A quick reminder!

Hellooo all!

A quick reminder that today is the very last day to enter my crafty giveaway which celebrated 250 blogging posts. A wee milestone which I'm very proud of. Over the years, I come to really love blogging, connecting with all you guys in the blog-o-sphere and of course reading your lovely comments as well as your own blogs.

To be in with a chance to win a stash of goodies, follow the link to this post and get entering and perhaps a Lucky Rainbow goodie box will be on its way to you!

The lucky winner will be announced tomorrow afternoon and the prize will be sent anywhere in the world! Whats not to love?

Good Luck to everyone who has entered so far!

P.S Happy Valentines Eve!

Pinterest finds...

Beautiful, pretty, simple, inspiring cards from many a talented crafter courtesy of Pinterest, of course!

via here

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My Work / Life / Creative Balance

 Lately I've been asked (alot) "How do you do it all?" and "Where do you find the time?"

The above questions are in relation to the fact that I work a very real and sometimes demanding full time office job. If you know me well enough, you'll know that I have a range of suits in my wardrobe with a range of work appropriate and boring shoes and that in reality I'm two people.

The first person is the professional (or at least, I try to be!) Rebecca who you meet in the office, complete with a working diary, meetings (too many meetings!) to attend and many, many tasks to complete and people to please. It's a little surreal some days and I try to let my personality and artistic side shine through by wearing funky jewellery, an unusual bag or spending that little bit longer in the morning applying some nice or creative eye make up. Those little measures make me feel that I'm still an artist at heart and that perhaps one day a change in circumstances will mean a new and more creative role for myself. I get to do grown up things like delegate tasks, ask people for rent and give out to students too, but I like to call it my 9 - 5 face!

The other Rebecca is the person behind LuckyRainbowDesigns, the arty one at school, the one still trying to finish her up MA in Art and Design and the one trying to blog and use all the social media tools available to her in order to let the good folk of the internet know who and what the above is. Considering I'm a busy gal, what measures / tools do I employ to keep the above ticking away?

iPhone & List maker extraordinaire

First and foremost my phone is a huge asset. When in class, or during a particularly boring lecture, I would check emails or respond to any queries from an assistant via text. I also took classes with another part time student and she would do the very same, and at times, we would have to pop out of class to take 'work calls'. Organizational apps such as Evernote are useful to help you organise your time, but for me, I felt it was a chore in itself to try and even remember to do this!

However, having an iPhone allows me instant access to my Facebook and Twitter accounts which allows me to update as I go. Genius! I'm also a big follower of Instagram and often take quick snapshots which I can easily upload to any of my social media accounts. It helps keep things ticking over when I'm working through busy periods that demand more of my time.

Lists, lists and more lists.....oh and did I mention lists!?

I'm also a big list maker! I get great satisfaction from crossing things off my list and always ensure I've nice pens and paper to make my lists with! (A girl has got to prioritize, right?) But besides this, it helps clear your head. Sometimes tasks and the daily crap you have to do can seem overwhelming until you write it all down.

I'm also a fan of making 'me lists' // things in which you do for yourself. Right now on my me list I have written 'ring spa for massage appointment'. All this crouching over computers is too much for my 5ft 4" frame at times and every 6 - 8 months I have to get those icky knots ironed out. Schedule some time for yourself, its good for you and try not to feel guilty about it.

Accept it / Don't fight it

By this I mean, accept that you're busy and put a plan in place so that you can get everything done. If you keep saying "I'm busy, I'm busy!", you won't get much done. Sit down, breathe, make a list, then a plan and get started.

Take each task one at a time and you will get it all done and done well. If you require help, ask! I once read a great quote that said, "ask for help with jobs / tasks you don't like". I often do this when I'm in my 9am - 5pm job and usually require assistance with tasks that are maths / finance related. I don't have the head for numbers and stats, so why not ask for help with someone who does have a head for it. Result, task is completed correctly (you hope!) and probably with more ease too. You may also have learned something along the way. Bonus!

Give up TV!!

If you watch less or perhaps no TV at all (perish the thought!) you will be amazed and surprised at the amount of free time which it frees up! Think about it, are you the kind of person who comes home from work at 5:30pm and then stays on the couch until bedtime at 11pm? There's 5 and a half hours right there that you could put to use. 

Allocate some of this time, or maybe on some evenings all of that time to other tasks! For me, it usually means spending that precious time (and to me, it really is precious) in the craft room, writing and scheduling blog posts, updating all things social media and also completing research and catching up with what is going on in the crafty world and of course making new items for lovely and potential customers! I still feel however, I still don't have enough time to expand what is it I want LuckyRainbowDesigns to be.

With the joys of the world wide web you can also catch up on your favourite and missed shows on the weekends or on alternative days off and really once you've missed a few episodes of those soaps, you're lost anyway.

Make FULL use of your days off

I cannot stress this enough! 

I'm currently writing this post on one of my days off and lie in's for me are a thing of the past. In fact, getting out of bed at 9:30am is a lie for me as most mornings, my body wakes up at around 7am anyways. It takes me about 30 minutes to 'wake up' and once I've had a cuppa, I'm good to go and ready to tackle the day. I'm not saying you NEED to work on your days off, but for me sitting in the craft room, creating away is not work for me. Its enjoyable, fun and a stress reliever sometimes too. Its also an insight to how I might be able to work one day.

Take advantage of those non work days, get all those itty bitty jobs outta the way (you know, the washing, cleaning and that present you have to get for aunty Joan who you rarely see) and don't procrastinate.ever! I am or at least have been guilty of this in the past and all its leads to is stress and tears, neither of which I handle very well.

Source

And finally....Sleep!

I've read lots of articles and blog posts about the fine art of balance and know that many of you out there work into the wee hours in order to get things done and dusted! Many are also balancing it with children (Oh my, you're all amazing!) - but for me, sleep is a must. I cannot function in the workplace unless I've had a full compliment of 7 - 8 hours interrupted sleep. I often find that working on projects late into the night leads to sloppy work and a grumpy attitude the next day. The grumpy attitude then leads into the next day and the next days work. Not a good combination.

I also very rarely drink alcohol during the week and leave nights out to the weekend. Mind you, they've been few and far between lately too! (Sniff, sniff!). This way of working works for me, but I know there are many of you out there who do this and more, so share your nifty time saving tips so we all can learn!

Apart from all of the above, all I know is that I want to do it. I want to be creative and I want to make things and that has been in me since the year dot. I'm sure many of you can relate to this feeling and for me the above works for now. It's not ideal at time, but I know there are many, many more balancing more plates than little ole me!

Male Cards

There has been many a card maker extraordinaire who have found difficulty when trying to create, design and make unique (but still cute!) cards for the men of the world! Lets face it, we can't dive head first into our collections of butterflies, flowers and glitter much like we do for every other type of card...so how do we make cards for the men that are interesting to make and also, importantly to give?

For me, I tend to use patterns or colour as theme. Doing this you're already narrowing down the parameters in which you can work and gives you a little focus. I was recently asked to make some Fathers Day cards (Fathers Day is not just celebrated in June you know!) and decided that I'd really try and make them stand out and look as good as any other female card I'd normally create.

For these cards, I've used muted themes of reds and greens with strong patterns, so that from the start it stands out. A favourite embellishment I like to use with male cards are trusty buttons! Easy to source and easy to use, plus they're available in a wide range of shapes, sizes and colours! 

When making any type of card, I like to play around with the layout and treat each card as a mini canvas. 

Cut out your selected pieces of paper in different shapes and sizes and experiment with them, by moving them around the blank card, This allows you to work out different combinations and soon you'l stumble on something that you like and think works best!

The paper I have used here from the Tim Holtz collection. I'm not a huge fan of Tim Holtz paper but purchased these as I thought they would be suitable for male cards only, but you can easily see how strong patterns make a huge impact. To top off the card, I've used some foam letters (purchased online somewhere!) to spell out 'DAD' but you could play around and adapt it to say anything or perhaps use a stamp to stamp out 'Happy Birthday' or something similar!

How do you make male cards? Any tips to share?

Day 2 - Christmas Card-athon Series 2011

For today's card I'm showing you how you can easily incorporate ribbon into any card. I did mention that I love embellishments, so over the course of the 25 day card-athon series you'll see lots of embellishments being used along the way!

Similar to yesterday, this is a very easy card to make. The only tricky bit is the tying of the ribbon and the stamping of the sentiment....in all honesty, even that's not to difficult! Tying the ribbon is like tying a shoe lace!

To start, select some red card stock (A4 in size) and fold in half. Cut straight down the fold and you're left with two pieces of equal length. Take one of those pieces and fold in half, now you have your blank card.

I've used the same paper range as shown to you yesterday and if you havn't already run out to buy it, a link can be found here.

Select some pieces of the card stock that you like and cut two strips about 3cm each in width. Attach them to the left hand side of the front of the card and then select your ribbon. When cutting ribbon, a good rule of thumb that I adhere to is to cut the ribbon about 2.5 times the length of the card, that way you'll have enough to tie the bow.

When adding the ribbon, cut with a craft knife, a small hole at the top so that the ribbon can easily slide through, thus allowing you to pull the ribbon through the card and tie it on the front. 

To finish, tie like a neat show lace and when done, cut off any excess ribbon with scissors. The ribbon I've used in this card was purchased in America last year so unfortunately I can't provide any links to the exact ribbon used, but I will recommend some places at the end of the tutorial.

Now to the fun part...embellishments! I used my snowflake punch once more to punch a few snowflakes from some scrap pieces and carefully decided were to put them before adhering to the card. To add some more depth, I've placed some tiny white pearls around the snowflakes, adding another dimension. To top it off, no luckyrainbow card is complete without white gel pen faux stitches.

To complete the card, I have used my corner punch tool (available from all good craft shops) to corner one edge of the card. Sometimes its fun / different just to corner edge one side like I've done with this card.

To finish I've stamped a "Merry Christmas" sentiment with black ink. This stamp was purchased from America on Etsy. I really find the best tools, stamps and papers are in America and when I visited NYC last December I brought home a suitcase full of  Christmas stock ready to use to this year! I'm anything if not prepared.

So there you go....one joyful and very red Christmas card to send to someone special!

Tomorrow, I'll be showing you an embossing technique on an alternative type of paper! A little more trickier but a useful technique nonetheless!

Ribbon Suppliers as promised:

Cara Craft Supplies

Cork Art Supplies

See you tomorrow for Day 3!

Day 1 - Christmas Card-athon Series 2011

I've kickstarted the Christmas card-athon series with a very easy card. I don't know about you, but at the end of a days / week / months crafting I am always left with oodles of scraps of paper. Because the paper I buy is expensive, I tend to keep all the pieces that I know can be used again. I store them in a particular space, but nine times outta ten they never see the light of day again! If you look at this storage space of scraps as physical money, you'd probably be more likely to use them again...eh?

Given Christmas will be harder on everyone this year as the recession is still in full swing, I've created a card that uses minimal amounts of paper, thus making your paper selection go that bit further!

To get started (and to make life that bit easier) just buy a pack of blank cards which you can get from your local craft shop pretty cheaply. This saves you time and saves you cutting card stock.

Grab all your scraps and bits and pieces and before you go sticking anything down, make sure the paper is somewhat colour co-ordinated. In this instance I have chosen the typical Chistmas colours of red and green.

Once you have decided on your scrap pieces, have fun with the layout. Move the pieces around the blank card, perhaps tilt them at an angle like I have done below, experiment with shapes and think of your card as a blank canvas and a mini work of art! Experiment with the paper, fold it, tear it...play with it! You'll love the results!

One you're happy with your layout, carefully stick all the items down. When done, think to yourself "Is there anything more I can add?" I love playing around with embellishments and have jars of stock lying around the craft room. To finish my card, I've tied some red twine to a shiny red button and glued it down. I've also punched a snowflake from some spare scrap stock and added it as a finishing touch.

Punches are invaluable tools if you love card making as much as I do. I have the snowflake tool a number of years now and while I'm not 100% sure where I purchased it, I think it may have been from Silkes in Limerick.

To finish, I have stamped a 'Christmas Greetings' sentiment in black ink and used a gold gel pen to create faux stitches, a little signature which is usually found on all of my cards.

There you have it! - Easy-Peasy, especially if you consider yourself to be  one of those non-creative types! Have a go!

Want to make your own?

Here are some links to get you started!

Christmas Card Stock curtosy of the Echo Park Company

Punches! - A card makers dream tool!

Blank Card Stock

Ink for stamping!

See you tomorrow for Day 2!

Today I heart....

One simple amazing invention...I need one of these, like now! Now that college is in full swing once more and I'm taking my beloved cannon here there and everywhere I badly want to transform one of my bags! Perhaps its an excuse to buy a new bag.....even one from Penneys! I don't own a sewing machine and I've never been a dab hand at sewing or using a needle and thread! Anyone out there wana help me realise my dream of a practical / pretty camera bag?

Wana try it for yourself? Instructions can be found on this lovely blog.

http://vanillaandlace.blogspot.com/2011/01/diy-camera-pursebag.html

RIP Steve Jobs

Very sad news about Steve jobs today....so I thought I's share with you this inspiring talk I've always loved listening to. I hope it inspires you too!

Weekend Plans

While it may only be Tuesday, I'm already drooling about weekend possibilities. A load of new stock arrived at my door this morning - It felt like an age since I've ordered anything online so I literally could not wait for the nice post lady to arrive. Weekend plans include first and foremost, updating my Etsy shop, its been.....probably two months since I updated and put some work into it, so it's crying for some attention...and while we're at it, sales too!

The next step of action is working on my blog interface, I follow lots of cool, hip and crafty blogs and have recently noticed modern and nice improvements so it got me thinking about my own. Sometimes when you look at something long enough you get bored with it and it's important to spice or jazz things up.....just so everyone stays interested. I'm a bit of a blogger novice so we'll see how that goes...bear with me as changes and experiments get underway!

And then there is C-C-Christmas! I saw my first selection box in the supermarket last night and nearly had a heart attack! I have oodles of Christmas stock purchased from my NYC trip last December (my heart aches for another trip!) and it's about time I got it out from under my desk and jumped straight back into all things red and green! I'll be sure to start listing these items once ready...and to get us in the spirit....Ho,Ho,Ho!!......Too early? yea I thought so!

Creative Selling....while decorating Reception.

In the land of 'full time job', I work in possibly what is known as 'the smallest reception known to man!". It's ok though, the boss has given the go ahead to get it renovated in a number of months so come 2012 it will be a prettier and more productive place to work.....prettier being the important word right?

Until then I have this empty postcard rack that has been stuck on the reception wall since probably time began. We don't sell postcards and I don't know if we ever did, but instead of leaving it blank and boring, now and again I stock it with my own creations and now and again the lovely residents buy them....nifty eh?

The only downside is that it only holds two types of cards, the teeny-tiny type and the super tall type. (I will add the correct dimensions later and try to refrain from using cute like names.....teeny tiny!?!)



Experimenting with folding!

Yes I said folding! Rather than sticking to the usual type of open / close card you find here, there and everywhere I decided to start experimenting with different folds in the hope of finding new techniques to share with you all.

With Christmas approaching and like other crafty people out there, it's a good time to 'test the market' and see if something different will work / sell. Every year we struggle to buy the perfect gift for a friend or family member and often resort to popping twenty / thirty quid into a card or an envelope in the hope that they will (and I quote my mother here) "buy themselves something nice!". I have seen money wallet type cards sold in shops before and while I can say I've never bought them myself (only because I love the act of buying gifts) I have received them in the past...usually from an auntie twice removed!

I started out creating a birthday type money wallet / card......

Front cover...which can be adaptable of course!

€20 not included!! (and "borrowed" from the other half for display purposes! :) )

While it took a little bit of extra time to figure the folds out and a little bit of extra time than normal to make the actual card, I'm very pleased with the results and will try out a few more ideas to share with you. I also tested out some Christmas money wallets. What do you think of the results?

As always, comments welcome! x

Crafting ethics

For nearly two and half years (seven or eight if you count the years I've been thinking about it in my wee head and throw in another five for the years I spent in art college) I have been "lucky-rainbowing". My friends who know me well call my love of handmade craft "lucky-rainbowing" and think it's cute and apt for me. For what it's worth, I happen to think they are correct!

During this time I have fine tuned my style of making to that of a rustic, loose way of creating unique and custom cards. I have also built up some dedicated followers and buyers who remain loyal and come back to me time after time to request that something special for a friend or family member. This dedication I love and appreciate. Their loyalty is important to me and in many, many cases their positive word of mouth brings with it new and exciting customers. 

Behind the scenes and like others, I have tried out various methods and styles, checked out numerous blogs, watched videos, bought magazines and tested the market with all the above to see what works and what does not. I have been influenced by brilliant (and I mean brilliant) designers and creators and know that deep down some of their ideas often creep into my work, however in saying that I always try to create my own techniques by experimenting with different types of paper and materials. I do not engage in direct copy-cat techniques and believe there is a fine line between "being influenced" by someone and "directly copying" them. Often,I walk into my studio, sometimes with the intention of creating specific projects, sometimes to work on an idea I've had in my head and sometimes just to 'play'. All of it is important and all of it is therapeutic.

So, when you've put lots of effort and time into something you love or perhaps even what you consider your brand of style, what happens, when you see similar (or even exact!) techniques creep into the crafty items of someone you know? Is there a crafty code of ethics we should be all abiding by? Should we acknowledge the work of others in our own? Should it be viewed as craft-plagiarism or perhaps (and I can hear my mothers voice now...) accept it as a compliment? I'm all for taking an idea and improving it however what I am against is direct and blatant copying thus showing a lack of creativity to develop a personal style / brand.

It's very easy for someone to see you successful or good at something and think "I'll have a go of that" or my favourite "Sure I can do that!". Behind it all they fail to see that it's simply not just "making cards". It's getting to know a market, creating what people want and will buy, working into the wee small hours (for some, not always me) on your Twitter, Facebook, Etsy, blog page and website and maintaining a professional, working attitude at all times. For some of us, it's not a hobby, it's a way of life and for good friends of mine it's their livelihood.

Those who engage in copying and "Sure I'll give that a go" techniques threaten the livelihood and good intentions of those who create for the love of creating and who use their talent to pay their rent! I refer to talent in the strongest sense, anyone can purchase materials and stick them together but it takes those with said talent, creative foresight and a business acumen to really stick the market out and in the end (I hope) these will be the crafty people who are really successful and who, most importantly deserve success.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject! Have you ever had those moments where you see a handmade product and think "That's just like my...(fill in crafty item here)!!". Are you a little bit like me (and I feel a drop of shame admitting this) secretive in revealing how you created a certain technique or where you purchased a particular product for fear that someone will copy you or even....and dare I say it, do a better job?? I think we're all thinking about this subject and discussing it with our nearest and dearest, but with our crafty friends, it's probably a touchy subject!

Today I heart....

Avaluk!

A lovely, dainty, 'selling all things handmade' crafty shop in Kilkenny ,Ireland. I had heard about this sweet place via other Etsy Ireland sellers and all of them were sending their goodies back and forth to Roisin and Nadine in Avaluk and using the shop as a platform to sell their work!

The pop-up shop went so well in Limerick and I got such lovely feedback from customers about my work that I decided to (nervously) approach Avaluk to see if they would be interested in having some of my work in their shop...and to my delight, they said yes! It will be so exciting to know that I too will be part of Avaluk and that there will be so many Irish people as well as tourists popping in and out of the shop and viewing all of the amazing work on display. Kilkenny is such an arty city that I'm sure the shop sits well within all the other exciting and mouth drooling shops. A visit there over the summer is a must!

While, the summer has been very busy in my full time job here in UL, I have a few days off next week so I can sit down and get creating for the shop! I'm looking forward to escaping to the studio to be honest, it chills me out and my head is buzzing with ideas at the moment, I'm itching to get them down on paper! I'll be sure to do a sneek preview of whats to come.

Other news....I'm off to Greece with the boy in 3 weeks time! I'm stupid with excitement! I'll do a post on that trip shortly!

I hope you're having a lovely weekend!

Fathers Day 2011

Fathers Day 2011 is on the way - June 19th in case you had forgotten! So, in an effort to tackle the difficult subject that is male cards I dived head first into the craft room and got stuck in!

I went through my huge paper stash (seriously...its a mountain!) and pulled out all the colour combinations I felt were best suited to male cards. The usual suspects of blue and green appeared along with stripes and dots. I experimented with the paper, tearing some sections and punching others and treated each card as a mini canvas! I also topped off the cards using one of my favourite materials....garden twine!Finally, no LuckyRainbow card is complete unless is has some faux-stitching!

I'm quite pleased with my results! These cards are for those who already contacted me requesting some for their lovely dads, but there's still time if you want / need one! As always, just drop me a line - luckyrainbowdesigns@gmail.com - I'm always happy to hear from you!