Rob Ryan - Maggie's Faith & Hope Card

Please support Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres by buying this new Faith & Hope Card by Rob Ryan. To find out more please read here.

Purple Greetings Cards - Red & White Bakers Twine

Now in at Purple Greetings Cards, hard to find Red & White Bakers Twine for all your card making, craft & wrapping needs!

This fab red & white bakers twine is of a fantastic quality and is very thick and strong which makes it just perfect for craft making and eco-friendly gift wrapping.

Just beautiful to wrap those special christmas gifts, be it for customers, friends or family... giving them a wonderful vintage look. It comes with free p&p too!

mibostudio - christmas creatures

... mibostudio (the place to go for print-and-make-at-home projects) is one of my favourite websites, I rushed to it the minute my newsletter arrived in my inbox!

Having lovingly created PIP and his friends (PIP's sat on my printer looking at me while I type!) a few months ago, I was delighted to see the arrival of the Christmas Creatures and the 2010 calendar also.

The PDF instruction sheets and templates are carefully and precisely put together, which I love.

I'm not sure which one of the little creatures will capture my heart the most, think I will find that out upon creating it! I will let you know... please let me know yours!

etsy & folksy - add your shop link here free

If you have an etsy or Folksy shop which you sell your handmade greetings cards in then leave a comment below and I would be delighted to add a free link here at *pur-ple for you to help promote it.

Louise

*pur-ple - add your free link here

www.pur-ple.co.uk is an exciting new collaboration of artists and publishers connecting together with their updates, views & advice on greetings cards + design.

*pur-ple has evolved from my purplegreetingscards.blogspot.com blog. I have great fun running an online shop www.purplegreetingscards.co.uk sourcing new and unusual greetings cards from talented artists and decided to take the next step and change my existing blog into *pur-ple.

*pur-ple aims to become a source of updates, views & advice for greetings cards artists, illustrators, designers, publishers & those who also love greetings cards and great design! *pur-ple also aims to help promote them too.

If you would like to be included in *pur-ple's free directory of artists & publishers then please contact me by leaving your website / shop / store / blog link in the comments box below and I will be delighted to add your link here on *pur-ple! (Please kindly link back to *pur-ple too & follow us here and on Twitter!)

Thank you, Louise

wammy - inspire your imagination

My daughter loves playing with this... and so do I. Inspire your imagination with Wammy by Flair.

rob ryan - amazing detail

moo - mini cards

I must admit I'm a bit of a fan of moo cards, especially their mini cards which they have just launched some brand new features for.

The updates include new layouts, fonts & colours for the back of your cards. A full image upload for the back of your cards. A new and improved preview, bulk discounts and even cute new recyclable paper boxes.

iBride - Beautiful

My current favourite card is....

Birdcage by The Hummingbird Card Company, available online at www.purplegreetingscards.co.uk (HB015HD) £2.95

Framed Tea Towel

This great framed tea towel was the idea of blogger Her Little Place

Now this has got me thinking... how fab a Rob Ryan tea towel would look also framed!

Handprinted tea towels available from Rob Ryan.

Ryantoon!

Ryantoon is looking great in black and white!

Just Love this limited edition lasercut by the amazing Rob Ryan and "You can still do alot with a small brain" papercut also available at Ryantoon!

New - Umpen Editions Fold & Behold Pop-Out Christmas Cards

New in at www.purplegreetingscards.co.uk Meet Angelica, Celestia, Seraphina & Gabriela!

Fold & Behold is Umpen Editions seasonal take on their bestselling Oribami pop-out cards, which fold into adorable little angels - you can decorate the tree with them too!

Now available online at Purple Greetings Cards for £2.50 each. Don't forget... delivery on all orders is FREE!

Umpen Editions Fold & Behold Pop-Out Christmas Cards

These fab Fold & Behold Pop-Out Christmas Cards by Umpen Editions are due to arrive in at www.purplegreetingscards.co.uk any day now!

iPhone UltraClear Case

... excellent, after much searching I have finally found the case I had in mind for myiPhone 3GS.

The UltraClear from www.ultra-case.com is protective but subtle - and still keeps my beautiful iPhone fully visable.

Oh...and this brand new Mirror Screen Protector is quite clever and useful too. It is a mirror effect at standby mode & transparent when the iPhone is active.

myPANTONE app

Just love the new myPANTONE app available from the iTunes Store!

You can watch the myPANTONE app on YouTube

The Lotus Flower

After reading this post by Mark Griffiths at The Guardian gardening blog it has inspired me to plant my much cherished lotus flower seeds... well perhaps one of them to begin with, to see what happens!

Adding a third column to our Blogger blog!

... just braved it and had a go at adding a third column (on the right) to our blog to showcase our cards!

I made sure though that before I started altering the HTML that I made a backup of the Blogger template... just in case.

I was very pleased when I finally clicked on save to see it had worked, although I still have to alter the column sizes and our logo size as it now looks to narrow at the top of the blog.

After much research I found that this website helped with the codeing.

Card shown above is (HBOO8AHD) by The Hummingbird Card Company.

Pattern Portfolio - 50% off!

Just found our about this fab website based in the UK called Pattern Portfolio (by Print & Pattern)

For one week only Pattern Portfolio are running a fantastic offer. 50% off every single design....thats right 50%!!!! Just enter the voucher code: printaug9 at the checkout and the discount will be applied. Don't miss your chance to download a great design bargain!!

COLOURlovers

COLOURlovers has got to be one of my favourite websites at the moments!

COLOURlovers is a resource that monitors and influences colour trends, it gives the people who use colour - whether for ad campaigns, product design, or even in architectural specification - a place to check out a world of colour, compare colour palettes, submit news and comments, and read colour related articles and interviews.

Have a look for yourself at the great colour trends and palettes!

Squeeze by velveteen.

Monsieur Boudin Cards by Lab Partners

Due in soon at Purple Greetings Cards... the full range of delightful Monsieur Boudin everyday greetings cards by Lab Partners.

Every now and then, you are introduced to a character who is erudite, has charm, wit and is worldly. You may be left feeling a little insecure about who you are and how you conduct yourself or you may feel inspired to put on your best shoes and step forward into the world with a little more joie de vivre. Well as they say, "we give you Monsieur Boudin" that stylish little daschund from Paris.

... how exciting! These adorable cards are great to give or just as great to keep and frame! I am actually struggling to choose a favourite, I think I love them all as each card has it's own special little something which makes me smile!

Images by Lab Partners

Unusual Cards from iBride

... just sourced, unusual cards from iBride.

iBride's products are created by 3 members of the same French family. The inspiration for each item comes from both the very close environment and travels around the world. The word 'ibride' itself is a play on words in French meaning 'hybrid', and many of the pieces combine several forms and several functions. Is it the form or function of each piece that defines it or the hybrid meeting point that make it difficult to define?

Suck UK Wooden Postcard!

... how great is this wooden postcard from Suck UK... you can carve your own card in solid wood!

Looking on Suck UK's website, raised several smiles on this rainy Friday afternoon, especially the Happy Sack Pet Goldfish Bin Bags and My Cuppa Tea Colour Matching Guide Mugs!... I'm off for a nice milky cup of tea, my favourite!

Mondays child...

I have just made this up using a lovely vintage look childish True Type font called Later On. I eventually would like to add a line drawing of a swing or tree perhaps!

... now at 38 weeks pregnant, this dear little rhyme has been on my mind rather a lot!

Blog Colours!

... been playing with the blog colours again!

Oribami Pop-Out Cards Now In!

We are excited to say that these fab Oribami Pop-Out Cards from Umpen Editions have now arrived at www.purplegreetingscards.co.uk priced at just £2.50 each, they are not only just a greetings card but also a delightful little 3D creature, which can also keep your special message safe within it when popped-out!

... the owl is a firm favourite here!

Oribami Pop-Out Cards!

We have just placed an order with Umpen Editions for the full range of their fabulous Oribami Pop-Out Cards... due in soon at Purple Greetings Cards!

A pop ark of rainbow-bright animals that look fab flat but even finer in 3D. Printed on FSC certified stock... we can't wait to see them all!

... also look out for Umpen Editions Fold & Behold Pop-Out Christmas Cards, which fold into adorable little angels. These will be also be appearing on our website soon (well a little nearer Christmas!)

Free delivery on all orders!

... we're head over heels here at Purple Greetings Cards!

(Rob Ryan Cartwheel Card GC1087R £2.50)

as we have now decided to give FREE DELIVERY on all orders - indefinitely!

... now that's something to cartwheel over!

Plus, don't forget to check out our Super Summer Stationery Sale!

New YUDU!

... the new YUDU Personal Screen Printer!

Make sure you check out the Yudu Demo Video!

I want one!

Summer Stationery Sale Now On!

Our Summer Stationery Sale has now started!

... what great news to hear on a rainy summers day!!!

With fantastic savings to be made on fabulous stationery like Roger La Borde's Secret Garden Mini Attache Folder which is now just £2.25 (Was £3.50) Visit our sale at www.purplegreetingscards.co.uk/shop_stationery.htm

Piano!

We have just had our piano tuned for the first time in seven years since we were kindly given it!

I managed to get a quick picture of the inside whilst it was being tuned.

The girls are now taking piano lessons on it as it sounds lovely, and we were treated to a wonderful piece of Beethoven by their teacher, which made our day. Our house is years old and it was so lovely to hear it come alive with such wonderful sounds. Since we have had the piano, no one has played it so beautifuly!

(In the picture you can just see my sticky notes on the keys in an attempt to teach myself how to play over the years... they were quickly taken off by the girls teacher!) I am now trying to teach myself "Ode to Joy"

Multiplication!

I have just bought this cute little wooden abacus from ebay seller mostlytoys1066 for my eldest daughter to help her with her multiplication! (Well OK... it's really for me to play with too, I always admired friends abacus's when I was a child, but never had one myself!)

We have been spending a little time each day together doing times tables, sat outside under the parasol on our great table that we bought from Devon Oke Designs a couple of years ago. We bought it because it is such a great design and so solid and although our garden has fantastic views of Dartmoor, it does catch the wind and most things fly around the garden if not very heavy! It is so nice to find our table and chairs now in the same place that we left them! We decided to leave our table untreated and it is now just starting to turn a lovely silver grey colour... it is one of our best investments, and hopefully it will still be around when the children grow up and come and visit us!

Rob Ryan Update!

On ebay at the moment is one of Rob Ryan's delightful 2009 lasercut sage green/pale yellow calenders, also check out the sellers other items for sale too.

In Rob Ryans Etsy shop, Misterrob is his new two colour screenprint "Everything That Is" which celebrates the first year of Ryantown! There is a limited edition of just 111 at £111 each so get one while you can!

... and while over at Etsy shop Misterrob I also noticed that one of my favourite tapes is for sale again "And I Walked Again"

Redecorating!

I am redecorating the kitchen at the moment, and have just bought three of these great antique large roses mugs which are white with pink rose design on pale blue decal to brighten up our mug tree. I looked everywhere for some floral mugs and finally found what I was looking for in Homebase at a fantastic price of just £1.99 each. They even have some little roses on the bottom of each mug which just finishes them off nicely when on the tree.

I also could not resist Nigella's ceramic sugar bowl & storage jar in cream from Bliss Home for our sugar and tea bags!