The Cardmaker's Guide to the Galaxy

Happy Towel Day, you hoopy froods!

To those of you who have been following my happenings on the various forms of social media, you will know that The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has provided me with much inspiration for my cards.


 My first card was inspired by those big friendly letters inscribed on the back of the guide. I think I got the idea from some original graphics but I could be totally wrong. I simply used paper to create the quote. 

My other cards came from some of the memorial quotes from the book. I created paper pieced images and used word to write the quotes by hand. While the first three follow a similar design and are self explanatory, those who aren't as familiar with the books of the radio series might not recognise the last card. It is taken from the fourth book, So Long and Thanks for all the Fish. One of my favourite scenes from the book is when Arthur and Fenchurch fly above the clouds and into the night. 

Manchester United

A couple of entries ago, I mentioned Manchester United cards. I was asked by one of the girls in my hall to make cards of more or less the whole football squad and was my biggest commission to date. She gave me a list of the players she wanted and pointed me in the direction of the Manchester United website. For those who can't guess, she is a massive United fan. 

I tried to make them as simple as possible - 25 cards was more than enough without making them extra complicated! I used red card for the shirts and added detail using my trusty white pencil and black pen. The football was an extra touch - just black pen on white card.
Things did however get complicated when I realised that there were two number 20's. I'm by no means a football expert or even a fan but even I know that there is only one of each number on a team. It turns out that Fabio doesn't play for United at the moment and was playing in his number for Queen's Park Rangers while van Persie is using his number for the reds. Who knew? This of course meant I had to make a third style of shirt to cater for that little problem. After that, it was all straight forward and just a case of getting them all stuck down, photographed and wrapped. 


* I guess at this point that I should write a disclaimer: the cards made by me do not necessarily represent my views! Don't want to be loosing potential customers because they support Man City or Liverpool!!

Back in Business!

After not crafting for what seems to be a very long time, I finally got back at my craft mat and made some cards. Now that I think about it, before this week, I hadn't made any cards since before Easter - so essentially a month! Really not good!

Anyway, as I was saying, I had some cards to make this week and I because it's been so long, I think I am a little bit excitable about them this morning*. Unfortunately, I can only share one of them at the moment as the other is a commission which hasn't been sent yet so that one is coming later!

This card was inspired by the new Iron Man film that came out earlier this week. I went to see it for a friend's birthday so it only seemed appropriate that his birthday card had the same theme to it.

I used the same kind of technique that I used for my Iron Man paper pieced picture back in November - coloured card with lots of pen detail. This time however, I got my trusty white pencil out as well to add some extra details. As it was a card and not a picture, I didn't make it as 3D as last time but it made my life a lot easier! I did however make the hand more pronounced by using foam pads (I can normally never get the foreshortening right!)


Looking back at the first Iron Man I did, it's kind of interesting to see how it has evolved - I know that it entirely due to the images I based them on, but it's still in keeping with the films. I think the 'newer model' definitely an improvement and I think I will be looking into make the other Avengers in this style very soon.






*well, morning when I wrote it anyway. See, over excited about new things to publish! I've already spammed my Facebook page with the photos so I thought I should hold off just a little!

I'm still here!

I promise I haven't fallen off the planet!

My university work has to take priority at the moment and I haven't had any craft fairs or birthday so I haven't got too much to talk about at the moment anyway.

However, you can look forward to reading about my (hopefully) busy summer:

• Manchester United as cards
• Victoria Baths II
• Manchester Maker's Market II
• I have a couple of birthdays coming up so look out for my new cards
• General craftiness after I hand in my work and therefore finish for the year!

In the meantime, here's a picture of a card I did for a friend a few weeks back.

Happy Birthday to me, Happy birthday to me . . . .

Can't believe its been twelve whole months since I walked into my JCR and self consciously set up my cards at my first ever stall. I had no idea how to go about setting it all up but excitement took over and I spent the whole evening stood behind the little table getting a buzz every time someone bought a card.

I've gained so much experience over the last year though I've still got so much to learn about running a business. My first craft fair was in November at the Victoria Baths so it seems appropriate that I got an e-mail about the two fairs coming up this year! Really looking forward to them.

As what seems to be a birthday present, I have just got an extra big order from one of the girls in my halls. She is a massive Man Utd fan and has requested what seems to be nearly the whole team! Looking forward to working on this project and I will make sure to post all about it - even if it means loosing some readers. 

Also, to celebrate, head on over to my Facebook page where I'm having a give-away. All you have to do is like my page and leave a comment under the status. I will be picking a name at random at the end of the day and . . .well, I'll let you find out what you could win!

Gabs Fundraiser 2: Gaza

Well, as promised, the next instalment of this weekend's events: the St Gabriel's Hall Fundraiser. This year, the money is going to a charity that will set up water pumps in Gaza and therefore supply fresh water to school and hospitals in the area.

Last year, we raised money for the Japanese earthquake and tsunami relief. I offered to sell my cards at the event and the rest, as they say, is history. I got such a buzz from selling them that I had to do more so I found craft fairs and kept making cards - I was making so many that there was no way I could just send them by myself. 

Japanese Fundraiser - 2012

Gaza Fundraiser - 2013

So this year, I had to do it again. The only difference was that I had about 12 months experience this time around. It was interesting to look back and see just how much that experience had changed me and my cards. It's a bit like spot the difference looking at these two pictures!
I think the main thing that has definitely improved is my presentation - my cards now come pre packaged although, ironically, I'm taking them out of the wrapper to display them. I also have my lovely boxes to display - and store - all my cards. 

The event was - from my end of it anyway - a success, although it was quieter than last year and  I didn't sell as many this time around. I was also sharing a table with a girl that lives just down the corridor from me. I learnt today that she makes beautiful jewellery. She was explaining how she used to do it but stopped when doing her A-level and would only make pieces to give to friends for their birthdays. It sounded so familiar that I couldn't help but smiling! Between the two of us, our table raise £100. There is still the henna, food, entrance and a few other bits to be added to that tally so I can't wait to hear what the final count is - I will make sure to put it up on Facebook when I find out.

I also donated one of my paper pieced pictures - the Emma one - to the little market we also had going this evening. I noticed that it was snapped up very quickly, funnily enough, by the girl who did a lovely henna design on the back of my hand. 

Overall it was a really good evening and I even got to have a go at apple-bobbing - something I haven't done since I was in Brownies. It was just as well I wasn't wearing any make-up! I also got to try some delicious Spanish food - empanada and paella.

I should probably call it a night now, back to the day job, aka my studies, tomorrow. *Sigh. It's nice to have a break every now and then.

Back in the Game!

I was going to write about this weekend, well, once the weekend had finished but I decided that today's event needed a post all to itself. Besides, tomorrow's a pretty big day as well!

As you who are on my Facebook page will know (and those of you who aren't, why aren't you??), today was the first Manchester Maker's Market down in Fallowfield. I had high hopes for today, especially as the majority of the students at the universities live in or very near Fallowfield, hell, nearly all my friends live closer to the venue than I do! So I was looking forward to a good day.

It was a slow start. A very slow start. But being a Saturday morning/early afternoon it's not really that surprising when the average age of the local area is probably something like 25?? It soon picked up though and I even made a few sales! I think I've come the conclusion that it was probably my best fair yet (Victoria Baths was so incredible that non could compete so I've had to take it out the running!).

This is hopefully going to be a monthly or every-other-monthly event so I will definitely be signing up to the next one - it can only get better once word about it gets out!

I had a go at some different things on my stall today. The first of these was adding some height to my table. I did this by taking along boxes and with the spare fabric on my table cloth, to cover them up. It was an improvement but I really think I need a set of shelves or something similar. And bunting! Bunting looks so good around a stall . . . I might have to look into it. Where was I?
Right, different levels. Having this box on my table meant that I had a special place to put some of my products. 

Which leads me onto my next change. I had a revelation. What if I displayed all my Alice in Wonderland items together! Had the cards next to the frame! Why I never thought of this sooner I don't know but it looked good and caught people's attention. Although now I'm left with four Queen of Hearts and one Dormouse card as all the others have gone. Note to self: Make more. Especially Cheshire Cats.

The other thing I tried today was having some of my cards on display. Not in their plastic wrappers. I created mini displays on my table by using gift bags I had lying around my room. Trying to get them to co-ordinate was fun though! This, like the Alice in Wonderland display, looked quite good and it didn't deter buyers so I think this is something I am going to stick with as well. 

I mentioned tomorrow at the start of this entry. Tomorrow is the St Gabriel's Hall Fundraiser which, as some of you know, is the reason I am here today. But I will save all this for tomorrow evening - yes, I am spoiling you with two posts this weekend!