Turning a Memory into a piece of Art is easy with Paint a Moment, I found my moment of calm during this collaboration

Posted on October 12, 2026 by Sabrina

This October I have been gifted an opportunity, to make a photograph of mine into a piece of art. The photograph I chose was a macro image of some forget-me-not flowers that I had taken. I planted these flowers in my garden after I lost my final grandparent in tribute to her memory. The flowers mean a lot to me, and when the kind founder of Paint a Moment contacted me about a product review, I knew I wanted to turn something significant in my life into a painted piece of art.

Do you know what’s incredible? Watching your memory, and in my case my photographic art, take shape by my own hands, with every brush stroke and every paint pot change. Let me tell you why these pieces make the most incredible gifts, either for people in your life or as a present to yourself. Because making art is always calming and gratifying, but to watch your important things; such as your pets or people in your world come to life on the canvas, that is something else entirely. It is a wonderful feeling to watch the art develop over the days in which you paint it, you are giving a moment life, to keep it forever once you’re done.

Here is a photograph showing my original flowers image side by side with the canvas that I have received from Paint A Moment. As you can see it is intricate with many different shades and it will have areas that will require a delicate hand and a gentle touch. I recall saying to myself “I am sure this will keep me busy during my baby’s nap times for the coming weeks”. And boy did it! It took me roughly 30 hours to complete over the course of ten days. I will show you the finished canvas at the end of this article so please keep reading, let’s hear more about Paint A Moment now before I give my review.

Once you have chosen your picture Paint a Moment provide every paint that you will need, and also stickers so that you can label the paint pots according to the numbers on your printed picture. I received 3 brushes as well, different thicknesses so that I can tackle every aspect of my canvas. As you can see in my image below the pots have come in an awesome tray to keep things neat and tidy as well as the various stickers and a reference image of my photograph.

I found the painting was easy, by following the lines and the numbers. Not having to mix any paints was also a blessing, all the things that I needed were included, and I could just pick up the paintbrush when my baby was napping and paint a little. I would usually choose the largest amount of colour from the numbers I had remaining. So that way I could watch the painting come to life, one colour at a time. As I said above it took me ten days, roughly 30 hours. That was because it was very stop start, looking after my children between painting moments.

Speaking of moments, I wanted to include a quote from Paint A Moment founder Marcus in my review, here is what he has said about his business and the art they create.

“I wanted to make something that gets people off their phones for an evening (or longer) and leaves them with a painting of something they actually love: their dog, their nan’s house, a place they have been to. You don’t need to be able to paint, you just need a photo, a bit of patience and a moment to yourself”.

If you or someone you know could do with some grounding and relaxing artwork to complete, perhaps for someone too invested in their phone, then why not consider a piece as a gift. I think it’s the perfect thing for all because you don’t need to be able to paint to do paint by numbers work. When I agreed to this collaboration I checked out the shop on the Paint a Moment website, and they have three stages for painters of all levels and difficulties. It can be for anyone to enjoy.

A paint kit starts from £21.99 and you can choose if you want to add any additional things to that which incur costs such as a frame and extra paints. Paint a Moment have Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced kits available. As well as the custom kits of your own images too which is what mine has been.

Paint a Moment use stock images so that people can buy some of the art that is ready to paint in the levels of difficulty that I have mentioned above. I do feel the custom pieces that are available should be shouted about due to the quality they are able to achieve from someone’s photography, like my own. Their pictures are all stunning, ready to go and custom – because I checked out the reviews too. So many satisfied customers just like me. Why not check it out for yourself – once you have finished reading my article though! I’m sure you want to see how my canvas turned out don’t you… let’s continue…

The link to the Paint A Moment Shop is HERE

During the time I have spent painting my canvas, I have felt calmer than usual, and I have been able to reflect on my thoughts more whilst painting, more than I have ever been able to do while using some sort of a screen. I class myself as a creative person, mainly as a photographer, but I have painted many things over the years. To pick up some brushes again for the first time in a number of years was both satisfying and compelling, it has made me want to paint more. I am sad my canvas is complete, now I need another project to do. And you know what? The best thing about a hobby like this is that you can take your time, it isn’t a race or a necessity to complete it immediately after starting.

Here is my final finished canvas, are you ready? I am really happy with how it has turned out.

Overall I have been hugely impressed by this product, the company and the entire experience, and I rate this product a 5 stars across the board. I will now elaborate on each score below.

Product Quality 5✩
Delivery 5✩
Product Design 5✩
Ease of Use 5✩
Unique Value 5✩
Professionalism 5✩

Product Quality is hugely important when creating something yourself at home, from the paints and the individual pots, to the brushes and the canvas. I have been impressed by all of it. The paint pots come with stickers and are labelled too so there is no guesswork, you have absolutely everything you require in order to complete your art work and it’s laid out simply enough to follow.
Delivery was great, the canvas comes rolled, and you have all the items you need in one box, no messing around with multiple deliveries. I was impressed also by the timeframe of ordering with my own photograph, within a few days the printed canvas arrived with all I needed to get started.
The Product Design for this kit was excellent, even the foam that the paints arrive in means you don’t need any other products or art supplies, all that you need from start to finish is provided. The canvas itself is high quality and printed very clearly so that you can see the numbers you need and match them with the paint pots. For anyone new to a paint-by-numbers type of art, you would not feel any anxiety because you have everything you need plus its all simple to follow.
Leading on to Ease of Use now, as I just stated you have everything, all you need now is a flat surface and some free time in which to paint. Because the colours are made up specifically for your artwork, you do not need to go hunting for other colours, it’s all there ready for whenever you have a spare minute to do some painting. I worked by doing the larger areas first and then moved on to the more intricate parts of my photo which worked well for me.
The Unique Value of having a custom image created into art is excellent, and you cannot put a price on somebody’s memories and important imagery, so to immortalise that in canvas art to such a high standard is exceptional.
Finally the Professionalism of the website, the team and especially the founder of this company, proves why it is a good idea to support small UK business when you can. They make sure that you have the best experience and receive the best quality of product so that you can turn your art into a memory in itself, the experience of watching it come to life by your own hands is something that cannot be replicated by simply buying a ready made piece. By creating your own art work from a photograph, you are getting a unique item made for you and then completed by you.

Here is a triptych showing my photograph, the canvas plain ready for painting, and the finished piece when I had completed painting it. Other than perhaps learning to blend the edges of the colours more for the background, I am pleased with how this turned out.

As a keen creative I have been really excited by this collaboration and have thoroughly enjoyed painting my very own canvas, I would love to do another one someday soon.

I really appreciate you coming to my website today, thank you for visiting and reading this piece, and I hope you have a great day and come back again soon.

✩ Sabrina ✩

Please check out my social media for more product reviews and follow me for more content! Some reviews I only post to my Instagram especially videos, I am a busy parent but I try and write several new articles a month depending upon the content I have available. So please check my socials out if you have an account, search #severnsabrina or click the links below;
Sabrina on Instagram Severn_Sabrina
Sabrina on Facebook Severn Wishes Blog

In order to keep in touch with offers and new kits from Paint A Moment, their accounts to follow for social media include:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paint.a.moment

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@paintamoment

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paintamoment

Thank you to Paint A Moment for this opportunity, I have completely adored the whole experience and I would definitely purchase from your company for gifts for my loved ones in the future. Now I just have to choose which pictures to order!

Summer Stationery Collaboration with Gift Company

Posted on June 11, 2025 by Sabrina

This June I am so happy to announce I have a wonderful collaboration with Gift Company to share with you all. The store and I go way back, and when they approached me to showcase their brand new stationery collection I jumped at the chance (of course!) to do that.

The main design is a floral one, with butterflies and intricate flowers in pastel shades. The designs flow similarly throughout the set, tying in their compatibility and their uses. There are notebooks, planners, organisers, reminders set and even a pop up weekly calendar.

Gift Company have three designs for their stationery. Spring Breeze is the one I am reviewing, but there is also a Running Hare and Blue Floral set, they are all stunning. The Spring Breeze set contains 18 matching / similar items.

They also sell boxed sets with a repeating design including Hedgehogs, Mum’s Organisation, Bee’s, Robin’s, Cockapoo’s, Woodland Friends, Country Animals and more Pets too. So much choice that is ideal for everyone, something to suit everybody’s tastes.

If you would like to check out the sets I will be popping some links further on below my review scores, but until you get to that point please enjoy some of my photography, showcasing the stationery in it’s best light and detailing the beautiful designs.

The weekly pad I received has 56 pages which means you have more than a years worth of weekly pages ready for use. The weekly planner I got given has 61 pages, so you get way more than a years worth here too. Both are ideal for keeping track of things. The planner has more room to write in the columns, however the weekly pad also has the additional boxes of “Notes”, “I’m Working On It”, and “Quote of the Week”. So it would all be down to personal preference.

Gift Company also kindly sent me one further gift in the form of a pet memorial stone. I recently lost my eldest fur baby in May, and it hit me very hard. It was a lovely gesture from them as they reached out for this collaboration. And I want to thank them whole heartedly for the stone, here is an image of it. I can recommend it to anyone in the same position, it’s intricate details and kind words are comforting in a moment of grief. The sentence “You have left our lives but will never leave our Heart” is so poignant and true, and I am grateful for this memorial for my beloved pet.

Sabrina’s Product Review Scores

Product Quality 5✩
Product Design 5✩
Packaging 5✩
Value for Money 5✩
Product as Advertised 5✩

I am giving this set of products a 10/10 and an overall Sabrina rating of 5✩

All of the products are finished to the highest quality and their affordability makes them even more appealing. The amount of choice is also wonderful, with something to suit everyone’s tastes and preferences. The entire Spring Breeze set is beautifully presented and there are plenty of pages on the items to ensure longevity.

I filmed myself unboxing these items if you would like to watch it you should head to either my Instagram, Facebook or YouTube, my links are all below.

Instagram
Facebook
YouTube

Links to Products

Gift Company Homepage Website
Gift Company Stationery
Gift Company Spring Breeze Stationery Set
Gift Company Store Locater

If you don’t want to buy online please consider visiting a local store near you. Click the last link above to view the Gift Company store locator map and see which is closest to your location.

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Thank you for visiting Severn Wishes Blog today, I hope you have enjoyed what you’ve read for this review and that I see you on my website again soon. Have a great day.

✩ Sabrina ✩

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Collaboration
I have been supplied these for the purpose of a review. I get to keep the items once I have fulfilled the review parameters as discussed with the company. I have not been paid for this review. All the words are my own, and all the photography is my own unless otherwise stated.
As a writer I pride myself on giving my honest opinion, and my readers can leave me comments asking about the products if they wish, I am happy to answer them based upon my experiences.
Please do not copy any information or images without my written permission, but do feel free to share the link to my blog with people who you know would benefit knowing about it. Thank you.

Argos Testers Product Review of LEGO City Set 60365 Apartment Building

Posted on June 23, 2023 by Sabrina

Hello! I’m Sabrina! I am an Argos Tester, this means that I often get items sent to me for the purpose of an online review. I thoroughly test the products and take photographs of them before submitting my findings and honest thoughts over to Argos. This latest campaign was to test out brand new LEGO Sets, and because we need to choose something we haven’t reviewed before, I chose the modular construction LEGO. Not sure what that is? Keep reading my review.

#ArgosTester #ArgosTesters #ArgosTestersCommunity

I have written this article about a product that I have been supplied for free, in order to test and then review it. This is my experience with said product and it is my honest review about the product listed below. I have already submitted my review to the Argos Website, and it has been accepted on to live public view when this blog post has been published. Please see my review on this screengrab below from the Argos website. All words and photography within this article are my own.

Product Details

Name: LEGO City Apartment Building Modular Construction Set
Set No: 60365.
Ages: 6+
RRP: £75.00
Pieces: 688 pieces, including 6 mini figures, a bicycle and a mobility scooter.
Description: Modular Rooms for easy reconfiguration and imaginative play, including roof terrace and swimming pool. Mixed age mini figures add to the play ability and the reality of the set. Excellent additional features such as stickers that add fun to some pieces like the signage and television set.
Argos Website: LINK

My Honest Opinion

Overall I would like to rate the LEGO Apartment Modular Construction set 5 stars.

Quality 5✩
Features 5✩
Design 5✩
Originality 5✩
Playability 5✩

My Argos Tester Review

What a fantastically versatile set of LEGO. My son loved helping me to put it together and all the instructions were clear, nothing was difficult to fit together. The idea of the modular rooms is fantastic, we have never had LEGO like this before and it makes both play and reconfiguring so easy, even for little hands. I personally loved the diversity in age regarding the mini figures and their facial expressions and hair styles are great, they have changed a lot since I grew up with LEGO. Little features such as the drinks machine, dumbbells and bicycle are incredibly detailed. Every room has that basic layout that you would find in an apartment and I really liked the nice part usage with pieces I had seen previously being used as other things such as a post box as a cooker or fridge.
Something else that’s great about LEGO city is that it can be attached to other sets and the layout can be altered to fit accordingly. The bicycle path goes underneath when you build it first of all, however you could rearrange the rooms so that it’s not an L shape but a rectangle and the bicycle lane can go in front of the building instead. It’s great that imagination can also now lead to our choices in how the final build looks like, the modular rooms are such an excellent feature and I hope we continue to see this type used in upcoming LEGO sets.
Overall it took less than 4 hours to build, and I believe it will create countless hours of fun because there is so much left to the imagination whilst ensuring you have everything you need to start off with. A great first LEGO City set for any budding building I think, and a wonderful addition to a growing city of play. My son’s favourite aspects are the bicycle and the shop. As a parent I loved the design for its rearrange ability which will keep my son entertained for longer because after a week we can swap things around and it’s like having a different set then. Great for the imagination for those of any age.

Summary

Overall this LEGO City Set has hours of replay ability because of the fact it’s a modular construction, it’s so cool! By moving the rooms around you can create an entirely different layout, even move them every other day if you wanted to change it up. I feel like if my son was getting tired of the set I would simply reconfigure the layout and create a new look of the apartment for him.
More LEGO should be made like this to give users more choices on how they want the end result of the build to look like. As LEGO say “rebuild the world” and you can certainly do that with this box of bricks, and really easily too! Whoever designed it is ace!
I also loved the diversity in the LEGO figures, with different ages and jobs and many various faces, they are great new additions to the LEGO world. And the hair styles too, brilliant to see new ones!
I have nothing bad to say about this set, I give it 5✩ across the board. I would actually love to see more modular LEGO so that sets could be rearranged with ease and built on a similar scale.

Thank you for reading this product review today, I hope you have enjoyed seeing what we thought of this set. I have no doubt that we will have many hours of fun creating LEGO scenarios with the figures and the apartment block.

If you have any questions about this set then please leave me a comment below or on my social media posts and I will do my best to answer them with the knowledge that I have gained from reviewing this product. For anything else please refer to the Argos website the link I posted above.

Thank you, have a great day.

✩ Sabrina ✩

#LEGO #SevernSabrina #SevernWishesBlog #ProductReview #ArgosTesters #ProductReviewer #Photographer #Writer #Review #Reviewer #Toys #Play #Fun #LEGOcity #LEGOcityset #Argos

If you are looking for the ideal Stationery Gift this Season then why not check out the Gift Company Journal Sets

Posted on November 21, 2022 by Sabrina

Hello and Welcome to another of my Product Review Collaborations! This month I am ecstatic to be working with Gift Company again, as I review their wonderful Journal Stationery Gift Sets.

I am thrilled to be bringing you this collaboration with Gift Company this November, I have been asked to review some of their incredible value Gift Sets! Each set of products has been sent to me in order for me to complete this honest testing and review. I wanted something versatile and unisex and this was what we decided upon.

On the Gift Company website there are four sets to choose from, they include a Robin, Cat, pair of Giraffes and a Bee. I chose the three sets that contained exactly the same items so that I could compare their design and quality. Overall I have been very impressed with them, so let’s take a look at what’s inside each of the decorative display boxes for this stationery set.

Here are some of my photographs to show the quality of the stationery up close.

The gift set is very well presented inside the box which is also decorated front and back with the design that you chose.

Each of the Journal Gift Sets contains:
1 x Journal (with blank date headers to fill in as you please)
A Selection of Cards and Envelopes both personalised with set picture
1 x Shopping List Notepad with a Magnetic Back
1 x Notebook on a Ring Bound Coil
1 x Decorative Bookmark with black tassel
1 x Black Ballpoint Pen

Cat Journal Gift Set LINK
Robin Journal Gift Set LINK
Giraffe Journal Gift Set LINK

My Honest Opinion

Overall these Gift Sets are of extremely high quality, the way the set is designed means that you receive the decorative box as well as the six individual items inside it. A set has every product made to a high standard, be it the manufacturing and final finish of the product, as well as the paper within them, it’s a decent thickness of all the paper products. The image that you decide upon for your set is bright throughout the products and the font on the quotes is easy to read and is clearly defined.

You could choose to gift the set as is, or you could split the set up and divide it into smaller gifts, you can give the journal and pen to one person for example. While offering the cards and envelopes to another loved one. Perhaps you have a family member who always does the food shopping, this list would be perfect for them. Is there an avid reader in your family as well, because this decorative bookmark would be a great addition in their Christmas box.

Considering you get six high quality items and a decorative box for only £10, I think it is definitely great value for your money. If you are on a budget this year, I would consider purchasing two gift sets and dividing the items between four or more different people. You could even buy a gift set and a pack of pens and give every item to a loved one, along with a pen.

You wouldn’t have to gift this set for Christmas though, it’s a perfectly acceptable gift for a variety of occasions such as a Birthday or an Anniversary too. Do you know someone who is going off to University? Or somebody who recently started a new job? A gift like this might be both useful and very well received by people who will need to use stationery items such as these.

I personally love being organised and using stationery definitely helps me to do just that. If you know of someone in your life that does the same thing, then this gift would be perfect for them. And finally as a parent, you can never have enough notebooks and a journal to keep your year ahead organised.

My Review Scores

Functionality 5✩
Product Design 5✩
Versatility 5✩
Product Quality 5✩
Value for Money 5✩
Universal 5✩

Thank you to Gift Company for the chance to do this review, it’s great to be working with you again.

For anyone who isn’t aware of Gift Company, they are a long standing British based company with shops across the country, as well as their website which houses a wide range of Gifts and Furniture too.

If you would like to know more you can find Gift Company at the following links and on social media.

Gift Company Website
Gift Company Facebook
Gift Company Instagram

You can also watch my Review Video as I show the products off, and that can be
viewed on my Instagram channel by clicking the image below.

Thank you for visiting Severn Wishes Blog today and reading my collaboration review.

Have a wonderful final few days of November 2022!

✩ Sabrina ✩

Sabrina’s Easter Craft Ideas 2022

Posted on April 18, 2022 by Sabrina

Happy Easter! I hope you’re having a wonderful long weekend!

If you’ve already been out and about and are now looking for something to do within your home to keep the children entertained, then why not check out all my craft pieces below, show your children and they might want to give them a go! They are all really easy and just need a few minutes of your time as the adult to deal with some scissor cutting and poking holes, and then they can begin! You won’t need any fancy craft equipment for any of these either, just gather the following items on my list below and you’re good to go!

If you were wondering what it cost me to make all of the craft items I have done in recent posts it was about £15. That includes all of the double sided tape, various packs of white and coloured card, good quality colouring pens, craft balls and pipe cleaners among other things. But I have lots of them left over from these purchases too for use in future craft projects. I actually have more crafty items in the works and I’m still using up the same items and haven’t needed to buy any additional ones.

Sabrina’s TOP TIP: Making up a Craft box is a great idea, it will keep everything neat and tidy. Throw in left over pieces of card, toilet rolls and crafting left overs. I recommend a Really Useful Box or a similar one which has a tight fitting lid. These are also really strong and stackable for easy storing away.

✩✩✩ What Will We Need for all these Projects ✩✩✩

Toilet Rolls
Cereal Box Cards
Pens to Decorate
Scissors
A Pen or Pencil
A Ruler
Pipe Cleaners
Fluffy Craft Balls
Coloured Card
Googly Eyes
Double Sided Tape
Pritt Stick or PVA used sparingly

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How to Make Sabrina’s Fluffy Craft Easter Animals

These cute and fluffy animals were made using cereal box card, double sided tape and a bag of craft balls! In all it cost me about £2! And we have a ton of balls left over which we can use as flower middles and things like that – I use them in other projects too. This one is easy for little children, you do the templates and then add the glue on and then they can go to town with all the sticking!

Step 1. Draw on a cereal box, inside on the flat side piece, whatever shape you like, a Rabbit, a Chick, an Easter Egg, whatever you like or your children want.
Step 2. Cut out your templates, make them as big or as small as you like.
Step 3. Use PVA or Pritt Stick or Doubled Sided Tape to coat your template with glue.
Step 4. Provide a clean and flat surface for your little ones to sit and stick the fluffy craft balls to their card template.
Step 5. Add googly eyes or card beaks or any other items you want to finish them off.
Step 6. Let them dry overnight, place a piece of kitchen roll or newspaper on a flat surface, add the template, add another layer of tissue or newspaper, and then place a heavy book on top overnight to flatten them down and help the balls to stick.
Step 7. Next day you can display them around your home.

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How to Make Sabrina’s Toilet Roll Flowers

My easy toilet roll flowers are so simple to do! They only take about ten minutes to make once your toilet roll is decorated and dry. You could make a load of these, if you have a kitchen roll tube you may even get 3 flowers worth of petals from one tube! I would like to try and make a Rainbow of these!

Step 1. Let the Children decorate their toilet rolls and let them dry.
Step 2. An adult then cuts the toilet rolls into equal width pieces to make the petals.
Step 3. An adult also then uses the pointy end of their open scissors to poke holes that are 1cm up from the end and through both sides of each petal. (See my photo).
Step 4. The petals can now be opened out and gently threaded on to a pipe cleaner through the holes made with the scissors. Push them on until they hit the middle of the pipe and keep adding round.
Step 5. Curve the Pipe Cleaner round as you go, after each petal, and then after the final one is added you push the ends of the pipe back through the final petal holes to neaten it up. Line it up spaced between the petals while it is flat on a table and then push a fluffy craft ball into the middle.
Step 6. Hang your flowers up around your home on ribbon or string for a nice decoration.

Step 3 – making holes through the petals

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Step 2 – Cut the Decorated Roll into 5 Pieces

How to Make Sabrina’s Toilet Roll Easter Bunny

My cute toilet roll bunny’s are great for the Easter break! And they should stand up all by themselves! They are a little trickier than the flowers, but lots of fun still! They all start with a decorated toilet roll anyway so make sure you just save them up and get little ones to colour them in.

Step 1. Children decorate toilet rolls and let them dry.
Step 2. An adult cuts the toilet rolls into 5 pieces, a base, two ears, a middle and a head. (See Photo).
Step 3. An adult uses the pointy end of scissors to poke holes in the pieces, each one is specific. So…
Base is one hole, central on one side. Middle piece is two holes, one top one bottom just push the card flat together and the scissor end straight through. The Head piece needs one hole in the base at the centre, and off centre at the top it needs two holes. Each ear needs two holes, both on the same side at either end before the point. (See My Photo).
Step 4. Using a Pipe Cleaner push it on to the base and bend the end, attach the fluffy tail.
Step 5. Add the Middle to the pipe cleaner, push it down until it is flush and flat against the base.
Step 6. Take the Head piece, thread it on through the single hole, make it flush on the Middle piece of roll and then push another fluffy ball down the pipe cleaner until it sits in the middle of the roll.
Step 7. Push the pipe cleaner up through one of the holes in the top, and curve the pipe cleaner round, make sure the bunny parts are all flush and together for the body.
Step 8. Add each ear by pushing the pipe cleaner up through one side with the holes on, in through the bottom hole and out of the top hole, bend the pipe cleaner round and then through the top hole of the final ear and down through the bottom hole.
Step 9. The final step is to push the rest of the pipe cleaner down through the second hole on the bunny head, if you have more than 1cm of pipe left cut it off, then push the last 1cm into the fluffy ball within the roll bunny head, this neatens it up and gets the pointy end of the pipe cleaner hidden away.
Step 10. Adjust your bunny feet base and middle parts so that the bunny is aligned and he should stand up all by himself!

Step 3 – use my guide to make the necessary holes

My bunny making video tutorial can be found on my Facebook page if you get stuck which is right here

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How to Make Sabrina’s Circle Petal Flower Card

This one is nice and easy and once all the cutting out is done, children can stick them down however they like to design their own flowers.

Step 1. Fold a Piece of Card in half for your card base.
Step 2. Draw around a circular object many many times on some different pieces of coloured card.
Step 3. Cut out these circles carefully and assemble flat.
Step 4. Every circle needs to be folded in half.
Step 5. Assemble your Flower by arranging the petals with one side sticking up to make it 3D.
Step 6. Cut out a small circle in a bright colour for the centre of each flower.
Step 7. Once happy with the design either pritt stick or double sided tape each petal down to the card.
Step 8. Make leaves or stems from card, or use pens to decorate your card.

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Thank you for reading this (long) Craft related blog post today, I always showing you my latest “Sabrina’s How To Make’s”! And if you have any questions for me about how to do something you’ve seen on my blog then please comment below on this post and I will happily answer them for you. I hope that you have seen something you would like to try and make yourself!

If you do make any of my craft items please tag me on social media using the hashtag #SabrinasHowToMake I really look forward to seeing them!

✩ Sabrina ✩

Check out my previous How to Make Craft posts for these beautiful 3D paper flowers!

Sabrina’s How To Make Paper Flowers for all Occasions

Posted on April 9, 2022 by Sabrina

Hello and Welcome! If you’re a regular visitor to Severn Wishes Blog then you’ll know that I love to do lots of Art and Craft! If you’re new here then hi, and after this blog post please check out the remainder of my fun Crafts in the section here.

Paper Flowers are a wonderful alternative to buying fresh ones, the beauty of these homemade gifts is that they won’t wilt and have to one day be thrown away, these can be treasured by the loved one receiving them, forever! Give a single flower or make a bouquet it’s up to you!

What Do I Need?

A Ruler (30cm)
A Pen or Pencil
Pipe Cleaners various Colours
Thin Coloured Card or Thick Coloured Paper
Pens for Decorating the Petals (optional)
Fluffy Craft Balls (Flower Centres)
Scissors

My Step by Step Visual Guide is really easy to follow, but I also uploaded videos to my social media if you would prefer to follow that! Carry on reading for my step by step and photographic guide.

SABRINA’S STEP BY STEP GUIDE

1. Cut Squares from your chosen Coloured Card. For example I made my Orange Flower with a 7cm, a 8cm and a 10cm Square. Three Squares is an ideal amount of layers but you can do just two or even more layers if you wish. Assemble these squares on a flat surface ready for the individual folding process. (See my images below for additional guidance).

2. Fold each square you have in half to form a rectangle, do this by folding the bottom line up to the top line and line up the crease and push flat. Repeat for every piece you have.

3. Next, you fold each rectangle back into a square shape by folding it from the left to right and flatten and crease down flat once again.

4. Finally you will have all your layers into folded squares, and these now need to be made into Triangles. But to do this correctly for the next steps you must not rotate them at all during the folding process. Make sure that you fold the bottom right corner of your squares up to the top left, flatten and crease.

5. Next you need to draw a petal shape on every flattened triangle, make sure not to rotate it from when you folded it when you draw on it, otherwise it won’t cut intact during step 6.

6. Now you need to carefully cut out your shapes, gently follow the line and then discard these cut offs for the recycling because you don’t need them.

7. Time for the moment of truth, open out the flowers gently and slowly so as not to tear them. Lay them out flat and make sure they are an entire piece.

8. With the crease lines facing at each compass point you need to mark the petals that are in the South East corner of each flower. (See my images below if you are uncertain).

9. Carefully cut these petals away from the flower, be sure to only follow the crease lines of the folds when you cut and don’t be tempted to cut it too low in the centre, just enough for the spare petal to gently come free. You don’t need these now and these spare pieces can all be recycled at the end of your crafting session.

10. Next step is to mark the petal on the right of the one you just cut away, on each of your flower layers, and then stick a piece of double sided tape or a blob of glue on to that mark.

11. Doing each layer one at a time now, gently place the flower into your hand, and with the other hand carefully fold the petal on the left side over the petal on the right side. The creases and folds we made at the start should allow you to do this easily, if not gently fold the creases again and try again, the flower should (with some gentle persuasion) create a 3D flower with the shape similar to a cone. Push down on the glued part and make sure that you have aligned the petals and that it is stuck down. Repeat this for all flowers and layers that you want to make.

12. Carefully lay out each of the Flower layers now that they are 3D. You now need to decorate them if you want to with lines or dots before we assemble them. If making them with small children you may want them to decorate at Step 10, before you make them 3D.

13. During this step you want to use the end of the Pipe Cleaner you have chosen to gently pierce through the middle of the Flower layers, take one at a time, and force the pin end of the Pipe Cleaner directly through the centre where the creases and folds meet. Once all of the layers are pierced you can now arrange them in order of size.

14. Assemble your finished Paper Flower by sliding the layers on to the Pipe Cleaner, you do want to leave about a 4mm bit of the pipe cleaner poking out so that you can push on a coloured fluffy craft ball (if you have one) and this neatens the whole look of the flower plus it covers the pointed end of the pipe cleaner.

15. Adjust the Petals by rotating the layers slowly on the pipe cleaner stem until you are satisfied with the flowers final look. I hope you are happy with your flower! You can play around and add other things too if you like! Be creative and I cannot wait to see yours! Tag me! #SabrinasHowToMake

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Thank you for reading this Craft related blog post today, I always love doing my “Sabrina’s How To Make’s”! And if you have any questions for me then please comment below on this post and I will happily answer them for you. If you make some flowers please tag me on social media using the hashtag #SabrinasHowToMake and I really look forward to seeing them!

✩ Sabrina ✩

The Woodland Gift Company Rainbow Flower Earrings Review

Posted on June 2, 2020 by Sabrina

I recently made a purchase from The Woodland Gift Company, who I have been following on Facebook for quite some time. I have chosen to support small businesses where possible during this difficult time. Plus they had some gorgeous earrings! I was looking for something Rainbow related, but when I saw these I just fell in love with them.

The stunning Rainbow Coloured Sterling Silver Flowers really stand out. They are beautiful and good quality.

They arrived in lovely packaging and the little extra additions of the string and the paper rose, it just made the experience extra special.

Overall I would say I’m very happy with my purchase, the service was 5 star and the delivery was good too despite the current restrictions. I would definitely purchase from the company again after this good experience.

The earrings are unique, excellent quality with the 925 silver mark on the back. They are lightweight and the perfect size for my ears. They don’t get in the way of my gradual lobe piercings (which I thought they might). I would highly recommend them. And The Woodland Gift Company are giving some money to charity for every pair purchased as well.

If you would like to see more products from this company you can find their current stock
and choices on their website The Woodland Gift Company

And if you’d like to follow them on social media then here is their Facebook

I bought these particular Earrings in the Spring of 2020.

Thank you for reading this review today, I hope you have enjoyed it. If you would like to see more Rainbow related products click the tab category Rainbow on my home page. Have a lovely day!

✩ Sabrina ✩

November 2018 Treatbox Reveal

Posted on November 4, 2018 by Sabrina

Hello and Welcome to the November 2018 Treatbox Reveal
with Sabrina of Severn Wishes Blog.

Happy Treat Box Day Everyone! It’s the last Treatbox of the year before the Christmas box!

This month the Treatbox UK theme is “Freedom and Me Time”.

The little sticker reads “With Love” attached to a deep navy blue tissue paper.

Here are all of the contents of the November 2018 Treatbox.

This month there are 6 items in the Treatbox plus a Calendar Print and an A5 Print.

Calendar Print for November 2018
A5 Print – Definition of Hygge
Treatbox Colouring Book featuring Treatbox drawn pictures
Set of Colouring Pencils
Pair of Socks – Polar Bears Design
Treatbox Rose Gold Heart Wish Bracelet
Spacemasks – Interstellar Relaxation
Kiwi Slice Eye Pads

Here is a selection of my photographs of this month’s box, I hope you enjoy seeing the items up close.

My Favourites

My favourite pieces in this box have to be the Colouring Book with Pencils, the Socks, and the Bracelet. As a mum to a young baby I don’t get much time to do things like face masks anymore! Ha! Ha! Maybe one day I can get an afternoon to myself, have a pamper! And with that in mind I hope that they will keep! It’s a lovely idea for a proper pampering though!

My Overall Opinion

I enjoyed the fact that we had several Treatbox Original and Unique items this month. The bracelet is beautiful and the over all quality of the items is good. Although we only received socks in the September box I do love socks, I always have cold feet and you always need quality and cute socks! Especially now with Winter fast approaching, Socks are indeed wanted!

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Are you thinking of ordering a TreatBox for yourself or for a gift for someone?
Then you can find Treatbox subscriptions and build your own box at their website.

Check out my previous posts in this unique category of my website called ‘Treatbox’ especially for these box reviews and reveals – Severn Wishes Treatbox.

Thanks for reading this months box reveal today, if you have any thoughts of your own that you would like to share or if you have purchased a box after reading one of my reviews then I would love to hear your from you, why not leave me a little comment in the section below.

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Thanks for reading this post everyone! I hope you have enjoyed this months reveal and review. Have a great November! Check out my social media especially Instagram for more Reviews and products in use!

✩ Sabrina ✩

Reviewing Baby Items – Bean Bag Planet

Posted on September 3, 2018 by Sabrina

Reviewing Baby Items – Bean Bag Planet

I first saw the Baby Bean Bag on Facebook several years ago. After years of following their page and reading customer reviews, when I got towards the end of my pregnancy I decided to order a Bean Bag for us and our new little one.

What appealed to me the most was that the Bean Bag can be used afterwards for Toddler and Child as our child grows up. It will eventually be a part of their bedroom as somewhere comfortable to sit and read.

There were many designs to choose from including unisex ones. You receive the Bean Bag with the Harness Cover and a Spare Non Harness Cover too in the same colour. Despite this I decided to order an extra harness one so that if our one ended up in the washing machine we would still be able to place baby on the bag safely.

You do have to pay an additional £3.99 for the Bean Bag Filling, but they guarantee that it is Fire Safe Polystyrene balls that they use.

I featured these bean bags on my “Baby Wish List Post” and we had one given to us as a joint gift for our son from friends who read my blog. This excellent coincidence meant that we received two bags the week before our son came into the world. And it’s been very handy to have one on both floors of our house.

I purchased the Cars version of the bean bag in Grey, where as our friends got us the Safari one in Yellow.

Here are some close ups I have taken of the very cool designs situated on either of the bean bag planet bags we have.

The bright colours are inviting, and there is also a bear that you can find playing peek-a-boo on all of the designs I have seen. This is a cute addition so when children are older they can search for this little bear on the sides of their seat.

So I wanted to include what my husband thought in this review too, I will firstly outline what I think and then dictate his thoughts.

My Opinion

A very handy product to have in more than one room of the home, it is convenient to place baby into safely while you need your hands free. An ideal size and height too because you don’t have to bend too low to place baby into it. This item has become one that we use daily in our home to accommodate our needs between feeds and changes of our newborn baby. We cannot wait for him to grow with the bean Bag too and it will be used in his bedroom one day.

I found the ease of ordering on the website a good experience, and there were a ton of great designs for us to choose from. As for delivery the bean bag comes wrapped and then boxed but is flat. You place the bean bags inner bag inside when it arrives.

The quality of the fabric, bean bag base and the unique design of it, is what had me intrigued enough to buy. I have not been disappointed in the item. I did think they were quite expensive for what they are, but when you use the product as much as we do, its convenience outweighs how much I ended up paying.

After using the product now for several weeks I have to say the easiest thing about them is the use, just place your child in the centre and strap them in using the harness. I am happy that I made this product purchase for our son. Here is a photograph of our son at a week old, enjoying a nap in his Safari bean bag.

Quality of Product 5/5

Value for Money 4/5

Delivery of Product 4/5

Overall Experience 5/5

My Husbands Opinion

A versatile and good quality material that is soft for baby to lay on. Our newborn is always comfortable when lay on it. I like that our baby has a good view when laying on the Bean Bag too. It’s a useful item that can be easily moved around the home into any room or living space. We think they are that good a product that we now have 2 of them (thanks to a gift)! We use 1 for upstairs and 1 for downstairs!

The bean bag itself is good value for money however be aware of the additional charges to fill the bean bag with the polystyrene balls, and there are quite high delivery costs as well.

I would recommend this product and it’s a good idea for first time parents. It’s also useful for parents with pets because it allows baby to be quite a lot higher than the floor and therefore easier to keep an eye on unlike the mats that require babies to be lay on to a flat surface on the floor. Here is another image of our son, as you can see he is happy and content on the bean bag, awake on this image as opposed to asleep on the previous one.

Quality of Product 5/5

Value for Money 4/5

Delivery of Product 4/5

Overall Experience 4/5

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Here are some Bean Bag Planet designs.

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Links

Bean Bag Planet Website
Bean Bag Planet Facebook

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Thank you for supporting Severn Wishes blog today, don’t forget there are plenty more reviews to read across the website, just click one of the categories that interest you on the main page. I hope that you have enjoyed this review and I wish you a wonderful rest of your day.

✩ Sabrina ✩

Olivia Burton Enchanted Garden Square Dial Chalk Blue and Silver Watch Review

Posted on March 25, 2018 by Sabrina

╰☆╮ Review of Olivia Burton Enchanted Garden Midi Square Dial Chalk Blue and Silver Watch ╰☆╮

When I turned 30 a couple of weeks ago, I created a Wish-list post about what I hoped to get for my birthday. I feel so lucky that I have a very kind husband who knew how much I had wanted a beautiful Olivia Burton watch, and he bought me this one!

I have a petite frame which includes having small hands and wrists. Most watches that I try on in shops are too big for me, they overhang either side of my arm and often rotate while on. This makes them uncomfortable to wear and I usually don’t bother putting them on unless it’s for a special occasion.

But now I’ve got this gorgeous and detailed watch, which is not only highly appropriate to my nature loving personality but it also has a specifically smaller dial size at 23mm.

ENCHANTED GARDEN MIDI SQUARE DIAL CHALK BLUE & SILVER WATCH

Website Code: OB16SS18
Price £82.00
Dial Size 23mm x 23mm
Strap is Genuine Blue Leather
Silver Plated Case
Three Hand Japanese Quartz Movement
A Sophisticated and Elegant White Dial Design with Flowers and Butterflies

You Can Buy This Specific Watch Here
All Watches On The Olivia Burton Website Can Be Viewed Here

Here are some more detailed images of my watch and what I received with it.

╰☆╮ My Overall Opinion and Review Scores ╰☆╮

Appearance 5/5
Quality 5/5
Value for Money 4/5
Delivery 4/5

This watch is beautifully presented both in it’s delivery boxes and in it’s own silver plated case. The individual design is stunning and extremely detailed. If you look closely at the detail you wouldn’t expect it to be so intricate because of the overall size, it’s created with a very high standard.
In fact all the Olivia Burton watches are made to a high quality across the range, all of them with varying styles and straps to suit all customers desires. There are some straps that have leather, others are velvet, or mesh and even those that are mixed metal bracelets. With a varying dial size that ranges from 22.5mm to 32mm, and several shapes too including square, rectangle and circle.
I was impressed with how the watch came in a box within a box, it was a nice touch to have the whole piece inside it’s own personal box. It means that when I’m not wearing it, it can stay clean and safe inside.
The delivery of the watch took several days, which did surprise us, however it was after the snow was clearing so we wondered if that were the reason for the delay. It didn’t arrive until my birthday date, despite my husband ordering it 9 days prior.
Overall I am very happy with the gift and that is why I wanted to review it in such detail. Please check out my photography of the watch so you can see the minute details in the dial and the quality with which it has been made and distributed.
I would recommend the Olivia Burton website and it’s products, and I would consider more in the future.

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I hope you have enjoyed reading this review post, I can honestly recommend these watches if you want a high quality gift for someone, or you want to treat yourself to a high standard piece that you can treasure. It was easy to photograph being so pretty! And with a good warranty available on each watch that is sold, and a huge range of choice, they make ideal presents for both yourself and for others.

If I can answer any questions about the watch that you might have then please leave me a comment.

✩ Sabrina ✩