Collaboration with Artist Not Included

Back in the summer I was contacted by the wonderful Charley of Artist not Included to collaborate on a personal project, creating a bespoke journal combining my bookbinding skills with her fantastic screen printing skills to produce a totally unique journal for someone special. 

Well, we certainly didn't fall short - it was so much fun to work with Charley, picking out the perfect materials, sending them back and forth until we had the perfect combination of leather, paper and ink! Not only are there the sweetest screen printed robins all over the cover, but there's a golden robin on the first page followed by the most beautiful poem - I think we did pretty well, if you ask me!

Check out the images below for some work in progress shots - this truly was one of the best projects I've ever worked on, seeing an idea like this come to life was amazing and hearing how well the journal was received was just wonderful. Check out Charley's blog post to read a little more about it and check out her awesome work!

Huge news for Jackdaw Bindery!

TRYING NOT TO FAINT HERE.. It's been SO hard to keep schtum about this.. SO HARD and I still can't believe it myself I'm literally in daydream mode here, but after a couple of weeks of incredibly hard keeping quiet I can finally reveal that Jackdaw Bindery is

ETSY'S FEATURED SHOP!!!

I've been reading Etsy's articles about the wonderful designers, artists and makers who sell their amazing work through etsy for so long it was a huge shock to the system to be contacted myself about little old ME being featured. I still don't believe it but now it's finally been published I'm just sitting here in silence staring and thinking.. *ME... THAT'S ME!* 

My good friend Natalie Miller came round to drink tea and shoot some beautiful photos of me and my studio that I'm so thankful for. If you're interested to know more about myself, Jackdaw Bindery and how it all happened, you can read the whole article on the etsy blog.

Still letting this sink in. The support for my journey so far has been amazing so thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who has supported me, even in the tiniest way, thank you thank you thank you ♥

Supplies, Vintage and Stuff!

It's been a crazy hectic time here these past few weeks! Since moving the studio again (and then again, after that.. phew) I've had to drastically down-size to make room for the things I really need and so have opened my very own supply store on Etsy with the intention of de-stashing my.. rather large stash! It's so hard letting go of some things but I know I'll probably never use them, and unfortunately 'probably never' isn't 'probably will' and thus I have to let it go. *sigh*. My inner hoarder is screaming at me to keep everything but I just can't!

Here's a little selection of what's on offer. From beads, findings, vintage sewing and knitting patterns, fabric, leather off-cuts and even vintage clothing! I'm very happy to find that there are people out there who want my de-stash stuff, and so long as there is demand, I shall deliver.

Happy browsing ♥

Hello Spring!

I've just returned from the post after sending out all my outstanding orders which means I have a rare afternoon free to myself! To celebrate I've poured myself a nice cool drink and have flung the windows wide as the weather is stunning today, it actually feels like Spring FINALLY! I'm having a go at making the Colette Sorbetto tank top using some vintage fabric my grandmother gave me last year. I made a pair of knickers in the same fabric so the idea is that I'll have a new pyjama set should everything go to plan! Photos to follow if all goes well.

Until then, I'm excited to announce I now have NEW colour leather journals! This Dark Forest Green is one of a number of pretty new colours available for 2013, I think it's my new fave! I have more colours coming soon but for now these will have to suffice - which is your favourite?

AND you can now buy lined journals straight from my shop (in the past you had to contact me prior to this!) This should make transactions a whole lot easier for everyone without the backwards and forwarding of emails and etsy convos to see if I can do them!

I'm excited to say that I have moved my studio - again! This time into a smaller space so it's a bit of a squeeze, just as I think it's looking nice and tidy and everything fits I remember I have a whole bunch of other bits to bring over so I imagine I'll be shuffling around for the next few weeks until it's 'perfect'. It's also going to mean getting rid of a lot of materials so I'll be opening a supplies shop on etsy for this purpose. More on this soon.

During my huge-clear-out I'm also hoping to knock up some new tutorials so keep your eyes peeled! I'm off now to attempt this tank top - wish me luck! I'll leave you with a treasury featured on the front page of etsy on Thursday featuring one of my journals!

♥

Februaaaaaawhatsthatnow?

WHAT! February already? 2013 is going so fast and with my tax return having taken up pretty much all of January I'm excited to get started on new things. To kick things off I just had to share what I've been doing this afternoon because it's way too cute not to. Meet Fox - how sweet is he? He's not finished yet but I had to post a quick photo! All hand drawn, cut and sanded, he needs a bit of varnish and he'll be good to go to a new home (unless he permanently attaches himself to a chain around my neck, fine by me!). The start of a new collection? Maybe!

On another note, exciting times - I logged onto Etsy today to find that one of my leather bound books was featured on the front page yesterday and as a result someone snapped it up super quick! Below is the treasury in question, lots of beautiful items in there to peruse if you have the time. I'm excited to say I've bought a bunch of new materials for more books so they should be ready for the shop in no time. New colours for Spring yey!

♥

DEAREST JACKDAW PRINT SALE

It's SALE TIME at Dearest Jackdaw! Not only do I have various items in the sale of my etsy shop already but I now have tonnes of prints with a whopping 50% OFF! I am selling all of my remaining stock from my print shop "What the Jackdaw Saw". I've gone through each and every print and grouped them into sets of images that compliment each other and look just as good together as they do apart. Just click here and use the shop section menu on the left hand side to navigate your way to the sale. Absolutely perfect for gift giving, stocking fillers, adding a little bit of colour to your home, office or studio. Come and take a peek!

. . DEAREST JACKDAW PRINT SALE . .

SEWING MACHINE IS HOME IS HOME IS HOME ♥

Good news, after going two and a half painful months without my beautiful sewing machine I finally have her back and SHE WORKS AGAIN, YEY! I'm so excited to get on any make lots of new things I've been dreaming up in her absence. To celebrate her return I've been on a couple of recent supply splurges (definitely not necessary based on the state of my studio right now, there is stuff pouring out of every nook and cranny. Who am I kidding.. Of course it was necessary!) so have lots of cool stuff to create some beautiful new bits and pieces.

Whilst attempting to clear up my workspace this afternoon to make way for her majesty, I found these little pendants I made back in the Summer hiding at the bottom of one of my stock drawers so they've gone into the shop today! I've also revised all of my postage costs to keep the costs as low as possible for my customers.

In other news, M and I are planning a collaboration for the near future. Hopefully it'll be ready for the new year and we're both very excited about it, I won't go into too much detail right now but soon soon soon I promise. Until then ♥

Summer 2012 Jewellery Collection

I thought I'd just show off my new jewellery range. Each piece is a one-off, hand cut and created using reclaimed leather offcuts from my books - I suppose you could call it reclaimed reclaimed! 

Find out more about each piece by clicking the images, or you can visit my shop by clicking here!

♥

One year on Etsy!

I've just taken a quick peek in my diary and seen that it's one year today that I officially launched my etsy shop! How time flies huh? The first thing I ever sold on etsy was this gorgeous plaited bracelet! I kept behind a vintage buckle to make myself one similar but never got around to it *adds to list of things to do*

Dearest Jackdaw 2012 Calendars

My 2012 Fine Art calendars are here! Over the past couple of months I've been browsing through thousands of my photographs to find the perfect colour and image combinations for each and I now have four different calendars to choose from, they make PERFECT Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers.

Available in Paris, Flora, Seasonal and Pretty. Just click on any of the images below for more information.

I'd love to know what you think! Page layouts courtesy of my wonderful Cousin Sam ♥

Happy Birthday to me!

I'm 23 today!

AND - my books arrived yesterday afternoon, I'm so happy with them. The quality is fantastic, take a peek!

Perfect ♥

What have I been up to?

Well well well, I have been a busy little bee. This is just a flying visit so sorry if it seems a little rushed!
Soo, what have I been up to? Well! As well as putting together a rather large order for a client, I've created a little book full of my prints titled a rather obvious but fitting "What the Jackdaw Saw", I've also been featured in a gorgeous collaborative book curated by the 'Female Photographers of Etsy' (fPOE) team, called "Still - the art of living". Both books should arrive over the weekend so as soon as they get here I'll be updating with images. In the meantime, here's a little snippet from What the Jackdaw Saw - I ADORE the cover design!

I feel pretty, oh so pretty . .

Just the teeniest post today. There's nothing quite like finding out you've been included in a beautiful treasury on etsy. So I was amazingly excited today to find out that not one, but both of my shops have been featured in this wonderful treasury featuring lovely and talented UK etsians, curated by the equally talented Pretty Stitched Up.

Now, who wants to buy me the entire collection?

Launch of Jackdaw Boutique Gift Shop!

That's correct, I'm super happy to announce that my Boutique Store is now officially open! Listed so far are just a few bits and pieces whilst I prepare and photograph more stock, and I will be updating my items throughout the next week! 

Would you like to know a little bit about how Dearest Jackdaw was born, whilst we're on the subject?.. Yes? OK!

When I decided I wanted a little shop of my own I spent weeks trying to think of the perfect name, everything I wrote down seemed either too cliché, too tacky, unmemorable, unrelated or sounded fine but didn't get me excited about the whole thing. I was getting really frustrated about it as I just wanted to get on with things but without a name, what can you do? 

Just as I felt I had fallen at the first hurdle, whilst clearing out some old boxes I came across an old business card and all of a sudden I was lucky enough to have one of those flashy light bulb eureka moments!

Many many moons ago (well, approximately 'my lifetime, and then some' which is becoming many more moons with each and every year that passes!) my beautiful Grandmother Pamela (who I mentioned in my Easter blog post) was the proud owner of a little antique shop in Haslemere called "The Jackdaw Antiques". It was her business card that I'd gotten my little paws on and all of a sudden everything fell into place!

I scribbled everything down on scraps of paper until I was satisfied with the name Jackdaw Boutique. Of course this has now evolved into Dearest Jackdaw, with Jackdaw Boutique and What the Jackdaw Saw being my little stores branching off of the blog containing a selection of gifts, treats, and fine art imagery.

♥The End♥

(for now..)

Spring flowers and a slight technical difficulty!

The clocks went forward on Sunday morning, giving us longer days and lighter evenings. I took the opportunity on Sunday afternoon to get out with the camera and capture my favourite season, Spring!

You can never, EVER have too many photographs of Spring (as you will see from this post last year). It doesn't matter how many blossom trees I see that are probably all the same, I just have to take some photos!

This blog post was supposed to be a little gallery of images I've taken.. BUT, due to some unfortunate (and rather scary) technical difficulties last night, I'm currently without a hard drive for the time being, so I did the next best thing and used my iPhone to get some snaps with the fantabulous 'Hipstamatic' app which I am absolutely obsessed with!

For anyone familiar with the app, I used the Bettie XL lens with Pistil film for these images. For anyone unfamiliar with it, Hipstamatic is a pretty special little photography app for the iPhone, where you can interchange your lenses, films and flashes to create unique images similar to those taken on vintage toy cameras. Light leaks, unusual colours and different borders are my favourite perks and I usually turn to this app as oppose to the regular phone camera if I want to take a photo.

Fortunately before the computer went haywire last night, I was able to list this image on What the Jackdaw Saw. I don't have access to my other shots just yet - Hopefully I can post some in the next few days.

And finally, here's a beautiful treasury I created on Etsy for the blog. It features some lovely spring inspired work to keep us all inspired for the coming weeks! Please show it some love if you have a spare minute. ♥

PS, for those of you who are awaiting the Vintage Jacket Giveaway results, I have extended entries until 14th April 2011 due to my technical troubles as mentioned above! This means that if you didn't have a chance to get your entry in, now's the time!

I'm on the front page of Etsy!

Ok.. so perhaps it may not be a massive achievement by any means, but it's the first time I've been featured on the front page of Etsy so I'm hoping that it might bring my little shop a bit more exposure!

The featured item in particular is my photographic print "Fly away with me"

Here's a screen shot that I took out of pure excitement!

 

Yippee, now all I need is for someone to buy something from my shop!

Anyway. I'm now off to delve into piles of fabric to pick out some pieces for another ragdoll dress :)