*finally* it's tidy...

...well, as tidy as it's going to get, anyway!

This rather boring-to-look-at photo is my new, extra workshop space!

 

 I have two work benches along one wall

  

and a selection of shelves along the other

 

these shelves hold all the cut ribbons, plastic grip bags, postcards...and other bits & bobs

 

These hold boxes of cut felt, pom poms, scales & printing

and here we have the rest of the printing (stickers, instructions, patterns etc ... I have a lot!), a huge bag of fluff, and some packaging boxes.
Everything has been labelled and tidied so it's easy to find and keep tidy when kit mania is upon us!
My favourite bit?  All of it!! I love it, it's so tidy and organised...and roomy...no more storing things on the stairs for me!!

button sorting....

....for hours and hours

approx 50kgs of buttons sorted and boxed and ready for *new* kit making

It took all of yesterday afternoon and most of this morning!

 I still have some more tidying & putting away to do and then the extra space I've rented will be ready for photos! (unless I get distracted by buttons again!)

a week's worth of making

A little collage of all the handmade orders I made over the past week

•  10 boxes
•  4 owls
•  42 mini cupcakes
•  7 flower drawing pins

the kit craziness has begun!

Everyday I work on kits, sometimes for a few minutes, sometimes for hours.  Mostly it's work I can't share because the kits aren't launched yet and I don't want to spill the beans too early (even though I am busting to!)   Sometimes I'm designing and sample making, sometimes I'm drawing patterns and writing instructions, sometimes I'm finding suppliers and buying supplies, sometimes I'm working on packaging ideas and sometimes I'm planning & list making!
And boy does it take a lot of planning and a lot of lists!

I currently have 18 new kits to launch.  One is in some of the boxes above, they left here yesterday on the way to my newest stockist: The RSPB....way back in January they asked me to design them an exclusive kit, and I was so chuffed to do it!  Once I see that the kits are for sale (in shops, online and in the Christmas Catalogue, I think) I will show you what I have made for them  :-)

John and I took our holiday before the kit craziness started in earnest and this week all my pre-booked deliveries started arriving....there's tonnes of printing, findings, buttons, fabric and Pom Poms! (that box has 18,000 pom poms!!).... luckily we have rented some extra space to store it all, because there's not enough room in the workshop any more...once it's all tidy and ship-shape I'll show you that :-)
So the first six months of 2012 were planning the kits...and the next six months will be making them!  Come on kit craziness-I'm ready for you!

polka dots galore

A ginormous delivery of polka dots arrived today ::

7700 to be exact!
I've updated the website AND I have added new polka dot button mix bags too!

 There are 5 sizes available: extra small,  small,  medium,  large and extra large

 AND you can still buy them individually too!!  hooray, Polka Dot Buttons for everyone!
QUICK LINKS ::
for individual polka dot buttons click here
for mix bag polka dot buttons click here

my very own Jersey Cow

St Helier has some lovely shops....quite a few famous names and lots of lovely independents too and  Jersey has a lovely 'brand' called Genuine Jersey which highlights local produce, be it food, plants, art or crafts.

I treated myself to my very own Jersey Cow made by Nanette Regan (you may know her from her blog which was called  Area Thrifty One, you can see her blog here) I've been a blog follower of Nanette's for ages (lucky me, I won a freebie ages ago!) and it was so lovely to see all her products up close in a number of shops around the island.

Nanette makes tonnes of lovely lovely softies, kits to make your own and even gorgeous prints...it seriously took me ages to decide which to buy...the octopus with blue legs nearly won but the Jersey Cow was more apt!!
If you fancy a peek at Nanette's Etsy shop click here

mission accomplished!

today has passed in a blur!
printing orders, answering emails (it's a good feeling when the inboxes are empty!) cutting out orders to sew, taking in deliveries, ordering more stock...and packing parcels ::

phew-ee!

Jersey Holiday

Our holiday was Fantastically-Amazing!  We went to Jersey and loved it!
We relaxed, ate, pottered and sight-see'd to our hearts content!
The zoo was the brilliant, the hotel (and the balcony view) was glorious...we had some sun, some rain, and some gale force winds (especially important to know about whilst on a ferry!!)  but whatever the weather we had fun!
John took a lot more photos than I did...but that's lucky for you otherwise you'd be looking at a whole load more of my holiday snaps!!

I've been slowing my way back into work today...I have re-opened all my shops, there's a new message on the website and I've opened all my nasty bills!!  Orders are picked, and will be packed and ready for posting tomorrow as promised .... I've got a tonne of sewing to do for NotOnTheHighStreet orders and my to-do list for this week is a L-O-N-G one already!
It's a good job I love this job ;-)

Quick Links ::
Jersey website, click here
Durrell Wildlife Park, click here
Hotel, click here

Surprise Holiday Sale!

I'm off on holiday!  To celebrate I am having a ::

 SurPrisE sALe!

I've been working hard on the website and have added 174 product lines to the sale section...all sorts of products, from embellishments, felt, ribbon, handmade boxes, decorations, pom pom trim...the list is quite long! 

The website is programmed to remove out of stock sale items* so if you can see it, it's available! 
The website is remaining open ... all orders placed while I am away will be posted on Tuesday 19th June
I hope you enjoy the sale....think of us tomorrow in a force 7 gale on a 12 hour ferry crossing** !!
* I've not used this function before so fingers crossed it works like it should!
** Double fingers crossed that the ferry will actually sail!!
CLICK HERE for the   SurPrisE sALe!

cupcakes and a notice!

The cupcakes that I cut out the other day are finished and on the website

I've narrowed down the amount of colours they come in to 9 (it was 24!)

 I'm really glad with the nine colours I picked, all very cupcake-y and bright!

**********************************************

ADVANCED WARNING ::
I am going on Holiday on Saturday (YAY!)

I will be closing my etsy/ebay/folksy shops but my website will remain open.  

All orders placed by the end of Thursday 7th June will be posted as normal.

All orders placed between Friday 8th-Monday 18th June will be posted on TUESDAY 19th June.

Watch the blog for more exciting news before I go....there's a surprise coming!!

Jubilee Sewing

These past 4 days have been fun ~ I hope you all had good Jubilee Celebrations?
As always I did some sewing too!  Flowers this time,  some are for orders and some are for stock, all are made from bright and cheery colours  to off-set the miserable rain! :: 

question answered

Thank you to every one who took time to answer my button question on yesterday's post....It seems that the answer is Both!  Which is a mighty fine answer!  It means I shall be re-jigging the button section a teensy bit and adding a few more mixed bags!
Hooray for the most helpful blog readers/shoppers ever!

Today was a manic day...Lots of last minute orders which have *just* made it to the post office, I'm hoping that everyone will get them tomorrow so that their Loooong weekend will be a crafty one, I'm working tomorrow and Tuesday, but Sunday and Monday are Days Off Days.
The photo's of the little flurry of handmade orders which finished last night and were sent out today
Happy Jubilee Weekend Everyone!