July 29th, 2012

Two months to go!  This time in two months I'll  be married!  Crazy days...

Anyway, I thought for this Handmade Monday I'd show you all a little bit of what we've been up to at Lucy Liz HQ...the site isn't quite finished yet, still a few tweaks to make here and there, but here's a little look at what's been going on...

July 16th, 2012

Can't even remember how long it's been since I joined in on Handmade Monday - shame on me!

There's been so much going on at Lucy Liz lately, some I can share soon, some things aren't quite ready, but today I thought I'd share my new cushion with you all - perfect for any sewing room!!

 I could also do with paying attention to some of those Keep Calm messages too, nearly thrown my sewing machine out of the window so many times this week!  And it's only Monday!!!!!

May 20th, 2012

Finally got my wholesale order finished today, after the nightmare that was cushion-gate Friday I finally finished, so there are now 4 cushions and 15 pin cushions waiting to be shipped off to their new home in York.  Looked like postage stamp HQ in here today!

I'll tell you what though - and working in a post office there's no excuse for this - I've wildly underestimated the size and weight of these products!  Not got a box big enough so this is going to end up being at least 2 parcels, which is annoying but it's my error!

So now I'm left with a house that's covered in threads, literally looks at though a cotton factory has exploded in here, and no time to sort it before I have to start the next job, even now I'm blogging on one screen and adding a new product listing in another...I swear, when I come to power I'm bringing 36-hour days into force!

But until then, I'm taking myself to bed for some sleep before another manic Handmade Monday begins!

May 14th, 2012

So finally, after what feels like months of rain, the fabulous folks at Dobege Photography finally managed to get some outdoor pics of my bags!  Typically I needed them as soon as the weather turned and it's not been dry or light for long enough to get them done, but we got there eventually, and well worth the wait I think.

Really pleased with the outdoor shots, the natural light really brings out the colours in the fabrics, and in a weird way I think the bags look more in context than any of the other shots - outside, being held by someone wearing a coat is, I suppose, the exact setting we see handbags in every day, we just don't notice!

Back to some serious sewing tomorrow, expecting a delivery of fabric and cushion pads so I can get this wholesale order completed...I still get excited about fabric deliveries, and you know I really hope I never grow out of that!  Happy Handmade Monday everyone!

www.lucyliz.co.uk

May 13th, 2012

OK, a proper blog post!  I don't think yesterday's really counts does it?  It really was just a sentence telling you I wasn't blogging lol

But it's (almost) Handmade Monday so I have to do a proper one!  What a week it's been, certainly been a busy one!  A batch of my jubilee stamp pin cushions found their way to their new home at All The Fun Of The Fair, the most wonderful haberdashery on Carnaby Street - if you are ever in London, you must go!  You'll spend an absolute fortune but worth every penny!!

I also took a wholesale ordered for my pin cushions and some of my new house cushions, which is just such a boost as they're such a new product I wasn't entirely sure how they'd be received - I think they'll be ok though!  Lots of new fabrics lined up for these so I'm quite excited about them, I've been wanting to get into home textiles as well as "fashion" textiles for a while now so I'm hoping these will prove popular *fingers crossed*  As always you'll find them on Lucy Liz but I'm without my webmaster this week, so you'll have to see them properly on Facebook

In other news I've been having a clear out and I've listed a load of cabocons on Ebay - they're all gemstones and all brand new, so if there's any jewellers reading this, or anyone who knows any jewellery, point them in the direction of my Ebay page - here!

Right, I'm going to lie awake in bed - just watched The Awakening and it scared the living daylights out of me (which in fairness doesn't take much) so I'll be spending the next few hours convincing myself that the house is haunted by the ghosts of children...brilliant!

May 7th, 2012

Thank you all for the lovely comments on yesterday's blog!  I did make the cotton rack myself, quite enjoyed it actually, reminded me of being back at school doing DT!

Also pleased to share with you all another little magazine snippet, this time featuring one of my Keep Calm totes.  It was in Sew magazine, to be honest I only got it because I knew the bag was in it, but what a great magazine it is, really enjoyed the rest of it so the bag at the end was really a bonus!  Have also uploaded it to my Lucy Liz Press Page .

Hope you've all had a happy and relaxing Bank Holiday Handmade Monday - back to it tomorrow!

May 6th, 2012

I took the executive decision on Friday that for the bank holiday weekend, Lucy Liz would be "closed" to making products, as I need to sort this house out - it's a tip!  And the reason it's a tip is because, despite having an entire sewing room all to myself, the house is still full of my stuff!  I knew things were bad when Andy found felt in the fridge!

Anyway, I've been re-shuffling my room.  It's looking pretty good actually, hoping I'll get it done soon so I can take some pics and show you all. I think it's so interesting to see where creative people work, the things they have around them, the things they don't...perhaps it's the psychologist in me but I like it!

So today I made myself a couple of storage pieces!  The first is a stand for all my spools of ribbon, a dispensor if you like, as they're a constant mess, and the second thing - which I am epically proud of! - is my new cotton reel rack!

It's not quite finished, I massively underestimated how much cotton I have so it needs at least another 3 rows adding to it, but you get th idea!  It mounts up on the wall and all my cotton reels have a proper home - it's ideal!  Andy doesn't find cotton in his meals and the OCD in me gets to organise them!

The perfect product for a happy Handmade Monday !!

April 30th, 2012

First of all, thank you all for the lovely comments on yesterday's blog!  Really was very pleased with the magazine pic, and I'm building up a nice Press page on my website !

After a long day dealing with people who are unhappy with the new Royal Mail pricing structures (myself included!) I came home and sat down to make a lovely little wholesale order I got yesterday for my vintage postage stamp pin cushions...so a rather post-themed day for me!

Now I think about it I can't remember if I shared the pin cushions on here?  If I did I apologise, and if I didn't then here they are!  (And of course, available from my site! ;-) )

I must say I'm so pleased with these and they've proved popular, just hoping it continues!!  I hope you've all had a happy, productive Handmade Monday , speak to you all tomorrow!

April 29th, 2012

Had a nice little surprise today!

A few months ago I had a request for some pics of my bags from Handmade Living magazine.  I sent them off but completely forgot about it, so today I sat down to have a look online to see if I could find if they'd been used or not.  As it goes I didn't find anything, but oddly enough I did find one of my scarves that apparently was used in the January issue!  I had no idea!

I get such a buzz seeing my products in magazines, especially when you're not looking for the thing, it just appears when you turn the page.  I was actually really shocked at how professional the photograph looked!  That was one I did so quite proud of that one!

Just got a lovely little order in too but more on that when it's officially gone through (hate to jinx things!) ...hopefully I can share that one tomorrow for Handmade Monday !

www.lucyliz.co.uk

P.S. - 5 months to go to the wedding!

April 23rd, 2012

Thank you for all the lovely comments on yesterday's blog, it's nice to know you're all still out there - this blog-a-day thing ain't easy!

Was so pleased to get all those products online yesterday, there's nothing better than clicking "Upload" for the last time and watching them go, it's like finally announcing something to the world that you've been keeping secret, it's nice to finally share it!

It was also great to finally share with you all the wonder that is my new products pictures from Dobege Photography.  Joanna and Martin are actually our wedding photographers but when offered the chance to have some product shots done I snapped their hands off!  As I'm sure you can tell I was not disappointed, they've really given my products a new lease of life and I would truly recommend anyone to get some professional pictures taken.  I know these things don't always come cheap and we're all tightening our belts at the moment, but with an online business it's just so important to truly reflect the quality of our products, and I think Dobege have done a stunning job *bragging over!*

Hope you've all had a happy and productive Handmade Monday !

April 22nd, 2012

Ohhh my goodness, how long has it been since I linked up to Handmade Monday ?!  There is just no excuse....I have been busy though!

Lots been going on here, new products, new photography, new pricing structure, revamped Lucy Liz website...it's all go!  Of course none of it's finished yet, never is, but we're getting there.  Poor Andy gets to the end of the website "to do" list and I present him with another one...what a trooper!

There's lots of new products on there and I'm proud of all of them, especially this bag though!

I was excited even just to receive the fabric and thankfully it translated into a bag even better than I thought it would, such a vivid turquoise it really is a beautiful print "in the flesh"

Best get me to bed - ready to start it all again in the morning!

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?!

March 11th, 2012

If Wendy doesn't mind I'm actually going to use this Handmade Monday post to promote someone else that I feel deserves such a mention!

Today Andy and I went to the Vintage Market in Stockport.  We've been meaning to head down there for ages and just never got around to it so today we finally made it.  For those who don't know what it is, it's a monthly event held in the covered Market Hall in the centre of Stockport, it's primarily vintage (the clue's in the title!) but there's also a scattering of in-keeping handmade in there too, some really beautiful things actually, I'd bought something before I'd got to the second stall!

Anyways, one of the reasons for going was to see an old friend of mine that I know from my former life which was spent trackside at the British Touring Car Championship.  Alistair (now of Come Dine With Me fame, if anyone watches that!) was there working with his partner Stuart who is the proud owner of Stuart Thornley Cake Design - you have got to check this guy out!  I had every intention of taking a pic of the beautiful cakes that we bought to show you but they didnt last long enough! 

All of the products are baked entirely from scratch and Stuart has designed just the most beautiful product range, from cupcakes to push-up cakes, cake lollipops...you name it, he can do it, even down to the packaging it's all finished in the most professional way you can imagine.  Brilliant!

On a side note, may I remind you all that it's Mother's Day one week today!  So be sure to get your orders in before Thursday to guarantee delivery for Sunday!!  You can find most things from me over at Etsy - http://www.etsy.com/shop/LucysDesigns?ref=si_shop - or message me via the Lucy Liz page on Facebook.

March 5th, 2012

So today was my first ever day "on the sick"...I don't think I'm very good at it!  Doing nothing is not what I do!

Been extremely tired today, the slightest thing is exhausting so I actually haven't done too much, but tomorrow I intended to pick up where I left off with my sewing and get back to it.  Got plenty to do, had a nice order in at the end of last week (which I still haven't elaborated on have I!) and got another bag to get ready to go off for a photoshoot at the end of this week so tomorrow I intend to be back with a vengeance - the joys of self-employment!

Hope everyone else's Handmade Monday has been more productive than mine!

March 4th, 2012

Absolute nightmare of a weekend, was in hospital (again) for most of Saturday, sent home and was back in within 12 hours!  And not even the same hospital!  I seem to be making a decent collection of hospital wristbands though.

So not a great weekend all in all, had to cancel a meeting at the wedding venue and another one with the florist, I did though manage to finally settle on the dress I want, so at least that's something positive, will be ordering that tomorrow!  Andy's been a star as usual, spent two days sitting on a hospital chair...the things I put him though!

Only good I can think of is that with the amount of "rest" I'll be getting this week I'll get a lot of sewing done so hopefully will have something to share with you all for Wendy's Handmade Monday!

February 20th, 2012

So yesterday I was telling you all that there's some changes coming to Lucy Liz, thank you for all of the messges, nice to know people want you to do well!

But I couldn't let Handmade Monday go by without a product photo, so as promised (about a month ago!) here's one of the coin purses I did.

As yet I'm not sure if these have made the cut for the new site, the new purses I've done are bigger so these might not have a place, though these are very different to the new ones so perhaps there's room for both?!

Will have to wait and see!

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

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 12th, 2012

Well I must say, Andy has seriously worked for his dinner today!  After sweetening him up with tea and a bacon sandwich he set down to a day of photography and editing...couple of new bags finished and ready to go, coin purses done...he's a star!

So here's introducing one of two new bags, something floral ready for Spring 2012!

This bag isn't my favourite but I'm really pleased I've done it, my favourite bags are actually very dark - bags like New York and Vegas are based on black so it's nice to have something like this one to really brighten up the collection.

The other new bag (which I'll show you all for proper Handmade Monday tomorrow) is one of my favourites yet!!!

Night all!

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

February 11th, 2012

Such an exciting day today!!  A couple of weeks ago Andy and I went to a wedding fair and ended up booking an appointment with a Savile Row bespoke suit tailor.  Today we went to the appointment and we're going ahead with the order!

I honestly can't tell you how at  home I was there, at first the lovely man didn't know what I do for a living so he was talking to us about the importance of not only the pieces being handmade, but the detail too, how every button hole is cut and sewn by hand...he was wonderful!  Of course this won't be coming cheap but Andy is coming away from this with a beautiful, made-to-measure, handmade suit which will last a lifetime, and you can't put a price on that!

On a side-note, while we were there the man did ask what I do, and I told him.  I had one of my own bags with me (obviously) and he asked to look at it....ohhh the pressure!  I reluctantly handed it over - I put a hell of a lot of time into my work but Savile Row it isn't! - but I'm relieved and proud to say that he absolutely loved it, which was quite a pat on the back for me!

Very good day!!!

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