Quote of the week: Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hope that you all have a wonderful week

The Dorothy Days Xx

Style Saturday: Autumn is here

Hello everyone,

Time to drag out the winter wardrobe or hit the shops to revamp your wardrobe with some new items. I thought I would share with you all some autumn wardrobe inspiration...

This outfit combines autumnal colours of brown with a glittering gold peter pan collar and gorgeous yellow top and shoes which remind me of the autumn leaves.

What do you think?

The Dorothy Days X

Man's Best Friend - 3 dog themed items I love this week from Etsy

Hello everyone,

This week I thought I would share with you all three items I love for man's best friend! These are all handmade by sellers on the online marketplace Etsy. This is the website in which I have my own shop, The Dorothy Days and it is filled with sellers selling beautiful handmade and vintage items

Your dog would be the coolest dog on the block with this collar from London designers Amy and Bee who run Hiro and Wolf. In fact, your dog would be the coolest dog on the block with any of Hiro and Wolf's dog collars and leads!

Morgan from The Pup Loft in North Dakota sells these handmade dog cushion covers. She says 'no need to throw away perfectly good pillows. Reuse your current pillows and give your pets a stylist renovation!' 

Completely collapsible dog bowl for when you are out and about or travelling by Stickdog. The bowl is waterproof and machine washable. It is also made from organic cotton, printed with water based inks and lined with recycled raincoats.  

I hope you liked this blog post, I had a lot of fun researching for it and it makes me really want to get another dog!

Are you a dog owner? Would love to hear from you in the comment section below what breed of dog you have and what his or her name is!

Thanks for reading
Best wishes

The Dorothy Days 

My beautiful new vintage leather rucksack

Hello everyone,

How are you all? Hope you are having a great week so far. Today I wanted to share with you my new rucksack as I am rather in love with it and it is beautiful! I have been looking for a bag for a while and really wanted a rucksack especially a leather rucksack. This vintage one fitted the bill perfectly! I can't wait to start using it and it will be perfect for my trips to the art galleries!

The Dorothy Days X

Quote of the Week: Christopher Columbus

Hope you enjoyed my quote of the week. I post a new quote every Monday on my blog.

The Dorothy Days X

Dorset Team Christmas Craft Fair - Wimborne Minster - 6th December 2014

Hey everyone,

Some super exciting news, we are putting on another Dorset Team fair and I will be organising as well as selling at the event. The fair will be the largest fair we have put on as a team and we are lucky enough to be receiving support from Etsy with the fair which is HUGE for us especially as only 17 teams in Europe have been given this extra support!

There is going to be around 80 stalls selling locally made product as well as some vintage stalls and some stalls selling food and craft supplies. It is going to be a really lovely Christmas shopping day out.

Please, if you are local, come along to the fair and say hello! So far have booked some amazing stalls (you can see some examples in the photo collage above).  We have a real variety of stalls selling different items so will make great gifts for all.

I will be posting some more posts about the fair soon but, for now, please see our event page on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/1433547900231175/ and our EventBrite page http://www.eventbrite.com/e/dorset-team-christmas-fair-tickets-12869329511

If you are interested in a stall please message me via my shop on Etsy (The Dorothy Days), tweet me or leave me a comment here with your email address (all comments hidden so this will not be published to my blog)

Hope to see some of you there!

The Dorothy Days Xx

Style Saturday - Nude and Grey

List of Twitter Hours for Crafters, Creatives and Etsy sellers

Hello everyone,

To celebrate reaching my 5000th follower I thought I would write a post about Twitter hours. Lots of people contact me who craft and ask what is the best way of getting your products 'out there' on Twitter and known about. I think the very best way, as with all social media outlets, is to build a relationship with those you tweet, post interesting things, interact with others and post about a variety of things such as what you are making in your shop, interesting articles which relate to what you do (for example London Fashion Week if you make clothes) and some personal posts too to what you are up to so that your followers can get to know a little bit more about the seller behind the products.

Twitter hours are also a fantastic way of reaching a wider audience and I regularly participate in different 'Tweet Hours'. The idea is that at a certain time people use the same hashtag and tweet about their shop and their products and retweet and interact with others who tweet about their products resulting in everyone reaching a much wider range of people. I is a fantastic way of cross promoting as if I have lots of followers based in Dorset and I am retweeted by someone who lots of followers in London I will then get see by their followers. The tweet hours are usually themed and there is a tweet hour for nearly everything but this list is what I have put together for crafters and Etsy sellers. Participating in these 'tweet hours' will put you in touch with people with similar interests which mean when you are retweeted their followers are likely to also be followers in your target market. It would be almost pointless tweeting to a tweet hour which does not apply to your shop.

Here is a list which I have put together of relevant Tweet Hours, please feel free to share this blog post with others by please do not copy my list without linking me as I have worked hard to put this list together for you all. The times are GMT /BST times. I have excluded tweet hours which I have found to be inactive or not very active.

**I will keep updating this post and adding in more tweet hours**

To participate use the hashtag in your tweet and then interact and retweet others who are using the tweet.
For example you could put: "What do you all think of my new painting LINK #handmadehour"

Tip: Adding a photograph to the tweet is likely to get you more retweets.

Monday

6pm-7pm

#wineoclock #womaninbiz - Use both hashtags in your tweets. This is a general networking hour for women in business.

7.30 - 8.30pm

#CreativeHour - Run by the Clearly Crafty Community 

#FBLikeHour A networking hour for promoting your Facebook page, a useful way to get more followers. You are expected to follow everyone else on Facebook too.

8pm-9pm

#creativebizhour For creative businesses 

8-9pm 

#vintagewedhour For vintage sellers, wedding sellers and brides looking for vintage items for their wedding tag.

#HorseHour

8.30pm - 9.30pm 

#buyonlinehour For business who sell online including craft businesses and Etsy shops.

#Ecocreatehour -For lovers and creators of eco friend art and craft items.

9pm - 10pm 

#FempreneurHour - For female entrepreneurs

#britishbizparty
#UKlatehour - On every week day night, for U.K businesses 

10pm - 11pm

#EpicOnEtsy - For Etsy Sellers

Tuesday

All Day

#talkT

5pm - 6pm 

#EpiconEtsy For Etsy Sellers

6pm-7pm

#wineoclock #womaninbiz (use both hashtags in your tweets, this is for women in business)

7-8pm

#TeaHour - For tea related businesses!
#GeekHour

8pm - 9pm

#FBLikeHour A networking hour for promoting your Facebook page, a useful way to get more followers. You are expected to follow everyone else on Facebook too. - There is some debate over if this is now on Monday or not.

#WeddingPlanningHour - For people planning weddings but also for suppliers of wedding items

#PhotographersHour 

#UpcycledHour

#EarlyYearsHour - Sellers of baby, toddler and preschool products and also Early Years bloggers. 

9pm - 10pm 

#Smallbizhour - Tuesday 9-10pm #smallbizhour
#UKlatehour - On every week day night, for U.K businesses 

Wednesday

6pm-7pm

#wineoclock #womaninbiz Use both hashtags in your tweets. This is a general networking hour for women in business.

7.30pm - 9.30pm

(not just 1 hour) #handmadehour - This is one of the biggest tweet hours to take part in if you make handmade items. 

8pm - 9pm

#OrganicHour 

#WebHitsHour - Great way to get more people to view your website, blog, Etsy shop etc

#WoofWoofWednesday - Pet networking hour - If you have pet (particularly dog) related items

#Yagym - Twitter hour for individuals, businesses, crafters who speak welsh. All tweets must be in Welsh

#ArtistHour - Chat to other artists and share work

#Remadehour - For makers of upcycled products

8.30 - 9.30pm

#WedHour - For wedding chat. Perfect for brides and grooms but also for wedding suppliers to share their wares

9pm - 10pm 

#weddinghour - Not just for handmade products and also for brides talking about their weddings but a great place to also let people know about your handmade wedding product

#UKlatehour - On every week day night, for U.K businesses 

12pm - 1am 

#handmadehourUSA The United States version of Handmadehour run by the same people. Perfect for those in the states or if you are a night owl!

All Day

#EpicofEtsy - For Etsy Sellers

#WeddingWednesday - For all things wedding related!

Thursday

9am - 9pm

#QueenOf - General networking hour for women

6pm-7pm

#womaninbiz #wineoclock Use both hashtags in your tweets. This is a general networking hour for women in business.

7pm-8pm 

#ladiescoffeehour

#CraftHappyHour 

#vegancrafthour

8pm-9pm

#JustaCard - New Twitter Hour as part of the "Just a Card" campaign. Open to all makers. Chat as well as sharing and promoting products.

#makedoandmendhour 

#vintagefamilyhour

#makehour 

#bridehour #bridebible - Use both hashtags in your tweets. This is for brides who are looking for items for their wedding days and also for wedding vendors to promote their venues, wedding photographs and makeup artists etc as well as craft and vintage shops who sell bridal items

#EtsyUKsellers  - For Etsy sellers in the U.K

8.30 - 9.30pm

 #Twittersisters For female business owners to network with one another

9-10pm 

#MumpreneaurHour - For entrepreneurs who are also mothers 

#UKlatehour - On every week day night, for U.K businesses

11pm - 12am

#EpiconEtsy - For Etsy Sellers

Friday

12.30 - 1.00pm

#HHLunch

6-7pm 

#wineoclock #womaninbiz Use both hashtags in your tweets. This is a general networking hour for women in business.

8pm - 9pm

#Retailhourtime
#UnsignedHour - For unsigned artists

9-10pm

#babyshoweridea 

#UKlatehour - On every week day night, for U.K businesses 

10pm - 11pm 

#EpiconEtsy - For Etsy Sellers

#DogHour - Might be useful if you sell dog related products

Saturday

5-9pm 

#EpiconEtsy - For Etsy Sellers

Sunday

5pm - 7:30pm

#SBS - One tweet only to Theo Paphitis who will then choose 6 of his favourite to feature. Tweet what your business is about to @TheoPaphitis

7pm-8pm

#ladiescoffeehour

#crafthour For all things craft! Perfect place to share your work

#womaninbizhour Similar to #womaninbiz but at the later time of 7-8pm. This runs at the same time as Craft Hour and if you are selling craft items they encourage you to use both #crafthour and #womaninbizhour in your tweets.

8pm-9pm

#babyhour 
#handmadehour
#EquineHour - Useful if you sell equine related products

8pm-11pm 

#EpicOnEtsy-  For Etsy Sellers

Any time

#GirlsWhoCanHour - Weeknights 7-8pm apart from Thursdays

#promotingwomen

#FPSBS - Use this hashtag in your tweets and you will be retweeted by @TeamFreddiePig who has a large following

Tweet Hours for Bloggers
Tweet hours for those of you that blog. If you run a creative business this is also a great place to find out about blogs which you might be able to do collaborations with or who might be happy to feature you.

Beauty Bloggers - Wednesday and Sundays 8-9pm #BBloggers
Blog (General) - Tuesday 9-10pm #BlogHour
Blog (General) - Monday 8-9pm #LoveYourBlog 
Blog (General) - Monday 7-8pm and Friday 8-9pm #BloggersDoItBetter
Blog Photos - Thursday 9-10pm #BlogPhotoChat - Chatting about blog photography
Book Bloggers - Tuesday 7-8pm #BookBloggers
Cruelty Free Bloggers - Thursday 9-10pm #CFBloggers (Please note this is a No- PR bloggers network)
Fashion Bloggers - Mondays and Thursdays - 8-9pm #FBloggers
Food Bloggers - Thurday 8-9pm #FdBloggers
Lifestyle Bloggers - Wednesday and Sundays 7-8pm #LBloggers
Mummy Bloggers - Friday 8-9pm #MBlogChat
Parent Bloggers - Sunday 9-10pm #PBloggers
Teen Bloggers - Thursday 9-10pm and Saturday 8-9pm #TBloggers
Vloggers - Thursday 8-9pm (Video Bloggers) #VloggersChat

Regional Tweet Hours

Andover - Wednesday 7.30 - 8..30 #AndoverHour

Basingstoke - Thursday 3-4pm #BasingstokeHour

Bath - Tuesday 9-10pm #Bathhour

Bexley - Thursday 4-5pm #BexleyHour

Blackburn - Monday 8-9pm #BlackburnHour

Bournemouth Monday 8.30pm - 9.30pm #bournemouthhour

Bradford - Thursday 8-9pm #BradfordHour

Brighton  Monday at 8.30pm - 9.30pm #BrightonHour

Cardiff - Wedneday 8-9pm #CardiffHour

Cheshire Monday 8-9pm #CheshireHour

Cornwall - Wednesday 8pm - 9pm #CornwallHour

Cumbria - Monday 7pm - 8pm #CumbriaHour
Derry - Tuesday 9 - 11pm #DerryHour also Monday 8-9pm #DerryBizHour

Devon - Wednesday 8pm - 9pm #DevonHour
Doncaster - Tuesday 8-9pm #DoncasterHour 

Dorset - Monday 7.30pm - 8.30pm #dorsethour

England - Sunday 9pm - 10pm #Englandhour

Exeter - Thursday 8-9pm #ExeterHour

Forest of Dean - Wednesday 8.30 - 10pm #ForestofDeanHr

Glasgow - Tuesday 7-8pm #GlasgowHour

Halifax - Thursday 8-9pm #HalifaxHour

Hampshire - Tuesday 8pm - 9pm #HampshireHour

Harrogate - Monday 8-9pm #HarrogateHour

Herford - Monday 1pm - 2pm  #HerefordHour

Huddersfield - Thursday 8-9pm #HuddersfieldHour
Ireland -Wednesday 9-10.30pm  #IrishBizParty

Isle of Wight - Monday 8.30 - 9.pm and Wednesday and Friday 11am - 12 #WightHour

J

Kent - Tuesday 8-9.30pm #KentHour

Leeds - Thursday 8-9pm #LeedsHour

London - Thursday 8-9pm #LondonHour
Louth - Tuesday 8.-9pm #LouthChat 

Manchester - Thursday 8pm - 9pm #ManchesterHour

Nottingham - Thursday 8-9pm #RobinHoodHour

Oxfordshire - Wendesday 7-8pm #Oxfordshirehour

Powys - Monday 8-9pm #PowysHour
Preston - Monday 8-9pm #PrestonHour

Q

Rugby - Thursday 8.30 - 9.30 #RugbyHour
St Helens - Monday 8pm - 9pm #StHelensHour

Stockport - Monday 8pm - 9pm #stockporthour

Sussex - Thursday 8.30 - 9.30pm #sussexhour

Tyrone - Monday 9-11pm #TyroneHour

U
Wales - Sunday 8-9pm #WalesHour

Wiltshire - Tuesday 8.30 - 9.30pm #WiltshireHour

Worcestershire - Monday 8-9pm #WorcestershireHour

X

York - Thursday 12noon - 1pm #YorkHour
Yorkshire - Wednesday 8-9pm #YorkshireHour

Z

Anyone know of any others? Please post in the comment section below!

If you found this useful please share with others be that you local Etsy team, your twitter followers etc.

Hope this helps!
The Dorothy Days X 
https://twitter.com/thedorothydays

Quote of the Week: Sue Kreitzman

Style Saturday - DIY Side Crocheted T-Shirt

Hi everyone,

Happy Saturday, hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. Last week I shared with you all a DIY tutorial on how to make your own knot crop top so this week I thought I would share with you all another DIY tutorial to make a really cute side crocheted T-Shirt. This one takes a bit more skill and sewing but is still an easy make and is a great way to revamp a much loved old t-shirt into something fresh.

Hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for reading my blog

The Dorothy Days Xx

5 Wedding Items I love this week

Hello everyone,

Anyone planning for a wedding? Today I thought I would share with you all some of my favourite wedding items from Etsy. For those of you that don't know, Etsy is an online marketplace for vintage and handmade items. It is where I have my shop and is full of lots of individual shops from independent sellers.

I first wanted to share with you all this stunningly beautiful veil by January Rose Bridal. The veil has been hand sewn and has a delicate lace edge which has been made in the United Kingdom.

These wooden wedding table numbers have been handmade by Tom and Biba in Croatia.

How amazing would it be to have photographs with your wedding guests around these giant tissue paper Pom Poms?! They come in a huge variety of colours and three different sizes.

Elegant bridal hair comb made with freshwater pearls . This hair comb is the epitome of understated elegance and can be gently moulded to fit with your bridal hair.

I love this personalised monogram wedding cake topper and I love the cake they used in the photo too!

Hope you enjoyed this blog post

The Dorothy Days Xx

Quote of the Week - Dita Von Teese

DIY - Knot Crop Top

Hello everyone,

I know that lots of my blog readers are creative and crafty type of people so I thought I would share a DIY tutorial with you all today. I really like this DIY idea as it is simple, quick to make, cheap and doesn't need any materials or tools apart from a pair of scissors and an old tank top!

How to make a knot crop-top ....

I also think the top looks really cute when it is just tasselled or when it just has some of the first few knots rather than knots all the way down. You could also experiment with dip dying it in a coloured dye for an ombre effect or bleaching it on the fringe.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial, let me know in the comments below if you do attempt to make this, I would love to hear all about it or tweet me

The Dorothy Days X

Item of the week: Enamel apple charm necklace by The Dorothy Days

Hello everyone,

Well I know lots of you are heading back to school or university very soon so I thought I would share with you all my item of the week which is my 'back to school' apple necklace. The necklace will come gift wrapped in a beautiful organza gift bag so would make a lovely 'good luck' necklace for someone who is starting university. It could even be sent to their new university address as a surprise for when they arrive! Or, if you know someone who has recently done really well with their GCSE or A Level exams it could be a great congratulations gift!

To view my 'back to school' apple necklace in my shop please click HERE!

Thanks for reading my blog.

The Dorothy Days Xx

Quote of the Week - Bob Dylan

Hello everyone,

Pinch punch first of the month!! I hope that September is a wonderful month for you all. August seemed to fly by so quickly. 

My quote of the week this week is by Bob Dylan and I thought it was rather fitting for when things get tough and you are not feeling your best.