Embossed Leaves Save The Date card

I embossed and inked the leaves by hand the old-fashioned way, added the rosebuds, a punched gold leaf (also hand-embossed), and stamped the words in gold Encore metallic ink.

Wedding Thank You

The word 'Wedding' was randomly stamped repeatedly in green, with a few done in silver Encore metallic ink on the top layer. It showed better in real life, than it does in the photo!

Wire Rose - Save The Date card

This is the start of a series of wedding-themed designs.. mainly invitations, but with an alternative greeting, they would work equally well for other occasions.

When I had my own handcrafted wedding stationery business, I learned very quickly that designs had to be very simple and quick to produce in volume. Believe me, when you are making your 100th invitation in the same design, you are climbing the walls! Starting with a complex design makes it at least ten times worse!

This one uses paper from K&Co., torn along the middle edges with co-ordinating vellum peeking out from underneath. The sentiment is stamped in a matching colour of ink, and the rose was one I picked up in a craft fair, but something similar could be easily replicated if you have some basic skills and tools. This is quite a thick wire, but I would recommend using silver-plated wire, which is not that much more expensive.

Wedding Card..

This is a commission from a friend at work. She asked me to produce something reminiscent of the invitation design. This was as close as I could get. What do you think? Good enough? I quite like it. I am into simplicity at the moment, after the "over-complicating the life out of everything" groove I got into last year!! ;o) I also rarely use ivory or hammered card as a background, so this was a nice change. Also christened my Hero Arts cling stamp damask thingy. Loving it. So versatile!

More to come.. above! :o)

Wedding card reveal.. at last!

Regulars may recall a sneak preview of a wedding card commission from a few weeks ago. Well, the wedding was scheduled to take place this past weekend, so I can now show you the whole thing. :o)

I have used my staple smooth white cardstock from Madaboutcards, Nesties (Labels 1), Quickutz 'Eliza' alphabet, a Cuttlebug butterfly, a hand-drawn and cut heart, Primas, waxed beading cord and miscellaneous rosebuds and pearl spray.

A different kind of challenge...

My employers, the charity Papworth Trust (hello, chaps!), came up with a brainwave for fundraising at our annual staff conference last week ~ On arrival, we were all handed envelopes. In each envelope was a £10 note, and we were challenged to invest it in something ~ anything (legal!) ~ and turn it into more than £10, and then return it to the charity. Interesting idea, and it certainly has people talking!

My idea is to sell ten extra of the CD-Rom I developed some years ago, which I currently sell on Ebay (occasionally). If I can sell another ten CDs on top of the handfull that sell on Ebay, my production costs will be covered by the £10 (not counting the time it took to develop the CD in the first place!). All the proceeds ~ 100% ~ will then go back to the Papworth Trust.

It's a wedding stationery CD, developed for bridal couples to enable them to have a suite of beautifully handcrafted wedding stationery (the works.. not just invitations), but at a fraction of the cost by guiding them through making their own.. whether or not they have ever made anything like this before.

There are 100 wedding stationery 'recipe-style' design projects on the CD, with photos, lists of tools and materials required (and where to get them), full step-by-step instructions (in simple, non-crafty jargon terms), tips, inserts, and various other bits 'n'pieces.

The CD has a front-end menu that launches automatically, and is as professional as any you'll buy from the telly!

99% of the files are Adobe PDF format, except the inserts. I have left them in Word format so they can be edited. Because of that, the formatting depends on your having the same fonts and margin settings on your computer, so I have included those as a free bonus, rather than rolling them into the price.

Speaking of which, the cost is £9.99 (free P&P).

Would make a great present for anyone you know who is thinking of getting married, and even if they're not thinking of making their own invitations, it would be useful as a catalogue of ideas to trigger their own inspiration.

If you buy it by contacting me through my blog (and NOT through Ebay), 100% of the proceeds will all go to Papworth Trust. Once I have met my target of selling ten extra CDs, I will let you know. (The deadline is 31st December.)

Equally, if anyone would like to make a donation to the Trust without buying a CD, you can either do so directly (which would be great, as you could do it through Giftaid and incease the value of your gift), or you could send it to me and I will make sure it gets passed on.

Payments and donations can be made to me through Paypal or (uncrossed) postal order. Drop me a line, and I will send you the details.

For more information about the wonderful and broad ranging work that Papworth Trust do for people with disabilities, you can visit their website HERE.

Many thanks, and wish me luck! Ten CDs in three months. Hope I can do it! It will turn that £10 into £100.






P.S. For any one making stationery for the wedding market, I am quite happy for you to use the designs for inspiration, or even copy them directly (by hand), just as long as you don't use my photos in your promotional materials, Ebay listings, etc, and don't reproduce any part of the CD in any format. Also, please note that the CD may not be transferred or resold. (That applies to everyone, not just wedding crafters.)

Wedding Card Preview

A wedding card commission for a colleague. Can't show all of it (just in case!). The wedding's not until mid Oct, so here's a preview without showing the names...

The invitation was made with ivory hammered cardstock, so I've echoed that in the panel, and the rest of the brief was gold and purple, and that butterflies would be a big hit. Think I nailed it. lol ;o) The butterfly looks weird, though. It is mounted at quite an angle to the card, so you're effectively looking down (almost along) the back. Looks better taking a view square on to the card, but I didn't think of that, and it is now with my customer.

Daring Card Makers ~ Mid-week Dare ~ Wedding Card

This was easy, as I have used one of the designs from my 'Handcraft Your Own Wedding Stationery' CD-Rom... "Spring Hearts"!! (Bit of a cheat, I know, but it fits the bill!) ;o)

Daring Card Makers Challenge ~ Winter

This is my Winter offering for the Daring card Makers challenge this week. As you can see, it's a wedding invitation design (from my 'Handcraft Your Own Wedding Stationery' CD-rom, which has 100 design projects on it for bridal couples who want to make their own stationery, but need some ideas and guidance). Thought it would fit the bill. :o)

Dove: Sizzix die-cut
Snowflakes: Kaleidopunch
Vellum, papers and cardstock from stash