25 of 52 - From my other handy crafts!

As some of you may know, I don't just make bears.  I have been known to wield a knitting needle, to joust with a crochet hook and thrust an embroidery needle.

When my husband and I got married 3 years ago, I made a lot of the stationery for the big day myself.  From save the date cards to orders of service I made them all.  But the thing I am most pleased with is the place cards for the tables.  I saw the idea in a wedding album at a fair and couldn't resist making my own special cross stitched place cards.  And I made one for every seated guest (about 60) and I made a couple a night as the RSVPs arrived.  On the big day, they looked like this:

Aren't they pretty?  And the best part is that every time I go to the house of one of the guests, the card is happily on display somewhere.  Not tucked in a drawer or thrown away, cherished and admired even after the event.  And that gives me a big old happy!

These cards have been selected to feature in the UK Handmade Wedding Gift guide this summer with some other gorgeous items to make your wedding perfect.

Just follow the link above to go and see them!

17 of 52 - It's Sale Time!!!

Over in my Etsy shop, it's time for a little clear out so that I can make room for more bears and other animals so, I am offering 30% off selected items in my shop.  And all the bears and bunnies have free shipping so what's not to love?

Here are a selection of the reduced items.

And you can find them all here!

16 of 52 - The Pattern is READY!!!!

A few days ago I said that I was working on a pattern to go on sale in my shops. Well, this weeks news is that it's finished and ready to go to the testers! Here's a preview of what you can make with it.

I have about six testers at the moment but if there is anyone else who is interested, please leave me a comment and I'll get back to you or convo me via Etsy with your email address. Thanks!

PS. Keep your eyes peeled on my shop today. A little offer will follow :-)

14 of 52 - All the days merge into one

It's official, I've been out of work so long that I don't know what day of the week it is. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not.

Anyway, that doesn't mean I haven't been busy but I haven't been getting as much done as I would like. So I took myself out yesterday for some fresh air and had a wander in town. I had to get some presents as apparently everyone I know has a birthday this weekend so after I did that I sat and had a cuppa and a bit of a brain storm. 2 pages of scribbles later and I came to conclusion that it's about time I made a pattern for a toy. A proper pattern that people can follow and make their own version of a new bear design.

This particular pattern will be a 4 in 1 so you'll be able to make variations on this item depending on your fabrics. It will also be more than one animal, but i'm not going to spoil the surprise yet.

So, if you would like to be a pattern tester please let me know. I'll be putting out a further call for testers closer to when it's finished but anyone who's interested, please let me know!

And for those of you who like a picture, here's a recent addition to my shop:

11 of 52 - Etsy Euro Week!

This week is Euro Week on Etsy! It's the time to remind everyone in the Etsy community that we europeans are here too. We ship worldwide, we like to buy worldwide and you can buy unique and wonderful things from us!

You can read Etsy's blog post about Euro week here!

To celebrate, I thought i'd share some of my European Favourites

These items are:

Pomegranate Bag by iragrant

Phatt Grrl Squiggle Brooch by Phatgrrl

Cranberry Shrug by MooCowHandKnits

Biba Bloom Clutch by RedRubyRose

To shop Europe this week, use Etsy's 'Shop Local' Feature and search 'Europe' or search on Twitter for #EtsyEuroWeek.

I hope you uncover a Euro-treat this week!

6 of 52 - Some New Things!

Since I have been home and I can't sit still for five minutes without fidgeting, I have been making some new bears. At this exact moment I am sitting next to a pile of sock bears just awaiting their facial features and final finishing but before them, I have completed two new traditional bears.

You can find both bears available here:

Flower of Scotland Bear

Blue Steel Bear

New for Halloween

Recent new creations have been all made from socks. My most recent creation is for halloween. Introducing COUNT DRACU-BEAR! MWAH HA HA!!



Beware, he's dangerously cute.

Find him here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=30660680