IT'S Woolly Wednesday!

One thing you should know about me... I love a bit of alliteration, so when I was dreaming up ideas for blog posts recently, I thought, how about having a Woolly Wednesday! (Why not?!)

...I very much doubt I'm the first person ever to have come up with that but I do hope you like it anyway :)

Here are some woolly things that have tickled my fancy this week:

Image via Etsy

I love this Lambswool Birdie by Sally Nencini, discovered while having a look at a few things that popped up on my feed whilst using the Etsy app. Not just because I adore birds, and think lambswool is pretty awesome, either! I particularly like the way she has used different patterns and muted colours to create an overall kind of folkloric effect. Plus, who wouldn't want one of these cheery birdies sitting on their mantlepiece?

I quite enjoy using the "your feed" tab as a way of browsing actually, and it's a great way to find new things or stumble across pretty treasuries. Do check out Sally Nencini's Etsy shop, it's packed with lots of fun (woolly) designs including an elephant cushion or one featuring a fleet of red London double-decker buses, not to mention her quirky knitted toys!

Image via Ohhdeer

How about some woolly jumpers? This "Cool Sweaters" greeting card with sheep sporting knitted designs made me smile. It's the work of illustrator Jacques Maes, and I very much like the nostalgic feel of this print of his.

...and finally, here's a little bit of sporting yarnbombery: Commonwealth Games nations knitted flags for Glasgow 2014
 
Fear not, dear reader, more wool-related action coming soon!

In the meantime, you can check out all of my blog posts related to this rather fabulous fibre here.

Free Shipping at WildCat Designs!

A little something, just for the bank holiday weekend...

Get free worldwide shipping on everything at http://wildcatdesigns.etsy.com until the end of Monday 26th May. Just quote "FREESHIPYAY" during checkout to claim this offer.

Does your winter need warming up?

Well, I might be able to help with that...

Chase away the January blues
with a brand new WildCat Designs scarf
- snap one up in my Super Scarf Sale!

You'll find lots of my best selling designs marked down
in my Etsy online shop, available while stocks last...

Cyber Monday 2013

I'm having a flash sale in the WildCat Designs online boutique - 

Cyber Monday means you'll get 20% off everything in my Etsy shop!

To claim your discount, 

just enter coupon code 

"CYBERMONDAY20" 

during checkout.

Happy shopping!

Christmas 2013

WildCat Designs last order dates for Christmas 2013

UK orders: Wednesday 18th December

Orders for Western Europe: Friday 13th December

Orders for USA: Wednesday 11th December

Orders for Canada & Eastern Europe: Sunday 8th December

Orders for Japan, Oz, NZ & everywhere else: Monday 2nd December

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I *will* be accepting orders after these dates but

please be aware that items may not arrive in time for Christmas,

after all, it is a very busy time of year!

The order dates also apply to my WildKittens online shop.

Shop online: Bigcartel, Etsy, DaWanda or Folksy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Custom orders: If you are interested in a custom order,

please get in touch by Friday 15th November.
Email enquiries {at} wildcat-designs {dot} co {dot} uk

Winter is Coming!

It has certainly been feeling a little autumnal round here lately. So I thought it was high time I did a little WildCat Designs update. Cosy knitwear ahoy!!

Etsy shop

I have been updating my WildCat Designs Etsy online shop in the last couple of weeks - this is definitely the best place to see the full range of knitwear accessories I have on offer for autumn/winter. There are some brand new designs for 2013, along with some of my best sellers!

Custom Orders

If you're interested in commissioning something special for a loved one this winter - or fancy getting a bespoke handmade piece made especially for you - please do get in touch, I am happy to discuss custom orders. Should you wish to do this, please feel free to email enquiries {at} wildcat-designs {dot} co {dot} uk or contact me directly through one of my online shops.

WildKittens

I also have a collection of felted Merino lambswool scarves for kids, along with cute hand knit baby gifts and PDF knitting patterns.

Find out more by visiting the WildKittens Etsy store.

If you want to find out more about my WildCat Designs label, my dedicated website should tell you everything you need to know. (P.S. there's a bit about me & my designs on my new blog bio too, for the curious!)

Where to Buy WildCat Designs

You can find my WildCat Designs creations online:

Etsy (WildCat Designs)

DaWanda (offered in three language flavours) - EN - DE - FR (€)

Bigcartel (£)

WildKittens Etsy shop

Handmade Birthday

It's my birthday next week, so I decided to make an etsy treasury wishlist :)

...for those about to CRAFT...

...we salute you! :D


Yup, it's that time of year again - time to get your *crafty* on! I am getting pretty excited about the Edinburgh Etsy Craft Party, I can tell you. (see the facebook event page for more info) I'm very much looking forward to crafting en plein air in the Meadows on Friday 10th June - here's hoping the weather is as lovely and sunny as it is today for the picnic party! Hope to see a few familliar faces and make some new crafty friends on the day too.

There's even a fun, downloadable party kit from etsy to get you started if you're looking for ideas. Find out if there's an event in your town here.

*Edit: I should add that you don't have to be an etsy member to come along - it's totally free on the day and all are welcome :)

Mayday! Mayday!

Mayday! Mayday! Get a cheeky 10% discount in my etsy shop today with coupon code "MAYDAY11" ;)

The Silken Thread

I was recently inspired by this gorgeous cashmere & silk yarn created by the lovely Snowberrylime to collate an etsy treasury along a similar theme, entitled "The Silken Thread" - I hope you like :)


The interactive thingy above was created using CraftCult's Etsy Treasury Widget. Yay!

Adornment

Day Seven: Embellish the story.

I can't believe it's the last day of Knitting & Crochet Blog Week again, already! This week has really flown by but it's been a lot of fun and I've very much enjoyed reading the blogs of other crafters taking part too.

Most folks are covering "your knitting and crochet time" today, but as I did a post last year which I feel would be a bit too similar, I have gone for the wildcard topic which will hopefully make for a more interesting read!

I'll be honest here, I don't really do huge amounts of embellishment on my knits as I like them to have fairly clean, classic lines. An obvious example is these shell buttons which finished off a pair of shoes neatly:


There have been, however, have a few memorable occasions where I have had a bit of a play around with some ideas!

When I was working on pieces for my degree show, I experimented with knitting on huge needles and creating my own yarns from strips of fabric sewn together - I decided to make the stitched joins a feature, using zig-zagging contrasting thread:


Around the same time, I also tried various ways of embedding fibres into knitted woollen fabrics, using needlepunch and hand felting techniques:






...and finally: you'll probably think me a little bit nutty for including this, but I'm going to incorporate it anyway for the fun factor!


In case you're wondering, they're meant to be 'textile art' and were made for a Comic Relief challenge project several years back ;)

Handmade Portraits: Biscuit Scout

Handmade Portraits: Biscuit Scout from Etsy on Vimeo.

I love this lady's story :) Find out more about her here.

Hello Again!

I do hope you all had a wonderful festive season and wish you a very happy and healthy new year! :)

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of issue 3 of Spoonful zine from my sister for Christmas - I was delighted when the envelope with an Australian stamp dropped through the letter box because I knew what it was straight away! Earlier on in the year I'd previously ordered myself a copy of issue 2 from their etsy shop...and loved it.



The 'zine is described as a "happiness companion" and this seems fairly apt, from my experience of it so far. I also like the idea that the name Spoonful derives from the fact that the magazine can be digested in the space of a train journey - a welcome little breather from our maddeningly busy lives.

(image via Spoonful)

Oooh! I've just made the happy discovery that Frugal Cool in Musselburgh stocks Spoonful - how exciting! I've been meaning to take a little trip out there for a while in any case, all the more reason to do so now.

I also received these teeny tiny animal post it notes/page markers. So utterly adorable.

(image via Spoonful)

A little shop update

Hello! It's been a little quiet around here lately, apologies for that...mainly because I have been somewhat inundated with orders (not to mention college coursework & assessments!) in the last few weeks. This is no bad thing, however, as it has meant I've achieved my 200th sale in my WildCat Designs shop this week! Hurrah! One great big goal for 2010 achieved! Even nicer that it was actually a friend, the lovely Ali of Ali Bali Jewellery (do check out her work, she makes some fab things!).

It's also been really rather wintery here in Scotland the past fortnight or so - the amount of snow we've had has turned Cramond into Narnia! Check out the icicles that appeared in front of my window:


...looks like the work of the White Witch to me! Even my local post box didn't escape the weather, and is now wearing its winter hat:


I'm just putting out a little shop update to let you all know that if you wish to receive items in time for Christmas, please place your order by this Saturday (18th December) at the latest, as this will give me time to pack it up and post it out to you!

Please note, this applies to UK orders only - for all other locations the last posting date has now passed, sorry. I am currently still accepting orders from customers outside the UK but cannot guarantee they will arrive before Christmas.

I'd also like to announce that all of my online shops will be closed for a short break (I feel I've earned it!) from Wednesday 22nd December 2010 until Wednesday 5th January 2011. My shops will re-open on Thursday 6th January.

Thanks to all of my customers and WildCat Designs/WildKittens fans (you know who you are!) for supporting my little business this year and also in the past, I couldn't have done it with out y'all. I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2011. This year has been a bit of a rollercoaster but you've got to have a few lows to appreciate the high points after all!

Cyber Monday Madness!

A little treat for you, my lovely readers...for one day only, receive 10% off your order from my WildCat Designs etsy shop when you enter the coupon code 'CYBERMON' during checkout!



I've got some lovely handmade knits to keep you and your loved ones cosy this winter, so do check out this one-day offer :)

It's also the perfect opportunity to stock up on pressies - my last order dates for Christmas are fast approaching! See this recent post for details.

P.S. For those who prefer to shop in €uros, there's a special discount running today over at my DaWanda shop too!

Edinburgh's Etsy Craft Party!

Event on Facebook

RSVP on Meetup.com

A little WildCat Designs update

Well, it may seem as though it's been a little quiet lately on the WildCat Designs front. Fear not, dear reader, I have, in actuality, been a busy bee!

The WCD website has had a little facelift for the new year, I'm pleased to announce. See it here: www.wildcat-designs.co.uk.



During January and February, some of my Space Invader creations resided in the Craft Shop at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre as part of their 'Space Craft' exhibition, very exciting for me, even if I unfortunately didn't get the chance to go down and visit. The exhibition also included science fiction-inspired jewellery (such as robot rings), Saturn bowls and futuristic glass.



I have also recently visited one of my stockists, Flux, in Leith, to deliver some stock. They now have some lovely new lacy scarves, just in time for Mother's Day on Sunday 15th March.



There are a few other gift ideas for Mother's Day in my etsy shop, including lace shawls and pretty textile brooches. You'll find them in the new section entitled 'For a Lovely Mum.'

WildCat Designs is 4!

Yes, the idea which began as a notion to produce my own designs after graduating from a textile degree, WildCat Designs, is four years old, and going strong!

I couldn't be happier about that, and never dreamed it would get this far...

This year has been a busy one and has seen my work featured in an exhibition (UK DIY), blogged about by some lovely people (such as UK Handmade), posted to various corners of the globe, and I even reached a big milestone just last month: 150 sales on etsy!

Woolly world domination, here I come :D

On a more serious note, my little business would not have survived for this long, were it not for the help and support of my friends and family over the years. I also have to say, it's also been quite a thrill to hear from, and get, customers from far-flung corners of the world, places I never thought I would be sending my creations to. There are some really rather well-travelled scarves out there...

Even more remarkable, there is even one scarf, which, extraordinarily, saved someone's life. If that isn't motivation to keep making them, I don't know what is!



It doesn't stop here...the Christmas rush is already well underway, I am knitting more scarves than ever, just to keep up with demand! The last date for placing a custom order in time for Christmas has now passed. However (a little heads-up here), I'll still be offering the custom skinny striped lambswool scarves for a little while to come.

In the meantime, find me here:

Facebook * Twitter * Ravelry

...or start your Christmas shopping here:

Etsy ($) * Bigcartel (£) * DaWanda (€)

Travelling

Well, well. It's been a busy few weeks since my last post.

I had a nice time at the Etsy retreat in August, which was held at Queen Margaret's School, in Escrick near York. It was essentially a weekend of crafting of all kinds! Plus lots of chatting and there was a good amount of cake (mostly made by the lovely Marmalady) consumed. Definitely no bad thing, and it's always nice to meet other folks who 'get' etsy and who are creative too - equally good to be able to put faces to names, as it were.



How pretty is this ^ school?! It was our home for a couple of nights, as we stayed in one of the boarding houses there and crafted our little hearts out in the art block during the day. Uninterrupted. Bliss.

I travelled even further away from home for a few days in London last month. I always get so excited about going there, and as ever, I had a list of things I wanted to do which was much longer than I could possibly have managed!

It ended up being a very arty weekend, as I visited the Tate Modern and also saw my good friend Beatie Fox's MFA Degree show at Wimbledon College of Art. She's a talented artist, do check out her website and sketchbook-style blog.

My visit to the Tate was quite fruitful too, though I was a little disappointed to discover that the Mark Rothko room wasn't around. I did, however see a few thought-provoking works, including Robert Therrien's 'Red Room' - a little room filled, or rather, crammed, entirely with all things red (crayons, red converse, baskets, blankets, painted wooden furniture...) - and also 'No Title (Table and Four Chairs)' which was an interesting exploration of scale. It's a sculptural work which consists of a giant-size table and chair set, which you can walk through and around. I had the feeling of being very small whilst exploring it!

Lovely Things

Oh dear...it's been a while! I've been off having far too much fun - my birthday, plus a music festival (T in the Park, if you must know) = not very much blogging at all! I have some things I'd like to share though, so I thought it was about time.

Later this month, WildCat Designs will be taking part in Handmade Haven, a Glasgow Craft Mafia market at Mono. Come and see some fab crafty creations in a relaxed Sunday afternoon setting from 1-6pm on the 26th of July. For more information, see here.

As a birthday treat, I had a mini spree on etsy - mainly because I spotted the work of Kallliopi on the front page. I had to have this...



...mainly because it's just too cute! Not to mention beautifully handmade and unique. Kalliopi is based in Melbourne, Australia and makes gorgeous little brooches from lots of funky little things but my favourites are definitely those based on plectrums for the guitar.

I also discovered that if you sign into etsy on your birthday - the bar at the top says 'Happy Birthday' to you! It certainly made me smile anyway.

Today I stumbled across two rather lovely websites full of nice things. Things which bring me dangerously close to parting with wads of cash!



First up is ModCloth which has a nice mix of retro and vintage clothing, as well as funky things to spruce up your living space. The Stitchable Stationery kit by Sublime Stitching and the Matryoska Russian Doll drinking game definitely caught my eye.



The other website I happened to trip over is Shana Logic. It has some fabulously kitsch jewellery, cute clothing, quirky art prints and even some squeezably soft plush things. Like this sweet Geisha cushion.