It’s been a while since I added an enamel pin to my little collection but it’s finally happened!
Why? I just decided I needed a treat! A lot of what I’ve been buying lately has been essential stuff (and wool…lots of wool!) and so it was nice to buy something frivolous for myself!
I’ve bought pins and stickers from this shop before and they always arrive very fast and well packaged.
I had a little trouble trying to take a good picture as it’s very shiny and I kept getting my face or my phone in the reflection on the pin.
And below is what my enamel pin collection currently looks like.
The bear and hedgehog on the bottom left are from the same shop, as are the two pins above (the house and teacup). I’m sure if you follow arty YouTubers you’ll recognise a few pins from some other shops such as Katnipp Illustrations, Ellis Woolley and Baylee Jae.
And whilst it doesn’t look like there is any order to the layout there actually is! YouTubers on the left, nature in the top middle, nerd pins in the centre, Christmas in the top right and mystical pins on the right.
Quite a few were either seconds or freebies…some were buy 2, get a third free, so you can definitely build up a collection quickly and cheaply if you find the right shop at the right time. Glitterpunk Jewellery is an Etsy shop that sells cute pins and they often have seconds sales (the sparkling mystical pins were from here on the right)
The pin banner is just the right size for now… although it’s almost getting a little small and definitely looks a little worse for wear with all the rearranging I’ve been doing! I got it from an Etsy shop The Novel Menagerie and I might have to pop along and see if there are any more…I’ve sort of outgrown the pink!!
So, yeah, have a look at Emma Carpenter Studio on Etsy if you want any cute pins for yourself or as gifts for people. I would recommend the shop! 🙂
She’s also on Youtube if you want to see what she’s up to!
This post contains affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and make a purchase, I may get a percentage of that sale at no extra cost to you!
For a long time I have followed an Instagram account called The Magpie’s Eye. This account has an Etsy shop called TheMagpiesEyeCo and they make the most sparkly and amazing resin buttons as well as the odd tray or spoon rest I believe.
I ordered some tiny buttons a couple of weeks ago, some neon rainbow sparkly ones and some blue sparkly ones.
I had a go myself at making some resin items last year in the summer. I had some resin I bought the year before that and wanted to make some jewellery mostly. I was pleasantly surprised that the dish I made and the few earrings I made actually worked – they set perfectly and everything!. Except for the fact that the glitter sank a bit on the dish when I made mine. (Maybe I need to do it in layers but I’m so impatient lol).
Anyway, the amount of glitter in these buttons appeals to me a lot!
Here they are…I don’t have a specific project in mind for them yet.
I can’t get the light right to get them to sparkle…but they are a LOT sparklier in real life!
[This post contains affiliate links which means if you click the link and make a purchase, I get a small commission of that purchase at no extra cost to you!]
May was quite productive, in fact, I think I managed to meet a fair amount of my goals for May.
I joined the Medium Partner Program and although I haven’t published a story over there in a week or so, I’m ready to get back to writing over there.
I carried on creating printables for my new Etsy shop/ book and although I haven’t technically opened the shop yet (which I really wanted to do by the end of May) I’m almost there. It just takes a LOT longer than I expected to sort everything!
I reached almost 130 designs on RedBubble, I wanted 200 by end of May, but to get over 100 is pretty good so I’m still happy. That’s not a huge priority right now, so I’ll work on that as and when I get the chance.
I also managed to get a lot of knitting done yesterday. I don’t know what it is about hot, sunny summer days, but they make me want to knit like a maniac!
I’m going to try to finish that tonight or this week at the latest and sew it all together (my Neon Fair Isle bag I mean) and that will finally be a finished object which I haven’t had on here for so long! It’s starting to drag a bit this project, I only meant it to be a quick 10 minute job but the colour work takes twice as long to do!
JUNE GOALS
Open Etsy store and have 10 listings live in it!
Reach 200 designs on RedBubble
Publish 20 stories on Medium (good quality ones with good pictures and keywords – ‘proper’ posts!)
Have some designs published on my Society 6 and Spoonflower stores
Sign up to Substack (maybe)
Sign up to Fiverr – create profile, have 1 Gig live
Launch my own website…get the back end security and meta boring stuff sorted and have 10 posts listed
Sell a Procreate brush on Etsy
I think that will do for the ‘job’ goals…and the crafty ones?
Finish the Neon Fair Isle Bag – sewn up and everything – DONE! 🙂
Make a lot of progress with my orange jumper (half done, need to finish ribbing at the bottom of the second half and get onto the main pattern)
Do some more on my sock yarn shawl
Start a crochet baby blanket for a friend
Cast on a pair of socks to use up my socks yarn stash
Do a lot more on my cross-stitch piece (not sure if I like the colours I chose…I might see what the finished piece looks like and if I don’t like it I can always start again with a better colour palette) STOPPED AND USING THE THREADS FOR ANOTHER PROJECT!!
Sew up a linen top I have mostly cut out
Denim rucksack -I cut out the denim the other day, need to cut out the lining and sew it together
Do some more work on my leather work (started to sew it up last year and haven’t touched it since)
I also haven’t baked any bread in ages so I want to have a go at that too, got some brown seedy flour to use up!
I have loads of stuff in the boot of my car to take to the charity shop, I need to have another rummage and see if I can add anything else!
And Yoga. I haven’t made a lot of time for that lately. I want to get back into it…it’s like a mini heat wave where I am, not technically a heat wave, but it’s so hot outside I don’t feel like getting hot and sweaty on purpose right now!
I finished the back, now I’m about 8cm into a 15cm rib on the bottom of the front…got most of the front to do, then sew it all up!
I’ve been busy the past few months, getting into designing and writing. I’m not the world’s best writer but I’ve always loved it! And reading books too.
Lately, I’ve been looking into writing as a career, I’m not ready to jump head first into anything yet. Honestly, it’s mostly still at the research stage but so far I write on two places – here and on Medium.
I’ve looked into Fiverr and that might be good fit in a little while, once I finish a few other projects first. I’m not sure though as I’ve heard mixed results about that platform (and other ones like Upwork).
Since I’ve been creating printables for my new Etsy shop which I will be opening soon, I also made a couple of sheets for freelancing. I doubt I’ll be putting these in the shop! They were just a play around.
See what you think and if you want to download them you can (as always these are only for personal use, you may not sell or share them in any way).
I have been writing like a mad woman on Medium this week, finishing a mini blog series which, honestly, wasn’t the best written piece I’ve ever done. But it’s done and now I’m looking at writing other articles.
I got my first claps for an article on Medium today too – yay! That’s kind of like a ‘like’ here on WordPress…but since I don’t pay the monthly subscription on Medium, everything has to go the long way round…*sigh*.
I also created pins to go with the series and pinned them to my @woollyorbit Pinterest account.
And I’ve created quite a few printables on Canva for the upcoming Etsy shop. They’re just drafts at the moment, it’s more a way for me to plan out the content in a more visual way. Monday I created 15 pages!
I gotta say it’s all taking me WAY longer than I originally planned, and I think part of that is the fact I can’t physically work on things in front of my computer for hours straight – I need a change!
As well as all of the above, I’ve been uploading quite a few new designs bit to my RedBubble account (WoollyOrbit2000) and I think it may be time to switch to my new Spoonflower or Society 6 accounts. Although they have different file uploading requirements so that’s going to be a headache.
I’ve been so tired the last couple of days, that I can’t concentrate, so I think tomorrow will only have the bare minimum in front of the screen.
I did manage to cut out some denim fabric pieces today for a backpack I want to sew. I got it free with a magazine a few months ago and just have to cut out the lining for it and then get sewing!
Things to do tomorrow:
YOGA DVD – I haven’t done any Yoga for ages! I’m all stiff from sitting at a desk all day and I get episodes of bad back pain every so often so I want to start taking care of my body a bit more from now on.
SOMETHING CRAFTY -Maybe cut out the lining for the bag and MAYBE start to sew it. I think, I want to try to do a bit more cross- stitch too. And if all I manage is one more row of knitting, then I’ll take it.
READ– It’s been a few months since I last read anything for pleasure and I still have The Testament’s by Margaret Atwood to start. (Only now as an adult do I realise the irony of having had an English teacher called Mr Atwood).
GO OUTSIDE! – I haven’t gone for a walk for awhile. And let’s face it, I’m not the running sort of person! 😉 But I will go for a walk tomorrow, maybe walk to the next village along down the country lanes and see what I can see.
PICK UP! – Have you heard of a guy called Jordan Peterson? I’m going to clean my room…and if you know who he is, you’ll know what I mean!
And finally, I think I might try to complete a listing in its entirety. Product photos and everything, I already have one ready to go. But maybe try and get a 2nd completely done and dusted. And finish a Medium article which is half written.
Sometimes a change is as good a rest…is that the saying?!
Below is a post from Medium with a list of websites/ apps/ software for design and building a small business just to get you started. Use it as a stepping stone to other places…once you see what’s out there, then you’ll be amazed at what you’ve been missing!
I’ve picked an awful colour scheme for this project! I know I’m using up my stash of threads and fabric…but still I feel I should point out that the colour choices are all mine and in no way am I following the pattern’s colours!!
The purples of the ‘YOU’ look OK, but the rest…I’m reminded of trains for some reason hahaha! Especially the ‘GOOD THOUGHTS’ colours.
See my previous post for details about the pattern. I won’t keep repeating myself.
It’s been nice working on this at night, listening to a SkillShare tutorial. They have some really good videos about graphic design and illustration which I really need to focus and watch the screen. But to have a general video on in the background about business, marketing, mindsets, that type of thing. Well, it’s like I’m watching a productive video, you know? Like I’m doing homework.
But then again…I LOVE homework!
I did a whole ONE ROW of a knitted bag project last week. At the risk of sounding like an old fart, I have wanted to rest my eyes a bit lately. I’m getting headaches from looking at small things like stitches, knitting stitches, and of course, computer/ I-pad screens. So, if I can come off the screens and not have to focus on small things, then so much the better!
I guess what I’m saying is that I’m taking it easy with the crafting for now. I do want to get a few projects finished this summer.
But right now my focus is on getting my Etsy shop set up. I have managed to reach a few goals that I set myself for May, which is exciting, but more on that later!
Have a lovely afternoon- it’s been grey and overcast all day. It even did a bit of mini ice hailing earlier on. I can’t wait for the warmer weather to arrive! May has had more hailstorms than I can remember in a long time.
I intended it to be a record of my crafty creations, both good and bad, and I thought it would consist of knitting, crochet and sewing finished objects and patterns, links to sites I like, Youtubers I follow etc. Maybe some daily life thrown in, recipes, baking, new crafts, that kind of thing.
And it started off that way, for sure, but it has been a bit deathly quiet on here for the last 6 weeks or so because I got such a sudden burst of energy at the end of March, that pretty much most of my craft projects got put aside and I haven’t even thought about them, let alone worked on them!!
I am still working on my Neon Fair Isle knitted bag, I did a few rows about a fortnight ago and that was that. I read a book called I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi (spoiler, no he won’t as I don’t invest in stocks and shares!) and I did a couple of cross-stitch projects…that’s it for the crafting!
But crafting is really another way to talk about your creativity and oh boy have I been creative lately!
A couple of posts ago I talked about making by own fonts with Calligraphr, I’ve since got an app called ifontmaker which is much easier and quicker to create a font – I’m not exactly graphic designer level yet, but it’s a fun side hobby.
I’ve signed up for a Medium account (the writing platform) and I’m getting my profile sorted and stuff like that before I sign up with their partner program. And then of course I need to start writing articles, but that parts the easy bit for me, I’m quite a fast typer and once I’m in the zone, the words just flow.
I’ve been using Procreate and Photoshop a lot as I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, I realise that for designing icons and simple pictures for my RedBubble shop I need to look at creating vector designs, so I bought the Affinity Design app whilst it was half price (it might still be, so have a look if you want to snag a bargain) and the free app Vectornator.
Both have pros and cons and I’m still getting my head around vectors and paths and nodes etc. It’s hard for me because I have no design experience AT ALL! But it’s fun…is it the challenge that’s fun? I don’t know (God knows the drawings don’t look fun – so far I managed a vector heart and a button!).
I signed up to RedBubble and now I like the idea of the Print On Demand type of passive income so much I’m seriously thinking of joining other sites too.
I would love to make repeat pattern designs for sites like Spoonflower and other specifically fabric based printing sites. I need a little more practice at it, but it’s nothing extra really, especially since you can sell the same designs across different platforms.
I opened an Etsy store too for something I have seen for ages and thought I would be good at but just never got around, or got motivatedto do before…and that is digital downloads. I know I’ve posted a few simple freebies here on this blog before, but the ones I would sell on Etsy would be far superior! I’ve signed up to Creative Fabrica to buy fonts that I can use commercially, and I now have a Canva Pro account.
That’s all to come though because I want to do something at the same time as creating printables which is…
…putting them into a book! I joined Amazon KDP and am thinking of putting the printables into a book that can be photocopied by the buyer. So, you buy the paperback book which is in either A4 or US Letter size, the reader then photocopies the worksheets as they need so they don’t have to write in their book (which they could always do too of course).
I’m having a few issues here. The biggest of which is deciding which software program to use to create them with. Canva, Microsoft Word or PowerPoint, Google Docs, Apple Pages…and then I need a commercial license and there’s the fonts too which need to have commercial license/ permission to use them. If I make an e-book then the fonts are typically embedded into the e-book software, right? But so many font licenses have clauses against embedding…argh it’s a minefield, it really is!
BUT, once I get all that figured out, the actual creation process will take no time at all, especially since once the printables are made, I will be able to make bundles of them for Etsy, sell them separately AND put them in the book.
I could even open a Gumroad or Creative Fabrica store and sell the printables there too.
So, there are a lot of things going on and in my mind, but it’s getting the right licenses etc before it’s full steam ahead.
Saying that, I do have a few goals for this month.
Upload 200 designs to RedBubble in total (I have 74 so far) and weed out any ones I don’t like anymore or that could be improved.
Finish all back end Etsy stuff and have 5 printables listed in the store.
Actually create the printables that will go in the Etsy store and the book! Decide on which software to use!
Write 5 articles for Medium – finish my profile and sign up to Partner Program.
Sign up to a fabric printing Print On Demand company eg Spoonflower.
Sign up to Skillshare and use their free trial to have a look at vector drawings, digital designs and creating my own fonts
Try and make a font good enough to sell…might not manage this one!
Sign up to Creative Fabrica as a seller…need to apply for this so need a portfolio of places first e.g. Yes I have a RedBubble, but what else? Woolly Orbit Pinterest is only just up and running!
Think about a ‘proper’ website where I can put affiliate links etc.
Create digital stickers – maybe to sell and maybe to put on here for free!
Not very crafty goals are they?!
So here’s a few to stay on top of things (and hopefully make a bit of room!)
Finish Neon Fair Isle Bag – knitted about 2/3 so far, only the second half to finish knitting and sew together
Start The Testaments book by Margaret Atwood – once I read this, I will have all my books on my bookshelf
Do some more on my knitted orange jumper
Cut out the fabric pieces for a denim rucksack I want to sew…I may need some more fabric, but we’ll see how much I have first!
Leather handbag…all cut out, dyed, oiled, ready to sew…it’s on my shelf ready. Started this a year ago, so we’ll see if I still remember how to do saddle stitch!
Phew! That’s about enough for May I think! And this blog post which is about 3 times what I normally write! If you got this far, well done!
Lot’s to do, lot’s to create, lot’s to dream!
Hope you have a lot make too in May!
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Just so you can see my skills with vector drawing…below is about my level of skill – not perfect, but it’s a start, right?!
This was the first time I have ever used black Aida fabric and I gotta say, not a fan! The result of the colours I chose (I didn’t stick to the exact ones from the pattern) and the contrast between them and the fabric looks good, I think.
But the fabric itself was really difficult to use and my stitching ended up looking horrible! The fabric was stiffer than usual, maybe because it’s been dyed black? I don’t know, it was really hard to use, especially to see where the needle needed to go – I did make sure to have a white piece of paper underneath to help, but I found my fat sauasage fingers blocked the white and made a shadow so it was still hard to see!
I still have more of the fabric to use up! Eek!
Here is the finished piece, not sure where to put it as of yet, maybe I’l just pin it to a pin board?!
Don’t count the days – make the days count!
I have one more cross stitch pattern to go, but a much bigger one.
I’m loving using up my stash – all I’ve paid for so far are the digital patterns. So, a lot of the colours might be the same, but that’s called a cohesive and consistent colour palette, right?!!
I came across these really funky, cool knot pillows on Etsy and I can’t figure them out.
I bet they are the easiest thing in the world to make and yet I can’t figure out they did it!
Here are the search results on Etsy, have a look and see for yourself or just search for ‘knot pillow’…maybe they could be a good way to use up fabric scraps/ stash?
This is the first piece of cross-stitch I have finished in several years, technically it’s not only the first of the year but of the DECADE too!
I wanted to do something different, usually I go for big and complicated pieces, this was a smaller, quicker piece and was WRITING!!
I have never done this type of sampler before, but I was looking for something, dare I say, motivational! :O
I am feeling in a bit of a permanent rut at the moment, so I thought I would get something ‘motivational’ to stitch and put it somewhere I could see it in my everyday life. I completed it over maybe 4 or 5 evenings this past week and it was actually really nice to get back to a hobby I haven’t done in a while.
I used up some Aida fabric from my stash that I had lying around for ages (still got loads left!) and some leftover threads from previous projects, so all I bought was the downloadable pattern from an Etsy shop called Stichrovia.
Here is the link to the shop if you want to buy yourself something similar – I love the bigger patterns she does, like the Yin and Yang one and some of the kitchen samplers. I can’t help thinking a lot of them would be good to stitch and then sew up into cushion covers! :0
I realise that with the colours I had, the word BOLD looks like it has American cheerleader colours…oh well!
Pattern from an Etsy shop called Stitchrovia
A cheap frame from Wilkos and just ignore the few creases you can still see, would you believe I actually ironed this? It’s the first piece of finished cross stitch I have ever ironed in my life, since once I finish them they tend to go in a folder and get forgotten about. I think the creases would come out if I actually washed it too…but it’s not so bad if you look at it from a certain angle.
On the whole I’m pleased with it. I did think about doing it in pinks and purples, which I kind of wish I had done, but I do like the bold colours too…buying a one-off pattern for a couple of pounds is definitely the way forward now, as when I buy magazines, I never seem to do (or even like) many of the patterns. And it was really easy to buy and download and print off the pattern…very simple to do and use.
The pattern was four sheets of A4 and it shrinks down to just one when you stitch it up! 🙂
[This post contains affiliate links which means if you click the link and make a purchase, I get a small commission of that purchase at no extra cost to you!]
Woolly Orbit 