A List As Long As My Arm

You know that feeling when you have so many things to do - so many different things - that you swing between running around like the proverbial headless chicken, trying to do seven things at once or being so overwhelmed you just want to curl up on the sofa and do nothing at all.

Well, THAT!

I'm rebranding which involves new logo design, new look, new photos, new layout and new website and having to do that all on my own, two days a week plus evenings and weekends, as well as working on a new range of beaded and resin necklaces, plus having to make a lot of things again from scratch so I can properly time them for repricing (for example, I now know that an otter takes three hours and 24 minutes to sew by hand) and adding a few new ideas to existing ranges.

And all this before The Handmade Fair in September!  Needless to say, I have a to-do list as long as my arm.

This was why there was no blog-post last week.  And the reason why this one will be a challenge.

It's hard to know what to say here - I'm so desperate to share all the exciting new things, but also feel I should try and exhibit a little restraint until it's all done and ready to go.

So I'm just going to share some pictures of work in progress, jobs still to do and a few new things that I've actually finished.  Then get back on with it!

DONE - Owl Stamp Pendant

DONE - Brainstorming rebranding ideas (but STILL TO DO - design logo, take product photos, design and plan website layout, choose website format)

STILL TO DO - Cover mannequin in brown paper collage and photograph necklaces

DONE - Started new necklaces (but STILL TO DO - more necklaces.  Maybe some earrings)

DONE - Timed and correctly priced resin animal brooches

DONE - Brand new bird stamp resin ring

DONE - Brand new animal-themed resin stamp pendants

Wish me luck.  I'm really looking forward to sharing the fruits of all these labours with you very soon.

In Praise Of Brooches

"BUT . . . I DON'T REALLY WEAR BROOCHES!"

Clockwise: unknown; Shark Alley Toucan brooch, Leaf brooches by Odile Gova /Woolly Fabulous on Flickr; Art Nouveau brooch; Joan Holloway from Mad Men; Shark Alley Brighton Cat brooch; Chickadee brooch by StudioLiscious on Etsy; Fox brooch by Beauty Spot on Etsy; Vivianna Torun Bulow-Hube, Swedish silversmith

Clockwise: Fox brooch by Little Nemo on Flickr; Shark Alley Puffin brooches; VOGUE cover; unknown from Instagram via Pinterest; Elizabeth Taylor; Shark Alley Bird brooches; 1920's style; jewelled mouse brooch; Egyptian scarab brooch

This is something I hear a lot when people browse the Shark Alley stall (which is full of brooches).  "But brooches are so versatile!" I say.  Take a step outside the box and consider the different ways you can display your beautiful brooch art in your wardrobe gallery.


A BIT ON THE SIDE

L-R: Lea Stein via Susan Caplan on asos; Shark Alley Indigo Batik Bird Brooch; the Duchess of Cambridge

I think of this as the 'traditional' way of wearing a brooch.  I tend to favour the right hand side.  How about you?


ON YER 'EAD

Clockwise: Shark Alley Toucan brooch;  Iris Apfel collection ethnic brooch from 'Rare Bird Of Fashion' by Eric Boman; 1920's style; Shark Alley resin Fox brooch

I love a brooch on a hat!  It's out of the way, won't catch on anything and, like a good pair of earrings, sets off your face too.


SCARF ACE

Clockwise: Shark Alley Puffin brooch; Shark Alley Owl brooch; Lea Stein Cat brooch; Sarah Jessica Parker

Another favourite.  Love the SJP take on it -  a brooch fastening a slender tie-like scarf.


IT'S NECK AND NECK

Clockwise: Shark Alley squirrel brooch; Blake Lively; Shark alley resin Hare brooch; turquoise brooch from the Iris Apfel collection (see credit above)

Give the brooch the same focus as a necklace and wear it centrally at the neckline.  You could also pin one to a length of velvet ribbon and wear it as a choker.


ON THE DOWN-LOW

L-R: from shabbychicks.blogspot.com ; from the Iris Apfel collection (see credit above); unknown via Pinterest

I must confess, I'd never thought of this one! Love it.

ALL TOGETHER NOW

L-R: unknown via Pinterest; Shark Alley brooches; from Marie Claire via Pinterest

As a big fan of more is more, I can really get behind this look.  The group of brooches around the collar is a really lovely idea.


FREESTYLING

L-R: Unknown via Pinterest; brooch on turn-ups from modernkiddo.com

And why not?


I hope this inspires you to experiment!  I feel like going to my brooch drawer and having a good old root around, as well as maybe raiding the Shark Alley brooch stash.  I love designing brooches because they can be just about the shape without having to worry about attaching hooks or chains to them and where to do it.  They make great gifts too. Choosing jewellery for someone else is often tricky as it is such a personal thing, but brooches are are slightly more detached from the wearer than, say, earrings or necklaces, which I think makes them a really safe bet.

 
There's also a great blog post on similar theme for more ideas here.

Browse the Shark Alley collection of brooches here and here.

No Post Today!

A combination of a weekend camping trip, the Wimbledon Men's Singles Final and my birthday have conspired to overwhelm!  No post this weekend, but here's a few pics of the countryside where we camped.

Preparing For The Handmade Fair

I'm really excited to be confirmed for Kistie Allsopp's Handmade Fair at Hampton Court Palace this coming September (see fancy animated banner to your right!).

It's a big step - hopefully upwards! - but the exposure should be pretty good even if I fail to recoup the cost of the stall back from sales (a worry always lurking at the back of the mind before every fair).

It sounds like a massive event, with the emphasis on visitors being involved in crafting with talks and workshops.  Kirstie's team of crafting experts include Cath Kidston and Kaffe Fassett - who I worked with back in the 1990s - and many more.

My good friend and inspirational fellow crafter Tina of Tina Francis Tapestry will also be there - and in the same tent too - so that will be great.

So it's all systems go this summer as I plan to complete the Shark Alley rebrand AND a new range of necklaces in time for the event!

I'm so excited about the necklaces as they've been cooking in the back of my head for some time.  A few years ago I saw some gorgeous Indian-inspired necklaces in the V&A shop.  Unfortunately I was very broke at the time, so couldn't get my hands on one but I really wish I had.  They were made up of large mis-matched beads, chains and tassels in beautiful rich colours and looked so exotic.  I usually prefer things to be symmetrical and balanced, but I remember just loving these.  I also saw a photo of some customised toy animal necklaces which I thought was a great idea for upcycling and remember a beautiful piece of Andrew Logan jewellery where he'd covered an animal shape in a glittery mosaic of mirror.  With these ideas simmering, I did a little Pinterest board to clarify all the things I wanted to include - upcycled objects and beads, tassels, fabrics, asymmetrical arrangements and bright colours.

Clockwise - Maggie Zee, unknown, Ayala Bar, Henri Rousseau.

 I found some great toy tigers in a flea-market and thought I could use them in a necklace with an Henri Rousseau-esque jungle theme.

I've made quite a few so far - they take ages!  Bead selection and arrangement are CRUCIAL to get the look and the balance of the necklace right, and this takes time.

I'm really enjoying working with beads again - who wouldn't?! - they are so beautiful!  I used them a lot in early Shark Alley necklaces before I'd found my current style and ranges, and have been using some of these old necklaces and my stash plus little treasures unearthed in a bag of old jewellery given to me by Skye. I'm also incorporating some of my resin pieces too.

It's so tempting to show some finished pieces, but I'll have to restrain myself until the official launch.

The Longest Day

I spent the longest day of the year taking part in the Midsummer Fair on Kew Green.

It was a beautiful hot day, which was lovely for the visitors and purveyors of cold drinks and ice cream, but sadly not so good for stall holders.  I don't think hot weather puts people in much of a mood for buying.  Last year the weather was rainy and sales were much better.

We need some air in this here marquee!

But on the positive side, it was the debut of a new stall display I'd spent the week frenziedly working on.

As part of a major rebranding that I will be working on over the summer, smartening up the stall presentation was one of the first steps.  I love my funky-looking old stall, but wanted a change after a long chat with Emily at Craft Central at a business mentoring session.  She suggested grouping Shark Alley's products by genre rather than media, so I developed a stall arrangement based on this idea.

Hares

I like the idea of creating a natural sort of environment for the display, with a vintage feel, soft colours and a nod to the paper and recycled elements that appear in my work.  As well as the postcard display holders that I made last week, I also covered boxes, perspex necklace displays and stands with paper collage, and painted then sanded wooden picture frames to showcase my photos of Ella modelling the jewellery.  The final touch was a length of soft neutral faux suede for the table cover.

A few tweaks are required (I want cardboard trees!) but overall I'm pretty happy with the finished effect.

Despite a slow day sales-wise, I met some lovely people including a girl who fell in love with and subsequently bought a flamingo pendant.  It looked absolutely stunning on her - I wish I'd taken a  photo!  However, there were a few people who came close to upsetting me with fairly thoughtless behaviour, including a woman who seemed to think my stall was a toy box for her grandchild.  This is a great article on customer etiquette that I found whilst trying to find a hilarious video which said much the same thing, but in a tongue-in-cheek way.  Sadly, I couldn't find it, but I'll keep trying.  Some people should remember they're not in a faceless department store - they're in front of the person who made those things!

However there were some nice surprise treats on the day. This giant ottery face as the train passed through Barnes on the way to Kew Bridge station . . .

. . . and a visit from my lovely Mum, who bought lunch and stood in for me on toilet breaks!

DIY Postcard Display

This week, I've been working on stall display in preparation for the Kew Midsummer Fair next Saturday (June 21st).  I'm totally changing my stall both in terms of layout and appearance and this is both exciting and overwhelming all at the same time.

As I'm going to be arranging everything by subject (ie otters, hares etc) rather than media (hand stitched, resin etc), my cute new postcards need to be displayed separately rather than in one big unit.  I couldn't find any display units I liked online (and I didn't want to spend a fortune either) so I decided to make my own with some handy little boxes I found at work.

I'm really pleased with them!

 

In case you feel the urge, here's how I did it.

1.  To make the holder, you'll need a small, relatively sturdy cardboard box just bigger than the dimensions of your cards, some sticky tape, a pair of scissors, a pen and a ruler.

 

2. In order to make the box lean back slightly to help with the presentation of the cards, measure and draw a line 1cm from the top of the box, then draw a diagonal line from that to the back where the lid hinges.

3.  Cut around this line, leaving the lid intact, then re-insert the lid into the box and tape shut.  This will form the slanted base of the box

4.  Cut the lid off the other end of the box. My box had a semi-circular hole at the top, so I cut away another centimetre to get rid of this.  Stand the box up (deepest end at the front) and measure 6cm up from the bottom at the front of the box.  Draw a horizontal line, then draw a diagonal line on each side of the box from this 6cm point to the top.

5.  Cut these areas away and you are left with your display box!

6.  I decorated my boxes with a collage of paper.  I find this easier than trying to cover with a whole sheet, plus it helps to disguise any rough or uneven edges.  I used old pages of music score and the index from an unwanted London A-Z.  Both had lovely yellowing edges, which gave me the vintage feel I wanted, and I dry-brushed them with white emulsion paint.

 

7.  Tear the paper into small pieces roughly 2-3cm square, and use PVA glue to collage them all over the box.  I didn't bother with the base inside and out.

8.  Leave for a couple of hours to dry, then varnish with a layer of PVA diluted with a little water and bingo - you're done!

The new stall display will hopefully be fully realised at the Kew Midsummer Fair, Kew Green, Kew, Surrey, TW9 3AP on Saturday 21st June 2014.  The fair runs from 11am - 6pm and you can find more information here.

Brighton Etsy Craft Party 2014

The Brighton Etsy Craft Party looked like it might be fun.  Why not spend an evening with local crafters, eating cake, drinking wine and doing crafty activities?  My U-Handbag colleague Skye Pennant (of Even Artichokes Have Hearts and brand new crafting blog Eight & Sixteen) said she'd be happy to come along and had in fact been looking for someone to go with herself!

We just about managed to grab most of the things we needed to bring; some photos (including a photo of ourselves as a kid), cake and wine, and we turned up nice and early.  However, not only had I forgotten to bring scissors, I'd also forgotten my house keys, which led to several horrible minutes of high anxiety while my brain tried to stop hyper-ventilating and think through a solution (fortunately it did all end well and I slept in my own bed that night without the aid of a locksmith or a kicking in of the front door.  Huzzah).

The Brighton Etsy Team had done a fab job in both organising and decorating the venue.  There were goody bags, balloons, pompoms, watermelon bunting, delicious banana and honey frozen yogurt and masses of cake, the Big Booth Boutique photo booth (with accessories), a 'Guess The Crafty Kid' wall for your baby pics and all sorts of fun to be had making your own piece of bunting.

There were loads of crafty supplies laid out in tables and no time was wasted decorating the triangle of felt and trying to incorporate the following ten elements to win points and PRIZES.

• A photograph
• Ribbon
• Pompoms
• Embroidery
• Animal
• Flowers
• Buttons
• Your name
• Brighton Etsy Craft Team sticker
• Five different colours

I think I took this way too seriously and made it far too labour-intensive - I even forgot to drink my wine and missed out on a doughnut!  There was a lot of embroidery in mine. The finished bunting pieces were strung on ribbons around the room and looked amazing - fantastically fun and creative.  The ones who had managed to include everything got popped into a hat and the three winners were picked out at random.  Sadly neither of us won, though Skye did win the 'Cutest' kid category and got her hands on a nice-looking Etsy t-shirt, some Lush products and an original product from one of the organisers. It was such a good laugh and I had a great time.  I will definitely go again next year and really recommend it!