Busy, busy, busily getting through my To Do List.

Yesterday was all about printing bags and labelling.

I'm getting along fairly well...until my stapler broke and now I need to go out and get a new one so I can finish off packaging the mirrors and magnet sets.

That was a tiny glitch in the preparation process.

What was slightly more problematic was forgetting to make a whole load of zipper pouches.

I think I'll be up quite late tonight.

I actually only really popped by to let you know that Lynne over at Lily's Quilts is hosting a giveaway on her blog...go check it out...I think you'll like it...

Back to pouch making...and stapling...and kit compiling...and...

Hello and a happy Monday to you!

I am busily making for Saturday and one thing I'm getting going on this morning is lots of craft kits, Flower Brooch Kits in particular.

This, like last time, is creating heaps of off-cuts that I just can't bear to throw. I know last time, many of you offered to take them off my hands and so I have listed them here for those that are still keen.

Whilst I am generous to a fault, I have taken the liberty of charging a very small fee that literally covers p&p, along with any Etsy and paypal charges. There are about 100 cut outs (life's too short, I haven't actually counted) so plenty of fun to be had.

Update:

Sorry, but this one has been snapped up...if you would like to put your name down for the next one, just let me know.

This time next week I will have been to London and back again for the We Make London Christmas Fair.

I am very excited about taking my wares down to Battersea and am frantically trying to get enough made to make it worth it.

As well as making plenty of pouches, craft kits, pencil rolls, notebooks and needle/pin sets, I'm trying to get the packaging for my new mirrors and magnets sorted.

This will also be the first public showing for my magnets and mirrors, so am obviously rather keen to see how they are received.

I've been busily sewing little pouches for the mirrors, after all, all good pocket mirrors need a little pouch.

If you do live nearby and fancy a trip to the fair, with over 80 Designer/Makers it should definitely be worth your while. I'm very excited myself to see some of the other makers and their work and planning on doing some Christmas shopping of my own. Hopefully I'll have time to have a look.

As well as all these wonderful stalls, the We Make London team have put together a fantastic prize draw, which includes my Yellow Triangle Mania Pouch as part of the amazing First Prize loot. Check details out here.

It should be a fantastic day and please come along and say hi if you do come visit. I'd love to see you!

GIVEAWAY WINNER!!

First of all thank you for entering and a big thank you to Courtney, from Seamstar, for donating the prize...

And now onto the winner...

drum roll please...

Number 26: Dawn from pop-i-cock!

Unfortunately my computer crashed so I have no visual evidence of Dawn being the chosen number from Random.Org, so you'll just have to take my word for it!

Hope you are all have a great rest of the weekend - me, I'm being shlepped round town doing some Christmas shopping...

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?

Christmas shopping officially starts today, so to kick start yours enjoy 20% off everything in my Etsy shop until midnight GMT tonight! Simply enter BLACKFRIDAY in the coupon section at the checkout.

And watch out because I may be restocking as the day goes on...

Don't say i'm not nice to you...

...and speaking of being nice, don't forget to enter my giveaway too...

Have a great weekend everyone!

A giveaway...and a new toy...

...actually the new toy is the reason for the giveaway.

A couple of weeks ago I invested in a Big Shot machine. I'd been after finding a way to cut fabric shapes out for ages, for the particular purpose of cutting flowers for my Flower Brooch Kits. My Flower Brooch Kits are far and away my most popular kits and up until now I have been buying cut flowers (not of the fresh fragrant variety) from a lovely lady in US.

But I have been wanting to make my own for obvious reasons and up until now any cutting machines weren't suitable for fabric.

Enter the new Big Shot machine...

The Big Shot has revolutionised my kits by the fact that I am in control of my stock of flowers, cutting as I need and not having to worry about temporarily making the kits out of stock while I wait for more flowers to arrive from across the pond.

And it's so darn quick and easy to use!

If i haven't lost you yet, here's the fun bit...the giveaway...

I obviously needed something to cut and coincidentally just at that point Courtney from Seamstar came along and almost the very same day sent me a swatch card of all the delicious new felts she was carrying. They are 30% wool and really beautifully soft and vibrant.

I put together an order for the ones I thought would work well for my kits and a day later I was cutting and combining to my heart's content.

Courtney was so taken with the selection that she decided it would be perfect to make a specific bundle with this selection of fabrics. And here's the giveaway part...Courtney has very generously offered one of you, my lovely readers the opportunity to win a set of this bundle, here on my blog. All you have to do is leave a comment here on my blog and you will be in the draw to win a fat 1/8 of each of these 6 luscious felts. I'll be leaving the draw open until next Friday 2 Dec so if you fancy some felt, just leave me a comment and a contact email and you will be in with a shot.*

Also...

...as i was cutting out all my flowers I was left with all these. Now I am known for my inability to discard anything and am convinced there is something that can be done with these 'stencils'. But, for once, I am going to resist the temptation to hoard them. Unless someone thinks they can do something wonderful with them they are going in the bin. If you can't bear the thought of that and know exactly what you would do with them let me know and they are all yours! The first person to say they want them can have them! Again, just make sure you have an email that I can get hold of you via.