Craft Babble

I haven't written a post in awhile so I thought I'd just chat a bit about my craft stuff and what I'm up to there! Finally managed to get some items online in an Etsy store ( http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheBirdsParadise)! Which I'm finding exciting though I'm still not sure where to find more customers, though I have found a few interested friends :) I would appreciate a share here and there (of my facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/BirdsOfParadiseCrafts  or Etsy shop!), even if it's not your cup of tea you never know who might take a peek and I would be rather grateful! I'm kind of hoping once I have enough interest business will grow on its own and I can stop spamming everyone...

Anyway as to my actual projects- I have been concentrating on safety pin earrings a lot recently. They're really quite addictively simple to make, and yet really versatile. I think my favourite ones so far are these:

I really enjoyed coordinating the yellow and pink butterfly 'feature' beads (as I think of them) with the other beads and pink safety pins- a sweet and girly look to contrast with the 'punky' pins. When I finally get my ears pierced and sorted I think I will start sporting some of these! Easy advertising? Haha

I've also made a couple of safety pin bracelets recently once I received my pink safety pins (I really love the way these look with coloured pins), I'm planning a red and silver or red and gold coloured one too which I will probably start tonight! I have ordered some different coloured safety pins as well... so waiting to do more exciting fancy coloured bracelets. This one below is possibly my favourite combination so far, though it's not very rainbow!:

Button Bracelets are one of my classics but I've still got quite a lot of those unsold, so maybe I should stop making those for awhile! 

What I really should be getting finished is one of my new projects- shorts! I don't know why but I'm pretty excited about these, there's such a range of coloured shorts about at the moment, I'm hoping to get my hands on some more and make some really crazy designs and I'm also on the look out for some cute/funky/individual patches though they're hard to search online. I think I'm going to check out those in record shops (bands!) and craft shops and see what I can find. I'm basically just sewing sequins and bits on a brand new pair of shorts (though I am thinking of looking for some vintage shorts/jeans to customise too :)) to see what happens:

Just got sequins to add to the back pockets left and possibly some safety pin detail! 

Finally last but not least because I've decided to ignore my decopatch desires for now (though my mum may well do some herself) I'm going to mention the combined project of mum and I which is stretchy handwarmers/gloves made from old t-shirts and tops! Basically I tried to help with cutting out/finishing off/embellishments and she sewed them together on the sewing machine (because I haven't got the hang of that quite yet :P)... can't wait to hopefully embellish and finish some pairs when I'm home (as that's where all the materials are!), I've really got the crafting bug atm and it's making me wonder why I'm taking Zoology as a degree! But oh well I've always like to do a big variety of things :D

Rainbow Hugs and goodbye for now

xx

When I grow rich, say the bells of Shoreditch (This is a long one, sorry!)

I have had a bit of a random adventure weekend! Was really nice actually, I'll summarise it then expand so hopefully I make a little more sense. I'm not hopeful. XD Friday evening I had a random catch up with an old acquaintance, Saturday (i.e. yesterday) morning saw the Avengers (Awesome!), Saturday afternoon I went to The Shoreditch Vintage Fair and I spent Saturday evening/night with one of my best friends, who I haven't seen since before my Easter holiday, hanging out at her sisters and now today I've been sleeping, eating and revising on and off (currently off :P). God damn Molecular Biology why won't you go in my brain!

So Friday evening I basically had a random visit from someone I hadn't seen in years, still can't quite work out how it all came about but it was basically with the aim of seeing the Avengers (Alright it's meant to be called 'Avengers Assemble' in the UK but I'm gonna ignore that because it sounds crap :P) first thing on Saturday (since my friend had to get to work for 3pm). So a nice 10am showing- woop! A free Hulk keyring mega woop! And one awesome sauce, action packed film... so much happened I don't really know what to say about it though! Except there were some exceptionally funny little bits of banter between the characters that I really enjoyed... I know a lot of people love the Hulk, and I do too, but my favourite is definitely still Thor (I really loved the movie of Thor as well ^_^), he is just gorgeous and awesome. Don't get me wrong Captain America is also pretty hot but something about the outfit is a little bit comical and off putting (more so than a Viking :P). I'm glad I randomly took the opportunity to catch up with my friend too because it was a lot easier to just chat to them than I thought it could have been and it's always a great feeling to regain or make a new friend!

So, now for my Shoreditch adventure... I have to say I've never really checked out that part of London much before, excepting a museum visit in Bethnal Green when I was much younger, but I keep meaning to take a good look round Brick Lane/Petticoat Lane/Spitalfields as it's something I've missed out for some reason. I found it ok anyway, nearly tried walking the wrong direction from the tube but worked it out thankfully! I'll include some pictures and then blabber on about the fair some more.

This one is sort of meant to represent my success in finding the fair (thanks to the wonders of the internet :P)

A rather blurred hand stamp... should have taken it before I got rained on!

Some of the lovely features of Shoreditch Town Hall (perfect venue for a vintage fair me thinks)

Lots of clothes, it was still pretty bustling even when I turned up around 4pm

More pictures of the ceiling

Scarves by the suitcase! This seemed to be the ultimate storage solution but this one was by far the largest/most stuffed

The Façade of Shoreditch Town Hall 

A really cool billboard for The Avengers I spotted on my way back to the station

Cool Building!

Huge shiny new buildings I felt the need to record!

Overall, I'd say I enjoyed taking a look round the vintage fair, it was something a little different and a good size, there was plenty to look at but equally it wasn't massive so you could just pop in and have a browse (there was an entrance fee but it seemed pretty reasonable, especially for a London event, at £2). It a little had the feel of a Church fete what with the old hall and the quaint little makeshift tea room though it was predominantly clothes, jewellery and accessories with the odd bits of Haberdashery, magazines etc. EDIT: And the smell I was completely forgetting the distinctive smell of old stuff in and old hall... I love it :D

Though I will comment, as I often find with Vintage clothing and hence was expecting,  things seemed fairly overpriced though I think in a lot of cases I would be more willing to pay out if I really thought it was something special. I understand the concept of things being one-offs/hard to find/handmade unique etc but equally all this stuff is second hand and if you are savvy you can often find some real gems at car boot sales and charity shops (though charity shops are beginning to discover the vintage phenomenon and have their own higher priced vintage/retro sections)  for a fraction of the price which is probably where traders pick up a lot of their stuff (I'm imagining house clearances would be a gold mine as well?). This is especially true of stuff from the sixties onwards but perhaps I would be more willing to pay out for vintage from the 50s and earlier. I did pick up a nice silk scarf for £3 though because it was so multicoloured and pretty!

I would say there was a pretty cool selection of clothes and a selection of new and old jewellery, including a stall from Sour Cherry which sells really cute and quirky  handmade jewellery (see http://shop.sourcherry.co.uk/epages/es133228.sf, they also have a facebook group) though I resisted buying anything from there, I don't think I could have decided anyway and can get everything online! I'm thinking when I finally get my ears pierced I will buy some earrings from the site, the prices really are quite reasonable and they ship internationally which is cool (though not a problem for me). Things that did keep cropping up were scarves in old battered suitcases and racks and racks of vintage Levi cut offs and general shorts, I clearly need to get into that business because you can sell those for a fair amount and I'm sure they're something that could be picked up cheaply at boot fairs :P Don't get me wrong I like both those things, I especially love a pair of shorts (though I have to admit the sheer amount of girls I see in vintage cut offs/shorts is growing a little tiring) but it did make me giggle somewhat, especially as I have bought similar vintage shorts for 40 pence before...

All in all the vintage fair was well worth taking a look at and it's something to remember for next year and also to keep an eye out for their vintage fairs around the country (https://www.facebook.com/VintageFair). It was also cool to find somewhere in London I'd never been before, there's so much to see and discover I feel it's time to stop going to the same old places though some places such as the Zoo, the Royal Academy open exhibition, the Science and Natural History museums and the Tate galleries always deserve a re-visit (planning on going to the Damien Hirst exhibition with my mum as I haven't been to the Tate modern in a very long time!). And there's certain shopping destinations (Oxford Street, Covent Garden and the wonderful wonderful wonderful Camden that are alwaysss on my list!

I then spent the evening with my wonderful friend being random and awesome and perhaps a little mad and talking about guys of course. I also met a lovely if crazy little Dachshund/jack russell cross who I massively want to steal... I had missed her massively and it was soo good to catch up, gotta give you a lot of love my dearest! :D Seriously we always have fun, the day we don't have a laugh together will be the end of all things... so that isn't going to happen :P

Rainbow Hugs!!!

xxx

Jewellery Update

Made a bunch more jewellery bits today, put this up on a new facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/BirdsOfParadiseCrafts), currently trying to add some actual info to this but facebook is being less than helpful... There's pictures though and more on the way hopefully!

The Ideal Woman

So a little while back my mother got some free tickets to the Ideal Home Show at Earl's Court Exhibition Centre in my lovely Londinium, and that's where we headed off to yesterday (seemed like quite an appropriate outing so close to Mother's day and as I didn't get to see her on the day being at uni and stuff it was sort of for that purpose too). We went once before when I was somewhere between ten and twelve I'm guessing, this being where I tried my first expresso (bleurgh) and I'm still not a fan of coffee though I don't claim to blame the Ideal Home exhibition for this. Getting back to topic, it's basically, for those who aren't already aware, a collection of stalls and showrooms etc. based around the idea of home improvement (Obviously organised/endorsed by the Magazine 'Ideal Home') there was also a pretty big 'Ideal Woman' section which was predominantly jewellery and beauty with some clothing stalls. It was a pretty female environment, with a lot of older women (though of course it was a weekday) but not so much in comparison to the 'Stitch and Craft' show we visited at Olympia last year. I think we probably spent the most time in the 'Ideal shopping' and 'Ideal Woman' areas with a fair bit in the food and garden sections though the garden section seemed to be mostly expensive pods and hot tubs which were a little out the average persons price range (totally wanted to jump in a hot tub big time!!). Foods wise we had a mega tasty, though rather expensive carvery ham sandwich!

Overall, I really enjoyed the show, there were some appropriately crafty bits and bobs and lots of stuff to look at, we particularly enjoyed looking round the arts and crafts show house which definitely suited mine and my mum's taste though perhaps we thought the colours a little too earthy. I would definitely recommend it as a good day out, particularly with your mum, as there a big variety of things to see and the opportunity for a few freebies and competition entries... there seemed to be lots of stalls with nail art and hair extensions if that's your sort of thing! I couldn't be bothered as my nails were already painted!

Anyway being at the show and generally talking to my mum got me thinking about a few things namely: going to London Comic Con in May (which I had previously discussed with a friend), possibly caving and finally getting my ears pierced (Still not sure about this because I don't like to be like everyone else! I think I would have to get some mighty crazy earrings and maybe some more holes in my ear so I could mix it up a bit more to satisfy my individuality! And I don't want to say goodbye to my retro clips :(), making jewellery and other craft items over the Easter break/summer and just because of the other creative stuff have been thinking a little about cracking on with my a short story idea, once coursework and exams are out the way that is :)

However, JEWELLERY (and other craft stuff) this is the topic I actually want to ramble on about for a bit... I already have a few types that I enjoy doing I have lots of ideas for new colours and other things I want to try. Currently I've mostly made safety pin bracelets, button bracelets and memory wire bracelets/rings (these sort of coil round the wrist with a stretchy wire) though I've also done various random beaded bracelets etc. Basically I want to continue in these areas with different colour combos including using coloured safety pins, as I made a bracelet with some blue safety pins I just happened to have and it cam out looking pretty epic with tiny multicoloured seed beads! I've also seen things using scrabble letters and other game pieces for jewellery and I would hope to pick up these things pretty cheaply second hand.... I'd like to add a twist by adding colours/glitter to the pieces but we shall see! I actually can't wait to have a little crafting adventure! I'm also considering embellishing some clothing with random sequins/beads and creating some really cute and unique designs (as much one-offs as they can be) and both me and my mum are wanting to create some more furniture/random objects covered in decorative paper or fabrics (I currently have an amazing stool!).

A stack of Memory Wire Rings

A Selection of Button Bracelets (Flat style)

A Really Random Selection of Memory Wire Bracelets

My Decoupage Stool (Made by me with advice from my Mummy :D)

Oh, and get this! Yeah get this! I bought a whole chicken! So tomorrow I'm going to make a roast (and use the rest of the chicken for something else) when I remember to get gravy XD When it's £3 for a whole chicken and about the same for two breasts you might as well!! I can have sandwiches, chicken soup the whole thing! :D What with all these crafting ideas and cooking and ideal home shows and the like I really am feeling then housewife-ness and you know what? It's actually not so bad... ;)