guest blog at Imake ...

As I mentioned towards the beginning of the week, I have been working hard writing towards the great blog over at Imake; I can now announce that the post went live last night, and you can view the post here. 

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”…

At the age of 7, a friend and I would sit with our array of felt tip markers, and in our lunch breaks draw greetings cards.  We called ourselves ‘Rainbow cards’ and we gave them to anyone who would take them! I was always using sequins and scrap paper, glue and string, and as many egg boxes that my mum could provide me with.  My parents’ loft is covered in glittered angels and cotton wool snowmen, and I still have teddy bears with holey little knitted jumpers that I made them.  I loved to perform; I was a tap dancer, and I took singing and acting classes.  At 7 I got my first role in a play as a caterpillar, and that was it, I was going to be a professional actress.  And indeed I was, for a number of years.  I continued performing with a passion right up until a few years ago.

So you could say that I was creative.  I had lots of other interests too, many completely unrelated to the creative arts, but the artistic interests predominated.   I went on to study at art school, followed by musical theatre, a Degree in music and finally a Masters in Theatre.  During these years I undertook a post as a lecturer at a college, I loved sharing my passion by teaching performance skills.  And from there, I went on to carve out my career as a professional actress. 

I say all this to highlight that I had another career all mapped out, creative, yes, but a totally different career none the less.  I was determined to succeed, and sometimes I did.  I had a variety of engagements, within a variety of genres, and I loved it.  However, the down side of a career in performing is that a great deal of the time, you are out of work.  The phrase ‘resting’ is completely misleading; although you are not acting, you are job hunting and doing admin.  And it’s tough; the actual time being creative is so slim, and no amount of additional dance classes or vocal sessions make you feel more creative, as they only highlight the fact you are not working!!

During the later years, I became increasingly aware that I was waiting for my life to start, instead of living the one I had.  I was heading for 30. I was also very sad that because of the nature of the job I couldn’t commit to big events like weddings and holidays as I might just get the job.  On top of that, I had made some sacrifices; I was still living at home, and not at all in a position to support myself financially.  So, returning to one of my first loves, I went back to making cards, in the hopes that I could fill my day with creativity while I was hunting for that dream acting job.

In fact, what actually happened was that it was like lighting a candle in the early evening-you don’t even know it has got dark until you light it… I found the passion that I had long since lost, each day had a product at the end of it, each day had a purpose and I could see what I was achieving. I could talk for hours about crafting. (My husband could testify to that!)  I found myself wanting to stay in making cards, rather than going out! At 28!!  This certainly gave me a whole lot to think about.

A year later having kept up acting, diving headfirst into card making and continuing a job working in a kitchen, I met a chap who was to become my husband. He had a job lined up in Margate, and once we were married we would be moving.  So I had a new home, husband and a new city.  A time of natural reassessment I suppose, and I decided, after a few years of thinking and deliberating with friends over tea and cheesecake, and not a lot of doing, I would have a break from performing. 

And so Evelyn Mae was born. I was lucky in that we had space for me to have a workshop in our house, and a husband who has been completely supportive in me becoming a designer as a profession.  It has not been straight forward, although it has been exciting and totally fulfilling.  Dealing with tax returns is something I had experience in with performing, but Company’s house, customer accounts, online selling and Paypal buttons were all alien! 

I love to learn, but there is a tendency that when new stuff goes in, old stuff goes out! And sometimes, old stuff goes out and the new stuff still will not go in!  So it has not been without its challenges, but having said that, it has been very rewarding.  My craft business is not a job; it’s a vocation- I’m sure many of you will relate to this!  It pervades day to day life, inspiration for projects doesn’t just happen within ‘work hours’, and nor does the creative spark to make something! Sometimes I end up in bed with a note pad so as not to forget a design, or getting up at 6.30am to work on the computer putting together an invoice or a blog post!

I write all this to share with you my passions and my journey; to share with you my choice- one which I am happy with, every single day.  I still cannot watch x-factor without shouting at the feedback, but my decision to pursue crafting has been the best one I have made.  I think the trick is to find a way to make every day a creative day.  Whatever job you may do, however crafting fits into your life, if you can make everyday have a little productivity and fun, creativity and friendship, tea and cheesecake, then I think you are on the right path.

Martine at Imake will be doing a give-away towards the end of the week- you will be able to leave a comment  on her blog and be in with a chance to win a prize of four handmade greetings cards, so watch this space for news.

Shelly X

reflections ....

Hi all,

Sometime soon, I will be guest blogging on Imake, a blog and podcast for crafters.  So my absence has been due to preparing a blog that is a little more in depth than my usual fare.

I am hoping to share this guest blog with you in the next few weeks, so, keep your eyes peeled on facebook for a link, or visit here to find it once it has been published.

I'll be back soon!! ........

Boxed Envelope card tutorial

 This week I thought I would bring you a tutorial on how to make a boxed envelope card.  The last tutorial I did was Christmas, so I thought its about time to share!!

You will need to begin with a 12x12 paper, which is doubled sided.  On the side which will become your inside, you will need to light mark the design in pencil.  Once you get the hang of it, you can do this using dots as markers, but for your first few, I would use light pencil to make it nice and clear.

You need to mark four parallel lines:  at 2.8 inches, 3.2 inches, 8.8 inches and 9.2  inches.  Turn your paper round and do the same again, so you end up with cris-crossed lines as in the diagram below.

Then, on each of the four sides mark 4 inches and 8 inches. Once this is done you can join up the 4 and 8 inch lines to the previous ones, which will leave you with the design below.  As you can see, the pieces which will become flaps are now apparent.

 

 This next step is slightly more tricky- you need to cut along the two diagonal edges (your 4 and 8 inch lines)  and the the small little box shape. This gives you the base, the box sides, and the flaps of the envelope top.  You should be left with a shape like this:

And four spare bits like this .....

To decorate the inside you can design it however you like now the structure of the box is completed.  What i did was a square white card base, with Natalie: Happy Birthday written on the top.  I glued with double sided tape and hi-tack glue a 'u' shape on the front...

And stuck down plain card to make some little pockets.  I love the put pockets in cards so that I can fill them with little notelets!

After embellishing with ribbon and more patterned paper, I adhered the square into the box.

And the added a little insert where I wrote my birthday message ...

I then folded the box up, and used a Tim Holtz die cut on the front and stamped 'sweet birthday wishes'  in black ink

And lastly,  I added a glittered flower and a few diamante gems.

This is one of those projects that takes a little focus to begin with, but once you have made one, you will find it so much easier to go on and make more!!!

I hope you enjoyed the boxed envelope card tutorial; I love making envelope cards, and this one turned out really well.  And the recipient- my Auntie Natalie really liked it too!!

Now, to bring my blog post to a close, I'll leave by reminding you that I had a competition running on my facebook site, that the first person to leave me a comment on the blog would get a greetings card sent to them, so if you are the first person to leave the message, please e-mail me your postal address at:

evelynmae@post.com

Thanks for stopping by, I look forward to reading all your comments soon.

Love Shelly X

May 2011 Blog Hop

Papertrey Ink are holding their May blog hop, with the theme of flowers.  So i thought I'd share with you a sympathy card that uses olive greens and white, satin ribbon and a flower stamped in green and embossed with clear embossing powder.  I really like making sympathy cards; I like that at a time of sadness and heartbreak, a homemade card can send my message, like a big hug in an envelope.

I'd love to hear what you like to put on your sympathy cards, so please feel free to share in the comments box!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Shelly

Envelope cards

Here are the examples of the envelope cards that I promised in the last blog; the possibilities of design with these are so vast, and each one I create turns out so differently.

The weather here in Margate is still beautiful, the sun is shining, the birds are tweeting, and the grass has turned to straw! Our local farmers are now hoping for rain, but while the sun is still bright, I am off to enjoy the weather by walking down to the shops before the night closes in, and I put Doctor Who on!

I hope you are all enjoying the weekend, I look forward to sharing with you tutorial soon. My last tutorial I posted was back in December, so I think it is about time to do one!

Shelly X

Easter and bank holiday

With the advent of Easter and higher temperatures than normal, the holidays have been lovely this year.  Although I have been working hard inside for most of it, I have still had time to go out for walks and took a trip to the beach.  I spent some time drawing in the sand, and was reminded, that for me, card making and designing is as much a vocation as a job; it permeates my day to day life, I always see inspiration and ideas all over the place, and have taken to carrying a pad and pencil with me when I go out, in case I want to sketch ideas when on the move!

Somehow I managed all of Easter without making a single Easter card!  I have been working towards a line of envelope cards, using different colour combinations and homemade tags and embellishments.  I will be showing a tutorial at the end of May detailing how I go about making these lovely little cards, and over the next few days I will be posting some images of the cards I have made.

Also a feature of my week was that my printer broke.  After two trips to Staples to prove that it was indeed, caput, they will be sending me a replacement this Tuesday.  What the experience has highlighted for me is the amount that I use the pc and printer in my card making.  My work is very much mixed media; I love the freedom that a computer affords you when writing verses or sentiments. I am all about the paper and card as a crafter, and I like my work to have a simplicity about it when it comes to embellishing.  Quite often a card will mostly have its design from card or paper, with no extra detailing.  In the next few months I will be using some papertrey ink products on my cards- their die cuts and stamps really help with using paper and card and making the most out of the materials I like to use. So there will most definitely be some creativeness happening over the summer!

Lastly, this month has seen me working hard towards a custom logo and design, it a slow process, but the hard work is paying off and I should have this together and up and running by the end of the summer season. 

That’s all my news for today; I will post pictures over the next week of recent projects, and be back in a week for another blog instalment! Please feel free to post links to your projects and blogs, I always like to see what the crafting community are up to.  Until next time, Bye!

Shelly x

sunshine and showers ...

It seems to have been a while since I sat and wrote my blog; sunshine and showers have been very much on the cards the last few weeks, so here I am, at my window in a ray of sunshine, looking out over the garden.  I have had quite a reflective week, watching the cats outside the window who congregate on the roof of my neighbours shed. They have been sitting patiently with eagle eyes, watching next doors aviary, as if they were quietly watching through the microwave door for their meal to heat up!

A local fox has been prowling the back gardens, who seems to be so healthy that he looks more like a large dog with a fluffy tail that a fox, and has been bringing the toys belonging to the local dogs into our garden to play with, despite my best efforts to regularly return the toys. It would seem as much a game to keep leaving them in our garden than it is to just play with them in the lane!

Living by the seaside when the sun is out is beautiful; to be able to walk to the shops and see the sea, to smell the sea salt and hear the waves is so peaceful.  Whats more, it is still early enough in the season that I enjoy the sound of the seagulls playing overhead- rather than cursing them at 5am for the racket on my roof top.

Needless to say, with so much going on outdoors, and a garden that I have been working in, I haven't been at my desk indoors so much. I have definitely enjoyed being, rather than doing this week.  And on that note, I am going to cook up a BBQ tonight, so I wont be at my desk for long today!  Being outside in the garden cooking up some homemade burgers, buns, vegetables and corn on the cob, definitely sounds just the ticket to me!!