Summer Bake

It's Saturday morning, I sitting at my desk with a list as long my arm. But I don't mind as I have had a very busy but productive week. There have been lots of play days with my 3 year old and the weather has been so kind this week, we have managed to get out every day and meet with friends to play outside and make the most of the holidays.

I have limited childcare in the holidays as I want don't want to miss out on this important part of our lives, the downside to this means I end up working every evening until my bedtime and of course Saturday mornings. But now that I'm in the full swing of things I am finding that actually it's working pretty well and my days feel completely fulfilled.

I had a lovely suprise yesterday when my good friend Quirky Boots  sent me a text message to say that my new carrier bag holders had been featured on the not on the high street.com facebook page they are still there and have 115 likes!! So if you have a spare minute please take a look.

As it's the weekend I thought I would share with you a recipe that I made this week, it's an old favourite, it uses up the glut of tomatoes and courgettes that are available at this time of year. Whether you have grown your own or are taking advantage of the in season offers at the supermarket this dish is perfect accompaniment to a summer bbq or as a main dish with some nice crusty bread.

I made it in a big dish that I bought from a recent vintage fair for £1.00!!! Bargainous!

Courgette and Tomato Layer Bake

What you need:

2 x large (or four small) courgettes sliced thinly
2 x large (or 1 beef) tomatoes sliced thinly
1 x onion chopped or sliced
1 x red pepper chopped or sliced

olive oil (drizzle)
oregano and basil
garlic (crushed)

50g parmesan or any strong cheese (grated)
handful bread crumbs (optional)
 
What to do:
1. Fry the onion and pepper in some olive oil for 5-10mins until softened, over a gentle heat. After about 8 minutes add the garlic.

2. Put the fried ingredients in the bottom of the dish and layer the courgette and tomato slices in a round, following the edge of the dish. I had so many for this dish that I did two layers, it wokred fine, just needed a little extra cooking time.

3. Drizzle with olive oil and scatter with oregano and fresh basil.

4. Bake in a medium oven for about 30mins, once it all looks cooked cover the top with the cheese and breadcrumbs and bake for another 5 mins.

5. Tuck in!!

New week - new designs

It's been a week since the not on the high street.com Make Awards, and I have now been sent my shortlisted banner that I can add to my blog which I am super pleased about.






I have also been busy trying to organise some local publicity from the event. With the help from the multi-talented Sarah Ward from Fouracre PR, we got into the Business Pages of the Evening Telegraph (page 48 if you're local and want to check it out).

It's also been a busy week for sorting new products and developing old ones, I am off for a day at the print workshop in Leicester next week to do some screen printing on to fabric so will be updating you with those very soon I hope.

Enjoy the sunshine (while it lasts).

The Make Awards 2012

We have just arrived back from the not on the high street.com make awards which were held at the beautiful Syon Gardens in London. It was a really exciting day and a great opportunity to meet other partners with noths.com and also to meet the lovely faces behind noths.com (I was a little star struck by Holly Tucker and Sophie Cornish).

Both myself and my husband Tony are partners and were also both lucky enough to be shortlisted for prizes within different categories. My category was best store front and Tony's was for Best Product for his Solid Oak 'Hot Stuff' trivet:

When we arrived in the main hall it was a real suprise to see that all of the shortlisterd partners had large photo's of one of their products displayed on easels on the tables around the room. First of all I could only see Tony's and thought they had maybe only included a few, but Tony hunted for mine and when we finally found it I felt incredibly proud :)

It was a really relaxed, but busy day filled with interactive workshops and seminars with help and advice on how to get the best from your creative business and how to take it forward and grow. But at the end was the really exciting part (the Awards).

There were two other partners in my category. Both with super storefronts and unfortunately I didn't win. I was a little disappointed to find out that I hadn't won, but the competition was fierce and I do feel excpetionally privileged to have made it to the top three. But there was no need to feel too despondent as my super talented husband won in his category!! Go Tony, well done, I am so pleased for you :) It was a really great day, thanks so much notonthehighstreet!

Exciting News!!! As many of you know evajeanie is a partner with notonthehighstreet, next Thursday they are hosting their Make Awards 2012 which celebrate creative enterprise. 

Yesterday they announced their short list and guess what?! I made the shortlist!!!! Wahoo! My category is Best Store Front, I am so excited! I am so so so proud of myself for being shortlisted. You can see my store front here:

Store front:

Still making Jubilee Union Jack Bunting

I can't believe I am still making Union Jack bunting! I made the first batch a few weeks ago for a special order for The Biscuit Factory gift shop and wasn't going to list the item in my shop, since then I have had an abundance of orders and I am also really delighted to say that last week I received an email asking if I could make a rush order of the bunting for Good Housekeeping Magazine as they had seen online it and loved it, they placed an order for 4 metres and are going to be using it in their Jubilee celebrations. I am absolutely delighted about this and had to stop myself from skipping to the Post Office this morning to send it off!

Monday morning, erm actually it's Tuesday

Good morning peeps.
I am a bit confused about it being Tuesday as it definitely feels like a Monday, those pesky bank hols, I'm sure they are just there to throw out my body clock. This morning I was so unprepared for the day I didn't have any milk for cereal and Eva's pink milk, so I had to drive to the shop (which I hate doing as at 8.15am it takes forever, in fact I should have walked) I was feeling a bit stressed out about my early morning shopping trip but I actually managed to get most of my supplies for the week, including a cheese straw for my breakfast, which I have now eaten and it has certainly lifted my mood. So if it proceeds to rain all week as forecast I can now hermitise myself. I actually quite enjoy sewing in my cosy little work room when it's chucking it down outside.

The more observant of you will have noticed that I have changed my blog design. I just thought as I am making a lot of florally Jubilee themed products right now I ought to embrace the moment and signpost these makes. All of my items are available through my shop, if you have an aversion to red, white and blue, or you would like the design to fit with your own colour scheme I can make you a bespoke version, just email me. Here are some shots of my bunting in alternate colour schemes.

The new background image on my blog is a recent shot of my fabric stash and some vintage buttons. Its looks quite neat in the photo but I am preparing for a craft fair during the next two weeks, so I doubt it will remain in neat little bundles for long! I might photograph it next Friday just to see how it compares!

Hope you have a fabulous week!

Some small changes, Graphic Design.

Since setting up evajeanie in Jan 2011 I have been in a constant battle with myself as I also have and love my graphic design business, until now I have seen myself as a Graphic Designer who makes handmade items, but I can now see that this approach is likely to be detrimental to both businesses and what I need to do is join them up.

I have thought long and hard about this and for the first stage of this new venture I will be introducing more screen printed items that I have designed in 2D and hand screen printed, these can then be embroidered, I will also be printing my own designs onto fabric to create some really unique work. Also alongside this you will be seeing much more of my graphics work, on my blog and in my notonthehighstreet shop.

I will also offer my graphics as a service to other creative and handmade businesses, people who need help with designs or just print for business cards and flyers and all those things you need to get the message out there to buyers. I can do the online stuff too, banners and buttons for example, but can also set up a blog and help with social networking (if this is something you need please email me) evajeanie email as it would be good to know if there is any interest.

It just seems madness to have two successful businesses that could work so well together, why should I fight to keep them separate when bringing them together I can offer so much more, I hope you agree and I would love to hear your thoughts.

Carrier bag holders

Over the last week I have been working on orders and new designs for my shop. I have also been trying to remove some of the older items to make way for new ones and sometimes it's nice to have a complete change.

But I have one product in my shop that is and always has been popular. These are my free machine embroidered and appliqued carrier bag holders It's funny as I made them initially as a bit of a joke, but I think it has been one of my most popular items. Earlier this year I changed the fabric options, to keep things fresh and up to date, it was also to simplify things a little as my initial listing offered 8 fabric choices most of which were vintage and it was a bit too complicated on the stock control as each one uses a fair amount on fabric and I tend to buy vintage pieces in small sizes I almost had to buy more fabric every time I got an order. But that's all part of the learning curve and product development, I have plan now and a big stock of fabrics that are modern but in a vintage style.

I guess this bag holder has been popular because people are a bit more conscious of the environment and the importance of not just throwing plastic bags away, but re-using them each time we shop, the downside to this of course is a cupboard full of plastic bags, but they do squish down quite small therefore this carrier holder can hold loads.

 I think this is one item that is going to stay in my shop for a while yet. It is also available without the embroidered panel on the front. I make these for craft fairs in smaller quantities from the vintage fabrics I originally used so if you would like one of those you can message me, otherwise they are available from my notonthehighstreet shop