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

Some cards from the collection

Here are some cards from the last few weeks that I've made. They have now all been stamped and packaged up ready for selling. I hope people buy them!

 These cards below are some sample ones I received from a company called Kanban whose products we are going to stock. They are really cute tunnel cards that can be made just how you want them. They are 3D but they fold up flat to go in an envelope - fun and easy to make a quite cheap to buy!

 This card is another Kanban sample card and it measures 8" by 8". It's a lot larger than standard cards so not so easy to go in the post but the results are stunning and if you were not feeling well you would love to receive a card like this one!

This card uses Hunkydory products featuring cats and dogs. Here are 2 of the cat ones I made but I have so much there are going to be lots more on the way.

 I am experimenting with numbers as words cards as well - where the numbers are spelt and decorated. I'm not too sure about this one but I have done a few others which are nicer which will be following soon.

I also now have my own email address and business cards so I feel all important. Now all I need are the keys ......

Getting closer to shop opening - more cards made ready!

Here are just a few of the cards I have made recently - I have made so many and keep forgetting to take pictures of them!

The last one is my favourite - I have borrowed a heat embossing gun and I love it! The end result is very professional and it makes a good wedding card.

Now I need to think of a name for my craft part of the shop - any ideas welcome! I have a few but am not quite sure yet.

Weekend card craft part 1

Here are some of the cards I have made this weekend:

 

Lots of different ones, including some easter designs-I know it feels like it's ages away I need to think about it early. Also made some mothers day cards but pictures will follow later.

Daisy and Dandelion

I love sales and in the latest one - the one they call the January sale but it actually starts in December, I bought myself a CD Rom of Daisy and Dandelion. For all those crafters out there they will already know that this is a popular brand of card making supplies and the CD allows you to print out your own characters, background papers borders and greetings.

I have only just scratched the surface with these cards as there are endless possibilities to what cna be done with the disc. Here is what I have done so far:

There is still loads more to go so watch this space!

Crafters Companion 3 bird stamps

I received these stamps as a Christmas present and suddenly had a burst of inspiration earlier on what to do with them. They are only small stamps so make quite minimalist cards but I think they look stunning:

I don't think the pictures do them justice really as they look better in real life. I really love the last one as it looks so sophisticated. It's finished with glitter that doesn't show up in the photo.


Back to the drawing board for tomorrow.

New Year's Cards

So, it's now 2011 and I have great plans for my cards this year. I started thinking a few weeks ago that it would be pointless me making more cards because my outlets for selling them had diminished somewhat. However a clever idea by the other half has now set us looking at potential shops for us to set up in. One half will be his for his business and the other half will be mine to sell my cards and other handmade goods in.


So I now need to get making to make sure there are enough cards for me to sell when we do finally figure out where we are going to end up. Here are a few I made yesterday that will add to the collection:

I really love this farmyard animal stamps as they make really great cards. They can be coloured to suit any tastes and are fun, happy cards.

This is a re make of one I made a couple of years ago. I still had the die cutters so I thought I would bring it out again and have a go. Again it makes a fun card that will be suitable for both adults and children.

The playing card card (!!) is a favourite of mine and can be used for all occasions and for anyone.

I'm not quite sure about the colours on this card but it features some lengths of thread down the side adding a quirky touch to it.

This one is my favourite and I hope it will be popular. The background is a piece of blue gingham material I had from a past project and the glitter butterfly works really well in the centre.


I hope you like them and I still have a lot more to make.