Spellbinders | Felt Reindeer

Hello there, I am back with another felt plushie, this time a reindeer! If you haven't seen my first plushie using the new Spellbinders Felt Stitch & Create Collection, you can see that HERE. I love that this reindeer can be customised too - you can add the hat or not, you can have him holding a candy cane/present etc. You can make him into a hanging ornament to add to the tree ... there are so many possibilities! 

PLEASE NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. Please see below for my full disclosure.

I started off by die cutting the Spellbinders Felt Reindeer Etched Dies from Spellbinders Merino Wool Felt Sheets Neutrals Collection, adding a little black felt from my stash for his eyes, as well as the red felt for his hat and nose. The white felt is sparkly (sorry it can't bee seen in the photos) and I will talk a little about that later. 

I stitched the reindeer using DMC Floss following Nichol Spohr's video tutorial. I added Polyester Craft Filling to his head and body. Attaching the ears and antlers to the head is a little tricky and you have to sandwich them between the front and back pieces of his head, so I hot glued them to the back panel of the head to keep them in place before I stitched. His head did go on a little wonky but I am hoping that adds to his charm! 

For the hat, I stitched it on to his head as the last step. You stitch the red piece in place first and then stitch the brim on top. The sparkly white felt that I used is lovely but it is a little thinner than the Merino Wool felt so you could see the red behind it. I decided to use the die as a template and cut a layer of the felt with scissors and then adhered it on top of the stitched one using hot glue. This covered the messyness behind and I still think it looks nice, even without the stitching on it. I did plan on adding some holly and berries to his hat but it didn't quite look right, so left them off. 

SUPPLIES:

 

Here are the links to what I have used on the project. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. All products were personally purchased except those from Clearly Besotted, Hero Arts or those marked with an asterisk (*) which were kindly sent to me to use. You can read my full disclosure here.

I think he is so cute and will be great to have him on display at Christmas! Perfect for sending a handmade gift too. Thank you so much for stopping by today, I really do appreciate it. I hope you have a wonderful day! 

Spellbinders | Felt Pumpkin

Hello there, today I have something a little different to share with you - a felt plushie. I have made some of these in the past (and shared them here on my blog) but haven't made any for years. Nichol Spohr has a new collection out with Spellbinders called Felt Stitch & Create and there are lots of different designs available - pumpkins, acorns, snowmen, reindeer, candy canes etc. so I had to give them a try again!

PLEASE NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. Please see below for my full disclosure.

These dies are designed to be cut from felt and stitched like I have done, but you can cut them from cardstock and stitch too, or not stitch at all! You can use the elements all together or some separately. I love when there are different options! I thought I would start off with the Spellbinders Felt Pumpkin Lane House Etched Dies. 

There a are lots of dies in this set - the pumpkin itself, as well as windows that you can add on to make it a house (as you can see I didn't add them) plus flowers, leaves and mushrooms. I started off by die cutting the pumpkin using one of the shades of purple in the Spellbinders Merino Wool Felt Sheets Trend Collection. I cut it twice (cuts beautifully with the Platinum Six) and then added stitching to the lines in the middle of the pumpkin first (on both sides) with DMC Floss and a blunt needle. 

I die cut the stalk for the pumpkin using one of the brown shades from the Spellbinders Merino Wool Sheets Neutrals Collection, popped it between the two pieces of the pumpkin and stitched around the outside to secure in place. Before stitching it shut, I added some Polyester Craft Filling. 

The flowers and leaves were die cut using the same collections of Spellbinders felt, as well as extra white felt from my stash for the flower centres. They were stitched using DMC Floss and then adhered to the pumpkin using hot glue. Hot glue works really well for adhering felt but you can try tape and liquid glues too. I think it would be nice to have added some real buttons to the centres of the flowers but I didn't think of that until afterwards! 

SUPPLIES:

 

Here are the links to what I have used on the project. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. All products were personally purchased except those from Clearly Besotted, Hero Arts or those marked with an asterisk (*) which were kindly sent to me to use. You can read my full disclosure here.

If you are new to felt plushies, Nichol Spohr has made video tutorials on how to assemble them over on her YouTube channel, as well as the Spellbinders channel. I am probably going to use this pumpkin as an ornament in my craft room, since I really love the colours and they will go nicely in there! Thank you so much for stopping by today, I really do appreciate it. I hope you have a great day! 

Hero Arts | Hero Studio December 2024 Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

Hello there, I am delighted to be joining Hero Arts for the Hero Studio December 2024 release, which is out now! There are lots of kits to choose from, as well as Extraordinary Extras. Today I am focussing on the Card Kit of the Month, as well as the Fancy Dies of the Month. 

PLEASE NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. Please see below for my full disclosure.

HERO STUDIO CARD KIT OF THE MONTH

I started off my card by taking the Floral Circle Fancy Die from the Hero Studio December 2024 Card Kit of the Month and die cutting it three times from Hero Arts Deluxe Smooth White Cardstock. I popped the pieces out of the die cut and then adhered the first outline layer to a cardstock circle die cut using the Hero Arts Nesting Circle Infinity Dies. 

I then added ink blending to the inside pieces of the die cut. I used Hero Arts Dandelion and Butter Bar Core Inks for the sun, Hero Arts Ultra Pink Core Ink for the sky, Hero Arts Paradise Core Ink for the clouds, Hero Arts Orchid and Amethyst Core Inks for the flower petals and Hero Arts Dandelion Core Ink for the flower centres. The pieces were adhered inside the outline using liquid glue. I then took the other two frame pieces and adhered them on top (so that it was three layers high). 

I took another circle piece and scored a line towards the top to create a hinge. At the other end, I cut a little off to help the card stand up easier. I added adhesive to the hinge and adhered it to the back of the die cut one. I stamped a sentiment from the stamp set in the kit onto Hero Arts Pitch Black Cardstock using Hero Arts Clear Embossing & Watermark Ink. I applied Hero Arts White Detail Embossing Powder and heat set. It was die cut out using the coordinating die and adhered to the card. To finish, I embellished with Hero Arts Clear Enamel Dots. 

KIT INCLUDES:

Clear Stamp Set, 6” x 8”

15 Coordinating Dies

Floral Circle Fancy Die

5 Reinkers, 1/2 oz. (Purple Galaxy, Blue Hawaii, Green Apple, Lemon Drop, Fruit Punch)

Plastic Watercolor Palette

HERO STUDIO FANCY DIES OF THE MONTH

I started off my card by die cutting the rainbow die in the Hero Studio December Fancy Dies of the Month kit multiple times from Hero Arts Deluxe Smooth White Cardstock. I added ink blending to four of them using Hero Arts Core Inks -

1st (top) layer - Dandelion and Butter Bar

2nd layer - Ultra Pink and Raspberry Jam

3rd layer - Orchid and Amethyst

4th layer - Paradise and Bermuda

I cut the layers apart using scissors (very easy to do as they are only connected by small pieces of cardstock in certain areas) and adhered them to a base layer (from white cardstock) using liquid glue. I then adhered another behind (for more dimension) plus added lots of layers of clouds (5 high). The rainbow piece was then adhered to a US A2 size white card base with liquid glue.

I stamped the sentiment from the Hero Arts Floral Rainbow & Clouds Stamp Set onto Hero Arts Pitch Black Cardstock using Hero Arts Clear Embossing & Watermark Ink. I applied Hero Arts White Detail Embossing Powder and heat set. It was cut into a strip and adhered to the card using foam tape. To finish, I cut the little stars from the kit from more white cardstock and adhered them to the card as an embellishment.

HERO STUDIO SUBSCRIPTIONS

If you want to sign up for any of the kits, you can do so from 1st - 27th of the month. You will receive the kit/s that you subscribe to for that month. The subscription will then roll over until the next month (as well as the following months) unless you cancel it. If there are any kits leftover, they will be available to purchase a la carte (without a subscription) the following month. You can find out more about subscribing HERE.

BLOG HOP:

As mentioned, this post is part of a fun, inspirational blog hop with prizes. For the hop, you should have arrived here from Lydia. Next on the hop is Natasha. If you get lost along the way, or want to start the hop from the beginning, please head over to the Hero Arts Blog.

GIVEAWAY:

Hero Arts are giving away a $50 gift card, drawn from the comments left across the hop. Enter by 8th December 2024 11.59pm PST. The winner will be announced on the Hero Arts Blog the following week.

SUPPLIES:

 

Here are the links to what I have used on the projects. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. All products were personally purchased except those from Clearly Besotted, Hero Arts or those marked with an asterisk (*) which were kindly sent to me to use. You can read my full disclosure here.

Thank you so much for stopping by today, I really do appreciate it. I hope you have a wonderful time on the rest of the hop and make sure to check out the other kits this month, they are fab! Take care!

Simon Says Stamp | DieCember 2024

Hello there, I am delighted to be joining Simon Says Stamp for their DieCember 2024 release! If you haven't heard of DieCember before, it is a celebration of all things die cutting for the month of December. 

Today we are kicking things off with a fun party to celebrate the release. A bunch of designers have got together to share lots of inspiration with you. You can find links to all the designers sharing today here. Simon Says Stamp kindly sent me the fabulous Leafy Branch Die to play with and this is what I made: 

PLEASE NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. Please see below for my full disclosure.

I thought it would be fun to do one of my favourite techniques on these cards - die cut inlay. This technique also produces a 2-for-1 as you can use both the outline and the inside pieces/inlay. 

I started off by creating the alcohol ink backgrounds. I took a panel of Yupo Paper and added Isopropyl Alcohol to it (to create a base for the alcohol inks to move), I then dropped Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks on top - Purple Twilight, Amethyst, Stonewashed, Sailboat Blue and Silver Mixative (which you need to use Ranger Alcohol Ink Blending Solution with).

I moved the inks around the paper using the Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink Air Blower Tool and then set it aside to dry. Once dry, I die cut it using the Simon Says Stamp Leafy Branch Die. I then cut the die multiple times from white cardstock. 

I die cut two hearts using the Simon Says Stamp Nested Round Hearts Dies for the fronts of my card bases. For the die cut inlay card, I adhered one of the outlines of the die cuts on to the heart first using Bearly Art Glue. I cut the excess from the sides using scissors. 

I popped in the inside pieces of the leaves (cut from the alcohol inked background) and adhered them with liquid glue. I then adhered two more layers of the outline on top for added dimension. For the outline card, I adhered the white cardstock outlines first (two layers) and then adhered the alcohol inked one on top of that. The excess was cut off the sides at each layer. 

For the sentiment on the inlay card, I stamped a sentiment from the Simon Says Stamp Silhouette Sentiments Stamp Set onto black cardstock using Versamark Ink. I applied white embossing powder and heat set. It was cut into a strip using the Simon Says Stamp Sentiment Labels Dies and adhered to the card using foam tape. 

For the sentiment on the outline card, I die cut the 'hugs' sentiment from the Simon Says Stamp Basic Trio Dies three times from white cardstock. They were adhered one on top of another and then onto the card using liquid glue. 

I then die cut two more hearts from white cardstock and made a score line towards the top to create a hinge. I also cut the point off the bottom of the heart to help the card stand up better. I added adhesive to the hinge part and then adhered them to the back of the card fronts. To finish, I embellished with Spellbinders Opal Color Essentials Gems. 

DIECEMBER PROMOTION

If you order $100 or more of DieCember release products, you will receive the Fancy Ornaments Embossing Folder as a free gift! This will be automictically added to eligible carts. Offer valid until 11.59pm ET. 

SUPPLIES:

Here are the links to what I have used on the projects. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. All products were personally purchased except those from Clearly Besotted, Hero Arts or those marked with an asterisk (*) which were kindly sent to me to use. You can read my full disclosure here.

Thank you so much for stopping by today, I really do appreciate it. I hope you enjoy seeing all the inspiration today! Take care! 

Spellbinders | Color Mix Celebrations

Hello there, I was over on the Spellbinders Blog last week sharing three cards using the Color Mix Celebrations Collection. This collection is small - just three items, but it's such a good one! There are number press plates and coordinating dies (although you can use the dies standalone too!), as well as some lovely scripty sentiment press plates. 

PLEASE NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. Please see below for my full disclosure.

Here is a peek at one of the cards I made:

This card uses the Spellbinders Bold Color Mix Numbers Press Plates, pressed onto Porcelain BetterPress Card using BetterPress Black Ink. I then hot foiled the sentiments from the Spellbinders Sweeping Celebration Sentiments Press Plates on top using Champagne Foil. I added an accompanying sentiment from the Spellbinders Hello, Friend Glimmer Hot Foil Plate and then embellished with the little flowers and leaves from Spellbinders Rainbow Slice Tunnel Etched Dies. 

SUPPLIES:

 

Here are the links to what I have used on the project. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. All products were personally purchased except those from Clearly Besotted, Hero Arts or those marked with an asterisk (*) which were kindly sent to me to use. You can read my full disclosure here.

For more information on how I made the card, as well as seeing the other two that I made, please head over to the Spellbinders Blog. Thank you so much for stopping by today, I really do appreciate it. I hope you have a lovely day!

Altenew | 2 for 1 Cards With the New Stampwheel 2.0

Hello there, I am delighted to be joining Altenew today to celebrate the release of the new Stampwheel 2.0 with a fun Instagram Hop. The inspiration and prizes are happening over there, but I wanted to share more pictures over here of how I made the cards with the Stampwheel 2.0. 

PLEASE NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. Please see below for my full disclosure.

For my projects today, I am using the larger size of the Altenew Stampwheel 2.0 to my advantage and creating a 2 for 1 card. This means that I can stamp two card fronts at once! The new Stampwheel 2.0 has a stamping surface of 9" x 9" (although this can increase slightly in terms of cardstock/paper size, which I will share later), whereas the original Stampwheel has a stamping size of 7.5" x 7.5". 

This means that you can fit 2 A2 sized (4.25" x 5.5") panels side by side in the Altenew Stampwheel 2.0 (you can actually fit 4 in there, if you hang two off the edge!). So I grabbed two A2 panels of white cardstock and added them side by side onto the Sticky Mat that comes with the Stampwheel 2.0. 

I then took the large floral image from the Altenew Craft Your Life Project Kit: Blossoms of Encouragement Stamp Set and placed it so that half of the stamp was covering each of the cardstock panels. 

I placed the top flip plate on top of the base to pick up the stamp. I then flipped it over to ink the stamp using Altenew Obsidian Pigment Ink. 

I flipped the plate back over and pressed/stamped it onto the cardstock panels, lining up the corners of the base with the top flip plate. I did stamp the image twice to make sure that I got a lovely dark crisp outline of the image. 

As you can see, this is a great way to utilise those larger stamps by creating two cards at once! 

Although I did not use it for these cards, the right side of the Altenew Stampwheel 2.0 comes off, so that if you wanted to stamp either on a larger piece of cardstock, or if you want to position the image in a particular place on a panel (like in my photo), you can do. It then just pops right back in place when you are done! 

To create my cards, I took the stencils from the Altenew Craft Your Life Project Kit: Blossoms of Encouragement and placed them, one by one, on top of the image (on both cards) and added ink blending with Altenew Mini Blending Brushes to colour the image in. 

I used Altenew Cherry Blossom Fresh Dye Inks for the pink flowers, Altenew Enchanted Garden Fresh Dye Inks for the purple flowers, Altenew Golden Sunset Fresh Dye Inks for the flower centres and Altenew Green Valley Fresh Dye Inks for the leaves and foliage. 

The panels were cut down slightly and adhered to US A2 sized card bases, made from Altenew Jet Black Cardstock, with Altenew Instant Dimension Foam Tape. I stamped two sentiments from Altenew Build-A-Garden: Sulfur Cosmos Stamp Set onto white cardstock using Altenew Obsidian Pigment Ink. 

They were die cut out using the coordinating dies and then I cut the dies another two times from white cardstock and layered them behind the stamped ones for added dimension. They were then adhered to the cards using liquid glue. To finish, I embellished with Altenew Crystal clear Enamel Dots. 

SUPPLIES:

Here are the links to what I have used on the projects. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. All products were personally purchased except those from Clearly Besotted, Hero Arts or those marked with an asterisk (*) which were kindly sent to me to use. You can read my full disclosure here.

You can absolutely do this technique by just stamping on a larger piece of cardstock and then cutting it into panels but I am a visual person and I really like to see exactly what part of the image will be on which panel. As mentioned, this post is part of a hop. Please head over to my Instagram feed HERE and Altenew's HERE. Thank you so much for stopping by today, I really do appreciate it. I hope you have a wonderful day!

Spellbinders | You Did It!

Hello there, I hope you are well! Today I have a card to share using the Spellbinders November 2024 Large Die of the Month Club Kit. The kit is called "HOORAY! It's Your Birthday" and is meant to be birthday themed, but as you can see from my card, I went in a different direction! 

PLEASE NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. Please see below for my full disclosure.

I started off my card by die cutting the frog from the Spellbinders November 2024 Large Die of the Month Club Kit. I cut the main base layer and then also the top body layer from Spellbinders Peridot Cardstock. The eyes were cut from Spellbinders Onyx Cardstock, and the cheeks from Spellbinders Bearly Peach Cardstock. 

I added ink blending to the frog using Altenew Green Valley Fresh Dye Inks and then assembled him, adhering the pieces with Bearly Art Glue. For the car, I die cut the base layer from Spellbinders Royal Amethyst Cardstock, the top layer from Spellbinders Lilac Blossom Cardstock, the lights from Spellbinders Snowdrift Cardstock and the wheels and steering wheel from Spellbinders Onyx Cardstock. 

The lights were adhered to the base layer with Bearly Art Glue and the steering wheel popped behind. The top layer of the car was adhered with thin foam tape. I then popped the frog inside the car, adhering behind the back piece. I took a panel of white cardstock and stamped the sentiment from the Spellbinders Gnome Drive Sentiments Clear Stamp Set on top with Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink. 

I then adhered it flat to a US A2 sized card base made from Spellbinders Onyx Cardstock, so that I created a road along the bottom of the card. I cut small pieces of Spellbinders Snowdrift Cardstock and adhered them to the black piece to create the lines in the road (yes, here in the UK, we do drive on the left side of the road!). The frog and car were then adhered on top with foam tape. To finish, I added Spellbinders Dimensional Black Enamel Dots to the wheels. 

SUPPLIES:

 

Here are the links to what I have used on the project. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. All products were personally purchased except those from Clearly Besotted, Hero Arts or those marked with an asterisk (*) which were kindly sent to me to use. You can read my full disclosure here.

There is also a crocodile in the kit, as well as banners to add to the car and presents, but I thought it would be fun to create a 'just passed your driving test' card instead! Thank you so much for stopping by today, I really appreciate it. I hope you have a wonderful day! 

Spellbinders | Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Hello there, today I have a card to share using the Spellbinders Santa's Sleigh Press Plate from the Simon Hurley Glad Tidings Collection. I really love the old fashioned style of the image. 

PLEASE NOTE: This post contains affiliate links. Please see below for my full disclosure.

I started off my card by pressing the main image from the Spellbinders Santa's Sleigh Press Plate & Die Set. To do this, I placed the press plate onto the chase of the Spellbinders BetterPress Letterpress System and then inked it up using Spellbinders BetterPress Black Ink. I placed a Spellbinders Porcelain BetterPress A2 Cotton Card Panel onto the platen and held it in place with Best Ever Craft Tape. I placed the platen onto the base and then ran it through my Platinum Six to press the image into the cardstock. 

I pressed the image again but this time onto Altenew Masking Paper, using the residual ink still on the plate. I fussy cut this out with scissors but only needed to cut either side of the image, I didn't need the centre as it would get covered up by the circle that I also cut from masking paper using the Spellbinders Everlasting Circles Etched Dies. The masking paper image was adhered down first, followed by the circle. Using Blending Brushes, I blended Altenew Blue Mountains and Jet Black Fresh Dye Inks onto the panel.

I then splattered Spellbinders Splatter White Opaque Watercolor on top. I removed the masks and let it sit to dry. Once dry, I coloured the moon using Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils - Ivory and Warm Greys. The panel was adhered to a US A2 sized white card base with tape runner adhesive. I then pressed the sentiment from the set onto more Porcelain cardstock using black ink. It was cut into a strip and adhered to the card with thin foam tape. 

SUPPLIES:

 

Here are the links to what I have used on the project. Affiliate links are used on some products. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I receive a small commission with no extra cost to you. I truly appreciate your support when using these links. Please click on the logo below the product to shop at your favourite store. All products were personally purchased except those from Clearly Besotted, Hero Arts or those marked with an asterisk (*) which were kindly sent to me to use. You can read my full disclosure here.

I decided to keep the image without colour, as I liked the simplicity of it, but it could easily be coloured with pencils (or Copics if you are careful not to go over the lines as the ink can bleed). I apologise for the dark photos, we haven't had any sunlight here for a week now, which isn't ideal when trying to take photos! Anyway, thank you so much for stopping by today, I really do appreciate it. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!