progress

These are my progress charts for my John Lewis order.

there's a column for every 'thing' that needs to be done in every kit...once all the bars reach the top line (which you can just about see in the photo) then I'm ready to pack the kits up!!

so far i'm ahead of schedule...and very happy colouring in my chart!!

piles everywhere!

my workshop is a busy place today!!

there's offcuts waiting to be put away

the last big felt delivery arrived this morning and needs unpacking and moving out of the kitchen!....

....and off the stairs....

....and this empty pallet needs to find a new home (John is in charge of that!)
I've also started cutting out some more embellishments, to sew throughout the week....

....but before I start something else these bags of parcels need carrying to the Post Office!!

sofa work

I love being able to do work from home

especially when my 'workplace' is on the sofa, in front of the TV!

it's quite a productive work environment....all my sewing from the other day is finished, and I've also folded and cut a heap more stationery

stocking up

more teeny tiny buttons bagged and counted

lots of rainbows stacked and swatches filled in!

A very busy, very colourful day!

goodies in the post

today I received a parcel from my blog friend Nicole, lovely cupcake name badges and a cupcake magnet AND some other cute badges too...all made specially for me and wrapped up in a lovely way...we're doing an unofficial swap, my half is that I am ordering in some not-normally stocked buttons for Nicole's crafting.... Isn't the blogging world great!?!

chop chop chop

These innocent bags of ribbons have been keeping me very busy....chopping reels and reels of ribbon into 10cm lengths....I've got into a good routine now, which is good because I have loads more to cut!!

I'm trying really hard to not bore you with kit preparation because there's a lot of repetition involved but every now and again I'll let you know how I'm getting on!

little piles of pleasure

tonight I have a simple wish....to spend some time hand sewing...I normally sew every day but my usual evening sewing hours have been filled with other tasks of late & I've missed doing so much sewing!....I've managed to cut out way more than one evenings worth of stitching but whatever I manage to finish it will be fun & I'm really looking forward to it!!

tomorrow I shall have a photo to show you of what I have been doing in my sewing time!

bribing myself!

Mondays are always busy. There are lots of orders to pack from the weekend (I love packing orders!) and I always make myself do my accounts and all the paperwork & bills etc. It always feels like a chore but once I'm started it's not so bad...and today I made a pact with myself...I set aside 2 hours get the accounts finished and any left over time I could use for sewing!

hurrah...it worked, whippet quick boring paperwork, and 3 finished boxes!

full up

yesterday another pallet of felt arrived....

and quickly filled up my workshop!

Today I have unpacked and counted it and tried to find places for it all to go...

there's still just enough space in there for one person....

...I've even the filled up the landing!!

The storage boxes you can see up there were also delivered yesterday and John made them up for me (20 in total)....and I got busy filling them...

I've done a lot of this:

and turned my dyeing trolley into The Cutting Station:

I also got my order of ribbons from America yesterday, which has all been counted & sorted and is sitting patiently on the table for me to start chopping it into lengths!

There's a lot of work ahead of me but it's going to plan so far!

An ordinary day

Thank you all so much for your best wishes in my new venture....I've been asked if I can show you the kits but I don't think I can....they are exclusive to John Lewis so showing them too early may not go down very well!!
I've been busy chopping felt for the kits, and whilst I was in cutting mode I also cut a pile of boxes, all ready to be sewn together soon.

The Big Secret Project

My Big Secret Project has been going on for months...so let me fill you in on the last few months...Just before Christmas last year I received an email from a buyer asking to see samples of my kits. The kits were sent and I was asked to attend a meeting in London in January. John and I travelled up on the train and went to a meeting (I was slightly terrified)....it wasn't what I expected, but in a good way...things were discussed and I went to work on some new kits and another meeting was attended in March. (I went on my own this time and managed to spill coffee all down my black & white stripey t-shirt and didn't notice till I got home...I'm so professional!)

Between March and last week I've been doing lots of paperwork, lots of designing, lots of sewing and writing of patterns, lots of ordering in and lots of borrowing money because

da..da...dah....

John Lewis will be stocking 6 brand new paper-and-string sewing kits!!

It's a crazy dream-come-true thing to happen and I still don't quite believe it....but how exciting!!

I've a lot of work to do, but I have a plan, and i can fit it all in around my normal paper-and-string things so nothing will change around here (eagle eyed readers will already have seen I have shut my wholesale webshops, so that's a small change, but only a temporary one)

The first shipment of kits will be delivered to John Lewis on 1st August and will hit the shops shortly after that...and between now and then I'll be sure to share the process with you here, it's been torture keeping this a secret!

a weekend of 2 halves

lots of normal paper-and-string things happened this weekend ::

there was the printing, cutting & folding of stationery

and the cutting and stitching of special order boxes too.

The other half of the weekend was spent preparing for the start of the Big Secret Project.

The news is finalised and the beans will be spilled tomorrow!

new tax year = new folders

there's got to be some fun had from a change in tax year ... I think that new folders are the best it can offer though!! That and the great feeling to be had when you hit send at the end of the tax return online form!! That's that job sorted for another year :-)

fly away birdies

207 lovely comments, it's always such a pleasure to read the comments people leave on freebie days, you guys are ace!
over to random number machine for the winner ::

comment #37 is :: Jo from Italy
you can see her blog by clicking here
(Jo watch out for an email from me!)
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if you aren't Jo but still want to make some birds the free pattern is in the 'tutorials' link at the top of the page AND you don't have to sew them!! ...a lovely lady named Jenny has made some from pretty papers! How cute is that?
Thanks Jenny for sharing your link :-)

new flavours

I've made some new spring inspired mini cupcakes ::

they come in packs of 7 pastel flavours....

you can find them here :: mini cupcakes

online magazine

today I had a little few minutes to start looking through the latest issue of UKhandmade magazine...

...it's a good read, jam packed full of lots of different crafts and crafts people...but look ::

my boxes are there!! (and in extremely good company too)

I do remember sending the picture and link through a few weeks, but completely forgot about it until I saw it

:-)

I feel a little bit famous !!

the return of the teeny tiny's

the freebie post can be found here
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this weekend my workshop was turned into a mini button factory!

there are actually 20,000 buttons drying here, it doesn't look like that many does it?

I left them there overnight to finish drying and spent a lot of today counting and bagging and sorting them out

I've added them to the website so if you need some teeny tiny buttons too you know where to find them!

freebie day :: May 2011

thank you for waiting patiently....it's now officially freebie day, not quite the one I had planned, but a freebie day nonetheless!!

I had planned to make a Little Bird garland from the free pattern I did a few weeks ago, but time has run away with me and now for freebie day we have a make-your-own bird garland kit!In the kit are 4 birds already cut out, a pile of felt to make some more, lots of ribbons & buttons and some stuffing too, plus a paper copy of the pattern and instructions!

I've packed it all into a gift box and added a little bird key ring too.

HOW TO ENTER
Simply leave a comment on this post to enter

I will post worldwide so everyone from everywhere is welcome to enter

RULES

strictly one comment per person please

I must be able to contact you via your comment

CLOSING DATE

comments will be closed and the winner announced on Wednesday 11th May 2011

GOOD LUCK!

*COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED AT COMMENT #207*

delay in proceedings

the freebie will be here tomorrow
sorry for the delay!

done!

lots of lovely flower embellishments....

in lots of bright & cheery colours ...

and lots more flower drawing pins too!

I'll be back tomorrow with the freebie for May!