The Card Maker's Birthday

Yes, that's right. Today I enter my third decade (feel old not being a teen any more) . But, I have now booked my craft fair so all that is left to do is to make sure I have plenty of stock ready but that shouldn't be too much of a problem. I did a recent count and I have about 150 cards just lying around although, I haven't done much crafting since I last posted. With this one exception . . . 

Yesterday saw my room mate's birthday and as I am still experimenting with my paper-pieced pictures, I decided to make one for her. 

If you can't tell by the photo, she is a BIG fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas, with Jack Skellington being her Halloween costume this year as well. I used the same sized frame as my Doctor Who one but was able to get it in black (which looks so much better!). I got a bit carried away with my rough sketch and ended up shading it properly but it gave me a template to work with.

To make his pinstriped suit, I used black card and drew the stripes on with a sharp white pencil. I sketched on his mouth and skeletal hand details with black pen but to add a bit of depth, I cut the eyes and nose out and glued some black card behind them. I did a similar thing with his bat bowtie although next time I make him, I don't think I will make it stand out so much as it did get a little bit damaged in transit.

I couldn't give her a present without a card so I made one to match. Originally, I was going to do a similar design on an orange card blank but I couldn't resist the black and purple combo. I am really pleased with the card and as a finishing touch, I had to add a Tim Burton-esque flourish on the envelope.

Craft Fairs and Other Excursions

Well, it is about time I wrote, seeing as it has been over a week since my last post! And speaking of my last post, I mentioned that I had a craft fair lined up. My FIRST craft fair. 

After searching all summer for one near me, I came across one not only near me, but literally down the road. I couldn't justify not doing it so I sent an e-mail . . . 

To cut a long story shorter, I am now sharing a table with another crafter, one of blankets and jewellery. This means that we only have to pay half the price for the table and I can't see myself filling a whole table anyway.

Once we have booked our place, I just have to make sure that I have plenty of cards (I already have a sizeable stock of Christmas cards - be very impressed!).

And then of course there is that small matter of designing my stall. You would think, being an architecture student I would have no problems with that! Quite the opposite. I have no ideas what-so-ever as to what to do. I really want to make it stand out but I also have that annoying niggle at the back of my mind called a budget. Damn. 

And so the quest continues but with many distractions, more commonly known as university and social life (kinda). 


On a slightly different note, I came up with a plan the other day. A fund raising plan (unfortunately , I have realised that my back pocket is not a charity) which will give me a great excuse to spend time making cards. I am going to do a sponsored card make. I am going to ask people to sponsor me to spend 24 hours making cards. Straight. Not only the sponsor money, but the money raised by selling the cards will go to a charity of my choice. I am still working out the logistics as to when and possibly where (may not do it in my room but somewhere in my halls so I can get some company!) but I have already decided the who. Kanzi Kibera is the charity for whom I sold cards for at my last fair. They are a charity supporting schools in Nairobi and I have family friends who do a lot to support them as well as getting involved myself. Hopefully it will be a success and I will be able to raise a fair bit of money for them. And, if all goes well, I would love to do it again (although I might not be saying that after 24 straight hours of crafting!).

I will get the details of my first 'craft-a-thon' up here as soon as I know them myself!

Paper-pieced Pictures

What a day! Finally stopped working long enough to write this entry. Currently waiting for tomorrow's presentation sheets to publish to PDF. They certainly throw you right back into it in second year!

Anyway. Last night, I finally got to try something I had been meaning to try for a while now. Back in the summer, I made a paper pieced card following the theme of The Joker from Batman. This was - at the time - probably the most complex paper-pieced/decoupages I had ever done and I felt it was wasted on a greetings card. Plus there was that danger of being to fat to fit in the envelope!

So I thought, what if I created decoupaged images to frame. Never actually got around to it until this weekend when I actually went out and bought a wooden picture frame from Wilkinson. That was Saturday. Apart from group project work to be done, I was out Saturday night. Slept in Sunday morning. Was rowing Sunday afternoon. Went to church Sunday evening. Watched Downton Abbey Sunday evening. FINALLY, I got the chance to make my prototype. . . .

I am a big fan of Doctor Who, especially David Tennant's Doctor. I decided to make this the theme of my picture. I had already jotted down a design so I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I just had to sketch it out properly. It was easiest to start with the smallest piece, the shirt and tie and from there I worked up to the suit jacket, bottom part of the suit, trousers, bottom part of the coat, coat sleeves (and lapels) and finishing with his Converse - kinda like dressing an actually person . . . . . concentrate Emma! I added pen details such as pockets, buttons and shadows as I went along. After I had finished, it was not-so-simply a case of choosing the right backing paper and then assembling it all in the frame. I am so happy with the results but have decided that it is not good enough to be sold, it being my first one and so, I have been resigned to having to put up with it sat on my bookshelf. Such a hardship and I suffer greatly because of it!

The finished and framed picture

I hope to make more of these and already have plenty of other designs lined up to try. I may even have a go at making some to sell at my soon-to-be first craft fair (that's a story for next time!).

Would love to hear what you all think about it/them!