New Card Range

I have so much I want to share at the moment, I have been out of action for the last week or so, firstly due to the snow as I had limited childcare and secondly because Eva was so poorly all week last week with a very nasty sickness bug, I took the week off to care for her, one of the massive perks of being self employed is that even though it's a bit of a juggle I know I can be there for my family at a moments notice. So reassuring, I don't think I could manage any other way now.

Happy Birthday Eva!!!
Eva is four years old today, I cannot believe it, it has totally flown by. That's not to say the trauma's of childbirth aren't still fresh in my mind (hence only one child)!



I just have time to share with you the cards in my new range of products, I have re-opened my etsy shop and they are flying off the shelves. One was even featured in the etsyuk email yesterday, I was so excited to see it! It's quite a small pic but it's on the bottom left.

So here they are... my biscuit and sweet themed cards, inspired by childhood nostalgia, a super yummy selection of illustrated cards for Valentine's Day, Anniversaries, Birthdays or just a special card to cheer someone up.

The cards are all available as personalised and non-personalised. There is still enough time to order a personalised card for Valentine's Day, if you are quick!

 Nice Biscuit Cards

 Jammy Dodger Cards

Love Heart Sweet Cards 

 I don't know about your guys, but I'm so glad it's February, good things are going to happen I can feel it!

 

Trade Show Virgin

Yesterday I had a rare but deserved day out. Part of my plan for 2013 is to do a trade show but decided it might be a good idea to visit a trade show to see what it's all about.

I grabbed a couple of my crafty friends and off we went to Earls Court in London to Top Drawer, their tag line claims they are 'The UK's leading event for design-led gifts, lifestyle & fashion accessories.' Perfect!

As you can see from the first photograph, I don't get out a lot.

If I am going to embark upon the world of tradeshow there were some things I wanted to know first. For instance how much space do you get for your money (not much I found) and what sort of printed materials do prospective customers expect? I'm a sucker for a postcard but are buyers and do they expect free stuff too?

I found that there were lot's of creatives like myself there with fairly small stands just handing out business cards and pricelists, and then equally there was the other end of the scale, one stand I particularly liked was Hemingway House. It was a beautiful stand with some very special tiles:

Another eye catching stand was Dots and Spots, owner and designer Becky Peabody was absolutely lovely and gave us some samples of her paper, which I am really interested in for gift wrapping my products.

By mid afternoon I was a bit overwhelmed by the bright lights, so decided it was time to head outside for some air, so we spent the next couple of hours wandering around Notting Hill and Portobello Market.

We were getting a lateish train home so spent an hour or so pootling around the wonder that is St Pancras station. It really is a beautiful place with some pretty nice shops too.

Then we headed home, extremely tired (although Deanne kept me giggling all the way, even when I nearly gave her a black eye opening my train picnic on the homeward journey).

Thanks to the super talented Deanne of Quirky Boots for the pics in this post. We also traveled to the event with seasoned trade fairer and fellow craftsperson Louise Verity of Wall Envy Art.

New Year? Pass the Kalms!

I have just had the strangest experience and had to share. If you have just been listening to 6 music yes that was me as a participant in The Chain!! For those of you who don't know The Chain is a series of songs that are somehow connected, I connected Mumm-ra (She's got you high) to the Marvelettes (Too many fish in the Sea).

Here's how I made the link:

Mummra was the bad guy in the 1980's cartoon Thundercats and the Thundercats was made by Marvel comics, so I chose a song by the Marvellettes!

I was extremely nervous, this sort of thing is way out of my comfort zone but don't think I made too much of a wally of myself, and Chris Hawkins (who I have a not so secret crush on) was very nice so it just felt like a phone call :)

What a good way to start the new year! Cheers 6 Music, especially Hen (you know why) x

Jack Frost has been!

This morning was a bit of a whirlwind rush, I decided to have a bit of a lie in, only ten minutes but when I was finally dragged out of bed by my three year old (neither of us are morning people) I realised I couldn't leave the house without a shower as my hair was stuck to my head! Then Eva didn't want to wear the clothes I had picked out for her, I really wish she hadn't developed her own sense of style at such a young age.

Once breakfast, shower and dressing and drying were all done (within about 12 minutes) we ventured to the car which was full of frost. I strapped Eva into her seat and starting to de-ice the car with some pump action de-icer. Once defrosted I got in the car, to be informed by Eva that she had forgotten her mo-mo (a manky blanket, she loves and drags everywhere with her - through everything). So my only option was to go back inside and try to hunt down the Mo-mo, which sounds simple but as the police have recently warned there have been some car crime in my road so I couldn't leave the car running. I locked Eva in the car ran back in the house, where I proceeded to run around like a headless chicken in search of the mo-mo, of course I couldn't find it as she also likes to hide her beloved scrap of mank, so I had to get her a freshly laundered one. I ran back down the stairs to find that that car had now completely frozen over again, damn you pump action de-icer!!! I had no choice but to start the de-icing process all over again and passed Eva the new mo-mo, which she cried about but luckily gave up after a two minute holler!

We got to playschool a few minutes late but they're pretty okay about that (just as well).

I returned home to crack on with some Christmas orders and it felt like a different morning altogether, the sun was coming up and has made all the frostiness look magical, I made tea and put on my favourite 6 music on the radio. When I sat down at my desk I spotted these awesome spiders webs on the balcony. I'm not a massive fan of spiders but these are beautiful, I took a few minutes to just sit and appreciate them, sometimes just a few minutes out, 'taking in' the scenery just sets me up for the day ahead.

Kitchen Table Business

Well it's blooming freezing today and I have a pile of orders to get through, I usually do all my printing at a workshop in Leicester but I am really pushed for time so have decided to have a quick catch up on my kitchen table, it's actually really quick (once I got going) and I must have saved loads of time and trouble in getting to Leicester and back, think I'll be doing more printing like this.

I already had my exposed screen and printing paint, my husband made me a printing bed, I bought the hinges so all in it's probably cost around £100.00 to get set up at home but I will save that money pretty quickly and also I won't be stressing all the way to Leicester about what I have forgotten!!

I did have a complete squeegee nightmare, I tried to get away with using a cheap version, but it was worse than useless, as I was in a rush I phoned Fred Aldous craft supplies extraordinaires, and they were so helpful, they gave me some advice and posted the new squeegee which I received yesterday,  meaning I can get the orders all out by the weekend if I get a wriggle on!

These Scandinavian inspired Christmas trees are just some of the designs I am printing this morning, I literally have 2 hours before I have to collect Eva from playschool, so best dash!

Letter from Santa

I am helping Santa with his letter writing this year as he is super busy. Each letter is personalised with information about each child, including achievements over the past year and even what colour their front door is!

Every Santa letter is decorated with our own bold design of snowflakes with a log cabin and a smiling Father Christmas and every letter includes some personal information about the child, every is letter unique for every child. The charming handwritten typeface is appealing for older children and clear for young readers. It is posted directly to the child in a special North Pole envelope.

If you would like one, you need to be quick, they can be purchased from my not on the high street.com shop here.

A place for everything and everything in it's place

I'm not sure what's happened to me, I have always thought of myself as a bit of a messy person but I am becoming increasingly aware that I must have changed. Since setting up as a freelance designer seven years ago I have noticed that I am far neater and like things to be tidied away and I even like things to be clean! A far cry from my student digs where I didn't hoover for one whole year!!

I am a bit worried that I might be turning into a neat freak. I have recently moved into my new studio which is palatial in comparison to my old box room, but it has somehow turned me into the world's tidiest person. I have bought some new storage to help me keep things nice and neat. The first piece is an old printer tray that I bought for my coloured threads, initially I had just put the spools into the gaps any old how, but looking at them every day was driving me nuts so I have now rearranged them by colour and I feel so much better about them (am I nuts).

As I have a large range of products in my shop, many of which are screen printed, I needed somewhere to keep half finished products (things that have been printed or stitched but not yet assembled). I found this set of drawers last week in IKEA - yes I braved IKEA during half term and discovered the wonder that is Småll land, I left Eva happily playing for 50 minutes so I could go on the serious business of storage hunting.

I found these beauties:

They are perfect for my needs, lots of shallow drawers and space on top for my printer, they were very heavy though so I had to ask for help in getting them to the car. The only small problem I had was that my husband (a furniture designer) hates them, but I think he is warming to the idea slightly now as I have somewhere to keep half finished projects and orders.

I love them, I don't even have every drawer full at the moment which is great, as I can grow into them!

A great place to store finished....

and half finished products...

The white liners of the drawers are also a good place to photograph small items.

I am just getting all my makes ready for a Craft and Vintage Fair at Wicksteed park taking place this weekend, Saturday and Sunday 11-5 if you are in the area pop by and say Hi, my lovely friend Kelly has said she will come along to help me out (not sure that she knows what she is letting herself in for)!!

Stay Cosy

That's it, the heating is on, Autumn is in full flow and the long Summer days are a distant memory. I think Autumn is my favourite month. Firstly because it starts every year with my birthday and then Halloween and Bonfire night. I love the cold crisp mornings, the bright leaves crunching on the ground and all of the new warm food's we eat.

The weather took a definite cold turn this week so I have dragged out the slow cooker. So far I have made a gorgeous lamb tagine and a sausage casselout I felt compelled to start a collection of recipes appropriate for hibernation. My thoughts always turn to soups and stews but this year I am also going to be making some sweet treats like gingerbread and Alcoholic hot chocolate.

I have started a board on pinterest and will be adding furiously to it no doubt as I am addicted. Feel free to follow me...

I really like simple foods, nothing could be more fitting than a simple boiled egg and soldiers. My three year old loves the whole concept of cracking the egg and dipping in strips of buttery toast for breakfast, but as she's three and nothings happens quickly, to prevent her dippy egg from getting cold (while she decides where she wants to sit and which spoon she would like to eat with), I have created a range of cheerful screen printed egg cosies.

They are all bold and simple in design, my work is heavily Zakka inspired. Each cosy started life as a hand drawing, that I transferred to screen and then printed by hand. These are all printed in scarlet red on a super soft Scandinavian cream cotton. The reverse panels are all different. Some are plain and some have gorgeous Liberty prints on them.

I would love to hear what you are doing to stay cosy this Autumn and any traditions you have at this time of year.

Getting ready for the Festive Season

Oh dear! I seem to have completely gotten out of the habit of blogging. I have been so busy sewing and designing, oh and I have made loads of prints too, but I just haven't had time to think about my blog and as we are getting into that season when all crafters disappear to help Santa I seriously doubt my blogging regime is going to be reignited anytime soon!

I am already seeing the order book stacking up so if you need to order anything get it done sooner rather than later!

I thought I'd share some of my new designs for Autumn - Winter 2012:

Lavender Filled Strawberry cushions:

They come as a set of three in various combinations.

Lavender Love Birds and Kits:

There are loads of new products in my shop, these are just a few, I'll update of the others next time I get a two minute slot!!

Reworking and adding new images

It's been a few weeks since my last blog post. I was away in Cornwall for a few weeks to get rested and gear myself up for Christmas. I have also been catching up on all of those small adminy type jobs that seem to accumulate and actually take up quite a lot of time if you don't tend to them as and when they crop up.

One such job is re-wording and sorting my images for my not on the high street. com storefront. The lovely people at not on the highstreet.com have been very helpful in supplying all partners with a series of online guides to watch that talk through how to improve my listings and ultimately maximise sales! I watched the short presentation while on holiday (yes I know I was supposed to be having a break, but it was actually quite enjoyable).

I was both astounded and also very proud to see that one of my images had been used in the photography guide. It was used to illustrate that good images can be achieved by partners, without much expense and without the need for a professional photo shoot. My image was shown alongside two photo's that were taken by professionals! In terms of styling and composition and light, all three were considered good examples of photographs of tote bags, here's my pic:

Now I am definitely no photographer but I do have Photoshop and some skills in reworking images, namely adjusting the light and shadows, cropping and messing about with the exposure. I'd be lying if I said I don't have a decent camera, but it's about 7 years old and I don't have any flashy extra lenses just the one that came with it.

So today I have been working through the guides again for optimising my listings and also reworking new photo's and adding new, every time I make an order I try to photograph it so that I am always adding new photo's to my storefront, firstly to keep things fresh and up to date but also because my photography has improved drastically over the last year, photo's that I thought looked awesome last year now seem dull, dark and outdated!

Here's some of my new improved pics:

I am only about a fifth done with getting all my images improved but I think it's going to be worth it! This year I was shortlisted for category Best Store Front at the not on the high street. com Make Awards So I am thinking with my new improved images I may try to win it next year, then again maybe not!!