Madeit Seller Feature - Kate from 'My Pretty Ivy'

What girl doesn't like adding a bold, beautiful necklace to their outfit? Kate from the Madeit store 'My Pretty Ivy' sure likes to create beautiful necklaces that are washable - perfect for Mums that have bubs that love to put items in their mouths.

I had the opportunity to ask Kate about her creations and her store and is my feature Madeit seller for this month. So sit back, grab a cup of tea and enjoy reading about 'My Pretty Ivy' ...

**Note: If you like an item, click on the photo and it will take you to the My Pretty Ivy shop and will give you more detail about the items**

Tell us a bit about 'My Pretty Ivy'...

Hi my name is Kate and I'm a first time mum to my very pretty Ivy (I am no doubt like all mothers biased!). Like most women I love pretty little things and realise that having a baby and wearing jewellery don't often go hand in hand!

After struggling to find well priced and good quality jewellery made from silicone I decided to create some. Initially I began creating necklaces for friends who have also recently had babies! A couple of friends who received these necklaces as gifts made the suggestion of me creating an online store and given I am on leave from my role as a registered nurse I had the opportunity to explore my creative side! so My pretty Ivy was created! These pretty and affordable necklaces are made from 100% non-toxic food grade silicone beads that are free from BPA, lead and any other nasties!

Each necklace is unique and one of a kind (I wear plain coloured clothes and like to add colour through accessories...I know I am not the only woman who does this!)

I love that these necklaces can be washed with warm soapy water (as little fingers are cute but usually grubby!) and come with a safety clasp(little hands are strong!)

They are great for wearing when feeding to keep little fingers distracted!

What do you like most about being a handmade designer/creator?

I love designing necklaces with customers as it allows both of us to create a piece they will love and wear! I know that there are times when you feel like you lose your sense of self as a new mum. Making these necklaces and exploring my creative side allows me to feel connected to me. It is very therapeutic working with different shaped and coloured beads! 

I feel that there is something special about handmade items in this day of seasonal and mass produced items....you can feel the love and energy in them!

What is your favourite item (that you have created)?

It would be unfair to label one of my necklaces a favourite! I like them all especially when I receive a thankyou note from a happy recipient!

What is next? Do you have any new ideas/products/designs planned?

At this stage My pretty Ivy is still very new....so who knows where it will travel!

Thank you very much Kate for sharing your ideas! I, too, echo the love of handmade items - the joy and relaxing in creating them and also the care that these items exude in a mass produced world.

If you would like to visit My Pretty Ivy, please click here. Why not drop Kate a message and leave some feedback about her creations (email address is located on the My Pretty Ivy store page)!

To see other Madeit stores, please click here.

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Jen.

P.S - If you have enjoyed reading about the story behind Tupsy Turvy Designs' products, why not become a 'Golden Ticket Member'? It is FREE and membership entitles you to regular updates, exclusive sales, discounts and opportunities. Simply click here and enter your email address. Easy! I look forward to sharing more ideas with you soon ...

Introducing Fellow Madeit Seller - Lauren - from 'Ayana Jewellery'

As I love encouraging others, particularly those that handcraft items, I thought I would dedicate a blogpost once a month, sharing some information about other handcrafters that I have met.

This month I have great pleasure to introduce to you, Lauren from 'Ayana Jewellery'.

 Lauren is a very skilled jewellery maker that handcrafts rings, earrings, bracelets and necklaces. I met Lauren through the handmade market site, Madeit. I asked Lauren a few questions about her craft. Grab a cup of tea and enjoy reading about her journey ...

Tell us a bit about 'Ayana Jewellery'.

Behind Ayana Jewellery is myself and my partner Vincent. While I develop, design and handmake each item, Vincent supports me with the business side of things from marketing to bouncing ideas.

After studying as a silversmith in New Zealand, I moved to London where I met Vincent. Together
the journey of Ayana Jewellery began. I spend long evenings in my bedroom apartment making and designing jewellery. Vincent helping where he could.
We re-located to Sydney in early 2015 and re-launched Ayana Jewellery. We now design and make contemporary fashion accessories from our creative home studio in Neutral Bay (Sydney).
The artistic inspiration for our products comes from our travels. The ones ‘desire’ to see, feel, taste and yearn.

Resonating from cultural motifs to architectural shapes and forms.

Each jewellery item in our range is handcrafted with love from start to finish, with each piece not quite the same as the one before. We design and make with the fun loving women in mind and the idea that jewellery is to be worn and enjoyed every day. 

What do you like most about being a handmade designer/creator?

I predominately work with sterling silver (925) so popping on my apron and taking to the bench with saws, hammers and solder to bend, curve and form shapes making the jewellery come to life has to be my favourite part of being a creator. On the other side, I just love when I sell something and get awesome feedback from the customer - you never stop getting that little buzz!

Why did you choose to create jewellery?

I never really know how to answer this question - I just love jewellery and it fascinated me that I could create my own from a few lengths of wire, some sheets of silver and a soldering torch. After doing a night course I was hooked and went on to do a full-time course.

What is next? Do you have any new products/designs/ideas planned?

We have just started doing markets in Sydney which are awesome and a great way to interact with customers, so we'll be doing more of those in the next few months. We also have a new range of Drop Designs which we have tested at the markets, they will be going up online in the next few weeks.

Our plan for the next few months is to get our jewellery into a few more shops and get more locally handmade items out there whilst educating the customers so they can understand and appreciate "handmade". We are already stocked with Bonty in Canberra, Boxable Gift Boxes and will soon be in Manly Gallery.

Thank you Lauren for sharing about your handcrafting journey and your beautiful products. I love the simplistic, modern design of your jewellery and I wish you all the best in your endeavours.

If you would like to view more Ayana Jewellery products, simply click here to view what is in store.

Thank you for viewing!

~ Jen

P.S - If you have enjoyed reading about other handcrafters and want to know more about Tupsy Turvy Designs, why not become a 'Golden Ticket Member'? It is FREE and membership entitles you to regular updates, exclusive sales, discounts and opportunities. Simply click here and enter your email address. Easy! I look forward to sharing more ideas with you soon ...

Winter gardening and a fabric pendant design

Winter is knocking on the door...

 It is not just the cooler weather, the extra showers of rain, the gusty winds and the muddier boys’ clothes that give it away. It is the greenness and lushness that seems to grow in boldness and be more evident.

We are blessed with room for a garden that we enjoy growing flowers, fruit trees and vegetables in. On the weekend (usually Sunday afternoon) hubby, myself and the boys, all get out into the garden and weed, plant, pick or prune. It is very rewarding to receive delicious, home grown produce for our efforts, whilst the boys are learning a lot about plants and how they grow.

The only drawback, at this time of year, are … the nettles. We know that it is getting cooler and wetter when the nettles seem to pop up and thrive. It also sees us with trousers, jumpers and gloves, making sure that we don’t have any skin exposure so that we don’t get stung by the nasty weeds. All part of gardening, I suppose …

My latest creation uses greens, but more of a spearmint green, rather than leaf green, teamed with bursts of purple. Here is the result …

I had the idea to use my hand painted creations, but rather than use canvas or paper to paint on, instead use fabric. I have managed to turn my paint into fabric paint, by adding a special textile medium to the colours. This makes it more waterproof (but not recommended to swim or bathe in). I like the idea of using reclaimed materials in what I create, hence a lot of the beads and the fabric are reclaimed. I am not totally happy with the top part of this prototype pendant, as it bunches rather a lot. I am making alterations to the design which will hopefully fix this problem. I loved creating this design and will definitely make more.

Thank you for stopping by!

~ Jen. 

P.S - If you have enjoyed reading about the story behind Tupsy Turvy Designs' products, why not become a 'Golden Ticket Member'? It is FREE and membership entitles you to regular updates, exclusive sales, discounts and opportunities. Simply click here and enter your email address. Easy! I look forward to sharing more ideas with you soon ...

Pale Pink and Emerald Green

It's been a while since I have used some pink in my creations. I must say, I like pink in moderation as I am not as fond of combinations that use excessive amounts of pink. Despite this slight aversion to pink, I have made it the base of my colour combination. I didn't want too much pink, therefore I decided to add shades of emerald green to add some coolness to this combination.

The spark of this colour combination was a photo of a door. The photo consisted of a deep emerald green door that was the entrance to a pale pink dwelling. Whether it is the influence of this photo or of the colours themselves, these colours seem welcoming, kind and gentle.

As you can see, I have started making jewellery items using this colour combination. I also have another 'princess' canvas, a 'home' canvas and boat canvas in the pipeline that will reflect this gentle and kind mood.

I can't wait to share more of these items with you. In the meantime, if you would like to view jewellery items in store, please click here.

~ Jen.

Chocolate Brown and Light Blue

Since December last year, I have been a mother. My husband and I went through years of preparation and seminars as we journeyed through the adoption process. We learnt about how traumatic experiences effect the brain, how we can best manage children from traumatised backgrounds and generally prepared our living space for little people. Even though we both knew that eventually we would meet our children, nothing essentially prepares you for motherhood like having two little ones with you.

I must say, we are extremely blessed, not only to have two beautiful boys join our family, but have two beautiful boys that have slotted into life here and with us so well. It is definitely a credit to all involved in the process..

...However, as any parent knows, it is not all smooth sailing. There are days where dealing with tantrums and tears proves to be a challenge. They are the days when the children are all snuggled in bed that my husband and I relish breaking open some chocolate. Somehow the tasty, sweet treat makes a lot of the woes of the day seem much better. As I type this, I am smiling as yesterday was just 'one of those days'. As I snuggled into the recliner after all the cleaning up was finished, my husband broke off a little extra chocolate and stated that 'you probably need this after your day today'. Ah... he knows me well.

To me, the colour of chocolate evokes calmness, strength, stillness and peace. My newest colour scheme involves a range of chocolate brown hues teamed with a splash of light blue to lighten up the richness of the brown.

As you can see, I have already have used this colour combination for a range of pendants and earrings and I am about half way through a production line of cards. I have some ideas of using a teddy bear motif for one of my canvasses, a dog motif for another and a curly, short haired girl for my princess canvas. I can't wait to put all of these ideas into fruition. I would love to hear about your ideas, either by commenting on this blogpost, on the Facebook page or via email.

To see more items using this colour scheme, please click here.

~ Jen.

A New Mixed Media Pendant Range

Everyone needs to go through change and this process is not easy. Today, after having long hair for ten or so years, I decided to visit the hairdresser and go short instead. It wasn't an easy decision. I scrolled through many suggestions that I found on the Internet. I then had to think about whether I liked these styles, my lack of time to style hair and whether it would suit me.Then, there was the fear that if I went with the short hair and I didn't like it, it would take a long time for it to grow back to a longer length.

Change can instill a bit of fear, however change can also be a time for celebration. It can be a time of letting go of the past and provides the opportunity to be open to new possibilities. Luckily for me, I am already embracing the change in hairstyle. I am enjoying these ease of styling and the lack of weight.

That being said, I am very thankful for thick hair to be able to have a choice whether to grow it long or have it cut and styled shorter. I am very well aware that some people, unfortunately, don't have that choice. Change that is out of our control can be especially distressing. Change unlocks so many emotions...

I've implemented some change in my line of mixed media jewellery and I am quite liking this change. Previously, I have adhered my mixed media art to buttons to create pendants and earrings. Due to a bit of inspiration when crafting with my sister-in-law, I decided to try framing small pieces of mixed media art in silver plated casings. To protect it, a glass dome is adhered on the front. This is the result...

Each of these pendants feature either a butterfly or small heart. I thought that the silver plated casing and glass dome not only add a bit of elegance, but will make them more robust. Each pendant comes with a ball chain. To see what is available in store, click here.

I would love to know what you think or which one is your favourite.

~Jen.

Monday in the Making

I love exploring different colour combinations. Lately, when I have found a colour combination I like, I make the paints up in bulk and use the same combination for a canvas, a set of cards and for some jewellery.

Well... it was time to discover a new colour combination and this time it uses a base of purple plum. I also decided that the first items I would make with this combination would be a set of pendants.

Here are just a few...

I made up the art work, attached it to my chosen buttons and have just added the glossy glaze. I will need to wait for it to cure before I add the hooks so that they can be attached to chains. My shipment of chains have just arrived so you will soon see these pendants (and the last set) added to my store. I have also got some lead and nickel free earring hooks on their way so that I can make some into earring sets.

To check out what is currently in store, click here.

Thanks for viewing!

Monday in the Making

Last week, I had a lot of fun experimenting with placing my art on buttons with the aim to turn them into pendants.

This week, I added the glossy top coat and added wire to add the finishing touches. I have been very pleased with the way that they turned out. Here are a few photos:

I am now awaiting some chains to place these pendants on.

Since I have loved working with the colour teal and had some teal paint leftover, I decided to make a mini canvas. Here is the result:

This mini canvas is constructed using various shades of teal with splashes of grey and navy blue. This canvas is made using various mixed media techniques including paint, paper, drawing and textural techniques.

This canvas is now available in store. To visit the store, click here.

Thanks for viewing!

Monday in the Making

I have thoroughly enjoy the time that I spend making my mixed media Art. I have created cards and canvases using this technique. 

I've always wondered whether my Art could be displayed in different forms and over the weekend I began experimenting making my Art into pendants.

 Currently, I am about half way through my experimental process, however, I am so pleased with how these pendants are turning out. I just need to add a little more detail and add a glassy top coat and then these pendants will be turned into necklaces. Hopefully the rest of my experiment works out well.

To see current mixed media items in store, click here

Thanks for stopping by!

Wonderful Wednesday - What caught my eye...

This week, I decided to search for some blue coloured items on madeit.com.au and this gorgeous item appeared...

Blue snowflake teardrop pendant by 'Glass Rainbows'

This item is stunning! I love the teardrop shape and I love the tiny snowflakes that are captured in the blue resin. A gorgeous, wintery accessory...

Thanks for viewing!

Monday in the making

During this past week I have been busy finishing off orders, mainly for multi-strand up-cycled t-shirt necklaces. However, I have had an idea for a new ring design floating around in my head and I was craving a little time to give it a try. I managed to find a little time during the week and here is the result...

This is my new 'daisy' design. It has a large, daisy like flower with a glass bead stitched in the middle. It is then stitched on a thinner band (compared to the vine ring I created earlier). Once again, I have added this ring to my personal jewellery collection, but I do aim to make more. They are comfortable to wear and are perfect for those ladies that can't wear metallic jewellery.

On the list:

• Christmas gifts - I'm busy designing and creating some goodies for loved ones.
• Cushions - another design that I can't wait to try!
• Necklaces - to continue to fulfil orders and add some to my store.

Thanks for viewing :)

Monday in the making

I have been in an 'accessories' mood...

...I have enjoyed up cycling t-shirts to create accessories. I thought that I would make a few more necklaces.

I made another 'Climbing Rose' necklace using a number of strands and various lengths, embellished with five roses. These roses have tiny gold beads stitched in the middle.

I have also been experimenting with different designs. This necklace is also made up of various strands, however, this one is plaited and knotted at different intervals (sorry that I don't have a close up of this one...).

I have also been experimenting with some rings, also made out of up cycled t-shirts, with embroidery and beading. I absolutely LOVE the design and I trialled one today (that is mine for keeps!!) and it is so comfy to wear. It is a bit wider or 'chunkier' that some of the rings that I wear, but the design and detail is lovely. The only downside is that it is not waterproof (ie. you can't wear it to wash dishes, wash your hands, etc) but the upside is that it is hand washable if it becomes dirty or yuck. As this design is a new creation, I haven't got any photos as yet. Hope to share some with you soon.

On the list:

• Finish the scarf (it's been on the list for a while).
• Trial my 'Christmas idea'.
• Tutus
• Another bear or two or three

Thanks for viewing :)

Wonderful Wednesday - Jewellery inspiration

I am having a little giggle as I type out this blog...

I have been busy making something else new. I create headbands, but I wanted to create something else wearable...hence bracelets are in the making. I have had some inspiration with beads, threads and knotting and the creating has begun! I hope to show some photos soon.

The part that is funny, is that every time I start a different type of craft, I am reminded of my brother. As I have always 'fluttered' between crafts, my brother would ask me "So, what 'phase' are you in?". I wouldn't call them 'phases', rather, projects on the go. I also call it variety...

Here are some inspirational jewellery finds...

Fabric covered button earrings by 'Little Poppet by Ali'

I have come back from a week of crafting with Ali, from 'Little Poppet by Ali'. I have seen her make the cutest sets of earrings, especially her fabric button earrings. She hasn't posted them up on her Madeit store, however, check out 'Little Poppet by Ali' Facebook Page here to find some photos and prices. I hope she posts up her latest sets of fabric covered button earrings soon, as they were pretty groovy!

Sterling Silver Necklace by 'Epheriell'

In browsing jewellery in Madeit, I can't go past the lovely works of 'Epheriell'. Epheriell's simple designs and hand created jewellery looks stunning. Who would have known that circles look so good? The photography of their products also adds to the beauty of their products.

Mr Darcy Ring by 'Two Cheeky Monkeys'

If you are a 'Pride & Prejudice' by Jane Austen lover, you would love this ring. I like the way that the word 'Darcy' is magnified by the glass cabochon. An intriguing piece that would make the perfect gift for a Jane Austen fan (it is currently on sale at the moment too!).

Photo locket by 'Mikano'

This little locket has the sweetest picture, beautifully captured by 'Mikano'. I love the antique feel that it has. A beautiful, yet practical piece of jewellery. Mikano has a range of different lockets to choose from.

I hope this inspires you!