On the Solar Eclipse we launched the Gilded Strumpet Collection. Gilded pieces in gold filled and gold plate–from vintage one of a kind earrings and necklaces to delicate gold moons paired with semi-precious stones, you are sure to find something here to warm you!
At a Feminist Circle full of posh academics I was asked what I do. “I have a handmade business,” I said. I was proud of my wee Etsy shop, called Feral Strumpet. I earned me more peddling jewellery on the internet than at University lecture gigs in the USA. I had a better quality of life than when I was working the soul-deadening job I had in London processing expense reports for an investment bank in the City. My handmade business meant freedom and autonomy, but this academic with a Mulberry handbag dismissed it as “Victorian Piecework.”
What did she know? I was a self-taught metalsmith with a room in my house devoted to my workshop, yet I was also a joke, my vocation an airhead’s ambition. And yet, I had enough business acumen to support myself for over a decade, allowing my husband to quit his job and join me.
A lot can happen in fourteen years—that’s how long I have had an Etsy shop. I opened the shop after being unemployed for six years—my visa status allowed me to work, but it was difficult to convince a potential British employer of this. I was too educated, too foreign, too sick to work a regular job in the UK. Eventually my CV looked like something a stranded time traveller might put together.
I had a box of broken vintage jewellery, beads and findings and a table in a rented house. I decided I would make jewellery and peddle it on Etsy. This went so well it sustained me, three cats and a man for over a decade. But it’s over now. I won’t bore you with the details. Etsy fees and draconian surveillance have crippled handmade businesses as the company answers to pressure from investors, and I’m just one of thousands who had to flee.
I knew I’d have to shut the Etsy shop sooner or later, but I was so attached to it, so goddamn sentimental. I thought I could outsmart the Etsy Overlords in a Saul Goodman kind of way. For years, I did—bouncing back after many challenges: the algorithm stranglehold on social media, the loss of my European customers after Brexit (a third of my customer base, gone.) The suppliers I worked with for a decade—independent, ethical and small—went out of business. My chronic pain reached critical mass so I paced the work out and taught my partner to make some of the designs. There was the Royal Mail cyber attack and the pandemic, and still I bounced back. Yet now the only way to survive on Etsy is to churn out repeatable designs at low cost or become a reseller of mass produced goods. This is the business model Etsy rewards.
As a disabled person I rely entirely on the gig economy—making jewellery, teaching online workshops writing on Substack, and selling a next book if I can. All require constant promotion and rejection cycles, the antithesis of creative joy.
Fourteen years ago, before the online marketplace went public, Etsy was different. My very first sale on Etsy was an pair of Edwardian filigree chandelier earrings I’d refurbished, sold to a dear friend of mine from High School. I’ve sold pieces to strangers whose names I recognised and whose work I have loved—doom metal rock stars, queer poets, feminist screenwriters and even once to Peaky Blinders’ costumer. I modelled as a pirate queen for the label of a fellow Etsy seller’s perfume. Sellers shared ideas and knowledge and my success is down to the shared grit and resilience of the community of artists on Etsy in those early days.
I’m lucky though that I have had so much excitement and happiness being an Etsy seller, and this will continue on my independent shop, in new and exciting ways.
I’m lucky though that I have had so much excitement and happiness being an Etsy seller, and this will continue on my independent shop, in new and exciting ways. My independent shop remains open! I’m freed up; I’m mourning. Perhaps these two things are inseparable.
Our newest collection features of selection of some of our best-loved designs that, alas, we have to retire. They are priced enticingly. If you see something you like, snap it up! Visit our website to peruse the entire collection.
We are back on schedule for a weekly shop update after our move– I’ve forged an exciting selection of pennanular brooches, all a variation on my best selling simple brooch which has been featured in one of Staci Perry’s (Very Pink Knits) patterns.
These variations have semi-precious stone adornments– labradorite, amethyst, moss agate and carnelian. Another is in a playful snake shape and another has scrollwork that is reminiscent of a moustache!
Like all my brooches these are cold forged, pantina’ed in sulphur and then tumbled to harden and polish them. Lastly, they are hand polished to bring out the detail in the work and the warmth of the copper.
After moving to a chilly part of the world (Northern Scotland) where on midsummer I was wearing a hand-knit cardigan, I have realised that my knitting is going to become an even more important part of life. Knitting styles have a strong tradition here and I am looking forward to sharing what I learn. These designs were fuelled by the excitement of living somewhere where even the summer climate is sweater weather!
I have recently moved to Banff on the north east coast of Scotland. We live in a house that was once a free school, built in 1803, with our office and workshop upstairs and our living space downstairs with a large cottage garden out back. The coast here is wild and beautiful. Dolphins regularly migrate through this part of the North sea at this time, and the days are long– dusk coming around midnight.
I am excited to see how my work will develop here– given the space and freedom this new living situation provides, as well as the rich inspiration the sea brings– every hour the colour shifts and moods produce a kaleidoscope of colours in the interplay of sea, sky and sunlight.
I plan to continue unpacking my altar today– what are you doing on this longest day?
The most recent shop update is full of primal energy and a certain beyond the pale feeling– you can see it all in the What’s New section at Feralstrumpet.co.uk Naturally shed antlers with bronze and copper halos, alchemist hoops in sterling silver and new, quite substantial Pirate Jenny hoops in sterling silver.
Imbolc is just a few days away, and it is one of my favourite days on the Wheel of the Year. This year is comes aided by a new moon and I don’t know about you, but I can already feel the rising sap, up in my bones, as I look for the first snow drops to appear, heralding a change. Above I’ve chosen a selection of pieces that remind me of this energy– clockwise from the upper left– The Snowdrop Fairy Flower Earrings, The Mother Troll Amethyst Necklace, The Griffin Milk Earrings, The Gerd– a delicate sterling silver strand with faceted chrysoprase, the silver scent locket (what would you put inside to herald spring?) and lastly the Cosmic Hug pendant of Rose Quartz.
Tomorrow I’ll be putting together my altar, and cleaning and oiling all my tools in honour of the heathen Charming of the Plough. I’ll give thanks to Brigid, who in the form of Brigantia, was the goddess of the tribal ancestors of this area– she was also the goddess of the forge, brewing and poetry; she has guided my hand in all these things and I am eternally grateful. What do you do to celebrate Imbolc and herald the first glimmerings of spring?
We have something for everyone in your life! Do you need a little something to tell a coworker or friend you are thinking of them at Yule? The £10 Gift Section is the place to find the perfect gift.
For the Bookworms: Brilliant bookmarks and glasses chains!
Your favourite Witch: Colourful Witchballs for altars, windows or the Yule tree! Or she might fancy being well-adorned this Yule with these pieces full of femme power.
The knitter in your life: Stitchmarkers and shawl pins!
Beer Geeks will love these craft beer-inspired designs. 
Buffy Fans will slay in these pretties. 
The Gothic Goddess can shine her dark light with these decadent pieces. 
It’s that time of year again where the darkness gathers around us and we look for little signs of life and light. I’ve many lovely designs that celebrate this light-in-the-darkness! This giving season can be so fun and full of delight when you have treasures to choose from, perfect for everyone in your life! I’ve also put together some handy deadlines as a guideline for final order dates if you would like your package to arrive before Christmas. These dates are based on Royal Mail Guidelines and are a suggestion, not a guarantee. During this busy time, we recommend upgrading your shipping to included tracking, as this method is often faster than regular mail.
Did you know that there are new designs in the shop every Friday, and you can find them in one place– The What’s New Collection at Feralstrumpet.co.uk before they get snapped up by anyone else!
And just to say thanks for clicking over to check out the collection, I’m offering 15% off everything in the What’s New Collection for the rest of August– just use coupon code 8NEW16 at checkout.
Feral Strumpet 