Milomade

Mirrorbox Photography Feature

Milomade — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:14:39 +0000

The lovely ladies over at Mirrorbox Photography interviewed me recently about my products and have just featured the interview on their blog – so go and check it out. Mirrorbox Photography specialise in capturing blissfully happy couples as they embark on a future together – Engagements, Weddings etc. Check out their blog which is crammed full of their amazing images – it’s also where they document all the finer little details they spot at each event they attend.

They noticed that I made table confetti from maps initially and then noticed I made other decorations too. They then found out about my jewellery collections as well and got in touch to find out even more and that’s how the interview came about.

If you’ve not heard of Mirrorbox [...]
read more »

Excessive Packaging

Milomade — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:34:22 +0000

I ordered Colin a very unusual item for his birthday from a seller on eBay and it has just arrived. The item comes in a sturdy wooden box which measures 75cm x 15cm x 12cm. A few layers of bubble wrap and some cardboard would have sufficed to protect it on it’s journey here but…

…what I got instead is an enormous amount of someone else’s rubbish. My hallway is now strewn with millions of plastic bags – the type you get when your clothes arrive from a catalogue, loads of scrunched up ’shoe shaped’ balls of tissue paper, cardboard bits that look like they used to support pairs of boots and a load of strange small pipes – probably shoe related too. There are even bags containing a mixture of other rubbish as well. It’s as if someone put the item I ordered into a large box and then [...]
read more »

How Green in Your Business?

Milomade — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:59:10 +0000

I was recently asked this question by the guys at Makers Online with regards to how I package my goods as well as how I present them. They asked me to answer a few questions and my answers appeared on their blog in July – I’ve only just got round to noticing! Ooops. So if you’d like to find out where I source all my biodegradable packaging or find out how I make my gift bags or find out what goes into making my craft fair displays, read on.

We all know how it important it is when buying things at a supermarket to try and find ways to reduce the amount of packaging we purchase with our goods, but when it comes to the day to day running of your own business it can be harder to incorporate, especially when selling online involves sending your goods through [...]
read more »

Recycled Origami Bookmarks

Milomade — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:00:41 +0000

This tutorial was featured in the Summer issue of the UK Handmade magazine and I was reminded of it when I needed a bookmark for the book I’m reading at the moment and had to make one – I forgot that I hadn’t posted it on my blog yet, so here it is for you to enjoy.

You will need:

- some decorative paper, I’ve used an old envelope with an interesting pattern - a ruler and a pencil - a cutting mat and knife

How to make your bookmark:

1. Cut out a square that is 10cm by 10cm 2. Fold it in half on the diagonal so that you’re left with a pyramid shape

3. Fold the right side up to the pyramid point and do the same with the left side 4. Rotate the piece by 180 degrees and unfold the two flaps

5. With the piece flat you will now see the outline of a [...]
read more »

Ever had a picture taken of your insides?

Milomade — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:51:11 +0000

If so, please comment and let me know about your experience. I’m heading into hospital on the 15th of this month and I’m dreading it. Firstly I can’t stand hospitals – they’re OK to visit I guess, but I’ve never fancied being a patient myself. The last time I had an operation I was 9 and that was under local anaesthetic to remove a mole. That brings me to my ’secondly’ which is I’m going to be having a general anaesthetic – something I’ve never had before.

As you all probably know, as I’ve alluded to this in the past, Colin and I have been at it like rabbits for several years [nearly 4 to be precise] in the hope of conceiving, with a few breaks here and there to allow for bouts of deep depression whenever I got the news that yet another one of my friends had successfully [...]
read more »

My Military Operation…

Milomade — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:46:24 +0000

Yesterday I finished work at midday and went on a bit of a round trip of Fife. If I’m going somewhere I always try and get a lot crammed into the trip so I get the most for my money/time. So when I spotted a folding table on Freecycle recently (in St Andrews), I thought I could go an pick that up at the same time as popping into the Town Hall so see the Scrap Exchange exhibition.

Oh and maybe I could go and visit Jill in Ceres too and pick up the rabbit doorstop I bought from her. Oh and maybe I should go round to Kirsty’s too and get the stuff that didn’t sell at the HaarShop and there you have it – a round trip of Fife.

And then another thing got added to the list. More stuff on Freecycle. I’ve been looking for [...]
read more »

Friday Finds – Corezone

Milomade — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 08:00:13 +0000

I discovered these beautiful porcelain hearts today entitled Corezone. Corezone is a closed ceramic space, where you can place your thoughts, feelings, emotions. Write them down on small pieces of paper and put them inside the heart. You must then physically break your own heart to free them.

You can see images of how these beautiful objects are made here ›

Beautiful Lettering

Milomade — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 08:00:33 +0000

Jessica Hische is a typographer and illustrator working in Brooklyn, New York. I discovered her work on Craftgawker today and decided that this week’s Theme Thursday would be a selection of her beautifully printed alphabet. Letterpressed on Crane’s 110lb Lettra paper, these individual letters are a selection from the first six alphabets of the Daily Drop Cap project. Printed in an edition of 75. How lovely!

Visit her website to find out more and see further examples of her lovely work. http://jessicahische.com

I’ve got a new dog!

Milomade — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 08:00:24 +0000

Well, not a real dog… I recently won a lovely hand painted wooden version of Abee by becoming a fan on Moobaacluck on Facebook. I love doing giveaways, but I hardly ever win anything myself, so it was a lovely surprise to get an email from Gabriella Buckingham who runs Moobacluck a while ago saying that I had won her giveaway.

She said at the time that I’d be receiving my prize some time at the end of August, but as time passed, I totally forgot about this – I have a crap memory. I was really ill last week and spent most of the week in bed, so when a parcel arrived and was delivered to my bedside by Abee [our dog - she's our postie], I was so surprised when I opened it to find a little wooden Abee within. [...]
read more »

Button Notecards now on sale!

Milomade — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:30:53 +0000

I’ve finally got round to using the 100% card stock I purchased a while ago and made some lovely new button notecards in three different styles. There will be more styles on the way as I have plenty of ideas and designs going round my head, but three for now gives you plenty to choose from.

The cards all measure 12cm x 12cm and are made from 100% recycled card stock. They come packed in 100% biodegradable corn starch bags along with a brown craft envelope which is made from 100% recycled paper – how eco friendly! All the buttons used for these cards are discarded upcycled shirt buttons in a variety of colours, shapes and sizes.

These cards aren’t season specific and are all blank so you can add your own message and personalise each card to your liking. Available as single cards for £2.00 or as bulk buys in [...]
read more »

Digital Detox – Day 8

Milomade — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:15:17 +0000

Our last day in London! We got up early and walked to Kensal Green Cemetery one of the oldest Victorian Garden Cemeteries in London. It was HUGE! We only managed to walk round a quarter of it and we were there for hours! The place is amazing and some of the graves and tombs spectacular. Well worth a visit.

I’ve just uploaded these straight to flickr – not done any digital trickery to them yet, but can’t wait to get some free time and have a play with these images.

Digital Detox – Day 7

Milomade — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 11:23:44 +0000

By Friday I was quite ill. I’d caught a cold at some point during the week and was trying to ignore the fact that I had a sore throat and runny nose and a bit of a cough, but by Friday morning I had no energy left. I got up and had a shower and then curled up on the sofa and refused to move. We had a planned an early start as we wanted to walk to the Serpentine Gallery and then go to the Saatchi Gallery too, but my body refused to move.

So Colin went in on his own whilst I convalesced on the sofa and tried to muster the energy to get up and get dressed. It was good to have the extra sleep and the peace and quiet though. I did get up eventually and decided to head into London and meet Colin at a [...]
read more »

Digital Detox – Day 6

Milomade — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:29:17 +0000

We went our separate ways this morning as I wanted to hunt round Spitalfields Market for treasures and Colin wanted to head back to Tate Modern. We decided to meet up after lunch outside the Hunterian Museum.

Spitalfields Markets was a bit disappointing – I thought it’d be bigger. It was small and the stalls weren’t that exciting either.

I did manage to find one stall selling buttons and spent a long time rummaging through a suitcase full of bags of buttons, none of them that exciting, but I managed to find a few gems thankfully.

I had a few senior moments getting the tube to meet Colin and managed to take the longest route possible without realising much to his amusement. Saw some lovely graffiti whilst walking down Brick Lane on my way to the tube station. The bird on the left was enormous painted on the side of [...]
read more »