamps from Australian company Darkroom Door – these are really unusual and absolutely stunning.  I particularly loved these photo stamps.

Even more Basic Grey – the new lines just keep coming! Green at Heart – cute creatures and brights, Kioshi – sophisticated relaxed colours and geometric designs, old world elegance with Cappella and pets and patterns with Max & Whiskers!

In a little departure for Craftie-Charlie we are also going to start stocking magazines – starting with the brilliant Craft Stamper.  Stock of the April issue is due any day now

Phew! I feel tired out all over again

Happy crafting

Jane

I’m a couple of days late I’m afraid – off on a sandcastle building expedition in Norfolk! – but the thought was there   I like to keep my cards simple and clean looking (I have a lot to make!) and at this time of year Christmas materials can be a bit thin on the ground.  These are great for using up last years bits and bobs as you don’t need big pieces (the squares are about 3.5cm square)

This gorgeous pale blue glitter isn’t even Christmas paper, it’s from the DCWV Spring stack! You can’t beat a bit of bling at Christmas!

Supplies used:  White cardstock base, DCWV Winter Mat Stack, DCWV Spring Glitter Stack, v old Woodware Snowflake punch,  Dovecraft Adhesive Gems, Penny Black Christmas set from last year, Colorbox Quicksilver & Warm Violet.

Happy crafting!

Jane

What a week – I feel like I’ve spent most of this week taking boxes from couriers!  Lots of lovely new things including: Autumn Leaves & American Crafts stamps, DCWV new lines, Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen collections, K&Co Citronella and Happy Trails.

Here’s a little sample of just some of the loveliness )

We are still working on getting it all on the site but we should be finished soon!!

Happy crafting

Jane

DCWV Latte,  rather than the beverage )

I have to admit to loving these papers – they are such ‘me’ colours!  I have so many matching ribbons and embellishments in my stash it’s like they’ve been designed with me in mind ) I’ve made lots of use of them already this week but this first one is definitely my favourite. It’s very girly, which is not my normal style but I just love how it’s turned out.

Supplies used: DCWV Latte Matstack paper, Bazzill Mystique cardstock for the base, card stock scraps for mat and sentiment, Prima flower from stash, Fiskers Scalloped Lace Border Punch and a Making Memories Boho Chic ‘Lauren’ brad for the flower centre (these don’t look very promising in the package – I got them free in a goodie bag – but I can thoroughly recommend them for flower centres!)

The really great thing about the Latte collection is the colour palette which lends itself to so many occasions – here’s a couple more including a ‘tricky’ masculine card.

Supplies used: DCWV Latte Matstack Papers, SU Old Olive card and ribbon, petrol blue card from stash for mats

Happy crafting

Jane

I’ve found a new favourite place on the internet! I’m sure you’ll all say ‘oh we know that one’ but it’s new one for me )

It’s a blog called clean & simple stamping and they have the loveliest sketches and examples. I only came across it yesterday and I’ve been inspired to make two cards from their sketches already!

This one is FTL32 and is a belated birthday card for a dear friend whose birthday was on Friday I’ve only just realised (oh dear!)

Supplies used: O’Scrap Felt Flower, pink dotty button from stash (I have SO many!), Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, pink & white card scraps.

This cute little easter card is for sending a little monetary gift for chocolate purchase in lieu of an easter egg! I’ve had the egg paper out on my craft table for a while all ready but had been undecided what to do with it – until  I saw this sketch.

Supplies used: DCWV Spring Mat Stack ‘Easter Egg’ paper, lilac & white paper scraps, spring green grosgrain ribbon from a swap with my sister, Penny Black Transparent ‘Salutations’ enjoy… stamp, Colorbox Wisteria chalk ink

Happy crafting

Jane

I’ve had this clipboard for ages – it was a make-and-take at a weekend we went too and I’d never found a use for it (it was pretty as decorated but not very practical).   I receive about 10 letters a week from my son’s school (okay, maybe not quite that many, but a lot!) most of which I manage to mislay so I thought I’d recycle the clipboard to keep them all organised.

I’ve got a pocket at the bottom and a piece of acetate (with buttons on!) to go on top of my ‘clipped’ letters  so I can write little reminders and rub out when done ) I’ve used the fab DCWV Grade School cardstock stack – perfect for school themed projects

Apologies for the picture – we actually have a sunny day (hurrah!) here in Sheffield but I’m out of practice of taking pic in the sun so it’s not come out well…

Supplies used:   Recycled clipboard, DCWV Grade School Stack, Basic Grey Cupcake buttons, yellow grosgrain ribbon from a swap with my sister, acetate sheet.

Happy crafting

Jane

With Christmas and Thankyou cards behind me, I’d planned on dusting off all my sadly neglected non-card making projects this week. But then I checked my birthday calender and realised that they would have to stay moth balled for another week or two as I have so many birthdays this week and next!

Here’s the first batch…

I thought that I’d try something a little bit different and I’ve had this tutorial from SplitCoastStampers tucked away for ages. It was all going fabulously until I realised that we only had 1 set of magnetic snaps in stock ’til the next order arrived so I couldn’t pinch them )   Had a dig through my stash and eventually found some old sticky magnetic strip but it wasn’t up the job so I had to stick the magnetic on the outside rather than hidden under the cardstock (

Supplies used: Making Memories Sam cardstock, Bazzill Avalanche & Ruby Slipper cardstock, O’Scrap Sans Serif Chip Alpha, Dovecraft Christmas brads, Colorbox red ink, white journalling pen, useless magnets!

I’ve recently rediscovered this cute butterfly stamp from the first Laura Ashley collection and I seem to be using it all the time at the moment. Here’s two from this week )

Supplies used: Laura Ashley Contemporary butterfly stamp, Crate Paper Blue Hill paper, DCWV Pocket Full of Posies cardstock, DCWV plain cardstock, Penny Black ‘Happy Birthday’ clear stamp, Dovecraft adhesive gems, the little brown dots I got from the NEC in November but haven’t got a clue what they are – they look like brads but you stick them on with foam pads (sorry!)

Happy crafting

Jane

Congratulations to Paul & Elizabeth on the birth of their new baby, Paul )  I haven’t had chance to see him yet (they are in Glasgow and we are in Sheffield)  but the pics are adorable!

I had a couple of attempts at a card for this. This is my first one – loved the colours and the cute giraffe stamp (these Prima stamps are amazing – such gorgeous designs, fantastic quality and a bargain at £1.59!). On reflection though, I felt it was a bit ‘empty’ (too much white space around the stamped image? Think I should probably have inked the edges or cut it smaller)

So I thought I’d have another go – I kept all the bits I liked and changed it around.  I still thinks it needs a little row of brads but the natural place space-wise was behind the giraffe – I have two words for you ‘giraffe poo’! Well, once that thought was in my head they had to go )

Supplies used: Prima Marketing Giraffe stamp, DCWV Spring Mat Pad, Avalanche Bazzill, Yellow Stampin’ Up card (sorry forgotten the name!), Pale Green from DCWV Christmas Cardstock pack, Colorbox Inks, Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder, Crate Paper ‘Baby Bee’ Ribbon, Making Memories 3/8″ eyelet, Dovecraft corner rounder.

Happy crafting!

Jane