July 3, 2020

Welcome to Fresnell Shop!  Thank you for stopping by. 

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to create all the things you use on a daily basis yourself?  Here, I’m not talking about making a car or a stove.  I’m talking about making the things you wear, you put on your hands and feet, and your use for your cosmetics.   I make women’s face masks, envelopes, wax melts, lip balm, soap, earrings, and handmade stationery so far.   Here’s how i began my creative endeavors …

With the rise in the DIY world, there are so many opportunities to learn something new.  When I decided to open this shop, it was with that form of creativity in mind.  I wanted to be able to make common ordinary items in a new way.  

My first and easiest target for Fresnell was to try to create beautiful thank you cards and matching envelopes.  After research and gathering ideas online, I discovered the world of vintage photographs that is on the British Library on Flikr.  There I was able to find beautiful pieces of art from a long time ago that I restored using Adobe Illustrator.  I was able to give new crisp lines by hand detail work with the pen tool. 

With those designs, I went about the task of foiling.  I found a great source for laser ink foiling techniques which I will share in a subsequent blog post to follow!  I was able to create an envelope shape design in Illustrator and used this as a template to cut out cotton paper into envelopes with my Cricut Maker tool.   It was quite the trial and error experience, but I have finally established my own unique method for creating custom envelopes.  I do not have to go to the store to buy envelopes ever again.  Unless of course time is of the essence!  Making your own custom envelopes takes times and this can be anywhere between 4-5 hours to create a unique design for the inner flap to only one half hour to use a design already prepared.  

After, envelopes, I went on to the cosmetic sector of my life!  I was eager to make my own flavors of lip balm and experiment with various forms of more natural ingredients.  I settled on using sunflower wax and oil and the final permutation of my recipe was splendid indeed.  I compared it to Burt’s Bee’s and it actually felt better than Burt’s!  If I do say so myself.  I will be creating a video tutorial series in coming months to show you my method and recipes!  Stay tuned for that by following our Facebook Page !