The Living North Essence of Christmas

http://yorkshire.livingnorthfair.com/

I haven't done any retail fairs for a few years now, but I was contacted about having a stand at this one at York and thought I might give it a go. Fingers crossed I will have enough stock (even if I have to forgo sleep for a few days).

Photographs

I'm never 100% happy with my photographs, so whilst taking pics of my latest kits I had another play around with the composition and styling. As part of my C&G felt making course last year I filled a few sketch books with work based on vintage. This was a good move because it meant I could spend time perusing my favourite shop in Harrogate, Space and pretend I was working :-)

One of my purchases was a vintage wallpaper sample book, it has some beautiful designs in it (but quite a few shocking ones which I'm sure resulted in lots of headaches). After my course finished I thought I might frame some of the samples and group them together on one of our walls, unfortunately my husband did not share my enthusiasm, so they were tucked away in the studio gathering dust, until the other day when I had a ping moment and thought they would be perfect as backdrops for my photo shoots.

I was so pleased with the results that I am now re doing all the other kits as well. Unfortunately this is taking some time as the sun hasn't been coming out to play to often this week, but I'm getting there. You can see the before (very pink) and after photographs in my store.

I know a lot of people struggle to take good quality photos of their products, and whilst I'm no expert I have spent years trying to improve, so thought I would share some of my techniques.

 In the past I have used a pop up lighting box for taking product shots, which is great if you want products only with a white background, but quite awkward if you are using props, so I set up the sunny corner of my studio instead. It's hard to believe but the sun was a little too bright the other day and was casting harsh shadows so I sellotaped some white tissue paper to the window and it worked a treat.

To prop up the finished brooches I had to be quite creative. The mice, for example have pins going through their feet, which act as little stands (I just photoshopped them out afterwards). The sheep and birds were more tricky as their legs don't support them so I rigged up a frame (very Heath Robinson), which you can see in the photograph above, and hung them from pieces of cotton, again, all evidence was removed in photoshop.

Before, with pins.

After, pins removed and image brightened.

Before with thread visible.

After, thread and stand base removed.

I have only recently purchased photoshop, and whilst I would love to have bought the all singing and dancing version, my budget wouldn't stretch that far, and I'm not sure our computer would have coped either, so I bought the elements 10 version, which is much cheaper and more or less does everything I need it too.
 

Busy, busy, busy...

Oh my goodness, it's been a while since I posted on here. Over summer I have been busy working on some new kit designs in readiness for Christmas. I finally finished the instructions last week so they are now good to go and have already gone out to some of the shops I supply. I'm just waiting for a break in the rain so I can get some decent photographs taken then they will be going in the Not On The High Street store as well.

Yesterday I had a idea for a new range of kits, I always get really excited when I have new ideas so I'm going to be working on some prototypes over the next few weeks. They are a bit of a departure from the kits in tins, but they should sit nicely along side my current range.

I'm also working on the design for a counter top box to hold my kits, which I will send out with all wholesale orders of 100 kits or more. So you can see it's all go here in Harrogate and with the festive season looming up it's going to get even busier.

One of my best seller brooches at this time of year are the robin brooches. I'm not making any brooches to sell online myself as I just don't have the time, but the charity Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research are selling them along with my dog kits, if you're interested they are available on their online shop, http://leukaemialymphomaresearch.org.uk/shop/women

Fibrespace HQ

Hi,

I love it when other designers / makers share pictures of their studio space, (I'm afraid I'm quite nosey), so I thought it was about time I shared mine with you. My first thought was that I should give the studio a tidy first, but then that wouldn't be a true representation at all. When we had the shed studio built I imagined this beautiful space with inspirational pictures on the wall, retro furniture and shelves with artistically arranged objects, just like you see in the magazines. Unfortunately, the truth is that it just ain't big enough to be beautiful and functional, and I need the limited space to function well as I spend most of my days in here. So here it is, Fibrespace HQ:

 The first picture is taken from our kitchen window, so you see it's just a short walk to work each morning, (please ignore the state of out garden, it is very much a work in progress).

 This is my sewing corner, where I make the brooches.

 Here's the table where I make the kits up, I do them in batches of 100 at a time.

 

This is the area where I pack orders up.

 

And finally, this is the view from my window, the Goldfinches are regular visitors to the garden in summer.

Not On The High Street Store

Woo Hoo, Fibrespace now has a Not On The High Street Store. For the time being this will be the only place online where you can purchase the full range of Fibrespace kits directly from me. Keen to make a good first impression I have been slaving over the camera to try and get some good product shots that catch the eye and reflect the 'Fibrespace' brand. I think I managed it after lots of trial and error, ( the British summer has not helped).

I have some new kits in the pipeline to add to the Fibrespace range and will post them on here as soon as they go in the store.

New Kits

Here are two of the new kits that I designed for the British Craft Trade Fair. The third one, a house keyring kit is still waiting for it's labels to come back from the printers. I think the cupcake kit is my new favourite.

10% discount for 1 week only

I've just spent the morning listing all of Fibrespace's products in our online shop. To celebrate I'm offering 10% discount on everything for one week only. Just use the code WTZNLT when you check out.

http://fibrespace.bigcartel.com/

A new start for 2012

Hello,

It's been a while since I have posted anything on blogger. One of the reasons for this has been the huge success of Fibrespace this year. In April of 2011 I had a stand at the British Craft Trade Fair for the second year in the row. Whilst the the first year in the newcomers gallery surpassed my expectations, the second year really propelled the business and now I'm looking forward to my third year in a few months time.

As well as letting my blog slide I have had to make a few changes to the business in order to keep up with demand. The main change being that I no longer make my own felt. I have managed to source some high quality 100% wool felt which I am now using for my brooches and kits. Not only does this allow me to complete orders quicker but it also means I have more time to devote to designing, which is the best part of being a designer/maker.

I am in the process of adding the new range to the shop and I'm hoping to have a few more designs ready for the BCTF.

Having originally started Fibrespace as a feltmaker, for now I am reverting back to felting for pleasure only. I already have a few ideas for pieces I would like to make for our home, so hopefully I will be able to share these with you in the not to distant future.

As this blog will no longer be solely dedicated to wet felting I have decided to leave www.feltinginfibrespace.blogspot.com and begin this new blog as a fresh start. I hope some of you join me on my new journey, I'm going to try really hard to blog more often.