This week I've.........

....moved back into my unit after been away for quite some time. This was quite scary and I was full of anticipation, it was like going back to work after a long enjoyable holiday, or the start of a new job. But I have no choice as my sewing is taking over the house- which is no fun for my family! Anyway it was great to be back and even better to get out of the house...although I do miss BBC 6 Music as I have no DAB radio there! I work at Brougham Hall near Penrith which is an on going restoration project, see here- http://www.broughamhall.co.uk/. 

......I hiked up Catbells near Keswick and after working solidly since January, with barely any exercise, this was hard work at first. To think I used to stride up here when the girls were younger, in the days when I had a proper job and made a point of going up some local mountain at the weekend. Oh the joys of being self employed! At least I'm happy now and look at the view of Derwent Water- which is only part of the lovely scenery you enjoy right at the top, well worth screaming lungs and wobbley legs!

....after reading a really useful and inspiring article on Etsy  I've had a serious rethink about packaging! I'm not a graphic designer, as you can tell, but boy what a difference even just the simplest of packaging has made to my products.I think my 'Make Your Own' Bunting kits are presented with care and thought.

I spent a few hours playing around with Microsoft Publisher and produced these very simple packet headers. When I have a little more time I intend (I always intend) to improve the packaging. But right now I'm very happy with what I've achieved here and everything is kept neat and tidy which is great for transportation to craft fairs.

I'm particularly pleased with my 'Make Your Own' Prize Winning Ribbon kits, which I've made for the Borrowdale Shepherds' Meet next week in Borrowdale (funny enough) which is not far from Keswick. It took no effort to sew my buttons onto the tags and I think it looks great- they're presented nicely and you can see them!

I haven't stopped with Make Your Own kits...oh no! I now sell these spotty heart buttons in lovely little boxes! There's no stopping me now and I'm not ashamed to admit I think I have a packaging obsession.....it could worse!

Big link for the article I read-  http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2012/packaging-ideas/?utm_source=etsy_success&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=etsy_success_082312_0&link_clicked=4&euid=s7-rRFJ4Xlx8EmIBXn4sCHmp09Wb

Phew! Time to catch up.

Hello! I'm back, but only very briefly. I have been so busy lately well I should really say sew busy. For the past few months I have spent every waking minute (or it has felt like it)  pinning, cutting, sewing,  doing applique projects and then embellishing everything with buttons or ribbons......I really put my back into it. Literally! I ended up with the worst back ache I have ever encountered. It was all in honour of this wonderful craft fair that I was privileged to be part of- Nostalgia Meets Design!

I'm sorry to say that this is the only image I have from the event. As organised as I try to be such as blogging about craft events beforehand to drum up some interest, when it came down to it I simply ran out of time and steam. When the day came it was actually a relief to sit down for the entire day. I put so much effort into producing beautiful good quality work that I think I wore myself out. Anyway I'll stop twining because it paid off I sold lots of lovely things and I've been asked to supply to Trade! Which is the direction I want to go in.

Here is a taster of what I was selling

A sexy festive table runner! Ooh! La! La!

Lovely lavender pillows. ZZZZZZ!

Funky Gingerbread Men decorations! I know a few other designers are making these but this is my version!

Christmas Tree decorations- these went down very well

Pom-pom bunting.

I also made a few kits basically because every time I do a craft event I always hear somebody saying "Oh! You can make that yourself" This really winds me up! I'm convinced these types of people never go on to actually make anything, or if they try they'll never produce the quality that I strive for!! Not that any body said it at the Nostalgia Meets Design or NMD as us in the know call it. HA! HA! Thats a joke!

I sold Christmas Tree kits and Gingerbread Men kits.

Here we have my Christmas goody bags. They are packed with buttons, bows, a string of eight pom-poms and festive shiny sequins! I'm selling them here  

http://folksy.com/items/978341-Christmas-Supplies-Goody-Bag-?shop=yes

I shall try to blog more often, as Toyah once said "It's a mystery to me...." how some folks manage to sew, make, produce, then list it all in their on-line shops, blog about their new creations and find the time to be a parent!!! Answers on a post card please!!!! 

Another Busy Craft Fair

I think it's been over a month since my last blog post. No I'm not slacking off! I've been busy, busy! Sewing, printing, organising and all because of a mammoth three day craft fair event that has just taken place. Well it was in fact a Flower Show at Holker Hall heres a link to their home page http://www.holker.co.uk/metadot/index.pl?id=2171and very posh it was too!!

I'm posting some pics but my brain and its thinking power are still recovering so there will be very few words.



This is my stall, after three days it felt like home. It was hard work getting the fabric, bunting and prints up and organised but I was really pleased with the final result. It was bright and colourful, Lady Cavendish stopped and said it was cheery which is a lovely response.

Bags of bags, chillies and my daughter Astrid! (OH! I can also see a coffee and a Danish). Someone bought my favourite bird bag. Boo! Hoo! You can see it here under the large purple chilli print. I nearly never put it out because I wanted to keep it, at least its gone to a good home. I've decided to make more as it was a very popular point of discussion and a huge number of lovely people admired it.

It was an eventful weekend- I've been asked to do four more shows and approached by two shops. Thumbs up from me!! Oh and hopefully we'll get lots of orders for prints on canvas

I sat next to these cushions for most of the weekend. What you can't tell from the photo is that some of them are filled with lavender and the hotter the marquee got the more potent the smell became, of course the smell was beautiful but it sent me very woozy!

This is the lovely and very funny Caroline Nash. She is such a talented crafts person check her out on Folksy @ http://folksy.com/shops/carolinenashcrafts

This is Gwen Bainbridge also very lovely and funny- I'm convinced this is something to do with designers working in ceramics. She kept me going all weekend because these events do have their tedious moments. Check Gwen out here http://www.gwenbceramics.co.uk/

So now I have a massive list of things to

• Spend more time with my girls
• Get out more
• Tidy up my house and find out where the smell is coming from
• Tidy up my neglected and sorry looking Etsy shop (I've some new ideas for that)
• Blog more and give away some fancy prizes