I was never much good at art at school. I could copy pictures all right, but I could never imagine an original of my own. And if I did have an idea, I could never get it to come out right on paper.

Turns out, I have what I call a visually-impaired mind’s eye, and what someone else has called aphantasia. Basically, my mind doesn’t work with images very well. Words, yes. Pictures, no. Out of sight, out of mind, at least as far as describing goes.

That’s not entirely true.

The mind’s eye isn’t a binary you see images or you don’t. Like actual vision, there’s a scale, from 20/20 to blind. Unfortunately, there are no spectacles for the mind.

My mind’s eye isn’t blind. I can imagine some things, especially things I know well, though it does require a lot of concentration. And the image is fuzzy. When I read, I see the words on the page, not, as others might, a film of the story being read. If I’ve seen a film adaptation, that helps to “see” what I’m reading.

Which makes the card-making part of crafting that I do interesting. Sometimes it’s easy: the stamps or dies or stencils or papers suggest a design that’s straightforward. Other times, it’s harder, and I have no idea what to do. Rarely, I have a vague idea in mind. The aforementioned fuzziness of a mind’s eye means it’s never a clear image.

I was pleased, therefore, when a vague such idea came to mind with the fairies from the Craft Consortium Fairy Wishes range, by illustrator Helz Cuppleditch (love the name!), and I managed to recreate it in paper.

I was also pleased that I had everything I required, except the box frame, already in my stash. But the box frames were half price in Hobbycraft, which was a bonus.

And then I was pleased with how it turned out. So pleased, in fact, that I attempted a second, slightly different version, and if I can find enough space or recipients for others, will have a go at more. Maybe it’s the novelty of it, but they were more satisfying to make than a lot of cards have been recently.

I’ve also now discovered other Helz Cuppleditch collections of fairies and gnomes and pixies with Craft Consortium. I will be keeping an eye out for future collections. I’d only bought this pack of chipboard ephemera on a whim, to get free postage for other items I was purchasing. So serendipitous. Although it has taken me about six months to do something with them.

But they have Inspired. And I’ve had a little craft-buying spree, hunting for more Little People stamps to add to my craft room.