7.30pm

because this is a craft blog I should really show a crafty picture, right?

so there we are, some lovely bright felt flowers that were finished late last night.

But actually there is something MUCH more exciting going on round here today ::

we're going to see COLUMBO in the theatre....and Face (A-Team) is playing Columbo!

I can't wait :-)

what to do first?

this weekend was very busy, I worked the day job on Saturday and had loads of paper-and-string things to do too!...I had a felt delivery with all the ingredients for felt rainbows and all my make-your-own kits ::

....I printed & cut 100's of pieces for the kits ::

....and I had a HUGE delivery of deco tape to sort through, photograph, tidy away and list on the website!

phew! I need another weekend to recover!

swing tags

as you know I like making my own stationery and here's the latest addition to my packing ::

swing tags ::

to attach to my handmade items.

more...

when I photographed my apples the other day I forgot to take photos of these ::

3 new apple-y needle cases

I really love the repetitive blanket stitching...it's so relaxing to do

and my new labels look neat (even if I do say so myself!)

I'm still trying to get used to the light in my workshop....there's too much electric light and not enough sunlight, but I'm sure a few more photo sessions will help me find the perfect place to take photos!

cupcakes

Today I caught up on a lot of admin work. I updated my website, did the last few weeks accounts & paperwork, and basically spent a long time on the computer!

In between all that I packed orders & visited the Post Office...

... photographed my finished cupcakes...

...and visited the local fabric shop, they finally had some bondaweb in stock so I was a happy shopper!

sharing

one of my favourite things about the crafty-blog world is the openness. The atmosphere is such that people feel comfortable enough to ask questions which help them find new methods and supplies to work with on their projects....

...not a day goes by without a new email in my inbox asking something craft related....

....sometimes I can't answer them but I do try to help find out the answers...sometimes I refuse to answer (in a nice way I hope!) because sometimes spilling the beans would potentially harm my business .... I've been asked for names, addresses and product codes so others could order from my suppliers...I've even been asked how many orders and how much money I take every week!

Today I'd like to answer a question I've been asked quite a few times since this post about apples

where I gave a sneak preview of my new labels.

I used a new-to-me printer paper...it's amazing!...you can print fabric on your printer! AND you can feel the backing off and iron it into position!

The paper came from craftycomputerpaper and the one I used is the iron and wash cotton, but there are loads to choose from.

cupcake a making

it's an evening of sewing for me....

...there are cupcakes on my tray in need of stitching....

...as if I could resist doing that!

apples

this morning I finished sewing my new apples.

I made some key rings ::

some brooches ::

and some ornaments ::

I've put a few in my etsy shop ... I shall get them on the website but not till later in the week because Mr Site isn't working very well at the moment and I'm scared to change anything or add something new in case it goes even more wrong!

packing area

The first area of my new workshop that I set up was my packing area. My giant white table is in the middle of the room surrounded by shelves holding all my stock and I can see through into the sewing room which is a mighty fine view! I made the table using bookcases for legs and a BIG piece of white board for the table top ::

I use the whole table whilst preparing orders....to pile up orders, cut felt & ribbon, count and bag buttons, pack kits, tie rainbows and pick felt-y colours....but I saved a dedicated corner of the table for my leaf green tissue and paperwork (the cardboard box holds all my completed orders, ready and waiting for when I do the weekly paperwork & accounts)

The shelf under the tissue has a space for all my packing stationery, cardboard (so things can't get bent) and white paper bags ::

sellotape, stickers, post office items, address labels and thank you cards are all close to hand ::

in the gap between shelves I keep all my large size purple packing bags & paper bags (in a wood CD rack from Wilkinsons) ::

the next shelf has smaller purple bags, shiny white boxes and a few (!) spare notebooks waiting for lists! ::

the next gap has my roll of bubble wrap, spare ribbon gift boxes and used jiffy envelopes; all stored in old boxes from the day job ::

the last shelf on the packing side of the table is where I stand to cut ribbon and count and bag buttons ::

It holds ribbon gift boxes, my tag gun (it's new...I'm still designing the swing tags so it has yet to be used!) and lots of different sizes of grip seal bags for buttons & findings, along with lots of little boxes that I count items into and then tip in to the bags.

It has to be said that I do really enjoy packing up orders...I enjoy shopping for nice stationery items but most of all I enjoy making my own stationery. I print and cut out all my thank you cards & address labels and I've just learnt how to print circle stickers which I have fallen in love with!

All my handmade products are made with care & attention to detail and all the supplies I sell are handpicked for good quality and design and I think they deserve to be packaged with care ... what about you? do you believe that packaging is important too?

wrapping

I cracked open my old college art box and got busy 'sawing' with my bread knife ::

found some pretty wrapping paper & double sided tape::

wrapped all the polystyrene blocks ::

positioned the drawing pins/thumb tacks/push pins ::

and finished with polka dot ribbon and a sticker ::

winners!

finally it's winner's time ::

all low numbers this time, but there's no second guessing how this random number generator's gonna pick 'em!
WINNERS ::
comment number 9 ::
Julie said...
These are soooooo cute - please count me into the giveaway.Thanks - Ju xx
comment number 39 ::
Jak said...
These are just lovely and so is your blog. I find you energy and enthusiasm very inspirational.Jak x
comment number 48 ::
Revathi said...
Lovely!! Your blog is so colourful & interesting! Regards, r***c**ta@yahoo.com
(I have disguised the email address!)

I'm going to email everyone in a mo, and then get the prizes all packaged up and photographed today :-)
Thanks for waiting...here's hoping next month's freebie isn't rudely interrupted by sickness, eh?

nearly back to normal!

I went back to work today, I had to go in really early to let in some BT men but that was great news because it meant I could leave early too....I went straight home for a quick lunch (more toast!) and a bit of computer time, then spent a couple of hours packing orders and visiting the Post Office.

I'm all caught up again, which feels good, and it means that tomorrow I will announce the freebie winners...so stay tuned folks!

PS :: thank you for all your get well messages, they really cheered me up yesterday :-)

i've been poorly

If anyone mentions NoroVirus to you I would recommend quickly running away from them!
John went down with it in the early hours of Thursday morning and it appeared to be my turn in the early hours of Saturday morning.
I spent 12 hours being sick on and off then all of Saturday and Sunday sleeping and feeling awful.
On Sunday I managed to eat 2 pieces of toast and half a bowl of soup...this morning I've eaten some more toast and am feeling slightly more alive...I'm off work today mainly to avoid spreading this around...it is truly a horrid bug and I'd hate to spread it to colleagues or customers!
I feel bored today which is definitely a sign that I'm getting better, fingers crossed I'll be back to normal soon :-)

march 2010 :: freebie day

For Christmas 2009 I made my sister & some friends a selection of pretty drawing pins (push pins)*

I really enjoyed making them ....fast forward to March 2010 and I've made dozens of them ::

in lots & lots of colours ::

every single one is hand cut & hand stitched and has a drawing pin firmly glued & sandwiched between the layers.

FREEBIE ::
3 winners will be chosen at random from the comments left on this post and each will win a box of flower drawing pins.

RULES & HOW TO ENTER ::

1. I must be able to contact you through your comment.

2. If a name is drawn and I cannot contact the winner another name will be drawn.

3. One comment per person please

4. I will ship internationally so all are welcome to join in

5. Leave a comment on this post to enter yourself into the draw

6. Winners will be announced on Sunday 7th March

Good Luck!

*it seems that drawing pin isn't a universal term...they are also known as Push Pins!

ready to sew

I know I'm not alone when I say that I've so many ideas, lists and sketches of things that I want to make, but not enough time in the day to do them.

I find they always go to the bottom of the to-do list but yesterday I decided it was time to try another idea.

It involves apples and key rings.

and apples and brooch bars.

bet you can't guess what I'm making!

a tuesday off

ordinarily Wednesday is my day off the day job but this week we had to shift the rota round so I had today off!

I ticked lots of things off the to-do list: accounts, paperwork, orders, post office....nothing I can really share photos of here!

I did finish off some sewing ::

and I did finish off this months freebie (it's freebie day this Thursday)

so all in all a really good day :-)

sunshine

this morning was beautiful here... lovely bright sunshine pouring through the windows and filling me with bright felty thoughts & new ideas.

It's been great fun reading your button-love comments from yesterday's post...it's great to know there are quite a few people out there as crazy-in-love-with-buttons as me :-)

the apples in the photos are now on the website