THOUGHTS ON PRESENTING YOUR BEAUTIFULLY CRAFTED HANDMADE CARDS

After some research I noticed that there are a few things I must bear in mind when I make a greetings card.

1.  PUT THE CLEVER STUFF ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE CARD

Generally speaking the recipient will stand the card on the mantlepiece with just the front showing, so if you have laboured long and hard over a spectacular inner to your card it will stay hidden from view and all your efforts will be in vain.
I have made some beautiful cards in my time with pop up and pop out inserts being the main attraction of the card, only to find them on the shelf with just the not so clever outside of the card showing.


2. MAKE THEM THE RIGHT SIZE TO FIT ON THE SHELF

 

Cards can only take up a certain amount of space.
The area available to most people for the display of cards is usually limited so if you have a card that pulls out a long way to the back or side the chances are, because it won't fit onto the shelf or takes up more than it's fair share of space the card will be viewed, admired and put back into the envelope.


3. MAKE IT VERY CLEAR HOW THE CARD SHOULD BE DISPLAYED

If you make any card that isn't purely a book or tent shape, ie an easel, shelf or any card that needs arranging on receipt, the chances are even when you provide instructions the recipient will not understand how to present the card and again the card will be popped back in the envelope.
I have been amazed at how some of my cards have been displayed.  The problem is that you have made the card, and  you know the way it should be arranged, but if you're not in the know ........... well.......??

I have tried printing instructions on the card itself.  But if you watch, the person will take the card out of the envelope and straight away try standing it up in either a book or tent like manner, overlooking the printed instructions.  
People don't look at the back of cards.

I have found that the best way is to make a wrapper for the card with instructions printed on it, so they have to be read before the card can be viewed.

SO.... bearing all this in mind, I try to make my cards 
a) clever on the outside
b) small enough to fit on any shelf and 
c) as easy to display as possible.

My research is still in progress, but since I've taken these ideas on board I've noticed that my cards have been much more appreciated as all my hard work is being shown of to best advantage. :0)

Please be kind - particularly if you download a freebie - and 'like' me on Facebook, Pinterest or Google+ or 'Stumble' upon me. 
 « The buttons are floating over there on the left - no excuses ;0)

LOOKING BACK AT THE PAST

When my Grandmother and her sister Aunty Rosa died, I had the sad task of clearing their homes.  Obviously a lot of their possessions had to be recycled and some discarded.  One of the things I did hold on to - very tightly - were their photograph albums, with photos of them when they were teenagers in the beginning of the 1900's, pictures of my Grandad in the first world war and others of my more extended family.

They were shortly added to when my Mother who is in her 90's decided to have a clearout and we found more of her family and that of  my fathers.

Now - what to do with them all and who were all the people in them?
It seemed a shame just to keep them in albums in a cupboard for posterity, particularly as other members of the family started to show an interest.  So I gathered them all together, named those I could and scanned them and sent them off to Tesco's to be printed into a wonderful hardback book.
This has been an overwhelming success and now I have had a huge amount of photos and information from other parts of the family, which I want to sort through and use to make some new books .

The interesting thing about this pastime is the things you unearth and the mysteries you have to solve.

Nanna and Aunty had two sisters and three brothers, two of whom died when they were in their teens in 1910 and 1911 of Tuberculosis.  I wanted to add them to my books and asked the older members of the family for their names. 
Tommy and Robbie - to a man they all came back with the same answer.  So off  I went in search of more info.  Well Tommy was there, but no sign anywhere of Robbie.
At last I found him - Henry George Annis Goodman - not a Robbie or anything that could be shortened to Robbie is sight.

Now I would have put this down as just an oddity in the family and there was probably some reason for the nickname, but it has happened again.

My Mum who was christened Eva Lilian, is and has always been called Peggy.
The only time she has ever been called Eva is on official documents and for a time at school.
No one knows how or why she became Peggy - even her Mum and Dad couldn't tell me, so it's going to be a real struggle for any poor soul who is trying to sort out our family tree in the future.

Now I'm hooked on this family tree thing - I've started cataloging all my own family photos and adding the all important names to them and make the more memorable ones into year books - small ones - not too much clutter ;0)

Please be kind - particularly if you download a freebie - and 'like' me on Facebook, Pinterest or Google+ or 'Stumble' upon me. The buttons are floating over there on the left - no excuses ;0)

POT AND PAN PROTECTION!

Today's been all about trying to protect my precious pots, pans and plates from the battering they take when being heaved in and out of cupboards and off  shelves.  We have in the past always put kitchen towel between them, and although it is fairly successful, it uses a fair amount of paper and doesn't look very pretty.

So off I went online to buy some pot protectors. Not very helpful because, as well as being quite expensive for the amount I would need, they didn't come in the right sizes for my bits and pieces.

Next stop - the local material shop, where I picked up a meter of 54" wide felt.  Back home, out with the felt tip pen and scissors and down to work!

I made a template - download below - for the lid protectors and drew round the plates for the shape.  I would recommend on hindsight, that you make the plate one's about an inch bigger as they sink into the plate and leave the edges exposed.

Now finished, my plates, pots and pans are all nicely - and safely - stored away in their cupboards and hopefully protected from future dings and dents :0)  Success!

ALL AT SEA

 

For the past year the Tiddlers have been OBSESSED by sealife. As you will probably have noticed in previous posts their rooms are little underwater havens, populated by a million fluffy sea creatures, and it would appear that their mission in life is to keep me occupied making all manner of amigurumi fishes etc. to add to the collection.

This is my summer's list of achievements, which the Tiddlers till now were very happy with, but having seen a post by disorderly-twinings, they have discovered I have haven't finished the whole set - shock horror!!!
So guess who's been commissioned to make lobsters.  I just hope they don't spot a pattern for a whale!

FREEBIE FLAT OBLONG BOX WITH EDITABLE TEXT

In between sorting out advent calendars to send to Father Christmas for delivery to the Tiddlers on the 1st of December, I have been trying to design a flat box, with editable text, for my friend Michelle.

She has been beavering away making the most beautiful beaded necklaces, earrings and bracelet, and needed a stylish box selling them.

This is what I came up with

The box opens up flat so a necklace can be placed on a wadding insert and then the box can be folded up round it and the tab slotted in under the seal.

The nice thing about it is it's easy to cut out, and only needs scoring and folding and the only glue you need is to stick on the seal, which you can cut out with a 1" round punch.
The text can be edited by highlighting the 'Your Text Here' and replacing it with your own text.  If you don't want the text just leave the space blank.

If you would like the editable pdf file of the box it's available for you to download below. It fits onto an A4 sheet of card - the heaviest you can get through your printer - and measures 7.5 x 2.5 inches when folded.

click here to download freebie file 

I hope you can find a use for it and perhaps you could send me a photo of how you've used it.

Enjoy!

THE CONTINUING TALE OF ROBIN'S ROUND TABLE (WITH FREEBIE CUTTING FILES)

So it was over to me..

First there was the problem of what to use to cover the table.
Seven foot of table takes a lot of covering!  Inspiration struck and a red kingsize flat sheet was purchased.

Then table mats.
I didn't want to be cluttered up with fourteen sets of anything Christmassy for the rest of the year.  So out with the trusty Craft Robo and fourteen snowflake table mats were cut out of photo paper together with matching wine glass decorations. So pretty, just the right size and perfect.

If you would like the files for the tablemats and wine glass decorations they are here for you to download.  They come in .GSD, .studio and .SVG formats, so hopefully there will be something that you can make use of. - enjoy!

Download Snowflake Table Mat Cutting Files 

Download Wine Glass Decorations Cutting Files

Next Christmas table gift boxes.  I had seen a file on the internet here at Extreme Cards, of a snowflake top box which would fit in so well with the theme (There are so many wonderful ideas on this site) So once again it was Craft Robo time and with some red mirror board that problem was quickly solved.

Some time before I had downloaded a file from here at Computer Crafted by Gigi,(another site for great cutting files) for wine glass coasters for a party we had had and I thought I could use the idea to make coasters with our names on, firstly as place cards and then to stop the inevitable problem of whose glass is whose later in the meal, and with cold season upon us it seemed a good idea.  So back to the Craft Robo and these were made.

As you can see the whole table looked SPLENDID!

Only one problem (there's always one isn't there?) Just a small one.  The only people who could actually reach things in the center of the table, were the six footers amongst us.  Thankfully we have a lot of those in the family, but they were busy during lunch ;0)

IT ALL STARTED WITH THE TABLE ......

Last Christmas there were fourteen coming for Christmas Lunch. PANIC!!

Our new round table, which I had bought and restored earlier in the year would only seat eight at the most, so what to do?

DIY Husband to the rescue - Dan-Da-Da-Dah....!

First there was the measuring to be done. How much space would each person need? Much measuring of seats, elbow room calculation etc.  Circular or square table? How high?  Oh! decisions, decisions.

Then out with the calculator and ruler and he disappeared into the garage, not to be seen again for some considerable time. But when he did re-appear it was with Robin's Round Table.
 

Seven feet in diameter, It was HUGE!

but it would seat all of us very comfortably and we would all be able to chat to one another without craning round the person next to us. King Arthur eat your heart out!

PERFECT!!

Now it was my turn .........

ANOTHER COUPLE OF LITTLE FREEBIES FOR YOU!

I've been doing some cards lately for a friend and needed a 'Happy Birthday' greeting to pop in them. So I came up with this which I hope might be useful for some of you out there.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD RED HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLIP

They are.png files so have transparent backgrounds which can be popped anywhere in your document without causing any 'white box' issues.

 CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD BLUE HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLIP

I hope you find them as useful as I did.

Enjoy!

p.s.   As usual these are for personal use only and please don't pass them off as your own, or sell them on in any way.  Thanks - hug!

STUNNING!

Number 1 Tiddler decided to make a cake for Little Brother and this was the result

Bearing in mind that Number 1 Tiddler is only just 7, I was just blown away by her creation.
She bought herself some angel cakes, some pre-made moulding icing and some merengues and set to to make an Occy, a Nemo, a Cuttlefish in a cave and a 'pearl' 5 in an oyster shell.

Looks like we older members of the family crafty clan are going to have to up our game. We have serious competition!!

PHEW- IT'S BEEN A BUSY SUMMER SO FAR!

Life has been really hectic in the last couple of weeks. 

Because, in England, we have had unseasonably hot weather, I've been tearing around trying to get all the outside jobs finished before the inevitable rain begins to fall again, working on the theory if it's fine I'll stay outside because it might be my last chance.

Also, both the Tiddlers have had birthdays, so it's been cake and candles all round for a couple of weeks. 

Sealife has become the 'thing' at the moment, so they both have had their bedrooms papered with sealife murals - not easily done I might add when working in thirty degrees and the glue drying before the paper hits the wall - however it was managed eventually and the result was stunning.

The dolphins are HUGE but with their smiley faces they seem very friendly.  It really is like being under sea. A wonderful effect.  Particularly at night with the low lighting, it's just magical!

PEAPOD & SWEETPEA, THE DOOR DRAGONS - NEW FREEBIES

Peapod The Door Dragon has turned out to be very popular with the Tiddlers but I've been asked if there is any way to add a name to the hanger to make it a bit more personal and therefore a bit more comforting.

So here are two new door hangers for you to download and print. Peapod and his little sister Sweetpea.  Both are editable so you can add the name you require and then print off.

                           CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD PEAPOD FILE

                        CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD SWEETPEA FILE

The files are PDFs but most computers have Adobe Reader installed so it should be easy enough to open them.
When it is opened, to add the name you want, just highlight the 'Name Here' and type in the name and then print it either on both sides of a bit of A5 card or on two pieces and cut round them and stick them together.  I usually then laminate them for extra strength.

THEY ARE BOTH BRAVE LITTLE DRAGONS, AND ARE ALWAYS READY TO SEE OFF ANY SCARY THINGS, SO THE GROWN-UPS CAN LEAVE IT TO THEM!
- contented sigh ;0)

'THERE MIGHT BE SOMETHING SCARY UNDER THE BED'

The number of times I've heard that at 8 o'clock at night. A Tiddler who has been reading Grimms Fairy Tales with delight at 5 o'clock, is now faced with the big dark bedroom and suddenly those stories seem a bit too real.
So I came up with an idea.  I welcolmed Peapod into our family.  Now - Peapod is only little, but he can be very fierce if he sees something scary, and will easily chase it away.  So if you hang him on your bedroom door or somewhere where he can see you and the whole room, he can look after you all night so you can snuggle down and get some well earned rest, all ready for another bout of Grimms Fairy Tales tomorrow.

If you want to make a Door Dragon, download and print the file below.  I've made it so it makes two (you can either print it double sided or print two and stick them back to back and then cut them out.  I've found that either laminating them or covering them with sticky back book cover plastic helps them stand the strain of room guarding a little better)

I hope this works with your Tiddlers as well as it did with mine and you get a few evenings peace and quiet. :0) 

If you do download Peapod, can you leave a comment and let me know if he is keeping guard in your house. I like to keep an eye on him and make sure he's doing his job properly.

                 Click here - then right click and save image as .......

MOTHERS DAY/BIRTHDAY CARD WITH LOTS OF FREEBIES!

Although this card has been featured in my blog before, I have had so many requests for the actual card I thought I would put it on as a freebie for Mothers Day.

It is easy to make and does look very pretty when finished.I added some silver peel offs round the edge and across the diagonal and then popped a little butterfly on a transparent strip to give a floaty butterfly effect.

I also used one of these greetings which are in .png form with a transparent background so they can be popped on the card where ever you want.

 

                 Click here - then right click and save image as .......

                 Click here - then right click and save image as .......

 

                 Click here - then right click and save image as .......

                 Click here - then right click and save image as .......


Mum's deserve every bit of love we can give them - so please have a go at making the card, I'm sure she'd be over the moon when she receives it and it will make her day!

FREEBIE BEAUTIFUL BASIC BUTTONS

 Download envelope front with transparent background - click here

Little smartie buttons like the ones I used for the address area on this envelope are sooooo useful. You can use them in all sorts of projects - young or old, male or female - you name it.

Since I made them these little beauties have been a godsend. So I thought I would share and perhaps someone out there would give a sigh of relief that they had found something to fill that little gap, or add a little bling to the corner of a card. I do hope so :0)

download black button - click here

Download blue button - click here

Download gold button - click here

Download green button - click here

Download lilac button - click here

Download pink button - click here

Download red button - click here

Download silver button - click here

Download white button - click here

 Download yellow button - click here





The buttons are on a transparent background so you can resize them if requiredrop them anywhere in a project.