lots of eco gifts in our Etsy store!

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There's still time if you live in the UK to buy a gift from Pouch and have it delivered before Christmas.
Just place your order by midday Thursday 20th December!
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CREATE Festive Fayre

Winter sunset on the CREATE Centre

We had a great time at the CREATE Festive Fayre. It's a fantastic event to be involved with and we met lots of eco-aware people who gave us lots of positive feedback to our products. We sold out of our belts and clutch purses and wish we had brought more with us! The recycled fabric stockings sold well too and lots of people loved the lavender hearts and sleepy owls. The CREATE Fayre is a great way to promote Pouch and we gave out loads of business cards and 'buy handmade' badges and stickers.




I have lots more photos which I will post next week as we are off to Paris for 4 days on the Eurostar and I need to get on with my packing :)

Etsy press page

I've just read about the Etsy press page which is located on the Etsy blog.
I clicked through to read about Etsy press and I really like the video featuring the founder of the site, Robert Kalin explaining the ethos behind Etsy.
Go check it out, the video is really informative and I totally agree with Etsy stance on trying to bring non-mass produced items to general public
Etsy Press page

sleepy owls

I love vintage fabric so much I can't bear to throw away even the tiniest bit. I decided we needed to start making something out of the fabric offcuts, because they were too good to waste!
So we've come up with little sleepy owls and fabric hearts (I will blog the hearts tomorrow).




Sleepy Owls:
Each owl is made from vintage fabric and filled with a mixture of stuffing and chemical free lavender. You can either place them on your pillow to help you float off to sleep, or place in your wardrobe (they don't mind the dark!) to make your clothes smell nice.
Sleepy Owls will be on sale on our stall at the CREATE Festive Fayre on 7th & 8th December in Bristol, UK
please see the CREATE website for more details
CREATE
Come and check out our handmade bags at our Etsy store

Bokashi Composting (EmPowered Composting)

As mentioned below, I bought a Bokashi Composter from Wiggly Wigglers back in Spring 2007. I have spent the past few months composting kitchen waste and I have to say I'm hooked. It has to be one of the best ways to compost food waste. It's easy, compact and there's no smell. Considering some of the food has been squashed into our Bokashi bin for over 3 months, the 'no-smell' aspect of Bokashi is a pleasant surprise to me. All those tiny Effective microOrganisms (or EMS for short) work like a dream.

I've taken a montage of images showing the composting process. Basically you place kitchen waste (including meat and fish scraps, although not anything too creamy or milk based), squash it down, sprinkle the special Bokashi bran on top, seal the lid (carefully ensuring the lid is really firmly closed, any air getting in can ruin the composting process). Then sit back and let the EMS ferment your food. Every now and again you drain the liquid from the bin, dilute it with water and feed to your plants (you can use it to clean drains, but my plants love it so much, I haven't tried that yet).



Once the bin is full (for our 2 person household that takes approx 1-2 months), you let it sit untouched for 14 days. Then you can either dig into your garden or add to a conventional compost heap. It breaks down amazingly rapidly, releasing large quantities of soil boosting probiotic micro-organisms which nourish the soil naturally.

The Bokashi liquid is the best part about the whole process. My garden has loved every drop of it. I have compiled a montage of a small selection of the plants grown in my garden this year, and as you can see they were all very healthy.




to find out more visit the Wiggly Wigglers website and search for 'Bokashi' or 'EmPowered Composting':
Wiggly Wigglers

Wiggly Wigglers call for contributors

Last year my Mum and I bought 2 Bokashi compost bins from Wiggly Wigglers. I can highly recommend them to anyone, they are easy to use, compact, smell-free and best of all my garden loves the liquid fertilizer and fermented composted waste.
I will blog about it in more detail tomorrow and add some photos :)

When I bought a Bokashi bin, I also signed up for Wiggly updates via email. I received an update on 27th November asking for Wiggly fans to contribute to the next catalogue, or 'Mega Wiggly Catalogue' as Heather (Wiggly Owner) likes to call it.

Basically Wiggly Wigglers are asking for people to write a review, send a photo of yourself or your family using a Wiggly Wigglers product or send in some info about yourself.

You can find out more by visiting the Wiggly Wigglers blog:
Wiggly Wigglers Blog

gift guide - eco friend

gift guide - eco friend
Originally uploaded by pouch_designs

Pouch vintage fabric peg bag is featured in the Etsy gift guide under section for Eco Friend

I know the gift guides are a bit controversial on Etsy, there have been 100s of comments good and bad made in the Etsy forums, but I'm pleased it's on there as I've been working really hard taking the best pictures I can to make the products look nice :)

We also had a sunflower bag listed under the Bag Lady category and that sold on Sunday, woohoo!

UK Street Team Promotional Christmas Packs

The UK Street Team have been working hard to produce and put together a Christmas themed promotional gift pack.

Etsy sellers based in the UK have donated handmade items and promotional items such as Moo cards and stickers to go into packs which are now on sale in the UK Team shop. Ease your Christmas shopping by purchasing a fantastic selection of merchandise created by Etsy sellers.

Handmade items in the packs range from porcelain pendants to felt Christmas decorations. Full details of the items and Etsy seller's who took part can be found by following the link below
UK Team store on Etsy

Showcase November

Showcase November
Originally uploaded by pouch_designs

I took the plunge and bought a showcase spot on Etsy. Although people have not been happy about the increase in price ($15), You've got to speculate to accumulate as they say!
If it doesn't have much effect on traffic to the shop then I wont try it again, or I may try again in the Spring :)
It did give me a chance to spruce up the shop and make sure all the pictures were as good as I could make them. I think I aimed to make the items look more unified, for example, all the peg bags now face in the same direction. I know it sounds a bit OCD-ish, but I know how important good photos are on Etsy, so I didn't want the shop looking like a right muddle.
Since starting on Etsy, I have taken on board lots of advice and looked at loads of other shops. The message has got through to me loud and clear that good photos are key.
I used to sell on Ebay with the bags placed on plain white backgrounds, cut-out and manipulated in photoshop, now I use natural settings with natural light, with props such as antique chest of drawers and a neutral cloth underneath.
I am pleased with the overall effect now, there's still room for improvement, but it's good to keep learning and thinking of new ideas for photos and products.
I'm still enjoying the Etsy experience and that's the most important thing!
Come and check out our handmade bags at our Etsy store
www.pouchbags.co.uk

Front page fame!

Front page fame!
Originally uploaded by pouch_designs

We are very chuffed to have made it onto the Etsy homepage with gold velvet clutch!
It's a great way to get noticed, the viewing figures for the clutch shot up to over 600 views in an hour, lots of people added us as a favourite seller and we sold 2 items overnight!

visit our shop to see our other items, including some adorable vintage fabric Christmas stockings
http://www.pouch.etsy.com

Vintage antique gold velvet clutch

Vintage antique gold velvet clutch
Originally uploaded by pouch_designs

Just listed this adorable clutch purse on Etsy, one of my favourite shapes and fabrics

A cute, eco-friendly, clutch purse made from reclaimed antique gold velvet
Features a vintage bottle green bakelite buckle
Fully lined with chocolate brown silky fabric
The purse is interlined with padding; giving the purse a great shape
It has a velcro closure on reverse of buckle
Pretty and stylish, great for year-round use
This purse is an OOAK due to the fact we have no more of this type of vintage fabric left. Treat yourself to skillfully sewn, handmade bag

available at:
www.pouch.etsy.com

sign up for our newsletter at:
www.pouchbags.co.uk

Etsy poster challenge best products picks for a man

Etsy poster challenge best products picks for a man
Originally uploaded by pouch_designs

Etsy is running another poster sketch challenge. Winning entries will appear on the front page of Etsy

They are asking for etsy people to pick their top presents for a male or female friend.

Here is my entry for my boyfriend, who is also my best friend :)

vintage flowers tote

vintage flowers tote
Originally uploaded by pouch_designs

I have been without internet access for 28 days thanks to certain UK internet companies who shall remain nameless.
Finally back online and can resume the blogging!
Lots to catch up on, loads of bags to list on Etsy, including this vintage flowers tote in one of my favourite fabrics.
As you can see, it is made with a bold, distinctive vintage fabric
fully lined with reclaimed chocolate brown corduroy fabric.
It also features a useful key fob made with matching corduroy fabric.
No visible seams, so totally reversible.
eco-friendly and super stylish ;)

handmade banner for eco-festival

handmade banner for eco-festival
Originally uploaded by pouch2006

We attended an eco-festival on Sunday 23rd September in Colerne, Wiltshire (UK).
http://www.ecolerne.org/
This is the banner we made to place on the front of our stall.
It's made with vintage floral fabric, vintage buttons and recycled pre-loved denim fabric.
I will blog more details about the festival tomorrow and show the banner in action on the front of the stall!

New items on Etsy

Two new bags listed in our Esty shop
One is a polka dot clutch wristlet
The other is a tote shopper made from beautiful vintage metallic-effect fabric

For further details, visit our shop by clicking the link below
www.pouch.etsy.com

ecofriendly reusuable tote shopper sold today

tote sunflowers
Originally uploaded by pouch2006

We sold this bag today!
This is one of my favourites, it has vibrant yellow vintage fabric on the front and gorgeous, soft suedette fabric on the back and handles.
For more of our bags click here
www.pouchbags.co.uk
www.pouch.etsy.com

Organic clothes stockists

A shocking amount of pesticides go into creating mass produced cotton clothes

• 600,408 tons of herbicides, insecticides, fertilizers, fungicides, and other chemicals were used to produce cotton in 1992 in the 6 largest cotton producing states. (Agricultural Chemical Usage, 1992 Field Crops Summary, USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service)
• Five of the top nine pesticides used on cotton in the U.S. (cyanide, dicofol, naled, propargite, and trifluralin) are KNOWN cancer-causing chemicals. All nine are classified by the U.S. EPA as Category I and II— the most dangerous chemicals.
• The problems with clothing production don’t stop in the field. During the conversion of conventional cotton into clothing, numerous toxic chemicals are added at each stage silicone waxes, harsh petroleum scours, softeners, heavy metals, flame and soil retardants, ammonia, and formaldehyde – to name just a few...

Take a look at the Soil Associations website to find out more about stockists of organic clothes
Click here for textile section of Soil Association website

Retro & Flea Market, Bristol

I picked up a flyer for a 'Retro & Flea Market' at the weekend.
It's run by Retrolex
Check out their myspace page, I love the music featured!
click here: www.myspace.com/retrolex
click here: www.retrolex.co.uk
The next market will be held on Sunday October 7th at the Trinity Centre, Trinity Road, Bristol
I can't wait to go!

Calculate your Carbon Footprint

Try this handy calculator from www.direct.gov.uk to work out how big, or small, your carbon footprint is.

Click here for Carbon Footprint calculator

There is also loads of info on living a greener lifestyle on the Directgov website.

Greener Living: Quick Guide

Just taking small steps like recycling plastic bags, can help create a cleaner environment
Also, the more recycled and fairtrade products you buy, the more supermarkets and shops get the message that they need to stock them!

Pouch on Etsy

Favourite blog of the week: Green is the new black

I had a message via myspace about a new ethical fashion book called 'Green is the new Black'

At Pouch we are always interested in learning more about what fashion companies are doing to reduce their impact on the environment. I will be buying the book and will write about it on our blog once I've finished it!

Read more about ethical fashion and the author at:

http://greenisthenewblack.typepad.com/

"Green is the New Black by Tamsin Blanchard is published August 30 by Hodder & Stoughton. Every day, since beginning writing the book, more and more fashion companies and designers are 'going green' and this blog is the place to read news on new collections, happenings and all things consciously fashionable. It is written by Tamsin with contributions by St Martin's fashion journalism undergraduate, Jessica Hannan."

New items listed in our Etsy store - Carrier / Grocery bag dispensers

Introducing a new addition to the Pouch repertoire… carrier/grocery bag dispensers!
Made with 100% genuine vintage fabric, they are large enough to hold many carrier/grocery bags
Hang from a hook in the kitchen, under the stairs, in the garage, garden shed or anywhere you need to grab a bag

Check out our Etsy store for more details

Did You Know...?
We go through 150m plastic bags in the UK every week.
They will take 500 years to degrade in landfill.
They emit dangerous toxins into our soil and water systems.
They give off methane gas, which contributes to global warming.
They are a major litter problem and have a long lasting, damaging effect on our country’s wildlife.

Vintage Fabric Addict

I adore vintage fabric and I can always find room for one more piece in our house.
The types of fabric I love are:
Moygashel, Boras, Marimekko, Sanderson, Liberty, Laura Ashley, panton eames, William Morris, Alexander Henry
types of fabric I love geometric, psychedelic, brown and orange, kitsch, hippy, floral and fruit, orla kiely style, bold and large print and many, many more...

New range of peg bags launched in our Etsy store

We've recently launched a new addition to the Pouch repertoire… peg bags!
Made with 100% genuine vintage fabric & vintage wooden coat hangers
They make a snazzy home for your pegs
There’s no better way to dry your washing, than to peg it out and let it dry in the breeze
Did you know?
The tumble drier is one of the most energy-hungry appliances in the house By reducing the number of times you use a tumble drier by just one load per week, you will reduce your carbon emissions by approximately 60kg a year. And reduce your electricity bill! Whats not to like?
The first 2 peg bags sold receive a free set of wooden dolly pegs
Come and check them out at our Etsy store

Welcome to our Blog :)

Welcome to our brand new Pouch blog

We started listing our handmade bags on Etsy in May 2007

So far we've both been amazed at the talent on Etsy and love being part of the community. Everyone is very friendly and helpful and the chat forums are very addictive!

Come and check out our handmade bags at our Etsy store