Hochanda

We know just how much preparation is needed to make the perfect, handmade Christmas, that’s why we’re bringing you 12 Days of Christmas Crafting , launching Sunday 3 rd July at 8pm! From Sunday you can enjoy 12 amazing One Day Specials from your favourite brands including Chloe’s Creative Cards, Phill Martin’s Sentimentally Yours, Claritystamp, Imagination Crafts, Apple Blossom, Sizzix, Stampendous in addition to Sheena Douglass, Debbie Shore and Sara Davies – we’ve got something for everyone . Are you a freedom member? Great news – we’re giving freedom members 12% off selected products featured during our live shows, so don’t miss your chance to get your hands on a great deal! If you’re not a freedom member, why not join today and reap all of the benefits during our 12 Days of Christmas Crafting event! We’ll also have a prize draw EVERY DAY! Shop between 8pm – 8pm and you will be entered in to our daily prize draw. The winners will be announced du

Flamingoes are so 'IN' right now, so why not jazz up your favourite living space with this easy, home decor step-by-step from the lovely Katie Skilton!  Hello.. I would like to share quick tutorial with you using the  Sizzix Thinlits Die Set Funky Flamingo . This is such a fun die and one which can really set your creativity loose.  These dies will be on a show coming to you very soon so keep a look out! With such a fun die it means that you can really add colour and texture to your projects and it works really well. Here is a quick tutorial on how I created this piece of home decor. Materials: Sizzix® Thinlits™ Die Set 3PK - Funky Flamingo Sizzix® Thinlits™ Die Set 7PK - Hello Doily Embroidery Hoop Fabric Cardstock Pink Pom Pom Twine Resin Flower Sequins Method: Step 1 Place the fabric into the embroidery hoop and pull tight.  Trim around to remove all the excess fabric from the back. Step 2 2.  Die-cut the Flamingo t

If you liked the Entwined dies that our Leonie bought you earlier in the month then you'll LOVE the embossing folders that co-ordinate with the dies that Leonie is launching this Thursday! We're so excited that we asked a member of her talented design team, Nick Roberts to share a step-by-step with us, showing just how versatile the range really is.  Morning, I am very excited to be sharing this project with you today. The lovely Leonie, is launching some brand new goodies for us on Wednesday evening at 8pm on Hochanda. All I will say is that they are wonderful and are designed specially to co-ordinate with the 'Entwined Hearts' die cutting range. That said they are so versatile and work really well as a stand alone essential or any of your existing stash. Beginning with the 'Dotty Heart'  embossing folder from the new collection, I embossed a piece of parchment. To ensure the parchment didn't tear or buckle, I placed it between a folded sheet

Last week, our lovely presenter Hayley West visited a lovely event in Loughborough. She had such a great day she wanted to share with all of our crafters... "Once a year one I love to head of to a great event in Loughborough......  Sue and her team from Quorn Country Crafts host a charity event and it's always incredibly inspiring. To start with it's a wonderful venue the local parish church and every year it's transformed with a multitude of different sewn projects including some amazing quilts.  Huge quilt frames are erected to display the quilts to show them off to their best and they never cease to astound me.  There were stunning quilts, Jacobean Applique, Dramatic Geometric designs, Sampler Quilts, Quilts for children, examples using Jelly Rolls, Dresden Plate designs and Japanese inspired to mention a few, plus a display of beginners quilts.  One of the highlights of the exhibition was the Mini Charm Challenge... Just before Christmas, the ladie

The talented Katie Skilton is back with us for a Sizzix One Day Special on Wednesday 29th June, so we caught up with her this week to get a sneak peek of just some of the demonstrations she will be bringing! Hello there … I am very excited to be sharing some sneak peaks of the next size One Day Special coming up on Wednesday 28th and Thursday 29th June. All of these dies are super cute and a great way to get the most out of our summer crafting! Let me show you what I mean! First we have a cute little guy we have seen before! The Funky Flamingo.  This was so popular before we have brought him back again and this time I will be sharing even more fresh and new inspiration with you!  We then have a really cute Sizzix Thinlits Die Set which features a cute bird and a cage to put him in! Not only is this great for your 3D projects but the bird works great on your cards and other paper crafting projects as you can see below. There are going to be a lo

In preparation for our Card Making with Creativ Company shows this Saturday we thought we'd share this handy, Monochrome Wedding Stationery tutorial with you!   This easy step-by-step is made from a greeting card decorated with black design paper and white textured paper with printed text for each of your guests. Decorated with a matching waistband made from the same materials and a rhinestone sticker, this will be sure to add some bling to your day. Download the envelope template and line it with glitter paper to make it extra special for your wedding day! Download your Envelope Template Here Step 1. Make a waistband by cutting a 4cm wide piece of black design paper with glitter to the same width as the greeting card. Make a 'name tag' in the same manner as the invitation itself (see the next step). Make the lining for the envelope from the same paper using the template which is available as a separate PDF file for this idea. NB: the lining can be loosely pl

We are so thrilled that one of our very talented guests, Sara Davies, founder of Crafter’s Companion has been appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Her Majesty’s Birthday 2016 Honors List as a result of her contribution and achievements in the craft industry. This is the latest and greatest achievement for the 32 year old Durham born entrepreneur who has taken her craft supplies company from a university bedroom start-up to an international market leading business in just 11 years. Sara says: “ I am thrilled, honoured and so genuinely humbled by this recognition. I’m also still a bit shocked, to be honest “ This is nice recognition for the industry as well, as this just doesn’t happen to people in our industry . “ I’m quite excited that it might hopefully raise the profile of the industry as well as the business. “ I also hope it inspires others entrepreneurs in craft to believe, innovate and put our industry firmly on the map. ”

We're so excited that Mandy Noble will be joining us for Thursday's Sizzix Patchwork One Day Special this week that we wanted to share with you this beautiful Scotty Dog Cushion Project with you!  You Will Need: Sizzix® Big Shot™ Machine (660200) or Sizzix® Big Shot™ Express Machine (660850) or Sizzix® Big Shot™ Plus Machine (660020) Sizzix™ Bigz™ L Die - Scottie Dog by E L. Smith (661279) Plain blue fabric - 45 x 35cm (18” x 14”) for cushion front Plain beige fabric - 45 x 35cm (18” x 14”) for cushion back Plain grey - 35 x 15cm (14” x 6”) for dogs Grey and white spot fabric - 35 x 15cm (14” x 6”) for dogs Plain pale blue fabric - 6cm square (2 ½”) for heart Fusible web - 35 x 35cm (14” x 14”) Grey piping cord - 1.25m (50”) Cushion pad - 39 x 28cm (15 ¼” x 11”) Finished size - 39 x 28cm Approx (15 ¼” x 11”) RS - Right Sides WS - Wrong Sides How to Make: 1. Cut a 6cm square from the fusible web and fuse to the wrong side of the plain pale bl

Katie Skilton gives us a sneak peak at what's to come with her next show on Hochanda with Sizzix! Hello there… Today I wanted to share a quick blog post with you with some sneak peaks of what I have coming up on my Sizzix shows on Sunday 19th June. I know there are a lot of Tim Holtz fans out there so this release is going to be really exciting for you. It is time to get those inks, paints and mixed media projects out as these new dies will be perfect for that. One of the most popular products on my Hochanda shows are always the Sizzix Mixed Media dies and this time will be no exception as I bring you the latest release - Mixed Media #3 Not only that but we have some fabulous cogs in both Biqz dies and Thinlits Dies. And of course the new release Sizzix Bigz Die Dapper.  How cool is this for the men in your life? Over the 3 shows I will be showing you how to get the best from your Sizzix dies and sharing a lot of crafty inspiration.

Back in May we gave you a sneak peek to an exciting new supplier that will be joining us, so before their first shows we thought we'd get together with the very talented Tracey Evans, the Powertex Guest so you can all get to know her just a little bit better!  Introduce yourself. I’m Tracey Evans. I’m a wife, mother, arts and crafts enthusiast, and Creative Director of Powertex UK. Tell us how you got into Powertex, was it something that you had always wanted to do? Arts and crafts have been a passion of mine for a long time. I love to create and experiment with a variety of methods and mediums…but when I discovered Powertex, everything else got left on the shelf. I couldn’t believe that this amazing product wasn’t more widely available. After that, events just seemed to unfold and before I knew it my husband Garry and I were journeying to Belgium to pitch our business proposal to the owner of Powertex International! When you are not creating, what else d