Kiwi Punch Designs- Blog

My sis' apartment

2010-02-09T20:53:00.003-05:00

Not too long ago, I visited my sis' apartment in the States and I was super surprised to see two of my stitched canvas items in her living room!

A Song on the Wall and a Kwot=Quote

Song on the Wall:

This SotW is of the song 'Inner City Blues' by Marvin Gaye.

Kwot=Quote:

Other than my own place, I think this is the first time that I've seen my canvas pieces in someone's home!

Tweed love #2

2010-01-17T00:42:00.004-05:00

More exciting tweed!!

Tweed Suitcase by Bright Wall:

I love the little umbrella lady too!

Cuff Bracelet by BeaG:

This is part of the RGJ project. (RGJ= Recycled Grandfather Jackets. hah!)

Herringbone coin purse by Tago Design:

So cute! The leather flower is a great touch!

Alexander handbag by Mandinka:

Super unique.

Tweed Trench Coat at HalfCaf:

It has already been sold. boo.

Tweed love #1

2010-01-16T23:46:00.008-05:00

Some of my favourite tweed items on Etsy today:

Hairpiece by Mojo Spa Style:

red and white metallic tweed fabric... love it!!

Detective hat by Bonnie's Knitting:

sadly, my head is too big for this hat. Or more accurately, my hair is too big!
I love the added touch of the buckle.

Tweed iPod case by Blythe King:

yes please!

Houndstooth Tweed Scarflette by Flutter:

Is it just me, or is this gorgeous?

Rose Brown Tweed Pin Cushion by VaBo:

this is kinda irresistible.

stay tuned for Tweed Love #2!

(psst - all images are from their respective shops. click the links for more!)

CraftyPod podcast

2010-01-11T23:32:00.005-05:00

I feel like I've been living under a rock.

I JUST found out about the CraftyPod podcasts! I seem to devour podcasts, so I'm always on the lookout for new ones. I'm SO excited to find CraftyPod! The podcasts are great! For the most part, I find that they are interviews between the CraftyPod creator ("Sister Diane" a.k.a Diane Gilleland) and a variety of people in the craft community. The range of topics is fantastic! It could be anything from how to market your craft business, to profiling men to craft!
The content is great! I've already tagged some podcasts to listen to again when I have a notepad handy.

And have I mentioned that all the podcasts are available on the CraftyPod site for FREE?

yayyy!!

Happy Twenty Ten!

2010-01-11T22:35:00.002-05:00

Happy 2010 all!!

I think this is going to be a really productive and fruitful year! I'm planning on getting a lot of different things accomplished, and shake-up some of the mundane areas of my life!!

I'm still working on my Resolution/Goal list KPD - It's pretty long!
One of the things that's definitely on the list is this blog! I do have a 'personal' blog in addition to this one, and I find it difficult to write entries for both. More often than not, I end up writing on the other blog instead of this one.

So, should I just combine the two blogs?
Should I post the same entries to both sites?
Should I just continue as-is?

I've decided that I definitely like having two different blogs. So the deleting option is out.
Posting the same entries on both sites seems kinda ridiculous, so I won't be doing that. Though, I do currently write about the same thing on both sites. I try to say 'slightly' different things on each blog though. I'll probably continue to do this.
Continuing with things the way they are won't work for me. It's not exciting enough!

So, my personal blog will stay the way it is, and this blog will go back to what I initially meant for it to be - discussions about everything craft!
Somewhere along the line I started talking a WHOLE lot about KPD. I will still mention KPD of course (I mean, that IS the name of this blog!), but I'll be writing a lot more about other things. My latest Etsy finds... tutorials that I want to try... my latest crafts... etc!

Exciting!

New Site for 2010!

2009-12-28T00:39:00.004-05:00

This wasn't *really* on my to-do list, but I was sitting in front of my computer the other day and decided that I should seriously revise my .com site.
...and so I did!

Introducing.... the new KiwiPunchDesigns.com website!

eeeeeeeee!

I'm super excited about it.

1. I love the fact that I was able to incorporate my embroidery thread picture
2. I love the animation on the little 'preview' circles on the Product pages
3. I love the woodgrain picture on the contact page
4. An embedded contact form! yay!
5. I love that my newer products are included (like Song on the Walls!)

I have other KPD-related items to work on in the next few days!! stay tuned! :)

Needle Magazine

2009-12-02T17:54:00.002-05:00

The Hand Embroidery Network has recently launched a new online magazine: NEEDLE!

Just in time for Christmas!!

It's packed with lots of interesting articles! I highly recommend it!

And.... KPD is mentioned on page 30! (yay!)

latest cards

2009-11-26T16:44:00.003-05:00

Here are some pictures of my new card designs:

Silhouette:

More Stitched Chaos:

they remind me of fireworks!

Birthday cupcake:

Babies!

Baby Showers:

Bicycle cards:

Christmas time!

2009-11-24T17:50:00.002-05:00

I'm *finally* getting into the Christmas spirit! ...which means....

CHRISTMAS CARDS!!!

Here are a few cards I've made recently:

They'll be in my shop soon(ish)!

Interrobang love

2009-11-05T22:28:00.003-05:00

I have recently fallen in love with the Interrobang.
The name of it, the look of it.... how can you resist?

My latest stitched canvas:

love love love.
I'm trying to decide what colour Interrobang to hang in my home. maybe green.

HEN: Hand Embroidery Network

2009-10-30T11:00:00.003-04:00

I recently started reading the Hand Embroidery Network blog - I LOVE IT!
I originally found it through CRAFT, when they mentioned HEN's Stitch-a-Day' series which features a tutorial of how to do a different kind of stitch each day - including pictures!

It's great to read a blog from people who also love embroidery!

AND.... They wrote about me yesterday!!

Click here for the link to the post!

(Thanks HEN!)

ribbon!

2009-10-26T21:05:00.004-04:00

Here are some pictures of my latest obsession: ribbon roses!

I love these.
They add a great 3D aspect to my cards. Not to mention all the vibrant colours!!

pics:

I <3 linoleum!

2009-09-15T23:59:00.005-04:00

(I actually wrote this entry back in July, but forgot to hit the 'publish' button!! oops!)

I recently tried my hand at making linocuts.
And it has quickly become my new favourite thing.

the carving, the inking, the printing... I. love. it.
So here's my process:

So I started off with buying a Speedball Block Printing Starter Kit and a few extra pieces of linoleum.

It wasn't too hard for me to figure out what my first print would be....
WOODGRAIN!

So I spent some time cutting the linoleum in my neighbourhood park.

And printing some cards in my apartment! (yay!)

And then I was obsessed.

I made another woodgrain pattern, this time with the negative space raised.

And then I made my fav cut so far.

A fingerprint!!

I've been wanting to make a fingerprint card for AGES, but I the idea of using thread wasn't appealing to me.

but this print - made with ink- is perfect!!!

I'm also a big fan of this white-ink version!

trying to be more organized...

2009-09-13T22:45:00.005-04:00

A couple weeks ago I sat down to make some cards and I was confronted with this:

yikes!!!

This is the result, after some dedicated 'organization' time:

sweet organization.

AIDS Walk for Life - Craft Marketplace

2009-09-11T00:12:00.003-04:00

Kiwi Punch Designs has a table at the upcoming AIDS Walk for Life event in Toronto!

yay!!

It's happening on Sunday September 13th, and I'll be there from 1:00pm!

It sounds like it'll be a fun time. And the weather is supposed to be good too! - bonus!

Introducing... Song on the Walls!

2009-08-28T20:16:00.005-04:00

My latest! -- "Song on the Wall" stitched canvas pieces!

Each piece features a stitched soundwave from the song, as well as a lyric from the song.

This one is from the song "Brand New Day" by Joshua Radin

The soundwave is from 2:58

3:18 from "Girl you know it's true" by Milli Vanilli:

1:57 from "Blame it on the rain" by Milli Vanilli:

I couldn't resist making a couple based on Milli Vanilli songs. :)

0:48 from "Inner City Blues" by Marvin Gaye:

These are tons of fun to make!
And they're now listed in my CE Shop!!

my moo cards have arrived!!!

2009-08-12T23:55:00.003-04:00

YAY!

my cards have arrived in record time!

(please excuse my poor photos, I was too excited to wait until daylight to take pictures!)

I'm a big fan of the 'yay' stickers.

Sideview...

This is what the back looks like:
(They have an office in the States!)

(click to enlarge)

opening the package...

The inside:

My cards:

The inside packaging:

There's a tip here that suggests: "Try using emotions of your logo on the next cards you make, and ask your contacts to choose their favourite. Lots of people find it's a great way to open up the conversation!"
1) What a good idea!
2) They spelled favourite with a 'u'!!! :)

As for the cards themselves, I actually didn't realize they were 'business cards'! ( hah!) For some reason I thought I was ordering a pack of the mini cards.
my bad!

Turns out - it's great that they're business cards! ...and the cardstock quality is superb!

I decided to use a Wordle-type design for my cards.
Here's my brainstorming:

And the finished product looks like this:

The other side looks like this:

yes, it does say 'POW!' in the corner.
...I couldn't resist. :)

my new website

2009-07-20T20:46:00.002-04:00

I updated my website a few weeks ago!
It's flash!

Check it out!
www.KiwiPunchDesigns.com

love & laughter

2009-07-16T21:59:00.002-04:00

I'm working on table names for my friend's wedding:

my new business cards have arrived!

2009-07-15T20:00:00.004-04:00

my new business cards have arrived!!

They look like this:

okay, so from afar they probably look like my old business cards, but there are some fairly significant differences!

#1. they're not glossy!

I liked the 'waterproof' nature of my old cards, but they were fairly annoying whenever I wanted to write on them.

#2. They have my name on them!

*gasp!
so my old cards just had the kiwi on one side and the .com URL on the other side.
I still like them, but I do think having a name is good.

I took a comparison picture:
(the old card is on the left)

It's interesting how much I notice on the old cards. like, the kiwi's colour is really odd! (well, it's still odd on the new cards. the brown looks more like black.)

so I probably mentioned that I bought the cards from print100.com
The cardstock isn't as thick as I would like.... but they'll do...

oo also - the cards came packaged in 3 plastic cases, and they had this 'wax paper' stuff attached to each of them, comme ca:

weird!

so I had to take that off each individual one.
interesting!
Here's a pile of them:

I was going to keep them just in case I might need them in the future. but then I figured that they're mostly just garbage, so I threw them in the recycling bin.

I could go on about these cards for a while (I think I'll round the corners of some of them!), so I'm going to stop writing now.

more business card inspiration

2009-07-11T18:38:00.004-04:00

SO - I put through an order for new business cards! (yay!)

I ordered a batch of 300. (From Print100!) The thing I love about ordering low quantities is that I don't feel locked-in to whatever card design I settle on. The big unveil will have to wait for a few days cause the cards are currently at some FedEx facility somewhere.

here are a couple business cards that I discovered when I was looking for business card inspiration.
Manicurist card:

Card w/ ribbon:

Circle cards!

Oval card:

Note to self - incorporate French into my next batch of cards.

Hair Stylist:

smart!

Introducing... Stitched Chaos!

2009-07-09T21:54:00.005-04:00

New cards! new cards!!

I've had this idea in my head for the longest time.

Stitched Chaos!

Each card is unique - I couldn't "cookie-cutter" these cards even if I tried.

And they're SO much fun to make!

And, I've listed a bunch in my Etsy Shop!

they've arrived!

2009-07-02T21:10:00.002-04:00

My Fanciful Form rings are here!

eeeeeee!

They came in these boxes:

cute!

one ring is for a friend, these three are mine!

I think I'll wear the black one tomorrow...

business card planning

2009-06-07T23:01:00.003-04:00

so I'm thinking of ordering some new business cards.

Here are a couple clever ideas that I found while doing a bit of flickr browsing today:

HILARIOUS. (link)

clever! -- and that's his real face! (link)

my business cards look like this right now:

I like them a lot, but
#1) I'm running low
#2) I kinda want sometime with my name on it. My website DOES have all the pertinent info on it, but sometimes I want people to know/remember my name when I give them a card. So I attempt to write my name on the card, except it's glossy, so it only works with felt-tip pens.... Though, I always try to use a ballpoint pen, which leads to issues...

I think I'll order some from print100 again, since I had a good experience with them last time.
moo cards are also an option too, but they are fairly pricey...

my new iPod case

2009-06-02T23:17:00.003-04:00

Moleskine + iPod = my fun new iPod case!

flowers by FancifulForm

2009-05-25T19:23:00.005-04:00

I was doing an Etsy search for custom ribbon and somehow I came across FancifulForm's Etsy Shoppe!
I LOVE it!

I've been looking for some big bright flower rings. And FancifulForm's are EXACTLY what I've been looking for!

I'm currently trying to decide how many to get... and what colours? yellow, blue, black, all of the above? :)
I'm also very tempted by her rose pendants too. (Unfortunately for me, I don't wear necklaces..)

Here are a couple of my fav pendants:

Aren't they gorgeous?!!

[pics by FancifulForm]

She also has earrings, bracelets, decor items, and other goodies!

new tool!

2009-04-20T19:03:00.004-04:00

I was in the car with my mom yesterday afternoon and I was telling her about how I need a tool that cuts cardstock into smooth circles.

Scissors won't work (too uneven)...
a compass wouldn't work because of the hole that it places in the center of the paper...
my mom suggested using an xacto knife and tracing around a glass, but I didn't like that idea.

I decided that I would go to Michaels in a few weeks and see what gadgets they have.
Turns out, I ended up wandering into Walmart and found this:

Thank you Martha Stewart!
[link]
I love it!

buttons!

2009-04-04T16:18:00.005-04:00

I've recently 're-embraced' my button machine!
I made a few buttons for some people at work, and now I'm making a whole bunch of buttons/magnets for a friend's wedding! She's going to be adding them to her wedding favors.

I'm also making some for the bridal shower.
fun!

They're a blast to make. I think I'll add them to my CE ETSY shop!

More Trees!!

2009-03-11T21:22:00.003-04:00

I have added three more Tree on the Walls to my CE shop!

Tree on the Wall- No. 9:

orange and red!

Tree on the Wall - No.10:

PINK!

Tree on the Wall - No. 11:

green!

kwot=quote

2009-03-01T17:11:00.004-05:00

A couple days ago, Photojojo featured the Photographic Dictionary, and in their article they showed this pic:

of course, I love it.
(who can resist a 'k' and a 'w' in the same word?!!)

So yesterday I set out to make a couple stitched canvases!!

(They'll be in my my CE shop soon!)

this just in!

2009-02-26T21:25:00.004-05:00

If you live in (or are visiting) Toronto, you can now find some of my creations available for sale at the Freedom Clothing Collective!

The store is located at 939 Bloor St W (just west of Bloor and Ossington).

Tonight was my first visit to the store - it is SO great!!
So many fun things to explore!

I told myself that I couldn't buy anything during this trip, but next time I go there, I'm definitely lifting all restrictions :)

here's a pic of the store:

Right now, you'll find some of my cards, a few Tree on the Wall pieces and some Fabric Stars!

Etsy Front Page! - holla!

2009-02-15T23:05:00.004-05:00

As a fun Valentine's Day surprise - I made a couple Etsy sales on Saturday!

It turns out that I was included in a treasury that was featured on Etsy's front page!
exciting!!

Check out the treasury:

beautiful, yes?

(link to more info)

Happy long weekend!

2009-02-13T18:42:00.004-05:00

So Ontarians (and some other Canadians) have a long weekend this weekend!

In Ontario, Monday, February 16, 2009 is "Family Day". It's a new holiday our Premier made up last year.
I'm not a huge fan of him, but I have been viewing him in a more favourable light for the past couple weeks.

It's funny how much I've been craving this holiday. What did I use to do mid-February?

The weather this week has been AMAZING.
I consider anything within -5 and +10 to be fantastic. (well, especially this year, considering the crazy winter we've already had!)

Anyways, with the great weather, I've been opting for my necklush instead of a regular scarf.

And 'lo and behold, in my inbox this morning was an email from NeckLush telling me that they made their first instructional video!

It's fun:

gave me a few ideas...

She takes a lot better care of them than I do!
..."ironing" it out?! hanging it on a hanger?!
I just plop mine in a pile on my desk!

don't get me wrong though, I do love it.
I also love the 'rock star' look, so when I go to wear it and it's all tangled up, I just put it over my head and I'm good to go!

I'm considering getting another one!
maybe in a more neutral colour like black, or brown.
or, maybe I'll go for a multicolour one.
ooo! I like this one too:

(image copyright neck,lush)

I love their new pics.
That's some fierce eye makeup.

done and done.

2009-02-08T13:23:00.003-05:00

I finally did it.

I finished crocheting my afghan!
(eeeeee!)

It has taken me for.ever (I started in June 08), but I'm still excited that I finished it before it got warm outside.

Anyways, this is what it looks like:

(yup, it matches my carpet!)

I've been walking aimlessly around my apartment like, 'now what?' the afghan was my classic 'lazing around, Sunday afternoon' project.
now I need to find another one. Any suggestions? ;)

So I'm making wedding invitations for a friend of mine and yesterday we met up and finalized the design! (yayyyyyyy)
I'm actually VERY surprised that we were able to come up with it!
I think they're going to be fun to make.

And we decided to incorporate pin-back buttons into their wedding, so now I have a use for my button machine! (*Finally!!)
.... maybe I'll work on that this afternoon!

new home!

2009-02-06T20:01:00.005-05:00

A few weeks ago some friends of mine bought their first home.

Exciting, right?!!!
I'm super stoked for them!!!

Soon after they signed the papers my friend sent me a picture of the place:

1. WOW! B-e-a-u-tiful house!!!!
2. Look how cute they are standing out front!!! awwww

So, I saw the clean lines of the house and just couldn't resist making them a congrats card:

heehee, I'm super pleased with how it came out!

it's been awhile...

2009-01-25T19:22:00.002-05:00

I feel like it has been a while since I added new stuff to my KPD Etsy shop.

I've been making cards for co-workers and friends, but I realized today that I have really only been 'renewing' items in my card shop rather than posting new ones!

So I added a set of four braille-esque cards this afternoon!
I used to make these cards a looong time ago and for some reason I strayed away from them.

But since I'm slightly obsessed with braille, I made a bunch of these cards this weekend!

(click to enlarge)

eee braille!!!

if I had a cat...

2009-01-14T21:29:00.004-05:00

I would totally make it one of these!!

(image from Design*Sponge)

A recycled cardboard scratchy pad!

I think it's marvelous! In fact, maybe I'll make one despite the fact that I don't have a cat!!

Click here for the tutorial!

new shop banner!

2009-01-06T22:58:00.004-05:00

I've started an Art Fire shop!!
It's located at http://KiwiPunchDesigns.ArtFire.cm

These past few months I've been hearing more and more about ArtFire.com. And from different sources too! So I figured, it's a new year, now is as good a time as any to test it out!

I'll put more effort into it, and see how it goes...

With the new shop, I decided to make a new shop banner!

I've always had the idea in my mind to have different 'kiwi punch'-type images, so I joined them together in the banner.

First though, I had to make a kiwi bird!
Here were my first two options:

And then someone mentioned combining the two, so then I had this:

And here's the final banner!

(click to enlarge)

'recent' Etsy purchases!

2009-01-02T00:08:00.004-05:00

Packages have been arriving at my door!
I bought a few Christmas gifts on Etsy this year -- I wanted to buy more online, but I was a bit slow getting started!

I did manage to buy several Etsy gifts for myself though!

The first is my Neck,Lush!
I mentioned neck,lush in the past, and I wasn't sure which colour to get...
well, I decided on bright green, and it's great!
here it is in a big pile:

(And no, it actually doesn't get tangled up!)
One thing I should mention, that they don't mention on their etsy site, is it smells FANTASTIC!
It's probably the detergent they use, not some perfume, but still, I'm slightly obsessed with smelling it.

[For the pictures of my two other recent purchases, I decided to put them in the neck,lush.
But now that I look back on the pics, I realize it probably wasn't the best idea I've ever had, so I'm not going to use the pictures I took.]

Two other Christmas gifts to myself were these rings from White Metal!

#1. Coil Ring:

(image by White Metal)

This ring is one of the first items I fell in love with when I started browsing Etsy. I hearted it, but for whatever reason I didn't buy it. So this Christmas I was looking through my hearted items for things to buy as gifts and I remembered this ring and ordered it for myself!
I LOVE IT.
It's definitely going to be an everyday ring. And it's very well made! I was expecting just wrapped stirling silver wire, but the wire has been soldiered together so it's not possible to pull apart. And I can't see where the wire begins/ends, which is great too!

#2. Honeycomb Ring:

(image by White Metal)

This ring was a bit of an impulse buy... but can you blame me? :)
It's so sleek and modern! I'm a fan!

Finally!

2008-12-31T14:55:00.002-05:00

It's been SO nice to be on vacation this past week and a bit!

For one, it's given me time to work on some ideas that have been floating around in my head!

This is one of them:

Secret Braille Wall Quotes!!

I'm thrilled with how this came out!

Here's a closer view:

Basically, the deal is, I'm fascinated by braille. It is amazing to me how people can read it! And how people can write it! The more I learn about it, the more impressed I am.
Here's an example:
For commonly used letters like 'th' or ch' there is one braille cell (consisting of 6 'dots') that is used.
So that's why, if there's a word like 'thesaurus' with 9 letters, there aren't 9 corresponding braille cells because of the contractions used.
And then it gets even better when say you're using the word 'you', which turns out to be only one braille cell.
And then as I found out last night, the word 'still' is only one braille cell as well! AMAZING!
(...if none of that made any sense, Wikipedia does a good job of explaining it all :)

Anyways,
so the idea behind my Secret Braille Wall Quotes is that it can be a really personal quote on your wall, but only you will know what it says. (Unless someone who reads braille walks into your home and deciphers it.)

The one above is a quote from Trina Brandon from Decor Addict . She sent me an encouraging email with this in it:
"Keep following your dream, it will only lead you where you are supposed to be."

And I made another one with a quote from the poem 'Desiderata' by Max Ehrman:

It says "it is still a beautiful world. be cheerful."

the stars keep coming...

2008-12-29T16:01:00.004-05:00

I'm currently working on more stars. I'm trying to figure out the right fabric width/length combination.
Here's one of my 'misses':

the fabric is a bit wonky.

I figured out what I did wrong though!
Here's the latest addition to my CreativeExploits shop:

in hot pink!!

with white accent thread.

Merry Christmas!!!

2008-12-25T17:50:00.002-05:00

My Tree on the Wall

2008-12-15T21:53:00.002-05:00

one of the great things about having a tiny apartment is that any little change makes a bit difference. For example, for the longest time I had this magazine on my wall in a jumbo-sized clothes-pin:

It's not the most sophisticated thing, right?
But I just loved (and still do actually!) the colours of the cover!

I figured it's time to 'craft it up' a bit:

and added one of my Tree on the Walls!!

And now the Famous magazine is relegated to its proper place... the magazine pile...

how many calendars can one have?

2008-12-12T19:12:00.002-05:00

After purchasing Melissahead's calendar last year I realized that calendars are fairly important. ... if you consider that you look at it all year!
And desk calendars! I look at mine all day long! (hah!)
(I'm actually sad to be at the end of the year of Melissahead's calendar. ...I love it!)

Anyways,
I have about 3 2009 calendars so far.
(2 from Etsy and 1 from Amnesty International.)
I also have a coupon on my fridge for a free Telus calendar. :)

so... no more calendars for me!

But I do completely love this desk calendar by SureAsBlue:

The graphics are great! ... but also.....
Each calendar doubles as a postcard!
Brilliant!!!
You can circle a special date and pop it in the mail!

and only $12!

Sassy Craft Show

2008-12-07T01:43:00.005-05:00

So I'm back from the Sassy Girl Craft Show! ....I think I forgot to write that I was participating in that show...oops!

It was another late night show, but I had a great time!
The Victory Cafe is a great venue! I'm going to keep my eye out for other things happening there. Apparently they host poetry slams and other random things...

I only took a few pictures during the night, here's one of them:

So this appears to be my last craft show for a little while. I think I'll take a break until the spring.
I love doing shows just cause they're usually really encouraging and I meet some interesting people, but they do require a lot of time and energy, so it will be nice to take a break and channel that time and energy towards making new items!!

l8r!

Chiyogami Giveaway!

2008-12-06T12:23:00.003-05:00

So the Paper Place is giving away over $1000 worth of Chiyogami paper!

yay!!

hop over to their site for info on how to enter...

The contest ends on New Years' Eve, so there's lots of time! :)

excited!

2008-12-03T21:55:00.004-05:00

So I'm off to the SpeakEasy Annual Holiday Sale tomorrow night!

(click to enlarge)
I'm super excited because I also did SpeakEasy's Spring show, and had a blast!!

It's at the Gladstone hotel, which in itself is a great atmosphere! It's a really old building with uniquely themed guestrooms. If I didn't live in the city I would LOVE to stay there.

It's also located on Queen Street West, which is one of my fav areas of Toronto.

The customers at the spring SpeakEasy show were great as well. I felt like they were the 'target market' for my cards. The other vendors at the show were great too. It was an all-around good time!

I'm also excited about tomorrow because I have a bunch of new stitched-canvas pieces to show off! Including.....
*trumphets sound*

MY NEW KIWI PUNCH DESIGNS CANVAS!!!

AHHHHH I LOVE THIS THING!!!

hah, I just can't get over it. ... My kiwi is stitched into canvas!!!

I even love the wonkyness of it all! Some of the letters are odd and the kiwi itself isn't "perfect"...

I think it's my new favourite thing.

I'm off to pack up for tomorrow!

my fav new Etsy Shoppe!

2008-11-23T21:08:00.002-05:00

Check out neck,lush! (http://www.NeckLush.Etsy.com)

Aren't these GREAT?

only question is... what colour should I get?
I'm immediately attracted to the bright orange, but I'm also thinking of red... or maybe black or brown for versatility sake...
hmmm...

Truly Canadian made

2008-11-18T17:36:00.002-05:00

I received a sweet email today from the creator of the 'Truly Canadian Made' Directory.

It's a new (and upcoming!) website dedicated to, well, truly Canadian-made goods!

Kiwi Punch Designs has a link on the site (yay!), I'm not entirely sure how the web creator found out about me, but it was exciting to see the email in my inbox! My little blurb on the site [the graphic design and stationary page] says that I am a "designer".

I'm still always baffled when people refer to me and Kiwi Punch in those kind of terms. "designer" "entrepreneur" "business"... hah! really? me? An "entrepreneur"?
I suppose it's about time I get used to it though... KPD has been around for over a year now!

....it's too bad I forgot to celebrate the 1year anniversary back in October! ... I could've had cake! shucks.

Here's the web address for the site:
http://www.trulycanadianmade.com/

Etsy in Good!

2008-11-13T19:13:00.000-05:00

Those who know me, know I LOVE LOVE LOVE Good Magazine!

In a very small nutshell, Good is all about things that are good. Good for the environment, good for humankind, good for the planet as a whole....

The first thing that turned me onto them is that their subscription fee (which is now 'pay whatever you want, for Americans!) goes completely to one of their non-profit partners -- and you get to choose which!

This latest issue was about the US elections and listed over a thousand reasons why Americans should vote in the election. (granted, they did cheat a little and not actually list 1565 reasons... but I forgive them :)

so I'm going through the magazine and then I flip to this page:

A HUGE Etsy ad!!
I was very excited.

It features Ashley from www.fernanimals.etsy.com.

as promised...

2008-11-12T20:37:00.003-05:00

pictures of my new Cassette Tape cards!!

don't you just love the '80s?

site update! and more envelopes!

2008-11-10T20:26:00.004-05:00

This past weekend included three KPD-related things:

1. Updated Website!!

I decided to update www.KiwiPunchDesigns.com to include my non-card handmade items.
Initially when I decided to update the site, I wanted to change it entirely so that it looks more polished and less like it was done by me.... but I decided to keep it the way it is. ...For now at least.
On that note, here are some stationary-related sites I really like:
Pink Loves Brown
Round Robin Press
Sugar Lily

2. Finish making my latest batch of envelopes!

Check!

3.Work on new cards

Cassette Tapes!
(please excuse the bad picture... I promise I will have better ones...sometime... :)
I like these a lot!
1. Because they remind me of the 80s.
2. Because they remind me of the song "The Mixed Tape" by Jack's Mannaquin.
3. Because some of them look like they were drawn freehand. I like that 'non-precise' feel to them.

make you own fabric!

2008-11-07T14:20:00.002-05:00

This is interesting!

The website Spoonflower is a place to design/print your own fabric!!

I'm thinking....
Kiwi Punch Designs fabric... comme ca:

:)

Christmas Owls!

2008-11-06T21:19:00.003-05:00

This is some of what I did over my Vancouver vacation:

Christmas Owl cards!!
YAY!

I'm very pleased with how they came out.

And I put 'hoo hoo hoo' on the bottom of most of them.... which I think is hilarious. ...I might be the only one though.
...oh well!

They're in my shop now!!

back in town

2008-11-02T18:46:00.004-05:00

Anyone who visited either of my shops this past week would have noticed... I went on vacation!

anyone who is super observant would also notice that the map that I used in the banners was of western Canada -- which is where I went!
more specifically, I went to Vancouver. These are two of my fav pics from the trip:

Other than wandering around town, I spent some time relaxing in the hotel room making cards!
This is a pic of the hotel room:

I made a few more tulip cards:

And some new Christmas cards! I'll take pics of those soon....

a rainbow of pokes!

2008-10-20T20:27:00.003-04:00

so I may have gone a bit overboard with the Poke Notes this weekend...

they do look fun all together though, eh?

here they are paired with envelopes:

I was home last weekend and scored the bright yellow tissue paper. I love that bright yellow! I'm gonna have to find more of it soon.

Here is an progress picture of some envelopes being made! I already fused the paper and cut them and everything. Basically the top flap just needs to be folded over!

I also made some more New Baby Congratulations cards - which are now in the shop.

These are a lot of fun to make too!

news! news!

2008-10-12T23:25:00.002-04:00

KPD cards are now available for sale at the Good Catch General Store in Parkdale!!

YAY!!

This is the store that hosted one of the crafts show that I did back in September. I didn't actually get to look around the store during the show, but today when I went there with my cards, I got to hang out a bit.

I like it!! It has a very nice 'neighbourhood' feeling to it. While I was there lots of people came by to buy the locally-made food and other eco-friendly products.

One women bought milk that came in glass bottles. And she also returned a few empty bottles.
it was very cute.
I can't remember the last time I saw milk in glass bottles...

but anyways, if you're in the Parkdale area, drop by! ...and maybe buy my cards while you're there! :D
The store is located at 1556 Queen Street West.

Here's another pic from my sewing in the park yesterday!

cards in the park

2008-10-12T00:06:00.004-04:00

This is my first weekend in a couple months where I haven't had a custom order to work on! ....it's kind of sad, because those custom orders were lots of fun, but it's also great to have all this "free time" to work on the ideas that have been swirling in my head!

...and also this would be a good time for me to work on my work-in-progress list.... but it's more fun to start new things! :)

Right now I'm working on a rainbow collection of poke notes!
I can't wait to see the final collection!

I'm still debating whether to list them in my Etsy shop as single cards, or a huge collection of 20+ cards. ...or split them up into groups of 3 or 4.

So the weather today was gorgeous. Great autumn temperature - not too hot, not too cold.

After sleeping in, I did a few errands and then promptly headed over to my neighbourhood park to work on the cards!

Usually when I make cards in the park I take pre-holed cardstock, but this time I started from scratch, tracing the image and poking the holes into the cardstock. So by the time I left, I hadn't actually done much sewing.

Anyways,
I took this picture while I was there!

supplies!

2008-10-03T23:20:00.002-04:00

I may be the only person I know who gets excited about address labels....

The other day I went int Grand & Toy to find some address labels to put in my card packages.

I stood in the 'label aisle' for about 15 minutes. Looking at all the sizes, comparing prices...
then I spotted a random box of 'refill labels' at the bottom of the shelf.

They dimensions seemed to be just right! big enough, but not too big! ...but there wasn't an 'actual size' picture on the box so I wasn't 100% sure if they'd work.

They were on clearance sale though, so I bought them anyway, and then while I was on my lunch break I opened the package to see what the labels looked like.

They're SUPER! Like EXACTLY what I want in an address label! big, but not too big... good amount of stickyness on the back. AND they're easy for me to cut apart!

So I went back and bought another package!
...I don't think I'll be making 1000 cards any time soon, but still, these labels are GREAT!

The roll looks like this:

And here are the labels:

eee! they're great! :)

also on the 'supplies front', I scored some GREAT bright embroidery thread a month or so ago.

I love these pictures:

yay!

I've been busy

2008-09-28T21:52:00.003-04:00

lots of KPD things happening lately!

I received a large custom order on Monday and was working on that for most of the week.
Here's a portion of it:

another swarm! This time, they have the words 'thank you' on them.
heh, I love making these. they're so cute!! And each bee seems to have a different face! the one in the centre makes me smile. hah!

and I also had a custom order for Christmas cards. It really encouraged me to get my act together for the Christmas season! I'm now in the Christmas-mindset!

Here are some pics of the order:
(the customer asked for red/green colours)

poke

2008-09-21T21:19:00.004-04:00

So as mentioned, I was a vendor at the Ladyfest craft show yesterday!
It was fun! ...kinda slow, but fun nonetheless!

I feel like craft shows are a huge pick-me-up. Like whenever I feel discouraged I should sign up to do a craft show. It's so encouraging to see people's responses to my cards!

Especially when people love the cards that I dreamt up in my head and am really proud of.
For example yesterday and girl and guy were having lots of laughs over my Urban Words line.
girl: "look at this one!!! [holding up the 'my bad' card] You should get this for ---!!"
guy: "hahaha yeah I should! ...though she's not speaking to me, so how would I give it to her?!"

haha, classic.

anyways, one of the cards I had brewing in my head was a "Poke Note" (Inspired by the infamous 'poke' feature on Facebook.)
I sold them at Ladyfest and they did well!
outside:
inside:

And now I'm moving on the Christmas cards!!
I gave myself a mid-September deadline for putting Christmas cards up on my sites and now that it's the 21st, I have missed that deadline.
But I'm getting there!
...slowly!

another craft show!

2008-09-16T21:35:00.002-04:00

So the Woolly Groves Craft Show was last week.
Despite the gloomy weather, it was fun!

It was going to be outside, in the backyard of the Good Catch General Store but instead it was a few doors down in an empty store front.
(SCORE!)

There were less than 10 vendors, so it was very cozy and had a nice community/indie feel.
Plus, I was located close to the speakers, and there were some great old school tunes playing!

Also, this was the first craft show where I brought along some cards to work on, so I was actually very productive!

all in all, fun times!

and oh yes - I have ANOTHER craft show coming up THIS Saturday! (September 20th)
I just signed up for it today, so it's totally last minute, but I'm pretty much prepared. (I still have the coins and change from the Woolly Groves show!)

I'm expecting this one to be fun too. There's apparently a lot going on... a loonie auction, a bake sale, a matinee outside around lunch time...

Here's some more info:

LadyFest Toronto
Crafters Market
St. Stephen-in-the-fields
103 Bellevue Avenue (College, west of Spadina)
10:00am - 4:00pm
All ages
Free!

a few custom orders

2008-09-13T22:48:00.000-04:00

I've received several custom orders in the past few months.

I love doing these, they're always something I hadn't thought of.

Order #1 was for a co-worker of mine. She saw my Happy 'Bee' Day cards and wanted me to make her a bunch of bee cards. (without the Happy/Day.)
It was my largest custom order, so it was great!
Here's the swarm:

heh, so cute!

Order #2 was for a supportive friend of mine who wanted my Whaddup card in special colours, and a treble clef card:

(side note: I LOVE using black card stock! .... For some reason I didn't have any until recently, and it has quickly become one of my favourites! ...probably because I can use it with any colours of thread...)

Order #3 is for my mom (awww) and is not complete yet!
But here are the two cards that I've completed so far, they're 'I miss your smiling face' cards:

I don't know where I picked up those yellow smiley faces, but I love them! It's times like this when I'm glad that I don't throw away random bits and pieces!

...and there's another custom order that I'm EXTREMELY excited about, but haven't even started yet, so I'll write about that when it's underway! ...probably in the next month or so!

New Shop!!

2008-09-06T23:47:00.005-04:00

eeee excitement!!!

so, I set up a new KPD shop this weekend!

I'm excited about it! ...mostly because it's bright and colourful :)

here's a random screen shot:

the address is: http://www.KiwiPunchDesigns.bigcartel.com

and it's also accessible through the 'shop' link on: www.KiwiPunchDesigns.com

:)

Etsy Finds - first weekend of September

2008-09-06T23:23:00.002-04:00

okay seriously, September? SEPTEMBER?!
...wasn't it March like two weeks ago?

what has happened?

...
anyways,
here are a few of the latest Etsy goods that I'm ogling over!

a) These Wrist Warmers by Jeannieknits!

1. they look cool
2. my office is always freezing and these would come in really handy!
3. I love her pictures of them! (one hand palm-up, one hand palm-down!)

I think these are my favourite ones that she has in her shop right now.

b) This Obi Sling Bag by Hierapparel:

I love the design!
It looks really comfy too!
(oh plus, there are fun buttons on the strap! ...they're not shown in this picture)

c) This brooch by Accessoire:

sad story: About a month ago I bought a orange felt brooch from Le Chateau. It was obviously mass produced and not very 'sturdy' but I liked the orangey-ness of it. So the next morning I pin it on my bag and head off for work. Literally about 1 block from my home I realize that the brooch is no longer attached to my bag! So despite the fact that I'm already late for work, I turn around and look around the ground for it, and I don't find it! argh! so frustrating!
Anyway, lesson learned: don't settle for old nonfunctional pins mechanisms.

All that to say, I really like Accessoire's brooches and they have great feedback, so I'm sure I wouldn't have any problems with the pins on their brooches!!

d) This collage of Stick Figure Man's family by Momerath:

This is fantastically random. Stick Figure Man is hilarious.
This would be great on a wall along with other family photo collages! :)

e) This bag by Ambika:

mmm tweed!!

(images copyright the identified owners)

a bit stressed

2008-09-04T20:12:00.003-04:00

so I'm a bit stressed these days.

Perhaps the stress started when I realized that my next craft show is next weekend! aHHH!

well, that and I decided to do some promotion, so I'm preparing for that. ..
oh yes, and I have a bunch of custom orders that I'm working on....
(not that I'm complaining... it's great!)

oh! And I shouldn't forget that I've decided to make another website and a bunch of new card designs!
hah.

I'm not a fan of stress. ...so I think I'm going to take a walk to the post office. :)

here are a couple pictures of a bunch of new thank you cards that I made recently:

Woolly Groves Craft Show

2008-09-03T10:10:00.004-04:00

(click to enlarge)
So I'm participating in another craft show in a week and a half!
(ahhhhh!!)

I feel like I need to prepare LOTS! ...but really, I do have enough stock... I just like to have a variation of stuff...

check check check it out:

I love the cassette tape theme! :)

eeee! #2

2008-08-28T21:16:00.004-04:00

My orange Urban Words card was on the front page of Etsy last week! (yes, I'm just getting around to writing about it now....)

It was SO exciting!

What a yummy collection!

End of August - Etsy Finds!

2008-08-28T20:10:00.005-04:00

So I actually don't want this blog to be 'me me me' all the time, so I've decided to share some of my cool Etsy artists and crafters!

I'll do this often.
How often, I don't know... but often enough :)

For today, I'll focus on Elly Nelly from New York.

Elly Nelly has both a print and vinyl etsy shop, and let me tell you, they are both GREAT!
I usually don't get over excited about vinyl wall decorations, but let me tell you. Her vinyl images are AMAZING! and so unique!
This is what I'm talking about:

Silhouettes! ...and some of the people are dancing and jumping around!!

And this:

It's a SAFARI!
little elephants and kangaroos and ducks! ...walking in a line! I LOVE IT!

And her print shop is equally fantastic.
Check out this print:

The proof is in the pudding. I don't even have to write anything!

(images copyright Elly Nelly)

Buttons!!

2008-08-28T19:57:00.007-04:00

I've obtained a button machine!

eeeeeee!

talk about exciting!

My friend Vanessa suggested that I made card/button combos, like one for someone's birthday!
A birthday card + a 'It's my birthday' button!

so tadaa:

Making buttons is completely addictive!

I've listed just a couple of them in my Creative Exploits shop. There are TONS more in my apartment.

I've started reading the Button Makers blog. I love their idea for wedding buttons! Especially the 'bride side', 'groom side' buttons, because then people who know both the bride and groom can wear both buttons! :)

I'm not sure how practical they are, because people usually don't like to stick holes in their gowns and tuxedos... but it's a great idea for a more laid back kind of wedding!

More Urban Words Cards

2008-08-28T18:59:00.004-04:00

I've decided to expand my Urban Words collection!

Card#1: 'Sup

I love that thick serif font!

Card#2: holla

I do have a less curvy version of this card, but I decided that I wanted to play up the L's a little more!

Card #3: my bad

Heh, I say this all the time. I'm not 100% how well it works in a card, because the phrase 'my bad' is sometimes taken as a insincere way to apologize (and i'm not certain that insincere people would buy a card in order to apologize) but I still like it a lot.
At the very least, it would work well for sarcastic people :)

Card #4: Yo

My FAVOURITE!
This card is the idea that has been in my mind for ages! I'm SO happy to finally get it out of my head and onto paper!
Basically my idea is that the word 'yo' wouldn't be initially recognized when the card is glanced at. It would just look like a nice scribbly design, but then after closer scrutiny, the word would be identified.
I have a 'mistake' of this card on my desk at work and it works! people glance at it and are like, 'oh that's pretty!' and then they realize that it says 'yo', which is the most dignified way to say hello. :)

so that's how far the line has expanded to-date!

and I'm back!

2008-08-28T18:35:00.004-04:00

Hello again world!

I'm back!!!

It's been a fun summer of blogging in my other space, but I've decided that I do most definitely 'need' a KPD-only space to blog!
So I'm back!
And I brought with me lots of pictures of things that I've been doing for the last 4 or so months!

fun!

The above is one of my new cards.
It looks pretty similar to other cards that I've made, except... are those STAMPED letters?!

They are indeed!

I'm not quite sure why I didn't do this sooner, but I recently decided to use stamps to write words on my cards instead of the vintage rub-on letters that I was previously using.
They were lots of fun, but very finicky at times and take MUCH more patience and concentration than stamps do.

Plus - i love the 'imperfections' of stamps! The random ink smudges and whatnot.
So this is an exciting development.

..i'll be back!

2008-03-07T19:58:00.002-05:00

...maybe!

Alright, so I've decided to take a *formal* break from this blog!
I think that I might be a one-blog kinda person!

So, I'm not sure how long the break will be.... but in the meantime I'll be here: http://typewriter.blogsome.com !!

Sale! Sale! Sale! Sale!

2008-02-15T22:48:00.004-05:00

As part of the Trans-Canada Etsy Team, KPD is having a sale!!!

...very exciting!

Check out the shop on Monday, February 18, 2008 for the sale details!

material shopping!

2008-02-03T21:42:00.000-05:00

I did some impromptu shopping last weekend.

Picked up some new card stock which I'm THRILLED with! It's even heavier than the card stock that I currently use, and it was cheaper!! (sweeeet!)

I had fun taking pics:

And I also made a random stop at Michaels, and as I was leaving the store I caught this in the corner of my eye:

it's KPD colours!!
so of course I picked up like 7 rolls. haha

ooo, and on an unrelated note, I took new pics of my biz cards! (and I rounded the corners)

eeeek!!!!

2008-02-01T09:06:00.000-05:00

I WAS ON THE ETSY FRONT PAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's me on the bottom right!!!!

I completely missed it! (I have no idea when it actually happened.) But I found out b/c some very cool Etsyians (rikrak and happydaystudio) messaged me to celebrate with me!! Isn't that nice of them?!

It's funny, I didn't even know I was in a treasury! ...sigh, I wish I could just sit on Etsy all day long!

But I will.
Eventually, I will find the perfect work/life/craft combination for me!
(how's that for positive thinking!)

In the mean time, I will take these little 'Etsy joys' as they come! :)

Urban Words - Whaddup?

2008-01-27T20:09:00.000-05:00

Another addition to my 'Urban Words' line!

the word is: "Whaddup?"

Defined in the Urban Dictionary as a "conjunction of the phrase, 'what is up?'"

yellow and green in Courier New.

green and yellow in Script.

I can't decide which is my favourite!
...but they're both in my shop. woohoo!

Hi! My name is Catherine.

2008-01-27T19:37:00.000-05:00

so I feel like I need to introduce myself again!
It's been almost an entire MONTH since my last entry!
wow wow wow.

but what can I say? ...life has been busy (work mostly) and KPD had to take the backseat.
so sad...

but I'm still plucking away!
I (finally) ordered some business cards -- I'm VERY excited about them!
THEY ARRIVED TODAY!!

I just ordered them 8 days ago, so it's pretty impressive that they're here already. And all the way from Hong Kong!

I had fun taking pictures. :)

...though, the colour is off in the pictures. (I just couldn't wait until the weekend to take pics during the daylight!)

I used Print100 because that offer free shipping and they also do double-sided and rounded corners for free. AND the base price isn't even that high! So, it's pretty cheap if you add in all those extras.
Unfortunately I had issues with their website, so my 'rounded corners' request didn't go through. (either that, or they messed up my order.)
But it's alright b/c I have a corner-rounding punch, so I'll do it myself. I won't do it to all 300, but perhaps just 100.

Also -- the cards are a little more flimsy than I like. ...but they're fine. I think it's just the fact that I deal with card stock a lot, so everything feels flimsy.
And another thing,
the cards are a bit larger than normal sized business cards, so they don't fit in the card holder in my wallet. That was a but surprising, though I'm sure that on their website they state the dimensions and I just didn't pay attention.
So while I'm rounding the corners on 100 of them, I'll trim a little off the sides too.

But regardless of those things, I LOVE the cards! They're slippery and green and super simple (double-sided with enough empty space for people to write on them if they want to!)

When I eventually determine my 'title' I'll make up some more (maybe more Moo cards!) that have my name and bunch of other info on them.

** oh, and I have to mention: The cards smell like kiwis! It's hilarious and odd at the same time.

On the website front:
The website is "coming along" (depending on how you define those words).
I had completed about 75% of the site -- I was using a purely visual editor-- and I knew that I'd need to change the website soon after I launched it, so I've decided to basically scrap everything I've done so far and just do it 'properly' the first time round.
It makes sense and all that, but it sucks that I spent so much time making the first one. Though, it did help me think through some things and all that.

So I'm basically starting again from scratch. "yay"
It's kinda funny, I'm basically clueless with this html stuff, and I had something that was working, until I tweaked something else, and now it's not working anymore...
so I would 'undo' what I did, but I don't know what I did!
...
haha... this should be fun!

KPD at lunch

2008-01-03T19:36:00.000-05:00

I've come up with a way to be productive during commute!

--> Taking my laptop with me to work and working on KPD's website on the train and during my lunch hour!!

The lunchtime work is great. I forces me to take a break and leave the office, and it's enough time to get stuff done!

Somewhere in my mind I thought that it wouldn't take very long to make a website. Boy was I wrong.
This thing is taking forever! ...but it's fun. so I'm not complaining. :)

On the business card front, I've decided to get more moo cards!!
1) I love Moo.
2) They're doublesided.

I think I'll get about 5 different designs.

And I'll also order some regular one-sided cards....from somewhere.... maybe VistaPrint.

who knew?

2007-12-28T00:01:00.000-05:00

wow, making 'proper' business cards is a lot more work than I anticipated!

I've decided on getting a glossy finish. ...and that's about all I've figured out!

I was going to get double-sided cards because I personally always flip cards over to see if there is more info on the other side.
But now I'm reading that a lot of people write notes on the back of cards after they receive them!

...so maybe I'll stick to the one side.

And I've decided to put a minimal amount of info on them, just:

biz name
slogan (hehehe)
website
my name
my title*
my email

*ahhh! what's my title!!?!

I was putting something together on my computer and then realized that I have no idea what to call myself. (I asked my parents this question and they both replied, "Catherine")

So then I spent hours searching the net for suggestions and advice...and brainstorming with my family.
I haven't gotten far.

Here are some of the boring yet professional options:

Owner
Founder
Director of Operations
CEO (hahaha)
Manager
Creative Director

Out of that list, I like the first and last the best. ....but I figure, this is my company, and I get to do whatever I want, so I should go for it! ...show some personality!

Here's the 'other' list:

Craft Master (my sis' suggestion)
Head Honcho
Master Greeter (my sis' new suggestion... you can tell we're related.)
Director of Creativity
Chief Stationer

but none of those 'float my boat' ...so I'm going to sleep on it.

I'm also working on my website, which is fun! (yay!! getting things done!!)
...I'm fairly clueless when it comes to website stuff... but I made a 'mock home page' using green and brown crayons! so at least I know what I want the end result to look like!

...

2007-12-25T00:24:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas!!!

holla!

2007-12-20T13:51:00.000-05:00

My new holla cards are ready to go!

These cards make me laugh.
I *accidentally* messed up on an orange one, so I'm going to bring it to work with me after the holidays. (yayyy)

I found this info on the Urban Dictionary site:

holla:

interj. 1. an exclamation of greeting. 2. an exclamtion used to show excitement or enthusiasm. verb. 1. to call. 2. to summon

examples:

AS: Holla at you, girl! CW: Holla back! AS: Holla at me tonight if you want to go out. CW: Word.

What a coincidence that they used 'CW' as the initials!

Anyways, here are the cards:

red:

yellow:

2 so far, more to come later!

holla!

post 'n run!

2007-12-16T17:09:00.001-05:00

just a quick post today! -- The cards I finished up yesterday:

Glory to the Newborn King:

May your days be merry and bright:

It came upon a midnight clear:

more Christmas cards!!

2007-12-14T21:36:00.000-05:00

wow, I've been bad: 10 days between posts!!
tsk tsk!

In all honesty, I haven't been doing much for KPD lately. I'm still working on trying to find a way to work AND have a life.
I've been thinking a lot about ways that I could use my commute time (about 3hrs per day) to do some of the prep work for the cards, but I don't see how it could work.

you know, small needle, thread, card stock, winter jacket, packed train/bus, bumpy ride...

I'll keep thinking about it though, b/c it'd be great to be productive during that time!

So I'm making Christmas cards for my family. My new ones are:

Comfort & Joy cards:

and

Hark! cards:

I'm also working on a few other cards based on Christmas carols.

and even though I need a lot of Christmas cards soon, I started making a few 'holla' cards -- you know, like 'gangsta'-speak -- which make me laugh.
Those ones will go on in the shop when they're done! (stay tuned)

Since it's almost the end of the year, and the beginning of a new one, I've been thinking about goals for KPD in 2008 and things that I want to accomplish in the short and long terms.

I definitely haven't thought about this too much -- it's usually on the train ride in the morning when I'm half asleep! But I definitely want to have a written list of goals and all that.

In the short-term (possibly over the Christmas break) I want to make a fun "official" KPD business card-- something bright! And have an offical KPD website that's at some stage other than "non-existent" :)

New Christmas Cards!

2007-12-04T09:13:00.000-05:00

My stock of Christmas cards depleted greatly this weekend (in a good way!!) so I made more on Sunday!

Blue Nativity Scene:
Mother and Baby (Orange:

I made these Christmas envelopes months ago and kept forgetting to use them, so it was exciting when I found them in my envelope stash. I like how the ones below are a random mash of Christmas-y things.

Happy Christmas Lights:
Mother and Baby (Yellow):

The Blue Nativity Scene is already in the shop, and the others will be added soon!

the highlight of my day!

2007-11-28T23:18:00.000-05:00

today was a pretty 'blah' day.

..until I came home and checked my email account and found AN ETSY SALE!

YAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

very exciting.

I always get so excited about sales!

This one is especially exciting b/c it includes some of my favourite cards!!! (though I suppose I could say that about every sale... :)
the bright "scribble" flowers:

hmmm, I need to find a better name for those...
(that's a new picture! ....I found some textured paper in my stash! I like how the blue is kinda shiny!)

and tired bird cards!

I'm going to mail them tomorrow at a post office along my walk to work. It'll be interesting to see if they rip me off. :)

new pics!

2007-11-25T19:45:00.000-05:00

I've tried out a few background for my pictures!
This is what I've come up with so far!!

picture questions...

2007-11-22T20:15:00.000-05:00

Ever since I started working again I'd had issues with taking pictures of my cards.
Problem is, I leave in the morning before the sun comes up and I arrive home after the sun has set. So aside from weekends, there aren't any daylight hours when I can take pictures at home.

what a bummer.

So a couple days ago I made my own light box thing.

I'm not sure if the pictures are better though.
I think the background needs to be a more solid colour.
And maybe I should find a brighter light to shine in...

So here are some comparisons:

old:
new:

old:
new:

old:
new:

old:
new:

so yeah, I guess I should keep working on them....

New Christmas Cards!

2007-11-22T20:08:00.000-05:00

I added three new Christmas cards to the shop!

Christmas Balls:

Mother & Baby:

LED Lights:

fun fun!

the show.

2007-11-18T15:17:00.000-05:00

My first craft show went well!
Due entirely to my friends and family! --THANKS GUYS!!!! --

My mom stayed at the show with me all day, which was very nice of her.
She was feeling a little sick too!
She ended up doing a lot of networking which I thought was hilarious. I should hire her as some kind of public relations person!

And my friends!!!
Thanks SO much to everyone who came!! And everyone who bought cards from me! (WOW!!) And everyone who told me that they wanted to come but couldn't make it... you're special too :)

Seriously though, the show would've been a huge failure w/o my friends.
For one, I would've been miserably bored. (well, I did have my mom to talk to when she wasn't off chatting with other vendors.)

It was really nice catching up with people.

So my booth looked like this:

The person beside was selling fake plant displays. (hmm...I'm sure she has a better name for them...)
And the person behind me had handmade scarves. She was pretty cute. She would put scarves on people and hold up a mirror so they could see themselves.

As for my display.... I wasn't extremely pleased with it. The tables threw me for a loop when I got there in the morning. ...but then I remembered that on the phone the organizer had told me that they were 'bench tables', but I had just dismissed the comment cuz I had no idea what she was talking about.

I don't think they worked for me.

And next time I'll have to make some sort of contraption so that the cards are at eye level. I wanted to make one for this show, but I didn't really plan it out properly.

So...will there be a next time?
....perhaps.
It's definitely interesting to see what people gravitate towards and what they quickly graze over. ...and also the demographics of the people who stay and those who go.
...and those who quickly run past my booth :)

Money-wise, the show wasn't too successful for me, but that's only b/c the booth cost a lot.
I'm definitely okay with it though b/c it was a fund raiser for the hospital.
Can't feel bad about my money going towards that!

Oh, and it was long! I'm not one to go off and chat with other vendors for hours on end so I could see it being very boring if you don't have a buddy or friends there.
I wasn't sure what the proper etiquette is for filling my time.
Does it look bad if I'm reading a book? or the newspaper? or doing a Sudoku?

As a customer I think I'd actually prefer if the vendor isn't paying attention to me cuz then I could look without feeling pressured....and without feeling like their eyes will bore a hole in my back.
but maybe that's just me.

I was surprised by how difficult it was to find the proper balance between being "available" to the customer without watching them like a hawk, and letting them browse by themselves without them feeling ignored.

For the next one I think I'll take a cue from the scarf lady and bring along my materials and work on cards as I sit there.

I found that I wasn't in need of anything while I was there, so I was pleased with myself for packing everything that I needed.
The duct tape came in handy!

next on the KPD agenda is a shop update!

G'day mate!

2007-11-14T23:38:00.000-05:00

So I made some new cards last week and for whatever reason I haven't blogged about them yet!!
I like them a lot, so I'm glad I accidentally messed one up and I can keep it forever! It's green and white! yay!!

mmm I love the Australian accent.
It's scrumptious.

so much to do, so little time

2007-11-14T12:55:00.000-05:00

ahhhhhhhhh

I started a new job a couple days ago and so far the 2hour commute is killng me!

I'm hoping that I'll get the hang of it soon and be able to be really productive with my time when I get home.

I don't have much KPD news to report... I haven't listed any new items - very bad of me!
Right now I'm just focusing on the craft show...putting the packages together, working out the display, stuff like that.

I'm going to set up a couple 'test tables' in my house to see exactly how everything will fit on the tables.
I'm getting two long tables, so I don't think I'll have any problem filling them up... it's just a matter of making it look inviting.

What I'm thinking of doing is having light coloured tablecloths and then very bright things on the table.
That way the cards will "pop"! :)

I also want to use these boxes to add height:

Lol, that's the doorknob to my bedroom. The boxes are stacked up in the background.

Here are a few others:

Originally I thought of using only yellow/red and orange ones, just to keep a colour scheme going... but maybe I'll change that.

I'll be sure to take pictures of the final thing!!!

I'm in a craft show!!

2007-11-11T22:58:00.000-05:00

So this coming weekend, I'll be doing my first ever craft show!
yayyyyy!

I'm excited about it, but I'm trying not to be too optimistic.
I keep trying to tell myself that it won't be about money, but rather about seeing people's responses to my cards and hopefully getting some feedback that'll help me better market my cards!

Anyways, here's the flyer for the show:
It's being held by the Credit Valley Hospital Volunteers.

hello world!

2007-11-11T21:51:00.000-05:00

After much deliberation I've decided to start a Kiwi Punch Designs blog!!

I currently talk about KPD things on my personal blog, but I figured that it'd be nice to have a place where I don't have to feel guilty about talking about KPD all the time!
:)

Here's a little bit about me, Catherine, the hands and mind behind Kiwi Punch Designs:

I'm 23 yrs old.
I just got a job as an Administrative Assistant, which I'll be starting tomorrow. (ahhhh!)
I started making stationary and cards fairly recently. I've always loved stationary and being creative, so i figured it's about time I put those two things together!
I live in a subarb of Toronto, Canada.
I LOVE Canada's cold weather!! Actually, if there were more big cities in the north, I'd move there in a heartbeat!
I love colour!

My tulip cards are some of my favourite! Change the colours, and they're great for anything! Birthdays, Justing saying hello, get well soon, congratulations....

Here are all my current colours:

Some of them are on my Etsy site already! Here, here, and here!