June 24, 2012 - Planet Penny

I’m resisting having too much of a moan about the weather having seen just how badly other parts of the country have been hit by floods, but I had a soggy old trip on Thursday when I went off to teach needlefelting at The OutHouse Studio! We’ve had a brief interlude of windy sunshine since then, but today is grey, and soggy and Higgins had a horrid morning because of a thunderstorm. We’ve had the longest day, but when are we going to get some Summer?

Still, on Thursday we were warm and dry with needlefelt, coffee and homemade biscuits. It was only a small class, but it does mean those there get more individual attention. We were making brooches again, which is a nice way for people to learn needlefelt basics and have something wearable to take home.

These are my samples…

…but being definite ‘Duck Weather’ the final choice for the class wasn’t surprising!

There are all sorts of pretty things in the shop itself….

I’m kicking myself for not taking close up photos of Caroline Nash’s beautiful and unusual jewellery which she makes from pieces of old cutlery. You can just see them in the first photo. I was terribly tempted, I think I will be going back before too long when I have more time to choose!

Back on Planet Penny, I was very grateful for a really useful comment on last week’s Handmade Monday post and my pondering about the relative merits of Folksy v Etsy. Thank you, Siobhan, for helping me make up my mind. I really needed a buyer’s point of view to add to my own feelings about the ease of using Folksy, and as I’ve used it more over the last few weeks there have been several issues about the ‘clunkiness’ of the Folksy website which have been quite inconvenient. I haven’t taken the decision to move over to Etsy lightly; I tend to be very loyal once I have given my allegiance to something, added to which a couple of weeks ago I was number one in the Folksy best sellers list, but I couldn’t sit on the fence any longer!

You’ll find the yarn, patterns and kits are all on Etsy now in the Planet Penny shop. All the new Fridge Magnet Kits sold very quickly last week but I’ve been beavering away making more, winding yarn…

…and making magnets which are a bit boring…

…look pretty!

I know that, despite loving the colours, the cost of Airmail postage on a 750gm pack is off-putting for some people in the US, so I hope that by making up the kits which weigh so much less it will make having a little piece of the Planet Penny Rainbow a little more affordable!

Looking outside, it seems we are having a sunny interlude, and so I must step away from the computer, put on the wellies and persuade a small dog, who does NOT like puddles, that a spot of exercise might be a good idea!