During pregnancy I had to concentrate on the aspects of my life that had to get done, such as looking after my other two girls, the house and paid work, so crafting was put to one side for a little bit.
However.... I am back now and hope to keep this blog up and running.
New Year's Resolutions
I don't normally do New Year's Resolutions as I generally forget about them after a month (as most people do), however this year I thought I would plan some crafting resolutions:
1: Try not to buy any new crafting gear (apart from the basics) - a strange one I know, however I do have an awful lot of crafting and card making goodies that I want to try to use up, This includes quite a few Hunkydory card kits. I do like the Hunkydory quality, but get a bit stuck sometimes on using them creatively rather than just sticking the toppers onto the cards stock - which creates a lovely card if you are short of time or mental capacity!
As you can see from the photo, I have started this trend with my Christmas thank you cards, which are entirely made from my 'bit' bag. A bag full of scraps of card from other projects or papers and embellishments that I have had for awhile that are left overs from kits or I have got free from magazines. I am quite pleased as to how they have turned out.
My lovely husband bought me the Silhouette Portrait electronic cutting machine for a joint birthday and Christmas present, which I am thoroughly enjoying even if I have only done a few basic shapes and cards on it. I feel it will take me a couple of dedicated days to completely understand - which with three young children should be interesting to accomplish . I am hoping that using the Portrait alongside Craft Artist 2 software will give me endless possibilities without an endless pocket.
2: To sell at a Craft Fair - I have sold cards at my daughters school Christmas Bazaar to the children and the parents, however it wasn't as successful as I had hoped. Firstly, with the Key Stage One children (ages 4-7) it did feel like I was robbing them slightly as they hadn't a clue what they were buying, they just knew that they had money and they wanted to spend it! Secondly, the parents only came in for a short time when collecting their children after school and were not aware that it was open for them. Nevertheless I made a small profit.
So I have decided that I need to take the next step and sell at a professional Craft Fair, which I am fairly nervous about as it means having a knowledgeable customers and peers look at my creations. Family like them, but will the public....
3: To keep this blog going! Hopefully this year I can manage more than two posts, unlike last year. It will still be a push, but hopefully I can show you creations I have made using the Portrait and Craft Artist. As a taster, here are two box cards I made using a cutting file from the Portrait and a Christmas card kit I got from Create and Craft in the autumn of 2013 - I believe it is their own brand item and not from another company. The cards were for my niece and a my friend's newborn twins.
I hope you all had a nice Christmas and New Year, and I will keep you informed of the antics in this crafting house.
Fiona