Sunday 2 June 2013

A Mixed Bag For Handmade Monday


I'm one of those people who sends their energies out in many directions, i tend to have loads of projects on the go at one time and like to try doing things in lots of different ways.

For Example, instead of having one online outlet for my wares as many of my fellow crafter do, i have four - my website, and shops on Etsy, Folksy and WowThankYou (and then there's my new Etsy shop and my Spoonflower shop...). The upside of all this is that i get to connect to more potential customers this way, the downside is that it takes me aaaaaaaages to list new items! Each site has slightly different requirements and all the copying, pasting, uploading, tagging, editing of this and resizing of that is very time consuming... and then there is the process of sharing my new creations... on my blog, facebook, pinterest, Etsy teams, wanelo, kaboodle... its a wonder i get around to making anything at all!

This has been one of those weeks where i've done a lot of this kind of thing, plus, rather excitingly, i've been invited to list some of my items on a gorgeous site for pet lovers called Pets Pyjamas and i've been doing all the admin required to set that up. My creations are soon to be appearing in their lifestyle section... i will keep you updated!

So, i haven't got any new makes to share with you today, but i do have a golden oldie, plus some other titbits of loveliness which i hope you'll enjoy :)


Pottery

There is a special place in my heart for ceramics. I took it up to GCSE at school and attended classes here and there during my twenties, i even worked in a potter's suppliers for a while. I took to hand building immediately i tried it and my style has changed little over the years, my pots always look the same!

I was searching around in the back of a cupboard this week when i came upon this - the last pot i made which, thanks to a date on the bottom, i can see was nine years ago.


It is a coil pot, made by rolling out long sausages of clay and then placing them on top of each other, blending as you go. It is way more time consuming than 'throwing' a pot on a potter's wheel but i absolutely love it. There is a real intimacy with the clay and you get to know every nook and cranny of your creation by the time its finished.

This pot has been 'biscuit' fired and decorated with underglaze's. You need three good coats so painting this took me ages too! That is not to say that any planning went into it though, it just kind of developed organically (i.e. i made it up as i went along :))

In fact, i took this home from a class to finish it and never got round to going back so it hasn't had its final firing which is why its stuck at the back of a cupboard rather than out and about. One of these days i'll get round to finding somewhere to fire it and maybe start up pottery again as i do miss it... i've got room for another creative direction in my life... right?! :)



Custom Fabrics

I had an enquiry from a lovely lady via Spoonflower this week who wanted to see how one of my fabrics looked in different colourways - it was no problem at all for me to do this for her so i thought i'd tell you a bit about this process and the possibilities!

For $1 Spoonflower can send you a colour guide printed out onto fabric. Each colour has a 'hex code' compatible with those used by photo editors like photoshop and pic monkey.



This is super useful when you're designing fabrics as you can choose colours by their code and have a good idea of how they'll turn out (which is often quite different to how they appear on screen), but its also a great tool if you're buying fabric. 

For example, lets say you're trying to create a particular colour scheme in your home - you like my nesting birds fabric design...



...but you want to make cushion covers to match your minty green curtains.

With the colour guide you could pick out the perfect colour match, give me the code (in this case 99FDC9) and i could list it for you to order a sample.


There are also other ways to easily customise your fabric order, such as asking for different print sizes or even altering designs - this might not always be possible but its definitely worth asking if you've got an idea in mind!



Free Customised Printable Leaflets For Your Shop!

As you may know, WowThankYou is a super site where British crafters can sell their wares. Its run by a lovely lady called Tracey who puts her heart and soul into making the site something special and is always coming up with fun and creative new ways to help her sellers.

One of the most recent is the offer to create a printable leaflet (for free!) featuring products from your WTY shop! Here's a sample of how it would look using my shop...



I'm not a regular attender of craft fairs but i could imagine these being a real asset to stall holders - leaflets jump out at people much more than business cards i think and i just love the pink and green tree design! I know those with WTY shops will have heard about this idea via Tracey's monthly update but i thought it was worth showing you how pretty they are incase you haven't had a chance to look!



Handmade Monday

That's it from me for this week, i'm off over to Handmade Harbour now to find out what my fellow Handmade Monday crafters have been up too - incase you don't know, its the most friendly linky party around... and you're invited!

I will leave you with a pic of the flower arrangement currently gracing our dinning table...



...a (metaphorical) gold star to anyone who recognises what these pretty yellow flowers are... i'll let you know next week if you can't guess!

Thanks for dropping by :) x

34 comments:

  1. I LOVE your pot. It's beautiful. Is there any end to your talents !!!! xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh thank you! that's very kind of you to say :) I'm glad you like it! x

      Delete
  2. Your pot is gorgeous. Would the colours change if it's fired again? How organised are you even a date on the bottom. I spotted you in craftseller in an ad for Wow thank you. No idea what the flowers are but very pretty in the mug. Have a sunny week.
    Ali x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Ali! The colours should stay pretty much the same - if i used a clear glaze on top to give a watertight shiny finish they would change a bit but i don't intend to do that.

      Oh really? I never knew about that! thanks for telling me!

      I'm glad you like the flowers, i do too :) X

      Delete
  3. Ooooohhh, I am so envious - your coil pot is gorgeous. Many years ago I made a coil pot and left it at that. have watched my fellow potters on the course do them and they always looks so lovely. You are very talented. Hope you have a good week.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh thank you! I really appreciate your kind words :)

      i recommend having another go at coiling, it grows on you! x

      Delete
  4. I love that pot! The colours are great
    Love the flowers too, not sure what they are but they remind me of rapeseed!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thank you very much :)

      there is loads of rapeseed about this time of year isn't there!

      Delete
  5. That pot is amazingly beautiful

    ReplyDelete
  6. I really love the pot. I cannot believe that you have left it at the back of the cupboard for nine years!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh thank you!

      hehe i know! It was only to stop it getting damaged as the paint comes off easily before its fired on! x

      Delete
  7. I just love your vase, and am amazed that you have made something so perfect by handcoiling. I did pottery for a little while, and made a pot that my husband called the elephant's foot.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh thank you!

      awww your poor pot! i'm sure it is beautiful :) Coiling does take practice but its an enjoyable process - well, i enjoy it anyway! :)

      Delete
  8. I love the pot! It is gorgeous, such a lovely colour and a beautiful shape. It should really have pride of place in your home. You are such a talented lady!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thank you very much Natalie!

      once i get it fired it will definitely be out on show :) x

      Delete
  9. That pot is lovely, im fascinated by the fabrics too!

    ReplyDelete
  10. You're a true busy bee! How do you manage all these things?

    Love the pottery - very interesting swirly design. Never had a go at ceramics but it's my dream to be able to create anything out of it.

    Good luck with your shops and websites! x x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hehe :) i do buzz about a bit!

      oh you should definitely give pottery a go, its great fun! x

      Delete
  11. I've had the email from WTY but haven't looked into it yet, thanks for showing how the leaflet looks.
    The flowers look like rape seed or mustard seed, the fields of yellow look lovely at this time of year.

    Jan x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. you're welcome Jan!

      the fields do look lovely don't they :) the flowers aren't rapeseed or mustard seed though! x

      Delete
  12. Good advice with the pantone colours. Screens seem to change all colours somehow. Your blue pot is very unusual and very pretty.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yes they do don't they, its very confusing!

      thank you! x

      Delete
  13. Wow you've been a busy bee. I really love your little pot, the colour is amazing. Thanks for the info on Spoonflower.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thank you! I'm glad you like it :)

      you're welcome, i hope you've found it useful :) x

      Delete
  14. The pot is fab - another fabric design? yhe leaflets look great and as you said very eye catching and different to business cards. Have a good week, Jo x

    ReplyDelete
  15. Beautiful pot, and I don't know how you ever get round to doing everything you do either- makes me tired just reading about it!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Ohhh Natalie - what a beautiful pot! I can imagine how long it must take to make, given the process which you've so evocatively described, but worth it for a such a pretty piece! No idea about the flowers though! Simmi x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. aww thanks Simmi you're so kind :) i'm glad you like it! xx

      Delete
  17. I don't know where you find the time to list on all those different websites. It takes me ages just to get the photos and details ready for my own site. Don't think I could cope with all the ones you use :-D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i'm not sure i can cope either Stephen... it does take ages! :)

      Delete

Your lovely comments are much appreciated x