complete beginner

flissy25

hi all was wondering if any of you experts could give some advice as 2 what things i could stockpile to make hampers and things also any1 know where is the best place to go to get the kit i need to start cardmaking please thanks every1

JailhouseBabe

Hi flissy. For cards, WHSmith had a great offer on - not sure if it's still availabke, I bought mine last week. Packs of 50 4"x6" card reduced from £11.99 to £2.99. In my local store there was nothing to say they'd been reduced, so I asked for a price check and found that they had been. To decorate the cards, there's loads of websites with sales on ATM. Have a look on the cardmakers thread and I'm sure you'll find lots of inspiration.

For hampers, have a think about the kind of themes you'd use for your hampers then keep an eye open in the sales for bits that might be suitable. There's lots of suggestions for themes here:
Gift Basket and Hampers

HTH x

flissy25

will go and have a look around thank you

princesspoppypop

Hi flissy25,

Some ideas for stock piling for hampers are the buy one get one free offers on toiletries such as shampoo, shower gel, nice soaps, handwashes etc.

Also check out Primark, Ikea, Wilkinsons, Boyes etc for things like cushions, fleece throws ( great for lining hamper baskets with) candles, glass candle plates, photo frames, flannels - for flannel cupcakes, tea towels - make some lovely book bags from these by just sewing up the sides and adding a handle or make some laundry bags the same way but add a drawstring - I also remember rosekitten making up some fab cushion covers from some cupcake printed teatowels from Primark.

With hampers the options are endless really and it all depends on who the hamper is for.

Maybe as a starter for you the best thing would be to sort out the baskets/containers and then decide who you are making hampers for and what they like/ there interests are.

You could theme the hampers in colours say a pink hamper for a girl - include a pink fleece throw (Ikea, Primark), a pink cushion (could be something you have made, a pink flannel cupcake, pink smarties, radox shower smoothies in strawberry, a pink scented candle etc.

A movie hamper - a few DVDs, a bottle of soft drink, a box of popcorn, some sweets like Minstrels and Fruit Pastilles, maybe a box of tissues ( if you pick weepy films) and some snuggle socks. Line a hamper basket with a fleece throw and arrange items in the basket. fold the fleece over the goodies inside. Wrap using printed cello and a pull bow. Also if you go onto IWOOT they have some mini clapper boards that are a fun item to add to the movie hamper.

Good luck with your stock piling!

Poppy x

princesspoppypop

For a basic card making starter I would get some card blanks, some ribbon and felt and start by making a few simple designs - felt is brilliant for making embellishments as it doesnt fray.

Try Hobbycraft and Handy Hippo for some ideas also.

Poppy x

Toonie

When I started cardmaking, I began by buying some pre-scored cards, with envelopes, then bought some bits and bobs from ebay.

Check out http://craftsbycarolyn.co.uk/cardmbasics/card.htm
for some tips on getting started, plus there is a forum, which is great for asking advice.

If you have http://www.therange.co.uk/ near you, then they have some great offers at the moment and are generally good value, plus you can see what you're buying first.

LJM

for card making kits dont know if you have one near you but the works,had some in at xmas,also wilkos have some good cardmaking bits,ebay is great.all these are reasonably priced but one of my fav craft sites is

http://www.madaboutcards.com/

this one they have a pound shop (obviously all items a £1) items range from cards/embelishments/toppers etc to adheisve decoupage ink pads etc.it really is a great site