One of my very favourite bits of Christmas is wrapping the presents! I always love thinking of new ways of making the gift looks pretty, whatever they may be. So if you enjoy it too and you’re looking for some wrapping inspiration, here are some ideas. Image credits: Image 1: Captain and […]

This gorgeous Clara paper doll greeting card is a wonderfully simple activity that children and adults will both enjoy.   Whether you’re a little one discovering paper dolls for the first time, or a big one reminiscing about paper dolls from your own childhood, this activity is sure to bring joy and entertainment.   Want to grow your Clara wardrobe choices? Two additional outfit sets are also available. Set A includes: fairy costume, striped top and shorts, flowery dress, gingham bag outfit. Set B includes: winter coat and scarf, a Christmas dress, spring dress and teddy bear, flowery blue top and shorts outfit.   Made From: Beautifully printed on FSC 325gsm matte card with a 100% recycled envelope.  We send all of our cards naked in plastic-free packaging that can be easily recycled at home after use. Dimensions: Each paper doll card is A5 size (15cm x 21cm). Each extra outfit card is 8.5cm x 5.5cm.   Safety Information: Children should be supervised when using scissors to cut out the outfits.   Delivery: UK Standard Delivery: FREE UK Tracked Delivery: £3.95 UK Express Next Day Delivery: £7.95 International delivery will be calculated at the checkout. For more information about our delivery options please read here.

England football manager Gareth Southgate took his young team to the World Cup 2018 quarter-finals. They did us proud and Gareth (whose signature waistcoat became a bestseller at iconic UK department store M&S) became a bestseller. We didn't win. But Gareth succeeded in reigniting his country's love for its national team. This little Gareth is knitted in oddments of UK yarn and is available free.

I'm pretty wowed by these, NGL.

Gift an unforgettable day out of their choice. These vouchers can be used towards many Activities and experiences across London and Brighton as well as home experience kits.From:- Creative Candle making- Neon Life Drawing- Craft your dream ring- kIntsugi- Origami- Pottery Classesand so many more.Vouchers can be emailed as an E-voucher or the recipient can receive a free gift pack delivered direct to their door.New experiences added monthly.This gift is exclusive to the London Region- if you would like this near you please get in touch using the chat button provided or email [email protected] and we'll do our best to find it for you!

Benjamin Franklin spent his mornings naked. Patricia Highsmith ate only bacon and eggs. The path to greatness is paved with a thousand tiny rituals (and a fair bit of substance abuse) – but six key rules emerge, says Oliver Burkeman

Have you ever bought something that, made you feel a little bit guilty to throw out when you were finished with it? Perhaps you're just the kind of

A wonderful day exploring the independent scene in Lewes for the 91 team and a small group of our readers

For the past several years, Kate Lycett has lived and painted life in and around Hebden Bridge. Looking at her work it’s not surprising that she trained and worked as a textile designer prior…

Beautiful, figurative ceramic sculptures from artist Elizabeth Price. Sold and represented exclusively by KMA, an award-winning art gallery Brighton, UK.

AUDIOGHOST68 - L’arte si fa in mille di Robert Del Naja e Giancarlo Neri. Il ritorno alla vita attraverso l'arte: una suggestiva installazione partecipativa celebra il Grande Cretto di Alberto Burri.

Thanks to her comic gift, she rose far and fast. For the rest of us, the trajectory was gentler – but at least we were going up

Commissioned and published by Search Press in 2021 my cyanotype book is here!. Price includes 2nd class UK postage on top of the RRP. Edition: BC Paperback Publication:  May 2024 ISBN 13/EAN: 9781800920958 Stock: Not Yet Published Size: 204x260 mm Illustrations: 2

1 Introduction to our IF Rudyard Kipling poster prints Welcome to our post featuring some of our meticulously crafted inspirational typographic art prints of Rudyard Kipling's iconic poem IF. Written as a father's advice to his son, about the character traits it takes, to make a man, the best version of himself he can

Do you have a creative kid on your gift-giving radar and you're not sure what to get them? If they've already got a basket of mini c...

See behind the scenes of the launch of new book Conscious Creativity by Philippa Stanton, artist and Instagram queen aka @5ftinf and peek inside the b

Welsh Lovespoons - each collection is the work of a different carver individually and expertly hand carved. Choose from many quality designs.

Introducing the final two fragrances in the Penhaligon’s Anthology Collection; a lush woody citrus Esprit du Roi created by master perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour and the shimmering chypre Eau Sans Pareil, created by Beverley Bayne.

Give the kids something to shoot at that doesn't involve a video screen. Help them make a mini catapult then use marshmallows or pom-poms to shoot at targets. To make it easy, we've provide a numbered target you can just download and print.

These 26 charities are looking for sewers and knitters to put their creative skills to use to help those less fortunate.

DIY Wedding Tutorial: Let there be light | Wedding Ideas - Want That Wedding ~ A UK & International Wedding Blog. Origami lanterns, wedding paper flower fairy lights

Rachel Grant's beautiful colages me long for cozy afternoons in a comfy sweater and some tea and pie. Is it the weekend yet?

Thank you all so much for sharing your Scandinavian stars with me over the last weeks! I am collecting of portfolio of images and stories of these lovely woven stars. I think the best part of this process has been the new friendships that have been forged. I love you gals! As a thank you, I have created a new tutorial inspired by one of your stars. Readers have shared family heirlooms, antique store finds, Girl Scout craft memories, and stories of weaving stars from paper or straw or wood in the "old country" as children. Please keep your stories and pictures coming! Antique Woven Swedish Advent Star Today I want to share a star from the private collection of Kristine Leander, executive director of our Swedish Cultural Center. Kristine lived in Norway in the eighties and early nineties. On weekends, she would travel to Sweden, haunting the antique shops there. On one of her trips, she found this lovely antique birch star. You can tell, simply by looking at this picture, that her woven star has seen many winters! I adore the woven details on the star tips -- so very pretty. The fact that it has become a bit warped over the years just adds to its charm. Kristine's star was woven from birch, and held a little light inside. It would have been hung in a window at Christmastime, to welcome family and friends to the warmth and comfort of home. This star held an electric bulb, but earlier Advent stars often held a small oil lamp! I created a tutorial for making this paper star, inspired by Kristine's antique star. As you all know, I love to work these stars from folded strips of vintage book pages; but you can make them from just about any material you'd like to use. Most of my readers prefer to use heavy scrapbooking paper, cut into strips. Use whatever you like -- and pretty please, share your star with me! I love to see your projects! You will need twenty strips of your chosen material to make your star. To see how I fold my paper strips, see this post. In this case, Kristine's center strips are very wide, so I made sixteen strips that are approximately one-quarter inch wide by six inches long; and I made four strips that were three-quarter inches long by six inches. Kristine's star had center veneer strips with tapered ends -- probably because the center strips were so wide, it would have been impossible to form the star tips without narrowing the strips on the end. I tapered mine by folding the corners in and securing with glue, but I would recommend simply trimming the strips with scissors and securing the edges with glue (if you are working with multiple folded layers). Next, find the center of each fat strip, and glue two pairs together, as shown. Now, take your skinny strips, and weave together with the fat strips. You will be creating two sides, that will be joined later. Secure each intersection with a dot of glue. (note: I am not sure it is necessary to glue the intersections, but I don't seem to have enough hands to make these without doing so. Plus, by gluing the intersections, I can control the spacing of the strips) The next step is to glue your star tips together. Begin by taking the adjacent strips and twisting them toward each other and gluing the tips together at right angles, as shown. Kristine's star had that lovely woven detail on the tips. To get this look, simply take the next adjacent strips and twist them in and weave across before securing. If the written instructions seem confusing here, simply recreate the pattern shown in the detail picture above. Next, take one of the sides and join it to the other side. You will need to turn one side by forty-five degrees, so that each star tip joins with a fat center strip. Glue to secure. Embellish as desired, or leave your star plain -- whatever you do, I promise your result will be beautiful! I like to add glitter and a hanger made from a strip of paper, but ribbon or twine would work just as well (and it will fit into those little square gift boxes much better without the stiff paper hanger)! Just for fun, I wove some one-eighth inch wide strips through the center. These strips are about four inches long and are secured with dots of glue in a couple of places. These woven stars are an old traditional craft, and lots of variations exist, but the concept is the same for all of them. If you choose not to make your center strips wider, you will end up with a star that looks something like the star shown below. See that tutorial here. Notice the tips on this star are not woven like they are on Kristine's star? This technique is easier to do than the woven star tips, but I must admit I'm kind of in love with the idea of weaving the tips from now on :) Happy star weaving! Maybe, if we all get started in January, we will have lots of lovely handcrafted items for Christmas gift giving this year :) To see more star tutorials inspired by an antique woven star, go here, and here.

What the heck is a Lambanana? Wikipedia says ... Submitted by The Willow Wanderer who explains, "Liverpool's first crocheted Lambanana - a gift for the Plaza Community Cinema in Crosby".

Graphic 45 creates some gorgeous papers and it is always a pleasure to work with their designs. At Scrapbook Essentials BC we have several people that feel the same way, and therefore we have at least one class a month featuring their papers. Today I will post my favourite Graphic 45 card class projects. We began this last year with the gorgeous Portrait of a Lady, and ended up having several classes using that paper. Some for cards that you will see today, and others being layouts will be posted with my favourite layouts post later. As I liked all of these cards that we created in class, below are my favourites from this class (which is just about all of them) Here is the posting for the class. Creating this gift bag with coordinating card, I think was the highlight of the class. And the last four favourites are from the Winter Wonderland card class. I could not decided upon only one or two as my favourites, so I chose all four! Here is the class posting. I was able to get these from the studio before Christmas, and all the recipients loved these cards as much as I did. So that is it for my favourite Graphic 45 cards of the year. Be sure to stop by tomorrow for my favourite Shabby chic cards! Happy Creating!

Lovely Gifts for My OnStage Team Members - #1 Stampin' Up! UK Demonstrator Pootles Happy Friday everyone! Today I'm at our OnStage annual convention, and