Welcome New Members

Happy Valentines Day

From all at Etsy Ireland :o)

Hope your all loved up and ready to share some hearts with our

New Members

Glad you could join us for

 Part 2 of our Welcome New Members post.

So once again for your viewing pleasure may I introduce

Heart Wreath For Wall, Door or Table Top

By Quirky Apple in Tipperary

Red Vintage Style Fascinator

By Mes Petits Chapeaux in Dublin

 Handmade Valentines Day Paper Heart Card

By six0six Design in Dublin

 A Little Bird Told Me Headband

By Row Bawt Bee Boutique in Kilkenny

Olivia Statement Necklace

By Jewellery by Holly Blue in Bray

 Felted Pin Cushion

By  Felted Knits & Quirky Bits in Dublin

 Knitted Cushion

By Yarn Away Knits in Larne

Shirley Poppies Square Hand Painted Silk Scarf 

By Mount Gabriel in Cork

Welcome one and all

As always we wish you Lots of Luck and Many Sales!

Don't forget to stop by the Team Forum for chat & helpful hints.

Lots of great shops to check out here peeps

 so stop by and leave some of that extra Love that's

 floating around today :o)

Have a great Valentines

Until Next Time

The Spiral Goddess

Welcome New Members

Hello Peeps

As the list of new members is quite long,

this week I have broken the post into two parts.

So without furter ado and for your viewing pleasure may I introduce



Hand Crafted Ca dOro Murano Blue Drop Earrings

by BejewgleJewellery in Cork

Crushed Fabric Covered Journal

by barbaraeire from Cork

Black and White Marilyn Bottle Cap Brooch

By MayFlyEtsyShop in Dublin

Necklace with Bead Embroidery Cabochon

By Inetas Jewelry in Clare

Copper Abstract Pendant

By Lyla Kai Collection in Dingle

Wooden Buttons 4cm

From The Irish Knitting Room in Dublin

Silk Tea Cosy & Tea Pot Mat

By Hand Made in Ireland in Limerick

A great big Welcome to our newest team members.

We wish you all

Lots of luck and many sales!

Some great new shops to check out here folks so

stop by and drop some dollars :o)

Pop by again for Part 2 of this post on Tuesday and

Eyes Open Ireland

returns next Sunday.

Until Next Time

The Spiral Goddess

Tea & Chat...

Hi lovelies, this weeks Tea & Chat is with Andréa Boyle from The Cat in the Pyjamas - Thanks Andréa for taking part!

1)WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR ARTS/CRAFT JOURNEY SO FAR?

AS I AM FROM GERMANY YOU SHOULD KNOW EARLY WHAT YOU WANT TO DO WITH YOUR LIFE,SO I STARTED WITH AN OLDFASHIONED APPRENTICESHIP AS A DRESSMAKER.MY MASTER TRAINED US WELL AND WE STITCHED MADE TO MEASURE CLOTHES BY HAND,,YES,,BY HAND...
THREE YEARS APPRENTICESHIP,4 YEARS OF WORKING BEHIND THE SEWINGMACHINE AND LEARNING,WATCHING,DOING.
THEN FASHION COLLEGE TO LEARN THE ART OF CREATING PATTERNS FROM SCRATCH,WITH ONLY MEASUREMENTS,ADD ON TWO MORE YEARS THEN I MADE MY
MASTER CRAFTMAN'S DIPLOMA IN DRESDESIGN AND DRESSMAKING.
I HAVE WORKED FOR ESCADA IN MUNICH,THEN MOVED WITH ALAN,MY HUSBAND TO IRELAND AND I HAVN'T BEEN UNEMPLOYED FOR ONE DAY.
THEN A FEW YEARS WITH JOHN ROCHA AND LOUISE KENNEDY LOVING AND MAKING PATTERNS FOR THEM.
THEN I BECAME A FREELANCE PATTERNMAKER AND DRESSDESIGNER,,ALL WITH THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF ALAN.
NOW I STILL DO WHAT I LOVE MOST,CREATING AND SEWING,AND IT IS CALLED ---THE CAT IN THE PYJAMAS-KID'S CLOTHING.

2)WHAT ARE YOUR 3 FAVORITE PRODUCTS TO WORK WITH?

PAPER FOR PATTERNS,
ANY FABRIC FOR ONE-OFF CREATIONS AND MADE TO MEASURE CLOTHES

3)WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE?

CARPÉ DIEM-SEIZE THE DAY

4)IF YOU COULD HAVE A PERFECT WORKSPACE WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE?

I HAVE NOW THE BOXROOM IN OUR HOUSE TRANSFORMED INTO A LITTLE CREATIVE DEN.A BIG WHITE COSY ARMCHAIR,
A NICE OLDFASHIONED DESK AND MY SEWINGMACHINE(A 1950'S PFAFF RUN WITHOUT ELECTICITY!!!!!)
AND A BIG RAIL TO HANG UP THE CLOTHES

5)WHO,OR WHAT INSPIRES YOU?

IN FASHION YOU HAVE TO BE AHEAD,,,BUT INSPIRATION IS IN EVERYTHING,
I LIKE TO TAKE TIME OUT AND CLOSE THE DOOR BEHIND ME AND READ MY MAGAZINES,,VOGUE US AND JUNIOR MAGAZINE ARE MY MOST IMPORTANT ONES
I LOVE THE VOGUE COVERS FROM BACK THEN AND COLLECT AS MANY AS I CAN AND VINTAGE-VOGUE IS BLISS
A CHAT WITH OTHERS DESIGNERS LIKE ANNE-MARIE IN NZ
LAST BUT NOT LEAST BILL BLASS,YVES SAINT LAURENT AND CHRISTIAN DIOR.HERMÉS AND CHANEL...TIMELESS
MY REDHEAD SON PIERCE IS A GREAT SOURCE FOR INSPIRATION AS HE HAS GREAT IDEAS AND ACTUALLY CAN MAKE A JUMPER IN LEGO(!!!!!!)

6)WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON YOU HAVE LEARNED IN YOUR CREATIVE BUSINESS
?
ORA ET LABORA------BETE UND ARBEITE----(TRANSLATED -PRAY AND WORK HARD)

7)MARMITE OR MARMALADE?

MARMALADE

8)WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR PROUDEST MOMENT?

BACK IN MY ESCADA-DAYS,,,WE HAD A WORK DEMONSTRATION ON OUR CAD SYSTEM FOR THE AMERICAN FASHION DESIGNER BILL BLASS.
IN FRONT OF OUR COMPANYOWNER MR LEY I ASKED BILL BLASS KINDLY FOR AN AUTOGRAPH ON 2 PAGES OF A VOGUE ADD OF HIS DRESSES...
I WILL NEVER FORGET THAT DAY AND CHERISH THE AUTOGRAPH'S...

 Thanks Andréa for answering the questions, The Cat in the Pyjamas is a great shop - I wish you the best of luck with it!
Have a great weekend,
Felicia x.

---

Getting To Know You #3

Happy Friday everyone! Today we meet our fellow Etsy sellers from the Etsy Paper team. Member shops offer everything from cards & stationery, to handmade paper, supplies, custom scrapbooking & calligraphy services and more! The treasury is called "Let's go green" because green happens to be my favourite colour today.



See you all next week.

Wednesdays Treasury Slot

Hello again, can you believe it, it's Wednesday already!!!

Thank you to the Spiral Goddess for yesterday's post, in case you missed it go here.

Reminder: I will only collate the weeks treasuries that are 100% craftyirelandteam members so please don't feel offended if your treasury is not included in this post.

I would like to resurrect the Treasury Challenge that took place last year, but have to get my head around it first so bear with me please!

Ok so let's start this week's wonderful collection of team treasuries, keep 'em coming boys and girls!

We start off with "A Spring in my Step" curated by Carrie from Cherryblossomtattoo

"Craft of Ireland" by Traban

"Irish Valentine" by Caroline from AnSnagBeac

Next we have "Natures Calling" curated by IdyllicIrishKnit

And last but not least we have another beautiful treasury "True Blue...Baby I Love You!!! from BelindaSullivan

Thank you everyone for your wonderful treasuries and taking the time to participate, look forward to seeing what everyone comes up with next week, VALENTINE'S WEEK!!

Bye for now!!

Fi 

Packaging Orders - Some Useful Tips

Hello
I would like to thank the lovely Ruth from Nice Day Designs for allowing me to republish some of her articles/tutorials - they are full of useful information and advice

Enjoy!

Packaging Orders

As much as possible I try to make systems for all of my work so that things run smoother. I'm not naturally inclined towards being organised so I've spent years training myself to do this to try to make running a business less stressful. When I first started selling on Etsy getting orders was both very exciting and hugely time consuming. The first few orders I got, I had to walk down town to buy packaging, then spend ages rooting out the Sellotape. Thankfully things have changed, now I have what I like to call my 'postal station', which has:
Pens
Markers
Envelopes of multiple sizes
Thank you notes (see my how-to here)
Business Flyer
Return Address labels
Wide Tape that never leaves this basket so I always know where it is.
Craft freebie magnets(see here)
Bubble wrap
Velvet gift bags
Zip lock bags

Having all these things easily to hand makes life so much easier, especially when I get a few orders in the same day. Also I've kept the colour scheme consistent with my logo, the blue is carried through from the flyer, thank you note, the sticker on the envelope with my logo, the logo on the promo magnet and even the blue in the return address labels. This is to reinforce my brand and also to give a slick professional appearance. I make sure to keep these extra touches to a minimum though so that it doesn't hike up my costs. I've bought lots of stuff on Etsy over the years and it really makes a difference, the shopping experience becomes even more special. Bonzie and Magpie and Button are two people who pop into my mind who went the extra step and really personalised their packaging. If this is a selling point in your pieces it wouldn't be a bad idea to put a photo of your wrapping/parceling in your last listing image like Balanced does. 

Balanced Beautiful Packaging

Thanks again to Ruth for allowing us to re-use her article - very informative!
If anyone else would like to share their knowledge, experience or advice with us please contact me through my Etsy Shop Cari Design.
Thanks
Caroline

Welcome New Members

Annnnnnnnnnd We're Back!!!!

Sue was unable to send me the list's of New Members for a while but happily we are back in action!

We have certainly grown since I last wrote.

We now have 463 members and

6335 items currently for sale on Etsy tagged craftyirelandteam

That's a lot of work!

This week we have four new members to introduce

 so without further ado for your shopping pleasure.....

Emok Mamoki Double Sided Organic Unique Design Toy

By Mamoki in Galway.

Pink Skull Ring

By FawnFiona from Dublin

Vintage Doll & Baby Buttons

 From  Mog Doll Delights in Carlow.

50 Swarovski Crystal Fuschia 5000 6mm

By ICEBEAD in Dublin.

Welcome one and all.

We wish you lots of luck and many sales.

If you have an Up and Running Etsy shop and would like to join our team,

please contact Sue from AmazingBeads

And don't forget to stop by the Team Forum for advice and a bit of craic.

Till Next Time

The Spiral Goddess