Handm@de Oxford Contemporary Craft Fair 29th November

Emerald frames will be attending Handmade Oxford to sell her fabulous reclaimed photo/picture frames. Handm@de Oxford is a city centre based contemporary craft fair which will be full of quality designer-led handmade products. A great place for some unique Christmas gifts!

Handm@de Oxford is on November 29th 2009, Oxford Town Hall, 11am until 5pm and FREE entry.

Spread the word. Come and support me and all the fellow crafters if you can :)

Just got back!

I really need to get more hours in my day!! I am definitely going to find more time to blog as I am not getting to write here often enough....Sorry everybody :)

I have just got back from attending a business fayre run by a local group supporting women in business. As many of the ladies create or sell a product, they organised a table top fayre, so we could promote our wares and let everybody see, touch, feel and buy our goodies.

I was set up next to my lovely friend Kathryn for a holistic treatment Lounge called Karoma, who was showcasing her lovely range of handmade soaps and natural beauty products. I only took a small selection of frames to sell and also took along some examples of my framing work to represent my commission framing service too.

Here's my table, cute eh?!!

Needless to say, I spent more than I earned!!

Kittie toast power

Had a day of not really achieving anything creatively speaking, which is a bit depressing as there's so much to do.

Maybe tomorrow will be more productive...hope so!

On days like these its good to look at photos that make me smile, like our kittie eating toast :)

Trying out new mini ehive feature!

My new designs and Enterprise Nation

Well life’s been really busy and I haven’t blogged for ages. Sorry! However I have been designing and creating and have lots to tell you!!

It’s quite a story really and goes back a few months….I am an avid reader and follower of Enterprise Nation (http://www.enterprisenation.com/), which if you have yet to discover is a website which focuses on running your business from home.

It has loads of good advice and articles to help you as you work from home and is a great resource…. Anyway, some months back I entered a competition on the Enterprise Nation site to win a printer. I filled out my details and stated why me and my little framing business would benefit from a wonderful new printer and then forgot about the whole thing.

To my surprise, I was contacted and informed that I had been selected to receive a new printer – YIPPEE!!- I was amazed and very happy. My new printer arrived and it’s fabulous. It’s a fax machine, a scanner, a copier and a printer and I love it (it’s also the same size as my lounge and very stylish!)

Anyway, as I can now print anything on glorious colour and with great resolution, I thought I’d see if I could produce some new frame designs which would incorporate my new toy. So I have just started a new range, still used the reclaimed frames currently, but using different printed fronts, which are all hand-finished, to give a new feel to my collection.

I am going to list this frames for sale on MyEhive.com (http://emeraldreclaimedframes.myehive.com/ ) in the next couple of days and hope they sell like hot cakes :)

Let me know what you think….

I have been featured in Handm@de fairs blog......

OMG! I have been chosen for the "Meet the Maker " feature in Handm@de Oxford's blog... So pleased and happy!

Here's an extract from the article:

SATURDAY, 5 SEPTEMBER 2009
Meet the Maker - Emerald Frames
Welcome to the latest in the series of Meet the Maker posts. This week, we've spoken to Cath Friend of Emerald Frames. Cath also joined us in July at Handm@de Winchester where her frames really went down a storm!

What is your favourite piece? My favourite piece changes on a daily basis, however as all my frames are unique and individual, the are often quite different too. By using reclaimed and recycled products, I have to design around what materials I have available, which drives my designs and each completed frame.

The fair is being held at Oxford Town Hall on 29th November, and will be full to the seams of fabulous goodies handmade by young and contemporary designers. If you have the opportunity, call in for some great unique Christmas presents:)

Please check out the link below for the full article and more information about the handm@de craft fairs.....Let me know what you think:)

http://handmadeoxford.blogspot.com/

Things have been a bit crazy!!

Hi there, Crikey, it's been ages since I last blogged hasn't it? Terribly sorry, it's just things have been a bit crazy and I have just been trying to keep up!!

Anyway, I'm back now and have lots of say! I have been making some more little frames to sell and have been trying my hand at wirework art!!! Yes okay, I'm a framer, but hey, there's nothing to stop me being creative too now is there?

Anyhow, I'm having a bit of a love theme at the moment, so I made a couple of little simple frames and then made some little wirework hearts from brass wire and sealed them all up - full of love!!

I also made LOVE from brass wire and have listed them all for sale on MyEhive and Etsy, to see how they go.....

Well to my surprise, the little heart in the white frame sold within 24 hours of being listed...So pleased with myself!! I am going to try and made some more similar love tokens and list them for sale too. I guess they will always be a nice item to give for a wedding, anniversary or just as a

token of love :)

Remember: All You Need Is Love!

Foxy Loxy Art

Okay, time for something a bit different. I was creating at home and have finished the first textile Foxy Loxy art ;)

Foxy Loxy is made using pen and ink on heavy linen canvas and all his socks and trimmings are made of deep wine coloured leather.
He's very busy and obviously on his way somewhere very important!

I have stretched the Foxy Loxy picture and made a complimentary frame to keep him safe (frame measures 22 x 30 cms). As this is textile art, I haven't added glass to this frame, so you can see foxy in all is glory (and so he can get out to eat and sunbathe if he wants to :))

So always wanted your very own fox? ....Now's your chance!

All, as ever handmade and unique.

Sometimes its nice to look at flowers....

Hi folks,

I know I'm aways rabbiting on about framing and my online shops, so today I thought I'd blog about something else.Now don't collapse in shock!!!

We went for a lazy Sunday afternoon walk along the river Thames this weekend and just relaxed. It was lovely!

We fed ducks and moorhens, stopped at a riverside pub for a glass of Pimms (evidence below!)and walked along the banks of the river, saying hello to people and dogs we met and enjoying mother nature's creations.

Here's some of the nice things we found along our way;
And to top it off, when we got home our lovely neighbours give us some home grown carrots to add to our roast dinner!! I love Sundays :)

Addition of more reclaimed frames on Etsy.com

Okay, I am going a little crazy and listing more of my little reclaimed frames for sale online.

I have listed a further six on my Etsy site today and have included a little visual guide for you below. I find it takes me so long, from making each frame to finally getting them listed for sale, and as each one is unique, I need to list each one separately.

I would be really grateful if anyone has any ideas or tips to enable me to list them quicker:) Anyway let me know what you think ;)

MyEhive Buy and Sell Handmade Gifts | Products | walnut wonder

MyEhive Buy and Sell Handmade Gifts | Products | walnut wonder

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MyEhive Buy and Sell Handmade Gifts | Products | cute oak frame 7 x 5 inches

MyEhive Buy and Sell Handmade Gifts | Products | cute oak frame 7 x 5 inches

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MyEhive Buy and Sell Handmade Gifts | Products | Dark oak stunner! 5 x 7 inches

MyEhive Buy and Sell Handmade Gifts | Products | Dark oak stunner! 5 x 7 inches

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My green birthday print framed!!

So it was my Birthday not so long ago and for my yearly treats I selected a couple of stunning prints from very clever artists. How exciting is it when they arrive on the doorstep? The prints I received were beautiful and looked better in real life, than can ever be imagined from a small image on a screen.

I have set about framing them so I can get them up on the wall and admire them every day... The first and largest of my lovely birthday print was from a fellow Etsy seller, and had to travel a long way..from Melbourne, Australia! The print is entitled "Green - World", and has so many lovely details and differing shades of green (my favourite colour!!). You can check out the print for sale and many other stunning works by the artist Sooooound at this link: http://sooooound.etsy.com/.


So, let me tell what I did with this lovely print and my reasons behind it. As ever, I framed to compliment the picture and try to keep the overall design simple, clean and effective.


Starting with the mount: As the print contained many shades of green and had a white border which contained the artist's signature and the edition number of the print, I wanted to frame the print ensuring that the colours were complimented effectively and that the details of the artists signature and edition number were visible. Therefore I took into account the colours in both the picture, but also the colour of the white border too.


I started with a green inner mount, that was matched to a green within the picture, and then spaced the inner mount form the outer mount, leaving a visual gap between the layers of mount board. This was done to give a sense of depth and also to assist in bringing the viewers eye into the picture.

I chose an outer to match the colour of the white paper that borders the image, and choose to decorate the mount with a single simple V-groove around the aperture.

Due to the organic feel to this picture and the textures in the print, I chose a rough textured pewter coloured frame to complete this framing job. As you can see from the top photo, I left a slightly larger border at the bottom of the mounts, as I felt it balanced the overall framing better and looked visually more attractive.

So I've completed my first birthday print and have it hanging on my wall to admire and make me smile every day. I hope you like what I have done to complete this project, let me know what you think :)

Handm@de Craft Fair Winchester

So Sunday was the day of the Winchester handm@de craft fair. I have been a busy bee making lots of little frames of all colours and sizes from reclaimed frames and recycled materials to bring
along and sell at this event with the assistance of my lovely better half.

Now Dave and I have never been to Winchester before Sunday, but we liked what we found. It's a beautiful old city, full of history, amazing buildings and dark alleyways- if you get the chance I would recommend a visit. Anyway, I digress....this is the venue that greeted us on arrival-the Winchester Guild hall!

We set up our wares on our designated table and were nearly ready for the public when the doors opened!! (late as ever) We were camped in between a lovely lady called Joan who painted and sold her own cards and prints and a lovely family headed by Jane who was Fizzology, selling handmade soap and bath bombs. Lovely neighbours for the day and the smell from Jane's goodies was divine!!

Here's a couple of shots of our stall front at the start of the day, which due to lovely folk buying our frames, changed constantly throughout the day to include new stock!!

Now it may look as if Dave and I were just stood around chatting and drinking tea all day, but honestly we did do some work!!!

The fellow crafters were selling such beautiful things, all made to amazing high standards and filled with love and thought. I wasn't able to visit everybody, but check out the very talented hungdrawnquoted.co.uk for quirky artwork and textile design, http://monda.etsy.com/ for the excellent handmade softies and cards, http://fiveinthemorning.com/ for lovely hand pressed linoleum prints and http://bluefairydesigns.co.uk/ for stunning glass work.

I could have spent a lot of money there!! The fair was contemporary and fun with many young designers and crafters with a flair for the unusual, and the day went so quickly. I was kind of sad when it was over and it was time to pack up and leave:( Still there's always the next one...in Oxford in November to look forward too!! But more about that soon!

Finally a big shout out of thanks to Alice of http://raspberryfairy.etsy.com/ who organised this event, I loved it and hope to be invited to the next one- hope you enjoyed your post fair Pimms!

What a surprise- part two!!

Blimey I am so behind with everything!! Finally got around to posting the second part of the blog I wrote on 17th June, times flies eh?

So I framed up the contents of the pretty envelope and gifted to our friends, and now I can reveal the contents - and how I framed it.

So here's the delightful print that I bought from fellow Etsy seller hide n seek http://hiddeneloise.com/ which I mounted up in a four block mount sandwich. I used four different shades of creams and browns and by setting them in layers, managed to create a really nice deep bevel aperture into the print.

Then for the frame....I ummed and aah'd about this one. Do I go safe and frame it neutral to fit in with any decor? I contemplated using a stained oak frame, dark enough to complement the browns in the print, but happy to sit in anybody's home on any wall.........Then I found some stunning moulding that was just made for this print. Maybe not as subtle as my first ideas, but just looked fab...so (hopefully not too much of a crazy choice for our friends) I framed to focus on the bear in this work:

Hope you agree that I made the right choice of frame? Let me know what you think!.......

Photographic workshop extravaganza

Okay, so maybe I'm going a little crazy by writing two blogs in one week, but right now I have a lot happening and I want to share stuff with you!

I was lucky enough to attend a photographic workshop this week ran by the lovely Louise from http://www.myehive.com/. The workshop was called "How to take *WOW* factor photographs" and focused on how to take the best shots possible to promote and sell items online.

Now, with Louise's help and her keen eye for design and detail, we went through many different issues that plague me when I try to photograph my lovely frames ~ my main issue being the reflection of light (or me) in the glass of my creations.

By exploring my camera, learning the best conditions to photograph my work in, and some cool tips and tricks, we got some stunning results.

Check out some of the test photos we achieved at the workshop:

And it was a fabulous way to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday, which of course included cups of tea and cake!!

So armed with my new photographic expertise (!) I am going to be shooting lots of new photos of my frames and hope to produce much improved images to justify the standard and loveliness of my creations.

Click on the links to my online shops if you want to see more.....

What a lovely surprise!

Well, I had to share this with you!

As it was my birthday last week, my DOH gifted me with some prints from Etsy sellers. As the prints arrive I am more and more thrilled with them and have so many ideas on how to frame them and where to hang them, that my head is spinning!!

Yesterday though, I received the most wonderful package through the post. I has to go down as one of the most thoughtfully designed and presented post I have ever received. I had to take photos of it before I opened it and show you what I mean!!

Now this is a front and back shot of the envelope I received from fellow Etsy seller :Hide n seek (http://HiddenEloise.com), beautiful - and that's not even considering what was inside! How thoughtful and clever.

Now I am not going to show you what was inside, as the artwork is bought as a gift to a friend.

I am going to frame it up and then, once I have given the gift, I shall reveal how I framed it~(else my friend my see it here first, before she gets it!!!)

So part two- the framing, to follow :)

Poppies!

Okay, so it has nothing to do with framing today. Just lazy Sunday's....

We went out for a little wander yesterday and took a few photos of what we found on our journey. It was due to rain, but through very careful planning (otherwise know as sheer luck!) we managed to miss the worst of the downpour by popping into a lovely pub for a drinkie. Once the heavens had opened and all was looking a little drier, we headed back onto the river bank to enjoy the fresh air and see cool stuff like baby ducklings, electric blue dragon flies, and discarded spotty feathers.

Whilst walking we found a farmers Field with a huge crop of wheat that was edged with big red poppies. Just stunning...looked like we were in a Cadbury's flake advert!!-Only without the chocolate :)

Also found some lovely groups of red and pink poppies growing in the Field (I had to wade through long grass to get these photos so I hope you like them!!) Happy bumble bees and happy me!

This is what Sunday's are all about....

Better late than never!

So it took a bit of time, but have finally gotten around to photographing (not the problem) and loading them onto my computer (the problem!) the Kittie and my latest art purchase.

The cat has been very busy sunbathing and not exerting himself in the recent hot weather we have been having. In fact I have to admire his clever little ways as he very smartly chose to sunbathe mainly inside!! I guess when your furry it makes sense.... Here he is not trying to wear himself out too much:

So safe in the knowledge that Arnie is dreaming of cheese and onion crisps and chocolate buttons, I moved on and took some photos of the Scandinavian Red Hare print that I framed up a couple of weeks ago and is hanging proudly on my wall. As the print was so simple in design and colour, I was able to frame it simply, but highlight the beauty of the design and echo the colourways in the framing. I hope you like it and would love some feedback on my choice of frame and mounts:)

Full frame shot and Corner detail showing deep bevel mount

So what do you think?

Bank holiday awaits...

So its Friday evening before the start of the May bank holiday and its going to be sunny this weekend. Hooray!! Arnie (my lovely stripey cat) is very impressed about the forecast...

I will be working for Saturday, but then will have some time to relax and drink wine with friends hopefully. I have just finished framing a beautiful print that I bought from a fellow Etsy seller. I have spent a long time choosing how to frame this print as I wanted it to be special. The print is of a real 7o's inspired red hare I found from Dee's blog http://deebeale.blogspot.com/: If you get the chance, check out Dee's shop at deebeale.etsy.com as she's a very clever cookie.

I have mounted it in a deep bevelled mount and then used a double mount to bring out the brilliant red. The whole thing is finished off by a brilliant red aluminium frame, and if I say so myself, it looks the business!!

I will take some photos of the finished article, so you can see what I'm rabbiting on about (or should that be haring?!) and maybe a couple of Arnie taking in the sun and post them up real soon.

Have a lovely weekend everybody:)

Reclaimed frames

As part of making and selling picture frames, I have decided to create a range of frames using reclaimed materials. These frames are made using waste from the workshop, that would normally be too small to use and I also recycle old vintage frames, resizing and refinishing them, ready for a new life in a new home. I sell these frames online http://emeraldframes.etsy.com/ or at http://emeraldreclaimedframes.myehive.com/ and have sold at my first craft fair recently. The craft fair was great fun and having the frames out together on display, made them look fabulous and they sold like hot cakes. However, the organisation and preparation was another story! Check out the photo's below to see how midnight the night before the craft fair was looking as I tried to organise the frames to take!

At least the cat was trying to help!