Hello Blogosphere! Have you missed me?

Here at Felt Towers we have had one hell of a year... that is to say in many respects a hellish one! We've had a few ups and downs but we're now sufficiently recovered and looking forward to the New Year! Here's some of the ups (we're not going to dwell on the downs!)

I opened my Not On The High Street shop and was bowled over by the response it got, so much so that I really wasn't prepared for Christmas in any way shape or form! I travelled to Leeds and met the lovely Moaning Minnie and we attended the Not on The High Street Christmas on the move lecture/conferency thingie... which was awesome. I met lots of lovely people there whose names I consequently forgot (sorry) but it was nice meeting them anyway!

We lost a few shops and galleries in the new year but that's ok we gained some more along the way and made new friends and contacts in the process.

I made more robins then ever before, sold more birdies then every before and lost more sleep than ever before... but it's al good!

So all that remains is to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a very very Happy New Year.
xx
mel

Mollie Makes Feathered Friends

A while ago I was contacted by a lovely lady from Mollie Makes Publishers about maybe having some images in the inspiration pages of Mollie Makes new book, Feathered Friends, I of course said yes and sent in my images, signed some consent forms and being a dandelioned brained fool totally forgot about it!

Mollie Makes Feathered friends was published recently and I went to my local Waterstones (where I used to work) to have a flick thru... image my delight opening it up to find my pictures there. There was an ear drum bursting SQUEEEEEEEEEE heard throughout the shop and a lot of giggling uncontrollably (I have no embarrasment) I got a few stares but since my former collegues were used to me being mental they thought nothing of it!

I had to buy it so I took the book home to settle down on the sofa and stroke it and generally bounce happily (don't worry I paid for it first!) but as I flicked thru the gorgeous projects I got another surprise when I found another page with my images on later in the book! And sharing a page with Abigail Brown no less... well there was a bit more Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee going on I can tell you!

The book it's self is fab, lots of great projects ranging in difficulty all beautifully photographed and gorgeous... I shall be trying a few out myself if I ever get any free time! Mollie Makes Feathered Friends is available from all good bookshops and the lovely Mollie Makes folks are offering you a chance to win a copy over at their blog here:
http://www.molliemakes.com/competition/mollie-makes-feathered-friends-giveaway/

Thanks MollieMakes!

New Stockists for Feltmeupdesigns

This Month we have 2 new local stockists in our home town of Scarborough to announce.

The lovely Angela and Rosie on Barr Street. Angela and Rosie stock a lovely range of vintage and handmade goodies downstairs in their boutique shop.

Our little birds nestle happily alongside Angela Knipe's handmade felt jewelery, tuck in next to vintage teddy bears and snuggle up with the work of lots of fabulous local artists and crafters.

Upstairs at Angela and Rosie there is a lovely light, airy gallery space filled with the work of local artists, currently Angela has a beautiful ceramic fish installation by Iona Calvert, Prints by Steph Mitchell and these lovely dolls (who's  maker I've forgot to make note of) alongside work from many other local artists.

I was amazed how much is in this tiny gallery space and yet it doesn't feel at all cluttered in the gallery and the big window gives lovely light to the space.

My other new stockist is Eatme@Home on Hanover Road... you may remember me camping out at Eatme Space for a great portion of last year, well the Eatme boys have decided to open a deli and employ my lovely fella John to run it.

As well a delicious selection of artisan breads, yummy cakes, herbs, spices, gluten free treats and more edibles then even I could get thru the shop has a lovely selection of handmade and vintage goods in Nana's back room at the back of the store.

As well as feltmeupdesigns owls and Inkmeup notebooks and lavender bags there are teacup candles and notebooks by Janilaine Mainprize, kitschy kitchenware and lots of fun vintage bits and bobs... plus you get to say hello to my fella!

For a full list of stockist visit our website:
http://feltmeupdesigns.yolasite.com/stockists.php

Lovely owls at Angela and Rosie

 We're always on the look out for new venues to stock with birdies so please contact me if you own a shop or gallery and would like to stock our birdies!

Prints by Steph Mitchell

Hello Blog World!

I haven't been in blog world for a long time and you may have been wondering where I have been... well after Christmas I was suffering from a bit of burn out, I felt I had nothing really interesting to say and was spending far too much time online so decided to take a wee break (also blogger doesn't seem to work on Ipad very well and the laptop has been playing up!) Here's a little update of what I have been up to for the first 2 months of the new year!

As usual I have been felting my fingers off busy with gallery orders, wedding cake toppers and Easter and mothers day lovelies. I haven't been idle, far from it, I have been working very hard but mostly on custom designs like these lovely parrots and cockatoos and a whole box of sweet mini tweets for an easter gift.

Also I have ventured in to a New Market at Not On The High Street it was a daunting task since I felt a lot of my images weren't up to scratch and needed completely retake so I have been working on improving my photography, especially on the wedding cake toppers with a new fake cake (icing not my speciality!) and a bunch of lovely props!

I'm learning a lot but it's slow going photographing all my designs again. I also decided to combine my 2 stores of Inkmeup and feltmeupdesigns on NOTHS... for practical reasons but also because I am trying to wind Ink down a little and just focus on a core range of best sellers.

All this work has left me a little dazed and confused so I haven't really had time for new designs or any big projects. I am hoping this year to get some more large owls made... they had a great time over Christmas sitting in Pippin's lovely Haymarket shop and watching the world go by and now are slowly making their way into my etsy store for sale. I have big plans for 2013... and slowly slowly am getting there... there will be more updates, blog posts and competitions coming soon but for now you can always find me hovering around on facebook! See you there!

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