Nordlund Holiday Card

I’ve been working on custom holiday cards for the Nordlund family and wanted to share some images with you. The most important thing when starting a new project is communicating with the client. If everyone is to be happy with the end result, you need to find out what their expectations are; color palette, layout ideas, likes/dislikes.

This family isn’t very religious and they have many friends who don’t celebrate Christmas. The first step was deciding that this would be more of a holiday card and can appeal to a larger audience. We choose a winter theme and stayed away from a typical Christmas color palette (red and green) instead choosing blues, purples and whites. I picked an incredible patterned paper by Heidi Grace and paired it with a deep purple (almost looks black in the photos).

They wanted to incorporate a photo of the kids as well which led me to creating the bracket. I die cut these with my new Sizzix Epic Six using a heavy silver metallic paper (thanks to Bramkamp Printing). This creates a nice landing spot for the photo to live. Setting it off to the left helps create interest in the layout and gives room for the holiday greeting. The holiday greeting was stamped using a Stampin’ Up stamp and their metallic ink in Platinum. I am so in love with this ink since it has a really metallic finish and is completely opaque. Plus it dries quickly! Happy Holidays was stamped onto a dark blue pearlescent paper (scraps/cut-offs from Poeme) and will be applied in the upper right corner using dimensional stickers (Hobby Lobby).

The client is providing the photos but I assisted in cropping the image and showing her how it would look on the finished card. Since the photos aren’t arriving until next week, I completed as much of the work in advance so I just trim the photos, stick them down and place the greeting.

I hope you enjoy this and I’d love to hear your comments! I’ll post pictures of the completed cards in a week or so.

Catching Up is Hard to Do

A bunch of stuff has happened since my last post...all good stuff! The shows were a very positive experience and I'm looking forward to doing more in the future. Poeme is considering adding a third date in early December and, if you didn't read my last post, it's an incredibly wonderful little shop! For the Legendary Run Arts & Crafts Show, I introduced my latest new product...Coffee Cup Cozies! They were a big hit and I'm not surprised. Not only do they help people keep the earth green because they're reusable; they're also machine washable, reversible and adorable. I've got one posted in my ETSY shop if you'd like to see it.

I've also been busy developing different lines for the cozies; some are plain, ones that appeal to men, and embroidered ones. The embroidered ones will be ready early next week and say, "Caution: I'm hot!" How awesome is that! There are a slew of color combinations and you should also be able to find them at The Gift Box in Mt. Lookout.

My last note here is that I stopped by the Archiver's store in Deerfield. They are running a great sale ALL WEEK instead of just Black Friday. I picked up a lot of beautiful paper and embellishments but the big purchase was the Quickutz Epic Six (http://www.quickutz.com/epic/); a die cutting and embossing machine. I've been wanting to explore embossing for my cards and this was such a great deal I couldn't pass it up (especially thanks to the sales associate that helped me spend all my money). I can't wait to get it out of the box and get going. The best part about it is that it uses dies from a couple different manufacturers and the new L Letterpress products work with it too! I know what's on my Christmas list. Check out the review by Paper Crave, one of my favorite bloggers (http://papercrave.com/l-letterpress-tool-review/).

Poeme : A Great Shop

These days we need to be aware of all the great local shops and support them. It would be wonderful if everyone found that special place to frequent and buy a few things. Not only does it encourage our economic growth, it also helps the local economy more than shopping at one of the chains.

One of my favorite shops is Poeme, located on Michigan Avenue right around the corner from the Hyde Park fire station. They carry fabulous paper products including stationary, cards, ribbon, wrapping paper and other gifts. I knew they existed but had never gone in until about a month ago. I was looking for shops that would be interested in carrying my handmade cards. Turns out I knew the owner, Kristen Folzenlogen. She is a talented designer and creates the most beautiful custom invitations.

If you're in town, stop by and tell them you heard about it from Pink Purse Creative. You can also visit them on the web at http://www.poeme-online.com/ and Become a Fan on Facebook at Facebook | Poeme.

It's Show Time!

You know, I only started my greeting card business this past August and it is off to a great start! With the holidays coming upon us sooner than we always think, I am participating in my first shows.

I have to admit, I'm uncertain and stressed to the max! How much stock should I have? Will anyone show up? Will any of my designs sell? Is it worth the time and effort? I certainly hope so. I've never been one to worry and look at the "worst case scenario." I really try to stay positive and upbeat.

My main path of thinking is, "I love my cards so there have to be others out there that love them too!" It's like selling your house. You bought it, right? Because it was a great fit for you, your family (if you have one), your lifestyle, your taste. So it only seems right to think that it would also be a good fit for someone else.

I hope everyone that reads this post will love my cards too and stop by to see me at the shows.

Thursday, November 12  5:00 to 8:00 : : Poeme Trunk Show
Sunday, November 15  noon to 4:00 : : Poeme Trunk Show
Saturday, November 21  noon to 5:00 : : Legendary Run Arts & Crafts Show