Something for everyone

Square handmade notebook with embroidery, sequins & beads

Last week I held my Grand Autumn Giveaway to celebrate my success at having achieved 100 sales in my folksy shop.  Participants who wanted to be entered for the draw had to browse all the notebooks and journals in my shop, and then leave a comment as to which one was their favourite.  For me, it was a fascinating exercise because nearly everyone picked a different favourite – only two people picked the same notebook or journal.  This suggests to me that my shop offers something for everyone!



Set of Three notebooks

A5 Journal or Sketchbook

I love creating notebooks and journals.  They have lately become a real passion.  I am constantly thinking up ideas for new ones, and can’t wait to get started, but whilst my ideas flow there is not enough hours in the day to achieve all that I would like!

Wedding Journal

A5 fabric Journal or Sketchbook

When I started out making journals I purchased a number of good quality, but fairly cheap A5 sketchbooks.  I wanted to use my stash of lace, so I started out by using linen as a base and then I layered lots of lace over the linen and stitched until I was satisfied with the result.  The final layer was the best layer because it allowed me to be as creative as I chose.  I often wanted to have an image (this was printed on linen) and then lots of decoration with beads, guipure flowers, appliqué and more lace!  I now only have one of these original journals remaining in my folksy shop.

A6 Handmade note book with silk brocade

A6 Handmade note book with embroidered silk cover

 

I love experimenting with new ideas so that is why you will such a huge selection of different notebooks and journals.  In March this year I was inspired by the work of Helen Cowans.  I met Helen at the Sewing for Pleasure, Hobbycrafts, and Fashion, Stitch & Embroidery show at the NEC. Her work is amazing, fabulous, gorgeous, and I was really taken with it when I was at the show.  I love collage and I have been doing it for a number of years.  Helen’s work uses fabric, vintage lace, photographic images, buttons etc. and these were all elements that I had used in my work.

Children’s notebooks

A6 Note book - Shades of Purple

This led me to experiment with different ways of creating journals and notebooks and the “A6 Note book - Shades of Purple” and “A6 vintage style reusable cover with note book” are classic examples of this new style which I developed.  I love them, but they have not been all that successful as sellers – I have sold a few, but clearly it is not what people are looking for in a notebook or journal.

Fleur de Lys notebook

A6 vintage style reusable cover with note book

Not being someone who stands still! I was keen to develop my skills further and decided to teach myself how to make journals and notebooks from scratch.  This involved purchasing some books on making books, and bookbinding, and doing some reading and research. Then I needed to practice what I had learned to achieve what I wanted to do.  These new handmade notebooks and journals are what have mostly been selected by people who took part in the giveaway.  However, they do tend to dominate my folksy shop at the moment!  I have sold a few and I am hopeful that I will sell a few more – fingers crossed!

Travel journal

The selection of notebooks and journals displayed above are all available in my folksy shop and are the favourites of all those who entered my giveaway.  I think you will see what I mean about there being something for everyone!

Please click on the photos and have a browse – you never know you might find one that you like enough to want to buy it.  They would all make great gifts for Christmas!

 

BFN

Edwina

Grand Autumn Giveaway

Welcome to my blog.  Today I am celebrating 100 sales in my folksy shop!  I don’t think I ever thought about achieving this milestone.  As each month passes, if I have any sales, it is really lovely and such a nice bonus!  I love doing what I do, creating beautiful bags, purses, notebooks and journals.  I love all kinds of fabric, lace, buttons, ribbon, and I find it very exciting choosing and combining the materials that I have into something special and unique.

Autumn is a lovely time of the year so as well as having a giveaway, I am featuring some lovely autumnal items from the September Sellers daily listing club.  Aren’t they just beautiful?

 

For my Grand Autumn Giveaway I am looking for two lucky people – the Winner and a Runner up.

The Winner will receive:
 

v A beautiful tapestry fabric clutch bag with black velvet ribbon and lace trim and a vintage button closure.
 

v A large brocade fabric bag with white drawstring closure and handle. 
 

v A lovely A6 notebook.

   

The Runner up will receive:

 

v A vintage style bag with wrist handle made from burgundy faux suede, and burgundy wool fabric. This has a pink sequin and lace trim on the front.

 

v A burgundy corded fabric purse with an appliqué of a boat on the front.

v A lovely A6 address book.

All the giveaway prizes will make lovely gifts, if you decide not to keep them for yourself. 
 

What do you have to do to enter? 

In my folksyshop I have a number of notebooks and journals for sale. What I would like you to do is browse them all and choose your favourite. Please leave a comment on this post as to why it is your favourite notebook or journal.  Simple?  All the folk who make a comment will be entered into the draw. The Giveaway will close at 9pm on Wednesday 12th September 2012.  The Winner and Runner up will be chosen randomly and I assure you it will be done very fairly.  I will notify the winner and runner up and post the results on my blog. Good luck!

 

Finally, I hope you have enjoyed looking at the lovely items from the September Sellers daily listing club.  Do click on the photo and it will take you directly to their shop.  There have been some really fabulous items listed recently, and it has been really difficult to choose a small selection! Enjoy!

 

 

BFN

Edwina

PHOTOS

Top to Bottom: NOfkantsCurios, Creative Treasures, FlowaPowa Art, Deborah Jones Jewellery, Ello Design, Audrey's Cat.

 

AND THE WINNER IS....

 

Many thanks for all who entered my Grand Autumn Giveaway.  The draw has been done and it is congratulations to:

 

• Silver Moss Jewellery - the Winner
• Helenjanesdesigns - the Runner Up

I shall be having another giveaway next month to celebrate one year on folksy so do look out for that one!

All the best,
Edwina

 

Crafting with Glass

Last bank holiday weekend my friend and I went to Shrugborough Estate near Stafford.  It was one of those rare days this summer when it was warm and dry.  We had a lovely wander around the estate including visiting the arboretum and walking the sculpture trail.  They have some beautiful highland cattle and other animals on the Estate.  At the craft workshops we met this amazing glass artist who does some beautiful work, turning empty spirit bottles into cheese boards, creating fabulous jewellery, vases, tea lights, mirrors and other items.  We really enjoyed chatting about her work and admiring her craft.

This inspired me to look at items on folksy and here you have my glass theme blog post.  I just love all the colours and the animals.  I hope you enjoy the small selection I have chosen.  If you click on the photo it will take you directly to the shop on Folksy - why not stop and have a browse?

Shrugborough estate is 900 acres of stunning parkland and riverside gardens.  It has a very elegant mansion house (see photo)|, working Victorian servants’ quarters|, a Georgian farm|, dairy & mill| and a restored walled garden|.   Within the stunning parkland there are magnificent monuments to discover.  I particularly enjoyed stumbling across these gems.  Do check out the gambling house if you go for a visit!

 

 

 

The estate features a land train ride, play park, restaurant & tea rooms, craft  workshops, and a gift shop.  It is well worth a visit.  We visited the tea rooms after our walk around the estate and enjoyed a drink and cake sitting outside (that was treat in itself, given the awful weather we have had this summer!)

 

I hope you have enjoyed hearing about Shrugborough estate and looking at the wonderful items available on folksy.  I have joined the September Sellers daily listing club this month and will be listing new items every day, so please check out my shop!  If you have started your Christmas shopping early please do have a browse.  Many of the items in my shop are suitable as gifts and very reasonably priced.  Here are a couple of items that I have listed already this month!

 

BFN

Edwina

TOP TO BOTTOM: Carole's Glass, Sue Whyte Stained Glass, Phoenix Glass, Stained Glass Art Designs, Caro Fusion, Bex by Design, Handmade by Edwina.

 

Seeing Red

Every month my friend Catherine and I spend one day visiting an art gallery.  We have visited quite a number in the West Midlands area (often several times!) including Wolverhampton Museum and Art Gallery,  Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Compton Verney, New Art Gallery, Walsall, Herbert Museum and Art Gallery, Coventry, the Barber Institute to name a few.  

 

We have also travelled as far as Oxford and visited the Ashmolean Museum and Art Gallery as well as the Oxford Modern Art Gallery.  We enjoy these visits very much and have interesting discussions about the exhibitions we visit.  Sometimes we take photographs, or if there is enough time we pull out our drawing materials and attempt to do some sketching.

We often decide that there are exhibits that we like, but also others that we hate.  Mostly, I am looking for that extraordinary unique piece of Art that stands out above everything else, something that has me saying “Wow!”  To me, looking at Art or Sculpture, or Textiles or whatever piece it is, is all about the “Seeing”.  What I, or you see; what the artist sees; and often I try to get inside the artist’s head to see what they are seeing, and then I ask myself: What they are trying to say with their Art?  It is a question that is not always clearly answered, but it gives me food for thought.

When I thinking about what to write for this post I had also been thinking about making a Pinterest board using the colour red as my theme, so I decided to link the two together and so here you have my “seeing red” post!

 

Seeing red often means a state of irritation or annoyance.  It is often associated with becoming angry or losing self-control.  The colour red has many associations - heat, heated emotions and violence, communism, a sign of warning (as in traffic lights etc), ripeness (in fruit etc), and of course, blood.  Seeing red has many other associations.

 

 

For me, “seeing red” is also about seeing something unique, something beautiful, seeing something that catches my eye, or stops me in my tracks!  I selected a small number of red craft items from folksy and have used them to illustrate this blog post.  Red is a popular colour and there are thousands of craft items on folksy that have red as the principle colour.  I do hope you have enjoyed my selection, and liked “seeing red”.

 

 

If you are interested in seeing the full Pinterest board that I have created then here is the link.

http://pinterest.com/craftedwina/seeing-red-on-folksy/

 

BFN

Edwina

TOP TO BOTTOM:  Handmade by Edwina, Dottery Pottery, Maisy Muffin Rag Dolls, noodleBubble, Abyjem handcrafted jewellery, Handmade by Mrs. K, Raven's Stained Glass, Marthamoo Beads.

 

Buying and Selling on Folksy

So far August has been a great month for selling items from my folksy shop.  I have sold four items since the 1^st August 2012.  I thought I would show them to you because they also show the variety of items available in my shop.   But when I have sales, I am keen for opportunities to purchase from folksy.  I love buying from folksy and I will show you what I have purchased since the beginning of the month!

The denim purse was a sale item because it has been around for a while and I thought it was time it found a new home!  When I started out making purses I did a lot of appliqué in this style which came from Poppy Treffry after reading her book “Free & Easy Stitch Style”.  I liked her style and wanted to experiment with it.  I was very proud of what I achieved because I was then very new to sewing, and also using a sewing machine!  I still have a butterfly purse available in my shop sale section which came from the same time – no idea why this hasn’t sold!?

When I saw that I had sold my vintage lace bag I had mixed feelings.  I was over the moon for getting a sale, but it was tinged with real sadness!  I loved this bag, and because of the price I felt fairly confident that I wouldn’t sell it!  Some lovely buyer proved me wrong!  I didn’t have any feedback from the buyer because it was a guest login, so I have no idea what they thought when they received it!!?

I was totally delighted when I saw that I had sold my Owls tote.  This was a beautiful tote and deserved a new home.  It is wonderful when you sell items you have worked on with love and care, choosing the fabric and using a design you have created.  It is the best feeling when someone appreciates it enough to buy it.  Again, sadly I didn’t receive any feedback on this purchase because it was another guest login.

Love Buttons

Will you or will you not be surprised that I spent some money on buttons?!  Yes, my old favourite.  Just can’t get enough of them.  I have thousands of them – in fact I could open a shop on folksy I have so many buttons available that it would be instantly fully stocked!



Love Buttons



Of course, I had to have some more buttons too!  These are so pretty and unusual with the lovely weave pattern.  I love the colour too!

Vintage Dreams


So I purchased the buttons and now some vintage lace.  Again, I cannot get enough of this wonderful item.  I have lots and lots of lace in my stash, but there is always room for more!  This vintage lace is particularly beautiful, and I really need to come up with an idea for something special to use it for.  But, for the meantime I am content to handle it and admire it.  Aren’t you jealous?  Aren’t I lucky!?

Di Keeble Beads and Jewellery

I don’t buy jewellery except earrings occasionally, but I do love these bag charms and have purchased a few from folksy.  I gave one to my sister for her birthday and she loved it.  They make great gifts.  I haven’t decided what to do with this one, but I am so glad I purchased it.  It is so beautiful.

Material girl

Yes!  More lace!  What can I say?  I am addicted!  This lace you will be interested to know is better than the photo.  The photo really doesn’t do it justice.  It is lovely and I have an idea for how I am going to use this lace.  Just need some time so that I can work on the project, but I am confident this vintage lace is going to be perfect for what I have in mind!

Creative Treasures

OK more buttons?  Just couldn’t resist them!  Teresa from “Creative Treasures” makes the most fabulous jewellery, and if I wore jewellery I would certainly be purchasing jewellery from her wonderful shop.  When I saw the buttons, I thought WOW!  (I don’t have any polymer clay buttons.)  I have trillions of other buttons in all kinds of materials, but nothing in polymer clay.  Isn’t that sad, kind of?  But I love them.  I’m sorry I do.  They are perfect for projects and I am sure it won’t be long before I find a use for them!  Teresa has lots more beautiful buttons so do check them out AND the most amazing jewellery.

So there you have it buying and selling on folksy.  I do hope you will check out the sellers shops because they have lots more beautiful items for sale – don’t be put off by my choices.  I am sure they will all have something you will love.  “Vintage dreams” is a lovely shop.  I am a romantic at heart and I love this shop and its contents because it makes me feel so romantic!

Finally, do have a look in my folksy shop – my sale section has some lovely bargains and I am adding to the stock regularly, so I am sure you find something you haven’t seen before!

BFN

Edwina

Have you seen Titan the Robot?

“Craftsmanship is doing what you love and doing it right.”

Every year for the past six years Titan the Robot comes to my home town on a day in August.  I first took my niece to see him when she was four years old and she was terrified of him.  She told me that her legs felt like jelly. All she wanted to do was run and hide from him. (A bit difficult with jelly legs though!)

Now six years later Emily stands so close to Titan she gets get soaked when he spurts out water from his eyes!  Over the years, going to see Titan has become an annual family tradition in August.  This year Emily invited two of her friends to come with her.  Also,this year my other niece and her three year old son came to see the spectacle that is Titan the Robot.

You might ask: What has Titan the Robot got to do with crafting? I believe that Titan the Robot is a supreme example of technological craftsmanship and my theme for this blog post is about craftsmanship. 

 

Craftsmanship encompasses great skill, passion, experience, creativity, innovation, knowledge, and quality.  The uniqueness of handmade, as opposed to mass produced, is that the craftsmanship is owned by the individual maker.  I am confident that all the crafty folk on folksy desire to be the best at their craft and to exercise excellent craftsmanship.

When you take a theme like craftsmanship it is quite difficult, because folksy is full of items that demonstrate craftsmanship – so what do I choose to illustrate my blog post?

I could have chosen and infinite number of items, but I had to restrict myself to a few.  In the end I just chose items I liked, but I also chose sellers that I thought demonstrated surperb craftmanship, and I have not previously included on my blog (I think!).

Titan the Robot is entertaining and apart from the few children who were scared or crying, the majority of children and adults were in awe of this technological wonder who sings, farts, cries, tells jokes, and seduces the audience, etc. As my niece has proved, the scared children of today will grow up to love him, as she does!

The idea that Titan the Robot is a “show off” must resonate with all crafters.  We want to show off our best creations, don’t we?  We want to hear people say “WOW”.  We want people to be in awe of what we have achieved through skill, passion and dedication to our craft.  Is this what you want too?

“Love your craft every day.”

Loving what you do and practising daily will enhance our skills and creativity.  I enjoy what I do and if I am distracted by other things in life then I can’t wait to get back to being creative!  If I have what I call a “non-crafting” day, then I always promise myself that the following day, if feasible, will be a crafting day. 

I hope you have enjoyed looking at my chosen items for this blog on craftsmanship.  As always if you click on the photo it will take you directly to the sellers shop.  Please visit my folksy shop too where I have many items for sale and I hope they “show off” my craftsmanship.  But I know one thing they will not be: they will not be as entertaining as Titan the Robot!

BFN

Edwina

TOP TO BOTTOM: Funky Mosaics, Far Up North, Margosha, Creative Treasures, Patchwork Castle, Far Up North, SESH, gemmaclarkhome, Handmade by Edwina