Crafting Mini-Haul!

On occasion it is just absolutely necessary to purchase new pens.

My mum and I often take trips to The Range which has a selection of craft supplies. It's in the middle of refurbishment at the moment so everything was all over the place when we went today before picking my brother up from the station, but I managed to find a few goodies.
Here's what I bought!

I have been eyeing up the Special Delivery stamps by Helz Cuppleditch for ages. My mum bought me one with Father Christmas giving carrots to little rabbits as presents <3 I'll take a pic at some point, it's SO cute! I wanted the penguin stamp because I had an idea for mini Christmas cards, which I also bought. They didn't have white ones so I got pearlised cream which hopefully will work just as well. The pens just wouldn't leave my hand. They weren't cheap but they're SO PRETTY!!! *Wistful sigh*

Helz Cuppleditch is one of my favourite illustrators. Her designs are always adorable and always find their way into my basket... I have several of her previous collections, not the whole collections mind but choice pieces. I usually buy the papers, diecuts and the stamps, leaving the stickers and decoupage etc.. I occasionally get the buttons too hehe.. but the stamps are reusable and the papers are really good quality so I don't feel so bad about buying them. All of them. The stamps retail for £3.99 each and I recommend them wholeheartedly! You'll need an acrylic block to stamp them with, but they're very cheap. If you haven't seem Helz's artwork before then you should definitely check out her website.

These little blank cards are so cute, they're 3"x3" and are pearlised so they have a sheen to them. They come with matching envelopes too =) my plan is to have one penguin per card and make my own backgrounds for matting and layering. I'm excited to start these, even though it feels very early. These were £2.99 which for 20 cards is fairly reasonable. About 15p a card.

 Urgh my camera did NOT want to focus on the ribbon. I think it's because the protective plastic was still on them so they were all reflective.. but anyway it's a kind of bluey-mint green textured ribbon with little white polka dots of various sizes. I thought it kind of looked like snow? Anyway it was only £1 and it'll make cute bows =) you can probably see it better in the group picture actually >.<

These pens. Oh these pens. What can I say? I love pens. Going back to a very little Leisha, I used to spend my days colouring in. I thought that one day I might be a professional colour-iner. This love of stationery and colours is probably why I like nail varnish so much; it's a left over childhood passion. It's what I was born to do. The love of sitting for hours colouring pictures has dwindled but my love for the instruments of colour has not. Pens call to me. These were no exception. I went to them, said "ooooooohhhhh..." saw the price tag (£14.99) went "errrrrrhhhhhh...." then somehow they ended up in my hand for the entire time I was in the shop, then came with me to the till. I might have to do a proper review of these with swatches etc, each pen has two nips.. one is like a brush, it is shaped like a brush but doesn't have bristles. It creates a nice wash of colour. The other is a very fine point, perfect for writing or for detail work. I love them. There were 2 other sets that I might have to go back for, one was pastel and the other was brights. I have several different packs of bright pens so I went for the Vintage set hoping they'd be muted and delicate, which they are.

So there were have it, a little haul of crafty bits yay!
Do you enjoy crafting? What are your favourite brands/artists? Please check out Helz Cuppleditch if you haven't already, her art is too cute!

-Leishasaurus