Have a Handmade Christmas!

Christmas will soon be upon us, and I've begun making handmade cards, wrapping paper and gifts for a range of family and friends. Yes, I could just chuck money at it, but what would be the point? It's so much better to make something meaningful for people--I abhor the mass-production that taints the season. For example, last year, I made a $25 gift for someone, which took 3 hours, but was completely unique! How much easier would it have been to throw $25 over the counter at some chain store down in mall city? Very easy but, instead, I printed out a collection of this person's favourite photographs and made them into colourful, A6-sized greeting cards with coordinating C6 envelopes. Very pretty, and perhaps a slight abuse of my facebook friendship, but the recipient really appreciated the sentiment :)

As is customary at this time of year, I've updated my blog header/banner. Last year (2012-2013), I chose a photograph I took in Fiji in 2011 (shown below). Perhaps not very Blue Mountains-ish but an 'ode' to my favourite colour...green (and to my favourite part of the planet, the South Pacific Islands). People sometimes ask me, "Why Green Gifts?" (a number of my products are not 'green' in the environmental sense of the word, but I am constantly striving for this--it's just a matter of continuing to convince the Australian public to embrace it too...)

For the year ahead (2013-2014), I've cropped an image that I took in Paris of a lady beetle on a rose (blog header above). As people wandered past the rose garden in 'Jardin des Plantes', the main botanical garden in France, they stared at me as though I was crazy. What on earth is she looking at? The average passer-by took shots of the whole rose garden, and rarely ventured to the macro level (which invariably involves crouching, body twisting, stillness of hand, and a hell of a lot of patience!) I was happy with the few shots I was able to capture with my rudimentary digital camera and have created photographic cards from some of the better images.

So, "Why Green Gifts?" I love nature, trees, leaves, the colour green, and a number of my products reflect this. I'm always seeking to incorporate 100% recycled paper/cardstock into my cardmaking & stationery range and try to make use of reclaimed materials, especially in my cardmaking. Handmade, local production is also sustainable (i.e. less waste, minimal carbon impact) and doesn't have the same effect as mass-production does on the environment. I encourage you to consider both the direct and indirect impact of your purchasing choices on the global environment, as you prepare for Christmas this year :)

Blog Banner 2012-2013

It's tough at times...

Image above: Fifth Avenue Floral Stamp by Stampin' Up!

Here are a few of my latest cards. I'm starting to realise that there really is no end to the diversity of cards that can be made! I've started to scratch the surface but so much more creativity is still waiting to emerge...

On another note, trying to grow a small business can be extemely tough and, at times, I wonder if I have spent more on materials, tools and stall costs than I have made. Nearly everything I sell is made by hand, so it is also a time-consuming venture. Lately, I have been challenging myself to make better cards at a faster rate. This has quite been tough because I don't wish to skimp on quality. I have also been approached by a couple of potential stockists, but actually haven't had time yet to make the stock!

Recently, I made the worst decision I have ever made for 'Green Gifts' since 2003 (in terms of lost money and time). I rented a stall space in a shop in Sydney for four days (which needed to be prepaid). Unfortunately, I tumbled for the positive blog posts and other reviews promoting this new initiative without first visiting the shop. The reality is that the shop is in a poor location with very limited foot traffic. The operators will receive the short-term benefit of rental income from people like me, but ultimately, the enterprise will leave frustration and disappointment in its wake.

I just wish the operators would be true to themselves and the craft community who are trusting them to do the right thing. The initiative will work for some, but only very few. I'm annoyed with myself because I am used to achieving a certain level of success for my hard work and feel completely duped this time round (due to non-disclosure of the likelihood of infrequent sales). I still have two days left and it is looking improbable that I will even recoup the cost of the materials for the items sold, let alone the stall costs! Live and learn people...

Green Gifts Personified!

These cards truly represent my love of nature and style of cardmaking. The backgrounds are scenes reclaimed from an old calendar, brought to life by embellishments such as paper/silk flowers, brads, resin, diecuts and, my favourite, a ladybug. I love being able to create a visual image out of virtual garbage (as well as a few other pretty things). A reasonable amount of effort went into each card, so these are priced at $3.00 each. They're all one-of-a-kind, so I thought I'd take a few quick snaps before I put them out for sale.

I ♥ lady beetles!

Whether you call them ladybirds (British), ladybugs (US) or lady beetles (scientific, as they're not technically bugs, and definitely not birds), they're just so cute! I'm not normally a great fan of beetles--I seem to have some sort of aversion to Christmas beetles and other larger winged beetles but lady beetles are adorable. Have you ever just been standing around and a lady beetle softly lands on you? This happened to me recently whilst I was at the markets. It was a moment of pure joy and then a rather assertive customer wanted my attention, so I had to forget about the lady beetle crawling on my arm.

My sister, very thoughtfully, gave me the handmade, recycled skeleton leaf paper which features on this card. The paper was a little pale and pasty, so I carefully dyed it to a vibrant green (♥ the colour green too, as you might have guessed!). The rest of the design just came together and I still have some more skeleton leaf paper left to make another card!

Materials: Wooden lady beetles, skeleton leaf paper, pattern paper, Stampin' Up! rub-on; This card is hand: cut, dyed, glued, drawn and embellished.

"How does your garden grow?"

I really love how this card turned out. I'm always seeking to buy tools, stamps and embellishments with a botanical theme. As I continue to create cards from week-to-week, I feel like my techniques and colour choices are improving. As I live in the Blue Mountains, my aim is to promote nature to the people who visit, so I will be focusing more on creating nature-themed cards as time goes on.