17 November 2024

Wonderbly Christmas 2024 gift guide + a discount code (25% off & free standard shipping!)

Hi Everyone,

I am terribly sorry for not writing much over the last long while, but it would appear that my "short" break from crafting has turned into a slightly longer one... I will still make cards, and blog/Instagram about them, but I will probably need another few months before I get back to it. 

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In the meantime, I wanted to pop over - like I do every year - and share some Wonderbly book reviews with you. If you would like to see my previous years' gift guides, please pop over here & here

This year, we'll focus on 2 new-ish options that Wonderbly has to offer. They have come up with lots of fantastic new ranges, and I hope to write about them in the months to come, as I discover them one by one :o)

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Option 1 - for journaling lovers: Your Self-Care Journal for the year ahead

I will be very honest with you - I am not a huge fan of journaling myself, but if you are or know someone who is - this would be a fantastic option! 

I love the format of the journal - the spiral spine allows for the pages to be fully flat thus making it easier to use. Additionally, you can decide when the journal & its calendar should commence, hence if you're planning to gift it to someone later in the year (e.g. not for Christmas, but for a summer birthday) - they will get to enjoy their journal as well as the calendar part for all the months ahead. 

The journal is created using its recipient's date of birth, and is meant to help with goal setting, self-discovery, visualisations, reflection & habit-tracking. It's also filled with artwork/colouring & doodling pages (which are personalised, of course), motivational prompts & quotes, and some facts around its recipient's astrological character traits, sun sign, etc. 



All in all, even though it might not be 100% for me, I found reading through the personalised parts of the journal really interesting. 

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Option 2 - For cocktail lovers: How to Make a Name-tini 

This new book is much more up my alley than the journal ;o) And I think that it would make a fun and unexpected present for many people in our lives! 

Imagine getting a personalised book with 29 cocktail recipes, one of which is named after you! Eeek! How exciting! 

This is a smaller format book - I suppose because it's meant to be handy in the kitchen & on the counter, whilst you're creating your various concoctions. 

However, to be perfectly honest, I feel that Wonderbly should have also gone for the spiral binding option for this book, as having it lay perfectly flat would make following the recipes & instructions easier and less messy. Additionally - in the perfect world - I would like to have the option for sleeker/laminated pages, to ensure that no harm is done to the book whilst it gets used in the kitchen. 

Despite the above, I honestly think that this would be a super fun present for many adults in our lives. I love the graphics & colours, and the dash of (see what I did here? :P) personalisation throughout the pages makes it even more appealing. 

I am yet to try out the recipes, but I will leave the making of the cocktails to the lucky recipient! 

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I don't have any new options for babies or children to write about this time, but if you look through my previous Chistmas gift guides - my recommendations from back then are still my favourites to this day (and they'll probably be hard to beat, although I'm sure that Wonderbly will surprise me yet!). 

The "Where are you" collection remains the absolute winner in our household, and I cannot recommend it enough, for kids & adults alike!

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DISCOUNT CODE:

IF YOU ARE READING THIS BEFORE OR ON DECEMBER 4th 2024, use
BFDHZIFB for a whopping 25% off AND free standard shipping*
*free standard shipping does not apply in Spain at the moment, sorry :-(

I will make sure to update the code after December 4th, with the standard 15% discount, but the above Black Friday code is the best offer Wonderbly offer throughout the whole year. 
So, now is a great time to stock up on presents for the upcoming months!


If you have any questions, or would like me to order & review any particular Wonderbly books - give me a shout, and I'll see what I can do!

Happy shopping & personalising,

Mirella

30 October 2023

Wonderbly Christmas 2023 gift guide + a discount code (25% off & free shipping)

Hi Everyone,

With Christmas slowly approaching, and people starting to plan and seek for gift ideas for their loved ones, I thought that I would share with you a few of my recent discoveries in the personalised Wonderbly books range. 

I wrote a similar blog post last year, so - if you're looking for additional recommendations - please make sure to pop over here

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FOR THE LITTLE ONES

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Wonderbly have kindly sent me one of their recent personalised Christmas stories, "Your night before Christmas", which I feel is somewhat of a Christmas version of their best selling "Lost my name" book. 

Taking into consideration how much my kids (now aged almost 6 and 8) loved, and still love, reading about the little girl who lost her name, I had no doubts that my little Hanna would be thrilled to get a Christmas version of the story. And I was not wrong - just look at the smile on her little face, as her older sister explored the story with her for the first time.


As always, the story is full of beautiful and colourful images and illustrations, and the quality of the book is fantastic. We thoroughly enjoyed the journey searching for Hanna's name through Christmas wonderland. 





In this book, aside from the usual personalised dedication, you can also add a photo of your child at the beginning of the story, which I thought was an additional special touch. 

The only constructive feedback I have for this lovely story is the rather low amount of options in terms of choosing the looks of the main protagonist - whilst a few skin tones & hair styles are available, I wish there were better options in terms of haircuts (in our case, we were lacking the option of a little girl with a fringe), eye colour/shape, etc. 

All in all, the girls enjoyed it, and they confirmed that they recommend it for a Christmas pressie! :o)

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FOR OLDER KIDDOS

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If you're after a present for a slightly older child (or not necessarily a Christmas-themed one), Amelia (age 8) and I recommend the "You are extraordinary" self-belief journal for kids. Amelia got this for her birthday back in August, and she has had lots of fun with the information pages & activities included. 

In a few year's time, it will also be a fun reminder of what she was into at the age of 8!

One of Amelia's favourite pages is the "extraordinary by definition" section, where a dictionary of made-up words using her names & surname has been created:


The nice thing about this journal is that there are sections just for reading (and contemplating!), some are dedicated to colouring & doodling, and then of course there are also sections that need to be completed by its owner:


But, there are also some surprising activities included:


We highly recommend this journal for any child that can read and write. Amelia has a couple of similar journals already, but she really enjoyed exploring this one, as the personalisation made it just that tiny bit more special.

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FOR ADULTS

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Finally, a little recommendation for those adults in your life who already "have it all" (have a peek at what Wonderbly offer in their range for adults here). 

Last year, we tested out the adult version of the "Where are you" books on Granddads and Uncles, and they were a big hit (you can read more about these in my Christmas post from 2022). 

Earlier this year, Granny received "The book of Everyone" (birthday edition), which she absolutely loved. This is now also available in a Christmas edition, as well as a couple's and a milestone birthday edition, amongst others.



There is room for LOADS of personalisation in these books, and we especially loved adding lots of photos to it (I won't be sharing them on the blog for privacy reasons, sorry!). 



The only disappointing part of the book we created was the Global Times section, dedicated to events from the year the recipient was born - we feel that a bit more effort could have been put into this page for some of the dates (s0me have this section filled to the brim, so you might be more lucky!). 

We overcame this issue by adding cut outs from more recent newspapers where Granny was featured, which was also fun! 


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BRAND NEW BOOK ALERT

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I, personally, am very excited for one of the newest additions to the Wonderbly collection - The Personalised Astrology books. Unfortunately, at the time of writing this blog post, I have not received my copy of the book just yet, hence I am unable to share my opinion about it. But, stay tuned in the coming weeks! :o)

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MORE IDEAS NEEDED....?

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If you are looking for additional inspiration for Christmas gift ideas that Wonderbly offer and recommend themselves, have a peek at their Early Christmas Gifts recommendation page. I am sure that you will find something for everyone over there. 

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DISCOUNT CODES - what you have all been waiting for :o)

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Affiliate disclaimer: if you purchase your books via the links in this blog post, or use the below coupon/discount codes, I will - at no additional cost to you - get a small commission from the sale, as I am a Wonderbly Ambassador, but please rest assured that all of my above opinions are honest, and I would not be putting that much effort into writing a long post about something that I don't personally endorse or believe in! 

Make sure to come back to this post once you're ready to purchase the Wonderbly books of your choice, as I will keep updating it throughout the rest of 2023 with the best discount code I have available. I would imagine they will have something special planned for Black Friday! ;o)

IF YOU ARE READING THIS BEFORE DECEMBER 5th 2024, use
BFDHZIFB for a whopping 25% off AND free shipping*
*free standard shipping does not apply in Spain at the moment, sorry :-(


Happy shopping, and let me know in the comments what caught your attention, or which books you already have in your Wonderbly collection!

Mirella 

22 March 2023

A sweet and simple (& quite quick to make!) card for a friend - for any occasion

Hi Everyone,

I hope you're all doing well! 

I shared this sweet card over on my Instagram recently, and so I thought that I would pop in in here, too! My plan is to go back through some of my favourite Insta shares, and post about them here on the blog, to share more info about the process, products used, etc. It shouldn't all be about the Insta love! ;o)


This sweet any occasion card came together rather quickly, as the colouring is not very complicated, and the background took literally just a few minutes - so, if you're a beginner, or you're under time pressure - it might be a great design idea to go for. Plus, you could use any critters you have, to achieve a similar effect. Changing the background colour combo would make it a great card for a male friend, too (I, of course, went for a more girly look this time - you know me, I love cutesy & pink!).

To achieve a similar look, all you need is to gently blend on some ink for your background (I used pink & purple, and left a bit of white around the edges, focusing on more intense shades towards the center of the panel). For a bit of interest, I added some shimmery splatter, and cut the panel with a stitched die. 

I coloured & die cut the adorable images by MFT, and stacked them one on top of the other, to make the scene more fun. I chose for the critters to stick out from the ink blended panel a little bit, too - this adds a bit of an "unexpected" element to the design, and makes it more interesting (+ notice that all of the coloured images are popped up with foam tape, yet again - to add some interest!).

Finally, I stamped the sentiments, and adhered the whole panel to a grey card base. The enamel hearts, some while gel pen highlights, and a black gelly roll for the critters' eyes were the perfect final touches - when you make a simple enough card, little details like this can make a big difference!


What do you think? I believe it's really adorable. 


Stay safe and crafty,

Mirella


SUPPLY LIST (please see affiliate disclaimer & essential supplies info here):

Stamp & Die set: MFT Weather with you. Sadly, looks like it's discontinued, but some crafty stores still have them in stock - google it! :o)

Embellishments: Doodlebug Rainbow Hearts


"Neenah Classic Crest 80 LB SMOOTH SOLAR WHITE Paper Pack 25 Sheets Neenah Classic Crest 80 LB REAM Smooth Solar White Paper Pack 250 Sheets" Simon Says Stamp Card Stock 100# FOG Gray FG27 Mama Elephant BASIC SET Creative Cuts Steel Die Set My Favorite Things EXTREME BLACK Hybrid Ink Pad MFT 2986 Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad WILTED VIOLET Ranger TDO56355 Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad WORN LIPSTICK Ranger TDO56362 Trinity Stamps WHITE Blending Buddy Brush tbb-w01 Trinity Stamps BROWN Blending Buddy Brush tbb-b01 Ranger Perfect Pearls PERFECT PEARL Individual Pigment Powder PPP17714 Sakura CLASSIC WHITE Bold Line 10 Gelly Roll Pen 31031 Sakura BLACK GLAZE GEL PENS Pen 2 Pack 38495 Ranger .5 Oz. MINI MULTI MEDIUM MATTE Glue INK41511 Quilled Creations PRECISION TIP Empty Applicator Bottle 317 Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045 MISTI PRECISION STAMPER Stamping Tool Kit MISTI MOUSE PAD INSERT 000144 Tim Holtz Tonic MAXI GUILLOTINE COMFORT PAPER TRIMMER 1980e Sizzix BIG SHOT MACHINE Gray And White 660425
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