The history of my love of greeting cards and stationery

Did you know that I have birthday cards from my first birthday? No kidding. I've loved them all these mumble-ty-mumble years. I have my birthday cards from just about every childhood birthday. They are all neatly mounted in a scrapbook on my shelf here in the studio. I take them out periodically to look at them.

Sounds weird? It's par for the course with me. Let me explain...

My parents got a super 8mm movie camera a few months before I was born, so all my first milestones (as well as my siblings firsts) were recorded on film. My mom painstakingly went through and spliced together our films along the way so we had long reels to watch whenever us kids could get her to drag out the projector for family night.

One of those home movies shows me on my first Christmas when I could open presents myself. The scene goes like this... I open a card that's attached to a present and am mesmerized by it. I can't read, but I pretend I can. I turn it over and over in my hands looking at every side of the folded card. From off camera, my mom steps in and coaxes me to open the still wrapped present sitting next to me on the floor. I open the gift, discover a beautiful handmade terry cloth robe with shiny satin turquoise trim. I throw the robe aside on the floor. I dig around in the tissue paper to see what else is there. Then I rummage around in the pile of wrapping paper, tissue paper and clothing box to find my greeting card again and resume "reading" it as I was doing before I was so "rudely" interrupted by the mundane task of opening presents. *harumph*

See?!?! I've always loved greeting cards! Any stationery really.

I eventually warmed up to the robe...

... See! I'm wearing it as I'm delirious
with excitement over drawing
with colored pencils (okay...
I just blinked, that's all)

My Grammy used to handwrite letters to me from the time I was toddler. She had a wonderful assortment of kiddy-friendly stationery she wrote on. I loved those stationery designs. As soon as I could write, I wanted my own assortment of stationery so I could write letters too. Sometimes I loved the art on the stationery so much that it made me ache inside to write on it and send it away.

Yeah, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool stationery lover.

I guess it stands to reason that I would end up designing stationery as an adult. You're probably thinking, "Yeah! That would be no brainer!" But it took me a while to come to that conclusion on my own. Now that I have, I feel like I've come "home".

I launched my new Etsy shop this last week, Rosehaven Cottage Stationers Fine Printables at www.RosehavenCottagePrintables.com. I've launched a line of professionally personalized print-your-own invitations (and other stationery). If you want to read how it works click here.

I've been having so much fun adding new designs. Some I've had in the back of my head for a while, but others are inspired by people that ask about a specific type of design they've been looking for. I LOVE when people give me special requests. That's all I need to get a creative spark and I'm off and creating! Keep those suggestions coming!

The new watermark I designed for www.RosehavenCottagePrintables.com

Red Gerberas

I deemed today an "in the garden" day because I HAD to fill up the green cans before tomorrow's pick-up. I also had to do some painting and caulking on the almost-completed deck. I finally ran out of things to put in the green cans (when does that ever happen?) and my finger was sore from spreading caulk along the seams of boards. So I came inside and managed to sneak in some studio time as the sun was going down.

It was such a glorious spring day to be outside working that I wanted to somehow capture how it felt in an art piece. So I took a photograph that I shot of the cute red gerberas in the workshop windowbox and turned it into a digital "painting" with Photoshop and a couple of fun textures.

And I liked the finished result so much, that I've made it available in notecards at the Dusting in Pearls online store. Not bad for an "in the garden" day. Now I can go collapse on the sofa and nurse my slight twinge of a headache while Hubby cooks us a late dinner.

Texture credits:
Warm Daydream by swimmingintheether
Flat Stone from my own collection of textures

If you need Spring now, then buy it!

Click image to view larger to see the amazing details

Last month I ordered and received the most beautiful photo greeting cards I've ever seen from Jen at Muddy Boot Dreams. I've been an adoring fan of Jen's work for a while now and to finally be able to own some of her work is a real treat. I am partial to blue and purple flowers (lilacs in particular) so of course I chose an assortment of cards that had those colors in them. Jen's cards are pristinely handcrafted and each is a work of art.

What I love most about Jen's work is that she has an eye for great natural lighting. It's what makes her floral macro photography a step above the rest. It is also what makes me stop and look twice... three times... and more. Many of Jen's photographs are so beautiful that they make me ache inside. Her obvious love of florals comes through in her compositions--particularly when she showcases flowers en masse and allows one variety of flower to take center stage and show off. And her portfolio doesn't stop at floral macros. Her waterside shots are amazing in their depth and perspective. Her still life shots are deep in textures and colors.

Jen's work is what drew me in, and it is her warmth and kindness that has made her a dear blogging friend. If you haven't visited her blog, Muddy Boot Dreams, I strongly recommend that you do. And if you want a REAL treat for your eyes view her online portfolio of greeting cards. They're so beautiful you can almost smell the flowers!