New Buttons + More

Tonight I have added a couple of new buttons to the side bar on the blog. One for Artfire and one for Felt. I've had a shop on Artfire for a while now but I have never made very good use of it. So I'll be updating this shop in the next couple of days. Felt is a New Zealand-based online marketplace for handmade goods which I have just signed up for. I will be listing goodies over there also in the next couple of days.

So stay tuned.

Handmade Christmas Pledge Update - Bags on Madeit

Ok so once again we are a little over due but what the hell it was a really busy week and weekend.

Anyone that knows me knows that I love handbags. So this weeks post is all bags found on Madeit.

I love Paddington Bear with his duffel coat and hat, he's just so adorable.

Paddington Bear Carry All by WallpaperGetsFunky

As some of you might know I went back to TAFE recently and with all the textbooks and notebooks I have to carry I think that I'm going to have to get a bag that can fit it all. This one is great, I love the black with a touch of colour.

 

Upstyled canvas army bag by KerrisHangups

I have seen this bag in person and it is fantastic.

Mum & Baby Zebras - Calico Bag by UnCielo

My Mum would love this bag, she loves the colour red.

Red Tree of Life Bag by LinneaSwedishDesign

Ok so technically it is not a bag but it is so cool and it does have a pic of a bag on it.

notebook // leather school bag by timefortea.me

Dion and I did the Suitcase rummage on Sunday so I will have a post on that later in the week.


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Shop News
 
I have a lots of new goodies sitting here ready to be list. With any luck I should have it all up on Wednesday.

One Amazing Year

One year ago today I started my shop on Etsy and Imagination In Flight was born, it's been a really amazing ride. I would have never thought a year ago that Imagination In Flight would have gone in the direction it has, let alone being on twitter and writing my own blog. While I still find etsy very overwhelming, finding Madeit has been a real blessing. The wonderful community of fellow crafters of Madeit with their support, advice and friendship have really helped along the way. I also have to thank all my fantastic customers for their support over the year. It always gives me such joy to check my emails and find I have made a sale.


To celebrate Imagination In Flight's first birthday we will be having a giveaway and a sale.

Giveaway
To celebrate we will be giving away one of my new Mini Floral Bunting, 1 Multi Purple and Cream Crochet Headband, and you choice of 1 Personalized Pencil Roll. With the pencil roll you can choose between either Purple Floral & Denim, Japanese Writing & Denim, and Denim on Denim.

Ok so here's how its going to work.

You need to be a follower of the blog. If you are not already a follower of the blog, click on the follow button to the right.
Leave a comment below to enter the giveaway.
If you tweet about this giveaway, or mention on your blog about this giveaway you will receive an extra entry (you will need to leave a comment if you do either of these so that I can keep track of all the entries).
You will also receive an extra entry if you order something from either my Etsy or Madeit shops.

 The giveaway winner will be randomly picked on the night of Friday the 23rd of April 2010.

Sale
Starting tomorrow (Saturday the 17th April) morning until Friday the 23rd of April there will be 15% off in both my Madeit and Etsy shops. Also stay watching on twitter and this blog for codewords for bigger savings.

Its been a wonderful year and I hope that it just keeps on growing from here. Thanks all.

Yippee they finally arrived........

As part of my shop makeover I wanted to have new business cards made. So almost 2 weeks ago I ordered them from Moo and today they arrived.

I am so happy with them, they were also design by Pauline from Skies.

Ok so here is my tip for other sellers out there.

I like to give 2 business cards out with every order (1 to keep and 1 to give away). When I first started I ordered  normal sized business cards. When ordering with Moo they work out at approximately (because of the changing exchange rate) 49c AUD each. So when I was handing out 2 with every order I was handing out almost a $1.00 AUD. 

This time I did some more research and and worked out that a Moo mini card is only approximately (because of the changing exchange rate) 22c AUD, so when I am handing out 2 with my orders I am only handing out 44c AUD. This works out much better and the customer is still getting all the important information and I think that because they are a little different from a normal business card they might just get more than a passing glance.

I hope that this information helps some of you out there.

Artist's We Love

I want to share with you all a wonderful artist I came across while looking for someone to design my new logo. Pauline designed wonderful logo and was a pleasure to work with.

I hope to bring you more of these over the year, so please enjoy!!

Name: Pauline Young

Shop Name: Skies

Your daytime Job: Currently I’m working as a part time salesperson at a popular fashion boutique (Ruby), and a part-time artist!

A bit about yourself: Hi there! I’m Pauline, and I live in little ol’ New Zealand. Being the youngest of the family with two older siblings, I’ve been told that I’m the one that causes the most mischief, even though I just like to have some fun! I currently live with my partner and a 5-month old jack russell in an apartment.

I’ve graduated college with bachelor of fine arts not too long ago, and since then I’ve been taking freelance jobs as an illustrator and on Etsy as a graphic designer! I am hoping in the future I will be able to support myself to be a full-time artist.

How did you first get into art and/or craft: I was very interested in art since I was little, around 3! My family has always been quite creative and ‘arty’. My mother was a designer for a men’s formal wear line and always drew such beautiful designs and drawings that just fascinated me. My sister was also a big influence on me, she crocheted, knitted, cross-stitched, painted, and drew so much! (At that time she was probably only 16.) Both my mum and sister inspired me into taking art, and I was lucky to have parents so supportive of me pursuing art as a career.

What is your creative process, and what inspires you: I am inspired by a lot of things… and it’s quite difficult to list it! A main part of my creative process would be drawing and doodling. I love to observe people and my surroundings and I ‘record’ these sights or feelings on a piece of paper or sketchbook. Those drawings become the ‘base’ of my art/design, whenever I need to generate ideas, or extend an idea- I look back at my sketchbook and manipulate the drawings in there to get what I want.

Any tips you would have for people starting their own shop or for someone looking to makeover their shop with a new Logo etc: It’s crucial to recognise the important of shop appearance! It is what people identify your products with, and having an attractive professional store will appeal to more people, hence more customers.

There’s just one tip I would like to share to those who are thinking of getting someone to design a logo for them, and that is try to be specific! A designer sadly can’t read minds (even though we really wish we could!) and if you do have a logo idea that you want incorporated, try to find similar examples on the net or draw it out if you have to. It not only helps the designer understand what you are looking for, but also gets you closer to that dream logo! Best wishes and good luck to those who are staring a shop on Etsy!

New Christmas Decorations

Well it's taken longer than I wanted but I now have new Christmas Decorations listed on Madeit.

These are so cute that I will be making a bunch for my own Christmas tree this year and at only $10 for a set of 5 they are a great way to get some new decorations for your Christmas tree. As these are made all by hand every set will have different shaped decorations in it.

Weekly Handmade Christmas Pledge Update

Its been a big week but first I want to give big shout out and thank you to Emma from Belafonte, in last weeks post I featured her "Girl with Bow" and to thank me Emma is going to give me the print. I love this print and I am totally blown away by her generosity. Stop by Belafonte on Madeit or Etsy store and see Emma's beautiful work.

I have made so many purchases this week that I had to make a spreadsheet to keep track of everything.
Earlier in the year I bought a beautiful little ACEO Mermaid print and ever since it has lived on my desk. Every so often I would go back to TheBrilliantMagpie and look over the beautiful prints. This week I added to my print and purchased another 3 prints from Amy for a Christmas present for myself.

                Sea Dreams                                                      Irina

I also purchased a print of a girl flying called Far From Shore which will be going into my bedroom when I have finished making it over.

Last week I shared with you all the wonderful work of RubyVictoria, I loved her gift tags so much that I ended up buying two packs (But don't worry there are still some available). I also found these funny and cute tags to add to our collection.

Do Not Open Until Christmas Tags by lowfidelity

I was also able to gather another gift for my son. My sons collection of belts is growing as much as his collection of hats at the moments. This belt will add a bit of fun to what ever he is wearing.

Fishbone - Black Canvas Belt by mymimi

Well this is it for this week, We have a trip planned to spotlight tomorrow and I need to work out my list of supplies that need/want (hehehehehe).

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Shop News............

Hopefully by midweek I will have my Christmas Decorations finished and loaded up to the stop. So stay tuned.

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Giveaway.............

I will be announcing our latest giveaway this week so look out for it.

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BIG NEWS COMING VERY SOON..........

Weekly Handmade Christmas Pledge Update

This week I want to give a shout out the wonderful crafters over at Madeit. This great Australian site is wonderful for selling our handmade Aussie creations.

Bec from Little Wise Owl  has these really cute Christmas Apples, they are a wonderful way to decorate this Christmas and it make them even better I won one in a giveaway on the Little Wise Owl Blog.

I think prints are a great present to give, as long as you know the person well enough. Last year I got my Gran a ACEO print for $5.00USD and got a custom frame made for $16.00AUD. For such a small price I was able to give my Gran beautiful piece of art. This print is wonderful I love the way the hair wisps up and the simple beautiful lines.

Girl With Bow by Belafonte

We are starting to think about how we are going to wrap and label our presents. I came across these cute gift tags that I think would add a vintage feel to out packages.

letterpress Christmas santa tags pk 5 by RubyVictoria

This week we added to our present collection and I wanted to share one of them with you. My son Loves Origami, Dinosaur's, and making things. When I came upon these Dino's I knew that I just had to get him one. After buying one I went back and bought the rest of the Dino collection and the Japanese collection. Its going to give him lots to do over the holidays.

Kirigami T-Rex Skeleton, Make Yourself by popupcardmaking

Ok this is it for this week. Stop by Madeit and give it some love, since joining the team at Madeit and all the other crafters have been wonderful.

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Blog News.........

Welcome to the new look. I am really happy with the new layout and it will be staying this way until we change for Christmas.

We will also be running another giveaway shortly. So stay tuned.

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Shop News..........

We now have Personalized Soft Elephant Toys in both my Etsy and Madeit stores.

Also the Woven Felt Basket that was in my last weekly post in now available in both my Etsy and Madeit stores. In not too long they will be available in different sizes.

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BIG NEWS COMING VERY SOON

Handmade Chrismtas Pledge Weekly Update

So we are coming to the end of the first week of the Spring School Holidays. We have only got through about a quarter of the projects planned so its going to be a big final week.

While at the Chermside Shopping centre this week we stopped by the Oxfam Shop which is a fair trade shop. As soon as I walked into the door I spotted this beautiful Girl box from Vietnam. I was able to get it in my favourite colour purple, on the Oxfam website they have them in Orange and Blue (The great thing is that this fits in with my rules, so I will be saving it for Christmas).

My son has a white Dell mini 9, I was able to get 5 One Up Minis for only $6USD including postage. This is a great way to make his Laptop individual.

This way whether it is Monkeys, an Owl or Rhino Beetles or all three I think he will be very happy.

So last week I promised that I would finish a set of my Elf bags so that I could show everyone

and here they are.....

We are so happy with these, once I have finished another 12-14 my son is going to be making decorations to give to the family. I got this great pattern from CrochetSal

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Blog News.......

I have now added a countdown to Christmas to the sidebar. I know that this can look like a lot of time but Look at it this way. If you are paid weekly it is only 12 pay days, and if you are paid fortnightly it is only 6. So its not that far away.

We are still running our giveaway, so follow the blog to win.

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Shop News.......

I have been able to load up one of my new Pin Cushions up and I have another 3 still to come.

For those Aussies out there I have lots of my products now over at Madeit also, so stop by my shop

New Product - Updated

UPDATED: Finished and loaded up this new pencil roll this morning adding the girly purple fabric to the pencil slots and the ties. Stay tuned for the next one with boys camo fabric.

I have been wanting to start a line of items for kids and here is the first piece.

The new pencil roll is made from medium weight denim fabric embroidered with your child's name or nickname in the colours of your choice. The one above has been made up to be given to my young cousin Casey for our Handmade Christmas. The roll has 12 slots for pencils and comes with a set of 12 pencils. Check out the shop for all the details.

Crochet Cushions

Inspired by the Daybed that we will be buying shortly I wanted to try out making cushions. I am very happy with the results. My Slate Blue cushion with the star pattern in it has turned out wonderful, it took a long time to make but I feel it was worth it (Think I might have to make myself one of these). Find all of these cushions at ImaginationInFlight.etsy.com , look out for a Chunky Green 45cm square cushion and a Multi Purple Squares 41cm square cushion coming soon.

Imagination In Flight - BIG BIRTHDAY SALE

Friday the 17th of July is my birthday

To celebrate Imagination In Flight will be having a sale.

Receive 10% off when you shop at ImaginationInFlight.etsy.com from 12.01am on the morning of the 17th of July till the 11.59pm on the night of the 20th of July. (Prices in the store will be changing at during this time to reflect the sale price.)
*Please note that this does not include shipping*

If you also receive another 10% off if you enter the code "JESSB'DAY" in the message to the seller.

ImaginationInFlight.etsy.com will also be keeping the our standing offer of 10% off if you purchase 3 or more items so there are some real savings to be had.

Happy Shopping

Jessica

New Product - Headbands

In an effort to expand the range of products I have on offer at Imagination In Flight and to keep me going creatively, I have started making these great headbands. They can be worn either one or a couple grouped together as a headband or hair elastic. I have really enjoyed making these, so will be coming.

As I will be loosing my little assistant back to school on Tuesday, I will be busy photographing all the new items I have for the shop tomorrow. So stay tuned to the shop for some great new treasures.