Personalised and Proud!

All handmade gifts are unique, even if several items with the design have been made, that is the joy of handmade. There are all sorts of handmade pieces available, from all sorts of jewellry, to vintage clothing, to the very unusual, all you have to do is look hard enough to find the perfect gift for any person's preferances, howver, you can make many things even more unique by buying a personalised item. many crafters will sell custom made items, lots of folksy advertise personalised items, here is just a small selection!

This is mine! A bit cheeky to feature myself, but why not! This is my first advertised custom made design, the name (obviously) can be anyones, but the colours of the stitching and background can all also be chosen. Like many other folksy sellers, I can also do custom designs on request.

I love items made from real wood! (maybe because my dad used to make walking sticks in his spare time) And this gorgous clock certainly caught my eye! A clock is an item I wold never expect to be personalised, but the wording on it can be specified. This is made by Natural Wood www.folksy/shops/NaturalWood who also make many other beautiful items, along with custom made items. Well worth checking out!

These are gorgous! When my friends got married last year, I would have loved to have know about Amys Clay Critters and her fabulous wedding toppers. www.folksy.com/shops/amysclaycritters Still, I will remember her if anyone else ties the knot! She also makes many animal wedding toppers, along with general cake toppers, magnets, rings, cards, and so on.

Apron are always useful, but are normally mass made and fairly plain and boring. Not anymore with this prsonalised one from SilkFlora! www.folksy.com/shops/Silkflora your apron is your own! She also can personalise tea towels, an has made plenty of gorgous hanging hearts, and heart cushions!

These cuffflinks are fabulouly unique! (Handmade items aren't just for girls) These caught my eye as my boyfriend loves maps! They are truly different and a perfect gift, made by bookity. They also make round ones, and plenty of other 'book' items for sale at www.folksy.com/bookity


This is just  very small taste of all that's out there that can be personalised fo that extra little bit of uniquness, and although it does require a little more preperation, as the items have to be made upon request, You may be suprised at how qickly they can be made, and the extra-specialness of a truly unique gift is well worth the effort!

Seed Bead Earrings!

Here is the finished product! they are ctually quite big, but very pretty, I'm pleased with the result!

Seed Beads

Adding bead detail to my cross stitch is great for giving it a bit of extra 'oomph!' However, it's also given me a desire to try seed beading! My first pair of earrings was coming along nicely, I've early finished, when I ran out of beads last night. Annoyingly I've had to buy more, but really this is just an excuse to try out making more earrings and possibly necklaces! hopefuly I'll get some photo's up once I've finally finished these earrings! So much to do and so little time!

Beads Galore!

I've finally got round to blogging again! I've been thinking about trying out beadin for a while, so the other day I purchased instructions for makinga pair of beaded dangly earrings, (this shows what they should look like when done http://www.beadedpatterns.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=22_485&products_id=2289) I'm half-way through a pair so far though!

This has made m think abou adding beads to my cross stitch items, so I've had a couple of attempts with thse cupcake earrings, and butterfly earrings (both for sale at http://www.folksy.com/)

of course, this is jst a start, I'm hoping to try making broches and pendants and using my (to be accquired) beading skills to add a pretty frame to them! All I need to do now is find some suitable pendant and brooch blanks....

Valentines gifts on Folksy

It's that time of year again. Valentines Day is just around the corner, and in honor of it I'm featuring some gorgous items by other folksy sellers, which would make fantastic gifts for your loved one, or just to yourself if, like me, your other half isn't the most romantic of people when it comes to Valentines day!

Of course, this is just a small selection, there are countless more beautiful, funky, quirky, pretty, interesting...you name it, and it's there somewhere on folksy ( http://www.folksy.com/). Valentines isn't just about you're other half though, why not treat yourself too...

Anyway, here is my pick of valentines items from folksy.

A bright bold and beautiful Fabric Card Wallet from BaggieAggieToo. She also has a matching keyfob and plenty of other's with lots of other fabrics so you'll definately find one you like!

This delicious chocolate lovers heart card by GailGriggs compliments the classic chocolates for valentines. It is also available framed for you wall, along with many other beautiful photographs.

If you're looking for something a bit more unusal this fabric ACEO from ShabbybySharon is perfect. She also has a gorgous heart keyring fob for valentines, and plenty of other lovely items to peruse.

Paris is the City of Romance, so what better way to be romantic than giving your loved one this Paris By Night necklace from Bedecked Beads. Plenty of other equally gorgous jewelry is also available in her shop.

I hope these lovely items have helped inspire you, either in finding the perfect valentines gift, or just a little something for yourself! After all, a little treat to yourself goes a long long way....!