2013: Bring It On

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I had the week off from card making and I haven't actually made a card this year (Fear not, this will soon be amended!). I haven't been totally lazy so far this year; I've been trying to think about my resolutions and what I want to achieve this year. Having already celebrated my first Christmas, so to speak, 2013 should be pretty exciting. I will have been going 1 year in March - and to think this time last year Made by Emma only existed as a label on the back of my cards!

So, on with the resolutions:

1 - I aim to attend at least one craft fair a month. The difficulty with this is trying to find local fairs but I shall endeavour. Finding the time should be, well, I'll cope.
2 - NETWORK! After the workshop I went to back in November, I set up a LinkedIn account and I have to be honest, I still haven't really got a clue on how it works. Not that I have been on it any time recently (oops). So that is another of my targets, to meet more people and to network more.
3 - This one is more of a goal more than a target and kind of linked with the last one: to reach 300 likes on my Facebook page which technically should be do-able, considering that I have 151 in less that a year (https://www.facebook.com/madebyemmacards - in case you have forgotten! Hint hint wink wink nudge nudge). And while we're on the topic of followers/likes/etc, I'm aiming for 100+ on Twitter and 50+ on Tumblr.
4 - Attend the Manchester Entrepreneurs meetings. I found the society purely by accident and decided it would be a good idea to go along. It will make my Tuesdays unbearably long but bear it I must!
5 - Generally be (even) more productive, whilst keeping the work/study/life ratio in balance. This will, of course, include regular blog posts - I feel like there has been some neglection recently which is never good.

With those now written down (and mainly for me to refer to!), no doubt, I will think up some more to add to the list. 12 months (ish) from now, I plan on looking back at these and seeing how far I have come and whether I achieved them or not.

Is it ok to be excited about all of this?

Organised Scatterbrain

This evening saw me finishing my Christmas crafting for this year! It feels slightly strange that I don't have to make any more Christmas cards for at least 9 months. I tried to keep the cards that I had made for craft fairs in their plastic wrappers and made extra cards for me to send personally.  

I came home from university last Saturday with my crafty stuff in tow. I had left packing really last minute and as a result, have left various bits and pieces in my room. Including my glue stick. And my cutting mat. And my metal ruler. I am therefore reduced to using the back of a sketchbook and my scale ruler (I bought my self a new PritStick this afternoon - you can never have too many!) so it's just as well I didn't have much more to do!

Well, now that I am - nearly - all ready for Christmas, I doubt I will have another entry before C-Day so . . . .

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Hope to see you all in 2013 (assuming the world hasn't ended! Sorry, couldn't resist!)

Paper Pieced Pictures: Past, Present, Future

In this post, I wanted to write about my paper pictures. I realise that I have mentioned them several times before but wanted to give them a proper entry seeing as I am making quite a few of them these days.


So, first up was of course, the best Doctor ever to travel through time and space. I think I was actually watching the most recent Weeping Angels episode when I was putting this one together! I really do love this one and the black pen makes it look as if he's just stepped out of the glossy pages of a comic book. I now have several jealous friends but I feel it is my duty to keep the first - and tester - one. I tried to layer everything in this one so each part of the suit is on a different layer to really make it stand out from the frame.










My second was a birthday present for my room mate who would probably be Mrs Jack Skellington, if only he was real! I took ages drawing him out in my sketchbook - not because it was laborious, just because I didn't know when to stop shading! I remember I messed up slightly with his tie - I think I got the layers mixed up a bit - and I could have done more to stick it down firmly but I am happy with him. White pencil on black card will always be something that I enjoy doing and the look is so effective. I probably should have done him a little bit smaller so I didn't have to squash Zero into the top corner.











Iron Man was on my list nearly from the beginning. This one was based on the comic book character although the original inspiration came from the films (Who wouldn't be inspired by RDJ!). Honestly, I'm not overly happy with it. I just couldn't get his shape right but, again, love the black pen detail. I remember this one being quite fiddly to do because of the yellow parts fitting in to the red but the starry paper background really finishes it off. This frame was one of the four that were made for the Victoria Baths craft fair and one of the two that were sold. I may have to make this one again and, now that I have seen The Avengers and Iron Man 3 and The Avengers 2 coming out in the new year, I will have to have a go at some of the other characters . . . . 

Alice in Wonderland has been a running theme throughout my crafts this year, possibly because it being Jubilee year and Alice and Tea Parties being quintessentially British or because of the amount of artistic licence, either way, it is probably one of my favourite themes. These two frames, like Iron Man, were made for the Victoria Baths craft fair. I was inspired by the original illustrations from the book but I didn't want to just copy them. A few years back, I got some Kate Knight papers which were absolutely perfect for this project. The bright and almost garish colours and patterns were definitely Wonderland-esque while I was able to use some more toned down colours for Alice herself. Again, my black pen makes an appearance to add the final details.
I used a bit of recycling in the Cheshire Cat picture; the tree was made out of the paper that filled the frame when I first bought it - fun fact #1!
Fun fact #2: For the Caterpillar's shisha pipe, I used thread, wrapping it all around the picture. It was a bit of a pain to do but the best way to do it and it gives a nice finishing touch I think.
My sister, who funnily enough is also named Alice (all the jokes have already been done!), was eyeing up the Cheshire Cat picture before it was sold at the fair. Sorry, Alice!














I couldn't very well leave my guitar silhouettes out of the picture - no pun intended - so I picked myself up a smaller frame and had a go. Using silver with the black and white works so well and maybe once I manage to sell this one, I'll make another!

My Jane Austen designs are my most recent and I hope to make some more of these. The first one I made featured a quote, which just happens to be one of my favourites, from Pride and Prejudice. These were a bit different from my original frames as they aren't layers as such, just decorated. I felt that I couldn't really do any novel for my second one other than Emma and I admit I did have to look up the quote on-line - but only because I don't have my books with me! (excuses, excuses, I hear you say) My next step with these is to work on my font, maybe even get out the ol' calligraphy set, and get a list of suitable quotes written down.

The last one I want to talk about can't really be talked about so shhhh! This one is my first commissioned piece so it's all very exciting but I can't really say more than that. Here's a picture though to get you thinking, but if you know what it is, don't say anything!







I still have plenty of ideas to be put down into paper and I think I will be having a go at some of these in the new year but because I'm such an awesome person, I am going to give you some ideas of what you'll be seeing soon.

More period costumes. Computer game heroes. Pie makers. Paranoid Androids. Steam-punk  Nerdy roommates.