It's nearly Christmas!

I just wanted to say a very big thank you to everyone for their support and custom over the past year, it's very much appreciated. This has been my busiest Christmas ever but much to my relief I did manage to get everyone's orders out on time. I'm definitely in need of a relaxing break now, balancing the day job with Christmas orders was trickier than I imagined, but well worth it!

I will be keeping both my Folksy and Etsy shops open over Christmas and any new orders will be dispatched as soon as possible. I have also made some changes to my website and instead of Minifelts.com the Minifelts shop can now be found at Minifelts.co.uk

Have a brilliant Christmas everyone, and now I have internet back up and running in my new flat there will be plenty of new blog updates in the New Year. THANK YOU :)

Easter Cases

After spending the past few months working on re-stocking my shop with lots of my most popular designs, it's been nice this week to finally get some time to work on some new cases. 

Here they are! Brand new Easter / Spring themed Minifelt Phone / iPod /Gadget Cases. 

An Easter Bunny. Available HERE.

A little Sheep. Available HERE.

Happy New Year

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year. I had a very relaxing week off which I spent back home on the Isle of Wight with my family, eating way too much food, drinking lots of mulled wine, playing board games and watching Christmas telly!

Anyway I just wanted to take this opportunity to say a very big thank you to all of you for reading and following my blog, as well as of course my customers and everyone that's supported Minifelts over this past year, it really means a lot to me.

I can't believe that Minifelts is now a year old, and that this time last year I was just starting out, trying to learn as much as I could about selling online, promotion and photography. It's great to be able to look back over old blog posts and see how much my designs have changed. When I first set up my shop on Folksy it was selling small felt toys...

and now my product range has grown so much as I've gradually adapted my original designs to include brooches, purses, iPod cases, keyrings, cards, Nintendo DS cases and laptop cases.

The end of 2010 was so busy with me starting a new job as a product photographer (which never would have happened had I not have started Minifelts and developed such an interest in photography) and making loads of Christmas orders that I haven't had much time to work on new designs, so one of my resolutions for this year is to create a whole new range of Minifelts.

I'm also planning on trying out some new crafts and learning a lot more sewing techniques this year. I was lucky enough to receive some lovely craft books for Christmas which I'm really looking forward to reading and trying out. I also want to get better at using a sewing machine, which is going to take a lot of patience and practise! But I'm hoping it'll mean I can take on bigger more ambitious sewing projects so that I can fill my new flat full of lovely handmade things.

Anyway here's to a very productive and fun filled new year!

Folksy Featured Seller

I've got a very big smile across my face right now because I've been selected as a featured seller on Folksy!

It was such a lovely surprise when I logged in to check my shop and discovered I'd been chosen. Ever since joining the website I'd always hoped that one day I might get to be a featured seller, and I've put a lot of time into improving my photos and listings and I'm so glad that it's paid off. Wooooo! 

I would also like to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to all my customers, blog readers and anyone that's taken an interest in my Minifelts, I really appreciate all your support :)

My shop has been selected alongside three other very talented folksy sellers:

 

Sarah Kerry who makes the most incredible biscuit shaped cushions (I think I'm definitely going to need one of them for my new flat!) 

Abstract Cat who makes beautiful hand dyed yarn

La La Loop who makes colourful homeware and accessories from super soft lambswool. 

Minifelts are for sale in a gallery!

I have some exciting news. A few weeks ago I was contacted by the 20-21 Arts Centre in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire about stocking some of my Minifelts and today I finally finished the order and sent them off!


They requested about twenty items plus a few replacements which is practically all of the stock for my Folksy shop!

So I've been hard at work replacing items and working on some new designs.

Including new animal face purses. So far I've made a bear, owl and cat which will soon be available to buy from the gallery, and hopefully I'll be expanding this range for the website and folksy shop too. 

I also made a few keyrings, the Owl Keyring and the Penguin Keyring are for sale on my website.

This is the first time I've supplied a gallery, so it's a really exciting opportunity but scary too as I  really hope they sell! It's also given me the confidence to start approaching more shops and galleries, I just need to get much quicker at making things...

Unfortunately Lincolnshire is quite far away from me so I won't be able to go and see them on display but the gallery have kindly agreed to send me some photos, so I will give you all another update when they go on display. 

Minifelts.com

It's ready! The new website is up and running, and it's looking great thanks to boyfriend's mad skills. He taught himself web design from scratch!

Minifelts.com even has it's own shop, which is easy to use, payment is done via PayPal and I can ship items worldwide. The best bit is that now all my Minifelts are available from one place, and it's simple for me to update, so I will definitely be constantly listing new items and updating the site.

I'd love if you could spare a minute to take a look and let me know what you think. Any suggestions for improvements, or feedback of any kind would be most appreciated. I've also got some free Minifelts desktop wallpaper that you can download for your computer, as a little thank you for visiting the site.

Please check it out and suggest it to anyone you think would like it!

Minifelt Photoshoot!

I'm in the process of re-doing my website at the moment. I really loved the old version which was made using Dream Weaver and Photoshop and was a bit more "arty" than the new one, but I wasn't able to update it without the help of my boyfriend who built the website for me.

(The old version)

The new website uses Joomla, a content management system, that lets me add things to the shop just like listing items on Folksy and publish articles like on blogger, so it should be really easy to use. It'll be great to have everything I've made for sale in one place too.

I've been busy this weekend taking new product photos. I always seem to take hundreds of photos and completely fill up my memory card, then spend hours sorting through them to find one nice one! Not a very good system... I've been thinking of investing in a light tent for some time, so that I don't have to rely on sunny days to take photos, and then I found this tutorial to make your own.

My attempt went a bit wrong, as the cardboard box I used wasn't exactly structurally sound to start with, and sort of collapsed as soon as I cut the sides out... So I just used three big bits of white card inside to create a white background, and lit it using a lamp from the top of the box. Surprisingly it worked really well!

I also realised that the settings on my camera could help brighten my photos up a lot too. I played around with some different options from the menu and turned up the exposure. Also the level adjust tool on Photoshop is my new favourite thing at the moment, just a small adjustment to the white balance helped me create these crisp white backgrounds.

I'm pretty pleased with the results I've still got a lot to learn, and am definitely going to keep practising and playing around with the settings on my camera.

Can't wait to launch the website, I'll let you know when it's up and running!

Raccoon Netbook Cover

I have been working on a very special custom order. After purchasing one of my raccoon brooches a customer asked if I could make her a matching raccoon netbook case.

I love a challenge, so I took the template I'd drawn for the badge and enlarged it to make a mahoosive raccoons head! When coming up with designs I always start by sketching a basic shape/outline on paper, then cutting it out and pinning it to the felt.

I started by cutting out the different pieces of the raccoons head from some redy brown, white and black felt and sewing a few white stitches to add detail to the eyes.

(Check out how tiny the original badge is in comparison)

I decided to make the case double layered to make sure the netbook was well protected, and recycled some old material to make the inner and outer layers. I used an old blanket dyed brown, for the cover and some green baize for the inner layer. I stitched the whole thing by hand, not a sewing machine in sight (plus I'm absolutely useless with one!)

Next I sewed along the top and sides of the green inner layer and the brown outer layer, to make a pouch for the netbook, leaving some excess so I could cut it to size later. Then I sewed the raccoon pieces to each other and then down onto the brown cover.

Here it is ready for the opening to be cut to size. After I'd cut the edges to fit the netbook, I sewed the green inner lining to the brown outer lining so that they'd stay together, and added a velcro strap that stretched around the back of the case for extra security.

Here it is finished!

I even scanned in the image to create a matching desktop wallpaper for the customer to use on her netbook!

I'm pretty pleased with the result, since it's probably my biggest project to date. I'm planning on making a whole range of netbook and maybe even laptop covers, as they're a lot more interesting than those boring black ones you can buy in PC World! I've even been on a special visit to the big Abakhan in Wales to stock up on huge rolls of felt, so watch this space for some new designs very soon...

Creature Swap

Happy Easter everyone. Hope you all had a great egg day, and got suitably sick on chocolate. I had a fun but quiet day and went out for roast dinner at a little restaurant with a beautiful view of the sea. My sister had also come down to visit which was lovely as I haven't seen her in a while.

Anyway I've been meaning to share some photos of the Creature Swap I took part in a while ago on Folksy, organised by Giraffe Craft. My swap partner was Sugar and Rhubarb who creates very cute little Ninja Kitties! Here's what I sent...

Who's in the box? Little Grey is very inquisitive and is checking so see which lucky little Minifelt is off to a new home...

Boo!

It's a little black kitty to keep Ninja Kitty company!

I turned my back for a minute and some friends had jumped in the box to come along for the journey...

Once I'd convinced them to leave I finally had a chance to package up the box ready to be posted.

I added one of these monkey brooches for the Ninja Kitty maker. Then off it went... Take a look at Sugar and Rhubarbs blog Itty Bitty Ninja Kitty to find out about their adventures and to find out the names they've been given!

and here's what I got in return from Sharne Mainia

It's a cute little frog called Freddy! Thanks so much Sharne he's awesome, I love him!

This was the first swap I'd ever done and I really enjoyed it. In fact I've already signed up for another swap that I saw on the Stuffed Nonsense Blog  and I need to find 6 other crafty folks that'd like to get involved. 


The details are: "it is an international swap, and all you have to do is make one lovely hand made piece (be it a picture, a card, a purse, something beady, something sparkly...anything goes!) In return you get 36 pieces sent to you from all over the world. It works on a sort of chain type system..." Please let me know if you'd like to get involved and help carry on the chain of craftiness, and I'll send you more details! 

Surprise holidays are the best

Last week my lovely boyfriend whisked me away on a surprise trip to Oxford, as a late Christmas present. I had no idea about it what so ever, I thought we were heading up to stay with his mum on the Wirral. I didn't even suspect anything when we were driving down country lanes past fields of sheep, instead of speeding along the motorway!

Anyway we were driving through this little village called Stanton St John just outside Oxford, with me saying "wouldn't it be nice to live somewhere like this?" He then pulls into the pub carpark and says "well let's stay here for a few days!" He'd arranged for us to stay in a lovely little cottage just down the road. It was really quirky, had loads of antique ornaments and furniture, plus a jacuzzi and a really good curry house near by! Although the "period" style decoration wasn't all to our taste (especially the very scary giant baby painting in the bedroom), it was so much more fun than staying in a boring hotel! Oxford was also lovely and definitely worth a visit if you haven't been there before.

I managed to take a few photos of the cottage before my camera battery died...

I really liked this piece of furniture in the kitchen, it had loads of little draws each with various useful items in, such as knives and forks, thought it'd be really good for storing sewing stuff in, you could have a draw for buttons and one for fabric etc... Definitely need something like this to help me be more organised!

Here's the Minifelts filling out their postcards that they got on a visit to the fantastic Ashmolean museum. No idea how they managed to gatecrash our holiday, those Minifelts are very sneaky...

 They were especially excited when they heard the cottage was called the Burrows, and was sort of underground, they also approved greatly of the number of rabbit themed ornaments they discovered.

Projects galore

For the past week or so, I've been waking up most mornings with a head full of ideas for new projects. Unfortunately this just seems to mean I have tons of unfinished projects on the go at once, as every time I go to finish something I get a different idea, or it doesn't quite turn out how I'd planned and that leads to a whole new idea... Need to keep away from the internet there's far too many inspiring things on there!

Here are some projects I did manage to finish. Firstly with Valentine's day approaching I thought I'd have a go at making some cards. Here are my first attempts, I've listed them over on Folksy if you fancy buying one. Would love to hear any thoughts/suggestions for future cards.

I also got some new fabric for Christmas this year, so thought I'd put it to good use. I've made a load of Minifelt badges, as I'm thinking of doing my first ever craft fair and thought it'd be good to have a few small things to fill up the stall with.

I also made these lavender smelephants, from the same fabric. I made the template myself, and kept them a simple shape, think I need to add some tails to these though.

and finally an idea that still needs a bit of work, my cardboard cuckoo clock. This didn't go quite to plan as I wanted to make a net out of one piece of card then fold up the sides, but I didn't have a piece of card big enough, so I improvised! I made it out of several small bits of card and attempted to glue them together. However, this was a big mistake, as the glue didn't stick well enough. I tried to rescue it using good old double sided sellotape, but that also didn't quite stick right... So it needs a bit of a re-think. Here it is anyway.

Hope I continue to have many more successful (well at least easier to make) ideas over the next few weeks. Must make the rule of not starting something new till I've finished the last thing!