Sunday 28 December 2014

#CraftBlogClub // Secret Santa

Holla! I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas - I think this year was my best Christmas yet!! This year I decided to take part in the Craft Blog Club Secret Santa. It's the first year I have been involved in any kind of Blogger Secret Santa & I really wanted to get involved as it is a great way to get to know other Craft Bloggers & you get to make a cute, unique gift for someone - as well as receive something too!! Names were pulled out of a hat at random and I was given the lovely Emma Jones! I chose to make Scrabble tree decorations to stick with the festive theme! I made some for myself last year and everyone always compliments them so thought they would be a fab gift idea. I also wanted to do something that could be enjoyed after Christmas too, so decided on a Hessian Heart that can be hung in the home!


After sending my gift in the post, I eagerly awaited the delivery of mine! I was a little naughty and opened mine on Christmas Eve as I was too excited to wait - Oops! I got the cutest coaster from Fiona (Fizzi Jayne)! She said that the inspiration came from my baking posts...I do love abit of baking!! Isn't it the nicest? I think the Candy Canes will come in handy for a Mint Hot Chocolate as well...!


I am so pleased with my gift and happy with the gift I sent as well! Were you part of the Craft Blog Club Secret Santa? If you were, post your blog link below; I would love to read your post about it too!! 

♥   
ZoFlo




Wednesday 17 December 2014

Feeling Festive // Wrapping Presents

Different post today (not my usual Thursday Thoughts) but as Christmas is only a week away, I thought I would show you all my Christmas gift wrapping! I love wrapping gifts & felt this may inspire you all to be a little more creative with your gift wrapping! Also if you aren't very good with the actual wrapping part (like me) then the pretty added extras takes the attention away from the messy wrapping - sneaky!



Firstly, I have the most amazing wrapping paper! I got it from Wilkinsons for £2 a roll. I got 2 rolls as I am abit OCD & like everything to match so wanted to be sure I didn't run out. The gift tags are also from Wilkinsons, but they are what I had left over from last year. I am sure they will have something similar there this year though - they have a great range of gift wrapping & tags! Now on to the fun part - RIBBON! I did a Craft Haul back in the summer when I purchase Christmas Ribbon for 50p a roll! I'm sure you all thought I was crazy at the time, but it looks so great now! I also had some red ribbon that I got from my local Haberdashery. And of course, the 2 ribbon rolls Fantastic Ribbons sent me. 

I'm so pleased with how it all looks - have you done any fun / pretty wrapping this year? 

♥   
ZoFlo





Tuesday 16 December 2014

Christmas Cards // Mango Salute Review*

Apologies for not uploading a post on Sunday, but as I Tweeted over the weekend I have an exciting review post to share with you all! As you all know, I love to dabble with abit of Card Making. However, sometimes there just isn't time for this...or perhaps you just want to break the tradition & send a slightly more unsual Christmas Card this year? Well say hello to Mango Salute...

Mango Salute is a website that sells fine art cards created by various Artists, Illustrators & Designers. They showcase a range of different cards, all slightly weird & wonderful, & give you the opportunity to add your own wording, photographs and videos! Mango Salute were kind enough to let me send 5 cards so I could try out the order process. Some websites completely confuse me, which puts me off straight away. Mango Salute was so simple and even allows you to "Appreciate a Card" (the equivilent of a Retweet / Facebook Like) which is saved to your account so you can go back through your favourite card designs later. I think this is such an excellent feature as I always see things I love, then scroll on by and totally forget about it.


Without giving too much away, I wanted to tell you what I chose to do with one of the cards I sent! I chose the Winter Penguin (by Izzy Wingham) because it is so cute and immediately reminds me of the John Lewis Advert...so I obviously added in a video of Tom Odell, Real Love! This appears on the back of the card linking straight to the video when you scan it with your smartphone - pretty clever idea! (You don't have to use YouTube...you can also record your own video message as well! Again, really clever idea)! What do you think of the Winter Penguin...?

Watermarks are included on the website for the protection of the art.
Your printed card will not show any watermarks.

Want to try it for yourself? Head on over to the website and take a look - there are so many different design to choose from. I love the Magic Letter cards too; I think they would make great Birthday Cards! Mango Salute are very kindly offering my lovely followers 40% off until Christmas Day. So if you want to send a fun, unique Christmas Card this year to anyone in the world, just enter Xmas40 at the checkout to get your discount! But be quick, as there are only 9 days left until Christmas!!

 
ZoFlo

Thursday 11 December 2014

Thursday Thoughts #4

I'm sure this is one quote that you have all come across before..
 

As a Craft Blogger, I should be doing creative things most days, but sometimes it is hard to find the time to do a creative project everyday - how do you express your creativity? Are you working on any exciting projects recently?

 
ZoFlo

Thursday 4 December 2014

Pinterest Inspiration // Christmas Edition

As I am sure most of you are aware, I am a big fan of Pinterest. If I ever need any inspiration, I head straight for the App. And with the Festival Season in full swing, I recently paid a visit to get some ideas for Christmas Decorations & Cards.


1. Ice Skates Decorations - These are so adorable & I love the idea for using a paper clip to make the little skate! They are such a simple idea too - they would be easy peasy to make, even for younger crafters or someone who is new to sewing!

2. Hama Bead Christmas Card - Childhood flashback!! Who else remembers Hama Beads as a kid? I use to love these & I love the idea of using them to make Christmas Cards. You really could do any design you want & again, it's a great one to do with younger crafts (except for the part where you have to get the iron out)!

3 - Bow Christmas Card - This Christmas Card design is a little more sophisticated than the Hama one & I love it. I think I would use my die-cutting machine to emboss a pattern onto the card itself though, but still keep the idea of the bow! I think it's great to have different textures & layers but at the same time keeping it relatively simple.

4 - Mittens Decorations - I have actually had a go at making some of these myself & they look fab. They are really simple to make & you can really get creative with different coloured felt & buttons.

Have you seen any great ideas on Pinterest Recently?

 
ZoFlo

Thursday Thoughts #3

This weeks Thursday Thoughts is such a cute one...

Photo Source

Do you love Sewing too? Be sure to post a link to your blog in the comments box below - I love seeing what other bloggers have been up to!

 
ZoFlo