facebook auction

over on Facebook I (and a lot of other crafty people) have donated items to a charity auction - it's organised by Jade - and every penny raised is going to Animal SOS, which is a charity in Spain who look after uncared for dogs...Coco is the dog which caught my attention and pulled at my heart strings!
you can read all about the charity and Coco's story here and it's also where you will find the auction.

My two donated items are: A mini Dog Kit (of course!)  and one of my new Christmas Craft Boxes....the Craft Boxes normally retail for £25 so to entice higher bids I said I would add to the box if the bids reach £25...and now they have (yay!) and here's what else I have added ::

a premium felt 4" rainbow (worth £5)
a rainbow pack of embroidery threads (worth £6)
AND five spools of lace (just arrived and will be added to my website today) (worth £12.50)
So now the box and the extras come to a value of £48.50....if we get passed that amount I'll add even more!!!
happy bidding, and remember - it's a win win...you get to help the dogs AND you get goodies in the post :-)

filling the shelves

It's a very good job that our barn has a lot of shelves...

 ...because I keep buying new things and need somewhere to put them all...

 ...and it 's a very good job indeed ....

 ...that I have room for more shelves, should I run out of space!

today's new goodies include ::
felt stickers (found here)
advent calendar kit (found here)
pre-made bunting (found here)
paper bags (found here)

postman excitement!

the very first parcels arrived for the swap today!

 two very talented stitchers have sent in their decorations

 aren't they FAB??

all swap details are here

ooohhh new loveliness

we've had a flurry of deliveries over the past few days - which can mean only one thing...and that is a flurry of new goodies on the website!! 
...we have two different sizes of mini toadstools (SO cute!)....

The Tilda Ribbon Racks have been re-stocked (again!)...

Our range of blackboard signs has been increased to now include blackboards on sticks...

...and Rustic hanging hearts too...

AND our button drawers are now full of 9 very pretty different floral & patterned buttons....

...I'm not really a floral fan but I love these!

...they are very Laura Ashley/Cath Kidston me thinks:-)

oh! and of course, I got some new Christmas buttons too ...

....and there will be more new goodies listed in the next few days!!
quick links :: all new products can be found in the 'what's new' section of my website (just click here)

will you join in?

I am organising a Hand Stitched Christmas Decoration Swap! 
The basic idea is simple - you make a Christmas Decoration, send it to me and I will send a different decoration made by someone else back to you ... sounds good doesn't it?
I'll give you a quick breakdown on how it all works below....(double click to see this larger)

1. Make your decoration
2. Print out a special tag, fill it in and attach to your decoration
3. Print out the special blank address label and add your name and address
4. Put your decoration (with tag) and your address label in a parcel
5. Print the special paper-and-string address label and attach to your parcel - don't forget a stamp - pop it in the post.
6. Wait a little while....
7. The postman will bring you a parcel with the address label you filled in on the front
8. Open it - and see which decoration you received in return!

There are more details in the FAQ's below (double click to see this larger) ::

I'd love as many people as possible to join in so if there's anything else you need to know - just ask :-)
the special tags and address labels and all the info you need is on my website HERE

they're back!

for all of you who missed out last time - I have more ribbon racks in stock on the website

.... they are £15 each...

 ....and are on the website (click here)

what's in those boxes??

I've been being very secretive recently.  Very secretive and very busy, beavering away on two new projects....and I am Super Excited to show you the first....our *new* Christmas Craft Boxes!

 There are 6 colour themed boxes to choose from and each and every one is jam packed full of gorgeous paper-and-string supplies....

...everything comes packed into one of our Large (A4) plastic storage boxes ....and you get tonnes of goodies inside...

 

 ...and they are great value too...just £25 a box!

Please go and take a peep at them on the website (click here) ....I'd love to know which is your favourite colour theme....Icy Pastel, Gingerbread, Jolly & Bright, Traditional, Scandinavian or Frost?

as for the second part of my secret project...
well, that's not finished yet...
it is very Christmassy
it isn't something else being added to the shop
and it is something free for everyone to enjoy....i'll spill the beans on that very soon indeed :-)

tidy your ribbons!

I've been working on a couple of BIG new ideas - I'm not ready to reveal all just yet, but I can show you these new Ribbon Racks....

...they are made by Tilda and are really rather lovely.  They also make Big Spools to go on the racks ...

...or if you don't have space for a rack they made cute Ribbon Hangers..

...they don't normally come with a wooden spool but the spools I normally sell fit perfectly so I'm sending them out as a pair :-)
If you do have room for a rack check out this special offer ::

ONE ribbon rack
SIXTY FOUR rolls of trim/ribbon (2m per spool)
In a choice of TWO designs ::teeny tiny pom pom trim OR pretty rose spools
usual retail price £127 .... all for the bargain price of £100!
I don't have many of each - you have been warned!!

quick links ::
all ribbon racks and special offer bundels can be found on my website HERE

*such* hard work ;-)

 In between my normal, daily job of picking and packing orders I have done tonnes of little jobs today too - I paid some invoices, did some paperwork, bought some new jars for button storage, finished off the pom pom scarves for the cut out snowmen I showed you the other day AND played with made a display with with the finished snowmen and took a load of photos....I *love* my job!

Pom Pom Snowmen (and a lot of other Christmas cuties too) which are all handmade by me are available on my website here 
it seems the Christmas rush has already started so get your orders in whilst it's not quite so manic!
If you fancy making your own decorations this year you can with one of my kits....which are on the website here

pom pom time!

 Christmas in July fever has certainly started effecting what I am making at the moment...today I have cut out 12 pom pom snowmen who will all be sewn and posted out in the next few days....you can find them (and all my other Christmas cuties) on my web site's handmade page

Ribbon Remnants

You (my lovely customers!) buy a lot of ribbon.  I sell it in all sorts of ways - by the roll, in a pack or cut to order just for you - and selling cut to order just for you can lead to a lot of extra lengths of ribbon in my 'leftover ribbon basket'- it mostly comes from ends of rolls or when I cut around a mid-roll join .... and I have just finished colour co-ordinating, measuring and bagging to bring you :: Ribbon Remnant Packs!
there's a Christmas selection ::

 a Muted selection ::

 a pastel selection ::

 and a Bright selection ::

 they are all bagged up & listed on the website - and once they've gone they've gone!

15 metres - £5 each  - ribbon remnant packs - click HERE

a whole box of useful

last week I ordered tonnes of disappearing ink pens - and today they arrived BUT most of them have been put on back order due to the supplier being out of stock.  poop.  but I have managed to get my hands on some...and this time round I got some purple ones too - so for all of you that mostly cut and sew pink colour fabrics & felt I have a pen for you too !!
I also got some more gizmos ... this time for making yo yos ...I have 5 sizes of yo yo makers in stock now :-)
pens are here
yo yo makers are here

new trousers = sewing for me!

 I'm 5 foot 5and a half inches tall...not super short, but not tall at all...which means every single pair of trousers I buy is too long...even if I put on my heeled boots I still stand on the hems so summer sandals mean they need to go even shorter!  Today I squeezed in a bit of sewing time for me, and chopped 2" off my these new trousers (they are from Seasalt and I love them-my new very favourite trousers!) .... then I turned them up another 2 inches to make a nice heavy hem...I've pressed the hems but the rest will be ironed once they have been taken home and I can hang them up.

 First though, I have some buttons to count :-)