Gifts: Bedcrumb ...

The gift ideas on today's post come from the glamorous world of Bedcrumb. Travel and fashion accessories that celebrate colour, illustration and retro-inspired indulgence. Each of the pieces is created from the original illustrations of Bedcrumb founder and designer, Heidi. Crafted in small runs and far away from any ideas of mass-production each one makes a truly lovely gift.

The first gift ideas come from Bedcrumb's range of travel accessories - a pretty present idea as the weather gets summery. The first image on today's post is the 'Brigitte Passport Holder - Stowaway' - a digital print on 100% cotton canvas and black cotton lining. The design features a contrasting bead and black elastic closure. Retailing at £12.50 the passport cases comes with it's very own Bedcrumb keyring. Our second image shows two designs from the collection of 'Bette Sunglasses Cases'. Each of the pieces has a unique illustration on the front and vintage fabric print on the reverse. Sunglasses cases are also available at £12.50.

Bedcrumb also has a selection of delightful fashion accessories ... The first is the 'Deer Hearts Pocket Mirror', a cute & kitsch design on the reverse of a handy pocket mirror; a gorgeous mini gift at just £4.00. Alternatively for £6.50 you can get the mirror and its very own customer made black cotton and net pouch, making it ready to be presented as a gift. The 'Call Me Birdy purse' is a retro-inspired purse suitable to be used for make up or cash. One of six unique designs, each has its own lipstick kiss on the reverse. Bedcrumb purses are priced £15.95 each. The final image is the pretty 'Polka Dot Purse', which makes a wonderful pencil or brush purse. I love the little Sausage Dog on the reverse, a wonderful example of the perfect little details that go into each design. This purse retails at £12.50 and like many Bedcrumb products comes with a co-ordinated keyring.

All of the gifts on today's post and many more can be seen and purchased online direct from the Bedcrumb website; click here to go straight there.

NEW! Alice Palace ...

Welcome back everyone! Hope you had a lovely Easter. With all the bank holidays there has been some lost blogging time and so let's get right to it today with some fab new designs from Card & Gift Blog favourites Alice Palace. The first new design is the impossibly cute 'Love Eating' from the 'Dogs Range' ...  with 8 doggy designs to choose from this one is perfectly timed for the post-Easter period and good for any occasion.

Beach Life is a really gorgeous collection of 4 cards that really show-off the fun Alice Palace spirit. The design shown here is 'The Best Journey Ever' a sunny, summery card, which combines all the best bits of a summer day into a collage-style greeting. 

The Skylines range is for folks who want to celebrate the best of British cities; with 5 cities to choose from such as 'Love London' (shown here). Capturing a classic glimpse of the London skyline this is a sleek, modern design with an Alice Palace twist. 

And the final new design is 'Hey There Mum to Be' from the Letters Be Happy Range. The cool collage stripes provide the background for some funky text ... a contemporary design for modern mums-to-be. The full collection has birthday, occasion and multi-purpose designs in a bright colour palette. 

All of the greetings cards shown here today (and the larger collections from which they come) can be purchased from the Alice Palace online shop. As cards they are priced at £2.25 but they can also be chosen as mounted prints for £25 or as an A2 sized canvas for £124. See all of these lovely goodies on the Alice Palace website.

NEW! Juicy Lucy - Gorgeous Gifts (& a few cards) ...

Today's post is some gorgeous new gifts from the brilliant Juicy Lucy. Experts at combining cute designs with quirky humour the collection is typical of the Juicy Lucy style ... endearing and loveable.

The first image is a collection of luxurious, organic soaps in pretty fairy packaging. Each one is crafted from the finest organic ingredients and essential oils. The four designs available are: Baby, Angel, Mermaid and Fairy. Soaps retail at £3.50 each.

New additions to the Juicy Lucy range also include four new Magic Mugs. A perfect 'stocking filler' gift. I love this cute 'Bad Fairy' Design. Mugs are available at £6.95 each.

The Pocket Collection is a whole host of Juicy Lucy goodies that you can carry around with you wherever you go. The range has been extended to include mirrors, fairy pins, keyrings, phone charms, magic tattoos and stickers ... all jam packed with fairy goodness. Prices start from £2.75.

Our last images are some Juicy Lucy cards that co-ordinate with the gift range. (I couldn't really show you the gifts without the cards could I?) These bright and bold designs are large A5 cards with die cut fairies and a glossy UV varnish. Cards retail at £2.99.

To see more of the new collection and treat friends and family (or yourself) to a few bits and bobs put on the fairy wings and fly over to the Juicy Lucy website.

Easter Goodies ...

Hi All, today's post is a gallery of images showcasing some of my favourite cards and gifts for Easter. With lots of pretty pictures to look at I'll keep the words to a minimum. All of the card and gift ideas are available to purchase online. A link to the designers / makers is underneath each of the collections, so grab yourself a hot cross bun and enjoy today's Easter goodies ...

Gorgeous Spring designs for those of you who like non-chocolate eggs. Egg Cups & Cosies by Susie Watson Designs

Alternative Easter card for chocolate lovers by Alice Palace

Cute graphic Easter designs with Spring flowers and birds by Real & Exciting Designs

Chicks, Bunnies & Chocolate - traditional Easter themes with a bright, funky twist by Lou Mills Cards

Cute Bunnies & cool typography for a modern Easter by Rosie Robins

Brilliant bright Bunny tags, cards and keyrings by Scrummy Things

Fabulous plush goodies with a Spring flavour by Spottiswoode Trading

Vintage Egg necklace for an alternative Easter from gorgeous boutique Lou Lou Chic

Sleek & stylish jewellery by Poppysparkles

NEW! Fara Berry Designs ...

Regulars to the blog will be aware of the work of Fara Berry Designs, who I posted about last year. Click here to see the introductory post. I love the bold, graphic designs and am pleased to be able to show you a few examples from the brand new collection. Each design is blank inside for your own message.

Fara has created over 100 new designs, today's post features examples from Colourful Sentiments, White Sentiments and Age ranges. The portfolio of new cards includes blanks, occasions and birthday cards.

I'm a big fan of typography in design; I love how these cards mesh together. The combination of colours gives the cards a fresh, contemporary look and allows them to be suitable for men and women.

To see more about Fara Berry Designs you can visit the official website, click here to go straight there. You can also buy Fara's products at her NOTHS online store.

NEW: James Ellis Stevens ...

After the grown up cards from Monday's post I thought I'd go for a complete contrast today and cheer up the inner child! So here are some fab new designs ... big, bright children's cards from the wonderful James Ellis Stevens.

The bold, cheerful designs of 'Kids' are available for boys and girls. Each large card has curved corners and is jam packed with glitter for an extra touch of sparkle. The range includes both 14 children’s birthday cards and 4 party invitation and thank you designs. All of the cards and stationery are matched with either pink or blue envelopes. Individual birthday cards retail at £1.99 and the social stationery designs are £4.50 for a pack of 8 cards.

The second new range is from a new artist to the James Ellis Stevens portfolio ... Imogen Clare.

Imogen's range includes 10 blank cards for all occasions. The beautiful illustrations on each have a fairytale quality; rich colours and intricate details making them a very special range. The designs are printed on a high quality cream board with debossed centre, luxurious gold foil highlights and matching gold envelopes. The range retails at £1.99.

Both of these new ranges are available to see and purchase online at the James Ellis Stevens online store. Click here to go to the official website.

Cards: The White Cabinet ...

Hi All,

Well it's nice to be back and blogging after my mini break; I've been doing lots of 'behind the scenes' tidying and started to make a few changes to the blog. There's still lots on the 'to do' list but I thought it was about time we got back to the real business of blogging.

Today's post is a collection of beautiful greetings cards from The White Cabinet that are created from the designs of top fashion illustrator Hilda Glasgow. They're simple, elegant and in a world that loves all things Mad Men - bang on trend.

Hilda Glasgow was one of the top illustrators in the fashion industry between the 1940's and 1960's. Hilda graduated from the Pratt Institute in New York in 1933 and her work went on to appear in magazines including Vogue and Department stores such as the famous Saks Fifth Avenue.

After being hidden away for 50 years Hilda's work is now being shown and used in a range of collectible cards and gifts. The collection is curated by Hilda's daughter Liz, who as a commercial photographer is able to use her creative skills to make the most of the beautiful designs.

Each of the greetings cards are custom printed on acid free Museo fine art board and measure 5.5" x 7 3/8". Printed as blank cards they are suitable for a variety of occasions whether it be the birthday of a fashionista, a thank you for friends and family or a collectible piece of art.

The collection features fashion designs from the 40's to the 70's so you're sure to find an outfit that you adore. For today's post I picked out my personal favourites. Liz has kindly added the name and date to each of the images (looks like I belong in fifties); on the real cards this information is printed on the back of the card. Available to purchase online the notecards range retails at $5 for a single card of $36 for a pack of eight (prices in American Dollars).

To see more from The White Cabinet pop along to their online store.