A passion for folklore.

When I was designing my current collection, I took the opportunity to add some more original artworks to the range. I love drawing, and being able to put my illustrations into pendants, and then actually sell them still gives me a thrill. :)

As part of my Mystery and Magic inspired collection, I have included images of a moon gazing Hare and a White Hart, both in a dark forest. I love these mysterious animals, both so associated with myth and folklore. Pagans believed that the moon gazing hare brought rebirth, abundance, and good fortune.

In English Folklore the Hart is associated with many myths and legends. The sighting of a White Hart (the ancient word for Stag) was a sign in Arthurian legends that the knights should embark on a quest. It was thought that the hart could not be caught, and the animal became a symbol of man's never ending pursuit of knowledge and the unattainable. The good omens associated with the magnificent stag led to it being adopted as the personal emblem of Richard II; to this day the sighting of one of these otherworldly animals is said to bring good fortune.

Below is a picture of one of these stunning deer, together with images of the pendants as part of the Mystery and Magic collection - hope you like them! The pendants will be launched in my online shop later today! www.coucouheart.co.uk

 



Global domination (sort of...)

I am just recovering from the London Trade Show I did at the end of January - pretty much all the wholesale orders are now completed. I had a great show, and met up with some of my lovely customers, as well as meeting some exciting new ones.

I am excited to tell you, that Coucou Heart (much like One Direction) have broken the USA! I am now stocked in Manic Panic shop in Los Angeles! How fancy :) Other new stockists of Coucou Heart are in Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands, as well as throughout the UK.

I am now busy getting ready for Birmingham Comic Con, which is on 16th & 17th March - maybe see you there!

Ailsa x

Wonderful vintage finds.

As you know, I love to seek out interesting old items for inspiration. These things not only look great, but I love to use them on my displays to give a suitably vintage looking backdrop for my Jewellery!
Anyway, my latest fabulous find is a late Victorian camera / projector. I love anything that really evokes a sense of the past - plus it has lots of twisty turnable wheels and latches to fiddle about with! I think this is a amazing Steampunky find, that I can't wait to show off.

London Edge

Just finished long weekend at trade show London Edge - hard work, but met some great new and existing customers!

Coucou Heart news!

It's about time for a long overdue update on what I've been up to! Things have been busy, busy, busy with events and markets, but there are a couple of particularly exciting things to report.

Firstly, Coucou Heart jewellery is now being stocked in several shops and online retailers across the UK well as in Europe! I exhibited at the London Edge Trade Show in September, and met up with loads of exciting, individual retailers looking for new products. The show was really fun, and I am so pleased to have been able to start supplying my products into shops -a step on my way to world domination?!

My second announcement is that Coucou Heart will be trading at the huge fashion event, Clothes Show Live! The show is at the NEC Bimingham, from 2nd to 7th December. I will be launching some new designs at the show; there are a couple of pics below! For more info on the show go to www.clothesshowlive.com

Hope to see you there!

Ailsa

Update!

Hi all,

I have been a busy bee lately, making new pieces, trading at Brick Lane Backyard market, as well as making plans for the future of Coucou Heart!

With a view to spreading the Coucou Heart message, I can announce that I will be exhibiting at the London Edge trade show in September which I am really excited about! This is a trade only show for alternatic fashions, and is attended by retail buyers from across Europe. Hopefully this will enable me to make contact with approprate retailers for my designs, and begin my world domination!! More details will follow, here is more info from London Edge:

http://www.londonedge.com/

I have been making some new pieces, including these bottle necklaces. I love these little bottles; they remind me of interesting old junk shops and the unusual things you find hidden there. Available now from my Etsy shop.

Some new lovelies!

Hi

I have already had a busy week, and it is only Tuesday! Yesterday I was setting up my stock display in the shop in Croydon that I am now selling in! I have a smallish range there at the moment but will be adding new items later this week, so do please come and take a look if you are in the area. The shop is called Dragon Dreads, and is based on the top floor of Time Bomb, 31 Hight Street, Croydon.

Also this week, I have been sorting through all of my lovely vintage pieces that are crying out to be incorporated into some new beautiful items. Here are some pics of just some of them.

I particularly love vintage ephemera, like this old French postcard - I wonder why it was kept for so long, but then ended up in a junk shop? My over active imagination loves things like this!

Lastly, I have a new listing for customised initial rings in my Etsy shop - they would make a sweet little gift for someone.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/67186407/initial-ring

Bye for now,

Love Ailsa

Cool Treasury

Hi

There are some great treasuries being made on Etsy and I have been lucky enough to have been featured in this particularly cool one! Please go have a look at it on Etsy and add your comments

Gifts for Valentines

I have been making a few new items today, with a view to Valentines Day coming up. I had recently bought some beautiful German Glass Glitter, which has a lovely old fashioned sparkle to it, so decided to use some of that. Also, there are some interesting "map" necklaces listed too - see my Etsy shop!

I love maps - they always seem full of promise to me.

Love Ailsa xx

Vintage finds

A selection of some of the lovely vintage bits and bobs I have been sourcing lately. I have piles of gorgeous stuff on my desk at the moment just waiting to be turned into some beautiful jewellery! New pieces to be listed over next few days,

Ailsa xx

Etsy Treasury

Etsy Front Page action!

I have recently had the pleasure of joining an Etsy team, created with the aim of bringing together like minded types to promote and help each other out on Etsy. Anyway, one of our Treasuries (Etsy members own curated list of lovely things!) was on the front page of Etsy today and I was featured! Hooray!

One of my goals for the new year is to work on my online activity more, and with all these supportive Etsy peeps it should be made all the easier!




Love Ailsa x

Christmas Fair Fun this Saturday!

Hi

As mentioned below, I will be trading this Saturday 11th Dec at the Oakfield School Christmas Fair in Dulwich. Sounds like it will be a lovely Christmassy day, so do come along if you get the chance!

Ailsa x

Collectormania madness

With all the excitment of the snow, I realised I hadnt put some pics from the Collectormania event last weekend on here. It was fun as ever, but seemed a little quieter than some of the similar events I have been to. I was excited though as Mercedes McNab from Buffy & Angel was there - I love love loved those shows!

Had some lovely customers as usual and saw some excellent costumes - the Star Wars fans were out in force! (no pun intended..) As you will see from the pictures, I decided to dress up a little too and was sporting a very long pink wig - if you cant beat them, join them!

Stay warm people,

Love Ailsa x

Snow is falling....

Well, I looked out of the window this morning, and this is what I saw! Lots of snow - so luckily I have no good reason to needto leave my house. I love the snow, but hate being cold, so hope it will clear up soon.

I have been working on editing photos and facebook / Twitter etc today as they have been a little neglected by me lately. Need to get them sorted as I have quite a few events coming up that will be needing my attention:

9th - 16th Dec, daily from midday until 11pm - Christmas Exhibition / Fair at the Tank Gallery in Ladywell, London SE13.

Sat 11th Dec, 12 - 4pm - Oakfield Prep School Traditional Christmas Fair, 125 Thurlow Park Road, Dulwich se21.

Sat 11th Dec, 10pm - 2am - Festival Of Sins Alternative Club night, featuring performance from Steampunk band "The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing". I will be trading with the other alternative stalls in the band performance room http://www.festivalofsins.co.uk/

Tues 14th Dec, 5 - 10pm - Farnham Maltings Christmas Market, Farnham, Surrey. An evening of gorgeous Christmas shopping, mulled wine, and mince pies!
http://www.farnhammaltings.co.uk/news/festivals/490/447/145/christmas_market.aspx

Also, every Sunday, 10am - 5pm I will be at my regular stall in Backyard Market, Brick Lane, London E1. http://www.backyardmarket.co.uk/cgi-bin/web/index.pl

So as you can see, December is shaping up to be quite busy - especially the weekend of 11th / 12th when I seem to have something on for 48 hours solid!

I'm off to snuggle under a blanket, so bye for now,

Ailsa

Welcome back me!

So, I realise I am probably the worlds worst blogger - I have been away from the blog page for ages, with no good excuse other than I have been v.busy and am not great at getting my thoughts down online!

Anyway, I am trying so hard to get my "online presence" increased, (actually have my own website now!!) so here I am, back again dear readers.

It has been a busy few months - trading at Steampunk and Gothic events, as well as the mighty MCM Expo in London. The business has been going well and growing slowly but surely - I am so much happier doing this for a living rather than trotting off the the office every day! Being you own boss is hard, but so rewarding - expecially when you look back at what you have achieved. I have only been trading since Feb this year, and have learnt so much along the way - cant waitto get on and do more.

As I said, I now have my own website, as well as the Etsy and Folksy shops. It is fairly new, and I am in the process of getting stock uploaded, but you can buy through this site now so please take a look!

http://www.coucouheart.co.uk/

Thanks to all the amazing people I have met recently who have helped me along and supported me in my business - its been more like fun than work!

Bye Bye for now,

Ailsa xx

Upcoming Events

Hi,

Am busy making lots of stock for my upcoming events that I will be trading at:

Dark Mills Festival - gothic and alternative culture at Merton Abbey Mills in South London. This is on weekend of 4th & 5th September and I will be there both days.

http://www.darkmillsfestival.com/

Steampunk Asylum - fantastic steampunk weekend in the city of Lincoln. I will be trading in the Bazaar Eclectica, which will be in the old Victorian prison at the castle! Weekend of 11th & 12th September.

http://steampunk.synthasite.com/

Lots of new stock listed in my Etsy shop too - this is one of my new pieces:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/54118501/silver-steampunk-pocket-watch-and-key

Hope to see you at one of the weekends,

Love Ailsa xx

Time is flying!!!

Steampunk Sizzler event is 2 days away and my outfit is nowhere near finished - aarrghhhhhh!!!

Have just spent ages listing new items in Etsy shop and still only have 31 items listed - boooo!!!!

Have now got to go and do some cleaning as house is v.messy - NOOOOO!!!!

Anyway, I am sure normal service will be resumed soon,

Bye bye for now lovely blog readers,

Ailsa xx

Vintage finds.

Got some lovely vintage "treasures" which I will be selling at the Steampunk Sizzler event on Sat 31st July in Bethnal Green http://steampunksizzler.eventbrite.com/. Managed to source some amazing old binoculars, more glass valves (excellent for adding to your raygun!!) and one of those cool old cameras that concertinas out (you know what I mean..!).

Also have some parasols, which are made of wood and paper, but are surprisingly robust. Hopefully all those Steampunky ladies out there will find these useful! This pic is of some of the similar bits I had for sale at last weeks Comic Con - new items will be photographed and up soon!

Love Ailsa

London Film and Comic Con last weekend

LFCC last weekend was excellent - I met some really lovely people, and made some good sales! There were lots of Steampunks there, who I will hopefully meet up with again at the Asylum event in September (http://steampunk.synthasite.com/) and also got to meet Robert Rankin! In addition to the Steamy set, there were lots of Cosplayers - some interesting pictures below!!!




Robert Rankin and some Scary Girls!!!


Cosplayer + Doll!


SH Creations gorgeous hats. Dragon Dreads corsets
http://www.shcreations.co.uk/ http://www.dragondreads.co.uk/

All in all, a great weekend. Now, I will be knuckling down and getting some stock listed on Etsy - a few new pieces have been listed today, so please take a look! http://www.etsy.com/shop/coucouheart

Bye for now,

Ailsa