Stencil Card Making

I've been making cards using felt.  You may have seen this one [see below] on my Facebook page.

I thought it was time to try something new though and my inspiration came from nowhere (seriously, I'll be slipping off to sleep when I'm hit with an idea.  Good thing I have paper and pen beside my bed!).

Stencil cards!  Not something I've seen before and it means I can do all sorts of different shapes.  I'm not the best drawer/painter/designer but stencils give me a fighting chance haha.  So here are some photos of the step by step process of making one of the stencils, and the end result :).

Drawing it out on a piece of card, shading the bits to cut out.

Got sick of shading; dodgy tetris piece drawings.

Cut out all the tetris pieces with my handy stanley knife.

Yay!  Tetris heart Valentine's card!

50% to the RSPCA Flood Appeal

For the month of January I will be donating 50% of all sales made through Kommoner to the RSPCA Flood Appeal.

The RSPCA will be using these donations to rebuild shelters, purchase equipment and help out all the animals that have been lost and displaced due to the QLD floods.

Crazy Eye - $15.00; $7.50 to RSPCA

Although, if you are able to make a straight donation, then please do.  They really need the money to help out the animals that have been displaced.

TOMG's Flood Appeal Auction

The Oz Material Girls (TOMG's for short) are a mother and daughter duo who I first found out about here when I was surfing the net for fabrics.

They are currently running an auction here to raise money for the Premier's Flood Relief.

Kindly Donated by : So Lilly
www.facebook.com/solilly.baby

Many crafters, photographers, designers, hairdressers and others from around Australia have donated literally HUNDREDS of different of items to the auction.

Kindly Donate by : SofiBOO
www.facebook.com/mySofiBOO

 
TOMG's have already raised over $16,000 just from the kindness of the people who have donated items and the people who are bidding.

Kindly Donated by : Kreated By Kel
http://www.facebook.com/KreatedByKel

The auction ends on Monday January 24th 8:30PM Sydney time, so get in and place a bid while you can!

Creator Profile - Sienna May

I recently interviewed (read emailed) the lovely crafter behind the works of Sienna May.  Read ahead to learn more about this local talent.

Tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Kim and I am a fabric - a  - holic !!  I am based in Brisbane, Queensland.

I just adore bright, funky fabrics and creating gorgeous items from it...  

I love having market stalls to get out from behind the sewing machine and computer and meet all of my beautiful customers & other stall holders......and I am obsessed with facebook! 

I get a big thrill out of interacting with my beautiful customers each day and I get so excited when I see lovely comments and feedback from them.. It is wonderful when they post pictures of their items when they arrive to them.. *gushes*

What do you create?

 

At Sienna May, you will find lovingly hand made toys for babies & toddlers, dolls, and hand made home decor items.

My creations are a wonderful addition to the toy collection of babies, toddlers, grown ups and anyone in between!

My homewear items look fantastic in book shelves, on a bedroom dressing table or anywhere in your home that needs brightening up!

My dolls  like to have loads of cuddles and love...

I also would like to mention that all of my fabrics are pre-washed to be safe and clean for children, and all of my items are made in my clean, smoke-free environment.

I love making them and I hope they make you smile.

How long have you been making things?  What was the first thing you made?

     

I have been creating my items for around 8 months now, however, prior to what I create now, I was sewing handbags and make up pouches. ...

The very first thing that I made was an Oswald Owl Cuddle pillow [see photo below] for a friends little girl, and then a made a jingle ball and  I saw how much joy my hand made toys gave her, my heart melted and I just wanted to keep making them and share the smiles with as many people as possible.. 

 

It makes me happy to see the little ones (and the adults !!) with a smile when they see my items at markets.  I know that when my babies get to their new homes, they are given lots of love!

Where do you get your inspiration?

I dream things, you know?

You might think that is a little bit of madness but when I do, I make them up and I always have an official "tester" for my items when I complete my first off production, to see what they think of it...

Some ideas don't work out when i make them and they just kind of sit in my sewing room to keep me company, but then others do work out and I share them for everyone to see..

I have been through lots of trial and error, but I have found what I like to create and I kind of stick to that now.

How can people contact you?

People can contact me via email, or find me on my Facebook page and I also have a blog.

I am always happy to do custom orders for people also, check out my Facebook page for further info.

Market dates that I attend are always listed on my blog, and advertised on face book also so follow me to keep updated with goings on at Sienna May.

Recycled Price Tags

I've been trying to slowly make my items look more presentable for markets; making multiples of the same things; making signs that are all rather uniform; decreasing clutter...  I've now decided that I need price tags.  Instead of paying for them I've decided to make them myself from cardboard boxes from around the house.

It's very simple.  Cut out one to be your template, then trace around it multiple times and cut out your tags!

I still need to buy a hole puncher to put holes in the ends but I think they're pretty rad.  All you need then is some string and you can put a price tag on just about any of your crafty creations!  Sure beats the masking tape method I was using haha.

Selling earrings?  Make them larger and paint them or glue fabric on them!  Cut them out in chess shapes, make space invaders...  The possibilities are endless.