If you've seen my Happy Stamping and Stamp City pattern collections, you'd probably know that I enjoy stamping shapes. There is a simple joy in the repetitive motion and seeing a shape appear instantly after each stamp.

I made my own stamps by cutting basic shapes out of foam sheets and gluing those cut outs onto wooden blocks, corks, spray bottle caps, and pretty much anything convenient lying around. It's super easy to make your own stamps, here's how:

Supplies

• Foam sheet (you can get this at craft stores, some stationery shops or dollar stores - anywhere that sells kids crafting supplies is good.
• Double sided tape - you can use glue too, but I find tape easier
• Something to stick your stamp on to - wooden blocks, thick cardboard, corks - anything that has a flat surface. Spray bottle caps work really well for small stamps!

Instructions

1. Draw the shape of your stamp on the foam sheet
2. Cut the shape out*
3. Double side tape your foam cut out to a block or other support

*You can also paste double side tape to the foam sheet first to cut it together with the tape - this works great for shapes with lots of tricky corners or fiddly bits.

It's as easy as that. Now you can ink up your stamp and have fun stamping!

I love pop-up books. It's fascinating how a paper universe springs to life with the turn of a page. I've tinkered with different pop up mechanisms over the years, and definitely want to make my own pop up book some day.

For today's Christmas Craft - I want to share a quick, beginner-friendly way to make a pop up. It uses the v-fold mechanism. A single, simple v-fold insert can be used as a base for lots of standing structures. I think it's a great one to make with kids, because it's easy to decorate the card by pasting drawings and cut out shapes to the insert, without having to worry too much about folding and angles.

Supplies

1. Scissors
2. Glue or double sided tape
3. Cut paper decorations - use colored paper or draw and color on plain paper
4. Thick paper or thin card (180 -250gsm) - 2 x A4 or letter size

• If you'd like to make a smaller card, you can use A5 or half lettter size too

Instructions

The V fold insert can be in any size, shape and color you like - it just needs to fit inside the card when folded into half and glued in. You can have multiple inserts in one card - just like the third card with cats in the video.

More Resources

If you're ready to make more pop ups, here are some resources I've found helpful:

• Matthew Reinhart's YouTube channel
• Duncan Birmingham's V-Fold Variations Playlist

Happy Crafting!