Thursday 22 October 2015

Dorset Team Christmas Fair in Wimborne - Part of the Etsy Made Local events


Hi everyone,

I know I have quite a lot of local readers *waves to you all* so I wanted to share with you all a fantastic event which is happening this December.

After the success of last year's Christmas Fair the Dorset Team are returning to Wimborne for their annual Christmas Fair.

The fair is being officially supported by Etsy and will feature 70+ local designers, makers, vintage sellers and craft supply sellers. This is the perfect place to pick up a unique gift that you won't find on the highstreet or beautiful crafting supplies to make your own Christmas gifts (I have already got my eye on a few things!).

The fair has some really great sellers with high quality products and there is something for every taste and budget.

Entry to the fair is FREE

Please put the date in your diary or, even better, head over to the Facebook Event Page  and click 'going' or 'maybe' and Facebook will remind you that the event is on nearer the time.

I am really looking forwards to the event and doing my Christmas shopping from local makers and sellers!

The Dorothy Days Xx

Event Page for the Fair: https://www.facebook.com/events/866031100155674/



Saturday 17 October 2015

Hello Autumn - Half Price Sale


Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! Autumn is now in full swing so to celebrate I am offering 50% off of my pinecone necklaces.

The offer will last until Sunday and means that my pinecone necklaces are now just £2.50 instead of £5.00 and all will come with a organza gift bag too!

Shipping is just £1 for U.K buyers and slightly more for abroad.

They make a great end of week treat for yourself, a gift for a friend or even a stocking filler gift for Christmas

Please take a look at them in my shop here

Have a great weekend and thank you to everyone who has already purchased :).


Etsy Captain's Summit in Amsterdam 2015 - 10 things I learnt from the summit and being in Amsterdam


Hey everyone,

I have just got back from the most amazing and inspiring trip to Amsterdam for the Etsy Captain's Summit where I was representing the Dorset Team.

The trip was so full on, there was so much to take in but incredible at the same time!

Here are my top 10 things that I learnt at the summit...


Photo Credit : Nafsika who runs the most beautiful Etsy shop selling jewellery

1) Talking to other Etsy Captains is really inspiring. 
Wonderful to hear not only what they have achieved as team captains but also in their own businesses. Feeling super motivated after coming back to improve my own shop and ideas for running the Dorset Team too!


Photo Credit: Nafsika
2) Etsy Admins and staff are pretty awesome! 
All of them were so friendly and you can tell that they really cared about their work.  Even to the point that several of them cried when we were doing the final goodbyes as they said they felt so inspired by the Etsy community AND not only that but lots of the Etsy staff and admin craft themselves (which in my eyes make them even cooler!) Anda who works for the design team brought to the summit her amazing crochet blanket which she worked on over the weekend (with her amazing glitter crochet hook!) 

Photo Credit: Silja who is the captain of the Estonian team 


3)  Amsterdam is full of bicycles!!
They are EVERYWHERE which is amazing but also makes crossing the road quite a scary experience. You have to watch out for cars, the tram AND about a dozen bicycles coming from all directions.

Photo Credit: Silja 


4)  Etsy know a good cake! ;)
They provided us with so many yummy cakes throughout the summit including some on the last day which Annabel from Ka-ching Collectief informs me are from the best patisserie in Amsterdam! 



5)Sometimes silence is good and often what you need to gather thoughts, reflect and gain the confidence to share your thoughts with the group. When in a group discussion situation you shouldn’t be afraid to have silence.



6)Etsy listens. We were able to feed back our ideas directly to the Etsy admin and they listened and seemed genuinely excited by some of the ideas we were coming up with! Can’t wait to see some of our ideas being made a reality and Etsy as a platform improving.


7)You can fit quite a few Etsy captains into a photo booth!  (So much fun even if the photos didn’t come out too well!)



8)Amsterdam is actually pretty cold in Autumn. Lots of warming hot chocolates were needed! 


9)Ideas sometimes come from the strangest places and often spark an even better idea. You know when you have some crazy idea which isn’t complete or your thoughts are everywhere so you don’t share it? Well I tried sharing a few of these and actually talking them through with other people and having their ideas about it made them become a ‘thing’. Yay for creative people working together.


10) I'm super proud of the Dorset Team, all the members and particularly thankful to all of those who volunteer their time to the team :). Made me feel super emotional thinking and reflecting on how much we have achieved as a group. Go us!


Thanks for reading!

The Dorothy Days X

Monday 5 October 2015

Quote of the Week: Maya Angelou on creativity



Hope you all have had a wonderful weekend. Thanks so much for reading my blog today. Today's quote is the third of the quotes I have been posting about creativity. I hope that you like it and have a fantastic week!

The Dorothy Days X

Sunday 4 October 2015

Item of the Week: Handmade retro style floral hair slides


My item of the week for this week are these retro style hair slides (or bobby pins as you call them in the U.S!)

I really wanted to make some more hair accessories for my shop so I have been making some sets of these.

Each hair slide is made with domed glass and features a floral pattern in beautiful bright colours. The green really stands out and looks like retro textiles. The green with the black reminds me of Andy Warhol's flower prints.

Would love to hear what they remind you of? Please let me know in the comments section below

The Dorothy Days Xx

Saturday 3 October 2015

Style Saturday - Decorating with Succulents

Decorate With Succulents


I recently took a trip to Ikea in Southampton to have a browse around with a friend and of course, a browse around Ikea always doesn't end up as 'just a browse'. I ended up bringing back some lovely scented candles, some plant pots and some beautiful plants including succulents. I love the succulents I bought and wish I had bought more....they are my kind of plant...easy to look after! 

I always like having plants in the house and bringing the outdoor in. I spend a lot of time at my computer desk so it is really nice to have plants around. I particularly like the wooden plant pots on the right hand side and the hanging planters too. I wish my work space looked a little more like the space on the left hand side! I like the minimalist look but it still looks warm and cosy with the rug and cushions and the succulents add some colour to the room whilst still keeping with the neutral tones.

Hope that you like this collection

Thanks so much for reading