In this blog, as part of the keepsake blog series, I would like to introduce you to Claire, who has a beautiful way to treasure all the precious cards you get on your special occasion.
“My name is Claire and I live in West Yorkshire. I starting Divine Keepsakes by Claire in 2019 after making a collage of my own wedding cards, and then my three boy’s birth congratulations cards. By the point I had finished those I was more than a little addicted to the process, but I had run out of cards to transform! So I opened up the business to transform other people’s. Making beautiful keepsakes for others is magical and I love that I get to make objects that are treasured forever”

What is Divine Keepsake by Claire?
Have you ever had a special event like a wedding or the birth of a child and received a whole bundle of beautiful cards? They get all wrapped up in the lovely memory of the special occasion and so, of course, you want to keep them!
If you’re anything like I was, they then go into a lovely box and onto the top shelf in a cupboard, where they stay, sometimes for years and years! Then, over time, you begin to think, my goodness why is my cupboard so full? You have a clear-out, or pack to move house, and you find as you look through all the lovely cards that just looking at them makes you so happy that you can’t part with them, so back in the box they go to stay for a little longer.
But what if there was another option?
My business, Divine Keepsakes by Claire, rescues your cards from the depths of your cupboards and transforms them into stunning collages that can be seen and loved every day in your home!
I take the best parts of the fronts of each card, cut out hexagon shapes and then carefully arrange them into a beehive style pattern on pearlescent card. As you can see from the photographs, the effect is really very beautiful. Your memories are now in one piece of keepsake artwork! You get to see them every day once they’re hung on your wall, a beautiful reminder of your special event!

I’ve made card collages for a whole host of occasions, weddings and new baby congratulations cards being the most popular. I’ve also used 1st birthday cards, 40th, 70th and 90th birthday cards, christening cards, sympathy cards, Mother’s Day cards and new home cards to create wonderful keepsakes of special occasions or special people.
My collages come in a variety of sizes, meaning that you can have collages made when you’ve not only 5 cards, but also when you have 75! You can also include photos, invitations and name cards in the collage; anything that has special meaning to you. Custom sizes and shapes are most welcome along with my standard sizes of collage too! The beauty of small businesses like mine is that there is one passionate person behind it all, and we want you to have the very best and most meaningful keepsake at the end of the process.

A few people are understandably a little nervous at the thought of passing something so precious on to a stranger to cut up. Please do be assured that having cut up my own cards, I completely understand how anxious the process can make you feel! I take really good care of your cards, and spend many hours deliberating over which parts of the cards to cut into hexagons and where to put them in the arrangement so that you get the perfect result! I measure and remeasure each gap between the cards too, the perfectionist within me can’t cope if everything isn’t all arranged exactly right! I want you to open the box containing your collage and be absolutely thrilled with the result. After all, it is a keepsake you will treasure for the rest of your life!
Many people are also concerned about parting with the handwritten words and notes that are included in cards, which is why I came up with the idea of also including a free booklet of the insides of the cards with every collage. I bind them together with ribbon and pop on a front cover, making a more compact and easily stored version of your cards. You can then read the precious words written by loved ones over and over again, as well as having a beautiful, personal piece of art for your wall!
