Christmas Cards with a personal touch

Following on from my post about my Christmas cards in M&S, I must also mention that my Christmas designs for Ballistic Blue are also now available. These designs are available to personalise and also add an optional photograph so really are a lovely personal Xmas greeting, especially to distant family and friends.

It's really easy to navigate their site and upload a photo and add names and a message.

They would also work well as corporate cards with a staff or product photo.

You may recognise some designs from here. I spent some time reformatting them for personalising front and inside; I think they'll work really well.

And for New Year parties!

My New Shop!

Visit my shop here: Rosalind Wilson

When I design greetings cards and invitations there are a few avenues I currently follow, for example designing for a publisher or company e.g. Marks and Spencer, Ballistic Blue where they produce, sell and deliver my (and others') designs. I also create and produce designs for greetings cards and invitations directly to my own customers.

The latter is where I have been struggling with my (not very good) business head. The time I put into meetings and consultations, production, storage, delivery on top of the design doesn't seem practical. I felt I needed to either invest in production on a bigger scale or concentrate purely on designing for publishers.

The latter made more sense. However, I love the diversity of my individual customers' briefs and the personal contact I have with the 'end user', I think it keeps me on my toes and generates fresh ideas.

I've discovered a way I can have an online shop where I can format my designs to be personalised and purchased by the customer, then produced and delivered by the company that run the site: Zazzle.

My Shop allows me to put my designs on Cards, invitations, thank yous (and even bags, mugs and t-shirts) which can be customised and purchased. Zazzle offer delivery options, money back guarantee and lots of help to the artist and customer.

I can still have that personal relationship with the customer, receive feedback and take invividual requests.

Even though I've only recently set the shop up and am still filling its virtual shelves, I've already made quite a few sales and been lucky enough to win two "today's best" awards!

I hope you like it, and I'd love to hear your feedback and ideas!

Poppy for Poppy

Here's a little design to celebrate a first birthday party: a special pink poppy design for a little girl called Poppy!

Tigerprint Christmas Typography Comp...

This week I had on my to-do-list to enter the Tigerprint competition. I haven't entered as frequently as I used to which is silly coz however busy (or not) I may be I always enjoy tackling their briefs. Also, the designs can always come in handy to re-use when (if) I don't win!

Last minute my eleventh hour entries are in. I do like designing for xmas greetings and the Typography theme was a lovely challenge, a new way to look at a thoroughly designed season!

The brief was to design a card exploring Christmas Typography as the theme, and also as it's an online card it has to have editable, personalised text and/or room to upload a photo... oh and has to work on a range of scales from a small thumbnail to a large size printed card. Keeping to a simple, contemporary colour palette I created my "let it snow" design from random "falling" snowflakes forming the letters by using negative and positive space. I enjoyed creating this one; adding the snowflakes practically one at a time... time consuming but very theraputic at the same time!
For the "Christmas Tree" and "Let's Make Merry Wreath" designs I chose a decorative font and manipulated it to fit together in a christmassy papercut style. Reminiscent of cutting paper snowflakes.

The wreath would frame an uploaded photo really delicately, perhaps inside the card?

Finally, a more fun and informal romantic Xmas greeting with "Note to Santa"!

A couple of my new blogging and twitter buddies, and previous Tigerprint Comp winners, have blogged their entries to the Tigerprint Competition too... have a look at Elizabeth Ryman, Helen Pickup, and other regulars Marlene Leibowitz and Bess Harding's entries.

I was pleased to see my card design on the Marks and Spencer Personalised Cards homepage as the family birthday category picture. M&S have the card personalised for a Grandaughter, but the great thing is that you can change it to say Daughter, Sister, Niece or put a name in that space instead!
...and the inside can be customised too.

New Baby Cards

Here are some more of my designs on the Marks and Spencer Personalised Cards website. The lovely thing about Print on Demand is the pretty full colour inside spread, which makes them really fun to design.

Personalised cards are so well received, especially new baby ones which become true keepsakes.

And because they are customisable, the customer is in control, so the cards can be used as greetings, invitations or thank yous.

Something for everyone?

Hello, I know, it's been a while. There's been lots going on, and then as a newbie blogger the longer I left posting the more pressure I put on myself to be interesting. Anyway, I've given up worrying and am jumping back in feet first with no particularly exciting news!

... Here are some cards have I made to order lately...

Some more clever words by my mum...

Some old ones are making a comeback...

Something for everyone, I hope?

More Love Stuff

This is the card that I adapted my Tigerprint competition entry from. I changed it to suit their typography brief better, though I think I may prefer my original design? It's a card suitable for weddings, anniversaries, valentines or other romantic occasions!



Keeping on a romantic theme, my wedding invitation design above has been expanded as a range on ballisticblue.com with rsvp and thank you cards to match. This design is available in duck egg, pink, taupe, lilac and black; and you can order this design as a birthday or anniversary invitation too.

These two designs are also on ballisticblue.com, and can be personalised as anniversary, birthday or wedding invitations too, and with room inside for a photo upload!

Loved Up

I'm entering the Tigerprint competition today, the theme is Love Typography. I try to enter when I can, it depends on whether I am working at home or not as to whether I have the time. On this occasion I used my mother's day pass to work on my ideas yesterday evening while my husband fed and entertained our two children! (I did spend quality time with them during the day!)

I have had some success with the competitions in the past, but even when (more often than not!) I am unsuccessful I still have a few new designs to add to my own collection!

One of the criteria of the brief is to make the design editable to suit Marks and Spencer Personalised online cards (where you will currently find some of my designs).

Baby Boom

Continuing on the baby theme, there's been a few of these going out from my studio this month...
but as I said yesterday, mainly with (very pretty) girls' names...

(the full name, date and birth details go in the small aperture).

And a couple of christenings too!