Christmas Cards - TICK

First cab off the rank - Christmas Cards. DONE

Last week I revealed the Christmas Card design I'd been working on. Well, they're finished.

The design looked much better as a small image, so I've gone with A5 size (folded) on ivory card with a pearl finish.

I just need to find an appropriate phrase for inside, which I'll print on a transparent paper and this will be glued to the fold. I'm finding it hard to come up with something I'm happy with for the greeting.

Somehow 'Merry Christmas' doesn't sit well, especially if you've gone to the effort of making the cards yourself. They need something special.

Any ideas??

Paper Design draft

It's a gradual process getting some designs together.

The problem is, I have so many ideas going on in my head, I never really now which way to go.

This is the one I finished today, 'Filigree'.

 
Another I have been working on but still haven't refined it yet is 'Hummingbird'. I'll show you that one soon, maybe...I'm not entirely happy with it yet. Not sure where it fits in with the themes I'm wanting to do for 'jane on jane st'.

I'm a bit of a sucker for fabric giveaways now...aren't I?

Yep...I've found another one...so if you are interested in Rosalie Quinlan fabrics head over here to Retro Mummy for a giveaway from the 'Sweet Broderie' story. Very pretty!

{Image from here}

A handmade Christmas this year

You have all inspired me so much this year, so Christmas will be a full-on handmade gift giving bonanza.

I've started with this fabric covered notebook for my boss. The fabrics I won over here at 'It's all about the fabric', arrived a little while ago, so I've covered the notebook with one of those pieces.

Michelle over at Paper Tree Design has given me some ideas for gift tags here. I'm using unbleached card and found a fabulous little bird stamp set at Kikki K. I'll do my own little stamp of a Christmas tree for him to sit in, so I can stamp it in a different colour.

Thea at Thea & Sami, my inspiration for all things screen printing, got me back on track with the skills I had years ago when I worked for 2 different screen printing businesses, and the girls at Harvest Textiles are also an inspiration. A big thank you especially to Thea who has been most gracious to anyone who visits her blog.

I printed my 'Grassdragon' print in repeat here on about 2 mtrs of fabric a little while ago, so I'm going to make that into some place mats for someone.

I've even completed my Christmas Card design today. The design will stay as a black print and I'll do it on either silver or gold card. I'm thinking silver. Then that would lend itself to the colour theme for this year. 

I have a different colour theme every year for my wrapping. The last time I did silver about five years ago, I had a regal purple to go with it.

I've been thinking about who 'Follows' and who I 'Follow'

My blog title is 'designed to a T, a blog, a creative blog, a DIY blog, my thoughts...sometimes...in a blog'.

This is one of those 'my thoughts...sometimes...in a blog' post. I don't do many of these, because I know I can ramble on and on (and on and on). So this is probably the longest post so far for me.

I follow about 89 or so blogs and subscribe to about another half a dozen. I try to read something from each of them, but really don't have the time to read everything.

They are all blogs I find interesting for one thing or another. There are a number I read regularly.

19 people follow my blog, that I know of, others might subscribe also. My blogging life started in January this year, so nearly 12 months ago, after I started reading 'My Flying Ducks' by Kylie Challenor, a young lady I know and respect for various reasons. And there is still only 18 followers.

I started a 'Twitter' account a few weeks ago and have 21 followers already. So why has it been easier to get Twitter followers?

This is when I got to thinking. Who follows my blog, or yours for that matter, and how do we make our blogs something other people want to come back to time and again.

Now I'm not a particularly bloggy person yet, because I guess I'm still quite new to it all, but gee I've enjoyed all the comments people have noted on my posts. So to all of you, thank you. But I think I need your help.

I'm not so sure about the 'I'll follow your blog, so come over and follow me' type comments. I've read a few posts on some blogs recently that relate to 'blog etiquitte', so I'm not entirely sure where these types of comments sit with the blogging public. I know I've posted a few comments here and there that haven't been published by the owner, and I've wondered, 'What did I say wrong?'

To me this blogging world, is a world where I can get absorbed in what you are all doing, get new ideas, find out about what's happening, hear about the little ups and downs you have, find out where and when you will be showing your wares and best of all make some new friends.

I didn't know a lot about what I was doing when I first started, and have gradually started filling in the gaps. For example, I have set up my email properly now to answer you when you leave a comment. This is important to me to solidify that connection/friendship with the blog world, and it wasn't until Thea from Thea and Sami 'answered' some of my comments via email, when I realized I needed to do that also.

So that was my first step to improving my blogging life.

Where do I go from here? How do I improve my blog and have it as something others want to read?

Of course I'd like to have more people following, but I really started it as a way to document projects I was doing. I love creating and making things and it was the feedback I was after about those projects and designs I was working on. I wish I could do it all the time, but I have a fairly demanding job, so I'm only on here every now and then. At the moment it's only about once a week, maybe.

Because blogging has helped me renew and highlight my creative side, I'm finding I want more people to know about it and hopefully they might have a go. The blogosphere has opened my eyes to how much there is 'out there in the ether' that is handmade, made with care and love, and how many of you really want to make a change to our throw away culture.

So I thought, maybe I should let you know who I really am and why I'm doing this. I'm a little bit different to a lot of blog owners I follow, in that I had my boys quite young. I was 18 and 22 when I had them, so I'm over that 2 children under 5 scenario.

I'm slowly working my way to moving into that other universe of mine, the one where I don't have to be employed, the one where I can have a life too. I made a change in my work life a bit over 2 years ago, and boy did it make a huge difference. I spent time doing some creative study and tried to find an avenue that fitted me, in the end I realized I'm good at making things.

So 'jane on jane st' came along. It'll be a while before I am ready to launch the 'jane on jane st' store, especially considering I still haven't focused on what it is that I want 'jane on jane st' to be. I have too many ideas and projects I want to do and no time to do them.
So, can you help me? What should I be doing differently to attract more readers? My concern is not following blogging etiquette.

Anyway, I thought for today, I'd give you a few insights into who I am, other than, designed to a T and jane on jane st.

Watching my boys grow up to be thoughtful young men has been a joy. We've had our ups and downs through their teenage years because of the circumstances around their Dad and me breaking up. We can't always see each other, and that's tough for me, but I know they are there if I need them. There were times they could've killed each other, but they are great mates now.

I love reading. I devour books and subscribe to numerous magazines. I recently finished (very quickly) the 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' series by Stieg Larsson. If you haven't read them, you should!!

Might come as a surprise to those of you who have read my blog before...I love Japan. I love the art, the culture, the history, anime and so much more. When the boys and I were in Kyoto we went to the Anime Museum.

I love driving, cars and self drive holidays. Every second weekend (well mostly - sometimes it's only once a month) I drive to the family holiday house at Pacific Palms at the mid north coast of NSW. It's so restful, and it's where I do a lot of my creating.

 I always have and always will believe you can never have enough cushions!

My business card reads, 'designed to a T...colour you can live with'. This is something I truly believe also.

So the last little thing about me for this post, because there is a heck of a lot more, is...I dream of one day having a studio similar to this.

Something open, airy, filled with light and with heaps of room. A hideaway just for me.

Maeve Issue 3 is out now!

Issue 3 is now out....but...the lovely girls at Maeve are having to pass the baton on to someone else to keep it going!!!!

Here's a little excerpt from the email subscribers received....

Anyone interested in providing a nurturing home for her is welcome to submit a tender for her purchase... BIG or small .. all offers welcome. She needs a home and needs it now ! .. in order for the new owner to get a move on with issue 4 !

I do hope someone will love and cherish her. It would be such a shame to have this publication disappear.

My Sweet Prints Giveaway

Thanks to Tina over at Rubies' Place I found My Sweet Prints.

Janette, is a graphic designer and illustrator. She has some fabulous ideas and her prints are just beautiful. 

Her Giveaway is because she has reached 200 followers. Congrats Jeanette! But she's not just offering one of her prints as a prize, she's giving away 2 of your choice from her range.

Head over, have a look and good luck if you enter.