March 26th, 2012

My 100th blog post!!  I must admit that when I decided to do a blog-a-day for the year I did think it would be a  lot easier than this, but determined to stick with it!

My site is slowly but surely finding it's way back online, it's just unreal how much their is to do!  I'm not making things easy (for anyone!) by having 4 photos per product but I think it's important to give as much info as I can about a bag, especially as you've already paid for it when you see it for the first time!

Just a couple more bags to add, newspaper print and the skull and roses print, then the purses and totes can go on....only a little list huh?!

February 22nd, 2012

After a long day of making, here's a sneaky look at one of my new fabrics....some of you might recognise it..?!

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

February 8th, 2012

A very, very quick blog today!  Absolutely shattered, don't know how or why I'm this tired but I am, had a good evening of making though including 4 new piece, so that's not bad huh?!

As always I need to take the proper product pics, got a ton of photography to do actually, but for now I'll leave you with a peek of my new bag which I am really excited about!!

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

February 1st, 2012

February 1st already!  And must say well done to myself for managing to keep this "blog a day" thing going for a month!  Only 11 to go!

Quite a productive day today!  Didn't get any making done but lots of the "admin" side of Lucy Liz done, including buying in some new fabrics which is one of my favourite things - second only to the fabric actually arriving lol

Chosen two or three knew ones but with spring on the way and a lot hot British summer to look forward to (ahem!) this floral number is definitely my favourite and I cannot wait to get stitching it!!

And now a word of warning...Andy and I are heading London tomorrow so I will be blogging from my phone, so I appologise in advance for the mess I'm bound to make of it!  Wish me luck!

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

January 30th, 2012

Here we are again, Handmade Monday, never ceases to shock me how quickly it comes around!!

I'd hoped to have the proper products shots of my new coin purses ready by now but sadly not, I've not been feeling brilliant over the past week and now Andy's heading the same way so photographing products and Photoshopping were so far off the agenda it's untrue!  So instead you'll have to make do with a sneaky peak...

I do really like them, althoug they're quite small and the frames are so fiddly to attach I end up getting annoyed with them!  Not surprisingly I've done them in the fabrics to match the bags so hopefully at some point I can list the purse and bags online as sets rather than individual pieces.

The aim this week then is to have a batch of  purses finished, photographed, edited and listed online by the next Handmade Monday...wish me luck!

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

January 23rd, 2012

Handmade Monday is here again!  I've never known something come around so quickly, especially when the weekends don't seem to!

Given it is Handmade Monday it seems the perfect day to introduce another new Lucy Liz bag to you all....I need a dollar...

...a dollar is what I need, and hopefully this one will bring in one or two!  Must admit I love this fabric, whilst I really like some of the more subtle prints in some of my other products, I just love how instantly recognised this is, you can spot it a mile off!

In other news, the totes are coming along well, got a couple of new designs I'm playing with at the moment - very bright and very appropriate for 2012!  I've also been working on some coin purses whicch I hope to introduce to you all very, very soon!

Happy Making everyone!

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/

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