Thursday 19 May 2011

Happy Birthday

This post could actually be called Happy Anniversary or Congratulations or Hello or I Love You, or anything else that you might want to say with a card.

According to Wikipedia the tradition of sending cards can be traced back to the ancient Chinese and Egyptians, and the custom truly came to the fore in Victorian times.  Nowadays it seems that you can buy a card for any occasion and those clever marketeers even invent special days to try and encourage the consumer to buy them.

Here at Tickled Pink Crafts, Miss Tickled handmakes beautiful cards, which are fun, funky, classic, elegant, subtle and, more importantly, unique.  There is no danger of you sending the same card as someone else, and you can be sure that it will stand out from the crowd on the recipient's mantelpiece.

I suppose the most traditional way of making cards is by using rubber stamps and then either embossing them or simply colouring the image.  Miss Tickled has developed this into a fine art, using professional artists pens, pencils and inks, combined with clever distressing techniques to create gorgeous images which she then mounts on the cards.





She also uses her own diecuts from paper, foam and fabric, and turns them into funky yet classic designs.






She is incredibly skilled in using different types of plastic, resin and enamel to create tiny pieces of art which she then incorporates into a card which will surely be admired for a long time after the event it celebrates has passed.






And finally we come to her magnificent shutter cards!  These are truly unique and can be commissioned in colours and styles to suit whatever special occasion you are celebrating.  You won't find cards like these in the shops!





I am in awe of her creativity and I am sure that she won't mind me mentioning that she has been commissioned to make a series of cards to be sold in a London museum!

At the moment we have a special offer of 10 cards for £10 + £2 p&p, so pop along to our website or have a look on Facebook and make your choice.  And don't forget, if you don't see what you want please get in touch.

Thank you for dropping by.  We hope to see you again soon.

Thursday 5 May 2011

Dog Show

A couple of weeks ago Miss Tickled informed me that she would be having a stall at the Cabbages and Frocks market in Marylebone for three weeks, and the final week would have the theme of a dog show.  This set me thinking.  I thought about jute bags with a dog theme, but I don't have any dog fabric and they take a long time to make as there is an awful lot of handstitching involved (they will be coming soon though, never fear - now that all the Bank Holidays are over I have more time).  So I plumped for needle-felted brooches.


I know that I am biased but I think they are fab and Mr Pink agrees! The large black ones in particular look exactly like one of our dogs.  They will be available at the Cabbages and Frocks market in Marylebone this Saturday (7th May) and then via our website - fingers crossed they sell well.

This morning I have ordered some dog themed fabric and some new felting needles so that I can start on the jute bags - watch this space.

Sunday 1 May 2011

Kreativ Blog Award

I have been nominated for a Kreativ Blog award by Lesley Ann at Knitting Not Necessary. This is not quite as glamorous as it sounds, but is still a thrill.  I simply have to link back to Lesley Ann's blog and write 10 interesting facts about myself.  This has proved to be something of a challenge, but here goes!
  • When I was 11 I represented my school at swimming and came fourth in the whole of Leeds for the backstroke and sixth in front crawl.
  • I was only ever allowed a goldfish as a pet when I was a child.  I am making up for it now, and have three dogs, eight chickens, a parrot, four goldfish and a husband!

  • I have never broken any bones, or had mumps or chickenpox - I dread Little Pink catching those in case she passes them on to me.
  • I can speak fluent German and passable French.  When I was living in Austria I tried to learn Russian which was tricky as all the lessons were in German so I was translating things three times over!
  • I share my birthday with Terry Savalas (Kojak), and it is also the day on which the President of the United States is inaugurated.
  • I think I got my crafty gene from my Mum (and also my paternal Grandma).  Mum used to tat and passed the skill on to me.  I am thinking of trying to incorporate it into Tickled Pink Crafts somehow.
  • I now live in my forever house in the middle of nowhere with no neighbours for half a mile on either side (even though I am a city girl born and bred). Those of you who saw my Gallery post this week will have already seen the view - but if you haven't here it is: The Gallery - Green
  • My favourite group of all time is The Smiths.  I love the poetry in their songs (Morrissey is a lyrical genius) and the way they spoke to me during all my years of teenage angst.
  • I have met some of my best and dearest friends over the internet.  This doesn't make me a saddo, because they are real people and I have actually met most of them (I've even been on holiday with some of them too - and had an amazing time in spite of the dodgy "4 star" accommodation). 
  • I have double-jointed thumbs!
And so that's me in 10 amazing (or incredibly dull) facts!  I'm now going to pass this on to Planet PennyShellybobbins and Dottie Designs