christmas in july

Christmas in July Sale in my Etsy Shop

Christmas in July Sale in my DeeDeeDeesigns Etsy Shop

Well it is that time of year – Christmas in July – and over in my Etsy shop I am having a sale to celebrate!!

A bit of background: on Etsy there are teams where like minded sellers can get together in a virtual space and support and give advise to each other…. I am in a few teams, and am a team leader for the Christmas in July team and a blog contributor for the Australian Wandarrah team, and this year both teams have joined together for a CIJ cross promotion. You can visit both of their blogs for lots of information about member shops and the sales they are having – this is the perfect opportunity to buy quality handcrafted items at great prices for yourself and family or friends, or as early Christmas gifts.

As for me, I have my shop discounted for the entire month of July, and have an addition special of 15% discount between July 1st and July 15th. Use the coupon code ETSYCIJ15 at the checkout for your discount to be applied.

I have a wide range of ceramic tablewares, buttons and jewellery, upcycled jewellery made from buttons, marbles and guitar strings, original art greeting cards and Christmas decorations. Some of my jewellery pieces are suitable for women and men, and my tableware is suitable for foodies of all persuasions.

So visit my shop & grab some bargains!

Sunday Studio Visit – Etsy Craft Party

Today in the studio I am making paper beads…. well that’s different, you may say! Ceramic beads, yes, paper beads?
So, let me explain…

This weekend has been the worldwide Etsy Craft Party with real time events being held in cities across the globe and virtual parties being hosted on blog and websites across the internet. The theme for this years craft party was a kaleidoscope of paper…. see the link?

Being an Etsy seller naturally I participated in a couple of virtual parties from the comfort of my own lounge/office/studio – wherever it took my fancy.

Over on the Christmas in July Etsy team’s blog, of which I am a team leader and blog contributor, I participated by checking out all the tutorials that were posted during the event, liking and tweeting them, and generally being supportive. I also made a cuff earring from Rhonda Tol of SimplyBeadifulDesign tutorial – can’t wait to wear it! Although being the embellishments person that I am, I’m thinking beads and dangly stuff – I see a future blog post!

Ear Cuff

I actually wrote a tutorial myself for the Australian Wandarrah Team virtual party. I am not a leader of this team, but do write guest blog posts for the team. My tutorial was how to make cuff bracelets from upcycled bottles and paper, which you can check out HERE. I had never written a tutorial before, so it was a new experience, and was really enjoyable.

Cuff Bracelets

There were some great tutorials throughout the day on the Australian Wandarrah blog, and I actually did a few of them, including this paper earring tutorial shared by fellow teamie Kaz from kazzycaboodles– I think I may make a matching necklace so I can have a set for wearing in summer! (if summer ever arrives in Ballarat!!)

Paper Earrings

My favourite tutorial, though, was the paper beads. I had seen and admired paper beads before, but hadn’t checked out how to make them. The tutorial for the paper beads wasn’t actually one that a team member had written, but was shared during the event as one of the official Etsy tutorials for the day. The other official Etsy tutorial was for a paper weaving project which I also did (hadn’t done such a thing since primary school!), and with the left over paper I made the beads  – and was hooked!

So today, in the studio, I have been obsessing over my new obsession – not that I am obsessive!

I am really enjoying working out how the colour/pattern of the paper works its way into a bead pattern – both through the colours on the paper and the wound contour of the bead – the possibilities are endless!

I can really see this material and process becoming part of my oeuvre, which is not surprising when considering that I also make handmade paper and also do most of my drawing on  handmade paper.

But for today I was happy making paper beads and turning them into jewellery – they may even make it into my Etsy shop!

Paper Beads

Paper Bead Necklace

Paper Bead Earrings with Seed Beads

If you made it this far through the post you now have a special bonus – during the craft party i had a discount code for a 10% discount throughout my Etsy shop which I will now extend to wordpress readers for the next week!! Use coupon WORDPRESS at checkout to purchase any of my Etsy products 🙂