making the most of the sunshine

The view from my office window is definitely a roof top view! It all looks a little grey but it is very quiet, with all sorts of birds flying around and bathing in the rooftop puddles, and it's nice to have outside space...even if it is mostly used to walk to and from the Big Bin in the alley!!John decided that today was the day to re-use this old window box & planter that had been on the roof since I got here (we assume it was left by the previous occupiers, the only plants within were weeds) We kept one original grass/weed because the flowers are pretty and we chose some little flowering plants from the local green grocer to provide some colour, once the flowers all come out. it's nice to have some greenery to look at and look after ... the nosey seagulls made me laugh...they came to have a little look, but there's nothing for them to eat so they soon got bored!!

Fabric Delivery

I have been waiting AGES for this delivery...but it was definitely worth waiting for!! I think the parcelforce man must think me quite mad...I was so excited when he bought this little lot !!!paper-and-string now sells fabric! I've ordered bolts of gloriously bright fabrics, in all sorts of colours and patterns, all the kinds of fabrics that I love to use myself
they have already been added to the shop (excitement makes me work fast!!) they are all sold by the Fat Quarter and are all just £3.25 ... ooooh my scissors are itching to get chopping!!
quick link :: for fabric click here

butterflies & bunting

this entire weekend has flown by in a sewing frenzy!! I got a little behind in sewing for the new John Lewis Displays (remember I did a display of Woodland Friends late last year?) and at the start of the weekend I still had 24 butterflies to sew and all the bunting to construct AAAAHHHH! I finally stitched the last butterfly about 7pm yesterday and then the bunting construction began...measuring and checking and then sewing all the felt creatures onto wide ribbon....eight times over!! Despite nearly running out of time and having a slight panic along the way it was fun to make so many of them...and this time round they will be displayed in two John Lewis shops, twice the work but oh so worth it~!!
In total there are 8 rows of bunting :: 12 bumble bees :: 24 butterflies :: 44 cupcakes

crazy about buttons

it's true I am crazy about buttons. There are 3 new selections of buttons that I simply must show you...they've been here for a few weeks now, patiently waiting for the Website to be finished and so they could get their moment on the blog!Polka Dot buttons now come in extra small too, all 5 sizes come in the same range of colours as all my other polka dot buttons and as usual they are all available individually.
I've added a range of Bumper Bags of Buttons...each bag has a huge 250g of buttons in it AND there are 7 colour mixes to choose from..all for just £6.50 a bag!!
I've also introduced a Pick & Mix section...there are tonnes of buttons, in loads of colours and you get to create your very own button selection...how great is that?!
Quick Links:
Bumper Button Bags are Here
Polka Dot Buttons are Here
Fantastic Pick & Mix Buttons are Here
or click Here to see every single button!!

drum roll please!

Hurrah! I did it! My NEW WEBSITE is finished and is finally LIVE !!!
It seems to have taken forever to get everything on there, but once I did I realised why ~ I have hundreds & hundreds of products!!
I've added lots of new items in the New Items section AND to say Thank you for you all bearing with me whilst I worked on it there's a special offer too!
on the checkout page just add
blogreader
to the discount code box* and all orders will receive 10% off AND as if that's not good enough, the first 10 orders of £10 or more (before p&p) will receive a Free Bag of Ribbon with 10m of different ribbons in it!
phew!
*one discount per customer, offer closes at the very end of Thursday 22nd March 2012 (11.59pm uk time)
website link :: www.paper-and-string.co.uk

aaarghhh

I have been patiently waiting for 24 hours to pass and the websites to switch from old to new, and after 19 hours I thought I'd phone and see if I couldn't hurry it along a little....but I was then told that no one had done whatever it is they should have done yesterday to put the wheels in motion!!
So the new guy on the phone did the magic button pressing and ta-dah!
now I have NO WEBSITE AT ALL!!!!!I am on the case and WILL have a website asap...but I don't know which one!!!
****edited to add****
it now seems like some people (like magical Sue!) can see the new website, but that for others it's not there (I can't see it!!) the gurus are working on it and hopefully it'll be sorted soon!!

the waiting game

my new website is complete...and now I am waiting and waiting for the providers to switch from the old one to the new one, apparently it can take up to 24 hours !!
I'll be back with another post once the new site is visible :-)

cupcakes & more cupcakes!

22 more cupcakes are finished!so far the tally made is 12 bumble bees & 33 cupcakes...another 11 cupcakes and lots of butterflies still to do :-)

stitching

this week has flown by...I've so many projects on the go, plus working on orders and general business things that time is really scooting by too quickly!
Today I finished off these boxes and this morning, whilst still in pyjamas, I finished off these cupcakes!
This weekend I'm working on the website...I'll be so excited when I get it finished...it's nearly there & I'm pencilling in next Wednesday* as launch day!
*and now it's written in black & white it might actually happen on time!!

Homework

I left the workshop a little early yesterday because I had a lot of homework to do!Stationery to fold & cutRibbons and ric rac to cut to size (for kit making)
and the finishing touches put to 12 bumble bees, which are the first part of a new display destined for John Lewis, with lots more parts still to sew!!

Monday Fun

Lots of new items are lining up & patiently waiting in turn to have their photographs taken and vital statistics added to the website...all the existing stock is on the new website and I am now in the midst of adding everything new....it's so exciting!!

such pretty colours

400 bright & cheerful zips made it on to the website today...I'm in a website limbo...the new one is not ready and the current one is fast emptying, so today I decided to spend some time filling the current website up with stock that has arrived and hopefully by the time it needs re-filling the new one will be ready!

zips can be found here

the teeny tiny's are back!

I've had a lot of enquiries asking when these cute buttons would be back in stock and the answer is: Now! I've just updated the website and have spent the afternoon counting and bagging... as usual there are single colour bags of 25 or a big mixed bag of 100, all of which can be found here

website progress...

2 weekends = 30 hours of computer work = the new website is taking shape (but is still not ready)I'm working as hard & fast as I can because there's a lot of new things be delivered which can't be launched until the new website is ready...including all those boxes full of buttons up there on the table!!!

and the winner is....

fast freebies are fun!The random number gadget has picked #65 which is......Sarah (it's not me, it's another crafty Sarah!)whose blog is called Homemade with Hugs
Congratulations Sarah, I'll email you in a mo....and thank you to everyone who joined in...I may have to add a few more random fast freebies into the mix, I enjoyed this one!

Freebie Day :: MARCH 2012 :: the polka dot freebie....CLOSED

because February's freebie was a bit late it means this freebie has come around really quickly!! So this time we're going to have a super-quick freebie...something a teeny bit different than normal!So what are the rules??? Rules: freebie opens at 2pm Thursday 1st March 2012 and closes TOMORROW at 2pm...so you only have 24 hours to enter! How to enter: leave one comment and one comment only on this very blog post Prize: One winner will win a parcel full of polka dot goodness...a handmade polka dot cupcake key ring, 10 extra large polka dot buttons AND 3 reels of polka dot ribbons. As always I will post the prize worldwide.

Good Luck!! Quick Quick time is running out......THIS FREEBIE HAS CLOSED at comment 157.