Crafters Reveal Their Favorite Things To Craft
Looking for inspo on things to craft? Let these amazing stories and projects from the ladies of our awesome Bright Star Crafters crafting community inspire you!
One Craft Avenue
I’m Sara, a Cricut crafter with severe sublimation obsession!
I’m a stay-at-home mom and crafting has been my creative outlet for the past three years! I’m always on the hunt for new DIY project ideas and I teach you along the way because I’m sure everyone could use a creative outlet!
My Cricut maker and I have been buddies, together we make most of my handmade gifts! My most used materials are permanent vinyl and HTV, but I have been obsessed with sublimation so my sublimation printer has been my best friend as well.
Find me on Instagram and TikTok, and let’s get in touch!
How long have you been crafting? Do you make them as gifts or do you sell?
I have been crafting for officially two years (that’s when I got my Cricut), but I was playing with acrylic paint and resin before that! You might be able to see a little of these on my feed.
I started to make my crafts as gifts, but I have started selling very recently. I launched my Etsy shop last November and last Christmas was my first selling month. I used my Cricut to customize Christmas ornaments for my customers, it felt amazing! Since I started selling, I have been taking notes on what other fellow crafters are selling and/or would like to learn! This helps me a little to create content that people are looking for.
What are your favorite things to craft?
I recently realized that I am a big vinyl crafter! I like to customize/ beautify everything with vinyl from water bottles to labeling my storage containers.
Also, I gifted myself a heat press for Christmas, so I have been making shirts with sublimation or HTV and I’m enjoying it! Here are a few of what I made! I have been obsessed with sublimation, so I made tumblers and mugs as gifts for my friends and family.
What do you like most about Bright Star Crafters products?
I love the amazing customization of the materials! It is very empowering as a crafter to be able to choose the exact color that I like for a pattern or a material in general.
I love Sublimation Paper! It helps crafters who have no sublimation printer to try sublimation and enjoy it. Also, from my experience, I feel that crafters are often looking for sublimation designs, so I think it is amazing to have designs that could be customized ready for us. For Sublimation Paper, I think it would be a great project idea to use it as a full wrap to sublimate tumblers or mugs. It would be very stunning to see these beautiful patterns as a whole on items–bottles, tumblers, mugs, coasters, and wood blanks–to eliminate the need for weeding.
Melrose Paper NZ
My name is Mel, and I’m a full-time craft enthusiast from Dunedin, New Zealand. I have two wee girls (aged 3 and 5) who have followed in my footsteps and will often be at my side helping me package items, glue things down, or just push the buttons on my Cricut.
Melrose Paper NZ Crafting and Art has always been a passion of mine! I remember sitting on the floor in our lounge as a kid sorting out my pencils by color, cutting little bits of paper into tiny pieces, and gluing them onto anything and everything. And my all-time favorite: taping popsicles sticks together to make beautiful works of art. Or so that’s what my mum said anyway. Thanks, mom!
I’d love for you to come say “hi” to me over on my Website, Facebook or Instagram. And as always, happy crafting!
How long have you been crafting? Do you make them as gifts or do you sell?
My passion for crafting has been around since I was a toddler. And it’s only grown from there. I was inspired by my grandma and got into cardmaking as a teenager and then as my skills increased, I ventured into scrapbooking as well.
I later got married, had my first child, and just knew that I wanted to be a stay-at-home-mum, so that’s when Melrose Paper Designs was born. I began to push out my cards more just to make a little bit of extra cash and to keep that mum-brain working. They sold, sure, but not nearly enough to make a steady income. So, I started looking into other ideas and crafts.
Cake bunting was next on the list of things to try. They were so fun to make, and they sold quite well, but I was only limited to the dies that I had available for my Cuttlebug. I think I’m showing my age a bit here, but who remembers those old things? I do still use it now and then, but mostly for embossing.
It wasn’t until I invested in an electronic cutting machine that my business took off and my personal craft ideas went crazy. Cutting machines weren’t readily available in New Zealand at that time, so I purchased one from the USA where my mother-in-law lives. She kindly left clothing behind, so she could fill up her suitcase with craft supplies and brought it over on a trip to NZ.
What are your favorite things to craft?
Investing in a Cricut scared me as it seemed like a massive step. I was a nobody crafter and putting hundreds of dollars upfront was incredibly daunting. I didn’t know whether I’d be able to upscale my business and pay it off. I didn’t know if I’d enjoy it and it could’ve all proved a waste of money.
But that wasn’t the case at all! With any image available up my sleeve, I was able to make any type of card or cake bunting I wanted. And the options for other products and personal craft ideas were endless. Regular cake toppers (see below) seemed like a big jump for me, but it was something I really wanted to try my hand at. I made my first one and it failed miserably! It was thin and flimsy and didn’t look nice at all. I hadn’t joined the words together in the right places. I wasn’t using the correct fonts or cardstock. And they weren’t good for anything other than for the bin. But as the old saying goes, “Practice makes perfect.”
Now cake toppers are up there as one of my favorite things to make. 90% of the cake toppers I make are personalized or customized in some way, so I’m not just making the exact same product repeatedly. Variety is key to enjoying the craft and getting ideas and inspiration from my customers keeps things fresh and fun.
I now have two different branches of my business. The first is selling handmade party décor. If you had told me 4 years ago that I would be specialising in cake toppers, I wouldn’t have believed you. My range also includes banners, loot bag stickers, cupcake toppers, birthday invitations, and more.
What do you like most about Bright Star Crafters products?
My other specialty is making earrings–using paper! And before you run away on me, no, they don’t fall apart within two minutes. The bases are wooden which is where the earrings get their thickness from. I use the decoupage method and then seal them with resin or other mediums. I’ve still got the original pairs I first made years ago, so they are very sturdy. These pairs below were ones from my recent Earth collection. I made them using Bright Star Crafters cardstock. The quality of the paper is premium, and the gloss is next level. They are definitely a firm favorite to use.
My favorite thing about Bright Star Crafters products is the ability to customize the color to suit my needs. When I had this Earth collection in mind, I knew I wanted a dirt brown color, and I was able to customize each pattern to match that perfectly. And the super speedy shipping to New Zealand is always a win, too! I couldn’t believe how fast they arrived.
I’ve used Bright Star Crafters products for other crafting projects as well. I love making things for my girls – lunch box decals, bedroom décor, wall art, and other fun things. The quality of their products shines high in the crafting world, and I would recommend it to any home or business crafter.
Joy Coast
I’ve always been a crafty person, the type who would make clothes for the dogs as a kid and decorate my school books. As an adult, it grew to creating themes decorations in my workplace and now the attitude of, “let’s give it a go!” to all sorts of crafts.
How long have you been crafting? Do you make them as gifts or do you sell?
I have always been a bit of a crafty person; however, it got more serious around 4 years ago when I started adding the option of personalization to some of the pet products I was selling at the time.
This hobby grew over the years, with my hobby cutting machine being upgraded to a small commercial machine and now I run my own business based purely on handmade and personalized items. I sell a range of items from basic name labels, to resin keyrings and layered cardstock images.
What are your favorite things to craft?
I’ve recently developed a love for making resin items, this year adding personalized bag tags and keyrings to my store, incorporating acrylic, vinyl, resin, and various glitters to create one-of-a-kind items.
What do you like most about Bright Star Crafters products?
I started using Bright Star Crafters self-adhesive vinyl in the last few months. I have used quite Crafters vinyl cuts, weeds, and transfers. The beautiful patterns make the designs look amazing with no extra effort, which my customers absolutely love. This allows me to offer something a bit different. I look forward to trying more of the range in the near future.
Only The Sweet Stuff
Debbie Hatumale-Uy from Only the Sweet Stuff, a crafting business from Kellyville in Sydney’s northwest, is a mum to a toddler, a teenager, and a newborn. She founded her personalized and blanks business while on maternity leave. You’ll see the kids pop up on her stories all the time.
Check out Debbie’s awesome crafts on her Website, and follow her on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
How long have you been crafting? Do you make them as gifts or do you sell?
I’ve been crafting since 2021, and I actually started crafting during lockdown when pregnant – and actually, I didn’t want to do it.
I was hesitant to spend a fortune on the equipment to learn yet another craft, and I was worried I would just discard it all and move on to the next hobby! But Hubby knew better and went to buy it all, saying I needed something to keep my mind “off nausea” and that it did! I just kept crafting and posting on my social channels, and all of a sudden I had people placing orders! I then opened my website in 2021 (a month after Chris was born) and haven’t looked back.
Since then I’ve expanded my business to help other crafters and small business owners by stocking trending blanks at a price point they can afford. I’m so grateful to be able to craft and run this business around the kids, sending personalized gifts nationally and internationally and supporting other small businesses with the blanks. I’m currently on maternity leave from my full-time gig working in communications and crafting when I can- usually when my 9-month-old is strapped to my chest in the carrier and asleep!
What are your favorite things to craft?
I love working with HTV and patterned vinyl. I find HTV easier to work with and it’s super satisfying when you peel off the transfer and it’s set perfectly!
With patterned vinyls, I love using them as an offset to hero the name or message that the customer has chosen. I often choose a line font where you can weed out parts of the name so you can see the patterned behind it.
I’m always surprised when others like what I make, too, and want to know how to make it as well, just like this reel I made when someone wanted to know how to use the offset button!
What do you like most about Bright Star Crafters products?
I love that everything is customizable–from the background to the colors. The shipping was super fast, too. I remember placing my order and a few hours after, I got a dispatch notification. I don’t know how they do it!
My only concern is running out of a certain pattern when a customer wants a last-minute order! I want to start using the sublimation transfer sheets when I get a second to have a play!
Danni Marchi
Hi! I’m Danni, and I have a serious Cricut addiction. When I’m not crafting, I’m on a mission to label the entire house. The dogs will be lucky to escape my labelling clutches!
How long have you been crafting? Do you make them as gifts or do you sell?
I’ve been crafting on and off ever since I can remember, creating often custom cards and stationery. I began exploring my creative side more, so after graduating from university, I delved into the world of jewelry-making and beading.
I am a trained vet, so crafting has been a fantastic outlet for me away from the stresses of work. Since my son was born, I’ve been a stay-at-home mum and purchased my Cricut Explore Air when he was only 6 months old. Two-and-a-half years later, it is safe to say I am well and truly addicted!
At this stage, I am mainly creating gifts for family and friends and learning which projects I enjoy working on most. Trying my hand at many different types of projects has been a fantastic learning experience from online design creation all the way through to execution and the final product presentation. I’m hoping to start selling once I am more settled on my niche and feel confident with my product production.
What are your favorite things to craft?
Oh, my goodness! So many to choose from! My favorite things to craft always lean towards vinyl or HTV and more recently, mixed media and taking classes to refine my resin knowledge and techniques. Sentimentally though, my favorite projects have been the cake topper for my son’s 1st birthday and a little t-shirt I made for him to wear when my Dad sadly passed away.
I have loved making special, personalized gifts for friends such as photo frames, cards, bespoke wine or whisky bottles, and baby birth stats shadow frames. I am also a self-confessed font addict and am currently in the process of labeling our entire house.
What do you like most about Bright Star Crafters products?
The Bright Star Crafters products stood out before I even used them. I loved the idea of an affordable vinyl or HTV that I could purchase as individual sheets in the size of my choice rather than a roll.
The extensive variety of colors and patterns had me scrolling well into the early hours of the morning! What I was really impressed with was when I found just how well the vinyl cut and how easy they were to weed.
The Customer Support was also invaluable as were the online video tutorials when I was having a midnight mind blank (cause with a toddler that is often the only time to create and craft these days!). I have some special vinyl I’ve been saving for a complicated mandala and instead of being anxious about it not working, I’m confident in my materials and ability now that I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into it. Can’t wait for you all to see it!
Ready To Get Crafting?
You’re going to love using Bright Star Crafters Multi Panel Adhesive Vinyl Bundle. It’s jam-packed with the trendiest designs ever, and it’s especially perfect for crafting smaller items like mugs, jars, totes, bag tags, coasters keyrings, and more.
With a combination of 36 different colors and patterns across 12 different sheets, the crafting possibilities and combos are almost endless. Check it out at the button below.
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