Crafty News Desk

Hmm, it's not easy to get your work done when your cats seem to think your box of crafty scraps is their new bed when they're feeling poorly...

Hi Everyone! I'm Natalie aka The Blue Sylph and I am your new Crafty News Reporter! Those are my cats, but since that photo I have managed to keep them out of my crafty supplies, except for the bag of feathers they got hold of...

Apologies for the lack of Crafty News during the last few weeks, but I am here to report now! Thanks to Mo's aka Huggleknits hard work as my predecessor I have big shoes to fill, so here goes...

Crafts people wanted for a new craft shop in Mallow Co. Cork called Truly Gifted. They only sell handmade Irish goods and will run workshops for adults and children alike.
They are also looking for people to give workshops in their craft as well.
For more information please contact Majella on 083 4123737 or e-mail info@trulygifted.ie or click HERE.

Wicklow Christmas Gift and Craft Fair Sunday, 27th November 2011 now taking bookings for stalls. Information HERE.

Crafters Ireland (craft & food fairs) have upcoming Halloween & Christmas fairs/events. Check out their website for details HERE.

If you are looking for an outlet to sell your work, there are a few spaces available in Design Shed Ireland. They showcase up to 14 artists and crafts people every week in Blackrock. They have a purpose built shop which has 5 wall spaces and 9 tables spaces.
So if you hand make jewelry, are a potter, weave baskets, make candles, are an artist or photographer, or even a wood turner this could be for you. And the beauty of it all is you don’t even have to be there and they advertise you all week on our website blog facebook and twitter!
With only 12 weekends left until Christmas and spaces filling up fast now is the time to get your space secured in time for the Christmas market.
The Market opens every Saturday and Sunday from 10.30 to 5.30, every Bank holiday Monday and the week building up to Christmas.
To get involved simply send a few sample images of your work to designshedireland@gmail.com for more information on how it all works.
Check out our website to view who is in the shop and see the shop layout. www.designshedireland.com

THE CREATIVE COLLECTION - Craft Fair at The Mall, 1st Floor GOREY SHOPPING CENTRES Sat 8th Oct 10am-6pm More than 24 stands of high standard crafts. This event is the first of three, the other two are 12th Nov. and 10th Dec. The venue is a wonderful bright airy space. It's very accessible from the main shopping area by lift and lift from free car park too, also on foot from Gorey Main Street-through the Civic Centre and its opposite the library. All enquiries to carolfcarr@yahoo.co.uk Phone 0876263463

Don't forget it's still the Year of Craft, so check out all the events on the website:
www.craftinireland.com

An interesting upcoming event is in Athlone this weekend, Great Big Craft Extravaganza
3 Days of Shopping, Classes and Demos - Crafts include cardmaking, jewellery, scrapbooking, felting, photography and more. Check out their blog HERE.
And there's more in this post HERE.

That's all from me for this week. If you have any other crafty news please add it in a comment here, or convo me through my Etsy shop The Blue Sylph.
Natalie

Fresh 5 on Friday - White House

Some lovely handmade and vintage home decor items from the Etsy Ireland Team

1. Houses Woodblock Vintage Mounted 6x6 Print from RuggedMountain

2. White Cream Aran Hand Knit Mug Warmer from LittleButtonsAndBows

3. Vintage White Oval Porcelain Dish with Golden Bamboo Leaves from kaftansarafan

4. Time Piece crocheted wall clock white from HeliCreations

5. Golden Delicious three tier white, gold and lemon cake stand from AuntyApplesReFinery


Chosen by Rach of balanced
If you would like to suggest or curate a Fresh Five on Friday collection of your own, just send me an Etsy convo :)

Fresh 5 on Friday - Wedding Finds

[click to enlarge]

Today's Fresh 5 on Friday is brought to us by Nicola of NicsGifts.
She has collected some lovely finds for a wonderful, handmade touch to your wedding!

1. from bonzie - Bonzie Couture Silk Bridal Cape

2. from homespunireland - Custom Vintage Wedding Ring Pillow

3. from QueenofCuffs - Old New Borrowed Blue Bride Pendant Charm

4. from WhateverGetsYouTrue - Ivory Hair Piece with Pearls

5. from aroominthecottage - Vintage style TEA DYED LACE wedding bunting



If you would like to suggest or curate a Fresh Five on Friday collection of your own, just send me an Etsy convo :)

Selling Your Work To The Right Person in The Right Place

All of us a crafters would like to know how to sell more of our stuff. We all try hard selling online on etsy, our websites, on facebook and through markets and shops. Recently I've come across a few opportunities that has opened my eyes when it comes to selling my work. I have a wide range of products that I sell at a weekly market, The Milk Market in Limerick City. Even though it has a great footfall and I've tried really hard trying to brand and display my work properly, sometimes I worry that the right type of person isn't seeing my products. For example I might have a cool geeky badge, but because it looks like a girly craft stall a male hipster is not going to stop at my stall. So I lose a sale.

I started thinking more about what type of person would buy each of my items, and then trying to think about where that person shops. I wanted to bring my work directly to the right person, place it under their nose, rather then wait for them to come to me. Here are a few examples of the products that I'm now selling in a different way.

I make an alphabet magnet set for children, they are all my own illustrations, and obviously all handmade. So the kind of person I'm aiming at is probably someone looking to give this as a gift. At a €20 price tag it's not something you pick up on a whim. Also because of the price I'm not aiming towards the Pennys cheap and cheerful buyer. My friend Claire runs Ecobrats an eco friendly business that caters towards a mother and baby's needs. The type of people who buy from her are willing to pay a little bit more for a higher quality product, her customers think about the materials used, and the work that goes into making something. Exactly the type of person who will pay a few quid extra for handmade. On top of the obvious fact that if they are at a baby stall they will be more open to buying baby products. We work together at the market and she kindly suggested to me that she could sell some of my sets, and within an hour she sold a box. Also over the next couple of weeks I will be making christening and new baby cards for her to sell at the stall. She gets a lot of people asking for them. It's better to have them there, rather than if she sent them to my stall they might get distracted by something and forget to come over to me.

About a year ago I invested in a badge maker to make my own pocket mirrors as I was frustrated with ordering them from the US. In the past year it's really helped to expand my business. One thing that I've been really pushing lately is hen party orders. If someone would have said to me this time last year that hen parties would become my bread and butter I never would have believed them. Part of what has helped spread the word was contacting bridal and hen party websites and facebook pages directly. Rather that hoping that prospective brides would find me I went out and hunted them down myself. It was free and very easy, I just sent off a bunch of emails. If websites got back to me and asked me to pay a fee for advertising I politely declined; there are plenty of bridal blogs looking for things to write about that will do it for free instead.

There is a a vinyl stall at the market I sell at. I approached the stallholder a few weeks ago to see if he would mind me putting a board of rock and pop badges at his stall. We go 50/50 on the sales so both of us are happy. Since putting out this board a record shop has approached me about doing a similar deal with them. It was simple idea that grew legs under it-music people go to record stalls, music people love badges-simple! (Note: I know I'm breaking copywrite laws with these, but I figure Bono won't mind about a little stall in Limerick making a few quid, I won't be selling them online, and won't stock anywhere else with them).

 Facebook is an amazing marketing tool. It was Pride week in Limerick last week, I was very disorganised and only made up a batch of Pride designs the day before the parade. But I snapped a few pictures, uploaded them to facebook, and then sent a link of the album directly to the organisers of Limerick Pride, LGBT, and a few others. I had quite a few customer who came to my stall the next day to specifically buy them. After I finished work I pinned all my badges to my canvas bag, walked down to the after party and sold them to people on the street. I figured I'd make a few extra quid on my walk home! Again I went directly to the person who I knew would buy my stuff, rather than wait for them to stumble upon me.

Try to think about what you make, who would buy it, where that person normally shops, and how to get your products into that place. It's all about the right context. Has anyone else had experience with this kind of thing? I love to hear your feedback..

Fab 5 on Friday - Olive

[click to enlarge]

1. Skinny Scarf in Organic Cotton and Vintage Silk from ProjectSarafan

2. OOAK Green Statement Ring from blathdesigns

3. Lime Pinstripes Purse/Wallet from joanyg

4. Green dandelion original oil pastel from tanyabond

5. Connemara Marble Salt and Pepper Set from HennessyandByrne

Chosen by Rach of balanced
If you would like to suggest or curate a Fresh Five on Friday collection of your own, just send me an Etsy convo :)

Where Do People Create?

'Where People Create Blog' was started in January 2010, I had to take the rest of the year off college due to been too sick to attend and needed something to maintain my sanity.  I have an obsession with home magazines and studio spaces, and love the 'Where Women Create' Books.  But I decided I wanted to see more, more studios, more craft spaces. 

I wanted to see more natural spaces one's that weren't polished and tidied to an inch of life as well as the tidied ones, I wanted to see the tiny spaces and the large attic conversions to the shed in the garden.  I wanted to show it doesn't matter how good, how big, or how great your space is, you can create regardless and hope that this blog will give people the encouragement to set up a corner or a shed or whatever it may be and start creating and not hold back due to lack of space. I also wanted it to be a blog that both women and men could feature in unlike the Where Women Create Series.  And so Where People Create was born.

The blog consists of showing numerous photos or videos or both of the space. Then to give the viewer an idea of the space, and its uses, and how it functions I decided that ten questions should be asked to each artist/crafter.  Also, at the end of the feature I will usually try to post a photo of the persons work.

What kind of Art/Crafts do you do?

Where do you do your art/crafts?

How do you keep all your supplies organised?

How do you keep yourself motivated to keep your space tidy?

Any tips for how to keep art spaces tidy or organised?

Do you get stressed out when your space gets in a mess?

If you could have your dream space tomorrow what would it look like?

Is there any craft you would love to do but cant due to limitations of your art space?

What is the next big thing on your wish list for your art space?

Is there a website for people to see or buy your art/crafts?

I am always looking for spaces to be featured, all that you have to do is drop me a line at: amgartstudios@gmail.com.  Artists and crafters from all around the globe have been featured, but would love to see more of my fellow Etsy Ireland team members.  

Susan Moloney's Art Studio  Susan Moloney's Facebook Page

Remember, it doesn't have to be perfect, we like seeing messy studios remember, or how about  taking one messy and one clean its up to you.  You don't even need photos if videoing is your thing than send us in a video.

Balanced Crafts Studio Feature.   Balanced Crafts on Facebook.

I guess the real reason I set up 'Where People Create' was due to the fact that for a long time I didn't do art, I thought I hadn't the space for it, and so for a good number of years my art lay dormant.  But around 2003 after I moved to the UK and had a room that had a large dining room table that wasn't been used, and I jumped at the chance of getting dug into my art. 

My messy dining room table in UK 

When I moved back to Ireland I made sure I had a room to work in, it was tiny but it was space.  But I will always regret not getting around to it sooner, and so I hope my blog encourages someone to get back to their art or start art and crafts, and not to worry about where they do it, its how and why you do it that matters!

Missy Bonkers Studio  Missy Bonkers Website

Where People Create also have a Facebook Page where we try to post photos of studios or studio ideas daily. And to those of you who have been already featured a BIG thank you again for helping to keep the blog going.

And finally thanks to everyone for taking the time to read this and I hope you come visit Where People Create sometime, or perhaps consider being featured. Thank you!

Ann 

Fresh 5 on Friday - Back to School

Today's Fresh Friday picks were chosen by Nicola of NicsGifts. She's getting us ready to go Back to School with some lovely handmade offerings from the Etsy Ireland Team!


1.
from nicedaydesigns - A-Z Children's Magnet Alphabet Set 26 Pieces


2.
from LoftFullOfGoodies - ABC Magnetic Alphabets (52 pieces)


3.
from designbirdie - party invitation and bunting pack


4.
from dottyspotsdesign - pencil case / zip purse / make up bag in orange flowers oilcloth


5.
from SnagBreac - Planets of the Solar System Felt making Kit



If you would like to suggest or curate a Fresh Five on Friday collection of your own, just send me an Etsy convo :)

- Rach
balanced

Crafty Opportunity!

Hi Everybody!Our administrator Sue received an email a couple of days ago inviting us to a craft event in Athlone. I have posted the message below. If anyone is interested, please contact Sue directly at her Etsy shop 


---


I got your contact through the Etsy Ireland Blog. We are organising a huge craft event in Athlone at the end of September and would like to invite Etsy Ireland.

If you could promote the event to your members, and on your blog, in return we would be happy to give you a table to promote Etsy Ireland. The Great Big Craft Extravaganza is in its 3rd year now and is very well attended by crafters from all over the country. It is a mix of shopping, demos and classes.
Visit greatbigcraftextravaganza.wordpress.com/




--

Scam Alert!

Hello Everybody,


While we all know how wonderful it is to be able to connect with like minded people on the net - we should always be aware that as many good opportunities it presents us with, we have to be aware of the traps laid out for the unsuspecting.  


One of our members have already received three of the messages posted below. Please be extremely wary of any messages that sound like the email below. These have already been reported to Etsy. I have also reported this gmail address to Google for scamming and spam. 


Here is Google's Security Center which is a great resource if you ever find yourself in doubt. In particular searching the user forums for the message you received will typically reveal it as a known scam. 


Stay safe! And below is the suspect message:


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mrs Margaret Ahmad <manager.swift@gmail.com>
Date: 7 August 2011 07:14
Subject: My Dubai Order Purchase
To: reynoldsalexandria@gmail.com



Hi Sales,

Am Mrs Margaret Ahmad from Dubai . I want to place an order from you. I know the difficulties encountered when shipping internationally, But that will not be a problem because i am registered with a shipping company whom i have used severally without any delay nor problems with my purchased-goods. Before i place these order, Could you please confirm if i am able to place the order now and most important: I will only be able to make payment via my MC/Master credit card account and full payment will be made before my forwarding agent make pick up the package as that's how how i work. We are set for payment once shipping and order total is invoiced without no delay. I don't place online orders for security reasons. You will have to quote me and charges will be made to my Mc/card once shipping and purchase cost is confirmed and we proceed to shipment from there.

Await your confirmation.

Warmest Regards.
Mrs Margaret Ahmad

Update from Sue

Hello Everyone, There are a couple of things to mention about our 'Lets Shop' on the Blog, but first an apology from me... I completely mucked it up when I went to add some of the new team members to it last week. So much did I muck it up that I actually deleted it, all the categories - everything. Sooooo, with a very red face, I want to give you ALL, my sincere apologies. Which leads me on to the next matter. Several of us tried to do the necessary repairs but to no avail, until Robert from our very own drkssoapcompany stepped in and sorted it out. So that's that problem solved, and since I was too terrified to touch it again, Robert was persuaded by me, to update the categories list in the future. New members will still need to let me know which one, or two categories they want to go into in the first instance, because all the details have to go on the Master Sheet for the team, but then Rob will take over. The last thing to mention is that since Etsy have changed their main search to 'Relevancy' , it might be time to have a look at all the categories in 'Lets Shop' to see if we can make them more relevant to what buyers are looking for. A couple of the new team members have already asked to have some new categories added to the list, so at some stage when Rob is going to do this, I'm sure he will be asking us for suggestions. In the meant time, it would be nice of you, if you get a minute, to pop over to Robs shop and 'Favourite' an item, as a thank you for getting us up and running again. It's : www.etsy.com/shop/drksoapcompany?ref=pr_shop_more... if you feel like doing that. Thank you, Sue