And I'm Back!

This is my first blog post after an extremely long hiatus. I've taken the last two months off from working on Moose & Bear for a couple of reasons. The main one is that it's summer - the sun is shining, I'm spending more and more time outside with friends, and less time inside with wool and the internet. That has naturally led to a down-turn in productivity. I've also noticed that sales seem to go down in the summer (maybe just mine!) so that contributed to a sense of, well, not quite enniu, but certainly a feeling that there could be more fun things to do rather than promoting my shop and making cute stuff.

Summer is still going, but, like many crafty peeps, I'm already starting to get excited about Christmas. This will be my first real Christmas on Etsy (and also Dawanda - woo hoo for my new Euro site!), and I'm looking forward to it. I'm already planning lists of things I want to make, and even starting to make them. I am really going to be focused on amigurumis this year, because they are so cute and fuzzy. The only problem is that they take a while to make, hence the early preparation. My to-make list is 70 items long, and growing all the time - eeek! I also think that my felt badge with embroidered words will do well. I've also started to develop a line of embroidered scenes to hang in kids rooms - I really want them to do well, as I adore making them. However, I haven't noticed a huge number of them selling on Etsy, so it might be a bit hit or miss. I've posted a picture of my first one below. The last time I was posting, I was writing a lot about play food - well, I'm still pleasantly obssessed with that, so expect to see plenty of cakes and donuts in the store looking cute and edible.

I have had one major disappointment. Way back in February I was asked by a gallery to do some consignment work for them. They sent me some paperwork and I agreed. I finally received what was supposed to be my first payment in July, after chasing them for a couple of months. However, the cheque bounced. I complained, they sent me another cheque, but it has bounced again, and they are not responding to emails. Whenever I call, they tell me the manager will call me back. A sad story, and one that has put me off consignment forever. I just feel thoroughly ripped off. They contact a lot of British artists through Etsy, so I can't decide whether to name and shame so as to warn other people off....

Swoonsome!

I use Majaba a lot to track my views and hearts. It's a really nifty tool. But, really, the reason why I am loving Majaba a lot right now is because it has introduced me to Swoon - swoon.etsy.com. I heart swoon for lots of reasons - the gorgeous retro pants and camisoles, the fact that she is based in Inverness, the sheer deliciousness of their prints and designs. I just heart it all. I have never bought any clothes from Etsy before, but swoon has got me all tempted....

Check out my favourites below:

I'm so excited!!

Just a teeny post to celebrate my first sale on Pinkie Pixie!! Some lovely nice person bought 8, count 'em, 8 pendants!! All of my monster pendants are now gone, so I'll have to make some more. I'm sooooo pleased it's not true - first sale in my new store, and hopefully a sign of successes ahead!!

I'm not neglecting Moose and Bear though - new products being listed this weekend as soon as I get home. Work work work!!

Technology Free Zone!

I'm a bit of a technology-free zone at the moment. The reason is that I'm currently back at my family home in Belfast, looking after my mum who's having some back problems. She's getting much better, but just the way things are, I don't have half the amount of time to spend playing around online. That means, far less twitter, far less etsy-playing, far less internet in general. Instead, I've been working on my new scrabble tile pendants, and experimenting with what works well with them, and making up some crochet cakes for listing over the weekend. Do I miss the internet? Well, of course. It's a pretty much vital part of my little crafty business. Pls, right now, business hasn't been one hundred per cent booming, probably due to my lack of onlininess. However, productivity is up up up!!!


Sooo, these are my new scrabble tiles. I've made some of them using Japanese paper, but most are from old postcards from my rather embarassingly giant collection. I'm pretty glad that I've found a use for them. They've been sitting in a box in my flat for about 6 years waiting for me to say "yes! let's cut them up and stick them on stuff!". And now I have. Fabulous. They are available at my new store - Pinkie Pixie.

I'm a little conflicted about the tiles. On one hand, I think that they are totally goregous, and can definitely see them selling in local craft fairs as well as online. On the other hand, the Etsy community seems to have a weird relationship with them. They sell reasonably well, but they are a big trend there, and maybe I've lept on the bandwagon? But what is wrong with making what you like?

anxious to get back to cutting, sewing, stitching...

Real life has taken over. No seriously. I haven't had a chance to sit and make anything all because my in-laws are in town. They are staying in our super-tiny (one bedroom, one living room, one tiny kitchen and a bathroom) flat, and as you can imagine, things are a little tight. My flat was really made for about 1.5 people - even Ori and I don't fit in there sometimes! So I have been completely unable to get our my crochet and get hooking. I'm a bit upset about this, and I'm getting fidgety. I really want to go splurge on lots of supplies so that as soon as I get to crank open my bag, I will be armed and prepared with heaps of wool. Yes, I think will be caving on the supplies limits that I have imposed for the last couple of months. As I mentioned a few posts ago, I'm totally obsessed with making sweets and cakes right now, so hopefully I'll have a chance to finish off and photograph a couple to post this weekend.

On another note, I'm also really wanting to get on the scrabble tile pendant trend. I know that there are a lot of sellers in this boat already, but they look so amazingly cute to make, so I want to give it a try. I'm currently sourcing supplies as we speak. One of the really frustrating things to discover is that supplies in the US are sooo much easier to come buy, and much much cheaper. So I doubt I'll be able to compete on cost. It will have to be down to originality then. I have heaps and heaps of postcards that I have been collecting over the years and this is the perfect project to use them on. Unfortunately, this has resulted in me becoming totally addicted to ebay looking for tiles, vintage ephemera, and other bits and bobs. Wow! I can see how people get totally addicted. I may have accidentally bought around 600 scrabble tiles just through the sheer excitement of winning auctions. Yes, that is rather sad, isn't it? Particularly since I have no real idea if this will take off. I guess I can always sell them as destash on etsy at some point if I don't manage to get rid of them though.

I can't wait for the weekend to actually get back into making stuff!

crochet, summer days, and an amazing new find

Whilst I haven't been posting as much recently, I haven't been sitting around doing nothing. Truth be told, all the lovely sunny weather has kept me away from the computer a bit, and I've been satisfying my blogging through extensive twitter usage. I have also been enjoying making my latest critter - aren't these guys awesome? The middle chap is already for sale here. The other two are going on sale later this week. I have had a bit of a hard time thinking of what to call them. Paintgranny and AntiqueBasket think they are stumpies, which I'm happy with, but if anyone has any other suggestions, I'd be pleased to hear them. My boyfriend thinks they look like little pills - I guess they do a bit! Amigurumi happy pills!

Right now I'm really obsessed with making play food - I spent far too much time on flickr last night looking at some amazing stuff, so tonight I'm going to be experimenting with making a cake. I used to make crochet cupcakes, but I found that lots of people made them, so I couldn't really differentiate myself, but maybe I'll go back to them soon enough.



I was also reading the embroidery blog feeling stitchy where I came across the ohmigod amazing hensteeth. I absolutely adore ephemera, but I am completely hopeless at actually capturing the whimsical beauty that I want, and that hensteeth has managed to do so well here. This is embroidered on a vintage envelope, and it just takes my breath away it is so wonderful. She has a blog here, and an etsy store here as well. Go check it all out.

a rest is as good as a change...

It is no secret that I have been taking a break from crafting. I had been planning to take a week off; in fact, I ended up taking two. I find that a break here and there is great for the soul, and good for understanding why it is we do what it is we do. (I'm sure that's a song lyric that I have stolen from somewhere). I had a good time - reading books, running in the late evening sun, playing tennis, but I also caught myself being mildly bored by the internet (there is only so much jezebel, whowhatweardaily, and fashionista that a girl can read!), whilst watching tv (oh, who does any single thing at a time these days?!) but not doing anything about it. I've now realised that that extra time that I was being bored with - that's my craft time! So last night whilst watching brothers and sisters I started my new crochet monster, and I'm so happy! I was also enjoying crafting under my own steam. For the last two months or so, I have been crafting to deadline, as there were fairs I had to get ready for. Now, no longer! Just what I want to make, when I want to make it. No doubt I'll still make my super long lists of things I want to make, but this time I can actually experiment and get back to being chilled about it. I'm very excited and pleased about this. I'll be doing a good lot of crocheting I think over the next few weeks, before getting back to felt monsters and that sort of thing. I admit that I haven't been doing as much online promotion as I ought to have, but that's okay for the moment as well. I'll catch up with some myspacin' this week, and post a little on the forums and flickr, but taking a natural from everything one in a while is great for the soul.