Today's seller is Kitsch Kitten, who makes fantastic kitsch jewellery - v cute!!
Tell us a bit about yourself
Hi I’m Rachael a Scottish jewellery maker/craft lover with a love of all things kitsch and retro. I’m really into the 1940s and 1950s in particularly.
My home is filled (some would say cluttered...) with pretty and colourful pieces. I’m a real magpie for unique things and keepsakes. I share it with my cat Jumper who is a dark tortoiseshell and so named because she jumped up against me when I went to the animal rescue centre to get a cat. The cat is my logo is the family cat I grew up with called Scampie and she lives with my folks.
In a nutshell, I make kitsch jewellery such as sweetheart swallows, nautical necklaces and perfect pin ups. I always used to buy these things when I found them, but that was few and far between, so I decided to start making my own. I’m really inspired by fairytales, 1950s kitsch and I love whimsical things that make me smile. You wouldn’t believe the amount of time and energy I spend scouring the internet and unique shops to find the charms I use in my items!
I’m not nearly as talented as so many of the crafters on Folksy but I love what I make. I wear my jewellery all the time.
I also make shabby chic cake stands from unwanted and unloved spare pieces. I really like how you can recycle otherwise pretty useless bits and make something new. I had an afternoon tea party at my home using all the cake stands and it just looked so pretty and was marvellous fun!
I think my type of jewellery is very accessible, you don’t need a lot of tools, just a lot of ideas! I’d love to do more complex things but I don’t have the space. I’d encourage everyone to get involved in whatever craft they fancy and not to get scared off by it.
When/ how did you start crafting?
Since as long as I can remember I’ve been using my hands to make stuff. As a kid, all my Christmas and birthday presents were craft related and I would sit with paper, scissors and sellotape and make things. My home is generally covered in little bits of felt – I’m currently making a gypsy caravan sewing box, as you do!
I got into making jewellery as I said because I couldn’t find what I wanted easily. Now that I’ve joined Folksy, there’s tonnes of choice but hopefully I can offer something unique.
When did you start selling your stuff - where do you sell?
I started my website when I was out of work in 2010. Then when I found a job again, it was in the middle of nowhere with no regular access to a post office! That meant I couldn’t give customers the service I wanted so I didn’t take any sales. Now I have finished that contract and looking for my next one, which hopefully will be nearer a post office so I’m really kick starting Kitsch Kitten. I have my own website www.kitschkitten.com and also sell on Folksy which has such a great community feel. I really want to start selling at craft fairs soon too.
Do you also have a day job, or is this your main job?
Oh yes unfortunately! I doubt I could ever make Kitsch Kitten full time. I work in HR which I love but I love how Kitsch Kitten gives me an opportunity to get properly creative.
What do you love about your medium, what do you hate?
I love what you can do and how these can reflect your ideas, but I hate how hard it can be to get the charms I want! I have much more success with the images I use and I’m doing more of these as it’s a really interesting opportunity.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
Everywhere!! I love fairytales, romance, vintage styles and obviously kitsch things! I love fashion and clothes and watch what’s in style but I don’t limit myself to that. I have definitely found my niche and just hope that others like what I do.
What is your favourite music to craft to?
I am a huge Bob Dylan fan and a bit of an indie girl at heart, love Mumford & Sons at the minute but I’m also quite eclectic so I love pop and girly songs too.
What is your favourite piece of your own?
The 1930s travel pendants are my current favourite, I have a Havana one which I’m currently wearing (as I type this!) I just love what the resin can allow you to do and the colours just pop!
Where do you do your crafting (specially built studio - sofa??)
I wish! I live in a small flat so I work in the living room, watched by Jumper who sits in her radiator bed (well away from my work!) I’d love to have a proper studio.
I love the Folksy shop Baggie Aggie too, which stocks phone and kindle covers, and other accessories in gorgeous fabric, all handmade in Wales, and ideal for a gift.
So over to you.....
My name’s Rosie, originally from the Home Counties in England, and now living in Wales with my partner and cute cat. (I’m now in Wales because I met an old schoolfriend through Friends Reunited. He’d moved to Wales years before, and returned to our old stamping ground on a business trip. We met for a drink, fell madly in the love, and the rest is history!)
What do you make?
For BaggieAggietoo I make a variety of fabric-based items – phone cases, business card / credit card wallets, wrist key fobs, eco-friendly loot bags for kiddies parties, and anything else I’m asked for. I welcome custom orders, so if a customer wants an iPad or Kindle case for example, I’m their man (so to speak!). I have another Folksy shop too (BaggieAggie) for which I make bags (felted and fabric). It’s looking rather empty at the moment as I’ve spent the last few months building up BaggieAggietoo and couldn’t manage both, mainly due to unexpected time constraints. But that should be remedied soon, I hope.
Why do you use that medium?
Now that’s an easy one to answer – I adore fabrics! I used to make all my own clothes and soft furnishings, so, long before I began selling online, I’d amassed quite a large fabric stash. Now of course it’s even bigger!
When/ how did you start crafting?
I can’t remember a time when I couldn’t knit and sew. My mum taught me both skills before I started school, so crafting’s always been a natural part of life.
When did you start selling your stuff - where do you sell?
In early 2010, while searching the ’net for interesting yarns, I stumbled across a fantastic US knitters site called Ravelry. I saw that designers were uploading their patterns to Ravelry’s database and selling them, and thought: I can do that. So I began designing and making knit-and-felt bags, and writing and uploading patterns. To my surprise, they sold (and are still selling) quite well. Then I discovered Folksy, through a writer friend who’d begun buying there in preference to Etsy. I’d never heard of either, and had no idea such crafting sites existed! Selling the felted bags I was designing seemed the logical next step, so BaggieAggie was born on Folksy in the spring. I began making fabric bags too. Then, in the summer, I decided to make smaller fabric items and opened a second Folksy shop, BaggieAggietoo. I also have a shop on Etsy, mainly for felted bag patterns, which for some reason sell much better in the US than the UK.
What do you love about your medium, what do you hate?
What I love the most is sourcing the fabrics and ripping open the packages when they arrive. It’s almost orgasmic! (I know, I know – I need to get out more, lol!) I don’t really hate anything, but I do worry about the sewing-machine breaking down!
Well, my wrist key fobs, for example, came about because of the difficulties of juggling car doors, kids and shopping. The answer was to wear my keys on my wrist so there’d be no more dropping them in puddles, or searching one-handed through pockets and bags. Surprisingly, I couldn’t find wrist fobs in the shops so decided to make my own. When a complete stranger came up to me in Tesco’s car park and asked where I’d got it, I realised they were saleable. And that’s actually how BaggieAggietoo came about. It was a similar thing with my card wallets – I couldn’t find anything that I liked enough or that would hold a decent number of business cards. Otherwise (and I think it goes without saying!) I’m inspired by colour and pattern.
What is your favourite music to craft to?
It depends on my mood. Anything from Mozart to Metallica, though I more often listen to non-music radio or audio-books while crafting. I’m currently listening to Dawn French’s novel ‘A Tiny Bit Marvellous’.
What is your favourite piece of your own?
My favourite changes with the weather, but at the moment – in BaggieAggietoo – it’s ‘Earth’, this gorgeous card wallet: I love the retro look of the fabric and the earthtone colours.
Where do you do your crafting (specially built studio - sofa??)
At the dining-table and ironing-board! I’m planning to turn the spare bedroom into a workroom (currently used as office, storage space and junk room). It desperately needs doing as, through necessity, my materials and tools are kept in so many different areas of the house. I’m worn out with continually running from room to room, and charging up and down stairs!
This time my featured seller is Oakwood Soaperie - Ceri makes fantastic soaps which look beautiful. I love her beautiful photos of her goodies in her Folksy Shop. Wouldn't these make a great gift?
Tell us a bit about yourself
Hi, My name is Ceri. I live with my hubby and my cat in the North East of England.
What do you make?
I make all natural soaps and bath goodies by hand using only natural ingredients.
Why do you use that medium?
I use only natural ingredients because of their skin benifitting properties, The oils and botanicals I use all feed the skin with vitamins and minerals while the essential oils also treat the skin as well as lift the spirits.
When/ how did you start crafting?
I have been crafting in one form or another for years, I started with art at school, then College, I have also have a Fashion Design Degree, but it was around 5 or 6 years ago I started making soaps and skin balms etc. I gave them as presents and made them for myself. I soon became hooked.
When did you start selling your stuff - where do you sell?
I started selling last year once all the official stamps and seals were completed :O) I sell on Folksy and also at some local craft fairs and some small retail outlets. I am looking to start selling my wares from farm shops and local deli's as well.
Do you also have a day job, or is this your main job?
I work part time as well but would LOVE it if this was my full time day job.
What do you love about your medium, what do you hate?
I love it all, what is there to hate?
Where do you get your inspiration from?
It comes from all around me...sometimes it is as simple as an idea which brews away until I can 'see' the product in my mind, then other times I'll sit down and think of the effect I want something to have on my skin and build the product from the effects of the ingredients and tweak it to make sure it also looks pretty.
What is your favourite music to craft to?
For now I am loving Folky stuff, like Lisa Hannigan, Kate Rusby, Heidi Talbot, Mumford & Sons, Roddy Woomble (ex idlewild), but also love Florence & the Machine, Marina & the Diamonds, Muse, The Smoke Fairies and Imelda May.
What is your favourite piece of your own?
I have just made a glorious red & blue swirled soap which I am calling Red Sky @ Night which I am particularly pleased with. Also a Moroccan Hamam soap which is a very unassuming putty colour from the Rhassoul clay but which is loaded with exotic incense fragrance and has a gold paisley stamped design into the surface. These are curing but will be ready very soon, keep an eye out on my Folksy site.
Where do you do your crafting (specially built studio - sofa??)
I have commandeered the Dining room for now but would love a full workshop at some stage. I have prettified it with bunting and floral wall transfers so it is a restful and inspirational place to be. I have a large pin board where I put up photo's, objects, pieces of ribbon etc that inspire me. The rest is given over to storage shelves, computer desk and work table etc.
One day I'd love my own place in the Northumberland Hills, a bit of woodland and a workshop or two to create in, my idea of heaven.
