Selling handmade

As you know already I'm a bit of crafter.

Some of my creations are made as gifts, but I also have online shop to sell some of it ( link: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TobisiasLilThing?ref=hdr_shop_menu ).

Selling handmade products is trendy but not easy specially if we talking about jewellery.

I'm playing with jewellery making few years - before I opened my shop on Etsy, I was making most of my pieces for myself or my Mum or my friends.

One year my next door neighbour asked me for bracelet for herself after I gave her little girl one of my first children bracelets - Amy's wrist was my sizer for them :), also made another bracelet for Amy, Amy's cousin and her Nana  - so that was nice first custom order :)
After that I sold few pieces to Mums, which I met when walking for toddler groups with Dom.

I was making more and more, finally in 2014 I opened my little shop - Etsy is huge thing with millions sellers and buyers, so selling is not easy-peasy. I'm happy every time I sell something, and it doesn't matter sale is made via my Etsy shop, Facebook or order from Mum I met at nursery :)

From time to time I re-modelling pieces I made before or just recycling them cause they are totally out to date. Last time: yesterday. I checked all I made and decided which going for total recycling and which I should update a bit. Still few bits left to work with, but I can show you what I've already did :)

Pieces with little changes - just new findings and bit of re-modelling...

Only new pins :)

New pin and new shape for pendant piece :)

New pins and few new beads :)

Totally new pieces with usage of recycled chains from old pieces:

Which way to go??? ;)

Remember seaside Summer...

I think I'll send one of necklaces to my Mum as her birthday gift :) Still not decided which one tho... :)

One of other things I did yesterday was adding Special Monthly Sale section to  my shop - want to sell all my silver-plated pieces as soon as possible, to have a chance to focus on copper jewellery I started to make some time ago ( https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TobisiasLilThing?ref=hdr_shop_menu&section_id=19038499 ), also decided to lower prices for my cards. I'm thinking about putting some of cards into sets... Maybe that can be a good idea for selling them.

Ah, stop with this gibberish :) Wish you all good day with lots of sun!!!

Giraffe and other masterpieces :)

As we suspected weather changed for worse with start of weekend...
And believe it or not - today's weather is total nightmare - sun, rain, snow plus nasty wind, and again sun, rain, snow and.... over and over again... feel tired...

But to the point of today's writing :) Last Saturday we were on early shopping before I went to hairdresser :) We back home with wooden giraffe for Dom - he choose it :)

When I was away to deal with my hair, Dom was painting his giraffe and his Daddy taking pics of creation process.

Hmmmm, which colour now???

Look Daddy!!! I painted my hand :)

Little giraffe :)

Dom was in artistic mood during weekend and he didn't finished with his painting on wooden giraffe, oh no :)

Here his new pieces:

Dog? Cat? Hmmmm, what animal is it?

Kite project?

I think it is a bike :) 

From other things, we tried giant couscous, and we like it :) I used first time silicon little cakes moulds - result was funny, but more about this maybe some other time :) 

That's all for today peeps! Have a nice day!!!

Meet Matthew

Today I want you to meet one of just few gentlemen in Handmade Movement Team - Matthew.

Matthew is from Florida, USA and is proper artistic soul :) His domain is collage - postcard size.

Interested?

Here what he wrote about himself in his Etsy profile: ' The Material Whirl project got its start several years ago, when I began following the one-per-day websites of various artists. Since the beginning of 2010, I have made several hundred postcard-sized collages ( though far from one per day), all from various types of recycled paper and cardboard, and have been listing them, one by one, here on Etsy...'

Want to know more? Read Matt's profile: https://www.etsy.com/uk/people/FascinatingFiberz

Most of Matthew's art works you can find on his blog: http://thematerialwhirl.wordpress.com

This amazing collage you can find on 2016 TwitterArtExhibit in New York

You can find lots of interesting things in his Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MaterialWhirlCollage

My faves from Matt's shop:

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/177472833/dalmatian-spots-you-blow-me-away-blank?ref=shop_home_listings

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/92786217/paper-collage-art-four-private-acres?ref=shop_home_listings

If you are interested in Royalty you can find some mags in Matthew's shop, eg:

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/290098725/royalty-monthly-magazine-vol-8-no-5?ref=shop_home_listings

Matthew is very nice person and one from few who was in our team from almost its beginning, if I'm not wrong :)

Bit of this, bit of that...

Another week almost gone...

We had beautiful weather... forecast for weekend isn't good unfortunately... Clouds are coming already...

We were in the park, in the port and on the beach with Dom during this week :) We bought new flowers for our garden and plant them, now we're waiting for them blooming :)

I checked another new recipe from old cooking mag this week:

Forgive me for no pics of our plates, but they were empty very fast :)

Below you can admire 'Super Potato'

Dom made him at nursery today :) Lovely creature - don't you think?

This card I made yesterday - I'm planning to send it to my Dad for his Namesday next month.

Today I received papercraft mag I'm subscribing - lovely stamp set added as a free gift - just cannot wait to use it :) Perfect for cat lovers :)

Dom's Kingdom :)

We finally dealt with stubborn roller blind in Dom's room... what a fight!!!

You should see us - almost defeated, with murder in our eyes :) But we won this crazy fight, with cutting, fitting and testing :)

So... if you dare

We are opening gate to Dom's Castle :)

Be aware of  some vicious creatures!!!

Tigress is keeping Dom's bed warm :)

Few of Dom's masterpieces :)

Nice posters from https://www.etsy.com/shop/HayahDesigns and bunting made by Mum :)

Dom's dragon standing on guard of Dom's books :)

Crazy fly made by Dom from his Trio blocks :)

Currently fave puzzles ( but why Mum or Dad should put them together). Hihihi!

Dom likes his room and spend lots of time in there, we are reading books together and playing with his cars making lots of crashes and laughing a lot there. 

Culinary experiment

Oh yes, that was proper experiment...

I'm not culinary genius, but I'm not total anti-talent too :) I like trying new cooking techniques, new dishes, recipes from around the world.

Some time ago we bought kangaroo steaks, but we had no idea how to cook them. I found some recipes on net but wasn't sure which one of them I should use. Yesterday we decided we'll try to cook these steaks, doesn't matter result :)

We went through some recipes on YouTube and found this simple looking dish: http://dorota.in/steki-z-kangura/ - (Kangaroo steaks - blog in Polish).

So.... I placed our steaks in simple marinate from oil with salt, black pepper and garlic...

and put it into fridge for about an hour. 

After that time I heat my griddle pan and placed steaks on... 

That wasn't easy cooking, cause we are not fans of rare or mid-rare meats. I tried my best to not make this meat taste leathery. 

Result - meat cooked throughout and (happy me) not taste like leather piece :)

Plus was great with salad made with sauerkraut :)

If you want to try kangaroo steaks go for simplicity like in Dorota's blog or find recipe which catch your eye :)

Meet Rosella

Today I want to present you Handmade Movement Team captain. Her name's Rosella and she's from USA.

Ros has two shops on Etsy - very busy woman don't you think :)

So... if you need a logo, banner, business card or a part sticker check: http://www.StickersNStuffByRos.etsy.com, if you are after prints or cards check: https://www.etsy.com/shop/PaintedMemoriesByRos.

Here's what she wrote about herself in her 'bio' on Etsy:

'To occupy myself and keep my mind active after retiring, I started my Etsy card shop using photos of some of the paintings that I still have and others that I have sold over the years. Etsy is a great way to interact with other artisans and I have 'met' many talented and nice people here. I have been an artist since I was a young girl ans was able to pursue art more fully after my daughters became teenagers. After trying different media, I discovered a love of watercolor painting and charcoal drawing and that is the basis of most of my work (...) '.
If you want to know more about Ros find her shops and read her profile.

What I can say about Ros?

She's a friendly woman, very helpful to 'greenhorns' on Etsy and I like her a lot :) I think everybody in Handmade Movement Team likes Ros, cause is really hard not to :)

My faves from her shops???

Hmmm...I have lots :) Examples:

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/36429639/8625x75-framed-card-summer-barn?ref=shop_home_feat_1

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/31153586/custom-set-of-shop-banner-avatar-and?ref=shop_home_active_22

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/238479010/reorder-for-existing-clients-only-25-x?ref=shop_home_active_17

To be honest with you, I think Handmade Movement Team on Etsy cannot exist without Ros, she knows most of us for long time now :) .

We all love our Sneak Attack days when we can spread some love around new shops on Etsy, buy amazing handmade items from etsy 'greenhorns' - I was one of them ages ago ;) and was sneak attacked by bunch of lovely people with Ros as one of the first who faved my items :) I joined the Team and never regret it :) She keeps us all there and this big mission to help all artisans and crafters who are new to Etsy.

Bookworm in the kitchen :)

Bookworm means me :)

In the kitchen? Yep, at least we need to eat :) and I'm a cook in this house :)

But all in correct order :)

I can say we had busy day yesterday - Dom and me. He cannot sit in one place for five - typical in his age :) Interested in everything in the same time :)

We built the biggest train track ever - at least in our home - in the living room. Look at that monstrous construction :)

Still on the floor today :)

Before Dom went to nursery I started making new birthday card which I finished when was alone at home for a bit :)

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/289472997/greeting-card-with-flowers-floral?ref=shop_home_active_1

As a bookworm I should use my almost 3 hours alone at home for chilling out with book and not bother about anything, but...

in order to our dinner planner for this week I was checking 'Onion and cheese tart' recipe we found in one of cooking magazines. On pic the tart looked delish, but I was rather sceptic when reading recipe - in my opinion if I make it exactly to the letter I could finish with bland in taste and totally uncooked dish, so...

I upgraded recipe in my way and... result as good :) but will be better next time - I decided that I want more herbs and spices in it :)

If you want to try it, here what you need to do:

Line the tart dish/tin with shortcrust pastry, lightly prick the base with fork and chill for about 30 minutes.

For filling: cut into pieces few slices of bacon or ham or any kind of deli meat, fry them on knob of butter or dash of oil on frying pan, add to it 2-3 medium onions thinly sliced and fry together until onions are soft and golden, then take out from heat, add about 200-250 ml double cream and mix, then leave for cooling down a bit. I added garlic in that point for extra taste, but I think bit of black pepper and nutmeg could be also good idea.

Meantime preheat oven to  200 degrees Celsius

.

Arrange filling in the pastry case, cover with grated cheese (eg. cheddar), place few cherry tomatoes (whole or halved) on the top, sprinkle with your fave herbs ( eg. basil or oregano etc) and with more cheese :)

Bake your tart for about 45-55 minutes until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from the oven and leave to stand for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

ENJOY!

Garden works :)

I was planning to write about something completely different today, but....

Day is so beautiful, so sunny with so nice temperature outside, that my man decided to make some garden works :)

I'll be honest with you - our garden is proper mess, cause we just have not enough time to deal with it.

Why?

First thing - we have no idea about proper gardening :)
Second thing - most of the time gardening wise weather keep us home...
Third thing - when weather is nice we prefer go for a trip :)

Oki, I'm trimming hedge, when I should and I even like it :) also trimming gooseberry and redcurrant bushes to not allowed them spread to much.

We both hate dealing with weeds and with all raining here they are growing much much faster then anything else.

Today even Dom had some fun :) and he was trying to help too.

His daddy was busy painting the fence :)

You should see him when he finished - he was covered with paint all over :)

Crafty week?

Crafty week? Yeah, that's good question :)

I made something and Dom made something, so... crafty :)

Dom has new addiction - Lego :) He is building lots of crazy things from it :) Example? Here you go:

Look Mum - helikopet!!! 

He also loves watching Mr Maker :) His square doggy you already saw few posts back. New Dom's make inspired by Mr Maker:

Colourful tank from scraps :)

My crafting this week is divided between jewellery and cards - for long time I didn't touch papercrafts...  I made another pair of earrings (listed for sale: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/288823253/very-long-earrings-ooak-long-copper?ref=shop_home_active_1 )

Set of elastic children bracelets ( listed for sale: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/288656881/children-bracelets-set-of-3-bracelets?ref=shop_home_active_2 )

Something for myself :) Stretchy bracelet in purple and silver :)

Yesterday I decided to make a card for Lili of the Valley April Challenge :) Here is my entry:

My partner said this card is beautiful :) Are you agree with him?

Gamer :)

I don't think I wrote here about my gaming hobby :) Just something different then reading or crafting :)

I cannot say I was gaming virgin when I met my partner, but I wasn't  'Alpha  & Omega' in it too.Whole my previous gaming experience was 2 times on console ( don't even remember what kind) and some silly stuff on computer.

Maciek showed me what all this stuff is about :) First he found GBA (GameBoy Advance) in great condition in one of charity shop with some games (Final Fantasy, Harvest Moon etc ), later on he bought PSP with games for himself (some times later - games for me too).
After his holiday, he back home with his PS2 ( took it back from his Mum place) and after that we were sure one thing - I prefer handhelds :)

So now I have Nintendo - birthday gift from him with nice collection of games - I love puzzle games, Harvest Moon series ( not all of them) and Final Fantasy ( especially both Tactics).

Part of my collection :)

One of last gifts and my current night time consumer :)

When I was pregnant we both start to play Settlers Online - we still play it but not every day like we used to :) We tried other online games, but we never stay with them for long. At the moment we trying Gems of War - we both enjoy it, but in different ways - Maciek loves PVP, I prefer Treasure Hunt :)

To be honest with you I had a chance to mix two of my hobbies: craft and gaming :) I made and sent card for 20th Birthday of Settlers games and even won prize cause guys from Dusseldorf liked my card :)

Crazy card don't you think?

Meet Leda

Today I decided to present you cute shop run by Leda from Italy.

She called her shop TinyFeltHeart, here link: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TinyFeltHeart .

Leda is working with felt and she's creating real beauties :)

I think she's romantic soul, here what she wrote in her note about herself on etsy - this is translation from Italian :)

'My name is Leda, I am an Italian girl with passion for books and for jobs in felt. My dream is to open a bookstore. While it sets up a whole universe for me I embarked on the 'Felt Brick Road' - the 'way of felt bricks' to raise the necessary resources. In my suitcase full of dreams I keep fabrics in bright colours that cut in a thousand different ways in order to create creatures to keep: owls, foxes....' you can read more about her in her note: https://www.etsy.com/uk/people/MissMinu86?ref=owner_profile_leftnav:)

Last Christmas I bought bookmark from her for my partner, also received one from my Sneaky Secret Santa :)

My partner's bookmark :)

You can find lots of different pieces in her shop, not only bookmarks. Leda has in her offer: hair pins, purses, phone covers, book covers, ornaments, brooches.

My favourites from her shop:

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/252467196/felt-phone-case-with-white-swan-flower?ref=shop_home_active_1

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/231186616/set-of-two-felt-hair-clips-with-flowers?ref=shop_home_active_11

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/272807060/felt-heart-ornament-handmade-felt?ref=shop_home_active_3

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/243275267/coin-purse-with-turtle-and-flower-felt?ref=shop_home_active_4

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/229535001/felt-portalibro-magic-forest?ref=shop_home_active_10

Her pieces are perfect gifts for any occasion and for everybody :) Check her shop and find your favourites :)

I hope and I keep my fingers crossed for her dreams about bookshop comes true :) I'm sure her bookshop will be full of love and amazing books :)