We’re live! Applications for the 2nd online Holiday market are now open until Sept 13th!
This online market is a collaborative space for Canadian makers to gather all in on place. It makes shopping easy for the end consumers. One click shop for their Canadian gifts this year.
Space is limited per category and the show is only open to Canadian makers.
Head on over the the website for all the details and to apply!
A few months ago as I was browsing Instagram, I saw one of my favourite jewellers (@kathrynrebeccajewellery) was having a giveaway and entered, without thinking anything of it – so many other people had entered, but I figured “why not!”. And. I. Won.
Fast forward, I met with Kathryn at her studio on Queen West, and we started talking about the necklace I’d chosen from her collection (Delicate Branch – 3rd image), and hoped to customize. My favourite hobby is beachcombing. I’m always game for going, rain, shine, snow… doesn’t matter! The thrill of finding a rare piece of glass keeps me coming back for more! What better way to represent my love for beachcombing than to add a piece of my beach glass to her branch (driftwood!) necklace! We chatted about options, looked over the tiniest pieces I had in my collection, and found a couple of options… and then chatted for an hour because she’s awesome and so much fun to hang out with.
Last night, I went to pick up my finished necklace. I was completely blown away. It’s perfect. It’s absolutely perfect, and I couldn’t love it any more than I already do. She designed the length so that it could sit just above the two small charms I always wear, we replaced my decade old worn out chain, and I will proudly wear both necklaces daily!
Thank you SO much, Kathryn! Not only do we share the same name (and spelling!), but we clearly both have great taste! 😉😘
Sometimes you just gotta treat yourself!
I’m super excited to have splurged on the new iPad and Apple Pencil. I’ve barely put it down since I got it, and can’t wait to keep learning!
Procreate is such an incredible app, and even though I’ve only gone through a few tutorials, I’m completely blown away with what I’ve already learned it can do!
Do you have any tips, tutorials, or brushes you can recommend to me? I’m all ears!
It may not look like much from the outside, but this little box has been a huge help when taking photos of felted friends over at Woodland Trail Studio!
It was so easy to make, it took less than an hour, and there aren’t even any instructions needed – get a good size box (this will depend on the size of product you create), cut a hole in two sides and the top, cut off the front, tape it together, tape some white tissue paper on the holes and voilà!
The best part of it being a freestanding box, is that you can move it around your house/studio/office until you find the right light, you can set up lights to point at it, and it can be complete and total chaos all around you… but all people will see is the background colour you have within the box, and nice, soft lighting.
I chose an aqua coloured piece of fabric, I preferred it to white as it can be a bit harsh, and it’s a favourite colour of mine (and part of the branding colours for Woodland Trail Studio!).
It’s not fancy – it’s not even ironed! It’s just taped up to the back of the box so I can easily change the position if I need to, or swap out for a different piece of fabric or paper. I have a piece of printer paper behind it just to help give it a bit of structure for the curve of where it falls, but it’s not necessary.
Here you can see the difference between the left and right – where I changed the outside lighting, so the shadows would be less harsh. I like to use natural light where possible, so I set up the lightbox on a side table by my sliding glass doors. The image on the left was the first test, the image on the right was when I pulled the sheer curtain to make the light less direct. I could have also moved away from the window to help, but the sheer worked great. Even if I didn’t have sheers, I could have temporarily taped some tissue paper to the glass, and added layers until the light was how I wanted, or simply moved it to a different window to test the light there.
If you’re a maker and you’d like to get more tips to make your life easier – sign up on our resources page for handy little tips and tricks delivered right to your inbox!
Congratulations to @craftadian! You’ve won a needle felted chickadee family from Woodland Trail Studio!
Thank you to everyone who entered! We had a great time, so watch out for more giveaways in the future!
Enter our giveaway contest running on Instagram, and you could win a needle felted chickadee or owl family from Woodland Trail Studio!
Contest is open to Canadian residents (except Quebec). Contest closes July 26, 2016.
See the full list of rules and regulations here »
July 5, 2016 update: Services for Makers is now live!
It’s no secret that I love making stuff. I often joke that I collect hobbies, and they’re virtually all craft related. Needle felting, knitting, sewing clothing, making accessories, jewellery, cross-stitch, baking, you name it, I’ll make it.
For years I’ve been wanting to work with crafters/makers, but most of the people I’ve been following on social media over the years are part-time makers, going to shows like One of a Kind, or local craft shows, and they’re not interested in having a completely custom built website for something that’s more “on the side/for fun” than for a full-time business. (If you’re a full time business and want a custom site – I’d love to hear from you!)
I thought about all the makers on Etsy and Amazon that were perhaps ready to move on to having their own self-hosted site to sell their goods, or run both simultaneously. I’ve been using Shopify for years with various clients and have been really happy with the ease of use. I decided it was time to offer a few special packages just for makers that want to move forward with their own site!
I’m so excited to finally get the opportunity to work with fellow crafters, and I can’t wait to browse Instagram and pretend it’s research 😉
If you’re interested in moving to a self-hosted e-commerce site, shoot me an email, or opt-in for the Resources list and stay up to date on when we launch the new packages!
