Wednesday, October 29, 2008

First Christmas card set

I have listed my first Christmas card set on my Etsy store. Click here to see it.

I decided to sell my Christmas cards in sets of 4 because I think people may prefer this for holiday cards rather than single cards.

I actually really love how these Christmas tree cards turned out.

Check back at my shop to see more sets which will be added soon.

UPDATE. I have listed my second set. It is a set of 4 poinsettia Christmas cards. Click here to see it.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Cool Japanese dolls

We went to a Japanese supermarket called Mitsuwa on Saturday. It's in north NJ near New York. My bf loves Japanese food, so he picked up a whole load of groceries. There was also an awesome food court inside, the whole place was buzzing with people. I had some really good udon noodles and then we shared this pancake type thing, I forget the name of it!

As well as the supermarket, there are other little stores in the complex such as a Japanese bookstore and a couple of stores that sell Japanese bowls and tea sets, furniture and other Japanese things.

I came across the stationary section and found lots of cool origami stuff. I bought a couple of things. My favourite is this kit to make little Japanese dolls. They are so cute! I can't wait to make cards with them. Will have to wait til after Christmas though, have to concentrate on Christmas cards!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Introducing...Ladybug Designs

http://www.ladybugdesigns1995.etsy.com

I would like to share with everyone the wonderful shop of Ladybug Designs. Behind Ladybug Designs are two ladies who design and put together cross stitch kits based on famous artworks. When I first came across this store I was amazed! I used to do a lot of cross stitching but I have never seen such beautiful designs and think that being able to cross stitch my own Picasso or Monet masterpiece is such a cool idea.

The two ladies that are Ladybug Designs are stitching veterans! They started Ladybug Designs back in 1995 and have enjoyed much success selling their designs through catalogs such as The Stitchery Catalog, Keepsake Needlearts Catalog and Annie's Attic Catalog. This year they started an Etsy shop.
The first cross stitch design shown here is an adaptation of Monet's "The Japanese Bridge".

If you can part with your beautiful creation once it's completed these would make great gifts, especially for somebody who is a fan of a particular artist. Ladybug Designs features designs adapted from works by Monet, Picasso, Van Gogh, Matisse, Degas, Gauguin, Homer, Klimt, Munch, O'Keeffe, Renoir, Seurat, Diego Rivera and several contemporary artists.
This second design is an adaptation of "Nature Morte" by Picasso.

The designs are easy to read and follow, and all the materials you'll need to complete the design are included in the kit. The prices of the kits are also great. They also offer the option of "Chart Only" for 1/2 the kit price.
This third design is an adaptation of Seurat's "Sunday in the Park".

I would like to finish this feature with a quote from one of the ladies behind Ladybug Designs.
"It's a wonderful way to display your favorite masterpiece that you actually had a hand in creating, which actually you've spent far more time on than the original artist. It's very rewarding to complete a masterpiece that in the art world is "Priceless"".
This last design is an adaptation of "Sunflowers" by Van Gogh.

Check out their shop today on Etsy!

Friday, October 10, 2008

Thanksgiving cards

Here are my two newest cards. Both are Thanksgiving cards. They are both my favourite cards ever that I've made. I was having a great couple of days, creatively, when I made these. I love them.

The first one includes hand stamped leaves in varying autumn colours. I created the background to the leaves by using a teabag coloured distress ink pad. Finished off with an autumn plaid design and a "Thanksgiving blessings" greeting. It suits this time of year perfectly.


For the second card I decided to use some handmade paper. I have lots of this, so I decided this is the perfect season to use it on. I stamped leaves in gold ink and a small dotty background in brown ink. I ripped the edges of the handmade paper and the orange paper it is mounted on to give it a natural look. Tip, when trying to achieve this ripped paper look, run a wet paintbrush along the line where you wish to rip. This makes ripping easier as the rip will stay along the wet line and there is less chance of ripping into your image. I really like the subtle greeting, reading "We are Thankful", stamped in a soft brown chalk ink in the corner of the card. Oh I love them both. Definitely proud of these two. Fellow card markers will know that that's not always the case for every card you make!

I will be posting both on my Etsy shop in about an hour, so take a look!

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

SALE!!!!

I have reduced a selection of my cards by 15%! Check out the sale section of my Etsy shop here.
Here are a couple of the cards on sale. I also took new photos of all my cards, which I'm pretty proud of. I like using a white background, I think it brings out the colours in my cards alot more.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Introducing...Little Hand Studios

http://Littlehandstudios.etsy.com

I would like to share with everyone the beautiful handmade glass artwork made by Little Hand Studios. Their store is full of bright and shimmering fused glass plates, pendants and other glass decorations. As Little Hand says herself, life is full of colour, celebrate it!

The majority of their shop is fused glass plates. These are not only fun, they are functional since they are food safe. So use them as decoration, to serve food or even as a soap dish. The colours in this stunning Le Cirque plate look so crisp and glimmer in the light.

Their modern bright plates, such as this Cherry red tic tac toe plate, would look great displayed as a candy dish.

As well as modern designs, they also make beautiful classic style plates, like this amazing Raspberry ambrosia plate where pink glass is fused with creamy white glass. This one has to be my absolute favourite.

As well as plates, they also make pendants. The one shown here is aptly named you are my sunshine, and would brighten anyone's day if given as a gift.

Check out their shop today!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Shop Handmade, yay or nay?

I was just wondering if anyone who reads my blog had come across Shophandmade.com? It is sponsored by an online rubber stamp company that I buy from so they sent me an email telling me about it. I was initially drawn to it due to the fact that listings are free. I have listed 5 of my cards but then stopped because I found the user interface very glitchy and non intuitive.
When I listed my cards there were only about 60ish cards listed, now there are 390. So lots of people are listing. They say that it is still a beta, so the glitchy issues may get sorted out, but I'm still not sold. It made me realise how professional a site Etsy is.

Take a look http://www.shophandmade.com/home and also at my shop here

Would appreciate comments from anyone who has an opinion :)