My Blog is Moving

As most of you are probably aware, my blog is moving home. I have moved to my own website and can now be found here.

I have been posting on both blogs for the past month so there's plenty to look at, including a few new posts :) I hope you all call round and visit. You can also follow using either your rss reader or through networked blogs. I also have my shop over on my new site so why not come over for a browse.

Final Bits & Bobs Before Craft Fair

I've been having a final splurge of creating before the Craft Fair Saturday. I've made a couple more pairs of earrings and made a second rack for my earrings to be displayed on. If any of you are in the St Albans area this Saturday (26th November 2011) between 11am - 3pm, Woodle Doodle Dandy Designs will be at the Creative Arts Christmas Craft Fair at Verulam School in St Albans.

Here's the flyer the School have sent advertising the event :) Wish me luck. Its my first ever Craft Fair so I'm a little nervous, but also very excited.



I've also been busy with my website and now have a section to display and eventually sell my artwork and email using my domain name. If you want to reach me I can be emailed at kat@woodledoodledandydesigns.co.uk :)

Also don't forget, my blog is moving home. My new home will be here and I've already started blogging from here ready for the move on the 1st December 2011. I really hope that you will all come and find me at my new home, and maybe even leave me a message or several :) You can follow me using networked blogs or by adding the link from my RSS feed to your Reader. Hope to see you all soon :)

All Go

Its been a busy few days at Woodle Doodle Dandy Towers :) I've made my first sales from my new site \o/ and I've been making more earrings. I'm guessing earrings will be my biggest sellers at the craft fair but I know I need to get down to making some more necklaces and bracelets too.

I'm also really chuffed. My new business cards from Moo turned up at the weekend. I absolutely love them and have already given a few out. I also got my new order of elasticated thread and jump rings from Beads Unlimited in the post today. I've had a splitting headache all day today so that has really perked me up.

I'm finally extra excited as the new Support Handmade However its Made site is up and looking fab. Shirley at Diddybears has done an amazing job. Everything looks so tempting. I've already done a tiny bit of shopping via it and hope to do some more at the weekend. There's a great mix of items on show, everything from lovely toiletries, gorgeous candles, beautiful homeware, great jewellery and loads more.

I've uploaded my latest creations to my shop but just in case you haven't had a chance to look, here's a little taster :)

More Makery :)

I've been slowly working through my stash of broken jewellery and disassembling them. I've also been having a brutal look at some of my older jewellery that I made. I've had a bit of a cull and taken those pieces apart too. I'm quite chuffed with the amount of jump rings I've salvaged. It may sound a bit odd but I find the whole process of taking dead jewellery to pieces and sorting the parts really relaxing. Also by sorting them by colour I've got inspired by some nice colour combinations. I made these earrings last night and I'm so happy with how they look.







All the earrings have also been added to my shop so if you fancy snapping any of them up, just pop on over to here.

Finally for those of you who are reading this from my blogspot account, don't forget I'll be moving over to my new site permanently from the 1st December 2011. My new site address is here.

Feeling Creative \o/

After all the goings on on Folksy its been a relief to get back to making jewellery again. I've been going through the stash I got from Oxfam earlier in the month and taking the broken jewellery apart and sorting out what findings I can salvage. So far I have managed to get some really nice copper jump rings and loads of pretty beads and spacers. Here's what I got in the jar.



It only cost £4.99 so I was chuffed to bits :) I've so sorted a lot of the beads and made a pair of earrings. I used some blue beads I got given a while ago and added them to some spacers I got in amongst the latest haul. I'm really happy with how they've come out and have just listed them in my shop.



Finally, a note to all my followers, I have decided to move over to my new blog permenantly on 1st December 2011. For the next month I will post all posts on both sites but from the 1st December I will only be posting at my new address on my site. The address for anyone wanting to make the move over now is here.

Busy, busy, busy!

I've been busy beavering away on my new website and listing stock. I have also made the decision to close my shop on Folksy as my heart just hasn't been in it since they made all the changes to their definition of handmade. Also, the thought of making a sale and giving even a tiny part to them as commission was also leaving a nasty taste in my mouth.

I'm loving the freedom of having my own site. It took me a few days to get my head around the fact I could list whatever I liked :) I'm also considering moving my blog over to the site. What you you folks think? I hope you would all come and visit and follow me in my new home :) If I know you're coming I'll bung the kettle on and even rustle up some cyber-biscuits ;)

I've also been enjoying getting to know the other ladies (and gentleman) from Shhim. Mrs Diddybears has done an absolutely fab job on the site and is currently working on a Christmas showcase! I can't wait. I do owe her a huge debt of gratitude. Not just for all the hard work she has done with the Shhim site (which is currently doing in her own time and for no fees!) but also for being the catalysis in getting my arse in gear with the website. I think its one of the best things I've done and its really inspired me to get creating. Thank you Mrs D and also the other Shhim ladies :)

If you need a little bit of cuteness you should pop on over to her shop and check out her Diddybears. They are utterly adorable. Everyone is different and they come with their own birth certificate. My favourite bit is the description on the about page :)

I can haz new shop!

I finally took the plunge and got myself a website with shop. Its a bit of a gamble as I've always sold my jewellery through other sites like Folksy and Dawanda but I think after the nonsense on Folksy I felt it was time. I'm going to keep my Folksy shop till my listings run out and haven't decided what to do with my Dawanda shop yet. Dawanda have always been supportive so I don't want to abandon my shop there but I have to be honest, I get a fraction of the traffic I did on my Folksy shop and pricing in Euros is a little awkward.

You can find me here so please do take a look. Any feedback would be very welcome. If you have a shop/website you would like me to promote just leave me a comment with your details.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

While reading through Bust Magazines Blog I saw this cheeky little reminder for getting the ladies to check their boobs. Such an important message and done in a way that made me chuckle, so I thought I had to share it ;)

Preparing for my First Proper Craft Fair

I've been creating more stock for my stall and now have 9 little cat brooches. I'm really chuffed with them and hope people like them. Here's them all together :)



I've also been shopping for cheap picture frames today and picked up a couple from my local Pound shop. The plan is to remove the glass and cover the backing in black fabric and then use them to display me earrings. I'm planning on getting some bowls to put my brooches and bracelets in and then hanging my necklaces up somehow. I also need to pick up a cheap mirror as I've learnt from past experience that people like to see what items will look like on.

I'm so looking forward to doing the fair and it would be even better if I sold enough to cover the stall cost. I figure either way it will still be great experience and a great opportunity to give out some business cards and SHHIM flyers :)

My Two Penneth

Oh dear Folksy :( I am so disappointed in you. Everything was so good and you've kind of ruined it. At the beginning of last month Folksy decided, in its wisdom, to get picky and introduced us to the wonderful term 'assembled'. Apparently jewellery items which are made up of mass produced items such as charms do not measure up the Folksy vision. Other items were also swept up in the assembled put down and included candles made using vintage cups and glasses and cards made from mass produced embellishments. Apparently these items are not creative enough!

In some sense I was lucky that most of the bits in my shop 'measure up' but unfortunately the damage has been done. The snootiness in the forums, the arse about face way they announced the changes, the fact that they aren't refunding listing fees for items accepted less than a week earlier and bad feeling, inconsistent message and uncertainty they have created amongst loyal shop owners has thoroughly got up my nose. On top of this, the bit that pisses me off the most is how patronising this all is to buyers. What is really wrong with using charms or embellishments bought elsewhere. How is this different to using fabric brought elsewhere, using a sewing machine or buying mass produced wool.

I would also like to add that skill is most definitely needed in order to make and sell the items they are now classing as assembled. I've had a go over the years at making cards and I suck. Its really bloody fiddly and your work has to be off such a high standard to make any money from selling them. The card market, like the handmade jewellery market, is also chock-a-block with competition. You are also competing with the convenience and prices of the high street. Keeping your prices affordable often requires making use of some mass produced components.

Anyway, I've said my piece. I'm going to need to hold fire from ditching my shop altogether as I have a ton of business cards printed and a craft fair next month. Once the dreaded Christmas is out of the way though I intend to let my shop die out and focus my attentions on my Dawanda shop.

If any of you lovely folk would like to lend your support, Diddybears has set up a site offering free advertising to any Folksy shop owner effected or outraged by the changes. Its such a generous thing to offer and is well worth a look. As their slogan goes - Supporting Handmade However Its Made. Amen!

Cats & Pots

I've just got back from a nice hour down the plot. The weather has been glorious, better than the summer! We got a visit from the black and white allotment cat and she was extremely purry and excited. She was especially lucky as I had a cat stick in my bag for just such an occasion =).



I've also been making lots in preparation for the craft fair I have a stall at, at the end of November. I've been making more brooches and have been lots of these little cat brooches. I'm really chuffed with the design and how they are coming out. I'm also going to make some keyrings too, so watch out for those.

As my giveaway hasn't been whipping up very much enthusiasm I'm also going to throw in one of my new cat brooches. I will leave it up to the winner to select the colour scheme as I have masses of different colours of felt, so I should be able to accommodate. To enter just follow the instructions on the previous post :)

Finally, my Boyfriend has also had a successful time with his crafting. He works in ceramics and had his first open studios last weekend. It went so well and he sold loads, far more than he was expecting. I feel extremely proud :). He's also set up his own blog so if you want to follow his tales as a potter then pop on over to his blog :)

Giveaway Time \o/

To celebrate reaching the milestone of 100 twitter followers and 60 blog followers, I have decided to thank everyone with a Halloween themed giveaway :)



I'm giving away these two pairs of Halloweeny earrings and this cute bat tile necklace. The bat tile and Jack Skellington Earrings were handmade from fimo clay and the silver bone earrings are made from some cute bone charms I picked up a while ago and hung from silver plated earring wires. As I'm feeling extra excited I'm going to throw in some Halloween sweeties too :)

How to enter:
1. Follow my blog and leave me a comment telling me

For additional entries you can:
2. Visit my Folksy Shop and leave me a comment telling me your favourite item
3. Follow me on Twitter and leave me a comment telling me your twitter name
4. Like my shop on facebook and leave me a comment telling me who you are on facebook

The giveaway will close midnight of Tuesday 4th of October 2011. The giveaway is open Worldwide. I will send the winning person a message on the Wednesday and announce the winner here so keep your eyes peeled. Have fun :)

Something Different...

I've been playing around on youtube today so I thought I'd share some of what I've been listening to...

Alanis Morrisette - That I Would be Good



Patti Smith - Smells Like Teen Spirit



Sade - By You Side



Apologies for the advertising before Patti Smith - couldn't find a decent live recording and I love her cover of this Nirvana song so I thought the ad wasn't too offensive.

Latest Doings

I've been pretty busy lately. I've been trying to come up with some new designs for my stall at the Craft Fair I'm doing in November. I've also been busy down the plot. I want to get as much clear and in use as possible. So far we've dug up our onions and they are nice and dried out. I used my first one Thursday night in my dinner and it was very tasty :)

We've also dug up our first row of potatoes and they are scrummy. They're a good size, seem to dig up pretty clean (so less scrubbing \o/) and cook up nicely. They're quite floury and make very tasty mash. We keep the skins on when making mash so I was chuffed that they cleaned up with minimal scrubbing. I wish I could remember what breed they were as I'd be very happy having more of the same.

The courgettes are almost at the end of their life but we have had some amazing harvests from them. I'm also very pleased to say that we've only had to compost one. The rest were all eaten up by either us or our neighbour (who makes very tasty cake as payment).

The squashes are looking amazing. We only planted 2 that a friend gave us and they've taken up so much room. Very handy as they are extremely low maintenance and easy to grow. They look a little like the courgettes and have already got some squashes coming on them. I've never grown squash before so this is going to be an experience. I'll have to track down some recipes so they don't get wasted.



Finally, I've got in all the onions and shallots I bought in Wilkinsons and just have the garlic to put in. I'll probably do that tomorrow, providing the weather stays fine. The sweetcorns are also ready to harvest \o/.

On the making front, I've been experimenting with felt and making brooches. So far I've made a pretty flower one and a cute pumpkin. I'm thinking of making more halloweeny ones as I've got a ton of zombie green and pumpkin orange felt to use up :)



Also I've reached 60 followers of my blog and 105 twitter followers so I'm planning another giveaway to celebrate. I want to make something new for it so watch this space. Something is on the horizon but haven't quite decided what :)

More Makery :)

I've finally got back to crafting \o/ I got some great owl charms from ebay which have already made their way into my Folksy shop in the form of some cute earrings :> I've also been using some of the blue glass beads I got from Oxfam and combined them with some silver ball beads I picked up second hand ages ago. I'm very chuffed with the results and it feels great to be making again.





I've also signed up for a Chr*****s craft fair that's running on the last week of November so I need to get my crafty arse in gear and get stuff ready for that. I've been playing around with some ideas for brooches and have so far made my first successful flower brooch. Its made from odd scraps of fabric and beads and some cool wool I picked up in Cancer Research shop in Hemel. I forgot to take any pics so will get some done next time I play with the camera.

After my unwelcome, non-cultivation notice from the council, I've also been down the plot loads. I got some great bargains in Wilkonsons last week - they had bags of 50 mixed onions for £2. I also got some shallots and garlic, also for the same price. I've also picked up some spring bulbs from the Pound shop too and they were on offer - 2 for £1. I'm hoping to get as many of them in over the next few weekends so I can keep up the growing over the autumn and winter.

Beading for Breast Cancer

Following from my last post, I thought I better get some pics up of my creations :) I've also loved looking through the pics of what other people have created so thought I'd share some of my favourites here too.


Bead Soup Pink Jade Jewellery Set



Bead Soup Challenge Necklace



Bead Soup Pretty in Pink Herringbone Wrapped Bracelet



Bead Soup Party Necklace



Bead Soup Challenge Necklace



Rose Quartz swarovski bracelet


The proceeds of all sales will be going to Breast Cancer Research.

Bead Soup

I've been feeling a little uninspired of late and have barely touched my beads or other crafty bits and bobs :( I think the meh weather has something to do with it. Plus I got a non-cultivation notice from our local council saying that we had failed to cultivate the minimum of 50% of our plot!!! I was not impressed and have emailed them to tell them exactly what we have grown so far and what we have happening on our plot. I was a tad cheesed off to put things mildly.

Anyway, I have signed up to the Bead Soup beading challenge on Folksy in aid of Breast Cancer Research. About 30 of us have signed up and we were each allocated a partner by the organiser, Putting on the Charms. We then picked out 10 pink beads and 2 feature beads and sent them on to our partner. The challenge was to make one or more jewellery items to sell and raise money for Breast Cancer Research. Here are the beads I received from my partner :)



They were sent to me by Shabby Cottage Corner and were made from the beautiful and vibrant, pink Jade. The goal is to make our items ready for a grand revealing on Friday 26th August.

I've created a necklace and earrings all ready to post piccies of on Friday. I was going to post a pic or two here but then decided it would more fun to hold off a few more days till Friday :) I can't wait to see what others have created. I'm hoping it will get my inspiration nicely fired up again ready for the dreaded winter holiday that can not be named ;)

Space Painting

I saw this via outsapop.com and thought it was so amazing I had to share it. I only wish I could produce art like this and at this speed :)

\o/ Fame at Last \o/

Just a quick post to share my excitement about finding out that my Recycled Business Card Holder is the featured project on Cut Out & Keep :)

She's Alive... Beautiful... Finite... Hurting... Worth Dying for

I saw this via Treehugger and thought it was too beautiful and moving to keep to myself.

Holy Marrows Batman!

After all the wet weather it was lovely to have some nice weather again before going back to the day job. I got down the plot today after 2 weeks break and the courgettes had gone a little mad. There were about 4 marrows and a few other courgettes. I picked them all and left a few on the communal table by the gates of the plot as we are never going to eat all of them. Here's our harvest.



We also got some marigolds given to us and they are flowering too. They were a lovely surprise as we weren't even sure they had come up. I'd been cautiously been holding back on weeding the patch were we put them and was very pleased I did as they look stunning. They're like little Sunflowers :)



I also managed to get in a good forage of the local charity shops and vintage emporium on Friday and got some real treasures. I picked up a book on Marc Chagall, which I'd been after for ages, a CD of the Theatre of Hate Live, 2 strings of beads (one of which feels like pearls) and a dog collar with loads of cool charms on it.

Heres the beads. The blue ones are glass and have a really nice finish to them which looks a little like petrol.



Finally, I was very sad to hear that Amy Winehouse had died. I think she's the 3rd female singer I like to have left us this year (Ari Up from the Slits and Polystyrene from X-ray Spex). Well, she has left a great legacy of great lyrics and catchy songs.

Back from Cornwall

We arrived back yesterday night after a wonderful week camping in Bodmin in Cornwall. We stayed at South Penquite Farm, which is where we stayed last time and had a lovely time. The site is a working farm with lots of eco friendly features, like the solar heated showers. The weather was a bit iffy and wet for some of the week but we had a wonderful and relaxing time in spite of it :)

We paid a return visit to Restormal Castle in Lostwithniel on the first full day and then visited Looe in the afternoon. The castle was amazing and it was so nice to see it in the sunshine.



The next day we went to the Lost Gardens of Heligan just outside St Austell. The Gardens are absolutely enormous and it took us a whole day to explore and we still didn't get to see everything. We picked a great day to visit too as it scorching hot and the trees and gardens made for some cool shady spots.

The Jungle


The Fruit & Veg Gardens






We then went to St Ives the following day and had a good day checking out the latest collections at the Tate Gallery and then going onto the Barbara Hepworth Gallery. I wasn't overly taken with anything at the Tate but loved Barbara Hepworths' work. I wasn't familiar with her before the day so it was really interesting.

We also visited Bodmin town for a spot of shopping and visited Boscastle on our last full day. The weather was a bit of the blowy side so we had a wander round the Museum of Witchcraft. It was fasinating and well worth a visit.

Boscastle

Nice Smells

I've been down the plot today and harvested some courgettes, some more raspberries and some oregano. As the courgettes are probably going to start coming thick and fast I've already stuck two in a Vegi Goulash, that's doing its thing in the oven as I type :) Its smells yum!

I have also been getting to grips with the scanner and have uploaded a couple more pics to my art shop. I've now got the original of the pencil sketch I did of Ari Up from the Slits and another abstract. I've also learnt some new tips from my bf so I can edit the pics in Gimp so that they're okay for Folksy. Folksy like pics to be square and I was having some problems cropping my pics square so I have now learnt how to add a boarder so that Folksy can crop them without loosing any of the pic.

I've also been beevering away making more jewellery. I wanted to make my neice something for her birthday, so I made some pretty earrings which incorporate some Carnelian beads I'd bought for the occasion :) Carnelian and Ruby are apparently her two birthstones and Ruby is a little out of my budget so I went with Carnelian. Like a twit though, I didn't take any pics before sending them! Doh. I also made a ruby red heart pendant. I have a few other goodies to send but I had to wait till one arrived in the post before sending so that will go in the post tomorrow.

Update from the Plot

I've just got back from a couple of hours down the plot and it was lovely. I'm completely knackered and stung both arms on stinging nettles but it was worth it. There was loads growing and I was able to harvest a lettuce and loads of raspberries :)

By request of my mum here are some pics from the plot :)

Raspberries


Lettuce


Something had been having a good nibble of one of our lettuces so I figured we'd better getting eating them too.

Sweetcorn


Only about half the sweetcorn I planted survived and they are all looking a bit small, but I'm sure they'll be fine. I might try planting them in regular pots next year instead of peat pots to see if that's were the problem is.

Potatoes


Onions


And courgettes


We also have tomatoes and chillis growing at home so it won't be long before we're nomming loads of tasty dinners :)

All Go in Katland

I've been really busy just lately, not just with crafting and gardening, but also in the day job. I have however, had time though to set myself up a new art shop on Folksy as I'm hoping to put some of my art work up there. So far I've made a profile, banner and listed one pic. If you want to take a peak its here at Woodle Doodle Dandy Art.

This is the first picture I decided to list:



I'd been thinking of selling my art for a while and then after a rush of blood to the head last week I took the plunge. I figured there was next to nothing to loose, only 20p listing fee with folksy. Its a bit scarier than selling jewellery though as my art has always been much more personal. I've had an account on Deviant Art though for long time now and have good feedback so I figured it was worth a try :)

I've also been reading loads and finished 'We are all made of glue' by Marina Lewycka. She also wrote 'A Short History of Tractors in Ukranian' and 'Two Caravans', which I loved and 'We are all made of Glue' was every bit as good. I'm now reading some more Sherlock Holmes and have finished 'The Scarlet Study' and I'm now reading 'The Sign of Four'. Wonderful reading! I'm going to be sorry when I run out of Sherlock books to read so I'm trying to pace myself so I don't run out too quick :)

Green Fingers

Its been a tad on the wet side the last few weekends so today we got down the plot early. It was a bit on the overgrown side but, thanks to all the rain, the weeds just slipped out with barely any effort. The courgettes have already started flowering and there's a teeny weeny courgette coming. Obviously if we blink it will be a marrow! That seems to be how courgettes grow.

The onions are also looking good so they should be ready in a few weeks. Also the herbs have grown tons and the oregano seems to have completely taken over one corner. We use tons so that's fine. We've had a few casualties though. The garlic didn't appear at all and we may have lost a few sweetcorn. The lettuces are looking good though :)

Also the tomatoes and chillies I've been growing at home are looking really good too so it won't be long before they are providing us with some meals. We've already been eating some of the raspberries and they were delicious. They were nice and ripe so that they just dissolved in your mouth when you eat them.

Its been a particularly good year for the pound shop produce. I think everything came to us from either the pound shop or the 99p shop so its been a very cheap bit of gardening :)

Rainbows

I've been feeling extra creative of late and have made some more bits for my shop. This time I've been making more colourful stuff and thought I'd share it with you all on here too :)

Rainbow Bracelet & Necklace


Rainbow Swirl Earrings


Blue Cats Eye Earrings


Green & Silver Ball Earrings


Purple Fimo Pendant


The wire earrings with the silver and green metallic beads were made with some wire I ordered the other day from Beadtime and they were my first attempt and making wire jewellery. I'm really pleased with how they came out and I've got about 15m of the wire, so plenty to play with :)

I've also got some brass finding from them too so I can have some fun with them too.

Best of all, I found a copy of Grub on a Grant today in Oxfam Bookshop. This was one of my favourite and most used cookbooks ever and I lost it a few years ago. It was on 99p, so smiles all round for me today :)

I won \o/

I won my first ever giveaway last week \o/ It was a giveaway Carly was hosting on her blog Chic Steals and it was to wins a really beautiful recycled glass pendant made by artist and jewellery designer, Stina Jimerson. Its double sided and has green glass on one side and brown on the other. It arrived in the post yesterday so I can't wait to wear it.



To check out her shop click here. Some very nice stuff indeed. Also much of her stock is made using recycled materials so even better :)

Ammonites

I've been having a lot of fun with fimo of late and have been making some jewellery pieces inspired by ammonite fossils. So far I've made a necklace, earrings and brooch.



I'm quite pleased with results :) I gave them a slight dusting of gold glitter so that they sparkle ever so slightly in the light and their backs are painted with bronze acrylic, which seems to work really well.