The Etsy Midlanders Giveaway is Coming!

I'm a member of the Etsy Midlanders team - it's brilliant to be able to chat and support other crafters who are local to me. I'm currently organising 2 great big MYSTERY GIVEAWAYS with 9 other members of the team, so that means that there are going to be 10 lucky winners over the next few months. I thought I'd give you a sneak preview of the work (not necessarily the prizes!!!) of Etsy sellers who are going to be contributing to the giveaway... There'll be more information on the Etsy Midlanders blog really soon so call back here or there soon! PepperPi Collectible plush characters... Sarah Myatt Glass Gorgeous jewellery... Jacksknits Cute knits.. Vintage Finds Fun vintage.... Anna Clifton Jewellery Fabulous contemporary and eco-friendly jewellery... Brimborion One of a kind brooches, dolls and more... Lewesia Glass Beautiful hand-painted glass... Vintage Wants Not Needs Lovely vintage finds... kjmakes More amazing handmade jewellery... Craft Matters My crocheted and hand-sewn accessories:

Dear me...

I have been so lax recently! I guess it's a busy time of year but I find it so frustrating - I have lots of bits and bobs to post about but something always seems to come up before I get to write it down! However, I have 1/2 an hour before dinner so will make an effort to complete a post before then.

I think I'm done with Christmas stockings for a while (or at least the ones I came up with - I am in the process of copying someone else's work for a friend) & it made a LOVELY change to make some hairclips for an alchemy order on Etsy. Here they are (see left)... Don't they look pretty & spring-like!! I made them for Caroline who has her own Etsy shop called Seawood Designs. In return I acquired one of her gorgeous art rolls (see right) - which are pretty AND practical - always a winning combination. Caroline also makes gorgeous crochet cakes which have proved incredibly popular - I think she might be trying to set some kind of record for cakes crocheted!

I also had some last minute orders from the USA for Christmas pudding decorations & had to rush to get them done in time for the last posting date. I thought I could practically make them in my sleep by now, but it appears not. Whilst I was watching the last episode of the excellent 'The Devil's Whore' the other night I tried to make a pudding with 6 sections instead of the usual 4. Possibly I was distracted by the brilliant John Simm..

I'm told I need to go and 'encourage' the boys to tidy up - so I'm off again. But I'm aiming for another post very soon...really!

Lovely breastfeeding watercolours on Etsy...

An online friend of mine has obviously been working really hard to open her Etsy shop. Ann-Marie creates beautiful watercolours & her current subjects are breastfeeding & babywearing. I was very excited to learn that this piece is her interpretation of a photo of me breastfeeding one of my sons in hospital just after his birth (nearly 5 years ago now!!!).This is the photo it was based on - you can see from all the tubes etc., that I was pretty out of it, but very very happy. I think Ann-Marie's work really captures that feeling in a very dynamic way. I am very much looking forward to seeing her babywearing pictures too.

She's obviously also very talented in other ways because she has some really fun sock monkeys & sock monsters too. I hope her shop is a big success for her. Selling on Etsy can be a real rollercoaster but a very enjoyable one!

UK Etsy Sellers (part 2) - Vintage Inspiration

This post has been brewing for a while but I have been so so busy lately I just haven't had time to get it finished. I have been blogging over on Seasonal Matters about my jam making activities, making a ton of biscuits whilst we've had the plumbers in & working on a new messenger-style bag & some very cute crochet & fabric pin cushions. And of course there has been the football & the tennis to distract me. Thank goodness there is a short window before the Olympics starts up.

I'll probably end up adding to this post over time - there is some lovely stuff out there and I am sure that I'm going to find more as I do more exploring. One lesson that's come out of my searches is that a lot of people don't use the tagging system on Etsy very effectively. I must confess that I didn't think to tag my stuff with 'UK' until I noticed it in someone else's shop, but it really is important if you want UK buyers to find you.

Anyway, this time my theme is folks who make use of or who sell vintage materials. First up is Pouch - I love them so much I actually bought something (a most beautiful belt - see left) from them which is totally ace. The fabric is really reminiscent of the curtains of our family caravan in the 1970s so I have a sunny holiday feeling every time I wear it. That's one of the attractions of vintage of course - different fabrics & styles have happy associations with people & places we have loved. Pouch have a great blog too which is well worth a look.

I am a huge fan of the dresses at Vintage Vacations - if only they had any in my size at the moment (I am assured that they are on their way!). I really love the way that the vintage fabrics have been used with real imagination & style. Helen says she especially loves vintage table linens & that really shows in the way she makes use of them.

Abi Bansal Designs is another shop where great use is made of vintage fabrics - primarily in bags. If I didn't make bags myself then I would definitely turn here if I wanted a new one! There are some great designs for bags (see left) & clothes here too & the shop owner also has a lovely blog that is well worth a look.

One more for now & that's Ruby C Quin's. There are some fabulous vintage buttons here & a really excellent selection of vintage sewing & knitting patterns. This doesn't really count as vintage but I wanted to include the very beautiful sea glass that the seller collects & sells. It really is gorgeous & reminds me again of family holidays. I spent vast amounts of time myself on Scottish holidays collecting sea glass. My mum & dad weren't too impressed that I filled up the car with carrier bags full of all this sandy stuff. What a really good idea to sell it.

So, that's it for now. It's taken me about 2 weeks for me to write this post. Hopefully the next one wont be quite so slooooow.

Some UK based suppliers on Etsy - Part 1

People selling pretty things... mainly for sewing with

Etsy sure is big... I love it so, but sometimes I find it so overwhelming - all that inspiration - all that beautiful stuff - so little time - so little money. It's particularly frustrating if you want to find sellers based in the UK so you can cut down your postage costs. So I've been doing a bit of searching & trawling & here are some of the fabric/buttons/other fabricky stuff suppliers that I like the look of.

OOOh! Vin Papa is fab! What a really pleasing collection of vintage buttons! And there's something about buying buttons that makes you feel like you are actually spending your money on something really useful. The ones pictured are particularly smashing I think but there is masses to choos from.

Namolio - beautiful linen fabric, cord, ribbon & tape. Love the selection of colours available - this shop is impeccably tasteful.


Pink Pearls - some very interested bits & pieces - definitely my kind of taste when it comes to fabric (see lovely pictured tweed fabric).

Tiny Island has some (just a few) very pretty fat quarters.

Big Fish has some lovely collections of buttons & felt in great colours (althoughI prefer to work with felt with a higher wool content).

So there you go - I'm going to try & do more in this series soon but by golly it makes my brain hurt (& my wallet ache).

Sadly as at Dec 31 2009 Vin Papa is no longer trading.