Gab about Etsy

Hi there! So sorry I have been away, I was super bogged down with regular, but things have slowed down now and I have decided to reopen my Etsy shop. I think there is such a huge benefit to starting there because you have a built in audience; people who come there are already looking for handmade things. I have been updating items over there pretty regularly and will be getting back to blogging as well, starting with a post about the Tim Holtz Glass Media May which should be arriving at my house tomorrow! 

Be safe in these crafting streets! 

Happy crafting! 

-Gaby

Sewing Clear Pouches (Easy)

Hi everyone! I have been doing some sewing lately to keep in line with my resolution for crafting this year and I came across this amazing pattern for making clear pouches. I was on Pinterest and found this great pattern with some great pictures and easy to follow instructions.  I was able to cut a bunch of these out and then sew them very quickly. I used ribbon for some of them, but eventually opted to just use the fabric and switch up the sewing order to assemble them faster. 

Zelda fabric! 

Chococat everything! 

Hiw cute are these birds?

Harry Potter fabric. 

Zelda fabric again.  

If you have some cute fabric that you have been wanting to use, this pattern is great because the size is perfect for a travel makeup bag, pencil case, or toiletry bag.  As you can see with the photos above, I got carried away and made several. If you are going to do any embroidery like I did, cut your fabric first and then just center the design in your hoop.

Hey Mickey! 

These will hold brush markers and colored pencils! 

These are easy to mass produce and a little less intimidating if you want to make bags, but you are not super confident in your zipper installation capabilities (no shame, I'm just saying). Thanks for stopping by, until next time, happy crafting.

-Gaby

I tried the Tombow VIP Box...Here’s What Happened (Update)

Hi everyone, happy New Year! Gaby here with a review of the Tombow VIP box! So I’ll start by saying that I was super excited to get this when I first heard about it, but the box was underwhelming 2 months in a row. That may not sound like much, but at $30 monthly, I could have taken that $60 and gotten something I really wanted.  I figured that Tombow has so many products that I would be likely to get something awesome each month. In December I received many items I already had, but the value was very good and the items were all useful, even as duplicates.

It included a 6 pack of dual brush tip pens, a grey and black fudenosuke pen pair, an eraser and some cute colored pencils. Not a lot of new items for me, but still useful, so I decided to give January a chance. I wish I had gone with my initial thought to cancel. This box contained a mono 2way corrector, a 4 color pen, a mono twin pen, an adhesive, some small stickers and a Happy Mail calendar that prompts you to write letters.

This was SUCH a bizarre choice! It also included a certificate for 20 free pictures (to use in your calendar) but nothing really cool.

I would have preferred a hand lettering workbook, or even some worksheets. To be fair, I’m sure many people liked both months, but I can’t help but think that I could have taken this same money and gotten some Irojiten pencils. I do not regret trying the subscription box, but I did cancel it right after I opened the box for January. This is just my 2 cents and I try to be fair when I review because I never want to bash a product/company. If you tried out the VIP box leave your thoughts below!

****Update**** 

One day after this post I was contacted by the Tombow Team asking for my specific input about what I did not like about the box and what I expected before opening. First, I think it was awesome that anyone cared that a customer was not entirely satisfied, so many companies just keep moving forward, ignoring customers. I was already a Tombow fan (I asked for the Twintone Markers for Christmas!) but knowing that they request feedback from customers makes me love them even more. I hope that input from all customers is evaluated and it results in a better box for subscribers and Tombow! I really appreciated their approach to this whole thing.

Happy crafting! 

-Gaby