Monday 22 April 2013

Onwards and upwards

Does anyone know why all the bad things seem to happen at once? Last week was a total nightmare and I sincerely hope this week will be better. I don't see how it could be worse.

I got myself very stressed about work and I don't think I realised how much Eva's school offer was affecting me. Incidentally she did get offered a place at our first choice but we were lucky, I know lots of Mums who were very disappointed to not get any of their three choices. It seems such an unfair system and even though we did get the school we were hoping for I can't help but pick up on other people's stress and upset. Not good.

Amongst all this I have been trying to get some new products made, photographed and uploaded as well as tackle the huge number of bunting orders. I did have to bury my head in the sand a little towards the end of last week, but after a very relaxing weekend which involved a night at the theatre to see Derren Brown (who was awesome) and a lovely picnic in the park yesterday I feel more with it and motivated today I'm pleased to say.

I did manage to get one new product uploaded, it's a Father's Day card with a Jammy Dodger on it. Available in two colour schemes, biscuit beige and sea green.



A quirky, original biscuit card, a brilliant way to tell Dad how much you love him this Fathers Day.




In other news I have finally managed to track down a copy of Homestyle Sewing magazine.






I am lucky enough to be featured on page 23. It is a lovely magazine with a great free gift of all the bits you need to make your very own needle case. Not easy to find in the shops though, I had to wait for stock and order my copy from Newstand. But was delighted when it finally did arrive!

Have a great week folks!






Monday 15 April 2013

Red Riding Hood Glasses Cases

First of all let me start with an apology. I have had a very busy Easter and even though I had a little bit of childcare I totally underestimated how much time I would need to be making up orders. It's usually a fairly quiet time, but not so this year. I am obviously delighted to be so busy but unfortunately the blog has had to go on hold for a couple of weeks. Sorry about that, but I am back now!



I am filling up my etsy shop and the newest additions are my Little Red Riding Hood glasses cases. The case can also be personalised using a freehand machine embroidery technique. The handwritten style that this technique produces makes each case individual.


The cases are printed by hand using scarlet red acrylic printing ink. Each design is hand illustrated and then screen printed in our Northamptonshire studio.



Each glasses case is fully lined in red cotton fabric with soft batting to keep your glasses snug, there is a matching red elastic strap and a vintage button to hold your glasses in place.


Both versions are available from my shop, here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/evajeanie?page=1#save


Exciting Post!!!

I love getting post, especially when it's not just boring statements and invoices, I have had two really cool things arrive in the past couple of days.

The first was something I ordered from etsy US, it is a pattern for a dress, top and trousers. I have been thinking about making some clothes for a while but have completely bitten the Great British Sewing Bee bug and decided I need to buy myself a pattern pronto! The one I chose looks fairly simple and is made by Simplicity. I had a bash at making some clothes while I was at Uni but think I chose the wrong fabrics as I did look like a bit armchairesque in one dress I remember! So watch this space, I will definitely do a blog post when I have something the show for it! I don't want to make things too tricky but I'm thinking about screen printing the pockets....


The other exciting package was from Amazon and is a book that I have wanted for ages.


It is called 'I just like to make things' by Lilia Rogers. It is a beautiful spiral bound book, the tag line to the book says 'Learn the secrets to making money while staying passionate about your art and craft'. I don't want to spoil it as I will do a whole blog post on it soon, but I can see just from flicking through the pages that it's just what I need in my life right now, I hope the content is as inspiring as the artwork! I'll be sure to let you know.

One last thing I need to tell you. Tonight is the night (at midnight) when parents of preschool age children in our County can log on to a website to find out which School their child has been allocated. Now if you are not the parent of a pre-school age child, this probably means very little to you but for us Mum's and Dad's of little 4 year olds it's a bit of a curious time. On the one hand I don't want Eva to go to school as I want to keep her here at home with me forever, but as that's not an option I have to hope (along with all the parents) that we have been allocated one of our three choices. I have had nightmares that I receive a letter offering us a place at a School, but the school named is not legible. I really didn't think I was worried but I am now and will definitely be logging in at midnight if only to assist with crashing the website!