Less Faffing, More Organising

Yesterday was all about paperwork. This is not the most thrilling task in the world, so I've been cheering myself up by using silly pencils :)

I also downloaded and printed a wonderful free calendar from The Elli Blog, so my work and Nice Day Out planning for 2014 can be more organised (and stylish, too!).

 

As well as being a) free and b) lovely to look at, I love how these calendar pages include space for notes. This will be the perfect place to write my "things I need to focus on this month" list for work - projects with deadlines looming, but also projects/tasks I need/want to focus on that might otherwise get neglected in favour of the demands of the things with fixed deadlines and the general everyday "stuff" that is always shouting for attention. 

Crafty stuff has been a little bit squeezed out of my schedule by all this admin, but I did some work on my Stop Faffing sampler last night after neglecting it (yet again!) for ages.

 

There's not much more to stitch now, then I can get it up on display in my studio. I am hoping it will be a good reminder to help me stay focused and get on with the stuff I have planned for this year... and also that this will be just the first of many projects I get off of my "work in progress" list and Finally Finished over the next few weeks and months.

The V&A Museum of Childhood and the BUST Craftacular

On Sunday I headed to Bethnal Green - all the way over in East London - for another nice day out (I'm trying hard to catch up on days off I've missed earlier this autumn!)

I spent the morning wandering round the V & A Museum of Childhood. I've popped into this museum for a quick look round on my way to other things in the area but never really had a proper look round before. It's a very fun museum.

 

There are galleries about kids toys, with examples from the 1600s right through to the present day (the ones from the era in which I was a kid = a total nostalgia fest), and about the history of childhood.

As you'd expect / hope from a from a childhood-themed museum there are lots of interactive things for kids to get involved with throughout the museum (games to play, clothes to dress up in, etc) - personally, I loved the displays where you put in 20p and make trains go round tracks, or wooden waves start flowing, so much fun (top tip: take some change with you if you visit!).

 

I enjoyed the current War Games exhibition, especially the board games used to smuggle maps to prisoners of war and to spread the message of wartime propaganda to children.

My favourite bit of the museum though has to be the dollshouses. So delightful! There is apparently going to be a dollhouse-focused exhibition (called "Small Stories") at the museum from December next year, I must try and remember to check it out.

I had some yummy lunch in the museum's cafe and then walked round the corner to York Hall to the BUST Christmas Craftacular. The Craftacular is another one of those craft fairs that I've meant to go to for years but have always been too busy to attend, so I was pleased to be able to go check it out - especially as I had the lovely Laura of The Mason Bee to keep me company.

 

There were some lovely things on sale! Here are a few stalls that caught my eye...

Felt cuteness from Pygmy Cloud (aren't those mountain cushions just fab?).

 

Cool bike brooches & necklaces from Daniel Darby Jewellery.

Charming prints and cards and gifts by illustrator Hanna Melin:

 

Yummy ceramics from Me Me Me.

 

Gorgeous wooden birds by Anna Wiscombe. I hardly ever wear necklaces but I am quite tempted by those lovely wooden ones.

 

Much awesomeness, as always, from Ladybird Likes (that necklace with the row of kittens! eep!)

Plus lots of lovely things by Hazel Nicholls. It was very nice to meet Hazel after years of admiring her work :)

Overall though I have to admit that I wasn't bowled over by BUST in the same was I was by Renegade last month. Possibly because there were so many of the same sellers at both events (25 or so, I think?) and fewer stalls at BUST, so there wasn't nearly as much new awesomeness to discover.

It was however very nice to say hello to a couple of sellers whom I didn't get to chat to at Renegade as they were too busy then... and I was very happy to see Scout Editions selling their wares again - I treated myself to their set of awesome bird postcards I'd fallen in love with at Renegade:

I also bought a couple of cards from Hazel Nicholls and one from Hanna Melin.

As I've mentioned before, I am trying hard not to buy too much "stuff" at the moment (since I've been gripped by the decluttering bug) and I'm also trying to send more post to my friends... so I am buying a lot of nice stationery :)

Talking of which, I also treated myself to a pack of V&A Christmas cards from the Museum of Childhood's shop.

So lovely. I really must get the rest of my Christmas cards written and in the post!

Getting Organised

I was listening to this interview with craft blogger Haley Pierson-Cox a few weeks ago and among lots of other very interesting discussions about blogging, Haley talked about how she organises her tutorial ideas. Apparently she writes every idea she gets down onto an index card and then files it by season or type of material so she always has a file full of project ideas ready to go. Such a simple idea but so brilliant!

I am forever scribbling down ideas for possible tutorials on scraps of paper which get a bit lost in my studio, or thinking up a great idea for a project out of season and forgetting about it by the time the right season rolls round... so I find the idea of a neatly organised box full of project ideas very appealing.

Index cards are so perfect as you can re-organise them as you like (unlike a notebook, or a long list that becomes a bit useless when you've done some of the projects but not others) and they cards are just the right size for a quick sketch and a few scribbled notes about the tutorial. Plus filing them neatly appeals to the side of me that likes nice storage boxes and a place for everything & everything in its place (I don't always succeed in keeping things tidy... but I do dream of tidiness!).

Basically, I love this idea, can you tell? :)

I immediately wrote down "buy index cards" on my to do list before I'd even finished listening to the interview and then last week I bought myself some blank cards and a box to store them in from Ryman's:

(Click on the images for the individual product links)

So my tutorial ideas will go on index cards... and any random doodles I do will get stuck in my  "ideas scrapbook". No more messy piles of paper for me, hurrah! Hopefully this new "system" will lead to lots more crafty goodness here on my blog :)

Gifts for Stationery Lovers

The lovely folks over at DaWanda kindly invited me to put together a list of gift ideas... and I chose gifts for stationery lovers.

Honestly, I could spend all my pennies on pretty cards, tape and other paper-y bits and bobs... and there are lots of super stationery treats to be found on DaWanda! You can check out my selection HERE.

September Things

Every year, when September arrives I start thinking about knitting! Obviously with my sky blanket project I've been knitting through the summer this year, but there's just something about the first nip of autumn to make you pine for needles and yarn and a nice relaxing project for cosy evenings.

The Big Knit is on again this year, so I'll be knitting some little stripey hats for that to use up lots of random odds and ends from my stash ... and I'll be continuing to work on my sky blanket, of course.

I'm also probably going to end up knitting several things from this gorgeous book: Learn to Knit, Love to Knit by Anna Wilkinson.

I'll be reviewing the book later this autumn (along with lots of other crafty titles)... When I write book reviews I try to be honest and helpful about each book, to describe it as best I can and to pin down what I did/didn't like about it, but with craft books sometimes I think all you need is a rating system of "how much this book make me want to stop what I was doing and make stuff IMMEDIATELY". Learn to Knit, Love to Knit would score pretty highly on that scale as my review copy arrived yesterday and within less than 12 hours of it thudding through the letter box I was digging out some yarn to make one of the projects!

As well as being the start of "knitting season", the arrival of September means it's time to go "back to school". I've not been in school for many years, but I still think of my years in terms of the academic calendar. September = the start of a new year, and (crucially) the start of my "busy season". It's a time to start settling into my autumn/winter work schedule (i.e. to stop spending quite as much time slacking off!) and a time to make plans, get everything in order, and generally to get prepped for the months to come.

Plus, all the kids who are returning to school means the shops are running are lots of great deals on stationery supplies, so I've been stocking up on some of those...

[Psst: the Amazon links in this post are affiliate links which means if you click on them and then make a purchase I get a very small % as a referral fee.]

Giveaway: Prints and Stationery from Champignons

To conclude the awesome series of giveaways I've been hosting this month, today's giveaway is a fab bundle of goodies from Deborah of Champignons.

Deborah says... "I like drawing. In fact, I love drawing, it's my favourite. In order to cure my self of a horribly realistic painting style, I started screen printing. Printing is exciting, peeling each new print off to see what you've got. I love to print."

"I experiment with patterns to convey secret meanings. It's hard to portray a secret world in a somewhat graphic medium and patterns is how I do that. I find these patterns work well with screenprinting. Sometimes I print them on cards; I do this because it means that I get to do more printing, which makes me happy. I hope you will buy some prints, because then I can print some more, and I'd like that."

You can see Deborah's full range of cards, notebooks and prints in her online shop, and get 10% off orders from her shop until the new year with the discount code dec2011 You can also find her work on Etsy and Folksy, and keep up to date with her work via her blog or her Facebook page.

Deborah is giving away all these lovely things to one very lucky winner:

A large (bestselling) plans for domination moleskine, two A5 screenprints. a Thaumatrope and a selection of cards. All hand screenprinted!

For your chance to win, just leave a comment on this blog post. Deborah is happy to ship internationally, so anyone can enter but please remember that you will be responsible for any customs charges if you live outside the UK. Leave your comment before 10pm on Wednesday 7th December (UK time) and I'll pick the winner at random on Thursday 8th December.

Please leave a name or pseudonym and include a blog link, Twitter or Etsy username, or email address so I can contact you (if I'm unable to contact the winner within two weeks, I will have to pick someone else so please make sure you leave a way for me to get in touch). I'll then pass your details on to Deborah so she can send your prize.

UPDATE: this giveaway is now closed.

Excellent Shopping

Last week I treated myself to some lovely button giftwrap from Asking For Trouble. Yes, you read that right: giftwrap with buttons on it.


I know it sounds a bit mad "treating" yourself to some wrapping paper, but I'm thinking of it less like giftwrap and more like super awesome patterned paper that I can use for lots of craft projects. I'm sure if you've ever saved a scrap of pretty paper to add to your crafty stash you'll know what I mean!

Love Notes

I always include a little thankyou note when I parcel up my orders and whenever I have the time I love making a batch of handmade cards - decorated with stickers, shiny paper & fancy giftwrap.

This week I've been making use of some felt scraps to make these mini cards:


They're really easy to make - just cut out a simple heart shape and stick it to some bright card with double-sided sticky tape. Instant cuteness!

For more crafty goodness, check out my books: Super-Cute Felt and Super-Cute Felt Animals.

A Lazy Sunny Afternoon

It has been absolutely boiling hot here today - a very rare thing for the UK as I'm sure all my British readers would agree!

Our house stays lovely and cool during the morning and only really starts to warm up after about 2pm as the hot afternoon sun starts streaming through our windows. This does lead to strange wardrobe choices like sweaters indoors on hot days, but means I can get work and chores done perfectly happily in the mornings and then crash out in the heat of the afternoon.

This afternoon I've been making pretty little thankyou cards to send with my orders...
... and I'm just about to go have a nice cup of tea (it's never too hot for a cup of tea) and do some simple & relaxing sewing.

Sunday Projects

Today I have...

... gone a bit cross-eyed whilst reducing all my Etsy prices: bargains galore thanks to the weak pound!

... measured for curtains to hide my messy workspace. I'm planning on using this vintage floral-print bedsheet, it will look awesome hung up under the blue and white breakfast bar where I stash lots of my boxes:
... started a new accounts book (pictured above with the eerily matching fabric), which is always fun from a stationery-nerd point of view :)

... looked for a place to hang up the cute mobile made for me as a thankyou gift:(how darling is that teacup? I especially love the steam!)

... and I've even managed to squeeze in a bit of sewing as well: photos coming soon.

365 / 138 - woodland works in progress

Yesterday I didn't have much time for sewing (boo!) but I snuck some in just before I went to bed, doing a little stitching on some of my works-in-progress from my "restocking" pile:
The tree stumps got embroidered and stitched to their green background, and the large oak leaves got appliqued ready to be embroidered another time. All done to the lovely sounds of BBC7 - mostly an adaptation of "Mort" by Terry Pratchett because I am a nerd, you see.

Today I have been mucking about with my Etsy shop: editing a few listings, adding a few details into my profile, cutting my shop announcement down to a couple of lines so my "featured items" show up immediately, and making a new banner. My previous banner -
- was knocked up in Paint in a rush when I first set up shop a year ago and had been there ever since. I'm pleased with the change but the current one is a work-in-progress as it needs some colour. I've been taking pictures of some felt to use as a backdrop for the lettering, but I will need to experiment for a little bit before I settle on a colour to use.

I may start using sheets of felt as a backdrop for photographing my brooches, too, but this idea is definitely at the drawing board stage only! Many test photos to take before I decide yay or nay. Here's the first one to give you an idea of what I mean...
... better than the plain white backdrop I normally use? or would it distract from the colours in the item itself? Any thoughts?

Ooh, and I also got the first of my 1st of January Etsy-spree purchases in the post today: a super-cute "tea makes everything better" writing set from CharlieMotel. Her shop is easily in the top ten cute shops on Etsy, her illustrations are just darling. A fellow UK-Etsian, too, which is always nice...

Crafting 365 - day seventeen - cards as far as the eye can see...

... well, almost:

I thought it was high time I actually finished making all the sheet music notecards (to match the envelopes I finished the other day) and got them out of my "in progress" pile and into my finished stash. I have basically run out of glue now, haha. Sooo many cards!

Oh, and I got the giftwrap envelopes finished too (destined for my own personal stationery box) and glued together a few map notecards & envelopes. All these cards need to dry and then have my shop details written on the back and then finally they will be parcelled up into neat little sets. And then they will be finished, hurrah! I do love finishing things, it makes me feel all efficient - no matter how long the thing in question has been "in progress" for.

I am going to try not to think about how many other half-finished projects I have lying about the place... Not having a dedicated studio space means I spend my life getting a project out, working on it for a bit and putting it away again. I have developed many elaborate storage systems for all these in-progress bits and pieces but really the whole thing is just a big mess of clutter and the moment things go in a box they get forgotten about and remain half-finished seemingly forever. Ah well. One project down, many many many to go...