And the winner is...

...congrats to Hannah from Span's Stitchin', who was quick off the mark and became the 100th person to favourite me on Etsy. Thanks, Hannah. And thank you the rest of you who did too - just not quite as quickly as Hannah.

These cards are on their way to you... Can you guess which ones they are?

Hats

We are away this weekend in London, for a very flying visit, for my Mother-in-law's 70th birthday celebrations. November isn't a great time for me to be away and this will be the second weekend away this month. I'm trying to build up the enthusiasm and even designed her a personal card for the occasion (without a mention of The Age - obviously).

She LOVES hats. The only thing that she loves almost as much is shoes. But I did shoes last year. I brought it downstairs last night to show Matthew. He asked if it was a vase. Granted, that was before I put the slogan on. And granted, I took one look at it and thought it could be too. But, everyone, I mean everyone, knows the lady is hat mad. Why would it be a vase?

(I am aware that I am blogging to excess at the mo - apologies. That's partly because I've abandoned it for so long and partly because I know that it's going to be a while before I get on again. So bear with me and ignore at your leisure!)

Even closer to Christmas

Finally my 2008 Christmas cards have had their finishing touches and are out in the market place.

I'm quite pleased with some of the quirky greetings that I've chosen this year. And hopefully they'll bring a few smiles and chuckles.

I'm not sure which is my favourite, although I am quite partial to Mr Penguin.

And Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a bowl of Figgy Pudding.

Only time will tell which is your favourite though.

They are available here and here and very very soon here too.

Oh and here.

Yeh or nay?

Sometimes I design something that has been sitting in my head. I guess like alot of you out there, images of ideas pop in to my head at all sorts of times. Sometimes they begin and don't actually make it out. Sometimes they sit there for ages and eventually do. And sometimes they are out before they've fully formulated at all. This is one such idea.


Last night I decided I wanted to do this design. I must have been thinking about it at some point, but before I was even conscious of that thought, here it was. Because I hadn't had time to think it through, when I saw it I wasn't sure how I felt about it.

The kids' response was the best confirmation I needed. They were fighting over who was having this one ('guys, this one is mine! I still have to photograph it!') and after they realised they couldn't they started to put in orders for actual shirt fabrics. 'can you do it in spots?', said one. 'I want checks' said the other. 'Can you put an 'S' on it?'

I guess it's a 'yeh'. Thanks kids!

New cards

I've been busily creating new children's card designs. I had a request for some for wholesale and they wanted more designs than I currently do. So thinking cap on and I've come up with these...

And then off course I had to come up with some for the boys...

And then these little fellas were itching to be released...

I'm hoping to come up with an even bigger range and take them 'out there'. I'm not sure if my confidence is up to that, though. Every time someone makes an enquiry about them and then actually orders, I can't quite believe that they are taking my 'hobby' out there into the serious world of retail. Maybe I'll just sit back and wait for people to contact me. Or just maybe, I might go forth and be proactive. We shall see. In the meantime, all will be available to buy here and here, just as soon as I have time to post them

CIPs (cards in progress)

Another busy day at the office (how I love my job!)

It started with several CIP WIPs



Some designs are ready for the shop floor.

And some are definitely still at the cutting room stage.

And all whilst aliens have invaded.

Fun at the Fair

I've been invited to take part in an Arts and Crafts Fair in Leeds on Sunday. I'm a little bit nervous because it's a regular event all full of talented craftspeople. I always feel a bit of a fraud in these surroundings, because everything I do is from a love of crafts rather than any artistic training.

Also, whenever I normally do fairs, it's as Blueberry Park i.e showcasing all my fantastic wares from the talented people that I represent. My own stuff is by the by. Trouble is this fair is to promote Leeds and Yorkshire based artisans. I have a few of those, but in order to make my stall look fuller, I'm having to fill it with my own items. That in itself is fine, but I don't normally hold a lot of stock of my own things, simply make to order.

So I am franticly in production mode this week in order to have enough stock to show. Today was Take-Away-Craft-Kits. I gave myself a target of 24 - 6 of each of 4 designs. And I managed it...

...almost. I ran out of ribbon for the last boxes. So now I need to fit in a trip to the suppliers.

Tomorrow on the agenda is cards...