Toadstool Footstool and Fuzzy Bats

A couple of weeks ago I got this gorgeous item from the lovely Esme of PaisleyChainsaw, EsmeArt and StyleMissile:



It's a Toadstool Footstool, made for the UK Etsy Challenge, and Esme kindly gave it to me for FREE! Yays :)

I have bought many things from her supplies store:





and recently I was her 100th customer there, so I got fabulous freebies:



Bless her, it's a wonder she makes any money giving away all this free stuff :D

I also wish to pimp a couple of other UK Etsians I've bought things from lately. First up is geegaw.etsy.com, from whom I bought these gorgeous jewel-coloured glass beads:



Also check out her other shop, gugaw.etsy.com from which I bought one of my favourite pairs of earrings:



I love silver, and I love roses, so these are perfect :)

I've been wanting to use felt beads in my work for a while, and finally took the plunge with a 25 bead taster pack from BigFish.etsy.com:



I also got free beads and buttons, yay! BigFish is the colourful, ethical supplies shop of the lovely Kirsty Fish (probably not her real name), and she also runs PaperFish (more colourful goodness) and SnowFish (Christmas goodness).

The new material deserved a new design, and I've created something a little more minimal than my usual work. Here's what I've made with the felt beads so far:





These little winged furballs are called Fuzzy Bats, and are for sale here.

Thanks for reading, and happy shopping!

Looking forward to autumn

Rather than wanting the funny weather we've been having lately to go back to proper summer, I seem to be in the odd position of wanting it to get colder. At the moment, in the house at least, I'm trying to keep warm, which puts me in mind of cosy yet stylish clothes. I want it to be autumn so that I can wear my little tartan skirt with opaque tights and a big chunky cardi, or snuggle up in similarly lovely warm clothes, such as the two H&M cord jackets I now own (one's a rich purple, the other's a mossy green, in case you wondered). This is partly the fault of fashion magazines such as Elle. I'm reading all about a/w fashions, my favourite being Goth of course, and wanting to wear them all.

I love this photoshoot from Elle:



I love tartan, and the way they've styled it there is great. Dark, playful and glamorous all at the same time.

I read a lot of fashion mags and sometimes the fashion does not inspire me. I'm not really a dedicated follower of fashion, so the fact that summer's all-in-ones and nauticals didn't interest me was not really a problem. But when what I see in those glossy pages strikes a chord, I'm all over it. I'm loving this new Dark Romance trend. That kind of feminine-with-a-hard-edge look that says Goth to me is one of the strongest themes that runs through my work, so the fact that this look is in fashion is a bit of a bonus.

I've dedicated a large chunk of my moodboard to this new, darker mood in fashion:





Inspired by this, I have created this Gothic Rose charm necklace:



I love the combination of black and red, as it always looks striking. Plastic stars and skulls add a bit of fun to the piece, while a vintage Lucite rose adds a little old-fashioned romance. Find it for sale here.

For more Gothic pieces, search Goth in my shop. Also, for more work from my fellow Dark Side members and myself, search etsydarkteam on Etsy.

Thank you for reading.

Repurposeful Crafts

As a varied artist and designer/maker, I like to work in a variety of media. Therefore, reclaimed materials are an important part of what I do, as I take inspiration from what I find.

I love using reclaimed materials in my work. The idea of giving new life to an old, unwanted piece of jewellery intrigues me. I take the bus up to Stourbridge and scour the charity shops for interesting old jewellery to repurpose into new.



These second-hand pieces have their own unique qualities, which bring something different to a new creation. The style that these old pieces of jewellery already have can inspire the style of new piece. For example, the original look of the second-hand beaded chain in these necklaces inspired the forms that the finished pieces eventually took:



My love of salvage means that you can expect to find reused chain, beads, and other found materials in many of my items (search "repurposed" in my shop for a few of those).

As well as salvaging jewellery for its aesthetic qualities, I am also interested in reusing materials for environmental reasons. I believe that reusing is the best form of recycling, as it is the best way to reduce waste. I feel that it is important to protect the environment by reusing and recycling wherever I can. The reusing of materials is something that I am committed to, not only in my work but also at home. Old sauce jars become containers for paintbrushes, old cereal boxes are cut up to become magazine files, old fruit containers become containers for craft supplies, the list goes on. I think the old adage of "Waste not, want not" is a great one to follow.



*******

Posting the above in a couple of other blogs on Sunday made me want to do a bit of thrift shopping. So yesterday I popped into Stourbridge and bought a few things from the charity shops:





Earlier today I finished a necklace, which started life as the above bracelet. I took the bracelet apart, then put it together as one long chain:



I then added a beaded heart and vintage Lucite charms, and created this piece:



To hang from the thrifted steel chain, I created a beaded heart pendant from steel wire and emerald green glass beads. This heart measures 6cm (just under 2.5") high and is 5cm (2") high. The whole necklace measures 56cm (22") long, although it can be as short as you like, as the lobster clasp can be fastened through any of the chain's links. Find it for sale here.

Another new shop - Folksy

I've recently joined a new site called Folksy. It's still in its beta infancy, just like Etsy was not so long ago. The best bit about it is that it's UK based. So finally I can list my items in pounds, yay!

Click below for my Folksy shop:


(button made by the lovely KMC, hurrah)

I've adopted Folksy as the new home for my tree sculptures. Here's what I've listed there so far:

Truly Handmade - a craft fair

On Saturday the 19th of July, I'll be at a craft fair in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham. It's called Truly Handmade, and has been organised by fellow UK Etsian LittleGemsUK. For sale at the fair, there will be jewellery, bags, cards, candles, food and more from some fine West Midlands artisans. There will also be refreshments provided, so come along to St James’ Church Hall in Mere Green for a great day out. Opening times are 10am-3pm.

Visit the website for more information:

Organised Chaos - The To-Do List

For someone with obsessive-compulsive tendencies, I'm extremely messy. But within that mess there will be little obsessively organised bits. Things like organising CDs in alphabetical order. Although I don't do that any more, it's a good example of things I do to try and feel like I have some control over my chaos. Another example is the making of lists. This also has to do with having a bad memory - if I don't write it down I forget it. So, with that in mind, I shall write my to-do list before I forget:

Organise the studio:
Throw away/ give to Flickr swap group/ give to charity/ sell what I don't need
Work out some storage solutions for what I do need to keep
A place for everything and everything in its place



Get ready for craft fair:
Work out how display will look - table will be 6ft x 2.5ft
Visit charity shops for inexpensive displays
Possibly visit venue for ideas

Work out brand identity:
Good marketing
Good photos - less nonsense on Flickr!
Lifestyle
Darker images on pinboard for inspiration
Stop trying to follow fashion!



Get a job

Lose weight

blah blah blah :)

Secret Swap

I recently participated in the fabulous UK Secret Swap. Organized by UK people on Etsy, the UK Secret Swap is similar to a secret Santa idea. Basically, all that want to take part tell the organizer, then he finds out from them what type of item they would like to receive. Then, from this information, he works out who should get something from which seller. Each person makes something to send to the person they're allocated, and each person also receives a handmade item for themselves. If that makes sense!

I sent out a beaded heart to the lovely designsbylucy:





And received a gorgeous tiara from the fabulous bizzybeetrinkets:

It was rather exciting getting the package. She'd put little hand-drawn flower stickers on it:



And when I opened it up there was, in this beautiful little box,



a little tiara,



and a little pin:



I have no idea when I will wear this tiara, apart from modelling it for Flickr photos of course,





but, as Bee says in the thank you note, "I know a tiara isn't the most practical of items but I wear mine when washing up and you have such fabby hair that I couldn't help but make you one." Bless her :D