Crafty News Desk

Thanks to all of you who have got in touch with info on markets and events. I have set up a craftyirelandteam yahoo calendar and it will have entries for all events that are coming up with links to the relevant website giving full details on how to get involved. You will need a google account and I will need to link your account to the calendar so you can access it

In the meantime here are some of the entries that may be of interest:

3-4 July Carrigtowhill Medieval Festival in Barryscourt Castle near Cork City.

http://www.carrigfest.com/index.html

4 July Crafty Market, Sheeben Chic, Sth Great Georges St, Dublin 2.

http://www.thecraftymarket.com/

4 July Trim Swift Festival - street market

market.street.trim@gmail.com

4 July Kells Market Day at the Kells Heritage Festival

http://marketday.kellschamer.ie

10 July Toejam Carboot Sale, The Bernard Shaw, South Richmond St., Dublin 2

http://m.bodytonicmusic.com/thebernardshaw/

11 July The Ferocious Mingle Market, Dublin Food Co-Op Building,

Newmarket Sq., Dublin 8.

http://www.thejosiebaggleycompany.com/pages/FerociousMingleMarket-info.htm

If you are thinking of setting your wares out on a stall you should read Ruth's from Nice Day Designs blog post on Market Stalls. Loads of great advice.... //http://etsyireland.blogspot.com/2010/06/how-to-tuesday-market-stalls.html#comments

Are there any big promotions coming up in your etsy shop that we should know about????

Any news that you would like to pass on?????

From Monday morning next I will be bringing you a weekly update of whats happening - - all bits of info that come across my news desk....... so get in touch soon (Use the pink spotted/green button on the right).

Cheers

Mo

http://www.huggleknits.etsy.com/

How-To Tuesday: Market Stalls

Hi this is Ruth from Nice Day Designs. There has been lots of talk recently within the team at meetings and on forums about markets and I realized that after 3 years at trading at a weekly market I may have a few bits of info to impart. There are two sides to doing a market, the nuts and bolts of display, tables, and getting your stall. And also what to do/say to your customers to make the best of your stand. Both aspects have their difficulties, and trust me I've learned the hard way by making every mistake in the book. Later in the week I'll be posting the second half, so stay tuned!

Firstly lets look at the basics, how to get a stall. Lots of people have been asking how can they get a market stall, and is there one basic source of info, and to be honest I'm not sure. In Ireland it mostly seems to be work of mouth, the best advice I can give is go to your nearest market and start talking to the traders. The likelihood is that they sell at a few different locations, and they will be able to tell you which are the best ones, and they'll be honest about footfall. Always try to check out a market before you do it, organisers will promise you the earth, but quite often they deliver very little. Find out things like do you need to supple cover, tables, what is parking like, do they require insurance? The company that I use is IOMST, they do a yearly rate that's very reasonable, most markets insist on it these days so it's just one of those things that you have to fork out for at the start. Also ask the market organiser do they advertise locally, they is no point paying them 50 euro for the day if there are no customers.

Next you need a great display, this can take a long time to figure out, it's taken me years to really figure it out properly. Maybe try to do some research online and at market, take photos of the displays that you like and try to learn from them. Here are some easy pitfalls.

-Don't put all your products flat on a table, people will be walking past and judge what you're selling in about 2 seconds, if it's not visible they will walk on.

-Don't have an empty stand, if there isn't lots to choose from people won't buy. If you don't have lots of work share your stand with a friend. It cuts on cost and it fills up the table better.

-Price your work, people will be afraid to ask if there is no price on it, especially with crafts people always assume that they can't afford it.

To help with creating a better display use risers, I made mine out of notice boards, Tesco are selling them at a really reasonable price at the moment. Buy two of them and put a hinge in the middle so they can be free standing. Also use things like boxes underneath your table cloth to raise the level of the table. Other things like pretty baskets and hat boxes are fantastic for displaying your work in. Shop around in the Euro discount shops, even in the garden or kitchen ware sections, think outside the box for what you can use. Also places like Aldi and Lidl sell mini easels and chalk boards, which can really add to the charm of a display. I got little brightly coloured picnic pots in a pound shop last year and I still get people commenting on how well they look on the stall. If it's possible try to contrast or conordinate the colours of your table cloth to your logo, it will really give your display that extra punch that it needs.

It's a good time of year to go shopping for market equipment, things like fold down tables, chairs and gazebos are all easily available in Argos, B&Q etc, look in the camping and garden sections. In the past I've used fold down tables that are used for wall paper pasting, they are very affordable and the heavy duty one is still working 3 years later. What ever you do if you need to provide your own stall do not buy the one in Argos that is a pole assembly, it is a nightmare to put together and it's useless in Irish weather, it may look like a bargain but trust me it will break your heart (and your back!). At the start try to find a market that is indoors or provides cover for you. For your first market it will be quite daunting to deal with this aspect as well as your display and selling to customers.

Signage is also very important, you want people to remember your brand and know what to call you when talking about how amazing you are later to friends and family! I made my own banner with my sewing machine, but in the past I've used a long laminated sign, that cost about 40 euro from my local printer. Just like with your etsy shop it's good to keep your look consistent, so my banner matches my tags, and my smaller price signs.I got this great stamp on etsy from Jlmould, and it's really helped with my packaging, while keeping my costs low. Also it's essential that you have business cards on hand, they sell little perspex holders for them in Easons. I'll talk more about business cards in the next post about interacting with your customers.

I hope this helps, and if any other readers have market tips I'd love to hear about them, just leave a comment below.

Tea and a Chat With: Paul Coyne

-What is the last book you read?

The lost Symbol by Dan Brown I have a stack more books beside my bed for ages but just cant get the time to open them.

-If you could be a superhero what super powers would you choose?

Time Travel.... endless shenanigans/mischief

-Describe yourself in 4 words.

Friendly optimistic passionate open

-What did you want to be when you were 12 years old?

A Carpenter (i think)

-Imagine you are having a dinner party, you can invite 5 people dead or alive, who would they be?

zooey deschanel.... so cute

steve irwin.....cool guy

jamie oliver....good food

ellen degeneres...funny

Stephen Fry.....witty banter

-What was your mother right about?

Everything, or so she belives

-Guiltiest pleasure?

chocolate

-Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

5 years in the future (or could it be time travel)

-Regardless of money, would you ever get plastic surgery?

No, never...

-Describe your perfect day

Breakfast in bed, walk on a beech near letterfack connemara, a cup of tae good movie and all in the company of my girlfriend...

-Lastly, some linky goodness, link to your shop, blog, facebook, twitter etc etc.

www.paul-coyne.com

http://www.etsy.com/shop/podgy00

http://twitter.com/Paulcoyne

Eyes Open Ireland

Here we have an Eyes Open Ireland from Ann of Torann in Co Meath.

"After living in the UK for a couple of years it made me realise
‘There’s no place like home’ and hence one of my favourite places to
photograph is Slane, Co. Meath."

"Many a day was spent running, climbing and playing hide and seek in
and around the abbey on the Hill of Slane, I also loved heading to the
woods behind the abbey and enjoying the view of Slane Castle. Many a
time I stood up on the hill listening to a concert being held whilst I
was told I was too young to attend."

"My father every so often on a Sunday would go on a long walk to the
Hill of Slane, through the woods, pass Bluebell wood and down to the
Castle grounds up through the village and stop and buy us (brothers,
sister, Mam, and I) an ice-cream on the way home and I loved this
walk. Due to the fact my father is unable to walk these days I
treasure these memories and my trips to The Hill of Slane which will
always have a special place in my heart."

http://amg-arts.com/
http://etsy.com/shop/torann
http://www.facebook.com/AmgArts
http://wherepeoplecreate.blogspot.com/

Smokin Lily Boutique

Gals we are delighted to have an opportunity to share our most recent venture with you guys as it's on home soil. We have been busy working away from our etsy online store http://www.bonzie.etsy.com/ and have always been excited about the prospects of selling our designs closer to home. Well we have great news to share with you as we are now stocking our bonzie design label at a gorgeous new boutique in Kilkenny City at Smoking Lily's on Kieran St, Kilkenny.

Shona the proprietor has just opened her doors and it's truly a treasure trove of vintage goodies, consignment lovelies and Irish Designers/Milliners/Interiors. In fact Shona would love to hear from all you stylish gals who would like to consign your previously loved fashion items. Smoking Lily is a Fashion Exchange boutique, taking in your special pieces that you no longer wear or need and will sell them on for you, leaving you with the 'fundolas' to reinvest in your wardrobe! A Win Win situation for fashionistas in recessionary times.

Here are all the details you need to keep abreast of Smoking Lily's developments and updates aswell as our "bonzie" collections and additions. Shona is looking forward to hearing from you all!

Smoking Lily Boutique

Kieran's St

Kilkenny City

phone: 0860621602

Facebook: Smoking Lily Boutique

CRAFTY NEWS DESK.....

News just in .......

2 items of interest have just come in to the Crafty News Desk....

• Andrea stopped by to tell me about a new Show and Tell starting on her blog this Friday 25th. Full details here: http://lushstuffstore.blogspot.com/p/lush-friday.html


• Geraldine from STITCH, that great little craft spot in Santry, has news of a tempting workshop on Saturday next 26th on making cute crochet tea cosies . . . Full details here: http://www.stitch.ie/crochet-tea-cosy/

Thanks to Natalie from http://www.etsy.com/shop/thebluesylph I am working on a calendar of upcoming events and will be bringing you a weekly update. If there is anything of interst happening please let me know. We would also like to hear how the events went. Use the button on the side to get in touch.

Cheers

Mo http://www.huggleknits.etsy.com

Etsy Ireland Cork Meeting

On Saturday just gone a few of us based in Munster met up for the Cork Etsy Ireland meeting. We had a small but productive turnout, myself (Nice Day designs) and Rebecca (lucky Rainbow Designs) traveled down from Limerick, and met up with Beth (Magpie and Button) and Letizia (Ooakie). We also had a few new prospective members Lorna (Lola Dee) and please forgive me when for not knowing the names for the lovely mother daughter team who joined us, it's awful I really should write peoples names down!!

We talked about the changes that will be happening with the team at the end of the month and Letizia and Beth were fantastic in volunteering to take on the roles of admin and fab 5 respectively, and I will be staying on in the capacity of a blog host(you all know I'm too addicted to give it up entirely!!). We also agreed on joining the regions of Cork and Limerick together and to alternate the meetings between both cities. It makes sense to share out the travel expenses and it's also good to go crafty shopping in a new city (as myself and Rebecca discovered).

One exciting side of this is that we have decided to have an Etsy getaway weekend!! It's open to all members but be warned its on a first come first served basis with limited spaces so get in there quick. Rebecca is lucky enough to work as a student village manager in UL and there is vacant spaces there for the month of July. So we came up with the idea of members taking a crafty overnight trip to Limerick, how exciting does that sound?? We were thinking a Saturday would be best, we could start with a meet up in town, followed by a tour of all our crafty shops and arty attractions. Then later to the pub to show you the best spots in town (my vote is for Tom Collins). After that it's back to the student village for your free accommodation (don't worry it's been cleaned since the students left!!). On Sunday afternoon you can all then come into town to go to our beautiful gourmet food and craft market, where yours truly will be selling lovely things. All we need to do is confirm a date, but a head count of who is interested with a date preference would be handy, just leave them in the comments below please.

Because we had a few prospective members attending we were going through a lot of the ins and outs of Etsy. It was even good for the more established members too as I think we all picked up tips we hadn't heard of before. As we all know there is endless stuff to be learned about selling on Etsy. It was these new members that opened us to the idea of holding some open meetings to encourage crafty people to come along and find out about the website and our team. Maybe not for all of them but certainly it's a good way of raising awareness. Possibly it's something all the regional meetings could look into in the future.

We also had a lovely show and tell and a swap shop of spare supplies, I got some great beads and glue out of it which I'm delighted with!

Market stall available for next Saturday - DUBLIN

Message from Suzanne at http://www.etsy.com/shop/littlewhitedog

REF: Airfield Bazaar, Airfield Farm, Dundrum in Dublin next Saturday from 11 to 5.

New Market with a great mix of crafts, vintage clothes and furniture. She had a table booked and now cant take it.

If interested see this poster......
http://www.etsy.com/convos/get_convo_image.php?convo_id=27211524&image_id=9119987&image_type=full

Contact kathy@airfield.ie

Cheers

Mo

aka Huggleknits

"Crafty Update" Hat......

Greetings on a wonderful Sunny Sunday.

As I step up to the mike wearing the "Crafty Update" hat I pause on the first step..... What information do I have to pass on to the eagerly awaiting audience? Not really sure of my facts yet. I have done some trawling through various web sites and twittered like an inquisitive robin - but still not sure. So how do I proceed?

I need your help!

Calling all CraftyIrelandTeam crafters..... I am proposing to post a weekly update of whats coming up around the country, like a Calendar of Events. Also it will have a list of the latest giveaways etc. from your shops. I am especially interested in any classes/courses both short and long that our wider audience might be interested in. So get the thinking caps on and contact me please. For the moment just get in touch through my shop http://www.huggleknits.etsy.com/ I need to learn a bit more about using blog/web/email/twitter/facebook to sort out a more direct link.

Looking forward to hearing from you all.

Cheers

Mo

aka Huggleknits

Positions vacant - apply within!

Hi all! As you may be aware, it's time for Ruth and myself to hang up our hats and hand the admin reins to other team members. That would be the metaphoric picture of Ruth and me sliding off the edge of the leaf there ...


We've broken down the tasks involved into smaller roles, in order to make things more manageable and now need several people to step up and volunteer. Thanks must go to Tanya for all her work in putting together the job descriptions. :o)

So be brave, stick your hand in the air and get in touch if one of the roles below sounds up your street. We can't do this without the support of the team and it would be a shame to see the group diminish given the immense growth and spirit that has evolved over the past few months.

Ruth and I are happy to continue to contribute in a small manner (and of course guide new contributors through the process and provide backup and help) but we need others to pitch in please.

♥ Team Admin ♥ (Rotated every 6 months)
> Responsible for making newcomers welcome and passing on links (facebook/flickr/blog..)
> Encourage members to tag items correctly with 'craftyirelandteam'
> Add new shops to Shop Directory on blog
> Update Etsy teams staff with new member list monthly
> Be on hand for general queries from new & existing members.
> email the New member admin person (see below) weekly with the names of new members for inclusion in the 'welcome' post on the blog

♥ New member admin for 'Welcome' updates ♥ (Rotated every 6 months)
> Announce new members publicly on the blog (Member Update) once weekly email is received from main admin person: this involves visiting each new member shop, getting a pic and title of a current item, creating the collage or composite graphic of that week's members and then doing the Welcome post)

♥ Email Person ♥ (short term role)
> Work alongside Team admin and Blog editor to maintain and update the member mailing list
> We could use a shared document (i.e Google Docs) so that it can be easily edited and used by team admin, blog editor and PR team instead of mass convo's

♥ PR Team/Think Tank ♥ (Long term role for 3 - 5 members)
> A bunch of proactive creative thinkers & most importantly 'doers' to help generate publicity for the team, online and offline. (Press releases/Team promotions/events etc.)
> Responsible for applying for team grants and informing team of progress via blog, facebook , twitter, etsy chat room…

♥ Blog editor ♥ (Rotated every 6 months)
> Responsible for adding new bloggers to author list
> Adding emails onto team mailing list regularly
> Create a blog timetable through shared docs and make visible via the blog
> Editor will be backed up by 'blog hosts' to avoid holes appearing in schedule

♥ Blog Hosts ♥
> Responsible for assisting Blog editor in maintaining a complete blog schedule and help fill holes where necessary

'Fab 5 on friday'
Host will be responsible for sourcing members to participate. Each week a different member will select their fave 5 and pass onto host for blogging.

'Crafty Update'
Host will announce upcoming craft fair details, events, shop promotions/giveaways etc. on members behalf. This feature will act as a noticeboard for the team but its success depends entirely upon the participation of members.

'Treasury Curator'
Host will be contact person for all treasury makers in the team. Regular blog posts (2/3 times a week) with screenshots and links to active treasuries.

'Tea & a chat with' (instead of introducing Monday perhaps?)
Fun, friendly member interview blogged by host - also responsible for sourcing contributors on a weekly basis.

'Eyes Open Ireland'
Snapshots from members hosted by Bridget

♥ All Members! ♥

*** Step in and contribute a blog article once in a while – volunteer! Don’t wait to be asked!

*** Represent your Area! Hosting a crafty meeting is a great way to do that! We need rep’s for Dublin, Belfast, Galway, Limerick and Cork. Each rep will be responsible for setting up meeting time/location and inviting members in your locality to come along. No big agenda! Just meet up, chat, show off your latest makes and have fun. We’d love each rep to blog after each meeting with some photo’s and a little summary of what you all got up to!

Brigitte from Purlsofcolour has already volunteered to pitch in with the blog and Beth from Magpieandbutton is also up for regularly contributing for Fab 5 - thanks guys!

So leave a comment below if you're up for it. Thanks.

Pearls, the Gem for June

I’m Anne-Marie from byAMOR and I’d like to wish a Happy Birthday to all who were born in June! Let’s celebrate your birth gem, the classy pearl, also the gem for the sun signs of Cancer and Gemini.

Though one of the oldest known ‘gemstones’, pearls are not actually stones, but organic gems, formed by oysters or mussels. When a foreign object is introduced into the mollusc, it coats the irritant with a substance called ‘nacre’ to isolate it. Layer upon layer of nacre creates a pearl, possessing a warm glow not found in other gems.

Clodagh Molloy’s eye-catching designs show how contemporary the 'oldest gem' is.

With her cute pirate princess pendant, Spiral Goddess has captured the essence of mystery, and myth that has always surrounded the pearl.
Today, wild pearls are rare and expensive, so most on the market are cultured. Owning the same properties as wild pearls, it's hard to tell the difference with the naked eye. Though sometimes colour enhanced in bright shades, they naturally come in a variety of hues, depending on factors such as the type of mollusc, diet, environment etc.

Amazing babe of Palace Gems uses soft, silky colours for a truly feminine look.

This pretty butterfly necklace from Vivienne Walsh features the popular, baroque shape.

But pearls come in various shapes including rice or oval as in this simple beauty from knighttimedesigns....

.....and potato, pear or teardrop (sold item from own shop)

These elegant earrings from Blueserendipity are made with coin pearls. The shape is achieved by inserting a coin-shaped nucleus into the mollusc. In fact all these shapes are formed according to the shape of the original irritant.

Varieties of pearl include keishi and Biwa. Keishi Pearls occur accidentally, when the mollusc rejects the nucleus or implanted irritant and grows a 'free form' pearl. So you get funky irregular shapes.

This gorgeous design from Balanced features Biwa pearls, which are like elongated sticks. They earned their name from Lake Biwa, Japan, where these stick-shaped pearls were first harvested.

This article would be incomplete without mentioning Swarovski, who have developed a quality lab pearl formed around a crystal nucleus. I have my eye on these lovely, Swarovski pearl earrings from Aboxformytreasure.

Pearls are said to be lady-like. Traditionally, they symbolised purity, feminine wisdom and decorum. The ancient Greeks believed that they promote a happy marriage and keep new brides from tears.

They are still the most popular choice for modern wedding jewellery. Lilabelledesign’s romantic hairpins are fit for a princess bride!


Pearls are also given on the 1st and 30^th wedding anniversary and in some places on the 3^rd or 12^th. I found oodles of gorgeous pearly jewellery and gifts made by members of the Crafty Ireland Team.

Fellow crafters, if you can’t afford to nab some pearl jewellery for yourself, these colourful pearly headpins from Nicedaysupplies might cheer you up!

And if it’s a different kind of PURL you are after, maybe some hand knit might be of interest?

INTRODUCING DANDELION DAYDREAMER VINTAGE!

Bonjour tout le monde! It's Sorcha here, from Dandelion Daydreamer, and I'd like to introduce you to my Etsy vintage clothing store. Dandelion Daydreamer opened its doors mid-May after a busy few months of shopping trips and fashion shoots! I'm from Dublin, but I now live by the sea in a surfer's paradise in the sunny South of France.

 I love dressing in vintage and I have a little feeling I'm not the only one ;) I opened my shop to cater for ladies like me, who prefere wearing something a little special, with a pinch of nostalgic charm and a hint of a time gone by.

 I have sifted through rail upon rail of Parisian party dresses, trawled through trunks of Italian leather accessories and dug deep in treasure chests of beaded beauties and sparkly gems, all so you don't have to! I do the looking...you get the look! Whatever your vintage style there is a treat in store for you at Dandelion Daydreamer Vintage.

The 1950s is definitely my favourite vintage era (nothing to do with my new Mad Men obsession I promise!) Back then curves were celebrated and if you had it you flaunted it. Nipped in waists were complimented by full circle skirts, antique lace skimmed over boned corsets, nails were laquered and accessories were piled on like there was no tomorrow!

I pass my weekends travelling to quaint French antique and vintage markets or neighbouring "vide greniers". I have just returned from a mamooth shopping trip to America, I now own more vintage party dresses than Marilyn Monroe could possibly have emmassed in a lifetime! A lot of my dresses get snapped up for the summer wedding season or a day at the races. My best finds to date have been a Chanel tweed jacket, a YSL vintage case and ornate cocktail dresses that I simply don't want to sell!

 Thank you for joining me today, I hope you liked what you saw of Dandelion Daydreamer. I'm offering all fans of my Facebook Page a 10% discount in my shop this week, simply enter "dandelion" at the checkout. I'll leave you with a little peek at my town below, bon week tout le monde :)