New Brooches

 It's that time again when my studio has turned into a little sweat shop; or rather an ice box as the temperature has really dropped, but you get my meaning! I'm trying to get all my stock ready for Limerick Craft & Design, something I thought I had mostly sorted but I severely miscalculated. It turns out I had double of some stock and none of others. I ran out of time and energy half way through my list and then forgot this fact for a couple of months until I went to my stock box about two weeks ago. Since then I've been frantically sewing, gluing, cutting, drawing, and crimping. My inventory is looking a lot healthier now and I'm nearly there!

These are just a few of the 50 brooches I've made for the shop. I love the two toned buttons that I got at the Friday market, I've never seen them before. The checker red and black piece is actually weaved strips of felt that have then been hand stitched together. There is a red circle that has been reverse appliqued on, with another red circle backing it. It was way too much work for the €10 price tag, but sometimes it good for the brain to experiment a little bit.

Sorry that the photos aren't prettier, but as I've said I've turned into a machine, as soon as a batch is made I package it and tick it off the list. Next week I'll have loads more new products to show you.

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Newest Handmade Felt Brooches

I made a bunch of new brooches recently. I spent a whole day cutting out felt last week and boxed them up to bring to the market so I could do some sewing while it was quiet. I used some of the lovely fabric I got in the Limerick Quilt Centre; cutting out heart shapes with my Cuttlebug made it a lot easier.

I really love this cup that I got as a Christmas present from my friend Orla, and I thought it would make a cute prop for the photos.

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Handmade Button Hairclips

I mentioned last week on my post about Pinterest that I was going to make some button hair clips inspired by this great blog post. I went through my HUGE collection of buttons and made about 30 pairs of hair clips. The problem is finding matching buttons, so I might make some pairs of odd clips in complimentary colours. The simple clips are €3 for a pair and the ornate vintage button clips are €4.50 for a pair. I looked on etsy to compare prices and I think I'm being pretty reasonable, most of them that I looked at are €5 for a basic pair, and they are just glued not stitched. To make sure the slides are really secure I sewed them on first and then held them with a little hot glue. This also means that with the flat button slides you get to see pretty thread, not ugly glue. It involves a little extra effort, but I think it makes all the difference.

To finish off the sets I made the cute little tags very simply with some Kraft card, some coloured pens, and a corner cutter.

I'm not sure yet if I'll list them in my etsy shop but I'l definitely be selling them at the Milk Market this weekend. To see a full album of images, go to my facebook album here.

Button Rings

Part of my whole plan to deal with being made redundant this week is to start listing more of my crafts in my Etsy shops. At my stall I sell lots of little bit and bobs that I never list in my shops like pincushion rings, button rings, pincushion button jars, cards etc. I suppose I've been so busy I found it hard to make time to take photos and write descriptions etc. But now I have more time and it seems like a good idea to actually show the full range of things that I make.

With that in mind I made up some new adjustable button rings last night, and got up bringht and early to photograph them. I struggle a bit with how I should capture them, so I had a browse through Etsy to see with how people photographed rings. A surprising majority don't show them on a hand, but this is not an option for mine as they are elasticated, and they look far better when worn.

I don't think I have ideal hands for modelling but i didn't have much choice, so I slapped on a bit of distracting red nail polish and hoped for the best. I chose the retro looking polka dot blue material for my background and got clicking.

The rings are all hand stitched together, and made from my vintage collection of buttons. At only €5 a pop they are a cheap and cheerful accessory that won't break the bank. Hopefully they are as popular online as they have been at my stall.I will be listing lots of them over the coming weeks but at the moment you can browse my rings here.