A treasury for twilight on Tuesday

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Here:

Line up

No, my house isn't on fire, I think I must need to clean the lens on my phone camera.  I'm trying to do a quick post a day to take advantage of the fact that my phone and iPad both have cameras and it's pretty convenient, the only problem I'm finding is that most of my crafting is done by night.  While it's been sunny in the day time since the start of the year, I've been wrangling a toddler so taking photos is at best inconvenient, or when we're out and about, can be a bit dangerous.  This is a last set of notecards in this style and colour, which are on their way to London as I type. 

I don't have any more of this particular card stock left, but I do have more cards already made up in a postage stamp and security envelope patterns, made with this lovely grey card that came from deadstock in Arizona.  I'll have to get the security envelope bunting ones in the shop asap - another thing for the 2013 to do list!

More sneak peaks of new products

Coming soon to folksy and etsy...

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!

When life hands you lemons...

A new-ish treasury

New in the shop!

These gorgeous little envelopes and matching embellished flat cards are available in the girlindustries etsy shop right now! At $4 for a set of 5, they come in at a dinky 7 x 11cm, or 4 1/4 x 2 7/8 inches.

Upcycled from a day to a page calendar, each set of five notecards includes a variety of cats and background colours in each set.

PIF of the week

This week you can get my TP in the park brooch for just the cost of shipping and my Etsy listing fee. My day job colleague Emily helped me come up with this idea to celebrate Music Festival Season (because you can never have too much loo roll at a festival), and as this year's season is in full flow, this is my gift to you!

Buy it now in the Girl Industries Etsy shop.

PIF of the week and a zines update

As I clear out my craft room I've found a lot of projects that I simply ran out of steam with, and decided not to continue. It's all good stuff that I've put time and effort into, so I've decided to offer it in my Etsy store as a PIF of the week. If you haven't come across a PIF before, or you have but don't know what it stands for, it's Pay It Forward, and it means that the buyer only has to cover P&P and your Etsy listing fees to take it off your hands. So I'll update you here every Monday about forthcoming PIFs of the week, and hopefully you'll find a bargain that's just up your street!

First up is this set of hand-cut upcycled luggage tags. I was originally going to use them as part of my packaging, but changed my plans once I realised no two of my sales were alike, so different packaging solutions were called for every time. The tags are unstrung, blank kraft on the reverse and are just shy of business card size - around 3 x 5cm

More sale-type action can be found over at Pushpin Zines with a special offer on the Answers on a Postcard series - with THREE new zines added to the series. The new issues are exclusive to Pushpin until the end of August so grab them while they're hot! Find out more about the new questions and answers over at Pushpin by clicking on details of #9, 10 and 11.

Coming soon... buttons!

The crafty destash continues... look out for a whole new section of reclaimed and vintage buttons in the girlindustries etsy shop soon.

Treating myself

picture by Lu Summers of Summersville

I decided it was time to behave more like an adult and less like a student so I treated myself to a wonderful matching set of mugs from Summersville. If you'd like to upgrade your mug cupboard, visit the Summersville Etsy Shop to buy a Bloomsbury mug or six!

New banner!

So I obtained myself a new banner for my etsy shop and thought you'd like to hear the story behind it. Like most things I seem to buy these days I heard about it first on Twitter. An art student called Mia made it for me, she is charging a dollar a word to write anything within reason in chalk on the pavement. Just click here if you'd like something of your very own. All proceeds go towards paying off her student loans and having finally cleared my (twelve year old) student debt a couple of months ago, I am all for helping someone else on her way to early repayment.

Mia also sells her art through this page on her website. I love her style and there are lots of purposeful and beautiful things to pick from. I particularly like her handmade yet practical playing cards set. Gorgeous!

I'm very tempted to get another message for a very unique birthday greeting for my husband next month, or my little girl's name to frame and put on her bedroom door. Oh the possibilities!

Break out the bunting, I'm unstoppable!

I'm really ploughing through a whole lot of unfinished projects at the moment, and feeling pretty chuffed with myself. I've updated the shop with three new products this week, and the latest is timed to tie in with Royal Wedding Fever!

For years I've been putting little hearts in my knitting as a little kind of 'trademark', especially when I was making hats for Innocent's big knit. And of course there's almost a whole section of my etsy shop dedicated to confetti hearts. I've wanted to make miniature bunting for ooh, ages, and with my recent wedding-related cross-stitching project, all these ideas collided in a big flash of inspiration and here's the result:

I wish I was back at my day job at the moment so I could pop a string of this bunting on my desk in time for Friday. However, I am also aware of the fact that I would have to be doing work if I were sitting at my desk, so I'm kind of glad I don't have to be back for another three months!

Of course, this bunting is endlessly customisable, in different colours and even with letters spelling out 'bride', 'groom', 'wedding', the date of the wedding or the names of the happy couple. Or all of these things! Each square is 2cm by 2cm, uses dmc threads and the aida is backed with a layer of fluffy felt, to keep it in good shape. Luckily my stitching is pretty neat, even on the back, but I felt (ahem!) that the layer of felt just finished it off nicely.

Head over the shop now to pick some up - if you're in the UK, I'll even rush it out to you in time for Friday!

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.

Lavender cats are back!

Back in the Girl Industries etsy shop and new to the folksy shop, too! New colourways will be coming soon, as I'm down to my last dozen of these handy little scented cats.

Back in Business

Wow, where did that month go? I've been busy getting my flat in Glasgow ready to go on the market, and of course, most days are taken up with counting blocks, supervising the jumperoo and ensuring that all the scissors are out of reach. Why does crafting have to involve so many pointy and/or sharp implements?

But I recently made my first sale on Etsy in ages, so that means I'm very much back on track to start making and participating in all things crafty once again. At the moment everything in the shop is in stock and ready to ship, because I've been working on a huge custom order for my good friend Julie, who is getting married in just a few weeks.

Next on the slate is to finally finish off the series of craft zines that I've been working on for ooh, nearly two years now. If I've asked you for answers and you haven't had time to get back to me yet, now is the time to do it! I'm hoping to pull all the remaining issues together between now and the end of May, so I would love your input. If you haven't taken part and want a questions list, hit me up at katy girlindustries.com right now and get involved. There's room for everyone!

The antidote to Valentine's Day

is this beautiful black and white treasury from etsy artist SunshineScot. Happy 14th!

Happy New Year!

Aaargh, we've had no internet for the past week and I'm itching to get my shop back up and running. So here it is, with a soft relaunch, and more new ideas and a big sale to come once I have a little time to get organised.

Happy twenty eleven!

Most Haunted

So here in detail are some of the products I've splurged on over the last couple of years at Haunt. I was introduced to Haunt when Erin was Etsy's featured seller for a weekend. Being a bit of a fan of seller interviews anyway (have I mentioned my Answers on a Postcard zine...?), I'm always a bit of a sucker for the products associated with the featured seller interview, especially when Etsy focuses on established rather than new sellers.

It seems as though Erin's friendly and down to earth interview chimed with many Etsy shoppers, not to mention her beautifully presented products with intriguing descriptions, and sales went through the roof. Literally. In the space of a weekend, Erin made something like 3000 sales. This is not an exaggeration. Enhancing the luxury problem at hand, I joined in and made my first purchase - it was a biggie! In late 2008, I decided to stock up the hunting lodge I had rented for my hen weekend with Haunt products. With 3 bathrooms and 12 guests, I splurged on 3 soaps (Raspberry Honey, Corsair and Pan), 3 sugar scrubs (Mintleaf & mocha, Spiceberry and Marzipan & Shortbread) and 3 glossing oil sprays (Bourbon Vanilla, Empire and Orange Blossom) - I also asked Erin for sample sizes of 12 different soaps for my friends' goodie bags - these included Bittersweet, Pumpkin Lavender and Turkish Cocoa.

I like to break down the three different types of scent that Haunt produces into three categories, Fruit-y, Cake-y and Haunt-y. The fruity scents, like Orange Blossom, The Old Cider Mill and Spiceberry are clean yet warm fragrances, with a zesty but warm feel. The cakey type ones you feel like you could eat then and there in the shower, especially the ones with a pumpkin flavour to them. I like to keep a tupperware with a bar of Pumpkin Lavender soap in my overnight bag for work trips, as it's such a warm, comforting and homely scent. I am also very impressed with the Coffee Fiend flavour haunt scrub I have on the go at the moment, it's the next best thing to having an actual coffee in there to help me wake up.

The fragrances that I'd describe as Haunty like Corsair, Pan and the newer Burying Tree and Witch-Wife are a really unusual blend of botanicals that are somewhat indescribeable - in a good way! They're so different to anything else I've used in the past, and can sometimes take a little getting used to. For ages I really wasn't sure about the sample of Sword and Lion as a fragrance, but now I'm tempted to buy some glossing oil in this scent if it's available in the next Haunt sale.

Now I realise I've spent a lot of time talking about fragrances and how good these products smell and make you feel, but I've said nothing about how well they treat your skin! The soaps are amazing, they are lovely and chunky and wash down nicely, holding their shape and never cracking or drying out. And of course they do the same to your skin, most of the time I don't need to moisturise after using them. The sugar scrubs are a revelation, I'd never tried one before and the mix of sugar with natural oils does wonders for any rough patches you might have - and with the weather we're having in Scotland at the moment (-19 C yesterday at my house!), they are sooo handy. I don't tend to use moisturiser as it just sits on my skin and takes up time I don't have in the mornings, but the dry oil sprays sink straight in, soften my skin without making it feel greasy (unlike moisturising lotions). I don't use lip balms but have bought Haunt Lust lip balms in the past for friends and my husband, who suffers from dry lips and has found it works better than reliable high street names. There are more new products in the latest Haunt line which I can't wait to try out, if they're anywhere near as good as my old favourites!

Speaking of which, the next Haunt sale starts this evening! Previews of new products in brand new packaging will be up on the new Big Cartel Haunt shop from 9pm UK time, and the shop will open at 2am our time. It's your perfect opportunity to pick up a little present for yourself, or to add to your Christmas gifts. If you're catching up with me later and you've missed out this time, hop over to Erin's blog to find out about future sales. They are few and far between, and I promise you, all the fuss is worth it!

Just like Christmas

Oh I love receiving parcels from Haunt! Haunt is my favourite supplier of bathtime goodies - even more vital now that bathtime is my only me-time! Due to the immense popularity of Erin's wonderful shop, it now opens at limited times during the year, and I like to stock up while I can.

Haunt goodies are such a treat, you can smell the rich autumnal fragrances before even opening the package. To add to the Old Cidermill Glossing Oil, Golden Pumpkin and Coffee Scrubs, and Pumpkin Lavender soap I currently have lined up next to my bath, I picked up some of Erin's newer products.

Each product was individually wrapped with such attention to detail - even down to a wax seal on a sample of fragrance that Erin so kindly included as a gift. And of course the packaging is all on my favourite Autumnal colour spectrum, lots of lovely brown!

The soaps look good enough to eat, don't they?

And of course the joy of buying handmade is that everyone is just so lovely - as a repeat customer I love to be remembered, and as a mum, I love it when the littl'un is remembered too. Thank you so much, Erin!



I'll be back with some in-depth reviews of these products as I break into them - they are too good not to share. Bookmark Haunt's shop on Etsy now, so you don't miss out next time the doors creak open...

A different Amelia

I just noticed that one of my Etsy addictions, Made By Hank, has a new style of bag for her new shop over at Big Cartel.

How tempting!

Get yours here once they are back in stock...