Jewellery - A Custom Order

A few weeks ago I was talking away and the next thing I knew I had a custom order.
So I posted some beads on Instagram in blue. The rest is history.

My crafting countdown

I have not been blogging recently as I have been getting ready for my International Basketball tournament.  All the gifts people made have been gone to the athletes and they are busy playing.

Leading up to the championship I posted some countdown photos.  I have made a video of the photos but will explain the meaning to you.

Day 7:  At my day job we have a reindeer who is part of the team and I dressed him up with a basketball vest.  I was wearing a handmade top from a pattern called Sorbetto by Colette Patterns.

Day 6:  These were some of the basketballs that didn't get made into cufflinks for gifts to athletes.

Day 5:  These scraps of fabric are from five items of clothing I have made over the years.  The scraps are going to be made into patchwork.  I have never done it before but should look good.

Day 4:  This photo has four of the different gifts given to the athletes at the European Wheelchair Basketball Championships

Day 3:  Pin badges are always exchanged at international basketball tournaments and these three pins are from the major championships held in the West Midlands.

Day 2:  I love beads and being able to convey a message with them was great fun.

Day 1:  Mandeville was the mascot from Paralympics 2012 and there was a number of silver charms available so I got a basketball.

The tournament went well and the video can be watched here.  The music I used in the video was called "Many Hands" and I would like to thank many hands who made gifts, I really appreciate your help.

Love Your Blog: Ugly

 As part of the Love Your Blog challenge the third prompt was ugly more importantly what to do when blogging ugly.

 Starting this prompt is made me think quite hard, being ugly is not always visual.  So for some people someone else's appearance might seem ugly, but somebody's actions can be seen as ugly as well.

 My health has been more than ugly and my issues with dyslexia sometimes stops me from writing this blog.  It also spurs me to write my blogs and contribute to another.  Over 2 and a half years ago I had a knee injury just as I started selling my beaded jewellery at craft fairs.  This affected all aspects of my life, then I was hit with severe cold hands and turned out to be primary Raynauds.  On top of this I have been struggling with pain from endometriosis & fibroids.

These issues have been a real bind and I haven't been making as much as I would like to but I have been concentrating on my website, the quality of my product photography and my online presence.  I am very lucky to have a photography club at my day job and you can see some of my photos on Flickr and a previous blog entry.  I also went to a really good product photography workshop run by Blue Strawberry Design Studio, I think there is another one coming up in June.

With not making and selling came little interaction and then I start a vicious cycle of looking at my stats.  No one is looking at my website, no-one is buying what I do have made blah blah.  So I need to make more of an effort to interact with people and not to worry too much if I haven't had lots of likes, shares or comments.

Love Your Blog: Beginnings

Beginnings was the week two prompt from the Love Your Blog Challenge.  So I thought I would take this opportunity to share my beginnings as Poppybead.

When I turned 30 I found out that I have dyslexia, I completed a degree and other qualifications.  But I wanted to do my GCSE english again, so alongside studying for my GCSE I wanted to learn how to make something.  Beaded jewellery was my chosen media.

I began blogging in August 2010 to share what I was making and my crafting experiences.  I started here on Blogspot but found it difficult to use on mobile devices, so started looking at different options.  I tried Tumblr, signed up for Wordpress  and then settled for blogging straight onto my website.  This has become long winded and slows down my blogging.  You have to resize photos, not enough readership and after looking at Bloglovin the wrong internet language.

Poppybead is not the only blog I write or contribute to.  I follow a gluten free diet to help with pain control of Endometriosis.  I didn't think crafting people would want to hear about where I went to eat or what I had for dinner so I have started a separate blog for my ramblings.  I am in the process of moving this content onto Wordpress.
I came accross Wordpress as I contribute to the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation's blog.  A lot of my weekends during September and May are spent as a basketball official.  Again lots of people I have met through crafting are not keen on sport but wanted to follow my journey as an official at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.  Nearly three years on I am still on my basketball journey so still contribute to the blog.

Going back to Poppybead I am on the road to recovery after some health issues and have some more beginnings to start so watch this space.

Love Your Blog: Community and Interaction

Welcome back to the Poppybead crafting blog on Blogspot.  I had been experimenting with other platforms and they have not been working for me, so I am back.

Since I have been away I have still been blogging and I will transfer content across as soon as I can.  Whilst being online I have become addicted to Instagram and Pinterest.  I posted a photo asking for suggestions of crafting podcasts I could watch/listen to and the community of Instagram gave more options than I could of imagined.

One of the suggestions was A Playful Day podcast.  They are running "An Inspired 2015" and this includes Love your Blog Challenge.  I am bit late writing  about April's subjects but better late than never.

The first prompt was Community and Interaction.  I have a presence on Twitter, a page on Facebook, Ravelry, Instagram, Pinterest, a shop on Etsy & a website.  I am really appreciative of all the followers, likes and sales I have made through these through these platforms.
Something seems to be missing, human interaction!  Sometimes I love to meet people and sometimes I don't but more love.  So I through the group Handmade is Hot on Facebook,  I did my first craft fair and have been to some creative networking events.

On Twitter I found a free small business start up course, Ravelry gave me the opportunity to join some knitting groups locally and learning at work week let me find other crafting colleagues in my day job.

I don't post the same things on all platforms for instance I don't share my gluten free food ideas on Facebook, I have a separate blog as well.

For me there has been a lot of trial and error but I am still learning.  Love your blog challenge is a great way to keep learning.

Decisions

Hello there.

I have been deciding what to do with a number of things.  The first decision I made was to get an accountant to do my self assessment.  Some crafters probably think the money could be spent elsewhere but as a dyslexic it's was one less thing to think about.

Another decision I have made was to cancel my current Eshop website, this was for financial reasons.  I can't believe it has been a year since I set it up.  It has been good experience to learn about html, taking good clear photos, selling online & what doesn't work.

Before Christmas I bit the bullet and did my first craft fair.  It was good fun, successful and a learning process.  It was a big decision for me to make but I am glad I did.

Another thing I decided is to incorporate my love of Basketball with crafting and made some cufflinks.  I also have been experimenting with Polymer clay, so watch this space for more handmade beads.

www.poppybead.co.uk will be back as soon as I make a decision I am happy with.

What's been happening? - Part 1

Hi there

It has been too long since I blogged on my own blog.  Before, during and after the Paralympics in London I have been blogging on behalf on the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF).  

Since September I have been planning a few things such as new business cards, doing my first craft fair and building on what I have achieved so far.

My first craft fair took place on Saturday 1st December and it was enjoyable.  I will definitely do another fair at Christmas and another event with Space Hopper Events.

Some of my earrings

The stall on the actual day

Stitch Markers

Stitch Markers

Part 2 of what is happening will be on it's way. 

Catch up

How many times do you hear "We must catch up?" and then you don't.  Quite a few I reckon, well since my last blog entry I have been kinda busy.


Near the beginning of June I officiated a tri-nations wheelchair basketball tournament. Then straight after I held my first creative networking event.  After listening to Rebecca from The Creative Careers Coach, it was so exciting to see people mingling and talking.  I can't thank Rebecca enough and everyone who came.  I will be holding another one but once my London 2012 commitments are over.


I have also been busy taking pictures of poppies as I have decided to update the website with some images.  One of my dearest friends got married and I got the chance to see some friends and old work colleagues I haven't seen in ages. 

I've also been sewing and knitting, I am now known to be knitting when I get downtime at Basketball tournaments.  So I thought I would try and get organised and made a case for my interchangeable knitting needles, I am really pleased with the final case.  I didn't follow a pattern but a knitting friend gave me some great advice and I followed it.

I have been knitting but as a lot of knitters will know I have lots of WIP's (Work In Progress) so no pictures at the moment.  I have made some new items for the website but I have not been happy with the photos so watch out for updates.

A colourful year - Part 2

At the beginning of last month I wrote about a colour challenge.  Below is my April project a yellow cushion cover.  I didn't use a pattern, just used my creativity and made it up.

I am really happy with the finished item and it's really comfortable.  

As it's Bank holiday Monday I have been inspired to start May's colour challenge, which is lime green.

I have decided to cover some beads with fabric.  The fabric was given to me by my mum who goes to sewing classes and when I asked for scraps this was amongst them.

Then after having a Twitter conversation with a friend I found a tutorial on how to cover beads.

I have cut my strips and managed to cover one bead so far, only nine more to go.

A colourful year

Three weeks ago I read another blog entitled Mellow Yellow by a really nice lady who designs beautiful sock patterns.  As I replied to Coop knit's tweet I never imagined how important colour would become this year. 

Some of the nice people who I knit with came up with the idea of "The year of colour".  Originally it was supposed to be just the craft of knitting but has now become multi crafts where each month a new handmade item will be created in that month's colour.

April's colour is yellow and some lovely yellow yarn has been purchased and cast on.  Wanting to be different I decided to make a sewn item or a piece of jewellery, then a light bulb came on in my head. I looked through my stash of yarn, beads & material and remembered the mass of yellow material I bought over ten years ago and just can't throw away.  This purse has a small amount of my yellow material to line it.

Saol Photography

I had already started piecing together some Amy Butler material squares that I had won on Ebay.

The idea was to frame the squares with yellow material and then cut another piece to then make a cushion.  Tonight I have managed to get the first half of the April yellow cushion put together.

I will blog once the cushion is finished and hopefully I will be able to share that talents of the people who spend their time with me. As I yawn and think about going to sleep I remember my sexy vesty tank top.  This was the first adult garment I ever finished knitting & it fits me.