Last Ordering dates for Christmas 2012

 Well we've been working flat out to keep up with orders for Feltmeupdesigns and Inkmeup this year... although we haven't been as panicked as last year... which makes us think we forgot something important!

Don't miss out on the last days to get your order in to get it in time for christmas! Time is ticking down fast and while the UK has until the 19th to order we've already passed a couple of deadlines and Europe and USA just have till the weekend to get orders in!

The big owls are all set up at Pippin now, you can see their fabulous window display/mini exhibition here.

I'm off to pack more orders... I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas and a very happy and stressless new year! xx

Black Friday/Cyber Monday discount for Felty and Inky fans!

Hello felty fans! Are you ready for Christmas? I'm not but then I never am... I waiting for the last posting dates and then there shall be a frantic making and baking of presents for my family and friends!

Over the holiday weekend to help you out with you festive shopping we are offering 10% off at both our Estr shops with the coupon code CYBERBLACKBIRD... and if you buy from both we'll combine your shipping and refund the difference (aren't we nice!)

Visit Feltmeupdesigns and Inkmeup and make sure to put the couponcode  CYBERBLACKBIRD in the little box on the right of your screen when you checkout to redeem the code. If you buy from both shops I'll refund the difference in shipping as soon as the items are posted.

Offer ends Tuesday when I get out of bed and take it down!

Bye Bye Big Owls

We're starting to get super busy for the festive season and the gallery and shop orders have been coming in thick and fast. We're very excited about our first Christmas with our new stockist especially Pippin in Edinburgh who commissioned a special order for a wonderful window display.

 

 Yes Folks today is the day that the big owls are flying the roost to their Wintering grounds up North! (well thursday is!) I have been carefully packing up my big owls for their journey along with a pile of robins and little owls!

 

Each owl gets it's own box with packing peanuts to keep the extra safe and warm on their journey, some aren't looking especially pleased with the arrangements but short eared owl always looks a bit miffed! I got a little emotional while I was packing them up, I kind of feel like I am sending my babies away but Erica at Pippin has a wonderful plan and I can't wait to see it!

  

All our stockists can be found here with links to their personal websites and instructions how to find them, we have stockists in York, Scarborough, Edinburgh, Cambridge, Mersyside, Dorset and Masham in North Yorkshire so if you want to visit any of them they'd love to see you. (stores and galleries only stock limited selections, if you are traveling a long way we recommend you call ahead if it is something in particular you want. Stockists details are here) Full range of birds are as always available in Feltmeupdesigns on Etsy

Early Birds Catch the Bargains!

Christmas is coming!!! Yep, we know this... for us at Felt Towers Christmas has been coming since mid July when we started making robins and planning our Christmas stock for the year.

October has always been a tricky month at the Felt Menagerie because we know that things are about to go crazy for Christmas but we also know that many of our fans and followers are poor and holding on so as a little treat I have made and EARLYBIRD coupon code for all you organised people who are starting you Christmas shopping early. Just enter EARLYBIRD in the couponcode box on Etsy checkout and you'll get 10% off your whole order.

While being a little cash poor I'm also super busy making Robins and getting early Christmas orders sent off to my shops and galleries. Cambridge Contemporary Crafts and Pippin in Edinburgh have already had their first Christmas boxes and I am working on a big pile of robins to take to Me & Mrs Fisher in York soon!

I am also felting like crazy to get 5 big owls finished for a window display, I have 3 so far and another 2 to finish and am getting a wee bit panicky! I'm sure I'll get them finished in time but that doesn't stop the crazy from leaking into my brain and turning me into a quivering wreck! I've also got a bunch of big wreaths to finish and a Christmas display to plan... in a couple of months it'll all be over, let's all try and get thru it sane this year!

Inkmeup

My other shop Inkemup has been much neglected in the past few months but in the run up to Christmas I wanted to get it spiffy and tidy and easier to shop. I did a complete stock take of all my prints and realised that a lot weren't listed anywhere or even photographed. I got myself a pro account on folksy so I could bring that shop up to the same strength as my Etsy store.

I decided that rather than faff about photographing and editing all these random prints of designs which are pretty much discontinued that I'd wrap them all up and sell them off as mystery bags. There's nothing wrong with these prints it's just I have decided that Inkmeup's focus is going to be else where!

I have so many of them and it was a shame for them to just be sitting in a drawer some where so I have wrapped them all up pretty in tissue paper and ribbons.

I think they would make great gifts... perfect for students just moving in to a new home, great for treating yourself to a surprise or even as things to chop up for scrapbooking or crafting projects!

 I am offering them at super bargain prices too... just £6 for 6 A6 postcard sized prints and £11 for 5 A5 sized prints

I'm really happy with these little goodie bags... I can't wait to send some off!

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!