the green gal

The sale is on!

Getting sticky with it

So, remember I said in this blog post I'd tell you when my new finishing touches products would be available on my website? Well they are! You can now find the marvellous twig colouring pencils, mini wooden pegs and colured twine at the green gables.

But that's not all! I am very excited to reveal a brand new product I have designed – decorative bunting sticky tape!

red heart bunting sticky tape

Available in red heart or blue star bunting designs this tape will perk up any present, package or envelope.

blue star bunting sticky tape

The tape is 25mm wide and comes in 30m rolls so you can glam up a lot of gifts. (And a lot of order packages if you're me!)

As well as the pretty tape I've also added a few more things to my web shop, including sets of doily-edged brown paper gift tags…

set of five tags

twig pencils (similar to the colouring pencils but a bit more grown-up)…

twig pencil

and sets of occasion postcards with envelopes…

occasions postcards

So, I hope you like my new additions, I'd love to know what you think. And don't forget you can still get £5 off when you spend £20 at thegreengables.co.uk before the end of November with code NX5!

Early Christmas bird offer at the green gables

Why wait till December and have a mad rush to get all your Christmas present shopping done when you can take advantage of this special offer and be finished before the end of November?! 

I'm giving you £5 off when you spend £20 or more at the green gables for the whole of November. Plus, as always, you don't have to pay for postage and packaging on orders over £30. Just use the code NX5 at the checkout before 30 November to receive your £5 off.

You're a lovely bunch and have been so supportive of my new business, especially since I made the giant leap to work full-time on the green gables, so I hope you can take advantage of this offer. And, if I can spread out the Christmas order rush a bit more evenly over November as well as December my life will be a smidgen less crazy stressful – this way we all win! 

So, pootle on over to www.thegreengables.co.uk and have a wander around. And if you're still at the gift and wish list writing stage, this free printable might be useful…!

Too beautiful to post

source

Not that you'd want to (or be able to) but how fab is this cake decoration?! What is there not to love – it's cake, it's bunting, it's using colour co-ordinated postage stamps. Love it.

And while we're talking cakes, to celebrate National Baking Week I'm giving you 25% OFF ALL KITCHENWARE at the green gables! Just use code BAKE25 at the checkout before the end of Sunday 23 October to get your discount. Enjoy baking!

Special offer for this weekend only!

The sun is shining, I've had a fab week so to celebrate I'm giving you 20% off everything at the green gables for this weekend only. Use code WKND20 at checkout between now and Sunday evening to receive your discount. Happy shopping!

Tutorial: How to make an envelope

I've been meaning to post a tutorial on how to make a paper envelope for a while but a comment from a twitter friend this week gave me the push I needed! When you've gone to the trouble of making a card for someone special it's so much nicer to present it to them in a handmade envelope too. So, here's how you do it…

1. To make an envelope that will fit an A6, postcard-size card you will need: an A4 or US legal size sheet or a piece of paper measuring 21cmx21cm, ruler, pencil, scissors and double-sided sticky tape.

2. The piece of paper you're going to use needs to be square and measure 21cm each side. With the sheet best side down, the easiest thing to do is fold one corner of an A4 sheet over to the opposite edge and then cut off the excess strip to leave you with the square.

The only drawback is that you'll have a crease showing on your finished envelope.

3. Turn your square so you have a corner pointing down. Measure 9cm up from the bottom corner and mark the point. Measure 7cm in from each side corner and mark these points. You are going to fold the corners in at these points so to make it easier you can draw a line across each mark so you can see exactly where to fold. 

4. Fold the three corners in along your fold lines.

5. With the side flaps folded in, add double-sided sticky tape to their bottom edges so that the bottom flap can stick to them. You only need a thin strip so cut a piece of sticky tape down the middle lengthways before sticking onto the edges. Fold the bottom flap up so it sticks to the side flaps and you now have something that looks a lot more like an envelope. I like to tuck in the little point you have sticking up from the bottom flap but you can cut it off if you'd rather. 

6. On each side edge of your envelope, measure up 11.5cm and make a small mark. Using the ruler to make a sharp crease, fold the top flap over. In creating the top flap you've folded over the top corners of the side flaps and so the envelope looks a little 'unprofessional' with this little bit of excess folded paper. So you can just snip it off to leave clean edges.

7. And there you have it, your finished envelope! You can seal it with regular sticky tape or double-sided tape, or a sticker or glue, or whatever takes your fancy :)

I used a plain sheet of white recycled paper for this tutorial but you can use any paper or thin card you like. How about an old map or a magazine page? The options are endless!

I hope you liked this tutorial and found it useful. I'm very happy for you to share this tutorial but please name this blog as the source and post a link back to this post rather than give the full instructions. 

I plan to make tutorials a bit more of a regular feature so I'd love to hear what you think of this one. And if you want to share pics of envelopes you make do leave links in the comments box so I can take a peek!

FREE P&P on all orders!

For the rest of September I am taking away the cost of postage and packing from all orders at the green gables! So that's no p&p on organic cotton kitchenware, framed prints, plantable heart bunting, eco-friendly gift wrap and tags, FSC paper star garlands … the lot! Scoot on over to thegreengables.co.uk to take a look…

Junk for Joy!

Do you remember way back in March I told you about a book I was going to be featured in? Well, it's called Junk for Joy! and it's out now! (There's me below!)

It feels like such a long time ago since I talked to Sian about my little business and remade service, about a year in fact! It is such a fab book and I'm not just saying that because I'm in it. Author Sian Berry gives lots of different ideas to revamp tired old items, from big projects that will take a few hours to quick make-its that give you results in less than an hour. The photographs by Sarah Cuttle are beautiful and as well as little ol' me you can also check out Dave and Debbie Powell from the Bracknell Re-Use Project, Hilary Bruffell from Make It and Mend It and Peter Martin from Junkk. Plus there's a very useful Resources section at the back.

Published by Kyle Books Ltd, you can find it on Amazon here.

the green gables gets a revamp and there's a giveaway!

I'm so excited to finally be able to show you my shiny, revamped website for the green gables!

Now, it doesn't look radically different (I was already very happy with how it looks) but it has several new features and additions which make it easier to use and to find just what you're looking for. Plus there are some lovely new products you haven't seen before (more on this below). Let me show you…

There are more categories on the home page, listed on the left hand side and also showing images for each category in the central section (scroll over to see the images change). So now you can look in your area of interest, such as ideas for gifts for her or for him, or decorations or gifts for weddings, on the theme of love…

Below this category list on the left hand side is a new search function so you can type in a word to help you find what you're looking for…

And, it's only little but can be v useful, on every page, in the top left you will see a little line of words telling you whereabouts you are on the website… 

You'll notice that a Downloadables category has been added to the list. This isn't quite ready yet but will have things like mini paper bunting, gift tags and greeting cards – you order as usual but rather than waiting a few days for a parcel to arrive, I will email you a pdf and you can instantly print out your purchase as many times as like! 

There are also some new creations you won't have seen before! To add to my family of artwork I have created new pieces using used vintage postage stamps…

find them here

The stamps are in fantastic condition and with post marks just visible on the corner of each stamp, I love imagining where the stamps have been, what countries they have travelled across. As each piece of art uses the original stamps it is unique. Framed prints of each stamp art are also available.

And last but not at all least, I am delighted to announce that my first range of kitchenware is now complete! 

find there here

You can now pretty up your kitchen with co-ordinating aprons, tea towels (both made with 100% organic cotton) and mugs featuring my hand drawn, heart bunting design in turquoise and the words 'a-bunting we will go'. Plus I have put them together in a variety of kitchenware sets which make gorgeous gifts and will save you money!

find it here

Enter my giveaway and you could win yourself a heart bunting mug! Simply leave a comment on this post and I will pick a winner after 14 August.

I hope you like the new the green gables website as much as I do, happy browsing!

Palette pingpong no29

I hope you're all very well out there in cyber space. Make a cup of tea, get comfy and have a read of today's palette pingpong post. 

So, you can find the photo that Kirsty challenged me with over at her blog, ginger and george, and here is the palette I took from it: 

It looks quite pretty as it is but I decided to make a couple of cards for you to download and print instead. I took the You're a Star card I made a while ago (because it was a bit of a hit with you all) and reworked it with this colour palette. There is a bluesy card and a reddish card:

Because I'm a girl who doesn't like waste the two cards fit on one sheet of A4. Simply download the pdf from the link below, print it out on recycled card and cut along the dotted line. When folded each card is A6 size. Not surprisingly I chose to round off the corners because I like rounded corners!

 

Download bestest card

I've kept the message simple so that you can use the card for all kinds of occasions, perhaps for Father's Day on 19 June? If you don't want to bother with an envelope you can cut the cards in half so just the front remains and write your message and the recipient's address on the back.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway here, and when you receive the green gables newsletter you'll also get 20% off your order at the green gables when you buy a framed print, perfect for Father's Day! And you even get top tips on how to help bees and butterflies into your garden :)