Sepia Smiles - now available at Anthropologie US

So, I have been going on about this 'secret project' for a while now and I can finally reveal what has been going on!

Back in June I was contacted by Anthropologie US via my Etsy Shop (thanks Etsy!) to create something along the lines of my message in a bottle kits for their holidays collection. Of course I was very glad to oblige and went on to custom design some products for them and posted them off. A month or so later they contacting saying that they would love to place orders for my New Years Resolution Kits. I was of course, delighted!
They have since also ordered the Valentines Message in a Bottle Kits I have designed for their Valentines Day capsule so they will also be available to buy soon.

My designs will be sold in 99 of their stores across America and Canada and also on their website too. I shall post a link to the items once they become available to purchase online. 

This really is a dream come true for me as I have always been a huge fan of Anthropologie and I am so thrilled that they chosen my items to stock in their amazing stores - I am so grateful for the opportunity and beyond excited - still!

I shall be blogging about the whole experience and how the heck I managed to pull it all off in the short space of time I had to do it all in. It's all thanks to my amazing family and friends and some excellent expert help too.

Just goes to show it pays not to give up on your dreams - ever!

Rx

ABOVE IMAGES
ANTHROPOLOGIE LOGO
ANTHROPOLOGIE ROCKEFELLER CENTRE STORE NYC -
IMAGES VIA ANNE BARAKAT

Vivant Boutique - Stow on the Wold

Last week I visited the lovely Cotswold's and the beautiful market town - Stow on the Wold, with my good friend and business collaborator Lance Jones 
We went to visit the recently opened Vivant Boutique which offers a wonderful range of UK handmade arts and crafts and to meet with the owner Jill Lawrence. Jill opened the boutique in October after moving back to the UK from France. 

The boutique has a wonderful array of things to buy including wooden bowls, greetings cards, glassware, jewelry, teddy bears, scarves, wall hangings, enamels, decoupage glass, felt brooches, soaps, candles and a large range of other types of textile products like cushions, tissue holders, purses and lavender bags.  Jill's own line of handmade jewelry - Vivant Jewelry is also on display there.
I am also very lucky to have my New Years Resolution Kits featured at Vivant too and they will also be available to purchase at the craft markets Jill will be attending over the holiday season.

If you happen to be in this beautiful area of the Cotswold's over the holiday season please be sure to stop by Vivant!

Vivant

5 Brewery Yard

Sheep Street

Stow on the Wold

Gloucestershire

GL54 1AA

Rx

a little studio tour

 i have finally tidied up my tiny cupboard studio and took a few pics for you to see where i create my cards and invitations and of course write this blog and drool over other blogs and etsy sellers! 
above is my adjustable easel desk - it's from Ikea and is huge. it's ideal for working on as there is such a large area but the only downside is that it is a tad too big for my tiny workspace. behind my teeny tiny laptop are a couple of paintings my nan painted and gifted to me (along with many others) she is a fantastic painter. i love these because they remind me of her and really cheer me up and inspire me to keep on creating. i have two notebooks that i constantly use, one is for my all of my 'to-do's' and the other is for planning blog posts (which is kind of empty right now but wont be for much longer thanks to this). the old wooden box is a car boot find and contains my equipment such as my glue gun and paper-craft tools. i often take product pictures on here too for a more rustic effect. the Eiffel tower picture is actually a card from fellow etsy seller, Paula from Picard Creative, i received it as a thank you for ordering some of her hilarious magnets one Christmas for my girlfriends.

top left is my humble shelving unit - i think i got it from Argos and it was originally a yellow pine colour so i painted it white. i keep my card supplies, printer and mailing envelopes on here as well as my folders for various boring important bits and pieces. on the top is a white cushion i decorated with some old scarves and the rest of the scarves were used to make my makeshift blind. to the left of the cushion are some of the art dolls that i made with the help of my mum, she created all the hair and amazing clothes (they remind me of Downton Abbey) i had some children that we made and they went to a lovely home in Saudi Arabia in the end which is great. 

 my typewriter is my absolute favourite possession (a gift from my mum) and i use it all the time for adding text to my cards and and invitations quickly and easily. the ink still hasn't ran out and i have had this well over a year now. above the typewriter is my little washing line style photography area. the light here is best as it is right next to the window. i peg my cards up with the little pegs or a bull dog clip and snap away.

above left is a picture of my wonderful mum. i normally have her positioned so that she is looking at me and spurring me on to get things done. i am very lucky in the fact that she has always supported my creative endeavours and will often come round with a bag full of supplies for me to use in my projects. this picture was taken about 20 years ago when she was about a year or two older than i am now. isn't she beautiful?
i made the blind myself very quickly by sewing together two Laura Ashley scarves that i found in a charity shop (!) i then pinned it up above the window with some diamanté pins that i slotted into some holes that were already there (bonus). the fabric is so light that they hold it up really well. i then took a cut off from one of the scarves and pinned that to the left inside edge of the window so that i can tie the blind back as and when i need to. it took about and hour and half altogether.


well, that's it, my little tour is over - sorry it wasn't much but it really is a very small space. but it's my little haven really. here are some of my favourite studio tours from around the web.


+ fieldguided's tour
+ creature comforts Ez's workspace
+ industrial style
+ studio set up tips


Rx

weekend project

i made this framed collage at the weekend as a bit of a project. it didn't take long at all to create and it was super cheap too. i used one of the old frames and a couple of the stamp collecting envelopes from my february car boot visit.

to create the layout all i did was cut out a piece of cream card to fit the frame backing and then laid a strip of a vintage page about 3/5ths across and then placed a small paper doily on top of that - offset to the left and in the centre of the layout. i then had a look in my paper bits and bobs basket and found a piece of card with a page number glued onto it - i stuck that on the bottom right hand corner and then affixed the envelopes onto the top of all of that. it took about 5mins (well, a little longer as i had to clean the old glass in the frame). all in all it cost about £2.50 - not bad eh?

R x

paper bag packaging tutorial

 hello guys, i would like to share a really simple paper bag packaging tutorial with you today. i came up with the idea for the packaging as a simple way to create lovely packaging for my scrapbook matchboxes that i am listing soon in the shop.

i have always loved the effect of stitches against paper and have seen other people create lovely paper packaging before but i never could do anything like this as i didn't have a sewing machine. well, luckily my mum has lent me her sewing machine so now i can sew away to my hearts content.

so, clearly this tutorial is intended for those of you with a sewing machine. you could of course stitch by hand if you would like (i have never attempted to do this as i am a rubbish at hand sewing but i am sure it is possible)

#quick tip - it's always helpful to read through the tutorial once before you begin. 

so, above are the required items apart from a sewing machine / needle and thread which you will definitely need.

1. brown (or white paper bags) mine measured approx 18 x 18cms (7 x 7 inches)
2. paper doilies (you can find them in the cake making area in any larger supermarket)
3. scissors
4/5 various scraps of paper. some must be pale and plain so that your text will show clearly 
6. nylon brown cord for decoration

also you will need some type of functional rolling stamp (which are available on here on etsy, and at larger craft stores) for creating your label text or you could print yours out first on the computer. also, i have used my typewriter for one of the styles of bags but if you don't have one that is no problem either. you could even just hand write the labels for that extra personal touch.

so firstly you need to fold your bag into half and then sew along the edges where the sides meet but make sure not to sew along the original bag opening (1 + 2) then, take a paper doily and fold one edge over to about a third across and cut the folded over section out (3) then take two piece of your paper selection making sure that one is a pale/neutral piece so that your text will clearly show (4). # please note if you are using a computer or typewriter you need to type and print your text onto the paler piece of paper first before proceeding to cut it .then cut the paper pieces into two lengths of around 6 cms long and 1 cms wide (2.5 x 0.4 inches) then cut the paler coloured strip a little bit thinner so that you can see the other strip underneath when you lay it on top. cut a triangle shape out of the wider strip at one end.

 once you have your two strips created you need to stamp (1) your text along your pale strip.(if you have not printed or typewritten it of course!)i used the text 'for you' and 'happy birthday' for my bags. after this you need to roll over the open end of the bag a couple of times and then place your folded piece of doily over the folded edge. take your two paper strips (2) with the text strip on top of the other strip and so that the cut out triangle area is showing past the top strip. fold these over the the doily where the doily is folded also. i try to position the paper strips slightly off centre for a better effect. then sew all along the edge of the bag about 1cm (0.4 inches) from the edge. finally cut of the overhanging edges (3) of the doily so that it is nice and neat. you can use any words you like for your bag (4) you can use these bags for birthday gift wrap, etsy packages, handmade confetti, favours - the list goes on..also, i used the nylon cord to wrap around the bag a couple of times and then tied it simply for that little extra touch (not shown in the photos).

above are two of the bags i made. the one to the left is one that i hand stamped with the functional rolling stamp and the one on the right i typed on my typewriter. i think the one on the left is ideal for both male and female recipients as it is not quite as fussy as the one on the right - but i prefer the doily effect - don't you ;)

free library card template

/ / UPDATE / /
Please visit this blog post here for some new downloadable library card templates - the download link on this page is no longer working 
/ / / / / / /

i have a freebie for you this wonderful friday. a library card template.

i created this template for myself originally  as a card to send to my customers along with their purchases. 
it can be confusing deciding what to send to customers in the mail, some people don't really like freebies as such as the are sometimes things they don't particularly want so unfortunately tend to end up in the bin. and some people do not like the idea of more paper being used pointlessly. well, this template is for printing off thank you cards that have triple uses - 

• as discount code vouchers (ideal for Etsy sellers)
• and as a form of advertising as there are areas to add you blog, facebook etc.
• and as a personalized thank you card (all customers respond well to a personal thank you)

these cards can also be modified for creating -

• greetings cards
• book club library cards
• invitations
• love notes
• rsvps
• place settings

and more..

TO DOWNLOAD THE LIBRARY CARD TEMPLATE CLICK HERE

simply download and edit as you please. please also check the margins are set to 'normal' in word. you can print onto any type of thick paper or card - i prefer extra thick card as it has a more authentic old fashioned 'letterpress' feel that way.

don't worry if you do not like the text choices i have made, you can edit the template however you wish. this is just a general layout for you to do as you please.

if you do like the fonts i used, they are -

• typical writer available for free here
• champignion available for free here

personally, my favourite font website is fontspace purely because the fonts are easy to search for and i love the layout. if you use this website they have a guide on how to download fonts -something i had no clue about before and i always used to wonder where everyone got their wonderful fonts from! here is their help page with all the info.

hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Rx                                                        

weekend tutorial - balloon birthday card

i wanted to share some card ideas with you by way of a tutorial.
i made a similar birthday card to this one recently for a friend and it is really simple to create. it incorporates vintage papers but you can really use whatever papers or card colours you like. i hope you enjoy it!

what you will need -
1. vintage papers from old books (or whatever style papers you like) i used a 1970's floral book page
2. some card about 4 x 4 inches (10 x 10 cms)
3. a piece of stiff card about 3 x 3 inches (7.5 x 7.5 cms)
4. 3D foam dots
5. double sided tape
6. 15 x 10cms card and a matching envelope
7. happy birthday text (see instructions below for details)
8. 3 different colours of cotton thread
9. scissors * please note you will also need some pva glue too

1. cut out a balloon shape from the stiff card about 4.5 x 3 cms in size
2. using the balloon shape as a template, draw 3 balloons onto your vintage paper - being careful to only draw on the side you do not want to show (ie. reverse side)
3.cut out your shapes and then apply some pva glue to the backs (reverse side) and then glue them onto the other piece of card
4. once dry cut out your balloon shapes from the card

5. cut out one length of about 30cms from each of your thread colours
6. take one of your balloon shapes and twist the end of the thread around the bottom of the balloon three times leaving a small length at the back of the balloon
7. apply the double sided tape to the back of the balloon making sure to cover all areas of the thread
8. turn your balloon over and check that there is no tape showing on the other side - repeat with the other 2 balloons using a different colour thread for each balloon

9. on your computer or if you have a typewriter, create some 'happy birthday' text. i have a typewriter so i did mine on that but if you want a similar font from the computer you can use courier or typical writer. use around a size 9 font and print it onto some thin card. cut it out about 5 x 1.5 cms. then cut out a 6 x 2cms piece of the vintage paper and stick the happy birthday text onto it with the double sided tape so you have a matted effect (you can also just use the text alone if you like)
10. lay your matted text piece and your balloons onto the card and decide how you would like them all to be positioned
11. apply 3 sticky foam dots onto the backs of the balloons and attach them to the card. then attach the text piece over the threads making sure to pull them slightly taught. once attached snip of the ends of the thread so that they finish at the bottom of the card.
12. i used a translucent envelope as i love the effect it creates once the card is inside. i got mine from here but if you are not in Europe you could use large glassine bags from here.

i hope you enjoyed my first tutorial - if you have any questions or comments please let me know and, have a great weekend :)