Tagging

Specifically on Etsy and no, not those kind of tags although I won't moan if you decide to buy some! I belong to Team Eco Etsy on Etsy and their blog has some brilliant information on it. I thought I would share this particular post about tagging and how to get more shoppers to your Etsy store as this is something that everyone wants right?

You can find the post here and if you read carefully enough you will see that they included some of my aforementioned gift tags to illustrate the post!

Sharing the love people, sharing the love!

Ziggy

No, not David Bowie as that Ziggy Stardust! This Ziggy!

The last of this 'ziggy' fabric has been used up - it started life as a vintage knitting bag but it was then abandoned and left to become dusty and torn. Luckily I happened upon it at a jumble sale and revived it into Ziggy :) You still have a chance to get yourself a Ziggy pincushion/paperweight but be quick as there is only one left over in my Etsy shop!

Uh oh - I've learnt a new craft!

When I was at the Vintage Fair on Saturday teaching my upcycling workshop Christine was also there teaching people to make toothbrush rugs (so called as they were made years ago using old toothbrushes*) I hovered for a little bit and then asked her to teach me too.

The orange and the blue are the bits I did in the workshop and the mustard, pink and white are old clothes that I have used since Saturday. It's already 37cms! Cool eh?

Once you've got the hang of it, it is very easy - so much so that Anya was helping me with it yesterday. Just look for toothbrush rug on You Tube. And it has come at the perfect time as I was going to start a plaited rug this week which would have been much more time consuming. I'm still getting the hang of it so this will be my practice rug and then I will be making one for the girls from their old clothes!

*the toothbrushes had holes at one end and the bristle end was snapped off and the end filed to resemble a large needle :)

New things in the shop

Yeah - all the chickens I made on Sunday have finally made it up into the shops :) I'm better at making than listing quickly it seems!

Meet Decka the doorstop chicken.

And Decka the pincushion/paperweight.

Meet mother and daughter Gardenia.

And mother and daughter Sweetie. All of the chickens are in both my Etsy and Folksy shops except Sweetie the doorstop as she is a one off :)

And I also listed these two notebooks in my Folksy shop :)

Sorting

Our kitchen has had a mini revamp and we got some new drawers in there. In the process of sorting I organised a whole load of envelopes.

I use my handmade envelopes to send out parcels and they needed new labels on them. Exciting huh??

What I'm working on today

This is my temporary desk today - I had to wait in for the washing machine man to come so couldn't be in the studio as our doorbell doesn't work! After clearing it of all the kids stuff (it is meant to be their table!) I filled it with mine :)

Lots of stuff! I'm trying to get all those little itty bits and pieces finished off. I have lots of piles of half finished stuff around the house and want it all away really. Especially as Tara is having a family birthday party in a couple of weeks!

Stickers waiting for their packaging and pieces of paper waiting to be turned into stickers!

Images from magazines waiting to be put into my inspiration book.

This book is waiting to be chopped up - it has some pages missing hence why I am getting scissor happy!

Teeny tiny envelopes waiting to be folded and stuck together.

Oh and these two bags need to be sorted as there is unfinished wok in both of them!

New stockist!

I have a brand new stockist for Swirlyarts :) It's a shop called Junc in Shipley and it is run by a lovely lady called Bella.

This photograph was taken from the Junc Facebook page. You may have guessed from the name is that the emphasis is on recycled/upcycled products so my products fit right in!

My products have been given pride of place on a pretty coffee table just as you walk in :) The cute things to the right aren't mine - I must find out who they belong too though as they are lovely and deserve a Cuteable feature!

If you are in Shipley then drop by - the shop is at 7, Arndale Centre :)

Come and see me and make tags :)

Tomorrow evening I will showing people how to use things they have around the house (cereal packets, damaged books and pens) to make upcycled gift tags. It's part of The Artists Hangout that is on every month in Foulridge near Colne.

The Artists Hangout is great and brings together creative people from all disciplines. Tomorrow (30th May at 7.30pm) is a crafty themed night and as well as myself there will be people making paper beads, mosaics, needle felting as well as some live music, poetry and book reading in the performance section. I've been to a couple before and really enjoyed it. It's based upstairs at Cafe Cargo, Warehouse Lane, Foulridge, BB8 7PP. Basically, once you get onto Warehouse Lane keep going until you hit the car park at the end :)

More upcycling fun!

As many of you know I like visiting my local scrapstore as they often have a wealth of stuff I wouldn't even look at normally. Such an item is these sample books of threads which I think were donated by a local underwear factory (there were lots of lace samples from that factory in at the same time so I am assuming!)

Gorgeous colours aren't they?

Here's what they look like when taken out (and the extra bit of cardboard at the end chopped off) And below is what I am planning on doing with them!

Bright gift tags. What do you think? I've also tried a couple of the threads on a small card and they look really good - simple and clean. Now all I have to do is figure out what to do with the ones that look like this!

Love is in the air :)

Or it may well be with these new gift tags!

I listed them on Etsy and Folksy yesterday and they have already been featured in a treasury!

My stall in Ilkley

The overview of my stall. Everything in it's usual place but with my Swirly Specials basket off on the left. Oh and did you spy something on the wall?

That would be my new bunting! These are samples only but it is something I am going to explore more in the new year. They are paper bunting rather than fabric and it will help me to use up the quite extensive pile of damaged books I have waiting around to be used!

The top bunting is made from Peter and Jane books and has been stitched onto bias binding.

And the bottom one is regular pages with some paper buttons stuck on. This one was destined to be name bunting but my wooden letters have disappeared somewhere! It's certainly the beginning of an idea and fits the upcycled/recycled ethos of Swirlyarts which I like a lot!

New things :)

I have LOADS of new things to post in my shops! The photo's are taken but it takes time to get things across in the shops. Here are two new things that made it in last night!

These mini music envelopes are in both my Etsy and Folksy shops.

And these cute Richard Scarry stickers are in the Folksy shop!

I'm making progress in getting both my shops up to 100 items before Christmas but the Etsy shop is well ahead with 91 and my Folksy shop is lagging behind with 61. I had to remove lots of my one off gift tags from Folksy as they no longer fit with what they deem handmade (!) so that is why there is a big discrepancy between the two. I'm determined to get at least one to them to 100 soon!

Creative Space - postage stamps

It's not as boring as it sounds - honest!

These postage stamps are having a bath to separate them from their paper backs - the newer UK stamps are a sod to get off though so I wouldn't bother trying!

Drying stamps - notice how they are all round the edges of the trays and not in the middle. This is because they will stick to the middle when wet (as the glue is still sticky!) and I know this from experience! Once they are dried slightly you can pop them in the middle to continue drying.

Not asleep yet? Good! I will be using these today to make postage stamp Christmas cards which you can see here.

More Creative Spaces here.

A new idea!

I mentioned on Twitter yesterday that a new idea had popped into my head. Want to see?

Postage stamp Christmas tree cards!

What do you think? I'm trying to expand my range but keep everything upcycled/recycled. This one has a couple of wonky stamps - I was in a rush to make it as I was excited about it turning out exactly as I had it in my head! I'm also going to experiment with different shapes and colours of trees. Let me know what you think!

My creative space - upcycling is fun!

I spent a bit of last night and most of the morning so far turning security envelopes (you know, the patterned ones) into fabulous stickers!

Bet you didn't know that there were this many variations did you? And trust me when I say there there are plenty of designs not pictured!

I then took some photographs ready for listing them.

I even took some slightly fancy pictures!

I've even managed to package up one set. The rest of my morning and probably most of my afternoon will involve listing these in my shops and packaging up the other 8 sets that are waiting!

For more Creative Spaces pop over here.