Review: The Craft Studio books + Giveaway (CLOSED)

We have a review for you today and a little Giveaway, yey (only UK residents this time, sorry).  The Craft Studio books from Thames & Hudson and are out today!  So hot off the press just ready for you to win them, more about that at the end of this post.

There are four books in the series at the moment, but I am sure there will be more.  The books are; Tote Bags by Sonia Lucano, Brooches by Corinne Alagille, Decorating with Pompoms & Tassels and Stamping & Printing by Emilie Greenberg & Karine Thiboult-Demessence.  Each are priced at £9.95 each and so not too expensive either which is always nice.

 Each of the four books contain 20 easy to follow projects with beautiful pictures and an easy to read layout.  They are not too large a book, so they fit neatly on your bookshelf while also being useful for those 'what project shall I do today' times.

The contents page just makes you want to dive in more.  Lovely photographs and a simple to find contents page is always a great thing in my mind.

There are some Tips & Techniques in the books, to get you started and help you if you are a complete beginner.  If not a beginner, then you can dive on in to the rest of the book without a problem.

I just picked out a few of the pages from the books, this sequinned tote bag looks so fun to make and will make a great gift for someone.  The projects are broken down into what you need and how long it is going to take you which is always nice as then you can decide which project you want to take on in that spare few moments.

Onto a Pompom mobile, what a great project for a children's bedroom or wedding decoration.  Some of the projects have handy hand drawn details to go with the written instructions, handy for the more complicated parts.

This Origami brooch is definitely on my list of makes.  I am not a big brooch wearer, but they look so fun to make, I might change my mind.

Last but by no means least, this simple to print polka dot tableware set is so cute!  I am all about the ceramics at the moment as you may have noticed from my pottery class post and so this project is also on the make list.

I love that the four books give a good range of skills for people to pick up, even if you only had one of the books you can learn new techniques and gain some new ideas.  The projects inside range from very simple to more complicated projects for the beginner and more experienced crafter, which makes them perfect as gifts or just to keep for yourself.

Speaking of which, that Giveaway.  You can win all of these books, yes all four!  One lucky winner will get these books to be able to go through the projects all by themselves.  Which one will be your favourite?

All you need to do is comment on this post with the skill you would like to learn the most with these books (remember to leave your email address).  If you like us on Instagram and twitter (if you don't already) you will get an extra entry for each one you follow us on - so those people who already do will get an extra entry too.  The Giveaway will be open until Friday 18 March 2016 at 12am (midnight GMT).   This time I am afraid the Giveaway is only open to UK residents - sorry international readers.  We will have something for you soon, promise.

We will add all the names into a hat (I know, so retro) and pick our winner and email you, so don't forget your email address when you enter.  Then we can post them off to you for you to enjoy.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

Good luck
H & Sammy, xxx

A few Rules:
The competition closes at 12am midnight GMT on Friday 18 March 2016.  No entries after this time will be counted.
The winner will be picked by ourselves and will be picked at random.
If we do not hear back from the winner by Monday 21 March 2016 at 12noon GMT, we will redraw and another winner will be picked.
This competition is only open to UK residents this time- sorry!


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Our top ten Craft books + blog birthday giveaway (CLOSED)

A double whammy of awesome for you today, We have curated our Top 10 Craft Books and because we are lovely and it is our blogs 4th birthday (where has the time gone) we are giving you the chance to win the lot! Stick around until the end for your chance to win and in the meantime, lets get into the Top 10.

We have a mix of slightly older titles and new ones too, one of which has only been out for a week! But it is that good we couldn't not include it in our ten.

We have two books in the top ten from the Queen of crafting magazines Mollie Makes (you know how much we love the team at Mollie) the first is Making it! The book you need if you are embarking on a career in the craft industry. Packed with great tips and seriously useful information for anyone looking to make it big in the world of crafts.

This is the super newbie we were talking about and it is also the second from the Mollie Makes team. We knew as soon as we saw it, it was going to be a winner for us.so much so that Sammy pre-ordered two copies knowing that it would be featuring in this top ten. Sammy love's the Paper book-zine that the Mollie team had published a few times in the past and she had a feeling that this was going to be all that and more. It did not disappoint. It is packed full of awesome projects using paper of all kinds. Sammy is going to love working her way through the projects in this one. 

We reviewed Craft, Show and Sell on the blog last year and it has been a go to tea-break read ever since. With it's beautiful images and useful storage and selling tips it is a great read for all kinds of crafters. 

The second book from the lovely Kate (the Makery) We have a full review of this coming soon, but spoiler, We love it. We loved the first offering from the Makery which we reviewed back in 2013 but we think we might love this one even more. We suppose because we are sewest at heart, the projects in this book are some of our favourite's.

The beautiful Makers Spaces by Emily Quinton is a must for any Top 10, crafty or otherwise. If you love interiors this book is an equally joyous read. Pages filled with gorgeous photography of makers homes from all over the world, 'Home Goals' on every page! 

We were lucky enough to be chosen to be Cut Out and Keep Superstars earlier in the year and you may have seen our review of the book that takes you on a tour around the USA with different crafty projects along the way.  We love the quirky projects in this book and Cut Out and Keep in general really, they rock!

Hoarders like us will LOVE Pretty Organised. You can tell, we hope, that we really only end up recommending books we love, because we reviewed Jane's book back in March. We loved it then and we still love it now, with loads of creative tips and again, beautiful photography, this book is a must for crafters and hoarders alike. 

1980's Bumper activity book was a book Sammy received as a birthday gift a while ago and enjoyed it so much she has since re-purchased it as gifts for so many of her friends! It's jammed with fun projects and activities that will have you reminiscing about your mis-spent youth for weeks! (even if you were born in the 90's)

One of our favourite people on the internet is the lovely Katie Allen and her book Just Sew Stories was always going to be in our top 10. Packed with achievable, cool, trendy projects. All of which you would actually want in your home/wardrobe and that you would be proud to give as a gift. 

Another of our fave people is Tilly (and the Buttons) Walnes. We kind of knew, didn't we, if you had been reading her blog for a while (like we had) when we saw her on the first season of the Sewing Bee that a book was on the cards. Her sweet personality and enviable style shines from the pages. Each project is wearable, would fit in anyone's wardrobe and as it is with her blog, her tips and techniques are great for beginners and more experienced sewers.

Now for the fun part! For your chance to win all ten of these amazing crafty books, all you have to do is comment on this post below telling us your favourite craft book that is NOT on our list. Don't forget to include an email address, twitter or Instagram account so we can contact you if you win.  

(CLOSED)

The Giveaway is open until Midnight (UK BST) on Friday the 3rd of July and the winners will be announced and contacted shortly after this.

H & Sammy

T&C's:

Your name will only be counted once, but please do feel free to comment as much as you like.

You don't need a gmail account to comment. Just go to the drop down box below the comment section and you can post as your name or anonymous (just remember to put your contact details in the comment box).

Only replies on the blog to this post will count.

The winners name will be chosen at random.

All ten books will be posted to the recipient after the closing date.

The competition is open to everyone, in the UK and Worldwide! yey. 

Disclaimer: These books have all been purchased by ourselves, with the exclusion of the Cut Out and Keep book, which was sent to us for consideration. We fell in love with it and had a spare copy which we have chosen to give away as part of this competition.


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Makers Month Giveaway! (CLOSED)

Hey all, by now all the excitement of our Makers Month has been and gone :(  But we have been able to feature some amazing British Designer/Makers and some other cool brands along the way. We thought, what better way to round off the month than with a Giveaway. You could win all of this...

The Learn to Sew with Lauren Book - from our post on the 3rd September

 Charlotte Skirt Pattern from By Hand London - from our post on the 19th September

Fat Quarters from Dashwood Studios (Cable Cozy tutorial)

 and Liberty (Elbow Patches tutorial)

 Cloud Brooch by TigerLilly Quinn

All you need to do is tell us your favourite British Designer/Maker in the comments below and all this could be yours!

Don't forget to leave your email address in the comment and we can contact you if you are our winner!

Competition closes at midnight (UK time) on Friday 10th October and is open Internationally, so everyone can benefit from our best of British selection.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

Lots of Love
H and Sammy xxx

 Live, Love, Make, Like, Share, Follow, Tweet, Pin, Add, Enjoy. 

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Live it: Biscuiteers Icing Cafe Lates + Giveaway (Closed)

A few weeks ago we were given the opportunity to visit the Biscuiteers for one of their Icing Lates classes.  Now, we have been to the Biscuiteers before - ok, ok, a few times, see our post here.  But this was the first time we had gone to ice some biscuits and boy did we have fun!

When we got there, we were given an apron and a name sticker so we could get to know our fellow icers! It just so happened that friend of the blog Becky, was teaching us, so it felt very friendly and informal.  We were given a glass of prosecco and a choice of icing colours and then Becky showed us how to use the lining icing to make our later flood icing stay in place on the biscuit.  We could have some practice on the greaseproof paper first and then got down to the biscuits.  Sammy was much better than me, a natural biscuit icer in the making.

We then got to flood the biscuits using the squeezy bottles and popped them in the oven to speed up the drying process.  Then we could add sparkles, gold or silver paint (edible of course) and add extra prettiness with more lining icing.

We had then finished, one and a half had gone by, just like that!  We got to take them home in a lovely Biscuiteers box too, which along with the apron and book we got to take home, is just plain amazing!

We had a great evening and along with the beautiful biscuits we got to ice, we had fun chatting with the other attending icers which was lovely.  We would definitely recommend going to the Biscuiteers for one of their classes including their Icing Lates.  In fact we have been given an exclusive discount for our lovely readers for the next Icing Late on the 1st July, click here to book directly and pop in the discount code liveit15 at the checkout and you can get 15% off.  Are these guys just not super wonderful or what!

Our Giveaway is now closed.

We also have a great giveaway for you guys, we have the lovely Biscuiteers book and an apron for you. All you need to do is comment on this post below with your favourite biscuit, leaving your email address too, so that we can contact you after the closing date on Monday 30th June.

A few Rules

The giveaway will close at midnight GMT time on Monday 30th June.

We will pick the winner at random on Tuesday 1st July.

The giveaway is open  to UK and International residents.

If we do not hear back from you within 1 week of the closing date, we will pick another winner  and so please check your junk mail box too.

We will need your email address to contact you and so please make sure you leave it with your comment.

If you do pop down to the Biscuiteers, please do say if you saw it here!  We just like to spread the love.

Now to get us started, Sammy's favourite biscuit is a chocolate Hob Nob and I am partial to a Ginger nut biscuit myself!

mmmm biscuits
H

House of Wonderland *Giveaway* (CLOSED)

Earlier you had a little sneak peek into how to make your own Cupcake necklace from House of Wonderland and now you can win one of your own!

All you have to do is comment on this blog post below for your chance to win.

This competition is now closed

I'm afraid this giveaway is only available to those in the UK this time, but good luck!

H & Sammy

P.S.  The lucky winner is Laura, who will be getting this lovely necklace very shortly! Lucky Laura.

Blog Birthday Giveaway (CLOSED)

All these photographs were taken for us by the Lovely Carly Wurly Photograms

It's Official! today our little blog turns Two.

We want to say a massive Thank You to everyone who reads the blog and has supported us over the past two years, it has been an amazing learning experience for both of us and we can't wait to show you what we have planned next.

It's not a birthday without cake and so two of our very good friends Kelly and Katie who run a little cake business called Cupcakkes,  made us some gorgeous Live it. Love it. Make it. cakes especially for our birthday, aren't they cute, and, oh my, were they Yummy!

Along with Birthday's, come presents and luckily for you guys the presents are for you and not for us.  We have decided on a BIG giveaway for 2 lucky readers, yes that's right, there are 2 chances of winning some great goodies.  We have a box full of goodies each to compliment our personalities and so you have the chance to win whichever box you fancy the most.

Sammy trying to put on a brave face as H told her that she was going to have to give 

her box of goodies away!

True to our style of an all or nothing approach, we have a bumper crop of items in the boxes for you to win.

Sammy's Purple box contains: A shopper bag Kit, M&S milk chocolate Pretzels, a note book and two pens, Sewing themed covered buttons, a Candy Kitten's Lollipop, A bag of sequins, beads and studs, a handmade bracelet, some beading cord, 2 reels of washi tape, Essie Nail polish in 'Cute as a button', a mini pin cushion, a mini reel of divine twine.

H's Blue box contains: A shopper bag Kit, M&S white chocolate coated strawberries, a note book and two pens, liberty print covered buttons, a Candy Kitten's Lollipop, A bag of sequins, beads and studs, handmade earnings, some beading cord, 2 reels of washi tape, Essie Nail polish in 'Turquoise and Curacos', silicone cupcake cases, a mini reel of divine twine.

For your chance to win one of these boxes, all you have to do is comment on this post below giving which of the two boxes you would like to win and if you want, give us a why.

The Giveaway is open until Midnight (UK BST) on Wednesday 26th June and the winners will be contacted shortly after this.

( Our Giveaway is now Closed. Thanks to everyone who entered and for all your birthday wishes)

That's it, it is as simple as that.  Remember all you have to do is comment on this post on the blog - not on facebook or twitter I am afraid. (as these won't be counted)  But of course you can spread the word on Facebook and Twitter - if you don't mind that someone else might win of course.

We can't wait to see who wins and who goes for what!  eeek, exciting.

Speak soon,

H & Sammy

Just some things to note:

Your name will only be counted once, but please do feel free to comment as much as you like.

You don't need a gmail account or anything, just go to the drop down box below the comment section and you can post as your name or anonymous (just remember to put your details in the comment box).

Only replies on the blog to this post will count.

The winners names will be chosen at random.

Box will be posted to the recipient after the closing date.

The competition is open to everyone, in the UK and Worldwide! yey.

(CLOSED)