Well, here’s the first blog post of the year…and it’s the 20th already!  I’ve been busy getting my paperwork in order and submitting my tax return (yawn) .  If there is any benefit to spending so long on all that boring stuff  it ‘s the enjoyment of finally getting back to the sewing!

And, lucky me  -  I’ve got a new sewing machine!  It was a Christmas gift from my loved ones as my old one was complaining profusely by the work load by the end of last year and has had to be put into retirement. I’m still getting used to the new one but so far everything is working well.  Hoping to get these purses finished over the weekend.

Thinking about last year…I’m fairly happy with how things went for me and my wee business.  I’ve forced myself  to get more organized (spreadsheets and everything) and am working to a better routine which I hope I can keep  on improving on, this year.  As a result sales have improved and I want to thank everyone who has bought my handmade things, either directly from me at craft fairs, from my online shops, or from the lovely shops and galleries where my work is stocked. I’m so grateful to you for your support!

I’m planning to carry on with making the  purses and accessories this year, hopefully  adding new designs along the way.  I  also want to make time for other art and craft projects and hopefully work towards an exhibition sometime in the future – need to get my thinking cap on for that one!

Because I was working a lot more on orders for stockists last year my online shops weren’t updated as often as I’d have liked. Ideally I’d like to be adding something new every other day. I don’t know if it’s possible but I’ve made a start with this purple purse, which can be found here in my Etsy shop.

©2012 materialised. All Rights Reserved.

©2012 materialised. All Rights Reserved.

At about midnight, the night before a recent craft fair, I realised to my horror, I’d run out of business cards,  so I made these handmade ones and was really surprised at all the great feedback I got about them.  I’ve just made another batch today, and they’re so simple!

Here’s how I made them…

Starting off with white A4 card,  I cut it to size using a craft knife, and patchwork ruler. The card was nothing fancy, just from a children’s activity pack .  I made my cards 3 and a half inches by 2 and a half inches, and was able to get 9 out of each A4 sheet. Of course you could change the size to whatever suits your needs.

When I had cut all my cards to the right size, I used a self inking stamp to add my details. I think the stamp came free one time when I ordered cards from vistaprint.com .  You don’t need a stamp of course…if your hand writing is neater than mine there’s nothing to stop you writing them by hand.

I laid each one out after I’d stamped it, to let the ink dry.

The motifs were all made from bits and pieces I had ready to hand. These fabric flowers were left over from greetings cards I made years ago.  They were cut out from non-woven interfacing, which I’d coloured with fabric transfer paints. They have a nice fuzzy texture, like a very fine felt.  Sewing through card isn’t a problem but blunts the needle quickly, so I used an old needle which was already past its best, and a long stitch length.

The stars had also been in my craft stash for years. They were bought from a sale of Christmas wrappings at B&Q one January, and already have sticky dots on the back.

And these felt shapes were from a children’s craft pack which had a selection of different ready-cut shapes in lots of lovely bright shades.

easy peasy!

These cards could also work well with photo copies of your work, scraps, odds and ends of fabric, buttons etc, etc, etc…

If you’ve made your own business cards I’d love to see them, please feel free to add a link to them in the comments.

©2012 materialised. All Rights Reserved.

I’m feeling all enthusiastic about a new project I’ve begun. I was looking for an idea, which I could devote a small amount of time to most days. What I decided on was to take an object which I no longer have any use for and try to recycle it creatively into something slightly more interesting. It’s just a chance to experiment and see what happens.

For the want of anything better I’m calling the series Refashioned Objects, but that may change…it’ll do for now.

I was intending to spend a maximum of just an hour on each piece but so far the quickest was the spoon at an hour and a half…Happy took more like a day and a half!

Refashioned object 1 (above)

started out as an Ikea coaster now it says UP…feeling up beat I suppose.

Refashioned object 2 (below)

An old CD is transformed into something more happy.

Refashioned object3

A spoon treated to a fabric, thread and paint makeover.

and the way they were…

©2012 materialised. All Rights Reserved.

Hello!  We had a wee bit sun earlier in the week,  so in celebratory mood I made this cushion (it’s been such a loooonnnnng Winter!)

I used new, recycled and vintage  fabrics, and added a few hand-embroidered details.

Now available here

Got ideas for more to come soon…

Been applying for some fairs, which I’ll let you know about as soon as they’re confirmed.

©2012 materialised. All Rights Reserved.

This is Cookie…new in my etsy shop.

Been a busy day.  More painting this morning, watercolours this time,  and this afternoon I did a mammoth photography session – trying to take better product shots for my shop but it was too dark really, so lots of photo-shopping ensued.

Also, my facebook GIVEAWAY is in full swing now. The prize is any purse or brooch from my shops. I want to say a huge thank you to all the lovely people who’ve been spreading the word about it for me …I really appreciate it so much x

©2012 materialised. All Rights Reserved.

It’s a new year… a fresh start,  and I’ve been taking some time to think about what I’d like to achieve this year.  Most of all  I want to keep on doing what I have been doing – making a variety of things,  sewing, drawing, painting, glueing etc.  But I want to combine this with being happy which means

• working at my own pace
• doing work I feel comfortable with
• working in ways most natural to me
• admitting how important my work is to me, how long I spend on it, and what processes are involved
• not underselling myself
• treating my work like  any other job -  sticking to regular hours, taking proper breaks and holidays
• taking plenty of nourishment

Nourishment – a definition

1. The substances necessary for growth,  health and good condition
2. Food

Probably one of the things I’m most grateful for from last year was to regain some  lost concentration.  I had become progressively more anxious / depressed which had a huge impact on my concentration levels – reading fiction had become out of the question. With some good treatment I’m feeling 100% better,  happy with my lot, and ready to have my mind expanded by the magic power of other peoples thoughts and ideas in the form of words and pictures !  Words are definitely the nourishment I’ve been craving and it’s  the word which sums up what I’d most like for myself this year.

This  brings me to my 1st project of the year. I recovered a notebook, which I’m going to use to make a note of all the books I read, films I watch and the exhibitions I visit… might even add a cake recipe or two. (well my memory still isn’t that great)  I’m planning on bringing more words into my sewing over the next year. I’d call it a project but I’m not very good at sticking with those, so we’ll just see how it goes…

Do you have a word that sums up your hopes for this year?

©2012 materialised. All Rights Reserved.

Here are a  few photos of an enjoyable  project I’ve been working on this week.

To celebrate the launch of  the Remade shop in Musselburgh, owner Nicky Orr asked ten designers to embellish a plain jumper, sourced from local charity shops. Each designer has been asked to give  their jumper a unique look in their signature style. The jumpers will go on sale at ReMade on Wednesday 1 December, with a price tag of £15 each.
All proceeds will be donated to CDC School, Campie Primary School’s Global Schools Partnership school in Mae Sot on the Thai-Burmese border.

This is the jumper I chose to embellish. The colour is a favourite of mine – one that I can’t help returning to.

and this is what I did with it:

first, I removed the chain store label, then added:

1. hand stitched sequins round the neck line.
2. a couple of ribbon bows – I made the pink one removable, by adding a pin fastener to the back, so it would be easier to launder.
3. a  removable  sash belt, with a velvet ribbon tie fastening.

It was quite hard to keep the embellishment restrained, but didn’t want to go overboard bearing in mind that it’s designed to be worn.

Find out more about this project and the designers taking part at

www.frugalcool.co.uk

ReMade

147 North High Street Musselburgh

East Lothian

©2012 materialised. All Rights Reserved.

This is something I’ve been working on recently- a hand embroidered envelope  I’ve submitted to  the Cut-Click travelling mail art exhibition, which will be hosted this Summer by the Spider and the Fly pop-up shop in Edinburgh.

I have a small stash of padded envelopes, from etsy purchases. I keep them in the hope that they’ll get recycled. This one came from Finland, and I liked the stamps  which were on it – red roses…and took my inspiration from them. I thought they fitted well with handle with care , which ties into the ‘mail’ theme.

I began by covering the surface with many little straight stitches to make it feel more interesting . The envelope was quite hard to stitch through at times, especially on double thicknesses, and occasionally little bits of the plastic bubble wrap interior poked through.

I was happy to let the design grow as I sewed.

As soon as I hear about all the details of the exhibition, like where and when, I’ll be sure to let you know!

©2012 materialised. All Rights Reserved.

This is typical of what happens when I decide to work on a theme – I drew, and battled with watercolours, mucked around with paper and glue and ink for a couple of days, then got distracted.  I sanded the front door, got caught up watching all the political coverage, gave the door its first coat of black paint, prepared and painted a shelf in my work room, thought about , and started embellishing some recycled envelopes for a mail art exhibition, and missed the deadline…

So… I thought, time to get back to the tulips, which are already starting to fade in the garden. Yesterday I was unsure how to proceed, so instead pulled out some embroidery threads and leftover fabric scraps and started playing -not a tulip in sight! Lots of fun though, even if it wasn’t the plan.

Update: 3 tulip purses finished and available.

©2012 materialised. All Rights Reserved.