Firstly, I wanted to say thank you so much for joining me on my blog and Instagram throughout 2018.
This year in crafting has been such an exciting time for me and I feel very lucky to have worked with so many incredible companies and people. I am so grateful for all the support and encouragement from you all. This community really is the best.
I’ll be quiet here over Christmas, as I’ll be spending much needed time with family, but I’ll be back on my blog in the new year. If you aren’t a follower on Instagram, do click over to my profile as I often share projects on there that aren’t on my blog
This is my second year sharing my favourites. I have so many this year, but I’ve tried to keep the list short and just share 4 per category.
FAVOURITE STAMPS
I am definitely a cat person so was excited to see this adorable set from Pretty Pink Posh this year. It’s packed full of cute images and I’ve had great fun colouring them for cards.
The Skating Party stamp set is a great example of everything I love about Hello Bluebird – adorable critters along with sentiments in a lovely typed font.
A clever stamp set that allows you to build a fantastic fireworks display. Most of the images in this set are made up of two stamps, allowing a lot of fun with different colours of ink or embossing.
I have to include this fantastic sentiment stamp set from Altenew. I make more birthday cards than any other type of card. I love mixing the different fonts in this set to get different looks. You can also use lots of them together on one card for a really striking look!
FAVOURITE STAND-ALONE DIES
I love interactive cards but I’ll admit I don’t always get on with them. Some are tricky to put together, require double the amount of work to create if they need both outside and inside scenes, and they can be very bulky when finished.
The Lawn Fawn reveal wheel die ticks all the right boxes, though. It’s simple to create, isn’t too bulky to post, and is always well received. Turning the circle to reveal the different window scenes or sentiments is great fun!
Hello Bluebird Scene dies
Hello Bluebird released two scene dies in 2018, and they are some of my favourites. I love that they die cut a scene in one pass, but that all the elements that make up that scene are separate die cut pieces. This means that you can add colour or embossing to each element, or choose to only use some of the pieces in your scene. It makes them very versatile.
The two scenes available are Spooky Scene die and Skating Pond Scene die. I really hope there are more of these scenes released in the future.
Pretty Pink Posh Script Word dies
I love to use word dies on my cards and I think the script word dies from Pretty Pink Posh are my favourite. Such a beautiful font! One of my favourites is Thankful for you script. As the words are separate die cuts, I like that I have the option to just use the ‘for you’ part.
Lawn Fawn Itsy Bitsy Polka Dot Backdrop die
Cover dies are always a favourite of mine. The Itsy Bitsy Polka Dot backdrop die from Lawn Fawn adds interest to cards without being fussy. Looks great cut from white or kraft with a colour behind.
FAVOURITE CRAFTY TOOLS
This fabulous heat tool from WOW has made such a difference to my heat embossing. I had another brand of heat tool before and I didn’t always get the results I’d hoped for. The new dual speed heat tool from WOW heats up quickly and melts the powder beautifully. It has two speeds and I love the white colour.
This tool is available for UK, Europe, and USA. Keep reading for my WOW discount code, which can be used for this heat tool!
Tim Holtz Travel Stamp Platform
This stamp platform is a must have for me and I use it for the majority of my stamping now, having switched from the Misti. I love the two way lid, making it simple to switch from clear stamps to rubber stamps easily. I also prefer the open sides, meaning that larger pieces of card can be used in the platform.
I’m aware that, unfortunately, this tool has been discontinued in the USA and Canada, but it will continue to be available in Europe.
These are my favourite inks for backgrounds. They blend so much easier than other inks, come in a beautiful selection of colours, and are great for different techniques. I rarely use my regular distress inks now.
Gemini Go electronic die cutting machine
I don’t have a dedicated craft room so I haven’t been able to get the Gemini or the Gemini Junior machines, simply because of a lack of space. So, I was excited to see the Gemini Go arrive on the market. This is a small machine so certainly isn’t a replacement for my regular die cutting machine, but I’ve found I use it the majority of the time now. I simply cut down my sheets of coloured stamped images to fit the smaller die cutting plates.
FAVOURITE EMBOSSING POWDERS
I have a new category this year. I joined the WOW embossing design team back in August and am enjoying embossing on almost all of my projects now! I’d never really ventured outside the metallic and white colour options previously, but there are so many beautiful embossing powders and glitters available at WOW, there really is something for everyone.
Don’t forget, you can save 10% on orders at the UK and USA WOW stores, using my discount code: WOWDTGC
A beautiful soft honey gold, with a pearlescent finish. A lovely alternative to metallic gold.
This is a gorgeous glitter embossing powder with hints of green and aqua, with a silver sparkle.
A marbling embossing powder, with shades of silver, gold and copper. It gives gorgeous and unique results.
A copper pearl colour. Simply gorgeous! I don’t have a project to share with this just yet but will in the new year.
mygirllollipop 
thank you for sharing your thoughts on your favourites from this year. I will have to keep my eyes open for the heat tool as mine is so old it takes forever to get to a good heat to emboss with. Love the look of those wow embossing powders too.
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