Here at Trimcraft we have a huge range of products across all our brands - and who better to pick out the amazing hidden gems you might have overlooked than our own staff? In this new series here on The Craft Blog, we’re asking our staff all about their favourite products from our ranges – why they love them, what they use them for, and why they recommend them!
In today’s post, Alli from our Marketing department will be telling you all about her 5 everyday faves from Dovecraft that she can’t live without!
As Marketing Exec for Trimcraft, not only do I have the lovely job of running our social media accounts (and reading and replying to your wonderful comments!) but I also am lucky enough to get to regularly test out our products – putting them through their paces and creating all kinds of fun projects to inspire you. Despite only having gotten heavily into papercraft late last year, my craft room has already absorbed many products from our range – a lot of which I wouldn’t be without!
Today I’m taking you through my top 5 recommendations from our affordable everyday crafting line, Dovecraft – I hope you uncover some gems for your own craft room!
A3 Heatproof Messy Mat
Probably my favourite Dovecraft launch of the year – because it’s just so versatile – is the Heatproof Messy Mat, a flexible, non-stick craft mat suitable for everything from hot glue to baking cookies (although probably not at the same time, right?) The last time I bought a blending mat, I melted it the very first time I used it, so having a mat that’s suitable for everything is a godsend for me! Whether I’m ink blending, heat embossing, painting or using markers, it’s one of the most useful items on my crafting desk. I’ve already bought several as Christmas gifts for all my crafty friends, who I know will love them too.
One of my favourite ways I’ve used it recently is to make tiny ‘water drops’ from glitter glue to use on an ice lolly themed card. Afraid of messing up my card by applying the glitter glue directly onto my embellishments, I just applied it to the messy mat in the desired shape instead and left them to dry overnight. Once they were completely dry, the flexible mat made it super easy to peel them off and pop them onto my card with a little dab of glue. Brilliant!
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Gem Pick Up Tool
It doesn’t matter how simple I originally aim my project to be, there’s always something that ends up being fiddly. Usually, it’s something of the very small variety; gems, sequins, tiny stickers, miniscule die cuts, tiny beads and more have caused me more frustration than I care to admit over the years!
Luckily the Dovecraft Gem Pick Up Tool, with a pointed wax nib, is perfect for picking up tiny bits when gluing them into place. I can even gently reshape the end by warming it between my fingers if it starts to get a bit flat! The other end also has a small metal point, which is excellent for prodding things into exactly the right spot.
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Ultra Smooth Card
This card has been my absolute go-to ever since I become obsessed with stamping and colouring with alcohol markers – thanks to a wooden drawing board and some giant bulldog clips, colouring a pile of stamped images has become my favourite in-front-of-the-fire winter evening activity. The super smooth surface makes stamping a dream, and the dye ink I use dries almost instantly. Blending colours is super simple and the heavy weight of the card can take a lot of ink without adding too much bulk to a finished card. It even cuts perfectly! This is absolutely a hidden gem in the range, and if you’re into stamping, I definitely recommend you give this one a go.
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Sentiment Stamp Sets
I do dabble in quite a few different crafts, but I always come back to card making – in fact, I’m often finding ways to incorporate other crafts into my cards! This year I’ve stitched, painted, and coloured on my cards, but no matter how I’m decorating them, they all need one thing: a sentiment! Good, affordable sentiment stamp sets are hard to find – but I love these two from Dovecraft Essentials, because they have such a great variety of different messages included. Perfect on both the outside and inside of your card, they work alone, together, or even combined with other die cut or stamped sentiments to create new messages. I can’t believe they’re only £2 each!
Shop on Amazon - Occasion Sentiments Set | Everyday Sentiment Set
Premium Glitter Card Pads
While I love glitter card, I tend to only use a little bit on each project, so I don’t need tons of sheets of the same colours cluttering up my craft room! These pads are a newer release from Dovecraft, and I love that they have a selection of different colours and come in a gummed pad too, which is much easier to store. Also, with 24 sheets in each pack, it works out to less than 42p a sheet, which is an incredible price point for heavyweight glitter cardstock! The metallics pad is definitely a classic, with 5 everyday colours I reach for all the time, but if you’re into colourful cards then the pastels and brights are totally worth a look too.
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Shop at Craft Stash - Metallics | Pastels | Perfectly Pink
I hope you enjoyed this look at my favourite Dovecraft products, and that you found something new to add to your wishlist! What are your favourite Dovecraft goodies? Do share them in the comments – we’d love to hear them!