Folksy Spring Market (and a product launch!)

It is the Folksy Spring Market this weekend, the 14th and 15th May, and I’m excited to have new products to launch. There are also lots of other makers taking part from across the UK, and a huge variety of products on offer. First of all, my new products:

I have created three wall hanging designs inspired by my range of lavender bags. There are three themes, Garden Friends, Under the Sea and The Night Sky. Each hanging features three felt motifs, completely hand stitched and embellished with beads, embroidery and sequins. I think they would look great in a child’s bedroom or nursery. The bright colours and cheerful smiling faces will be certain to add a special happiness to any room!

There are lots of other makers who are taking part and I want to share a few who are taking part:

Send a beautiful card or letter to someone you love with these gorgeous collections of cards and writing paper from Lellibelle, DaisyWings, Eleanor Jane Studio, and Ruth Thorpe Studio.

I love all of these pieces, they would make lovely gifts for a nature lover! Jill Blakey Makes, MegaLily Design, Silver Nutmeg, Louise Crookenden Johnson Ceramics

And finally some more nature themed pieces, maybe these are a a little treat for yourself?! Makers are Emma Corry Designs; Raina Atelier; Clare Cosens Designs; Thimbleville

The market opens at 8am on Saturday morning, and finishes at 11pm on Sunday evening. There are loads more makers taking part, click on any image to be taken to the Tresstle website, which is hosting the market, or click here!

Happy Shopping!

Mother’s Day Gift Guide

It’s Mother’s Day on March the 27th in the U.K. and I would love to share some of the beautiful gifts available on Folksy from some of my fellow Folksy Local team captains. You can click each image find out more information (and buy!)

Lellibelle uses freehand machine embroidery to create beautiful cards, gifts and homeware featuring British wildlife, plants and birds.

Crochet Shaz crochets the cutest crochet items! Can you offer this little elf a home?!

These sterling silver earrings from Athene Sholl are simple and elegant.

Such a sweet card from Medel Crafts!

I love the vibrant colours in this wreath from Woofs and Wool – it would add a burst of colour to any room.

Add a statement necklace to mum’s outfit with this pretty floral necklace from Bower Bird Jewellery .

Utterly Pottery has created a collection of vases that would be perfect for Mother’s Day gifts, available in a range of gorgeous colours.

HANDforthMADE creates useful and beautiful items out of Harris tweed, this juicy pink glasses case would keep mum’s specs safe.

Finally, I’m sharing one of my sea creature lavender bags- this is a new design of a walrus with sparkly sequins! Filled with home grown lavender and perfect to pop in your wardrobe. Find him here on Folksy.

There are so many other beautiful gift ideas for Mother’s Day on Folksy, the team at Folksy have curated a guide too, click here to have a look!

Bits and bobs of news

Well, we are nearly at the middle of November so I thought I’d send a quick blog post with what’s happening at Shirley Rainbow at the moment. I’m preparing for some craft fairs coming up soon, which is involving some fairly long hours making (which I love!)

I thought it might be useful to share my Free Crochet Bauble Pattern again, for any crocheters out there preparing decorations.

You will find me at the Creative Mum’s Club Christmas Market on 19th November, and at the SOCK Gallery Christmas Art and Craft Fair at Loughborough Town Hall on 21st November. The first market is a brand new venture, and I’m really looking forward to displaying my work. I’ve attended the SOCK Gallery Fair before, and its always a fun day out, Loughborough’s Christmas lights turn on that afternoon so the town is busy and has a fun festive atmosphere.

Click on the images to be taken to the Facebook Event page.

Finally, I have a little celebration to share… 300 sales on Folksy! I’ve been selling on Folksy since 2014, on a part time basis while I fit work around my children. I’m pretty proud of myself!!

A huge thank you to everyone for helping me achieve this!

Teresa xx

Christmas is here- at Shirley Rainbow!

It really is! On Monday morning I launched my full range of Christmas decorations for 2021. I have a fully stocked shop of decorations for your tree or walls, ranging from the traditional to the more unusual. Here’s a little peak…

I’m taking part in the Pedddle Christmas product launch online market this week, along with 50 other makers. The Online Market (hosted on Tresstle) is open until 10pm on Sunday 31st October, you can visit the market here, and I thought it would be nice to share a few of the makers that caught my eye below…

Fairy Lights necklace by All The Discos; Hand Screen Printed Christmas House Decoration by The Print Lass ; Christmas Mix Tape Decorations by Fussy Geek Wares

Crocheted Robin Tree Decoration by Little Smidge of Happy; Penguin Tree Decoration by Stitch Studio; Nordic Santa Ornaments by
Utterly Pottery

Christmas Trees by HANDforthMADE; Ceramic Tree Decorations by Clara Castner; Robin Notebook by Daffodowndilly

There are many, many other makers taking part so it’s well worth a visit to see if there’s anything you can buy for Christmas, (or as a treat for yourself) and you will be supporting independent businesses when you do! Win win all round!

There is a list on my News and Events page of all the markets I’ll be attending in the next few weeks, if you want to come and browse my stall in person.

Happy Christmas Shopping! X

Summer Round Up

My children are back at school and it feels like the summer is over with this grey damp weather we are having here in the UK. Apparently there’s a heatwave around the corner, but I’m not so sure! I’ve had quite a long break from work related things, so it’s nice to be back at my desk and getting stuck in again.

I’ve updated my news and events blog page with new craft fairs I’m attending or taking part in. You can find all the details here and I’m hoping to add a few more events to this list soon!

My full Christmas collection will be launching at the end of September- I’ve got a couple more designs I’m working on and then I will be ready to reveal all.

Just before I closed for my summer holidays I had a very fun commission: a large Jellyfish lavender bag! One of my lovely repeat customers ordered it from me to hang on her bathroom door. It was a lot of fun to make, and has inspired me to revisit the idea of larger lavender bags.

As you may know my online shop is through Folksy, (and I love selling there!) and recently Folksy have set up a new initiative: Folksy Local. This will be run by small teams of sellers from different areas of the country, and I have been asked to help make up the team for the East Midlands! You can read more about it here on the Folksy Blog. We have set up an Instagram account here for you to follow, and also a Facebook page too, we would love you to follow us and see the amazingly talented craftspeople based in the East Midlands. We will also be running an online craft fair in November which looks like its going to be an amazing event.

That’s it for this post, thank you for reading!

Teresa x

Christmas In July Gift Guide

I realise that it is very hard to think about Christmas on the hottest week of the year here in the UK, but the Christmas In July Market is in full swing on Tresstle and I’d like to share some of the gorgeous products available for pre order.

These Christmas decorations are all gorgeous and completely handmade: Star Letterbox Decoration from Sakarma Handmade, hand turned wooden trees from Treow, snowman decoration by Laurel Tree Pottery, and hand knitted, super cosy decorations from Clair T Designs.

I couldn’t resist adding my own Heirloom Santa Christmas Tree Decoration to this gift guide!

Beautiful porcelain ceramic decorations from Clara Castner

These embroidered tree decorations from Smallbeans Stitching are delightful. The clocks are hand stitched too!

Viksilver creates stunning silver jewellery, as does Jewellery by Silvana whose work is made with sterling silver, Delicious Bits Jewellery is made from very pretty screen printed polymer clay and Sparkle Yonder’s machine embroidered decorations are marvellous.

All of these would make gorgeous gifts!

Up North Textile Design produces beautiful hand woven cushions, She Could Sew She Did makes gorgeous hand sewn gifts, Flower Child makes natural fibre patchwork quilts, clothing and accessories from beautiful fabrics that will be treasured for years to come, and Sophia’s Illustration creates illustrated bespoke house portraits.

There’s so many beautiful products here, I hope you see something you like!

Teresa x

Christmas in July

No…. I haven’t gone crazy! Its a month long online market I’m taking part in, where customers can order products made to order and makers can avoid the manic rush later in the year!

The online market is being hosted by Flower Child Heirloom Clothes and Accessories on the Tresstle event platform. There are some gorgeous products available, and makers will be adding more throughout the month. I’ll be publishing a gift guide later in the month and I will be featuring some of my favourites.

Already available are my Christmas Twinkle Teddy Tree Decorations, which can be personalised with an embroidered initial, and I’ve added options where you can choose the colour of the bear and their scarf. These teddies are one of my favourite products to make, and I really like the option of adding an initial. You can find them in my Folksy shop here.

Today is the launch day for my Donkey tree decorations. These little donkeys are completely hand stitched, and are made using wool felt and vintage threads. This year you can choose your own blanket design from a selection of 3, and your donkey will be made to order. Please visit my Folksy shop page to find out how to order your own donkey.

And last but not least, here’s a little look at the other Christmas decorations I will be launching in July! Follow me on Facebook or Instagram to find out when they are available.

Teresa x

Free Patterns! Love Crafts Creator Tutorials

Late last year I was asked to become a Love Crafts Creator, and create some tutorials and blog posts for them. You can see all of them here. Today I have two new tutorials to share with you!

My first new tutorial is a step by step guide to making a hand embroidered fabric bookmark. Its a really quick project and can be made with left over pieces of fabric from other projects! I think it would make a lovely addition when giving a new book as a gift.

Embroidered Bookmark Tutorial

The next new pattern for the Love Crafts blog is a drawstring bag tutorial, with no tricky eyelets or fastenings! The step by step guide takes you through all the stages of finishing the seams and adding the cord.

Its another great project for beginners, and is a handy size for taking out on a day trip.

Drawstring Bag Tutorial

If you make any of the projects from my tutorials I’d love to see it! Tag me @shirleyrainbow_tb and Love Crafts @lovecrafts on Instagram!

Teresa x

Trying my hand at ceramics with Hands On Pottery

I’m really pleased to share a project with you today that has been rather a long time in the making! Last year a friend and I signed up to do a hand throwing pottery course at a local ceramics studio, Hands On Pottery. Having avidly watched the Great British Pottery Throwdown for the last few years I was really intrigued as to whether my A’level Ceramics skills would re-emerge on entering a ceramics class!

The pottery studio awaits!
(Hands On Pottery have now moved to a different studio, this is the old room)

Well, hand throwing is quite a lot harder than I remembered it being! My ambitions of making a large fruit bowl were quickly dismissed, as I discovered my wonky fingers were not helping me make a straight pot, or in fact anything at all. Our teacher Elaine was fantastic and managed to get me to make three small wonky pots, of which I’m very proud.

Fresh off the wheel before tidying them up

Leather hard pots, mine are the wider ones, my friend Clare made the taller slimmer pots.

Then the November lockdown started, followed by a very busy December for me, and then the January lockdown, so it meant that it was only in April of this year we managed to get back into the studio to add glazes to our fired pots. I had spent quite a bit of time looking at ideas on Pinterest of how I might be able to glaze them…and finally this week I went to collect our pots… and here are mine, in all their wonky glory. I’m so pleased!

Possibly my favourite…

Also possible my favourite

I have taken a ridiculous amount of photos of them already, and you can probably expect them to pop up in my product photos quite often now!

Matching with my embroidery work!

View from above: I continued some of the decoration inside the pots.

Making the pots wasn’t quite as relaxing as I thought it would be, although by the final class I felt much more confident, and my hands were starting to remember what to do. I thoroughly enjoyed it all though, and there is a great sense of achievement in holding a pot you have made from a lump of clay!

I think they will be happy living in my living room.

Teresa x

Shop Small this weekend with Indie Roller Bundles

Hello!

This weekend I’m taking part in a new online market, its hosted by Indie Roller and has a theme: Bundle!

All the small businesses taking part have created collections of products that you can buy as one off special offers on Saturday 17th April. I’d like to share some of the bundle offers available on Saturday that have caught my eye.

Resin Be Thankful Keyrings created with waste plastic

Utterly Pottery Rainbow coaster bundle with two hanging decorations and a brooch

Tula and the Whale Recycled Leather Earrings

Brian the Rainbow Keyring and purse bundle from Jennie Sergeant Designs

Polymer Clay Earrings from Hello Terry

And I’m sure you would like to see the bundle I have put together…

Happy Flower Bundle

My offer is for Saturday only, and is a Felt Happy Flower Decoration with a matching Felt Flower Lavender Bag. Each one is hand stitched, made of beautiful 100% wool felt, and has happiness stitched right in!

Here’s all the colour ways I will have available:

Blue, purple, peach and pink!

The Happy Flower bundle will be £25, with free postage, which is a saving of over £6.

There will also be an update of Jellyfish and Yarn Ball Lavender Bags on Saturday too.

So many tentacles!

If you click on the photos it will take you directly to the products available, thanks so much for reading and happy shopping!