Handmade Cards and Spring Cleaning Can Mix!

Spring is a time of change and this has rubbed off on me. Yes there's the spring cleaning to do and it must be done. However as much as I like a clean house I can't clean all the time as I find myself bursting with a range of creative tasks I want to do. I make time to clean not the other way around. During the past few weeks I've occupied my mind with  learning some new things about my craft, developed some new skills with a graphic manipulation application and gained a couple of new ideas for designing handmade cards.

Today I made a card that is a bespoke card order. I sent the customer a photo of the card using MMS and she expressed satisfaction with the design. In fact they described it as a "work of art". The heart warming reponse to my cards is what motivates and inspires me and this one was extra special.  I can't show you the whole card just yet. Not really sure I should be showing you this now but I can't resist revealing just one small detail. A paper rose. I got the materials and instructions from a card making magazine called 'Making Cards'.

Take a look at the tabs at the top and you'll notice there are a couple of changes to the pages of the blog. Go to Order a Bespoke Cards and you will find a new interactive form. It is an easy way to make an order for a card to your specifications. The online form asks you a few questions just to get an idea of what you want.  Clicking on the submit button sends your completed form to me via email. Once I receive your order I will repond via the contact method you've already indicated to discuss and hopefully confirm your order.

As well as making handmade cards to order I sell a few ready made ones in my Folksy shop. There is a new page on this blog with easy access. Payments are made via Paypal. I've also got listing new items on the To Do... list.

My Twitter background was showing it's age as the cards featured were made more than a year ago. Plus the old background was made for old Twitter. Time for an update. I use GIMP 2 and the more I use it, the more I learn. Manipulating layers of the picture was key in getting the pictures to show properly in my screen. Can't guarantee it'll look good on everyone else's screen, sorry to say. Take a peek and let me know what you think. Click the blue bird in the right hand side bar. Tweet me your thoughts ;)

Spring cleaning and gardening took up the rest of the time. My lawn is in a real state but I hope to tackle that before Easter. I'm enjoying the flowers taking lots of pictures and trying to keep up my Folia gardening journal.

Talking about that I have something else to introduce... you can now find me and all the links to my online activites in one place. Click this link to my personal online portal. You can also find a QR code in the right hand sidebar which you can scan with your smartphones.

As for new ideas for my handmade cards, I'm not going to reveal those thoughts today. That's a matter for the drawing board so to speak. I'm just glad to have another project to work on that could add a new dimension to my cards. I've also got another bespoke card order working on once I get the recent order in the post. With that thought I'll just say thank you everyone who has recently followed my blog, shown me love through their comments, joined me in conversation on Twitter and liked my Facebook fan page.

Thank you for reading. Have a lovely week and Easter holiday :)