Just like Christmas... A visit from the supplies fairy!

Oooh the anticipation!

By now you probably know that I like to be frugal and thrifty whenever I can, and will only buy from large retailers when I have to (which is still more often than I like!) But, just because I keep a tight hold of my purse strings doesn't mean I don't get excited when the supplies fairy leaves a parcel of goodies at my door!

Let me at it!

A short while ago I took advantage of a too-good-to-miss offer with Panduro who were very generously offering a whopping 40% of all goods from their very extensive craft catalogue! Although I have used them before and have really liked the quality of their products as well as the massive amount of choice, I don't order very often as some of the prices can be much higher than you can find elsewhere.

The excitement builds...

BUT... 40% discount was too-good-to-miss, and this is what I bought:

Et voilà!

1 large square scrapbooking frame, 13 blank A6 notebooks, 2 oval wooden boxes, 1 straw wreath, 1 wooden chicken, a packet of toadstools and 1m of fine black netting!

And this is what I made with some of the contents of my parcel:

As you can see I have a bit of a thing for red at the moment!

(and it's a good thing too - since Poppy season is upon us and all I've been doing for the last 2 weeks is making poppies!)

Tuesday Tips - Be Thrifty!

Who says you have to pay over the odds for craft materials?
Not me, that's for sure!

If you can't forage for your craft materials (see last weeks blog here) then at least try to be thrifty when buying them! Look:

A lovely beaded necklace found for sale at the local junk market/bootfair for only 50p! Really not my style at all, but a fabulous source of beads - and I bet it'll work out cheaper than buying from any 'normal' retailer!
Give them a wash off in warm soapy water, then carefully de-string them all, and just look at all those beads!

In total the necklace yielded approximately 100g of seed beads for 50p - buy something similar from Hobbycraft and you would be paying 99p for just 15g!

Now I understand that it's not always possible to source all of the materials you need from 'alternative' sources - I still have to pay for the majority of my materials from every-day retailers, but it really doesn't hurt to keep your eyes peeled when you're out and about.... who knows what you might find!