Scrabble Art*

For a long time I have always wanted to try doing some Scrabble Art. I saw lots of it on Pinterest (as usual) and during Handmade Hour on Twitter. It's such a simple idea yet so effective! 

In a previous post I mentioned some Wooden Scrabble Letters I purchased on Amazon along with some Wooden Heart & Star shaped buttons. I thought these would work perfectly together but felt I needed something else to go with it. Something to add a little more colour. Recently, Fantastic Ribbons selected me as one of their Bloggers. They sent me some beautiful ribbon but the one I chose to use for this particular project was the Petite Floral Ribbon in Burgundy. I love anything floral anyway but I think it was the colour that attracted me to this particular ribbon. And it's so silky smooth to touch! Anyway, I felt it would work perfectly with the Wooden Scrabble Letters & Wooden Buttons I planned to use. 

As it is my lovely friend Hannah's birthday, I decided this would be the perfect craft to make for her as a gift (hense why this has taken me a while to post - didn't want to ruin the surprise!) This was such good fun and although I have seen lots of it around, I still think it makes an unusual, personal gift.

So what at do you think? Have you ever done any Scrabble Art before?

♥  

ZoFlo

My Top 5 Favourite Crafters

Since I have recently become a World Cup Widow I have had loads more time to do what I love doing best - stalk fellow crafters on Twitter / Facebook / Blogger! It's always great finding new crafters as I love seeing everyones creations - I never realised there were so many of us out there. And with so much talent! Here is a list of my Top 5 Favourite Crafters at the moment.

1. Heartfelt by Charlie -  By far my favourite crafter. I originally saw Heartfelt by Charlie on Facebook but have recently discovered there is a Twitter page too *immediately clicks follow button*. I always feel as though Felt is one of those materials you play with at a young age and when you realise there is a whole world of materials out there you stop using it. Heartfelt by Charlie definitely opened my eyes to the beauty of Felt and how lovely it can be! The designs are so beautiful and fun - I especially like the "Thank you Miss B" Owl Design! Now where is my box of Felt....?

2. Black Cat Button - As a lover of Buttons (and Cats) I love Black Cat Button and all of their beautiful products! Black Cat Button have such a variety of beautiful things made from buttons! Their hair grips are just as cute as a button (excuse the pun).

3. Beach Hut-Online - This is a new discovery of mine but I am completely in love with their designs already! I use to go to Cornwall all the time when I was growing up and the "inspired by the Ocean" theme that Beach Hut-Online have just brings back so many childhood memories. I think my favourite items are the Beach Hut Jute Bags - perfect for a beach trip/general everyday life!

4. MissJoJangles - Along with the Great British Sewing Bee, MissJoJangles was one of the reasons I decided to take the plunge and switch my blog to a crafty one. Reading through this blog made me so excited to finish University and get back into crafting - something I have always loved doing since a young age. I love how random, fun and beautiful JoJos craft projects are - Do I even need a Dinglehopper? No. Do I want to make one? Yes!

5. love4letterpress - This is another one of my newest crafter discoveries, but love4letterpress make the most beautiful cards. I have only recently started to dabble with abit of card making, but love4letterpress really puts me to shame! I love the fact that they have decided to go completely back to basics and do everything by hand - no more computers - and it really works!

If you are a crafter, post your link in the comments box below - I love discovering new craft bloggers :)

♥  

ZoFlo

Pinterest Inspiration

As many of you may well have gathered, I love Pinterest. I always use it to find inspiration for projects, so I thought I would share with you all some little Pinterest gems I have stumbled across recently. These are just a handful (believe me I could have chosen so many more) of images I found that have inspired me to want to make something similar!

The other day, I was sorting through my crafty bits & pieces and found a bag of felt. So of course I searched on Pinterest "Felt Crafts" to try and inspire me. This was one of the first things that came up and I love it! I rarely use felt, but I definitely want to give this a go as it is so cute!

 

I know this is perhaps a little keen as we are just coming into summer, but this cute reindeer also came up when I was searching "Felt Crafts". How lovely is he - I am so making one of these when we get into the Festive Season. His button nose is so adorable!

 

I have a real thing for Scrabble Art recently and thought these coasters were such a great idea. It's so simple but effective...and cheap! I'm sure these would be quite expensive if you were to buy them in a store somewhere. Only thing I would struggle with is finding drink related four letter words!

 

I really love the idea of making things that can be worn, as no one will ever have the exact same thing as you. I have quite long hair, so I am always keen to find new ways to make it look different and pretty - sometimes the same old ponytail gets a little boring. I would love to have a go at making my own bow clip! Just imagine the different beatiful materials you could use...

Sticking to the theme of making things that can be worn...I'm sure every crafter has a million and one random buttons in a tin. These button necklaces are so cute and are definitely something I haven't seen before. It's a great way to use up any old buttons you have lying around and at the same time creating the perfect accessory!

 

So that's just a small handful of Pinterest Inspiration (for today anyway) - check out my Pinterest if you want to see more on my "Homemade" board. Have you made any of the above before? Let me know in the comments box below :)

♥  

ZoFlo

UpCycling // Bedside Cabinets

As I mentioned in a previous post, I managed to pick up two bedside cabinets that were being advertised on my local Buying & Selling Facebook page for just £20 - bargain! I knew they were going to need a little work to get them looking perfect for our bedroom so immediately started planning ideas. It took me a little while to get around to actually getting it done as I wanted to wait for some good weather so I could get outside and do it...not sure it's something I would like to be doing in the house.

Before I began my Upcycling Project

I began by sanding down the main cabinets whilst Nick cut heart shape holes into the drawers to create the "handles" - cute hey? Then I sanded down the drawers too. I then did two coats of primer/undercoat on each set of drawers. As I used a mini roller for the primer, I wasn't keen on the "bumpy" texture it left...so I sandpapered them again to smooth them over. Finally, I was ready to start painting! We chose Farrow & Ball New White (Number 59) paint as it is neutral so would match any colour scheme we were to go with in the future. After giving the paint a good stir, I applied 2-3 coats of paint with a brush. I did quite thin coats as I didn't want the paint to dry with "drips" in it.

 

Humphrey was definitely helping..!

Finished Cabinet!

So after two days of sand papering & painting, I finally finished! What do you think? I'm so pleased with the way they have turned out! I loved doing this project as I was able to take some cheap bedside cabinets and make then look exactly how I wanted! I will definitely consider doing this again in the future. What would you have done if you were to do something similar? 

♥  

ZoFlo

Crafty Card Making

I'm sorry it has been a little while since I have blogged - I have been so busy finishing University and settling into full time working life (I'm a grown up!!). I feel as though I have lost myself recently & have had no "me" time, but this will change as I love crafty projects & I love blogging! To ease me back into it I thought I would show you my most recent card making creations...

You may remember a while back I wrote a review about the Sizzix Texture Boutique Beginner Die-Cutting Kit, which I absolutely loved. Ever since then I have been making cards at every opportunity. What do you think of these two I made recently?

I love the heart & star wooden buttons I purchased recently from Amazon - I haven't come across anything similar to these before so they definitely help to create something a little more unique. Have you done any card making? I would love to see your creations - perhaps you could tweet me a photo. Or if you have any tips please let me know in the comments box below.

♥  

ZoFlo

Crafty Haul #1

As I am still revising for my final exam, I thought I would do a short post this week about some recent little crafty purchases I have made. 

After browsing my local Buying & Selling page on Facebook, I came across two bedside cabinets. Those Facebook pages are perfect for finding little household gems if you're prepared to do a little work to improve them. These two were just £20 for the pair, which I plan to upcycle - a project I will definitely be blogging about so sit tight crafters! I already have a plan in mind but if you have any ideas with what I could do with them please let me know :)

Next up is a colourful little addition to my Sewing Box. I have absolutely no reason as to why I purchased these wooden buttons, other than the fact that they were super cute. I also ordered them in a heart shape but they are yet to arrive. I have some kind of addiction to beautiful buttons! These were just £1.40 for 25 buttons on Amazon. Some people wouldn't think to go there but definitely check out Amazon for some crafty bargains!

Another Amazon treasure I ordered recently were these wooden Scrabble letters. I keep seeing so much Scrabble Art - on Pinterest, of course - and it has inspired me to give it a go for myself. I think it will be a great way to personalise your home or it will make a lovely gift for someone else. I wanted to be sure that they were good quality before ordering, which the reviews confirmed they were so at £12.49 for 100 tiles I think these will be perfect. Have you ever done any Scrabble Art?

Finally, I found this lovely Christmas Ribbon at my local Garden Centre. I know what you are all thinking - Christmas Ribbon in May?!! But I can definitely justify this purchase...as well as being cute, it was only 50p for 3 meters and I promise you the price of Christmas Ribbon (and other Christmassy themed items) will rocket come November / December time. I like to think I am just being well prepared for when the Festive Season sneaks up on us all.

Bit of a mixture of items for my first crafty haul, what do you all think? Let me know if you have picked up any little gems recently :)

♥  

ZoFlo

Sizzix Texture Boutique Beginners Kit // Die-Cutting // Product Review*

Hello my fellow Crafters! If you haven't noticed, I have been Tweeting alot this week about my first ever product review. I have been really excited to share it with you all, so here it is...

 After seeing a tweet asking where all us craft bloggers were hiding (are we that rare?) my friend Hannah replied suggesting me - what a good pal! This then led to me being asked if I wanted to try out a die-cutting machine. Now I'll be completely honest, I had to Google this as I was totally clueless, but once I had figured it out I was really keen to give it a go for myself. I was sent the Sizzix Texture Boutique Beginners Kit which retails at £30 in HobbyCraft. I wasn't sure what to expect but if, like me, you are a complete beginner I would highly recommend this kit. It's really simple to use and comes with everything you need to get started - or in my case, everything you need to get completely addicted!

 

This particular kit includes 1 card making machine, 2 embossing pads, 1 shim, 3 texture impressions embossing folders, 20 cards & envelopes, 40 sheets of cardstock in 10 different colours, 2 rub on sheets, 1 sandpaper sample and 1 project booklet. You're probably thinking the same as me...that's quite alot of stuff for £30! As well as getting the 91 piece kit for such a pleasing price, it is so great being able to create your own unique designs, making cards to give to people that aren't available in any stores. I personally think handmade cards are much more special and personal too. I have posted some photos below so you can see what designs I came up with - let me know what you think in the comments box below.

I got a little carried away!

If, like me, you enjoy trying out new things then this is definitely a fun crafty project to try out. And if you get really into it - again, like me - then Hobbycraft have such a wide range of other items you can purchase to expand your kit. Click here to see more. I already have my eye on some more texture impression embossing folders!

Have you ever done die-cutting before? What products would you recommend and do you have any handy tips? Let me know in the comments box below :)

♥  

ZoFlo