Sleepy cashmere rabbit

This is the little item I mentioned a while back that I was working on after City of Craft. She's a very small rabbit made from cashmere wool knit fabric and she has a little floral dress with lace trim, a crocheted lace cap and blue and white polka dot bag.

She's in my shop as of today, along with lots of wristlets and the last chickadee clutch. I've been meaning to list these things for some time. It seems my inspiration to take photos doesn't always go along with sunny days. But I've done my best!

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New camera, new shop

I have a new camera! I'm quite excited about it, but please note I haven't read the manual yet. Due to a modest budget, I bought it on craigslist, but to me it's pretty fancy. It's a Canon Rebel XT and I'm so happy to finally have a DSLR after using my little point and shoot for so long. (I used to love my old SLR but couldn't cope with film anymore.)

So to celebrate, there's lots of new things in the shop today, including the little coin pouch pictured above. It started with a fabulous super-wide vintage tie that I had to buy despite the fact that buying a tie for the fabric doesn't make too much sense. It had a hole in it, so I had no compunction about pulling it apart, washing it and cutting out pieces for my pouches. It turns out you can get a surprising amount of fabric from a nice wide vintage tie. I have more of these pouches in a variety of sizes so if you have a request let me know and I'll add it to the shop.

Oddly, the final motivation to get the new camera was those blue quilted pouches (mentioned in my last post) whose colour just wasn't coming out right in the photos. And in the end the blue wasn't quite right with the new camera either. I guess it's just a hard-to-capture blue. Is there such a thing? I'm not sure but I'll be doing my best and getting those into the shop shortly as well.

And sometimes it doesn't matter what the motivation is if it works out in the end. I'm very happy with my new camera. Good-bye autofocus!

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Quilted pouches

I've been taking a little blogging holiday this summer, apparently. So here's a little post just to get back into the habit, some new quilted pouches that are making their way into my shop today... The colours of some of them didn't come out quite right in the photographs so I'm fussing with them, but the first three are in there now.

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Green treasury

I found another helpful page for blogging Etsy Treasuries on Craft Cult. Even more fun, you can enter your Etsy name and it will give you a list of Treasuries that you are featured in or that you have made. I've been featured in 37 Treasuries!

Here's a sample of the widget showing a new treasury by Andrea. I love green and I thought it was perfect for feeling like Spring is around the corner. Andrea's blog, Andrea Creates, is really nice too, you can have a peek here.



I love figuring out new things like this because sometimes there are just too many technical things out there. It can feel overwhelming at times and hard to keep up. Although I think I'm inordinately proud of figuring out things it takes 10 minutes to look up online...

p.s. I keep meaning to mention it, but I also have a few wristlets for sale at Nathalie-Roze & Co. They're tucked here and there around the shop.

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Springtime happiness

'springtime happiness' by NeedleBook

pretty items that make me think of spring!

labastellerieb... $3.50	fernanimals $60.00	kalenastudio $8.20
andreacreates $10.00	PonderandStitc... $24.00	CactusAndOlive $36.00
fieldguided $45.00	genevievejodou... $20.00	stitchface $30.00
babybomb $25.00	besideherself $14.00	SarahMcNeil $22.00
carmentatting $12.00	honeycup $10.00	sansmap $148.00

Treasury tool is sponsored by Lazzia.com A/B image testing.

For a while I was finding it harder to find things I liked on Etsy. It got so huge that any time I searched there were just too many choices. Lately I've been spending a lot of time there and really loving some of the new features.

First of all they have a Circle feature where you connect with people you know and shops you admire. It's also easier to create a Treasury. And finally there's your own Activity page where you can see things that people in your Circle have chosen as favourites or put in a Treasury. I can also see when someone adds one of my items or my shop to their favourites. I love that.

I'm happy to say I finally got around to making my first Etsy Treasury. And I found a helpful site called whale shark websites that makes it possible to add your Treasury to your blog with clickable pictures instead of a screen capture.

After a miserable week being sick, I thought I'd turn my thoughts to Spring. I love those first days when it's cool but you can leave your window open. I don't mind leftover bits of snow and mud when the spring flowers show up!

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Etsy coupon code!

Grandma Moses barkcloth yellow wristlet

Etsy now has the option to create coupon codes, so I decided to give it a try. I've been meaning to try it ever since I heard about it in one of the Etsy tips for sellers emails. It turned out to be really easy. Just for January, use the code JANUARY20 to get 20% off everything in the Needle Book shop!

retro 70s floral wristlet

I think that's a good discount as I usually try to price things as affordably as possible in the first place. But I know shoppers need to be tempted once the holidays are over. I'm the same way.

pink barkcloth floral wristlet

There are lots of wristlets in there now, the needle books I showed in my last post, and some of the larger sweethaven bags. Trust me, that blue-green floral messenger-style version of the sweethaven is really nice, I wanted to keep it myself!

Grandma Moses horses and cart barkcloth wristlet

There are more wristlets in the shop, these are just a sample. Anyway, if you have an Etsy shop yourself, the new coupon code is so easy to set up, just pick a name, add the percentage and you can activate and deactivate it whenever you like.

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Needle books in the shop!

blue floral cotton needle book

I've been updating my shop this week with lots of wristlets, but forgot to mention I have some new needle books in the shop. I've made a few in a new style with vintage floral fabrics on the covers. The one above is a blue green floral with a teal blue lining.

There's also a soft pink and yellow vintage floral with a sweet Lecien My Folkore lining:

vintage floral cotton needle book

And a mustard, khaki, blue-grey and orange floral lined with soft fawn wool:

Mustard, khaki, orange and blue-grey floral needle book

There are also a couple of the red and pink embroidered ones left:

pink floral embroidered needle book

And just one last robot needle book! This one is lined with Japanese robot print fabric from the workroom. The embroidered robot on the cover looks a little worried, like no one is going to pick him...

robot embroidered needle book

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Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! My main resolution is to not treat our living room like my own personal arts and crafts studio. I'm also putting some new things into the shop, including this brand new messenger bag, perfect for a fresh new year of organization. The main feature is so many pockets that there's no excuse to have all your stuff rattling around inside.

The general consensus seems to be that the longer strap is more appealing and I can certainly understand that. So this bag has the long strap that you can wear crosswise and keep your stuff secure and your hands free.

I have a few things left from City of Craft, so if there was anything you saw on my blog (or in person) that you would like, just drop me a line and I'll put it in the shop. There's no obligation to buy, but you will motivate me to get it in there and then you have a chance to see and/or buy it. I just don't get around to listing all the things I have!

p.s. do you love all things tiny? Visit my new blog tiny handmade.

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Buying Handmade - p.s. robot friend

Imaginary Thomas

miniature toy robot

There are lots of robots on etsy, but these tiny ones caught my eye. I find them a bit spooky in a Doctor-Who-don't-know-what's-under-the-bed kind of way and wouldn't want them scuttling around at night while I'm asleep, but they're also kind of cute. Luckily they are "guaranteed deactivated" so safe to have around the home. And, they're made from upcycled materials so you can even feel good about that. Thomas has lots of interesting creations, have a look at his website for more projects and artwork.

Today I'm busy sewing as I have two craft shows this weekend. I'll be at Crafternoon Tea this Saturday:

WHEN: Saturday November 27th, 11am to 5pm
WHERE: Queen St. East Presb. Church (Queen E. & Carlaw)



Then at the Artisan Gift Fair at the Tranzac on Sunday:

WHEN: Sunday November 28th, 12 to 6pm
WHERE: The Tranzac, 292 Brunswick Avenue

I hope you come and visit!

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Buying Handmade - part three

Very moldy business card case

This post is all about gifts for guys. Harder to shop for, right? I think so anyway. I used to think I could just get Bradley anything with a robot on it and he would be happy. But after I asked him to look for things on etsy he thought guys would like, I was surprised by the results. This is the history of keywords he looked up:

zelda triforce, musette, tour de france, cycling, lumberjack, axe, army of darkness, new pornographers, wolf parade, animal collective music, band of horses, grizzly bear, firefly mal, walking dead, himym, the wire hbo, deadwood, community troy abed, cuff links, dice, deck cards, wooden pen, wire puzzles, geocaching, camping.....robot friend


Not everything had results but maybe that gave you some ideas! My general suggestions are: wool socks, wristwatch, toiletry bag, coffee cup, coffee cup cosy, messenger bag, ipod cosy, ipad etc. cosy, artwork, passport case, notebook, pen, wallet. Anyway, here are my picks:

ELINtm:

ipod touch sleeve in felt with mold decoration

I've been admiring this shop for some time now, fascinated by the notion of embellishing handmade items with crocheted mold and lichen. And the results are stunning! I love how Elin captures a variety of textures with her choices of yarn and stitches. Each piece is a beautiful microscopic landscape.

anotherjamiedavis:

green tree toiletry bag

Jamie takes vintage items and adds her own wood grain embroidery. What a great idea! The embroidery really updates each piece and makes it so cool. I like them myself, but they're definitely manly. Practical too, this would be the perfect toiletry case to take on a camping trip.

Kate Pugsley:

ice fishermen gocco screen print

For artwork I picked one of Kate Pugsley's gocco screen prints. The details are actually hand-painted with watercolors. This print has an elegantly subtle palette and charming naive style (and I thought the ice fishing would be a good guy choice!) Kate's artwork is occasionally embellished with collage elements such as pretty patterned papers, and I love the seaside themes, with mermaids, fish and snorkelers.

The Maple Ridge:

antelien original ink drawing

And another piece of art, this time an original ink drawing. Click on the link and read the description yourself, very funny. And, also, how affordable is this original artwork? The mind reels.

So I hope my post gave you some ideas about shopping for guys. If you have any ideas yourself I'd love to hear about them in a comment!

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Buying Handmade - part two

As promised, more handmade shopping inspiration!

strawberries and cream:

woolen monkey

Does your little monkey need a little monkey? Etsy makes me wish I had more kids to buy for, so many cute things! I love this monkey's plaid jumpsuit. He looks a little perplexed: why am I still here? why hasn't anyone bought me yet??

fox and clover:

remnes lace necklace

I can't say enough about this talented artist! Sabrina's necklaces are made from recycled glass and hand-painted with beautiful lace/nature-inspired patterns. Bradley gave me one for our anniversary and to say it is a treasured possession is an understatement! Absolutely beautiful.

amanda kindregan:

egg basket block print

I love pretty much all printmaking techniques, especially when they have a textured look to them and charming content such as this "egg basket" block print. This print is part of Amanda's "happy kitchen"" series so you could even have a little grouping of them!

Part three coming up soon...

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Buying Handmade - part one

I think it's probably obvious that I'm a handmade kind of person. I buy handmade things, and I sell handmade things, and if I'm lucky I occasionally get to swap handmade things. This is great because to be frank most of us aren't getting rich selling handmade and I'm constantly surrounded by talented crafters and artists whose work I covet.

This holiday I'll be making handmade items for gifts and for upcoming craft shows. Over the years I've found lots of presents myself at craft shows and I love skipping the mall and finding something that's one-of-a-kind and didn't come from a factory. To inspire you, I thought I'd post some of my favourite handmade treats.

Ponder and Stitch:

vintage feedsack cuff

This is a lovely cuff made from vintage feedsack. Amy also offers made-to-order cuffs with custom embroidery. Her shop is popular so dash over there early if you're looking for a holiday gift!

Sadie Designs:

birch and gold geometric necklace

I've been admiring these necklaces for a while now. They're made with birch wood in geometric patterns. So cool!

MinusOne:

Now, how can you go wrong with barkcloth? It's a great search word to use if you want to find something special. This oversized pincushion is just one of many gorgeous items in this artfire shop. I also love the pretty vintage-style necklaces.

More to come in my next post!

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Crafternoon Tea - You're invited!

I was thrilled to be chosen for Crafternoon Tea this year. It's a Leslieville craft show that I've visited a few times and I've always loved the warm friendly vibe and amazing mix of talent.

Barkcloth Lady by a River wristlet

I'm busy making new things, many of which are sneaking their way into my etsy shop in the meantime.

Mustard-linen owl-embroidered needle book

Snowy Forest with Deer

The day of the market I'll be closing the etsy shop, then before reopening I'll delete things that get sold at Crafternoon Tea. This will probably be my only craft show this winter/Christmas so please come by!

When: Saturday November 27th, 11am to 5pm
Where: Queen St. East Presb. Church (Queen E. & Carlaw)

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New items in my shop!

There are lots of new things in my shop now...

I just needed to get started with updating it again. I had some new wristlets ready, particularly two in one of my favourite barkcloth prints, a painting by Grandma Moses. The bits I've picked are snowy woods, one of them with a little cottage:

 I had a navy blue floral sweethaven bag ready as well:

The blue needlebook is the last one of that batch and I'll make some new ones soon in a different set of colours:

And a special bonus just for my blog readers - buy any wristlet, bag or needle book from my shop and mention this blog in the comments and I will send a free bonus, one of my little deer print pincushions!
NOTE * Each pincushion is a little different, offer good for September 2010, while quantities last. *

 Thanks for looking!

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