Happy Mother's Day!

This year Mothers Day was March 18th.  With Mother's Day and Father's Day, I like to make a little goody-bag with 3 or 4 things inside.  This year, I bought my Mum flowers (which did not fit in said bag!) a book and some yummy chocolates (Thornton's of course!), and I made a mosaic coaster - which I will be talking about in this blog!

This coaster came as a kit, and I bought it in the post-Christmas sale - yes, in December 2011 - from Hobbycraft.  Yes, I'm way too organised LOL!  Anyway, I found these little mosaic coaster kits in the bargain baskets near the till and as I dove in to have a look, I found one with a cute sunflower design, which I thought would be ideal for Mother's Day.  Yes, I think this way all year, which is why I usually have many Birthday and Christmas gifts bought well before the occasion!

Anyway, back to the coaster.  I saw another one which I thought was quite cute, it had a Zebra on it - I decided to buy this one for myself.  I did mine first, as I had never done this kind of thing before, and I thought I could learn from any mistakes so I could make Mum's coaster look better than mine.  Everything worked out just right, so last week I set to work on Mum's mosaic coaster!

 So, first off I had this little piece of ply wood which had the outline for the design on it.  I don't think this is cheating at all, this is VERY helpful indeed!  Next, I had a sheet of transparent double sided sticky tape the same size as the ply wood.  So I unpeeled this and popped it onto the wood.  I had a little bag of tiny tiles and...off I went!  Using the picture on the kit cover of course for reference, it really was very easy.  I guess the most difficult part of this was cutting the tiles.  Nothing comes with the kit to cut the tiles, but I found that an old pair of jewellery snips (used for cutting wire and nylon) were a perfect tool for this.  Also, it's recommended that you wear some eye protection because even though these things are tiny and plastic, when you cut into them they reall can shoot off over everywhere.  I swear I have plenty of tiny little pieces of plastic hiding in several places...!

So, as you can see, I started off with the easy part - fitting the square tiles into all the spaces, followed by the smaller pieces.  I discovered that I quickly found my own method of trying to get the right sizes and shapes to fit in all the spaces.  Speaking of which - it  is VERY important to leave little spaces in between each tile - see the close up.  Now, when I had completed the pattern I thought "Well, that doesn't look how I wanted it to..." but it didn't matter.  I wasn't done yet!  Next came the grouting!

So I had this little packet of grout powder, and you just add water to makeit up into a nice thick white paste.  Then, making sure you have plenty of paper or something to protect your work surface underneath your mosaic, you pour the grout onto it, and spread it around.  Yes, it's messy but that's half the fun, right?  I recommend maybe tapping your mosaic onto the surface a few times too - this grout has to get in every single gap between the tiles and tapping it can get rid of air bubbles.  I smeared mine around with theback of an old teaspoon to make sure it got everywhere.  So the end result should be a very pasty version of what you had before.

So I looked at it again and thought "Hmmm, it looks a little better now..." but I still wasn't done.  This grout has to dry and you need to give it plenty of time.  After a couple of hours, the grout had thickened and hardened,and I could still see some parts where there were gaps, so I just touched them all up with the remaining grout I had.  This stuff takes ages to dry so there's plenty of time to fill in any gaps you see.  I also like to make sure that my edges look good too, and that's where you can sometimes see gaps in the grout, especially when you have a runnier consistency.  When it thickens over time, you can easily sort these out :)

So I left it overnight and the next day I cleaned the grout off the surface.  I found the best thing to use for this is wet-wipes, hand-wipes or face-wipes, basically any moistened tissue product.  You'll get through about 4 or 5 of these but they really do the job well and they don't split up and make a mess, like a piece of tissue you've run under the tap.  Wet-wipes also won't soak the grout between the tiles either.  Just rub the surface of the mosaic so you can see all the tiles again in full colour.  Also remember the edges and scrap off any excess grout off the back too, and give that a little going over with a wet-wipe.  Then set it down and admire your work! Wow! That looks great! :)

There's just something really satisfying about making something and giving it away as a gift, whatever it is - knitting, crochet, a mosaic, jewellery, cake......Just doing these little kits was enough to make me think about doing a bigger mosaic project - only if I see it as a kit though.

I'm not THAT good....yet... ;)

Happy grouting!

Siobhan x

Easter Crochet

My latest crochet project is for Easter - I usually go out and buy little baskets to put my chocolate eggs in to give out to my family, but I thought I would attempt to cut costs this year by making little pouches instead!  I have lots of wool here which I haven't used for anything.  Why?  Well, it's the downside of buying wool online.  Although it may be cheaper to buy online, sometimes the colour isn't exactly what you thought it was according to the photo on screen.....!!  Anyway, I had a blue and a purple which I thought would go with a nice bright yellow ribbon to look nice and Eastery, so that's what I did:

Cute, right? :) The best thing about these is that you can make them as small or as large as you like! What I did with these was try a different pattern or two in the middle before reaching the last part to finish off.  This gives each pouch a different pattern so no two will look the same.

I got the pattern from here: http://roundshape.wordpress.com/2010/06/01/round-crochet-medieval-purse/ where it is called a "Medieval Purse".  I guess the size also depends on the wool you're using too - I like fairly chunky wool so this one measures about 11cm high and about 10cm in diameter.  Of course, the wool stretches with whatever you put inside which can be a good thing if you have - like me - a number of little chocolate eggs to put inside them :)  I haven't got the chocolate yet so I hope I haven't made these pouches too big!

And no, I don't mean I've eaten the chocolate - I really haven't bought it yet!

Happy crafting!

Siobhan x

More knitting exploration!

Yes, it seems I have become somewhat obsessed with knitting and crochet at the moment, I have a couple of projects on the go which I will blog about eventually, but I wanted to tell you about this Etsy store I have discovered belonging to ButterflyLove - based in the UK, this shop sells really cute amigurumi plushes AND patterns, and yes I bought one (you get them via email in PDF format) and tried it out - and love it!

Amigurumi is the Japanese art of crochet or knitted plush toys and there are a lot of them around at the moment - knitting and crochet are both coming back as a trend right now, and as I have said in my previous post, there are many Etsy stores selling them AND the patterns.

Now, this one that I saw in ButterflyLove's shop was something I could not resist getting!  I bought the pattern for this:

It is a planet and moon!  You need a wool with a stripey kind of pattern, but I was really pleased with this!  So much so in fact, I will be making more for a couple of other people as gifts.  It's really quick and easy to make, and you don't need to know any complicated stitches.

The only thing you really need to know is how to knit 2 together - which is pretty self explanatory - and how to "increase" stitches.  You can easily find out several ways of increasing the number of stitches on your needles, either in books or even on Youtube - I have used Youtube for many knitting and crocheting problems and I find it very helpful, especially as you can watch someone doing it as it is explained.  Everyone will have their own preferred method of increasing, and mine is to knit (or purl, depending on your pattern) in the front and back of a stitch, which is one of the visible and decorative ways of increasing.  Here's a good Youtube clip of it being explained HERE.

Happy knitting!

Siobhan x

Knitting and Crocheting Books!

Hello everyone!  Finally I managed to remember to blog again today LOL!

Okay, today I'm going to tell you about what knitting and crocheting books I have which I would recommend for other people to use if they are a knitting beginner.  Let's start with knitting.

I have "The Knitter's Bible" by Claire Crompton which I think is excellent.  There are really easy to understand instructions on how to knit different ways (right handed, left handed), what's knit, what's purl, increasing, decreasing - all the basics.  It also includes lace and cable knitting, and contains a buner of projects which you can do including scarves, bags, cushions, sweaters, and how to sew everything together. It really is a very comprehensive book on how to knit and it is IDEAL for beginners (like I was and ...sort of still am LOL!).  There is a "Stitch Library" at the back as well, which is really useful if you want to try something new or if you're after something really simple and just want to practice it over and over.  Really, this is an excellent book and I don't think I could recomment it enough - I taught myself how to knit with this book.


Moving on to crochet, I taught myself with Debbie Stoller's "Happy Hooker" which is in the "Stitch 'N Bitch" series - there is also a knitting one.  This has everything you need to know and the language is very informal and friendly.  The essential thing with crochet is to remember the differences between the names of the stitches with regards to whether you have an English or an American written book.  The patterns themselves are the same, but the names of the stitches differ.  This is explained in this book, but if you buy any other book with crochet patterns in, just have a look to see if it's English or American before you start, or you might end up with a slightly different looking item!  The patterns themselves I find quite easy to understand, so if you can make sense of them you shoudl bejust fine.  But this book is excellent at explaining everything and I recomment it for beginners, definitely.

Now, remember those flowers I've been crocheting?  The patterns of those come from a book called "100 Flowers to knit & crochet" by Lesley Stanfield.  Now, don't look at the cover and think "No way can I make any of these!" because you CAN make these.  There are a range of projects to knit AND to crochet, although I must admit I have only used the crocheting part of this one since I have had this book.  I will try knitting at some point though!  The book is really well laid out with patterns and instructions so you never have to rely on one or the other and there is a good variation of flowers, leaves, fruit, vegetables and the odd butterfly, bee and ladybird here and there.  It's full of really cute things to make, and both the knit and crochet sections are split up into 3 segments of Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced, so you can practice at whatever level suits you.  It's a great book to use and I recommend it if you fancy making some flower brooches, especially if you have some bits of wool you're not sure what to do with!

The thing I like about crafting with wool like this, is that if you make a mistake, you can take it back and start over.  If you make something as a practice piece, you can unravel it and make a hat out of it!  If you makea scarf or a bag as a project from one of these books and you find you're not using it, go ahead and undo everything so you can use it for something you WILL use.  There are plenty of books out there with patterns in like these, but these are just the ones I have and I highly recommend.

One thing I will say though - if you're planning on making something as a gift for someone, it's very important to find out if they are allergic to wool.  There are a surprising number of people with wool allergies out there, and if you really want to make something for them, it's so easy to choose a wool which is 100% acrylic, which is what I have done a number of times.  It's nothing to stay away from either - there are plenty of acrylic wools out there, the price is often pretty good (wool has been going up in price recently, at least in the UK), and it can be just as soft as any other wool you can find.  I made a scarf for someone with 100% acrylic wool at Christmas, and she told me it's really warm and snuggly.

Another great resource for patterns - free and for sale - is on the website www.ravelry.com -it's free to register and includes knitting and crocheting patterns, some of which I have used.  You'll be surprised to know that there are MANY knitting and crocheting patterns available for sale in PDF format on www.etsy.com too - which I have also bought myself!  Just search for them and see what pops up :)

Happy Crafting!

Siobhan x

Regular posting!!

Ok.  I know I haven't posted YET AGAIN for a long time......!

No excuses this time though.  Now I have put a memo in my computer which tells me to blog about something I have created or something related to crafting etc at least once a week.  Think of it as a late New Year's resolution...... ...... :)

Ok, so first off I will star with some crochet.  These two flower brooches were made as gifts for Christmas to a couple of friends.  I don't think I have blogged about these, and although it wasn't yesterday when I made them, they are handmade by myself, which is what this blog is all about.

 Both these flower brooches were crocheted using a simple flower pattern and 3 colours of wool which I had at the time.  Crocheting little flowers like this are really useful for using up leftover bits of wool!

It's great if you have lots of colours, because you can play around with whatever you like!


Brooch pins are very easy to come by in craft stores, and quite cheap too - they don't need to be sterling silver especially as there will be very little in the way of skin - metal contact on brooches like this, AND I always like to get the pins which have "safety clasps" whatt you have to twirl the end around to move the pin out.

They are very easy to attach at the back of the flower.  You just need to take your time when positioning them at the back so you can't see the metal from the front, and PLEASE be careful with the pin because it is sharp and you have to have the pin OPEN when you attach it to the back of the flower.

It's very easy to thread the wool through the holes in the back of the pin and secure it tightly although a drawback of this is that I use a big needle which is made especially for sewing wool, and I don't know about what's in the stores at the moment, but mine (which used to be my Mum's) does not fit through the holes so I have to thread them through by hand.  Yes it's a little time consuming, but its definitely worth the effort!  I have given away a few of these flower brooches recently, and everyone is always very pleased with them (YEY!) :)

Sometimes I like to put a little bead in the centre - I may have posted a photo of one of those before but I'm not sure..!  Anyway, these can be worn on coats, jeans, bags, or even pinned to a scarf at the end or by the neck.  There are so many flowers you can knit and crochet and turn into pins / brooches, or whatever other creative use you can find for them.  There is a book I have which I will strongly recommend and talk about in my next blog - I promise! :)

Happy Crafting! :) x

Run up to Christmas....

I really meant to blog last week....LOL!  Ok, well it's the run-up to Christmas and I still haven't sold anything.  I'm not too upset of course, because I know it takes a while to get established anywhere, including a website like Etsy.  I do love Etsy though, I just love the layout and all the support there.


Anyway, I have listed pretty much everything I have made so far, with the exception of a couple of things here and there.  I know it's hard to price your stuff - whatever you're selling - and I am starting to wonder if I might be over-pricing my jewellery.  At one point I thought might have been UNDER pricing, but my brother recently told me that his colleagues reckon that my prices are too high.

Would you pay £35 for this necklace?

The thing is, I would be happy paying the prices I have put everything at.  There is no correct way of pricing jewellery, which is what makes it so difficult.  The basic formula which I have come across is to add everything you have spent on the item, and multiply it by 2 to get a wholesale price (if you're selling to a store or a company).  Now this is realistic because if you sell anything wholesale, you will be expected to sell your goods at around half the retail price.  This is perfectly normal - and this is why you need to do this equation to make sure you're not losing out on any profit, even if it might be a little bit.  The retail price is usually 1.5 or 2 x the wholesale price. Now, I have actually done both equations and taken into consideration what I personally would pay for each piece if I were buying it.  The other thing, is that I do have to cover costs and make sure I pay myself for the time I have taken to make a piece of jewellery.  It really does take me about half an hour to string a necklace of beads together from figuring out the design to calculating the price.  How many people out there actually know how much I have paid for some of these gemstones?  £10 for a string of 50 pearls is quite a lot.  Garnet, Onyx and Amethyst are all pretty expensive at the moment, you'd be lucky to find a 30cm string of any of these beads at a good size of 8mm for less than £5.  And don't get me started on the price of silver LOL!!  Some people might be surprised to learn that I might actually end up paying around £10 for the materials to create a necklace, double that to £20 for the wholesale price, double it again for a retail price of £40 which I think is too much so I take it down to £30 or even £25 because that is what I would personally pay.

I'd pay £30 for this necklace - would you?

I don't know....perhaps I'm rubbish at marketing or perhaps it's just that nobody has noticed or is waiting to buy things at the last minute.  All I know is that half the people I ask about the pricing tell me it's too much, and other people tell me it's about right.  So I'm not sure what to do there!  The other thing is that I know there are quite a few people looking at my Etsy store, yet nobody is buying.  There must be a reason - again, I think it's probably either price, waiting for payday / beginning of December, or perhaps my niche isn't attractive to many people.

Anyway, as I said, I'm not too upset about it - as I only started this thing in September / October, and I read recently in an Etsy blog that it can take around 6 months to get noticed on Etsy.  In the meantime, I LOVE creating treasuries, I'm a member of a jewellery making forum, I love creating jewellery and even though I have had a few down moments, this is a journey which I am taking in order to find out if it will work or not LOL!  If this doesn't work out for me, then at least I can say I tried it out and I won't be wondering "what if" for the rest of my life.

How much did I pay for the silver and gemstones here?

course I will continue to be creative if this doesn't work out, and I will even continue to market and try to sell my jewellery on Etsy, and next year I might do a few craft fairs and it might help spread the word.  Who knows, perhaps this will work out in a couple of years' time?  Besides, Russell Grant (A British astrologer) told me that it will take off, but it will take time.....so yes, I called into Radio 2 and got to be on air and find out what the Universe had in store for me - where's the harm in that?  The Universe can always change it's mind I guess ;)

Anyway, if ANYONE would like to take a a look at the prices in my Etsy store and tell me what you think of my prices, I would be very grateful for the feedback.  Tell me if you think my jewellery is over-priced, under-priced, and tell me what you would pay for which pieces!  Please, be honest! :)

Siobhan xx

Long time, no blog!

Wow...how long has it been since I last posted on here?

Well, to start off with, I have been away for the first two weeks of October.  I was in Wales for the first week, and I was travelling around the UK following Josh Groban on tour, who was amazing!  I managed to get my t-shirt signed along with a CD lyric book and picture.  I'm happy!! :)

So, I am back on Etsy - last week I re-opened my Etsy store and decided to gradually re-list each item one by one.  It's so cheap to do it, 20 cents is practically nothing in UK £ sterling!  Last week I was re-listing the Prehistoric items, this week it's Egypt and Middle East.

I am also in the middle of catching up with Etsy Holiday Bootcamp tasks - I'm a little concerned actually because I have had SO many views in my store yet nobody is buying anything.  Yesterday I had 40 views, and right now I'm on 20.

I'm trying to do everything I can to increase views - relisting definitely works, as does tweeting.  I may have said this before, but even though they advise you not to tweet too often about your own stuff you'll be considered as being "spammy" but so far, every time I tweet somebody looks at my Etsy store....

This week I am attempting to tweet about my own stuff, other things which might be interesting to people who follow me, and generally being a little more human rather than robotic.  The other thing is tags and descriptions of each item - I'm thinking I might go tweak them a little just to see if something happens!

In the meantime I still have some knitting and crochet to do in time for Christmas.  Speaking of which, I am going to promote some craft fairs which I have recently discovered, all in the Midlands - I thought it was worth blogging about!

1. Crafts for Christmas (www.ichf.co.uk) 3rd - 6th November at Birmingham NEC
2. Festive Gift Fair (www.festivegiftfair.co.uk) 17th-20th November at Birmingham NEC
3. Nottingham Bead and Craft Show (www.ukbeadfairs.co.uk) 20th November at Nottingham Gateway Hotel
4. The Guildhall Christmas Craft Fair (www.leicester.gov.uk/craftfair) in Leicester

I will NOT be exhibiting at any of these - I am nowhere near that kind of stage yet, although it is something I am thinking of doing at some point.  But I will be going along to have a look at the Festive Gift Fair at the NEC to do some Christmas shopping!  And also I will pop along to the one in Leicester as it's closest to me, easy to get to and....well, I want to see if I might want to exhibit there next week :)

Hey people - it's NOT too early to do your Christmas shopping!  I like to try and get everything done by November 30th or at the latest, the first weekend in December.  I usually end up buying many things throughout the year - if I see something which would suit somebody, but their Birthday has passed, I still buy it and save it up for Christmas.  I also buy the odd little thing here and there if I like the look of it but can't think of who to give it to - I buy a couple of cute things and put them away, think about who to give it to later.  Too many people hate Christmas because they avoid it until the last minute and rich around getting stressed about everything and don't put much thought into what they're buying for people.  Think about it NOW and at least you will have a little time to think about what you're giving as gifts :)

And of course....there is always my Etsy store if you're after some nice handmade jewellery ;)

Siobhan xx