Monday 30 January 2012

Handmade Monday: Really productive week





It's been a bit of a craft crazy week here - don't know why but some weeks there seems to be a lot of creativity in the air.  The weather got better with more sunshine and frost and less cloud and rain and that always has a positive effect on me.






Bag or purse charms have been really popular in my Etsy shop recently - I think it's because it is much easier to get noticed outside of the jewellery category which is always so crowded.  Folksy sales are still not happening so my main venues now are Etsy and Storebeez - a fantastic little startup with amazing SEO, getting some of my items on the front page of google searches.  Now all I need is for folk to have the confidence to buy from a new and relatively unknown site....













As well as the charms, I was tempted by the lovely Rachel Norris, an amazingly talented jewellery maker, to have a go at twisting wire.  The only DIY tool we posses is a power drill, so having located it gathering dust in the bottom of a cupboard, it got its first proper use twisting some bronze wire to make these hoop earrings.  They were shown on Jewellery Maker TV this week so now I'm officially 'famous' for using a power drill.  Who would have thought that?  Lucky you can't do much damage with a power drill.

And, I've been messing with my flower loom and created some lovely little flowers which I'm making into bag charms, key rings and brooches.  Flower looming is relatively easy once you get the hang of the loom, and unlike some other sewing and embroidery projects that I've tried in the past, you can hold the loom up so it doesn't aggrivate my neck problems.  At the moment I'm using embroidery cottons for the flowers which give great vibrant colours, but I'm a bit worried about their durability.  Chris from Chrissys for Cards has kindly offered to 'road test' one for me, so hers is on it's way to the test site at this moment!  Wool and ribbon are the next mediums to try.

Not content with just that, I decided to try out needle felting, something I've been interested in for a while.  As some of you know, I am a complete disaster area in the field of hand/eye coordination, clumsiness and being generally 'kift' as my husband describes it, so starting a hobby that involves repeatedly stabbing small objects with a barbed needle probably doesn't sound like the best option!  Nothing to show so far, but thankfully a really thick glove of hubbie's has protected me from serious wounding.  Hopefully my needle felting might progress quickly, and as soon as it looks less the finger painting of a toddler, I be showing it off to you!

Here's the link to find out what others have been making this week.

13 comments:

  1. Stunning work!!! Love the twisting, and it is nice to see some bag charms. I may be in touch with you in the future for some for my bags? I have just ordered a batch of leather and am starting on some new makes which will look lovely with some funky charms. Thank you for the Storebeez link, will check it out x

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  2. Beautiful work - the bag charms are lovely. Storebeez looks interesting, many thanks for the link. Good luck with the 'stabbing'. Hope you have a good week.

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  3. Love the bag charms, always think something extra added to a bag looks good. Have a good week

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  4. Oh no, not another one, I was so close to getting a flower loom before Christmas and now seeing what you have created I want one again. The charms you have created are utterly gorgeous :)

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  5. Some gorgeous things there. Looking forward to hearing more about the needle felting (it's on my list of to-do-one-day and I'm also ultra-clumsy and liable to stab myself!)

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  6. Oooo, loving the bag charms. Especially the One with the dragonfly on

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  7. Busy week for you ... lovely bag charms, the key calls out quite strongly.

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  8. Yu have been a busy little bee - looking forward to the bag charm - I will give it all I can for you. I'll even have it on my dog walking bag - hopefully no branches to snag tho. Loving all your new works.

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  9. wow - you have been busy :-)

    I adore your bag charms ... the top one with the key is gorgeous, and I'm sooooo tempted by the one with the red beads and silver roses.

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  10. You have been really busy. Love the bag charms - Mich x

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  11. Wonderful, the powerdrill wire twisting is interesting altho I'm sure I could do damage with one! :) I love your makes tho, very very nice.

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    1. Really lovely items, I love your photos, the leaf sets everything off great and makes the photo look clean and fresh.

      Jan x

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  12. The charms are well - charming! Super pictures to show off your items. I too have just started needlefelting and can highly recommend the Clover brush and tools, my 11 year uses them with ease.
    Jo x

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