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 :-(

From December 5th 2024 onwards, you can use: MIRELLA, for 15% off.

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

Mirella 

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

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Get Cracking on Christmas 2022 - December & a giveaway!

Hi Everyone,

I don't know how it is even possible, but it's almost Christmas, eeek! I hope you're all more-less prepared? I am done with most of the things I was hoping to be done with, but - as always - there are still a few bits & bobs outstanding... Upwards and onwards, WE CAN DO IT!

[by the way, if you are searching for a fun & personalised book to gift to someone this Christmas, why not check out my post here?] 

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If you are unfamiliar with the Get Cracking on Christmas initiative, please check out Jenn Shurkus's blog here. 

I have been having a bit of a crafting hiatus this year, due to a complicated house move & loads of renovations afterwards, so I sadly only managed to participate in Christmas card making (and any kind of card making for that matter!) a few times over the past few months. 

Here's the summary of my Get Cracking on Christmas of 2022:

Which one if your favourite? I am obsessed with the MFT Polar Bear one, but each of them represents something that I enjoy & like. 

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And now, for the GIVEAWAY part (for those of you who participated last year & earlier this year - I am keeping it the same, as everyone seems to really enjoy this idea!)...

I am giving away 1 stamp set (with coordinating dies, if applicable) or 1 die set, up to the value of €15, from my Instagram Destash Page (@destashbymirella) - so the real value of the item you choose might be much higher than that, really, since my destash prices are of course already reduced in comparison to the original prices of the products. There are both new and used stamps/dies there, so it's up to you what you want to choose! If you prefer a few smaller items instead of one bigger one - we can chat about that, too! It's meant to be fun! :o)

Rules?

- be my follower on Instagram (@handmadebymirella), following my destash page (@destashbymirella) or this blog is optional but always welcome :o)

- leave me a comment here, letting me know what caught your eye on the destash page (that doesn't mean that this is what you have to choose as your prize, if you are the winner - we can agree on that later); alternatively, let me know which of the above cards is your favourite & why

- I will choose the winner after Christmas, on December 27th, and will announce them here in this blog post. The winner will then have 2 weeks to contact me, via the "Contact me" tab on the blog

- Please note that I cannot guarantee that all of the items currently listed on my destash page will still be available there on and after December 27th, since I might make sales from it in the meantime (I doubt it, since people usually shop for other things around Christmas, but you never know!). But I do hope that you will find something for yourself there either way :o)

- open internationally, and if for some reason I am unable to post the prize out, due to Covid 19 restrictions or others, we'll come up with a solution, I'm sure!

Updated on December 27th:

THE WINNER IS DENISE BRYANT - CONGRATULATIONS! Please reach out to me via the Contact Me tab, let me know what you have chosen and what your address is, & I'll arrange for the prize to be sent out. You'll have until January 10th to claim your prize. 

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The last few years brought a few nasty surprises to the world, 

so here's to hoping that 2023 is THE year of positive change! 

As always, stay safe & crafty (I am wishing that the second part comes true for me!),

Mirella