Life Update and Resolutions Review

We are a quarter of the way through the year already and I thought it was time we had a quarterly review and life update about what's going on in our world...

Wedding bells are ringing...

So anyone who has been following our blog for the past year will know that I am due to get married at the end of this month and I am happy to announce that we are still going ahead with it. Obviously it isn't going to be quite the day me and Conor had originally planned, with fewer numbers and options available to us, however we just wanted to take this opportunity while we have it to get married. We will still be hosting a celebratory party later in the year when we hope Covid restrictions will have eased even further. I am planning to write another Wedding series on the blog to showcase our creative makes, however this will now be in two halves, with some posts in May and the rest in November (after our wedding party).

Garden Transformation

So over the past couple of months we have finally managed to put the final touches to our back garden transformation. This has almost taken a year to complete, after we started the process last summer during the first lockdown! We have listed some photos below to show you our progress timeline...

Before: April 2020

May 2020

June 2020

October 2020

March 2021

After: April 2021

We still need to add some flowers to the back border and we also want a few more planters near the front of the garden but the main bulk of the transformation is finally complete!

Crafty Makes and Workshop Projects

Over the past couple of months we have enjoyed working on seasonal projects to celebrate Valentine's Day and Easter and also released an Easter project kit at the end of February for some of you to complete at home, alongside our instructions and video. We are continuing to work on new ideas and craft projects to share with you and hope to potentially have another craft kit available in May/June. Fingers crossed towards the end of summer we may be able to consider hosting our workshops in person once again but that is all to be confirmed as lockdown restrictions ease even further.

New Craft Room!

Another project I have been working on since November last year, is the transformation of a small bedroom into a craft room. This has been a fairly long winded process, especially in the light of Covid restrictions and lockdowns, however I am almost ready to reveal the room transformation and share with you some pictures and video of my craft room and how I have started to organise my craft tools and accessories. This will all be revealed in a separate blog post which I hope to share with you later this month!

Resolution Review

If we rewind back to the beginning of the year, some of you may remember I wrote a post about my resolutions for 2021 and I thought now would be a good time to review how I've been getting on with them and if I've given up on any!!

Start selling on Etsy

So at the moment this resolution is still a work in progress. I have been working on designs for invitations and samples for other products. I have a plan in place to hopefully launch an Etsy store in June as I wanted to get the wedding (well part of it) out of the way so I could focus on this venture. So hopefully by the next quarterly update I will have more to share on this resolution.

Paint my nails once a week

So for this resolution I started off very positive and energised and was enjoying painting my nails once a week. However as we started getting into February I began to get a bit more forgetful to paint my nails and also due to home improvements we were doing around the house I wasn't willing to put in the effort for my nails to be destroyed within a few hours! I have had some occasional weeks where I decided that my nails needed some colour and I'm hoping that I will become more inspired to paint my nails over the next 3 months!

Write a daily diary

This resolution has been a great success! I'm so chuffed that 3 months down the line I am still writing a diary and I often use it to make myself To Do Lists for the day, writing ideas down for craft projects and blog posts. I often write down things that I have done during the day, how I'm feeling etc which is helpful to read back so I can look back on what I've done.

Write down one positive thought everyday

So this resolution was suppose to go hand in hand with writing my daily diary, however about a week into January I started finding this resolution hard to keep up! I don't want to say that it was hard to come up with something positive to write down, but it was more that I was thinking of the same sort of things and it felt like I was just repeating myself just for the sake of writing something down. To some extent some might say that it is worth continuing even if it is the same thing as it is just to act as a positive reinforcement for the day but I just found this difficult and it felt like I was pressurising myself to write something positive which in turn was having a negative effect on me. Therefore I decided to write positive things/ thoughts down as and when I felt like it and maybe practising being positive rather than writing it down is actually more effective!

Go for 3 walks per week

This is another resolution that started to peter out around mid February. Throughout January and the beginning of February I was hitting my target of three walks per week, even more sometimes and during a mixture of weathers. However when the weather got very cold towards the end of February I started doing more Joe Wicks work outs most mornings and I think I took to this a bit more during the colder weather rather then going out for my walks. I have lately been out on a few odd walks and I want to try and increase this over the next few months again as it is such a great activity for mindfulness and I just love being outside!

Write 4 blog posts each month

I am happy to say I am achieving this target every month and I have enjoyed planning my posts, especially for the recent seasonal holidays of Valentine's Day and Easter. I have considered writing more blog posts in certain months but I don't want to burn out and then lose motivation or inspiration for new blog posts. I hope everyone has been enjoying them so far and it's nice to bring some consistency each month.

Donate to one charity every month

This is another resolution that I am proud to say I have kept up and so far I have donated to MIND, The British Heart Foundation and The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. I'm looking forward to donating to more charities throughout the year and even though it's only a small contribution, it will all help to make a difference.

Try one new recipe per month

This resolution has been successful as well and for the past 3 months these are the new recipes I have tried:-

Nadiya's Chicken Teriyaki Noodles - also make this with salmon

Nadiya's Fruit Cobbler

Nadiya's Chocolate Brownies 

Blueberry and Lemon Loaf Cake

All these recipes have worked really well and it's been lovely trying some different dishes. As you will have noticed, three out of the four are sweet dishes! Maybe need to focus more effort on some savoury dishes!

Spend More Think Less

I think this resolution is one that I will continue to work on. I feel like I have been a bit more relaxed with spending money over the past 3 months, however this is probably due to the fact that due to the current pandemic we have not been needing to save money for day trips and holidays. We have also been working on some home improvements, especially around the garden and the want to get those things finished has motivated me to spend some money and get what we need.

Enjoy Life

I think this will be a resolution that I will always try to improve on and since we have been in a lockdown for the past 3 months, some might say that the start of the year could have made this resolution a write off! Even though it has been a difficult few months, I can look back and say that I think I have made the most of life and used this as an opportunity to be creative and do things around the house and enjoy being off work. This has been a once in a lifetime (fingers crossed!!) opportunity to catch up on things we may normally have no time for and I have appreciated that. Hopefully this month onwards will allow us to get out more and enjoy life in more ways to make the most of everything we have!

So that's it for our first quarterly review of the year so far! I am motivated to keep up with my resolutions and am looking forward to what the rest of the year has in store for us. With lockdown restrictions easing there is much to look forward to, especially my journey into married life!

Easter Watercolour Cards

We have some last minute Easter inspiration for you today and this time it is in the form of these watercolour cards. For once I am actually feeling quite organised for this seasonal holiday and even though it's not a big gift giving occasion, it's still nice to give a little something, including a greetings card. Not having to rush around to get these ready, it was nice to sit and chill out this week whilst doing a bit of water colouring.

If you read our Easter Cross Stitch blog post, you would have seen some Easter card inspiration using some cross stitch designs. However today we are keeping things a bit simpler, with the help of Penny Black rubber stamps.

Anyone who is a Penny Black fan may have realised that these stamps aren't anything new, but actually ancient! These are firm favourites in our collection and are great to return to when you want to create a 'cute' card. They are also perfect designs to add some watercolour to.

Please see below for the names of the stamps we used:-

Penny Black Daisy Bunnies 3108K Rubber Stamp

Penny Black The Painter & The Bee 2299L Rubber Stamp

Happy Easter rubber stamp (from ArtCuts)

To get a nice crisp stamped image I used VersaFine Onyx Black ink and also used a foam stamp pad underneath. Once I had stamped the designs I got my watercolour pencils out and began to start testing a few colours, especially the shades of brown! I used the printed image on the rubber stamp as a guide for what colours to use.

When I do watercolour I like to use a a water sketch brush which you can fill up with water. You can then simply squeeze the brush as you go if you need a bit of extra water. As you can see from above, the water just helps bring your pencil colouring to life and enables you to blend colours beautifully. 

And just like that, two cards have been made and are ready to send!

Well that's a wrap for our Easter 2021 inspiration! Hopefully we've inspired you to get creative this Spring and make something to celebrate this seasonal occasion.

We hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend and let's hope the beautiful Spring weather continues a little bit longer. 

Easter Egg Treat Boxes

We have another fun Easter idea to share with you today and this one involves up-cycling egg boxes!

Throughout the past couple of years I have saved images of up cycled egg boxes on my Pinterest page and hadn't had a chance to re-create this idea until now. Enrolling the help of my mum and sister I have been collecting egg boxes for the past few weeks so that I had enough for everyone I wanted to gift one to.

I started by painting the egg boxes inside and out in a range of pastel colours. Please see below for the paints I used:-

DecoArt Americana Acrylic Paint - Pink Chiffon

DecoArt Americana Acrylic Paint - Soft Blue

DecoArt Americana Acrylic Paint - White Wash

Tim Holtz Distress Paint - Antique Linen

Once the paints had dried I found some Easter/ Spring papers that I already had in my stash. I used the original label from the egg boxes as a template and then cut out the paper and stuck it in place over the top lid of the egg box. I also used a small piece of the same paper to stick inside the lid of the box.

Now it was time to fill the boxes! I padded them out with a small bit of shredded paper and then I chose a couple of decorations (one you may notice from my ArtCuts decorations blog post) and the other is from a set of Easter egg decorations I picked up at The Range. Of course it wouldn't be Easter without a bit of chocolate so I included a range of chocolate treats that I picked up at Marks & Spencer and also a Lindt chocolate bunny. I topped off one of the chocolate egg nests with a little fluffy chick.

Once I was happy with the layout of the inside, I closed the box and wrapped some paper string around the box and added an Easter tag that I created using some Easter stamps and then inked around the edge and roughed up the edges to make it look a bit more shabby chic.

I decided to use a variety of papers and colours so that no two boxes looked the same!

On the inside of some of the boxes I also included the same stamped design as on the tag.

I am so chuffed with how these boxes turned out and I can't wait to gift them this Easter!

If you want to make some Easter egg boxes to give to loved ones this Easter, just empty out some egg cartons and grab some paint. Even if you don't have any papers to decorate them with, you could freehand your own decoration or just wrap some ribbon around - they will still look wonderful!

Easter Cross Stitch

We are back with another Easter project idea today and this one is a real bargain! On one of my essential shopping trips to B&M Bargains, I decided to peruse the Easter aisle to see what decorative Easter items they had in stock. As I was browsing, I spotted some Easter craft kits and saw this fun cross stitch set. The first thing that popped into my head is that they would be perfect for Easter cards and it's a different type of craft than what I'm use to doing and I fancied a challenge.

This cross stitch kit is a great idea for passing the time at the moment (still in a UK lockdown right now) and it is a total bargain at £2 - which means you could make 4 cards with this kit at 50p each (obviously need to get some cards - but I already had these in my stash). 

If you want to take a closer look at the product I have included a link here. However B&M Bargains do not sell online so you will need to pop into a store to find this.

The kit includes everything you need to make each cross stitch design, however a few things I want to point out are:-

- You get the same amount of thread for each colour, even though some are used a lot less than others. Also do not waste any!!! When I was getting started at the beginning I realised the thread was too thick and needed to separate each one in half so that I was just cross stitching with 3 individual threads. If you do this, your thread will stretch much further. In the last design I made, I had to switch out some colours as I didn't have enough left of some of the ones I needed.

- This kit includes zero instructions! I wouldn't call myself a complete beginner as I have dabbled in cross stitch before and can do some basic hand stitching. However I did have a quick look at some YouTube tutorials to make sure I knew what I was doing. 

- The patterns are easy to follow, although I made a couple of changes along the way, where I thought it didn't look quite right.

Once you have finished making each design, make sure you hang onto the pattern sheet as you can always use it in the future, especially if you give all your designs away in cards.

I didn't use a cross stitch ring for this - mainly because I didn't have one - and the design is so small that I didn't think it was necessary.

Check out some pictures below for a closer look at each design...

I think this design has to be my favourite which is why I chose to frame it. I was so chuffed when I had to do a free hand stitch for the word 'Easter' and it came out so well.

I decided to make the chick and the bunny (below) into cards. For this I used a 4x4 card blank and then cut out a square aperture that the cross stitch would fit behind. I then used some 3D foam pads to stick it to the card. I think these cards are also great gifts as the recipient could also choose to frame the design and display it on a shelf each Spring.

The final design in the kit is probably my least favourite as it doesn't seem as decorative as the others which have cute flower designs in them. I haven't decided what I'm going to do with this design yet but I've included a picture below so you can have a closer look.

Overall I think this cross stitch kit is great fun and for the cost of £2 it is definitely value for money. If you are looking for more instruction to help you make it than I wouldn't get this one. However there are so many resources online that I'm sure you could pick up all the hints and tips you need without an instruction pack.

If you are popping into B&M Bargains then definitely check this out as well as some of their other craft kits. It's a good way to pass the time and you can gift the end result to the ones you love!

ArtCuts Easter Bunny Wreath and Decorations

Finally Spring is here and we have definitely got in the seasonal spirit by starting our Easter crafting! Today's post has been such a joy to write and I can honestly say I have had the best couple of days crafting with these fun products from ArtCuts.

Last Spring we featured ArtCuts in our Easter crafting series and showed you some of the wooden decorations we had made. This year we are featuring them again because we think their products are absolutely fantastic. My main draw this year was the Easter wreath, which I first saw on their workshops page about a month ago. After seeing that the workshop kits had sold out, I waited patiently to see if the wreath would be released in their online store - and about 2 weeks ago it was!

Not being satisfied with just ordering the wreath, I also added a few other bits to my basket which I'll show you below...

Before I list the items I bought I just wanted to say that each item was beautifully packaged in tissue paper and little paper bags - I almost didn't want to open it!

Wooden Easter Wreath - One Sided

Mini Dotty Easter Egg Rubber Stamp

Dew Drop VersaMagic Ink Pad - Tea Leaves

Wooden Easter Eggs - 6cm

Wooden Easter Bunnies - 6cm

Rico Paper String - Powder

Velvet Ribbon - Mid Pink

Velvet Ribbon - Sage

All the pieces included in the Easter Wreath Set - One Sided

Wooden Bunnies

Wooden Easter Eggs

Mini Dotty Easter Egg Stamp

If the excitement of receiving my order wasn't enough, when I opened my parcel I was delighted to see a surprise of a free mini easter project.

I definitely couldn't wait to get started now! Primed with a beautiful sunny day as my backdrop, I headed on up to my craft room to get started.

I started with the Easter Wreath and began by inking the wreath with the Tea Leaves ink pad.

For the easter egg and flower embellishments I used Pink Petunia and Sunflower Yellow dew drop ink pads.

The colours I used in this project had been suggested by ArtCuts in the description of the Easter Wreath on their website.

I then used the picture of their wreath as a guide to help me colour the tulip flowers using a combination of the pink and yellow ink pads.

Once I had inked everything I then started to assemble the wreath and glued each element in place.

To hang my wreath I used some of the sage velvet ribbon included in my order.

A couple of things to point out:-

- for the mini easter eggs I used a different egg stamp to the one I ordered as it was too small for the egg embellishments. I used the Folksy Easter Egg rubber stamp which we had bought previously from ArtCuts.

- for the wreath and most of the embellishments I applied the ink directly from the ink pad onto the wood and used a gentle motion to build up the colour. However when I inked around the bunny I decided to use a sponge dauber which was more gentle and easier to control.

- ArtCuts include plenty of embellishments for your wreath and I was left with a few left over which I used in my easter decorations.

I absolutely loved making this project and it was so relaxing and easy to put together. I can't wait to hang this up in my house!

Moving onto my easter decorations...

This is where I could really get creative and I will list below some of the extra materials and embellishments I used to create these:-

Daisy Mini Rubber Stamp

Jasmine Mini Rubber Stamp

Japanese Chiyogami Paper - Pink Gold 375c

Mixed Wooden Daisy Flowers

Mini Adhesive Pearls

Dew Drop VersaMagic Ink Pad - Pixie Dust

Dew Drop VersaMagic Ink Pad - Aloe Vera

Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Picket Fence

To create my bunny decorations, I inked them on both sides using pink and white ink pads. I then used either the jasmine rubber stamp to stamp over the bunny or added a mini wooden daisy with a pearl on top.

For my Easter egg decorations, I used a range of products and techniques...

For my first egg decoration I used the Japanese Chiyogami paper (which we had bought previously from ArtCuts) and followed their YouTube video on how to apply the paper. This is such a simple and effective way to cover your wooden decorations, and then you can match it up with a complimentary ribbon for hanging.

My second egg decoration was a bit more involved. To create the pink stripes across the egg I used some washi tape to mask off areas I didn't want the ink to apply to.

I then removed the washi tape to reveal the stripes.

To complete the design, I then used the jasmine flower and daisy rubber stamp across the stripes without ink. I also inked and added some mini wooden flowers across one of the stripes. To finish off the design I added some mini adhesive pearls.

For my third egg decoration I used some of the leftover embellishments from the wreath kit. For the background I used some pink ink and then stamped the daisy flower with green ink over the top.

I stamped the mini eggs with the Folksy egg stamp as before and then inked the small egg in pink, before adding a mini wooden daisy flower on top. I finished off the decoration by adding an adhesive pearl and some velvet ribbon.

Now, finally we can't forget about that free Easter project that was included in my order...

So for this decoration I inked the wooden circle with Aloe Vera and stamped the jasmine flower as a background in Tea Leaves. I then used Sunflower Yellow ink on the chick and added Pink Petunia ink to the mini heart embellishment. The heart did come with a fabric covering on one side, however it didn't match the design so I flipped it over and inked the back instead! 

This has turned out to be one of my favourite decorations and it was included for free!

So that is my summary of all things ArtCuts and Easter. We definitely recommend checking out ArtCuts website for all things wooden shapes and embellishments. They have some fantastic designs and kits which are so easy and fun to put together. Also if you live in the South East of England, then make sure you make a visit to them once shops re-open! They often have little make and takes and run workshops on selected days so be sure to sign up to their email newsletter to be kept up to date.

I know I will definitely be paying a visit once restrictions are lifted!