Showing posts with label pattern. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pattern. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Meet the Artist and Giveaway: Shelly from Gingermelon

I'm delighted to introduce you to Shelly from Gingermelon 
who has graciously agreed to participate in a giveaway :)

This talented artist has offered to giveaway not 1, not 2, but 3 sets
 of Color-Your-Own Paper Dolls!
The winners can choose between these 2 sets:

Collection of Seven Colour-Your-Own Paper Dolls
Buy it here
OR

Paper Doll, Color In, Vintage Paper Doll, Paper Doll and Accessories, Patisserie
Buy it here
Shelly sent me a copy of the first set and my daughter Eleanor and I had a blast putting them together. The great thing about Shelly's paper dolls is immediate gratification! Since they are sent via email, you can download the images in seconds, print them out at home, and start creating them right away!

You need very few materials: white cardstock, colored pencils, scissors, and brads, how easy is that! Here's a little slideshow of our project:






Aren't these adorable? We're dying to try the Patisserie set now! It has the more traditional tabbed outfits, and a bunch of little accessories, too. 

Shelly is no one trick pony; the paper dolls are only the latest of her crafting adventures. I'll show you more as we go along. Let's get to know Shelly a little better.

Q: Tell us a little about yourself.
A: I live in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada.  Originally, I am from South Africa were we lived till I was 17.  I have always loved drawing, though to tell you the truth, my sewing skills were always terrible!  My mom ended up fixing or finishing anything I attempted to sew, so I like to make everything I create very simple!

Q: I see that you and your mom run myfairdolly together. How did that come to be?
A: I convinced my mom to open myfairdolly because she loves to sew and her skills are amazing!  I had started to collect Blythe dolls and wanted to try my hand at making outfits for them in my spare time.  Unfortunately, I really don't have any spare time anymore, so mom does everything in the shop now and along the way has started a collection of all sorts of dolls, too!
 
Q: I've noticed that Gingermelon is now primarily patterns, whereas at one point you were selling mostly dolls. Why the change?
Little Lady Sybille
Buy it here
A:When I began selling on etsy, I concentrated on making the Little Ladies which are cloth dolls with embroidered faces.  After a while, I started experimenting with little felt bears, kittens and bunnies.  I loved making up little stories for them as each seemed to have it's own personality.  As time went on, I created the Sweet Stufflings and that's when I got the idea for creating a pattern for them.  I knew that if I could make them, anyone could!  So, when I designed the pattern, I decided to add hand drawn illustrations so that if a person had trouble reading a pattern (like me!), they could really just follow the diagrams.  I was amazed at how quickly the patterns sold and how appreciative my clients were for the easy instructions!  My head is always full of new ideas and I have a little sketchbook that I keep on hand for rough drawings.  At the moment I'm working on a new project that will be lovely for kids who have a little basic sewing knowledge.  I'm planning on making a kit that would contain a super simple, mostly illustrated pattern, the felt needed to make it and a few embellishments, including the safety eyes.  There will be many to choose from:  a bear, kitten, fox, owl, raccoon and a little doll.  I'm very excited about these and hope to have them ready for my shop before the end of September!


Q: You've been very successful with Gingermelon in a relatively short period of time. What do you feel is the "secret" to your success?
A: I think the key to becoming successful on etsy is to keep being creative!  Constantly challenge yourself to come up with new ideas and most importantly, treat your customers like gold!  I believe that if you are passionate about what you do, it will show in your work.  Every item I make is made with love and attention to detail.  I want people to notice that I have put a lot of thought into each piece and I try to keep each one unique.  Even if I'm asked to make another one just like a particular one I've done before, it'll be slightly different in some way.



Plush Animal, Bunny, Artist Bear, Handmade Doll, Doll, Pocket Bunny - Beatrice
Buy it here
Q: What is your favorite medium, and why?
A: I have many favourite mediums:)  Hand woven felt is by far my favourite in the world of felt. I love paper and have oodles of it, pencil crayons, paper clay, Japanese linen, seed beads, mohair, lace, I could go on forever!


Sweet Bear Barrette
Buy it here
Q: What item that you sell holds the most personal meaning to you?
A: My most meaningful items are my cloth dolls, the Little Ladies.  These are what got me started and every time I make one, I enjoy the entire process!  They are very time consuming, but worth every moment spent on them!


Q: Your paper dolls have so much personality. Where do you find inspiration for their features and accessories?
A: I absolutely loved doing the Paper dolls!  In fact I have quite a few more that I've started on, but again, lack of time has kept me from going much further with them.  My inspiration for them comes from vintage/retro cards, ads and children's books.
 
Q: What are your future plans for your work and Etsy shop?
A: Future plans include more sculpted dolls, more paper dolls and lots more patterns!  Just think, we have Halloween, Christmas, Easter - there's a theme for everything!
 

Woodland Fox PDF Pattern
Buy it here
Q: Has your work been featured in any publications?
A: My work was recently featured in 'Stuffed Magazine'.  It was such an honour and I was delighted to be part of their summer edition!  I have also been featured on babyology, a few blogs and facebook fan pages.


Q: Just for fun, what is your favorite Etsy shop?
A: Some of my favourite shops on etsy are abimonroe, Dilkabear, loopyboopy, and sweetbestiary, to name a few. Too hard to just pick one!


After you've run over and bought yourself something nice from Gingermelon be sure to check out Shelly's blog, Facebook page, and Flikr. And, of course, come on back and enter to win your free set of paper dolls:



How to Enter the Giveaway:

1. Follow this blog (Mandatory)
and leave a comment here saying you did.

2. Leave a separate comment here about the fantastic stuff you saw 
while visiting Gingermelon.

How easy is that?
Best of luck to all who enter.

Make sure to visit the Giveaways tab for more great prizes!

Fine Print:

Only 2 entries per household please
3 winners will be chosen September 15th at midnight PST
Winners will be chosen by random.org
Entries will be validated
Winners will be announced here
Winners will have 3 days to contact me, 
after which new winners will be chosen
Must be 18 years of age or older to enter 

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Sugar & Spice Giveaway: Sponsor #2 3three


Please welcome Jennie from 3three. Jennie is one of those fantastic sellers that not only offers amazing products but also the patterns to make them yourself! These easy to follow hand illustrated instructions are simply charming! She has donated a pattern for the most popular item in her shop for the Sugar and Spice Giveaway (Enter Here), the Olive Mae dress pattern:

Pattern for Olive Mae Dress - sizes 2T, 3T, 4, 5, and 6
Buy it here



Taking a temporary break from sewing during this crazy hot spell? 
Don't worry, 3three's got you covered (Buy it here).


It suddenly occurred to me this week that Christmas is coming! I can definitely see my daughter in this dress for the holidays:

High-Rise Ruby - Made to Order
Buy it here
Jennie also sells these adorable bustle skirts:


Lime Green Classy Reversible Bustle Skirt (Size 6 - 7) - Ready to ShipClassy Reversible Bustle Skirt - Made to Order

I can't get over this picture, just too sweet! Of course, the pantaloons are in Jennie's shop:


Pantaloons - White - Made to Order
Buy it here

Jennie took a moment to tell us a little about herself and her shop:

Q: Do you remember the first time you heard about Etsy?
A: First time from my husband, but I shrugged off the idea of participating. Second time from my good friend and co-owner of the shop. She was making beautiful children's clothes and graciously let me hop on board and join her shop.

Q: If you could start your shop over again, what would you do differently?
First off, I would have started it back when my husband first showed me the new online site. I was busy with kids at the time. But I'm still busy with little kids, and yet finding time to participate in this unique marketplace. I also would focus more on creating patterns to sell - that is in my plans for the future.


Q: How do you balance work and home life/real job?
A: My home life comes first (or that's my goal, at least). Sometimes it does encroach on my time with my kids and husband, but I try hard to make sure that doesn't happen. I do most of my Etsy work at night after the kids are in bed.

Q: How much time do you spend "crafting" vs running the business end of things?
A: I don't spend much time networking. I do have a blog. I spend a lot of time writing about my projects and the beautiful things I find in my daily life. I mostly hope that if people are inspired by my art and projects in my blog, they might be inspired to buy something I've created. That's the most enjoyable kind of advertising I can think of!


Q: Is there anything else you want people to know about you/your shop?
A: I thrive on creating beautiful things you can't find elsewhere. The shop is the place where the ideas my mind is brimming with spill over into reality.


And we are so glad they do, Jennie! Keep at it, I see big success in 3three's future :)


Don't forget, all of my giveaway sponsors are offering an exclusive coupon code for my blog readers during the giveaway! Be sure to use the code MODERN10 to receive10% off your purchase before it's too late.


-Melanie



Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Have you checked out spincushions?

I remember growing up my Mom had a bright colored tomato pin cushion with lovely details. Perhaps this is why I am drawn to spincushions shopful of bright, cheery, playful pincushions. That, and I'm obsessed with felt! 


I believe it was this one that drew me in, although I've come to love so many that I can't remember!


Lovely Lilac handsewn embroidered on red felt pincushion
Buy it here

It's really no surprise that the peacocks and ladybugs on leaves are the most popular:


Peacock brilliant blue olive green embroidered handsewn recycled felt pincushion
Buy it here
Buy it here


Lucky for me, well really YOU, Shelley from spincushions has agreed to donate one of her PDF patterns for an upcoming giveaway! Stay tuned for more info. In the mean time, take a minute to get to know her:


Q: How do you come up with new ideas? 
A: I sit with my massive piles of felt and ideas just come to me. I look for inspiration with color combinations first and then decide what design to go with. 



Q: How has your shopped changed since it opened?
A: I have gone off on a few tangents, like hairclips and brooches, but have realized that my love is for pincushions, so I am back to selling just pincushion related things again. I now sell kits and patterns for pincushions as well.

Q: What is the best business decision you ever made?
A: Setting up an Etsy shop. I live in a fairly remote place and there are not many markets for me to sell my pincushions. Etsy is like a permanent market stall, but a worldwide one.

Q: Worst?
A: Making things that I am not passionate about. My passion is pincushions and expending energy and time on other things was not wise.


Q: Just for fun, what is your favorite shop on Etsy?
A: That is a hard one! There are so many wonderful sellers. My current favorite though is LoftFullOfGoodies. I have a few things now from her and the quality of her work is amazing. 


Can't wait to get one of the adorable pincushions for yourself? You don't have to! Shelley has set up a 20% off coupon code valid through the end of July. Use the code MODERNTYPO at checkout. 


Check out spincushions on EtsyFacebook or Shelley's blog for updates and more!


Thank you ever so much Shelley!