Merry Christmas from Crafts U Love

Crafts U Love would like to thank you for your loyalty and custom over the past year.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Create & Take: A Gift For You

Hi bloggers, so this is the last Create & Take review of 2014 and we would like to thank everyone who comes along to our weekly Create & Takes and also everyone at home that reads these posts. We would love to hear what you think of our Create & Takes and if you have made any from these online instructions. Maybe tell us your favourites - so don't hesitate to leave a comment.

For our final Create & Take we decided to make a Gift Card Wallet which could be used for any time of the year, not just Christmas. So let's get started....

Products Needed:

Bo Bunny Back to Basics Cardstock - Wild Berry Red Dot

Kaisercraft North Pole Cardstock - Candy Cane

Bazzill Basics Cardstock White Smoothie

We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board

We R Memory Keepers Envelope Notcher

Taylored Expressions Pockets & Pages 3 x 4 Circle Showcase Die Set

Spellbinders Labels Seventeen Die Set

Tonic Studios Circle Layering Die Set

Penny Black Clear Stamp Set - Joy Filled

Woodware Clear Stamp - Gift Ditty

Archival Ink Pad - Red Geranium

Cranberry Nailheads

Instructions:

1. Cut the Wild Berry dot cardstock 20cm x 20cm.

2. Follow the instructions on the envelope punch board to create your envelope.

3. Follow the instructions on the envelope notcher to punch the notches in your envelope.

4. Cut the Candy Cane cardstock 14.6cm x 2cm and adhere on the front of the envelope.

5. Die cut a label from the Spellbinders set out of Candy Cane cardstock and adhere inside the envelope. Make sure you only glue the outside edges and not the circle in the middle so that you can fit a gift card underneath it.

6. Stamp the circle border and sentiment from the Penny Black stamp set onto White Smoothie cardstock. Die cut round it with a circle from the Tonic Studios die set. Adhere on top of the circle from the previous die cut.

7. Finish by adding two nailheads either side of the sentiment on the front of the envelope.

Simply place your gift card in the gift card holder, fasten the envelope and it's ready to gift! We hope you're ready for Christmas and have made some wonderful creations this year.

Don't forget our Pinterest page for added inspiration for Christmas and the New Year!

Vintage Glass Bauble

Hi bloggers, almost the end of the week and with Christmas just around the corner we wanted to share with you a beautiful Christmas ornament that Sue M hosted a class on last week. This stunning bauble is made from a Melissa Frances glass globe ornament which has been filled with a mixture of die cut pieces (Marianne) and a tree from the Fancy Pants Mini Tree embellishments pack.

Unfortunately the Melissa Frances glass globes are now out of stock due to the popularity from the class but the die cuts to make the globe are available and Sue used a mixture of inks and paints to create the vintage effect on them.

Making decorations for Christmas is so much fun and what better way to appreciate your work than by hanging it on the tree for all to admire!

Make the most of your last crafty weekend before Christmas and we will be back on the blog on Monday with a review of tomorrow's Create & Take.

Last Create & Take of 2014:

This Friday is the last Create & Take of 2014 and we are celebrating with a fantastic project (as usual!) and some mince pies, nibbles and drinks. One not to be missed! So come and join in the festive fun.

Create & Take: A Winter's Scene

Today we will be sharing the final Christmas card Create & Take from last Friday's Christmas Jumper Day festive special. So here are all the products you need and the all important instructions.....

Products Needed:

Square White Card Blank

Bo Bunny Altitude Cardstock - Cozy

Bazzill Basics Cardstock - White Smoothie

Bazzill Basics Cardstock - Sea Water

Bazzill Basics Cardstock - Stonehenge

Penny Black Cling Stamp Set - Snowy Hamlet

Joy Crafts Gloves & Hat Die Set

Joy Crafts Winter Die Cut

Woodware Regular Snowflake Punch

Snowflake Die Cuts

Watercolour Pencils

Stickles Glitter Glue - Waterfall

Memento Ink - Tuxedo Black

Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Pumice Stone

Grey Pen

Glossy Accents

Instructions:

1. Cut the Cozy cardstock 13cm x 13cm and adhere to card blank.

2. Cut the Stonehenge cardstock 6.5cm x 9cm.

3. Cut the White Smoothie cardstock 6cm x 8.5cm. Stamp half of the Snowy Hamlet image onto the White Smoothie cardstock using Tuxedo Black ink. Colour the image using blue and grey watercolour pencils and add a bit of Pumice Stone distress ink around the edges. Adhere to the Stonehenge cardstock.

4. Die cut and emboss the gloves and hat die cuts from Sea Water cardstock. Colour the embossed areas on the die cuts with a grey pen.

5. Die cut the Winter die from Sea Water and White Smoothie cardstock. Layer the Sea Water cut out on top of the White cut out, leaving a slight border.

6. Punch out four snowflakes from White Smoothie cardstock. Die cut three snowflakes from White Smoothie cardstock.

7. Assemble all the elements on the card and adhere using glossy accents.

8. Finish by adding some Waterfall Stickles to the middle of the snowflakes.

Well we hope you have enjoyed and been inspired by our Christmas card Create & Takes. We have one last bit of Christmas inspiration to share with you this week from Sue M's last vintage class of the year and it is a stunner - not to be missed!

Christmas Jumper Day

Happy Monday bloggers! Only 10 days until Christnas, hopefully you're all getting ready for the biggest holiday season of the year! We certainly got in the Christmas spirit on Friday in celebration of Christmas Jumper Day for Save the Children. All the girls at Crafts U Love made such a great effort as you can see in the photo above and all our customers looked fabulous in their Christmas attire.

Activities through the day included a festive Create & Take, bring and buy bake off, raffle and a Christmas Jumper sweepstake. Check out our wonderful bakes below......

If you happen to be popping along to the shop in the next few days we still have some gingerbread cookies left and they have been beautifully wrapped in Christmas themed cellophane bags for only £1.50. So don't forget to ask for one when you're in.

Our customers taking part in our festive Create & Take

Our Christmas Jumper Day sweepstake is still ongoing in the shop as we need to fill all the guess options before we reveal the jumper motif so if you are coming down to the shop make sure you take part. It's only £1 per guess and if you guess correctly you will win a £5 voucher for Crafts U Love!

All in all a wonderful day and our grand total so far that we have raised for Save the Children is £134, so a big thank you to everyone that took part and donated on the day.

Stay tuned on the blog tomorrow for a summary of the Create & Take with all the products you need and instructions to make it.

Charry's Winter Wonderland

Morning bloggers! Today we wanted to share with you Charry's two page winter wonderland layout, using the new Bo Bunny Altitude paper collection in beautiful shades of blue and purple.

This layout design really does create a winter wonderland with snowflakes falling and white trees creating a winter backdrop. With these sort of colours you would want to choose photos that incorporated white colours to pick up on the frosty elements in the design.

Hopefully this has given you a bit of scrapbooking inspiration for those winter photos that we might soon be taking if snow is forecasted on its way to the UK!

DON'T FORGET!!!!

This Friday is Christmas Jumper Day and we would love for you to come in and join the fun! We will be hosting a festive Create & Take, a bring and buy bake-off, a snow sweepstake and raffle with some festive music and plenty of Christmas cheer. An event not to be missed and we want to see those Christmas jumpers worn with pride!

Create & Take: Oh Christmas Tree

Good morning bloggers, another week closer to Christmas and so therefore let's continue with some more Christmas inspiration with a review of Friday's Create & Take. This card layout can be used with lots of different papers and stamped designs, making it easy to adapt for different friends and family members.

Products Needed:

A6 White Blank Card

Bo Bunny Elf Magic Cardstock - North Pole

Bazzill Basics Cardstock - Coconut Swirl

Deep Red Cling Stamp - Season's Greetings Tree

Marianne CR1241 Passe-partpot Oval Die Cut

Watercolour Pencils

Stickles Glitter Glue - Golden Rod

Memento Ink - Tuxedo Black

Red Satin Ribbon

Crafts Too Acrylic Gem Stones

Instructions:

1. Die cut the front of the white card blank with the Passe-partpot oval die cut. Use the largest of the scalloped edged dies from the set.

2. Cut the North Pole cardstock 14.5cm x 10cm.

3. Die cut the North Pole cardstock with the largest oval die cut from the Passe-partpot oval die set, make sure you line this up with the oval on the card blank so that the cardstock will fit on the card correctly. Once cut adhere to the card blank.

4. Cut the Coconut Swirl cardstock 14.5cm x 10cm.

5. Stamp the tree from the Deep Red stamp set in the middle of the Coconut Swirl cardstock. Colour the image using watercolour pencils. Adhere the cardstock inside the card.

6. Cut another piece of Coconut Swirl cardstock 1.3cm x 6.2cm.

7. Stamp the Season's Greetings sentiment onto the cardstock using Tuxedo Black ink.

8. Cut a piece of red satin ribbon 10cm and stick onto the front of  the card using double sided tape.

9. Adhere the sentiment to the middle of the ribbon and add two gem stones either side of the sentiment.

10. Finish by adding some Golden Rod stickles to the star and candles on the tree image.

Stay tuned this week for more Christmas inspiration including Charry's two page winter scrapbook layout from our monthly scrapbook club. A must see for those scrapbookers out there!

Crafts U Love Christmas Gift Guide

The countdown to Christmas has officially begun this week and we wanted to share with you the best of the gifts you could give the crafter in your family this Christmas or maybe you want to add them to your own Christmas Wish List!

So let's start with the most extravagant gifts.....

Treat a loved one this year or maybe treat yourself with the newest electronic die cutting machines on the market. Both released this year the Cricut Explore and Silhouette Cameo 2 machines offer the latest in die cutting technology. Crafts U Love offer bundle offers on both machines.....

Cricut Explore bundle offers range from £284.99 - £329.99 - click here to view

Silhouette Cameo 2 bundle offer is £289.99 - click here to view

If these machines are a bit over your budget we have plenty of other gifts in our gift guide that may be more suitable. Before we move on to these if you know someone who has just recently purchased one of these machines or you would like some of the following accessories to go with your new machine - view some of our Cricut and Silhouette Accessory gifts below.....

Silhouette Cameo Pixscan Mat - £12.99

Silhouette Glass Etching Starter Kit - £34.99

Silhouette Stamping Starter Kit - £29.99

Silhouette Sketch Pen Starter Kit - £19.99

Click here to view all Silhouette items

Cricut Tools Basic Set - £17.99 - click here to view

Cricut Cutting Mat Variety Pack - £21.99 - click here to view

Cricut Family Album Cartridge - £19.99 - click here to view

Cricut Antiquity Colour Pen Set - £9.99 - click here to view

So what can you give the crafter who has everything? We would suggest a practical tool gift or the gift of storage - because us crafters always need storage to hide away all those new products we just can't stop buying!

Practical Tool Gift:

Spellbinders Tool 'n' One - £10.99

This tool is a crafter's dream - all your tools at your fingertips. It is a portable tool that performs multiple craft functions including piercing, paper removal and many more! In addition it also provides a unique storage solution to allow its attachments to be stored within the 'pod' of its main body. Not just for papercrafters, also for any crafters working with small parts and pieces.

The Gift of Storage:

Zutter Magnetic Die & Stamp Storage System - £24.99 - click here to view

Mackinac Moon Blue & Grey Scrapbook Desktop Organiser - £16.99 - click here to view

Both of these storage solutions are perfect for those crafters who need to store their die cuts and stamps or the desktop organiser will keep all those tools in one place!

Gifts for the Scrapbooker:

Pink SMASH Folio Gift Pack - £23.99 - click here to view

Project Life Enjoy Life Kit - £7.99 - click here to view

For the scrapbooker in the family these gifts are ideal, the SMASH folio will kick start them with everything they need to create their own scrapbook whilst the Project Life kits will be an excellent compliment to anyone who has started a Project Life album.

Stocking Filler Gifts:

Flag SMASH Tabs - £1.99 - click here to view

SMASH Past, Present and Future Notepad - £1.99 - click here to view

Queen & Company Red Bling Book - £7.99 - click here to view

Papermania Adhesive Stones - £1.49 - click here to view

EK Success Mini Corner Rounder Punch Set - £8.99 - click here to view

Little B Decorative Washi Tape - £2.99 - click here to view

If you're on a tight budget or are looking for crafty stocking filler gifts then these will definitely suit your fancy - a bit of something for everybody and gems are always a must have at Christmas!

Gift Vouchers:

If all else fails then give them the gift of choice this year with a gift voucher from Crafts U Love to kick start 2015 with a new craft stash!

Click here to view all gift voucher options...

We hope this gift guide has given you a bit of inspiration in solving present solutions for the crafters amongst your friends and family. These are just our suggestions but everyone is unique and you may find something more suitable amongst the large variety of craft items we have in stock at Crafts U Love, so make yourself a hot chocolate and get those crafting presents sorted from the comfort of your home.

Christmas Mini Card Bag

Hi bloggers, we thought we would give you a bit more Christmas inspiration this week and today we want to share with you one of Jo's creations from her class on Saturday. This fabulous mini card bag unfolds in such a beautiful way, allowing you to add your own messages and greetings or even photos to help celebrate a special occasion. Take a peek at the inside of the bag......

As you can see in the picture above, Jo has added some lovely little tags in the top and bottom pockets with a space in the middle for your greeting or sentiment. As always Jo's projects are finished to a beautiful precision with a touch of distress ink round the edges of her papers. A card like this would definitely have to take prime position on a mantelpiece or shelf, almost too good to give away!

Jo has one more class this year on Saturday 20th December featuring some unusual folding cards, so if this looks right up your street then why not book a space on her next class today.

Create & Take: Sugarplum Christmas

Good afternoon bloggers! I hope your week has already been kick started with some creativity, if not I will share this fabulous Create & Take to inspire you for the week ahead. This Christmas card is so adorable, featuring the new Prima Sugarplums stamp set, and I have to say I thought it was so cute, I've already bought myself a stamp set as well! This card can be altered with different colours and compositions to truly make it unique for different friends and family members.

So what will you need.....

Products Needed:

A6 Kraft Card Blank

Bazzill Basics Cardstock - Frosted Teal

Bazzill Basics Cardstock - Coconut Swirl

Papermania Glitter Vellum - Wonderland

Prima Marketing Sugarplums Cling Stamp Set

Prima Marketing Kraft Paper Tag Pad 4.25" x 2.5"

Aqua Satin Ribbon

Watercolour Pencils

Stickles Glitter Glue - Crystal

Memento Ink - Tuxedo Black

Sizzix Stamper's Secret Weapon

3D Foam Pads

Instructions:

1. Cut the Frosted Teal cardstock 14cm x 9.5cm. Adhere to the card blank.

2. Cut the Wonderland Glitter Vellum 14cm x 9.5cm and adhere on top of the Frosted Teal cardstock.

3. Stamp the Sugarplum fairy, tree and stars onto the Coconut Swirl cardstock using the Tuxedo Black ink. For perfect stamping everytime use the Sizzix Stamper's Secret Weapon underneath your cardstock when stamping.

4. Colour the stamped images with watercolour pencils.

5. Stamp the sentiment from the Prima stamp set onto a Prima Kraft Tag using Tuxedo Black Ink.

6. Cut around the stamped images that were coloured with the watercolour pencils and adhere on the Kraft Tag.

7. Cut a piece of satin ribbon 14cm in length and tie round the hole at the top of the tag.

8. Adhere the tag to the card using 3D foam pads.

9. Finish by adding some Crystal stickles to the stars and the tree.

These cards are so quick and simple to make that it makes making Christmas cards a breeze!

Christmas Inspiration: Rotating Christmas Tree

Hi bloggers, we promised some Christmas inspiration this week and thats exactly what we are going to give you. Starting with this fabulous Rotating Christmas Tree from Kaisercraft!

This tree is part of Kaisercraft's Beyond the Page MDF range and therefore starts off as a completely blank canvas for you to decorate how you please...

Sarah at Crafts U Love had the pleasure of assembling the tree and decorating it with papers from the Bo Bunny Candy Cane Lane Paper collection.

Sarah was kind enough to give us a few tips on assembling the tree and has also provided a full list of products used below:

Tip No. 1

Before decorating the tree with any papers, make sure you paint around the edges of the tree pieces and base pieces. This will give the tree an overall neater look and may co-ordinate better with the range of papers you decide to use.

Tip No. 2

Kaisercraft have not provided any instructions with the kit so when it comes to screwing the base circles to the metal rotating plate, make sure you screw the metal plate to the larger of the two base circles first, then use the hole provided in the large base to align your screws when screwing the metal plate to the small base circle.

Tip No. 3

The size of the tree pieces may slightly overlap  a 12" x 12" sheet of cardstock, therefore make sure you paint the tops of the tree or plan to add an embellishment for decoration. In this example, Sarah used a Rosette die at the top of the tree to finish it off.

Products Needed:

12" x 12" Papers from the Bo Bunny Candy Cane Lane Paper Collection

Kaisercraft Beyond the Page MDF Rotating Christmas Tree

Rosette Die Cut

Woodware Large Circle Punch

Marianne COL1325 Collectables Banner Dies & Text Stamp Set 

Stickles Glitter Glue - Platinum

We plan to use this Christmas Tree at the tillpoint in the shop with some sweets around the bottom of the tree to offer customers over the festive season. This would look adorable in a hallway with treats on when greeting guests this Christmas or perhaps maybe as a feature on the coffee table or dining table.

Let us know if you plan to make one of these this Christmas and what you plan to use it for! 

At only £19.99, why not!

Create & Take: Birthday Tie

Happy Monday bloggers! We can't believe Christmas Eve is just a month away and we have been busy at Crafts U Love putting some Christmas ideas together to help your creativity flow during the month of December. So look out on the blog for some festive ideas! Also don't forget about our Christmas Jumper Day on Friday 12th December - which will be full of sparkly Christmas jumpers, a festive Create & Take, and lots of Christmassy treats!

But for today let's sum up last week's Create & Take which featured the Marianne Gentlemen's Tie die. Even leading up to Christmas we can't forget those birthdays that fall in the months of November and December. So without further ado lets get going with this birthday tie card for the men in our lives....

Products Needed:

A6 Kraft Card Blank

Graphic 45 Good Ol' Sport Cardstock - Big Score

Graphic 45 Good Ol' Sport Cardstock - Godd Ol' Sport

Graphic 45 Good Ol' Sport Cardstock - All Star

Graphic 45 Good Ol' Sport Cardstock - Cheer On

Graphic 45 Good Ol' Sport Cardstock - Teamwork

Bazzill Basics Cardstock - Java

Marianne CR1292 Gentlemen's Tie Die Set

Penny Black Special Wishes Clear Stamp Set

Nailheads 3mm - Black

Maya Road Trinklets Grosgrain Ribbon - Forest

Maya Road Trinklets Grosgrain Ribbon - Pebble

Tim Holtz Walnut Stain Distress Ink Pad

Sponge Dauber

Instructions:

1. Cut the Big Score cardstock 14.2cm x 10cm. Distress the edges with some Walnut Stain ink and adhere to the card blank.

2. Cut the Java cardstock 10.9cm x 7.3cm.

3. Cut the Teamwork cardstock 10.5cm x 7cm. Distress the edges with Walnut Stain ink and adhere on top of the Java cardstock.

4. Die cut the Marianne tie die from Good Ol' Sport, All Star and Cheer On cardstock. Add a little bit of Walnut Stain ink to the ties and adhere them to the Teamwork cardstock.

5. Cut a piece of Forest grosgrain ribbon 2cm in length. Fold the ribbon in half and adhere the ends together with double sided tape to create a small loop. Repeat this for the Pebble grosgrain ribbon. Adhere both bits of ribbon to the top right of the card.

6. Adhere the Java cardstock to the top middle of the card, slightly overlapping the ribbons at the top.

7. Cut a piece of Teamwork cardstock 10cm x 1.7cm. Stamp the 'For your Birthday' sentiment onto the Teamwork cardstock, add a little bit of Walnut Stain distress ink and adhere to the card.

8. Finish by adding two black nailheads to the sentiment strip at the bottom.

This card would also be ideal for Father's Day just by simply changing the sentiment at the bottom.

We hope this has kick started your creativity for the week and we will be back with a few festive ideas that some of us have made at Crafts U Love this week!

Vintage Christmas Baubles

Hi bloggers, Sue M taught her second Christmas class of the season this week, a set of 3 MDF baubles, in various sizes. The room was full of Christmas cheer, with Christmas music playing in the background and festive treats being passed round the table as everyone busied themselves with making their bauble decorations. The picture above illustrates the biggest of the three baubles and each one has a different design and colour. Due to the popularity of this class, Sue will be teaching another class next Tuesday (25th November) and there are currently 2 spaces left, so if you fancy popping along, ring us up today to book your space!

The MDF bauble kits are also available online here for only £4.99 if you are unable to make the class.

If you love vintage and you love Christmas, you'll love making these baubles!

The Craft Awards 2014

We need your help in voting for us as your favourite independent craft retailer in the South! Show your support for Crafts U Love by voting for us in The Craft Awards 2014. There are lots of other categories you can vote in to have your say about all kinds of topics in the craft industry. We are not shortlisted for independent craft retailer in the South so simply follow the instructions in the picture above! By taking part in the voting for The Craft Awards 2014 you are also entered into a prize draw to win an iPad Air - so what more are you waiting for.... follow this link and vote today!

Vote now in The Craft Awards 2014

Create & Take: Jingle all the Way

Hi bloggers, we are well and truly into November now and the countdown is on for getting all those Christmas cards made and finding that perfect gift for everyone! Today we will be reviewing last Friday's Create & Take, Jingle all the Way, using the wonderful new collection of Taylored Expressions die cuts.

Products Needed;

A6 White Card Blank

Kaisercraft North Pole Cardstock - Candy Cane

Bazzill Basics Cardstock - Starmist

Bazzill Basics Cardstock - White Smoothie

Bazzill Basics Cardstock - Patch

Bazzill Basics Cardstock - Crimson

Taylored Expressions Jingle All the Way die

Taylored Expressions Little Bits Holly die

Taylored Expressions Sheet Music Embossing Folder

Red Hemp Cord

Crafts Too Clear Acrylic Stones

Instructions:

1. Cut the Candy Cane cardstock 9.8cm x 14.2cm. Adhere to the white card blank.

2. Cut the Starmist cardstock 7.6cm x 10.1cm and emboss with the Music Sheet embossing folder. Adhere to the middle of the card.

3. Die cut the Jingle all the Way die from White Smoothie cardstock. Adhere on top of the embossed music sheet.

4. Die cut the Holly die from Patch cardstock and Crimson cardstock. Adhere the berries to the holly leaves and then adhere to the left corner of the Jingle all the Way die cut.

5. Cut a piece of red twine approx. 23cm and tie into a bow. Adhere to the right corner of the Jingle all the Way die cut.

6. Finish by adhering a clear gem to the 'i' in 'Jingle'.

This card design is excellent for those last minute quick cards you might find yourself making in the last week before Christmas. Simple but effective!

Remember there will be no Create & Take this Friday (14th Nov) as we are still unpacking many boxes from the NEC Show. We hope to write one more post to review the NEC show with more pictures of the fun we had up there over the past weekend. We would like to thank everyone who came to visit our stand and we hope to see you all again soon!

NEC Hobbycrafts Show: In the Beginning

Anyone who has visited the NEC Hobbycrafts Show previously will have seen the Crafts U Love stand full of many many products. But we want to give you a glimpse into how that stand is put together and is transformed from an empty space into the stand you see at the show. As you can see above its quite a lonely space without all those thousands of products!

Lots and lots of boxes to unpack and hang onto racks.

We are very well known for the huge number of die cutting brands we stock and we couldn't let you down at the show so we've brought them all with us!

With the stand all up and ready to go we are just waiting for you, the customers. Come find us on Stand D03, with lots of fantastic new products including the We R Memory Keepers Pinwheel Board, new Silhouette Cameo 2 machine plus lots of Cricut offers and many products up to 50% off!!!

And you can't forget our fantastic demonstrators, Suzie Candlin with the Cricut Explore and Charry Wijers demonstrating We R Memory Keepers Punch Boards and Tonic Studios dies. So much to see and do, so please come along and say hello!

Hobbycraft Show at the NEC Birmingham

Hi bloggers, the biggest four days of the year have finally come around for the Hobbycraft Show NEC in Birmingham. Of course we will be there and there will be plenty on offer to buy including the new We R Memory Keeper's Pin wheel Board and the new Silhouette Cameo machine! Don't forget to check out our special Cricut offers for the show and you can't miss Suzie Candlin demonstrating the new Cricut Explore machine!

There is going to be so much to see and do at the Hobbycraft Show but definitely make time to pop by the Crafts U Love stand D03!

Look forward to seeing you there!

Create & Take: Candy Box

Happy Wednesday bloggers! Today I am going to share last Friday's Create & Take which featured our Halloween Special - a Trick or Treat Candy Box. We also created a slightly different box for anyone who didn't celebrate Halloween and they had a beautiful Birthday treat box. Obviously these boxes are not limited to sweets as you could easily pop in a tiny present as a sweet surprise!

The product list will refer to the Halloween Trick or Treat Box - I will list any extra products you will need for the Birthday Treat Box at the end of the instructions.

Products Needed:

We R Memory Keepers Pillow Box Punch Board

Brenda Walton Snowflake Medallion Bigz Die

Bazzill Basics Vintage Lace Cardstock - Vintage Lace

Anna Griffin Bat-Tastic Cardstock - Orange & Black Spiderweb

Bazzill Basics Cardstock - Blackberry Swirl

Bazzill Basics Cardstock - Festive

Penny Black Spooky Spheres Clear Stamp Set

Memento Ink Pad - Tuxedo Black

Woodware Big Circle Punch

Ultra High Adhesion Power Double Sided Tape

Hot Glue Gun (optional)

Terra Cotta with white spots Organza Ribbon

Instructions:

1. Cut the Vintage Lace cardstock 6" x 6". Follow the instructions on the Pillow Box punch board to cut out your pillow box template.

2. To assemble the box, apply adhesive to the side tab and for easy alignment fold the box onto itself and adhere. Use your fingers to crease the CURVE score line, fold the thumb notch tab down first and then fold the other tab over the top.

3. Cut the Anna Griffin cardstock 3.5" x 6". Wrap around the box and adhere the two ends together using double sided tape. You do not need to adhere this to the box as it should stay in place.

4. Die cut the small snowflake medallion three times out of Blackberry Swirl cardstock. Fold along all the crease lines of each piece and adhere together in a line with double sided tape. Apply some double sided tape to join each end of the medallion.

5. Punch a circle from the Blackberry Swirl cardstock. Apply some hot glue or Ultra high adhesion power double sided tape to the center of the circle and fold the medallion inwards on top of the circle to adhere it together.

6. Punch another circle from the Festive cardstock and stamp a circle border and sentiment from the Spooky Spheres stamp set with Tuxedo Black ink. Adhere the circle on top of the medallion.

7. Cut a piece of Terra Cotta organza ribbon approx. 48cm in length. Wrap the ribbon around the box and tie a bow at the top.

8. Finish by adhering the medallion to the center of the box.

Extra Products for the Birthday Treat Box

Bazzill Basics Vintage Lace Cardstock - Vintage Floral (this is the reverse side of the Vintage Lace cardstock)

Bazzill Basics Vintage Lace Cardstock - Glamorous

Bazzill Basics Cardstock - Baby Pink Light

Bazzill Basics Cardstock - Candlelight

Taylored Expressions Daisy Bouquet Stamp Set

Olive Green with white spots Organza Ribbon

The We R Memory Keepers punch boards are so simple and easy to use and allow you to make a variety of sizes of pillow box. Check out all our We R Memory Keepers punch boards at Crafts U Love

Christmas Demo Day

Today we will be reviewing our Christmas Demo Day with pictures from the day and information about what each of our designers were using in their demo's and links to the pages you need to purchase those products!

Our three designers on the day were Jo Wojcik, Stamping Caz and Alex Kamann, each demoing something different but all with a Christmas theme in mind.

So let's start with Jo.....

Jo has had massive success with her classes and demos on the Sospeso Transparante range and last weekend saw her demo some beautiful poinsettias using the exact same concept as the flowers. For these Poinsettias Jo particularly used the Clear Shrink Film and White Shrink Film. Jo demoed how you could use a Poinsettia napkin by adhering it to either the clear or white film and then cutting around the shape before bending each petal with a candle. Jo also demoed how you could use the Tim Holtz Poinsettia Bigz die to die cut the clear film and then add some colour using the Adirondack Alcohol Inks. Both effects look amazing and are fabulous to decorate cards and gift boxes this season.

To view the Sospeso Transparante range click here

To view the Adirondack Alcohol Inks click here

From 3D shapes to 3D cards, let's move onto Stamping Caz....

These beautiful sample cards from Caz show you just how effective the Snowy Window die set from Marianne Designs can be. Caz used a range of extra products in her demos to create different effects; from the Marianne Bricks embossing folder to the wonderful cute Christmas stamps from Taylored Expressions. These cards are so fun to create as you can really lose yourself in creating the perfect Christmas scene. Caz also used a product called Snow Tex by DecoArt, which she applied with a natural sponge to give a great texture when creating snow scenes. An extra feature that Caz also demoed was using the Elizabeth Crafts Stand Up Helpers die set to create a domed effect on the front of the card so that you could place a small LED tea light behind the window to light up your card! So cute!

To view some of the products Caz used in her demo, click on the following links....

Marianne Design - CR1286 Snowy Window Die Set

Marianne Design - DF3403 Bricks Embossing Folder and Die

Elizabeth Crafts - Stand Up Helpers 2 Die Set

Taylored Expressions - Ready, Set, Snow Stamp Set

Taylored Expressions - Deck the Halls Stamp Set

Penny Black - Warm Wishes Cling Stamp

Penny Black - A Gift For You Cling Stamp

The final of our three designers is Alex Kamann.....

Alex was demoing a range of io Stamps and Cottage Cutz dies, all with a Silhouette effect on a beautiful inked background. These cards are simple but very effective and great for those of us who have an ever growing number of friends and family on our Christmas card list! Alex used Tim Holtz Distress Inks and a large sponge dauber to create the backgrounds, which set the scene perfectly for layering the dies on top of. Most of the dies were either cut from black or white cardstock to create a strong contrast with the background.

To view some of the products Alex used in her demo, click on the following links....

io Stamps - Manger Die Set

io Stamps - Carolers Die Set

io Stamps - Evergreen Trees Die Set

io Stamps - Deer Trio Die Set

io Stamps - Small Deer Die Set

Cottage Cutz - Santa Village Scene

Cottage Cutz - Nativity

Tim Holtz Distress Inks

All in all our Christmas Demo Day sure did inspire us to get in the Christmas spirit and start creating because the holiday season is just around the corner!