Cupcake Cards

Has everyone had a good week? I've loved watching the special comic relief Great British Bake Off episodes, they have a great message for wannabe crafters of any description i think - its not about being perfect its about having a go and most of all having fun!

I love baking, its a lovely way to unwind and get creative and the results are almost always delicious even if they're a little 'abstract' in appearance :) I put together a little collection of designs inspired by cupcakes recently, the card versions made it into my shops this week although there may be other things like tea towels in the works... i'll keep you updated!

Cupcake Cards

There are a couple for cupcake lovers in particular... 'you had me at cupcake',

and this one, a 'cupcake lover's weekly planner'. We all deserve a little treat on a sunday right? :)

The other two at 'star baker' cards, inspired by the award of 'star baker' that goes to one of the Great British Bake Off contestants each week. I don't think you need to know anything about the programme to appreciate the message though!

The first comes complete with bunting,

The other is simpler. I thought i'd get both printed and see which was more popular.

All of them are available from my website and Print and Paper shop on Etsy priced £2.20.

Bee Inspired Card

I did get one more card listed this week and it seemed the perfect note to end on. It features a photograph i took of a bee feeding on some beautiful flowering teasel.

I hope the things you love have inspired you to get creatine this week. I'm off to visit the fabulous blogs over at Planet Penny's Happy Friday and Lucy Blossom's Handmade Monday to find out! x

Personalised Ceramic Hearts And Stars And A Website Facelift For Handmade Monday

Its been a busy week with some sizeable unplanned detours... more on that in a moment! First of all though i want to show you some of my new range of hand painted heart and star decorations.. i've had great fun with these so i hope you enjoy them too!

Hand Painted Personalised Ceramic Stars

I've found my hand painted ceramic decorations to be very popular at Christmas and this year it struck me - why not create some seasonally relevant designs for all year round... I started playing with some ideas and i've started to list some of them for sale now... (they are priced £7 and clicking on the pictures will take you to the listings in my Etsy shop).

New Baby Personalised Ceramic Star

These little stars would make a lovely way to welcome a new baby i think... they are personalised with the little ones name on the front and i'm happy to add a short message on the reverse side.

I can't wait to get some orders for these as the arrival of a new baby is such a uniquely special occasion and something i know i will enjoy helping people to celebrate!

Star Baker Ceramic Star

Inspired by the fabulous Great British Bake Off i think this would make a really fun gift for a home baker - i love baking and am very tempted to make one of these to hang in my kitchen!

(* For anyone not familiar with the Bake Off its a popular British TV show where home bakers compete against each other - its must see TV! :))

'Never Let Anyone Dull Your Sparkle' Ceramic Star

We all know what its like when things get you down - whether its something critical someone has said, lack of money, or seeing yourself in a negative light in comparison to others... these are the things that cut us off from our creativity and dull our sparkle.

I've always found that keeping inspirational messages like this around helps to keep me on track to being my best self. I also think it would make a fantastic gift for someone else who's lovely light you'd like to help shine, such as a child or friend you'd like to support. 

Also, wouldn't this be a fun gift for the ultra clean and tidy person in your life! :)

Romantic Love Quote Ceramic Hearts

As with the stars, the hearts are £7 and a click on one if the pictures will take you to the listing in my Etsy shop.

I painted these with Valentine's Day in mind but they would be great for anniversaries and other romantic occasions too. As with the stars i'm happy to add a name or short message on the reverse side.

"I Loved You Then, I love You Still..."

"I Belong With You, You Belong With Me..."

If you have another quote or lyric you'd prefer i'm happy to take custom request for these - ever the romantic i have quite a few ideas myself for other possibilities so just get in touch if you'd like to discuss!

Impromptu Website Spring Clean

It all started when i popped over to Folksy earlier in the week and realised that some shops there are modelling a lovely facelift. Although i have a shop over there i don't visit it that often (there is only one of me and so many hours in the day!) so i'm probably the last to hear about this.

Of course once i saw other people's shop looking all new and pretty i had to join in with the fun but in order to featured the redesigned shop front i had to come up with a new banner... which led to this...

Here it is in my new upgraded Folksy shop!

I'm sure you can guess what happened next... suddenly all my other shops looked very tired and boring - so i took the opportunity to work on a more cohesive image for Free Spirit Designs and create matching banner for my website...

... Etsy shops...

...and WowThankYou shop too.

I'm loving the end result - much more profesh :)  (these pics are clickable if you fancy visiting the sites)

I've also begun a more drastic overhaul of other areas of Free Spirit which i'll keep you updated with over the next few weeks. For now though, its time for my weekly trip around the fabulous Handmade Monday blogs... i wonder if anyone else has been up to a bit of early spring cleaning...?!

Thanks for stopping by! x