Using embossing powder with rubber stamps

Use an ink pad suitable for embossing to ink up your stamp. Rather than pressing the stamp onto the ink pad, use the ink pad and lightly press it around the stamp.








Some Pigment ink is also suitable as it takes a little while to dry giving the embossing powder time to stick.

Stamp your design. Do not rock the stamp as this will cause shadows on your image. If your paper or card sticks to the stamp hold it with one hand and lift your stamp straight up, don’t try to tilt it first and ‘peel‘ it off the paper.

Place your stamped design onto a craft tray or sheet of paper and sprinkle the embossing powder on whilst still wet. Tap off any excess powder into the craft tray or sheet of paper. This can then be returned to the jar for reuse on another craft project.

Heat your design to activate the powder using a heat gun. Keep the gun moving with circular movements so you do not overheat one spot leading to uneven results.

The design will become raised and shiny. This should take about 30 seconds.

Tips

Embossing powder can stick to areas on card that you have touched with your fingers so it is a good idea to wipe the card with an anti-static pad or talcum powder before you begin.

Make sure you give your powder a good shake before using, particularly with twinkle powders as the embossing powder and ‘glitter‘ tend to separate when they settle giving very patchy results.

If you are embossing a black outline it is better to use black ink and clear powder to stop the powder marking any non-image areas.

Use a small paint brush to remove any excess/unwanted powder before you start to heat.

Warm your heat gun for a couple of seconds before starting to use…don’t hold it too close or you will scorch your paper/card and possibly your fingers too. Also be careful what surface your stamped image is resting on as you could damage it with the heat.

If using pigment ink on glossy paper or vellum you must use embossing powder and a heat tool to dry the ink

Try clipping your stamped image onto a clipboard lined with tin foil to reflect the heat back - this gives much quicker and more even embossing results.

Links to products shown:

Vibrance Ink pad - Black
Stamps Away Embossing Powder Collection - Bright
Dovecraft Crafters Tidy Tray
Dovecraft Crafters Heat Tool 
Sticky Fingers Twinkle Embossing Powder


Happy Crafting!

Embossing Powders and Fresh Chalk

We are very busy at Kay Dees Crafts but we have still found time to source some new products following customer requests.

We now carry embossing powders from Sticky Fingers, Stamps Away and soon to be added pots from Hampton Art too.

We also have some new Fresh craft chalks from Studio G

These Fresh Chalks come in 6 different colourways with 4 co-ordinated shades in each pack.

The last of our competitions from this year is soon to close - this time we have a selection of Red Hot Bed Christmas stamps and templates on offer. Competition closes midnight 7th December!

Until next time Happy Crafting!

Smirk Christmas Sale!

It's almost Christmas! Where has this year gone?

As we get into the Christmas spirit here at Kay Dees Crafts, we are currently offering 15% off Smirk Christmas products - excluding the wooden stamp range.

We have had 2 lucky winners so far in our Christmas competitions. The current competition for a Bumper value pack of Christmas cardmaking goodies runs until the 30th November. Surprisingly we have had LOTS of wrong answers so far!

Our Christmas and New Year break is being planned but the weather may sadly influence our usual destination in the Lake District. My heart goes out to all the people affected by the terrible flooding and I hope that the waters recede quickly and that further rain holds off.

We were quite surprised at the massive price jump for accomodation this year so we have decided to hire a transit van instead. I will most definately miss the real fire of a cottage but I am sure we will find many local 'inns' with roaring fires to sit beside instead. However it is not too late for us to cancel the van booking if anyone can point us in the direction of a cottage with realistic prices that will accept the dogs!

Until next time

Happy Crafting!

Oh Happy Day!

Royal Mail strikes have been called off!

This is fantastic news for us here at Kay Dees Crafts, and also for you our buyers. Business can now get back to usual in the run up to Christmas.

I don’t know if there are many people like me, but I detest shopping - particularly at this time of year. Shopping on the internet has made it a much more enjoyable experience where you can browse at leisure, without doing your hair, sat comfortable with a cup of coffee. No argy bargy over the last Terrys chocolate orange, no damaged ankles and a lot less stress too!

The past couple of months have been difficult with intermittent mail services but I am sure Royal Mail workers will clear the backlog quickly and get back to collecting and delivering our mail with their usual speed and efficiency soon..

I wish I could thank the TUC representative for pouring oil on these troubled waters, I doubt I would be writing this blog entry without him.

If my hips could manage it I would be doing a jig right now!

Oh Happy Day indeed!

Karen

Mixed craft buttons in a tub

I love buttons - in case you haven't noticed.



I started Kay Dees Crafts because of buttons. Many moons ago I used to design and make cushions. I needed some ribbon and buttons to add finishing touches and was disappointed in the ranges available. So I went off foraging for something different.



I don't recall anything specific in my early years that got me hooked on craft buttons but I do remember rummaging about in old tins full of different buttons.

Although these smart clear tubs aren't quite 'granny's button tins' they are full of buttons in various shapes and sizes. I was quite tempted to have one of each colour just to sit on my shelf above my desk!



We have 7 different colour schemes to choose from from funky yellow and orange to the dramatic black and white.

I get many emails about our button ranges but the very best ones are when people write in to tell us what they are doing with their buttons.

I am hoping to get some photographs soon from our customers who have jazzed up Tshirts, done a mosaic table top or made some funky earrings using buttons they bought from us at Kay Dees Crafts.

Keep the emails coming peeps - and get out your cameras for us to see the end results too!

Happy Crafting!

PS Don't forget our Christmas competition - closing date is 31st October.

Competition time!

I missed the whole of September, where does the time go!?


We are running a Christmas competition this month at Kay Dees Crafts

Answer one simple question for your chance to win over £50 worth of Christmas crafting goodies.

Prize includes items from Dovecraft, Craftime and also Hot off the Press.


These goodies will enable you to make a whole stack of Christmas cards to send to your family and friends. No purchase is necessary but you will need to do a little digging at Kay Dees Crafts to find the answer!

Prize includes:

1 x Hot off the Press 8 x 8 Paper Pizazz Christmas cardstock pack

1 x Hot off the Press 8 x 8 Paper Pizazz Christmas paper pack

1 x Dovecraft blending chalks - Shimmer

6 x packs of 5 shaped Christmas cards and envelopes - 1 pack of each gold crackers, gold trees, gold rectangle, silver bauble, embossed snowflake and silver rectangle

1 x pack of Dovecraft mini Christmas brads

1 x pack of Dovecraft Christmas eyelets

1 x pack of Craftime Creative Charms - Silver Christmas

3 x packs of clear mini Christmas stamps - Winter Wonderland, Love and Joy and Wreath and Tree

2 x clear acrylic stamp blocks - 1 square and 1 rectangle

1 x Vibrance Black ink pad

1 x Hot off the Press Christmas fabric stickers

1 x Hot off the Press Christmas fabric quotes

2 x Themed novelty Christmas craft button packs - Stockings and Chunky shapes

1 x Dovecraft adhesive gemstones

1 x Quick glue pen


Visit our site, find the answer to the question and send us your answer!

Good Luck!

Kitten Heels - Sweets for my Sweet

I LOVE this card Sue has made using the Kitten Heels paper pack. Ok so I am slightly biased as I am a chocolate fan, but who in their right mind isn't!??

Sweets for my Sweet

• Take an A5 card and cover the front with the coffee paper from the Colour Dovecraft Designer paper pack.
• Using a flourish clear stamp from the Hampton Art Floral Flourish mini stamp set, and an ink pad (we have the teddy bear brown or clear inks that would be perfect) , stamp randomly all over the front of the card (remember to allow it to fall off the edges) then leave to dry for a few minutes.
• Take the chocolate loving lady from the Dovecraft Kitten Heels paper pack and trim her down to 3 ½ x 6
• Mount her on to gold card (in stock but not yet advertised) with ¼ inch border, then attach her to a strip of greeny grey flower paper from the Laura Ashley Traditional paper pack.
• Use decorative edge scissors and leave a ¼ inch border. Attach her to the top of the card ever so slightly to the right side.
• Attach an organza ribbon of your choice from the Laura Ashley Filigree ribbon kit and finish in a bow.
• Using a champagne glass charm from the Creative Charms Fun Girl pack and a hat pin add to the bow. Put a dot of silicon glue on the end of pin and add 2 pearl beads.
• Print out your sentiment on to cream card; mount on to 2 layers of paper and using foam pads attach to front of card.
• Add your insert and sign the back.

Happy Crafting!

Kitten heels

I have a stack of cards that Sue has been beavering away with. With the couple of health scares over the past 6 weeks or so I have not been showing them off. Apologies Sue, your cards are far too beautiful to sit in our filing cabinet!

Anyway, Sue has made some cards using Carol Tratts Kitten Heels range and I am absolutely delighted with the results. We are awaiting delivery of more products from this range, so do pop back later this week if items you need are out of stock :)

I am going to feature the cards Sue has made all week, but please do remember the Kitten Heels range has designs for virtually all seasons, including Christmas. Its a fab range and we at Kay Dees Crafts are delighted to have found them.

Engagement Card

• Make a A5 card and cover the front in a soft pastel paper - Laura Ashley papers are perfect for this
• Take the dancing couple from the Kitten Heels paper pack, trim them down to 4 ½ inch but leave the length.
• Round off the corners with either a punch or special scissors.
• Mount the dancers on to a co-ordinating sheet from the Dovecraft colours papers leaving a ¼ inch border. Sue used pale green and yellow for this design.
• Round the corners and then using silicon glue mount on to pale glitter card leave the same border and round the edges.
• Using a strip of the same paper you used for mounting, add your sentiment and then mount on to glitter card. Use a 1/8 inch border on this plaque.
• Run strip of glitter ribbon down the backbone from the Glamour Kitten pack.
• Attach the dancers to the front of card and then the plaque beneath.
• Attach a few well placed Dovecraft adhesive gemstones, add your insert; sign the back and job done!

Look out for more fab ideas from Sue later this week.

Happy Crafting!

Smirk Christmas wooden stamps

They have arrived! Big, big thanks to Cara at Trimcraft who rushed our order out to us. Thank you also to our fervent Smirk buyers who have been emailing to find out when they were going to arrive.

All your favourite characters are here plus one or two new faces. These fantastic value wooden stamps are just 99p each - and worth every penny in our opinion!

With carol singers, Miss Santa and a cheeky pup who has run off with the fairy lights there is something for everyone in this new Christmas collection of rubber stamps.

Pop in and have a peek at this new range over at Kay Dees Crafts - we guarantee these cheeky but very sweet characters will bring a smile to your face.

PS Don't forget your inks, markers and cleaning fluid too

Happy Crafting!

Smirk Christmas at Kay Dees Crafts

The Smirk Christmas Party has arrived!

All your favourite Smirk characters are back, along with a few new faces, for the Smirk Christmas party.

Smirk characters are fabulously cheeky and sweet with a collection of personalities that are all smiles.

Embellishment button boxes, adhesive ribbon stickers, clear stamps, decoupage, papers:

as well as jelly brads, glitter tags, ribbons, rub ons and clear stamps.

These new arrivals form a charming collection of papercraft products full of lively characters and seasonal sentiments.

So say Happy Christmas to your loved ones with Smirk!

July at Kay Dees Crafts

This month at Kay Dees Crafts

July is a favourite month at Kay Dees Crafts. Not only is it the start of the summer holidays but we also have a birthday celebration too! This year I am 40 ---- where has the time gone!? We are hoping to take a week off and tour around Cornwall with the dogs. I have already been looking at the cost of hiring a van so we can just throw the airbed in and go wherever we choose. The only problem with having a birthday at this time of year is the fact it is peak holiday season and boy do those prices go up! Dean had the luxury of a beautiful cottage for the week of his 40th, I get the back of a transit van!

Anyway, we are busy loading our new products this month - and there are a lot of them!

Our latest arrivals from the USA include a fantastic new range of novelty craft buttons. From new colour scheme buttons to Funny Farm themed buttons:

We also have a new range of papers and cardstock from Die cuts with a View. Including the very popular All Dressed up and Rockstar ranges. These ranges are currently available in 4.5 x 6.5 and 8 x 8 with matching adhesive ribbons and scrapbook albums too.

We also have some craft boxes too but with the buttons, papers and other items yet to put out for sale, they may have to be a feature for next month!

Happy Crafting!

Just William

William is a very cute, patched donkey from Design House Papercraft.

Here at Kay Dees Crafts we have William in two designs - By the Pond and Over the Stile.

Sue turned her hand to William Over the Stile in this gorgeous waterfall card, using a square blank card with the smaller of the two waterfall designs.

1. Cover blank card with a sheet of paper from the Dovecraft Designer Retro Floral paper pack. Sue is a big fan of the Dovecraft adhesive gemstones and has added these onto the backing paper as the flower centres.
2. Sue used two sheets of paper from the handmade paper stacks in red and also green as contrasting mounts on this card. (The beauty of using these packs as mounts is that they are already cut into handy sizes - Sue simply trimmed the green paper with edging scissors.)
3. Wrap and tie co-ordinating cardmaking ribbon around the front of the card. Sue chose the light blue for this William card.
4. Cut out and 'assemble' the waterfall design* following the instructions on each sheet. Mount the completed waterfall design onto the card using green brads from the Dovecraft neutral pack. * You may want to stamp the underside of the waterfall tabs with a pale design as they can look out of place being plain white.
5. Add your insert and sign the back of the card.
   

These beautiful cards cascade from one picture into another with a gentle pull on the bottom tab.

Highly addictive to make and beautiful to receive.

Happy Crafting!

The Butterfly Effect

Following on with our summer theme Sue has made a beautiful card using butterflies as inspiration.

Laura Ashley Butterfly Card

1. Take a square card blank and cover it with soft butterfly paper from the Laura Ashley Contemporary pack. Round off the card corners.
2. Wrap around the back edge of the card with ribbon from Laura Ashley ribbon kit - Sonnet Sue used the brick coloured one but to be honest any one would do nicely.
3. Using papers from the Dovecraft designer colour pack make 2 mats using the light peach and the slightly darker tone. One 2 ½" x 3" the other 3 2/8" x 2 ¾" Round the edges on these too.
4. Cut a piece of cream card 2 ¼" x 2 ¾". Stamp the butterfly from the Laura Ashley contemporary stamp set using brown Ink it up pad. Emboss with clear powder, rounding off the corners. Rub the ink pad around the edges and mount on to the peach paper.
5. Mount on to card using Impex hi-tack foam pads.
6. Take a piece of cream card and either stamp your sentiment or use a peel off and run the brown ink pad around it. Take the same two colours of paper and mat the card on to it, place on card front using tape in the bottom right hand side.
7. Add 3 jewels from the Dovecraft adhesive gemstones pack to top right corner.
8. Add your insert and sign the back of the card.

We have several butterfly related items at Kay Dees Crafts including charms, craft buttons, wire edged ribbon:

and stencil books

Happy Crafting!

Gone Fishing

Another Fathers Day card idea!

There is still time to make your Fathers Day cards, although this card can be used for birthdays too.

Sue made this fishing themed card using a 5 x 7 blue blank card.

1. Using our masculine designer paper pack cut two strips of words 2 ½" x 4 ½" and 1 7/8" x 1 7/8". Mount both onto cream paper from our designer colours pack and trim leaving only the smallest of borders.
2. Cut a strip of spotty brown (all in the masculine pack) 4 ½" x 1 7/8" and mount the same way. Around the bottom wrap some funky fibres and stick down on the back side.
3. Cut a 1 ½" circle of the same colour as the card blank you used . Cut a slightly smaller circle in cream and stamp with your sentiment. (Kay Dees Crafts have a great range of mini clear stamps in stock.)
4. Cut a piece of brown spotty paper 2 ½" x 2" and mount onto that a piece of 1 5/8" x 2" blue spotty paper. Stick all four down onto your card front.
5. Take the gone fishing sign from our fishing themed button pack and remove the shank. *Hint: Split apart the button and pop a dab of silicone glue onto one piece and reaffix. This will stop the button falling apart in transit. Affix the sign along with a fish button onto the card again using silicone glue.
6. Add an insert with verse remembering to sign the back of your card.

Remember, 'Good things come to those who wade'

Happy Crafting!

Make a statement....

...with Dovecrafts new papercraft range

Wild Blossoms

The sun is shining and this new range from Dovecraft is perfect for summer cardmaking and scrapbooking.

This fresh new paper craft collection uses a unique fusion of dramatic and delicate designs. Uplifting greens, vivacious pinks and citrus orange colours blend with warm shades of cream and chocolate brown to create a true contemporary collection with elegant style and modern charm.

Sue has made 2 cards with this new range showing just how versatile it really is.

Square Wild Blossom Card:

1. Use a blank 5" square card and cover with orange flower paper from Dovecraft designer 8 x 8 Wild Blossom paper pack.
2. Take the cerise pink and black flowers from the same pack and cut around the selection you require.
3. Mount on left side of card
4. Take soft green and black paper from Dovecraft Designer 6 x 6 colour paper pack make small rectangular mat and add sentiment.
5. Choose another sheet from the Wild Blossom pack and cut out flowers to match your design.
6. Mount using foam pads or silicone glue

Sue used similar techniques for the tall skinny card too but also added some adhesive gemstones.

If you do not want to cut out the flowers we have 2 co-ordinating die cut decoupage kits:

Summer Breeze

Sun Blushed

To complete the look we also have matching Funky Brads and adhesive ribbon stickers too.

Perfect!

Happy Crafting!

Fathers Day

Another fab card created by Sue Crease, this time for Fathers Day.

Kay Dees Crafts have a range of products suitable for Fathers Day some used in the card pictured here. Sue chose Dovecraft Masculine designer papers for this card, along with a few craft buttons from the Dress it Up Colour me Natural pack.

Dovecraft always have great co-ordinating themes, and the masculine range is no different - with designer chipboards, eyelets, brads, ribbon stickers and funky brads.

New at Kay Dees Crafts are Hot Off the Press Embellish Abilities

These packs have co-ordinated brads, buttons, ribbons and silk flowers. The masculine pack comes in shades of black, rust, blue, cranberry and teal and has:

12 embossed brads
10 jumbo round brads
50 regular brads
80 mini brads
24 buttons in 3 sizes
5 grosgrain and sheer ribbons - 36" each
6 silk flowers - 3 large, 3 small

187 pieces in total!

Remember peeps any man can be a father but it takes someone special to be a Dad.

So to all you special dads out there - Happy Fathers Day!

For my Dad -

Too big to sit upon your knee,
Too old to have you read to me,
Too far from you, too many miles
Too many days without your smiles.
So much to do, but had to say,
I love you Dad, Happy Father's Day!

Happy Crafting

Love - Laura Ashley

We have all been incredibly busy here at Kay Dees Crafts - Sue has also been very busy too!

Laura Ashley papercraft items are always popular and Sue has put her own ideas and designs together with the new ranges and made some stunning cards for us to share with you.

Black Love Card

1. Use a black 5 inch Square card blank. Cover it with Laura Ashley Blossom paper but leave a small border of card showing.

2. Take a sheet of lavender paper from Dovecraft colour paperpack and stamp chrysanthemum flower from the Laura Ashley Contemporary stamp set on to it. Emboss using clear embossing powder.

3. Mount this onto the left over blossom paper leaving a 1/8 inch border then mount on to the charcoal paper also from Dovecraft colour paperpack again leaving 1/8inch.

4. Using double sided tape attach to upper part of card.

5. Add 4 jewels to corners of embossed stamped image.

6. Take letter chips from Laura Ashley chipboards pack and make up your sentiment (I just used LOVE) Attach to card using foam pads

7. Using funky ribbon from Laura Ashley bundle tie twice around card. Attach 2 charms from Creative Charms - Crazy Daisies pack.

8. Create insert and add. Then sign the back.

Takes about 40 minutes.


* Sue uses products available from us here at Kay Dees Crafts - but as the website is still being stocked not all items show as being available. If you are looking for products Sue has used but cannot find them on our website, please email us.

Happy Crafting!

Local cardmaking talents

I have been incredibly fortunate and have met a very talented local cardmaker named Sue.

Everyday we go to the sorting office to drop our packages off and see the same Royal Mail man. A couple of weeks ago he finally asked what we sold and he and my husband ended up having a conversation about us, their wives. He mentioned his wife, Sue, was an avid cardmaker and scrapbooker so Dean being the ever vigilant 'salesman' passed on our business card.

To cut a long story short Sue sent me a CD filled with the most beautiful handcrafted cards she had made. Seeing an opportunity for us both I contacted her and I am delighted to say that Sue has jumped in feet first with us.

Having already been given a bag of cards that Sue has made I thought it about time I shared her talents with you, my readers.


** Drum roll **

Introducing Sue Crease, very talented cardmaker and designer!

Cattitude

Sue used a square card blank to create this seriously cute birthday card.

• Cattitude Handle with Care paper and decoupage sheet


• pale blue and sand coloured paper from our Dovecraft Designer paper pack


• fastened with black brads from our Masculine brad pack


• edged with 15mm brown gingham from Berisfords


• Finished with Happy Birthday - stamped in black
  

It is wonderful to see handcrafted cards, but even better when you see what fantastic results come from products you actually sell!

Sue enjoyed working with the Design House Papercraft products and found the Dovecraft papers very easy to cut with her Cricut - with no dragging or tearing.

This was our first venture together and we both got different results than we were expecting. For instance I imagined Sue taking the Cattitude decoupage sheet, along with the selection of Dovecraft Designer papers we gave her, and coming up with some ideas for what could be made and a shopping list of 'extras' for us to supply her with. Instead, 5 days later, I got 9 beautiful handcrafted cards and a list of items Sue had used from her own stash!

Sue was apparently like a small child in a sweetshop, excited with new products and filled with ideas - this is of course according to her husband! Sue will now be popping round to see us armed with the knowledge that we stock everything she needs to make her beautiful cards from scratch.

Thank you Sue x

Do keep your eye on our blog for more exclusive designs from Sue Crease - talented cardmaker and papercrafter.

Happy Crafting!

Busy Days

Busy days and nights here at Kay Dees Crafts. I always knew running your own business was hard as I watched my dad as I was growing up - I didn't realise quite how hard though!

The shop design has changed yet again! I met a lovely lady, Tanya, through Freecycle. I had a big bag of ribbon cut offs that were of no use to me, not long enough to sell but plenty long enough for canny crafters. Tanya answered our Freecycle post and came to collect her bundle. As we were chatting about the business and what our plans were, Tanya said she would cast an eye over the website and pass us back some feedback. As some of our readers and buyers will know, we are always keen to get feedback regarding our business.

As it turns out Tanya is a very talented designer! We have had some fantastic constructive advice and we are busy trying to implement some of her suggestions. Thank you Tanya! I am struggling with some of our graphics, but my main concern is to have a functioning website....at the moment some of the fonts are so tiny you would need a magnifying glass to read them! So back to hours of reformatting but I do think the end results will be worth it.

We now have a range of cardmaking tags and banners available, soon to be listed (hopefully this evening). One of my buyers makes Wedding cards and stationery and requested some Order of Service banners. Of course whilst I was shopping for her request I could not ignore the many different tags I found LOL

I had a lazy day last Sunday as I really needed a break from the shop. I decided I wanted to visit the seaside and of course we had to introduce Ghyll to the sea. I literally stuck a pin in the map and we headed down to Seaford and walked part of the South Downs Way. I have yet to download the photographs of our day but a fantastic time was had by all....and despite it being a Bank Holiday weekend, the weather was glorious.

No time to 'chat', things to do, websites to stock and sales to pack.

Happy Crafting!

Thank goodness for that!

It is finally over - stocktake that is :-)

What a nightmare. My husband, who has the patience of a saint, spent most of the weekend helping me count, stay sane and organise our stock for the end of the financial year. Tough task at the best of times but add that, a busy weekend of sales and a lass with fibromyalgia and you have a mountainous task. Dean kept me focused, calmed my fears of 'I have lost a box full of xxx', reassured me I was not going mad when I simply could not add up and kept me in take away food!

I have a lot of stock that I want rid of to free my 'shelves' up for some fantastic new ranges I have seen over in USA and I have promised myself that I will not buy until some of it has gone. So I have had a mad price blitz on some basic crafting items:

8g ultrafine glitter pots now £1.49

Handmade paper packs from £2.99

Embossed button tops 99p!

Indian handcrafted glass beads now £1.99!

Just a sample of stock now reduced in price to make way for new, exciting ranges.

Phew!

Well now that is finished I need to start thinkng about my tax return........hmmmm there is always tomorrow for that!!

Happy Crafting!

Fun with Stencils!

Our Dover Little Activity Books are finally listed! I always feel such a sense of achievement when I finish listing a block of products.

These sturdy little books each have 6 precut stencils. No scissors required; just detach plates and away you go. The durable paper bound stencil designs will also add charming accents to windows, walls, furniture, fabrics and a host of other flat surfaces. Ideal for children but equally useful for all you canny adult crafters out there.

Perfect to while away a few hours during the upcoming Easter break :)

Happy Crafting!

Brad Buddies

The latest innovation in Brads from Hot off the Press!

These seriously cute brad embellishments have not yet caught on that much in the UK with cardmakers and scrapbookers. This month at Kay Dees Crafts we have them on Special Offer for only £2.99 per pack to try and change that.

Brad Buddies™ make perfect borders for scrapbooks; they are also great for embellishing a photo, a tag or your journalling.

Cardmakers can add these embellishments to the front of a card as a focal point or as a surprise on the inside of the card.

Each package contains 2 each of 3 styles of jumbo embossed lightweight metal shapes, plus designer brads to attach them.

If there are any cardmakers or scrapbookers that have already used these fantastic embellishments let us know! We want to show off your work :)

Happy Crafting!

Life at Kay Dees Crafts this week

What a week!

I am paying the price for my mad frenzy last week. Fibromyalgia is not a forgiving illness when you overdo it. I was actually quite frightened for a couple of days, especially over the weekend, as I seemed to lose the ability to grip things....I have broken a few mugs and glasses :( I am now just getting past the pins and needles stage in my hands but it still hurts like a hurting thing on a hurting day. Fellow fibro sufferers will also know that with the pain comes problems sleeping, with the lack of sleep comes more pain and you end up on the fibro merry go round. Well it can stop now please as I want to get off!

I have taken some time out and rather than try to list 100+ things a day on the website, manage Ebay sales, clean house, cook dinner, wash clothes etc etc I have been taking the evenings off and watching some DVDs. Although I am only running at about 75% I am in a better place than I was pain wise. I have set a daily target for 20 listings on the website and managing Ebay sales. Husband and son are now doing the cooking, cleaning and washing - whether they like it or not :)

It is all well and good thinking you are Superwoman, but reality is a b*tch!

Website is coming on slowly but surely, lots of feedback from my lovely buyers which is always welcomed. My embellishment tins are now all listed and they have proved to be really popular.

Laura Ashley embellishment tins are full of designer accessories including over 130 double sided chipboards, a selection of unique fibres and 8 pots of glass beads, all based around the Connemara colours and themes.The chipboards include images taken from the Connemara theme, plus alphabet tokens too, colour co-ordinated to match the rest of the designer range.

All contained within a stylish printed storage tin with handle.

The ever popular Retro Floral range has a matching embellishment tin too. I am running this, the Masculine and also the Glamour tins on special offer at the moment. Although these tins only contain the chipboards and not the beads and fibres, they are still fantastic value for money at £3.99.

I have just started listing my new delivery of mini craft buttons. The majority of our micro buttons are 6mm..yesterday we had some arrive that are 4mm!! They are TINY:

Anyway this is not me listing some buttons is it? Hubby is working this evening, son has just informed me he is cooking dinner for us both :) I am a seriously lucky woman despite my little whinge about the physical (and mental!) limits I now face.

Take care of yourselves and Happy Crafting!

Charming Thoughts!

Charming thoughts indeed. I have been busy adding our range of charms to the website and took delivery today of a sample from a new range I spotted whilst browsing my suppliers.

What can I say? I have always been a big fan of Creative Charms and ensure I carry the full range. However the new charms I have received surpass even those. We also now have a couple of different charm kits too - Baby and Wedding themed. Great value packs with fibres included.

Pop over and see the new 1900s, wine drinking and Love Messages we now have listed. Perfect additions for many different hand crafting projects including: handmade greeting cards, jewellery making, beading, mobile phones, invitations, place cards and scrapbooking.

Happy Crafting!

Easy decoupage!

Phew!

This shelf filling seems to be never ending! Speaking to another shop owner earlier today and she told me it took her 3 months to stock their new website...3 months!!

I have been busy, we now have some Decoupage kits sat on our shelves, from Laura Ashley, Smirk and the brand new Kate Knight Wild Blossom range from Dovecraft.

These kits are so user friendly! Die cut punch outs with co-ordinating backing papers AND foam pads included. The punch outs are all numbered too for easy 'assembly'.

The ribbon stickers are all now uploaded. Surprisingly the Christmas stickers are our biggest sellers at the moment. You cardmakers do like to start early.


I have almost finished with our stamps range. In fact by the time the blog goes out I will probably have added the last 2 sets. I am following a blog by a lady, (I cannot remember her name but shall edit this later when I have found her again) who has made some absolutely fab cards with the new Smirk stamps. I really need to go and dig that post of hers out.

Now back to stocking up.....150+ craft buttons to add yet!

Happy Crafting!