I'm on a mission to buy all handmade for gifts this holidays.

My main source of inspiration as ever is Etsy. Throughout the year I have marked a lot of gorgeous things that I have had my eye on for gifts and now I've started purchasing.

It's such fun!

As an Etsy seller, I know the thrill of selling handmade as I am aware that most customers are looking for something a little different and special, so it is always where I head to when I am looking for something a little different and special.

As an extended family we have 15 nieces and nephews and as a consequence we have a £15 limit, which makes selecting even more fun. We also stick to gifts just for the children.

So here's what I have found so far...

Pretty gold necklaces for the teenage girls (I'm quite eager to get one of these for me too...) from the immensely talented Cindy of Edor Jewellery.

The teenage fellas are all getting a pair of cufflinks from Zinc White. I first met Paul and Lidia at Saltaire Fair and I love their quirky jewellery, particularly these Initial Cufflinks. I have bought a lot of these for gifts over the months since i met them!

The pre-teen girls are all getting a goodie box of one of my notebooks, pencil pouches and a brooch similar to this one below by Elizabeth Pawle.

I'm ear-marking one of these for me too ;-)

The challenging remaining is the pre-teen boys...I'm really stuck on this one so if you have any bright ideas and can point me in the right direction, I'd be really grateful. I'm determined to succeed in getting everyone a handmade gift this year.

I think I've done pretty darn well and hopefully the recipients will be equally delighted. There really is an amazing selection of handmade gifts out there, so I open up the challenge to you...

Can you do a handmade gift list?

Same, but different...

same patterns...

...different products...

My new notebooks with Triangle Mania and Scruffy Daisy are available in the shop now!

And to reward you with your patience for keeping looking at these same patterns, next week, in conjunction with Seamstar, we have a giveaway.

Have a great weekend and see you then!

I'm rather pleased to have this weekend over with to tell you the truth.

Arts Trail was really lovely to be part of even thought sales weren't as I would have liked.

And the same goes to Otley Courthouse. It's always great to catch up with fellow makers, but the whole weekend, in preparation and execution has taken it's toll - along with the rest of crazy life - and I'm feeling rather run down to say the least.

However no rest for the wicked at this crazy time of year and my next big thing to get ready for is We Make London Christmas Fair. I'm really honoured to have been accepted on this and very excited about being there. There will be quite a few new products I'll be taking with there - including my new stitched screen printed notebooks - and hopefully some of you southerners may make it. Would be great to meet you.

First on the agenda this week is getting fabric printing and more covers for the notebooks printed, but if you like yellow (who doesn't?) these are in the shop now.

Flickr Swap #1

I was invited to join Fat Quarters Fabric Swap with a Twist Flickr Group last month, my first Swap Group and it's been such fun. July's theme was entitled 'When Life Hands You Lemons', which as you can imagine was full of lemony themed items. For those of you that are novices to the whole Flickr Swap Group thing going on (I was until very recently) you receive a list of items that are in the swap and if you fancy signing up that month you reply to the discussion. A little later you receive your swap partner and send off your goodies. This was the list of our items this month...

Min. of 3 F/Q's of lemony colored fabrics

Lemony recipe

Small lemony colored gift (Not mandatory but a nice little handmade item is always fun)

Min. 1 sewing notion (ie. thread, trim, buttons, etc)

My swap partner is the lovely Cheryl all the way over in Missouri, USA and my gorgeous pile of goodies arrived this morning.

As I said, this is my first swap and the effort and the quality of items I received from Cheryl has filled me with enthusiasm to do more. She was so generous and thoughtful. Not only are the fabrics oh so scrummy, but the other items she included are just fab. I love my notebook cover and the apron is already a fave. I was thrilled to receive a fat quarter of Free Spirit Katie Jump Rope, as I had recently used up my little stash. And I'm in love with the pretty ditsy white floral 'Holly Hill' by Laurie Bird.

And how on earth did Cheryl know that I love chocolate - dark chocolate - more than any other confectionary in the world. And I simply can not wait to try out her Mom's Lemon bar Recipe.

So if all this has persuaded you that it's worth giving a swaps a try (did you notice the buttons? Did you? My goodies were never ending), go get 'em and enjoy! And if you do, cross your fingers that you get Cheryl as a partner, because she is such a thoughtful and incredibly generous swapper. (I just hope you aren't disappointed with the swap I sent you...I'll post that when I know Cheryl has received it)

No excuses

I definitely suffer from being very scatty with my organistion. If the phone rings, I will literally pull to hand the nearest scrap of paper to write the message on, whether it's an order I'm taking down, or something my Mum tells me I need to remember to do (oh, yes, I still get alot of that!) The trouble with this method, or lack of, is that I obviously cannot trust the sccrap of paper to relay and action the said message. And the trouble with this is that in an attempt to not forget anything important, everything gets stored in my brain. And the trouble with this is that my brain gets crammed full and I constantly feel under pressure with so much to do and musn't forget any of it.

It's not as if I am adverse to having notebooks or the like. I love stationery. You would in fact be correct in suggesting I have a compulsion towards having to buy it.

In an attempt to be both more organised and use some of the (plenty of) notebooks that I currently possess, I have taken it on board to be clearer and neater with my organisation.

I now have 3 notebooks on the go. Ones that stay together (because you can bet the one you need is the one you leave elsewhere when the phone rings. I now carry these around when I move from floor to floor in the house. One is for lists. Daily lists. Work lists. Birthday reminders. Kids lists. It's obviously quite full.

The next is for ideas. Take Away Craft Kit ideas. Picture ideas. Card ideas. Any new creative ideas.
My final one is my Stockists bible. Who are my stockists. Who I'd like to be. Who has contacted me.I'm now feeling very virtuous in my organisation and I agree that I may be going from the extreme of being a tad lackadaisical to a tad anal, but I think this will work. Not in terms of getting more done. I'm not that naive! I'll just know what I'm not achieving. It'll be there clear as day. And besides. If I'm using the notebooks, surely at some point they will run out. And I'll need to buy more. I'm not daft :-)

All that's left now is to actually get my butt into gear and do some of the items listed.