Spring Borders

It is a bit late in the year to be thinking about Spring, but more than one of these colorful borders is suitable for summer too.  Print them out and add them to your cards and scrapbook projects, or use them in other papercrafts.  How about napkin rings, borders on party crowns or even print them onto inkjet fabric for some wearable art?  Find them here

Bow Box

I'll kick off this new feature with a craft themed box, Bow Box from Eliza Henri Craft Supply.  Bow making is in right now and there are quite a few sites out there selling supplies for it and this is one of the best.  If you are new to bows and aren't sure what to get why not opt for a bow box?  Each one contains fabrics including one full-sized sheet, either a template, bow holder or large embroidered item, smaller sheets of felt, glitter, printed fabric etc and other items all on a theme.  I bought the March one which was Queen Bee and here is what the postman slipped through my letterbox:

Says it all, doesn't it?!  An attractive and fairly sturdy card box that will fit through a standard letterbox and is delivered with the mail.  I didn't have to sign for it and my address is on the other side.

Now for the unboxing!

That looks nice.  I love the way the contents are packed in their own tissue paper with a seal.  Not ojnly does it look good but it also helps stop the items moving around in transit.  The writing says that you can enter your creations in their monthly contest on Instagram or Facebook.  Now let's see what is inside:

Looking good!  To itemize:

• A4 yellow fabric with black lace overlay
• A5 yellow wool felt, bee printed white fabric, pale yellow, gunmetal and gold with black lines glitter fabric
• Queen Bee bow topper (or crown)
• Clay figure
• Honey Bow template 
• Slip of paper explaining the contents

 

These are the fabrics and yes, they certainly are on trend as yellow is the color of 2020.  Bow fabric varies a lot in thickness and quality and these all get my vote as being some of the best quality I have seen with a really sturdy, firm thickness and texture.  The glitter does not shed and both the lace and patterned bee fabric are securely bonded to the backing.  The felt is not the kind you buy in most craft shops that you can "shoot peas through" as my mother used to say but 100% wool.  Anything you make with these beauties will last and it doesn't have to be bows; I reckon any of this will do just fine for a new sunglasses case or wee coin purse.

The Honey Bow template comes in its own packet (the "baggie" type with a clip top would be easier to use than this which has glue on the back).  Itis made of wipe clean plastic and the small photo shows you what it should look like with a simple instruction as to what goes where.  It is easy to make up and looks good. 

I could have either had the crown or the topper and I got the latter.  I suspect most people did, the crown being a more premium item that only the luckiest person receives and sadly this was not me.  It is part of a new range so can be bought separately if you want one.  The topper is the same excellent quality as the rest of the items being stitched onto glitter fabric backed with felt.  Just cut around leaving a small margin of about 1/8" and you have a lovely topper that looks like this:

Next comes a surprise in a pretty bag labelled Treats Inside...

The bag is paper so can easily be added to your recycling and inside is:

A wee polymer clay topper!  It is  beautifully handmade and measures 1 3/4" x 1 1/8".  As a lover of all things kawaii I think she will be made into a lapel pin for my jacket.  She was packed inside a small plastic packet so every effort has been made to ensure that even more fragile items arrive intact.

I can see why this is the #1 craft subscription box in the UK.  The website tells you all about the boxes (without spoling the surprise) and explains how all the items are not currently available but brand new items and all on trend.  There are discounts for people who want to sign up for 6 month or yearly subscriptions (6% and 12% off) or you can just order a single box.  Join the customer group on Facebook and enter the competition and you might win back the price of your box.  Shop on the site and get Glitter Points as you spend to use on purchases and check out the wide range of items on the rest of the site including Fiver Friday where you can get a bundle of fabrics for just £5 every Friday. 

It is a pretty user friendly website complete with blog, items grouped under what they are as well as themes.  The site gets updated regularly with new stock which taps into current trends and changes with the seasons.  It is certainly one of the best sites if you want to make bows.

RATING
Quality: No complaints here, everything of the best 10/10

Value For Money: £10 charge plus postage is about what I would expect.  Not a huge bargain but not overpriced either 8/10

Delivery: Worldwide and delivered with your other mail, no signature and it fits through the letterbox.  Apparently they usualy require a signature but I got lucky!  Sturdy and well packed 9/10

Versatility: Not an issue here altough I have a wool allergy and wanted the crown!  The boxes sell out fast and aren't customizable but this category is not really applicable.

Green: Card box, paper bag, leaflet and tissue paper can all be recycled.  The rest is for wearing and is not biodegradable or made from anything that helps the planet.  Maybe one day...8/10

Customer Service: This company has a lively presence on Facebook and is easy to contact.  I haven't needed to about the box but have posted about other things on their page and had replies. 9/10

The Whole Nine Yards: Such a prettily packed box filled with carefully chosen items.  I reckon they deserve 8/10

So pretty impressed overall.  Would I buy again?  Yes!

Boxing Clever

One new trend that is getting more and more widespread and popular is the subscription box.  Many sites now have this feature where you sign up to receive a box of goodies every week or month.  I've subscribed to Graze for several years and this was one of the first but now you can sign up and receive boxes of just about anything!  We are living in a mail order world and who doesn't love the idea that a box of surprise items is going to land on your mat regularly?  From now on I am going to be featuring reviews of some of these boxes including some one-off options.  Each box will be graded thus:

• Quality - No good me telling you how much I love/loathe something as this is down to personal        taste.    It is more important to rate the items according to their quality
• Value For Money - Is it worth the price and cost of postage?
• Delivery - Choice of courier, cost, time it takes to arrive
• Versatility - Do they cater for allergies, offer gift options, trial box and delivery instructions?
• Green - Is the packaging recyclable?  Does the company have policies regarding this?
• Customer Service - User friendly website, presence on Facebook/Twitter, are the people easy to get hold of?
• The Whole Nine Yards - Little extras like pretty packaging, handwritten note, free gift etc

Flamingo Fantasy

Its over two years since my last post, during which I have had a bereavement and a change of circumstances.  I hope to be fully back here now and filling the blog with more posts on all aspects of how to be green, crafty and more.  Nobody in the UK can say that we haven't had a phenomenal spring and summer with very warm weather even in March, something which is very rare.  It is still June but I keep thinking that we have had the summer already; hopefully we have much more of it to come.  Flamingos are very in right now so here is a card that features them:

How is this card green?  Because it consists of just a sheet of card and if you omit the optional paper tole pieces as I have here no glue or foam squares are required.  I used to use a lot of the latter but they are not biodegradable.  Now I am more into finding ways of making cards 3D without them, like this one.  It folds obligingly flat (Operation Pancake again) and fits into the envelope supplied with the kit and will only cost you letter rate.  

Also included with the kit are several banners saying Happy Birthday, Happy Retirement and Bon Voyage plus three blanks, three gift tags, four envelope seals and a sheet of patterned paper for whatever you like.  Print it onto a thin paper and cut a 6" x 6" square from it and make an origami model to enclose with your card.  There are some simple instructions too and the whole can be bought here