More clearance items in the shop...

I'm seriously getting down to tidying and reorganising my craft space this week and came across a stash of these moo business card-sized envelopes that I made quite a while ago.  In the interest of making way for new stock, I'm discontinuing them at a one time special price over at my etsy store.

The print is so lovely and bright for spring - they are also ideal for a neatly folded note (the written or money kind) as an Easter gift if (like me) you're not that keen on chocolate!

Lovely shopping

I haven't been to the V & A museum in oooh, ages. But I'm signed up to their email news service and love it when news of their shop sales come through. At the moment there are excellent bargains to be had out of season for Christmas decorations with a handmade feel, and I quite often buy stationery from the museum for Christmas presents - they have a great range of designs and I feel good knowing the money is supporting the museum in these troubling times for the arts and public institutions. How wonderful is this memory book, in bright powder blue?

If you stray away from the sales section, you can browse fabric reproductions of vintage designs available by the metre, many of which are also reduced in price. But the sale itself is worth a look, with offers like this felt feather decoration, a snip at 30p! Or a crocheted Christmas tree bauble for just 50p! It's a good reminder that now is the time to be thinking about Christmas stock for our own shops - 2011 is flying past and it'll be Autumn before we know it...

More useful offcuts

In an attempt to make the most of the card I'd bought to go with my handmade envelopes, I saved even the littlest slivers in the hope of giving them new life.

So here in my shop is a limited edition set of bookmarks or gift tags with a teeny heart cutout and the ever popular bakers' twine.

When I was looking for a contrasting book to lay the bookmarks against, I was very pleased with myself to remember this little piece of history, my gran's diary from her days as a Justice of the Peace in Manchester. Not just the ideal colour and size for these photos, but a great trip down memory lane as I'd never got around to looking through it properly after I inherited it when I was a student and living away from home in France. I was surprised to learn that in 1978 (the year after we all went to Russia together when I was only a couple of months old) my Gran also visited Israel and spent Christmas in Spain - exciting times! My gran would have been celebrating her 99th birthday today if she was still with us, what a milestone.

Upgrade your envelopes

New in my shop is an envelope upgrade, big 5 inch (12.5cm) square envelopes with co-ordinating flat cards. Each new set will be added individually because my cardstock is all rescued from fellow crafters overstock via Etsy's much-missed Alchemy feature. Making these sets extremely limited edition because I don't know when I can get more... Each set costs $10 and is available by clicking here. They're particularly handy as wedding thank yous, you can even pop a CD of your photos in with your thank you note, it fits perfectly!

I've been playing around with stamping up offcuts, for thank you notes and enclosures with orders. This makes me wonder whether I should add some co-ordinating designs onto one side of the flat cards, or if part of their appeal is their simplicity. Any thoughts welcomed on that front!

In the meantime, here is a suggestion for co-ordinating stationery to complement my envelopes from a fellow Etsy seller...

Letterpress key notes by Dempsey Press

or how about some lovely handmade paper - this stuff is so smooth you can even run it through your printer!

Handmade notepaper by White Dragon Paper

p.s. I had intended to include a whole selection of different notepapers but I am sensing a serious gap in the market here.

Treasury roundup

I've been featured in two lovely treasuries recently - themed Spring Chicken and Teenie Weenie - both over in Treasury East on Etsy.com

Huge thanks to Little Nester and Yellowee. Just click here to get your hands on a spring chick or mini envelopes from the Girl Industries etsy shop.

Updated to say: look at this nifty little trick from our friends at etsy - just click to find all the recent treasuries I've been featured in: www.etsy.com/treasury/search/girlindustries

Fellow etsians can search for their own featured items by swapping out your shop name at the end of the web address.

Armchair travelling

I use a nifty little widget called Statcounter to see how many people are reading my blog, and whereabouts in the world they're checking in from. As well as seeing lots of familiar names of places I've been (Brooklyn, Ards, Sheffield, Munich, Eugene, Madrid, Providence, Dundee and more), there are a few places on the list that are new to me, so I thought I'd do a bit of armchair travelling and find out something new...

First up is Curitiba, Brazil - one of the cooler places to visit in South America. Not just because of its relatively mild climate, but also because of its enviable and sustainable public transportation. Local Etsy seller GlassGift is one to watch, too. Look at this fantastic sushi set, it's making me hungry...

And where better to head next than Shizuoka, Japan? In the shadow of Mount Fuji, the scenery here seems so much more dramatic than the Ochil Hills behind my house! This stunning photograph is by Altus, on Flickr.

Next stop on this impromptu world tour is Castellon, Spain. It turns out that this is pretty close to a part of Spain I visited in 2006, when I attended the famous La Tomatina festival, near Valencia. Here's a photo of one of my favourite prints at home, which reminds me of Bunol, Eivissa, Palma and just about every small Spanish town I've visited. If you like it, go to Blancucha's Etsy shop to get a copy for yourself.

I visited some pretty interesting places when I lived in New Jersey, but I don't think I ever made it to Verona. It's home to the charmingly named Kip's Castle Park, which was restored recently after falling into disrepair. The photo comes courtesy of The Keystone New Jersey, where you can find more information about the history of the house and the grounds.


Staying in the USA for the last stop on today's itinerary, we're heading west to Granite Bay, California. Notable as home to Eddie Murphy, I thought that a little look at the local real estate would be in order. I wasn't disappointed. For just under $4m, look what Real Estate Ground want to sell me....

Quick, someone, buy 5 million upcycled envelopes from me and help make my dreams come true!

A big thanks to Boobahboutique

I love using Alchemy on Etsy because sometimes you get to 'meet' very lovely people. A case in point is Robin, of Boohbahboutique. As well as having a lovely shop with a range of gift ideas, stationery, jewellery supplies and other crafty bits, Robin was super-helpful in answering and discussing my request (for supplies for a new product... in development...). Can you believe my order arrived within 4 working days? Neither can I... but it's true!

So of course, I am going to encourage you to visit Boohbahboutique and take a look around, and say hi to Robin from me if you decide to treat yourself or someone else to something special!

Paying It Forward - mini super sale

I'm having a mini PIF sale on tiny stationery enclosures in the Girl Industries etsy shop. These are ideal for slipping in with online orders, if you sell your crafts online, or for those occasions when less (info) is more! For only 25c plus postage you can snap up a few bargains, click here to find the special items!

A few fun things to do

I've just entered a fantastic draw to win some amazing artwork from final year graphic design students, as well as established artists, courtesy of http://www.thea4draw.blogspot.com/ - get your ticket over at folksy.com for the next couple of weeks before the draw takes place.

I'd love to win one of the pieces by Gemma Correll, Rob Ryan or Sophie Evans, but really, all of the work on offer is brilliant.

I'm the world's worst at drawing, but I'm still tempted to help the ingenious founder of http://www.onemilliongiraffes.com/ win his bet against his pal. He's nearly there, but still needs our help.

And speaking of giraffes, Claire of MisoFunky, whose logo features a giraffe named Hamish, has tagged me in a photo challenge. I have to go to the tenth photo in the first folder on my pictures section of the computer, and explain what I find there.

Well, my first folder is tagged AMNH, and the tenth photo is this guy. I hope he didn't stay fast asleep until the museum closed, because we all know what happens then...

The full story behind the picture is that it was taken on 2nd January 2008, during my last trip to New York. I was at the museum with my sister and her husband, taking a break from hanging out with my cousin and my dad. I was feeling over my mild new years hangover, obtained in style at the lovely home of Brooklyn-based jeweller Grayson Mae.

My good friend and super-host Colin was catching up on work after being sick for a while, which appears to happen whenever I visit over new year, so being at a loose end, me and the Buchanans decided to go and do something none of us had done before - I was more keen on eating sushi, buying high-end stationery, celeb-spotting and generally being a bit of a poser down in SoHo when I lived in NY - spending my weekends as far away as possible from where I spent my weekdays shuttling between offices on Madison and Central Park West.

I am trying not to think too hard about the fact that the elephant's rear end may be haunted. I think I'm in the dust corner on the mighty dust vs. orbs debate.

I'm supposed to tag five other people, and I'm spoiled for choice, so I tag YOU!

Stockists round up

Although I'm all about my zine project at the moment, I'm sure loyal readers might remember that I make a few other crafty bits and pieces besides. I have a range of stockists and try to ensure that my range of products is broad, yet organised enough, so that I can offer different outlets the opportunity to host different types of my work.

For example, I love to focus on supplies in my etsy shop, and the base theme for that issue is participating in and supporting others to take up the process of upcycling, as well as all kinds of general craftiness. There are products for paper workers, knitters, seamstresses and the kind of people like me who enjoy a little bit of everything.

So you'll find supplies like plarn for eco-friendly knitters, and hand-punched paper hearts (a by-product from my envelope-making). You can find my envelopes ready to buy in a 4 x 4 inch (10 x 10cm) format, and available on request in a 5 x 5 inch format - this is the perfect size for CDs or DVDs. I've been known to use my envelopes for keeping my PC back-ups organised and dust-free at home, and I've completed several custom orders for wedding photographers to distribute copies of their finished products. They also keep my mix-tape CDs from getting too bashed up in my car. The 4 x 4 inch envelopes are perfect for keeping my crafting supplies organised when I'm sending out mixed orders to customers, and smaller envelopes from my range help keep business cards and thank you notes together in larger packages, too.

So far, I have a limited presence on folksy.com, where I'll be focusing mainly on gift wrap and tags for special occasions. I also regularly destash supplies over on the dreaded eBay, where I'm known as Kippersmum.

If bricks and mortar is more your thing, you can find me at my local independent fashion emporium, Rachael Albert boutique at DeCourcey's arcade in Glasgow's trendy West End. I'm honoured to have my knitwear (gloves and baby jumpers) stocked alongside that of Flossy and Dossy. I find that knitwear does so much better when the customer can smoosh and stroke it, and I also make sure to carry a stash of fingerless gloves with me every time I take part in a craft market, too. No matter what the weather!

For a full range of dinky little treats, in pounds sterling, hop over to The Oriental Magpie. I'm in good company there, with goodies from Hungry Designs and Laura Baillie, too.

A limited range of stock (to be expanded later this year) can be found at new Scottish venture Vertiline in Love.

And just to come full circle, I have a new stockist for my zines. Over at Asking for Trouble, Marceline is expanding the range of zines in her shop with guest publications as well as two new self-penned zines, and the entire Answers on a Postcard series as it progresses.

Happy shopping, however you choose to do it!

Happy New Year!

Here I am, as promised, with the Girl Industries manifesto for 2010!

It looks as though we are going to be moving house and it could well be a renovation job (I'm spending a lot of time looking to A Home for All Seasons for inspiration here), so for the first half of the year at least I'll be scaling back the crafting and making for the shop. One other pressure on my time at the moment is the fact that I absolutely must complete my MSc dissertation by the summertime so there is time for all the administrative process to take place before my final deadline at the end of the year. It's a really prestigious course with the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, so I don't really want to mess it up. It's also pretty important for my day job, and is on a really interesting topic, so I have a lot of time and effort invested in it, it would be such a shame to fall at the last hurdle.

So for 2010, I'll be concentrating on the upcycled envelopes (which are such a joy to make and really becoming very popular), a few little wedding themed bits and pieces, including a wedding zine that I've been working on, a craft kit that I've been putting together (with some help from Marceline of Asking For Trouble) over the last year or so, and, of course, there'll be an Answers on a Postcard zine to look forward to at the end of every month.

I'll be doing very few, if any, markets this year as my weekends will be taken up with research, writing and evaluating for my dissertation study project and I'll have to stop the destash as I start to pack all my crafting hoard away over the next few weeks! I'm sure no-one will want to buy the flat we currently live in with piles of half finished projects and random tins of haberdashery (as lovely as it is) taking over the place. I will be continuing to blog, though, and will bring you updates on my crafty new home as I go.

No doubt I'll be tweeting, too, so you won't miss a thing.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Etsyversary and Etsy Holiday Sale

In a fun twist of fate, Etsy have announced a brilliant weekend of sales from 27 to 30 November! It doesn't just coincide with my planned etsyversary sale (I've been using Etsy for two years on 29th November), but it's also the Thanksgiving holiday weekend in the US. It's a great time to get ready for the big end of year holidays, including Christmas and New Year, and gives everyone a chance to shop in plenty of time.

I have a great selection of special offers to bring to you - all my handknit and handmade holidays items will attract free shipping for the period of the etsy holiday sale, and commercial as well as upcycled supplies in my shop will attract a buy one, get one free discount. It works in the usual way, get the cheaper item for free when you pick two things out of my shop. There will be a 20% discount on every other item in my shop, as well! Woo-hoo!

If you convo me first (or email me at katy [at] girlindustries dot com) I can set up a custom listing for you to make sure that your discounts are included on your invoice. If you add the items to your basket, your discount will be refunded to you via PayPal. Most of the things I have available in my etsy shop are available in larger quantities, so if you want two reels of the same ribbon for your deal, just convo or email me so I can check stock levels and set it up for you.

Even better - once the Etsy Holiday Sale is finished, I'll be continuing with my own little sale from the 1st to the 5th of December - come back to the blog to check for more info!

Exciting times, eh?

I love this ad

I saw this on TV a lot when I was in the US in September and thought I should share it with you. If you like the colour brown, stationery and mail that actually arrives, then you'll like this!

I have 200 hearts

Remember back when I was so excited to have 100 hearts on Craftcult? Now I have 201, and I'm so grateful for each and every one of them. Craftcult is where I found out that I was in a gift guide, and back when I was featured in the Storque (Etsy's blog), too.

Hope you had a good weekend, I'm up to my eyes in wedding planning, MSc submissions and various other projects. Normal blogging service will resume, soon.

In the meantime, I've been reading a lot of Jo's blog about her forthcoming wedding, and I've been eyeing up the cards in RubyRecycled's shop. Wait until you see what they are made of...

Flower of Scotland

How cute are these notecards? They are definitely on my 'to buy' list! I was initially drawn to the design as the thistle is our national emblem here in Scotland, but then I read the story behind the cards and I was immediately touched. Curious? Find out more in nouveaudesigns etsy shop.

Upcycled mailing envelopes - a tutorial

Hey everyone,

I can't take all the credit for this one, as it's a skill I picked up from an envelope I received from Shauna, of Lemondrop Studios. However, thanks to a sunny Sunday morning, my camera and the need for a small, sturdy envelope to send a PIF across the pond, here is my own take on how to change a cereal bar box into a 'do-not-bend-velope'.

First of all, eat your cereal bars. You'll be left with an empty box, like so:

Pay attention to the packaging - this is telling me that it's okay to go ahead and recycle!

Next up, cut along one of the vertical folds, like so:

You'll be left with one long piece of cardboard. You then need to take off the entire front or back panel (up to you, you pick which). I went for the front:

If you turn the loose panel over, you can mark out where you need to trim each edge. Take about a centimetre of each side, otherwise the finished envelope will be too bulky to tape together. You also need to trim a little bit off one of the top edge, but I forgot to take a photo of that part.

Here's the same thing in inches, for my international/older readers:

Also, while you have the scissors, take off that scrappy bit at the bottom. Like this:

It's not entirely clear where I've marked it in pencil, in this photo, but you also need to cut off the corner tabs, and neaten your edges.

You can make the remaining edges look a bit more envelope-like by snipping off the corners a little. Place the trimmed front (or back!) panel onto the larger piece. We're using it that way up so our envelope is nice and blank, instead of patterned. Starting to look like an envelope yet?

Trim off the envelope's flaps where they are looking a bit raggedy. Recycled shouldn't look like it means inferior quality. All we need now is a little bit of tape. This is a bit tricky to do on your own, but if you have a paperweight, mug or heavy stapler handy, that might help you get the tape in the right place.

Et voila! A perfectly functional cardboard envelope... with a past!

New products

In between organising today's Glasgow Craft Mafia Handmade Haven at the Buff, a hectic day job schedule, completing my dissertation proposal and drafting a new zine (stand by for more news on that!), I've also found time to take lovely sunny photos of some of my new products.

I'll be putting them into my shop on etsy.com over the next few days, but here is a sneaky peek for my readers. Plus, enter the code PEEK when you check out and I'll refund 10% of your total product cost for the next 7 days only.

Drumroll please....

We have mini envelopes in shades of the rainbow, and of course security pattern, too.

I think these envelopes are just perfect for sweet little notes for your nearest and dearest. They come in at 3cm square, or just over 1.5 inches square. They're ideal for scrapbookers, or for getting creative in your photo albums, cardmaking or stationery kit.

I'm starting to get even more into scrapbooking emphemera than usual, and have been using offcuts from my envelope making to make really lovely details to embellish your work. I've been working hard on elements of my wedding decoration for later on in the year, and these shapes are playing a big role in my seating planner:

I've been making kraft envelopes for my wedding invitations, but I've also been making fern envelopes for a custom order, so we have scalloped rectangles in that pattern, too.

Even the offcuts from my offcuts are useful. These 'frames' would look great in a scrapbook or photo album. I roadtested them by offering them as a PIF in my shop (PIF stands for Pay It Forward, and means a listing offered at cost. Sellers do this in good faith, to share the good crafty vibes around, and I think it's a great tradition), and they were claimed within hours of me listing them.

I think they would jazz up a plain white envelope no end, too. What would you use one for?