#PaperHaul - Crafty Creatives New Subscription Box!

* #PaperHaul box c/o Crafty Creatives


#PaperHaul is a brand new monthly box of goodies from the team behind Crafty Creatives. The idea is that you sign up to receive a box of paper treats each month (priced at £10), each with a different theme. We’ll be taking it in turns to review each month’s box and I was lucky enough to receive the first one which spoiler alert; I love!

The theme for December is travel and adventure with a mixture of items including postcards, scrapbooking papers, cards, stickers, gift tags and washi tape - all adorned with bicycles, suitcases and other travel-inspired prints. Although centred around the same theme the items have a good mixture of styles with vintage looking postcards next to bold graphic style stickers - there's definitely something for everyone! To be honest there isn't really anything I don't like in the box so it's hard to pick a favourite item but I think I'd probably have to go with the tags or the cute washi tape adorned with various vehicles.

Not only is the box filled with stationery goodness but it also arrived neatly packaged and well-presented - the items were even tied together using a string which could also come in handy for a project! The box is slim and designed to fit through your letterbox so there's no need to worry about being home when it arrives. The only additional thing I would have liked to have seen included would be a little leaflet or card with information on the theme and the month's items - the brands, why they were chosen etc (similar to those found in beauty subscription boxes) as I'd love to know more about how it all came together - but overall I'm very impressed with the first #PaperHaul box and am looking forward to seeing what next month's theme will be!

If you're looking to treat yourself or a friend you can sign up or find out more about #PaperHaul on the Crafty Creatives website.



Will you be subscribing to #PaperHaul? We'd love to hear your thoughts!

Erin

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Book Review: Edward's Menagerie, Kerry Lord (2014)

*Review PDF copy & images c/o MLPR

Edward’s Menagerie is a beautiful new crochet book from Kerry Lord, the founder of UK alpaca yarn company TOFT. Created for her son Edward the book contains a collection of cute crochet animal patterns perfect for the children in your life… as well as the adults!

Each different animal pattern comes with cute name, character description and of course a step-by-step tutorial. The instructions found in Edward’s Menagerie use UK terminology however it is worth noting that conversions are also included in the book. The patterns are split into three sections depending on their difficulty and range from beginner through to advanced so whatever your skill level there’s a project to try!

Before jumping into the patterns themselves there is also a section on creating the standard forms which make up the base for all of the designs. At the end of the book you’ll find more detailed advice on stuffing the toys, sewing the parts together, adding facial features alongside other tips and tricks.

The amazing range of designs have all been created using TOFT yarns with natural colours that compliment them perfectly. As both of us have used TOFT’s yarns in the past we can vouch for the fact that they are super soft and lovely to work with!

This book has completely fuelled my desire to learn crochet properly. Whilst I have crocheted before and made a few different things, I've never really been as comfortable with crochet as knitting - until now!
I absolutely love the concept of this book, and think that every animal is well thought out and as a collection they are just adorable. I especially like Caitlin the Giraffe and I'm definitely going to attempt to make her when I feel confident enough.
I was also happy to see a variety of cats included, and luckily for me Alexandre the Cat is featured in the beginners section. I've been working away on my very on cat, so stay tuned for a post on him next week :) - Skye

It was definitely tricky to pick out just two favourite projects from the book as there are so many adorable designs! As a rabbit owner Emma the Bunny of course had to make my list - and really, who could resist those big ears?! Another favourite design is definitely Alice the Zebra with her contrasting stripes and loopy tail. Although I currently have zero crochet skills the awesome collection of designs in Edward's Menagerie has definitely made me want to give this craft a go! - Erin

Find out more on the TOFT website!

Have you read this book? We'd love to hear your thoughts so don't forget to use the hashtag #eightandsixteen to share them with us!

Erin & Skye

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Speedy Stamps Custom Stamp Review

Today we wanted to share these awesome Eight & Sixteen stamps kindly sent to us by Speedy Stamps. The idea behind the business is that you can send in your own design and have it made into a bespoke stamp - perfect for bloggers, small businesses, DIYers and stationery lovers!

The ordering process is simple, all you need to do to create your own stamp is upload a greyscale image of your chosen design, choose a size and the rest is done for you! If design isn’t your thing you can still create a great personalised stamp using the website’s basic tutorials which will help get you started.

Our stamps feature the Eight & Sixteen logo and measure approx. 35cm which is a handy size for lots of projects. A particularly impressive factor was how detailed the stamp design can be as our Eight & Sixteen logo design uses a hand drawn font and dashed line, both of which are thin, we were concerned about how well they would show up on the stamp. As you can see the detail shows up well and we're pleased to say that we are very happy with our new stamps!

If you want to see just a couple of the ways we’ll be using the stamps make sure you check back next Tuesday for a DIY post!

Erin & Skye

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Personal Planner: Review & A Giveaway!

If you’re anything like us you love a good new notebook or diary but often find yourself wishing you could change the layout or find one that starts in the month of your choosing... if this sounds like you then we think you’ll love Personal Planner!

With us both running two (in Erin's case three!) blogs on top of everything else a diary is a must have, but it can be really hard to find a pre-made diary that can cater to our specific needs, and this is where Personal Planner come in.
These cute, handy and high quality planners are completely customisable and are packed with tons of great optional features. Here's what we came up with when we were let loose on the website!

Erin's Planners*


For my notebook planner I chose to use one of my own photographs on the cover instantly making it a one of a kind! For the inside layout there are four different options so you can tailor it to suit you. I think these little notebook planners would be great as general day-to-day dairies however I have been using mine as a sort of ‘blogging to-do list’, noting down little tasks I need to remember to get done each day. So, I opted for landscape sections for the weekdays with smaller sections assigned to the weekends. For the back section of the planner you can choose from a variety of options including square/ruled/blank pages, sheet music, colouring pages, sudoku, maps, yearly calendar overviews and more!

Most of all I really loved being able to choose how I wanted almost all of the planner elements to look. From the cover to little features such as space to record your workouts or the weather and even the colour of the elastic closures and handy detachable rulers, you can easily create something that’s unique to you and your lifestyle.



Similarly the wall planner is also fully customisable although this time I opted for one of the pretty pre-made designs for the cover and page details. The best feature of the wall planners has to be the fact that you can add multiple columns each with their own title and image. As I’m using the planner for blogging I assigned each blog I write for it’s own column and have been using post-it notes to give me an overview of my upcoming schedule when I’m away from my laptop. Not only is this design great if you run multiple blogs but it would also be brilliant as a family calendar as each person could have their own column!

Skye's Planners*

Just like Erin, I chose to use one of my own photographs for my Personal Planner. I love the option to do this as it instantly makes the diary feel like mine, and it definitely makes me smile when I see it!
For my diary I wanted to be able to create something that could act as both a personal diary and a blog planner. I checked out each template option on the website to see which layout I thought would work best for this and in the end I went with a vertical weekly layout and added the option to have half of each day lined and half left plain. This means that I can jot down all personal bits in the ruled sections at the top of each day, and then I have the bottom half of the day to jot down anything blog related. This layout is already working brilliantly for me!
I then chose squared and blank paper for the remaining pages at the back to be used as ideas/doodles pages and also added a few pages for addresses as I really like to have those in a diary.

I completely agree with Erin about how great a Personal Planner is if you want to create something unique. There are so many options to choose from to make sure that you are creating something completely personal to you, and I think these would also make a really lovely gift!

For my Wall Planner, I decided to keep it solely blog related, so added two columns for each blog. I love the fact that you can add a little photograph to each column - a small detail, but one that really makes this planner stand out. So far I have been writing in all planned blog posts that I have, and then noting in what I have to get done on weekends/evenings and then highlighting the to-do's. I love the way Erin has used post-it notes on her wall planner! The Wall Planner is a great way to see at a glance what I need to get done - in all my excitement with Eight & Sixteen I've noticed a lack of posts on my own blog now that I've started filling out the planner. Hopefully this means I'll be able to keep a closer eye on things from now on!

We'd love to know what you think of our planners, and be sure to check back in the next few days as we will be launching an exciting giveaway in collaboration with Personal Planner!

Erin & Skye

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* These planners were kindly sent to us to review, all views and opinions are our own.