Friday Finds...

...this week I've found fun upcycled gifts (for you or a loved one!) on Etsy.

1. Earrings upcycled from a belt and a briefcase by Insomniac Treasures
2. Rings whose images are made with upcycled papers by Heidi Kind Finds
3. Baby shoes made with reclaimed linen by Leila Badblood
4. Apron made with an upcycled towel by All Things Old Are New
5. Hedgehog paper holder made from an old book by Lauratoaccessories
6. An upcycled wristlet bag that comes with its own story card telling you its past life by Whimsical   
    Ever After

Let Me Introduce You To...some talented local designers

In my last post I wrote about the 'competitive craft fair' I'm helping to organise at Bird's Yard in Sheffield this coming Saturday (11-4 on Chapel Walk!); here are the 'competitors' who'll be displaying their work hoping the customers will pick them to be the shop's latest designer.

All the sellers are local, independent small business owners and make wonderful, unique pieces. Click on the titles to find out more...

Tommy and Zac

Cute and Quirky Girl

Apple Harvest

My Vintage Sister

Strangelord

Natalie Burton

Sillie Billie Designs

Maker's Meadow

A 'Craft Fair' with a Difference - Bird's Yard 21st June

Craft fairs are great places to find unique items, local interest products and good deals. I love shopping at them and selling my own creations at them too. But now I also have a  new way of approaching them...helping to organise one.

I love organising. Any excuse to make a list and use colour coded folders makes me happy! So when Bird's Yard in Sheffield was looking to hold some events, I jumped at the chance to help out and get out my notepads and highlighters.

The event I came up with is a 'competitive craft fair' where potential new sellers for the shop get to hold a stall and tell customers about their work, as well as letting them buy it. The customers can then give their feedback and the stall with the most votes gets to be Bird's Yard's latest designer rent free in July! (And of course if our customers fall for other stalls too I'm sure they'll be space for them along with our other sellers).

As well as the craft stalls there'll also be live music to entertain us and the customers throughout the day, tarot and playing card reading and face painting too. Lots to keep you entertained on a Saturday afternoon!

To find out who's selling there visit the event page

or visit on the day!

Bird's Yard, Chapel Walk, Sheffield, S1 2PD

Made with Maps...a new collection from Pink Flamingo

I admit it. I have an addiction to maps. And it's spilled over into another Etsy shop for Pink Flamingo - introducing Made with Maps.

Following the success of my 'I Love This Place ...Sheffield' range which are made out of vintage maps of Sheffield, I've now made keyrings, bookmarks and cards made with maps from around the world.

And there's more to come too. Ready to be made and become available are magnets, gift tags and badges so watch this space.

So far a few items have been listed in my new shop, but there are plenty more to come - I was just too excited to wait before they're all there to spread the news! And if there's a place you'd like to see featured, custom orders are welcome too.

 

Visit Pink Flamingo's new shop Made with Maps here - www.madewithmaps.etsy.com 

Tips for Crafting with Paper Ephemera

A few weeks ago over on my ephemera page on Facebook I started a series of posts called 'Thursday Tips' where I share a little tip or trick that I've learn through my own crafting. I thought, now I've posted a few of them, that I'd collect them here to create a little article.

I also like to post projects I find, things I make, ephemera I have for sale and anything other vintagey and papery I find! If you'd like to discover a new tip every Thursday do head over to my page take a look.

Thursday Tips

When you've finished cutting up old book pages use a circle punch to make small colourful circles with the scraps. I save them until I find a suitable projects for them. These 1/2 inch circles are left from a 1960s book I cut the pictures out of.

                            


Use a black (or other colour) fine liner pen to create a stitch effect border around paper embellishments for cards and scrapbooks to make them stand out and look defined.
                           

 
To help add definition to pieces of paper you might be layering in a card making or scrapbooking project, gently run an ink pad around the edges. It gives a slightly muted soft edge to help it stand out.

                           


When cutting out small details from paper use a small, sharp pair of scissors and keep them still. Turn and move the paper with your other hand. This makes for a cleaner and sharper cut.
                             

Ephemera doesn't just have to be old paper (although that is my favourite type!). Technically it's any item that was produced to have a short, one off purpose and not meant to be kept and last a long time. I find it useful to keep a box to put all these kind of items in so I've always got plenty of ephemera ready to go when I'm feeling crafty!

                            

If you're making paper beads using strips of vintage (or other) paper, use a quilling tool to make the process easier. Just slot the end of the paper between the gap in the middle of the tool and roll up! It's a lot quicker and neater than rolling paper around cocktails sticks like I used to do.
                                         


If you're doing some stamping over vintage book pages try stamping the pattern as normal (the darkest green in this picture) and then re-stamping without adding more ink going backwards to create a worn effect to match the vintage style.

                                   


If you're making something with vintage papers and there's a tear or mark on it, cover the blemished part with a postage stamp. (This is why my vintage map cards have stamps on!)

                                        


If you're decoupaging an object and are making paper strips to cover it, use a ruler to tear the paper rather than cut it with scissors. Tearing the paper instead of cutting it gives it a softer edge so it lays flatter to the object you're gluing it to and using a ruler means the torn paper will be straight!

Pink Flamingo and Apple Harvest

Yesterday I tried something new for a craft fair - a shared stall. I'd been chatting with Sue from Apple Harvest about a new craft fair that was taking place in Sheffield and we thought we'd try it out together. So together we went along to Lou Lou's Artisan Market at Sheffield Town Hall...

Pink Flamingo and Apple Harvest's shared stall

Sharing a stall meant thinking of different ways to display my goods too. Not only was there less space so I had to get creative, but I also got to play with Sue's display items too! This basket proved useful for carrying items to the market and looked great on the floor in front of the table with my pictures and notebooks in it along with Sue's lavender hearts.

One of Sue's ebay buying sessions lead to her acquiring this handy little stand - perfect for my Sheffield keyrings! And she was generous enough to lend it to me for the day.

There were also a wider range of goods for customers to look at and we inspired each others' making sparking ideas for each other. I loved Sue's 'chopstick flowers' which have her hand felted flowers attached to chopsticks which are covered in green ribbon but still have Chinese writing visible on the bottom. I thought they also looked rather cute in their beer bottle vases!

A selection of goodies from Apple Harvest

And there was a box of vintage sewing supplies! Sue was sharing her cotton and sewing accessories for sale (even though she'd be happy keeping them for herself!) I loved the tags hanging from the box showing prices and saying what they were - an idea for me to use too.

We're planning other projects together in the future which I'm sure will be a lot of fun! Look out for us in September at Art in the Gardens, Botanical Gardens, Sheffield.

 You can find out more about Apple Harvest here:

Apple Harvest's Etsy shop

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Farm Yard @ Bird's Yard

On Saturday 24th May Bird's Yard in Sheffield city centre held a new event - Farm Yard @ Bird's Yard. For those of you who don't know, Bird's Yard is a shop that sells lots of local designers' work as well as unique pieces and now the downstairs has been turned into an event space where their first market was held at the weekend.

I sell some work in the shop and offered to help organise the event (I love organising!) inviting lots of delicious local food stalls and talented musicians to take part. Although the weather was against us (Chapel Walk where the shop is was more live a river than a pavement) everyone who braved the torrents loved it!

Here's what happened...

Cupcake Time even made some farmyard themed cupcakes!

 

And Hollow Meadow Flowers brought a true farmyard touch with their locally farm grown flowers...

There was also face painting and glitter tattoos from Dreams and Screams and food art from Michael Borkowsky (and if you happen to be in Sheffield on Monday they'll be there again!)