Closing my Etsy shop

 It's many years now since I set up shop on Etsy. My first shop was called Crafty Green Poet and sold an eclectic mix of handmade items (mostly jewellery), vintage items and craft supplies. After a few years I decided to split the shop into two and about ten years ago set up Crafty Green Magpie as the shop for the vintage and supplies, Crafty Green Poet then solely selling handmade items. A few years after that, people stopped buying my handmade items - one of my biggest sellers had always been my handmade lanyards, which people totally stopped buying during the COVID lockdown when people stopped going into the office.... So I recombined the shops back into one and Crafty Green Magpie has since then been selling mostly vintage and supplies with the occasional handmade item. 

Anyway, I've decided it's now time to stop selling. My Crafty Green Magpie Etsy shop will close soon after Christmas. You can browse all the items here. 

Time to leave Etsy?

My Crafty Green Magpie Shop has been open on Etsy for nine years now. I also for a while had a separate Crafty Green Poet shop (for handmade items only) at which time the Crafty Green Magpie sold only vintage and craft supplies. More recently I amalgamated the two shops. Over the years I've sold a fair amount of things, though it's never been hugely busy. Now though, the listing fees barely make it worthwhile, given that sales are becoming rarer. (I haven't helped this by recently limiting my sales to the UK, due to various customs issues with various overseas markets, but then the UK was always my largest market). 

So, at the moment I'm thinking of only keeping the shop open until the current listings have all run their natural course. I may change my mind but it's looking likely that this is the end. You can have a final look around here.  

My Etsy shops

As many of you know, I've had two Etsy shops for many years now. I started out with the Crafty Green Poet shop, but after a few years decided to separate out the vintage and supplies area from the handmade and set up Crafty Green Magpie. This worked really well for several years, but over the past 18 months, sales have been well down in the Crafty Green Poet shop. Then, recently, Etsy introduced an extra layer of account security (which is obviously in many ways a good thing). However, having to 'choose the boxes with motorcycles' or similar up to twenty times to move between shops was just too annoying and time-consuming. 

So I have shut the Crafty Green Poet shop and will soon be adding a handmade section to the Crafty Green Magpie Shop. Etsy does allow for the possibility that I might one day reopen the original Crafty Green Poet shop, but for now, everything will be in the one place, at Crafty Green Magpie.

Handmade Needle Case - new in the Crafty Green Poet Etsy Shop

 I recently made this needle case and it's now in my Crafty Green Poet Etsy shop - you can see it here. 

I made the cover of the case from blue grey velvet lined with a blue fabric patterned with a geometric design. The front of the case is embellished with a pale blue fabric flower. The case has 4 pages of pale orange felt and has a press-stud fastener for closure with a small pale blue pom-pom as embellishment. 

All fabric and embellishments come from my stash of scrap fabrics or from second hand shops.

Crafting Update

 I've been busy beading in my spare time over the past few weeks. I've just finished making a beaded necklace and a pair of beaded curtain tie backs, both featuring beads in a range of autumnal colours. In each case, I've used a mix of beads - most of these come from the bags of broken and unsellable jewellery that some second hand shops sell. These items are now in my Crafty Green Poet Etsy store. 

This is the necklace:

This necklace is for sale in the Crafty Green Poet Etsy shop here.
 

This is one of the curtain tie backs: 

The pair of curtain tie back is available in the Crafty Green Poet Etsy shop here.

Crafty Green Etsy Shops Update

 I've recently made some new earrings, using a selection of lovely beads that have mostly been rescued from unsold items from charity shops (some of the shops bundle up their unsold jewellery into cheap bags of jewellery supplies, which people like me then buy!). Here are the latest pairs: 

The pairs above have already sold but those shown below are still available in my Etsy shop:

These are available in the Crafty Green Poet Etsy shop here. 

And these are available in the Crafty Green Poet Etsy shop here. 

Or you can browse all the items in my Crafty Green Poet Etsy shop!

Meanwhile, I've been adding a few things to my vintage and supplies shop, Crafty Green Magpie including this lovely vintage pin cushion, which is available here. 

Formula One Racing or A Wildlife Haven?

 It seems like a no-branier to those of us who love nature and understand the value of wildlife. 

 

The Lagoons, were created in 1964 by the South of Scotland Electricity Board. Three hundred acres of land have been reclaimed from the sea with pulverised fuel ash from Cockenzie Power Station. The area has become an important area for wading birds and sea ducks and has nice tree lined paths that lead to concrete bird hides.Musselburgh lagoons are now in fact the best place for birdwatching anywhere near Edinburgh 

and plans for a Formula One racing track seem totally inexplicable. However, those are the plans that were put forward recently - you can read more here. 

If you agree that turning a wildlife haven into a Formula One racing circuit is a stupid idea, then please consider signing the petition against the development here. There are already almost 5,000 signatures, showing the strength of feeling against this madness. 

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In other news, I've been making earrings recently and you can see the latest pairs in my Crafty Green Poet Etsy store here and here. 

Latest Jewellery Projects

 I've made a couple of necklaces recently. The first I made after someone contacted me via my Crafty Green Poet Etsy shop, to say she liked one of my necklaces but could I make her one in black and silver, which I did, sharing progress with her every step of the way. This is the finished product

She then asked me to make a matching pair of earrings, again based on a design in my shop, which I did, again sharing progress with her every step of the way. 

I have to admit that I did have a slight concern that she might not actually buy these items after asking me to make them, but I needn't have worried, she ordered them immediately and left a lovely review in my Etsy shop once she'd bought them. 

I personally really like the black and silver colour scheme so I immediately made another necklace in that combination

and that one has already sold!

New Earrings in the Crafty Green Poet Etsy store

I've just added two new pairs of earrings to the Crafty Green Poet Etsy shop.

They're quite different in design but both pairs are made from beads and charms rescued from second hand jewellery that had been labelled 'unsellable' by the charity shop (either because they just hadn't sold over a set period of time or because they were in some way damaged, usually with broken clasps or connectors).

The first pair has a marine theme

You can find this pair in the shop here.

The second pair features opalescent beads

This pair can be found in the shop here.

Just made another pair of beaded curtain tie backs

I've just completed this pair of curtain tie backs, using a variety of beads from my stash, most of which originally came from jewellery that needed to be restrung or was otherwise slightly damaged.

I really like the combination of the turquoise and beige that is found in the marbled beads and reflected to some extent in the colours of the plain wooden beads.

These are lightweight tie backs ideal for sheers. They are now available in the Crafty Greeen Poet Etsy store, you can see them here.

New Items in Crafty Green Poet Etsy store

I recently made these two beaded lanyards from damaged necklaces, taking out the damaged pieces and adding items from my stash. Both are now listed in the Crafty Green Etsy shop.

 this can be found in the Crafty Green Poet Etsy store here.

and this one can be found here.

These lanyards offer an appealing and original way of displaying the ID badge you may need for your workplace.

I also just added this beaded curtain tie back to the Etsy shop too. It can be fastened in two ways, either by putting the open ends over a hook by the side of the window

or by opening one of the loops and attaching it to the other to tie round a thicker curtain

Although I usually sell curtain tie backs in pairs, there is only one tie-back of this design. This tie back is available in the Crafty Green Poet Etsy shop here.

Crafting Update

I picked up a lovely bracelet very cheaply in one of the local second hand shops. It was damaged but too pretty not to buy. Most segments of the bracelet had missing diamantes (rhinestones) and the segments weren't connected to each other properly. I mended the connections and wore it for a couple of years. But then I became annoyed with how damaged it all was and took off the remaining part that wasn't damaged and attached it to a chain and now it's quite a pleasing necklace

The segments of the bracelet that are missing diamantes are now in an envelope along with some other items to send to the Alzheimers Society who will recycle them to raise money for their work. (You can find out more about recycling items for Alzheimer's here.)

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I have recently added two more ID badge lanyards to the Crafty Green Poet Etsy store. You can see them here and here.

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Meanwhile I've been helping the Friends of Saughton Park prepare for their Hallowe'en themed teddy bear hunt which will take place (if I'm not mistaken) at an event to be held in the park on Saturday 28 October (more details hopefully to follow). So I'm making ghost costumes for the teddy bears, here are just some of them. Basically I just cut pieces out of an old (and very ragged) sheet and then cut holes for eyes and to allow the bear's name tag to show through. Sometimes also allowing ears or hats to show through as well.

Thirty bears will all be hidden around the park at the event with children being encouraged to find them all.

Refashioning, Repurposing, Upcycling

My favourite approach to crafting, as you may realise if you've been reading this blog for a while, is to refashion old items into new. I buy up unselleable and broken jewellery from second hand shops or take similar items from friends, family and aquaintances.

My latest project involved a leather thong necklace with some charms, that once were all probably lovely but now the biggest charms were decidedly less than charming. I removed the charms from the necklace and put the large unusable ones in the pile of totally broken jewellery that I send to be recycled. I then also removed the fasteners from the necklace and put them into my stash of  jewellery fasteners. I then attached the remaining charms from the necklace to one end of the leather and added some charms from my stash of upcycled charms to the other end.

And so the necklace became a bookmark

and it's now for sale in the Crafty Green Poet Etsy shop, here.

The Making of a Beaded Lanyard

I often post my finished beaded lanyards on this blog as I post them in my Crafty Green Poet Etsy shop. I thought it might be interesting to share more about how I transform broken jewellery into these lanyards (without giving away any secrets and, please note, this isn't a tutorial!). Here is a necklace that came in a stash from a friend

It's very very long and some of the beads are broken

so I removed the broken beads

 and refashioned the remaining beads into two lanyards using lanyard attachments from old lanyards from an office that's rebranding and getting rid of its old lanyards

which are slightly different to each other and which can now be found in the Crafty Green Etsy shop - here and here.

Latest Additions to the Crafty Green Poet Etsy shop

I've made a few new items of jewellery recently - all made from upcycled and repurposed materials.

This assymetric beaded lanyard would be an ideal way to brighten up your office attire while offering a handy way of wearing your ID badge

This is made from beads from a necklace that had fallen apart along with other beads of complementary colours in my stash and a lanyard attachment reclaimed from an out of date lanyard. This item is now in the Crafty Green Poet Etsy shop here.

I've also made several pairs of new earrings recently, most of which I've already added to the Crafty Green Poet Etsy shop

which are in the shop here.

which are in the shop here, and

 which are in the shop here.

 and these earrings, with lengths of beads from a necklace that needed to be restrung- as you can see they are identical in basic design but are different in length and number of beads.

These are yet to be added to the shop but should be in there soon. (As should several other newly made items of jewellery).

It's not all jewellery either, I just added these curtain tie backs to the shop too

All items are made using upcycled, repurposed or 2nd hand bead supplies with some brand new findings (findings is the slightly odd choice of word to mean things like earring hooks, connectors etc)

New Beaded Necklaces

I've been wondering for a while about what exactly to make with my stash of wooden beads, upcycled from broken and unsellable jewellery in local second hand shops. I finally got round to sorting the beads and matching them with wooden pendants and this is the first necklace I've made using these materials, featuring a striking looking Easter Island style pendant.

This necklace is now in the Crafty Green Poet Etsy shop, you can see it here.

I then made a second wooden beaded necklace, very autumnal with  the acorn pendant. I listed this in my Etsy shop and it sold the very next day!

Not all my beads are wooden of course and I've also just made these necklaces, using beads from my stash of beads rescued from broken or unsellable jewellery and second hand beading kits. 

This one is now in the Crafty Green Poet Etsy shop here.

and this one can be found here.

Recycle Week - New Beaded lanyard in the Crafty Green Poet Etsy shop

I recently made this beaded lanyard from some of the beads in my stash, most of which come from broken and unsold jewellery from second hand shops.

It's now in the Crafty Green Etsy shop, you can see it here.

These lanyards are a smart looking way to wear your ID badge or similar round the office. They're also a neat way to reuse and recycle elements from unwanted jewellery.

It's Recycle Week this week - what's your favourite way to reuse items to reduce waste?

Crafting Update

I've been crafting recently! I love sorting through my bead supplies and seeing what I can come up with. Beaded lanyards are one of the most popular items in the Crafty Green Poet Etsy shop and someone was recently asking me when I would have more in the shop so I've made two new lanyards recently

 this is now in the Crafty Green Poet Etsy shop here.

and this one is here.

I also recently made this keychain / handbag charm, which features a skyscraper charm that Crafty Green Boyfriend found for me.

 This is in the Etsy shop here.

All my beaded items are made predominantly from beads rescued from damaged jewellery along with good quality, brand new 'findings' (which is the slightly misleading term for items such as earring hooks, keyring fasteners etc). The lanyard attachments I use are reused from business lanyards.

New curtain tie backs in the Crafty Green Poet Etsy shop

I just finished making this pair of beaded curtain tie backs using various beads from my stash, some of which came from jewellery that needed to be re-threaded, some of which came from second hand shops and some which came in gift parcels of  upcycled jewellery supplies.

I enjoyed designing them and they look quite nice used with light-weight sheer curtains.

These curain tie backs are available to buy as a pair in the Crafty Green Poet Etsy shop - here.