DIY Tutorial: Golden animal place name holders

I saw this idea on pinterest a while ago and feel head over heels in love for it.

Found on onewed

These from Bridal Musings

And these from Sugar and Cloth blog

 It seems like a beautifully detailed and clever project, whilst being relatively simple to do and not all that expensive.

Annoyingly, I didn't seem to have any toy animal figurines knocking about - and that's even after raiding mum's attic for things to sell at a car boot sale last week.  Therefore I went to Amazon and picked up  a few packs of these.

The first step is probably the trickiest. Cutting a slice in the back of the toy to sit the card.

Elephant modelling the 'half body cut'

You could choose between clamping the toy and using a saw, or heating a knife and melting/cutting through the plastic. You just want to cut half way down through the body. Either way, both are potentially hazardous, please do so with care and suitable supervision.

 Serious part over...or is it? Now time for the toxic chemicals! Gold Spray Paint - again this is a case of just being sensible. Spray in a well ventilated area on a protected surface. Let the animals dry, turn them over and fill in the gaps with one last spray. Leave to fully dry.

Add caption

They look pretty magnificent once dried. Then you can slot a place card in, sit back and wait for the praise and glory.

Alice in Wonderland Shoot for Specsavers Kids

All those rather mysterious Alice in Wonderland themed projects can finally be unmasked in the shape of the latest Supersavers Kids magazine. I styled and illustrated the cover and main set piece for the Spring Summer 2015 issue.

The first job was to design the looks for Alice, the Queen of Hearts, Mad Hatter and White Rabbit. We have 4 fantastic 6/7 year  old models who had a great time on the day. Our Alice outfit was a particular favourite as I thought a bit outside the box and came up with this slightly dreamy floral dress from John Lewis.

The brief was to dress them in clothes they would want to wear; looking clearly like the character without looking like fancy dress.

The Queen of Hearts' outfit was largely from H&M and Doc Martins from John Lewis. Her crown headband was a particular favourite with the adults on the shoot!

on the shoot with Milo and Oli.

Can you spot the playing card bow tie and collar from previous blog posts? Alice's hair bow also makes an appearance.

We set up the shoot the night before which gave us lots of time to play with flamingoes and cupcakes!

Then came the illustration part. After settling on handpainted watercolour style (which is obviously my favourite!) I created a wonderland esque backdrop for both the cover and double page spread.

White Rabbit late for an important date

starting to add colour to the double page spread

adding in flamingoes all over the place. 

 The Magazine is out in the shops now. The project was managed by Specialist UK

de Winton Paper co has launched!

I have been busy starting my new venture, the de Winton Paper co. You will have read about my blog posts to Seville and the general connecting of paper themed ideas, hence the de Winton Paper co was born. I have had a wonderful introduction into the Wedding Industry world and made some new friends. Particular mention must go to The Little Wedding Helper (Kirsten) and Ruth Garner Photography (Ruth) who took me under their wing and have guided me through where to advertise, how to exhibit, and all the navigations of wedding industry etiquette!

I am featured in the National Wedding Guide Directory, as well as The Wedding Secret and am starting to feature my work in styled shoot for blogs and magazines.

I was thrilled to be featured on the beautiful blog, The Paper Bride

They featured my most popular range to date, the Botanical range. 

But all this stationery came from humble beginnings, from lusting after note cards and simply loving the art of letter writing. Therefore, I also have an Everyday Stationery range which you can find on the main de Winton Paper co site, and on my little Etsy shop. 

The blog's instagram account now links to the de Winton Paper co Instagram feed as it now covers both the behind the scenes at photo shoots as well as what is going on in the paper workshop.

I hope you will join me in this new chapter and maybe even buy some of the products that have developed slowly and surely as this blog has evolved.

Paper Goods never go out of style.