A New Year and a New Project

I made a big change at the end of last year: I moved across the country (to the seaside!) and bought a flat.

I rather optimistically assumed I'd have time to go sit in cafes a few days after I'd moved in, drinking tea and using the free WiFi to write some blog posts about the move and my Christmas plans and so on.

Did this actually happen? Of course it didn't!

Instead, I spent a couple of busy weeks moving boxes and cleaning and doing DIY (with help from my parents) and shopping for important but rather boring things like a fridge and a cooker and paint and a new thermostat for the central heating and a plug for the bathroom sink...

... and then after all that, I collapsed in a heap under a blanket over Christmas :)

Now it's 2017 already!  

I love the possibilities a new year brings, and I'm really excited about this one: putting down roots in a new place, exploring the local area, and making this flat my own.

The flat is going to be my big project for the year - I've got lots of DIY to do, and of course I have already started a Pinterest board of decorating ideas.

I'll still be blogging about crafty things and my Nice Days Out though, don't worry! This isn't suddenly going to become a home decorating blog (though there might be the occasional update now and then!). I've got some fun work projects coming up and lots of creative plans in my sketchbooks which I can't wait to share with you all.

It's been almost 10 years since I started this blog (can you believe it?). I hope you guys will enjoy following along with my crafty adventures for another year.

P.S. The fab minimalist calendar on my wall is a free download from Foreign Rooftops.

Hello 2015

Happy New Year, everyone!

Have you made any New Year's Resolutions - crafty or otherwise?

Apart from working on my Use It or Lose It de-stashing challenge, I'm resisting the urge to set myself a list of specific resolutions or goals for the year.

Instead I'll just be focusing on working hard to grow my business and doing my best to fill my year with designing, making, writing, cuppas and catch ups with friends, decluttering, good books, tasty cake, happy post, Nice Days Out... and lots of other good stuff.

Here's to a busy, happy year filled with crafty goodness!

Resolutions for 2014

I know we're already 10 days into the New Year but I've finally decided on my New Year's Resolutions!

As well as all the usual stuff like trying to eat better, save money, etc, I resolve to...

1. Get out of the house and go places and see people.

My "weekly" Nice Days Out have been awesome. It's been really good for me to have some proper days off from work (less stress! more exercise! loads of inspiration!), and going to all these new and interesting places has been great. I'm aiming to go on 50 Nice Days Out this year and also to take 2 slightly longer trips (one in the spring - which I've just booked! - and one in the autumn). I also need to actually make the effort to meet up with people for coffee, etc, instead of failing to get round to it like I usually do.

2. Make more time for books.

The internet is great, but I need to be a lot stricter with myself about turning off my laptop in the evening and picking up a good book instead. See also: turning off the TV. So I am aiming to read at least 36 books this year. My teenage self would be frankly appalled at the idea of reading so few books in a year, but I think 3 a month is a sensible target: more than I managed last year, but still achievable.

I also have a big stack of lovely craft books sitting in my "to review" pile that I need to look at and, you know, actually review! So.... I'm going to aim to review at least 36 craft books here on my blog (just revewing the ones I currently have to review will take me up to 25! Eek).

3. Make more stuff and write lots of tutorials.

Making stuff is a) something that makes me money (because, you know, it's my job) and b) something that makes me happy. I need to do more of it!! Designing new things, sharing tutorials, publishing patterns, finishing old projects... I want my 2014 to be full of crafty goodness, and only I can make that happen.

I am not setting myself any fixed targets for most of this, just trying to focus on making time each week to be creative and work on my projects so they don't get stuck in my sketchbook or work-in-progress pile or drafts folder. But, I have decided to aim for sharing 36 free tutorials here on my blog. I have loads of tutorials I keep meaning to write up and share with you guys but they end up getting put off because other things take over. I'm hoping that by setting myself the target of 36 tutorials, that will give me a bit of "deadline pressure" and I'll actually get them done :)

Hello 2014!

I know it's a little late but Happy New Year, everyone!

2014 is already off to a good start here...

... I met a deadline yesterday (hurrah!)
... I've got some fun Nice Days Out planned for this week (yay!)
... lots of people are starting sky blankets inspired by my project (so thrilling!)

... and the new issue of Crafty Magazine is out today and it contains a project by me (woohoo!)

My project? Turning plain tape measures into cute hot air balloons!

These were lots of fun to sew... and I do love hot air balloons (they always remind me of my years living in Bristol - you see so many hot air balloons there).

If you can't find a copy of Crafty in a store near you, it's also available HERE.

Possibilities

Oh, the possibilities of a fresh new year... and of new pads of paper!

Crafty Resolutions for 2011

Happy New Year!

We saw the new year in very quietly - I was actually sitting on the sofa knitting when the clock hit twelve... start as you mean to go on, eh?

This time last year I made a New Year's Resolution to "maintain a balance between my crafty life and my crafty business" and I've worked really hard to keep it, though to be honest I've not always succeeded!

I'm going to be trying to keeping up that balance this year, and I'm also making two more crafty resolutions... to spend less time on the computer, and also to finish a couple of large crafty projects that have been languishing under the spare bed for years.

Running an online shop, with customers in different timezones it can sometimes be really hard to switch off the computer, or to leave those emails until tomorrow. The internet (wonderful as it is) is also full of time wasting distractions when I'm feeling lazy, and far far too many amazing talented people making amazing fantastic things when I'm feeling full of self-doubt.

Basically, I just need to turn off the computer more, and make things instead!

I've got a big to do list of things I want to make this year, but I'm also determined to make stuff that has nothing whatsoever to do with work, and have a crafty project to help me relax like I did when this was just a hobby...

And lo, when I was tidying the spare room, what did I find? A box containing two small bags of blanket squares and one pile of little fabric squares cut out for a quilt many years ago. Perfect!

Two blankets to knit and a quilt to sew will keep me busy for ages (not least because I don't own a sewing machine so I'll be sewing the quilt by hand!). I'll take some photos soon so you can see what I'm working on :)

Have you made any crafty resolutions for this year?

My Year in Review

2010 has just flown by, and it's been jam-packed with crafty goodness....

January was pretty quiet as I took some time off after Christmas, and then managed to get ill just as I was due to re-open my shops! Excellent timing, I'm sure you'll agree. I did find time to make a New Year's Resolution (more about this tomorrow!), drank lots of tea from these awesome "I love my local Post Office" mugs and designed my first tutorial of 2010 for some cute owl brooches.


In February I did lots of admin (this crafty business lark doesn't just involve sewing, more's the pity!), got excited about traditional crafts, listened to lots of Agatha Christie mysteries, and shared a bit about my creative process.


March featured lots of springtime crafting - tutorials to design your own flower brooches & butterfly napkin rings, and a custom project involving lots of pretty spring colours (plus some not entirely seasonal snowy owls). I also finally got around to ordering some colourful business cards to send out with my orders. I've got through quite a few since then!


April was quite busy - I joined a knitting club, made some political brooches, stitched a custom abstract mobile, was visited by my very first work experience student, and set myself the challenge to completely clear out my work-in-progress boxes (embarassingly, there's still a few things lurking in there unfinished but I did clear out almost everything!) I also bought some awesome pink shoes :)


It was lovely and sunny in May (we had a great summer this year - I've never had so many opportunities to wear pretty summer dresses!). Inbetween eating ice lollies I met up with some Etsy friends, was on the local radio talking about our knitting club, got a mention in Make Jewellery magazine, made another custom mobile, and made a summer skirt from a lovely-but-damaged vintage dress.


I made a real effort to take a bit of time off over the summer. It's hard to take proper breaks running an online business (the internet never sleeps!) but the summer is always a slow time, so I took the opportunity to work a bit less and get outside to enjoy the sunshine as much as possible... so things were a little quiet on the crafting front.

In June I reorganised my stash thanks to some new boxes, went to a knitting picnic, got inspired by summer flowers, and was totally thrilled when a customer of mine sent me photos of my corsages being worn at her wedding. I also had tea with the Queen! :)


In July I finally designed some proper packaging for my handmade items, oohed over some yummy vintage yarn and rainbows of felt, worked on some secret projects, 'fessed up to the crafty chaos taking over my lounge... and Fa La La La Felt was published, containing four projects by me (my mum is very proud).


August was filled with comfort crafting, some pretty dull mending, and more secret sewing. One of my projects was also published in a sewing calendar, and I went to a lovely exhibition of quilts by local crafters (so inspiring!).


In September I learned some new knitting techniques, wrote my first book review (I hope you've been enjoying these - I've got a few more fun books waiting to be reviews in the New Year!) and gave myself a DIY haircut. I also had an interview and tutorial published in Cloth magazine and wrote a tutorial for a felt argyle cushion, which is possibly my favourite thing of all the things I've made this year and still makes me smile every time I see it on our sofa!


I blogged about giant stamps in October and was delighted to discover it's not just me who loves the Royal Mail's new postal labels! I also sewed lots of buttons on a sweater, made a big pile of notecards, started a personal project to give away 100 things in the run up to Christmas, and tidied up my sewing supplies.


November was perhaps my best month ever for press with a mention in Sew magazine, a tutorial in Sew Hip and an interview in Popular Crafts (all very exciting!). The new series of Kirstie's Homemade Home started and I really wasn't too impressed (though I think the series got better as it went along), I wrapped gifts with yarn and baubles, photographed my collection of gorgeous vintage threads, ordered some thankyou notes to send out with my parcels, made lots of sparkly flowers, and added snowy owls to my range of ornaments.


Finally, in December I've been pretty busy meeting last Christmas posting deadlines and trying to keep warm in the coldest weather I've ever experienced. The spiky hoar frost was really beautiful but temperatures of -11 are no fun (especially when you're not used to them!) and the bad weather here in the UK has been playing havoc with the postal system, which is always stressful when you run an online business.

Inbetween packing parcels and wearing woolly hats indoors, I've stitched together a giant blanket, given my embroidery thread stash a new home in a yummy festive tin, worked on yet more secret projects, and finished my 100 things challenge. I also got an early Christmas present in the form of a surprise mention in the Metro, which was really rather thrilling.


Thanks so much to everyone who's supported my little business this year! If you've bought something from my shops or left me comments on my blog/Flickr/etc. thankyou thankyou thankyou you are all awesome xxx

Crafty Resolutions

Happy New Year everyone :)

2010 is off to a good start so far with lots of good telly (Agatha Christie and Doctor Who) good food, kind words and perhaps most importantly lovely lazy afternoons curled up on the sofa tinkering with new felt things.

As you may guess from my colour palette I'm already dreaming of spring...
Much as I'd like to wish away the cold (brr!) I do love this time of year. With the wonderful exhausting madness that is the "Christmas shopping season" out of the way (so many parcels to pack! and so many shipping deadlines to meet!) I've got a chance to catch my breath, put my feet up and think big thoughts about my schemes for the year to come.

I've got a big to do list for 2010, lots of things I want to try and lots of ideas in my sketchbooks, but I've decided that my main crafty resolution for this year is to maintain a balance between my crafty life and my crafty business. I want to develop my little business without becoming a one woman sweatshop, and to make sure I keep on making things just for fun and to feed my soul as well as my bank account.

Have you made any crafty resolutions this year? Are there any crafts you're determined to try or projects you've sworn to finish?

A Crafty Year

One of the many pleasures of blogging is looking back at old posts and realising just how much stuff I've been making! 2009 has been a busy year...

In January I did some knitting, launched my website and made a "credit crunch" sampler inspired by the relationship between the recession & crafting for a Folksy competition:
In February it snowed (quite a novelty here!), I made lots of colourful felt buttons, what felt like a million bird brooches and (for one of my favourite tutorials of the year) a felt butterfly mobile:
In March I repotted lots of plants, got inspired by the 80s, and baked some yummy cakes:
I also officially "quit my day job" and became a full-time crafter, which was quite exciting if a little daunting!

April was quite quiet as I spent two whole weeks without the internet (madness!) and generally taking it easy, but I did manage to rearrange my craft storage thanks to some lovely new shelves:(it has never been that tidy since, haha).

In May it was rather hot (in a very un-British fashion) but I was working on things for Christmas! I also experimented with adding butterflies to some of my brooches and did a little happy dance when my little teacup brooches were featured in Sew Hip:

In June I bought lots of vintage buttons, made a custom mobile in bright modern colours and got inspired by summer flowers - making lots of eco flower brooches and combs from recycled felt:
July ended badly as I came down with the flu and was stuck in bed for two weeks! But before that I made some pretty poppy bracelets for a wedding, and did some alfresco sewing at a picnic:
I re-opened my shops in August thanks to help from my new postal assistant, made lots of giant felt rainbows, became slightly obsessed with pompoms and reminisced about one of my very first sewing projects - proudly displayed by my mum:
In September I made lots of masks (including new tiger masks), did some vintage shopping, and got inspired to write a whole flurry of tutorials starting with a bold button necklace:
In October I got to show off some of the fab things made by my customers (I hope to do lots more of these posts, so if you've bought felt etc from me and want to share pictures of what you've been making please do get in touch!), some of my hairbands appeared in Elle Japan which was rather exciting and I knitted lots of little hats:
November started very badly with our computer crashing (ugh) but definitely improved as the month went on - one of my giftwrap tutorials got a mention in Woman's Day, my Mother-in-Law loved the cafetiere cosy I made for her birthday, I did some Christmas crafting, finished some Christmas gifts, added a new camera design to my shop ... and at the end of the month Fa La La La Felt was published....... featuring four of my projects! In a book! Eeek!! (I may not have entirely got over the excitement of this yet).

And finally... December has (of course) been all about Christmas. I decorated the tree, made paper decorations, finished some gifts at the last minute, did some baking, wrapped some presents, enjoyed the winter issue of UK Handmade, and survived the general madness that is the Christmas shopping season thanks to much help from my boyfriend (what a star).

I also ended the year as I began it, entering a Folksy competition (a strange pair of bookends for 2009!), making a fancy fascinator / cocktail hat from an old wool sweater:
Many, many thanks to everyone who has read my blog, followed me on Twitter/Facebook/Flickr/etc, left me a comment or bought something from my shops this year. Your support is very much appreciated!

UPDATE: My large felt flower design is now available as a sewing pattern! (The flowers I used to make that cocktail hat will be available as a pattern soon, too!) Visit my shop to see all my printable PDF patterns:

Stop Press: Crafting 365 Article published, yay!

Just a quick (late night for me!) post to say hurrah hurrah the article I wrote about the Crafting 365 project has appeared on Etsy. Please do go check it out, and follow the links at the end to some lovely things made by the group members (some seriously talented guys and gals).