Shopping for buttons

Ouch, my neck is hurting from bending down to choose between all those lovely buttons - spoilt for choice... but didn't I just love it! It's amazing what button designers can think up and manufacture nowadays. Many of them come in different sizes which is great for card making.

Well, they better be beautiful, considering that they don't come cheap - I seem to have an expensive taste even in buttons... Look at some of the little beauties I bought. They are going to be a birthday present from my partner's mum (I asked for some craft material that is still missing in my collection of cardmaking goodies), which means after uploading this photo, they will have to be packed away until next week. Bohooo...

If any of you happens to fall in love with them on first sight like I did: I'm offering to try and get some for you if they are still available. Just leave me a comment on this post. A good excuse for me to go back to the shop, hopefully without spending lots of my own money, too! And I can safely make this offer as I don't think there are too many people out there are actually following my blog on a regular basis...

It's snowing...

... outside as well as on my cards!

On this one, I used the resist ink stamping technique to achieve the effect that some snowflakes are disappearing into the background - like when you watch it snowing outside your window. I found this gives a certain depth to the background.

Another way to present a card

... on a photo - this is something I wanted to improve for a while now, noticing that although frontal shots probably provide a maximum of information, they can be boring to look at, especially if many pictures are taken from the same perspective.

So today I chose an angle from the side rather than showing the front of the card. I knew that this can be a great way to show off threedimensional embellishments - that was the plan!

However I was surprised to find that I can also use this perspective to let a viewer enjoy the curvy lines spreading out in front of their eyes, rather than just taking in the layout at one glance. It is a more emotional way to present a card.

The best thing is that the effect of the close up, odd angle perspective even works on people who know about the psychology behind it - just like advertising!

Card display box

Thinking about the time and money I spend on my card making hobby - I don't regret any of it as I love the "instant" gratification a finished card brings me.

However it's a fact, and I would feel better about it if I could at least make this hobby pay for itself. So I have racked my brains and come up with a scheme: If I can find people who want to sell my cards, a good percentage of the proceeds would go to a charity organisation of their choice, and the remainder towards new card making tools and material. (The "if" is a BIG "if" though!)

I need to make a few investments upfront, such as A5 cellophane bags - the used ones on the photo don't all fit the cards. This is the display box I made: