Friday, April 1, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Homemade & Handcrafted: Gift Tags
As Creative Director, I have exercised my right to experiment last week and tried three new takes on the homemade tags. I used embossing powder on wood (which incidently is chopped painstakingly slow, by hand, from a Jenga-style game piece) - this tag needs much more finesse before I can put them in the shop. I also made faux leather tags using my own homemade polymer clay - they look much more convincing in real life, albeit they aren't flexible like real leather and they dont feel like real leather, but they certainly look good - I may have to make more! Lastly I stamped butterflies onto a white heart.
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| Click on picture to see it in better detail |
Then using some 'wood' contact paper I packaged some up to give as gifts.
We've no ink in the printer at the moment so I had to hand stamp the label - this needs work, I'll admit!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Handmade & Homecrafted: Gifts for Kids
This year my pledge is to give handmade gifts as often as possible to family and friends - I'm even getting the kids involved (but forgot to take photos of their gifts for Grandma - doh!). After continually tidying up after 2 young children and trying to find a home for everything, I have come to realise that birthdays are a nightmare for accumulating the clutter, and so the gifts we'll be giving will be a mix of small ditties, useful ditties and edible ditties. Here are a few that I've done so far for my daughters school friends and their siblings. Sadly many of them are not yet available in the shop but only because I havent made enough to stock supply yet....maybe in the not so distant future....perhaps.
Notelet Set - Pack of 8 - Includes a pencil, sealers and 1st class 'stamps'!
Perfect for writing thankyou notes for all those lovely presents.
From top left: The Fifi Jo Boutique Set, Fast Cars and Flyers Set & Hook, Line and Sinker Set.
All stamped with my own hand carved eraser stamps (yes, even the 1st Class stamps!)
The label for the Science Gak the kids and I made at home. I've packaged some up in a plastic egg-shaped container and called it Achromatic Gak - it can keep kids occupied for ages! Packaged with the Hook, Line and Sinker Noteset in one of my upcycled gift bags, this will be a present for a 7yr old boy.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
RENAÎT Shop NOW OPEN!!
2010 saw the creation of the RENAÎT label and after the endeavours and donations of handmade products successfully managed to help raise funds for charity and many worthy causes, I thought it about time that 2011 help take RENAÎT to a new level.
Appologies for the previous lack of posts but time told as per usual - now is a good time for you to also note that future posts are most likely to be sporadic aswell (sorry in advance), but I will try. I know all my dithering and dathering is not very professional - far from it in fact - and for that, I am also sorry, but 2011 will take me on a journey of enlightenment, self discovery and healing and RENAÎT is coming along for the ride too, if only to report on my findings and document my discoveries.
On a positive note, and a highly productive one, RENAÎT has opened shop over at Folksy. For those of you who have not yet visited, here are the highlights:
The shop features one of my better philosophies of "beauty and serenity is all around us, it lies in the forgotten, the hidden and the ignored - we must look in the shadows and search if we are to be truly at ease in this world." All the products are handmade and use upcycled materials where possible. RENAÎT is 100% philanthropic which means that 100% of the 'profits' will go to charity and other worthy causes (yes, really). To enable RENAÎT to continue fundraising only costs (bare minimum) and charges (unavoidable) are deducted - labour, love, time and effort are all donated free as part of a journey to self-discovery and healing.
xxx date et dabitur vobis xxx
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Upcycled Gift Wrap
Ready to go into the Upcycled Hampers for Christmas - "can ya tell what it is yet?" (Yes, I admit it, I loved Rolf Harris as a kid!) The gift tags and flower bows (click here for a tutorial) are made from various papers left over from another series of upcycling projects and the ribbon is a by-product of unwanted videos. Even the packaging is upcycled - they used to be Primark bags and plastic wallets! It was Danny Seo himself that inspired me to make ribbon from video cassette tapes - although as to his video demonstation where he promptly takes a hammer and smashes the cassette to bits, I just used a tiny screwdriver and undid all the screws (and saved them) - I'm yet to be inspired as to how to use the empty cassettes, but I do have an idea for the cases.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
The Fellowship
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I've recently discovered 'Environmental Lifestyle Expert' Danny Seo and think, quite simply, that he's wonderful. Although his ideas are sometimes whacky and some just dont really work at all, I love the fact that he's prepared to give anything (and I do mean anything!) a try, even if its just once. I could easily spend countless hours trawling his site - he's funny, he's charming and with his down-to-earth, open and relaxed attitude, you could almost imagine him as one of your friends. He's not your stereotypical environmentalist either, during an interview with Michelle Devera for SFGate he said "I don't do yoga, I don't meditate and I drink sugar-free Red Bull...my kind of environmentalism is that people can relate to me. I'm not perfect, and I don't try to be. But I do care." Danny Seo has become America's leading lifestyle authority on modern, eco-friendly living and has written books, magazine columns, and countless posts for his website http://www.dailydanny.com/. He has his own range of products, features on television programs, gives how-to lifestyle lectures, is partnered with Method Products and works side-by-side with JCPenney (major USA retailer). You can also find him over at http://www.dannyseo.com/.
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