Little Wedding Bags

'Tis the wedding season soon, so perfect timing for my next project - little wedding bags. I have a few designs in mind and will be putting together some samples over the next week or so. These little bags will be just right for brides or bridesmaids to keep their little essentials in and will be the perfect finishing touch for that big day. Keep watching for the grand unveiling (sorry, no pun intended!).

New Textile Journal Covers

Towards the end of last year I made a few textile journal/notebook covers, the same size as my photo notebook covers, but using various textile pieces such as felt and vintage linen, all embellished with buttons, beads and other beautiful bits. I sold one at a craft fair a few days later and the remaining two soon afterwards on Folksy - both to the same customer! As they were so popular, I decided to make a few more. I now have six of these little beauties in my shops (on Etsy or Folksy), all very different, each one unique and perfect to give as a keepsake gift - perhaps for Valentine's Day or Mother's Day. They'd also make great gifts for a bride-to-be (use it as a wedding planner), a bridesmaid, or for a special friend. You could even treat yourself to one! The cover can be re-used on another journal, a diary or address book - it fits a standard A6 book - so it can be kept forever.

Here they all are, on sale now at just £25 - remember, there's only one of each design available, so don't delay!

Here's to an exciting New Year!

It's been a long time since my last post (can't believe it was back in November!) but let me start by wishing you all a very happy New Year and may all your hopes and dreams move closer to reality in 2013. I hope you all enjoyed the festive season in whatever way you chose to celebrate it - mine was the traditional family way, spending time with family and friends, eating and drinking a little too much (!) and generally relaxing.

But now....it's time to look forward, get 2013 under way and make some changes. There's a blank calendar to fill up and lots of work to get done.

January

It's time to shift some of the things I no longer need/want/use, so there'll be plenty of listing on Etsy and E-bay this month. I've already added lots of vintage linen & lace to my Etsy shop and that will be swiftly followed by more of the same as well as some of my vintage bags, clothes and accessories that are taking up valuable loft space.

Vintage linen & lace traycloth or mat

One of a pair of matching lace mats

 I also need to re-assess my stock of handmade bags etc on Folksy and decide what to focus on going forward. I've added up all my sales over the past 18 months and worked out which products are the best-sellers (phone cases) and which bring in the most cash (bags), so these are the things I'll be making more of and some of the not-so-successful will fall by the wayside. It's a steep learning curve and there's no easy way of knowing what will/won't be successful, so they're not wasted, they'll just be put down to experience and offered at knock-down prices at the next craft fair!

Best sellers - hand-painted silk handbags (from £25)

Best sellers - phone & gadget cases (from £10)

Finally...photography. I've been so busy with the textiles that this has taken a bit of a back seat lately, but I did sell a large canvas print of one of my photos just before Christmas, so that was an unexpected bonus. I've recently made some notebook covers by printing some of my images onto canvas and sewing it up into covers. I sold the first one at a craft fair and have made several more, which are now on sale on Folksy and through Traders in Littlehampton - they also stock some of my photo prints and canvasses.

'Seagulls' notebook cover (with A6 notebook) £15

'Cuba Collage' notebook cover (with A6 notebook) £15

So that's where I'm at now and I'll be planning the rest of the year very soon. There are already craft fairs and art fairs booked, an exhibition planned and lots of new ideas to put into action. I'm going to do a monthly blog update - with maybe a few smaller blogs in between - and will add events as and when they are confirmed. Happy 2013!

BBC online magazine features Folksy and Etsy

It was great to see some real publicity for Folky and Etsy in the BBC online magazine this week. The report was really good and I recognised some very familiar names in the interviews with Folksy sellers, so well done to them and good news for all of us with an online shop on either site.

Here's a direct link to the magazine article:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19599168

and here's a direct link to Folksy

http://folksy.com/

so check out some of the brilliant handcrafted items available there.

(And there are links to all my shops on Folksy and Etsy on this page already, so no excuse!)

Up to my eyes in vintage linen & lace

I've dragged it all down from the loft and have sorted it into separate boxes...traditional white/ecru embroidery, colourful embroidery, crochet lace and other laces. Then there are the damaged pieces, which are beyond salvation but perfect for projects - sad to see them torn and stained, but at least parts of them will be admired again.

What prompted this massive vintage sort-out? Well, it was a request for specific types of embroidery and lace, and I had to admit I had no idea what I had up there in the loft. It wasn't until I started going through it again that I realised just how much there was. So in between painting, felting, stitching and making - not to mention the photography and a bit of selling! - I will be working my way systematically through it all, taking photos and recording each piece before it goes into my Etsy shop to (hopefully) find a new home. That will keep me busy during the long, dark winter months ahead!

If you see something here you'd like to buy, contact me directly as it could take a while to get them all listed on Etsy.

part of a set of 13 matching cutwork pieces

delicate lace doily

one of a pair of rectangular lace mats

a beautiful lace table cloth

part of a large set of matching butterfly doilies

one of a pair of beautifully worked lace doilies

five tiny little embroidered mats

What's the secret of selling?

Don't ask me...I have no idea! I had such high hopes for my first craft fair of the festive season - it was a good venue, well-organised and advertised, usually very well-attended by a good mix of buyers, but still I didn't do very well. I could blame the roadworks on the A27 on the Saturday (not supposed to be there at the weekend), which caused long delays and massive traffic jams for visitors, but even on the Sunday when there were plenty of visitors, I didn't manage to sell more than a few items. The recession maybe? Well, that may have had an impact, but people were buying - mostly jewellery and gifts for children - just not from me!

Perhaps I need to re-evaluate my products, my prices, my presentation. Obviously what I'm making isn't what people want to buy (not in this neck of the woods anyway - hmm, maybe that's the problem) - so what do I do? Do I change what I'm selling, where I'm selling, or just carry on and accept that I'm out-of-step with the rest of the world? You see, the problem is, I love my bags and scarves and everything else I make, and I love making them. Each piece is unique and very special - it has its own personality and it's made by me with a lot of care and love. Some are troublesome and won't do as they're supposed to, others are just so easy and a joy to make. I hate parting with them, which may be part of the problem...maybe I'm subconsciously putting buyers off because deep down I really don't want to sell them...?!!

Well, I have a few more fairs lined up before Christmas, so let's see how those go - I'll give it my best shot, I promise. In the meantime, here are a few new items I listed on Folksy today...

Make up bag £12.50

Make up bag £12.50

Pink felt clutch bag £25

Blue silk clutch bag £45

Bag preview

I've been on a roll with the bag-making since my last post - to date I've completed EIGHT new bags and still have a few more in the pipeline. I aim to finish at least another two over the weekend, but that's a tough target. It really depends on the designs I choose to make and how much time is spent adding extra bits of decoration or embellishments to them. Most of my bags 'evolve' as I make them, so I have no idea in advance how long each one will take, or what they will eventually look like!

The bags I've already completed include four new small silk handbags, using my own hand-painted and hand-dyed silk, backed with toning silk dupion. These bags were popular last year as Christmas presents, so I decided to add a few more this year. The silk colours are beautiful and each bag is unique, perfect as a special gift, but very affordable at just £25 each. They come boxed and beautifully wrapped too.

The other four bags are a new design, a simple clutch bag - so popular this year - with a flap front. Although the design is simple, the fabrics are gorgeous - embroidered silks, shot rayon, chiffon, velvet and vintage kimono silk in a range of colours and patterns. The bags are well-made and beautifully finished with many layers of interlining, padding, stiffening and lining to give a 'luxury' feel to them. Each one takes a full day to make so they are a bit more expensive (from £50) but still exceptional value for an exclusive, individually-designed bag.

The bags will be available to view and buy at the upcoming Crafts at Lancing College, where I'll be selling  over the weekend of 27th/28th October. I won't be listing most them on Folksy until after that weekend, but they can be purchased before then by contacting me directly. Here are some photos of them:

Teal and green shot-silk type outer fabric in a diagonal patchwork design, lined with pale blue silk, small inner pocket, magnetic fastener. £70

Hand-painted silk front, trimmed with buttons, toning copper-red silk dupion back and strap, lined with black satin, button/loop fastening. Sold.

Hand-painted silk front, toning turquoise silk dupion back and strap, lined with gold satin, button/loop fastening. £25

Hand-painted silk front, toning pink silk dupion back and strap, lined with gold satin, button/loop fastening. £25

Deep pink/gold silk and black velvet outer fabric, trimmed with black stitching and two large vintage glass buttons, lined with black satin, small inner pocket, magnetic fastener. £60

Vintage kimono silk crepe outer fabric, lined with royal blue silk-type fabric, small inner pocket, magnetic fastener. £60

Hand-dyed silk front, toning pinky-mauve silk dupion back and strap, lined with black satin, button/loop fastening. £25

Brick-red/gold silk outer fabric with a chiffon drape, lined with dark red satin, two inner pockets, magnetic fastener. £60