February 19th, 2012

How on earth is it Sunday night already?  I'm quite sure it was only just Friday afternoon!  Time must fly  when you're having fun, or working like a trooper!

As some of you may have noticed, http://www.lucyliz.co.uk/ is temporarily closed for some spring cleaning.  We're hoping that it won't take too long but it will definitely be worth it as we'll be re-opening the site with lots of new products and a very different strategy for marketing...I'll be honest, what we're doing is a pretty big risk but fingers crossed it'll be worth it!

So today was Day 1 of getting it all started!  Andy spent the day photo editing and exploring new ways to set my site up ( I know exactly what I want, just need to work out if it's possible!), whilst I set about with costings and fabric cutting for the first of the new bags which I love!!  I'm extending my existing range to include some bigger bags which have a much bigger surface area so the fabrics look so much better as you can really see them!

Worringly my To Do list took two sheets of A3 paper and contains 54 things to do, so I should have no problems posting new products for Handmade Monday for a while!!!

February 13th, 2012

(Being a little bit cheeky this week and linking to Handmade Monday  twice, but seeing as I'm blogging every day they're two different ones, so hopefully no-one will mind!)

Two important things to blog about today!

Firstly I must thank you all for the lovely comments regarding the bag I posted yesterday, always so great to get your feedback!  I did say that it wasn't my favourite and that the next one was, so here it is!

I just love this one, London is one of my favourite places ever so this one's just perfect for me.  I've been wanting to do something like this for ages but there's so many restrictions on things like the tube maps and London Underground logos that this fabric was a God send.  For those who've not seen it before, this fabric isn't of the London Tube Map as you know it, it's actually a version that someone put together which is the based on the existing tube maps but the locations are more geographically precise.  Oddly I almost prefer this version as it's not as perfect as the original versions.

Secondly - and perhaps more importantly - Lucy Liz will be closing for a couple of weeks.  Comments and feedback over recent months (and a very exciting bit of news I received today) have lead me to decisions to make some changes about my business, not about my products but more about the marketing and branding.  So the site will be down for a couple of weeks but will be back with a bang by March, loaded with lots of new products!  I'll still be available on email if anyone does want to order whilst the site is down though.

And with that, I'm off to bed!

www.lucyliz.co.uk

January 28th, 2012

Good, good day today! 

Today I finally got to see my Vintage Paris bag featured in Wiltshire View and Hampshire View magazines, I've known it was coming for a while as the journalist had contacted me but I didn't like to say anything in case they changed their minds and didn't include me!  Thankfully they didn't change their minds and the pic is featured! 

If anyone lives in Wiltshire or Hampshire the magazine is available from Waitrose, Waterstones or Bradbeers, otherwise you can see it online here (I bookmarked the pages that I'm on!) http://content.yudu.com/Library/A1ve2w/HampshireViewFebruar/resources/index.htm

Bit strange to see the pic and my name listed as a Stockist alongside Debenhams, Dune and Schuh, but must say I'm extremely proud to have it there!!

Here's hoping it's one of many!!

http://www.lucyliz.co.uk/

January 21st, 2012

Long day!  After a couple of days of cutting and pinning and sewing I finally started seeing some finished products today!

I tend to work in production lines, I'll do a whole load of cutting out then a load of pinning and so on, which is great and I find it to be a very organised way to work, but you do tend to find yourself working and working and not seeing a great deal of progress.  So today is always a great day in the production line when suddenly there's lots of bits finished all at once!

Of course I'll be taking the proper product pics at some point ready to go online but for now here's a sneaky peak at one of the new ones....hopefully it's a sign of things to come!

And after a long few days of working I'm looking forward to doing no work tomorrow for a certain someone's special day!

http://www.lucyliz.co.uk/

January 19th, 2012

Long, long day...long but productive so I shouldn't complain!

Andy sometimes gets called for meetings in London which means alarm clocks going off at 5am, I usually get back to sleep but I'm still up earlier than normal so figured I may as well use the time and set about cutting fabric and felt for bags!

I cut enough fabric and felt for 16 bags and 8 coin purses, all with linings...my knuckles feel like golf balls but it's so worth it!  Although I can already hear the sewing machine groaning at me as tomorrow I'll be setting up camp to get the seams stitched before I start the hand-sewing.

So I'll have lots of stock and lots of new bits to photograph, now need lots of sales!!

www.lucyliz.co.uk

P.S. Happy Birthday Bill!

My New Bags!!

I'm so excited to finally introduce you all to my new bags!  They've been a little while coming but they're ready and waiting to go now!

A little while ago I started making metal-framed clutches, they've proved to be really popular but a lot of people were put off buying them because they didn't trust themselves not to lose a clutch, and would really prefer an over-the-shoulder bag.  I must admit I found it a bit frustrating, as it makes the ranges more complicated to start offering variations, but now - problem solved!!  Yes, the new Lucy Liz bags are both a shoulder bag AND a clutch - everyone's a winner!!

And here it is!  This bag is my favourite so far, stunning images of vintage Paris with a brushed bronze frame.  As you can see there's a good long chain handle (45" to be precise), and not only does the chain un-clip from the bag but the hoops fold away so you're left with a clutch bag, only without the empty loops.

Chuffed to pieces with these, they had their first run with the public yesterday and went down so well, I have high hopes!!

Now going to try and link into Wendy's fabulous Handmade Monday blog, fingers crossed!

http://www.lucyliz.co.uk/

How utterly rubbish am I? There I was, all full of blogging-beans, and what happened?! Must keep on top of this - must do better!!

Thought today I'd introduce you all to my litle clutch bags. As a lot of you know my "speciality" is felting, but I'm also such a massive fan of surface design and print, so when I came across these fabrics I just thought it would be criminal not to use them!!!

In the range so far we've got newspaper-print, animal prints, butterflies, birds, landmarks...there's definitely something for everyone in the range and it's getting bigger by the day!!

Most of you won't know that I actually made clutches a few years ago, but the biggest development - which has definitely been a change for the better - is the addition of the metal top frame. They've given my bags a stability and professional finish that I just wasn't able to achieve with my original bags, and you can't go wrong with a bit of shine huh!!!

Whilst the outsides of the bags are cotton, I've of course lined them with felt (couldn't leave it out now could I?!) for a good, long lasting bag that'll be with you for all occassions.

www.lucyliz.co.uk

Finally Made It Blog

Just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to Linda who featured a Lucy Liz clutch bag in her fabulous blog this week!  For those who didn't see my links over on Facebook, take a look here: http://myblogfinallymadeit.blogspot.com/2011/09/moody-blue-handmade-folksy.html

Linda has a great blog dedicated to showcasing the hand-made goodies she finds on Folksy.  I think it's a wonderful idea, us handmade-ers need as much promo as we can get so it's brilliant to have people like Linda paying attention to our work and sharing it with the world!

Long may it continue!!

http://www.lucyliz.co.uk/