Back in the zone...

I haven't done an awful lot in the way of stamping or making cards and things since Christmas. I have bought plenty of things to make things with - mainly Tim Holtz stuff and Sizzix things to use with my Big Shot I got for Christmas. I was expecting my website to be much quieter in January and February and planned to get new things made then, but the jewellery sales were still coming so I've just been replenishing stock and making new designs there. 
The only cards I've made were for Mother's Day...

 
I knew I would get back into the paper craft/stamping frame of mind round about now, as yesterday I went to a stamping class at Blade Rubber Stamps in Bloomsbury, London.
My daughter came with me to make a day of it, as the shop is just down a little side road opposite the British Museum. If you like stamping, you could spend hours browsing (and buying!) the whole shop as it is crammed full of lovely things. 
The class we attended was a beginners class. I knew I wasn't a complete beginner, but having never been to a class and having only taught myself by reading stamping magazines and books I thought it was probably a good idea. The two hour class flew by - we could have easily spent the whole day there - but Susie fitted in loads of tips and techniques and we were given a handout with all the information to take home and digest at out leisure (the different inks and what they can/can't be used for is a bit overwhelming to take in without having it written down for reference!). My wish list of things to buy is now longer than ever!

I took a few photos of the class and the samples we made:

 This was my one, using an IndigoBlu stamp. I've only recently discovered them and don't own any of their stamps yet, so it was nice to try it out. 

We used embossing powder and heat guns on our work, which if you've never tried it before you're missing out - it's so cool when it starts to work and all of a sudden the heat whooshes across the image and you have a super shiny design!

How pretty are these? Made by others on the class.

For more information, have a read of the Blade Rubber Blog or Susie's own blog here. We are going back in June for the Steampunk class!

As it was a lovely warm and sunny day, we had lunch outside the British Museum and then had a look around it. There was an exhibition of drawings, etchings and lithographs and we had a quick look at the clocks and ancient jewellery before getting the bus back to Victoria station. We'll do the rest of the museum when we go back in June!

It was a bit sunny! >

  <Big gold boat automaton! 

Awesome clock!>

 

 I've sold a few of my ACEOs and gift tags on my website since adding the Emporium of Curiosities section to it and I am still planning on opening an Etsy shop, so I'd better get on and make some new things to stock up! 

Jane

Moving to my website...

Hello,

Well I had a serious think since I last blogged here and decided that the Emporium of Curiosities would move to its own section on my website http://www.pirate-treasures.com/. As I was unhappy with the whole Folksy's new "vision" situation and the fact that they've just added VAT to both their listing fee and commission, I think it's the right thing for me to do. I have been busy adding lots of ACEOs, cards and gift tags to the website, so now all I need to do is promote to make people aware that they are there!

 

Talking of promotion, there's a fantastic Christmas showcase of UK designer-makers by the one-woman show behind Support Handmade, However it's Made - have a good long browse and get your Christmas present ideas here!

I promise not to leave it so long between blog posts, as I'll have Christmas cards & gift tags to show soon!

~Jane

Challenge 52 - week 10 - new card & gift tags

It's fairly quiet in the Emporium at the moment, as I'm preparing for the start of the Summer Fete season with my jewellery. I have three local fetes lined up so have been stocktaking and making as many new things as I can - better to be overflowing than run out!
If it's a dry and non-windy day I might bring along a few cards and gift tags with me and see if we can fit them on the table. I thought the large luggage label tags might be able to be sold as bookmarks individually. I'm always having children with not much money wanting to buy something, so maybe I can interest them in a hand stamped bookmark with ribbon!

I've made eight so far and will endeavour to make a few more once I've got all the jewellery sorted. I've got a week to go...

I listed a card on Folksy this week, blank for all occasions!

 Week 11 blog update is due in a couple of days, let's see if I can get anything new done by then!
~Jane

Challenge 52 - week 2

I have accomplished some things this week...

I have added a cool little "Challenge 52" logo that Abi at Birdcage Creative made me to the side of my blog. If you look closely it has my website address in it!

I have just added a Flickr Photostream to the side of the blog too. That took ages of Googling until I found somewhere that showed me there was a gadget on Blogger if I had clicked on 'featured' in the first place. Took about 5 seconds to add once I'd found it!

Of course the next thing I need to do is remember to keep adding photos to Flickr. Maybe that can be an ongoing bit of the challenge - if I don't remember to add things as I go along, I can do a once a week upload.

[Edited] I have also just added the Networked Blogs app to add blog updates to Facebook. Hopefully!!

This week for my Folksy shop I have made a couple of cards and an ACEO.

So the next bit of the Challenge for me is to add the rest of my photos to Flickr. Not very exciting, but something I can tick off the "to do" list!

~Jane