What is a Digital Stamp?

Digital stamps have been new to everyone at some point and I know some of my readers haven't been completely sure what I've been wittering on about when I've mentioned my new digi stamp designs on here!  I remember discovering digi stamps only a few years back and I got very excited by the possibilities of creating them!

Keryn made my caravan digi into a gorgeous new home card!

But, for those of you who aren't sure - what exactly is a digital stamp?

OK, so maybe digital stamp is a slightly misleading term.  It came about simply because they are a digital version of a rubber stamp (the illustrative stamps used by card makers).  Digital stamps aren't really stamps at all, but are used in pretty much the same way (with a few differences and benefits!) as those rubber stamps.

Basically, digi stamps are just a downloadable, printable image - designed with card makers and paper crafters in mind and saved at a high resolution so you get a good image.  They mostly come as black and white line drawings (although you can get them in colour, too) and one of the main benefits is that they can be resized really easily on your computer before printing - there's an excellent You-Tube video that explains the easiest way of doing this for anyone new to using digi stamps.

this candy floss cart is one of my new digi stamps

As well as being able to resize, rotate and flip, you get a few other benefits with digis:

• They're downloaded in a high-resolution format, so the image stays good even if you make it bigger.

• They can be printed off as many times as you like, without any wear and tear or inky mess, both of which can happen with rubber stamps.

• You don't need anywhere except a computer hard drive (or flash drive) to store all your digi images - perfect for those of us a little short on space! 

• Because they are digital, they usually work out much cheaper than rubber stamps

• You get your download instantly with most suppliers (you will with Handmade Harbour, as soon as the website's up and running!)

one of my sewing machine images 

(I think there'll end up being quite a few of these!)

I'm going to be sharing some of my images as digital stamps on the brand new Handmade Harbour website, which launches on the 3rd June 2013.  Watch out for it!  I'm very excited, but also a little apprehensive as it's a brand new venture for me!  There's a lot of work going into this, but I am enjoying every minute, so I do hope there are some people out there who like them!

And with my brain feeling frazzled with all this website-building (not a natural strength of mine, I don't mind admitting!) I am hoping I don't make any major mistakes along the way.  Feel free to point them out if I do!

Handmade Monday 116

Welcome to Handmade Monday.  Click the link to find out how to join in!

Well, the big news from me this week is that the Handmade Harbour website is now live on the internet!  At the moment it's just a holding page, while I work away behind the scenes to create a proper, functioning website where people can browse and maybe, just maybe, even buy things...

one of my digi stamps, inspired my my daughter's cat!

You can visit the holding page at HandmadeHarbour.com or HandmadeHarbour.co.uk -  both addresses should take you to the same place.

For now, I'm using the same banner as on my blog - but I think maybe I need a banner that reflects more what I'm planning to do.  Something that includes my hand-drawn images and card making (as well as sewing).   I have an idea in my head of how I'd like it to look, but it may be some time before I find the time to bring that idea into the real (or online) world!

cat at the rough sketch stage

I'm busy creating printable images for the website, as well as building the actual website, but it feels like I can't create fast enough at the moment.  It's a lot of fun though!

I'm still working hard on the personalised gifts too, which - as always - does take up a lot of my time.  I can't complain though, as it's rather a nice way to earn a living - just a little tying when you make everything to order!

making art hangers

It's time to hand over to you, now - I'm looking forward to seeing what's going on in your handmade world!

The Walled Garden

If you live in the UK, you won't have failed to notice the recent sunshine - particularly notable because the sun showed its face on a bank holiday!  We decided on an afternoon out (I worked through the morning) and we discovered something we didn't know existed!

It was behind this rather lovely gate...

Would you like a little peek?

It's Grappenhall Heys walled garden.  It's only open from 1-4pm and we arrived at noon.  It was worth the walk around the outside of the walled garden too, because there's gorgeous woodland to explore.

The walled garden itself was like a little oasis - in the middle of a (rather nice) housing estate, it was calm and tranquil, with ponds and trees

and a separate formal walled vegetable and fruit garden.  Isn't this box hedging just so well kept?

the soil in the background is full of seedlings

The garden is maintained by one full-time gardener and a team of volunteers.

 espaliered apple trees with lots of blossom

I take my camera everywhere with me these days - photos aren't just good for memories or illustrating my blogs, they're perfect for design inspiration and I think I captured plenty of that - but I've discovered that you don't need to look far for inspiration!

inspiration under your feet

look - even the grid covers are pretty!

We'll be going back to the walled garden, there's no doubt at all.  It's the perfect place for a picnic (they have closed the cafe until the greenhouses and other buildings are refurbished) and to gently while away a warm sunny afternoon.

they sell the honey, fruit and vegetables

OK, back to reality now.  The sky is grey, today is much cooler and the rain is... well, doing what rain does best.  The perfect weather for a little crafting, I think...

Handmade Monday 115

Hello! It's Handmade Monday time again!

The countdown is on for me.  I am planning to launch my new website on 3rd June 2013! I'm still frantically trying to get a good collection of printables together, but I'm getting there, and I'm steadily building the site day by day too.  I have to remind myself that it will continue to grow after launching.  It's just a beginning!

I've had some really amazing help from people testing my stamps - and I'm so, so grateful to everyone who's helped me.  It's been great to see similar opinions and suggestions coming up from more than one person, but pretty much everything the testers have said has been really useful.

I'll put together a post (or posts!) soon with some of the cards (and tags) the testers have made.  It's so lovely to see them transformed!  The images, not the testers...

Meanwhile, I did a little testing myself - I figured it was only right that I should!  It's been a good few years since I made cards, but I always enjoyed it.  It was my dad's 85th birthday yesterday - I thought that would be as good a place to start as any.

So, I designed a digi stamp with a racing cyclist on (my dad's lifelong passion - he was still cycling long distances well into his seventies) and went from there...

I have already started designing some of my own craft papers, too, which come ready to print in colour (although I think I may also do some in black and white!) and I decided to use these two

but I also used the red polka dot from this month's Craftseller magazine (have you seen the new look magazine yet? It's in the shops on Tuesday).  I also threw into the mix some sky blue paper from an old copy of Simply Homemade magazine.

In fact, it was these Emma Ball papers that made me realise people just might buy hand-drawn/painted craft papers and digi stamps and that my Photoshop skills (or lack thereof, to be much more accurate) didn't have to hold me back!  Pop over to Emma's website, if you have a minute - it's very inspiring and she does lots of seasidey stuff, which I love!  I've admired her artwork for a long while, so it's actually really lovely that seeing her craft papers was a kind of catalyst for me.

My dad loved his card and said it was his favourite.  Sometimes, it's the little things that make a big difference, isn't it?

OK, over to you...

Hello, you're looking good!

Well, hello new-look Craftseller magazine!  You're looking better than I've ever seen you!

Yup, the latest edition of Craftseller shows off its brand new look this week - it's due in the shops on Tuesday (7th May).  I knew this makeover was coming, but I didn't know exactly what the new look would entail.  It's fair to say I am impressed and feel very privileged to be a small part of such a totally gorgeous magazine.

It's got luxurious matte pages, stylish and very gorgeous full-page photos, some very lovely projects indeed and - of course - useful selling information for crafters.

My cute little Polaroid-style fridge magnets are in there on page 92... these are such a quick make!  They are part of the new Make a Crafty Tenner feature.  I think it could be quite easy to make a crafty tenner with these, especially for those people who are good with photography (I don't put myself in that category, but they still turned out OK!).

They'd be great with images of family members for little ones to play with, or even for older people who have memory problems.  There's another thing for my to-do list!

And I was quite excited to see my made-over vintage vanity case  on the "coming next month" page.  You can just make out the luggage tag and passport cover in front of the case, too.

This was one of my most favourite makes ever - I really enjoyed making it, and I love the colours and beachy imagery - it's very me.

As if all that wasn't enough, Craftseller's free cover gift this month is a pack of craft papers on a gorgeous thick matte finish - there are some truly gorgeous summery papers in here...

I think I know what I'll be doing this weekend.  I already have a few people testing my new digi stamps for my upcoming website but I may have to do a bit of testing myself (oh, the hardship!) and these papers will come in very handy!

The Pinterest Party...

I'm more of a stay-at-home-and-read-books kinda gal than a party-goer, but an invitation to a Pinterest party in London definitely had me interested!

The fact that it was in London swayed me.  I figured I could combine it with spending some time with my daughter and granddaughter - which was lovely as I don't see them often enough.  It did involve sleeping on an airbed in their kitchen/dining room, which was the only real drawback (the noise of the fridge, the thoroughfare to the loo, the lack of sleep...).

Oh, and the cat.  It's possible I may have a cat allergy.  Gorgeous cat though...

I am now seeing digital stamp designs in pretty much everything I look at.  

This particular cat will feature quite often in my designs, I think!

OK, I know you are probably more interested in the party than my temporary domestic arrangements...

I arrived in plenty of time, and got chatting immediately to the lovely Nicola from Belle Noir Bride and Clare White from Whiter than White Weddings (I seemed to meet a lot of wedding bloggers...)

And it wouldn't be a Pinterest party without some crafting, would it?  Drawing with Sharpies onto glass/ceramic was something I saw first on Pinterest.  Nicola and I both enjoyed making over some shot glasses...

Nicola honing her crafting skills...

and although mixing creativity with wine was fun, it wasn't the best of mixes if you were after a genius design and finish.  Good job I wasn't...but I could've happily stayed doodling on glass all night.

it came with instructions for baking to make the design permanent

The setting was amazing.  We were at Kings Place, overlooking the water. This isn't the best of shots but

this one (below) probably gives you a better idea of the stunning waterside setting. The evening was warm, just perfect to take advantage of the verandah right on the water's edge.

Busy waiters and waitresses attended to our every need, inside and out.  They brought wine, beer, cocktails, soft drinks and tray after tray of food.

Unfortunately, the only gluten free option seemed to be a teeny tiny vegetable and halloumi kebab.  Yep, just the one - I didn't see that tray again.  Absolutely delicious but not nearly big enough to line my stomach and ...well, that's my excuse.  I had two wines and was definitely a little bit tiddly!  But I don't get out much...OK, I'll stop with the excuses now.  There really is no excuse!

And - squeal! - there was an ultra-gorgeous mini sweet shop!

with free sweeties, of course

This was so cute, I took photos from several angles and I will definitely be creating a digital stamp inspired by this actual teeny tiny shop! I told you, I'm seeing possibilities everywhere for my new digi stamps range!

see the fairy lights too? They looked gorgeous

I met up with Sabrina who runs the Wolves in London blog. Sabrina was the only craft blogger I met there - why, oh why did I not find more craft bloggers? - but do check out her blog!  I love her blog but I loved chatting to her more.   We should have more of these parties and meetups!

I also met another wedding blogger - Kat from RocknRollBride - I was completely in awe of Kat, simply because she manages to not only earn her living from blogging, she employs her husband too.   Now that is what I call a successful blogger!  She also teaches workshops on blogging, which look pretty amazing and inspiring. Kat's blog is well worth a read even if weddings are not on your radar - she blogs business tips too.

Evan Sharp, co-founder of Pinterest, gave a talk.  It was fascinating to hear how it was set up not with any sort of global aim in mind, but just as something he wanted to do and share.  They never had an official launch, just played around with it, gradually improving it, and - well, you know the rest: it ended up becoming much more successful than he'd ever imagined!

The one criticism I have of these sort of events is this: it's quite easy to miss people you would love to meet. I think it would be great to group together bloggers of  the same genre for a group session at the beginning (maybe with a little ice-breaking activity) and perhaps then it would be easier to mix.  It's quite hard to walk up to a complete stranger and introduce yourself, especially if you have no idea who they may be.  Name badges aren't really enough.  The Pinterest staff were really helpful though, and tried to ensure people weren't standing there feeling lost and alone!

The main point of the party from Pinterest's point of view was marketing.  There's a Pinterest blog campaign launching soon, which is one of the things this party was all about   Watch out for it on several different blogs (most people have their instructions already on this one, but I don't.  I don't know whether I've been missed off or whether my instructions will come later on).

The other reason for the party was feedback - we were plied with alcohol and then invited into video booths to chat about our views on Pinterest.  No, I didn't.  Video filming scares me a little bit.  If I make a fool of myself the video makes it permanent!

And what was in that goodie bag?  A rather cute little Pinterest board with press-out pins

no, none of my images have ever been repinned 52,333 times, either

and a Pinterest T-shirt.

I've not tried it on yet, but I suspect I either need a really good diet or that Pinterest tutorial where you cut a T-shirt up both sides and insert some pretty fabric into each side seam to make it bigger ...

yeah, it's an extra small...

PS: Yes, I found my way there and back on the underground, even while slightly tipsy.  I was rather pleased with myself and only had to ask directions once. 

Handmade Monday 114

Hello! Welcome to Handmade Monday!

Well, it's not hard to figure out the highlights of my week include my visit to London and the UK Pinterest party on Thursday evening.

Pinterest goody bag

Do you use Pinterest?  I can't imagine life without Pinterest, which probably makes me sound like a bit of a geek without a real life. Interestingly, it was probably my slightly obsessive pinning habit that got me onto the guest list - funny how staying at home and drooling over cool images can lead to a posh party invite!  It's a crazy world!

I think I need to do a separate post on the party and introduce you to some of the amazing bloggers I met there.  Watch out for it this coming week.  Oh, and my Pinterest boards are here, just in case you haven't discovered the joy that is Pinterest.  Is there anyone out there who hasn't yet?  I'm currently finding it invaluable for collecting inspiration for my new digital stamp images.  It's like a giant digital scrapbook - with links!

Back to London.  London is a place full of surprises.  Traffic and tall buildings, of course -  and...er, herons...

out for lunch in south west London

and farm animals...

with lambs and goats happily feeding from their mums

aah!

I very much like the way perfectly gorgeous snippets of nature are dovetailed into sometimes quite a small space creating what seems like a mini-getaway that can be enjoyed by many.  I have never really understood London living (to me it seems busy, cramped and overpriced with a liveliness and culture that might of course appeal but at what cost?) but I am beginning to see why my daughter loves it.  She's a city girl at heart, though, and I'm just not.

This was another surprise...

the world's first unattended city shop.  

Hope they've taken the keys out of the ignition...

I didn't visit the honesty shop, but maybe next time.   It's housed in an old double-decker bus parked in a place that hosts a weekend market with craft stalls and things that are just a bit different - so I'm told.  I wasn't there over the weekend this time, so maybe I'll visit it next time I'm in London - it's just a short walk from where my daughter lives and most of the walk is along that heron-populated river.

In other news, if you'd be up for some digital stamp testing for me, please have a look here for free digi stamps in exchange for feedback.

Oh, and yes, the vanbag got finished - more on that soon!

And that's it from me for now - over to you for Handmade Monday's lovely blog hopping...