New stuff for March

...well the end of it. Better late than never!

First up, these little birdie keyrings! So much fun to make, each one like a mini amigurumi in a sense. I love adding their little beaks at the end, really brings out their character.

As I make them to order, customers can choose their own colour combination of bird colour and beak :D Only drawback is they do take some time to make... I should really learn to time myself when making things, the main problem is I usually make things in batches! These can be ordered through Folksy or ArtFire (the awesome alternative to Etsy).

Next up, the long awaited second batch of Felt Coin Purses (loads more pics on Flickr).

Again, these will slowly be added over the next few days to Folksy and ArtFire.

Skirt To Pouch In About An Hour.

Lately, I've been inspired to recycle old clothes and either make them into something I would wear again or use the fabric to make something else. This isn't limited to the clothes I own, either. I like to go into the local charity shops and buy unwanted garments I can reuse for projects.

Take this skirt for example:

This cost me £3.20. You may be forgiven for thinking this is a lot, but when compared to say, Hobbycraft which do nice cotton prints for £5 per meter and up, it doesn't seem so bad. That and you're giving to charity and recycling. The fabric is nice quality too (plus, I salvaged the zip :D).

So, it took about half an hour to rip the three panels out, along with the zip. The rest of the time was the usual cutting, pinning pressing and sewing. Which brings me to the final product:

A snazzy pouch for my netbook cables and mouse to go into :D This will be so useful on holiday :)

I have loads left over which I'm hoping to use when I come home for new coin purse designs, along with some other charity shop finds which are waiting to be used!
So next time you go past a charity shop, think of all the things you could do with the fabric in there :)

Hmm...

Musings follow, skip this bit if you don’t care for reading my train of thought :p

I feel lately I have been stretching myself too thinly with too many crafts. My problem is I love learning new things and new techniques and well, my ideas are all over the place. It needs to stop! XD So lets see, what have i tried...

1. Crochet
2. Knitting
3. Hand dyeing yarn
4. Jewellery Making
5. Sewing
6. Screen Printing
7. Sculpture
8. Making Fimo/Sculpey Charms

I have a feeling I’ve been to ‘broad’ with some of these craft types (Like sewing includes making lining for crochet bags but also plushies, which I'm not too keen on now days :/ ). But in any case i have highlighted the crafts i REALLY enjoy and get on with fine.

...And to me it seems like textiles is the answer. Not all aspects, but most i guess.

Its not that i didn’t enjoy making sculpey stuff, for example. However, there are loads of sculpey artisans out there that do a fantastic job with their handmade charms etc which i dont have the hands and patience for. I will probably try my hand at it again for my own personal use or gifts. Same with jewellery making. I have so many beads and findings stored away... but i know if i give it away/sell it, i’ll need something!!

I guess what i’m trying to figure out is where i need to concentrate my skills. More so for my future, something to base a small business on. And as sad as it sounds the 3 at the top get me excited. I love making a ball of yarn into SOMETHING, you know? And what’s more, if i hand dyed that yarn myself - even more exciting :D


The not so boring bit

Anyway.

I have been busy. I love being busy with stuff. Makes me feel like I'm actually doing something. By which I mean, not just sitting around watching tv or working or something. Oh, i know what i mean. I wont pile everything i’ve been doing into one post, otherwise the projects will get lost under my stupid “train of thought” essay thingy up there :)

Theres more photos on Flickr (just click one of the pictures).

Not sure where to list them though.... I may dip my toe further into the DaWanda pool. Or just share them out a bit.... or something.

mirrored from tomatotea.net

Supplies For Sale!

The buttons came and are now up for sale on my Etsy :) Click the pictures for individual listings.

More will be added over the next few days.




I will also be adding a few listings to eBay as well, as it is 5p listing day tomorrow :o

Wish me luck.

Bags of Fun

Busy at last :)

Rouge Bleu is already avaliable over on Etsy and Coccinelle Verte will be available for sale on Monday (2008/06/09)

I loved making these and already have a stash of yarn and fabrics to make more :)

I'm also in the process of designing crocheted purses :D The yarn used would be regualr DK or aran weight and they would be lined as the bags have ^_^

I also invested in some buttons to sell on Etsy. I'm a little nervous about selling them as i worked out my profit margin would be small but they are lovely and i will be using a couple for my own projects too :)

Still looking for more work. Ugh. 12 hours just isn't enough... not that i would want to work full time in retail, but beggars can't be choosers :/