British Wildlife

Spring is in the air and it's nice to be able to get out into the countryside and enjoy some of Britain's finest wildlife. It's inspired me to make some brooches and finger puppets celebrating some of my favourite creatures. I've even been making a mobile with some "city birds" hanging down (pictures to follow when it's complete), and I've plans to make versions with different birds of prey, and maybe little garden birds.

Here's a set of finger puppets...



And a mallard...



And finally a fox. I've held off making foxes as they're such a favourite with crafters that I thought the market might be saturated, but I couldn't resist giving a brooch a go when I saw how nicely the finger puppets came out. And I think he's pretty darn cute...




All available in my etsy shop here

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spring clean!

I've finally picked up a needle and thread (and felt) for the first time in MONTHS. Crafting is going to be really important to me when I'm on maternity leave, and the dream is that I'll contribute to the household income when the maternity pay dries up (I think I'm going to take a year off work, half of which will be unpaid) through crafting. I know it'll be tough, so I need to make as much as possible now, so that later in the year all I'll really have to do is list and promote it online. My focus will have to move off craft-fairs onto selling online, although that being said I'd like to squeeze a few in before baby is born.

So, as well as starting some new sewing projects, I've been looking through my existing stock. I took a handful down to testspace pop-up shop at the corn exchange for their final weekend, but most of it is going online. I'm sure many crafters are, like me, trying to have a final push before the end of this financial year.

ALL stock in my etsy shop is 10% off if you use code SPRING at the checkout. Currently listed are items I've already photgraphed, but there'll soon be plenty more added. So it's the perfect time to bag yourself a bargin!

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busy busy

I feel like I've been super busy the last few weeks...I've sold at a few craft fairs, one of which I organised, and one of which I helped organise alongside reetsweet. I've been sewing til my fingers hurt, and speaking of hurt I've been suffering big-time with horrid flu. But there is a light at the end of the slightly stressful busy tunnel...this weekend will be my last craft fair before christmas and I've got a few days off to relax. I'll be selling at reetsweet at the corn exchange this weekend, hopefully I can sell some things so that I can buy christmas gifts from other sellers!



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lucky number 7's!

I've just finished a nice bulk order for number 7 brooches for John at the record label WIAIWYA for his singles club. Lovely!








If you'd like to join the singles club for a nice dose of indiepop and lots more thrown in, take a look at the blog here


Always nice to do something different. It's made me think about doing custom letters at craft fairs spelling out names, or just using initials. Might look nice.

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jammy

As part of the dream to live a more sustainable, green life, we have been delving into the world of foraging. If we can't grow our own just yet then we can at least go out and collect some free food from the amazing countryside around West Yorkshire. So we donned our matching walking boots and went on a woodland walk oozing with brambles. After an hour or so of collecting we had a plastic bag FULL of blackberries, and I made jam. Hurrah! I think I over-boiled it a bit so it's extra thick, but it tastes really good! And I even used half a jar in an apple crumble (with apples from Dan's parents apple trees!), which is really yum!





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books

I'm a big fan of books. Magazines don't really do it for me, and technological replacements aren't the same. I mostly buy fiction to bury my nose in, but I'm also slowly but surely becoming addicted to buying vintage sewing/craft books. I can't resist a cheap charity shop find.













Some of them are real gems packed with projects that don't always date very well! think tassels!

children's books

I love children's books. I used to work in the children's section at Waterstones and had a shift back in there yesterday, much of which I spent re-familiarising myself with my favourites and swooning over some nice new additions. Pictures books are my absolute favourite (apart from the Moomin books which I love with a love normally reseved for cats and pandas) and although I'm not a huge fan of a lot of the big names in picture books (I hate you Julia Donaldson), Anthony Browne is a firm favourite. There was a new autobiography of his picture books....



looks really interesting and inspirational for any budding illustrator (unfortunately I dont fall into this category, I'm terrible at drawing).

Speaking of picture books this Japanese website is AMAZING. there are even some vintage Tove Jansson books on there! curio books











My other major picture book lust is usually over vintage scandinavian books, there are so many good websites out there showcasing their cuteness.

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indietracks

I took along a couple of other handmader's work to indietracks to sell on their behalf. We all did amazingly well, and the indiepop crowd were our perfect target audience...full of compliments and the cutest children I've ever seen. If a bomb had dropped on Derbyshire that weekend then there'd be a lot less cardigans in the world.

Some snaps of our stall....










Looking forward to doing similar "handmade on tour" stalls in the future, worked a treat :)

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new fellas

I've added two new brooches to my etsy shop, and have photos of another two I'll be adding in the next couple of days. About bloomin time too.



Go shop!!

www.amypanda.etsy.com

illustrative

I'm still mourning the end of my time surrounded by children's books of all shapes, colours and sizes. It's led to a fascination (read: obsession) with illustrations of various child-friendly kinds.

I'd love to have this on the wall of the nursery of my hypothetical future-child



www.belleandboo.etsy.com

...while reading aloud from this



www.OhMyCookies.etsy.com

...and < tenuous backstory > this



www.ashleyg.etsy.com


the world is a lovely place x

I just read this essay by David Foster Wallace on the guardian website

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/sep/20/fiction

I'm quite cynical about this type of philisophical writing usually, but he's actually very unassuming and not at all know it all, but at the same time he somehow manages not to cross the line of being annoyingly self depreciating despite clearly deeply questioning how to live his life. And it's all the more sad when you read it within the context of his recent suicide. I've never read anything by him before but I think I will, especially the non-fiction essays. After a quick look at some of his obituaries he sounds like a really interesting guy. I guess that's the point of an obituary though. I think he's the kind of person who'd find the irony of me discovering him through obituaries interesting.

I sold another badge on etsy hurrah! And I've paid to be on a holiday guide blog, more info to follow. I've never paid for any kind of ad before. Is it cheating? I don't think so, I may as well try just the once. Plus it's nice to help out a fellow blogger and lover of all things handmade

Here's a cute little flask set I saw on etsy, makes me long for winter picnics...


(from www.stephieD.etsy.com)

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the animals came in two by two

My new favourite etsy shop this morning is berkley illustration. They have amazing prints of drawings of animals in clothes. I love them. They'd look so lovely in a big old frame. The obvious choice for me would be the panda, but lots of the other ones have tickled my fancy too...here's a couple....







www.berkleyillustration.etsy.com

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rosy red cheeks, glowing red nose

I nearly forgot...I've been putting together some new favourite items on etsy because I'd love to do a treasury, but keep missing the key times when there's space for them, so incase I never get to post it on etsy here are my exciting choices. My theme is red for autumn, inspired by my red nose and cheeks! They are rouge whimiscal items to take the attention off my face! Also a few items are very "back to school"....sigh...those were the days....












xx