stocks

Lots more felt ::

and brooch bars ::

such pretty colours ::

yesterday

I changed this messy packing area ::

into a tidier packing area

complete with new lighting and artwork :-)

I put my new display bowls to good use ::

chopped and stuck felt for a long time ::

and felt very Christmas-y when wrapping so many parcels/orders!

a workshop day

I love workshop days.
I go to the workshop every day to pick and pack orders, but it's always a race against time to get them done and get to the Post Office before it shuts so a whole day there seems like such a treat!

Today's to-do list is quite large ::
I've already ordered findings and felt this morning, and today I plan to :: make swatch cards, pack some kits, make up more ribbon boxes, put my Ikea purchases in place, cut out my next wholesale order, stock take and check my website...and of course the daily trip to my lovely post office ... and this evening I can get started on stuffing all the cuties that have been in-the-making for the past 10 days!

stitch stitch stitch

every spare moment has been filled with stitching, and I am almost at the stuffing stage!

20 Fir Trees

25 reindeer ::

20 penguins ::

20 Russian Dolls ::

....with the last few pieces to add tonight...

most are for an order, but the rest will be helping to fill up my shop soon!

i love planning

my sister, niece and I are off to Ikea on Sunday.

I have spent a good long while browsing the website, adding items to the shopping list and being inspired ... thinking & planning ... and re-arranging parts of my workshop.

I'm not planning on spending much, but a few lovely items could make all the difference...

rainbows

I got up bright and early this morning (a day off the day-job today) and started the day with a spot of shoping for my neice's birthday present.

then I was off to the workshop where I packed some orders and pottered for a while, until my friend Becky and her little baby came to visit...she bought cupcakes and I made tea & coffee :-)

then I had another visitor (hi jackie *wave*) who came to do a spot of shopping because she discovered I was just down the road from where she works....

in between chatting and coffee I made some mini rainbows and decided to tie them together with ribbon rather than wrap them in tissue, because workshop shoppers didn't know what all the tissue wrapped bundles were!!

and now?

now it's time for handsewing :-)

scallops

cutting out felt scallops is very hard.

and I cut out 200 of them!

but seeing them all sewn into position is more than worth it!

I think I may have to add felt scallops to more things.....

...but first I need to join these happy faces with their fir tree bodies!!

my favourite corner

I got up bright and early this morning and headed straight for my workshop, after picking & packing orders I made up some more kits and then decided to have a little move around and tidy up.

my felt shelves are lovely and full and I now have a ribbon table!

The table was 'going spare' because it used to have my domestic machine on, but since introducing my industrial sewing machine the table didn't know what to do with itself..

I've recycled a large cardboard box and pieces of card from work to separate and label the ribbons, it's not very pretty but it works really well!

my other shelves are looking nice and full too...it definitely is my favourite corner!

leftovers

you know tennis elbow? well, I have scissor arm!

I've been cutting and chopping so much felt, enough to keep me sewing for a few weeks at least!

I've a busy weekend planned...kits parts to print and then pack them up, swatch cards to make, parcels to pack & shops to fill....and I've got a lot of felt bits to sew too!

what a lovely sight

there's nothing more satisfying than finishing a project...for ages it feels as though I'm not getting anywhere

but then finally it all comes together and I find myself with a pile of cuties all waiting to be parcelled up and sent to their new home.

There's always a little magic feeling, you know...'ooohh I made them' and suddenly all the feelings of not getting anywhere seem easier and poof! I've managed to turn a pile of felt squares into these!

When I seal the parcel I find myself saying goodbye to them, and wishing them a safe journey!

an armchair evening

tonight I plan to spend the evening on the armchair sewing these 12 penguins and 12 reindeer together. I shall be accompanied by a make-your-own pizza, and maybe a glass of wine (but only one, otherwise i'll stab my finger with the needle too much!!)

I hope you all have lovely evenings too.

introducing....

...my new sewing machine ...

...he's fairly old and has been well used but I think he's fabulous...

he even does reverse stitch AND he has a knee operated foot!

hurrah for eBay bargains!

Today was my first day using him so I turned some of this ::

into one of these ::

it took a while to get used to such a fast machine again, but he flew through all the layers like a dream!

He also didn't mind when I talked to him, which I did a lot. I always talk to my sewing machine*...is that weird**?

*unfortunately my domestic sewing machine used to hear lots of bad words but so far this one has only heard good ones ;-P

** just in case you do think it is weird I won't tell you I named him and that he's called Sidney..haha!

3 exciting pieces of news!

1.

all of my gorgeous new ribbons have been listed on the website...there are over 150 designs to choose from (spread over 3 pages!)....and anyone who orders 25m of ribbon will receive them in a gorgeous gift box!

gift boxes come in Candy Stripe or Polka Dot...if you have a preference just let me know!

2.

much sought-after mini brads are now available...black for eyes, pink for cheeks

3.

I've added a Special Delivery add-on for UK customers...Special Delivery parcels are still delivered even if there's a strike so if you're worried you can use this special service(I've kept the price as low as I can), parcels are still arriving using 1st class post but this way it means that customers will have a choice :-)

more time please

...trying to list all my new items on my website and completely running out of time....

...about half the ribbon is listed but there's still more to come!

sewing & unpacking

I had a flurry of etsy orders to make last week and they are all now ready to be posted::

24 cupcakes ::

12 owls ::

12 reindeer ::

The UPS man did come and visit me yesterday, do you want some sneaky peeks? ::

ribbon close up::

hhhmmm the bottom of some boxes.....

...more photos tomorrow :-)

playing catch-up

(flowers made for a Bulk order, posted early last week)

The past week has flown by in a blur of paracetamols, tissues, little naps and time off work...my cold is still with me but I feel 20x better than I did!

(huge felt delivery)

It was my birthday on Saturday and I felt so much more normal and was able to have a fantastic evening, we went for Thai food and it was just lovely :-)

(felt delivery :: counted & checked off, waiting to be put away...it stayed like that for 4 days!)

The postman was busy this week...I received lots of deliveries, purple packing bags, brooch bars & jingle bells, printer ink, and (most excitingly) a HUGE felt delivery :-)

(making mini rainbows)

Late the previous week I placed a scarily-massive order for ribbons and UPS have telephoned and *hopefully* it will be delivered today....

(a few mini rainbows completed)
...I've also re-jigged my website and made a Christmas section, it's not full up yet but it will be soon, especially because I have a new (to me) sewing machine to help me!!