An Exhibition

Ah, how annoying it is to be ill!

Most annoying of all to be cancelling so many plans and postponing so many fun crafty schemes... but for the moment, naps and general resting must take priority over other (much more interesting) occupations.

Atop my list of "things to do when I feel better" is visiting the Between the Covers exhibition at The Women's Library, in London.

The reason? Well, aside from the exhibition looking pretty darn interesting, one of my zines is apparently in it! So thrilling.

I only found out by chance - a blogging friend (who happened to know about my anti-fashion zine This Seasons Must Have) happened to go to the exhibition and spot one of my zines framed on the wall and kindly let me know about it via Twitter. Ah, how I love the internet and our lovely friendly crafty community.

Back Soon

Thanks for all the well wishes!

I'm feeling a little better & am slowly getting caught up on all my orders etc

See you soon :)

Bad Timing

The evening I hit 2,000 sales I managed to very inconveniently get ill. No happy dances & celebrations here :(

My mum is looking after me and has even promised to make trips to the Post Office for me (because she is awesome)... but shipping on all orders will obviously be a bit delayed.

Please bear with me, I'll hopefully be back soon...

Milestones

I know they're only numbers, but it's always so exciting hitting milestones in my shops... and this week I'm approaching two at once. I'm a few sales away from 100 items sold in my Folksy shop and a few away from 2000 in my Etsy shop (eeek!).

As always, I'll be sending out celebratory freebies with the lucky milestone orders, so if you fancy some extra felty goodness keep an eye on those totals ;)

I am so amazed that this wonderful crafty nonsense is becoming my "real job" - many thanks to everyone who has helped me get this far!

New New New

Lots of new goodies have been added to my website this week...

First up, I've added a whole new section to my shop: a sale shop, filled with old designs at bargain prices.

I've also updated the supplies shop with lots of yummy new things!

Polkadot ribbon in bright candy colours:Blue and white stripey grosgrain ribbon:
Cute mini pompom trim:
And fun inspiration packs, jam packed with lots of colourful goodies to get those creative juices flowing. These would be great for small projects, like decorating felt brooches:

Washing Buttons

It is a running joke in our house how often I plan to do things like laundry or tidying and end up sewing or getting distracted by ribbons instead.

Yesterday was a case in point. Instead of doing the washing up, I washed some buttons...Many of these will soon be appearing on some new eco flowers, so it was vital they were washed asap. I can't wait to start matching up buttons and flowers - playing around with colour is always such fun.

Something Colourful

Today I have emailed and printed and packaged and posted and shopped and tidied and also spent almost an hour wrestling with an overgrown grape vine that had wound itself around a rose bush (tangles + thorns = problems!).

I'm about to collapse into a sleepy heap on the sofa, but there's just time for a peek at a deliciously bright and cheerful project I'm currently working on:
More pics when it's finished :)

The Joys of Custom Orders

I don't do much custom design work these days, but I love making things in custom colours. I have my own favourites that I probably return to far too often, and working with other peoples choices help me look at my pieces afresh and can help spark new ideas too.

Just recently finished - custom poppy bracelets, in soft blues and greens, ready to go in the post tomorrow:The colours are lovely, especially against the white - it looks so light and pretty, perfect for weddings or summer parties. I'm actually sort of embarrassed at never having thought of using a white background before!

I was so pleased with how they turned out that I couldn't resist making a couple more, in one of my current fave colours, ready to be added to my shop this week:

UPDATE: My poppy design is now available as a sewing pattern! Visit my shop to see all my printable PDF patterns

Alfresco Sewing

We went to an end-of-year school cricket match yesterday, and had a lovely picnic in the sunshine with chit chat and strawberries and (of course) a bit of sewing:

Stripe Love

Mmm... lovely vintage stripey goodness...This little bud vase lives in my kitchen/office. It's only about 3 inches high and cost about a quid, but for a small thing it makes me very happy!

A Folksy Year

It's the first anniversary of my Folksy shop this week! How time flies...
Folksy itself is only a little bit older than my shop - I'm member number 12 so I must have signed up pretty soon after it launched - and it's come quite a long way in that year. There have been quite a lot of new handmade-focused sites springing up over the past year or two, including several in the UK, but Folksy is still my favourite of the new crop and as sales are commission free during the beta period it's a very affordable place to sell.

All new sites have their teething problems and I have several things on my wishlist that I'd love to see from the site in future, but overall I'm pleased with how this first year has gone and am looking forward to being a Folksy seller for many years to come!

To celebrate my anniversary, every order in my Folksy shop until Sunday night will ship with a free gift (offer ends midnight UK time, Sunday 12th July).

The Return of the Zines

A long time ago, before I had a blog and a shop and was still at school I started a zine (pronounced "zeen") called "Bugs and Fishes" filled with lots of odd things that were rattling round my brain.

The zine ran from 1999-2005, and when I first set up shop on Etsy I sold copies of it along with several of my other zines and named this blog after it. And now by popular demand (and some nagging from my boyfriend) the zines are back!
Issues 15 to 18 of Bugs and Fishes are currently available, plus "My Library Project" - a slightly obsessive look at the crazy graffiti people write in library books.

You can find them in my Etsy shop or save by buying direct from me via my website where you'll only pay one fixed handling charge for shipping as many zines as you want.

Holiday Sewing Snaps

Even when I'm on my hols, I still have to take some sewing with me to do when curled up watching telly - it just feels wrong sitting watching something and not making things at the same time.

I always take way more sewing than I can possibly ever get done in the time, but I did manage to get quite a bit done this trip thanks to many heatwave-induced sessions of old movie watching (I cannot resist a classic black and white flick).

Holiday Project Number One - sewing some more eco felt flowers, in lovely warm autumnal tones. I'm looking forward to choosing vintage buttons to match all these!
Holiday Project Number Two - making a start on restocking my bird designs. Lots of pieces sewn together, but there's lots and lots of tiny details still to sew:
No sewing for me today though, but plenty to keep me busy as I've got lots of admin to catch up on and orders to pack...

UPDATE: My large felt flower design is now available as a sewing pattern! I'm gradually writing tutorials for all my bird brooches, too! Visit my shop to see all my printable PDF patterns:

Back Tomorrow!

I'm back after my trip home... I do love my folks, but it's nice to be back.

I'd meant to get more blogging done while I was away (lots of things I want to mention!) but the heatwave + feeling a bit ill + the pleasures of a comfy sofa and my parents digital telly were too much for me and I've been quite lazy.

Regular blogging service will resume tomorrow :)