June Commissioned cards ... so far

Here are the commissioned cards that I have made this month - the requests are getting more popular with more and more people wanting them made.

First, here the one I made my friend for her birthday at the end of May so it's slightly cheating but not by much.

I wanted it to be really summery which I think I achieved and I haven't really made much with the watering can stencil so I thought I would have another go. She said she really liked it.


Next is a Holy Communion card that a lady requested because she was going across to Ireland for her Granddaughters (I think) Communion and she said she hadn't been able to find a nice card anywhere. Here is what I came up with:

The lady came back to the shop the following week and although I wasn't there, she said how well received it had been in Ireland and how everyone had really liked it.


The next was for a fairly regular customer of ours who was looking for an anniversary card to give to her boyfriend. I don't keep a big stock of anniversary cards in the shop because I like to make something a bit more personal and here is what I made:

Again it is a very simple design with a heart corner punch used, but because it's so personal with the names and dates on it makes it that extra bit special.


A 45th wedding anniversary card was the next one to be requested - again it's not something that can be found easily in the shops.

There was plenty of blue used and I used some core'dinations card and sanded it to make the large heart and the border on the right hand side. Again it was gratefully received.


And the greatest achievement was the following card for a silver wedding anniversary:

It is A4 in size and I drew the picture in the middle from a drawing that had been printed off the computer. I am not very good at drawing but I had a good go and it actually turned out to be quite similar. I again used the heart corner punch and used the hearts I had punched as the rain for the main picture.

Because I didn't have any A3 card to fold in half I took 2 pieces of A4 card and punched holes down the left hand side. I bound the card with silver ribbon to keep it in place and because the customer wanted an insert I sandwiched a piece of A4 paper in the middle with the typed verse on it.

She was very pleased and I even got paid £10 for it - far too much I think but it was very generous of her.

There was another card I made for an 18th Birthday but I forgot to take a picture, and another one for a 100th birthday but again I forgot to take a picture - I must get into the routine of it!

Still a few more weeks left of the month so hopefully lots more cards to make.

Claire

Prestbury Crafts and Gifts

8 The High Street

Prestbury

Cheltenham

GL52 3AS

01242 224414

Personalised cards

The requests for personalised cards have been going strong over the last two months. The first one I had a request for was this one:

I did have to change it afterwards though as the lady requested a bike - I thought motor bike but she actually meant a push bike! Silly me, I need to ask more questions in future but seeing as she requested it while her husband was in the shop we had to be a bit discreet!

I now have a regular card requester! The first one she requested was this one for her god-daughter's first birthday. I'm not very good with baby cards but I am very pleased with this one:

There were then another three cards requested - a wedding and 2 birthday cards that were needing to be identical. Here is what I came up with:

I did have to make the birthday card for Jon twice - here is the one I made first but it wasn't quite right (I like it however!)

And then I had to make Spencer (my other half) a birthday card. I fell in love with a clear stamp set when I was pricing them and putting them out so I bought it and made this card. It has certain meaning for us both which made it even more special and now I can make lots of cards with the stamps. It's new from the Tulip range and all their products feature the girl, boy and the dog. They have some elements range which are ready made decoupaged toppers which are ready glittered and have tiny gems on them - they really are gorgeous!

And here is one, that hasn't been made for anyone but I am really proud of it! Again I bought the stamps in my shop (Prestbury Crafts and Gifts) and it's a new range of Papermania stamps design by John Byars. They are designed so they look like sketches and are perfect for the males in your life. One range is cars and the other shows sports and hobbies, including bowling, a guitarist and this one of a hiker. I distressed all the card using shimmer chalks and am really pleased with the outcome:

I know have to work on a bunch of cards for a friend, a 100th birthday card, a new baby card for my regular requester and a holy communion card! So lots to do. If anyone would like anything please email me on claire@prestburygifts.com

Handmade Cards and experiments!

 The shop - Prestbury Crafts and Gifts (for all those who don't know!) has now been open for just over 6 weeks.

I have been hard at work making cards, among other things and they have been selling very very well. I have even had a few requests from people to make really special handmade cards for them.

Here are a few that I have made - I don't have time to take pictures of them all anymore but those ones I am proud of and want to remember have been pictured.

We went through a week with different anniversary cards, of which I didn't have any at the time so here are the ones I've made - I think they have all sold now so I need to get making some more:

Then came mothers day and again I was busy making cards. It's quite hard to predict how many were going to sell and I was still making them on the day before. Here are 2 of my favourites:

The last one here is made on brown recycled kraft card which gives it that unusual look.


This one is my favourite easel card which has now sold:

One of my colleagues wanted me to make her a card for her friends baby who had just been born. She sat with me for ages telling me what she wanted but I think she now has the card making bug as well. (The baby was Polish just in case you were wondering!)

New baby cards have also been popular and although I haven't had much inspiration for them I did try a few cross stitched cards:

Heat embossing has also featured quite heavily in my card making - it's fun getting messy and watching the glitter melt (!). I discovered my white ink pad and coloured card as well and here are the results:

I also experimented with printing on acetate and creating window cards. It didn't work quite how I wanted it and was very fiddly but the results aren't bad:

And then I got a stencil and had a go an inking through the stencil with my Big and Juicy ink pad. I couldn't find a sponge to use in the village until I had an idea to use a washing up sponge - it worked just as well and here are the results:

Here is another cross stitch card that is prefect for the spring/summer weather we are having:

I bought some shimmer chalks and experimented with the distressed look on this card. It certainly is cheaper than buying distress inks which are very popular at the moment:

I also bought some black magic core'dinations card which can be sanded to reveal the colour underneath. I tried that with my butterfly embossing folder. It worked quite well apart from I squashed some of the embossed parts when I was gripping it:

Another technique I tried was colouring in on black card with my metallic pencils. I don't think you can see it very well in this picture but the outcome was stunning and I am very pleased. It's just a shame that I only had one of these peel off's!

And then there were the nestabilities I bought. I'm not sure I like this card but I love the shapes the die's create and they will feature a lot more in my card making.

And last but not least are the Christmas cards (yes they were made on one of the hottest days of the year but there is nothing like starting early!). I have had these peel off's for a while and they have been itching to be used. Again I experimented with acetate to create window cards and I think the results are stunning. They produced a very unusual contemporary card and I have more plans for them still .... watch this space!

These are just some of the cards I've been making - I've been extremely busy. I'm afraid there are no cards on the website yet but if you wanted anything please send me an email: claire@prestburygifts.com. I can make cards to order and post them out to you. And for all the budding crafters out there have a look at our website for some great card crafting products: www.prestburycraftsandgifts.com