Mint To Be Stationery

...with my new range of hand drawn and custom hand painted rosebud garland favour boxes. Specifically the cube ones with lids.

I hand cut each box and then draw the rosebud garlands by hand in ink and paint them in a combination of pearlescent and/or matt acrylic inks to compliment the colour scheme of an event or big day celebration.

The boxes are supplied with plain lid tops for you to add your own tags, labels, fresh flowers or my paper cut flowers which will appear in my shops on ArtFire and Folksy this week.

Got an idea but don't see it here? I'd love to talk! :-)



And if you want to have a look at the beautiful collections that I have been featured in today, then here they are: Spring at Last! by Javagoth (USA) and Uniquely Yours by Linda (in the UK)!

I don't think I've put my head above the parapet for three solid weeks now and the weekends and week days have been blending into one.

However, suffice to say that some big deadlines have been met, some new orders in, made and shipped, my signature rosebud garlands now adorn a new customisable favour box range in my Folksy and ArtFire shops and some new designs are buzzing around on the table. On top of that I got involved in a couple of Folksy Fridays of my own and met some fab people in the process and I was featured in another curated collection over on ArtFire, so it's all good.

Oh and I took the handmade pledge today too! :-)

Now if the clocks would add in a few more hours per day for a little rest and relaxation and "me" time, all would be perfect! Must put that on my agenda from tomorrow!

Good job I LOVE what I do! (And how many people can say that these days?) :-)

To continue my first series of Folksy Fridays, this week the theme is "TO" (can you see where this is going?!) and I'd like to share with you a beautiful and varied collection of my favourite two, duos, two colour and pairs.

Since Mother's Day UK is right around the corner why not have a look at some of the goodies in this collection and the owners' Folksy shops - you might just find exactly what you are looking for. Enjoy.

Lovebird bowl duo £29 Prince Design UK	Peridot & Moonstone stacking rings duo £44 Silver Synergy
Pair of red & white gingham cushions £12 Shabby by Sharon	Pair of ceramic daisy coasters £9 HB Ceramics
Pair of metal button hair slides £4 Rags to Roses	Two Mellow Yellow handmade big hole lampwork beads £9 Blue Box Studio Too
Red ceramic flower and chain maille earrings £12.50 Blue Forest Jewellery	Brown, Black & Tan Polymer Clay Cufflinks £10 Victoria's Polymer Art
Lovebirds Mirror £4 Lou Peajeux Illustration	Pair of toadstool appliqued hoop £15 Bella Bobbin
Custom wee horse £20 Quernus Crafts	Hand drawn, hand painted rosebud garland heart shaped favour boxes from £48.75/set Mint To Be Stationery

Finally, a big thanks to all the Folksy shop owners who kindly let me include them and use images from their shops to feature in this TO episode!

Like what you see here? Subscribe to this blog or my MintToBe on Facebook page for the latest news and photos.

Please join me next month for the next episode in the series, which will be "BE".

Trading across time zones means that I often wake up to lovely surprises in my inbox. Today is no exception. Canada calls! Brain of Jen has curated a beautiful and unusual collection Love is in the Air inspired by Tennyson on ArtFire today and my hand foiled binary art card "I love you more than words can say" has been included! The day just got even sunnier! :-) Gorgeous collection, but check out Jen's creations too – some truly beautiful creations. My faves are definitely the sterling silver wire wrapped Newfoundland seaglass… decisions, decisions…

Well I have another hectic day ahead of me. Hopefully you'll see some new goodies featuring some of my signature pen and ink rosebud garlands on here and in my shops in the next few days. Thanks Jen for giving me the boost that I needed! :-)

OK… Off to paint. Let's hope that I don't drink too much of my paint water today… It happens. Frequently! Am I the only one? :-(

ArtFire has won the 2011 About.com DIY Fashion Readers' Choice vote. Ahead of Zibbet by about 6 or 7%, it was great to see such a well supported poll.

I must admit that I am enjoying my time on both ArtFire and Folksy, which have really worked for me so far from the start. Both are still a huge learning curve for me though, particularly as I am so busy with other artwork at the moment; it's proving a little difficult to get additional goodies into my ArtFire and Folksy shops! I promise that the wait will be worth it!

Well this is my first curated Folksy Friday collection. I've decided to do linked collections to make a series, since I'm not a particularly random person. Spontaneous yes, but rarely random; my science head wouldn't allow me. ;-) So for this episode I present to you "Mint".

I enjoyed the 43 page trawl to select some of my favourite mint inspired goodies on Folksy; shame none of them are edible, I have a penchant for anything mint…

Hope you enjoy looking. I've included the links of shop proprietors if you want to have a look at their other goodies they have for sale – there are some perfect all year round gifts to be discovered!

Stained Glass Singing Bird Window Decoration £22 Through the Round Window	Wilderness bracelet £12.50 Cosmic Eden
Polo mint resin keyring £6.50 Just K Jewellery & Gifts	Mint Breeze glass pearl charm bracelet (pearly) £13 Hats & More
Set of 4 green 3.5" recycled floppy notebooks £17.10 Mint To Be Stationery	Mini rose resin earrings (mint green) £3 Nosey Rose Parker
Peppermint Ice earrings £4 Flo Nightingale	Set of 4 River Coasters £12 Charlotte Hupfield Ceramics
Delicate (Gypsophilia) 8x8" print £14 Lola's Room Photography	Handmade peppermint & poppy seed soap £3.50 Oakwood Soaperie
Fused glass pendant (green) £14 Blue Daisy Glass	Mint Green Lavender bird £7 The Linen Cat

Finally, a big thanks to all the Folksy shop owners who kindly let me include them and use images from their shops to feature in this Mint episode!

Like what you see here? Subscribe to this blog or my MintToBe on Facebook page for the latest news and photos.

Please join me next week for the next episode in the series, which will be "TO".

Nowt wrong with being featured in a slightly delayed Folksy Friday is there?! ;-)

My green recycled 3.5" floppy notebook has been featured in the Cosmic Eden collection A Few of My Favourite Things on Facebook today!

What a nice start to the week! Interesting collection too!

Wow! It's nearly the weekend already. How the time flies when you're having fun and designing new goodies.... Geeky goodies at that...

So fitting that my favoured 5.25" floppy notebooks are featured in Geeky Folksy Friday by Leopard Print Bee. :-)

So, featured in another online collection!

"So what?" I hear you say?

Well it *IS* a big deal. It's a big deal to me anyway. To be honest it really *IS* an honour for someone to notice and feature your creations - as is every customer who buys it too. How *can* anyone not fully appreciate that? So every time that I receive feedback, a little email or enquiry, or my goodies are featured somewhere, bought by someone or I receive a commission for some of the other work that I do (desperately trying to get some of it online before it is sold and shipped!) you should know that this creator really DOES appreciate it and that you have actually made my day.

If I wanted a soulless shop front with bought in goods made en masse from overseas I'd be on the high street (there are plenty of empty shop shells available), but I'm not.