Giveaway Winner!!!

The giveaway ended last night with 28 entries. Tonight I wrote all the names out on little pieces of paper and out them in a lovely red enamel mug. Milly then had the pleasure of picking the winner....



And the winner is....



Congratulations orangebirdstudio!
Email me at cuppateaandcake@googlemail.com to tell me what freebie you'd like from my shop and your address.

Thank you all for entering and following my blog!

Folksy Friday: Birds

Sorry for the fact this week's Folksy Friday is actually on Sunday, I had a migraine for three days so couldn't bear to look at the computer on Thursday evening or Friday. But I hate to fall from tradition and so I am Folksy Fridaying anyway!

This week's theme is Birds. I love birds and am trying to come up with some birdie type images for my own product range. Also we let Milly out for the first time this weekend and she is spending lots of time looking at birds!





























Flying Birds Button Brooch by Flying Away

Love Birds Print by I Love Tea and Ceremony

Birds of a feather ceramic wall art duo with vintage lace texture by Prince Design UK

Chirpy Little Birds Mug by Julia Smith

Grey Flocking Birds Tights by Tights For Sore Eyes

3 Birds at The Airport Necklace by Reworkd Workshop

Folksy Friday: Necklaces

This week's theme is Necklaces. Yes I know it's vague but I love necklaces so here is a selction of six fabulous necklaces I want from awesome Folksy sellers.

Short but sweet!
































Science Beaker or Flask Necklace by Finest Imaginary

Moth Necklace by Niche Handmade

Big Yellow Owl Necklace by Wollies

Walnut Bird on Branch Necklace by Lost At Sea

Summer Owl Necklace by Rose and Raven

Pendant: Dove Heart by Teasemade

**Giveaway!**

To celebrate my blog followers reaching 100 (106 by the time i'm writing this!) I am having a giveaway!

All you have to do is comment on this blog post and your name will be entered into the draw to win any one item you want from my shop!

That's right, you can choose ANY one thing you want from my shop!

You have until Midnight next Thursday 23rd September to enter and i'll do the draw the following Friday.

Good luck! And thank you to everyone who has followed my blog and helped me reach 106!

Halfpenny Home's Humble Jumble

Our friends at Halfpenny Home are holding a Jumble Sale this Saturday in Needham Market!!

From 11 - 4 at The Ark, which i'm told is the Town Hall you can root through other people's junk to find some treasures.

I'll be there so sharpen your elbows as i'm on the hunt!!

We've been on a jolly!

Today i've been on a trip to the seaside! My day job is the greatest. I'm a lecturer and LSA in Art and Design so I get to teach lovely students all about the things I love and get to go on fantastic research and drawing trips like our trip to Aldeburgh and Snape Maltings today.

We had a great time collecting beach debris as inspiration for our next four week project on found objects. I took loads of photos of the beach, mainly fishing boats and equipment related to them. I love the worn paintwork and clash of colours on the plastic boxes. There were colourful nets strewn around in plastic crates, rusty old bits of metal and blackboards with fish prices scrawled on them all weather worn and beautiful.

I hope the students appreciated the day as much as we did and took as many pictures as they possibly could. We're only in the first week of term so they may be needing some encouragement to fill their boots with inspiration!

Showcase Sunday: Sarah Waterhouse

The seller I have chosen for my Showcase Sunday this week is the excellent Sarah Waterhouse.

Firstly I have to say that a lot of Sarah's products that she has small numbers of are 20% off in her shop at the moment to make way for her Autumn line of products, so you can grab yourself a bargain and get excited about new things to come too!
I really love Sarah's products and the two big reasons are her colour choices and her gorgeous illustrations.

Also, as I said in my Folksy Friday, I love the way people package their products. I love the jute string around the tea towels and her tags which match everything so perfectly. If you read this blog often you will know how much I love matching branding and colour schemes. And look Sarah's tags match her shop banner, which matches her website which matches her blog. Love it!





The other thing that is really important and that Sarah does so well and simply is her product shots, a clean white background gives a great minimalist look to show off the product at it's best and the lighting is perfect, I am very jealous I must admit! I am still battling to get the ultimate photographs of my products.

Most of all Sarah's products and her site inspire me to keep pushing my work further and encourage me to work harder to make my shop the best it can be. I admire it greatly, it is definitely in my Top Five Folksy shops!!

Folksy Friday: Packaging and Post

I love packaging, when you order a handmade product you often find the maker pays as much attention to packaging the it product as they do to making the product itself. I love parcelling up my orders to make it as exciting as possible when my buyers receive their goods and I love when I've ordered something that arrives in a beautiful package.

After receiving my lovely necklaces from Lucie Ellen this week in a lovely envelope made from a page of a vintage children's book and seeing other people's lovely deliveries in the many blogs I read I have decided to feature 6 beautiful packaging products from Folksy sellers.


























New School Card by Rebecca Lancaster Designs

Postcards/Notecards by Rachael Taylor Designs

Assorted Set of Six Gift Tags by Gooseberry Moon

Gift Wrap Set by Asking For Trouble

Chenille Pom Pom Ribbon by Dizzy Izzy Supplies

Recycled Map Envelopes by Junky Chicken

Lucie Ellen Necklaces

What a reason to be cheerful! I have 2 new Lucie Ellen necklaces to add to my collection. I just have to decide which one to wear first.

You can see in the back of the picture the little envelope they came in, it's made of what looks like an old page from a children's book, sometimes the packaging adds to the excitement of buying handmade goods. I know I make a lot of effort when packing my orders to send to customers.

As you can see from the second picture Milly couldn't help but get in on the photo shoot. But who could blame her, look how cute she is! She wants to help with everything, and frequently tries to help me screen print, little kitty paws don't make good textural patterns on new tea towels!

Make sure you go check out Lucie Ellen's Etsy and watch out for news on the latest street fair. The Saints Festive Street Fair as Lucie Ellen is bound to be there!

For The Love Of Knitting!

For some time now i've been making my Knitter Badges and have found them to be really popular. Especially because, as one customer said "where else can you buy badges about knitting?" what a coo for me!

So as I was making a badge up for a customer who wanted a specific colour the penny dropped, why not make really cute little wool earrings?!

So here they are! In any colour in the colour range but I have purple and pink ones good to go on the Folksy and Etsy pages.

Don't you just love knitting?!

Folksy Friday: Leaves

This week, in celebration of Autumn being on it's way (don't hit me!) my theme is leaves!

I know so many people really love Summer and I like it too, in moderation!! I love Autumn, the way the trees change colour, the gorgeous Autumnal light, wrapping up a bit warmer, wearing more layers (for me it is all about layers) and cosying up in bed without overheating! So here goes, your six Autumnal products...





















Copper Bird with Leaf Wing by Ali Bali

Retro Leaf Rubber Stamp by Skulls And Cross Buns

Huggers To G0! Leaves by Sugar & Rhubarb

Little Birdy Card (Recycled) by Nina Rowan Paper Boutique

Spring Wrens - Hand Pulled Original Gocco Print

by Dee Beale Original Hand Pulled Prints

Forever Print by Bonbi Forest