As you have seen from all the printing I have been doing recently for BCTF last week, there has been a lot of new work going on. Most of it was for actual items, but some has been for a couple of new kits I've been developing.

I have 2 new kits that I launched last week - 'Gerry' and 'Steve'. Who's Steve you may ask? Well, he's an elephant of course. (A very good friend of mine put me straight on the over obviousness of Ellie the Elephant. Steve was the next natural choice...) And Gerry? Well, he's so a 'Gerry'.

That aside, Gerry and Steve went down a storm at BCTF and they are now wending their way across the country from Lavender Lakes up in the North, down to Hawthorn Gallery down in Dorset.

I'm just waiting for the new labelling for these kits to be back from the printers. I just love how they are looking though. And that side is all thanks to my brilliantly talented designer friend who is the brains behind all my Kit labelling.

I'm very excited about these kits and already have plans for similar ones that hopefully I'll have time to develop very soon.

You know when a major project has been taking over for a few months and suddenly it all comes together? That's what's been happening here. I've been redesigning the packaging for my Take Away Craft Kits and this week the new labelling was all ready.

The packaging for my Take Away Kits used to look like this. And whilst I was very happy with how it looked in terms of being received as a gift, I was feeling less and less happy with how it looked commercially on the shop shelves.

As we all know, it's very hard with handmade products to make them commercially viable and fit in, or rather stand out, amongst mass-produced items. And unfortunately sometimes you have to go partly down the road of compromise to be viable.

As I said, I was really happy with how they looked before in theory, but I knew I had to change them to make them stand out more readily.

My very clever and talented friend Roz, who designed the labels in the first place, was the talent behind what I now have. We pretty much used what we had before put added internal shots of the contents, so it's obvious to the buyer what's in.

I'm really pleased with how they've turned out and the impact they now have on the shelf. I am very excited, as well as exceedingly nervous about launching the new look kits at The London Gift Fair this weekend.

If you happen to be heading down that way, I'd love you to stop by and say hi.

All in the packaging?

Normally I package my Craft Kits like this...

That's where they got their name 'Take Away...' from. I couldn't, or wouldn't want to, call them that if I was packaging them a different way. However something always comes along to change how you view things.

My friend Jo (a separate post about her to come) and her family came to visit over half-term last week. As usual, bless her, the first thing she wanted to do was go shopping. By that I mean, take our coffees up to my studio and rummage through all my things! She is Blueberry Park's number one fan and always gives me a big boost of confidence by oohing excessively over everything. And the fact that she goes back home with a shed load of gifts confirms her feelings.

This time it was a Christmas shop she was doing. She wanted to order 3 Apron Kits for her 3 children. Jo being Jo - and only my bestest buddy can get away with this - she painstakingly worked her way through my fabric stash and selected the ones she wanted in the kit. Oh, and the ones she wanted the needle/pin sets made out of too! As I say, only Jo can get away with this...Just in case you were wondering...

The point of all this rambling is that these weren't quite ready for her to take back home with her and in an attempt tocut down the packaging through the mail, we decided that they would work all folded up in a cello and wrapped in tissue. Whilst I wouldn't recommend this design for my stockists, as I think the piles of the Take Away Boxes has an eye-catching appeal, I think this really works for a personal order. Particularly when there a few presented together.

What do you reckon?

A full week ahead

Today is the beginning of my first whole week to work in over 10 weeks. I am not kidding! First there were the eternal school holidays. Then there was the week when Noah and Ruby went back and Samuel was still loitering about. Then last week I scarpered off to France for a little jaunt. And finally today has arrived. The day I have been looking forward to for weeks. I was planning to finally finish the trade show orders and get cracking on other long overdue things. All hope for a great start to the week was shattered when my PC picked up a virus over the weekend (one friend misheard and thought I said the children had a virus and would come over when they were better and the coast was clear!) and I have just spent the last 2 hours speaking to online technicians to get it fixed. So my week has already started off on the wrong foot. Still, all is better now and I can confidently surf to my heart's content.

Just before I go I wanted to share a couple of things with you. The first is a new kit that will soon be arriving from our much loved friends over at Prints Charming. This is a stunning handprinted linen fabric with 12 motifs all ready to be turned into beautiful Christmas decorations. Nice, huh?

The second is the reason I have to go... as you can see I can no longer actually get in to my studio. I have been well and truly taken over by my kits. Hence the reason why I was so looking forward to today and this week. I can avoid it no longer...

Ribbon Circus

I've been over to Hebden Bridge to do a photoshoot for a new venture that is due to start in a few weeks. It's being launched in conjunction with one of my lovely stockists, Ribbon Circus. I haven't seen Amy's delightful shop for a while, so you can imagine my delight when I rocked up today and was faced with this...

Isn't it amazing? No wonder the kits are selling so well there! They are dressed to kill with all those stunning ribbons.

I love the way she has hung some samples from the plant and how genius is it to use that cake stand to display the kits?

Oh how I wish I had my own bricks and mortar shop to do such a display...

1 Year Giveaway!

I can't believe as of April 30th I will have been blogging for a year. It has flown by. And I have so enjoyed meeting so many of you lovely people out there.

To celebrate I am giving away one of my Take Away Craft Kits. Simply decide on your favourite by clicking here, here, here, here, here and here! Then leave a comment to let me know which is your fave.

I'll be picking a name out at random after 5pm on April 30th and let you know the lucky winner.

Be lucky :-)

A mere glimpse

My talented friend, Roz, has been helping me out with some new labelling for my Take Away Craft Kits. The final look is a million miles away from my original brief. But because Roz is so talented, she has taken on board everything I have said I wanted and come up with something I am so head over heels in love with that I can't wait to get it all finished, printed and posted on the boxes.