NEW BLOG

The Make the Day Special Stamp Store Blog is now closed as we have a brand new blog to go with our new store and new name Seven Hills Crafts!

This blog will remain here as a historical record and so you can access inspiration on specific stamp and die sets but for all new product you will need to now visit and follow our new blog:

http://sevenhillscrafts.blogspot.co.uk/

Thanks

Tara and the Seven Hills DT

Happy New Year

Just thought I would pop by quickly to say work on the new website is going well and to thank you all for your patience whilst we get all this new shiny technology worked out!

In the meantime I thought I share a quick New Year card I made and wish you all a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous slide into 2016!

This came together really quickly - a quick spritz of Hero Arts ink, a layered champagne glass die cut from acetate (the colour comes from inking up the stick-it I used to join the layers together) and some glittery die cut sentiments from Lawn Fawn's scripty cheers and the new stitched number dies from My Favorite Things.

Hope you all raise a glass or two tonight ;-)
Tara
x

Farewell to Make the Day Special

This is potentially the final post we'll be posting as Make the Day Special Stamp Store which feels a little weird.   We're not going far though so don't panic - we'll be back with the same great products and the same level of customer service you've come to expect in early January 2016 under our new name and branding!

The store closes at 8pm tonight to give us time to pack all your orders - yes on a Sunday night - that's how much we love you guys - and your orders in the post first thing tomorrow so they should be with you (UK orders only) in time for Christmas.

I will leave you with one final card for this year to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.   There may be a couple of updates on here as we switch things over to the new site over Christmas but all the old sites should automatically redirect you to the new places you'll find us when we re-open.  We are AIMING to re-open on the 8th January, but as with all things technological, you all find issues you can't plan for, so that date may slip a little if we hit a major stumbling block.   Fingers crossed it will be all be fine and we'll see you in a couple of weeks.   Do make sure you are signed up to the newsletter and Facebook pages for the latest news.........

I made a big batch of these cards using the Make a Santa stamp and die set from Lil' Inker designs, an embossed Avery Elle rectangles frame and sentiment from their Naughty or Nice stamp set.   Super quick design which was easy to replicate which was good seeing as I haven't posted any cards yet!

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas

Tara and Rick

xxx

Julia's Favorite Things of 2015

Hi crafters! I am closing out our series on the DT's favorite products of 2015 – I hope you enjoyed the inspiration from the team throughout this past week. (Sorry, since I learned American English, you'll have to suffer through "favorite" instead of "favourite" :P ).

I admit, I can hardly point to a specific product that I love the most, mainly because I simply love all of them! But I have a few brands that I (re)discovered this year that brought me a lot of joy and I want to share those with you.

My Favorite Things

Most of you will know this brand well, and I was delirious with joy when Tara added them to the store since they are hard to get here in good ol' Europe. MFT have a huge variety of stamps and dies, and I fell in love especially with the little Witch of one of the Halloween sets:

I used both the dies and the stamps on this set, and it's one of my favorite cards I made all year. I am happy that I got to send it to one of my best crafty friends and delighted her. If you want to see how I created this card, step by step, please hop over to my blog (link in the sidebar to your right) and then on to my Youtube channel.

Both of these cards feature the same stamp and die set! You can see just how versatile it is, and how you can use single elements from such a set to create very different cards.

Stamping Bella

To me, this brand was completely new. I had heard of them, but associated them mainly with super thin, stylish girlies. Being on the opposite end of super thin and stylish myself, I never really got into Stamping Bella – until I saw the other stamps that are also part of this brand. And then I lost my heart completely. I don't have a favorite, I love all of the images!

This was one of the first cards I created with SB images. Yes, the fussy cutting was brutal, but I just love this girl – she's just like me! I love to experiment and try new things, and yes, sometimes I leave a mess behind but if I had fun, it's totally worth it. This image would be perfect for girls in school, or for every adventurous crafty friend. With a bit of humor ;)

The Christmas Soldiers are perfect for your health! Why, you might ask? Well, tell me which other image will make you laugh as long and hard as this one! This is the perfect workout for your abs and belly muscles, and it will also give the recipient the same workout. Who says that stamping and cardmaking can't count as sport?

Last, but not least, these cute penguins are featured in many SB stamps. I love them. Love, love, love! If you are into coloring, these images are the best to have some creative fun or just practice. No matter what you do with them, you will certainly have  great time.

Miscellaneous

I could go on and on and on, but I know that you only have a few hours left before the shop closes and maybe your wallet can't be stretched much further. But here are some random products I enjoyed immensely this year:

Elizabeth Craft Designs Glitter

Now, I know a lot of you are wary of glitter because of the mess. I won't lie: after using glitter, I usually look like a fairy sprinkled fairy dust on me. But this particular glitter can be used with glue or adhesive sheets, and once you rub it, it sets and no longer comes off.

Lil Inker Cover Plate

There are many companies that make cover plates – large dies that either die cut the entire size of a card front, or dry emboss a pattern on it. My favorite is the Quilted Stitched Pattern by Lil Inkers because it's very subtle but can add just the right amount of interest to an otherwise simple design. There are other patterns available as well.

Wplus9 Sunshine Layers Die Set

Alright, I'll be honest – I bought the entire die set for only the large scalloped die. That's the only one I wanted, and it's become one of the best investments I ever made. You might at first think that paying that much for a single die is crazy, but I've been using it on almost every other card! It's the perfect size, the stitching detail adds tons of interest, and it just looks perfect. If there is a large general purpose die you need, this should be the one you get!

That was my look back at my favorite products of 2015. I hope I didn't do too much damage to your wallet, and maybe some of these goodies will make it under your christmas tree in time for the holidays? ;)

Wishing all of you happy holidays, a great time with family and friends, and lots of good food. Cheers!

Jill's favourite things of 2015

Hi everybody,

Jill here, and today it's my turn to bring you my favourite products from the last year...talk about being spoilt for choice!!  

First off, I'm gonna have to go with my all time favourite, Mama Elephant, and specifically, those darling cutie patootie Reindeer from Reindeer Games.

 

These little chaps took our crafting community by storm this year, and have been flying off the shelves ever since!  It is of no surprise however, I mean...look at them! 

Next up, it's going to be Wplus9's 'Going Places'...

       

As soon as I set eyes on this set - I was desperate to have it in my stash.  It's their little faces, they're just divine.  I also love the fact you can use it for so much more than it's intended purpose, and bring the critters to life by placing them in alternate situations.  Just soooo cute.

OK, so finally, I'm gonna give a shout out to a whole company who I think have rocked it this year, and it's gonna be...Paper Smooches! 

       

 For me, it's a little nostalgic, as they were the reason I stumbled upon Make The Day Special, a long time ago, when I first fell in love with stamping.  They were the first 'American' stamp brand I started collecting, and I just loved them.  But, after finding this amazing place, and so many other incredible brands, they fell from the top of my most wanted list, and I hate to say it, I kind of forgot about them.  But my oh my, holy macaroni, I just think this year they have knocked it out the park with their releases!  Their die designs are amongst my favourite's, and most used, of all time.  Hat's off to them, I really think they're back with a bang and doing it in style!

I hope you have all had an amazing 2015 - and here's to our favourite companies keeping us skint throughout 2016 as well ;)

Jillxxx

p.s ...quick shout out to MFT's Sketched Chevron background lol...what a gorgeous massive beauty of a stamp that is...and an equally massive Merry Christmas to you all :)

Lydia's Favourite Things Of 2015

Hi there it's my turn to share with you my favourite things of 2015. Now it was so hard to narrow down my favourite and most loved stamps down to three but I finally got there and here are my top 3 from this years releases.....

In at the top is......

 

Altenew 'Golden Garden' has too be one of my most used set from 2015! I just love the style of these as they can work with so many different techniques to get so many different looks.

At 2......

 

Winnie & Walter 'Merry & Bright'.....Swoon, this has to be my most favourite Christmas set in like forever! I love the cute and playful font that can also work for classy cards. The other like images in this set are great for creating wreaths or even stamped backgrounds.

Last but most certainly not least...

  

Newton's Nook Designs 'Fox Hollow'. Fave fox set ever! I just love these little guys and they are just too fun fun to colour.

That's all for me for this year, I'll see you all again in the New Year. I'd just like to say Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year and also thank you so much for your lovely comments, it means a lot to us all.

Hugs Lydia xxx