last chance

This is your last chance to buy something from my Folksy shop. 

Well, not ever, just until after the summer. On Saturday, my shop will be 'on holiday' for the summer. If I haven't sold the neck-warmers by then, I think I'll take them to a bricks-and-mortar shop. So, was there anything you were wanting for the summer? Get in there quick!

When my shop re-opens after the summer (possibly end of August, but September is more likely), I'm hoping to have some new things and some different things in there. We'll see :o)

For now, I am super busy with wedding things. Oh, and I have my final British Sign Language exam in less than 2 weeks too. Oh, and I don't have an outfit for the wedding. So I'm kind of busy (hence the shop having a holiday). 

Please excuse me while I run around like a headless chicken...

made some badges

Now Mr Pippa is ill. I'm attempting to look after him. It's a laugh, eh?

shop update

There are more badges in the shop, and more on the way.

Fancy browsing the badges, past and present? Here they are.

do elegant badges even exist?

Yes, they do. I'll get back to that in a bit. I've got tonsillitis for the second time this month and the sixth time in a year. 'Feeling rough' doesn't come close. But I'm still going to do a blog post. It's not like I have anything else to do.

Here is a lovely but incredibly plain scrapbook page:

It sat on that easel for over a week, waiting for that finishing touch. And then it seemed obvious...

...a badge!

It's still quite a plain page, but I'm okay with it, as it does have three photos. This wedding scrapbook of mine is slowly getting there.

I needed a name for these badges. 'Swirly badges' didn't really fit. So I decided to call this set 'the elephant range'. No hang on, that wasn't it either...

The Elegant Range are now available in my Folksy shop, while stocks last.

I would happily pin these to a ballgown. But then, you saw what I did with my last ballgown!

I'm going to go and eat some more jelly.

some custom orders

I had a custom order for some superhero badges recently. And by some wonderful coincidence, my husband was about to throw out some old comics (and by 'throw out', I mean add to my ever-growing stash of magazines that I'm planning on recycling in a fun way). The two requested characters were Batman and Gambit.

Can you see Batman's belt in the background there? I used a Batman advert for the background paper. Subtle, but cool.

For those of you who don't know, Gambit is a member of the X-Men. He has a thing for playing cards. It was Mr Pippa's genius idea to use a playing card in the packaging (thanks!). Frustratingly, Gambit changes his costume AND his hair. Everyone knows that the first rule of being a superhero is to choose a costume and stick with it. Otherwise, how will anyone recognise you?! We managed to find him in one of the comics, but I think his costume looks much cooler over here.

I also had a Folksy order for some badges. You may not be excited by that, but I was quite pleased with the little free gift I made for this order:

It's the Bible... in Welsh. Cool huh?

And, if you're interested, check out this post by fellow crafter Kitschen Sink - it made me smile.

badges AND scrapbooking

This page actually started with the yellow measuring tape ribbon. I had wanted to use it for a while. Quite a simple page compared to my others, but I like it.

I moaned about Heidi Swapp chipboard letters a while ago (I don't get out much). And I didn't learn my lesson. It quite clearly says 'self adhesive' on the packet. These letters were as sticky as a sticker which had a spell cast on it to never stick to anything ever again. Lots of double sided tape used here. Don't bother with Heidi. Her products may be beautiful, but she's a big liar.

And as for that wiggly ribbon! Now THAT was a faff to stick down. I think stitching it would have been a better plan.

I think I kind of ruined this page by writing on it though. Or maybe my handwriting should have been bigger - that might have looked a bit better. Ah well. I still like it.

And what is this exciting embellishment on top of those flowers? It's a badge from Pippa's Long Stockings! Yes, the badges have now made it to a scrapbooking page. In fact, I've used two different badges on two other pages. What do you think?

The badges are in the shop. And if you're ordering them for your crafting then they will have a sticky fixer on the back instead of a pin.

I'm really quite excited about these!

a custom order

Cool huh? I like them. My first custom order on Folksy :o)

welsh badges

Here are some badges I did for a custom order before Christmas. I love maps.





I am certain that 2009 will bring with it more badges - I have some very cool ideas I'm working on. I have decided I will take up the 365 photography challenge and Mr Pippa may join me, which will be nice. I might introduce you to his Flickr page sometime soon. I'm really feeling the need to get scrapbooking again and that jewellery-making craving isn't going away either. Hmmm, what else am I hoping to achieve in 2009? I'd like to draw more and do some more mixed media art work. I wonder what else I'll do - this time last year I had never thought I'd be able to make sock creatures, or that is would be sock creatures which would lead to me opening a shop!

Thank you for checking out my blog. Thanks to those of you who visit every so often and to those who visit regularly. The biggest thanks go to those of you who leave nice comments for me - you make blogging more fun :o)

Cheerio for now, see you in 2009.

my first folksy sale

My first Folksy sale was that of two Narnia badges. Hooray!

The only envelope I had was a scribbled on used one, so I covered it in newspaper and - hey presto - a funky new envelope! I think I might cover all of my envelopes like this.

And as a little free gift, I included a little London map badge. I really enjoyed putting it all together. What do you think?

the badgers are in the shop

No hang on that's badges, not badgers. There are no badgers here.

I was incredibly excited about putting my badges in my Folksy shop. The last time I had checked, there were no badges for sale on Folksy. Was I going to be the first to list badges on Folksy?? No. I waited too long. As if that didn't dampen my spirits enough, I was also really excited about selling badges of the London tube map. I thought it was a brilliant idea of mine and I've been meaning to make them for months (I even had a little collection of tube maps to use). Amongst the many badges now for sale on Folksy, there are badges made from tube maps. 'Gutted' doesn't even cut it. For a split second I actually thought that someone had copied my idea, but then I realised that I had only showed the blogging world yesterday, so that's impossible. I even began thinking that this seller had read my mind. No, we just had the same idea. Bummer.

I can't really sell these on Folksy now that I see someone else is selling them (you have no idea how disappointed I am). So that will mean another giveaway, I think!

I had got over that sadness when I saw that someone else was making badges out of comic books (remember a while ago I bought some comic annuals with the intention of making them into badges and envelopes). I'm just not quick enough! This is why I'm keeping my crocheted things a secret. Not that these people copied me at all - more that I was too slow and they read my mind.

Anyway! As you may have noticed, I've been playing around with packaging...

And I've been making more badges from a map of central London (I'm pretty sure no-one else is doing that!).

I've also been making badges from a vintage map of France. I like them.

These are now available in my Folksy shop. What do you think?

back to badges

Ooo I've been having lots of fun with badges lately. I would show you all of them but I don't want to overwhelm you, so here are just a few.

London Underground maps, a map of London, a map of france, a Playmobil catalogue and a page from a vintage children's book (it's a Narnia book, if you're interested). I will be putting these in my shop, but I just have to play around with packaging first.

Soon, I'll have some finished crocheted pieces to show you. At the moment, they're just waiting for a magical finishing touch. I'm really quite excited about them. Watch this space...

fun with badges

I've been making badges! Hooray! I actually have quite a lot to show you but I don't want to overwhelm you so I'll post again tomorrow. Today it's badges :o)

In this badge (above), I liked how the badge had captured the words 'happy surprises', 'precious Magnolia' and 'one of the finest'. I like this a lot. The paper was from an antique gardening book.

I love maps.

And sheet music.

My glass-top desk isn't great for taking photographs on so I put a sheet of newspaper down and then saw the 'recycle' bit - how apt! Hooray for recycling! Anyone got any maps they don't want? Send them this way :o)