Ugly dye? That doesn’t sound appealing at all! I’ve had many hits and misses over the years in my indie-dye journey. When I started spinning 9 years ago, I swore I would never get into dyeing: another learning curve. But then I started processing fleece from raw and the appeal was there to learn. Soon I learned it was easy to fix mistakes by over-dyeing, salvaging over heated/manipulated fiber by re-combing or picking it, and by spinning the fiber in a more methodical way so to get the color to flow more beautifully together.
All four of these rovings were dyed using similar colors (the middle roving has purple omitted). Amazing to see the dramatic difference in the final project depending on the technique and amount of each color used
I decided to document this mini-experiment for myself to refer back to, as well as for encouragement for those who are interested in dyeing, who feel they are failing at dyeing or are feeling stuck in their indie dye journey. Let my curiosity be your inspiration!
This post will not be helpful if you don’t have some basic knowledge of dyeing fiber. There are many ways to dye and this should not be taken as the best way or the only way.
It all started with this roving I dyed several months ago. I called it my ugly roving:
My ugly roving turned out to be nothing like I envisioned/sketched out. With disappointment, it sat on the shelf for several months. I had absolutely no idea how I would spin this, nor any desire to do so
As people on Instagram pointed out, it’s not really that ugly. I think it had too much going on, and it went back in the dye pot (in this instance a rectangular crockpot with low water submersion) a total of 3 times while I tried to “salvage” it. The second time I added more dye to areas in order to intensify the color. There were these muddy areas where the colors ran together that I simply hated! The third trip to the pot was to add those blobs of purple that I was convinced was the nail in the coffin for this ugly roving. I had officially gone too far, done too much. After drying, I braided it and socked it away. Since it is merino top (good quality fiber) I knew I had to use it at some point.
Recently, it emerged from its ugly slumber due to boredom. I was in between spinning projects with no good ideas. Upon examining it, I decided to strip the roving before spinning it (the action of pulling apart roving into thinner pieces for spinning). Breaking up the color more, instead of spinning the intact roving from top to bottom, would hopefully give me the best chance of harmonizing all that color.
I was really pleased with how it started to look:
As you draw fiber out for spinning, you are also drawing the color out, having less of it saturating a small area, and thus muting the tone. If you’ve ever dyed a “muted color” roving that you liked well enough but found it rather bland and flat once spun, this is why. In this instance, stripping the roving helped re-distribute the bright color throughout, toning down the loud, and complimenting the muter shades. I was having such a good time spinning this “ugly” roving, that I decided to spin up all 4oz and ply it to another roving to give me maximum yardage. Not all 4oz fit on my bobbin. I am still deciding what I will ply this to. It may not even exist yet! The beauty of dyeing, is that you can have whatever color scheme you want at any time
My hate-turned-to-love for this roving intrigued me enough to try experimenting some other variations. Again using 4oz of merino top, this “ugly dye” consists of:
Gold ochre
Deep orange
Kelly green
Turquoise
New fuchsia (not to be mistaken for fuchsia)
Amethyst
My dye notebook. This is the start of my notes on the final dye, a dip dye of all these bright colors. I tried to keep the ratio of each color similar to that in the original ugly roving (thus less fuchsia and amethyst). Each roving gets assigned a number so that I know what to reference in the future.
For the second experiment, I decided to lightly soak the roving in water with dissolved citric acid. The bottom was well saturated, but the top was not. It was then arranged it into a rectangular crockpot. Dyeing fiber and yarn in a crockpot is super simple, and I love that I can set it and forget it while I work on other things.
In the first ugly dye, the roving went into the crockpot dry with a little water and citric acid in the bottom of the crock. I also added the original color in sections rather than at random. This time I sprinkled all the colors all over.
I let that sit for awhile, before spritzing it a over with water and citric acid:
After spraying down the top, I walked away for awhile. Probably about 15 minutes. Then I pressed the color into the roving with the back of a spoon:
The roving after spritzing with water/citric acid (l), and the color pressed into the roving (r)
I know what some of you are thinking. It looks so pretty, why press the color in?? Remember, we are going for UGLY roving… 😉
Here’s the finished 2nd “ugly” roving. Hard to believe this is the same colors as the original one, just distributed differently, in different amounts
Like the first ugly roving, there is a lot going on. Nonetheless, I love the “mood” of this dye combo, and there is several interesting patterns and striations of color that does not come through in the photos.
For the 3rd ugly dye experiment, I decided to soak the roving entirely with a water/citric acid solution. Then into the rectangle crock. I erred on the side of caution and omitted the purple as I knew the dye would travel around more on a thoroughly wet roving, and it may cause too much muddy color:
I forgot to get a pic of the dye after I pressed it into the roving with a spoon – but see below for round 2
After pressing in the dye, I left it in the crockpot for approximately 1 hour. After rinsing, I was dissatisfied with the result. The color was very muted, I assume because the roving was fully wet, allowing the color to spread a larger distance. Sooooo…back for round 2 it went.
Left: returning the dull color roving to the crock pot, sprinkling in more dye. Right: after pressing the dye into the roving with the back of a spoon
Here’s the end result after rinsing for a second time, then drying:
The results of a fully soaked roving before adding dye is fascinating: “muter” in some elements, and brighter in others
This may be a good contender for plying to the original ugly roving:
Maybe ugly dye number 3 will be plied to ugly dye number 1? I won’t know for sure until I spin it
The final roving in this project was a dip dye of these colors for comparison. What a dramatic difference:
All 6 colors neatly arrangedOnly six different dye shades to make 4 completely different rovings for spinning
Now that you’ve seen what can be done with just 6 shades of acid dyes, I hope this is inspiration for your next dye project. If you are new to dyeing, I hope this encourages you to simply invest in a handful of colors to get started. I am far from an expert in this topic (obviously!). I’m simply willing to try and share. I hope to do more posts like this in the future, and if I can assist you in any way on your indie dye journey, please do not hesitate to contact me! 😊
This may be a short post on new projects and products this week as I want to do a separate post on ugly dyes and how I dye them. Sounds strange right? It’s inspired by this roving and spin you may have seen on my instagram:
I’ll talk more about this roving in a separate post: why it was a failure, why I hated it, and how I ended up spinning it for maximum beauty. I’ll be showcasing some new experiments in my “ugly roving” journey
Let’s see what’s new here and in my etsy shop this week:
This is the gold version of the “celtic heart” earrings, again a revamp of an older project. The larger grey pearls have a nice iridescent sheen that really complement the gold. All components are gold-filled with the exception of the heart charms which are culinary grade pewter
New cormo yarn duo, one spiral plied with handspun silk and one with mohair locks inclusions.
Hope everyone is having a creative winter here in the northern hemisphere and that you are remaining positive. Remember: light wins. 💖💫
I seem to come out of my New Year’s fog on Tuesday – it was that apparent, I can tell you the exact day I stopped feeling both physically and mentally tired. I have not changed a thing, in fact I have not been getting enough sleep and craving sugar. I should check the Schumann Resonance for that day and see if there was a change.
My new studio groove means working on one unfinished project a day and photographing/pricing one yarn listing a day, until I get caught up. I do this before starting a new spinning project. I hear that 2021 is a purge year, and I’m sure feeling that. I’m motivated to get items moved out of the studio.
On a bad note, my computer went bust earlier this week, luckily the resident geek in the house repaired it (for now). Two requirements for handmade ecommerce: a computer & the internet. Needless to say, I am on the hunt for a new one.
Here’s what’s newly listed this week:
Celtic Heart earrings – this is a revamp of an older project. Sterling silver ear hooks, culinary grade pewter heart charm with a Celtic knot, and freshwater pearl accent. Available on this website and on etsy
This lovely yarn is a 2ply bulky, spun with merino wool top. I dyed the roving in one ply as a gradient. Starting with jet back dye I dip the roving a bit at a time until dye is exhausted to a dark blue to a pale grey. Plied to a solid black ply
What else is new:
I finished spinning the Wensleydale boucle. This is a labour intensive yarn and my back and shoulder are sure feeling it! If you ever wonder why handspun seems so expensive, keep in mind the amount of time it takes to create these yarns and the toll repetitive motion has on our bodies. I never make my time back on these projects, and I try to source out the best price while remaining as ethical as possible. For example I decided to use a laceweight commercial cotton yarn and set the loops with a lace weight commercial wool yarn. I used to be a purist who would never mix a commercial yarn with handspun and then I got real! Saving time and energy but still offering a great product is not a bad thing especially of it means I can sell it at an affordable price.This was a total accidental dye from awhile back and I adore the colors (i mixed up two dye formulas plus made the colors intenser than desired – don’t ask). I think I will dye a new batch in superwash merino for some sock yarn spinning (I’m using this spin to fix up this old boucle- one of the first i ever spun. I’m going to fatten it up with a new ply and hopefully knit it into something fun to wear. Otherwise, it’s destined to be a pillow cover)
I’m making a new “antiqued” theme stitch marker set and realized that I only had bright gold wire to go with these components. Pulling from my jewelry making, I brushed on some Simple Black (liver of sulphur) to oxidize some brass wire. You then clean it up with a polishing cloth. The color was a perfect match. LOS fumes are really strong so it’s best to use in a well ventilated area
Since December is a busy month for me, January tends to run on a leisurely pace. I’ve been concentrating on finishing up older projects and considering what I’d like to do next.
Still, as enjoyable as this slow down should be, the “winter blahs” have set in. I feel more tired and less motivated than usual. It’s probably time to up my vitamin D3 and B12, and more so, simply accept that I will be moving at a slower pace, and that’s okay!
Let’s see what I have been working on this week:
New stitch marker set: Rural life. I was inspired by the different creatures we often see here in the country. Available here and on etsy I finished my revamped handspun bamboo socks: they’re so cute, and feel much better on. I counted wrong and realized I made these smaller than intended, but they are stretchy and feel comfy thus far. Better than the too big pair! I’m going to make a second pair at the intended size, and potentially will give this pair to one of my girls This yarn order is on its way to Ontario – and it’s a nice variety of 6 skeins! 4 of these were listed as a bundle of 2, I think I will bundle more yarn for sale in the future. This customer took advantage of the BULKSAVE100 coupon featured at the top of the site. You can use this code here and on etsy to save 15% on your $100 orderI love making these simple note cards to include in orders. I am grateful for customers, and I’m grateful to YOU, for visiting my website and checking out my work
I’m a few days late with my weekly update – but something miraculous happened on Monday: it was sunny! This has been a very drab winter thus far. One downfall of living on a rocky jagged coastline in Canada!
With sun means I was able to take new product photos. I do have studio lighting, but nothing beats natural light for product photos. Only one new listing for this week – She Sells Seashells – scroll down to see, and I’ll probably do one listing a week for now. I’m trying to have a bit of a break to work on personal projects (and to have time to think of new items I can design for sale).
I finished my bamboo socks, then promptly unraveled them! Now that you think I’m nuts, here’s why: despite measuring my stitches per inch and my foot size, the socks were too big. I’ve never had that happen with wool, and despite me loving a big comfy wool sock, I found the air circulating around the bamboo kept my feet cold. I think due to the nature of plant fibers being less stretchy than wool, the socks ended up bigger than anticipated. I wore them for about an hour before changing to wool socks. I’m going to re-knit 6 stitches smaller on US4 needles. I could have made a new pair and kept these, but why hang on to something you don’t like? I finished my latest sock yarn, and it’s a whopping 618 yards! Last week I posted a photo of the 2 dye baths for the superwash merino and bamboo fibers that make up this yarn. Rather than blend it, I simply held both and spun simultaneously (more wool to bamboo). It worked beautifully and I’m really happy with the results. I’m planning on spinning different fiber blends to make socks, and try them myself before spinning more for sale“Caribbean dreams” is one of my all time fave dye jobs. It’s handspun Icelandic sheep wool that I originally planned to keep natural color. When I decided to sell it I dyed it these gorgeous vibrant turquoise, green and yellow tones that was inspired by one of my fave places: the Caribbean. It’s now been re-homed to a customer in Ontario Peanut loves wool, and this bag of alpaca is no exception! This is whats left of a bag of fleece from an alpaca named “Vita Von Teese”, who was 2 years of age in 2012 (the year i started spinning). I most likely obtained this one from the New Hampshire Sheep & Wool Show. I miss traveling to New England to fiber festivals, getting to know the small producers & their animals. It’s been 6 years since my last wool show. New stitch marker set – She sells seashells- available here on Leilani handmade & on etsy @ leilanihandmade8888. These cute enameled charms are paired with freshwater pearls. Various sized rings for different needle sizes. Set of 8
Until next time, I wish you a week of peace & calm…
Happy New year! We flipped the calendar for yet another 365 days, though I suspect the real “new” year is in March. 😉 I’m a tad late with my update. No new products this week but I have some new stitch markers and jewelry that I’m excited to release in the near future.
Here’s a look at what I’m currently working on. The finished products will be revealed when they are listed and ready for sale.
I finally started my bamboo socks! These are on US4 needles and I’m farther ahead since this pic was taken. I cant seem to find a good chunk of time to finish these yet. I love the feel of the fiber, and the soft metallic color of the added firestar makes these visually appealing IRL. Look forward to trying these outI recently sold my last gold horse necklace, and I dont think I will be restocking this one. I’m looking to phase out older designs to make way for new ideas as I sell out of the components. This is a gold-filled necklace, with an engraved initial done by myself. The horse charm is gold plated pewter, very durable. I still have lots of the silver version available I always get excited when I have an order for matching necklaces, I dont get many requests for these. I have both mother-daughter and big sis/lil’ sis charms in sterling silver. I’ll engrave your first initials on the sterling silver disks. This particular charm has sentimental significance to me, as my mom is buried in her half (bracelets I made for my wedding). She was only 54 when she passed. This particular set is on its way to IdahoI truly wish you could touch this yarn, it is soft and inviting. Kid mohair art yarn is on its way to British Columbia. It’s the last funky art yarn that I had listed. Time to make more (and go thru my stash to see what I can part with)I finished my superwash merino/tencel blend, the next sock experiment yarn. This is also a thicker spin, I will most likely knit it up on a US4 needle. Once spun, I dyed it, and decided to just use a black acid dye that I worked sections at a time to get a grey scale yarn. Because it only dyes animal protein, the tencel (a man-made fiber derived from wood pulp) would remain undyed. I wanted to be able to see how evenly distributed the tencel ended up in the yarn. I have to admit I don’t like it. Plus after setting the tencel really stands out almost like it is not part of the yarn. I’ll knit it up and give it a chance. These will probably be socks for my husband
This is my current project: the next sock yarn. This time I dyed superwash merino & bamboo separately. I had no plan here with color, I just wanted to play! I contemplated blending these 2 fibers together but opted to spin holding both fibers in hand at once. Not only does this save time, I find I can get a good control of how much of each goes into the yarn. I’m spinning heavier on the merino. I’m also spinning this much finer so I come closer to the width of a traditional sock yarn My gorgeous boy, being naughty for almost the final time this season. He was making that meow that tells me he’s about to climb up the tree! It’s coming down this week (he also hates it when I talk to him from up here for some reason 😂)
Keep those positive vibes going, I have a feeling we are in for a rough 3 months. Be sure to keep creative and talk it out as much as possible. Your mental health and well being is everything. 💗💫
No new products this week, as I’ve been taking the time to do some baking with my girls, and to get the studio tidied up. When I’m busy with orders, it starts to look like a bomb hit! I do have a few new items as well as revamped items to photograph. Hopefully to do on a sunny day. Winter can be so dark and depressing here in the Maritimes.
I find it ironic how simplified our year has been, and yet, the Holidays still seems hectic! I think my problem is the possibilities of what I would like to accomplish, as I feel like I have time to do it this year. But in fact, orders have picked up significantly this season and I’ve come to the conclusion I still hate being in the kitchen (ha!).
Take for example my goal to have all handmade gifts this year, with the exception of my girls, who want books, lego etc. They are privy to my handmade things all year round. I’m too tired in the evenings to get gifts accomplished, and too busy during the day to work on them. I think I have to start to make handmade gifts…a year in advance! 😉
Socks I was hoping to make for Christmas gifts. Will I ever get the first pair finished?? 😐😆 I dyed this commercial superwash merino blend with Christmas gifts in mindI’m still reblending my cormo though I think I’ll take a break and get spinning. These 2 balls of fiber are the exact same, the one on the right is just blended more thoroughly. Not sure which I like better, so both may end up in the same skein of yarnI’m currently spinning a mix of superwash merino and tencel in my quest for the best sock knitting textile. Tencel is a man-made fibre derived from wood pulp. It’s my first time working with it. It dyes like a cellulose fiber so the question is how to dye this. I may use a full spectrum dye that will dye both animal & plant fibers. I could also blend acid and plant dye together or leave the tencel undyed and just use an acid dye to dye the wool. It will be fun to experiment! I have one bobbin done, I’m aiming for a 3ply, but knowing my impatience it will end up being 2ply. Neighbors are checking in on my rental property as my tenants are stuck in Spain. Although the arrangement was thru my tenants and the neighbors, I wanted to send along a small gift of gratitude. The property is an hour away and it’s such a help to have them keeping an eye on things when I can’t be there. I wasn’t sure if she even wore jewelry but I’m happy to report she loves them
I dont know if I’ll have an update next week as I’d Ike to have a break, but if I manage to create something interesting I’ll certainly share it here.
Sending you end of year greetings and winter solstice well wishes. Don’t forget to keep those vibrations high while we head toward the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction, AKA the Christmas star 🌟 . Let’s start 2021 on a positive, high note
I received an e-mail today from Canada Post to warn Small Business customers they are over capacity, despite hiring an extra 4000 temporary employees for the holiday rush. Because of this, I cannot guarantee you’ll receive packages by a certain date whether you have purchased tracking or not. I have been mailing all packages within 24 hours (with the exception of weekends) and upgrading customers free of charge to Expedited shipping (Canada) and tracked packet (USA) whenever possible. This comes out of my pocket. I know this may not be the smartest business move, but it’s the right thing for me to do so that you have the most positive experience possible. Once it goes in the mailbox, it’s out of my hands.
Still, should your package go missing whether shipping with or without tracking you will be compensated. My usual policy is to refund or replace should your item not arrive within 30 days (your choice). It’s worth noting, I have never had a package go missing in Canada, and only a handful to the US. Most of the time packages don’t get delivered due to address errors on part of the buyer. This usually happens when items are getting shipped to 3rd parties. When these items get returned to me (eventually, usually after I’ve refunded the customer) they get returned to me at my expense. Yes, carriers charge for returned packages, meaning I’m out double the cost of shipping. This is why I’m currently not shipping international: too many lost or returned packages.
Anyway, I was too tired to last night to do my usual weekly wrap up, but I did get a couple new products up this week:
Pink Awareness Ribbon with Swarovski crystal accent
Sterling silver necklace, ribbon is enameled sterling silver. Choose a letter or number to personalize. Available here and on etsy
Swarovski crystal butterfly charm can be personalized by color and a letter charm (at extra cost)
This cute charm is available here and on etsy
This is the font used for the letter charm on the Pink Ribbon Necklace
Swaorvski crystal colors available (omit the pearl)
What else is new? I’ve been making stitch markers mostly these days, my most popular items for sale, even surpassing my popular charm necklaces.
This is the most popular stitch marker set this holiday season! I’m not sure if I’ll be able to replenish these charms once they sell out, so get it while you can. Available here and on etsyI spun bamboo yarn for a sock experiment this past week. It’s blended with firestar for strength and interest, bamboo left undyed. This is a 2-ply, I would have preferred a 3-ply, but wanted to spin this rather quick so I could get on with the knitting (now to find time!)
On Saturday I participated in the 12/12 mass meditation, and unlike 11/11, that left me feeling like I was coming out of a long illness, and “off” for days after, this time I emerged feeling full of a deep knowing that all would be fine. I was emanating pure love, and I’m hoping to keep those good vibes flowing, until the next one on Dec 21st. It was a profound experience but I have not found the right words to describe it yet.
Anyone else find that December began with little fanfare? Add to the monotony of this year, it’s unseasonably mild here in the Maritimes. The kids handled the Christmas decorating, and yesterday I had to remind them that we hadn’t started the Advent Calendar (oops).
Still, I’ve never felt happier. To a certain extent, I feel it is my duty to stay positive, and keep those good vibes churning out to the world. I refuse to get sucked into the mainstream news and the political battles. There’s always more than we are permitted to know. I prefer to vibrate higher than all of that. 😉
Another busy week of home duties and product orders but I did get a few new listings up:
sweet little gemstone fairy necklace
It’s so tiny and cute, choice of Swarovski crystal
New sterling silver awareness ribbon necklace that says SUPPORT
Choose a letter charm that I will engrave for personalization
Earthy freshwater pearl coins and antique silver earrings
All items are available here and on etsyJust when I thought I was ready to spin all this cormo I processed/dyed I decided to re-blend it to let the colors integrate deeply. I’m loving the colors that develop. This was pink, purple and beige/brown that was set for a self-striping yarn. It now looks more purple IRLI’ve failed at my attempt to make socks for gifts this Christmas. I should have realized during my business time of year I’m not going to want to make more stuff for others when I’ve been doing that all day. I’ve been vegging out mostly in the evenings. But I did dye another skein of the commercial sock yarn so I’ll be all set to knit thru the holidays I’m very tired after another busy week, so I will sign off here. Please enjoy this pic of Peanut under the tree 😻
As always, my humble thanks for your support, you all keep me going! I’m dedicated to keep advancing in my craft and this year I feel more confident than ever in my abilities.
I know it’s hard to shop local when many business are closed or limiting the number of customers right now. With the exception of big box stores, which is hugely hypocritical on part of the government. Normally, the majority of my customers are from the United States, which being from Canada I always found odd. It hasn’t seemed like Canadians have embraced online shopping to the extent of our neighbors to the south.
This holiday season, my US orders are way down, and are mostly from Canadians. I miss my US customers but happy to get more Canadian sales, all the same. I was really thrilled this past week to fulfill orders for several new customers from here in Nova Scotia. I’m hoping this trend continues since mailing items in the same province tends to arrive very quickly, and I’m happy to offer the gift of handmade to my fellow Maritimers.
If you are like me and find wearing a mask difficult, it’s nice to know there are places to shop locally without having to go out, that’s not another big box store option.
I humbly thank you for the chance to create something beautiful whether it be for yourself or for a gift this holiday season. I hope you will be back in the future for more. ❤
Here’s what’s newly available this week…
Serpentine chip earrings only $5!
Available only here on this site
Puzzle Awareness Ribbon personalized necklace
add an initial of your choice available here and on etsy
Swarovski crystal angel necklace – choose birthstone color
available here and on etsy
More highlights from this week:
This was such a fun spin! Having fun and experimenting, blending colors that I am drawn to rather than what I feel is “safe” or would sell. I want to get back into intuitive creating, vs creating what I think others would like. These colors are so outside of my comfort zone, so satisfying to see it all come together. I was sure I would hate it! Glad to have listened to my inner voice Comparison of 2 skeins of monochrome yarn spun last week. Left is a 2 ply, right is a 3-ply crepe. Interesting how much darker the 3 ply is. This is spun from merino top that I hand dyed into a gradient black/greyEarring gift and handmade note card sent with order as thanks to one of my customers this weekPeanut enjoying the tree after kicking his brother off the ladder 🙄😹
This is your weekly reminder to choose love over fear, to love each other fiercely and to tune into your higher self/tune out the negative media…
I mentioned last week feeling totally drained after participating in a global mass meditation on Nov 11th. For days after I felt lethargic, depressed and low-vibrational. Something shifted the end of this week and now I feel incredibly positive, hopeful and – excited for the future! Those who know me IRL know that when I say this, I mean I feel it for us ALL. I don’t know about you, but after an entire year being bombarded with negativity I’ll take any expression of a positive future…
It’s officially Holiday rush season, and I’ve been upgrading everyone’s shipping to expedited (Canada) or tracked packet (US) free of charge. I can’t do it if your item cost less than the actual shipping. Canadian shipping charges are ridiculously expensive. I’ve lost out on a few orders, esp. yarn, where the shipping charges made up more than half the cost of the yarn. I know this does not make sense business wise BUT as I’ve said before it makes sense to me ethically. Shipping volumes are up significantly compared to past busy seasons, and Canada Post is not honoring shipping guarantees. I’ll do everything in my power to get your orders to you in a timely fashion, but please understand there are no guarantees that items will be received by a certain date.
This year, more than ever, it is really important to shop local and support the small businesses in our area. The big box store does not have to close since the government has labeled them an “essential” service. The small local shops may be able to do curbside or online orders if they are forced to close. In my case, I encourage Nova Scotians especially to order from shops like me, since shipping times are much quicker within the province than outside.
I’m reserving my time for orders these days as well as wrapping up year end tasks. I did get a few relists done:
Only available for sale on this site
Mookaite chip earrings are available in the Sale section – only $5!
Swarovski crystal lily earrings are available again available here and on etsy
My daughter modelling her hairpin a few years ago
Swarovski crystal lily hairpin back in stock
available here and on etsy
My daughter modelling the origianl hairpin a few years ago
Swarovski crystal sunflower hairpin
available once again here and on etsy
I made some new note cards to be included in orders on Saturday. I also use these to write gift notes for orders being shipped directly to the gift recipient
Can you believe we are coming to the end of 2020? In many ways, it feels like it just started. What an important personal development and karmic year, 2020 has been! It certainly has pushed us to reexamine our lives whether we wanted to or not.
This will most likely be a very short update this week. It’s been a strange “what’s that pain” kind of week. Including: pressure behind my left eye that made it hard for me to read or watch TV. I suspect it’s eye strain and a type of headache but it was not something I’d experienced before. It happened after a long session of website maintainance followed by frantic pattern buying (Knit Picks had a $1 sale 😀).
On Wednesday, I participated in a worldwide consciousness action, where I went into a meditative state at 11:11am my local time. It was an incredibly profound & powerful experience: I could feel these waves in/out of my forehead & top of head. Afterward instead of feeling refreshed per usual, I felt weak, like coming out of a long illness. My forehead vibrated for hours after, in fact, my forehead didn’t even feel attached to my head, like it was floating a few inches ahead of me. I was still recuperating the following day. Despite the ill feelings, I know this was an important outcome & I plan on participating in the next one on 12/12…
Then, in my rush to catch up the latter part of the week, I over worked my back and gave myself a tension headache – and this is where we are currently, in bed with the heating pad. 🤕
Despite this, I got a few old faves updated and re-listed:
Swarovski sunflower hairpins are once again available
All items are available here under the shop tab (above) or or on etsy: leilanihandmade8888In other news, I got my vintage singer knitting machine out again – and it still works after I thought I broke it (happy dance). It’s been stored away for 3 years 😲 Now to spend some time getting reacquainted, and perhaps try to get past basic experience
Alright, back to resting my back…see you next week…
My week was cut short this week due to a migraine. My migraines always last 3 days, no matter what I do. Luckily it wasn’t a full blown one, I could still function, albeit much slower. I think this is because I’ve been keeping up with my magnesium. This is the first migraine I’ve had in a few months which for me is really good. I’m blaming this one on the junk food I ate last weekend…I should know better!
I’ve been happily playing with stones again this week – some new satisfying pieces to wear and decide whether to make more & list
I see a lot of people happy to see the year end, even gearing up for Christmas. I know fam in the Philippines, Christmas season starts in the “ber” months (as in, kicks off Sept 1st) but that is too much Christmas for the average Canadian. Personally I am in no hurry to see the year end. I refuse to wish my life away, and I really don’t see much improving next year. I’m happy to cherish everyday, learn a new skill, spend time with my rapidly growing kids, support my hubby and keep on reaching out to feel those vibes.
I’m loving these new bracelets made with 10mm gemstone beads. One is a chakra bracelet, the other tiger eye to support my solar plexus. I was having some stomach pain on the right hand side, near my liver. The emotions I was feeling was impatience & anger/frustration. I dont know of they helped or not, but they are comfortable & fun to wear
Despite the headache & gut rot from Halloween candy, I got some revamped listings completed. Some got slight tweaks, others just needed an updated photo.
Dem Bones is a cute skeleton bookmark & clip on charm set. The limbs move giving these little guys a more life-like feel (pun intended). Originally on a large key ring I switched it to the clip making it easier to attach to a bag or existing key ring. Available via etsy only
Tiny Bubbles was a series of earrings, bracelets and necklace I made several years ago. Going thru my supplies I found 2 remaining shell circle beads, so I decided to recreate one of the earrings. Once this one sells it will be officially retired. Available exclusively on etsy I made a handful of these cute rosary bracelets years ago. I found this one in a pile of “expired” jewelry in the cupboard. It’s really sweet and deserves a new home, whether you are Catholic or a collector of religious memorabilia. Available here and on etsy, priced to sell
This funky chunky cha-cha bracelet got an update with a smaller magnetic clasp. It too was in the bin of “expired” jewelry. This bracelet is truly one of a kind comprised of red and gold square glass beads I purchased at auction over 20 years ago! Available here and on etsy – priced to sell as this piece was very time consuming
What about yarn? Of course I got some spinning in! Rarely a day goes by when I dont. Even with a headache I’ll sneak a few minutes in. I’m excited to report I am finished with my yarn re-vamp project. I am feeling a renewed excitement to knit or crochet my yarns again, and I was even able to move a few in the “to sell” pile 😄
This yarn started out as a core spun, auto-wrap experiment. It’s a sparkly merino teal batt that i created spun over a cotton core. I also incorporated mohair locks and auto-wrap silver thread. The auto-wrap was a bit of a mess due to choice of wheel (wrong type of orifice) and it was not balanced (too much twist). So I spun some more of that same batt and plied it into a 2-ply. Much better now!
I am such a stickler for balancing yarns. Sometimes it’s impossible to get a 100% balanced yarn without sacrificing twist/bounce- particularly when you are talking about one plies or crepes. I still prefer the look of a plied yarn over its singles cousin.
This is the final yarn revamp: what a dramatic difference! A boring wool over-dye re-spun to this vibrant targhee top that I hand dyed. It’s so good I just might sell it
Now that I’m done revamping and am free to make whatever I want, I’m feeling a bit lost as to where to start. Too many options/possibilities! So I think I will go back to blending/processing wool and contemplate it. I still have a bit of cormo that I hand-processed to finish blending, and some Icelandic that washed up brilliantly white, I’m not sure if I want to dye it.
Now that the days are short I’m looking forward to using the dark hours to create, to manifest good things and to rest (who am I kidding about that last one?? 😉)
I didn’t get as many revamped listings up as I would have liked this week. Autumn domestic chores called, and I had the sudden craving for homemade bread, so out came the bread maker. I don’t have time to make traditional bread, so I thought this was a good alternative. It turned out so good I think I will move along to no knead breads. I found a recipe for cooking a no knead bread in a Dutch oven and I am intrigued!
I love bread, but it doesn’t really agree with me. Plus it’s autumn which means over consumption aaaaand…I start to resemble a lump of dough. 😅 But I digress…
Look at this pretty group of yarns my customer chose. I love to see what my buyers gravitate to, and if I’m lucky, they share what they make with each
I also had the privilege of filling some awesome yarn orders this week, which has done my creative spirit good. The mail has gotten excruciatingly slow again, I think it’s because people are doing their holiday shopping early this year (per usual, I’m all done 😉). So this causes a bit of worry about my customer’s experience buying from me. I know that it’s out of my hands, but it still feels unacceptable to me.
This week I had a $29 order for a skein of yarn thru Etsy. It was light enough I could have sent it regular post for $5.47. Because the mail was so slow I ended up biting the bullet and sending it Expedited for – $17 after taxes!! Welcome to shipping in Canada. Well, you do the math, I pretty much gave away that skein of handspun. Get this: it’s cheaper to send goods to the US with tracking than within our own country, and I find it tends to arrive quicker too. 🤷♀️
I know that wasn’t the smartest business decision dollar and cents wise, however, it was the best decision for me ethically and conscientiously, so I have no regrets. As you’ve probably gathered, I’m not in this for the money. 😉
Here’s whats newly listed, at least, freshened up. I revamped the Celtic charms so that you can choose from a faceted green bead or freshwater pearl. It comes on both a ball chain key chain & lobster clasp, for convenience of clipping or hanging on an item. Both could easily be removed so that you could add to your own key ring or jewelry.
These earrings were also in the sample binder, along with last week’s. They are really cute and feel good in hand – I feel confident about offering them again. Pewter charms on your choice of sterling silver or gold-filled leverbacks.
How did last week’s yarn revamps turn out? Keep reading! 🙂
Last week I shared that I was going thru my personal stash and re-vamping yarns. I sell the majority of my yarns, and keep the ones that are not quite up to snuff, in my opinion. Re-vamping may consist of over-dyeing, running thru the wheel again to tighten the ply, or adding another ply of handspun in the opposite direction (like a crepe yarn). The odd time, I will deconstruct a yarn entirely. I don’t really do this anymore: un-coiling a plied yarn is as tedious as it sounds!
This re-vamped yarn started as a funky soft and textured 2 ply – 1 ply recycled sari silk and the other merino. It looked really interesting but was not structurally sound, so I added twist before re-spinning in the opposite direction to a hand-dyed merino top
Before and after
I like how this one turned out, it’s nice and fluffy and interesting. Best of all it’s structurally sound, which is the main thing.
This re-vamp turned out amazing – Moki approves – I may sell this one
The second one came out so nice and fluffy, I have set it aside to potentially sell. Even the little pieces of pouf throughout the yarn adds to its charm and that bit of interest you can only achieve with a handspun yarn. It too was re-spun in the same manner as the first yarn.
Before and after Autumn in Canada means the perfect walking weatherLast swim of the season, Oct. 24th 😭 Pool officially closed for another year
That’s my week in a nutshell. Spiritually, I am feeling a bit detached, but I trust it is all part of the process while we work toward brighter days…
Mercury officially went into retro-grade Tuesday, so I knew it was a good week to start the re-vamp of old products. It was also a short (work) week due to the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday, so I didn’t get too many things relisted. Here’s a look at what I did get up to this week…
Sweetheart earrings are available again on here on the website and on etsy
One of the first things I did was go thru my sample binder. I stumbled upon a few pairs of sweetheart earrings and thought, why am I not currently selling these?! They are darling cute, and with 7 different colors of freshwater pearls, there are plenty of options for customizing. The pewter charms paired with either sterling silver or gold-filled ear wires give the earrings a well-made feel without being too heavy. I am really proud to list these again.
Celtic braid earrings are available again in both silver or gold – now with better product shots
Several years ago, I used to sell a lot of Celtic themed jewelry. I am from Nova Scotia, so Celtic themed objects are not uncommon here. You can even study the Gaelic language in Cape Breton. The popularity seems to have dipped for my Celtic themed products in the past few years, so I eventually stopped relisting them on Etsy. Looking at the samples, they are still really nice looking earrings, so I am offering them again while supplies last.
Check out the re-vamp on the doula charms. On the left is the original, on the right with a bit more bling. You can still get the charms as is
I have several variations of these engraved silver and gold plated charms. I decided to offer them with a bit of bling at no extra charge. I think they stand out more on a bag or piece of clothing with a freshwater pear or faceted bead added. I also added a lobster clasp so that you have the choice of clipping it on or attaching with the ball chain key chain. You can easily remove the Keychain and clasp if you’d like to add the charm to exiting jewelry or keyring. First up is the doula charms, with breastfeeding awareness, babywearing, and international child charms coming next week.
If these yarns look a little squished, they came out of my personal stash. My personal stash consists of yarns that just did not turn out quite right. I’m hanging them so they have the chance to straighten before they get the re-vamp treatment
If you’re on my Instagram, you may have seen a few yarns I re-vamped from my personal stash this summer. I sell the vast majority of my yarns, because I’d rather be making yarn than knitting. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy both knitting and crochet, I just prefer to be at my wheel. I keep the yarns that were fails or simply not up to snuff for my standards.
This 2-ply yarn has a lot of handspun yarn fun, and is really soft, but is weak in construction. It’s destined to become a 3-ply crepe
One of my all-time fave yarn constructions is crepe. I am an avid plyer- which is strange considering I was adamant I would only make bulky 1-ply art yarns when I started spinning. Judith MacKenzie’s “The Gentle Art of Plying” and Sarah Anderson’s “The Spinner’s Book of Yarn Designs” really inspired me to both perfect and play with plying. So I rarely make one plies anymore, opting for the balance and interest of a plied yarn.
The secret to a good crepe yarn is in the twist. Basically a crepe is 2 plies spun together, then you re-spin to one extra ply in the opposite direction. It’s important to add extra twist to the first two plies in order to have a balanced 3 ply crepe. The yarn pictured above was a fun and funky 2-ply but was not structurally sound. Therefore, I will run it back through my spinning wheel to add more twist, before re-spinning it the opposite way to an additional ply. I’ll post the results next week.
A pic of Peanut, cos he’s so darn cute. You can see my Lendrum spinning wheel peeking out in the background
The re-vamp project will continue all month, or months…or, when I get tired of doing it 😉
Quote of the week, brought to you by my friend @healers_of_humanity on instagram
Between mercury retrograde and the general vibe on earth as of late, I’ve come to some revelations this week that looked downright horrific. It’s crunch time for all sensitives and intuitives, and I cannot stress enough now is the time to visualize the future you desire, to choose love over fear, and spin some good vibrations into the air. We all can do this, regardless of where we are at on our spiritual journey or abilities. I am still optimistic we are headed for better days, but cautiously feel the next few weeks will set the stage. This is my plea to all to please take this time to work through your fears and emotions, and embrace love, compassion & understanding. Keep an open mind, beware of group think. My children’s, and all children’s futures depend on it…
I got this week’s listings finished early! I will be cooking for the fam for Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend, and I’d like to enjoy the process unhindered. I’m not big on cooking, and I only enjoy it if I can concentrate all my energies on it. Still, I love to see my kids’ and my hub’s eyes light up when they eat a meal I prepared.
This week’s lovely offerings, all made par moi:
I feel very accomplished to have 9 listings done mid-week. I also feel there has been a shift, energetically this week. I feel very light, and hopeful. I hope it’s a long term trend but I’ll take it if even a fleeting moment. I wonder what my fellow intuitives & empaths are feeling…?
I’m pretty much caught up on yarn to list. I pulled a few from the 35 new skeins available that I want to re-think or even re-imagine. I’m very thoughtful about the products I put up for sale.
With yarn caught up, I’m going to focus on older jewelry products that I pulled to re-consider. Some will re-appear as is, and will be discontinued once all are sold. Others will be slightly tweaked or “freshened up” since they were developed over a decade ago!
Happy thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians. Instead of obediently being “thankful”, let’s try to send some light out to the world and beyond…
I had a rather mundane week of listing new products. I’ve been guarding my spirit and emotions all week: something is afoot. Here’s is a recap of what’s new this week…
I’ve created a coupon code for 15% off orders of $100CAD or more (approx. $75USD). Available both here on this site and on etsy: BULKSAVE100 at checkout.
New products listed this week. I’m trying to catch up on the backlog of items created over the past several months, so it won’t be this many every week. I should be caught up in the next couple of weeks, and then I want to revisit some older designs that I still like but feel they just need a bit of tweaking.
New products available: 4 new cat lovers personalized necklaces, knitters necklace, and 4 new products of yarn (including bundles)
I wanted to share this really cool pic, taken this morning. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have already seen it. Every so often we get fog over the valley but it never seems to get quite as high as us here on the mountain. It gives the feeling of being among the clouds, and also very disorienting when you are used to seeing a vibrant valley below.
Thick fog envelops the Annapolis Valley, below, Makes me daydream about floating away among the clouds
I forgot to share the new listings from last week. Both available here and on etsy:
Last week’s new listings: handspun yarn and a new stitch marker set
This was shared by my friend and soul sister @orek.e.l_saj777 on Instagram. I think it sums up this coming few months beautifully (and also expresses how I’ve felt for the past 7 months):
In my last post I promised that I would blog more. So I put it under “goals” on my to-do list to do one post a week. I don’t seem to get the urge to blog anymore, so now it has been penciled in. 🙃🙂
After that was decided, the question was: what shall I write about this week? Then this happened: I broke one of my smallest sets of bamboo circular needles. 😫 I’d love to say I broke them after a fierce session of sock knitting, but it was due to my own carelessness.
My bamboo Clover Takumi Size US0 circular knitting needles snapped off at the base due to my neglect 🙁
I’m a huge believer in mindfulness, and try to make a point to be present, in-the-moment, for most of my day. Even during the most mundane of tasks (you won’t believe the epiphanies I’ve had whilst folding laundry by simply staying in the moment!).
On the other hand, I am also someone who possesses a great deal of energy and motivation to plow through and get shit done, so I can get back to creating. When I get going, I can be a bit of a bull in a china shop (I am a Taurus, afterall!). 😉
So I was going thru the yarn bin in my bedroom, and saw a ball of handspun silk yarn I thought was in the wrong place. This yarn bin is for in progress projects. I was not knitting any projects with silk, to my knowledge. I picked up the ball, and – huh. The end of the yarn was stuck on something. So I gently tugged. Still was stuck. I pulled a little harder, and harder until the ball came free. I was confused because not only did I have the yarn, but circulars with knitting on it…well, I had 75% of the circulars anyway. Seems I started a pair of socks months ago I totally forgot about.
Yup. I broke a set of circulars just being careless. 😫 I was really upset with myself: not only did I break a useful tool, I absolutely hate waste. What am I going to do with a broken set of circulars? Can I re-purpose them? Then I thought, maybe I can fix them…
Never fear: the Dremel is here! I had to ream out the remaining wood so that I could attempt to re-attach the needle
Before I was a fiber artist, I was an avid jewelry maker (still am!) so I have quite a few tools at my disposal. The tools are for working on small objects, so I thought I may have just the thing to help fix these. Off to the tool closet to dig in the Dremel bits. A-ha! A tiny burr which happens to be the same size as the opening where the bamboo needle attaches. I had to ream out all the wood that snapped inside if I had any chance of re-attaching the needle.
I’m lucky because I am also a jewelry maker so I have a lot of tools at my disposal. This burr was exactly the right size to ream out the metal attachment on the circular’s cord
Steadying the arm holding the circular end on the arm of my chair, I rested the arm holding the Dremel on the side of said chair arm. I have a flex shaft attachment on my Dremel so I find holding it super easy – I’m sure this would work fine without, you just need a steady hand. On the lowest speed I got to work slowly. Before I knew it, the bit goes clear in the metal end and it’s completely clear of bits of bamboo. It also made the cutest little pile of saw dust.
It worked! The tiny burr got all the wood out (and made the cutest little wood shavings 😄)I used the same burr to shave down the needle to fit into the metal attachment piece, and smoothed with sandpaper (nevermind that my sandpaper is decorated. My kids were being creative 😉)
I used the same burr to shave down the end of the needle. It was slightly wider than the opening and wouldn’t fit as us. Then, I used a piece of sandpaper to give it a smoother texture. I admit I could have done a better job at smoothing out the end, but at this point I was getting anxious to see if it had worked. I did a couple of fittings before getting enough shaved down that it felt snug inside the metal.
Busting out more tools from my jewelry making cupboard: I added E6000 epoxy to help keep that needle end in place
As an added precaution to make sure that needle end stayed put, I went looking for an appropriate adhesive. E6000 seems to be in every jewelry maker’s arsenal. I applied a small amount to the needle’s end, before returning it to its rightful place on the circulars. Now to wait for the adhesive to dry.
Hooray it fits! I probably could have done a better job sanding, but I was anxious to see if it would work. It doesn’t feel rough in person, I think it will be snag-free knitting if it stays secure
Close up it does look like a puppy chewed on the end, but not so bad in real life. It certainly doesn’t feel like stitches would snag on them. We’ll know for sure once I put them to use.
After resting a few hours to let the epoxy dry, it feels really solid! I think this will work, though I will buy a replacement eventually. I never seem to have too many needles 😉
After they had rested for a few hours I was seriously impressed at how solid they felt. I’ll know for sure if they are truly fixed once I knit with them. I will get a replacement set, just in case. Probably another brand, maybe steel just because I like to have different tools at my disposal. You never can have too many knitting needles in my opinion! 😉
I live in a rural area so will have to order a new set, if you have any suggestions of what to get I’d love to hear it!
Thanks for reading about my broken needle saga. I hope I’ve inspired you to try fixing a broken item before throwing it away. You just never know! 😊
I am well overdue for an update! I won’t lie. I kinda forgot about this blog. I realized that since the most recent post was LAST YEAR it may appear that I am not actively creating and maintaining this website. Not true at all! I am as busy as ever. I did shut my Etsy shop down for several months this spring due to how slow the mail was moving, but that seems to have improved – so I’ve been back full time fulfilling orders for a couple of months now. I received a few orders thru this site during that time, and although delivery was slow I am thankful for the few sales I did receive.
This is me, sans makeup, in my home studio. Pic in the background was painted by a friend. That sewing machine was my mom’s, now constantly used by my oldest (I hate sewing) 😁
If you just stumbled upon my site, I’m Leilani. I’m a multicultural, multifaceted maker currently living in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia: mom, wife & cat mama. I’m formerly from the greater Montreal area, which is where I did the majority of my online selling until we moved back to Nova Scotia 5 years ago, where both my husband & I were born & raised. I’ve actually been selling online since the late 90’s in the early ebay days (boy, do I miss that community!) so I have a lot of experience with online selling. Creating and honing my creative skills is a passion of mine: it keeps me hopeful, grounded and positive. It’s an outlet for my expression, and to create something beautiful and positive in this chaotic, uncertain world.
Shop all my available products at leilanihandmade.com including personalized jewelry, artisan jewelry, handspun yarn & stitch markers. Feel free to contact me with any questions or requests
Being home pretty much full time since March gave me the opportunity to create almost uninterrupted (I do have kids, they are very self-sufficient and we are already homeschoolers (unschoolers) so education flowed smoothly with very little transition or change to our schedule). I now have several new jewelry pieces that were revamped and 35 (!!) new skeins of yarn to list (this not including what I made/revamped to keep for myself). I was able to try out and hone skills that I never had time for before. Creatively, 2020 has been a very positive year.
Making a bubble crepe yarn has been on my to-do/to learn list for a few years now! I recently took the plunge and was thrilled with the results. Made out of my own dyed merino top
I’ve also had the chance to get back to my spiritual side – all that woo woo stuff I have gravitated to since I was a child. I have had many profound experiences since I was…well, as long as I can remember. I’ve often wondered if I am an Indigo child but I choose not to label this strong connection to all that is. I’m an empath and have been quite surprised that my anxiety has not increased these past few months. I’m really drawn to gemstones again, and feel very grounded when I wear them. I am going to make a bracelet to help balance my root chakra: at the very least, the stones will be a constant reminder of what I need to consciously repair/improve. Hopefully, that will evolve into a new jewelry line I can offer to my customers, but like everything I do, if it doesn’t feel right, I simply don’t do it.
Nature and its beauty ground me, and keep me connected. I try to spend as much time outside as possible – even if I reluctantly want to leave my studio
So a few “housekeeping” items to update you on. I have had to limit my shipments to Canada and US only (again). I was excited to offer shipping to the UK, hopeing that would open the door to broader shipping internationally, but the supplier I was using was really slow, and items were coming back return to sender at my expense. I traded in lost packages (why I stopped shipping internationally in the first place) to returned undelivered packages. I’m just too small beans to have these kinds of monetary losses.
Social networking update: I’ve decided to let my Facebook page go, although I will keep it live for information purposes. I think the pinned post goes to my Etsy reviews. I’m happy to streamline my day to day behind-the-scenes work to my Instagram. I enjoy the micro-blogging format and I’ve connected with so many inspiring makers, as well as those just starting out with spinning that I can encourage, mentor and cheer on. It’s overall been a far more positive experience, since I’m not all about selling selling selling. Yes, I realize Instagram is owned by Facebook, however it’s a platform that I can use in a positive way (bonus: less complaining! 😉). I am a maker first: I sell my goods as a connection to others; to spread some good in the world. Do we ever need it now, more than ever! So come join me on Instagram, although you must love cats, since my 3 are such a huge part of my life (and studio life!), particularly Peanut. 😀
Etsy price update: you may see a discrepancy in prices between this site and Etsy. Unfortunately, in order to be seen in searches on Etsy, I need to offer free shipping. This is something I have resisted with yarn because Canada Post is so much more pricey on bulky items, versus the small padded envelopes I use for my jewelry. So I’ve had to add a buffer for shipping into my Etsy listings. It’s still not enough, and depressingly, according to my spreadsheet I am making on average $2-$3 an hour for making yarn. Price is perception, so I have to finesse the price to an amount that I feel will sell, vs. a price that’s fair. It’s a sad and common reality with handmade goods. I’ve thought of vacuum sealing my yarns to make the package flatter as seems to be popular now, but I struggle with the presentation. When you open an order from me, it’s like unwrapping a gift, because I am so appreciative and thankful to all of you who support my work. I want you to be confident about your order and excited from the moment you receive it.
Alternatively you can shop most of my products on Etsy – as well as read my reviews. Top shop for gifts! Wow! I’m honored 🙂 Free shipping with orders of $35CAD or more – shipping charges are built in on Etsy listings
The difference between here and etsy is that, when you spend $45CAD or more here, you can choose the option for free shipping at checkout. I also have discount codes highlighted at checkout, when available. If you are interested on a bulk order either here or in my Etsy shop, I am happy to extend a discount. Simply let me know which items you are interested in, and I’ll work out a price reduction.
Thanks for stopping by for this catch up/update and checking out my work! If there is anything I could assist you in or if you are looking for something specific, please do not hesitate to ask! Come join me on Instagram if you are able. I will try to blog more even if it is short posts here and there.
Always remember to put love over fear: sending love outward to you… <3
Hello UK peeps and the world at large: I am shipping to the UK again…more info below…
The new website is pretty much completed. There are a few more products to add, although some of the older designs are no longer listed while I reconsider or revamp them. If there is something you’d like but no longer see it listed, ask. I can most likely make it for you. The old bb3.ca website will be pointed to this domain as soon as we can get around to it (AKA: when my programmer husband has time to do it 😉 ). I’ve switched it to catalog mode until then, so any purchasing will be made here only (and Etsy and ebay, but they don’t have the full line of products).
Now that I have a new online home I am satisfied with, I’ve been thinking more about offering international shipping again. Several frustrations, including the cost of shipping and lost packages made me discontinue shipping outside Canada & The US a few years ago. But I have a new shipping option. It’s a courier that drives packages over the border and ships via USPS. It seems absurd to send a package destined for elsewhere to the US, but USPS offers competitive rates as well as tracking. That’s something Canada Post and other courier companies cannot provide.
So I’m soft launching International shipping here and on Etsy, starting with shipping to the UK and seeing how it goes. Of all the destinations I have shipped internationally, I miss my UK customers the most. Packages seem to arrive in a reasonable amount of time and the customers were very nice. So United Kingdom, you’re up first. Like all my shipping options, it will be a flat rate depending on whether you are buying jewelry or yarn.
If you are looking for shipping to your country, please ask me for a quote. Chances are I can set up your country quickly with shipping.
Hi there. It’s been awhile! My plans to blog more got thwarted once again. BUT there are exciting things on the horizon: after a summer hiatus of making lots of goodies I’m updating my selling platform to Woo Commerce.
I’ve really loved using Prestashop and support the open source platform purely out of principle, but it is getting harder and harder to keep it up and running. Since I already had this under used WordPress blog, I thought I would give Woo Commerce a shot. I think stream lining my products here will make my life easier in the long run, and let’s face it, I’d rather be creating than spending all my free time doing web maintenance and upgrades #makersgonnamake…
I’ll post updates here as I go, and I’m hoping to delve into blogging more in 2020: maybe even vlogging…! You can still buy the full compliment of my items on bb3.ca. I also have a good chunk of my items on etsy and a few on ebay. I take offers on ebay, so if you are planning on buying more than one item don’t forget to make me an offer – happy to throw a discount your way.
Well, my plans to blog more went totally out the window! I’d rather be making than on the computer, as much as I enjoy writing. In fact, I have cut my social networking down considerably as well. I find making & listing garners me more sales than social networking ever has. Not to say I don’t enjoy connecting with others, it’s just so hard to find time/balance when you are a maker, a busy (unschooling) mom (kids having their own interests and activities to boot) and being a self-employed household. Besides my website, I still maintain my Etsy shop & have added a few listings to my Ebay account. I feel like it’s coming full circle as Ebay was the very first place I sold online in the late 90’s!
Due to requests I have made some bulk discount coupon codes for larger orders. I can give larger discounts on orders of $250+ simply send me a message and let’s discuss! These codes work on the website and Etsy shop:
Save $10 on orders of $50 or more with code: BULKSAVE10
Save $20 on orders of $75 or more with the code: BULKSAVE20
Save $30 on orders of $100 or more with code: BULKSAVE30.
One code per order, but these are combinable with:
Free shipping on orders of $45+ with the code: FREESHIP45
Offer subject to change at any time.
Thanks for your support and most of all, for supporting handmade!
Several alternative shipping options are available during Canada Post rotating strike
Here in Canada, Canada Post Employees have been involved in a rotating strike since October. At first, this was not a problem: I found that my packages were still being delivered and were only slowed down by a day or two. Canada Post is now stating that the backlog of mail due to these rotating strikes is so large, they don’t see it all getting delivered until sometime in the New Year. Although back to work legislation just passed in the House of Commons, I still doubt disgruntled employees will clear up the backlog in a swift fashion (I certainly do not agree with back to work legislation).
I know I have at least 2 packages to my knowledge held up in the system. Instead of running my usual holiday sale on Etsy, I put my Etsy shop on vacation mode until I could figure out what to do next. On my website, I have disabled shipping with Canada Post until further notice. I have become increasingly frustrated with Canada Post over the past few years, the reasons could be a blog post on its own. Sad considering I have been satisfied with their service for several years prior. I’ve been selling goods off & on online since the early 2000’s.
I’m treating this as an opportunity to do find new carriers to work with. Here are the current shipping options for my personalized handmade jewelry, knitting accessories and handspun yarn:
MARITIME BUS (NS, NB & PEI provinces only)
My husband has picked up orders for computer gear from the Maritime Bus before, and I thought it was a really neat idea. They are continuing the tradition of shipping small packages via the bus much like Acadian Lines did back in the day. I can remember as a child my mom packaging up my dad’s dress shoes or other items he may have forgotten, to ship to Cornwallis where he worked in the summer with cadet camps.
PROS
Maritime Bus is an affordable, quick option. Their staff in my experience is really nice & helpful. They run 7 days a week, and you’ll receive your package same day or next day once your package is dropped off (with the exception of inclement weather).
FREIGHT FORWARDING TO BORDER, delivery handled via USPS and UPS (US customers)
This is now my recommended way to deliver packages to the United States. Your package will be driven over the border by a Freight Forwarding company, where it will be then dropped off at USPS or UPS for delivery.
PROS
You will always have tracking on your packages, whereas the economical Canada Post Shipping option does not. Since your package will be driven over the border by a bonded carrier, there is less to no customs hold up of packages, and your package will be delivered quickly once it is over the border.
CONS
This option is 100 km away for me, thus I can only plan to drop off once a week, or use a local courier company to get it there. Therefore, the perception is that your package takes quite awhile to ship, but in reality, you will receive your package far faster this way than if I were to mail it immediately with Canada Post.
TRADITIONAL COURIER SERVICE (USA & Canada)
Choose a courier such as Purolator, UPS, Fed Ex or CanPar (for Canadian customers). Please note that the prices given on the website are approximate. Because I sell items of varying size and weight, I took an estimate loosely based on shipping quotes to destinations as far West as possible. Should the cost be lower you will not be overcharged.
PROS
Courier service tends to be reliable with tracking and faster delivery compared to the mail service.
CONS
The cost is astronomical in Canada to ship via courier for small businesses like me that don’t do the volume to qualify for discounts. I wish they would become more competitive with their rates!
FREE SHIPPING OPTION
Don’t forget you can bypass the whole shipping headache by ordering a minimum. Orders $75 or more in Canada ship on me. For US orders, $100 (that’s Canadian dollars – so approx. $75 USD with the current exchange rate).
Don’t forget to use these voucher codes on the website for free shipping:
Use code FREESHIP75 for Canadian orders 75+; The code FREESHIP100 will give you free shipping for US orders over $100
LOCAL PICKUP/DELIVERY
If you are located in Kings County, Nova Scotia, we can arrange pickup at a convenient location or I can possibly deliver to you. I also frequent Hants County and Halifax/Dartmouth/Sackville – if you can wait to receive your order until the next time I’m in the area.
I don’t live in a heavily populated area so I recommend meeting up in town (Canning, Wolfville, New Minas, Kentville, etc).
NO ECONOMICAL OPTION FOR REST OF CANADA
Unfortunately, I have not found an economical shipping option for outside the Maritime provinces for small orders. I would suggest taking advantage of free shipping with a minimum order (above). I’m hoping that this will change in the near future as more carriers see the growing need for competitive reliable shipping in Canada.
These shipping options are available on my website and will continue to be available once the strike and its backlog is over. I haven’t decided if I will re-open my Etsy shop before the New Year. Currently, I am informing Etsy shoppers to go to my website if they want to order anything before the holidays.
How long has it been since I posted here?? Good grief. So much for making time to blog. Family life has taken up much of my time but fingers crossed for more balance this coming fall. These past 10 months have been filled with family time including homeschooling (unschooling) my girls, bulk yarn orders, name jewelry orders, and supporting my husband with his business endeavours. I simply have not had the time to put up new yarn listings, let alone the bin of jewelry prototypes, some 2 years old. I have had time to work on, and I can confidently say, perfect my dyeing technique for yarn: at least, I have a system that I am now happy with. Dyeing, much like spinning, is proving to be very meditative and satisfying for me. It is my new destressor. 🙂
It’s a long weekend here in Nova Scotia, and I’ve taken the time to give the website a much-needed up-grade. We’ll be moving it to a faster server soon – which is exciting. All the yarn backlog is now listed, now on to the jewelry backlog as well as spiffing up this blog.
here’s some promo codes for my website bb3.ca handmade engraved jewelry handspun yarn and knitting accessories
Here’s some promo codes for the website. I wanted to note that shipping for yarn is an estimate and I’m happy to refund the difference if the shipping ends up to be more expensive. Canada Post shipping rates in Canada are complicated and at times seem very random. How about free shipping to save the hassle?
Use code FREESHIP75 for Canadian orders 75+; The code FREESHIP100 will give you free shipping for US orders over $100; and use code 10DOLLARS to take $10 off your order of $100+.
selling handmade: a folder full of new items to list
Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at selling handmade online: this is a screenshot of the many products that I have made and yet to list. Some of these items have been around for over a year. The problem is this: I love to make things and I would spend my entire lifetime doing just that. Taking the time to get items ready for sale and listed, not so much. I wish it were as simple as: I make something, I take a picture of it, and magically customers come along and buy it. Not so. When you are an artist/maker of any kind – in charge of selling your work – you wear many hats/learn many talents to make that sale. We don’t have a MLM company to back us with promotional kits on the ready to help promote our goods. I’ve considered hiring outside help but any kind of PR I’ve researched was too out of reach for me cost wise. When you think about the price that we have to charge to be competitive with the mass-produced, selling handmade online is a losing battle.
Let’s look at the anatomy of a (handmade) listing, shall we?
Conceptualizing and designing the idea
Although my items have evolved into simple keepsake designs over the years, there is still more to it than pairing charms on a necklace. Everything I make is something I would wear. When I am inspired by a theme I then have to choose: will it be sterling silver or gold-filled or both? What size engraving blank should I pair with the charm? What font should I use? I have to then engrave the prototypes, and assemble a sample so that I can assess wearability and aesthetics. Do the charms look good together? Do they hang well together? Is there movement/flow? Should I add a bead? Or add/remove another element?
This is another reason why I normally turn down custom orders these days. Not the personalization I offer, but built-from-scratch requests. All the time that is put into conceptualizing the design would be out of reach price wise for the customer. Add to it that the majority of the time changes or tweaks are asked for, or interest is lost entirely and the piece is never purchased. For these reasons custom orders are simply not worth the time involved for me. Before I had kids I was more willing to donate my time for custom work, but these days time is a precious commodity. Of the requests that I do take, it is because I already have something in mind that has not yet left the design notebook. In this instance if the potential customer changes their mind I can still sell it as a new product. Bottom line is I have to be mindful of the time taken to develop a custom piece and the compensation involved, all the while staying true to my aesthetic and personal style. And goodness no – I will not copy someone else’s work…
a page of notes from my design notebook
Photographing the new design
I wish I was talented enough to get a few good shots of my products in just a few minutes, but the truth is, it takes quite a bit of time and patience to get a good shot. I have to set up the camera on the tripod, after I put on the macro lens. Then turn on/position the lighting. It has a dedicated spot in the studio but it always gets knocked out-of-place between cats and kids. Plus natural light will determine which direction the lights will be. Placing the item within the lighting so that it stays at the right position is also tricky. It is very tedious to set up a piece of jewelry and have it stay in place without falling over in an unattractive position. Sometimes I can use a bit of sticky tack to help keep charms in place. But for the most part, I like a natural drape over an object such as a smooth stone. Once I get the item positioned, I have to carefully move it ever so slightly left and right to get the lighting angle in the “sweet” spot: not so much light that it drowns out the engraving, and not so little that it appears dark which is also hard to see. When I find the sweet spot I will snap several pictures. I do have the added bonus of computer software so I can sharpen focus directly onto the computer before taking the pictures. Once I get several shots in one position I will try at least one more, plus a hand shot for scale. The hand shot turns me into a contortion artist while I get my hand in frame, focus the shot via computer with other hand, then hold still enough to take the picture. I would say the photography aspect is my least favorite thing to do. I procrastinate on it a lot. Like, until the “take photos of these new items” bin is over-flowing. Part of the reason is that photography is the most frustrating. You can take a ton of shots only to discard every single one when reviewed later. I have logged hundreds of hours over the years with different cameras, tried all kinds of set up and contraptions and watched many videos/read many blogs and I still think my pictures are acceptable for selling on the internet, but they aren’t stellar. I did purchase a short online course many years ago that I found the most helpful. But what works for me is based on putting in the time. There is no shortcut.
my current photo setup
Editing pictures
Photo editing can take even more time than taking the pictures. I don’t do any color correcting – just some brightening if the photo is too dark and cropping the photo square. The goal is to have a crisp and clear photo. Different resolutions on devices will have the items looking slightly different color and tone wise anyway. I don’t want to misrepresent what I am selling so I do very little touching up. I’m told my items look even better in person – and that always makes me feel really good. The pictures are attractive enough to make the sale and people are happy with their purchase, rather than disappointed. That is a good thing!
As time-consuming as editing is, I enjoy the process. Seeing my work on-screen is where it comes alive for the potential customer. I love choosing the final images and it is only discouraging when none of the images turned out to be viable for the web (it means I have to repeat the picture-taking step – WAH!).
Finally, I do watermark my photos with my website for copyright and recognition purposes. I know this is sometimes frowned upon for many different reasons: like it’s distracting, or Etsy doesn’t feature watermarked images…however I have witnessed photos being stolen and misrepresented as others’ work by scam artists over the years. Plus photos often get shared on different social network platforms without context as to where it came from.
RAW photos ready for editing
Pricing
Another daunting task that I don’t enjoy is pricing my work. In the beginning I would eye ball the piece and price it from the top of my head – which meant that I was rapidly losing money: not covering even my expenses to make the piece. So I soon moved to spreadsheets to price my work. I have a master spreadsheet with the cost of supplies: I price out to every last jump ring and component. Then I have spreadsheets for the items themselves: one for the keepsakes, and one for yarn as they are very different in pricing structure. This is where I add my costs for my time, packaging, and listing fees. The sad truth is I don’t make very much an hour. I honestly don’t mark up my work very much – and for this reason it’s hard for me to have sales or discounts. When I do run a sale, I am losing money at least on my time. I end up writing sales off as advertising (as well as giveaways).
So why don’t I mark my items up more? The market is solely dictated on the buyers and I have to go with what people are willing to pay. I’ve tried pricing my goods higher and they simply don’t move. Plus I’ve always had the philosophy that everyone deserves to own something nice and well made. I get it, money isn’t always there for the extras. I want my work to be accessible to as many people as possible as it is an expression of me from the heart. The many positive comments I have had over the years is a feeling that money could never buy. Yes I have expenses and bills like anyone else. But I do feel the handmade movement is far bigger than that. Sure I’d love to make more money at what I do, but I’d also like the cost of living to go down for everyone, too…
It never ceases to amaze me the misconception of how expensive handmade goods are or that they are not as good as the mass-produced products that have flashy ads or brand names to go along with them. Oh and if you are getting a lot of free stuff along with your purchase – or for signing others up – don’t think for one second you haven’t paid for it several times over in the markup.
Excel spreadsheets are a necessary evil
Listing items online
I currently list items on two places online: my personal website and Etsy. I’ve sold on other platforms before but it’s too time consuming for the handful of sales, so I’ve stuck to the two places that I get the most bang for my buck.
I’m quite fortunate to have a software engineer for a husband as well as being a tad geeky myself so a lot of things I can take care of on my own on the front end and all the technical stuff hubby can deal with on the backend. For sellers who constantly complain about Etsy: please stop. Listen, I am not always happy with everything they do over there nor do I agree with every decision that has been made in the evolution of this company. However, once you try to maintain your own website – you come to appreciate that you just have to pay the fees every month and the technical issues are someone’s else’s problem.
Listing items online means writing a decent copy description of the item, making sure it is placed under the right category on your website, uploading the pictures, setting the shipping costs, and doing SEO for each individual item. Nevermind the hours of setup it took beforehand to have a working site – and we use out-of-the-box software to power my website. I am fortunate enough to host my own site thanks to my partner’s business…sort of. By that I mean, don’t forget I have to babysit the site daily to make sure it doesn’t go down due to hosting issues, getting hacked, or the myriad of other issues that can happen that render it useless: like your payment gateway failing or a file corrupting. As for SEO, I admit that I find SEO tedious and it falls to the wayside a lot – and I instead rely on Social Networking for promoting my items and getting them out there. Once again, I appreciate paying Etsy to do my advertising for me. I have a very small budget to promote my listings but there is always a return for doing so.
Promoting items
Touching a bit of this in the previous section – promotion is a full-time job in and of itself, something that I just don’t have the stomach for – I admit it. The online pond is very big and you have to scream really loud to get noticed: I’m not so good at selling what I’m selling. I don’t mind sharing and showing what I make, but doing so over and over feels egotistical to me. I am not doing anything life saving here; it’s pretty things. It’s fun yarn and accessories for knitting. None of which is necessary to survive. I also rarely discuss what I do with my friends and family because I don’t want them to feel obligated to support my work. I get it, it’s not to everyone’s taste. I don’t want people to feel like I look at them with dollar signs in my eyes. It is such a good feeling however, to tap into that crowd that loves and gets what I do. Etsy has been wonderful for that. And I appreciate all the good feedback I’ve gotten over the years there. If I ever doubt my talent or abilities, I can read that feedback and know I make good things and provide a positive experience to others.
My facebook page is the hub for new product promotion and sales/discounts
Keeping items fresh & relevant
I used to make beaded jewelry – and I still do, I just find the simple wearable keepsakes translate as “in style” for a longer period of time. The time it takes to design and make beaded jewelry, plus the uniqueness of the designs means more effort to move the finished product. I like to stick with daily wearable pieces, like my ” wings” necklace that I wear everyday.
tray of pulled supplies for the new items I have yet to design
So if it is so hard why do it then?
It’s a drive to keep going that I can’t really explain. A passion for handmade and what I create. Wanting to get my items part of people’s online shopping experience: offering them an alternative to the norm. I do it because it makes my customers feel good, and therefore it makes me feel good. It’s my pay-it-forward. But mainly I do it because I have a drive to create like nobody’s business. It truly does keep me alive and sane, and if I want to keep creating, I have to move the things as they pile up. 🙂
I recognize that when I get resentful or feel stuck & anxious about it, it’s when all my time is spent online rather than making the things I love to make. The ideas run wild in my head and there is no outlet to get them out because I feel I must be responsible and do my social networking today, or list new items today. Once an item sells, most of the time I have to make the item with the customer’s personalization, then package and ship it. So if all my time is in doing just that and no new ideas are flowing, I feel stuck really fast.
I’ve just come to realize it’s about creating balance and even after 16 years at this, I haven’t struck the right chord. I tend to go from one extreme to the next. Now that I have made that revelation, I hopefully will find some motivation to list. Because there are some goodies in this folder that I’d love to get into people’s hands. It makes me happy that I get to share my talents with others.
If you stuck it out and read all this (thank you!) I hope you gain some insight on the behind-the-scenes of the handmade goods you buy online. If you sell or are looking to sell your handmade wares know I feel your pain, and I am here to support, if ever you need…
