How a card is made

One card is three to five hours of work and 20–40 separately prepared elements. Below is the whole process — in exactly the order it happens on my table. The videos come from the studio; they are real commissions, not staging.

1. Design and paper selection

I start with the occasion and the lead colour. I choose a paper collection — sheets from one collection are designed to sing together — and lay the composition out dry, without glue. I nudge the elements until they stop arguing. This stage can take an hour and sometimes ends in the bin: not every layout deserves glue.

2. Cutting, embossing, foiling

Ornaments are cut with steel dies in a press — lace frames, twigs, sentiments. Backgrounds are dry-embossed or ink-shaded with a sponge. Chipboard elements — monograms, jubilee numbers, greetings — are hot-foiled: metallic foil, a heated plate, pressure. That shine reads in photos from a metre away.

3. Flowers — petal by petal

The flowers are hand-shaped from paper and foamiran. Every petal is cut, shaded, heated and curled separately, then assembled into cups with stamens added. One flower is 5–10 minutes; a card takes a dozen or more. It is the most time-hungry stage and the one that makes the biggest difference — no wholesale flower has that texture.

4. Assembly and finishing

Layers are mounted on 3D risers that give the composition real depth — the card stands a good centimetre proud of its base, yet stays rigid and stable. Finally: the sentiment plaque, pearls, optional name-and-date personalisation, a clean insert for wishes inside. The card goes into a decorative envelope and a rigid, padded box.

See it in motion

Below are studio videos — exploding boxes being opened, layers up close, cards in hand for scale. If they leave you wanting your own design, the brief is here, and the finished pieces are in the shop.