I Love My Local Post Office...

... especially when they give us free mugs:The boyfriend (a.k.a my postal assistant) came home with these yesterday after posting a big pile of parcels. We post so much stuff that they gave us one each - his'n'hers mugs to drink tea in at the end of a long afternoon packing and posting.

Postal geek that I am, I think they're rather snazzy!

How To: Felt Owl Brooch

UPDATE: my easy felt owl brooch tutorial is now available as a printable PDF pattern over on my Patreon. 

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After showing you the sneak peek at this cute little guy yesterday I just had to sit down in my tea break this afternoon and write up the tutorial for how to make your own :)

If you've been reading my blog since it started you may recognise him as he's based on an old & now discontinued design I used to sell in my Etsy shop a few years ago. I keep seeing owls popping up all over the place at the moment so it seemed like a good time to dig out my old pattern!

 

Here are some fat owls I made earlier!

 

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Taking some pictures

We had a teeny tiny bit of sunshine this afternoon - wonderful!

Especially as I got to snap lots of "in progress" photos for some new tutorials coming soon...

Felty goodness back in stock

I've been gradually re-opening my shops this weekend and catching up with my emails - I'm never completely up to date with my email but it's nice to have my inbox vaguely under control again!

I'm also busy sorting out a big box of supplies, and making up lots of bundles of felt squares. All these goodies are now back in stock on my website and in my Etsy and Folksy shops (if the pack you want isn't listed just let me know!)

Packs of embroidery thread:
Mini felt squares packs, giant rainbows and pick and mix felt:
Plus two of my most popular felt packs, a bright mix and lovely soft pastels:

New blogs on my radar...

A couple of times a week I like to sit with a cuppa and browse a few of my favourite craft and design blogs - and to click a few links and discover new sites & lots of awesome people making amazing things. Apart from the occasional day when I end up feeling a bit talentless by comparison (a feeling perfectly captured by Gemma Correll in her drawing "the perils of being an illustrator with access to the internet") I love these blog-browsing sessions, and it's so exciting discovering a new blog you want to bookmark and come back to again and again. As well as following the personal blogs of various artists and crafters I'm really enjoying reading about crafting in general. Three of my recent faves are: 1) Crafting an MBA - described as "business thinking for designers and makers" this blog is a new project from Megan Auman whose personal blog is always a great, honest read about her crafty business and creative life. Worth a read: this post about "Etsy and the culture of cheap" has kicked off a really interesting discussion about Etsy, handmade and shoppers' ideas about how much things "should" cost. 2) Make & Meaning - I'm not sure if this technically counts as a blog but it's worth a mention anyway. Loads of bloggers are contributing articles to this site, all about issues to do with making stuff and the ins and outs and ups and downs of the creative life. Worth a read: I've enjoyed most of the articles so far but I really love the ones with lots of comments, some of the discussions being prompted make for great reading! 3) Craftypod - this is one of those sites I can't believe I've never stumbled upon before. Great craft book reviews and other crafty stuff, plus fortnightly podcasts which I mentioned briefly earlier this week. Podcasts! About crafting! Great stuff. Worth a listen: I though this podcast about a former Etsy top-seller selling her business and downsizing after self-confessed "burn out" was really interesting. Sometimes though it's just nice to look at pictures... I'm loving Lisa Congdon's A Collection a Day blog documenting real and imaginary collections, and Lu Summers' project to make a mixed media "sketch" every day for a year. Rather predictably my favourite piece of Lu's so far is one with a teapot in it: Have you discovered any great blogs lately? Do share! :)

Things in my workbox #3

I'm doing my best to try and "switch off" from work this week so I can concentrate on getting well. Anyone who is self-employed will know how hard this can be, as there are always so many tasks shouting for your attention and so many creative projects which you're itching to get started.

I'm keeping my laptop switched off as much as possible and have packed all my work stuff away... but I can't stop myself wanting to make stuff! My name is Laura, and I'm a craft addict. Ha ha.

My whole business developed from all the sewing I did to keep myself entertained while I was ill and stuck watching rubbish TV for days on end and I always have a stash of nice simple crafty tasks which I can do (slowly!) when I'm feeling under the weather.

Today's bit of convalescent crafting? Starting to sew beads on the felt necklaces sitting in my workbox...

Q & A

There's an interview with me over on the DaWanda blog today - all about my creative process and running my DaWanda shop. You can read the interview here.

I often get emails from people asking questions about felt crafting and my crafty business, so I wondered if you guys have any questions you want to ask me :)

If you'd like to ask me a question just leave a comment on this post and I'll write up the answers over the next few weeks.

Things in my workbox #2

After making my fancy cocktail hat I adapted the design slightly to make some "statement" necklaces using some lovely shades of 100% wool felt and there's a whole pile of them sitting half-finished in my workbox:Each necklace will be one-of-a-kind, some light summery shades on white backgrounds and some richer jewel colours on black backgrounds. The flowers all need lots of beads added for a bit of sparkle, which should keep me busy for a while.

Things in my workbox #1

Thanks for all the well-wishes, everyone :)

I've been listening to lots of fantastic crafty podcasts, working my way through a box set of Doctor Who and generally taking it easy, and I'm gradually starting to feel a little more human.

Over the next few days I'll be sharing some quick snaps of things I've been working on recently & which will be making an appearance in my shops once I get back on my feet.

First up, large layered flower brooches - these have been in my workbox for simply ages while I ummed and aahhed about which colours to use for embroidery thread and buttons. It's lovely seeing them finally taking shape! (And yes, that is an upturned biscuit tin lid. They make such fantastic portable workspaces).

Closing Up Shop

I had planned to blog about butterflies today as a lovely parcel of them arrived in the post, destined to become lots of pretty butterfly flower hairbands and brooches like these:

Unfortunately, in a bit of spectacularly bad timing I've managed to get ill - just when I'd been hoping to get back to work after my Christmas break! Sigh.

I've closed my shops temporarily so I can properly put my feet up and focus on getting well. Fingers crossed I'll be back to my usual crafty shenanigans in a week or so - I'm rather looking forward to convalescing on the sofa with some old movies and a box of sewing...

The boyfriend & I are still hoping to get all outstanding orders packed and posted this week but if I owe you an email please bear with me.

Bags of Sparkles

I'm busy packing up parcels, catching up with the "backlog" from my time off. The boyfriend will be making lots of trips to the Post Office this week!

Just time for a quick snap of some very sparkly post that arrived this morning...... lots of yummy seed beads ready to be sewn onto brooches and hairbands and some other felty things lurking in my work-in-progress boxes.

Pigeon Post

We've not been getting much post lately thanks to all this winter weather. I'm waiting for a few supply orders (so I can get everything restocked after Christmas) and other assorted bits and pieces.

One bit of nice post that has arrived is a little something I treated myself to as a post-Christmas present, this gorgeous poster from Edinburgh-based artist Alice Melvin.

As always with my art purchases, I've got no idea where it's going to go but I just couldn't resist its loveliness.

With more cold weather forecast I've got my fingers crossed that I'll be able to get to the Post Office next week (and that it'll actually be open!) when I'm supposed to be resuming shipping orders after my Christmas break. I'm hoping to have everything shipped by the end of the week but if there are snow-related delays and you're expecting a parcel from me I'll be in touch :)

Works in Progress

I'm determined to start the year with a tidy workspace, and have gradually been working through all my crafty gubbins trying to get organised.

Today's task: sorting out my slightly chaotic "in progress" boxes crammed with half-finished projects, assorted experiments that have yet to see the light of day and a few exciting new things I'm working on.

All the bits and pieces had started to teeter precariously on trays and spread over tabletops and get quite muddled so it's a very nice change having them all neat and tidy for once and packed away in boxes...... the only problem now is what to finish first!

Snow! (plus a sale update)

After weeks of serious snow envy (everyone seemed to have snow except us) it has finally snowed in Gloucester! Hurrah!

I've got my fingers crossed for more & am hoping to get out to take some pics tomorrow... in the meantime here's a quick snap from last year:When I've not been staring out of the window at the slightly hypnotic snowflakes I've been tinkering with my website - adding all my recent tutorials, updating my press page - ordering some supplies, trying to catch up with my emails, and putting off doing my accounts!

I've also added my large oak leaf hairbands (available in green and brown) to my spring sale.

December Giveaway Results

I'm having a very lazy day today, watching lots of episodes of Miss Marple and not doing much else... but I have remembered to pick a winner for last month's giveaway. Hurrah!
The winner (picked at random) is andrea_s_nelson who said " It is all so lovely! I would adore the Circles Pin Cushion in Pink & Gray."

Leave me a blog comment with your email address Andrea (it won't be published) and I'll be in touch.
Thanks to everyone who entered. It was lots of fun hearing which item you'd pick if you won! :)

Remember there'll be another giveaway later this month...

Crafty Resolutions

Happy New Year everyone :)

2010 is off to a good start so far with lots of good telly (Agatha Christie and Doctor Who) good food, kind words and perhaps most importantly lovely lazy afternoons curled up on the sofa tinkering with new felt things.

As you may guess from my colour palette I'm already dreaming of spring...
Much as I'd like to wish away the cold (brr!) I do love this time of year. With the wonderful exhausting madness that is the "Christmas shopping season" out of the way (so many parcels to pack! and so many shipping deadlines to meet!) I've got a chance to catch my breath, put my feet up and think big thoughts about my schemes for the year to come.

I've got a big to do list for 2010, lots of things I want to try and lots of ideas in my sketchbooks, but I've decided that my main crafty resolution for this year is to maintain a balance between my crafty life and my crafty business. I want to develop my little business without becoming a one woman sweatshop, and to make sure I keep on making things just for fun and to feed my soul as well as my bank account.

Have you made any crafty resolutions this year? Are there any crafts you're determined to try or projects you've sworn to finish?