Great New Irish Shop!

My friend Donna Bryan from home down in Limerick visiting me this weekend. She wanted me to give her a workshop in setting up her new Etsy shop, DB Jewellery Designs. So on friday night we had a browse around other jewellery sellers to check out their prices, and the general look of shops that she liked. Then we were up bright and early on Saturday to take lots of photos for her lovely wire wrap rings. After some experimentation we hit on the winning idea of placing them on mirrors and then photographing them. I've seen this used to great effect in ad campaigns, and I thought it added that etra wow factor to the images. Then we went through a million fonts and colours to decide on her banner. And by the end of it all she has 11 new pieces in her shop. It was really nice to go through this process with someone else, and trying to guide them past all the time consuming pitfalls I fell into.

At the end of all our hard work we went to see the great band The Brad Pitt Light Orchestra in Dolans Warehouse, it's been ages since I've seen them live and they were a treat and a half.

Recommended Reading

What are your top 5 daily blog reads? I'm always on the look out for new blogs to read, be it style, craft, design, pop culture I don't mind. I read blogs instead of magazines in the morning after I've checked and replied to all of my mail. It's a little chill out time before I start working. I know there are thousands more hidden gems that I've never stumbled upon...so let me know what are your fav reads over a cup of (decaf!!) coffee in the morning??

A Nice Day for a New Look

Do you like the new look on the blog? I went to shabbyblogs for the free background, which I think is super cute. They have a really good selection and it's very user friendly. I did want to pick something that wasn't to distracting so that's why I went for muted tones. I also redesigned the header. I was the same image that I had been using for the past year and a half, and it looked a bit fussy. I went for a crisp font and used some of my many photos of buttons.

I also added a quick 'interesting, cool, and like' button at the end of each post. I like using this tool on facebook, it's a very handy way of saying you like something without having to leave a comment. I didn't even know it was an option until last night when I went browsing around through all the tools/functions. Lastly I've also added a search bar to the top so you can search the blog for exactly what you're looking for.
Any other suggestions to make this beast more user friendly?

Pin Cushions

In one of my last posts you saw a sneeky peek at one of my new pin cushions. I've made a few more, and just took some quick snapshots of them so you can have a wee look. I love making them, as it's mostly hand stitched. There is something really relaxing about going through that slow process and watching something form in your hands. It also means I can listen to my audiobooks without the buzz of a sewing machine (at the moment I'm listening to Robert Jordans The Wheel of Time series).

I also made new small pin cushions that you can wear on your wrist, these are really handy when your on your hands and knees on the floor doing alterations. The cushion is detachable from the wrist band. One is a cake and the other an iced biscuit. John suggested I make one with a watch face.

Woohoo Lots of Sales

Oh my god! I'm delighted I just made 6 sales in the past 12 hours on Etsy...woohoo! I was told my a friend, Tanya about this site Craftcult. It's a website for checking your views and 'hearts' of all your products. Which in itself is very handy, but they also sell ad space too. So I bought a week of one of their carousel ads, which is a roatating banner with images from different shops. So today was my first day of the week long ad, and I sold 6 things, I'm so chuffed....can you tell??

Button Photo

Here are those yummy buttons I was talking about earlier today. Check them out here

Button-fest

Yes i know it's crazy but I got even more buttons yesterday! I think I have a serious addiction on my hands here. I was out with a friend last night and he compared me to the little dude from the kids cartoon Duck Tales who dives into a pool of all his gold, Peter said he could imagine me showering in my millions of buttons....not far wrong Peter! I just spent the past hour taking photos of them and I'll be listing sets of 200 dark, toffee coloured, and white buttons. I also made a couple of pincushions too. It was really nice to get away from the computer and get back to some sewing.

Alternative Valentine

I've been browsing through Etsy a fair bit today, and I found a few cool alternative gifts for Valentines Day, for those who are bored with all the cliche pink stuff.

1. Goxfox Designs- Red sequin Valentine Heart
2. Crankbunny- Telltale Heart
3. Vulva Love Lovely-Vulva Portrait Pendant
4. 2Treasure Hunt Shop- Rose Heart Bustier
5. The Rasilisk- We Belong Together
6. Happy Family- Robots in Love7. Nancy Farmers- Slippery When Wet
8. High Strung Beads- Screw U

Wooden Heart

I just added my wooden buttons to my supplies shop

Etsy Treasury

Fellow Etsy Ireland seller Ooakie very kindly featured my pocket mirror in her treasury, click here to go directly to it, and browse through the listings