Friday 24 December 2010

Tigerlily Makes Winter Sale... starts 27th December 2010


Morning lovely makers and creators, well I thought I would give you a heads up about the Tigerlily Makes in-store winter sale.  Tigerlily Makes is offering a very generous 20% off all felt-making, supplies, tools, equipment, quilt hangers, trims, Christmas decorations and felted accessories, whilst stocks last. Sale starts Monday 27th December 2010 and will run until 31st January 2011 only whilst stocks last.  In addition to this glorious sale any felt-making course booked and paid for by 31st December will be held at the 2010 price of £49.00 except the Slipper course which is currently £59.00.

So don't miss out on some really fabulous felty bargains.

wishing you a very merry Christmas and a very happy New Year :)

Thank you for taking the time to visit Tigerlily Makes The Felt-making Blog Lisa X All content and design work, including text, photos, etc are © copyright 2010 Lisa Marie Olson owner of Tigerlily Makes (unless otherwise stated and named whereby copyright resides with said named person)and cannot be copied without prior permission from the copyright owner.

Thursday 23 December 2010

After yesterdays post loads more course places have been booked and wishing you a very Merry Christmas


Good morning lovelies, well after yesterdays post many more of the felt-making course places have been booked, so you will need to move fast if you want to secure yours.

Huge thanks to all our followers and lovely felt-makers for their continued support throughout 2010.  Looking  forward to the New Year and lots of new courses :)

In the meantime I and everyone at Tigerlily Makes would like to take this opportunity to wish you a very merry Christmas and the very best of everything for 2011.

Thank you for taking the time to visit Tigerlily Makes The Felt-making Blog Lisa X All content and design work, including text, photos, etc are © copyright 2010 Lisa Marie Olson owner of Tigerlily Makes (unless otherwise stated and named whereby copyright resides with said named person)and cannot be copied without prior permission from the copyright owner.

Wednesday 22 December 2010

2011 Felt-making courses going fast get yours at this years price...


Well hello lovely makers and creators, with the 2011 course list off to a flying start I just thought I would give you a heads up as they are going fast, I have taken several confirmed bookings in the last few days alone.

If you would like to secure your place and get a 2011 course at this years price, here's what you need to do: Look at the list below, pick a course, call to book and pay for your course before 31st December 2011 and you can take advantage of the £10.00 difference between this years and next years course price of £49.00!! Happy Days :) 

Beginners Bag/TeaCosy/Hot Water Bottle  9.30-5pm  arrive 9.15am
Saturday 22nd January  
Thursday 27th January  
Thursday 10th February 
Thursday 24th February
Saturday 26th February  
Saturday 12th March       
Saturday 17th March
Saturday 16th April
All the  above course cost £59.00 fully inclusive of materials, use of equipment, tuition, printed course notes, after care leaflet, lovely teas, drinks and cakes not forgetting your finished project.

Beginners Jewellery 9.30-5pm arrive 9.15am
Thursday 3rd February
Thursday 10th March
Saturday 23rd April
All the  above course cost £59.00 fully inclusive of materials, use of equipment, tuition, printed course notes, after care leaflet, lovely teas, drinks and cakes not forgetting your finished project.

Slippers 9.30am-5pm arrive 9.15am
Saturday 29th January
All the  above course cost £69.00 fully inclusive of materials, slipper lasts to keep, use of equipment, tuition, printed course notes, after care leaflet, lovely teas, drinks and cakes not forgetting your finished project.


Small 3D Vessel/Vase 9.30 am-5pm 9.15am start
Thursday 20th January
All the  above course cost £59.00 fully inclusive of materials, use of equipment, tuition, printed course notes, after care leaflet, lovely teas, drinks and cakes not forgetting your finished project.

Wet Felted Needle Embellished Pictures 9.30-5pm arrive 9.15am
Saturday 19th February
Thursday 14th April
All the  above course cost £59.00 fully inclusive of materials, use of equipment, tuition, printed course notes, after care leaflet, lovely teas, drinks and cakes not forgetting your finished project.

Mothers Day Special, needle embellished card and matching corsage 9.30-5pm arrive 9.15
Saturday 26th March
All the  above course cost £59.00 fully inclusive of materials, use of equipment, tuition, printed course notes, after care leaflet, lovely teas, drinks and cakes not forgetting your finished project.
  
Spring Flowers (make your very own flower complete with stem) 9.30-5pm arrive 9.15am
Thursday 17th March
All the  above course cost £59.00 fully inclusive of materials, use of equipment, tuition, printed course notes, after care leaflet, lovely teas, drinks and cakes not forgetting your finished project.


Children's Half Term Workshop Mini Wall Hanging Thursday 17th February 1.30-4pm (15.00 inclusive)


Thank you for taking the time to visit Tigerlily Makes The Felt-making Blog Lisa X All content and design work, including text, photos, etc are © copyright 2010 Lisa Marie Olson owner of Tigerlily Makes (unless otherwise stated and named whereby copyright resides with said named person)and cannot be copied without prior permission from the copyright owner.

Tuesday 21 December 2010

Is your Nepal Felt product fairly traded?


Well good morning lovely makers and creators, today I a looking at the trials and tribulations of finding a fairly traded felted product.  Over the next few days I will be looking at Nepal's felt industry in order to raise awareness of fairly traded felt.

Pictured above is a very typical Nepal felt design, this particular bag I have sourced from a company that does not seem to offer any kind of documented evidence of entering into a fairly traded world.

We all really need to stop and ask where the incredibly cheap felted products are coming from. 

We need to be asking questions such as does the Nepalese selling company hold a fair trade certification or indeed a fair wages certificate.  Are these companies a member of any recognizable and regulatory body? 

Over the coming days we will look at these issues and some of the recognized bodies so that we can inform and arm ourselves with the right questions to ask the selling body. We will look at statements such as Child Labor Free with a lack of evidence to back this up and many more issues pertaining to the umbrella of fair trade.

I do know that there is one company in Nepal who can evidence their policies by the very bodies and organisations they are a part of.

However many of them cannot and many of these designs are similar across a number of companies, so how can we be sure that the Nepal crafted item we buy is fairly traded, well I will be covering this over the next few days.

But make no mistake having explored the ludicrously cheap wholesale prices and the retail mark up on this, there are questions that need to be answered.

More importantly we have to address the effect that Nepal Felt is having on our own industry here in the UK. When you can buy a Nepal felted bag for a mere £21.00 it raises an expectation, that this is what the craft is worth.  It is heavily devaluing the work we do here in the UK. For example I use only the finest wools, where I have had confirmation from my supplier that its ethically farmed and I use only the very best products within my felting process. Some of these items can take me several days and sometimes weeks to complete, so it begs the question how can we guarantee that Nepalese women are not being exploited?

Buyers need to be aware of the work that goes into a felted project. We also need to look at the type of wool that is going into these projects and the quality of the finished items.  PLEASE DON'T GET ME WRONG!! I am all for supporting women in remote rural places and women whom have been trafficked, but we must also be aware that many women may still be being exploited by not being paid their worth. 

Is a felted item from a charity a safe bet to buy? Well that very much depends on where the charity has purchased the item from and if they have witnessed conditions first had or if they can provide evidence that the company they buy from are fairly traded or registered.

In short Nepal Felt is having an extremely negative effect on the UK felt market, for example a mum and daughter visited my boutique a few weeks ago to browse the felt products on display.  The customer heavily procrastinated at the price of this particular item (£59.00), I advised the customer politely that all the items in the boutique were handmade and still there was procrastination.  It was only when the daughter asked if it was myself who made the item and had I confirmed yes that the procrastination stopped!  After another 10 minutes browsing the mum bought the item and was happy to pay the £59.00 as I had made the item.  Further more it was made clear to me that they assumed that all the felt was shipped in from Nepal and that I had put a ridiculous mark up on it. This particular item took me 2 days to complete, so you don't have to be a mathematical genius to work out my hourly rate!

We all seriously need to invest in our own felt and handcrafted market place supporting each other as artists, artisans and crafter's alike, as well as supporting our industry partners locally wherever possible. There is a need to educate and inform customers of the value of highly crafted item.

More on this coming soon.

Thank you for taking the time to visit Tigerlily Makes The Felt-making Blog Lisa X All content and design work, including text, photos, etc are © copyright 2010 Lisa Marie Olson owner of Tigerlily Makes (unless otherwise stated and named whereby copyright resides with said named person)and cannot be copied without prior permission from the copyright owner.

Monday 20 December 2010

10% Discount on all felt making kits until Christmas eve


Images & Designs subject to copyright Lisa Marie Olson Tigerlily Makes 2010

Hello lovely makers and creators, as a special Christmas treat all felt making kits have a 10% discount for just one week up until Christmas eve.

Just quote TMBlog at the checkout to claim yours at the TM shop

Happy felting! 

Thank you for taking the time to visit Tigerlily Makes The Felt-making Blog Lisa X All content and design work, including text, photos, etc are © copyright 2010 Lisa Marie Olson owner of Tigerlily Makes (unless otherwise stated and named whereby copyright resides with said named person)and cannot be copied without prior permission from the copyright owner.

Friday 17 December 2010

New Kits Launched at the Clothes Show a great success


Nerisa Marissa Felt Bag Kit
Rosa Rosa Felt Bag Kit


Little Nerissa Marissa Felt Bag Kit 
Tillie Tullie Cobweb Scarf Kit
Images & designs subject to copyright Lisa Marie Olson Tigerlily Makes 2010

Well good morning lovely makers & creators, today I thought I would take a moment to share the launch of the brand new felt-making kits.  All of the above together with the Very Berry Corsage kit were launched recently at the clothes show and I have to say that the first batch was very well received. 

From the top down we have Nerisa Marissa felt bag making kit adorned with no less than five flowers, 3 roses and 2 daisies.  Nerisa Marissa and Little Nerisa Marissa were inspired by my childhood memories of family days out at Brighton beach, the colours of the pebbled areas and the silvery grey's of the docking platforms are highlighted in Little Nerissa Marissa and the rich blues contrasted with the strong white represent the colours of the sea and the crests of the waves.

Rosa Rosa so aptly named again from childhood memories of grandma's visits to Spain, the strong contrasting reds and blacks of the flamenco dancers which were frequently brought back.  The soft round curves of the bag base to represent the dancers curves. 

Finally Tillie Tullie cobweb scarf kit inspired by my love of flowers from tulips to anomie's, name arriving from Lily in that my mascot is called Lily the Lamb.

Well I hope you like and if you wish to buy one we are happy to honor a 10% discount exclusively to TM blog readers.  quote TMBlog at the check out point.  The first batch of kits has been selling really well so don't miss out.

Thank you for taking the time to visit Tigerlily Makes The Felt-making Blog Lisa X All content and design work, including text, photos, etc are © copyright 2010 Lisa Marie Olson owner of Tigerlily Makes (unless otherwise stated and named whereby copyright resides with said named person)and cannot be copied without prior permission from the copyright owner.

Thursday 16 December 2010

Clothes Show Diaries Celebrity Interviews Jeff Brazier



Well hello lovely makers and creators, as promised this is the final of the celebrity interviews that Tigerlily Makes and the SKNITCH Zone had the privilege of being involved in.  Today's featured interviewer is none other that the gorgeous and wonderfully warm Jeff Brazier.

I have to say I think this was the most Nervous I had been about being interviewed, however I have to say that Jeff being the consummate professional put me at ease.  I was incredibly impressed by how organised he was back stage, despite the chaos of models and celebrities preparing for the next round of shows and presentations... it was quite mad back there.  Jeff didn't seem to be phased at all by all this and so just sat me down and got to work on the interview questions, though I have to say I may of embarrassed myself a little... not being used to the buzz of a backstage show... I found myself spelling out my company name!!! As the words were coming out of my mouth I thought what on earth does the spelling matter nobody will see it, but alas my blunder was made.  Jeff on the other hand took it all in his stride he must be so used to dealing with us amateurs when it comes to presenting.

The interview was smooth and swift but not before Jeff had created some excitement in the crowd, by giving one of my felt kits away as a prize as pictured above.

I can't tell you how lovely Jeff is from the moment we saw him to the interview, Jeff conducted himself with such professionalism, always taking the time to smile and stop for a photo with one of his ever growing fan base.  Jeff is also a really committed patron to his Facebook page in support of Dads in Difficulty please show your support by visiting and joining the page.

Don't forget to tune into to see Jeff's latest documentary my brother and me, where the programme tracks the difficulties of getting help for his brother Spencer who has Cerebral Palsy.

The more I learn about Jeff the more I see a passionate, committed and caring individual.

My thanks to Jeff for taking the time to Interview me, especially with such a full schedule.

Thank you for taking the time to visit Tigerlily Makes The Felt-making Blog Lisa X All content and design work, including text, photos, etc are © copyright 2010 Lisa Marie Olson owner of Tigerlily Makes (unless otherwise stated and named whereby copyright resides with said named person)and cannot be copied without prior permission from the copyright owner.

Tuesday 14 December 2010

Clothes Show Diaries Celebrity Interviews Marvyn Williams





Designs courtesy of Sew Much Fun and subject to copyright

Hello lovelies, well as promised today is the 2nd of our celebrity interviews. Featured today is Roz from Sew Much Fun in Primrose Hill being interviewed by the adorable Marvyn Williams, alongside one stunning model modelling Sew Much Fun designs.

Marvyn is pictured showing the audience on of the much coveted cushions that Roz from Sew Much Fun has designed.

Roz has a great eye for colour and design with a difference making a smart distinction between the high street and individual bespoke style.  Sew Much Fun designs are so fabulously easy to make as Roz is the queen of making things simply and easy to follow.

Our thanks go out to Marvyn whom was a wonderful interviewer and made the whole process so much fun.

Marvyn Williams (10th April 1981) is an English born presenter / Dj and Columnist for News of the Worlds Fabulous Magazine, who is best known for decorating our screens on channel 4's hit TV show Shipwrecked. He has most recently presented at the Clothes Show Live 2009 and co-presented the News of the Worlds, Fabulous Magazine Road Show 2009.  You can keep up to date with Marvyn on his facebook page.

Thank you for taking the time to visit Tigerlily Makes The Felt-making Blog Lisa X All content and design work, including text, photos, etc are © copyright 2010 Lisa Marie Olson owner of Tigerlily Makes (unless otherwise stated and named whereby copyright resides with said named person)and cannot be copied without prior permission from the copyright owner.

Monday 13 December 2010

Clothes Show Diaries Celebrity Interviews Laura Jackson



Well hello everyone and as promised the first of the celebrity interviews. Pictured from the top down, Laura Jackson interviews Lisa from Tigerlily Makes about felt-making, the process, its benefits and the must have items that Lisa makes.  Following that Laura introduces one of the catwalk models to share with the audience just how fabulous a felted item is. The model and Laura took a great interest in in the benefits of a truly hand crafted item and were incredibly enthusiastic about the whole process and the stunning end results. 

Lisa says "The whole experience of being back stage and sharing the buzz was a really positive one for me, especially as Laura made the whole process really easy and enjoyable. This stunningly beautiful presenter was thoroughly engaging at every level, with a down to earth personable approach that re-assured me at every step of the interview process.  I have to say looking back at the photos I did chuckle to myself as my height or lack of it was quite apparent next to these tall beauties".

Laura is newest presenter for the popular music show Freshly Squeezed for Channel 4, Laura was recently the backstage reporter at London Fashion Week for the live online stream chatting to the top designers and models, Laura was the red carpet presenter at The Brits 2010 for the War Child website where she interviewed the likes of Kasabian, Calvin Harris and La Roux. Not phased by celebrity interviews she recently had the honour of hosting the Colin Farrell junket for T4 and Laura was this year’s VT Presenter on Celebrity Big Brother’s Little Brother, E4. Laura was also a co-presenter for the new music show on the Playstation Channel and the Diesel U Music shows! You can follow Laura via her twitter page here.

Huge thanks to Laura for making the experience so positive and for putting me at ease, as it can be quite nerve racking stepping onto that catwalk.


Thank you for taking the time to visit Tigerlily Makes The Felt-making Blog Lisa X All content and design work, including text, photos, etc are © copyright 2010 Lisa Marie Olson owner of Tigerlily Makes (unless otherwise stated and named whereby copyright resides with said named person)and cannot be copied without prior permission from the copyright owner.

Sunday 12 December 2010

Clothes Show Diaries Continued....

Hello lovely makers and creators well Saturday and Sunday had a different vibe all together and brought a heavy footfall to the show.  I was privileged to have close friends and family helping me out over the weekend.

I was able to take some much needed time out to go and see the Fashion Show in the fashion theatre with VIP seats courtesy of the organizers. The show was fantastic and boasted a host of stars and celebrities, I had the Pleasure of seeing Sunday Girl, Lucy Jones from the X Factor (a personal favorite), Injustice and the star stoppingingly fantastic Gok Wan!! Gok was every bit the fashionista and was full of life, it was a real treat.

The whole show was amazing, the themed dance scenes set the stage for the following fashion collections and really set the atmosphere alight.

All in all one of the many highlights of the show.

Tomorrow one of my first interviews on the Company Catwalk with a stunning model to model the latest Tigerlily Makes designs.

Thank you for taking the time to visit Tigerlily Makes The Felt-making Blog Lisa X All content and design work, including text, photos, etc are © copyright 2010 Lisa Marie Olson owner of Tigerlily Makes (unless otherwise stated and named whereby copyright resides with said named person)and cannot be copied without prior permission from the copyright owner.

Friday 10 December 2010

Clothes Show Diary day 1

Hello lovely makers and creators, just thought I would start the Clothes Show Diaries off with a pic of my stand just before we opened on day 1.  The atmosphere was electric and we all waited with anticipation to hear the announcement that the Clothes Show was well and truly open.

Gok Wan was there to get the show off to a great start by getting the fashion theatre up and running. Gok was also on site for a book signing and yes he is every bit the fashionista in person as he appears to be on our screens.

Luckily we were situated not far from the Company Catwalk Stage which kicked off with fabulous catwalk shows and celebrity presenters.  More news from the Catwalk and SKNITCH interviews in later posts.

But for now I will leave you to prepare for tomorrows fab Christmas Stocking Course.

Thank you for taking the time to visit Tigerlily Makes The Felt-making Blog Lisa X All content and design work, including text, photos, etc are © copyright 2010 Lisa Marie Olson owner of Tigerlily Makes (unless otherwise stated and named whereby copyright resides with said named person)and cannot be copied without prior permission from the copyright owner.

Thursday 9 December 2010

Beginners Bag Making Private Course





Morning all well am just back from a mammoth 6 day, yes 6 day show at the NEC the Clothes Show Live.  Will be bringing you the Clothes Show Diaries very soon.

Well before I went to the show I had a lovely group of ladies who had booked a private course.  Jenny Mathews and her group of lovely friends came to the boutique for a lovely day of felting, to celebrate a milestone achievement of surviving a terrible illness.

The day was fabulous fun and I think you will agree that all the ladies makes are stunning, we have two  ladies who chose the Rosa Rosa bag shape, Jenny who chose the Dolly Daisy bag Shape and last but not least the U-ooh bag shape.

Thank you for taking the time to visit Tigerlily Makes The Felt-making Blog Lisa X All content and design work, including text, photos, etc are © copyright 2010 Lisa Marie Olson owner of Tigerlily Makes (unless otherwise stated and named whereby copyright resides with said named person)and cannot be copied without prior permission from the copyright owner.

Monday 6 December 2010

Clothes Show Diaries coming soon...


Well its been a full on week here so far at The Clothes Show Live, stay tuned for some interesting peeps and news hot off the press from the show.

Thank you for taking the time to visit Tigerlily Makes The Felt-making Blog Lisa X All content and design work, including text, photos, etc are © copyright 2010 Lisa Marie Olson owner of Tigerlily Makes (unless otherwise stated and named whereby copyright resides with said named person)and cannot be copied without prior permission from the copyright owner.

Wednesday 1 December 2010

Keep Britain Tidy lets support Kirstie Allsopp

Image Courtesy of Keep Britain Tidy and may subject to copyright.

Morning lovelies, I am blogging today in the midst of preparations for the Clothes Show to help support Kirstie Allsopp's Keep Britain Tidy campaign, you can visit The Keep Britain Tidy website by clicking here.

Can we all support Kirstie by following: http://twitter.com/keepbritaintidy.


You can follow Kirstie herself @KirstieMAllsopp

Many thanks for your support. 

Thank you for taking the time to visit Tigerlily Makes The Felt-making Blog Lisa X All content and design work, including text, photos, etc are © copyright 2010 Lisa Marie Olson owner of Tigerlily Makes (unless otherwise stated and named whereby copyright resides with said named person)and cannot be copied without prior permission from the copyright owner.