pop-up shop udate

The center that our pop up shop is in is now open for 7 days a week again - which meant it was time for a change around and a spring clean :-)

 The stocks quite low at the moment because it's been quiet over Winter but we'll soon be jam packed and squeezing it all in again!

 Sorry the photos are so yellow - it's the strip lights that do that :-)

 I'm not sure how long the ribbons will stay this neat and tidy...but they looked pretty when I left ;-)

our shop is in The Customs House, West Bay, Dorset
their Facebook is here

It's finished!

 *toot*toot*toot* [that's a fanfare]
I finished my cross stitch cushion ... the final stitch was stitched late last night and I rushed home today to take photos before the light disappeared completely. I need to buy a cushion pad and then it will be complete

Roar!

 I pre-ordered these kits a while back - and they were delivered here yesterday afternoon, which caused much excitement and then much indecision...I knew I wanted to sew one (at least!) but which one???

 My choice was narrowed slightly because I sent a panda kit to my neice (she loves pandas and sewing!) and I *finally* finally settled on sewing the Cat Dog Lion!

 All the kits make a cushion....the base material is felt (yay!) punched with a grid of holes to cross stitch through...the wools are lovely to use and the grid/pattern is easy to follow ... I stitched all of this in one evening!!

I think it will take me a while to finish but it looks lovely already!
The kits are £32.50 each and can all be found here: http://paper-and-string.co.uk/category/53308-cross-stitch-kits.aspx

my NEW favourite ribbon

look at my new velvet ribbon with gold dots - I LOVE it

 it comes in four colours

 coral, black, white & teal

 it's 9mm wide

 sold by the metre (£1.25)

and I LOVE it :-)
it's here:  velvet ribbon with dots

hello pussy cat

 It's taken awhile for our new Florence and the Fox cat to find a home in the workshop - her bottom is too big for my shelves-of-crafty-wonderment, but she's right at home, having a nap on the fabric mountains- and she's the only 'creature' to get near the fabric - no real cats allowed!!

new felt designs

we've added five new designs to our range of printed acrylic felt that comes by the metre

it's 45cm wide and comes in units of half a metre in length (if you order more than one it will come in a big, uncut piece) each half unit is just £1.50
:-)
all eight designs can be seen here: http://paper-and-string.co.uk/category/49187-by-the-metre.aspx

Fab[ric] Felt :: designed by you

 I'm super happy that you all seem to love the new Fab[ric] Felt as much as we do :-)

 I'm especially loving seeing which fabric & felt combos you are choosing

http://paper-and-string.co.uk/page/762675-fabricfelt.aspx

Fab [ric] Felt

I am beyond excited to share our newest product with you
This isn't a run-of-the-mill bought from a supplier product...this is something special.
It's made by us, here in the barn, with an exciting bit of new machinery that we have invested in.

 So what is it?
It's felt (our gorgeous 40% wool felt) with a layer of fabric fused to the top of it.
and we've named it
Fab[ric] Felt

 Fab[ric]Felt can be used just like felt - when it's cut it won't fray, it can be sewn by hand or by machine, you can use your normal felt cutting scissors or any die cutting machine that cuts felt - the only difference is the exciting infusion of pattern and colour you can now add to your crafts

and the very, very best bit?  You can buy designs we have put together OR design your very own...you can simply pick a fabric from our huge range of fabrics along with one of our 60 felt colours and we will make it for you - that's good right?

I've been combining felt & fabric in my handmade makes for 8 years and I am super-happy that now you can too :-)
You can see it on the website here : http://paper-and-string.co.uk/page/762675-fabricfelt.aspx

kit work

New kits are on their way - I'm at the least crafty stage - writing, rewriting, typing up and editing (again and again) until they are just right - I always start by writing them out long hand (messy, scribbly only-readable-by-me hand!) then they get typed up into the computer, all the instruction drawings get scanned in and then it's handed over to my sister (she's my kit graphic designer) and back to me to edit again. 

Rainbow Corner

Our Post-Christmas schedule always takes a bit of getting used to.
 Before the break days were full of all things Orders...printing them, writing the address labels, doing the loyalty cards, making them, picking them, packing them and posting them ... everything else got done in the evenings: ordering stock , Facebook, Blog, paperwork...generally treading water and only doing what HAD to be done, trust me, lots gets put off 'till later when it's busy, busy, busy!

Now we're all caught up from the sale it's time to adjust to the new schedule - which means we can fill the shelves (before the stock is needed!) and actually having time to plan and, most importantly, sew.

 Today Rainbow corner got filled up (by John, I helped for about 15 minutes)  and doesn't it look BRILLIANT :-)

a busy weekend

phew-ee THAT was a popular sale!

If you follow us on Facebook or Instagram you'll have already seen this photo - but NINE whole sacks of parcels is a record for us so I'm unashamedly plastering the photo every where ;-)
It took a whole weekend of parcel packing to clear the backlog and I'm pleased to say normal service has resumed.

Valentines Additions

I've curated a Valentines Inspired Category on the website - there's a lot of pink & red and a lot of hearts ... and (hopefully) a whole load of inspiration for you :-)
Click HERE to go straight there

Back to work

*nearly* back to work ;-)

We're not officially back to normal work-wise until Wednesday but I've been in the workshop for the past few days pottering around, tidying up and tying up all the loose ends left over from 2015.
Today John and I got a head start on the first batch of our Sale orders  -  these fabric piles are the tip of the iceberg so I think our 50% sale has been a HIT!
The sale runs until the early hours of Sunday morning - I've extended it by a few days because of the wonky website problems yesterday (details of that were on the Facebook page as they unfolded!) so you've still got a few days left to shop :-)

End Of Year SALE

We are having a GIGANTIC end of year sale - there are hundreds of crafty must-haves in the SALE ... and the best bit? They are all HALF PRICE!!!

click here :: http://paper-and-string.co.uk/category/52629-winter-sale.aspx please remember we're not posting any more parcels until after the holidays (we're back on Jan 6th)

Christmas Holidays

Christmas Countdown

Christmas Countdown

Christmas Countdown

Christmas Countdown