(Apologies for purloining this photo from a previous post)
12 team members met up at the super funky, Cafe and Gallery, Foam. Some of us got so excited by the natter, we forgot to take photos. By 'we' I mean moi, sorry!Apart from Mo and Myself, present were:Margaret of Irish Sea Glass, Carla of Ava Rose Designs, Eimear of Ella Green Jewellery, Fi of Patchwork Delights, Elisa of Elimare, Mary of both Queen of Cuffs and A Wish for You, Natalie of The Blue Sylph, Irina of both Kaftan.Sarafan and Project Sarafan, Diana of Diana Marshall Fine Art and Driven to Abstraction and Gionvanna of Tirabaralla. Everyone was buzzing with ideas and a lot of useful hints for selling were shared. Here are the hightlights:
PROBLEMS PHOTOGRAPHING
Most of us fessed up to having difficulties with our photos. A previous post about photography by Ruth of Nice Day Designs was sited as invaluable. It was suggested that a link to this post be more visible on the blog. Our Blog Editor, Brigitte of Purls of Colour, has suggested including the article in the link 'New to Etsy' over in the Category list, found on the left hand side of the blog home page. Any comments/feedback on this would be most welcome.
TREASURY VIEWS
I'm on a mission to discover why some treasuries get 100s of views. If you know the secret please do spill the beans!!! Fi suggested we set up a treasury team to make and promote our treasuries. This treasury game seems to be working for the European Street Team and others. It was also mentioned that everyone ought to promote our own and each other's treasuries by using the provided links to Facebook, Twitter, Kaboodle, etc, regardless of whether you are feautured or not. We are on a mission to get our treasuries on the front page and get our wee team noticed! Perhaps these ideas could be developed by commenting on the existing treasury discussion thread.
SKILLS SWAPSHOP
Elisa suggested we get together to trade skills, something she has done successfully with friends. She has followed up on this fab idea with this Skillz Swap thread. Why not pop over and check it out!
THE YEAR OF CRAFT
Everyone is keen to do something to link in with the Year of Craft 2011 and to promote Etsy in Ireland. Again, please post ideas in this Year of Craft discussion thread.
I suggested we link our current St Patrick's Day Treasure Hunt in as a good starting point. I followed up with the Craft Council who were very helpful and have added a listing on their site as well as tweeting our link etc. We hope to be able to add more events to their calandar, though we would appeal for anyone with experience writing press releases to lend assistance please????
Several of the group are keen to organise either an Etsy-only market event this year and/or take up a corner of an existing market under an Etsy banner. The topic of a pop-up shop also came up again. Interested parties are looking into possibilities. It was suggested that plenty of time be awarded this, ie looking at the run up to Christmas as the target. Again, perhaps this is something that can be followed up with a private discussion thread to enable those who can be and wish to be involved to find each other and to develop the ideas.
We discovered that both Natalie and Mary are skilled graphic designers. They discussed designing a funky postcard together to promote the team, one that could be left in places such as Dublin Tourism, hotels, craft markets etc. Ideas as to the purpose and distribution of such a postcard are sought, again via the discussion thread for the Year of Craft. (eg a competition/blog giveaway - eg send this card to x address to be entered in a draw?)
THINK TANK
The team still needs a 'think tank' to pull promotional ideas together and to write press releases etc. I don't wish to put anyone on the spot but there was some exciting potential among the attendees. Anyone with experience in Marketing, Pr, Press releases, Event Management etc who would like to be part of a Think Tank can please comment below or convo our Team Captain, Letizia of ooak.ie.
SUPPLIES
Box Displays were recommended as another supplier to add to our growing list of recommended suppliers
BLOG CONTRIBUTIONS
Mo asked for any craft event news from your area to be sent to her by covo please. Crafty News is posted every Monday. I also reminded everyone that your contributions to the blog (How Tos, Trade Secrets, Eyes Open Ireland or anything related and relevant) will be welcomed by Brigitte with open arms. Contributing to the blog is great exposure for your shop too!!!
After much natter and coffee the highlight of the meeting was the show and tell. Everyone agreed how cool it was to actually see and touch each other's beautiful handwork, having seen the photos. We really are a talented bunch!!! Some of us couldn't resist making a purchase.
The above treasury is my way of making up for the sorry lack of photos.
We agreed that we need to meet up more frequently to follow up on these ideas or just to share hints and tips. By the way, any team member is invited to the Dublin meetings or perhaps you would like to call a meeting in your own area.
For centuries natural dyes have been extracted from roots, stems, leaves, berries and flowers as well as from shell fish and insects and often the formulae were closely guarded secrets handed down through families. One of the most prolific dye sources are lichens which are plant organisms made up of fungus and algae and are usually grey, green or yellow in colour. Traditionally it was the childrens job, after a shower of rain, to collect the wet lichens and, as it was thought to be unlucky for any man to touch the dye pot, only women would dye the wool and cloth.
The skeins are then rinced gently and put outside on the wall to dry in the sun. Further skeins of wool can be added to the pot, undergo the same process and each will come out a lighter shade of orange/yellow. The results are amazing.
As always I welcome any comments on this article and ideas for future explorations. If you are a crafter who would like to be linked to any of the series of articles please let me know.
When dry it is teased - gently pulled apart, spread out - and any grass, twigs etc are removed. If very dry ( i.e. no natural lanolin remaining = the sweat of the animal) it is greased at this stage to make it easier to spin. Oil, paraffin and goose fat are just some of the substances that have been used. Once greased it is then carded to take out the tangles and rolled up ready for spinning.
In Ireland there were traditionally 3 types of spinning wheel in use - the big wheel which was found mainly in the counties along the west coast of Ireland and was used while standing up, the smaller version of this wheel used in the southern counties and the small flax wheel which was introduced in the northern counties in the 1700s by the Royal Linen Manufacturers in Ulster. Not many of these wheels now remain in use. When I was on the lookout for a wheel last year there were none of those wonderful wheels available so I bought a small Ashford Traveller that I have named Jessie after a very special sheepdog that my grandfather had when I was a little girl.
I learned to spin on Clare Island last year with an amazing lady called Beth Moran (thats her husband Mairtin sheering the sheep). She also taught me how to dye the spun wool using onion skins to get a bright orange colour. The results of my first attempts are below......
Today in Ireland we have some amazing spinners and dyers who make yarn by spinning all types of natural and synthetic fibres. 
My grandparents lived in the west of Ireland on a small holding in Co. Mayo. My grandmother would spin the wool from their own sheep, knit jumpers and socks for the men and send the rest to the local weaver to make blankets. While I have been a knitter / crocheter for many years it is only in the last few years that I learned how to use the hand spindle and last year I became the proud owner of a spinning wheel - affectionately called Jessie ( more of that later, tis a long story) 