29/11/2016 1 Comment And for our next trick ....So we've been quite the busy bees! I'm feeling quite stunned that we've managed to set up a website, make stuff, sell at craft fairs, run a craft class day and keep our respective families alive. As I've mentioned previously we like a good craft fair and one that sells good cake will get our vote any time however having a relatively young baby and tables at fairs becoming more expensive we've been toying with the idea of an internet shop. Well we've only gone and done it. Let me set the scene it's 6pm and baby is just finishing his feed, Kate arrives laptop in hand ready to create our Etsy store. I make tea, get out the cupcakes to accompany our enterprise building and we settle down to begin, all to a background of the Gilmore girls. This is of course where the calm ends ... baby decides he's colicky again so needs comforting/entertaining/gripe water, Seb decides he's fed up of being usurped by said baby and so began, "baby juggling" and "cat tennis" all whilst we try to measure and describe a Scottie dog. As ever we persevered and our shop is officially open! So far stock is fairly limited to 2 Scottie dogs however our intention is to add more items as we get the photos ready. After all the excitement and me being quite the technophobe I decided I didn't have it in me to try and add items tonight and turned my attention to a new project that presented itself to me while I was out trying to get frames for 2 button hearts that have been ordered. I'm sure I'd concluded that this week I didn't need to make I could concentrate on organising and changing our labels etc for the stall, at the last count I had 3 owls, 2 Christmas tree decorations some button pictures and bags to finish as well as Christmas knitting to finish....
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25/11/2016 1 Comment Two days to go...So with two days to go until the Christmas fair at Wortley Hall, our crafts are packed and ready to go not sure how ready I'll be with works Christmas do the night before!
Not sure if I've mentioned it before but I've got a bit of a thing about buttons, (me and Kate both if I'm honest). I can't explain it but I think they're great there's something satisfying about finding the perfect buttons to finish a piece off eyes for an owl an embellishment for a Christmas tree decoration. At one point we had a self imposed ban on buying any more. Big cheap bags are the best then you can spend time sorting them. A while ago whilst browsing the internet I found some pictures made with buttons ...... exciting and after further perusal I found a video tutorial making letters from buttons in the video they were stuck on with glue which seemed like a cheat somehow. So when my nephew was one I made a T for his nursery, I also made a sheep for our baby's nursery, I've been keen to try some at a craft fairs and maybe do made to order designs. Here's what I've come up with so far, think they could do with some refinement but we will see. 22/11/2016 0 Comments Preparations are in full swingSo with six days to go before Wortley Hall Christmas market I headed to Buxton for the day to meet a friend and her family! I seem to be at the mercy of my new cars sat nav and inclement weather at the moment, on the way we were diverted via the snake pass and glossop due to an accident at ladybower, while on the way home I was directed (forced) down what can only be described as a track which was in places still submerged! We had a lovely lunch, catch up and a mosey round the shops. So once home and baby was settled i had a quick tea and headed upstairs to the attic to start getting things ready for Sunday. As you can see (if I've included the picture!) we tend to use fabric oddments/left overs from other projects and fabric samples that Kate was sent, so I guess you could say we're up-cycling.
Having sorted out all the finished bits and pieces it was time to make a list of all the bits and pieces I'd like to get done by Sunday. Clearly the list will be revised and scaled down once I'm being more realistic. A happy hour was then spent picking fabric and designing button pictures/designs as I'd quite like to trial making them to order. Whether they're ready by the weekend remains to be seen. So with the fabric for the backgrounds to be ironed and the list I'm off to bed 20/11/2016 0 Comments A Chatsworth ChristmasSo it's been a few days since I last blogged and a busy few days it's been. We started the week with a trip over the Pennines to visit a friend and her new addition. The journey home over the snake was pretty terrifying but we did get to see the super moon which was indeed super!
Next up was a visit from my auntie. Now anyone who knows me knows I love a good box set and while I was in hospital having the baby I thought I'd watch downtown abbey see what all the fuss was about, well I got hooked. So when someone reminded me that they decorate the house for Christmas and there's a Christmas market well I seized the opportunity to go. The Christmas decorations in the house are fabulous the trees are huge and the baubles plentiful. A very nice member of staff told us about the planning and decorating process while we had a brief pit stop to feed baby. Once we'd finished in the house and the shop we headed outside to the market. Now I'm a fan of the Christmas market but so often the picturesque scene can be let down by stalls selling tat, not so Chatsworth it had local producers selling cheeses, cakes, ales and sweets (fudge being a favourite) and unique clothing, reversible tweed skirts luxury knits and a fab range of hand stitched appliqué t-shirts (one of which I purchased for baby and will be ordering mine soon). It was so lovely to see so many hand made things and reasonably priced too. As you know if you've seen previous blog posts I'm not the greatest knitter and on getting the labour of love (a jumper for my nephew) out last weekend it was with a defeated and sorrowful voice I told my partner "there's something not right here" as the smooth section above the ribbed bit was not smooth, Gah! So I seized the opportunity to ask an expert, auntie confirmed that yet again unravelling was the answer, oh well I'm becoming really rather good at this unravelling lark! Anyway spurred on by supportive auntie comments like "your tension is good" the offending section has been unravelled and reknitted. My other knitting project which is a teddy (kind of) for baby is coming along nicely it's a far simpler pattern and I may attempt is again (unlike the jumper which I think is a one off!). So this week I will mainly be getting ready for the Christmas craft fairs, I will be using nap time to finish pieces off and pack it all up, Kate has cats ready for the cat people and I have a range of scottie dogs along with our other bits and pieces. 9/11/2016 0 Comments A lovely day of tea and cakeWell clearly not pumping on all cylinders today as the update I spent time typing didn't make it onto the page gah! So quite a lot has happened since my last post, we ran our first stick and stitch day which was very enjoyable. Hosted by the lovely Mugen tea house mini albums were folded and stuck, owls were stitched, teas and cakes were sampled
and conversation flowed. The toffee apple cake and peanut butter brownies were extremely good mmm. We really enjoyed it and during the course of the day came up with ideas for further classes. For valentines we are thinking cards and hearts and for Mother's Day flower broaches and cards. I managed to make 3 owls during the day and start a Christmas tree decoration which is a good job as no crafting has occurred since. My baby's super power seems to be mutating the cold virus so that we never quite shake it and this week we've both been particularly snotty and gross the news from America this morning didn't help motivate us out of our sick bed! Christmas is coming which means shopping lists, shopping, wrapping and of course crafting in preparation for the Christmas fairs. With that in mind I should really go to bed. 2/11/2016 0 Comments Stick n stitchSo our first "stick n stitch" day is almost upon us. This evening I've dragged myself away from this time next year to start getting all the owl parts together for Saturday. I am slightly concerned about how anally retentive I can be having sorted pins and needles out into same colour sets. In fact I must be more than slightly concerned as I sent the below picture to my other half a jokingly saying it's not weird is it only to be told it IS weird.
I also had to go through my buttons to find pairs of eye for the owls, ok so thinking about it they're sorted by colour too .... but that's just common sense surely? |
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