Garden Party is a celebratory design in honour of the 5th anniversary of Christine Gardner Design Studio! I wanted to do something special to mark the occasion and what better than with some new designs?!
How it all started...
This is how it all started - digital floral sketches! I drew all the pots and vessels, floral and fauna using my Wacom and pen. I used swatches from an existing design (more on that further on).
Because I had a clear idea of what I wanted the cards and wrap to look like it was easy for me to draw digitally. Usually I will sketch on paper if it’s just an idea and when I see some flowers I want to include if I stumble across them but this one was in my head right away and I just went for it!
The meaning behind the range
To make the range extra special I took the basic elements from the cards I first launched my shop with - a personalised Christening card and matching thank you card set.
My design style has evolved since I began so I've added in lots of new florals and touches to bring the design up to date and give it a fresh feel.
I used the hydrangeas (one of my favourites) and flower 'stamp' motif in the design, and used the colour palette from the original cards. I swapped out the coral for my current blush pink favourites and replaced the roses with my new hand drawn style. I've added in a bit more leaf and foliage which also something I include a lot more now.
My design style has evolved since I began so I've added in lots of new florals and touches to bring the design up to date and give it a fresh feel.
I started Christine Gardner Design Studio after 6 months of maternity leave. I had designed a Christening invite for my daughter and after the event another mum approached me and asked if I could create the same cards for her daughter. I'm a graphic designer by trade so I was used to making changes and updates on work, but I had never sold a piece of work as I had always worked for a company within a design team. It was exciting, but just felt like a one off.
I had also created some thank you cards that I could send people for the gifts they had given us for the Christening, and the friend wanted those too - this was starting to feel a bit more exciting! I was then asked by a couple of other guests whether I would consider selling them some cards, and that was it - I was hooked on designing and selling cards!
Etsy had launched an initiative in January 2016 which encouraged people to make a resolution to sell their wares online with them. I had been looking at it for a couple of months just because I had shopped on Etsy before and liked the platform.
So with interest in my designs and a platform encouraging a new years resolution - I went for it and I opened up my shop. I started out with just these two products and waited for the 'ca-ching' sounds you get on the app which tells you that you have a sale! It's most exciting!
So that's where Garden Party's origins come from and it's actually been really nice to revisit a design from 5 years ago and update it using some more experience and injecting my style into it.
The cards
There are 12 new designs that are sold in 2 sets of 6. They have been left without words on the front (and inside) so that they become a perfect little set of notecards suitable for any occasion. All of my cards have sentiments on the front so I have been keen for a while to offer some blank, more versatile cards. By putting them in sets of 6 it makes them perfect to keep for any time.
The only one that is sold separately is ‘Pots’ as it is the hero design.
They are all 140mmx140mm and printed on FSC accredited, textured card. They come with a Kraft brown envelope and the sets are tied together with some twine to reduce waste and help our environment.
The wrap
I really love this wrap as it’s so full of Spring celebration!
It’s a pretty floral gift wrap bursting with lots of hand drawn flowers and foliage in spring sages, greens and pinks.
Perfect for birthdays, weddings or anniversaries - and most other occasions!
It’s sold as 1 sheet of wrap
700 x 500mm (27.5 x 19.5in approx)
120gm thick uncoated paper
Single sided
I think it pulls together all the florals perfectly and is full of lots of energy and colour which fits in perfectly with all my current designs too!
There are usually a couple of floral arrangements within the ranges of my cards and I love nothing more than creating these so I thought for this range I would create a whole set!
Other products
I’ve wanted to create some sort of stationery box that combines my collections all in one place for some time and thought what better time to start one was in my birthday month - and with my birthday range!
This box is packed full of paper goodness! There are 4 sheets of wrap, 12 cards, 6 tags, some hessian string, and it is designed to help you be prepared for any occasion throughout the year!
There’s a massive 25% saving if you buy the pieces like this compared to if you bought them separately.
Wrap details:
700 x 500mm (27.5 x 19.5in approx)
120gm thick uncoated paper
Single sided
Card details:
These square (140x140mm) cards are printed on 300gsm card and come with Kraft brown envelopes.
The cards are left blank inside for your own message.
Tag details:
6 tags printed on 300gsm card, hole punched and hand finished with hessian string.
What do you think? Let me know if you like it and if you would like to see other boxed sets in the future...
Looking forward
I think this design would make a lovely print - what do you think?…
If you received my April newsletter you would have got this print as a screensaver - get in touch if you want to subscribe to my newsletter.
I would also love to start putting some of my designs on fabrics and homeware. What do you think?…
Hope you have enjoyed reading about the range as much as I have enjoyed putting it together!
Christine ♡
