crafts

Card making

~ DMWCarol ~ Leave a comment

That was a really fun morning.  Edna had done a fabulous job of putting together little kits so we could launch straight in to assembling our first cards.

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This was mine.  I think it worked pretty well.  If only all bees had so many flowers to choose from!

Then we were let loose to experiment both with things Edna had prepared and with other bits and pieces the rest of us had brought along.

I came up with this design featuring blue tentacles and falling leaves.  I’m not sure what I’ll do with it, but I really like it 🙂

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I definitely have to get working on what to do for next time, everyone seemed to like the idea of bracelets so I’ll start with those and see what we end up with.

Ramsey Crafters

~ DMWCarol ~ Leave a comment

It’s the first proper meeting of Ramsey Crafters today.  I hoping we get a few new faces coming along to join us and it’s not just the five of us who started the group, but even if it is it will be fun to get together and make something lovely.

Edna is going to show us some card making techniques today, I’ve made a few cards in the past but it’s not something I’m especially good at so I’m looking forward to learning a bit more about how it should be done.

It’s my turn for a demo next time, it’s going to be something jewellery related but I really haven’t decided quite what to do as yet.  I think I need to have a rummage through all my beads and findings and see what I have available.  It doesn’t want to be anything too tricky since we only have a couple of hours, but it does want to be something nice.   I’ll probably take along a load of random bits and pieces so people can have a play if they get finished quickly as well.

Flowery headbands

~ DMWCarol ~ Leave a comment

I’m trying to decide how to price these headbands.  They’re made from bits and pieces I had laying around so I have no idea what the materials actually cost.  They don’t take long to make and I’m actually doing them while between tasks on my actual job so I’m already being paid for my time.   I’m thinking they should be cheap and cheerful as I like the idea of kids wearing them at the Craft market /summer festival I’m going to this weekend.  What would you expect to pay for something like this?

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Craft Fair Update

~ DMWCarol ~ Leave a comment

It’s been a busy few days of making.  I’ve just about got together enough for my first attempt at a craft fair tomorrow – hopefully it will go well and I’ll sell a few things.

Here are a few examples of the things I have made – you can see some of the others on my new facebook page

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Wish me luck 🙂

Exciting times

~ DMWCarol ~ Leave a comment

First – I have a craft fair on Saturday.  Am going to be spending the next few days frantically making stuff to sell.  My aim is to end up with a couple of display boards filled with earrings plus a few necklaces and earrings.  Today I also bought a couple of packs of canvas so if I get enough made tomorrow and Thursday I will try and create a few mixed media collages as well.

I’m really nervous, selling is not something I am at all good at so this will show me whether I have actually learned anything from this course I’ve been doing.  Fingers crossed and all that!

In other even more exciting news, my lovely daughter Vicci announced her engagement a few days ago.  She’s marrying a lovely guy who I am sure she will be very happy with so I couldn’t be more thrilled for her.

They’ve picked a date just 5 months away so it’s going to be a whirlwind of preparation. We’ve already been dress shopping and she’s bought a beautiful frock that she looks amazing in.  I only cried once, which is pretty good going I thought.

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That is not THE dress, just one of the many she tried on.

I’m not even thinking about what I’m wearing yet, I want to try and get some serious dieting in before we reach that point.  Vicci has suggested that I wear something with plum tones which is her bridesmaids colour so it will probably be easier to find something in that colour once the autumn gets here.

I get the fun of doing the flowers and maybe making some jewellery for Vicci and her bridesmaids.  I love wedding crafts so am looking forward to it  She has some lovely ideas for what she wants.

Since this is supposed to be a crafts blog, I shall end by sharing the card insert I made for Vicci’s engagement card.  She likes sheep and thankfully found it amusing rather than cringeworthy 🙂

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Getting serious

~ DMWCarol ~ Leave a comment

No post from the crafts course this week as I forgot to take my camera with me.   We poured candles and finished assembling the magnets from the little squares we made previously.  It was nice to see things being finished.

There’s a couple more weeks to go which will cover more of the selling stuff, and then it’s all over – except that myself and a lovely lady called Joan have decided to start up a crafting co-op so we can continue meeting up and making things together plus share the cost of having stalls at craft fairs and events.

The group itself has a stall in just over a week. As well as the things we’ve made in the group we’re allowed to bring along things we’ve made in our own time to sell.  I’m going to take a bunch of chainmail jewellery to see how that goes.  I had a shopping trip today and stocked up on beads and ribbons so I have loads to work with.

That means I need to work on display and packaging.  I’ve just splurged on ebay on some cute little boxes that are sort of like treasure chests.  They’re a bit more expensive than basic packaging but I’m hoping they’ll pay for themselves by attracting customers.  I’ve also ordered some tissue paper and sticky labels with my contact info.  I may have to invest in business cards as well.  All serious stuff – and expense I could really do without, but if it works it’s worth it.

My previous attempts at selling have not really gone very well so here’s hoping I get it right this time.

Stick weaving

~ DMWCarol ~ Leave a comment

A while ago I picked up a set of weaving sticks from eBay so I’d have something different to do if I go to a reenactment event. Yesterday I tried using them for the first time.   So far I’ve woven over seven feet of braid.  I’m pretty pleased with that.  It’s easy to do, very portable and makes a really nice fabric.  I shall definitely have to invest in a bigger set of sticks, maybe even an actual peg loom.

This first effort will be added to my vike kit to be used as a belt. I’ll be trying some with colours next.

   
   

Fibro earrings

~ DMWCarol ~ Leave a comment

This morning I was making a few pairs of earrings which I am hoping to sell to add to the money Chris has raised to buy Raspberry Pi computers for her son’s school. I made those pretty quickly and while doing so found a few bits that inspired me to make some earrings for myself.

I’m trying to get into the habit of wearing earrings more often as I’ve been going weeks or even months without and as a result the holes keep trying to close up so hopefully these will encourage me.

The purple butterfly is one of the symbols for fibromyalgia and the spoon is a reminder to keep one spare for myself – this will only make sense if you are familiar with the spoon theory analogy which has become a go to guide for explaining how it is to live with a condition like fibro, although it was originally written to explain lupus.

I must admit I don’t really need to wear a reminder that I have fibro, the day to day pain and lack of energy does that for me, but I think they look quite pretty and might be useful for meeting other people that understand the condition.

  

These are all the ones I made, not bad for a lazy morning.