Review :: Big Shot V Big Shot Express...

It arrived today, which i thought was pretty fast as i only ordered it Tuesday afternoon!

In comparison it is actually smaller then the original BS if you take into account the handle!!! There was no putting together, just un-pack it and plug it in...and your off!

I must say i totally love it, i really {heart} it! It made cutting 70 place cards this afternoon a walk in the park, it whizzes the dies through so fast and the cutting is super clean.

I am now cutting (and embossing) almost 200 butterflies - pics tomorrow

It came with a new set of cutting plates that i tried at first, but i wondered how it would cope with my bent and gnarled cutting mats that i am using in my manual big shot, i thought that it may not like the way they had curled and that they may be hard to get through the machine... no problem at all, they whizzed through like a dream!

One thing i will say is tht it is not the quietest machine in the world... it sounds a bit like a drill, but as it is so fast it only lasts seconds!

All in all i think this is a great addition to my die cutting family... i may sell my original BS when my big shot pro arrives hopefully at the end of November but will wait and see, at the moment it is siting under my desk like one of the rejects from toy story... what a horrible crafter i am!

Hugs

L xXx

Christmas Cards - Cuttlebug, Cricut and Glittery Felt!

Just some pics of some christmas cards, very simple and very much my style!

These were made last year, before i had ever heard of nastabilities!!!
The scallops were cut on my cricut out of Bazzill card.

The snowflakes are die cut using a cuttle bug die (the one that comes on its own with a matching embossing folder) they are cut from some glitter felt that i picked up in hobbycraft, it was about 70p a sheet but you can get a good few snowflakes from a single sheet!

The snowflakes are attached to the scalloped mat with brads, a mixture of brads from my huge collection!

The wording was printed on my dymo embossing tape writer thingie! Onto Pretty coloured tape!

Review :: Papermania Brad Making Starter Kit

I purchased this set a couple of days ago when mooching through one of my favourite online stores - Cutting Edge Crafts I spend most of my spare cash with these lovely people and have just ordered a Big Shot Express from them, so keep your eyes peeled for a review of it when it arrives!

The instructions on the back were great, i love instructions with photos or pictures, i generally just find them so much easier to follow, maybe that is why i love ikea so much!

This is what you get in the pack, which cost me £12.00 (postage was free)

3 circle punches 5mm, 10mm, 20mm (i think - as i have lost the packet!!)

sheet of stickey pads

sheet of stick on domes

Brad bases in 3 different sizes

I chose the pewter set, but it does come in gold, there are 2 sized circles and a square design of brad, but i would feally like to see them bring out some plain brads without the frilly edges!

Overall i think this is great for the price and i will use the punches generally too - not just for making brads!!

So overall i would give the Papermania Brad Making Starter Kit 8 out of 10

Hugs

L xXx

Bad Blogger...

...Yup thats me!

I have not blogged for ages, what with a sickness bug and being one member of staff down in the office at work i seem to have had no free time!

It is half term this week and i just do not know where time is going! I have a large wedding order to complete and it involves over 1000 die cut elements so i have taken the plunge and invested in a Sizzix Big Shot Express Machine, I swear i should be sponsored by Sizzix!!

So this week i am going to get back on the blogging band wagon so to speak and i should have a good few makes up my sleeve too!

So if anyone is still readig this blog you may have a plesent suprise this week as i have lots of christmassy makes in the making!

Love

L xXx

Craft Fairies Scrap Heap Challenge...

I have spent today sorting out my paper and card scraps... i have loads!!!
I do keep all of my scraps but am not so good at using them up!

So today i have had a good sort out of my scraps!



Fisrt sorting the scraps into colours....



I had a pile for every colour and 3 wooden ika drawers of scraps to sort out!

I have tried various ways of storing my scraps and i find that storing them by colour is the easiest way!

Next i stored the colours in these zippy wallets, these were rescued from school, the children use them as homework folders and at the end of last term i rescued these from the bin!! With a little wipe down and some new labels they are perfect for storing my scraps!

So now my scraps are sorted i have set myself a little challenge... i need to make at least 2 projects a week using my scraps!!! Please feel free to join in with my challenge, i will be blogging what i make so if you link to my blog let me know and i will link back!

Hugs

Lisa xXx

And the Winner is.........

Da da da daaaa.........

Sorry for the fuzzyness - this is my first encounter with the random numbre thingie and i don't think i have done the image quite right!

Comment numero uno

ScrappyDandyDoo said...

Happy Worls cardmaking day :D
lovely prize - here's my blog :D http://itsascrappylifeforme.blogspot.com/

Julie xx

Well done Julie, can you email me your addy and i will pop your candy in the post!

Lisa xxx

Wow!!! Please Vote for me!!!

Wow i am totally in shcok! I am a finalist in the Quickutz World Card Making Day Competition!!!!

The competition is decided upon by the public, by voting for the cards they like best!!!

I am just so happy as most of you will know by now how much i LOVE die cutting and i have never entered a competition like this before!
I don't think i am going to win, one card has 43 votes already!!!

If you want to view all 60 of the final entries click HERE

If you do want to vote for my cards these are the links
Vinyl Notelet Card

Vinyl Robot Card

Robot Love

American Wedding

Happy Birthday Nan

Panda 60th Birthday Card

Vinyl dandilion notelet

Vinyl Circles Notelet Card

Days of the week

Cupcakes

i {heart} Pandas

Panda Greetings


DAD

I didn't expect one card to get through let alone this many!!!

Thanks for reading - and voting if you have

Lisa xxx

Super Speedy Sweetie Bag...

This super simple sweeitie bag can be used for allsorts and is made using just one piece of paper!



I have decorated this one with a ribbon and little punched stamp, these would be great to hang on the christmas tree or to pop into stockings with the festive season just around the corner!
So are you ready...grab your sheet of paper!



I have used a piece of 6x6 patterned paper but you really could do these any size with any piece of paper



Place a line of adhesive along one side on the reverse of the paper



Roll the paper into a cylinder and firm down the adhesive



Fold one edge of the cylinder flat and fold about 1cm of the paper over and glue to seal the bottom



Fold the other end of the cylinder in the opposite direction, so you shold have a fold along at one end and a fold across at the other end, before sealing fill with your chosed goodies or candies, then seal



Hope the instructions made sense!!
Sorry the pics were not brill it is a bit dark on here!

Enjoy

L xXx

GSD Christmas Cracker File & Tutorial

This is a Cracker box i have designed on my craft robo, i am quite please as i do not design many of my own things!!!

If you would like to have a go you can download the template and then follow the tutorial below which will help you with scoring the box, it took me a bit of time but i think i have cracked it!!

Download my template by double clicking  HERE

Cut the file on your cutter, it is ddesigned to take up a whole sheet of A4 and makes a really decent sized box!

Pop out the little diamond shapes so you are left with a sheet like the one above...

Next, score along the sheet, going through the centre of each of the squares all the way along...

It should look like this and be taking some shape now...

Next, you need to score downward on your sheet, you will score 3 lines on each side. The first score is down along the edge point of the diamond, the second is downward through the centre of the diamond and the third on the other edge point of the diamond, repeat these 3 lines along the diamonds on the other side. It should look like the photo above now.

You will have 4 larger sections and one smaller section, apply some adhesive on the smallest section and fold up into a cracker shape...

Tie the ends with ribbon, floss, string or anything else that looks pretty!!!

And you should have your self a lovely little craker to decorate and fill with goodies!

i would love to see what you make with these, if you do blog them feel free to link back to the template on here
If you do download the template, please leave a comment if you are happy with it so i can see if it is worth me putting other templates on here for you to download

Hugs

LxXx