Summer Madness

So Summer is here (apparently) and the nation seems to be going mad with the joys of the World Cup. I was sat on the tube last night opposite a couple having a serious conversation, all the while the girl was wearing a giant inflatable England flag hand. Kept me entertained for quite a while.

Anyway, I was watching the news the other day and they had a report about "why we buy so much England tat," which prompted me to think 'why have I not made any England tat?' And so here is my contribution:

I was meant to be having a beardy stall at a festival called Sellindge Music Festival in Kent last weekend. I was looking forward to it very much - I think the beards would go down very well with the festival folk - and I've got my mini stall set up in my living room. Sadly the festival got cancelled at the last minute and I'm really gutted (as I expect everyone was). So if anyone's looking for an interesting stall for a festival, do let me know!

And finally, an update on those press articles. They came through, and they look great. Have a look:

Bust Magazine (Feb/Mar 2010):

Melbourne Magazine (Mar 2010):

Beardy beardy joy. See you soon peeps xx

Festive Silliness and Press Treats

Festive Silliness: Here were my beardy contributions to the world for the Saint Days of Valentine and Patrick. The card proved to be quite popular, and the greenie beard was actually a custom order. I think I may start a range of brightly coloured beards. Yellow next, I think.

As for the Press Treats: There's been a bit of chat about me on the internet of late, which has been nice. It started with being on the etsy front page, twice in two days - both with the same item!

That led to a lot of custom orders and lovely emails, hurrah.

It also led to a lovely article on the live. make. create. website:

http://livemakecreate.com/2010/01/26/yarn-check-disguise-check/

Which included such sweet quotes as: "All of her designs are clever and very beautifully crafted". Thanks!

There was also a mention on the Jezebel blog.

http://jezebel.com/5465179/beards-for-all#comments

My favourite comment from here was: "I just checked out this woman's website. I really, really want her to be my friend". Yay!

And then... This blog got picked up by Glamour Magazine who wrote about my "ridiculousness" on their website. Tee hee.

http://www.glamour.com/beauty/blogs/girls-in-the-beauty-department/2010/02/monday-silliness-the-beard-hat.html

How very exciting.

The beardy article that my interview contributed to in Melbourne Magazine has now been published, and the lovely Ian Rose who wrote it is sending me a copy. I'm really looking forward to reading that.

I'm yet to hear whether my moustache gloves have made an appearance in Bust Magazine. I don't have access to a copy over here, so if anyone's seen one, it would be great to know if I made the cut.

Right, that's all my pressy treats for now.

Merry Mother's Day everyone x

Time for an update, methinks...

Hi gang,

I'm sorry I've been away for a while. Busy busy busy with my real job in the real world. Boo hiss.

There's not a great deal going on, so here are some pictorial updates:

These two are pics from a couple of satisfied customers. Always nice to get some positive feedback!

These are pictures of my wares on sale. On the left is Bento in Pennsylvania, and on the right is the Tea & Make Christmas Fair in Honor Oak. Yay!

And these are a couple of new things in my shops. Moustache-tastic.

Ooh, and in other news I'm hopefully going to be appearing in a couple of magazines over the next few months. One is Bust Magazine in New York who requested a pair of my gloves, and the other is Melbourne Magazine who are doing a special about beards. Hopefully more on those later.

Lots of beardy love xx

Tea & Make Christmas Fair

Yes, December is finally upon us and we can all now talk about Christmas without reprisal because we're officially into Advent, and if nothing else people have more chocolate to keep them merry...

Next Saturday - December 5th - Wife of Brian will have a stall at the Tea & Make Christmas Fair in Honor Oak, at the Honor Oak pub in fact, where you will be able to buy all of your festive facial hair desires.

The Santaclava above will be on sale, along with moustache tree decorations, loopy white beards, and all the usual Wife of Brian madness.

It's going to be a great event, so if you're free do come along for some mulled wine and festive fun.

http://www.teaandmake.co.uk/

http://teaandmake.blogspot.com/

Wife of Brian in the land of Podcast

I discovered today that a lovely lady had talked about me in her podcast. I find this thoroughly exciting. Her site is:

www.hoxtonhandmade.com/

The mention is in episode 24, about 24 minutes in - although I recommend listening to it all. Smart and entertaining and knitting-based - what more could you possibly want?!

The lovely lady in question (I'm afraid I don't know her name) found out about me from my friend Sheara (who is also a lovely lady). Sheara and I are doing a massive and mad charity production of 'Crazy for You' at the London Palladium this weekend (in case you didn't know, my proper job is as a Stage Manager). There are still tickets available and it's going to be amazing so do check it out:

www.showtimechallenge.co.uk

Apparently podcast lady is going to be there, so I look forward to meeting her.

Now, here are some more things I've been up to recently:

The crochet lorgnette has had mixed responses but I love it. The moustache cuff has three different styles (much like the eyebrow headband of old...), but I think there's more work to be done there. The black moustache is actually a brooch, for those of you who aren't necessarily brave enough to wear the knitted facial hair on your face. And yes, the earmuffs are just cream versions of the ones you've already seen - they were a custom request. Can you tell I was ill when I took that picture?

Over the last two weeks the world has gone mad and bought and requested uber amounts of beards. This very nicely coincided with me being ill and also going in to tech at work (this is a period of time, where I am working every hour of the day) so I was coming home at midnight and knitting in bed! It's all calmed down now though, do not fear.

So onwards an upwards. Embrace the madness!

Leia-tist Creation

Here is my latest creation. Leia Earmuffs.

A bit mad? Probably. I'm not entirely sure. But mad is good.

I think I may even wear these myself. There are really not that many earmuffs around these days, and definitely not ones with any style. (Not that I am implying that these are the height of fashion, of course!)

Nonetheless, I am quite fond of the idea. Let me know your thoughts.

In other news, I made it to the etsy front page again on the 17th September.

I could quite get used to being on there once a month! It's certainly a great feeling, and wonderful to see one's views zooming up.

Good times.

Etsy Front Page

I love etsy. It was because of this website that I had the confidence and the opportunity to open my shop. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of people on there selling beautiful and fascinating things. I have actually bought some myself.

As an etsy seller, one of the biggest aims is to make it to the front page. The bods in charge search through the thousands of items on there and choose their favourites to go on the front page for all to see when they first sign into the website. Quite a coup and a great chance for more people to see your work.

On the 16th August I made it to the front page. Woop! Big yay to me. When I went to bed my views were around 40, and when I woke up they were over 800. Astounding. I had so many emails from people congratulating me and telling me they loved my work. It was really very lovely and great to know that I must be doing something right!

So I recommend you go for a browse. Quite a few treats out there.

www.etsy.com