open for business

It's been an exciting day!! Today is a landmark for me. Today I opened my own little store to make my creations available to the world.

Last week I visited Kyoko's blog and she was raving about ArtFire.com as a great place to sell handmade goods, supplies and antiques. If you're into or interested in selling this sort of stuff, check out her rave about it. (Only, if you decide to join make 'kelgellcreations' the one who referred you!) So after brewing for days I finally decided last night I would open my own shop. So today I've been gathering the final details I needed to start it up and I am now open for business. There's only a few items at present but there is definitely more to come. Go ahead and check it out!!

dress clips

Well it was one of those annoying nights last night. Tired and sleepy at 10pm so I went to bed. Two and half hours later I was still lying there waiting to fall asleep. Grr. By 1am I decided since I was awake I may as well make use of the time so I got up and settled at my desk. I'm gonna be a bridesmaid for my friend's wedding but my dress, which previously had silver clips, needed some black ones instead. So I'd bought some hairclips to decorate in black attire to be suitable for the occasion.

I quite like how they turned out. I wired a bunch of black beads together somewhat randomly and then sewed those onto a strip of velvet ribbon. I then glued it onto some black lace and onto the clip, sewing the ends to the clip to make sure they stay there. It took me two hours to design and make them so I didn't get back to bed until 3am. Thankfully I had nothing I needed to get up early for today.

Logo

Like my new logo? I've been putting little "kelgell creation" stickers on my stuff that I give away as presents for years. Since I'm building a stock to actually try and sell I thought it was time I updated my logo. I've turned it into a banner for my blog too. The logo is actually just a little rectangle of what's on the right of the banner. The name and picture. I like it though. It's neater and more modern looking and more me than it used to be. That is, more the 'grown up' me than the 'teenage' me from the first one I designed.

ideas in reality

So it's been a while but I've been busy planning and going on a holiday to Cairns. I had a great time. Now that I'm back I'm finally getting to blogging about the things I've made lately. The first one is my inspiration board which now hangs above my work desk. Obviously I'm yet to fill it with more inspirational stuff but the idea is to have these things in front of me when working to keep the creative juices flowing.
This was one of those late night ideas that kept me awake. I found this gorgeous fabric in the discount pile. Bargain! The fabric covers some foam board so it's quite light weight. I did the dotted part in two sections so the ribbons wouldn't end up with too much sag. I also put the ribbons on odd angles for interest.
I secured the two foam boards together with glue and by sewing buttons in the corners for extra strength. I think it looks great and I'm quite pleased with the outcome.

I also finished my first journal. Not as nicely as I would have liked but it's a first so practice is required. I made this from scratch--sewing the paper signatures together, glueing the spine, making the cover from cardboard and fabric... This one I gave a leather strap which wraps around the wooden toggle to secure it shut.

My favourite part of this journal is the coffee stained and ripped edges of the pages. Gives it an interesting flavour. I've been sketching up a heap more ideas too and I've even had a request from a friend. I'll have to get into more making. Exciting!

days off

It's been soooo nice having today and yesterday off work. Totally free to get into crafty creative stuff. Yay! I DID make myself clean the kitchen yesterday morning before starting as it was dreadfully needing a good clean. But after that I got to work on a journal. So far so good. I'm quite happy with the way it's turning out. I soaked the edges in coffee and ripped them and have bound all the signatures together to form the book part. Today I'm going to work on the cover using the materials it's sitting on here.

Today I went for a bit of a shop in the morning. I decided to iron and fold all my fabric on Sunday afternoon so I can store it in a better way so I don't have to rummage through my basket when I want to see what I can use. I found these great square baskets at a good price and they are perfect. I bought two and I've got room to buy more fabric. Joy! They look great and it's much more inspirational to see easily what I have. I'm happy.

naughty me

Ooo, I'm so naughty! He he he. I've already spent a random bunch of money on crafty stuff this week but today I went and bought some more. It's not my fault though. Spotlight is having a sale just as I decide to get creating a stock of stuff to sell! Ü Here's my latest...

I wanted some prints coz I have mostly plain colours and I was able to get most of this quilting fabric for $3 a metre. And I wanted some more felt too. I decided it was ok to stock up on some supplies so I can randomly create a little easier. And I have a couple days off coming up. Woohoo!

my studio

I reorganised my room this week and I tidied up the last of it today. I'm so excited. I made it so my room has a bedroom end and now the other end is my studio! I'm gonna spend more time creating I've decided coz I love to do it and it makes me happy.

Tadah.... My studio! Just cleaned. It won't stay this way for long. Look, there's already a project waiting for me on my work desk.

Isn't the fabric gorgeous! I just love clearances. This stuff is gonna become the "ideas and inspiration board" I decided to make one night last week when I wanted to be asleep. I can finally get started. It's gonna look GREAT above my desk.