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!

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?

Youth Culture Cards

I think I am still recovering from the last two weeks, although I think it's more the lack of sport than having had to make and post a card everyday, from Wimbledon to le Tour de France to the Olympics, I've been watching sport for the last two months! 

Anyway.

Recently, I decided on my target market, although I won't stop with all my other cards! Whilst I was at the Kanzi Kibera concert in July, one of my customers (that sound good!) was commenting that we didn't have many cards for teenage boys - luckily I had a couple of my silhouette guitar cards with me. 
That got me thinking a bit. Most of the handmade cards that I have seen are quite fancy and grown up, or brightly coloured and childish and mainly aimed at the female market. 
So, bearing this in mind, I set up an album on my Facebook page dedicated especially to those cards aimed at young people. These designs range from Batman to Disney to guitars and over the last couple of years this collection has grown quite a bit. I guess it helps that I am off that age group where all my friends fit into this category. I hope to expand this and I was able to add some more to the album today.
Last month, my brother requested a meme card for his friend's birthday. This proved to be a bit of a challenge for a couple of reasons. 1, his friend had already seen my first meme card - 'Like a Sir' (posted in April) so I couldn't give him that one and 2, I don't know that much about memes so I had to come up with a design that used the right meme in the right way (or else I would be in BIG trouble!).
I finally came up with my design:

This 'rage comic' as they are called comes with the caption 'Challenge Accepted' and of course, he is referring to the giant paper pieced birthday cake next to him. I believe it went down well and I think my reputation precedes me now. Whenever it's one of my brother's friend's birthdays (and he asks for one of my cards) as soon as he gives it to them, they say - before even opening it might I add - 'this is one of Emma's cards isn't it?' 

The other cards added to the album were hot off the cutting mat today. I have been reading a manga called Death Note. I began reading it last year but put it down and have only begun to read it again. It's quite thought provoking but is so, so good although you do have to pay close attention in order to follow the logic of the characters.
The two main characters, Raito and 'L' (he doesn't share his real name in the book) work together in order to solve a huge mass murdering mystery. However, we know from the beginning that Raito is the one that has been causing the deaths and wants rid of L. 
And this is where the inspiration came from. The main themes in the book are a bit of a Ying and Yang. The obvious one is good vs evil.

The design on these cards are silhouettes of Raito and L face to face. Those who are familiar with the manga, anime or film can (hopefully) see who is who and the significance of the apple in the middle (I don't want to go into too much detail about the story). The apple was made with red card and finished with black pen and white pencil to add detail such as shine and shadow.
I am really happy with these card, and I will probably end up making a template from the two silhouettes to make more of these cards (if needed). Once I had drawn the profiles - using the manga as reference - it was simply a case of cutting them out and sticking them in place and because I cut them out carefully, I was able to use the negatives to create a second card.

Divorcement

Yesterday afternoon saw me having a slightly odd conversation about divorcement cards. I had just before posted some pictures of new cards on to the Facebook page and it was suggested that the card I had made could also be adapted for a divorcement. The idea was to put a jagged red line between the bride and groom.

I wasn't the design suggestion that was odd, but the type of card. I've got to be honest here but I had never heard of or seen a card with the sentiment 'congratulations on you divorce' or even 'sorry to hear about your divorce'. But I have been told that they do exist. I guess my ignorance may have something to do with not knowing anyone going through a divorce (lucky me).

Having had a quick look on GoogleImages before writing, it seems there are two types of divorcement cards: humorous or sympathetic. 

Maybe it would be worth looking into? Definitely unusual anyway. 

Any thoughts greatly appreciated. Post a comment below or check out the card in question here.

Personally, I'm still not sure what to think of it.