Update on the new toys....

A couple of hours later, and I've trimmed the stamps, tried the ink, embossed with the folder and punched out the border punch.
 So first off - the stamps, and when I got them out of the packet and turned them over, I realised I'd have been trimming them down regardless.

I really hate stamps that have so much excess rubber! 10 minutes with the non-stick scissors, and they are sorted.

They are both Papermania Urban stamps, simply called Butterflies and Dragonflies.

 Next the embossing folder, and the one on the left I swiped with a Tea Dye Distress inkpad so you could see the detail better.The one on the right is for my samples folder, when I remember to look in it.
Its called Chronology Clocks, by the way.

 I liked the border punch, as it has a nice lacy pattern- punches through copy weight paper with ease too.
The packaging said its called Sparkler.

 Lastly, the white inkpad. Doesn't stamp a detailed image too badly, and almost has a chalk effect on black card.Definitely not as strong a white as the last two I tested though.

Then I added WOW Bright White EP to one and heat set it. Have to admit, that doesn't look too bad.So not a bad white inkpad- I've got worse- but not the best either. I do think the unembossed one went paler as it dried too.

Some new toys......

So, a couple of shopping trips over the weekend  produced the bits and pieces on my desk. Friday we made a trip to PCWorld in Kidderminster, for Beloved Hubby. On the same retail park is The Range, which generally has quite a large craft section. From there came the Clocks embossing folder, the X-cut border punch, two Papermania Urban stamps, Butterflies and Dragonflies, which I will probably cut down into individual stamps, as I can regroup them on the block if I want them in a group, or use them singly, which is more likely. Also from there were the three Artiste Pallette inkpads- a white, and a nice strong blue & red, which were three for the price of two. All pigment pads, although they did have dye inkpads too.
On Saturday we went to Webbs of Wychbold, to get some plants & fish for the tank, and some wild bird food, and they have a Hobbycrafts on site, so as there had been a 20% off total spend voucher up on Facebook,valid till today, I popped in.  I have to say that I have gradually become less impressed with Hobbycrafts over time, and would not make a special journey to go there, but will pop in if I happen to be by one, because sometimes they do have good deals on basics I use. Or like today, a voucher I can use against basics.  From there came the sheet of Cut'n'Dry foam, a tube of Dovecraft silicone glue to try out, a pack of 6 fine nozzle glue bottles, as well as four of the tape rollers you can see at the back. The glue bottles were about £2 for the six, which was a great price, and it remains to be seen how the silicone glue turns out. I did try Hobbycrafts own brand a while back, and was not at all impressed- it started setting in the tube after it was opened. Not just at the opening either- it went half an inch down the tube. That ended up in the bin, and I went back to my favourite Stix2 brand, which I have never had that problem with. Now I am off to cut up my stamps, emboss a sheet of card for my samples folder, and try out those inkpads- results will be up in a later post. I am particularly interested in how the white turns out, so I will do some embossed and unembossed samples for that.