First Photo Post.. Weekly Planner

To start me off with some photos and inspiration, I am going to pull on some old work that I have done. I don't have materials lists for these archived items, but if you want to know specific dimensions do leave comments and I will ensure I get them to you!

One thing I have always loved is planning. Plan, plan and plan again! These cute little wall meal planners were a class I taught back when I had Sparkle Dreams, and I thought you might like to see them.

Mounted onto hardboard or very thick card, decorated and embellished with beautiful papers and accents, there is room for one of these in every busy home!

I always like to hand write letters and journalling where I can. Try this little technique where you write your letters in thin pen and put little dots on all the joins and ends. Covers up any little mistakes and gives your lettering a very quirky look!

Check back soon for more pics and ideas.

S x

Hello...

Hi there. 

My name is Solance and I am lover of anything to do with paper-crafting, and art and design. I began my obsession back in 2003 completely by accident, whilst looking for acrylic paints! I stumbled across a very small corner of my local art shop that sold card making supplies. I purchased a few little pieces and from there, I was hooked. 

I started off small, with a few wooden stamps, some embossing powders and my trusty heat gun (which I still have!) and taught myself as many different techniques as I could. From the start I decided to sell my cards at work, and looking back now, I thank the powers that be that there were not any smart phones with handy cameras about 😮 they were TERRIBLE!!!! And people paid for them!!! But hey, we all have to start somewhere don't we (I am still cringing about this and apologise to anyone who parted with money for these rather rudimental greetings cards!)

However I was not to be deterred!! In my quest to learn more and more, I enrolled in some classes at the closest local craft shop which was the most wonderful place called The Craft Barn 💓 This place was a heaven filled treasure chest of all things paper crafting and I was in love!! It helped that it was also attached to a gorgeous little coffee shop, so after a hard few hours shopping, you could go have a lovely sit down with tea and cake. Perfect. On one of my first ever classes, I had the pleasure of sitting next to the lovely Paula Pascual, and I still keep in touch and follow her amazing work to this day. She is so talented and that shone through from the first time I ever met her! Sadly the Craft Barn is no longer, but it really was a place of magic for me, and I fondly remember how it made me feel walking into that wonderful shop whenever I went shopping there!

Not too long after that, I moved away to the West Country, and my love of all things paper, card, stamping and creating grew and grew and grew. I had taken voluntary redundancy from my office job, relocated, and had a little baby, but I started a new online shop, selling craft items from home. I also started to teach in the local town, which I loved. Things progressed naturally and I was very, very lucky to be able to open my own shop, Sparkle Dreams, in Swindon. It was a joy from day one. The light and airy shop, the space to create, the products, the creative freedom, the funny and hilarious classes we held, the learning both myself and others got from being around like minded people every day and most importantly to me, the wonderful customers, many of who have become very good friends. Fantastic times.

Life moves on, and after quite a few years, I did leave the shop to new owners and returned to working from home to have more time with my family, but my paper crafting adventures did not stop there. I started a small wedding stationery business called Little Birdie Weddings. For three years I relished meeting every bride and every groom, and being part of every special day they shared. From making the initial Save the Date cards, right through to the Thank You cards at the end (I even then went on to make Christening Invites for one of my lovely customers a year later with their first child, what a privilege). This was just a dream job, but once again life takes over, and I stopped this just over a year ago, to work with my husband in his business as it had gotten so busy, we needed the extra woman power!!!

So this leads me to now. 

Our work load has eased off slightly, and recently I have begun working again as a freelance designer for some of the UK's leading craft magazines which has inspired me again to jump back into the world of creating and crafting. I thought that a blog would be the best way to share ideas and tips, to post my work for you to see, and to promote the classes I hope to come back to teaching. Crafting is indeed within my DNA now, and I can only aspire to work in the field professionally and move forward with this as a career where I can, so here is my new start! 

Please feel free to leave comments and suggestions, it really would be great to hear from you. I will link this to my FB group also, lets keep in touch and inspire each other. Thanks for reading. 

Best wishes, 
Solance