Here I am!

It just struck me that some people visiting this blog, especially those coming via Blogtoberfest *waves* might not know exactly where to find me online other than this blog. So I thought I would tell you all :) If you know all of this already then feel free to ignore me and go about your daily business!

Selling wise (which I will get out of the way first), you can find me on Etsy and also Folksy selling my upcycled treasures. I also have a range of chicken doorstops on Dorothy and Theodore - the fabrics used there are exclusive to them (in doorstop versions)

I also have a vintage shop online called Anya's Attic after our elder daughter! It sells lots of different things and is crying out to have the gorgeous things I found in France over the summer added to it. I just need extra hours in the day!

I am an avid Tweeter and am nearing 25,000 tweets! Erm, maybe that's where I can gain my extra hours from! I also have a Facebook business page, which I resisted at first, but now I love it :) You can find me too on Flickr, Linkedin and I also run Cuteable which is sometimes a chore yet at other times I find it thrilling to be looking at and finding all the cute out there.

My favourite thing at the moment (and something else I resisted) is Pinterest. It's fan-dabby-dozy and I love that I have somewhere to store all the great things I come across on the internet.

Like this cool tree.

And this yummy bread

And things that make me drool like this chair :)

So, where do you hang out online?
Do you have a Twitter or Pinterest addiction like me?
Are questions at the end of blog posts annoying or do they encourage you to comment?

Look it's me! Being slightly famous!!

Artists' Hang Out from Lewis Rennison on Vimeo.


I'm in the red skirt being the life model! I look really cross and grumpy but I was trying to concentrate on not moving :) If you are near Colne/Skipton etc and are interested in attending Artists Hangout then look at the group on Facebook - it's a great way of meeting lots of fellow crafty/artistic/musical people.

The video was made by Lewis Rennison :)

Some changes :)

I went to a networking meeting the other day as an 'advisor' to people on setting up online shops through a local craft group I belong to. I gave some advice which I hope was well received! Rachel Johns was also there as an advisor and gave us some very good advice about Etsy, Facebook and Twitter.

Lion gift tags - just because!

Rachel has recently turned her Etsy shop back to US$ as she had noticed a dramatic drop in her sales when she had changed it to GB£. I changed my shop to GB£ when the announcement came out from Etsy that you could choose your own currency. I've also noticed a downshift in the number of sales I am getting through Etsy but put it down to the recession etc. Anyway I have changed my Etsy shop back to US$ to see how it goes. If it doesn't work out then I can always change it back again. It will be a bit more work for me as I will have to check the exchange rate fairly regularly but not too much and if the benefits are good then I won't mind at all! Rachel also pointed out that as Etsy is an American site, most buyers go to it geared up for spending in dollars. People in America expect it and if anyone from elsewhere in the world is going to Etsy then they will be willing to buy in dollars anyway.

Peter and Jane stickers

Matt also pointed out that most people in the UK have a rough idea of what a US$ is worth against the £ and I'm pretty sure that his logic applies to most other countries in the world. However, he pointed out that many people in America won't know what a dollar is worth against a pound, a euro or an Australian dollar. Another valid point!

Rachel also talked a bit about automatic updates to Facebook and Twitter. I am an avid Twitter user but I used not to use Facebook at all - maybe once a month. I do have a business page alongside my personal page but it wasn't being updated. So I set up automatic feed from my two shops so that when I listed something new, a post would automatically go to Facebook. It worked for a while and did the job of making sure that my Facebook page ticked over. And it did just that, ticked over - nothing more. Rachel said that she got a lot more response on Twitter when she added a link to her blog herself rather than as an automatic update and I must admit that I have found the same on Facebook. So the automatic updates have gone from my Facebook pages - any updates from now on will be typed with my own fair fingers :)

If you have an Etsy shop I would love to know if you sell in your own currency or in US$ and what your experiences have been. Also any Facebook or Twitter stories are welcome too :)

What a lovely way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

We had such a fun afternoon yesterday at the Leeds Scrapstore - we all went, Matt, me and the girls and met up with lots of lovely people such as Kirsten, Mich, Tracey and others including Louise who runs the scrapstore. We managed a good rummage through the stock, a good natter and of course, some tea and cake! The girls also had a rummage and then made things with what they had found.

There are lots of lovely bins and shelves to rummage through.

There are lots of things to look at - I love that heron!

Look at the giraffe and the chandeliers.

I was good and resisted the buttons (but didn't resist some fabulous fabric!)

Kirsten and Matt having a good natter!

Two busy crafters!

It was a great day out and come Septemeber when I will have full school days to myself I will venture over again :)

Facebook Friday

Now, as Kirsten knows, I have a bit of a thing about Facebook and hadn't used it for a long time even though I have had an account there ages. You can find me here btw! Well I took a huge bite of that bullet and set up a fan page for Swirlyarts! I'm still slowly finding my way around but I'm liking it so far. I also like that I have linked all my shops up to that page so it automatically posts when anything new goes into my shop.

I'm also thinking about Facebook specific giveaways so stay tuned and feel free to 'like me' Also let me know in the comments if you have a fan page so I can keep up with what you are doing too :)

Folksy party - the full details!

Right, you have already seen my stall so it is time to show off everyone else's. First though have a look at the space in Keighley Arts Factory - it's great and the light was very good too.

From one end

And looking back from the other. If you are wondering what the sheep are in the middle of the space then look here. I can guarantee that they look great in real life too!

In no particular order here are the stalls.

My Furoshiki

Angels and Butterflies

Mrs Sew and Sew

A.Deegan. I think my next purchase may have to be one of her 'Betty's Hen' prints!

Dig The Earth

Print For Love Of Wood

Ruby Spirit Designs

Buri Boo

And I have a confession to make - I haven't got a photograph of Kirsten (Quernus Crafts) stall as every time I got my camera out she had people there. And everyone knows you don't disturb a crafter when they have people at their stall! I know Kirsten took a picture of her stall so I will try and grab one for you later.

Also there were some Folksy folk who attended who didn't have stalls. Laura's Little Lovelies, Sadi Soul and Dichroic Dazzle, who should get special mention as she travelled all the way up from Birmingham! If I've forgotten anyone then let me know!

As well as setting up stalls so we could show off our work we also had two workshops to attend. Wax batik run by Jo of Glassprimitif (who incidentally organised the event too) and a Letterpress workshop run by Jax of Print For Love Of Wood. Both were excellent and below you can see what I made in the Wax Batik workshop.

Not bad for a first attempt I thought!

I also didn't leave empty handed and bought a couple of things too :)

A gorgeous button print (that just had to be mine) from Dig The Earth and a cute Santa cat from Quernus Crafts. I'd been eyeing up the print for ages and was then mortified when I thought Mich from My Furoshiki had bought it - luckily she was just holding it so she could look at the equally gorgeous butterfly print behind! Phew!

Well that was a mammoth post - pat yourself on the back if you got to the end :)