That's All Folks!

Kickstarter Rewards Posted Out

 Well that's it then! I've spent a hectic few days working hard and packing like a demon and it's all over and done with! We've taken 8 MASSIVE bags to the post office, used 6 rolls of tape and more than 300 various stickers.

Every single last reward has been posted (except 1 address I'm still waiting on) and I can see the floor in the studio again.

All that's left to do is say one final huge thank you to everyone who supported, pledged, backed and cheered me on!

Special Thanks to Mr Felt for putting up with my crazy for the last couple of months, Eva for cutting out a few hundred stickers, Tina, Karen and Rich my Kickstarter support team buddies and Iona for putting the idea in my head in the first place! (I put "those suckers" on a tea towel!)

I've been blown away by the response to this project and I'll be back next year with another exciting project! You can follow my day to day adventure over at Facebook or if you don't want to miss out on the news then pop over to my website , scroll down, sign up for my mailing list with the box on the bottom right of the screen. (or follow this blog!)

Kickstarter Update: Tea Towel and Mug Pre Orders (also Known as 50 ways to photograph a tea towel)

Feltmeupdesigns Rainbow doodle bird tea towel

So this past week I have been basking  in the glow of Kickstarter success and the glorious sunshine here in Blighty!( Sadly I don't tan... or burn... I have Goth genes and am genetically predisposed towards pasty! Still slapping on that sun cream tho melanoma is no joke!)

Feltmeupdesigns Rainbow doodle bird tea towel

If you missed out on the kickstarter you can pre order mugs and tea towels here in my special Rainbow Doodle Birds Shop. Current estimated time of arrival is around the end of July as I can't order any until Kickstarter releases the funds. I'm offering mugs and tea towels at a special introductory price on pre order so grab em now before they go up!

Feltmeupdesigns Rainbow doodle bird tea towel

Kickstarter backers check your inboxes I sent you an exclusive code so you can add on tea towels and mugs and any thing else from my webshop without having to shell out for postage again, you can also find the code in the exclusive backer update on Kickstarter if you deleted the email.

My Packaging table... we're gonna need a bigger table!

I've got a head start on my rewards making the birds for those who selected rewards with birds, getting the art work done and ordering the paper rewards which arrived in a brick of paper 2 days ago. Today I'm going to coerce Mr Felt into helping me sort them into piles and start bagging them up ready for shipping. (I might bribe him with ice cream!)

Rainbow doodle Birds Everwhere!

The piles of Kickstarter rewards are taking over the studio!

The Rewards I've made so far

I've had 3 photoshoots trying to get a decent picture of the tea towel and basically have forgotten everything I ever knew about photography! After photo shoot number 3 I think we got it!

Piles of Post cards, prints and stickers

 Feltemupdesigns.com got a make over new landing page and a brand new Kickstarter Adventure page to freshen it up... because I'm super proud about my Kickstarter! Also because it needed a spruce up!

Quick heads up as soon as the tea towels arrive I'll be shutting ALL my shops for a couple of weeks to process the rewards and then have a break... if you need something and were planning on buying it last week in July/first week in august probably best to buy it now!

xx
mel

50 Ways To Use a Tea Towel - The Final Installment

Ok so I know you have been following this exciting tea towel adventure with great anticipation... will she do it? What will she do next? But I am sorry to say that this is the final installment of 50 ways to use a tea towel!

46. Make a pencil case (there would be lovely spiffy photos of step by step stuff but my sewing machine decided that it would make a horrible noise and throw up on the fabric half way through so I did a lot of swearing while taking the thing apart and then putting it back together again, then unpicking and re sewing so you'll have to work this one out yourself. Clue: it involves a zip!)

47. Make a pocket buddy in fact you could make 16 of them, one in every colour, then they would match every outfit you have!

All you need to do is cut out your bird, sew it, wrong sides facing to some spiffy fabric (I used these nice Cath Kidston scraps that I have been hoarding) leaving a gap so you can stuff it with stuffing. Turn it right way round, stuff with stuff and carefully sew the gap closed.

48. Make a lavender bag/hanging decoration, same as above just add a hanging tag and lavender if you want a smelly bird.

49. Applique patches on to your bag/jacket/boyfriends work trousers/kids clothes.

50. Run a kickstarter! 30 days, 50 ways to use a tea towel, 150 backers (at last count) it's been fun... and exhausting but mostly fun! There are just 2 days left to grab your Kickstarter rewards. Thank you to everyone who has put up with me acting like a crazy person, backed, shared, given me cake and wine and coffee to keep me going!

You can add your idea on how to use a tea towel to this post on facebook or comment here and I shall be doing a special blog post with all your ideas soon.

Thanks for reading
X
Mel

 

50 Ways To Use a Tea Towel - The Crafty Edit

So it has been noted that my lovely doodle birds tea towel is far too nice to dry you dishes with and if you don't want to hang it on your wall, wear it like a hat or use it for first aid then why not make something lovely with it?

I've scoured the internet for free patterns and tutorials to find some great projects and free instructables you could use to make something amazing with your doodle birds tea towel!

37. Make a nice apron... ok so there are 2 ways you can do this you could simply grab a belt (like Babble suggests) and improvise an apron (if for example you found a giant spider living in the pocket of your regular apron and had to take it into the garden while screaming and then never speak of it again, ture story!)

38. Follow this pattern/instructable from Fyne Designs to make an apron in just 10 minutes (or maybe 20 for the cak handed amonst us!) it involves a little sewing but as a beginners project it's a pretty simple idea.

39. You could buy loads and make a lovely table cloth! Or just 3 and make a table runner... if you want to get all fancy then why not mix it up with one or two doodle birds tea towels and some pretty stripy ones from the pound shop in coordinating colours. Here's a pattern to show you how.

40. You could make a fancy bag! So you could sew 2 together to make a giant tote bag, just ad some handles or you could follow this tutorial and make a cute drawstring bag, I had one like this for my pumps in PE at school which stopped the rest of my bag getting foot stinky!

41. Now this one I love! Welcome to the House Of Mouse has this awesome super cute tutorial for a 30 minute skirt for a toddler! A skirt... covered in doodle birds! Think about it... I reckon you could make an adult version with 3 or 4 but you'd probably have to line it then, or maybe just use one as a panel in a skirt with some lovely vintage fabric!

42. Now here's an easy one, napkins! If you just snip the tea towel down the middle horizontally and hem up each side you have a lovely napkin!

Image credit Food 52

43. Make a cushion from a tea towel... doodle birds in your living room? Oh yes!

44. Make a wallet from your tea towel... I'd suggest that you cut your doodle birds out length ways so you can have a full doodle bird on each side of the fold and inside too! The tutorial from Obsessively Stitching looks relatively simple, even to it says boys wallet I'm sure a girl could use it too!

45. Tea Towel Shopping bag holder (my nan's favourite, she had dozens of these hanging about the house! Craft bits has a really simple tutorial even Mr Felt could manage it!

The Kickstarter Tea Towel  Project is still live and we have 5 days to go so it's quite fitting that I leave you with 5 ways to use a tea towel left to cover! I've added a new stretch goal... if we hit my next target all backers requiring posting will recieve an extra Barn Owl postcard sized mini print in their parcel! Yay! It's a big stretch this one...read more about it in my latest Kickstarter update here. You might think it's a lot for just 5 days but I've seen what you guys can do in just 2! So please share if you can't pledge... I really appreciate any support.

 Thanks
x
Mel

10 Ways to Use a Mug

So lately I have been DREAMING  about tea towels! Seriously I had a dream that Jason Momoa wanted to buy a tea towel and I wouldn't let him!

So for a change let's talk mugs! Now your average mug is not as versatile as a tea towel, for example you can't take it with you to the beach... you might break it! You can't use it to dry dishes (but you can dry it with a tea towel! But our humble mugs still has some great and surprising uses:

1. Drink a lovely hot beverage from it... I like coffee, white, 1 sugar or peppermint tea... and chocolate digestives for preference.

2.It makes a great pen pot for all the sharpies that I bought for totally legitimate reasons!

 3. It makes a really lovely pot for a little plant! My little cactus pal here is from Yarntistry but if you are using real plants I'd suggest a plastic pot inside the mug so it can drain properly.

 4. Ssssshhhhhh! (if you drink wine from your mug nobody will know it's wine!) Also it's super classy I don't care what anyone else says!

 5.No speakers for your I-pod or shiny smart phone? Music sounding like a mosquito stuck in a tin can... no probs... pop it in a mug a voila! It's an amplifier (look at me I'm techie now!)

6. Make a mug cake, they are yummy... they do tend to be a little dry sometime but I find a bit of ice cream or custard helps and stuffing a spoonful of nutella in the middle makes a really nice sauce... just let it cool a bit first! I like THIS one!

7. Make a cookie in a mug with a microwave! Yep... you heard it here... a cookie! So I tried this out just for you and while what I ended up with was kind of a fudgey/cookie/cakey mess with a dollop of ice cream on top it was delicious! (no pics cos it really did look like death!) Here's the recipe on Spoon University. This one seriously give it a bit of time to cool because the result is molten!

8. Don't want to wash up? Make scrambled egg in a mug and then eat it from the mug! Just whip up your eggs and add a splash of milk, some herbs, salt and pepper if you want them and bung in microwave... I cook it in 30 second bursts then take it out and give it a mix until it's cooked. Yum!

9. Make a  meat loaf in a mug... seriously who needs an oven and plates when you have a microwave and a mug! I haven't tried this but the fact that I could do you a whole 3 course meal including soup, main and a desert all in mugs in the microwave is awesome... I can't guarantee it'll taste good but we only own 4 plates and seem to have about 20 mugs!

10.  It makes a rather splendid gift, see you can pop a nice bag of sweeties (or a mini wine bottle just sayin'!) and a little gift inside a mug and then it's a lovely surprise when unwrapped. Oh hey... I bet a tea towel would fit nicely inside a mug too!

So yes! Mugs are versatile and useful as well as being pretty! I've learn you can sharpen a knife with the base of one although I can't be trusted with sharp things!

You can get my mug by pledging at Kickstarter and you can add a mug to any pledge but scolling down to the FAQs and checking out how to there :D

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/feltmeupdesigns/feltmeupdesigns-rainbow-doodle-birds-printed-tea-t

Right where's my wine mug... I mean coffee... coffee... I'm not drinking wine honest!

50 Ways To Use A Tea Towel Part 2: Kickstarter Update

So, quite incredibly, my Kickstarter project is 100% funded in just under 2 days! Wowser... huge huge huge thanks to everyone for their support! Thank you!

So I know you aren't here to listen to me gush about how wonderful you are for supporting me so here's what you came for 

50 Ways To Use A Tea Towel Part 2- The Baking Special

 5. Use a tea towel under your mixing bowl to stop it sliding everywhere.

 6. Wipe your grubby paws on it (unless they are covered in chocolate in which case lick them clean, who wastes chocolate like that!)

 7. Hot! Hot! Hot! Don't burn your fingers if you can't find the oven gloves, double up your tea towel and use it to remove hot brownies from the oven!

8. Place a damp tea towel under your chopping board to stop it sliding about (especially if you are using John's over sized chopper!)

9. Having baked your brownies, make your self a nice pot of coffee and wrap the tea towel around it to act as a cozy! (tip do this before you put hot water in or it's virtually impossible to wrap a hot coffee pot in a tea towel!) and then have a brownie with your coffee!

More ways to use a tea towel coming soon.

The Kickstarter Doodle Birds Tea Towel project is still going, visit the page to see how much we've raised so far and to get your own tea towel and exclusive rewards.