Stylish Blogger Award!

What a lovely surprise - this week just keeps getting better! 

Not only has the made by lolly x FB page now reached 350 fans, I have also been awarded a stylish blogger award! 

Thanks so much to Olivia from Girlybunches for awarding it to me!

You can see Olivia's blog and the rest of her nominations by following this link

But... the award comes with a great responsibility and a list of instructions on passing on the award to others who you admire!

Stylish Blogger Award Rules!

The rules of the nomination are:

1. Thank the person and include the link for the nomination.
2. Share seven things about yourself. 
3. Nominate 15 blogs for the award. 
4. Let everyone know they have been nominated...

Now, I think that some of these rules are going to be easier to follow than others! Mmmm this may need a little thought -  I may need a cuppa!

Ok - so the seven things about me are:

1. I can be very clumsy 
2. I am often afflicted by terrible hiccups that make my whole body shake and make me sound like a frog!
3. I love storage but am rubbish at actually putting anything away in its proper home!
4. I would love to have a posh camera and learn how to take fantastic photos
5. I love food and cooking, and wish I had the money and the skill to cook not just 'good food' but 'great food'
6. I am determined not to have to wait until I am an old woman to "wear purple with a red hat that doesn't go"....or "sit down on the pavement when I'm tired and gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells and run my stick along the public railings...and hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes."
7. I am a child of the 80's and a teenager of the 90's so my favourite films will always be The Goonies, Reality Bites, Groundhog Day, Before Sunrise and Back to the Future!

 

Gingerbred

The Literary Critical Detective

And my 15 favourite blogs that deserve an award are:

Yorkshire Made

dots and spots



 

 As well as the work of:

The Whimsical Wren   Hen's Teeth   buttercup boutique    
Petit Bird Sings   Blooming Felt   Charlotte Hupfield Ceramics   ali bali jewellery   The Lime Garden  Quernus Crafts  
Zoe and Drew   Blonde Design

I hope you like my selections as much as I do! 

Please take the time click on the names to have a look at these wonderful blogs from so many talented individuals. 

Blogs can be a real labour of love and these extra special ones deserve to have an audience.

Believe me I know how much work goes into writing and maintaining one, and how lovely it is to hear comments back!

Spring 2011 Goody Bag Giveaway !

Hurrah! The time has come for another Goody Bag Giveaway! 

To celebrate reaching 350 FB fans I have decided to run another competition. The competition is open to all - provided you personally follow either my FB page or this blog (or both!)

All you have to do to enter is:

1. Take a look at my Folksy shop, 
2. Choose which item is your favourite and then 
3. Leave a comment under this blog post (Spring 2011 Goody Bag Giveaway) telling me what your favourite item is! 

The competition will stay open until 19:00 on Monday 28th February, and the winner will be picked using a random number generator. Only one entry per person please! The winner will be notified within 24hrs and will receive the contents of my Goody Bag! 

Folksy Friday - The Valentinos and ACEOS

As long time followers of the blog will know, I have previously taken part in daily listings clubs on Folksy - and although I've not always been successful in listing every day, I at least have a go! I am currently taking part in the February challenge and have become a Valentino for the month!

Despite my best efforts and lots of enthusiasm, I still haven't quite managed to keep up with listing every day, but I feel that I can cut myself a bit of slack as I have been busy preparing for my first craft fair of the year.

(Fifi's Market takes place tomorrow (Sat 12th February) if anyone who lives near Sheffield wants to pop down and say hi!)

Part of the fun about joining the listings clubs is seeing the work of new makers that perhaps you wouldn't usually see, or learning about the new trends and ideas that develop within the art and craft world. At the minute there seems to be a surge in popularity for ACEO's or 'Art Cards Editions and Originals'. These are miniature works of art/craft/design measuring just 2 1/2 inches x 3 1/2 inches, and allow the artist to experiment with new techniques on a very small scale. More importantly they allow people to purchase original art at a very reasonable price - perhaps that's why they seem to be selling like hotcakes!

Always ahead of the trend, the Valentinos have plenty of ACEOs to offer - in fact I believe that some of these that I have chosen to be listed here have already sold! You have to be quick if you want a ACEO bargain!

Just click on the picture to see more details of the artworks and the artists.... and who knows I might have some of my own to show you next time....!

Life, the universe and everything....

Well the last couple of weeks have certainly been hectic! I've been busy designing my new Lovely Layers range of goodies, making lots and lots of items for my first craft fair of the year at Fifi's Contemporary Craft Market, as well as living through a very difficult time at (real world) work where none of us are sure that we'll have jobs come the end of March!

But despite all this, I have still found time to get involved with the fabulous new organisation Yorkshire Made. In fact I am now officially a founding member! Yesterday we met for a planning meeting (AKA a jolly good gossip) and talked about all the fabulous plans we have for the future. It was wonderful to be among such fantastic company, sharing thoughts, ideas, laughs and ultimately arriving at a super, grand, masterplan and I had an absolute ball! The three and a half hours just flew by, and I can't wait for the next meeting!

We have started to put lots of bits of the masterplan into action, but not wanting to run before we can walk, we will be revealing each little bit only when we feel it is ready... so you'll just have to wait and see what's coming next! However I can reveal that we now have an exclusive short URL for our FB page so everyone can quickly find us (if you're not already a fan!) http://www.facebook.com/yorkshiremade and an email address yorkshiremade@gmail.com and will very soon be launching a blog!

But the best bit of the day was probably realising how much I had in common with my fellow founder members - especially a liking for the works of Douglas Adams! And so I thought I'd set myself the challenge of compiling a treasury of my favourite Folksy items based on a favourite phrase from one of his books - but I couldn't pick one!

So... to make things easier I have gone with one of the most famous 'Life, the universe and everything...' and have decided to pick an eclectic collection!

Ok... so did anyone spot that the items perhaps weren't as eclectic as I originally planned?

You can see more of my chosen items by clicking directly on the pictures!

'Lovely Layers' - New range of felt goodies!

Apologies for my lack of posts recently - I have making the most of some creative momentum and have been busy designing and making the new 'Lovely Layers' range, as well as getting involved in setting up a new Yorkshire based craft page on Facebook!
It's been busy, busy, busy here at made by lolly x HQ!

'Lovely Layers' 

As you can probably guess from the name of the range, my new items are made from several layers of felt! This is a different style to what I usually use and the simpler construction has allowed the opportunity to be much more experimental with the number of colours I use in a single piece! I must say it has been very exciting trying out the different colour combinations and seeing how they sit alongside the other pieces I have made. I keep trying to tell myself that the process is 'Research and Development' into new products - but really it feels like a grown up version of Fuzzy Felt - the ubiquitous lo-fi toy of my childhood!

I'm really pleased with the results so far - not only has it been great fun to do, but the finished pieces seem very versatile. At this stage I have concentrated mainly on brooches, (all of which are available to buy in my Folksy shop!) but I have many, many ideas of how the pieces could be used on other things.
I don't want to reveal too much now.... you'll just have to keep checking back for updates!

'Yorkshire Made'

As I said earlier, one of the other reasons it has been so busy here at HQ is that I have been involved in the  early stages of setting up a new page on Facebook.

Called 'Yorkshire Made', the new page is hoping to be the one stop regional shop for all things crafty in Yorkshire! We are hoping to offer friendship, advice and support as well as be a source of information - posting details about forthcoming events and local suppliers. It's currently in the very early stages of development but we have lots of ideas to help it grow!

We don't yet have a dedicated username that allows a quick link to the site... but we will have very soon! In the meantime, typing Yorkshire Made into the FB search bar should do the trick!
Please feel free to join us, and add your details to the page!

Practical in Pink!

First, two facts....

1. I am female

2. I do like pink

Point 1 you will have to take my word for (!) but to help prove point 2, look up to the top of this blog and view my banner, then look below where there are a number of items that I have made and which are available to buy from my Folksy shop:

 Pretty pink I'd say, wouldn't you...?

However, just because 

1. I am Female 

and 

2. I do like Pink

This doesn't mean I want everything I own to be in this colour!

I thought it was bad enough when trainers, sports gear, hair straighteners, underwear, kitchen utensils and cars started turning pink, but I have started to notice a very worrying trend in craft eqipment... yep, you've guessed it - PINK!

 

I am very proud of my newly acquired Sizzix Big Shot and heat embossing gun - the thrill of receiving new craft equipment, and the expectation of the new projects you may begin as a result of using it, is a very exciting feeling! But why oh why does everything have to be pink!

And...relax...
Rant over! Pink is still a fabulous colour, so here is my pick of the best pink items currently available on Folksy!

As always, click on the picture to be taken to the seller's shop!

Welcome to 2011!

Hello and Happy New Year!

I hope you have all had a lovely festive period and are looking forward to what the next year will bring - I know that I've come back from my Christmas holiday ready and raring to go! I've been lucky enough to receive some fantastic crafting equipment from good ol' Father Christmas and can't wait to get back into my craft room and get stuck in with the experimentation. By the end of January I'm hoping to be able to completely re-vamp my Folksy shop and launch some new product ranges.... so watch this space for more news!

In the meantime though, to acknowledge the 'new beggining' feeling that New Year seems to bring to many, here are a selection of items taken from Folksy that have been tagged with the keyword 'FRESH'

 

Just click on the picture to be taken directly to the seller's shop!