The C Word!

No, no, no! Not the rude word.. I'm talking about CHRISTMASSSSSS!

Last week at Ideal/Create and Craft towers, the Christmas trees appeared in reception, decorative scattered baubles and Santa Claus was hanging around the green room. 

Basically, Christmas crafting mania has started and this year I'm going to go with one of my all time favourite craft brands, Craftwork Cards.

I saw the kit teased on Facebook by Julie Hickey (who I recently met at work and is absolutely lovely and talented) and it is stunning and SO me! One of my favourite Craftwork Cards kits is the chalkboard collection and they've done a Christmas version! Perfect! And the price is very affordable, which always helps!

You can catch what all the fuss is about and watch Julie's demos this weekend at  9am onwards on Create and Craft.

Which Christmas craft collection will you be going with this year? It's never too early for crafters to think about the C word! ;)

Bowtiful Bows with Fantastic Ribbons

Have you got all that ribbon in the bottom of the box that's too short to do anything with? Or maybe you're like me and have lots of pretty ribbon that's 'too pretty' to stick on the average card. Fear not! The bow maker is here and it's going to save you loads of money in the festive season and make you look well posh. 

This is my Embellishment Attic Bow Maker and beautiful ribbons from fantasticribbons.com !

First! Choose your ribbon. This is difficult especially if you keep a close eye on the http://www.fantasticribbons.com/ website and want to buy everything.. Come on, it can't be just me.. At the moment they have a fantastic bumper pack including my favourite thing of all time WASHI TAPE and a gorgeous bow wreath kit! Ahh! Watch this space, payday it's just about the corner and it's only a matter of time before I treat myself.. again.

Now I have both the bow maker and the big and bowtiful.. You can use one or the other or both! But on this occasion I used the smaller one.

Slide your ribbon into the slot in the bottom..

Decide what width you'd like your bow and put the ribbon across to the right and down the appropriate slot.

Bring the ribbon behind and over to the left slotting it into the slot the same number of slots away from the end as you did the right one.. If you don't get this bit right you'll have a wonky bow with a knot off centre. I know some people have numbered the prongs to avoid confusion.

Now your ribbon is back at the front, take it down the hole so it's at the back again. 

Then bring the ribbon up the back and down the middle slot.

Next unattach your tail that you put in first on the left and tie a knot with the two tail ends.

Make sure this knot is super super tight it is the core of the whole bow! Don't be afraid to use all your strength!

Finally when you're all secure push the bow up and off the bow maker and you're done! 

There's tons of different variations on the dvd that comes with the bow maker that is demoed by the lovely and very talented Steph Weightman and Nancy Watt.

Keep an eye on the Mama Makes and Bakes Facebook page https://m.facebook.com/mamamakesblog or Instagram http://instagram.com/mamamakesandbakes for lots of bow inspiration over the festive period!

The bow maker can be purchased here: http://www.fantasticribbons.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=86 for £15.. Highly recommended from me! You'll never make a bad bow again! 

Fun with Washi Tape

Bank holiday weekend is here and I am off and thought I would get some crafting in! Last week I bought some Trimcraft Christmas Washi Tape from 'The Range' to experiment with as I have never used it before!

Turns out as long as you have something to decorate it's not difficult to make some truly lovely and very homemade looking.

I decorated a candle first and luckily the tape is very forgiving and peels off easily for you to have a few attempts. It has a masking tape feel to it but a nice adhesive that will stick to almost anything I think, I haven't found anything it won't stick to yet!

I moved into a kraft card box which had come with some jewellery I got a while ago. What a transformation! I can't wait to give this box to a lucky loved one this Christmas.

I can't express how easy this is and what a great professional touch it gives to any item. Go wild with some Washi!