Making Friends

My friend at work asked me to make her a model of herself.

Her only specification was that the clay version of her should have sticky out ears. 

It's nice to make somebody you know as you can add the little things you know about them.  I gave her the designer pink flip-flops she often wears, and a motorcycle helmet as she's a biker.

I also added a little imitation moonstone necklace, as she wears one all the time. 

Lastly, in its own little box, I also made a carrot cake as her homemade carrot cake is bloody fantastic...

I do enjoy making things purely for friends or for pleasure.  This particular effort gave me a bit of grief, I dropped it twice and the leg fell off once whilst it was drying.  Jinxed perhaps?  It was all fixed and relatively sturdy by the time she got it though, I just hope it survived the motorbike journey home!

:)

 

 PS - like the new banner?  Courtesy of the very clever Bonnita Graphics.

Folksy Friday - Pampering

I have been a slightly bad blogger this week. My time has been very much absorbed with finishing my day job before I go on maternity leave from...TODAY! Woo!  Next week is half term then after that I have a few weeks before the birth to prepare myself, prepare the house and spend a lot of time on the sofa with my feet up watching DVDs and creating things, I can't wait!

Right now I am completely depleted of energy and I can't wait to rest. With this in mind my Folksy Friday this week is dedicated to the art of pampering. Just click on any of the images to be whisked away to the shops featured, happy pampering everyone...









Top row:
Pink Heart Felted Soap from The Rainbow Room
Marshmallow Fluff candle from One Stop Pamper Shop

Middle row:
Apple and Cranberry Candle from The Lime Garden
Sweet Orange Oil Bath Truffle from Beautiful Bubbles

Bottom row:
Natural Chocolate Orange Body Butter from Goodness Me!
Heart shaped Bath Melts from Olive & Rose

Happy Friday everyone!

Folksy Friday - Movie Night

It's movie night for hubby and I tonight!  So what better theme for a Folksy Friday?  Grab your popcorn, snap open that fizzy pop, and pause the DVD while you indulge in a little Folksy browsing (just click on the images to be magically transported to each of the shops)....










Clockwise from top left:

Ruby Slippers Wizard of Oz Necklace from Whimsical Wren Jewellery
Audrey Hepburn Handbag from Uniquely Different
Captain Kirk Star Trek meerkat from Nifty Knits
Vintage Movie Camera Linocut from Naptown Studios
"Life Moves Pretty Fast" artwork from Wall Envy Art
"I just want to be wonderful" locket necklace from Girl of the 80s

Happy Friday everyone!

(I must just say a big thank-you to Hilary over at CraftBlogUK for this fabulous tutorial for creating mini galleries.  At last I can do it!)

Wonky

Give me some fabric and a sewing machine and I will fuss about straight lines until the cows come home.  Give me paint and a paintbrush and I will agonise over each element being painted until I am satisfied not a smidgen is out of place.

But give me a lump of a clay and I don't really think about it.  Straight lines don't matter, little bumps and corners, the bits that create themselves, always seem to add to the overall effect I want. 

It's one of the many reasons I find making things with clay so soothing, it's stress free.

And everything always turn out really well in the end.  Well, almost everything.  Just occasionally there is a small...error...

:)

It doesn't mean I love him any less of course and he is still available, in all his wonky glory, in my shop at a bargain "wonky" price.  I think because of his extra added quirkiness I will miss him all the more when he goes off to a new home, after all we all have our physical/emotional wonky bits don't we?  Who am I to judge :)

Ding Dong the Witch is dead!

Last week I sold this pair of witch's legs...

I played around with this design initially as a playful little ornament for myself.  Mine are currently sat on my new bookshelfs in the living room...

I really liked them so made another larger pair for my shop and they sold really quickly!  I think they appealed to a lot of people's sense of humour and happy memories :) 

Why don't they show the Wizard of Oz on Christmas Day anymore? Those were the days, eh?

I think I will definitely be making some more, they make me smile whenever I see mine sitting there on the shelf :)

Fat and thin

Although essentially compatible and harmonious there are many things that Mr MudMeddling and I just don't agree on.

Ben and Jerry's for example - he likes Phish Food, blergh, I like Cookie Dough. 

He likes action films, whereas I prefer a soppy chick flick.

He likes marmite sandwiches, I mean honestly!  I like lemoncurd :)

But one major disagreement we have is about clay Santas.  Mr M says they have to be fat, he is unbudgable on the subject.  I on the other hand prefer a thin santa.

So now whenever I sculpt a fat santa I somehow find myself also making a thin one to counteract it.  So at least everyone is happy :)

Why I believe in handmade

I love to make my own handmade things, and I love to buy things handmade by others.  In fact I feel rather strongly about it. 

Why buy a generic gift set from the high street when you could spend less, or the same, and get something totally original whilst supporting small producers?

Halloween Spiders by Diomo Glass on Folksy

I am sure those that read my blogs need no convincing, I am more than likely preaching to the choir.


Hair flowers by Calexendra on Etsy

This is all rather indulgent really, a blog-post equivilent of a cuppa and slice of cake :) 

The spiders are my most recent purchase - for my Halloween decorations - they are simply too cute for words, I am tempted to keep them out all year round.  The flower hair clips are from one of my most favourite Etsy sellers who happens to also be a fellow Kentish girl! I wear one or two of her flowers every day, it makes it look like I have made an actual effort with my appearance rather than just scraping my hair back in a hurry :) 

I have a very talented best friend who is a fiend with beads and a wire cutter.  She made the above necklace for her shop and I nicked it before it could get listed.  I wear many of her items every day and I always get comments.  It's great to say, "This?  Oh, it's handmade...I got it from Folksy..." in reply to the where did you get it question. 

Blue and Pink Rose Clock by Elibee Gifts on Folksy

The creativity that is out there in the UK, lurking on Folksy and Etsy, is amazing.

The Green Collection Button Ring by Maisie Wilson on Folksy

And so many people don't even know about such sites!  Folksy especially seems to be rather unknown.

Key to Your Heart Earrings by Lonely Hearts on Folksy

The whole process of buying directly from sellers on Etsy and Folksy is wonderful.  When your item arrives it is often wrapped so beautifully you feel you are getting a gift sent by a friend.

Sterling Silver Textured Surface necklace by Esme Dodsworth Design on Folksy

And the best part is that you are getting something totally original as something handmade will never be totally uniform, will never look as though it fell off the production line.

Vintage Image Christmas Decorations by Silent Theatre on Folksy

So you can always be safe in the knowledge that you carry a little bit of originality with you wherever you go.  Like the brooch on my shopping bag which gets used every single day...

Flower brooch by June at Noon on Etsy

So with Christmas season starting more or less now (yay!) don't forget to buy handmade - your friends and family will be delighted and you will get a reputation for being a great gift-giver!  You know it makes sense.

My first order

My first order on Folksy came in this week.  Somebody purchased a pair of my little toadstool ornaments...

I was keen to get my packaging just right, I personally love to recieve things beautifully wrapped.  I experimented with hole punching some newspaper using my flower punch...

It proved very time consuming!  So I may have to limit this idea to small orders like this one.  But it did look really pretty as a bad of flowers for my buyer's toadstools...

I parceled everything up in a little cardboard box and made a tag to attach, then I tied it all together with jute string. I love brown paper parcels with string...

Voila!  Packaging MudMeddling style :)

I really hope she likes it!