Christmas Card Collection

This year I decided to work on a full collection of five or six card designs for Christmas.  I was asked recently to provide the cards for the lovely gift shop Hearts for Homes in Ramsbottom, so this idea of a collection has become more relevant and important.

I’ve had my Christmas craft materials out for a few weeks now and have rediscovered some beautiful papers and patterns.  I found a stack of twisted pyramage with some lovely winter images.  I particularly like robins at Christmas, so thought I’d revisit this style of papercraft.  I’ve really loved the embossed and aperture style cards I’ve been working on this year, so keeping with that I found a lovely couple of embossing folders to work as backgrounds.

The snowflake embossing folder is by Darice.  I think it’s so pretty.  The snowflakes are all different and very delicate.  I think it works well with the twisted pyramage robin.

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My next card style in the collection is the large poinsettia.  This is a Bigz die by Sizzix and it works so well on all types of card, paper and fabric.  Here I’ve used some Kanban papers and combined it with a circular die cut aperture and embossed snowflake background.

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The third design in my collection uses some gorgeous rich cardstock I bought at the creative craft show .  This green is so sumptuous it just cried out to be used with gold mirror card.  I added a snowflake cut using an X-Cut die.  I think the gold ribbon bow and gems set it off a treat.  Don’t you?

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I’ve had such fun routing through my crafting arsenal of dies and materials.  I bought this Spellbinders bow die a while back and haven’t really used it.  But it called to me to make Christmas paper bows and add to the front of some cards.  I was reminded of a series of cards I made several years ago with large organza ribbon bows on the front which were very popular with my work colleagues at the time.  I loved making these bows from all the different Christmas patterned papers.  They looked so lovely on square cards, I even made some look like parcels.  My Mum and Dad will be getting one of these and I hope they like it as much as I enjoyed making it.

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These cards take a little bit of time to make so I was in need of making something quick to put in packs and that wouldn’t cost as much to make or buy.  I’d been thinking about doing some cut outs with patterned papers behind for a while now, but never gotten around to it.  This was the ideal opportunity to do some with my snowflake die.  I love this silver holographic paper.  It it so sparkly behind the snowflake.  I think they will look great on my stall at the school fair too.

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As in the words of the great Monty Python, now for something completely different!  I bought this lovely papercraft kit from Create and Craft several years ago and not known what to do with it.  The papers are quite pastel in colour but very fun and wintry too, and the little elements are very cute.  I particularly like the children in their winter outfits.  I thought they were perfect to send to siblings and grown up children.

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For my final card design this year I went back to my love of DL cards.  There is somethigng so elegant about a tall slim card and I just couldn’t help myself in making at least one.  For these I again used a Kanban card kit with some lovely HunkyDory Mirri card.  Simple but elegant I hope you agree

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So that’s my collection for Christmas 2016.  There is a selection available in Hearts for Homes in Ramsbottom as well as in Holts Newsagents in Walmersley.  I will also be selling these directly at the Springside Primary School Christmas Fair and via facebook.

I hope you like them.

Happy Christmas Crafting
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Visit to Bristol

This weekend we had a family visit down to my husband’s family in Bristol. We were visiting the family as we haven’t been down since Christmas and one of our nephews was playing at the Totterdown music festival.

The trip down was pretty uneventful, a bit of rain and fortunately it was cooler than it has been of late. Our air-con in the car stopped working a while ago and we didn’t want to be stuck in a boiling car for over three hours! Anyway, we had a good trip and I even managed to get some knitting done on the way!

On Sunday we were taken to a lovely new craft café on Wells Road, called Craftisan.

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We were told it was a craft shop and café, so it’s the ideal location to visit for me. Who can resist crafting goodies and cake?! I wasn’t disappointed. It’s a lovely shop, loads of natural light and lovely bright displays of craft materials, tools and some hand crafted items too. And the cake is delicious. Between us we sampled most of the selection on offer. I can totally recommend the millionaires shortbread and the chocolate, cookies and cream cake.

As we were off to watch the festival, we couldn’t stay too long, but I think we will be visiting again. They also have a lovely craft table for kids and run some craft workshops. So I reckon it would be a great place to visit with Alice, she could do some messy craft while I eat cake, drink tea and knit / crochet.

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Do visit if you get the chance, it’s laid back and very comfortable. The sofas are enormous!

Happy crafting
x

Another Sales Outlet

I have been looking for somewhere to sell my cards / gifts – a physical shop – for some time. I have asked around a number of retail spaces but have been struggling with finding the right location. With some gentle encouragement from a friend, I have now found a local outlet. My local newsagents is now stocking some of my cards!

First card display

They stock quite a good selection of cards, and mine now add a ‘handmade’ alternative to mass produced printed cards. I have a small display stand which I am updating on a weekly basis, trying different styles to see what works.

This is quite a nerve-wracking experience. Seeing my cards on display in somebody else’s shop is great, but now comes the hard bit – what if they sell too quickly and I can’t keep up with demand? Or worse, what if they don’t sell at all?

As this is a completely new venture for me, I have put together a list of the cards I have taken to the shop, giving them all a reference number to aid with identification. I have also set out a couple of terms and conditions for an agreement. They are basically being sold on a sale or return basis and I have set a flat fee commission for the shop. This makes it far easier for me to keep track of. So my fingers are crossed and hoping that my weekly visit to the shop will provide a few sales, or at least some feedback for me to work on. My first comment from the shop owner’s young daughter is to make some cards with butterflies on! I will need to get busy!

Wish me luck.

Happy crafting
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New knitting shop

I was driving home from a day out a couple of weeks ago and happened to notice we have a new knitting shop at the bottom of Walmersley Road. Hoorah! It’s so nice to see a new crafty shop not too far from home.

With the end of the holidays looming and my running out of things to do with my little one, I decided a trip down to ‘Debs Cable Knits’ would use up some time and give me the chance to have a browse at all the yarns in stock. We walked the mile and a half, on the promise that we would go to the park on the way home. I wasn’t disappointed. The shop is small, and packed with yarns and handmade soaps. It smells lovely when you walk in.

The owners are very welcoming. We bought a box of soaps and bath fizzers as a present for my friends daughter. We were encouraged to smell everything ( my daughter loved this) and we made up the box with items of our own choice. In addition I had a look at the yarns and could quite happily have spent a small fortune. Great quality. I bought a lovely lilac baby yarn and some cream cotton. I’ve also got my eye on a crochet pattern book.

They are also stocking local makers work, and have offered me the chance to sell some of my knitting and crochet as ell as some of my cards. So I’m going to work on a basket of goodies for them to stock. Hopefully when all are back in school I will be able to get back into some concentrated making.

Lets hope that this shop stays in business and we have a well visited local artisan shop.

Happy crafting
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