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.
As I was heading into the city centre yesterday, people kept trying to hand me all sorts of things whether it was newspapers as I was walking up Oxford Road or student giving out leaflets for various causes ( I was even handed a bottle of Powerade!). I am pretty sure that I hadn't been ambushed like that since freshers week. As a student, you learn to ignore it - if you didn't there you would probably have enough bits of paper that would have come from an entire rainforest. All day I had been having creative thoughts about my portfolio for uni and, of course, my cards.
I was finally heading home after stopping at the library when, once again, (and ironically, for the last time that day) someone thrust yet another leaflet in front of me. It was only when I politely declined (I admit, I don't always. It depends what kind of a mood I am in) that the idea suddenly struck me. I am always spending waaaay too much of my student loan on craft supplies such as pretty paper (I am one hell of a sucker for gorgeous papers). Why didn't I use leaflets and recycled bits of card etc on my cards? Sure I would still have that draw full of supplies etc but I realised it would add an edge to my designs. I always keep scraps of paper (anything I consider to be useful anyway).
So, last night, I put my theory to the test. I did make a couple of cards using recycled materials. In this case, it was a Flake Easter Egg box and a Cadbury's Chocolate Fingers box but you get the gist and I have to admit, it was a success.
As I was making the aforementioned cards, I also had another wave of inspiration. I am sure that many of the younger generation are more that slightly familiar with 'memes'. This latest craze has taken the internet and, I realised after spending an afternoon with my younger brother and his two friends, the teenage language by storm. Not only are they an excellent source for procrastination (even I myself have fallen prey to the likes of '9gag' and 'tickld') but also provided me with my next inspiration. For those among you who are unaware of this chap, he is normally followed by the phrase 'like a sir' and so, the sentiment of the card is revealed. Of course, they are very audience based but it has opened many doors for my creativity to go exploring.
