PRODUCT REVIEW - DREAMEES....

Hello lovelies and welcome to my product review.

 

Before I go on, you may ask yourself why I do these product review's? Maybe your thinking perhaps I have an association with the companies, why do I do it?

 

Here's why......I am a passionate crafter...who loves all things craft! Over the years of crafting I have bought lots of craft goodies, from die-cutting machines to stamps, cds, pens and the list goes on and on. On occassions I have been very undecided when buying things and sometimes wished I could be helped to decide....do I really need it? Do I really want it?

So, that's where my review comes in!

I am a crafter, using things daily like all other crafter's so I speak as I find the product's, honestly and  how I've used them and do I think they are good value.

 

I just like to share, what I use, why I use it and would I recommend you to buy it!

 

So, here goes.....my review this time is a fabulous company called

 

dreamees

 

Designer's of original artwork CD's, stamps & accessories.

 

Dreamees officially became a manufacturer of polymer plates/stamps on 1st January 2012.

Hayley does original artwork and took pencil to paper and drew all the topper images. Hayley produces stamps, cd's, accessories herself as she is an independant artist.

 

I bought my stamps at the NEC when Dreamees had a stand their a few weeks ago. I have met Carol and Hayley a couple of times now. What I love about the Mother and Daughter team is how friendly they both are, how they love what they do, their enthusiasm is like a feel good tonic! Very hard worker's, who enjoy bringing you fantastic designs.

 

The products are excellent quality, they are so versatile to make any project you wish to wether it be cardmaking, scrapbook or altered art. You have so much choice with designs wether its stamps or the cd's. An important point too is that all the products are such good value, without skimping on quality. I can vouch for how fabulous they are as I have been using them all day and the stamps have given me excellent, crisp images. The quality of the paper designs when printed out are fantastic.

 

You can also make as many cards as you like. On the website Hayley says...

"You are free to use them a million times if you wish and we don't mind!"

Which is brilliant if you make large quantities of cards as there are no limits to how many you can make using Dreamees Products.

 

The CD's are in jpg format, meaning you can use them with any graphics program.

 

There is a great selection of good quality, great value STAMPS on the website!

 

I have just made three projects using the stamps I bought. I absolutely love the stamps!

 

I used these...

 

 

To make this ...

 

 

I have coloured the heart and sentiments with promarkers, the ribbon is velvet and all the papers are from the cd which I will show you at the end.

 

My next project I made using these stamps ...

 

 

To decorate this...

 

To look like this ...

 

 

I stamped all the flowers onto pink papers from the cd. I cut them all out and arranged them as shown. I have added stickle centres and a ribbon hanger. I am hanging this in my craft room, I love it!

 

My final project today is made using these ...

 

 

I have just used the sentiment stamp from the bottom set....this is what I made...

 

 

I have stamped the images and used Wow embossing powders, I also used embossing powders around the edge of the card too.

 

This is the cd all of these papers and embellishments are from ...

 

 

Prices of the products vary but they are very reasonable so check out the website

 

dreamees

 

also they have a blog too which you can find

 

HERE

 

I hope you have enjoyed my review today. Dreamees is a company that will grow and grow and I for one will be excited to follow their journey as they do. Hayley is a very talented person and she will have an exciting future, and bring you exciting new designs.

 

I am sure you will enjoy browsing the dreamees website, the service is excellent too.

 

Have fun and happy shopping and crafting,

till next time,

lots of love

NJ XXX

 

 

 

 



PRODUCT REVIEW - KANBAN....

Hello lovelies,

 

I hope you are all keeping well and had a lovely week-end.

 

My product review today is all about

 

KANBAN

 

I absolutely love using the Kanban ranges. Why do I like Kanban?

 

I'm about to share with you all what I love about

 

KANBAN

 

There are so many gorgeous kits available for all styles and people's tastes. Now I know some people are not a lover of kits but let me tell you why I like them!

 

I like to think of myself as an all round crafter....I love to make cards and do altered art projects. I love getting inky and messy....BUT....sometimes I just want to sit and make some lovely cards without all the clean up afterwards...this is what I like to call my 'Clean' Crafting.  So, when I want to do this the Kanban products come in as there is so much choice and you can make a quick project that looks fab too. Now don't get me wrong, you can still do what I call 'messy' craft with these too, but if time is short and you need a fantastic speedy card, then Kanban is for you.

 

Lots of gorgeous designs to choose from, you can find something for everyone. Also there are some lovely stamps too. In my crafty stash of Kanban I have...

 

~ Mono Shabby Chic

~ Frou Frou Collection

~ Retail Fashion Collection

~ Selection of Duo mirri card and film

~ Couture Sentiments

~ Fashion Craft Toppers

~ Back ground card

~ Classic Butterflies

~ Ladies fashion

~ Local past times

~ Rose Garden

~ Birthday Celebration

~ Love & Romance

~ Bella Collection

~ Christmas toppers

 

My list of collections I have are just a small selection of what are available to buy.

Here are a few cards I have just made today...

 

 

 

 

 

These are only a few ideas, there are so many possibilities using the Kanban range.

 

Checkout the KANBAN WEBSITE  to see more ideas and the fabulous selection of products available.

 

Don't forget too if you do love Kanban there is something exciting tomorrow...

Sugar Buttons by Kathryn and in conjunction with Kanban Crafts is launched as a Pick Of The Day on Ideal World at 9.00 pm on Tuesday 30th October.

 

You need never be stuck for that quick, beautiful card again.

 

Thanks for stopping by today, looking forward to your next visit,

 

Happy Crafting,

 

lots of love

NJ XXX

 

 

 

 

 



PRODUCT REVIEW - HOUGIE BOARD

Hello my lovelies!

 

Welcome to my

 

'PRODUCT REVIEW'

 

My review this week is the

 

HOUGIE BOARD

 

I am going to answer why

 

'Everyone needs a Hougie'.

 

Over the years I have bought many score boards, used them maybe a couple of times and then hidden them away to just collect dust!

 

After seeing the fab Kay Rutter at the GNPE in Harrogate, she explained to me how the Hougie works. I was also shown the

 

EVERYONE NEEDS A HOUGIE PROJECT BOOK

 

and I was sold there and then! Especially as it comes in pink too, which not only is my favourite colour but every sale of the pink Hougie, a donation is made to the Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign.

 

So, what is all the fuss about HOUGIE ?

 

Let me tell you.......

 

Hougie boards make the prep work quick and easy giving you more time to decorate your projects.

 

You can create fancy card folds,gift  boxes, envelopes, special effects and much much more!

 

You can create many different card shapes including different stepper cards, tri-fold shutter cards, Diamond shaped cards to name just a few. You can also use the score lines to embellish your projects, make also favour boxes and wedge boxes too. You can add inks, ribbons and many other embellishments to your projects.

 

Another fantastic selling point for me is the fact that you can so easily make Rosette flowers using the score lines on the board, these are so simple to make, and teamed with a decorative edge using the boards score lines, you can create a quick, simple, yet very effective card like the one I have made here to show you. I have inked the edges so as to emphasise the embossing for my review, you don't need to do this though, it still shows up lovely if you leave it plain.

 

 

If you struggle to measure accurately, then the Hougie is for you. All the measures are done for you. Centimetres and 1/2 centimetres on one side, inches and 1/2 inches on the other side. If your project tells you to score at 6cm, all you do is turn the board to the centimetre side and score on the 6th score line. So easy!

 

The board comes with the

 

HOUGIE SCORE TOOL

 

which has been designed to bend so that it relieves some of the pressure on your card. What I also like about the score tool is the length of it. It fits easily into your hand, so you can control it easily when scoring your card and the point is'nt too thick. This also means that the point sits very easily into the score line channels. It is also very comfortable to hold, which I think is important to know, especially if someone has dexterity problems. I sometimes get pain in my hands due to my day job, with this score tool, even when I have my pain I find it very easy and comfortable to use.

 

A recommendation in the project book is to mark your Hougie with a permanent black marker pen, down the centre channel. This is your 'marker' channel.

At first I thought 'oh it's so pretty, I don't want to mark it with a black line'....

BUT......This is an ABSOLUTE MUST!

It helps you when you are doing projects that require you to work blind when scoring.

 

Now, have you heard about

 

THE HOUGIE TRICK ......

 

well believe me when I tell you...it's genius, so simple and works brilliantly!

It makes your card folding so easy and you will wonder why you haven't done it before.

To see more about the  HOUGIE TRICK click HERE

 

I really recommend you buy the EVERYONE NEEDS A HOUGIE PROJECT BOOK. It is a great guide with fab projects inside. You can also get other project books including a WEDDING & PARTY IDEAS PROJECT BOOK .

 

Now, you might be thinking, 'yeah yeah...another score board to add to my collection...BUT...

this one is the BEES KNEES!!!

 

It does what the label says and much more, just think with Christmas coming up you could make your Christmas favour boxes, gift boxes, decorations and much, much more.

 

Not only can you work well with the project books but you can also play around with your own ideas too.

 

I can honestly say I am a convert to the scoring board now I have been introduced to the

 

HOUGIE BOARD!

 

Here is a Tri-fold shutter card I have made, which was so easy to do...

 

 

So my findings from using my Hougie Board, score tool and project book...

 

VALUE FOR MONEY ~ EXCELLENT AND WORTH EVERY PENNY!

 

EASE OF USE ~ SUITABLE FOR ALL CRAFTER'S BEGINNERS - EXPERIENCED

 

WOULD I RECOMMEND TO A FRIEND? ~ ABSOLUTELY YES!

 

A fabulous addition to my evergrowing crafting tool kit!

 

I hope you have enjoyed reading my review on the brilliant

 

HOUGIE BOARD

 

thanks for stopping by and I look forward to sharing my next review with you shortly!

 

Have fun and happy 'HOUGIE...ING...LOL...

 

lots of love

NJ XXX

 

 

 

 



Product Review - Splodgeaway....

Happy Monday lovelies,

 

Well my exciting news is I am going to do product reviews on my blog and Facebook page. It might not sound exciting, but I think it is because it will give me a chance to share with you my view on some fab crafting goodies that I love to use and also why I love to use them!

 

How many times have we been undecided about do we need it, whats so good about it, is it worth the money!

 

Well here on my blog is your chance to see....so for my very first product review...

 

The lovely Tom from

 

SPLODGE AWAY 

 

has agreed to me reviewing the

 

SPLODGE AWAY MAT

 

This mat is available in different sizes.

 

Demonstrator ~ 26" x 16"

 

XL ~ 11.7" x 16.5"

 

Maxi ~ 12" x 12"

 

Pocket 8" x 8"

 

I have the Maxi size which is perfect to sit on my desk and it also travels well too. I was able to put it into my wheelable craft tote when I went to the GNPE in Harrogate and used it there.

 

Why is it so good?.........no ink wastage, ease of use, does not ruffle up as you swirl your ink blending tool's around and easy to clean.

 

The Splodge Away Polymer Resin Blending Mat is created from a special resin formula that makes blending inks so easy. No more splodges and smudges!

 

The special ink blending technology lets water based inks bind to the surface which allows smooth blushered ink distribution on your blending tool.  

 

I watched Tom when he was on Create and Craft TV and he said if you were to put the mat under a microscope it would look like sphagetti junction, which means this is why the ink sits into the mat rather than on top. As you know when using your inks on some smooth surfaces it pools into blobs and is quite wet so smudges can occur very easily. With the Splodgeaway I find the ink is distributed more evenly, and when you dab your pad onto the mat it is fab for running your brayer over and making your own backgrounds. I use my ink blending tool's and gently swirl ink around the edges of the card and the blending tool just glides.

Now I am certainly no expert on this, but the reason for my review is to see a crafter's take on a product you may have wondered about yourselves.

If I have some ink left on the mat, I spritz it with water and lay card over the top which then gives a lovely background effect.

 

If you have used water based inks on your mat all you need to do to clean it is wipe with a damp tissue. I spritz mine with a little water, wipe clean and then wipe dry.

 

If you have used alcohol ink, oil or solvent based inks or pigments you can clean your mat with thinners or spirits. The Splodge Away mat is solvent resistant which allows you to clean it with these.

 

Value for money....excellent value. If you were to get this, I would say it will become an essential part of your crafting tool kit as it is mine now!

 

I have also found I love the

 

 SPLODGE-A-MASK

 

These are so easy to use and give great effects too.

 

I have made a card to show you using the

 

HOLLY THE LOT MASK

 

and I used my

 

SPLODGE AWAY MAT

 

to ink all the edges.

 

I haven't embellished the card too much as I wanted to show you the effect of the mask without too much distraction with embellishment's.

 

 

Such a simple card, but looks pretty with the mask detail. I have just used Distress inks Peeled Paint and Worn Lipstick.

 

To see lots of inspiration from the Splodge Away Design Team here is the

 

SPLODGE AWAY BLOG

 

I hope you have enjoyed my first review for this brilliant product.

 

Hopefully I have helped you decide if you want this mat...I think you NEED this!

 

Have fun,

happy crafting,

lots of love

NJ XXX