Latest Hi-Jinx

It has been a wee while but finally life has settled down again and I am able to get caught up on things. ellaQuaint has been busy creating new designs for handmade cards. The 'Warm Fuzzy' range has expanded to include robins and cats.  They seem to resurge when the weather cools, something about the association of warmth that felt brings with it I think.

Some of these have been sent off already :)

Some fresh colours have been added to the ellaQuaint palette which has worked wonderfully with some old favourites. There is something rather meditative about the process of hand embroidering things and the contrast of the matt card against the lustre of embroidery silk is very effective.

Chevron Hearts in fresh hues.

Part of the reason I have been focusing so much upon cards lately, as well as the advent of Mother's Day is because I intend to put together a catalogue of some of my favourite designs and go and attempt to sell them to stores.

I love masking tape. 

Sometimes you have to fix or even remake old templates. Today I got to make some new ones which was exciting also. The perfect activity for the shocker of a day we have had in Auckland.

I really love masking tape.

The old maps that I use can be problematic to cut so lining them on the back with tape allows for a cleaner edge and makes them less likely to disintegrate.

A fresh design and one that I think is pretty special.

Maps are so evocative of travel and that sense of freedom and adventure that comes with it, which is why I have been so selective with the imagery that I have chosen to collage on the cards. Many folks think that it is bordering on madness to hand-cut such intricate designs but when you end up with a result that you are happy with and that people might treasure for sometime to come, then in my belief, it is worth it.

Two old trusty designs one of which has had a bit of a make over.

Some of these are already listed on ellaquaint on felt or ellaCute on etsy should you be interested in seeing the designs in better detail.

ellaCute sale!

Sale now on at our etsy store ellaCute. Just add the code 'surprise' when purchasing your visual treats and receive 10% off until Friday the 13th.

Also for those of you within NZ there also a free shipping code too 'shipfree' which is valid until the end of April. I am not sure if you can use both at the same time, it would be interesting to find out though :)

The Art of giving Cards

my work space in it's typical state . . . no sign of hoarding here

Ever since I was a kid, I have been a terrible hoarder . . . probably as a reaction to my mum being a stream lined, efficient non-collector. One of the things I have always had issues parting with has been cards, there is something about them that brings out my sentimental tendencies. Sometimes it was because of the images on the outside of them, other times what was written on the inside but mostly who they were from. I have shoe boxes filled with them!

experimenting

Over the years, what with our dependency on the internet and social networking sites, the art of sending physical mail or cards has subsided. It is such a treat to get something that is not a bank statement or bill in the post. That is where I really like the idea of producing carefully crafted, hand-made ones, ones that people would really want to keep . . .

work in progress

or even possibly frame . . .

as they really are little illustrations in themselves.

As you can see there is a slight February-esque theme to some of them being produced at the moment. They are available for sale on either ellaCute on Etsy
or ellaQuaint on Felt

Bunny Valentine

ellaCute

Happy New Year! We hope you have all had a fabulous start to your 2012. 

The start of new years are the perfect time to progress with new endeavours, we have decided to get super serious and kick-start a store on Etsy. Unfortunately our name ellaquaint was taken but someone else for their store so we adapted, as we clever kiwis do, and decided to call our new shop ellaCute, but we are still ellaQuaint everywhere else.

Now that  procrastination has taken place in the form of redesigning the banner, I figure I had better finish some of the real new projects now. Here is the link to ellaCute