ALiExpress purchases with VAT

 Hi Crafters

Back in January I posted about the introduction of VAT on all purchases from AliExpress China for delivery to the UK. I wondered if this would stop me buying as much from there. You pop things into your basket and they start to add up and then you select what you want to buy and it totals for you, once you have pressed the BUY button it then shows an invoice for the items and VAT, which effectively adds 20%. 

At the same time I had decided to try and slim down my stash of goodies. How did this work out. Well I am definitely more discerning about my purchases. But the biggest difference to my buying has been made from the tidying and streamlining my craft room. I have years of purchases stored in a full double wardrobe, in very usable boxes, as well as crafts in drawers under the bed and on shelves in the clothes cupboard and another 10 useful boxes in the garage. 

So I literally went through every box in every store area. Tidying and being as ruthless as possible along the way. Items made and not sold were sorted intro those useful for a sale, with oddments given away. I decided I was unlikely to do much more leather work I had sold my heat tools, so I packed up 2 large carrier bags full and put them. On Ebay. They did not sell despite careful photographs and descriptions of sizes etc, so they are going to the Scrapstore when it opens. Next I sorted my wool and fabrics and was equally as ruthless with them. With the paper crafts I sorted some.paints and pens, tapes and paper pads and have sold a lot on Ebay, giving me some cash to spend on new if I want to. But the best part is the new    Organised craft room means I can see what I have already and easily get to the things i need to complete a project. I have found some amazing items I had forgotten I had and some of them have inspired me to make items and some to jazz up design made previously. 

Hopefully there will be no duplication of purchases in future. I have also spent more time planning my makes, oh I still get carried away and have to try things I have seen on YouTube or Pinterest, but generally I am now making items with a purpose, and not making half a dozen of something because I like it, but with no end use in mind. I have purchased some amazing dies from AliExpress since my post, and they still represent great value, but I am careful to use good established stores when buying more expensive dies and so far I have not been disappointed. 

So here are the main purchases.

The first picture shows a great cat set of dies and a flourish, and a great die to make a DL card and Envelope, which I think will make a great packet envelope for storage, I can see it as a lovely shabby chic envelope, although I have not used it yet.

The second die is a lovely Octopus cut our, not sure how I am going to use this yet, but loved the flow of the design and just had to have it.

The last 2 pictures show 2 dies that cut out a wedding scene. It would be perfect for invites, Anniversary cards, or save the date. A good size, and you need the 2 dies for the mirror images, and I am happy to say it cuts beautifully despite being very intricate cuts. The die cut was from a piece of card just put through my Big Shot once back and forth, with no shim or magnetic sheet.

As I try these dies out properly I will post my makes with more details of the purchase and how easy they are to use.

Happy Crafting 

Dee