As the first chill of Autumn can be felt and smelt with leafy bonfires and the closing in of early nights, I have just listed a fair few new things for the festive period. Every summer I make new festive cards and add new options to already popular cards. I think it is important to offer new variants for loyal customers who buy each season. This year I have designed three new cards, all turquoise, purples and blue, continuing to stay away from the traditional colours associated with the festive period. I have featured snowdrops, mistletoe and moon gazing hares, with a little Tibetan silver star. I have also introduced two new fonts, with 'Kells' printed inside the new cards and a rune font alphabet as an option for popular cards. I had a lot of trouble sourcing a rune font, and went backwards and forwards as to whether to use a true rune type, which is only readable by folks who can read runes, or a rune alphabet which actually has a symbol for each letter. Although the rune alphabet isn't true runes, it did mean it might appeal to more people and I had read a few reviews that said the true rune font was incorrect. I felt it wasn't worth the risk of trying to be smart and so chose the easy to read rune alphabet. There is also a new scent for these cards as I found a high quality sandalwood which is really fabulous.
I have been wanting to make large, pom pom wall hangings and after researching them on Etsy and Pinterest I think I found a market for really large, creative and dramatic pom pom sculptures. I chose to engineer one-off pieces incorporating structure, colour, negative space and shadows in an elegant, harmonious balance. The finished pieces came out much better than I could have hoped for. I used a nearly invisible nylon line so the pom poms appeared to be floating. I also engineered a simple wooden hanging bar, which when hung will sit flush against the wall.
My idea is that these poms need to be hung on a plain, painted wall, with clever lighting to create interesting shadows. The wooden bar can be painted to match the wall, really enhancing the floating effects. These wall hangings take over 90 hours to make, from the concept drawings considering pom pom colours, sizes and hanging patterns, to the final dab of glue holding the last pom in place. They are really expensive, but they are works of art in their own right, designed to be an imposing feature on a large, blank wall. I'm really happy with these hangings and have the next rainbow, woven effect hanging planned. I have also worked out a way to expand the width of the hanging but still keep it within the small parcel postage range at the post office. I'm really looking forward to seeing this flamboyant rainbow hanging completed. I have even made some pom pom hearts that will look great mixed in with the round poms.
Above 'Of This Rock' 100 cm long, below 'Ocean View' 116 cm long
Another new range is vertical hanging pom pom garlands. Again I had researched and couldn't find anything similar to what I wanted to make. I wanted a hanging for doors crammed full of jingle bells, so when the door is opened there is a true festive sound of sleigh bells. They are very eco friendly as they will last forever, so long as they are not savaged by kitties! I had bought rolls of pre-made decorative ribbon a few years ago and kept forgetting to do something with them. I finally got round to making one-off door hanging chimes, perfect for a festive atmosphere. They can be hung as intended, or wrapped around banisters. They are threaded, sewn, glued and knotted, each with several festive embellishments and decorative pom poms. I could only make 8 garlands, but having looked at the cost to make my own decorative ribbon, next year I will be able to offer these garlands in a few colours by the metre, offering a really consistent, unique festive garland of unlimited length.
I have made some very cute Christmas puddings, (featured on the festive garlands) with Mulberry paper holly leaves and a 7 mm red jingle bell. They will be available in various concepts such as rainbow and rustic, designed to be hung on a tree. They are small, the size of a very big walnut, and so would look good in a large cluster. Therefore I will be selling them on the cheaper side of their competitors.
I am running out of time to create new as the chaos will start at the end of September but I am fortunate this year that the usual annual pom pom commissions for Christmas costumes have already been made, so with a full shop of yummy things, I can sit back and look forward to seeing returning customers and exquisitely packing high-quality yummy Stuff. Maybe this season I will get to enjoy a bit of Autumn! After all there is still loads to do in the garden. Any excuse to be outside!
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