PinPots & NeedleBooks & PaperFish Pretties...

 These PinPots are one of the first designs i started selling on Etsy,

Crazy to think how long ago that was now!

The pride i have in my design is that i am still making and selling them today.

They are such a talking point at Craft Fairs because they are cute and tactile and bright and functional!

People like that :) I like that! and that makes me feel good about my work.

 I still love making them and mixing up the colours and patterns.

In fact... i am still using the first one i ever made!! that is my own testiment to how the quality of handmade does (or can & should) stand up to timeless use.

So, these are not in the SALE as such because i sell these at £8 ecah and that is pretty reasonable for an item that has alot of fiddly time put into them.

You can however save money because they are in the FREEUK postage offer.

So, if you have fancied a PinPot in the past but the postage bumps up the price then

WED 29. FEB - is the day to take advantage.

See all my shop feedback for very happy customers.

 NeedleBooks - again, i boast here *if i may* that the design is my own original design and has changed very little since the first one i ever made. I am most proud of these because they really work - and are so versatile with their metal bookring. I was worried the metal would rust over time and bleed into the fabrics BUT, again, i am still using one of the first NeedleBooks i ever made - years and years since.

The NeedleBooks are £11 each - that is quite a bit of money for a needle storage case but it will last you forever if you look after it and you can see the work that has gone into all the little deatils.

FREEUK postage - throughout the day.

 Mini Tags - anyone can make mini-tags and i include them in my PaperFish shop because they can inspire people to make their own cute pieces. But these are already made up for those of us who just want somebody else to be organised for us!! easy peasy and very cheap. Great to keep in a drawer for gift wrapping or use them on children's party bags etc...

PaperFish really is the heart of what i do - how i like to design and make but i have increasingly had to put this element of my business to one side. I find it really hard to make a living from my own designs. It takes a great deal of time to design, produce, market this side and i have often thought about closing the PaperFish Etsy shop.... but seriously? i think it would break my heart...

 I found myself selling supplies on Etsy not so very long after i opened PaperFish for the handmade pretties.

People were asking where i got my supplies from...

and i had taken a long time finding good supply shops and buying in bulk to reduce my cost prices.

It seemed a 'no brainer' to open the supplies shop.

Don't get me wrong though, it isn't easy to sell 'anything'!! everything has a plan / a campaign / an element of risk....

sometimes i buy stuff for me and never use it - sometimes stock arrives and i think "it won't fit with my style and ethos" so it sits in a box for months on end...

So: SALE wise - there will be a great deal of Bias Binding.

the odd Tool,

Some really obscure bits n pieces,

some tape measures maybe,

a few buttony tins...

all these pieces that i have collected but never found it easy to sell or have never got round to 'launching' as it were. I implore you to take advantage of all this that gets listed in BigFish and PaperFish.

I am selling them to make space for new items and a more cohesive supplies collection.

FREEUK postage - do quote this at checkout

And cheapo supplies....

WEDNESDAY 29. Feb - come & play on etsy

http://www.paperfish.etsy.com/

thankyou for reading my sale details - i hope there is something you can take advantage of and enjoy xxx

Spooools..... she drooooools.....

 I just want to fill shelves

with spools -

spools filled with ribbons and trims....

 plain spools with nothing but their beauty to declare...

i need to collect tall spools

and squat spools

and dark wood spools

and crazy huge spools

*drooooools*

Stunning *new* trims on a GIANT Wooden Spool... "why Kirsty, wiz these luscious ribbons you are really spoiling us"

 Oh My!

Giant Wooden Spools, wrapped with pretty cotton ribbons to sew on your projects.

I *heart* handmade

made with love

Union Jack

 These are so lovely that i had to offer them for sale on the spool.

I will list them in 2m lots also... then i get to keep the wooden spools for myself  :)

 The Union Jack trim is here in time for any of your 2012 projects...

 I love new products...

I just L O V E them!!

More stuff to come...

and some sewing projects too.

This Week, is allll shop News!!...

 EEeeep! I have been working so very hard of late.

Working on getting the stock made up for Christmas AND trying to get some of the new designs out of prototype stage and actually into 'production'.

I find this stage exhausting and really wearing - but then, suddenly, i see a stack of freshly sewn items on my table and i feeeel an achievement.

 These are Buttony hearts (also seen in a previous post)

i made some last year, for the Craft Stall and they were so popular that i got around to making more for 2011.

I have tried to colour theme them. My utter favourite is the Gingbread Heart (above) but only because i am obsessed with decorating Gingerbread Houses.

 So, there is a full set of Felt & Button decorations that *in theory* match 3 colourways:

Bold n Bright

GingerBread World

Red & White.

 But that is just like "Show and Tell" at school, because that is not my shop news.

I have a huge range of Buttons arriving, i *hope* this week.

It is good news especially IF you are a craft retailer yourself using any PaperFish Supplies for your Makes....

Watch the Blog if you are keen to know what supplies i can offer you in abundance to get all your projects ready for Christmas (come on it's never too early!!)

I shall be working on Product Information sheets for the Big Range of newbie Buttons.

I shall also try to put together a new Felt Swatch Info. Sheet as requested by a gazillion customers.

So much to do, as always, but i am wonderfully energetic and enthusiastic about this week.

I just love what i do :)

x x x

There must be an Angel....

OOOOhhhhh, *squeak*

I have finally finished off the button feet on my Angels

And managed to list them in the shop (SnowFish)

 There are, currently, these 4 different designs.... well, the same Angels but with different dresses.

A Vintage Liberty Print front (love, love, love this fabric)

Plus a Ditsy Lilac, a Vintage Lace and a Tilda Pink

 There is alot of detail in these and fiddly hand sewing / embroidery bits so they take a bit of time.

I try and make them in batches so as to be a little efficient.

 They are in the shop so soooon before Christmas as i had a customer request for some but i already sold a few! (you know who you are) so i am thinking i might need to get some more sewing time?

Jo is counting buttons for me.

Alison is sewing some trees and bunting for me.

I've got PaFish ordering Mailers and an Office Chair.... as i type.

It is like Canary Wharf here, Man!



Mini-things...

 I spent ages doing up an old Dolls House once.

My dad gave me a tall work bench in his garage... actually that bench is now my studio cutting table.

But buying and making the miniature items to go in the Dolls House, was really the best bit.

 And i think that is the joy i find in making my NeedleBooks.

I like the technical solution to a problem: using the Eyelets and Bookring to secure the pages.

But really i like the mini-scene on the front of each design.

 I enjoy the colours and the trims and the spotty tags...

Putting the colours together and working out what looks pretty.

It's just aesthetics.

 Anyhow.

Sunday was quiet (SmallFish wasn't here)

so i sewed NeedleBooks. I walked the dog (several times. He has too much energy for One with such short legs) and i did some gardening - you can't even call it 'weeding' as these weeds pulled ME!

Hewwwge buggers.

I sold my car - and will soon have no transport.

I popped the new NeedleBooks into the http://www.paperfish.etsy.com/ shop

and they will be there until somebody who likes Mini-things, decides they'd like a NeedleBook like what i make.

That is that.

Cath Kidston Fabric Pack...

 Hello Colour / Cath / Sewing / Fabric faaaannnnnssss.

 This mixed pack of 5 fabrics are available to buy in the LovePaperFish shop.

I thought i had too much fabric and too little time so i have made these packs up.

I am saving some pieces however, as i have 'Grand Plans' to make myself a big big quilt (yes i know i already have many quilts)

 Each sheet is a heart size approx. 21" by 14" which is ermmm maybe 53cm x 35cm?

 This pack is ideal for making smaller homeware pieces as it is the thicker double weave cotton duck fabric. You could make bunting, patchwork, purses, cushion covers, covered notebooks, placemats.... and yummy stuff like that.

 There are 4 florals and then this yummy minty green spot which i just adore and goes with all the florals really nicely. But that is one of the reasons i love CathK designs, i think they all look gorgeous mixed up together.

p.s 2 packs of 10 2cm yummy, pearly, blush pink buttons will go into BigFish.

I fished these out whilst going through the Blush Pink jar and *loved* them so.

More new buttons and fabrics will follow shortly....

My Vintage Vice...

....my house was MINGING this morning, minging i say (minging = nasty, messy, horrid for all our foreign readers) so i *knew* what had to be done:
"Come along darling. Mummy wants to go the 'Antiques Cellar', buy stuff she does not need and drink coffee" ...and avoid anything that is boring or necessary at home.
Wanna play vintage rummage with us?

First, i saw this - uhhhhh, how nice are these? Haberdashery drawers... maybe 7ft tall? i wanted them (naturally) but, at £1,200 they are out of my price range. Especially as i narrowly missed a set of these on ebay for £200. This is a lovely wooden filing cabinet with mega deep drawers, maybe 4ft tall.
These, i might be coming back for... as i look around my art room / studio (whatever it is) i realise i could fill 5 of these in the blink of an eye.

This tea set was sooo prettily laid out. Especially for MrsB... there was an amazing pink Bakerlite telephone at this stand too... but i wasn't "strictly speaking" given absolute "permission" per se, to be photographing any part of the shop.... so i was on thin ice already (tee heee)

I love this little unit in the Cellar - all mish mash / bish bosh / throw it together style with handmade kilts and vintage nighties.

The 'Antiques Cellar' is a large basement in a car park full of different Units belong to different sellers, so you never know what you'll find...

SmallFish playing 'desks'... i do like that desk but it is really similar to the one i found at the local Tip for £4..... i think that one is about £304.00.... so i did better me thinks.

The cafe is cold and twee with nasty table cloths, but it's a fair cup of coffee and a good sandwich when you need one.

She is such a good girl coming with Mamma.

Sorry, did someone say we are supposed to be "Home Educating"SmallFish? Lessons for today: self-restraint, budgeting and ummm,,, history. Oh, and we saw that really cute labra-doodle Puppy.... that is practically a lesson in genetics by itself.

I bought a set of Cake Forks.

...the answer is "yes" - do i need to repeat the question?

I bought this wooden Trug, it was big and a bargain.

....the answer is "several" - do you really need to hear that question?

and i bought a stool for my kitchen. I'll save that just to tantalise you :) i might spray paint it pink so maybe i'll do a little "before and after" post - you know how i lurve to perform for you.

So.... it is a fully fledged V I C E.

I get a feeling in me.... i know what it is.... it starts in my mouth as it gets dry and then i can't sit still. I know i will not rest until i have been for a Vintage Rummage. I'm so glad you don't hate me for it. x

ooooh, they're *new*...

It is amazing how quickly i turn an idea, into a product, for myself, and then some more for sale... it is like a 'compulsion' - i swear, i need help!

I love my PinPots for the individuality and quirkiness... but i wanted a cushion for my pins to go in my new travel sewing basket (see previous blog post to this!) ... as the PinPots were more for my sewing table. I use loads of pins as i am always pinning items together in "anticipation" of sewing, and then leaving them like that for weeks. So, i found some of the sweetest fabrics i had in my stash that seemed to have gone unused for a while or were too small for much else. Then i decided to make a cushion (or 10).
I am so pleased with how they look :)

BUT,,,, that isn't even my favourite bit!

They are stuffed with polystuffing AND gorgeous organic lavender. So even if it sits in my travel basket or in my fabric stash for a while, it is still doing a job. Making everything smell subtley sweet.

I am slowly listing a few of these for sale:

HERE on etsy

HERE on Folksy

and some i am keeping for my next big Craft Market which is the "MaKe" event in Milton Keynes.

Below is the reverse on some cushions, with a lovely cotton flower.

There is a ribbon tag on each cushion as part of my design style but also so you can hang the cushion on your NeedleBook if you want to.

Summersville avenue fabric has worked really well as a little cushion - possibly my favourite.

And photographed with a bits and pieces from my vintage haberdashery and stationary hoarde.

I do apologise if a bore anyone with my endless pincushions and craft talk, but it is my life you see. It is what makes me happiest (after kissing my little girl to bed) x