Celebrate creativity with Just a Card Week 18 - 22 JUNE

I first heard about the 'Just a Card' campaign via Twitter about two years ago. The campaign came about when Artist & Designer Sarah Hamilton saw the quote "If everyone who'd complimented our beautiful gallery had bought 'just a card' we'd still be open" by store keepers who'd recently closed their gallery.

This prompted a call to action! Designer/Makers and independent shops and galleries need a voice. People seldom realise the considerable costs involved in exhibiting at design shows or keeping a shop open. Stand fees, power, materials, wages etc need to be met before even a penny of profit can be realised. Running a shop is often a labour of love. Without dedication and passion, and crucially sales, it would be another boarded up eyesore.

The 'Just a Card' campaign has gone from strength to strength. It brings designers, artists, shop owners and the wider public together to create a truly thriving creative community. Despite the name, the campaign is about more than buying just cards. Every single mug, pin, cushion, print or book you buy from an independent shop or designer makes a huge difference.

To celebrate and build on this success, Just a Card is inviting everyone to participate in JUST A CARD week on 18 - 22 JUNE!

JUST A CARD week will include an Instagram challenge, business advice, giveaways and much, much more...

Head over to their website to find out all the details

Everyone passionate about creativity and independents is invited to share their stories on Social Media, and their work places too. People are asked to celebrate the contribution independent shops and creatives make, plus post images of the hundreds of JUST A CARD stickers, encouraging people to support independents, which are popping up in shop windows all around the country.

I used to be a Features Writer for UK Handmade Magazine and have interviewed a number of designer makers. I know how much dedication and hard work goes into running an independent business. We need to celebrate all the people who put so much effort into keeping their creative dreams alive.

I think the JUST A CARD initiative is wonderful and I urge you to join in and spread the word.

Keep up to date with all the latest JUST A CARD news on their Twitter and Instagram

Share your craft projects on Instagram with the June hashtag

Half Term is over and it's back to school and work. The weather has kept us on our toes, beautiful sunshine one minute and torrential downpours the next. I hope you've all had a creative May. Do you have a craft project or two planned for June? If you enjoy sharing your creative life on Instagram, then please feel free to tag as many crafty images with #craftingismytherapy_june throughout the month.

All crafts more than welcome. At the end of the month, I will choose some of the images that have caught my eye and put together a round-up post over on Instagram and here on my blog. You can find my Instagram here. I also share as many of your images in my Insta stories as I can throughout June.

Looking back over the previous few weeks, #craftingismytherapy_may turned out to be a busy month, we had a number of new contributors, which is always lovely to see. I always enjoy seeing the wide variety of crafts tagged. Up to now, nearly 4000 images have been added to our monthly feeds. I love being part of this creative community and thank you to everyone who joins in each month.

Below is a small selection of the creative images tagged throughout May.

You can find out who the makers are behind the images by following this link

– Please share the love and comment on images added to the #craftingismytherapy_june feed.
– If you tag your images and use the hashtag #craftingismytherapy_june on any social media channels that would be great. This will help me to grow the community. I will retweet all your posts via Twitter if you mention me @pouchvintage
– And finally, if you would like to follow me on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, you’re more than welcome!

Follow me on Pinterest to see blog posts, tutorials and much more...