New designs coming soon....!

As I emerge blinking into the post-lockdown (sort of) world, I've been inspired to once again take up my sewing shears and delve into my fabrics box to see what wonders await.  

When the world went mad, back in March, I had only just taken delivery of some gorgeous new fabrics and embellishments, but since then, I've had rather more pressing priorities, so they have languished in their layers of tissue paper, awaiting the moment when I had the time to allow inspiration to strike.

I'm hoping to have some new designs to share in the next week or so, and when they're ready I will reveal them here and on the Buntings & Bows FB page.

So do please keep checking back......

Toodle pip! 

OAQs.....

It struck me recently that I should have some OAQs, related to Bunting and Bows.  OAQs are the same as FAQs, but asked only occasionally.

Q: What is bunting anyway?

A: The dictionary definition is 'rows of brightly colours small flags, hung across roads, or rooms, or above a stage as decoration for special occasions or political events'.  But of course bunting is much, much more than that....

Q: OK... so what's so special about it?

A: Well, where do I start?  It's fun and quirky and harks back to happier, kinder times.  Plus it cheers your soul.

Q: *sceptical eyebrow raise*

Q: How is it made?

A: Mine is completely handmade using lovely fabrics.... each piece is carefully measured and neatly cut, then painstakingly lined with a plain fabric.  Sometimes I add jewelled embellishments or appliques.  Each individual flag is then sewn onto plain or fancy cotton tape.  Et voila!

Q:  Yours is quite expensive.  Can I buy it cheaper?

A: Yes of course you can.  Off you pop.  Try Ebay, where you can easily find some cheap, shoddy, unlined, mass produced, imported bunting... but trust me... it will NOT cheer your soul.

Q: How do I hang it up?

A: There are many and various ways of hanging it.  My marvellous bunting is supplied with a small metal D-ring at each end, which you can simply slip over a hook or cable clip, or something similar.

Q: I don't like the look of the D-ring/hook combo on my wall. What can I do?

A: *long suffering sigh* OK, I can supply a matching fabric rosette with a little loop on the back, which neatly slips over the hook/cable tie to conceal both. 

Q: I requested bespoke jewelled bunting in three specific colour combinations. 10 metres of each.  Why am I having to wait 3 weeks for delivery?

A: Because making bunting properly, with love and care takes time.  Also there are minor considerations such as eating and sleeping, which dramatically cut into my working time.  I'm considering hiring some helper elves, who apparently can work all night, but I'll probably have to train them up so don't hold your breath.

Q: I asked you to make me 50 metres of plain hessian bunting for my wedding in a barn but you flat out refused!!!  WHY?

A: Where do I start with this?  Firstly, 50 metres is almost 165 feet.  Secondly, plain hessian is vile.  What on earth are you thinking?  It's dull and dung-coloured, plus it's scratchy, frays like buggery and would probably completely ruin my sewing machine not to mention my sanity.

Q: I am a freelance mortician and my hobby is creating road-kill taxidermy. I'd like some relevant themed bunting to brighten up my workspace, which is decidedly clinical.  Not mention blood-stained.  Can you help?

A: Wow.... you must be a fascinating dinner guest.  Hmmm.... leave it with me and I'll see what I can do. No promises mind.....

Q: You're just making these questions up aren't you?

A: No. 

Obviously, if you have any questions which you'd like me to add to this admittedly not definitive list, I'm all ears.  Just use the contact form on the right and fire away......

New designs now on Folksy.....!

Throughout January, February and March I've been making bunting, but due to the pandemic and everything going mad, I haven't had the oomph to list any of it in my Folksy Shop... until now.

Over the past few days I've added 10 new designs, ranging from  traditional Beatrix Potter nursery bunting, to an amazing vintage comic book string featuring fierce women superheroes, because.... why should male superheroes dominate the field?!

Here's a preview of just some of what's available....

Classic, traditional bunting......5 Beatrix Potter characters interspersed with ticking fabric flags

Vintage comic book superhero women - available in large or small flags

Selection of small flags bunting

Features a variety of fierce women superheroes!

Birds & Flowers bunting

Letterpress/Typography... for the home office or writer's retreat 

Beautiful classic literature bunting

Wonderful vintage editions of classic books

Vintage 1930s/40s pinup girls

Several more new designs are now in my Folksy Shop, with more to follow just as soon as I've made them...including some wonderful pulp fiction and nostalgic seaside bathing belles! 

Business in lockdown.....

Well.... that all escalated rather quickly!  One day I'm blithely sewing away, the next we're in full lockdown and bunting is the last thing on anyone's mind.

Who knew that starting a fledgling business mere weeks before a deadly global pandemic would be so difficult impossible?

Needless to say, Bunting & Bows as a business has been mothballed, although I must admit to regularly visiting my stock box of completed sets and carefully sorting through them, gaining vicarious pleasure in the memory of their creation.

However, I'm still paying for my Folksy shop, and in the past week a crafter who runs a Pop Up Emporium for local craft artisans has organised a FB virtual emporium event on 2nd May which I'm seriously considering doing.  If nothing else, it would be the impetus I need to dust off my online shop and upload more of the lovely bunting which I've made since the start of the year.

And lets face it, nobody can be uncheered by beautiful bunting.....  *fingers crossed*

Bunting = Happiness

It's a *proven* fact that bunting increases our happiness quotient by a factor of 85.

In the 1960s, a study carried out by Professor Sehr Glücklich showed that just 10 minutes exposure to beautiful bunting caused a 'happiness spike' which lasted for several hours.
Apparently his research showed that bunting triggers a release of the neurotransmitter dopamine, a hormone associated with pleasure.

Repeated exposure reinforces the effect, so it follows that utilising bunting in multiple locations within the home ensures that the pleasure centres of the brain are adequately topped up, resulting in a sub-euphoric state, which can be maintained almost indefinitely.

So there you have it.

Irrefutable proof, IF it was needed, that bunting makes you happy!


*Disclaimer - the author accepts no responsibility for the veracity, or otherwise, of the claims made in this blog post. *cough*

Why Folksy.....?

When I started planning this new business I had to find a suitable selling platform, which entailed a lot of detailed research, otherwise known as faffing around on the internet.

As this is not a full-time venture, it doesn't make financial sense to have an all-singing, all-dancing, dedicated, e-commerce enabled website.  So I had to explore marketplace platforms, preferably with a handmade focus.

I immediately discounted Ebay.
Been there, done that, bought the knock-off T-shirt.
It's never been a good platform for selling one-off handmade items, even when I was first using it for selling my own artisan miniatures 15 years ago.  Over the intervening years its once 'cheap and cheerful' listing fees have become ever more expensive and complicated.  Also since the global rise of Amazon it's been knocked off it's top spot as the 'go to' marketplace.

Likewise Amazon, despite it's recent Amazon Handmade add-on platform.  Lots of stuff is imported or bought in bulk and upcycled, plus it's far from cheap, with a monthly subscription to pay and the obligatory listing fees etc etc etc.

Hmmm..... Etsy.
Once the natural home of homemade, over recent years Etsy has grown exponentially and is now HUGE.    As a result it's easy to get lost in the ocean of competition.
Ongoing revision to its policies and frequent hikes to listing fees etc have made it ever more expensive to sell.  They even charge a levy on P&P... which is, quite frankly, outrageous!
I do still have a mothballed Etsy shop for my miniatures, but having had my own website I simply didn't use Etsy enough to warrant keeping it open.

Going more upmarket, there's NotOnTheHighStreet, which is my hitherto preferred destination if I'm looking for an unusual, quirky or customised gift.  However, for sellers, they operate a selection process (although I'm not sure quite how rigourous it is) and charge a mahoosive upfront payment to join, AND charge a 25% commission fee on each sale.
I'll just let that sink in.......
TWENTY FIVE PER CENT!!!!!
*fit of the vapours*

So.
Folksy.

I'd been aware of it for a while.  
It's UK based *tick* and run by a group of real people *tick* (as opposed to the nameless/faceless Etsy minions).
It's still small enough (at the moment) to feel like a friendly community *tick* as opposed to shark-infested waters.
It hosts only handmade items *tick* and craft suppliers
It's cheap to use *tick*

Yes it has its limitations, and yes the platform is still evolving, but I like the ethos so I decided to give it a go.

Never heard of it?  You're not alone.  Practically everyone knows about Etsy, but Folksy is the new kid on the block.

Anyway.... you've heard of it now.  It's where I will be listing my wares and I'll be posting links to my Bunting & Bows shop everywhere I can think of.

If you take a leap of faith and decide to actually buy something from me (for which I will be eternally grateful!), please, please, please leave me a review on Folksy if you're happy with your purchase.  Reviews are really important for newbies and will help raise my profile.

Similarly, please 'Like' and 'Follow' my Bunting & Bows Facebook page.     I have a free bunting giveaway on FB so if you fancy a go at winning a one-off string, just follow the instructions on the post beginning PLEASE READ (8th Feb)  

The odd comment wouldn't go amiss either. As the saying goes.... every little helps.

OK... enough self-promotion.  Better get on and make some more bunting *doing my happy dance*

Tricksy Triangles....

Today has confirmed what I've always suspected.... triangles are tricksy little buggers.

You know where you are with a square.  It's a perfectly down-to-earth, honest, straightforward shape... all the sides are the same length and there are 4 x 90 degree angles, one in each corner.

Simple.

Circles are similarly straightforward, despite their lack of anything approaching a straight line.

I can take or leave rectangles....they don't affect me one way or the other.

But triangles..... *sigh*

It doesn't help that they come in so many different varieties. Do there really need to be so many of them?

When making bunting I generally use either equilateral or isosceles triangles in various sizes, depending on the fabric design I'm using.  I have made a selection of different templates and adjust the sizes as I go.  But occasionally I come across a sneakily different triangle, such as a scalene, which is completely batshit crazy and flies in the face of reason.

And it doesn't stop there..... acute triangles are anything but cute, and as for obtuse triangles.... don't even go there!  Obtuse is defined as 'annoyingly insensitive or slow to understand' which doesn't come close to describing them.

Aside from the thing with the angles, there's also the fact that when making triangular bunting there's a lot of wastage if I'm using a fabric which has a pattern which only reads one way or has specific design elements.  That means I can't line the triangles up across the width of the fabric, but have to carefully work out the orientation and ensure that designs are centred within the triangle.  

This requires meticulous precision and careful measuring and inevitably there are sections of fabric which can't be used... which is wasteful and annoying in equal measure.

So, basically, triangles are an occupational hazard. *sigh*

Bespoke bunting.....

Our house is bursting with bunting.  

It's in the kitchen, bedroom, office, hall, stairwell, porch, workroom and cloakroom.  I also have bunting which I made for the patio gazebo and which is taken down and stored safely at the end of summer.

Some of it is themed, such as the typewriter and letterpress bunting in the office, or the vintage paper doll bunting in the workroom.  
There is gorgeous Beatrix Potter themed bunting in our little granddaughter's bedroom, and jaunty nautical bunting in the hall and porch.

I'm currently planning some rather wonderful mermaid bunting for our coastal themed sitting room, as well as beautiful bejewelled bunting for our quirky and colourful dining room.

Hanging a few strings of wonderful bunting brings life and colour to an otherwise uninspiring wall.  Less messy than painting or wallpapering, and it can easily be changed to suit your mood.

Got an interest or hobby?  I can make bunting for that.  

An avid reader? 
Keen crafter?
Play a specific sport?
Animal lover?
Cupcake maker?
Caravan/campervan enthusiast?

Special occasion.....?
Birthday, wedding, anniversary...
Themed party...
Murder mystery dinner party...
Housewarming...
New baby...

I can make bunting for any of those.....

Need a specific colour combination to complete a makeover project?

Yes, yes.... I know.  *sigh*  As a passionate bunting enthusiast I tend to get carried away, but you get the general idea.....
So, simply use the contact form to start a chat about your requirements.  I'll get the tea and biscuits...... 😉

What's in a name.....?

Deciding on a name for my new endeavour has proved more difficult that I thought.

I spent some time with a notebook and pen (and a glass of inspirational wine!) coming up with no end of alliterative possibles...

•                    Bygone Bunting
•                    Botanical Bunting      
•                    Bountiful Bunting
•                    Bounteous Bunting
•                    Blooms & Bunting
•                    Bespoke Bunting
•                    Bejewelled Bunting

.... but none hit quite the right spot.  

Or they were already taken.

But all the time I was pondering, there was a catchy little ditty running on a loop in my head....

".... East is east, and west is west,

La la dum dum, tra la lee.....

It was from a film, I was sure of that.  and there was stuff about frills and flowers, and rings and things, and..... buttons and bows.

After a modicum of Googling, I finally found it....  For some reason Blogger has taken against the embedded code, but if you click on the 'Watch this video on YouTube' link, it should work.

So here's my amended version of the song,  with apologies to the original composer, Jay Livingston.

Silk is soft and lawn is fine
And the right course I have chose
Let's go where I keep on makin’
Those frills and flowers and bunting and bows
Rings and things and Bunting and Bows.

I love to make, I love to craft
Most of all I love to sew
All day long I’ll be designing with
Quirky fabrics, strange designs
Making lots of Bunting and Bows.

I make them in cotton,
And silks from long ago
I’ll add all kinds of pretty things
As I watch them grow and grow
Oh my heart sings, at simple things
And I love to sit and sew
Here I’ll be, with gorgeous fabrics
And rings and things and Bunting and Bows…. 😉