Festive Feast 2012

This weekend sees another fabulous Festive Feast event over two days at Stoke Newington Town Hall on  Church Street, London N16 . ...and I am delighted to be attending as a stall holder this year.

Entry is free to the public and there are a wide variety of stalls selling gorgeous handmade goodies (I am on stand 14, which is  to the right as you come through the main doors), a refreshment stall and of course Santa will be in his grotto on the stage at the back of the hall.

Frosty and I hope to see you - if you do come along please drop by and say hello. Any customer who  says Frosty said to say hello will get a little something extra  in with their purchases.

Buy something Original for your loved ones this year and support Handmade Christmas.

Hope to see you at the weekend

Take care

Christa   xx

Deck the halls...

The Festive Season is almost upon us and  I have been so busy making things for the upcoming craft fairs.

This year, as well as the usual cards and gift tags, I am trying to make lots of different things ... one of which is constructed flower wreaths like the one in the picture here.

These take a long time to make, cutting all the flower shapes, inking and curling each petal, building each unique bloom, painting the frame and tying ribbons before arranging the finished blooms and adding a little glitz. This one is in non-traditional colours but they can be made in any colour palette and in a range of sizes.  They are really pretty and I will have one in my home this year for sure.

As the countdown begins I will bring sneak peeks of other products and details of the craft fairs I will be attending. In the meantime if you would like one of these, please contact me to discuss the details.

Until; next time, take care

Christa   xx

Last minute

 I have just finished this nautical themed card after receiving an anguished plea from a regular customer for a last minute card for a  man's 70th birthday.

 A little stamping and embossing later I had the basis for this card and with a little nautical trim and some metal hardware for the porthole, it is done and  will soon be on its way to the hopefully happy customer....

I do offer an occasions list service to avoid any last minute rushes and this lady has decided now is the time to take advantage of this.

The occasions list simply means that she will give me a list of all the birthdays, anniversaries and occasions she would normally send a card, along with any important details regarding likes and dislikes and I will make the cards and sent them to her in plenty of time for her to write her message and send the card on to the intended recipient. So no more missed birthdays or last minute dashes for a card and she can still call me if she needs anything else that was not on her list.

If you would like to know more about this service please drop me a line

Until next time

Christa   xx 

A Balancing Act

Delighted to report that I have been very busy creating new things and filling special orders but I must admit that during busy periods  I have found it hard to maintain a work/blog balance....

I am working on lots of new projects  and preparing seasonal lines and will be able to share some sneak peeks soon, but until then I will share a few of the cards I have made since my last post.

Son birthday card

Father's Day card  for the footie fan

Thank you card

Fun birthday card

Shirt & Tie shaped card

Don't forget, if you would like a one of a kind special card made for the one of a kind special person in your life all you have to do is contact me to discuss your requirements and I will get to work on it right away.

Christa   xx 

 

Such grand plans

Oh I had such grand plans for 2012 . . . but in order to do all the things I want to do - keep making lovely things, make new and different lovely things, explore new and lovely crafts, live an interesting life, laugh lots and still keep up with the household stuff -  I have realised I need more hours in every day and at least three more pairs of hands, a double double dose of extra energy . . . oh and some extra brain power wouldn't go amiss either ;-)

So while I am waiting for my pre-ordered super powers to arrive, I am happily plodding along and keeping a fine balance of making lovely things and trying new lovely things, laughing lots and living life to the best of my ability.
                                                                                                   
                                                                                         Last week a super-fabulous return  customer (all customers are fabulous of course, but regular return customers are super-fabulous) contacted me with a request for a special card for her daughter . . . and now that the card is in the safe hands of the intended recipient, with the customers permission, I can show it off.                                                                   






Don't forget, if you would like a one of a kind special card made for the one of a kind special person in your life all you have to do is contact me to discuss your requirements and I will get to work on it right away.

Christa   xx 

2012 Live your story

 
And now for something completely different . . .

  This is a 12 x 12 inch framed project for 2012 using a mix of neutrals for backing and a lot of inky stuff, chipboard and a little bling. . .

The central old metal charm is embossed
with the words

"Live Your Story. . . "


I had such fun with this - there will definitely be more to follow.

Many Thanks to Monica Gale for sharing her project which was the inspiration for my interpretation xx

Flower power

It has been too long since I updated and  sometimes it can be hard to maintain the balance of creating, updating and juggling those little curve balls life throws every now and again . . . but I have been busy behind the scenes and will have lots of new things to showcase shortly . . . for now, just to prove I have not been completely idle, here is a little peek at what I have been up to lately . . .

Type Talk

Fancy Folds

 Type talk - in this case given the distressed treatment







Fancy folds cards, in brights and pastels

 

Fresh Flowers

 This is one of my latest designs and one of my recent favourites - quite possibly subconsciously made with someone like me in mind  ;-)

Craft fair season is moving into full swing shortly and I will be updating the events calendar pretty soon . . . but for now I have things to make . . .

Cxx

Something Blue...

Last one from me for tonight....

Summer  officially starts at the end of this month and with that comes the wedding season. So I thought I'd make a start with this triple layer decoupage on this wedding card... with stardust accents.

 Something Blue...

Flowers for Mum

Thought I would share this floral Mother's day card. It has been really hard to get a decent picture because of the sheen factor of the finish, but I hope you can see  some of the detail and can appreciate how lovely this is. It has three layers of floral decoupage with glazed accents and carries the message

Happy Mother's Day.

Mum....you're sew sweet

Its all about Mum at the moment - with Mother's Day just 18 days away.


Mum's everywhere are a great reason to celebrate ... Its time to show just how much you care.

To my special Mum I say, get ready for an attack of the Mum hugs xx

January ... February

I cannot believe that a whole month passed without a single blog post . . .  It's not that there has been nothing to share, just that I have been so busy making things, that blogging quickly slipped down the list of things to do. . . I really must try to get more organised on the blog front.

The next big thing on the UK calendar is Mother's Day . . .  which in case you didn't realise, falls on 18th March this year . . . so not really that far off.  Happily there is still time to order a special one of a kind card for the Special Mum in your life . . . just drop me a line and I'll get right on it.

I have uploaded a few photos of recent makes to my facebook page but for now I'll leave you with this one.

Cxx

Happy Bir'day

 Got a last minute call to make a birthday card for a male recipient. This was the end result - what I would call a very simple card...

and then I got to thinking about the processes involved and realised that with cutting, folding,  two different types of embossing, stamping, matting & layering, sticking and punching...actually its not that simple after all.

Happy to report that the last-minute customer was delighted with her purchase...so 'job done!'

Create

Made this card this week, just for fun...and as a statement of intent as I started the year with such good crafting intentions.

I have some fabulous ideas for some new projects and they are in various stages of development right now...which means some are almost there - with samples on my work bench or on the drying shelf, while others are still little more than a collection of elements waiting to be moulded into something hopefully wonderful.

Inspiration comes in many forms and from many places and I am working on some delightful commissioned cards at the moment...I just love the challenge of coming up with that special design to make you and your loved ones smile. A card should be more than just a pretty paper item, and I aim to provide a smile and a hug in an envelope.

 If you have an idea for a special personalised card or a gift  you would like to be able to give to someone you love, please do drop me a line

Happy New Year

2012 - I can hardly believe it is here and already under way. This is the year that will see  the Queen's Jubilee and the Olympic Games coming to London...all exciting stuff...

but alongside all the official razzmatazz it will also be a special year for lots of people with special birthdays and anniversaries...those celebrating engagements and marriages... there will be families welcoming new additions, people will be celebrating personal achievements, new homes, new jobs, exam successes... and if you are among those people with something to celebrate this year I would love to help you to make it extra special  with a  card or keepsake hand-made to  suit your specific requirements.

All of my creations are one of a kind and I love a challenge so if you have something special in mind please do get in touch and lets talk about how I might help you to celebrate in 2012.