Etsy feature: Tiilly Bloom

Since revision has stalled but the boy is playing computer games so I can't be a nerd and be in bed before 10pm, I thought I'd pick up where I left off in May with the featured etsy store corner.

Today's featured store is the lovely Tilly Bloom, a fellow Scot (if I'm allowed to call myself that, being born here and lived here for the past 5 years, I'm still not sure I qualify!) but now inhabiting Brooklyn in the good old US of A. I bought some earrings and hair slides off her over a year ago now for Frances' birthday (check them out here) and they are so unique, she does all her own illustrations then transfers them to shrinkle or acrylic to make them into jewellery. She does a lot of anatomical pictures, which I especially like, or illustrations inspired by Victorian Era literature, making a lot of it quite marvelously surreal.

When I have money, which will be no time soon the way my student debt is developing *sigh*, I plan to buy myself this rib cage pendant or the gorgeous broken heart pendant below it. I might ask if she can make them into brooches though...





She also keeps a blog over at Tilly Types. I wish I knew more about HTML, I love her layout. I'm still struggling to work out the best dimensions of my pictures to line them up in this blog *sigh*

Drawer scenters - not the old lady kind, promise!

I made these a while back on a whim, they're such a good way to use up little scraps of pretty fabric that are too nice to just throw away. They're also a good way to use up bath bombs, I'm given quite a lot of these as presents because I'm unashamedly in love with Lush ♥ but I can't really use them as they irritate my skin. They smell so lovely though, I can't bear to give them away (how selfish is that!) so I crumbled them up and put them inside these little pouches to make my clothes smell nice. They work really well, my socks smell like cinnamon now! They're also pretty good for soap boxes as presents, I've given them away to a few folk now and they're always well received.











Yes, I know it's a lot of unnecessary photos but they're so pretty, I can't help myself!

In other non-craft related news, the Taylor-Dyce household gained a new addition today, another African pygmy hedgehog called Viola. She is adorable, though rather hyperactive but we're hoping she'll calm down once she's settled in. She was introduced to Hobbes and he instantly took to her, making these really sweet little squeaking sounds. She was less impressed however, especially since he kept trying to sniff her bottom and push his nose underneath her. I swear, you bring them up to the best of your ability...*rolls eyes*...

Stuffies

Just a quick post in between past paper exam questions (2 and a half weeks till exam time, eeep).

I made a knitted basket of cupcakes and non-edible delights for Vicky last christmas, I should get some photos of the finished items, I thought I'd taken one already...*searches*...

Anyways, here's 2 that I did manage to take photos of. The cupcakes are super-cute, I just made a jar of them as part of Frances' christmas present so I'll have to take a photo of them to show you before I parcel them off to Devonia.



I'm especially proud of the oreo. Such a good stash-bust as well!

Pin cushions

Since I've got another ten minutes to spare before my next lecture, I thought I'd write a wee something about my new pin cushions. So far I've just made 2 for my own personal use, but eventually these will be an etsy store item I think. I'm going to make the next batch a bit bigger and mount them inside some vintage teacups I've got in storage, teacup pin cushions, how lovely would that be?

Anyway, here's my new addition to my sewing box. Cath Kidson eat your heart out!

Thrifting at the Bethany Shop

Well, studying continues as normal, plodding away in the library every day. I've got my favourite seat downstairs by the hot radiator for when I want to study alone and my second favourite seat upstairs by the tepid radiator and the window for when I want to study with other people around. Fun times eh?

Anyway, in between becoming a social hermit, I ventured into the Bethany Shop, conveniently and dangerously located right next door to Summerhall, where I go to uni. Well, what a treasure trove!

So far I have bought far too many things to list, it would just be too embarrassing, but I had to share this one with you. It's so sunny and yellow, I can't help but be cheered a little when I spread my butter on my toast in the morning. Also, made in England!! How often does that happen these days? Unfortunately winter-spread has occurred in the thigh region and so butter is being restricted these days, but still, it's such a lovely little thing to have in the kitchen.





Sunflower is definitely the right word.

Wow, it's been a while!

So it would seem I took a bit of a break from the blogging world. Apologies dear readers, I am now officially back!

In the last 6 months I've moved house, moved city, graduated, started uni again, broken up with my boyfriend, got back with my boyfriend, been to Sweden, cried at a wedding, seen the festival, lived with internationals and studied. It's been a rock 'n' roll 6 months!

I am now deep in revision mode for up-coming exams (4 weeks and counting!) so photo posts may be scanty as I'm pretty much living in the library.

I'm busy crafting away for christmas though and have the following projects on the go:
♥ quilted placemats for mum
♥ crocheted blankets for Frances (who just got engaged!) and Vicky
♥ a quilt for Andrew
♥ fingerless gloves for Alethia
♥ a cabled scarf for Elisa
♥ a collage and christmas decoration for Andrew's stocking
♥ 3 cushion covers and a crocheted blanket for Danny

Don't fret if you don't know who I'm talking about, it'll all become clear I'm sure and if it doesn't, you can imagine they're all my glamorous celebrity friends or something...

Bathmats

3 down, only 1 more exam to go! I'm taking today off to chill a bit and then it's back to studying tomorrow *sigh* Though on the plus side, I managed to finish the second of the 3 bathmats I've been working on recently.

This idea was stolen from Montessori By Hand. I've got *so* many 4" patches left from making Patchy (the giant patchwork quilt, see my personal crat blog Geekzoidtastic over on Livejournal) that I thought it would be a good way to use some up!

I'm really pleased with how this one turned out, even if some of the squares don't line up *cough* I emailed the lady from Montessori to ask if she would mind me using the pattern for my etsy store and she said she didn't mind at all, so I'm planning on making 5 more of these to sell on Second Fiddle! Obviously I'm going to have to practice sewing in a straight line before these are unleashed to the world.

Without more ado, here's the bathmat! It's going to be a house warming present for my friend Frances. It's honestly not as wonky in real life (though the squares are, the shame of not being able to sew in a straight line), my photography skills leave a lot to be desired...





I'm thinking of pricing these at £15, because they take about 3-4 hours to make so I thought that sounds about fair. I'm not too bothered by pricing things to cover my time as I'd be crafting anyway and I don't plan on making a living off etsy, I just want to make a bit of extra money to cover my craft addiction really. A lot of the things I'll be making to begin with will be from stash I already own, so I won't be buying in anything specific and therefore won't have costs to cover from that point of view.

I think if my etsy store takes off, then I might start being more methodical about calculating my costs and time, but to begin with I just want to price things at what I would view to be a fair price. I don't want to make things really cheap because I know from personal experience shopping on etsy that a cheap price will make me think 'badly made', rightly or wrongly. It gives the impression that the craftster doesn't value their skills, materials or time and so I'd rather pay more for something that's obviously been well made. I figure I would pay between £5-10 for a bathmat from a standard high street shop and so £15 for something unique and handmade isn't extortionately expensive.

Ooo, in other exciting news, I finally have a credit card! Egg accepted me so hopefully this time next week I'll have an official (but empty) etsy store!