a photo a day in may

Lately I've been neglecting this little space. I've been busy on Facebook here and here, and very busy making crafty things for Paper Cotton Love and Lollipops And Love. I love every bit of what I'm doing, but I want to keep up my blogging too.

I've been searching for some inspiration...for a simple idea to keep me motivated...for an easy way to fit blogging into my day. Today I found that inspiration, at Foxs Lane. Kate is making a crochet motif every day in May...and I am going to post a photo every day in May!

It might be a photo of something I'm working on, a moment with the kids, a place I visit or someone I see...anything that captures a moment in my day.

Today's photo is a crafty one. This afternoon I found a little time, in between working on customer orders and new products, to start making the first of several cards I need to finish over the next week or so. I have a couple of mothers day cards to make, a birthday card for a friend, and a 4 year old birthday card. I'm usually so busy making things for Paper Cotton Love and Lollipops And Love, that I often forget to make time for my own craft projects, so today was a nice change.

I'm looking forward to posting a photo a day in May!

xx

Signed, sealed, delivered...

"A sweet little card...

to hold and feel...

sealed with love...

a hand scrawled message...

delivered with a hug...

received with a smile...

to be saved and cherished"

Oh the joy of a real, tangible, greeting card!

More often than not, we are so caught up in our digital world of connecting with friends and family via email, text messaging and Facebook that we forget about other super nice and simple ways to show someone we care, send our good wishes and brighten up a day...

My little trio of mini cards are finished! I loved making them! You can find them in my shop here.

Hope your day is 'sweet' xx

Less is more, and a Christmas card how-to

I know that some people spend a lot of time hand-making greeting cards.They use all of the different tools, accessories, and 'fancy' techniques available, and layer up all sorts of elements. And that is great, but it can become very expensive and time consuming. When I make a greeting card I prefer to pare back the elements and work with as little as possible to achieve a clean simple look. For me less is more. It is also more achievable, especially for those who might not consider themselves 'crafty', and it simplifies those projects that require a large quantity of cards to be made.

A cute and quirky, super easy Christmas card how-to: 

What you will need:

A Christmas tree punch (or cut your own simple tree shape)

mini Glue Dots

Self adhesive Rhinestones

Bakers twine (or any type of string, thread or scraps of ribbon)

White greeting card blanks (make your own!)

Sheets of  coloured card

1. Punch out lots of trees from your coloured card,

and tie pieces of twine into tiny little bows

2. Use glue dots to attach a tree to the front of your card blank

3. Attach a little bow to the top of the tree with another glue dot

4. Add some bling! Decorate your tree with shiny Rhinestones.

And that is it! You are done!

You could use traditional Christmas colours for your trees and twine, or go for something a little more quirky like the aqua I have used here. And if you have a little more time up your sleeve, you could just as easily add something extra such as a hand-stamped  greeting, a strip of patterned card across the bottom, or some punched out stars stuck on with glue dots! x

Photography issues

One that worked out in the end...I think!

Earlier this week I was feeling a little disheartened. While I love what I do, with my craft, my online shop and this blog, there are a few sides to it that are quite challenging for me. One particular side being the photography of my handmade products. And really, what is an online shop without awesome product photos? My customers cannot pick up the items, turn them over or feel them, and so they need to be able to see the detail in the photos, to help them imagine what they feel like, and see the real colours and textures. But with some of my products this can be really hard to achieve.

I am not in any way a photographer, I have never been taught how to take photos, and I don't know a lot about the many functions my wonderful camera is capable of performing. The camera was bought by my husband a few years ago, and I had barely picked it up before I started selling on Etsy. And then, all of a sudden, I needed to know as much as I could about taking great photos. But I also needed to learn what I could about Etsy...and Blogger...and flickr...and pinterest...and oh my goodness!! AND not forgetting the most important thing I needed to spend time on - MAKING THINGS...or there would be nothing to photograph anyway!

I like this pic, and have used it on Etsy, but it is still lacking in colour and detail

So even now, after 10 months, I still haven't learnt a lot about the camera or photography. I am busy with making and blogging and trying to keep up with all other things 'online', and what I want is to be able to set the camera to auto, point and shoot, and instantly get the shot I want, without having to edit! (Surely that is not too much to ask!) Sometimes it actually does work, because some of my photos turn out great and I am happy with them first go. But others just won't turn out no matter what I try, and this gets me down, as I feel that this is what it's all about.

Earlier this week I was struggling to get any decent photos of some of my gift tags, and my fold up tote bags. I tried over and over again to achieve clear detailed photos, but it just wasn't working. So I took a break, from the photography and most of the 'online' stuff I do, and just spent a couple of days hanging out with Miss A, playing toys with her, and doing kids craft. I came back to my own crafting with a simple project - a card for our friend's new baby boy.

Taking photos for Blogger is so much easier as the photos can be more natural.

Miss A and I made cute wrapping paper for Baby's present. And a gift tag to match. How cute is the elephant?

And then after all of this I had another go at the photos for Etsy....and lo and behold....they turned out ok! Obviously still not as good as what I could achieve if I took the time to learn more, but they are photos that I can be happy with. I think with any creative project that isn't working out, putting it aside for a time, having a change of scenery, maybe working on another less complicated project, and returning with a clear mind, can really help. I still think the photography is going to challenge me for a while to come yet though!

What do you do if a project isn't working out?

Are you an Etsy shopper, or do you take photos for an online shop?

Are photos 'everything'?

Time

I have always loved making things, but in the past I haven't always allowed myself to spend as much time doing craft as I would have liked. There were always other seemingly more important things to do like work, study, cook or clean. I would tell myself that when these jobs were done there would be time to make something, but of course these jobs are never really 'done' are they?

Becoming a mum several years ago gave me more time at home, but of course I was busier than ever and still had no spare time for craft...and if there was time, I was far too tired!

But as my kids have grown, their love of craft and making has grown too, and I have found that craft has effortlessly become a part of our every day lives. 

And for me, starting my Etsy shop has taken this one step further by giving me the excuse I needed to finally put my craft ahead of all of those other jobs! I have more drive and motivation and a real purpose for my making, and I am happy!

 

All of the above photos are of a birthday card and gift I made a couple of days ago for my son's friend, who has just turned six.

I used a technique called tea bag folding to make the medallion on the card. The pink flower is made from felt, with a little pink bead stitched into its centre, and attached to a hair elastic.

It is always nice to see the things we make loved and enjoyed by others. I hope you have time to make something for someone...or something for yourself  :)

At my desk

I have been working on some felt flowers and a birthday card for my sons friend, who is turning six.

I found a piece of fabric with a cool rocket ship motif for the boys card. I used a die to make the circular window, embossed the piece of card with a star pattern, and finished it off with a bit of hand stitching around the edge of the circle.



The 'Mollie Makes inspired' felt flowers are still a work in progress. I have been trialing some designs as a couple of friends, who love my hair elastics for their little girls, have asked me to make some more 'grown up' designs that they can wear too. I'm happy with the results so far, and have some ideas for fabric flowers too. I'm glad to have had a chance to work on some new ideas. I always have a thousand of them swimming about in my head and it's very satisfying to get some of them out and into something tangible. And quite often the finished design will be nothing like that original idea I had in my head. But it doesn't matter! Without that first spark of inspiration there wouldn't be anything.Working on new ideas is inspiring and fun! What new ideas have you been working on?

Baby Love

There have been a few little bundles of joy arriving around us lately...most recently one little baby girl, and two brand new baby boys.

Definitely an opportunity for a bit more card making!

Paper bunting...ribbon...and alphabet rub-ons...

...fabric with cute baby motifs...embossing...hand stitching on card...ribbon and buttons...

...die-cut circles for tags...embossing and string.

And who can resist tiny baby size crochet beanies?

As cute as the tiny babies themselves :)

Paper, Scissors, Make

After my visit to Scrapbook Secrets a couple of weeks ago, I had big plans for a weekend of paper crafting and card making. I imagined spending the weekend at my craft desk, surrounded in beautiful card, paper, and embellishments, and having uninterrupted time to bring to fruition all of the ideas swimming about in my head.

But with a three and a five year old, of course it was not going to happen this way! Instead I had to fit my craft in around all of the distractions from the kids - making their food, getting their drinks, finding lost toys, cleaning up mess, admiring their drawings, breaking up fights and participating in their games.

Uninterrupted craft time would be wonderful and productive, and occasionally it does happen. But still, I love that the bulk of my crafting and making happens in the heart of the home, with my family around me.  

And besides, even with all of the distractions, I still managed to make a couple of cards, cover a wooden photo frame...and get started on a few other works-in-progress!

Feeling Crafty

Today I have been hand-sewing pretty crochet flowers onto snap clips and hair elastics. My crochet-obsessed mother made these gorgeous flowers for me. The colours are amazing - chocolate, turquoise, taupe, lime, pink...I think I will package the finished hair accessories into co-ordinating sets. I will pop them into the shop soon.

Yesterday I paid a visit to Scrapbook Secrets. They stock the best range of papercraft and scrapbooking products that I have ever seen.

Their patterned paper and card was divine...my head is full of ideas...and I am sensing there may be a card making and paper-crafting binge this weekend!