It's not surprising I'm dog tired at the moment. I went out last night with some girlfriends and literally could have fallen asleep at the table. In fact, I wouldn't have been surprised if one of them texted me this morning to say I had nodded off for a bit.

A lot of us are struggling with not enough hours in the day at this time of year, keeping up with and packing orders off for Christmas shoppers.

So why oh why I let myself get distracted by things that can undoubtedly wait until the New Year, I have no idea. I ordered this fabric from Seamstar, along with a couple of other beauties, this week and any sensible person would have put it to one side to enjoy at a quieter time. But then I guess I'm not that sensible.

And not only can I not put a good fabric down, I can not put a good plan down either...

That exciting development that I hinted at yesterday has been at the forefront of my mind and would not be put to one side for a day, let alone a couple of weeks, until after the holidays.

I am embarking on a collaboration with Lu Summers of Summersville fame. Very VERY exciting!

Once I got the pencil pouch just the way I wanted it (right length, right height, right bottom..so to speak) I knew at once that Lu's fabrics would be perfect for them. If you've ever seen Lu's fabrics you'll know exactly what I mean.

The weight of the fabric is perfect. The designs are so well suited to children's (or adults) pencil cases and the colours are so vivid any child (or adult) will be delighted to have one. We hope...

The pouches will come in 5 different patterns and colours and will be available through the usual channels as well as being available for trade. So if there are any stores out there that would like more info about the pouches and be the first to stock them, just give me a shout.

And here's to me now slowing down just a little...

Most of you are fully aware of my love for my new Macbook but one thing that I have found to be frustrating and a disappointment is the lack of facility to edit photos. I actually thought that Apple was good for this kind of thing.

I take a lot of photos, both for my blog and also website and I need to regularly adjust size, colours, crop etc etc.

So I was at a big loss in how to do this easily and swiftly. Needless to say, a quick tweet later and lots of suggestions were offered my way, the best of which I found to be Picnik, suggested by Lucie. Picnik does exactly what I was needing and is what I got from my basic package on my PC.

Having mastered the basics super quickly, as Lucie said I would, I've been playing around with it this evening, as you can see.

These are pictures of some Liberty fabrics that I am awaiting delivery of and whilst I am not particularly a fan of a contrived look, both in my work and in my presentation, I am impressed with how easy Picnik is to use and how back in love with my Macbook I am that I can use it so easily to do what I do most.

Thank you, Lucie, thank you Twitter, thank you Twitter friends, thank you Picnik and lastly thank you Macbook for not letting me down.

Colour-It-Yourself!

No, I'm not barking orders at you! Just bragging about the fab new posters we have at Blueberry Park, from the talented Lucie of Summersville, Blu-Shed fame.

I am a big big fan of Lucie's work. Her striking repeating patterns work beautifully on the fabrics she screenprints.

You may also recognise her totem design she has had produced into fabulous gift wrap. (We are hoping to have this available for you pretty soon too.)

When I saw the colour-in posters that Lucie had produced, again using her well loved designs, I knew they would be perfect for Blueberry Park. I think they'll provide hours of entertainment for young and old.

Go check out all Lucie's other loveliness. I think you'll be a fan.