Well November whizzed by and despite my best efforts I couldn't take the time of work to schedule a team meeting!
So what do we do? Well I thought it might be an idea to take advantage of etsy's chat rooms tomorrow evening from 7pm. I realise everybody has work commitments, craft fairs to prepare for, never mind all the other preparations for Christmas so the chat room might just come in handy this December. You can stitch, sew, knit, paint, just do your thing and have a bit of craic while you're at it!
All members and followers of the blog are welcome - which is great since all our meetings have taken place in Dublin thus far and not everybody could make it. It would be a handy way to get to know each other, ask questions and exchange ideas. I hope you can make it!
This weeks update really has to start off by thanking Alex, her lovely pr friends and all the contributing members who helped make our very first press release such a success. For those of you who missed the article yesterday, in the Irish Times no less - then check out the online version here! I've uploaded some scans to our flickr group! ;) Sarah wrote a very helpful article this week, a shopping guide for both Irish customers and sellers alike. The main point being that, all members in the team should be tagging their items with 'craftyirelandteam' - all one word, no space! This means that your items have a better chance of being featured here on the blog, in etsy treasuries and will make it easier for Irish customers to find you for Christmas shopping. So if your most recent shop items are not showing in this search - its time to tag!
Now without further ado, let me introduce to you our latest crop of Irish talent. We have eight fab new members to welcome this week. So if you get a chance over the next couple of days please pay their shops a visit and drop off a heart or two while you're at it! Here are some of the gems I've unearthed this morning... ;)*
If you are craftsperson living in Ireland and selling online at etsy and would like to become a member of the Crafty Ireland team then please contact either myself or Sarah - We'd love to hear from you!
N.B. Teamies! If you have a fresh listing from the week gone by and you would like to be in with a chance to make it to the fresh five, forward your listing to Sarah by Thursday!
I have yet to meet an artist who doesn't recognise what I call "The Fear Factor" stage of a piece of art. You know that feeling when the piece is going so well, that to place the next brush stroke, patch, stitch or whatever will surely ruin it. I know that I have been literally paralysed with creative fear. Often for weeks at a time and sometimes I have avoided finishing a piece altogether in case I wreck what is surely going to be my "Masterpiece" with the capital M!!!
I have been mulling over this thought for a while now and would like to share some thoughts for getting through this block. For that is what it really is. A block.
In the above Poppies painting, I was stuck for almost 2 weeks with this fear. Every time I went near the painting I got so afraid of what to do next that I would down brushes and find something else to do. That was ok the first week as I had some other creative stuff on the go and classes to prep for, but week 2 saw my house getting some serious cleaning! Look, let me be frank here, even my oven got cleaned. Now I would like my in laws to think this is normal behaviour for me (I mean the cleaning) but to all you creatives out there, you can see that this was seriously eccentric behaviour. On any normal day, normal for me anyway, painting would win hands down over oven cleaning for sure.
Going to bed one night I prayed for inspiration on getting through this block when the following thought popped into my mind. IT'S ONLY A PIECE OF PAPER. Now, I cant count how many occasions I have consoled my students with this piece of advice, but I had forgotten to follow it myself. Then I thought," even if it goes horribly wrong I can use it as a practice piece and redo over fresh." So next morning I went into my art room and fired up the ole brushes!
There are many more illustrious than I with wonderful advice on this sticky old problem. To quote just a few,
Julia Cameron, author of the wonderful "Artists Way" ; "Remember that is is my job to do the work, not judge the work."
George Tooker; "Painting is an attempt to come to terms with life. There are as many solutions as there are human beings"
Joseph Chilton Pearce; " To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong"
Robert Motherwell; " In the brush doing what it's doing, it will stumble on what one couldn't do by oneself."
Albert Einstein; "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity."
Since we have started our Crafty Ireland team in August, we have gone from strength to strength, gathering new and wonderful artists and craftspeople to our team, making it easy to know that you are shopping Irish!
But Etsy is a big place, and sometimes it can be hard to find us! So, here is a basic and simple way to ensure that you are buying Irish this Christmas.
Step one: On the Etsy home page, you will see at the top a search bar. The left bar has a drop-down menu, you can choose Handmade, Vintage, Supplies, All Items and Seller.
Step two: Choose All Items and then on the second search bar, type in "craftyirelandteam" and hit Go. You will then find all sorts of goodies from our Irish team!
Easy peasy right???
Now, if you wanted something specific, say jewelery, all you have to do is add the word "Jewelery" to "craftyirelandteam" and then all the jewelery that we have on our team will pop up!
N.B. to all Etsy Ireland team members(sellers): Do remember to tag all your items with "craftyirelandteam" so that you will show up on the search!
6 evenly sized squares of paper - preferably white, for the colour of snowflakes; printer paper is fine, or try drawing pad paper. The size of your paper square can vary from 4" to 10" (10cm - 25cm). The paper should be of a good strength to hold up the snowflake structure.
Scissors
Tape
Stapler
Steps : :
Fold each of the 6 pieces of paper in half, diagonally. If the paper you're using doesn't make a perfect triangle, cut off the edge that sticks out (rectangular edge) and make it align perfectly.
Cut 3 lines each side of the triangle from the folded edge making sure not to cut through the unfolded paper edges. The cut lines should be parallel to one another each side and come close to meeting in the middle but not touch; leave a small space between them. To make this easier, you can fold the triangle in half. This way you'll cut both sides at once, making a very symmetrical snowflake. This might not be suitable for thicker paper, since the number of layers makes it difficult to cut through.
Unfold your paper and turn it so that the diamond shape is facing you for working with.
Still keeping your paper diamond side-up, roll the first two innermost paper lines together to form a tube. Tape these two pieces together. You should see triangle shapes on each side of the roll.
Turn the diamond over to the other side. Take the next two paper lines and pull them together on the opposite side of the tube and tape together as before. This will be a more rounded shape and wider than the first tube.
Keep turning the paper and joining the paper lines together on opposite side until all paper lines have been joined.
Repeat this process (steps 3 - 7) with the remaining 5 pieces of paper.
Join 3 of the completed rolled pieces together at one end (draw together with your fingertips) and staple together using the other hand. Do the other 3 pieces the same way. Now you will have 2 pieces consisting of 3 strands or "arms" each.
Staple the two new pieces together in the middle. You will almost have the snowflake shape by now.
Staple where each of the 6 arms meet. This ensures that the snowflake shape is pulled into place. See illustration at top for the finished snowflake.
Acknowledgment: Thanks to LizMarie's Make a Snowflake photos on Flickr for the majority of the photos displayed here & for additional ideas for improving the instructions.
Hi there, my name is Sorcha Gillett. I was born in Dublin, in the month of October, making me the typical daydreaming libran that I am :) I now live in the South West of France with my lovely boyfriend, where I design girls surf prints for Rip Curl. In my own precious free time I live to paint and stitch. Mum always says I was a magpie of a child, hoarding all that was bright and shiny and silky and soft. My treasure chest grew with me. It inspired me during the years I spent studying fashion and printed textile design at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin. After graduating it supplied me with the materials I needed while working as a freelance illustrator and handbag designer in both Dublin and France. Now it forms the basis for my first collection of one-off art pieces. My unique style incorporates transient inks, powdery acrylics and the gems, crystals, vintage leathers and antique lace I have accumulated over the years. Inspired by the animated beauty of wildflowers, I have threaded these elements together to capture the precious moments in a young girls life that mark the beginning of the end of girlhood. Please click on the movie window below to see a painting come to life from stitch to finish, turn it up loud, the song is the best part ;)
Now let me introduce some of the ladies! All the ladies delicate features have been hand-stitched in embroidery thread, their hair is appliqued leather and their backgrounds and flower detailing are antique fabrics from my treasure chest. All my ladies come in purse friendly prints, which are available in my etsy shop. And now especially in time for Christmas gifts, my prints have a buy 2 get a 3rd of your choice for free deal! Visit my website to see more lovely ladies.
Clodagh
Goodbye
Molly
Marla
Lily
Ava
Kate
Clementine
Conor Kissed Chloe
Fall's First Kiss
And now here's a little surprise... if you would like to win a print of your choice from my shop then pop over to my Dandelion Daydreamer blog, click follow this blog, or click add on the facebook link and then comment here and let me know what lucky lady you would like for your home sweet home. Thanks for looking everyone :)
Thanks to everybody who entered - I'm a little amazed by the response we've had! We are a relatively new team so we really appreciate you spreading the word of Etsy Ireland! We all ship worldwide and offer a wide variety of well made crafts at very reasonable prices. To view our latest etsy offerings just click the big green 'Just Listed' button above! We really appreciate your support ♥
Stay tuned for more how-to's, member interviews and maybe a crafty giveaway or two here at the blog! Become a follower and you won't miss out on a peep!
Hello crafty souls, in an attempt to make shopping with us all easier, I've categorised all the shops in the drop down listing over on the right, under the SHOP DIRECTORY heading. I've broadly used the Etsy site categories, with some modifications.
As I was going through all your shops (and they are all just wonderful ... so many beautiful things!) I've realised that lots of you don't fit neatly into just one category. Some of you do a mixture of things but I have tried to slot you in initially as best as I could.
To make if fair on everyone, I suggest that everyone's shop can appear in up to 2 categories in the listing ... so if you would like to be added in somewhere else in the listing please convo me (propeller) via Etsy and I will adjust accordingly.
I will apologise in advance if I have accidentally deleted anyone or totally misrepresented you! And of course if anyone finds bugs or gremlins let me know.
I am now slightly dazed from looking at so many shops so need a cuppa.
hello crafty ireland, my name is aisling, from by aisling designs
me!
So hears a bit about my background and what inspires me
I am a Dublin girl born and bread, with a few drops of Cork blood which meant I got to spend my childhood summers on my grandfathers farm in North Cork.
I am an incurable romantic, I buy too many books and I problem love my basset hound Winston too much, but he’s just too cute!
So, anyhow when I graduated from university in 2008, I was left wondering what area I would like to work in. I had studied sociology. I have always been passionate about fashion and as I child I was craft mad. So I set about rediscovering my passion for making things. Design and making jewellery gives me a great outlet to express myself and to enter a world of vibrant colours and textures.My inspiration comes from high fashion both past and present, I love the passion behind the couture shows and spent many happy hours milling through fashion coffee table books and old copies of Vogue. I also draw on areas I have traveled. Be it the hot and cultured orange groves of the Moorish city of Seville. Or the vivid whites and sea blues that fill my memery of a summer spent island hopping in Greece, drinking cheep Ouzo and visiting hidden monisterys.Nature is always a constant and often surprising source of inspiration. My first collection has a soft, romantic feel to it and was inspired by long mid-summer’s days. However For my fall/ winter collection I am going to be designing a slightly naughty, decadent collection. Working with stronger colours to create a rich and heavy feel to reflect the changing seasons
This week we have four lovely new shops to add! Please welcome Mia, Jenny,Vera, Fiona & Sylvia to the team! If you would like to become involved with Etsy Ireland and the Crafty Ireland team then please send me a convo at etsy. Membership is open to anyone based in Ireland, who sells handmade goods, vintage items or craft supplies at www.etsy.com. You must have at least three items listed!
Just a quick reminder to all members that our team tag is'craftyirelandteam' - please, please use it! We are currently creating a new shop directory for the blog! If your goods aren't tagged accordingly then they will not show up in the results! Also, you have more chance of being featured here on the blog and in treasuries if you do! Thanks to the many sellers who have tagged their wares already :)*
Hi everyone, just had to share this with you. A very obliging, helpful and generous printer based in Harold's Cross. I was tired and frustrated dealing with the better know ones in town and found Greg accidently. So I will gladly pass on details for any of you looking for good quality, good price and friendly no nonsense fast service. Give Greg a call on 01 4549181, tell him Yvonne sent you!
Ok its Giveaway time at last!!! This very special giveaway is essentially a mystery box -containing an assortment of handmade items made by various members of the Crafty Ireland team! This little box of crafty Irish goodness contains a nice mix of;
♥ Jewellery ♥ Original Art ♥ Stationery ♥ Accessories & ♥ a heap of other fun stuff!
Its like instant Christmas in there! So for a chance to win this lovely boxful of goodies just comment on this post. The raffle takes place on Monday 16th November!
Well I thought it was high time that I shared with you the colourful mess that I call my studio! Its is an organised mess though and it's very, very me! It smells pretty pine fresh now after my polishing - the things I do for you etsyireland!!! ...anyways lets have a snoop... ;)*
My main work space - piled high with paints, markers, fabric remnants and a whole menagerie of other arty bits n' bobs. On the chair there are the very first happy heart garlands that I made - I'm hugely sentimental so I try to keep all my 'firsts'. The shelves above hold random pieces of mixed media art and other pretty things that inspire me to create. The polka dot bag holds colourful paper scraps that I reuse for my baubles and other paper creations.
I can't really show you the studio without introducing you to my muse and promo girl (some of you might have met her already) - Miss Arabella! She's a full size mannequin with a pretty mad hairdo of mixed flowers and trinkets that I've found or have been given over the years. I've even stuffed my wedding tiara in there! She's dressed to the 9's in vintage aprons and is wearing a very pouffy petticoat underneath that granny made for my communion many moons ago! The latest addition to her hairdo are those spangly red beads, they have little bells at the end so she actually sounds like Christmas! The noticeboard was a gift from my husband - the writing at the top says 'Hooray - one more job to do and its gin & tonic time!'. Oh and I love my flying chicken clock too!
I'm a doodler and a daydreamer and these little folk are some of my latest! Many of my doodles eventually become fully fledged little characters which feature in my Dolly Mixture greeting cards.
Okay! so that's enough exposure for one day! thanx for poppin' in! If you would like to do a studio tour for Etsy Ireland then please get in contact with me at etsy! ♥
Hi all, my name is Ruth Crean of '...Nice Day Designs', and I'm one of the new members of the Etsy Ireland Team. If you've got a few minutes to spare you can fritter them away while I self conciously babble about myself and my work. I'm originally from Celbridge in Kildare but I moved down to wonderful Limerick 9 years ago to attend the art college here, and a mix of a great social/cultural scene and the love of a good Limerick man has kept me here since. I originally studied Fine Art: Printmaking, but in my final year I dabbled in photography and model making. Since graduating in 2004 I have tried my hand at many aspects of visual art, having a few exhibitons in photography, painting and digital collage. I spend about two years working with a great company, Impact Theatre, doing all their graphic design for them. With them I learned tonnes about design and creativity as applied in practice in the real world. It was while working with them that '...Nice Day Designs' was originally born, as a label for my design and for my handmade cards that I had started making. In 2007 I started selling my cards and illustrations at a local craft market here in the city. It was after a year of this blind optimism that I realised that I would never make my first million selling cards, so I decided to capitalise on my life long hobby of sewing and customising clothes. My mother is a dress maker and it was something I always did on the side, either brightening up a jacket with a few buttons, or making halloween costumes. Things started out very small and tentatively, with one rail of clothes, and a few listings on Etsy. But quickly things grew and there was a growing demand for the clothes I was making.
At first to be honest I didn't have much focus but after a few months I realised that I should promote the fact that they were recycled clothes, as I started to see the growing trends in greener products. Since those first couple of steps I have started selling in a few boutiques around Ireland, and I was lucky enough to be on RTE's Nationwide earlier this year. In Autumn this year I had my first fashion show, which was a daunting and amazing experience. Since the show finished I've been catching up on custom orders and trying to get my cards and accessories sorted for the Christmas rush. Since then I also got my hands on a large lot of vintage buttons which led me to set up my second Etsy shop nicedaysupplies. I was really fortunate to find them, and I know it will take me years to get through them but I am a complete button addict! It's been a tricky balance with all the different things that I work with, but that's what I love most, one day I could be sewing an evening dress, the next designing my pocket mirrors, and another day making Christmas cards. It means I never get bored and all the different techniques keep me inspired for the next project. I know this sounds nuts but I'm happiest when I'm working away in my studio, with a hot cup of coffee, and listening to a good audiobook.
