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Support the Designers

One of the main reasons I wanted to set up this website was to make it easier for New Zealand craft shoppers to find the good quality, genuine products our favourite YouTubers like to use in their videos.

I have created pages on my website, listing my favourite and trusted stores both in New Zealand, and internationally where you can be sure you are purchasing the stamps, dies and stencils that are original, thereby supporting the designers and companies creating them. We certainly want them to be able to continue creating these things! These pages will be updated as I discover new places, so be sure to check back regularly.

New Zealand is a small market, and I noticed within some of my crafting communities that counterfeit stamps and dies are freely being imported, without knowledge of why this is not a good thing. I really want to be supportive of my crafting community, both locally and worldwide, as this is such an amazing hobby, full of kind and generous spirited people. What other hobby encourages happy thoughts, kindness and giving such as this?

Over the past few years, crafters worldwide have started a movement #isupportdesignnotcrime and I am a happy participant.

Counterfeit product has become a real problem – the practice of stealing other people’s art and design to make money, using low quality materials, is literally closing business doors. In our industry, our crafting businesses are often just small, and most likely operating from a garage or kitchen table.

Art and design, including photography and other art forms fully deserve to be credited and compensated. We wouldn’t dream of knowingly purchasing stolen goods in our daily lives otherwise, and this is no different.

Our stamp companies pay their artists and designers, choose to use quality photopolymer, rubber and metals in most cases, pay for advertising, marketing, store and staffing overheads, taxes, shipping, and are generous with us crafters by sponsoring gifts, giveaways, collaborations and design teams etc. Counterfeiters literally steal the images from online, and recreate using inferior products, often with spelling mistakes and smaller images with little to no overhead.

By ordering and purchasing genuine product through our local retailers, you are also supporting New Zealand businesses too, so that’s a win-win!

NONE of the genuine stamp companies sell their stamps via AliExpress, Alibaba or Wish. You can report listings if you spot copies – stamp companies are having to expend a lot of time and effort into getting counterfeit links taken down, creating a real legal headache! and this is taking time and money away from creating fun products for us.

If you are at all in doubt whether the stamp company you are purchasing from is legitimate or not, you can check the isupportdesign website – they have listed every known stamp company, with a link so you can view their online store. If the company you are looking for is not in the list, you can flick a quick email to them to ask.

If you have any questions regarding the above please feel free to message me – I’m only too happy to help!

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Happy Birth-Yay!

I was inspired by Joy Taylor on the MFT Design Team with this card. I used the Sweet Celebration Wishes stamp set by Stacey Yacula, such cute images! I love the expressions on their little faces in particular 😀

Supplies Used:

  • Neenah white cardstock #80 & #110
  • Lawn Fawn Black Licorice cardstock
  • Nuvo Gold Glitter cardstock
  • My Favorite Things Sending Sweet Celebration Wishes Stamp and Die set
  • My Favorite Things Yay Stamp and Die set
  • Ellen Hutson Starry Background Die
  • My Favorite Things Stitched Rectangle
  • Tsukeniko Radiant Neon Amplify in White
  • Nuvo Glitter Gloss pen
  • Ink on 3 Arctic White embossing powder and Versamark ink
  • Distress Inks used: Worn Lipstick and Tattered Rose
  • Copics used: R24, RV14, R22, R20, R00, E43, E31, E41, E40, E59, E25, E23, Y38, Y15

I ink blended my panel on the back with Distress Inks and my trusty Tim Holtz mini ink blending tool and foams.

I cut three white starry backgrounds. The Ellen Hutson die does not cut the edge, so I used the largest stitched rectangle in the MFT nested set for the front panel. I trimmed the other two to stack tidily behind the front panel. I did try cutting a panel of foam to save time, but it kinda distorted and cutting two further cardstock pieces instead saved my sanity! I wanted dimension, but I didn’t want it too high, so two layers behind was enough.

I coloured and cut out the cute wee bunny and added details to his hat and tail with the Radiance Amplify.

The Yay was cut four times and stacked. I used Copics to match the background and bunny and blended dark to light from bottom to top. Sparkle was added with a Nuvo glitter pen. The MFT set has retired I think, but this can be easily recreated with alphabet dies you may have.

I lined up two sentiments from the Yay stamp set to fit across the front of the card and white heat embossed on a black strip, and mounted this onto the card with a strip of thin craft foam.

I ran the top of the Starry background die onto some Nuvo gold glitter cardstock and added the little stars to the card as a finishing touch.

If you have any questions regarding the putting together of this card, please feel free to message me – I’m only too happy to help!

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Sweet Celebration Wishes

I’ve had my eye on this stamp set by Stacey Yacula for some time, and was pleased to finally have time to get it out and do some colouring! This card has been gifted to a crafty friend celebrating her birthday.

Supplies Used:

Sending Sweet Celebration Wishes
  • Tim Holtz Watercolor Cardstock
  • Glitter paper from stash
  • Lawn Fawn Mermaid & Black Licorice cardstock for card base and sentiment strip
  • Nuvo Silver glitter cardstock
  • Ranger Clear embossing powder, Ink on 3 Arctic White embossing powder, and Versamark Ink
  • My Favorite Things Diagonal Design Background stamp (retired)
  • My Favorite Things Stitched Rectangles STAX
  • My Favorite Things Sending Sweet Celebration Wishes Stamp and Die set
  • My Favorite Things Celebrate die
  • Copic markers: R24, RV14, R22, R20, R00, E43, E31, E41, E40, E59, E25, E23, Y38, Y15, Y21, BG49, BG45, BG53, G28, YG67, YG63, YG61, G43, G21, G40
  • Distress Oxide Inks: Tumbled Glass, Peacock Feathers, Mermaid Lagoon, Chipped Sapphire

I started off by ink blending with Tumbled Glass and Peacock Feathers, lighter in the middle and darker on the edges of the watercolour cardstock. I heat embossed the Diagonal Design background stamp (just about any background stamp would be suitable for this technique) with clear embossing powder, let that cool, and then continued inking with Peacock Feathers in the centre, Mermaid Lagoon and Chipped Sapphire, again getting darker towards the edges of the panel. Distress Oxide inks are great for this technique as the ink is opaque and you can add layers of colour very easily.

I buffed the ink with a cloth. The clear embossing resists the additional ink, leaving a cool flow of colour blending within the pattern.

I cut the panel down with a MFT stitched rectangle. I actually used a smaller rectangle from the nested set than I originally intended, and had to back the panel with some glitter paper in my stash! Whoops, but it turned out well in the end!

I had fun colouring these little guys and added fun fluff to their hats and the bunny’s tale using Neon Radiance Amplify.

I die cut the Celebrate three times from white cardstock, and once out of Nuvo Silver glitter cardstock and stacked these together for a little dimension.

I stamped and heat embossed the sentiment from the Sweet Celebration Wishes stamp set onto Lawn Fawn Black Licorice cardstock.

The critters were placed above the Celebrate using foam tape strips cut to fit, and the whole front is mounted onto the card base which completes the card.

If you have any questions regarding the putting together of this project, please feel free to message me – I’m only too happy to help!

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Just Because

I’m not great at colouring floral images, so this set makes flower arranging and colouring a lot simpler! This is such a fun die set and features a flower I enjoy spotting when out and about – a sunflower never fails to elicit a smile.

Supplies Used:

This is a Layered Die set where you cut the pieces and layer them together to create a flower. You can cut these from patterned paper or cardstock you colour yourself.

The Greetery is a new stamp company and they have released a couple of gorgeous sets in the Botanicuts range, including Pine Boughs.
  • Neenah #80 and #110 cardstock
  • Watercolour cardstock
  • The Greetery Sunflower Botanicuts
  • Tim Holtz 3D texture embossing folder in Woodgrain
  • My Favorite Things Elegant Rectangles
  • My Favorite Things Stitched Rectangles
  • Concord & 9th Love Notes
  • Honey Bee Stamps Busy Bees
  • Distress Inks: Squeezed Lemonade, Mustard Seed, Wild Honey, Twisted Citron, Mowed Lawn, Pine Needles, Vintage Photo
  • Copic Markers: R29, R27, R24, Y38, Y17, Y15, C9, C7, C5

I inked a large piece of watercolour cardstock with the yellow distress inks and die cut the sunflower pieces from it.

I added Vintage photo to any leftover spots large enough to cut the sunflower and leaf centres. The leaves themselves were cut from another panel I inked up with the green inks.

I taped two of the elegant rectangle dies together to cut a frame shape, which I embossed with the woodgrain effect 3D embossing folder. I cut a second frame from a piece of double sided foam adhesive sheet for dimension.

I stamped the sentiment inside the frame, added the buzzy bee and a red heart – in all honesty these elements covered up a couple of boo boos! I used glitter pen and added a layer of Nuvo Crystal Glaze onto the heart for shine. The glitter pen is also used on the buzzy bee’s wings. The bee trail is from the Honey Bee stamp set which I stamped twice and silver embossed.

The sunflowers are arranged at the bottom of the frame and glued down with liquid adhesive and foam tape.

If you have any questions regarding the putting together of this card, please feel free to message me – I’m only too happy to help!