Paper party

I have been a super busy Christmas Elf lately. Here are a few things I have been working on - animal Christmas cards, and an engagement card.

CRAFT DIY - Hand Stamped Notebooks

This week I have been customising some notebooks which I got from Tiger. It was a pack of three for £1 so pretty much a bargain! I just went crazy with stamps I had, jazzing up the designs with some metallic ink. Planning on making some more for Christmas presents, but definitely keeping the squirrels for myself - they are just too sweet! They will make my handbag feel a bit more exciting so I can keep notes while I am out.

I think this would be a great craft for party bags or any occasion where you want to personalise gifts without overspending!

Step 1: Grab your supplies together and get ready to craft!

Supplies needed:

• Plain kraft notebook
• Assortment of stamps
• Ink - Versafine is my favourite for clear, crisp images, Encore was the brand I used for metallics as the quality is second to none, it dries really quickly and is nice and shimmery

Step 2: Stamp away! Get creative with your patterns

I love the squirrels! And the owl is a metallic green, looks gorgeous and shimmery, the photo really does not do it justice!

CRAFT DIY - Hand carved stamps

I love rubber stamps. There is so much you can do with a simple stamp; you can make cards, make gift wrap, jazz up a diary or notebook. Lately I have seen so many blog posts dedicated to hand carving your own designs, and it is so simple to do. It is also really cheap, the most expensive thing you have to buy is the carving tools. Mine are by speedball, and I got the tool with 2 nib sizes from amazon for less than £10. Then you can get plain rubbers (yes, the kind you used back in school!) and literally draw your design on and carve away!

Tools!!! My Melody craft knife, speedball stamp carving tool, pack of white erasers from the £1 shop

You can make simple tiny shapes using the eraser on the end of a pencil! Perfect for geometric shapes!

Stamps! 2 washi style patterns, an owl and a bow

Practicing :) You can see my original owl picture too

Mr and Mrs Owl gift tag

For some more detailed tutorials and to see where I got some inspiration from, check out these fun links!

• A beautiful mess
• Geninne's art blog
• Teal and Tea

Sampler page!

xoxo