Pretty in pink ... (and lots of other colours too)

Have a look at CeeGee Jewellery for a range of delicate sterling silver jewellery using Murano, lampwork and semi-precious gemstones. Carolyn, who's the latest Coriandr Express VIP, creates simple designs which let the beads and stones speak for themselves. They make me think of summer weddings and gifts for god daughters. For myself, I love her seashell pendant which looks like a planet swirling in space. Carolyn's very generously offering 10% off all items for the next week, so hurry along to her shop and read more about her in the Coriandr Express blog.

Furoshiki - Felt Pegs

We've just added some fun felt fish, flower & panda pegs to decorate your furoshiki wrapped gifts. Cute, affordable and reusable to boot! Instead of splashing out on an expensive card, why not use one of our felt furoshiki pegs to attach a message to your present? See our online Etsy shop for details www.myfuroshiki.etsy.com

The Coriandr Express has stopped again to pick up a new VIP, the fabulous Frutejuce who can make her sewing maching sing with her edgy free motion embroidered babygros and vests for toddlers with attitude and cute bags.


I especially like her felt fridge magnets, particularly this colourful little bird


and she has a keen eye for funky fabrics, like this amoeba purse



Alison is offering 10% of all her items until the end of June so make sure to visit the FruteJuce Coriandr shop and read more about her on the Coriandr Express blog.

And here, as a founder member of the cuddly Panda Pops appreciation society, is a panda furoshiki :)

Tickled Pink

We're tickled pink about our latest collection of furoshiki available on Etsy. Delicious delights from raspberry ripple to the liquorice allsorts looking circle line print. Bold abstract florals and opulent purple bouquets. Explosive pink & purple chrysanthemums and fading purple to pink tie dye effects.

A Very Important Person

Welcome to the latest Coriandr Express VIP - Alice of Snapdragon Beads! Alice specialises in off loom bead weaving (something which I'd never heard of before) and the results are a range of circular motif pendants, earrings, brooches and hairclips in an array of absolutely gorgeous colours. These range from the delicate shades of her Primrose Pin


to the glowing greens of these wonderfully named Frog Princess Earrings


to the royal richness of this Purple Velvet Pendant.


There's free shipping on all Snapdragon Beads until the end of June so take a look at Alice's shop for more of her vibrant designs and read more about her and her work on the Coriandr Express blog.

Wonderful Waves

New on Etsy, is our ocean themed story, a fabulous collection of waves, sea & seaweed, puffer fish & hanko stamp bubbles! Prices range from US$3 for a mini 'Fish at Sea' furoshiki to US$30 for a 'Wonderful Waves' set of 6 furoshiki.

The set of 6 includes 5 gift wrapping cloths which you can share with friends & family and a gorgeous reversible wave & sea print bag sized furoshiki that you can keep just for you. We've only got limited stock of these, so hurry, hurry, hurry!!

Coriandr Express furoshiki challenge (2)

Well here we are, my second batch of furoshikis dedicated to our fellow Coriandr Express VIPs.

First up is a plant pot wrap for Dig the Earth:


An aubergine coloured kitty for Kitty Ballistic:


And a blue bookwrap for Creativesque to go with her blue bookmarks:


You can find my earlier attempts for BlueFishHandmade, Julie Mills, Pirate Pixie Crew and Mrs Toad Designs here and, coming soon, Nics Knots and Debbs Elliman .....

Hope you like them :)

Cute canvas prints

Some news from Down Under - sorry, it's been a while since my last post. I am on the countdown to the baby's arrival - only 4wks to go!! Decided it was probably time to de-pink the room from when Lily had it as a nursery, so have hung some of our screen printed animal prints on the walls (you can buy small canvases at most craft shops and all you need then is a staple gun to secure the furoshiki to the back of the frame). The finished pictures are very lightweight, so a simple plastic picture hook will suffice, no need to add wire, etc to hang, just balance the frame directly on the hook. Easy jungle fun for everyone!

Work-in-Progress

I'm really enjoying these longer summer evenings when it seems as though there's so much more time to get things done. Even so I never quite manage to catch up with myself. Here's a look at some of myfuroshiki works in progress....

First, some larger furoshiki - gorgeous colours and designs printed on a fabric that's the ideal weight for larger furoshiki bags.
Next, having seen Olivia's summery reversible cotton furoshiki bags I've been dying to try some myself and finally tracked down some suitable fabrics. Co-incidentally one of them is the same as one that Oli's used - from Perth Western Australia to Shipley West Yorkshire - it's a small world!

For the last week or so I've also been road testing a new, patchwork, furoshiki bag


which will have calico hanko stamped lining.

The bag is made from the same fabrics as the larger furoshiki bags and has two metal ringed holes in it.
These are a great way of attaching a big floppy ribbon or corsage type flower, which brings me to the final thing for today (very much work in progress!)

It's magic!

Just look at this apple wood wand. No, it's not from Ollivander's but Debbs Elliman's magical Coriandr shop, which is full of beautiful dichroic glass jewellery like this glowing heart


and this amazing bracelet which seems to take on different colours in different lights.


Debbs is the latest Coriandr Express VIP and donates to FLEECEHAVEN sheep sanctuary www.fleecehaven.org.uk. So please hurry along to her shop and look out for the Fleecehave logo next to certain items where a percentage of the sale price will be donated to them.

Coriandr Express furoshiki challenge

Life's been a bit busy the past couple of weeks so I've a bit of catching up to do on a challenge I set myself of doing a little fun furoshiki something for each VIP on the Coriandr Express. So far I've managed a sort of fish shaped wrap with a blue fish design furoshiki for Blue Fish Handmade (how easy was that!)


and a bird wrap for Julie Mills with all her beautiful bird designs.



And here for my latest offerings are a panda furoshiki as a pirate bandana for the bucaneering Pirate Pixie Crew (featuring one press-ganged son)

and for Mrs Toad Designs, the nearest amphibian I could find - a frog patterned furoshiki :)


Still pondering .. Dig The Earth, Kitty Ballistic, Creativesque and Nic's Knots....

Bags, beautiful bags!

I love these bright & beautiful reversible furoshiki and matching rosettes, which Oli's been creating. Don't they make lovely bags?

If you're in Perth (Australia that is) come along & see them at The Perth Cultural Markets on Sunday 14th June. It's just outside the WA Museum on James St.

There will be lots of other things as well to see and buy - demos, wrapping cloths from mini to jumbo, furoshiki bags, accessories & some great gift wrapping ideas.

Hope to see you there!

Sparkly and sweet

Gosh, the Coriandr Express really seems to have picked up speed now and here we are hurtling to pick up the next VIP, Catherine of Mrs Toad Designs. Her shop on Coriandr is the place to go when in need of something small, sparkly and sweet ... and on these gloomy British summer days, who isn't? Catherine has been designing and making beaded jewellery, as well as hand stitched felt brooches for five years and recently began making her own felt, using wet and dry felting techniques and Merino Cross wool. Her experience and attention to detail shine out in this lovely little beaded felt brooch
and dainty beaded bracelet
and then there is a whole range of delicious looking felt food brooches and pincushions. Here's a picture of the cakes
and you can go along to Mrs Toad Designs Coriandr shop yourself to get your own taste of summer with an ice cream cone brooch!