Got Gilding Flakes!

Hmm, it's not easy to write a blog post when your two year old keeps driving a toy fire engine across your keyboard, but I thought I'd better make an announcement about my latest product.

I had a hell of a time tracking down a supplier of gilding flakes (or gilding foil), there is currently only one comprehensive supplier of gilding flakes on the Chinese umbrella site I subscribe to, and for some reason they only take the trouble to respond to 50% of enquiries, and unfortunately my emails were in the unlucky half that gets ignored. However I was able to find a UK based company that produces all manner of gold leafing and gilding products. The profit margin won't be as high, but at least now I can assess the demand.

It's such beautiful stuff, and great fun to pack into jars, I'd just managed to get the last of the glitter cleared up, now I have fragments of coloured foil everywhere!

These are currently available via my Etsy shop, though I'll be adding them to my Folksy very soon.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/123662308/gilding-flakes-four-colours-available

Please check them out.

Yay, glitter all packed

Well, it involved a lot of evenings sitting in front of the TV with sacks of glitter and a tiny half teaspoon, but all the glitter is packed and labelled. The hardest part was trying to come up with names for everything, I started by calling the red one 'Ruby Red Slipper' with a nod to The Wizard of Oz, and therefore felt obliged to give all the others the most interesting names I could think of, while at the same time referencing their actual colour. The other hardship (sort of) was having my living room slowly turning into a fairy cave as glitter found its way all over my couch, clothes and the rest of the house.

Now they're all listed on eBay, though I think Etsy and Folksy are probably a better location for them.

Speaking of Folksy, I've had a recommendation from a lady who's compiled a list of online craft shops on her blog, to save shoppers the tedium of spending hours searching through google for comparisons:

http://pastimehobbyist.wordpress.com/2013/02/07/craft-supplies-uk/

I've checked out her Folksy shop, and there are some beautiful things on there, she does lovely things with felt:

http://folksy.com/shops/LeisureTime

My next challenge, sourcing some of those gilding flakes to sell.

Notice Given

Well, I took the plunge, and handed in my notice.

Oddly enough I did it on New Year's Day, as that was when my boss returned my phone call. I told her it was all about the pressures of family, and that I needed to find a job locally. Which is all true, I just didn't mention that I plan to set up my own craft business. My boss was incredibly nice about it all, as I thought she would be.

Now I'm just counting the remaining shifts until I leave for good. I've five more to do, can't wait for them to be over.

I'm also impatient for 2,000 little plastic pots to arrive for me to pack glitter in. I ordered 25kg of glitter just before Christmas, which I plan to sell in 15g pots. Unfortunately the first batch of pots I ordered turned out to be too small, and after potting up 160 by really packing it in to reach 15g, I've had a rethink. If people buy a pot of glitter packed so tight it explodes all over them the first time they open it, they might not want to buy from me again! Therefore I've decided it's worth the time and effort to start over with slightly larger containers. It's all a learning curve, right?