Squares, hexies, plants and weddings...

I've started another crochet project... which is actually very bad as I have quite a few on the go now. I really hate to have projects unfinished but I can't stop starting new things!

I made these teeny squares last night whilst watching telly... I tried three round ones too but they looked too big somehow, so I've decided two round ones are the way to go. They are super small though so will probably have to make over a hundred of them! I want to make a second cushion for the sofa, one which will kind of match the hexie one I'm doing... 

The duck egg blue in the hexie one I have substituted for pink and red in the little squares one. I don't want them too samey but hopefully they will co-ordinate nicely as they will both have the green/cream in them.

I have nearly made all my hexagons, I think I need four more to go then I can start joining them. I was supposed to do this before I started on the squares but I just couldn't help myself. I bought a couple of new balls of yarn yesterday, (the deep pink and the red) and I *needed* to see what they looked like made up! I also stocked up on some more Tilda fabrics, aren't they just so pretty??

This week has been an odd one really. I have been here by myself for a whole week now, as Karl is away abroad. I'm usually quite good with my own company but I have been quite bored this week though I've tried to keep busy to pass the time. At the weekend, I spent quite a while in the garden doing odd jobs - not pretty planting ones, but mainly ones that involved being up a ladder with a saw! I was chopping down a load of branches that were overhanging into the garden... I think if anyone saw me doing it they would have laughed -  especially as I was wearing bright blue 'mad professor' safety specs! I am one of the least practical people you could meet and I'm quite small (only 5' 3'') so it was quite a tough job to do by myself but it looks loads better now.

Anyway we're going to give the grass it's first mow soon (excitement eh??!) I've ordered the compost for the flowerbeds and have been trying to decide on the plants to get. I am thinking a mixture of summer bedding plants and perennials such as...

and...

and...

and...

Pictures courtesy of here and here

To be honest, I'm just going for plants and flowers which I like the look of. I have no idea really whether our garden/conditions will be right for them but I guess I will find out soon! I think I am going to be very much a trial and error gardener :)

Anyway I have also been busy with work... lots of weddingy things mainly. I have had quite a few orders for these as wedding favours lately...

Also had an order for 8 of these to do this week for wedding favours... and quite a few of these too. In fact there was definitely a wedding production line going on!

And keeping on the wedding theme, I also designed a new card this week...

 

These has been an idea in my sketchpad for so long now, months and months, I'm really glad I've finally got around to making up the samples!

Right, I think I better go. I've been writing this post for ages and I'm not even showered or dressed yet! And actually I haven't even had breakfast! I did get up at seven though so not really sure how it is now 10 o clock. I do love working from home sometimes :) Anyway hope you have a good weekend... Am very much looking forward to it myself after my lonely week... the sun is supposed to shine (here at least) and Karl is coming home tomorrow, yay! Back soon xxx

Balance

Being self employed is wonderful in lots of ways... I get to work from home, I can decide the hours I work, and most of all I am able to do something I (for the most part) enjoy every day. But it also means that I never really switch off... the laptop is never far away and I always seem to be checking my emails for orders and queries. It is so different from a 9-5 job where the hours of work and the amount of work is constant and set. When big gift and card giving occasions are approaching, such as Christmas, Valentines and Mother's Day, things get so very busy, then often tail off again once the day has passed. These last few weeks have been just that, especially in my Not on the High street shop - lots of mummies out there being given handmade and personalised cards and mirrors!

I do love to be busy, I kind of thrive on it in a way - I'm not very good at just relaxing with nothing to do.  But there has to be a balance between work and 'life' (mine are very much intertwined though I am trying to separate them!) One of my new years resolutions was to make more time to spend with Karl, with family, or just doing other things I enjoy, like reading, pottering outside, or crochet... I did well for a couple of weeks in January, and spent the evenings finishing my granny stripe, but then it got busier and it kind of went out the window!

The thing is, it is kind of silly really as I am in control and it is up to me whether my shops are live and if products are available to order. I could easily put my shops on holiday mode and not accept orders for a while to catch up on things... but I don't! I'm so incredibly grateful that people want to buy my stuff and I still get a little thrill every time an order pops into my inbox! There is part of me that just wants to cram in as many orders as I possibly can, especially as I know that some months will always be much quieter than others. I have had to turn down some commissioned work recently though, I didn't really want to but there is only so much I can take on at once.

It's not as if I am having to work through the night or anything (I really would close my shops for a bit if it came to that) but I haven't had a day off in ages and just feel tired and drained. All my energy is wrapped up in my work and it doesn't leave time for much else. When it is busy, I sometimes feel more like a factory production line rather than a designer/maker.

This post is ending up to be a bit of a moan - sorry I really didn't intend it to be!! I just struggle a bit with the inconsistency where some weeks I am so busy I am rushed off my feet and others it can feel a bit like I am twiddling my thumbs!! In the quieter weeks though, I do try and make the most of having the time, and spend it making stock, designing new products, or just catching up on some sleep!

I have actually had to take off a lot of my products this week, as my sewing machine embroidery foot broke on Tuesday and I still haven't got a replacement. It was a very stressful day as I still had lots of things to make that had to go out that afternoon in time for Mother's day but I was so amazed and overwhelmed with the support and help of all my facebook friends! I had so many people re-posting it for me on their pages, offering their suggestions, offering to post me a spare foot and some truly fab people who even offered to drive over here to help me out!! It really was so nice of everyone to rally round in such a way and I really appreciated it. It can sometimes be lonely working by yourself and to have that support network of other crafty similar people out there on blogs and facebook is great.

I think I might have to find some random pictures to put in this post, it is so text heavy! That's the trouble with never having the time to blog, when I do, I go on a big long rant! I have actually wondered whether to give up my blog... but I do really like this little space and I get so much inspiration and happiness from the blogging community, but it is just a time thing. I used to spend at least half an hour every day reading my favourite blogs and finding new ones but now I'm lucky if I find half an hour a week. Same with sites like Pinterest, Flickr, and Twitter, I rarely use them any more.

A few weeks ago, I did design a couple of new cards actually, here are some pictures to break up the text a little! The first one is a new home card...

and also a wedding card...

...embellished with lace, beads and sequins. This one is quite different to my usual style, probably because the colours are so muted. I have quite a lot of lace, ribbon and more neutral coloured fabrics that I collected a few years ago now, and they are just crying out to be used for wedding-y products. It's quite nice to work with a different colour range once in a while actually.

So anyway as I said before, I have taken all of my personalised products off this week, and will probably leave them off for a little bit, as I have some commissioned work to do and then  next weekend, I am going to visit my parents for a week! My sister Harriet is a dancer and I am going to be a very proud sister and go and watch her dance in a musical on Saturday! Since it is such a long way and I haven't seen any of my family since Christmas I'm going to stay up for the rest of the week which will be so nice... I wanted to start a new crochet blanket before then, so I could take it with me for something to do on the journey, so I  need to do a bit of yarn shopping in preparation I think :)

Anyway, best go get on - I actually tidied my studio yesterday after weeks of complete chaos and it looks sooooooo much better now (at least you can see the floor again!) and so much nicer to work in. Will leave you with a few pictures...

I really need some more shelves - there has been quite a bit of new fabric purchasing going on around here and I'm running out of places to put it all!! Anyway have a lovely rest of the week and a great weekend, will try and pop in again next week before I go away! Take care and enjoy the sunshine if you get any (it's been foggy here for days and it's forecast rain and thundery showers for the weekend so not holding out too much hope here!) Back soon xxx

Hello 2012!

I've been feeling quite guilty about the fact that I haven't blogged again for so long, which I know is really ridiculous because it really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things! Every day I write or think of little lists of all the things I want to get done and often blogging is on the list but it is always fairly near the bottom of priorities and often just gets bumped off the end!

Anyhow, not to worry I'm finally here and writing and it feels good... hello 2012 :) Did you have a nice Christmas and New Year? Ours was very nice, though pretty low key! We spent actual Christmas here just the two of us, and we barely moved off the sofa... lots of Christmas films and telly were watched and lots of crochet was done! I didn't get dressed properly or actually go outside for 4 days, had baths in the middle of the day and generally slobbed about... after the manic rush of Christmas run up it was bliss and I enjoyed it very much. I  also caught up on much needed sleep, I think Christmas Eve I slept about 10 hours straight without waking up  once which is pretty unheard of usually, I must have needed it!

Then on the 28th I travelled up to see my parents who now live in Staffordshire. My brother Laurence and his girlfriend Rachel had come down from Newcastle and it was so lovely to see them. We normally only cross paths for this one day a year as we live so far away from each other so it was really special. My sister Harriet was at home too - I have to share a room with her whenever I go back to visit and I love our catch up chats late at night. I didn't really take many pictures, I never do, even though I always take my camera, but I got some very lovely gifts this year so I'll show you some of those instead...

Lots of red and white gorgeousness! The tins and mug were from Karl, and the spotty pie and baking dishes from our good friends Bryan, Sarah and Harry. I LOVE them all!! Our kitchen is quite basic and utilitarian in style so I'm trying my best to pretty it up!

Mum and dad gave me lots of lovely little bits - including this gingham heart chalkboard... so sweet, mum knows me too well, she always has such good taste in presents :)

They also treated me to this gorgeous red coat when we were out sale shopping in Birmingham...

Excuse the quite rubbish picture of me doing some headless modelling! Mirrors and flash = big bright flare right in the middle of the photo so you'll have to make do with a grainy shot! But isn't it nice? I really like it! I've been wanting a red coat for quite a while now, but since I hate shopping for clothes I rarely ever find anything I like.

And these beautiful silver heart spoons were from them too..... 

I just think they are so so pretty, I really do love them.

And my last present picture for today is this lovely aqua heart hanging candle holder from Harriet... she also knows me too well :) Hopefully we will be doing the garden up this year - I can't wait to be able to use it outside in the Summer.

Laurence and Rachel also bought me some very lovely gifts including wonderful smelling handcreams and some aqua spotty pjs which are perfect and so 'me'... but they are in the wash at the mo so can't show any pics right now. I was very lucky this year with so many lovely presents, and that people know me so well to choose gifts that I truly really do love.

Anyway, so maybe that's enough about Christmas now, since we are already well into the New Year. I'm not the hugest fan of actual New Year's Eve itself though - I have spent it at my parents for the last few years and it's always a fairly low-key family affair with the traditional board games of Cludeo and Boggle always coming out... This year was no exception though by about 10.30 we were pretty much boggled out! We did manage to stay up until midnight though and watch the fireworks on the telly and in the courtyard outside where one of the neighbours was putting on his own show! Beats some years when we have been asleep by about eleven! I haven't actually been 'out' on New Years for years now - when I was at Uni I would be staggering around the streets from pub to pub with my friends from back home which was fun at the time ;) but I prefer a quieter life now, haha!

As for New Year's resolutions, I do have some (unlike Harriet who has about 4 pages of them!) but I think I'll save them for my next post otherwise this will end up being a super jumbo one again! Talking of Harriet actually, I did manage to teach her to crochet whilst I was up. 

She's not the most patient of people but she got it in the end and made a really cute granny square. She wanted to make it into a cushion cover like the ones I was making but ran out of time before I left so she made it into a phone case instead by folding it over and sewing up two sides, then chaining a little loop to close it. Isn't it cute? I got this pic off her facebook page but I'm sure she won't mind me posting it :)

I decided to make two cushion covers for our sofa over the holiday, and managed to get the fronts of both crocheted up, but I need to buy some bigger pads and decide what to do for the backs. Here's a quick pic of the first, twenty five small squares all edged in white. 

I love how this one turned out, even though I got so frustrated sewing the squares together, I find it so difficult just to catch the back loops. Maybe it's cos my tension is quite tight? Or something... it nearly drove me up the wall though, was so glad it was only a cushion cover size and not another blanket!! (Though such a shame as wouldn't a blanket like this just be gorgeous??)

I also made a co-ordinating one just one big granny square which was so much faster to crochet, just round and round and round!

Despite my best efforts of turning my work as I went and joining the new yarn on different sides, the middle of the square still went kind of wonky! In fact this picture makes it look really wonky!!! It's not that bad in real life and I'm hoping when I block it it might sort itself out a bit.

They are pretty bright and to be honest won't really go with much in our living room (except of course the equally bright crochet blankets I've been making) but I find I don't really care very much if it all looks a bit mismatched, as long as I like it all! Hopefully I will finish them soon... I do have a horrible feeling that they might be cast aside for months until I get around to getting new pads but hopefully not!

Anyway that's about me done for today but will be back later in the week with a more work related post. My shops are all now open again and I am having a massive SALE in my Not on the High Street shop to sell off some of my older designs and every single thing is in the sale this time (only until the weekend though). Will  probably ramble on some more about it in my next post but there will be quite a few changes for my little business this year so I am making room for lots of lovely new stuff and to hopefully make things a bit easier on myself! Pop over if you have a minute, there are still a few good bargains to be had ;) Anyway hope you can enjoy some of the lovely sunshine around at the mo, take care, Jenny xxx

Monday blues...

I've been feeling a bit down today. Karl has had to go away for work this week so am home alone. I do usually spend a lot of time by myself and normally I'm pretty good with my own company but somehow it's different when you know that there is no one coming home at the end of the day!

Anyway, I wanted to get out and get a bit of fresh air this morning so got bundled up in my winter coat and gloves (it's got really cold!) and took a little walk to town with my weekend orders, passing Bruton's one little charity shop on the High street as I went. I had a little glance in the window as I always do and what did I see looking back at me... a lovely retro looking enamel bread bin... oooh I thought, that's nice! Not that I need another bread bin, I have a perfectly lovely one already... I couldn't see the price tag through the window but I knew it would probably be expensive. So off to the post office I went, but on my way back, I just couldn't resist popping in to check the price. I told myself that if it was anymore than £10, it wasn't meant to be. It was £12.00. I picked it up, walked about with it a bit, put it down again, picked it back up...

I think it was the mood I was in but I found myself reasoning with myself as to why I deserved a little treat in the shape of an enamel vintage looking bread bin! I knew that it was one of those things that if I walked away it would be gone tomorrow. The little tag on it said it had only been put out today and since it was only just gone 10, then it can't have been there very long. Also, there is a very nice antique/junk/vintage shop right opposite and I know the ladies who run that would have snapped it up in an instant if they had seen it first. I didn't want to regret it if I had gone home without it, so home with me it came :)

 

Now that I have it home, I'm not entirely sure if I will use it for bread or not! As I said already, I have a perfectly good bread bin, which also matches some of my other kitchen tins so I don't want to replace that one. And our work surface isn't really big enough to have it on display. It was 100% an impulse purchase, (most unlike me, I am normally super careful with money!)... BUT I am sure it will come in handy, and in the meantime, it is looking nice on top of the fridge! It is a really good size and a really good heavy weight too. Actually, it also has this on the bottom...

So I assume it can be used for cooking bread too?? Does anybody know anything about making bread in something like this? My breadmaker and I aren't really the best of friends, and I can usually never be bothered to make it by hand so I don't tend to bake bread much anymore. But I do love bread, so it might be worth an experimental go if anyone has any advice or knowledge on the subject? :)

Anyway, enough on the bread bin for now! As I knew Karl was going to be away this week, I told myself that I really shouldn't spend the weekend working away upstairs in my studio but instead, should spend it lazily on the sofa working on my new blanket! This was a good plan in theory, and we did have a really nice weekend, but I did also feel horribly guilty at times for spending so long on it. I'm not very good at taking time off from thinking about my work and commissions (though I am getting better). As my 'work' is essentially my hobby too, if I don't have another project to concentrate on, I do tend to be thinking about it and working on things all the time. Because I work from home, 'work' life and 'home' life aren't really separated for me as they are for a lot of people with normal 9-5 jobs. It does have a lot of bonuses too, but I am trying to keep them a little more separate at the moment and have proper time off in the evenings and weekends, to relax and work on projects just for me....

Anyway so back to the blanket, it is growing so fast I can hardly believe it!! So many stripes... but I can't tell you how much I am enjoying this one. I originally was going to make it the same size as my other one (approx 100cm x 150cm), but now I think it is going to be slightly larger, one for snuggling in bed! It isn't quite big enough to go over the whole bed, as since I planned for it to be smaller, my initial chain wasn't really long enough - but this is probably OK... I am the only one who really gets cold in bed, so it will be fine for just covering my side!

 Isn't it pretty?

Ahhhhhh.... it does make me happy to see it all lovely and colourful laid out like that. Every time I catch a glimpse of it, it makes me smile! I like the fact that it's bright but not garish, just nice and rich and warm and cosy. Though it kind of reminds me of the seaside for some reason - think I am thinking of sticks of rock! I am quite relieved actually that I've decided to make it bigger than originally planned, as I really don't want to finish it! As I've worked on it pretty much solidly for two whole weekends now, it has really grown, and I need to eek it out a bit more I think! I think from looking at it, I must be a third of the way there though on the stripe front. I must order some more yarn soon!

On a different note, earlier in the week, before my blanket become all consuming, my new Christmas fabrics eventually arrived, so I did a little more festive mirror making!

I also completed a new magazine commission and did some Thanksgiving  invitation Pingg designs too (see I do actually do some work, I don't just crochet all the time, though it may seem like that if you read my blog!)

I found these Thanksgiving designs quite challenging actually. Maybe it's because we don't celebrate it over here, and also the Autumnal colourway is really not my cup of tea. I just found it hard to come up with ideas, and equally hard to execute them, but in the end I am happy with the few designs I did manage to do! 

Anyway, so that was pretty much my week! Oh, I also reached 1000 likers on my facebook page over the weekend... a good reason for a giveaway I think!! Actually I've been promising a giveaway since I reached 300 blog followers a while ago too, so hopefully I will get myself organised this week and there will be a giveaway post coming shortly!

Thanks for popping into my little bit of blog space as always, I love reading all your comments, they really do cheer me up if I am feeling a little low! Back soon xxx

Another Christmas and crochet post!

 

I can't quite believe it is Monday morning again! Time seems to be absolutely whizzing by at the moment... We had quite a lazy and relaxed weekend here, which was nice as my week had been quite busy with various things. 

Had a lovely trip to Bath on Monday for a spot of fabric shopping (my favourite kind of shopping) and a general wander round the shops. It was the last day of the beautiful weather and wearing a t-shirt and flip flops it felt like July rather than October... just gorgeous! Sadly it is now cold, grey and miserable here, Summer has definitely gone for this year!

I do like shopping by myself. I can spend as long as I want pondering over fabric choices, umming and ahhing to my hearts content, no one looking bored or chivveying me along. I stocked up on lots of basic colours, some fabric for a new commission, and some lovely Christmassy fabrics too (more about those in a bit).

I then had a quick trip to the indoor market to the haberdashery stall - where I bought up a load more of their Christmas red and white twisted cord....

It's not the same as normal baker's twine, it is thicker and made of a man-made fiber but it is so very festive I love it. I'd bought a small amount a few weeks ago and was really relieved they still had some left. Not sure what exactly it will be used for but it will be fab for Christmas decorations and garlands I'm sure!

I also treated myself to my first Christmas decoration of the year... I really wasn't intending to, but Rossiter's already had their Christmas shop open and I couldn't resist this little one...

a cute little Gingerbread House for the tree...

...these tins also found themselves a new home too :) I can never have enough tins, especially such pretty ones!

Lastly these bargain paper chains also came home with me...

I'd seen them here before but at £6.95 plus delivery they were a bit pricey. So when I saw them for only £3 at the market, I snapped them up!! Going to have lots of fun making these up in a couple of months, I remember doing them with my brother when we were small!

So apart from shopping, I also was working hard last week on more Christmas products using some of the new festive fabrics I got in Bath... 

 Little fabric covered buttons for all those Christmas sewing projects! They come in sets of two like so...

and are £2.95 plus delivery per set, or £8.00 for all three sets. You can find them here :)

Also, matching handbag mirrors! How cute is the reindeer fabric? I am in love!

They are sold individually for £2.75 each, or both for £5.00 :) Find them here... I loved making these - so hopefully they will be popular over the next couple of months!

I'll be doing a couple more designs too similar to these very soon - just waiting on some more fabric to arrive in the post! Ordered it last Monday so I'm really hoping it hasn't got lost somewhere, I'm impatient to get going on them.

Gosh this is turning into a super long post isn't it??!! Last thing to tell you, I promise... is that I also started blanket number 2 on Friday evening. I'd put it off all week, one as I had lots of work to concentrate on, but also, I was dreading the first couple of tricky rows of my granny stripe. I was following Lucy of Attic 24's pattern, and taking her advice, did attempt a little practise piece at first. Glad I did as something just wasn't clicking... I couldn't understand why I didn't have enough stitches, when I know I made my starting chain the right length! Frustration and lots of it occurred, but then suddenly, it all became clear (somehow)! After only two rows of my tiny practise piece though I became impatient and decided just to go for it.

Miraculously, it seemed to work, the count was right and my new blanket was born :) All weekend I worked away on it, stripe upon stripe, ignoring all my other work and household chores completely! I am well and truly loving this blanket already, even more so than my granny squares. It seems much simpler for a start. Less ends to weave in, and I like the way there is no joining needed, you can get a feel of what the blanket will be from the start. It is very quick. Each double stripe takes me just under an hour so it will definitely be a faster project than my last.

Sadly though, I have to limit it to a weekend/evening only project even though I would love to work on it all the time. Still I am really surprised how quick I managed to do what I have so far... 16 stripes in total, love love love it! :)

Anyway, that's about all from me for today, though just before I go, I must mention a couple of wonderful giveaways that are going on at the moment. Firstly is Heather's from The Patchwork Heart who is holding a scraps giveaway - what a great idea, I could do with doing a similar one myself!!! If you would like to be in with a chance of winning a parcel of fabric scraps and sewing bits and bobs, pop over to her blog to read more :)

Also, Andrea from Fin and Gabs is holding a wonderful Halloween giveaway... a set of three fab handmade decorations to decorate your home this Halloween so make sure you also pop across to her lovely blog and enter too!

OK, right I'm definitely off now to get on with something useful... have a lovely week all of you, thanks for visiting as always - and for making it to the end of this super long post - back soon xx

p.s apologies for some of the rubbishy pictures in this post, the light today is awful!