I've got some fun little gifts for Easter to share today. I host a monthly book group at my house and we always do little gifts for Christmas and Easter and we've had some great items in store recently that I knew would make perfect little Easter baskets for them.
I decided to make the stitched baskets from the latest Lawn Fawn release - they're a really good size when you put them together (would fit a cupcake) and they are really easy and fun to make.
You die cut the curved part with tabs 3 times, the hexagon and handle twice and the two parts of the bow once. Fold along the crease lines on the sides and tabs and then glue them together. I used the Lawn Fawn Glue Tube - it has quickly become by go to glue - easy to get where you want with the fine tip and super strong - these baskets are not going to fall apart anytime soon I can assure you! You then pop a hexagon on both the outside and inside bottom of the basket - the one on the inside just covers up the tabs and makes it nice and neat so you could do that with patterned paper if you wanted to line the inside of your basket and make it pretty. The handle had me confused at first, but basically the round end goes in the basket and there is a curved line to help you line it up with the top of the basket. The squared end is shaped to fit the middle of the bow so you glue the two ends in the middle of that to form your handle. I cut mine from some spring-like gingham.
To decorate my basket I want to add bunnies so I had a go to see if I could use the new Happy Bunny Border Die from Lil' Inker Designs as I just love the look when you add the variety of faces with the Happy Bunny Stamps that go with it. It is a little tricky to get it around the shape but with my super-glue making my thin card really pliable it worked a treat and I love the look I got!
I filled my baskets with chocolate carrots (from M&S if you want to make them too) but being a book group I wanted to add a book mark to the basket too so thought the new Slow Down and Enjoy set from Lawn Fawn was the perfect thing to play with. There are some brilliant sentiments for book marks!
I used the co-ordinating dies to cut out the front and back with of each animal and the add-on tag dies to make the book marks. I just snipped off the middle bit between their legs and then when I layered them up made sure to NOT glue down the front legs so they would slide over a page. I think they are super cute!
NEWS FROM THE STORE
We've had a lot of deliveries this week that are waiting to be loaded to the store. I will do it as quickly as I can but we do prioritise getting orders out over adding new stock so can't make any promises.
The items in the queue for loading include:
We also don't answer emails or FB messenger outside of normal office hours which are Mon-Fri 9.30 - 6.00. We are not a huge place with tonnes of staff - it's mostly just me and Rick and we contrary to popular believe we do need a little downtime sometimes! We are also getting lots of emails asking for a phone number to call us - we don't have a phone and don't intend to get one. Because we get emails at all hours, and the store is in our home, we don't want phone calls at midnight so I am afraid we will just be sticking to emails. There is an email on every invoice we send out so it's easy to get a message to us if you have a problem and we will answer emails within 24 hours Monday-Friday.
That's all for this week folks - breakfast is calling.
Catch you next weekend.
Tara
I decided to make the stitched baskets from the latest Lawn Fawn release - they're a really good size when you put them together (would fit a cupcake) and they are really easy and fun to make.
You die cut the curved part with tabs 3 times, the hexagon and handle twice and the two parts of the bow once. Fold along the crease lines on the sides and tabs and then glue them together. I used the Lawn Fawn Glue Tube - it has quickly become by go to glue - easy to get where you want with the fine tip and super strong - these baskets are not going to fall apart anytime soon I can assure you! You then pop a hexagon on both the outside and inside bottom of the basket - the one on the inside just covers up the tabs and makes it nice and neat so you could do that with patterned paper if you wanted to line the inside of your basket and make it pretty. The handle had me confused at first, but basically the round end goes in the basket and there is a curved line to help you line it up with the top of the basket. The squared end is shaped to fit the middle of the bow so you glue the two ends in the middle of that to form your handle. I cut mine from some spring-like gingham.
To decorate my basket I want to add bunnies so I had a go to see if I could use the new Happy Bunny Border Die from Lil' Inker Designs as I just love the look when you add the variety of faces with the Happy Bunny Stamps that go with it. It is a little tricky to get it around the shape but with my super-glue making my thin card really pliable it worked a treat and I love the look I got!
I filled my baskets with chocolate carrots (from M&S if you want to make them too) but being a book group I wanted to add a book mark to the basket too so thought the new Slow Down and Enjoy set from Lawn Fawn was the perfect thing to play with. There are some brilliant sentiments for book marks!
I used the co-ordinating dies to cut out the front and back with of each animal and the add-on tag dies to make the book marks. I just snipped off the middle bit between their legs and then when I layered them up made sure to NOT glue down the front legs so they would slide over a page. I think they are super cute!
NEWS FROM THE STORE
We've had a lot of deliveries this week that are waiting to be loaded to the store. I will do it as quickly as I can but we do prioritise getting orders out over adding new stock so can't make any promises.
The items in the queue for loading include:
- AlteNew
- Concord & 9th
- Flora and Fauna
- Some Ranger and Art Impressions although we are waiting for half of that to arrive still so won't add that until the rest arrives.
- Some new paper pads from Echo Park.
We also don't answer emails or FB messenger outside of normal office hours which are Mon-Fri 9.30 - 6.00. We are not a huge place with tonnes of staff - it's mostly just me and Rick and we contrary to popular believe we do need a little downtime sometimes! We are also getting lots of emails asking for a phone number to call us - we don't have a phone and don't intend to get one. Because we get emails at all hours, and the store is in our home, we don't want phone calls at midnight so I am afraid we will just be sticking to emails. There is an email on every invoice we send out so it's easy to get a message to us if you have a problem and we will answer emails within 24 hours Monday-Friday.
That's all for this week folks - breakfast is calling.
Catch you next weekend.
Tara
Love all the Easter crafts Tara, they are lovely. Don't blame you for not getting a number for the store, you don't need more interruptions and yes, you both do need some downtime, so slow down and have some time off, I am sure we are all happy to wait for things to either be loaded or delivered. You being ill we do not want, so take care. xx
ReplyDeleteYou both do an amazing job and I can't believe how quickly you turnaround orders. I place orders with a well-known craft supplies company in the USA and sometimes I think their customer service and turnaround of orders from receipt to shipping is shocking! I completely agree with your decision about a phone line. If I've needed to contact you with a query about an order I've always received a quick response to my email. We are lucky to have you in the UK, giving us access to the best crafting products in the USA, so keep up the good work :-) we really appreciate you!
ReplyDeleteI love the bookmarks and basket! Enjoy the rest of your weekend - you work so hard and deserve a break!
ReplyDeleteYou give such great service and I am sure most people appreciate that. You are quite right to draw boundaries. All work and no play is not a good combination. I hope you get some time to play with all the great crafting stuff you bring our way. All the best, Kate x
ReplyDelete