a hairy hurrah!

after a VERY busy 2 days at the day job I am Officially on holiday...I have to work on Saturday but I'm not back properly until next Thursday...woo-hoo! loads of days off but only 2 days of holiday used up.

Tomorrow morning I have a haircut booked at Toni & Guy ... curly hair is great at being ignored but right now mine is desperate for a cut...I love getting a new cut when it's long overdue, it feels so swishy and new...so much so I went to Boots and bought some lovely new products to look after the new 'do' (good timing because toni & guy is 3 for £10 and Umberto Giannini is 2 for £7 at the moment)

...I'll be taking some photos of Kate Humble with me as a guide ::

and hopefully it'll look just like that, but a little longer, and I'm more dark brown than blonde....but you get the idea!

...3 hours...

before ::

during ::

after ::

up close ::

a very ribbon-y post

all my boxes are unpacked and the shelves have been re-arranged to hold a mammoth delivery of ribbon ::

I was running low on some designs so contacted my supplier but lots of my favourite ribbon has been discontinued and only 'large volume' customers were able to purchase from their 'large volume' list ...

... so I did a deal (which was kinda scary and involved a ridiculously big $ number) and managed to buy a BIG bulk order (normally my orders are seen as small fry to these big suppliers)

I have bought LOTS of big reels of my favourite ribbons and that means I can offer bulk discounts to my customers ... it's all still available by the metre and the price has held at 85p a metre OR now I am able to offer 10m bundles for just £6.50, a BIG saving of £2

(it's always nice to get a bargain!)

I also stocked up on plain grosgrains which will be invaluable for packing (they will be listed on my website soon)

and I got a discount on 3 yard spools which means they are still only £2 each (even though the exchange rate is dreadful)

these are the new designs ::

I've also got a lot more velvet scallop ribbon (including a new colour!) still just £1.70 a metre OR 5m bundles for £6.50

if you're tempted or just want to take a peek most of it is on the website right now!

flowers

I'm not deliberately being a box unpacking tease...but I have no photos for you!

I spent all last night sorting through all the boxes and checking off the delivery note....and after work today John and I moved all the boxes to the workshop and I found homes for all the lovely new items...I will try *very* hard to take photos before work tomorrow, hopefully the sun will be out!
In the mean time here's a photo of some cutting out that I finished this morning ::

the men in brown (and beige!)

Mr UPS came today....

and dropped off 8 boxes full of lovely new stock! John's out all day and evening so I've left them at home so I can unpack and sort through them all in the lounge!

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Columbo yesterday was brilliant!

Face was a great Columbo, just like the original but with a little something extra....I'd highly recommend it if it tours around near you!

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?