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!