Really..... You have got to be Kidding!!

I received this months copy of Simply Cards & Papercraft Magazine in the post yesterday. It has been delayed because of problems with the supplier ( Brexit ?), but they had emailed and explained that. What I really find hard to believe is that they claim their 'biggest kit ever' that came with it is worth £45.99

when I excitedly opened it,  I was confronted with .....

Now, I watch Hochanda and Create & Craft channels on TV, so I am used to seeing overpriced card making kits (Yes, Tattered Lace, I am talking about you!) - but this takes the biscuit.

This 52 piece kit contains an embossing folder only 3 inches square, 3 tiny metal dies ( don't bother, its easier to cut out the plant pot by hand) and a set of very small herb related stamps. There are the names of 9 different herbs in 2 different fonts - so that's 18 stamps for a start. However these name stamps are only 1 or 2 cm long. There are no cards, envelopes, charms, stickers,  ribbons or other embellishments included in this, so called, kit. 

But I shouldn't forget the digital papers and templates I could download - well, I will forget about them as I don't print off background papers on my home printer - have you seen the price of ink cartridges! There is also an SVG cutting file to download, but that is useless too, as I only have a big shot manual die cutter. How can they claim that this is worth £45.99???

Now I can understand why the price has gone up to £6.99 per issue, but really, who are they kidding on the price of this 'kit'. Who, in the real world, would spend nearly 50 quid on it?

The freebies that came recently with Papercraft Essential magazine and Creative Stamping Magazine were so much better (rant over).                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Papercrafter Mag 153 - Kanban Vintage Christmas Kit

 I loved the Kenban Vintage Christmas card kit that comes free with this months Papercrafter Mag and these are the first cards I have made using the die cuts from the kit

They have a lovely traditional feel to them, ideal for my older relatives!

Plus this fab  golden sparkly robin background paper!

What a Quick Sale!

I've been making the most of being stuck at home and making lots more cards than usual.  This one was made from freebies in Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine from a year ago.  

As my pile of cards has grown, I have listed a few on eBay to sell. This one sold within 3 hours of it being listed! I was surprised, as it is a fairly basic card, but hopefully the buyer will be pleased with it.

Piles of Papers

I keep the unused parts of freebie paper sets from magazines in poly pockets in 4 ring binder files. They are roughly divided into Vintage, Modern,  Men's and Animal & Bird themes.

All this extra time has made me go through and try to use some up! These 2 Good Luck cards use the Up and Away set from May 2015 edition of Making Cards.

Whilst these pretty fairy cards come from an old freebie from Cardmaking & Papercraft Magazine - however I still have dozens of sets to go through, at least it helps to pass the time whilst staying at home.

Covering up a mistake!

I decided to do some heat embossing to make some Christmas cards - unfortunately I was a bit slow with the stamping and the embossing ink had started to dry before I put the power on!

The card was supposed to look like this, but was too faint and blurry

So I had to cover up the sentiment and used the new Merry Christmas die that came with Simply Cards & Papercraft Mag this month, luckily I has just cut some out in different colours to try it out!

Simply Cards & Papercraft 192 - Nautical Scenes Dies

This months copy of Simply cards mag has a Nautical set of dies as a freebie

They are a bit fiddly to use - the little seagulls were so small that it is easier to draw them on with black pen!

Its hard to line up all the different waves and backgrounds too

But it is a good way of using up some of the off cuts of coloured card that we all seem to accumulate!

Something old ... something new ....

I just love it when a crafting mag plops through the letterbox. I can't wait to try out the ideas and freebies that come with it, and, well my craft room is one of the coolest places in the house at the moment!

Yesterday issue 180 of Simply Cards & Papercraft mag arrived with a Songbird Blossoms stamping die & embossing folder set

So I dug out these old pots of Brushos and made some backgrounds for the cards

Images stamped with Tuxedo Black Momento ink and set off with black mat and layering with little diamante for the birds eyes

I then tried the embossing folder on bright orange card and highlighted it with Versamagic Sahara Sand chalk ink. Such an enjoyable evening!

OMG Fairie Dust - Lucky Me!

I had an unexpected parcel from USA delivered today - a whole selection of the Fairie Dust Collection from Graphic 45!!! There are pads of papers, toppers, tags, embellishment etc - all papers and toppers are double sided too.

I was one of 4 lucky winners of the set (worth £50) from January's issue of Cardmaking & Papercraft Magazine.

The snowy weather outside was a good excuse to nip into the craft room and russell up these pretty cards!

More Roses!

These big cabbage roses have been made using the Altenew layered dies that were free with issue 174 of Simply Cards & Papercraft magazine.

They look great with 3 different shades of card to give them a real feeling of depth and texture!

Our boiler went wrong last weekend and we had no heat for 2 days, It cost £250 to fix, but was well worth it. With the Beast from East cold snap on the way, I am hoping to stay in, keep warm and craft!

Stags Head - Majestic Moments

Loving this Majestic Moments free gift from Simply Cards & Papercraft magazine. I just couldn't wait to stamp out the stags head and colour them using promarkers

I then cut out some different coloured oval backgrounds using one of those cheap Chinese dies and layered them up

and this is a birthday card using one of them - expect to see some more!

A Few More Cards with Labels

Just a few more cards using those labels I cut earlier with the freebie from Simply Cards & Papercraft mag

Think I need to go and cut out some more!

Labels Galore

In this months issue of Simply Cards & Papercraft there is a very useful label die cut and stamp set

I went through my pile of odd pieces of card and cut these out. The lacy border looks very effective against a coloured background

And this is my first card made using them! The little wooden bird was coloured with my French Lavender gilding wax to match the flowers.

One Embossing Folder - Three cards

This square  leafy border embossing folder is free with issue 153 of Simply Cards & Papercraft Magazine. For the sunflower card, I inked inside the folder before putting it through my trusty Cuttlebug.

The plain kraft paper sets off the lovely Craftwork Cards orchids and hummingbird toppers and, although it is not very clear on the photo, the lilac background on the other card has a soft sheen to it.

I think I shall be using this embossing folder quite a bit in the future!

Joy to the World

A card made with the stamp and embossing set from Simply Cards and Papercraft  Magazine - loved the embossed village scene!

Day 30 Match ATC Challenge - Pink Dream

Another ATC made with the freebie stamps from Papercrafter Magazine - pink seems to be my colour of the week at the moment!

Camden Town Collection ...

I just love the freebie with this months Cardmaking & Papercraft Magazine, the Camden Town Collection by Crafters Companion. I've made several cards already from the free papers and find they match up with quite a few embellishments I already have in my stash.

They have a lovely summery feel to them, don't they!

Sew Lovely Cards

I have a big pile of Sew Lovely Papers left over from the Docrafts goodie bag from several months ago - I keep looking at them and putting them away! 

Well, this morning I finally got around to using some of them in these cards. They are teamed up with Craftwork Cards die cut mannequins

and free charms for Cardmaking & Papercraft magazine.

The Car Boot sale I was going to do on Saturday got rained off, so I had to console myself with a visit to The Range, where I tried not to spend too much. The boxes of stuff are sitting in the conservatory and I hope the weather next Saturday will be better!!

Using More Freebies!

I subscribe to 3 magazines - Craft Stamper, Cardmaking & Papercraft and Quick Cards Made Easy, plus I often buy one or two more each month depending upon the free gift. 

This means I get lots of ideas and inspiration, a range of different freebies

plus I try to enter lots of the competitions and giveaways too!

This embossing folder and stamp from Cardmaking & Papercraft had been sitting on my desk for a while, so I thought it was about time to try it out. It worked well with  the bright green core'dinations cardstock that was a freebie too from a magazine several months ago!

Embossed grass ...

These 3 embossing boards were free with Simply Cards & Papercraft Magazine and I couldn't wait to use them !

I loved the idea of a black cat stalking through the long grasses, so teamed the embossing background with a Poppy Stamps die cut cat and black spotty Craftwork Cards sentiment to make this simple card.