Updates from The Felt Menagerie!

 

It's been quite a while since we've had an update from the Felt Menagerie so I guess I better tell you all the shenanigans we've been getting up to at felt towers! I've been super busy with gallery orders and have added 2 new stockists to my portfolio China Butterfly in Formby and the beautiful Gallery in Masham. We went on a road trip to Masham last week to deliver a pile of birds and sold 3 in our first weekend! 

 

I also got my first gallery order for Christmas from Cambridge Contemporary Crafts and have been felting like the wind to get it finished so I am not in panic mode come the deadline!

 Feltmeupdesigns.co.uk got a make over as did the blog so we are now simple and clean a bit less busy... all those old dead links have been removed and hopefully we make sense! (or at least a bit more sense then we usually do!)

I've been making more big owls to, this long eared owl is my  latest one... he looks quite spooky without a face! I love making these big owls... they take so long but are well worth it and I think I am learnign alot about felting!

 The hardest parts for me are the wings... getting 2 that are the same size and shape and have the same markings is a bit tricky for me. I'm looking forward to displaying a group of these big guys soon!

I'm currently in full on Christmas making mode at the moment, I still find it odd to be thinking of Christmas when the sun is shining but that's what we crafty types need to do to be ready for it! Hopefully forward planning will mean less of a Christmas panic this year... but I doubt it!

The Feltanomicon Closeth...

The feltanomicon is closing... and as such I have reduced all it's felt denizens to bargainalicious prices, when they are gone they really are gone. 

 

It is with a heavy heart and a deeply burdened soul that I admit that I am but one slightly strange and very geek woman and can only do so much... with this in mind I have decided to close the Feltanomicon, lock it in a box, tie it up with chains, lock it in another box, bury it in a cellar, lock the door and hide the key with a warning to future generations that to open is to do so at one's peril!

That said should I find myself haunted by the ghosts of the Feltanomicon I might reopen it... but only if I can give it the time it deserves. So the yetis will be moving over to Feltmeupdesigns shortly as I love them so much and I have a few brain squids I need to finish up and list which will go there too... as will any Feltanomicon designs which happen to sneak back into the world.

 

All my evil felts are reduced now, most £5 or less so hop over there and grab a bargain now!

Origami Dresses

Recently I decided to use up all my old card stock (I don't make cards so why do I have it?) and all my papers that were bought for inkmeup in it's early days before I had got to grips with the gocco format properly. Plus the 15 years worth of randomly collected crafting paraphernalia... which is a lot.

So last week I started making up cards using my maps and music to make origami bows and blossoms... now my attention span is that of a flea so after a week of bows and blossoms I decided I needed another challenge an went for a little trawl around Pinterest for inspiration and came across some beautiful images of origami dresses.

After several hours of interwebs research I found a pattern/ tutorial which gave the kind of dress I was imagining and I had a wee crack at it! I used this lovely Cath Kidston stationary that someone must have bought me as a present (I'm not exactly a Cath Kidston kind of a gal, have you met me? I'm more of a big boots and scarlet hair kind of a gal!)

I'm really chuffed with the results so there shall be some music paper dresses soon as well. This fab tutorial came from the lovely and talented Christy at Inklings and Yarns and it was beautifully photographed and so easy to follow.

It also gave me an excuse to crack open the bag of tiny pegs I randomly bought last week because they were cute! Now I have a lovely washing line of little dresses hanging from my pinboard! Cute as they are I reckon they will need a bit of bling before I turn them into cards... maybe some buttons and bows!

I'm really enjoying playing with paper and making cards but I have now a much increased respect for people who do it for a living as so much work goes into one little card! Although I am thinking how sweet these would look in little box frames! So far my project to use up my papers has cost me about £30 including glues and new scissors... I'm not sure I have got the hang of clearing out yet!

What A Lovely way To Waste a Day!

Today I have mostly be procrastinating... I didn't feel like working so I gave myself permission to have a morning off and spent the last few hours playing with my paper stash!

I'm really pleased with the results and can feel some new ideas forming in my noggin! These paper bow are really fragile as the paper is very old but they are very beautiful... I wish I could find a way to make them less fragile so I could make them into hair slides!

I am thinking of putting them in box frames and making some cards too... I have so many ideas!  I think they woud make beautiful first anniversary gifts!

Shop Improvements... surviving the July slump!

I am on a mission to improve my shop 1 listing at a time! Looking back on my photos I have realised how much I have come on over the last year as a photographer and as a result some of my listings look a bit sad and drab compared to my newer ones. Also I have learned more about using better more appropriate props and composition.

Before

After

A few months back I bought a light tent (a small investment but such a great little thing!) and a copy of The Crafter's Guide to Taking Great Photos and am working thru my listings one at a time starting with my best sellers, then on to wedding cake toppers and once they are done then everything else! I am trying to photograph, edit and list one thing a day with new shiney photos and so far it is working, it's now the first thing I do every morning after my coffee (if the light is good enough!)

It's a tedious process going back thru over 100 listings but doing one or two a day means it doesn't feel like such a huge chore and it's worth it and my shop is starting to shape up nicely and I think my better images mean more views and treasuries too! Plus I feel my products are better represented now so my customers can see exactly what they are getting!

Why Didn't I Think of This Sooner?

The answer is... I did!

When I first started making owls I thought "I must offer these as wedding cake toppers" and then I just didn't because I am slightly rubbish! Lots of people do buy pairs of owls for their weddings but most do it by special request.

 

Around 2 years on I have finally managed to get my butt in gear and start photographing owls in pairs for cake toppers. I have been making them as special pairs all week. Rather than just throwing 2 random owls together my idea is to offer these as a made to order item so each pair will be made specially for each other just like my wedding cake topper love birds. I'll be offering them as big and mini owls pairs, so far I have on big and mini snowys and some barn owls.

I spent a very busy couple of days making 3 pairs to start off with and over the next few weeks I hope to be able to offer all my owls as wedding pairs. I'll be felting hard and taking advantage of the mid summer lull to get ahead with stock levels for the holiday season and working on new designs (hopefully)

As Part of Christmas in July we are offering a discount code CIJ15 for 15% off your order from our Etsy shop. Offer runs until July 31st and coupon code must be used at checkout to qualify as a special bonus you can also use this code at Inkmeup too and if you buy from both shops we will refund any postage overpaid so that all items are shipped together.

This is a great time to get ahead and start your Christmas shopping early as many sellers are having clearouts and sales right now. Lots of my favourite sellers in the UK Cake and Chat Team have sales too... I'm so tempted!