Coriandr Finds

Whilst sorting out a few things in my Coriandr shop I had a bit of a look around and found some really great goods to share with you all on this yucky rainy Thursday morning. Coriandr is a UK based site that has an international group of artisans selling their handmade goods and supplies. If you haven't checked it out yet I'd urge to go and take a look because it is a really nicely laid out site. Simple, clean looking and easy to navigate. It makes shopping for handmade goods a breeze. From the other side of the coin, as a seller, I really like the one page listing process and the simplicity of getting your goods into a very easy to use shop.

I love these earrings from Cee Gee Jewellery. Something about the beads makes me think of sea urchins. I love being by the sea, the smell, the sounds and the feeling of the wind coming off the water just make me feel glad to be alive. How great to have a reminder of that feeling in a simple, stylish pair of earrings.

Creativesque works with card, paper, paints, and inks to make beautiful tags and bookmarks, like this blue floral one. Most people think of tags just as something to tie to a gift with the name of the person the gift is for on it, but I like to use tags for all sorts of things. My memory is so bad that tagging things with messages to myself is a great aide-mémoire.

It is a sort of tradition in my family to wrap gifts in newspaper or recycled paper as we all have a bit of a dislike of the waste that gift wrap represents. I have now found a fantastic alternative in myfuroshiki shop. These fantastic fabric wrappers are not only beautiful, but they can be used again and again. Such a brilliant idea!

I've seen Snapdragon Beads work being featured in a few places on-line and usually that would lead me to pick someone else's work to share, but this green, cream and gold pendant is just so gorgeous I couldn't resist having a photo of it on Autonomous Artisans.

All weekend Jon and I have had a house full of our lovable friends and yesterday the last of them left, so our house now feels very empty and I'm rattling around in it all day waiting for Jon to come home from work. This canvas from Strawberry Magpie made me remember just how much home sweet home is more about people rather than a building. I love our little house, but to get a feeling of true home has more to do with who I'm with in this building rather than the 4 walls themselves.

Take a look at Coriandr and see what you can find. I bet you that you will find something you adore.

Written by Lynne of PiratePixieCrew and Hyperloop Hoops

From yummy seeds...

This morning I logged onto Artfire and the first thing I saw on the front page was a giant sunflower. The bright orange colours made me smile a huge wide grin. Is there a happier, more heart lifting flower than a sunflower? I know they are big and brash, but for all that vibrant, in your face colour and size don't they just make you feel all summery and warm inside every time you see them? Add to that they have very yummy seeds to eat as Autumn arrives and I have to say I love you Sunflowers!

Deb Moran's photograph captures beautifully what I mean about sunflowers, their bright orange glow and their warm smiley face. I also love the reflection below the flower in the photo. It somehow shows the fragility of the flower and reminds us to enjoy it whilst it lasts as soon it will fade and be gone.

This sunflower from Anna Clifton Jewellery is just so beautiful, you would never realise it's petals was made from recycled aluminium cans would you? The patterned centre is sterling silver which contrasts beautifully with the delicate looking bronze like petals. Beautiful!

These beautiful baby ballet slipper from Pink Angel Wings Creations are just so adorable. Imagine a baby girl in a bright yellow dress wearing these little shoes and a pretty sunflower print summer hat. She'd look like a little princess fit to visit the Queen.

Kitty Linnington Art's sunflower card just shouts out "Yippee for the sunshine, long summer days and vibrant colours!" Do you know someone that's feeling a little bit down, or is having a hard time? Imagine the smile on their face if this card dropped though their letterbox with a personalised message from you written inside. Go on, send someone a smile in an envelope!

I have to be honest, I don't think I would want to poke pins into Sew Lucky Embroidery's pincushion, purely because it would obscure the beautifully embroidered sunflower. I guess I could put the pins in the back of the cushion. This little cushion would definitely make pinning those sewing patterns a much more jolly task.

So Sunflowers really are like balls of summer and joy to me. I hope you feel the same way about them and that today's article has given you a warm glow!

Written by Lynne of PiratePixieCrew and Hyperloop Hoops

The gift drawer

When I imagine being completely grown up, and totally organized I think about my imaginary gift drawer. This will (hopefully) be a drawer full of wonderful gifts, suitable for a wide range of friends and family. If I ever forget someone’s birthday, or special event I can turn to my drawer of handmade pressies and find something lovely (not that I will, because I’ll be totally organized). I’d stock up this draw from lovely Etsy and Folksy sellers, as well as craft fairs.

I’ve chosen some great gift items from Folksy, for when that day of ultimate organization comes!

First up is a lovely double sided beech photo frame is made by Chris Dodsworth Designs. It’s pretty much a perfect gift for anyone! It also allows you to store photos with it, so you don’t have to scrabble around for a new photo, each time you want a change.

The present box will definitely also contain a large number of cards, for all occasions. I already have a box with spare cards, but most them I don’t really like! These beautiful cards from Fleshie, are just right – they’re colourful, unique and flexible as they have been left blank inside. They come in packs of five, great for stocking up!

Even though I make purses myself, I can’t help but be tempted by other peoples, especially this gorgeous woollen pouch, Materialised. If I could bear to give it away, then it would make one of my girly friends very happy indeed (if they weren’t already inundated with handmade purses). It’s even made from recycled felt sweaters, so great eco-friendly gift.

I love notebooks, they are so handy! I seem to have a collection of these too, but none quite as stylish as Pumpkin Sputnik’s pale blue pine notebook.
This subtle pine design gives the pamphlet style notebook a touch of glamour, making it a perfect present for the more sophisticated friend.

These keyrings from Picciolo would make great little pressies, on there own or to add an extra unique element to a bigger present. They are felt double sided keyrings, with piccolo’s unique design and complementary fabric.

I wonder how many other people are organised enough to have a proper pressy draw… I’m sure there are some of you out there!

Written by Rose of FeltGiraffe
You will be able to see Rose's handmade beautiful purses in person at Handm@de Cambridge this weekend.

Gorgeous goods are just a click away.

Over on the right of our blog we have some Project Wonderful ad slots that are full of fabulous shops. The people advertising in those slots sponsor this blog and help us to keep it running. To show our gratitude to those people I like to feature some of their goods on the blog every now and then. It's always easy to find things to feature too because their shops are always full to bursting point with exciting products. You can see for yourself by clicking through to their shops and taking a surf through their pages.

Lori Anderson Designs has a wide range of styles of jewellery on her website. This colourful beauty is from the Whimsical range. It contains 100 handmade lampwork beads. It's a riot of colours that would brighten even the darkest day.

Next its a shop full of embroidery with attitude. Aunti Franni's take on embroidery has a very nifty twist. Yes you can find traditional styles in her shop but the ones that made me smile most were the slightly more quirky designs, such as the Crafty Ninja. As a knitter I think I might now have to make myself a ninja outfit.

Rebbeca from Soap Deli has long been one of our sponsors. She makes beautiful soaps and is also a fellow lover of handmade goods. She and her partner are so dedicated to spreading the word about handmade goods that they started up the web networking site Made By Hand. By ME. Check out the site and Rebbeca's soaps. Both are well worth a look.

Random Scraps creates gorgeous paper and card goods for you to buy. Her handmade cards are top quality and will delight anyone lucky enough to receive them. This set of 6 are simply a great way of reminding people you are thinking of them. Send someone you miss a Hello card and let them know how much they mean to you.

Artistic Jen has many talents. These unusual black fleck coloured polymer clay beads are just one of the things she has made. She also crochets and paints. Her pretty shawls and Afghan blankets are beautiful.

So now I've shown you a small sample, why not check out the rest of these sponsors shops and don't forget to visit the other sponsors too. I thank them all for sponsoring us and for sharing their multitude of talents with us.

Written by Lynne of PiratePixieCrew and Hyperloop Hoops

Button up!

Are you, like me, a button collector/hoarder? I know it’s a bit sad but buttons makes me really happy. Not only is there an endless amount of different shapes, sizes and styles but it’s also the ultimate recycling. Most of my button collection has been donated to me from a friend’s mum. After hearing that I had started making and selling purses and brooches, she sent me her button collection to me in the post- it’s amazing! In return I sent a purse, with a button design made using a few from the collection. Next thing I know another button collection arrived, from someone I’d never met – but had heard that I was collecting buttons!

Anyway, enough about me, let’s see some handmade items…

These gorgeous blue button earrings are made by Bethany Allen. Her shop also contains a matching bracelet and necklace. There’s even a special, discount price if you buy them altogether. They are simply perfect for a posh evening out or a wedding.

This amazing dial phone design iphone case from hiné, is made using thick felt and buttons. It even has a little pocket at the back for your headphones. This shop also contains an equally delightful ‘camera camera case’ - it’s definitely worth a look! Check out her Flickr account too.

I love Dorset buttons – here are some lovely handmade buttons from bigbluebed, linked together to make a cute bracelet. This type of button was handmade in Dorset, surprisingly, until the industrial revolution, which brought with it a button making machine.

An incredibly cute card with buttons on from bybelinda. It’s such a lovely item, so simple but really stylish. This really pulled on my heart strings!

Lastly we have this ace orange and blue bracelet from milomade. It is packed full of vintage buttons and beads. Milomade has used vintage buttons in a variety of ways to produce a gorgeous selection of bracelets, brooches and phone charms.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my little button selection today. I better get back to sewing my own buttons (on brooches). I’m trying to finish of a few promotional items today, and an apron for a small child. Maybe I’ll sew some buttons onto the apron too. Why not!

Written by Rose of felt Giraffe

Giraffes!

Here’s another set animal themed items for you. This time it’s giraffe. They just happen to be my favourite animals. I love how they’re so tall and elegant but can also be amazingly silly looking things, with blue tongues. As you may have realised, giraffes also feature in my shop name. Unfortunately I’m yet to make any giraffe themed items – so a wasted advertising opportunity there! Luckily there are plenty of much more talented people who have produced some yummy giraffe items for me to look at.

The first of said talent people is Nell Smith. This shop contains a large variety of hand screen printed items, ranging from baby wear to purses and scarves. The designs are clean cute and bright, producing some very desirable items. My favourite, of course, is this cotton baby t-shirt featuring two incredibly sweet giraffes.

Now, some amazingly elegant giraffes in the Serengeti sunset, from tracychong. This pop up card is beautifully designed and crafted, making it a perfect greetings card for everyone, including people like me who are slightly obsessed with giraffes! I love pop up cards and books and are amazed by anyone who can make them this well! Maybe that’s a theme for another week….

Another children’s item again - I just can’t seem to help it! Two sets of friends are expecting babies this week and I’m all excited! I can’t wait for an excuse to start buying clothes, toys and general mini sized things. Anyway, I really loving this giraffe and the whole range of old fashioned wooden toys made by oppsthatsart. I’m so glad that people still make things like this. They are so simple but so much fun! This shop also contains a hippo, camel, elephant, dinosaur, duck, pig, train, helicopter and a car - all wooden, all with wheels on!


This gorgeous T-shirt by Rainbow Swirlz on Etsy. Bold, colourful, fun and very cool – I love this top. It comes in a variety of different colours and sizes. Perfect for the weekend happiness!

To finish with, a personalised giraffe, in note card form, from perideau designs'. This set of 6 digitally printed giraffe note cards are extremely cute and great fun. This is just one set of a lovely range of personalized cards and accessories for adults and children.

So, that’s all the lovely giraffe items I found this week. Just thought I’d mention that my boyfriend wanted me to title this post Giraffic Park. I didn’t find it quite as funny as he did, but I don’t think he’d forgive me if I didn’t get that in there somewhere. Hope it makes someone giggle somewhere!

I must return to the sewing machine now. I’ve had a small panic this week about my first craft fair, which is the first week of April, Handm@de Cambridge. I’m finding the organization quite hard – whether I have enough stock, what my stall should look like, how much I could charge etc. Maybe someone would like to write a piece about this for Autonomous Artisans to help me out?!

Written by Rose of FeltGiraffe

Wedding Season

So Spring is on it's way and that means new beginnings, fresh shoots and the Wedding season gets into full swing. Friends of mine recently announced they were engaged and going to get married later this year. In all honesty I don't think anyone was surprised by news because they have been together for a long time and make a good couple. Their personalities compliment each other perfectly.

So what is the first thing you need for a wedding? I guess it has to be rings, for what is a wedding without the giving and receiving of rings? Shade Jewelry made this stunning textured titanium wedding band set. I really like these. They look somewhat different from the norm and I think that's great!

Next you need wedding stationery because without wedding invites no one will be there to share your special day. This set comes from Made with love stationery Boutique and includes invites, thank you cards, RSVP's and place cards. Match up your stationery to your wedding theme and colour scheme.

Now Weddings are a great excuse for getting all dressed up and Hannahs Tutus offers these lovely fluffy floral bridesmaid dresses for your little princesses to wear. This shop will make the dresses to size and offers a large range of colours, so you are sure to find something to match your colour scheme.

Sara Gadd Millinery made these stunning lilies hair pins. They are a great alternative to wearing the traditional wedding hat. So if your mother or sister is not a hat lover they can still have something special to go with their outfit as Sara makes these in many colours.

Every wedding needs a beautiful keep sake and SJEngraving offers a perfect one. Smooth and cool to the touch, well rounded and very tactile, these engraved oathing stones can be blessed at the ceremony and hold that blessing for the years ahead. They are like a solid reminder of the promises made and the love shared. I think they are gorgeous.

Weddings can be exciting and yet stressful times, because planning for it and making the most special day of your life into a perfect event can fray the nerves a bit, but never fear, there are many people out there that are itching to help you make that day into your perfect fantasy. Going down the handmade route for your Wedding means you can get things made the way you want them.

Written by Lynne of PiratePixieCrew and Hyperloop Hoops

Watch the Birdie!

This week I brought a lovely bag from a shop on folksy called Notes. As you can see from the photo of me holding it, it’s gorgeous!

The inside is lined with navy blue and white polka dot fabric with a handy pocket – it’s just the right size to keep all my stuff in. I shall be proudly wearing everyday to work! So, in celebration of such a lovely purchase, this week I’ll be choosing lovely stuff with birds on.

First up is this hand felted red cushion by Olofsdaughter. It’s bold design makes it a perfect piece to brighten up any room. It’s made from 100% Australian merino wool, which must be why it looks so lovely and soft.

I love this bird parade mobile by Gifts Define – it’s so cute! Two of my friends are expecting children this month, so I think I’m going a bit soft around the edges for children’s items, and children in general! This decorative item includes four colourful wool felt birds and a happy sad cloud who is oh, so sweet! This shop offers a variety of other types of mobile, including a funky safari mobile which is equally as cute.

I’ve chosen some lovely hand printed birdie gift tags from Paperleaf. These 5 gift tags are printed on recycled manilla card. Perfect for jazzing up your gifts! Paperleaf produces a wide range of lovely gocco printed materials, including custom made wedding invitations, as well as some very funky earrings.

I love prints of any sort, but I especially love this print from Lapwing Printworks. This wonderful cockerel print is made using wood block print. His six different colours really make him so pretty. My parents used to keep chicken when I was a child (in London!), so I’m especially fond of them. Once I have a house of my own, I’d love to have this print on one of my walls. I don’t think I’ll be quite ready for real chickens yet!

Last but not least – the cutest corduroy purse by Needles and Buttons. The little paisley fabric birdie on the front really caught my eye. You can’t tell from the photo, but the back of the purse has embroidered with yellow flowers – this little touch really makes this purse extra special.

Written by Rose P of Felt Giraffe