Tweet-tastic

Hellooo! Just popping in and out again, as things are tres busy in the world of the pickledweasels. We've been away for a few days to see the lovely baby Juliet, and we have weekend plans too as it's my birthday on Saturday.

But I thought I'd just blow my own trumpet a bit. Looooook! My birdy flower brooch has been featured on the Coriandr Blog :) And it's on the Coriandr Front Page (scroll down a bit to the bottom of the page). I'm well chuffed.

And I've just added a new brooch to my shop, a little rainbow cat on a wooden heart. This has been my bestseller at craft fairs (Grandma pickledweasel very kindly takes a board of my jewellery along with her when she has a stall anywhere), so I'm hoping they'll prove as popular online :)

Bleeeeee.

I am feeling rough today, because I picked up a bug from Munchkin. Grandma pickledweasel babysat for us on Fri night so we could go to a community meeting about wheelie bins*, and while we were out Munchkin was sick all over herself and her unfortunate baby sitter :( I'm guessing it's something she's got from nursery, which considering she only goes for one afternoon a week is quite impressive.

I foolishly went to The Trafford Centre yesterday to look for something to go with the ridiculously flimsy purple dress I've bought for a wedding in October. And I had to take Munchkin with me because everything's gone pete tong at mr pickledweasel's work and he had to spend the afternoon looking at spreadsheets. I managed not to throw up, despite having to drive round for half an hour looking for a parking space, battle my way through hoards of people, and sit in the longest traffic jam ever on the way home. Bleeee. I'm nearly back to normal today, although mr pickledweasel can't hold anything down. I am making him sip flat lucozade to try and keep his liquids up.

However, this little reversible tunic I made is cheering me up no end. I bought the pattern from someone on Etsy, and in her listing she included the glorious words, "It is just fine to sell the completed pinafore to whomever you'd like." So in theory I could do custom orders through my Coriandr shop if I decide to.

It was all going swimmingly until I had to cut notches under the armpit seams to reduce bulk - I went a bit too far with the scissors :( I've sort of darned the hole back together again, but as it's under the armpit I'm hoping no-one will notice. Lesson learnt!

Sorry for the model-free photos, Munchkin was still feeling a bit off colour when I finished it, and although she did try it on for me, she really wasn't in the mood for a photo-shoot. This is a size 2T, and is meant for next summer, hence the lightweight cotton. Next task is to make a winter version with some baby cord.

* This is a whole other post, but I probably can't write about it because it's a bit sensitive - basically wheelie bins that are left in the back alley have had their lids removed, paint poured on them, dog pooh put on top of them, and set on fire. Coincidentally, someone who lives in our street has been saying quite vehemently that they don't think people should leave their wheelie bins in the back alley, they should keep them in their yards. Hmmmmm.

Shiny New Things

Look! Little treasures now listed in my shop.

A froggy tissue cozy - this is pretty much a one off as I only had a teeny piece of this stripy green fabric. Shame!

Some sweet little wooden brooches.

These were a big hit at the craft fair grandma pickledweasel did last weekend, so much so that she's agreed to take them along to all the other fairs she's doing in the run up to Christmas. Hurrah!

*cuts ribbon*

Ta daaaaa! My little Coriandr shop is now open, selling my yummy handmade wares. You can get to it by clicking on my 'Seedling' in the right hand column of my blog. It's a nifty little tool, isn't it? One of the reasons I like Coriandr :)

Have a browse, marvel at my applique skills and BUY SOMETHING!!!! if you would like to make a purchase, please do.

I'll be adding bits and bobs as they get made, I'm in no rush to conquer the crafting world :) Currently in the pipeline: A moon and stars bib, a fairies bib, a couple more cute critter tissue cozies, and a knitted heart brooch.

I *heart* handmade

It goes without saying that I'm a big fan of handmade, and I was thinking this morning about why it's so cool, and why I should make more effort to buy handmade instead of big shop mass produced environmentally unfriendly manufactured stuff. So here's my thoughts on it interspersed with some of my favourite handmade things from Coriandr - click on any of the pictures to go straight to the item.

I love the personal service you get when you buy handmade. I love it that you can have a conversation with the seller one to one about their products - does it come in another colour? Is it washable? Can I buy 3 at once? How big is it?

I love the fact that what you're buying is pretty unique. A lot of things are one offs, and even the things that are 'mass produced' by crafters are often slightly different each time. And how many things can one crafter make anyway? Even if you're some sort of crafting daemon who churns out work at a rate of knots, you're still only going to produce 20, 30, maybe a 100 of any one thing. So therefore only 20, 30, or 100 people in the whole entire world will own the same thing. How cool is that?

I love it that I'm supporting individuals, not big business. Stay at home mums, art graduates, retired peeps, or full on full time crafty entrepreneurs - every little hand made thing you buy puts pennies in their pockets to spend on bread / more craft supplies / beer / shoes / books / credit card bills / never ending loft funds.

By buying handmade, you're validating someone's hard work. Sometimes it's more important than the money - what you've made is *so* good, that someone, a complete stranger, (not just your Aunty Sandra or the admin person at work) will pay good money for it.

I've decided to try and buy as much handmade as I can for Christmas presents this year for all the reasons listed above, but also partly because I want to focus on quality rather than quality, and partly because I'm bored with the same old rubbish in the shops each year. It goes without saying I'm going to have loads of fun finding the perfect present for everyone! And if anyone needs any hints or tips on what to buy me for Christmas, I'd be happy with any of the things on this page :)