blog blog blog

I have no excuses, im just really rubbish at keeping a blog ! i go through blog phases and i can feel one coming on. i have been working on a short story so my literary juices are flowing. Custom Ink is coming along just fine. i have started selling belts now too as a lot of people told me they wanted the cassette tape buckle but didn't have a snap belt to wear it on. I need to step up the mark a bit with promotion as sales are not coming as fast as i would like. Im off to brainstorm some ideas :)

vintage treasures

I was out at the weekend and managed to find myself a couple of vintage treasures from the car boot sale and charity shops ! Firstly I picked up this boxed "Kerplunk" game from maybe the 50s or 60s. Such a good find, i was so pleased i really love the illustration on the box, neato.





I also i got this excellent red vintage tie with little ships on it !


I was planning on keeping it for myself but i might just start a bit of a vintage section in my shop, what do you think ?

ship shirt !

As i mentioned before i got all the stuff i need to get busy with some screen printing. i have drawn up a pretty neat design and i am planning on getting it onto a screen this weekend. i sort of based the design on some traditional tattoos as im loving that whole style just now. I'm going to leave the text on the banner blank so people can customize their shirt to say what they want it to! im also going to print the swallow separately onto blue or red fabric and sew it on to give the shirt a few extra cool points !


im going to place the design so the boat is kind of where your heart is (except on the right hand side) and the swallow is on the collar bone type area. can't wait to see the finished thing !!

fruits of my labour !

A few days ago i featured some lovely folks from etsy who make felt foods and so forth. Well umecrafts was kind enough to send me the pattern for the plate of fruit i featured ! I was so excited i headed straight to the felt shop and got myself some supplies. Now apart from a few attempts at fashion creations and the odd phone cover iv not really sewn much but i was up for the challenge. I ended up getting really into it and i have now completed everything except the orange ! (im working on it but i thought id just post these guys up now).


What do you think ? It was a lot of fun and i'd recommend you try it !

I over estimated my felt supplies and now i have a tonne of felt left...so im thinking i might just try and create my own little monster...im inspired by some of these great creations:

Such a great design, from Ultrapunch i really love his little teeth :)
I also love this Monsicle by hungrylikewolf great idea :)

and this is Clarice and Clement, the one on the right looks a bit scared but they are monsters in love so would make a great gift for your significant other ! i found them in monda's shop

And last but not least, this one is a fantastic colour and i really love her facial expression, you can get hold of her at My Little Ooga Booga.

im thinking im being a bit ambitious here but i might just start drawing out some ideas and see where it goes from there !

The missing link

Hello blog fans ! Well as promised this entry is less egocentric (i have loads of blogs about my new items and plans on the way ;)). But for right now i thought id share some of my favorite sites with you. I'm sure some of you will know about a lot of these but maybe just one will stand out and give you something to do for the next few minutes :)

Ok this first one is a given, but i still think postsecret is worth a mention, new secrets are uploaded every sunday, and for those of you who are still in the dark ... PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously. It gives for some really interesting/ emotional reading and the designs of most of the postcards are magnificent. Well worth a look

The next site i am going to recommend is woostercollective if you like street art and graffiti then this is an ace site for you. They post fairly regularly with some of the worlds best street art. I absolutely love graffiti and tend to notice it on the streets more than others. I used to make my own stencils and spraying them on an old trash can is one of the best things iv ever done ! might get some more on the go soon :)

Numer 3 Instructables how toos for just about anything in the whole wide world.

still with me ? if you haven't disappeared off to look through a years worth of graffiti posts then my next recommendation is gumtree depending on where you live this site can be a real source of information, from freecycle, where people give away free things to save from throwing them out, to the community pages, which tell you everything from local car boot sales to upcoming events in your area, this site is great ! I also currently check it every day to see if i can get myself a job !


Ok and now for something completely different ! well maybe not, but im hoping you won't have heard of this one. Itsnicethat is an excellent site which posts up to 10 new arty links a day. Most of there posts are about up and coming artists so this is a great opportunity to hear about newbies first.

and last but not least zaxart Zak Smith uploads one picture from his sketchbook everyday, his life drawings are great so really worth having a peek at :)

I'll leave you with those for now, im planning on posting some pictures of my new ideas soon so keep your eyes peeled !

made in the shade

As i mentioned before feel fuzzy and i attended made in the shade in the lighthouse in glasgow a wee while back. This was our second craft fair, the first one being at morningside with edinburgh craft fair (as mentioned below). It went really well and the place was super busy all day. Here are some pictures of the day, most of my things are on the right are feel fuzzys is on the left. Thats her in the first pic :)










My brand spankin new ZX Spectrum rings sold best, folk were loving them so i have put one up on my etsy site. Its had a bit of interest and one heart but i think things sell differently online and in real life...

My canvases don't get much interest at all in real life but online they are doing really well. Suppose its just a completely different audience. Well thats enough about me. I have decided since there is so much amazing creative stuff on etsy I will feature some things i am loving from there when i can...so don't worry this blog wont be so egocentric !!

bannertastic

Yesterday i was just going for a bit of a charity shop hunt for neon tapes to make into belt buckles... as you do, and spotted that edinburgh craft fairs were using my icon on their banners ! I did a joint craft fair with feel fuzzy in morningside with edinburgh craft fairs about a month ago so they had a few of my images from then. I was so shocked and it totally made my day, i think they will be using those banners in Glasgow too so hopefully spread the word a bit ! I'l do a bit of a craft fair post at some point with pictures from my stalls.

Felt for thought

Well iv sproused up my blog a bit with an etsy mini with all my latest products, a list of links to the blogs i have been featured on, and a little counter at the bottom...so i suppose i better start spreading the word of my blog !

I am a big lover of play food but not such a lover of heaps of manufactured plastic which is why felt play food is one of my favorite things on etsy just now. I love this fruit selection and the best part is its a pattern so you can create it yourself ! the same site also do a selection of veg !
















you can get them from umecrafts










If your not up for making them yourself then theres plenty more felt foods out there, like this cute little apple from mytouchofaloha . Apples are really popular in the crafty world just now as are owls, its so strange how things sort of take off like that.


And these lovely cakes just make me hungry !


Goldilocks Barrettes Lupin

If felt is not your thing theres other materials out there like this crochet mallow, how cute ! from EternalSunshine




Theres all sorts of food on etsy from mostachioed oranges...


clairepayne

to this amazing full fish dinner from mclean2612




and i know ts not food, but this little guy is so unbelievably cute !

from littlegreengiraffe

Its my nieces birthday in october but i will definately making a few felt food purchases for her...well for me ;)

Mixing it up

hello, so it turns out im not so good at this blogging malarky as my crafting partner, Feel fuzzy (feelfuzzy.etsy.com) lucky for me some other folk are ! I was featured on Crafterbation a few weeks ago and the very next day someone bought the belt buckle they featured ! You can check the post out here:

http://www.crafterbation.org/2008/05/ru-mix-tapes/

and my newest mixtape buckle here:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11940082

and heres a few pictures of some other buckles I am punting just now ;)
I am going to start selling my buckles with the belts because i think thats the main thing putting folk off...

Local McLocalson

welcome to todays blog, so lets kick things off with a little definition of whats going on here. Im not big on definitions but when things are new its always wise. On what iv said so far im sure you have all gathered that i am all for hand made... but it does not stop there, im also all about local. supporting local talent and the like. Local communities and events and face to face interactions. A great example of eating local is a fine establishment called 'Local burger' currently as far as im aware its one of a kind. and its in the middle of Kansas so its not so local for us Edinburgers. but i did just so happen to spend the good part of a year in the wonderful Lawrence Kansas and so i was able to emerce myself in this cullenary delight.

"Local Burger is leading the evolution of fast food with fresh, organic, local, and sustainable fare that is free of unnatural additives and preservatives. At Local Burger, we consider the special diet, the environment, the economy, animal welfare, and the health of everyone who eats our
food. At Local Burger, you'll always know where your food came
from and exactly what's in it. Try it, you'll like it!"
- http://www.localburger.com/

Everything in the place is from within a very small local catchment area. its such a obvious idea but its fantastic. i believe it to be the future !

On another local note i am going to see 'The Planes' tonight at teviot underground in Edinburgh. They are a great local band with a lot of energy and some great lyrics. You can have a listen to them on their myspace at http://www.myspace.com/theplanesuk

I think il leave it there on the local note for now. Oh but here are some pictures from my screenprinting extravaganza yesterday !:

Buy Handmade !

Today i took the buy handmade pledge at http://www.buyhandmade.org/ because i think it is really important to support those of us out there who are putting in hard graft and filling every little item they make with love and hugs. The monotonus isles of any supermarket or high street shop need a refreshing list and handmade individual items are the answer. Robots will take over the world unless we wake up and smell the fairtrade coffee...but they are pretty cute.

Etsy (www.etsy.com) is a great example of the handmade revolution. It is a community based site and allows people to test the water with any handmade product they wish to sell. This opens up a whole world of cute kitch designs I have so many favorites but below are just a few of the many etsy crafts im in love with. During the course of this blog i will post more items to keep you in touch with the crafting community.














Little Hoff by Kezzaroo (www.kezzaroo.etsy.com)

Post Post Modern Necklace by brookadelphia (www.brookadelph

ia.etsy.com)

blue tractor fuzzy felt wallet by feel fuzzy (www.feelfuzzy.etsy.com)

Screenprinting

Hello blogfans, im going to kick off with a blog about screenprinting. Its my new chosen hobby although i haven't really got too far with it yet.

To get started I watched these two great videos on youtube:





(i recommend subscribing to the make youtube channel as well as the etsy one, they cover a lot of how tos and normally in a pretty quirky fun to watch way)

I found them both really informative and they didnt over complicate the process.

I then had a good look around the internet for some cheap stuff to ge me started. i found www.handprinted.co.uk to be the cheapest ( in the UK) but if you know of any others please tell me ! you can pick up a 12x16" screen there for £17 including postage. i got myslef 2 screens, 2 tubs of fabric paint, some photo emulsion with sensitiser, and a squeegee...all for a pretty decent price.

my first attempt was a bit iffy as i put on the emusion too thick but i am currently working on my next idea and will post some pictures up here once i get it done.

I am keen to screen print some ties, as seen on toybreakers etsy site: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=58778

This design is my favorite but they have such a wide selection and the prints are very high quality. At only $30 im definately considering one for my self.

My first screenprinted design will most likely feature an anatomically correct heart as its an image i am lving just now.

I think thats all i have to say on screen printing just now. Its just something that im dabbling in but in a few weeks im sure il have some finished products to share. see you tomorrow :)

This is the start of something big

This is my first post on my little soap box in the internet universe, otherwise known as my blog. Im going to be ambitious and say i am going to use this blog to change the world. Shoot for the stars and all that...What i really mean is I would just like to promote nice things that might make your day or someone elses day that little bit more important. My main area of interest right now is hand made crafty ideas but im also very excited about a lot of other things. The blog will introduce itself so you can get to know it...besides once you are reading this you have probably already read all the interesting delights iv written above.

Im a bit of a rambler but i will try to keep each entry about one thing so you can navigate your way around this solar system without too much difficulty.