An apple a day...

Well hello hello... I feel a bit out of touch with my blog at the moment as I've been so busy lately I've not had much chance to post. Mainly it's been fathers day and wedding orders, but I also made some 'apple' mirrors as teacher thank you gifts this week and boy did they go down well!! 

I was selling them direct through my facebook page at first as I didn't even have time to list them and I completely sold out within a day.... I've now got hold of more of the fabric and so they are once again back in stock! It's funny how certain designs and fabrics capture people's imaginations isn't it, I don't think I've ever made anything which has been in such demand :D

If any of you lovely bloggers would like to jump on the apple mirror bandwagon, they are a special price if you can purchase direct through paypal - £2.95 each for one, or £2.50 each if you are buying more than one. Postage is a flat £1.00 regardless of how many mirrors you purchase... email or message me at jenny.arnott@hotmail.co.uk with your paypal address and I will send you an invoice. Or if you prefer I have listed them in my Etsy shop too!

Anyway as well as all the father's day cards and apple mirrors being made, I also had a little run on badges this week so have been frantically making up more...

 ...available here in my Etsy shop :)

I've also been in the press which is always exciting for me! This time it was my London Bus compact mirror which is in the current issue of Now magazine!

And I've also got a few new stockists which I need to post about soon. Things are going really well with my business and I am so pleased! I work hard at it and I finally feel like I am getting results which is fantsatic. I will never be a millionaire (unless I win the lottery - which considering I never play it, is looking quite unlikely) but if I am able to make a comfortable living with something I love doing then I will be happy!

Anyway hope you all have a fantastic Jubilee weekend - I am actually going to visit my parents for a couple of days - so my shops are now shut over the weekend (not sure if this affects the links I've put into this post actually, sorry if it does) but I will be back soon, and will still be around to answer emails and send invoices if needed! I'm taking my neglected hexagons with me, so hopefully when I get back I might have figured out how to join them and have something resembling a cushion cover, wish me luck with that! Happy weekend xxx

An all sorts week...

It's been a funny sort of few days here. I've been getting quite a few orders through but for a real random variety of items, so there's been lots of different things being made.  I've also been trying to get my Father's day range up but the weather's been so awful that I've not had a chance to photograph anything yet!

I have added a few bits to my shops recently though...

'London Bus' mirrors

and  'London Guards at Buckingham Palace' mirrors

I am actually quite in love with this fabric! I haven't gone to town with making Jubilee products as I don't want to be left with lots of unsold stock afterwards so this is my token effort! I thought the London bus would be the most popular but so far I've sold an exact equal amount of both designs. Do you have a favourite out of the two??

I've also been concentrating on handmade personalised cards in the last few weeks. I've nearly completely changed my entire product range on Not on the High Street in the last few months, taking off products that haven't sold that well (or ones I was bored of making!) and trying out new things. I only get to have thirty products live at any one time, so I'm trying to make the most of them!

Thanks for all your lovely comments about our garden by the way! The weather has been awful this weekend though, torrential rain and such scarily strong winds that we have not ventured out there at all since I took these pictures. The grass has not been laid two weeks yet though so it's giving it a good chance to root before we start walking on it! It is still growing fast though, in fact at the moment it is looking gorgeous - the sun is shining and making it look extra green! Come on Summer!!

Anyway in other news... I finally started using my Debbie Bliss yarn! 

 

I'd been sat looking at it for a couple of weeks whilst I worked on my other patchwork blanket (so must get around to taking some pictures of that one soon!) I didn't want to rush into anything since I only have one little ball of each I couldn't afford to be making mistakes, but eventually I gave in and started making.....

...mini hexagons! Aren't they just so sweet?

They are made with Jacquie's pattern, except I've added an extra round to make them a little bigger. They're not joined yet, just laid out so I can see the colours together... They're destined to become a cushion cover for our sofa... the softer more muted palette is just right for our living room and I'm really loving working with these colours though I am missing the brights a bit! You might notice though that I took out the brighter pink from the pictures above, it just didn't quite sit right somehow as I really want a muted vintagey look with this one, like an old (but much loved) patchwork blanket...

 

I've made 32 hexagons so far, not sure how many I actually need, probably double that so it will take a little while to finish yet. Although I did a lot of them on Saturday, I've only been doing a couple in the evenings since, though hope to make some more tonight. They're really quick to make, though I find that if I'm not concentrating properly I tend to miscount the stitches!

Right I best go, as I am trying to clean up my computer this evening too. The one I do all my image work and blog posts on is my super ancient desktop as the screen is better than on my laptop. But it only has 70GB of disk space in total including for all the programs so it gets full so quick (my image files are always huge!) I have copied everything onto an external hard drive and am now going through it and trying to delete what I can. I have to do it every few months, which is really quite tedious but I'm fed up of the 'C drive full' message popping up every two minutes! So far today I've deleted 19GB but I want to see if I can clear off just a little bit more!

Anyway have a great rest of the week, back soon xxx

New things

Hello, have you had a nice weekend? It feels a bit odd to be here writing on a Sunday, I usually do my posts mid week... Now I know this was supposed to be the giveaway winner post, but I do have an apology to make - I may have to leave it for a day or two, I'm so sorry, as I have so much still to do this evening, and with all the various names/shares etc on my facebook page in particular, it is not just a case of doing the random number generator thingy like I usually do, it's going to take some serious name writing out I think!! But I promise I will do it in the next day or two.

Things are still quite busy, and I have commission work deadlines looming this week, as well as quite a few orders trickling in for Mothers Day already. I have also been trying to organise all my online shops a bit better and spent quite a while this morning sorting my Etsy shop out! It's been pretty much neglected since before xmas, I hadn't listed anything new for weeks and I hadn't even taken my Christmas products down. But I gave it a little spring clean and it's looking sooooooo much better!

I've also been making new pretty mirrors and lots of new cards in the last few weeks and have been working hard to get them all photographed and listed in my shops... it takes so much longer than you think to write all the copy and edit all the pics doesn't it??

So these are some of the new designs I've been working on lately...

'Jug of Roses' embroidered mother's day card, can be personalised with your own message, and can be found in my Etsy shop here

'Best Mum'embroidered card

Embroidered cupcake card, really for birthdays but as it can be personalised with your own message it could just as easily be a mother's day card too! 

 Birthday balloons embroidered card...

...and some new mirrors too.... how I love this fabric especially the turquoise!! I've actually been on a bit of a fabric buying binge in the last few weeks, with the excuse that I 'need' it all for my work.... so looking forward to lots of parcels arriving this week!

You can find them here and here

I also made matching magnets as I had quite a few spare bits of fabric which weren't quite big enough for mirrors but a perfect size for the slightly smaller magnets and badges!

So that's about it for tonight as I can't believe it's gone seven already, so quite short and sweet for once! Anyway hope you've all had a bit of sunshine these last few days... We've had lovely weather this weekend (makes up for the miserable weather last week when I was completely miffed as everyone else in the whole country seemed to have sunshine) but haven't actually been out much in it. It just makes such a difference to have the house lovely and bright with the sun streaming in the windows... Really hope Spring is on it's way and it's not just a little tease!

Anyway back soon with my giveaway winner news, have a good week xxx

Christmas is coming!

Apologies in advance, it's been a while since I blogged so have a feeling this could be a bit of a mammoth post! I hope you're sitting comfortably with a glass of something nice...

Well I've been promising it for ages now so better start with a little blanket update! Though actually not been doing much on it lately... a mixture of lack of time and a lack of motivation if I'm honest. When I started it, I was going great guns and within a couple of weeks it was about half the size it is now. At the moment I am lucky if I manage a stripe a day, but then that is OK - I'm at about 100 stripes now I think and I was only aiming for about 120 so not long to go! I kind of don't want to finish it, I have enjoyed making it so much, so maybe that is why I am eeking it out... At least I don't have the horrible sewing together bit with this one!!

Anyway so what do you think? This photo is just over 2/3 of it laid out...

It is so bright and cheerful, just as a granny blanket should be I think, and is lovely and warm to snuggle up under. As it is a work in progress, it is currently living on the sofa, so it's in easy reach in the evenings! I do love cosy evenings, with my dressing gown on and all the lamps lit. It's definitely one of my favourite things about these dark cold winter months.

Continuing on the crochet theme, a few weeks ago, I also started making some Christmassy red and white crochet bunting using Jacquie's fab pattern, though actually this is as far as I got! Karl was a bit mean about it - he can't see the point of any bunting and I think crocheted bunting was just a step too far for him to comprehend!!! I took it to heart and put my lonely triangle away in a drawer but at the weekend I dug it out and I've decided to finish it whether he likes it or not! What do men know about these things anyway?! The plan is to alternate the red and white combinations for each flag and then string them all onto some stripey string to finish. Hopefully it will look nice and festive!

So apart from the crochet, have been working hard on lots of Xmas orders coming in for various things - mainly mirrors and badges I have to say. I actually got a new 25mm die for my badge maker last week and so spent a day or so testing it out making some really teeny weeny badges. The Christmas ones I've got in my shops already...

I'm selling them in packs so they can be split up for stocking fillers and little gifts and so far have gone down really well! I also started making little floral and pretty patterned ones too, but not got around to photographing them yet, hopefully will do soon though :) Anyway so that was quite exciting last week - I do love the thrill of designing and making a new product, and these are just so cute, I totally love making them!!

Have also been on a pudding mission this week, making up more pudding badge cards and pudding magnets for my Not on the High Street and Etsy shops...

Thank you to all you lovely bloggers who have ordered things from me in the last few weeks by the way, I really truly appreciate it! I actually need to start my Christmas shopping soon - Christmas is creeping up so quickly this year as the weeks whizz by. I did have a little trip to Bath on Friday to meet up with a friend for a few hours but all I came back with were some little decorative bits for me! Not really the spirit of Christmas shopping but still... I did get some lovely things actually - especially from M&S, they have some gorgeous red and white decorations in, but I will save them for another post.

Anyway this week I've also been working on a spring magazine commission. It won't be published for months yet though the Christmas projects I did for Crafts Beautiful way back in the summer are finally in the current issues! First up from the November issue is a Christmas card project I designed which is great for using up all your little bits of ribbons...

I really enjoyed doing this one, and it actually turned out better than I had imagined. I love the photography shoot for this project, I think the styling shows them off really well.

The December issue is actually out now too and I have three different projects in this one!! One of them is for these little hanging decorations including a snowman, star, tree, stocking and gingerbread house. Do you like them? The gingerbread house was definitely my fave to make! It will be coming out to decorate my own tree in a couple weeks, can't wait!

For more crafting ideas go to www.crafts-beautiful.com

  

I think I'll save the other two projects from this issue for my next post too, so that's nearly it from me today! Oh just before I go actually, wanted to show you a bit of festive embroidery I did at the weekend... 

If you couldn't tell, it's a little pair of festive mittens! (Karl's first words when he saw it were 'Why've you done a pair of boxing gloves?' Cheeky thing! Trouble is,  am not entirely sure he was joking!) It was really simple to make, just a little felt and embroidery thread, framed in a little hoop. Don't look too closely at my stitching though, I was watching a film at the time and somehow the snowflakes ended up being kind of wonky... oh well, it's only for me so doesn't matter too much I guess!

Anyway, I hope you are having a good week whatever you have been doing... thanks for your lovely comments and for stopping by as always, and I will be back soon with some more festive makes! Jenny xxx

Mirrors, mirrors everywhere!!

That's kind of what it feels like at the moment. For the last few days at least I seem to have been surrounded by them! All because I decided to start selling plain fabric mirrors (by plain I mean not embroidered) alongside my stitched ones...

It started with these festive ones, but I then decided to make up some pretty floral ones too, which could be given as gifts or bought as a treat all year round...

My favourite 'Flower Sugar' fabric has been cut in to...

...as has some of the gorgeous fabric I bought in Bath last week! I do love them, so very girly and pretty!

So it's been a little like a production line here, ironing fabric, cutting out circles, cleaning the mirrors (the most annoying part of the process, but they come really filthy!) pressing them into mirrors and popping them in their little organza bags. Hundreds and hundreds of them... especially the Christmas ones which have been flying off the shelves! I don't think I'd make a very good factory worker though, I'm not very fast on the production line, and I'm also very picky... I would have been fine on the quality control section though!!

Anyways, they can be found individually or as jumbo packs of ten in both my Etsy and my NOTHS shops :)

I have also been doing a little mirror embroidery though too as I've just put my personalised badges and mirrors back on the website, so quite a few orders for these coming in again...

After the matching badges were in the NOTHS spring catalogue, I was so sick of making them, so suspended them whilst we moved house and went on holiday, but actually am really enjoying making them again. I seem to be much better at doing neater embroidery in the mornings though - by the afternoon I'm all over the place!! So I have to make them the first thing I do in the morning... very strange!

Anyway, so apart from all the mirror making going on, I also had a lovely weekend with my parents. It was a very spur of the minute decision for them to come and visit, but it was so nice to see them. It came about because on the Friday afternoon we had torrential rain! And I do mean torrential... only for about an hour, but it was absolutely heaving down... Maybe the title of this post should have been  'water, water everywhere...' that would have been more apt!

I was at home as normal working away when looking out of the kitchen window, the road seemed to be turning into a river. More and more water just came flooding down the road, until the road wasn't even visible. Cones, bins and building materials began to float down the road too...

We live on a newly built estate which isn't even quite finished yet, and the way they have built the road coming in, seemed to be channelling all the water from the main road down through the estate, straight past our house... Luckily for us, we are set back a bit from the road and it was literally just flowing past our house, but not so lucky for the people who live slightly further down the road - lots of people got badly flooded where the water all collected where the road dipped - some of them old people's homes, it was awful, so quick and so devastating.

Because the builders are all still on site finishing bits and pieces, hopefully they will have to do something about it and build some flood defences or better drainage or something, it can't be allowed to happen every time we get heavy rain! Just feel so sorry for all those affected, can't imagine how I would feel if it was our house with all our furniture and belongings ruined... Nature can be so scary sometimes, the force and the speed which it has is frightening.

Anyway, as this was all going on, I was relating it to my parents over the phone and they just randomly decided they would come visit for the weekend. They hadn't seen our new house yet and they've only been down here once or twice very briefly before so it was nice to show them a little around the area too... we went to Castle Cary for a potter about on the Saturday afternoon, then out to eat at a lovely pub called The Three Horseshoes in Batcombe in the evening. Karl was away for the weekend so it was just me and them but so lovely to catch up! I do wish they lived a little closer, it is still a 3-4 hour journey up to where they live now and we don't get to see them very often at all, but I guess it beats the 7 hour journey to their old North Yorkshire house.

Well the day seems to be whizzing by, so I best go and get on. I've got a little list I want to get through by the end of today, starting with... yep, you guessed it, some more of these!

Isn't this fabric pretty? I've not got much of it, so these ones will be a limited edition range! It's an old ('vintage') Laura Ashley fabric from the 1980's I think - mum gave me the fabric, which was an offcut from their old sofa which we had when I was growing up, so quite nostalgic for me really. Kind of feel sad cutting it up, but it is an odd shaped piece and I'm not sure what else I would do with it really, except keep it in my stash for years and years... whereas at least I am putting it to good use now... plus the little posies of flowers are just the perfect size for the mirrors, so maybe it is meant to be! You can find them here for now.

Anyway, really better go now... but hopefully you are all having a lovely week and keeping cosy and dry! Oh, don't forget to enter my Christmas giveaway too which is still open for a few more days! Back soon xxx