Etsy in Wonderland - Treasury

The treasury I made last night was inspired by themes from Alice In Wonderland.

Etsy sellers, from left to right: The Nebulous Kingdom, Apak, Andy's House, Niko Art, Little Elfs Toyshop, Wakuseiya, Just Be Designs, Darkling Woods, Lilla Lotta, Another Feather, Elsita, Naokosstoop.

There are so many lovely handmade items on Etsy which have been inspired by Alice in Wonderland, I will be doing another treasury with the same theme... so watch this space if you like this!

I did read the book many many years ago when I was a nipper, but about 15 years ago (when I was a very moody teenager) I came across and became a big fan of Jan Svankmajer's "Alice". If you haven't heard of it, you really need to watch it (see below, first of nine parts). It's a fantastically imaginiative, dark and memorable stop-motion film based on Alice in Wonderland. In my opinion, it's the best version in film, both for children and adults alike.

Joey x

Bunnigami! Simple Origami with Bunnies Part 5

Hello! As always, bunnigami is just slightly late... whoops! This time, you can learn how to make a crane. This is perhaps the most widely-recognised origami model, and there is a tradition in Japan that if you make a thousand cranes, you will be granted a wish.

You will need to know how to make the preliminary base first; this is covered in the instructions on how to make the waterbomb.

Click on the two pictures below to make them larger.

Now you've made one crane, you only have another 999 to make until your wish can be granted...

Good luck and happy folding!

Joey x

Camera Camaraderie: Treasury

Last week we went to the National Media Museum (NMM) in Bradford, which has inspired this treasury.

Sellers above , from left to right: Majesty Inc, Yaelfran, Japonicas, Ura Star House, CB78, Little Big Pants, Two Guitars, Moy Toys, Vivienne Strauss, Artsy, Sewn by Blythe, Roberta Grove.

Don't read the next paragraph if you would rather not read about morbid things. Just skip to the next paragraph after the photo of the television.

I had been to the museum before about 13 years ago, when it was still known as the National Photography, Film and Television Museum. The main thing I can remember from that first visit was a special exhibition of Victorian photographs of the recently deceased. It was very moving, although more than a little disturbing to me and others I was with, as this isn't a concept we're used to these days. Even though we hear about violence and death all the time through television, internet and the press, we aren't generally shown dead people because it's considered in bad taste to do so, therefore I found it quite surprising to see such a large collection of "death portraits" (often babies and children in their parents arms or in coffins, as if peacefully sleeping) from a time I perceived to have far more taboos about death than we have today. Seeing those photographs made me feel sad, not just because they commemorated the death rather than life of that person, but also because their family wanted to remember the moment of their death, and that they will keep that photograph to look at again.

Anyway, the NMM these days has a variety of interactive displays to entertain children and extensive collections of photographic and televisual equipment and memorabilia for all us geeks! I really enjoyed looking at vintage and antique camera designs, and I took quite a lot of pictures which you can see on my flickr stream: pictures of National Media Museum. I particularly liked the tiny Sony portable television which comes in it's very own cute little case! How cool is that? I really like it's minimal design, sleek but clunky at the same time. And I just happen to have a photograph of an advert for this exact model, which was in an early 1970s tourist guide to Japan.

Cheers for reading!

Joey :-)

Button Up!

If you are a sewer, embroiderer, knitter or like making all sorts of crafty things, then like me, you're probably obsessed with buttons and will happily spend all your pocket money on them, whether you actually need them or intend to ever use them, or not! Well, if this is you, then it's likely that you'll like this treasury!

Sellers, from left to right:
Made for Fun, The Black Apple, Chanchke Designs, Jilliann's, Hand Knitted Things, Soap Store, Sweetgum Handbags, Brandywine, Veronica Buttons, Sugar Inc, Hydra Heart, Namolio.

Enjoy!
Joey xx

NEW! Joey's Dream Garden Badges!

Bowls of Badges!, originally uploaded by Joey 7.

Yippee! My badges came this morning, which only took 2 days for the brilliant Brilliant Badges to make! I recommend them.

I wanted a way to enable more people to own my designs without me having to sew night & day to make enough things & make my fingers bleed... so there are sets of four cute little badges available in my Etsy shop now!

If you are in the Sheffield or Derbyshire area you may be interested to visit the little picturesque village of Tissington on either 8th or 9th August where i'll be doing the Tissington Village Hall craft fair on both days. It's opposite the duck pond, and opening times are from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Cheers
Joey x

Bunnigami! Simple Origami with Bunnies Part 4

Oh whoops! A bit late again I'm afraid, I was very busy yesterday! Lame excuse... Here's what I'm making at the moment, bunny pouches embroidered with my bunny drawings. This is the first one:

Here is the next part of the bunnigami series, a waterbomb this time. Click on the pictures to get a bigger and clearer view of the text.

Good luck with the waterbomb, I hope you enjoy making it!

Best wishes

Joey x

Pinky Olives Etsy Treasury

This is my current treasury west list, what do you think? I really like these colours together, but I didn't know that until I came across Pirilampo Riscardo's super-sweet and unusual seed pod choker in salmon, olive, chocolate and cream (imagine THAT as the foodstuffs all together! Maybe not so good!). This inspired me to find more things with the same colour combination and these are the fruits of my labours!

Featured Etsy sellers, from left to right:
Uncommon, Pirlampo Riscardo, Lic Gifts, 5 Gardenias, Stash/Mariforssell, Pen Felt, Circs, Thumble, Amanda Archer, Jazz Baby 1920, Utile Mud, Golly Bard

Enjoy!
Joey x