Friday 20 November 2009

FRIDAY FOLKSY FINDS - Something Blue

Finally! I should have called it Saturday Folksy Finds instead -now it's already Saturday! Couldn't find a minute during the day with my kid being poorly...
Anyway, here is my little Folksy Treasure for today - Something blue! I really love it! And with Christmas coming in no time (really it'll be at your door before you notice it!!!), I strongly recommend you to explore the shops featured today to find more great gifts for HER or MOM or little ONES and stocking stuffers as well.




From top left corner (clockwise!)

9.Green Necklace from Flutterbies (Oh it does have some blue in it :-)!!!)

Aren't they beautiful???! Hope you love them as I do. Thanks a lot for stopping by. Have a great weekend everyone and see you next friday.
~hairbowswonderworld

Thursday 19 November 2009

EVERYTHING HAS ITS BEGINNING! EART TEAM BLOG RING

This weeks our EART TEAM blog ring is all about the beginnings. How did we started doing what we're doing!

I think I've been crafty all my life. I still remember when I was about 6, I took off all my dolls clothes and did all the altering to suit my eyes - cutting, sewing and drawing. LOL. My mommy was half excited, half angry about it! At 13, I became my sister's hair styler (without learning it) and I made her very unhappy several times. Since the age of 14, I started to cut and sew my own school clothes with my mom's very old sewing machine (again, no proper learning LOL) and even made some for my friends. I guess I was lucky that people around us were pretty tolerant :-)

But everything started to get serious when my oldest daughter turned 2 and her hair started to get longer and beautiful. As every proud new mama, I loved to dress her up and I loved all the beautiful hair bows all over Ebay US. So full, so round, so many layers, colours, so pretty! I could not find anything closer to it here in the UK, and the international shipping rate was so high! And most of all, the seller who had the bows I liked the most didn't ship outside the US! GRRRR! So I was determined to learn to make them myself. I then bought a set of bows instructions online. Here are one of my very first bows (dated 7th august 2007)



And here is how I did a month later (picture dated 3rd Sept.2007)


At first, just to make bow centers and hair clippies, I created a ribbon rose fold which lately became rather popular. I loved those ribbon roses so much, I made so many of them and mastered my technique. That's when my online friends started to tell me to venture into the bridal market. Below is one of my first bridal bouquet with satin ribbon roses:

And very soon later I started to have bouquet orders. Custom orders are however very challenging. This lotus bridal bouquet was my first bouquet sale. That lovely lady came to me and she just wanted a lotus bouquet in hot pink - I've never made a lotus stem and had no idea how I should do it. But I could not let that promising first sale slip out of my hands. So, what I did was brainstorming, google searching for images of the real flowers and making my own sketch. I was so lucky I could perssuade her to go with my plan and when she received it, she really loved it.

Since then, I started to explore more materials I could use, more types of flowers I could make. I 've learnt a lot through trials and errors. Below is the picture of my first hair flowers sale. It was actually an Etsy Alchemy. A lovely lady posted a picture and said she wanted something similar for her wedding. I was so glad she chose me. I tried to make her something similar to the photo but I added my own twist. And she loved it much more than the original version!


Now in my ETSY and FOLKSY stores, you can find many types of handmade bridal bouquets, hair fascinators, boutonnieres, corsages, brooches, even necklaces etc with all types of materials. And also E-books on how to make some of my signature's flowers and ribbon sculptures. I never can thank my customers enough. They built me up and they've been a great source of inspiration!
Want to know how other EART TEAM member got started? Follow our Thursday BLOG RING @Michelle's Charm World's blog.
Have a nice day everyone!

Friday 13 November 2009

FRIDAY FOLKSY FINDS


Have you ever shopped on FOLKSY? If not you should start doing so. There you will find all great quality and unique handmade items from the UK. You will love it. Promised! I decided I will window shop around FOLKSY and post my finds here every Friday in my FRIDAY FOLKSY FINDS posts.
Look at my treasury above from top left corner (clockwise!)

Aren't they terrific???! If you like what I found, drop in the shops to see more beautiful items from great artisants and show some love in your comments :-) Thanks a lot for stopping by. See you next friday :-)!!!

EART TEAM NOVEMBER SCAVENGER HUNT! Check it out to win fabulous prizes!!!

The Eclectic Artisans Team has a new team shop. Check it out! To celebrate our new shop and the beginning of the holiday season, we're having a scavenger hunt, and everyone is invited to participate!

Here's how to play: Visit the participating etsy shops (scroll down for the list of shops) and search their items for this photo:




When you find it, send the shop owner an etsy convo letting them know you found it. You can search and enter in each participating shop. You can only win once (we want to share the love as much as possible), but the more shops you enter, the more chances you have to be a winner! Each shop owner will randomly draw one winner at the end of the hunt. That's all you have to do.

The scavenger hunt runs from Friday, 11/13, 2009, to midnight EST on Friday, 11/20/09. Check the EART website on Monday, 11/23/09 to see the winners. Enjoy the hunt!

(Please note: EART members are not eligible to win prizes.) Here's a list of participating EART shops and their fabulous prizes:

Hair Bows Wonderworld
Prize: red velour rose pin-on corsage/buttonhole


MichellesCharmWorld
Prize: Pair of Lego Earrings & Lego

EDCCollective
Prize:
Set of four photographic art note cards with envelopes, your choice of images.

DivaDea
Prize: set of four handmade christmas cards


IndigoOrchid
Prize:
Platinum Freshwater Pearldrop Earrings

Pnkgeeni
Prize: set of six handmade embossed christmas cards


AWEshopAWEshop
Prize: Hammered Copper Adjustable Spiral Ring




Purple Sparkle Crafts
Prize: Sugar Pink Marshmallow Cupcake Candle




MouserkinsMagic
Prize:
Choice of 2 Bookmarks


InspirationRecycled
Prize: Peacock and Brown Felt Pendant


Punkynmunky
Prize: Animal print no slip hair clip trio





BeautifulSchlopp
Prize: $25 gift certificate


EclecticArtisansTeam
Prize: sparrow earrings from
MichellesCharmWorld

Questions? Convo
divadea on etsy. Thanks for playing!


Wednesday 11 November 2009

PSYCHE

I've just made this statement necklace and call it Psyche. Love how it turned out and love that it can be worn as a headpiece, too. It was fun to make the rosettes from cotton linen and lace and to sculpt the tiny white roses out of clay. It was also fun to make those tiny peach flowers from lace. The most tricky part is to assemble all of them pearls, flowers, lace yoyo and ribbon together. But I guess I made it! Add two clusters of vintage flower earring and a vintage butterfly brooch - then here it is!


Monday 9 November 2009

DIY this Christmas!

I've been dreaming to create a Xmas book of ribbon sculptures for quite a while. I love Xmas and love to create those cute Xmas figures and ornaments. Last year, Hair Bows Wonderworld released four sets of instructions for Xmas and I've just added a new set to my portfolio. Inexpensively available in my Etsy shop are instructions to make a Penguin, a Santa Sleigh, a Fancy Xmas tree , a Poinsettia flower with Holly leaves and Berries, and a Green Xmas Monster (all 3D - I love 3D).

I tried to create my tutorials as simple as possible which require only simple tools and materials that are easy to find so anyone can do it. In fact, to make my ribbon sculptures you just need to have scissors, needle and thread, hot glue and hot glue gun, ribbon, felt (sheet), a pencil and a lighter. No sewing machine, wood burner etc required.

There are plenty of use for these little cuties. Add them to a hair clip, a brooch bar, add a string so you can hang them on your tree, use them as ornament for your purse, bag, backpack or any other sewing project, oh, I can go on and on and on :-)

Last year I made a bunch of penguins and poinsettias for my friend so she could hang them on her small tree. It looked so pretty with those handmade ornaments.
You can do it, too! DIY! Celebrate and decorate your Xmas in Style!

How to make a Ribbon Santa Sleigh (newly added)

How to make a Ribbon Xmas Penguin


How to make a Ribbon Poinsettia with Holly Leaves and Berries


How to make a Fancy Ribbon Xmas Tree


How to make a Green Ribbon Xmas Monster

I hope I can complete my Xmas collection this year. Five sets of instructions mentioned above are now available in my Etsy shop and soon to come are Snowman, Gingerbread Pretties, Rudolf the Reindeer and Cheerful Santa.
So if you're feeling DIY this Xmas, it's worth it to take a peek in my Etsy store, you won't be disappointed!
Happy Holiday everyone and Viva Crafting :-)!

Friday 6 November 2009

SHABBY ELEGANCE BRIDAL BOUQUET GIVEAWAY - AND THE WINNER IS ...

Finally!!! Here is how I prepared for the draw. See photo below clockwise : 1. Prepared the entries sheets and printed them out - 2. Cut into strips and pieces - 3. Folded each entry twice with the name facing inside - 4. Put all the entries into a jug and didn't forget a red ribbon to make it pretty :-) - 5. Couldn't wait for my daughter to get back from school :-)


And she's back! See photo below clockwise : 1. I told her to take the jug and shake it vigorously. Apparently she had fun doing it - 2. She took one entry out... - 3. and THE WINNER IS :

AVE

Then she took another entry, and another one! Our first runner-up is:

JANETTE
and second runner-up is:
JBEAR




Thank you very much everybody for participating and congratulations to all the winners!
All other participants will get 15%discount for any item purchased in my shops until November 12th 2009

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Thursday 5 November 2009

EART TEAM BLOG RING : Preparing for holiday seasons

This week EART TEAM blog ring talks about how far ahead we prepare for holidays such as Halloween, Xmas etc.
Personally I just make items for 3 big holidays: Fall (Halloween/thanksgiving), Christmas/New Year and Easter
Based on my experiences the latest time I should have my things ready for Christmas is the middle/end of October as I started to have Xmas orders around the end of October. Things for Easter should be ready in February and for Halloween in middle of August.





Sadly, I am not always be able to do what I plan :-). Trying to think about it positively, I would say, that way I always have my things ready for those seasons the next year - I made my things almost one year ahead :-). I am also glad that most off my stuff are One-Of-A-Kind and pretty classic there is no fear for them to be "de-mode' "- out of fashion. Also I love to create things right in the middle of the festive season, when I feel in my heart that true holiday spirit - but it'll be too late for sale :-)


This year, I am getting better however. Xmas already appears in my Etsy shop. Check it out if you have the mood. I haven't listed so many as I am still catching on custom order, but I did list my favorites there and a good thing is I offered some really good deals on those items!









Want to know how other EART TEAM members plan ahead for holidays? Please continue our blog ring at A.W.E Shop Blog


Wednesday 4 November 2009

NUTFIELD WEAVER - Perfect uniqueness!

Planning for a dream wedding and want something unique? You must visit this etsy shop of Nutfield Weaver . Be prepared to be blown away with her creation, simple as beauty itself and at the same time so classy and elegant !


'Handmade' has become really trendy recently as we learnt to appreciate all the labour, creativeness , heart and soul of the crafter/artist put in his/her creation. Nutfield Weavers creations are handmade deep down to the core! She handweaves all the yardage lace to make her things from a ringsbearer pillows or flower girl baskets to a tissue holder and so on. Yes! No eletricity or computer program involved but totally handwoven with her 8-harness LeClerc floor loom. Her beautiful light weigh handwoven lace are woven with all-natural fiber.


Look at this beautiful handwoven ivory lace petal cone! I just love it! What an unique alternative to a traditional flower girl basket. And after the wedding, fill it with potpourri or silk flower petals so it can beautify your bedroom or your dresser. Priced at $30, this is really an awesome deal.


Source: Nutfield Weaver


And to match with it, nothing can be better than this ring bearer pillow. Simple, subtle and elegant. If I were you I would get it now at $25 before the seller raising her price as I guess she might do it, imagining all of the time and work she must have put in it.


Source: Nutfield Weaver


And here is another beautiful wedding related item from Nutfield Weaver. I think I should not say anything as the picture says for itself. This Handwoven and crocheted lace wedding garter is just as unique as how pretty it is.

Source: Nutfield Weaver

So, yes, I say, come to her Etsy store and explore more what she has to offer! You will find more beautiful wedding items as well as a wide range of items for your home, holiday or an anniversary!

Nutfield Weaver, keep up the great work! Thank you for contributing to make this world greener and more a beautiful place :-)

Tuesday 3 November 2009

Christmas is on the way!

Christmas will be at our doors before we realise that! I started to have that warm, wonderful feeling I always feel this season. With that in my heart, I created this tiara, may be for a christmas bride :-) ???!


My fingers hurt a lot after 5 hours working with it, but I love how it turned out. Almosts 150 fresh water pearls are handwired to a metallic gold alice band, together with 4-petal filligree flowers in a warm colour combination of gold, ivory and champagne/light gold. I just love the filligree flowers despite they made my fingers hurt the most while making them from filligree beads.

The inside of the tiara is lined with gold satin ribbon and gold metallic ribbon for a comfortable wear. I leaf two strands of curly metallic ribbon at the two ends, so they can be tied behind the neck. Two gold sheer ribbon bows are also added for a final touch.

This can be worn as a tiara, and I think it'll look great with or without a veil. A gold birdcage veil will match perfectly - If you want it custom made for you, just let me know.


It can be worn as a headband, too. The two curly gold metallic ribbon strands can be tied behind the head or just left freely as extra trim.


This can akso be worn as a neck bangle / necklace.



How handy is it? There are so plenty of use of it after the wedding. It's also perfect for a Christmas party / Cocktail event. Have somewhere fancy to go? This is a perfect accessory to bring with you :-)
Available in my ETSY SHOP. This can also be custom made in off-white/silver.