Sunday 8 September 2013

Gardening Cards And A Blog Background For Handmade Monday


Hi all, how are you enjoying Autumn so far? For me its brought on a spurt of enthusiastic weed removal in the garden (the enthusiasm is for the end result, not the process :)). There's something about the arrival of that Autumnal chill in the air that makes me want to start putting everything in order.

There's lots to be harvested from our allotment too, like these pretty borlotti beans which will be frozen for tasty bean stews in the winter months...



(such a pity they loose their beautiful ruby red stripes when cooked!)

The gardening theme continues with this week's makes - i have some gardening greetings cards to show you and also a sneaky peak at a recent commission for someone with very green fingers...


Gardening Greetings Cards

Those of you who popped by my blog last week will know that i have recently had some of my designs printed as greetings cards (thank you for your kind comments about them, as always your support and feedback is much appreciated).

Here's a peak at the gardening theme ones, i look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Herbs In Pots




Potting Shed




Flowery Watering Cans




These cards will be available singly, on my website and in my FSD Print And Paper Etsy shop soon, priced £1.85 (UK postage is 60p for the first card but free for any additional cards).

The sets of cards i showed you last week have already started to appear in my Etsy shop and website and the rest will follow shortly!



Blog Background Commission


I love commissions as they invariably get me out of my comfort zone and exploring new creative territory. I was recently asked to design a blog/website background for a lovely lady who wants to write about and sell books/magazines on tropical gardening. She wanted a formal (not cartoony) design with a jigsaw of outlined images - here's what i came up with.



Happily she likes the design. The website is not up and running yet but i'll be sure to give you a link when it is so you can see the design in situ and perhaps learn something interesting about growing tropical plants! :)

For anyone wondering about how pricing works with a commission like this, i offer two options - for an original design which is entirely exclusive to you the price is £30. Alternatively, for a design which is exclusive to you for online use (i.e. for your blog/website) but where i retain the option to use the design or elements of it for other products such as fabrics, cards and craft papers, the price is £15.

The above design was created with the second option deal, so expect to see more of this design in some form... i already have an idea of the adaptions i want to make before using on a range of Free Spirit Design products!


Handmade Monday

That's all from me for this week folks, so its time to put my feet up and take a stroll around the other Handmade Monday crafty blogs, its always so exciting to see what everyone's been up too!

Thanks for dropping by :) x

30 comments:

  1. You are one clever lady with all these designs. I espcially like the watering can one and also the gardening card Oh and the little herb pots are delightful.

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    1. thank you very much! i'm so glad you like them! x

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  2. That blog background is wonderful. I'm sure it will look equally good on your range of goodies as it will on the lucky lady's blog x

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  3. It's so good to see some good gardening based cards:) !!

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  4. I like all the new designs and the blog background is very good. Thanks for the price info - I have been wondering what to do about getting a logo for my website but no idea what prices would be involved!

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    1. thank you!

      i'm glad the info was useful, it might be an idea to do some searches on Etsy too to get a better idea of what's available x

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  5. How exciting to have a commission. Must be quite tricky sticking to someone's brief. I think I would go for the little herb pots if picking just one card out.

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    1. thank you, yes it is exciting and can be tricky too, i'm really chuffed that the customer is happy with what i did :) x

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  6. I am in awe of all your designs. Can't wait to see what you come up with next !!!! xx

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    1. aww thank you Gertie, that's really kind of you to say :) xx

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  7. Every week such gorgeous things to look at and read about - you are so very clever. I love the blog background. Hope you have a good week.

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    1. aww thank you! I'm really glad you enjoy visiting :) thank you for your kind comments xx

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  8. Amazing I love the gardening cards, appealing for both sexes and a range of ages. Well done on the commission, always great to get those, and so much fun to do things, or use colours you wouldnt normally x have a good week

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    1. thank you, i'm really happy you like them!

      that's so true, its great fun to try out new things :) x

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  9. Love the potting shed card in particular

    Who do you use for printing your cards? They look lovely quality, I've been wondering about using Moo for some of my photographs as the other things I've had from them are great quality.

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    1. thank you!

      yes, i did use moo for the cards, i'm really happy with the quality and would definitely recommend them :) x

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  10. You are lucky with those fresh borlotti beans, they're completely different from tinned ones.
    Loving the garden design cards, especially the plant pots one. Your design commission prices are very reasonable when you see the results.
    Have a great week ☆

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    1. thanks Louise, they're yummy aren't they :)

      i'm glad you like the cards and that's really useful feedback on the prices, thank you x

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  11. Lovely cards and images as always, and I love your blog background - you always have such great ideas.

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  12. The beans look lovely, gorgeous colour. I love your new cards. I've struggled to find something different in the shops and the gardening cards are wonderful for a variety of occasions and people. Well done on your commission, can't wait to see it on the website. Have a lovely week.
    Ali x

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    1. thanks Ali, i'm really glad you like them :)

      i'm excited to see it too! xx

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  13. Please send me some of your enthusiasm for weeding - my garden is in desperate need of that. Perhaps you could bottle it? I love that you've designed a blog background - it looks like it will work really well!

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    1. hehe :) i'm not sure i'm enthusiastic about weeding as such... more about the novelty of seeing what lies beyond them for once!

      thank you, i'm glad you like it! x

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  14. I love the herb pots- they're so cute! Your pricing structure for commissions is very sensible- it's nice to offer those two options, and clear for people to understand what they're paying for.

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    1. aww thank you! I'm glad you like them :)

      that's great that it comes across as clear, that's really useful feedback, thank you :) x

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  15. Oh I like the herb pits too! Actually I like them all but the pots are my favourite. I really love the colours you use. It all looks so happy.

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    1. thank you very much Katie! I'm really glad you like them :) x

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Your lovely comments are much appreciated x