box packing break time

phew-ee packing takes FOREVER!!!
time for coffee, biscuits and a little break ...... take look at this:

this magnificent addition to the barn is our link to the outside world  -  we are too rural for decent broadband speeds (BT predicted upto half a meg, in Worthing I get 7mbs) and research declared satellite broadband to be our best option  -  it was installed yesterday, John was there watching over things and it tested at 15mbs.
ACE.  Good job really, can't have an online business without broadband!

the last parcels have left the building!

 

the last handmade order has left the Worthing Workshop....and my really rather cramped packing area has been used for the last time

all the last orders are in the sacks at the bottom of the stairs waiting for the postman and all I need to do now is pack, pack, pack....

ding ding - last orders please!

this is your call for last orders to be placed before we shut for our BIG move - all of my ebay & etsy  shops will be put on holiday mode at Noon on Wednesday 26th February 2014.  My website will remain open BUT no orders received after the cut off time will be processed* until we have packed, moved, set up the new workshop and unpacked again - we are aiming to reopen on Monday 10th March 2014 - so if you need felt, ribbon & buttons delivered before the move please order asap!
*there will be a ginormous announcement on the website to make this really clear :-)

new shiny barn!!

after a mammoth effort and some extra help the painting is almost finished!

 lots of white paint has been used (John is drying these empty tubs out so he can reuse them in the garage)

 Mum & Dad came to help on Saturday and painted the toilet rooms - and mum bought cake YUMMY!

she made a great big chocolate cake but it didn't last long!! - this is the bit we saved so John and I could have a painting-break treat on the Sunday
and we definitely earned it - most of Sunday was spent rolling rolling rolling.....

all the way to the far corner

  

doesn't it look AMAZING!!!

it takes 72 hours to dry....just in time for the broadband men to come and install their technical stuff on Wednesday!**

*we still have more painting to do - the other toilet room needs another coat and we haven't touched the kitchen or hall yet....but that can all be done after we have moved in :-)
**we are doing a lot of to-ing and fro-ing between Worthing and Dorset, I am here sorting out orders etc as normal until we close on Wednesday/Thursday when John will be back at the barn for the installation...then it's time to PACK and MOVE!!!!...4 days is plenty of time to pack isn't it ????

colour & plans

the sun came out for a while today and I thought ' ooh that'd make a nice cheerful photo'...and it does - colour everywhere, just the way I like it :-)

we've had 2 removal men round today to see if their quotes are do-able or if we will be moving ourselves - I've told Parcelforce and RoyalMail that we are moving and what the new address is (and told them the date it needs to be changed by, else we'd have no post collections at all!!)  I've also ordered a new phone line for the barn from BT and ordered all the equipment and installation for broadband - both are coming back to me with dates....this moving thing is pretty complicated, and my to do list needs a re-write!! 

an 8 month journey

the journey to sign the lease on our barn was not an easy one!

8 months ago we decided that we needed more room.  a lot more room in fact.  we went to view properties around Worthing and picked the one right next door to the workshop I'm in right now .... long story short the landlord decided right before we signed that the ingoing tenant needed to spend about £50,000 and work to his surveyor's schedule which included penalties and extra costs that all added up to it being quite ridiculous.  Because he'd waited until we were quite a long way down the road to spring this on us it cost us quite a bit with solicitors etc when we pulled out (not that we had much choice because we couldn't afford it after that bombshell!!) do you remember me advertising for more staff?? that was when we had *very nearly* signed and I am so lucky that no one took the extra job in the end!

that was early December and after a few days of utter disappointment and feeling poop :-(  I sat at home on my little netbook and said to John 'right, we'll just move to Dorset like we've always wanted to' - and I went onto google, found Dorset commercial estate agents and clicked onto the barn, checked the prices and said 'it's ok I found us a barn' ... I did say it a bit tongue in cheek - turned the screen round to show John and he said 'ok, lets have it'....we went to see it that weekend, met the landlord the weekend after and our offer was accepted and the solicitors were called back into action!  two months since we met the landlord and the deal was complete and the barn was ours! 
I think it's fate :-)
We have lost Becky, and I am gutted about that - but luckily she's found a great new job...she's been there today & again tomorrow for training - and her last day with us is Thursday.  We will need new staff in Dorset but we're hoping that more room will make us more efficient and will start with one part timer....time will tell!

For the past 8 months I've been adding pics of workshops and shop interiors to my pinterest board, some of the early pics are more suited to the first property - if you look at them all and mix it all up a little, that is what the barn will eventually look like :-)
pinterest : click here

the barn : before

wow that was a busy weekend!...and nothing is finished so the before and after photos I mentioned are all still the before photos...I may have some after photos when we've been to the Barn again next weekend!
so...come in...

 you can go straight ahead to the kitchen....it's skanky and will not look like this for much longer (there are two toilets on the left as you go through the front door, but I am sparing you the photos of those ... YUCK does not quite cover it!! but they are a lot cleaner now than they were on Saturday)...

or you can give the kitchen a miss and turn right into paper-and-string.....

 a ginormous space that's covered in dust and all rather tired looking - but look at the light pouring through the windows and imagine shelves full of felt and you will see what I can see in my imagination....

 we have a plan of action that's rather flexible at the moment...next weekend we'll finish painting the walls and paint the floor of the BIG room, the weekend after that we'll be packing and we think *moving day* will be 4th March....so I reckon we'll be closed for about 10 days from Thursday 27th Feb until Sunday 9th March....there's a lot of planning and sorting to do between now and then but for the moment we're open as usual and I'll give you tonnes of notice about when we'll be closed for the move!

our BIG news

ooohhh I kept you waiting a bit didn't I?  sorry!
our super-duper amazing news is:.....paper-and-string is moving!  see the barn down there, that is the all new, all singing and all dancing paper-and-string headquarters!
it is rather ginormous and rather fabulous - and it will become even more fabulous once it is full of felt :-)

The reason for the late-in-the-day blog post is that first we had to wait for the lease to complete through the solicitors and then we had a massive rush to get in the car and start to drive to the barn, we're not moving just down the road -we're moving all the way to Dorset (you know, where the 80mph winds and horrid storms are battering the coast right now) and the main road was shut and we drove and drove and drove, but we're here, the barn is still here and not storm tattered...tomorrow I will show you the insides....before we attack them with scrubbing brushes & paintbrushes...but now we have champagne to drink, because getting a new premises has been (very) hard work indeed!

finished ribbon packs

 piles and piles of my ribbon colour packs (they are made to match my felt packs).
 such a pretty sight & very satisfying indeed to see them all finished.

and tomorrow is Friday. BIG news day (if it all goes to plan)
but for now, lets just revel in the ribbons and their glamorous box ;-)

time consuming job number 2

all things ribbon spools :: counting and sorting and updating the website
it's still not Friday
but Wednesday is almost gone...

exciting news *nearly*

there is exciting news to be told very soon
it is the most exciting news ever
but I am keeping quiet until it is official, because it's been *nearly* official several times over the past few weeks and I do not want to spill the beans too early!! 
nor do I want it to go on any longer because I may well explode with frustration!!
but I have been promised that Friday is the day so I am on the countdown - I'm keeping myself busy and have started to fill up our ribbon packs ...cutting and winding & cutting and winding (is it friday yet?)  cutting and winding & cutting and winding...... 2 colour ways done, only 8 more to go - that should keep me out of bean-spilling mischief for a while yet!
argh! 8 long months and I still can't tell you!!!!

niece inspiration

 

 about 5 years ago my niece Holly made me a heart out of hama beads, and I have always thought it was gorgeous.

 so I immediately threaded it onto some orange thread and have always hung it in my workshop

 and yesterday I decided to make my own version using the extra tiny buttons that were delivered a couple of weeks ago

 it was fun to sit and sew something new!

made to order

this past weekend's sewing :-)

blimey it's cold!

I've spent the day in the workshop, with the heater on, my fluffy jumper on and the kettle on the go...I've updated the website's stock levels, done some book keeping, cut out some more sewing to do AND made up a great big pile of sewing thread packs....hopefully I can dash the short walk home before the cold sets in!