Felt Flower Corsages

Thank you, dear blogging friends, for all your encouraging comments on my last post!  The fact that lots of you also feel nervous before craft fairs made me feel much better.  

The fair went really well in the end, and there was absolutely no reason at all for me to have been so nervous beforehand.  Though I know I'll be JUST as worried next time!  ;-)

Annoyingly, I completely forgot to take my camera with me.  So I can't show you any photos of my stall.  

Instead, I thought I'd show you some felt flower corsages that I made for the fair.  Cheery colours on a dreary day..... 

Until next time.....

Carly

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Sewing Update

I was having a little look through my last few posts this morning, and realised that I haven’t done a ‘show and tell’ of what I’ve been up to on my sewing machine for AAAAAGES!!! 

I’ve shared crocheting, book reviews, paper crafts, bargain buys, photography, knitting, poetry, crafty gifts I’ve received, and even (shock of shocks)..... baking!  But, I haven’t shared any of my sewing with you since February.  And that’s very silly indeed, as I spend most of my time sewing and I ♥ SEWING most out of all my crafting adventures!

So, here’s just a teeny-weeny taster of what I’ve been busying myself with over the past few weeks.....

[lots of colourful little rosettes]

[a spotty carry-all bag in my latest favourite colour combo]

[another carry-all bag.....]

[... and another!]

[some little gadget cases - for iphones, cameras, etc.]

[red and navy felt flower corsage]

[orange and purple felt flower corsage]

[purple and yellow felt flower corsage]

[some make-up/toiletry bags]

[kids' apron.....]

[...that's reversible]

[and another one....]

[... also reversible]

I’ll be putting some of these in to my Etsy and Misi stores, and I’ll be saving others for some fairs and markets I hope to be doing over the summer months (my first fairs/markets ever).

Happy weekend, lovely blogging friends!

Carly

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Carly's Handmade Christmas

Thanks for the inspiration for this post's title, Kirstie Allsopp!

I know that it's a bit late in coming, but I wanted to show you some of the Christmas presents I made for friends and family.  I guess it would have made more sense to share these with you BEFORE Christmas, but I didn’t want to risk spoiling the surprise for any of the recipients who may have sneaked a look on here!  Now that all of the gifts have been given, though, it safe to post photos.....

[a make-up bag for Mom.....]

[... and a make-up bag for Nan]

[a felt flower corsage for my sister]

[a case for Nan's new mobile phone]

[my first felting project - a brooch for Mom]

[a hat for a friend's baby - great 

free pattern from the lovely Susie F]

[Köln/Cologne - giant letters for my 

sister, who moved there in the summer]

[a carry-all bag - also for my sister]

There were quite a few MORE handmade pressies too.  But these were finished-off after we left for the UK, and I didn’t get around to photographing them.  I knitted a scarf for my granddad, a hat for my nephew, and some THINGS for my dad and Simon (they were quite funny and might give you a laugh, so I’ll get some photos and share with you another time.....).  I also made a project bag for my mother-in-law, an iphone case for my sister, some Christmas decorations.....

Phew!  That sounds like a LOT now I’ve listed them all!  I’d better get started on NEXT year’s Christmas gifts NOW.....  ;-)

I’ll be back soon, to show you some of the goodies that Santa left for ME.....

Carly

x 

Christmas Open House Party

I did it!!!  I survived the preparations for my Crafted by Carly Open House Party!!!  It went ahead on Thursday and, all in all, it was pretty successful.  I was a little bit disappointed that more people didn’t pop in to have a browse.  I decided to have it on a week-day-evening, as I thought people might be busier at weekends at this time of year.  Maybe I’ll try the weekend next time, and see if that makes a difference.  BUT, those who did stop by seemed to really enjoy the get-together.  The glühwein went down very well indeed (and the house still smells of it – mmmmmmm)!  I got lots of positive feedback from people about my things, and some suggestions about things I could add to my list of ‘things I make for selling purposes’, and I managed to sell quite a lot of my bits and bobs.  "THANK YOU!!!" to those of you who were here!!! 

Here are some photos of my makes for the event.....

There were lots of things for the grown-ups:

[Toiletry Bags]

[Carry-all Bags]

[Gadget Cases]

[Felt Flower Corsages]

[Purses]

And some things for the little ones:

[Little Girls' Bags]

[Kids' Aprons]

['Find-it' Games]

And, of course, some Christmassy thingies:

[Little Christmassy Houses]

[Stockings]

[I like how they looked all hanging up together!!!]

Here's how my dining room looked on the night of the party:

And what did I learn from my experience?

·         I was right to start setting up the day before (it took me AAAGES to get everything looking as I wanted it to look).

·         It was good to have someone there to help out with serving drinks and letting people in (S was my little helper on this occasion), so that I could be free to chat about my things and generally mingle with people.  S thought he should wear just his trousers and a bowtie for his job on the evening, but we decided against that idea.  Maybe next time???

·         I need to get better at talking about the things I make.  I like them (of course – or I wouldn’t make them), but find it really difficult to ‘sell’ them to other people.  Any tips there???

·         Perhaps the day/time I chose wasn’t ideal.  Next time, I’ll try a weekend.  Around this time of year, it’s hard to know when most people will be free (and have husbands/babysitters at home).  Tricky!!!

·         I think I should have sent out more invitations.  And I should have sent my advertising postcards out with them (as these show the kinds of things I make).  I’m going to have a think about other options for advertising future events too.  Again, does anyone have any good tips on that???

If you stopped by on Thursday, thank you SO much for being supportive.  I really appreciate the fact that you took the time to call in!!!  And thank you to all my super blogging pals for all your words of encouragement and advice.  I wish you could all have been here to share a glühwein too!!!

Until next time.....

Carly

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Online Shop Open for Business

I have some very exciting news to share with you.....  I’ve just opened my first ever online shop!  So, now you can find me on the MISI (Make it, Sell it) site, as well as my other homes on the web.  I spent pretty-much the whole day yesterday uploading photos and text and now, at last, I’m open for business!

Hooray!!!

Here are some of the things you can find on the shelves:

As I’ve never tried selling my things online before, I’m a bit nervous about the whole thing.  So, I have a HUGE favour to ask you all.....  I’d REALLY appreciate it if you could find a few minutes to visit my shop (www.misi.co.uk/handmade/craftedbycarly) and give me some feedback on what you think of it.  Any comments, thoughts, suggestions, or questions would be very gratefully received.  You can get in touch with me by leaving a comment below, or by emailing me at craftedbycarly@yahoo.com.

Now I just have to keep my fingers crossed that browsers will like my things..... 

Carly

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