Hello everybody, and welcome to the final week of Mid-Week Motivate & Create. I've had the best time working on this series with designbundles. This week's activity is definitely something all members of the family can enjoy, and participate in. This week, I'm making family prints.

For this post, I used the Build a Family bundle, which is just under £10, and comes with over 600 files! Whether you have ten children, or your family is just you and your partner - you can definitely utilise this bundle. I chose to do my sister, future brother in law, and niece and nephew; as I thought it might bring a smile to their faces.

This bundle genuinely quite scared me when I opened it - it's absolutely filled with body shapes, skin tones, clothes, hairstyles; there is a lot. But what I loved about this bundle is that nothing needed resizing and everything was easy to navigate; which made playing around with this bundle a lot more fun. And a lot easier for younger children to get involved too.

I used Photofiltre (as always) to work on the print today. Photofiltre is a free editing software which you can download online. Everything I design is from Photofiltre, and I'd highly recommend it. It's a simpler version of Photoshop - but a more advanced version of paint.

I started with an A4 landscape, as it seems that the default sizes of the PNG files are made to fit that image size (Width: 3508 x Height: 2480). I did try using the mother and father, but I actually found using the Child 5 option for the mum and the dad worked much better - plus all the "adult" hairstyles still fitted perfectly onto this child option.

I found starting with the adults first was best, as then it's easier to work out what size the children should be in comparison (if you have them!). My niece is only 11, but is almost the same height as her mum...and already taller than her auntie Zo!

All you need to do is copy and paste to your heart's content, and move the PNG files around. As long as your child knows how to copy and paste - they can have fun with this designing themselves, and their family, for hours! Once I was happy with my design, I hadn't quite made the family central, so I cropped it down ever so slightly and copied it onto a fresh A4 landscape, and it looked much better.

The cropped photo on an A4 background

You can then make the background transparent using this website that does it for you, to get it printed onto anything you'd like - or you can print it yourself onto card like I did, and frame it for yourself, or a family member. I think this would really put a smile on someone's face at the moment - so it's the perfect time to do it. It really does look so lovely when it's finished.

Hello everybody, I'm back with the third week of Mid-Week Motivate and Create. I hope you're all keeping safe and well. I'm so excited for this week's post, as I had a lot of fun designing this. For those of you who don't know, my sister is due to get married at the end of August (fingers crossed!). I'm her maid (matron, I know - but that does really make me sound old!) of honour, and my niece is her bridesmaid. So when I saw the Bridesmaid Clip Art bundle, I knew I had to design something for her wedding.

This pack from designbundles comes with 16 different hair styles, and you can choose from a variation of skin tones. Me, my sister, and my niece are all blonde and pale - so not much ! The pack is so easy to navigate, and besides a few images to resize, it's really fun to explore.

As usual, I used Photofiltre to design my image (Photofiltre is a simpler version of Photoshop - but is free!), but you could quite easily use paint, or any other software you might have on your computer.

I opened a new project with the dimensions, Width: 3508 x Height: 2480 (this is a standard A4 landscape). You then open the images you wish to use, and copy and paste to your heart's content. I left the sizing of the bodies the same, but I did struggle a bit with sizing of the heads - I used Width: 400 x Height: 560 if you want the same measurements! I also added some font at the bottom of mine, but you can use whatever you'd like on your design.

Once you're happy with your design, you can crop out any white bits at the sides (if you have any), and this next step is really important. You must make the background transparent. The photos below show you how to make your background transparent on Photofiltre (left is transparent, and right is normal), or alternatively, you can use this website, which does it for you. This ensures that when the design is printed onto anything, you only have the outlines of your bridal party.


This is where I may have cheated slightly! If like me, you enjoy being creative, but you're not quite Kirstie Allsopp's level yet - this is what eBay is for! You can buy anything on there from iron on transfers, to mugs, to tote bags; absolutely anything. I bought a personalised tote bag for £4.99 with my finished design on - and it is beautiful.

Next I'll be ordering iron on transfers to iron on to the back of the t-shirts we wear to get ready in when the day comes. You could even just print out the design on a greeting card, and give it to the bride on her big day - see how I made greeting cards here.

There's so much you can do with the design once it's complete, and I hope my sister loves it as much as I do. Whenever she does get married, this maid of honour will be ready and raring to go.

Hi everyone! I hope you're all keeping safe and well. I'm back with another edition of Mid-Week Motivate & Create! This series was made to keep hands, and mind busy at this already difficult time - with low-cost, fun ideas for all the family. Everything I've used today will be from designbundles. You should definitely check out their website - they have some truly inspiring bundles on there!

If you know me, you'll know that I'm a huge lover of making bracelets. There's something really therapeutic about making them, and the satisfaction and pride you feel looking at the end result is amazing. So today, I'm going to show you how to design bracelets - and attempt to show you how to make knots (I'm quite a knot novice myself!).

The bundle I used today is the Watercolour Pink Nebula collection - and I am utterly obsessed with this pack. I've made two bracelet designs today, but there were so many options available with this set. Wolves are one of my favourite animals, so when I saw a galaxy wolf in this bundle, I knew I had to create something with it!

Like last week, I used Photofiltre (a free editing software, available to download online) to create the backing card designs. I simply chose the silhouette I wanted, and copied and pasted it onto my blank backing card in Photofiltre. You can make it any size you'd like, but I usually use W: 970 x H: 1240 for mine, and trim and chop from there once printed.

I then added a quote that I liked, and copied and pasted the complete design onto a blank A4 page in Photofiltre (Size - W: 2480 and H: 3508). Try to make sure the resolution is set to 300, as it makes the quality of the pictures so much clearer.

I then used a mini guillotine to make clear cut edges for the bracelet backing card - but scissors are more than sufficient for this part!

Then the bracelet making begins.  Cut a piece of elastic cord, thread, hem cord to around 8-9 inches - anything you can find; but the stretchier, the better. I have a large selection of charms, but you could use absolutely anything. They're very cheap to buy online, but you could definitely use any beads you had lying around the house - or even something like pasta! Thread your chosen charm through and then the knot tying begins.

Step-by-step on how to tie a simple knot

I'll be honest - I am terrible at knots; absolutely terrible. So I used the most simple knot I could find. Please see the picture below to find a step-by-step of how I do my knots. But as long as it stays together - do whatever works for you; whether that be a fancy knot, like a sliding one; or something simplistic like mine.

Once the bracelet has been tied, slip it onto the pre-cut backing card and adjust it so it's in the desired place, and the charm is in the centre. I then placed mine into plastic pockets to keep them protected. And your bracelet is complete!

These make lovely gifts, and they're so thoughtful. You can add people's names, use their favourite animal - make it as personal as you wish. I would love to see any bracelets you make, so feel free to send photos across on social media.

Hi everyone! You may have clicked on this post to find some motivation, to gain some ideas, or simply get stuck in, and start being creative. If you're here for any of those reasons - you've come to the right place! Being stuck indoors all day, without seeing friends or family, is incredibly difficult. So I thought I'd start a craft series to keep your hands, and mind busy during these uncertain times.

Everything I've used today (and for the rest of the series) is from the fabulous designbundles. I found just looking at this website alone was enough to ignite the creative spark in me again. I wanted to create things that were accessible to all; and fun for all. So the first product I'll be making in the craft series, is greeting cards!

There's probably a few people in your life right now that you'd like to make smile, and let them know you're thinking of them; so I used the Motivational Quotes Bundle, and 150 Hand-Drawn Floral Illustrations, to create the greeting cards I'm going to show you today - and I'll be sending them to all my loved ones who I'm missing so very much right now.

I used an editing software today, called PhotoFiltre. It's free, and available to download online - but you could even use something as simple as Paint; as the files themselves are so versatile, and easy to use. The measurements I'm using for this post are for A5 cards - but you can make them any size at all!

For A5 cards, you create a new page that's W: 1754 and H: 2480. Then I simply opened the PNG files, and explored them to my heart's content. For my example below, I chose a wreath from the floral bundle, and the saying "enjoy the little things" from the motivation bundle. I simply copied and pasted it onto the page I had created earlier; moved them around, and resized them until I was happy. I then created another new page (A4 this time), which is W: 3508 and H: 2480. I copied and pasted my finished design and made sure it was on the right hand side of the page (the left half being blank). That way when you print it, it folds the correct way, as a normal card would. (That is a mistake I learnt the hard way when first making cards!)


If you're struggling with the software side of things (I understand not all of us are great at navigating technology) - simply print the files you'd like to use out, and go wild with some good old fashioned scissors and glue!

I made several designs, and had a lot of fun doing so. There are so many options to choose from using just these two bundles, and once they're printed (I just used my standard printer), they're lovely to send messages to loved ones, or for children to decorate inside. Mine are sitting pretty on my bookcase at the moment, and they're lovely little words of encouragement to look up and see. I think we could all do with a bit of positivity right now; and this is the perfect way to spread it, whilst keeping yourselves (and little ones) occupied.