Handmade treasures (+ a free gift!)

I have been too quiet of late, so thought I would do a little update on The Oriental Magpie to ease myself back in.

I have added some lovely new pieces to the site over the last couple of weeks, a small selection of which are shown below. I am also adding some gorgeous handmade leather bow headbands later tonight, which will be priced at just £6!

These lovely glass heart earrings are really striking and unusual. £8, matching necklace also available for £17 or buy both for just £25!



Lovely handmade pink bead bracelet, £5


Beautiful handmade lace earrings, £24 (don't forget Mother's Day is next month!)


There is lots more gorgeous handmade jewellery, cards and homewares on the website. If there is something that catches your eye, let us know you came through Scavenger Bird blog (put a note on Paypal, or send us a message) and we will send you a free gift with your order!

Apologies and the chance to win a super prize!

I will put my hands up and admit it-I am rubbish at updating this blog. I'm one of those people who starts a diary, goes at it full of enthusiasm for a week...and then gives up.

We are now settled in our new 'snug' (read:small) home and The Oriental Magpie is now up and running (filled with lots of gorgeous handmade goodies perfect for Christmas!) so I now have no excuse to get back to my scavenging of handmade finds.

So, to ease myself back into this gently, I'd like to mention a fabulous competition to win lots of lovely prize from Temporary Secretary, Love Hearts and Crosses, PennyDog, Funky Junk, LaurasJewellery, Dollipops and Kooky Boutique. Whew!
These lovely ladies have donated some pieces to new blog Bling and Buy who will be giving all the goodies away in a competition which starts tomorrow morning.

Below are a selection of some of the lovely items in the goodie bag;




Check out Bling and Buy for the full list and details on how to enter! Good luck!

The Oriental Magpie now up and running!

I am very proud and excited to announce Ji Ji Kiki's new sister website, The Oriental Magpie.

We have rounded up a very talented collection of designers and artists who create beautiful jewellery, stationary, homewares and accessories and are very excited to announce that the website is now up and running, and filled with lots of gorgeous things for you and your home!

Below is just a small sample to whet your appetite...click here to visit the website to see our full range.

If you, or someone you know, create things and would like to sell your pieces through the site, click on the 'Artist or designer' button below the designers category to find out more.

The Oriental Magpie is also on Twitter and Facebook, so you can be the first to know about new designers and products as and when they arrive!

I would appreciate it so much if you were able to spread the word in anyway you can...via Facebook, Twitter, blogs, word of mouth...

If you would like to add a link to The Oriental Magpie on your blog or website, here is a link to help you :)

URL: http://www.theorientalmagpie.com
Text: Handmade jewellery, gifts, homewares and accessories all made with love

Competition at Jolicious' blog!

Jolicious is running a competition on her blog to win the delicious Bubsie cake badges below.

She is picking 2 winners on Friday, so hurry hurry!

Win a WOLLIE!

And the winner is.....
Chrissy!

Pip refused to play ball with picking a name, but she did grudgingly hold the paper for me to take a picture!


Check back next Friday for another competition to win a handmade purse!


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I'm running a new giveaway, with a very cute prize kindly donated by Olly.
She makes amazing little creatures called WOLLIES, who have a magical, fairy tale feel.



Olly was born in Switzerland, and grew up there and in the UK. She is influenced by both the Swiss and English traditions in hand sewn and embroidered crafts.

She started making her first little animals by using recycled material from her old dresses and by 2007, she was regularly making WOLLIES and giving them to friends and family as gifts.

She noticed how much people appreciated the care and work that went into the creation of each individual piece and decided to sell her WOLLIES so that more people could have their own to enjoy.


I caught up with her to find out a bit more about her and the amazing WOLLIES!

- What do you make?

At the moment WOLLIES is mainly fabric brooches, keyrings, purses or toys. I like to think of my WOLLIES as individual little characters with their own personality. Sometimes they are sad, sometimes happy, sometimes mischievous and cheeky, sometimes they are just sweet and pretty.

- How long have you been crafting for?

I started crafting regularly when I was 16. I made all sorts of things for my room, like clips to hold up photos or pretty/trashy boxes. I customized my clothes alot and liked to make things out of old plastic Barbie accessories or other plastic toys, bits and bobs I found in the bottom of my drawers.
Generally, anything that recalled childhood play and imagination appealed to me.


- What is your most and least favourite thing about your craft?

I like it because it gives you alot of freedom. You can endlessly make up new characters and find new colour combinations. The medium of sewing is very versatile - you can create any shape and use all sorts of techniques to render a pattern: beading, embroidery, appliqué, printing, painting etc...





However, it is also quite restrictive and I do find it hard to transfer the character of my WOLLIES into more practical things like bags.



- Who or what inspires you?

Who? Bobby Dazzlers, Victor & Rolf, Annette Messager, Abigail Brown, my other fellow crafters!
What? Nature, Children's stories, Medieval art, Japanese street fashion, Vintage fashion.

- Are there any other crafty things you'd like to try?

Amigurumi (Japanese art of crocheting small animals or toys) and crochet. A step up from my rather basic knowledge of knitting :-S

- Do you have a day job?

Not at the moment, I have just finished my degree, so I'm sending out CVs and crossing my fingers alot.



- Where do you sell your work?

On Folksy mainly. People can also buy WOLLIES off my website and I have a few things on Etsy.

I am doing several fairs over the summer, otherwise I rely on word of mouth alot.

- Do you have a blog?

Yes! www.wollies-design.blogspot.com

- Anything else you'd like to tell us?

No that is all. Thanks for reading chappies! Xx

~~~~~~~~

Olly has kindly put one of her WOLLIES up for adoption, so I am looking for someone to give him a new and loving home!

He is a blue afro hedgehog badge called Sniffles and would love to keep you company on your adventures - Olly can vouch that he has very good conversation skills.

He is made with the finest cotton fabric and his beautiful afro hairdo and comb are both made of felt.
A brooch pin is secured to the back so you can pin him anywhere you like. Measures 6 cm x 5.5 cm.

If you would like the chance to become Sniffle's new friend, all you have to do is click here to go to Olly's shop and then leave a comment telling me who your favourite WOLLIE is! (N.B All comments are moderated before posting)

Extra entries for blogging and Tweeting. Please leave an extra comment if you blog/Tweet.

I will pick a winner Saturday 20th June-don't forget to leave an email address if you're not a Blogger, so I can contact you if you win!

Threadless t-shirts

Today I'm featuring one of my favourite online shops; Threadless.

I discovered them a few of years ago, and been hooked ever since.
They sell amazing t-shirts, all designed by independent artists and designers. It's a very hands on site for both customers and designers-designs are only printed once given the go ahead by the customers.

The design below is called 'Low Ink' and is one of the designs up for voting. You score it out of 5 and can choose whether, if it were printed, you'd prefer it as a t-shirt or print.





If you are a budding designer, you can submit your designs here and if your design is chosen, you'll get over $2,500!

All of the t-shirts are printed in limited runs. Rarely (and I do mean very rarely) they will do a re-run if an item has been especially popular.
This has only happened twice on t-shirts I have requested to be reprinted, so my advice is if you like something on there buy, otherwise someone else will and you'll be kicking yourself!


I like this one as it has giraffes (who are under-rated) and is almost a Postal Service song :) Such a Great Height


T-shirts range in price from $15-$25 (approx £9-£15). Shipping costs are a bit annoying, as they don't tell you what they are until you have added the item in the cart and told them where you want it posted to.
And you also have to watch out for those nasty customs charges-I bought a hoody from them and got stung for about £20 on customs/tax. Ouch.



Nesting Dolls

It's pretty easy to find discount vouchers, and they reward you for participating in the street team. By doing things such as submitting a photo of you wearing your shiny new t-shirt, you get points, each worth $1.50, which you can then redeem against future purchases. They have a list of the top earners, and the guy at the top has over 49,500 points so god know how much he has spent to accumulate that much!

They also have a 'Threadspotting' section, where you can send in pics of people you've spotted wearing them. It's amazing how many people you actually start notice wearing Threadless-it sort of becomes a bit addictive. They should bring out one of those Michelin Eye Spy books...

If you like the designs, but don't fancy a t-shirt why not adorn your walls with some colourful limited edition prints. They are usually $35, but at the moment Threadless have a sale on, so they can be snapped up at the incredibly cheap $15.


The Tree Referendum Limited to 250

New t-shirts are printed weekly, and if you sign up to the newsletter you'll receive weekly updates.
You can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter

I'm off to have a shop (and I will probably be tempted to buy). If only they gave street team points for people writing lovely blogs about them....

NIght-night x

Win a Little Fox necklace!

Another giveaway, this time being run by ...Anything Indie to win one of my Little Fox necklaces. Yay!

Closing date is the 12th June, so go enter (and Tweet and blog if you can :D )

Good luck!!