Etsy store closed!

My Etsy store's been doing pretty good lately... I've been getting loads of attention from various bloggers and websites and been featured in over 50 treasuries in February alone - I even made the front page the other day! And sales were just beginning to pick up again after the new year slump!

It was all going too well. In three days I've received three messages from very peeved customers from the United States asking where their prints are. Apparently there are big delays into the US from Europe and the UK, with some people waiting as long as 2 months for their items. I know this, because I am not the only seller suffering from delayed postage syndrome. But what can I do? I have asked very nicely that they hold on for another week or so. But then what? I have to offer a refund or replace the item. As I have to outsource printing, it works out quite expensive for me. And then today, my printer has informed me that his postage rates are woefully out of date and they have gone through the roof! I have no choice but to raise my prices too!

To cap it all off, there is some little so and so out there on Etsy called Ceeologyy who is selling other people's work as their own. I am one of his victims. My good friend Emma Lamb was kind enough to let me know about it after spotting one of my prints on there. Laura Amiss is another victim. If you are an illustrator please check out their shop to make sure they are not passing your work off as their own too. I wrote a message in the 'report this shop' at the side of the shop, only to receive a message from Etsy telling me off for not reporting the copyright infringement in the correct manner! I had no idea that there was a whole copyright infringement and intellectual property page! And it's all in legalese, which I don't understand!!!

Sadly, I've had to temporarily close my Etsy shop... in a nutshell I'm not having a good day. I really hope to get my postage issues resolved soon and in the meantime, let everyone you know know about Ceeologyy!

front page joy!

I'm doing a little dance of joy right now! I finally made the front page of Etsy due to being in included in this beautiful treasury! Thank you call me mimi :)

spring fever

There are so many reasons to feel good today. Not least, I woke up to find a very nice message from Miss Emma telling me she had posted a feature about my work on her very wonderful blog! Emma, incase you didn't know, is a crocheting genius and granny chic goddess. You can just catch a chance to vote for her beautiful forever flower garland in the Rik Rak Studio Handmade Olympics if you get your skates on...


and you simply must check out her beautiful little shop to really put a spring in your step.

Talking of which, I'm really feeling that spring is just around the corner. So to celebrate the fact I've collated some fresh and vibrant spring-like items in my latest treasury featuring you very talented folk over on Etsy.

Poppytalk Look Book

Wow... what a gorgeous cover was my first thought! The latest lookbook from Poppytalk Handmade is for the current Affordable Art & Home exhibition. Featuring beautiful ceramic vases from one of my favourite Etsy stores, Dahlhaus, this e-book really stands out. So much to enjoy inside as well... why don't you take a peek... (click below)!

Open publication - Free publishing - More vintage

PLEASE VOTE FOR ME!!

My little shop has been nominated for The Lovelies! It would mean the world to me to get one of these. Voting ends soon! Please, please vote for me!

Simply hit the Facebook 'like' button! Thank you <3

just in!!

New in the shop today!
typewriter
pheasant

All readers of my blog get 10% off... just add code 'OLB10' in the box at checkout!

shop of the day

I'm very excited to announce that One Little Bird is 'shop of the day' on Papernstitch today! Don't forget Papernstitch customers get a special 15% in my shop so head on over and grab that code!

xoxii interview

Last weekend I was asked to do a little interview with a lovely new Dutch design and lifestyle blog, xoxii. There's no actual pronunciation of that - you kind of have to just string all the letters together quickly. It's run by the delightful Suzanne Marije (pronounced a bit like Maria) who did an amazing job with my feature. The blog is choc-full of lovely little things, from beauty tips to cute downloadable wallpapers. Give yourself a few moments to pop over and take a look!

the arthur

Great British vintage tit-bits from the arthur... our common wealth.

monday talent (a bit earlier than usual)

Well, depending where you are, Monday has already begun! I'm half an hour in, and seeing as I missed a spot last week (quel suprise), I thought I'd make an extra special effort this week and be early.

This week's spot belongs to Canadian design duo Coe & Waito, that's Alissa & Carly respectively. Their partnership began whilst studying Industrial Design at Ontario College of Art & Design. Here are a selection of their beautiful porcelain pieces, which they refer to as 'quiet objects'... ssshhhh






Sadly they no longer focus on making their porcelain pieces as they are concentrating mainly on their design consultancy. But they are still taking orders until 1 April! Check details via their 'purchasing' section!

a load of old poppytalk

I very happy to let you know that as from Monday 14 February, I will be exhibiting on Poppytalk Handmade . Look out for the link to my shop (follow my updates on Twitter too). There will be special discounts for all Poppytalk customers!

front page!

Yay, 'Duaflex' made it to the front page of papernstitch today!

papernstitch shop now open!

I'm very proud to now be part of the papernstitch community. You can visit my new shop here. I'm running a special Valentines Day 10% discount so come on over for a bit of last minute love!


Brittni very kindly featured me on the papernstitch blog today too... you're spoiling me Brittni!

and the winner is...

Some people are downright lazy. Take my son for instance. He lounges around the house all day not doing anything particularly productive except for being cute. Times are hard I tell him, we all have to pull our weight. But I'm only 7 months old he says. No excuses, Leo my boy, no excuses...

So I've put the youngster to work! His job for today is to pull a winner of my first giveaway out of the proverbial hat. To assist him in this task I have placed each entrant's name into one of his favourite finger puppets (to prevent direct entry into mouth and therefore soggyfying the entrants name rendering unreadable). Leo will then select a finger-puppet containing the winning name.

And the winner is...


Congratulations! Your print is on it's way to you!

thermos flasks

I'm having a nostalgic moment on this cold and grey day in Athens (yes, it happens). Flasks full of hot tea, sandwiches and checked blankets in the car by the seaside with my nan (yes she had a caravan too)... beautiful thermos flasks!

teal street

cathode blue

bluebell

I feel a thermos flask inspired print coming on :)

paper'n'stitch

Great news! As of Monday 7 Feb you'll see me exhibiting on paper'n'stitch! Just getting the shop ready and I'll post a URL on Monday!!

calendar desktop wallpaper

Well, yet another project goes out the window. Was really hoping to get my calendar printed, but I'm way too late for that now! Never fear though, you can still download it as a desktop. I'm providing two sizes for now: 1920x1080 and 1600x1200. If I get enough requests for another size then I will provide that too.

Here's February! Just click on relevant size, right click and set as your desktop.

1920x1080
1620x1200

If any of you still want January, let me know :)

monday talent (on a wednesday)

Hem, well I think I shouldn't really be restricting myself to a day if I can't keep it up, should I. Again, I'm late off the mark, but I am really super busy (which I shall explain in another post). Anyway, this week is the turn of Noisedup. Nothing to say except some things sometimes make me say 'holy wow'!!!

le chignon
katherina
jo
chelsea
buns and combs

There's lots more styles to choose from... all very reasonably priced. She does lovely bags and postcards too.