'Granny corner'

Karl has now nicknamed part of the lounge 'granny corner'. In this particular corner, I have my sweet little button back chair, my yarn basket and all the squares I've made so far laid out all pretty beside it. Oh and a tapestry cushion on the chair too - to be honest it does look like it belongs to a little old granny but I don't care one bit, I love my little corner!!

Anyway I have slowly been making progress with the granny squares and am getting very slightly quicker at each one, though they still take me quite a while to do. I haven't had that much time this week to be spending on it though, but have managed at least one a day for the last week (Sunday I did three!!) That's my target, one a day, as I don't think realistically I will be able to find more free time than that at the moment! I have to admire my willpower actually because I'm still at that 'just starting' a project phase that I want to be doing it all the time... but I have to have time to earn some pennies too!

So I now have 11 squares, whoop! My colours are completely random, I'm just putting colours together as I go, but then I think for this sort of blanket, it suits that kind of approach. I don't want it to be too regimented and as long as the colours overall go well together I think it'll turn out good! As you will see, I'm doing 6 round granny squares, including the edging which is an aqua colour.  My tension naturally seems to be quite tight so they don't look too big which I thought they might by adding the edging...

The thought has crossed my mind that I probably have enough for a small cushion cover now... but no, I am going to continue until I have enough for my blanket! I'm guessing at the rate I'm going it will be a good 3 or 4 months before I am anywhere near finished, though I'm hoping to be able to get going with it a bit more when I go on my hols in August (depends how much yarn I am able to squish into my suitcase though!)

 

Also, in other news this week, I have been awarded the Kreativ Blogger award by the lovely Maria at Dinki Dots Craft, thank you so much, I really do apprectiate it! Apparently I need to tell you 10 more things about myself for this one... will take a few days thinking of them if you don't mind, not sure I can rattle them off the top of my head! 

I also won Artwork by Angie's giveaway this week too :) I'm hoping people don't start to think there is something fishy going on - it is my sixth  blog giveaway win of the year!! I honestly don't enter that many giveaways (though when I see a good one, of course I'm going to enter!) but am just on a lucky roll I guess!

Anyway, who I am to complain with lots of lovely goodies being sent my way, it's fab! By the way if you don't know of Angie yet, make sure you go check out her blog - her designs are lovely and she also does lots of re-branding so if you want a new look for your blog/wesbite, she is the lady to call on :)

So I think that's about it for today, but I do hope you like my granny squares so far (please be nice, since it's only my first project!) Have a super weekend, I will be back soon with my 'interesting' facts! x
 

Something new for Easter!

Right, well this was actually the post I was supposed to be writing yesterday before I got distracted! I wanted to show you something new which I've been working  on this week - printed pocket mirrors! They are the same size as my fabric embroidered ones, 58mm diameter, but instead have the image printed and protected behind a layer of cellophane!

They are much quicker and easier to produce than my embroidered ones,hurray! - Obviously, since I don't need to stitch each one individually! The other good news is that because of this, I can sell them a lot cheaper, so they are only £3 each, and like all my handbag mirrors, come with an ivory organza bag to keep them safe and clean. They can be found in my NOTHS shop for now if you would like one:)

This has felt like a little lightbulb moment, as lately I have been thinking about ways I can expand my product range without too much hard work, time and money and these are an ideal way to do just that.

This way I can use some of my most popular printed designs from both my greetings cards and my Pingg collection too - whilst they are still in keeping with my overall style. So far, I've only got as far as this little Easter collection, but I hope to add a few more designs soon... If you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know!

The other lovely news this week is that Claire from Knitted Back Together has very kindly awarded me the Liebster Blog Award. This is the second time I have been given this award lately, but am no less honoured, thank you muchly Claire, it is very much appreciated! This award is slightly different from some of the other blogging awards in that it celebrates handmade and artisan blogs, with 300 followers or less. The aim is to promote small handmade businesses and encourage more readers to their blogs and more visitors to their online shops, which is a fabulous idea.

Since I passed on this award not so long ago, I won't choose any more blogs today, hope you understand, but I really do appreciate being given it!

So that is all for now, have got to pop to the Post office now... grrrr... can't believe how much the price of stamps has gone up. I stocked up on a load last week, but not looking forward to the day I run out. Plus I need to post some bigger items today too, which no doubt will cost me a small fortune. Right moan over, have a super week everyone, Jenny x

Catalogue Time!

The Not on the High Street Spring Catalogue came out yesterday and for the first time since I joined last year, I am in it!!! Big excitement, although also mixed with a little apprehension, as I don't really know what to expect from it and it was such a massive outlay that I really, really hope it is worthwhile. 

My personalised 'I love' badge is the product I am featuring - If you have a copy of the catalogue, you have to go right to the back page to find me... Here's my little slot in all it's glory:) 

 

Hopefully this will be a good place  to be (people sometimes read magazines back to front right?) At least I won't be lost somewhere in the middle and since I'm right next to the ordering info, it might inspire people to do a little impulse buying! hehe. It's only been out a day but I've already had lots of orders for them which is fab. Hopefully will continue with a good steady stream of orders through til the end of the campaign in April. By then I am sure I will never want to see one of these badges ever again! 

I was also in the NOTHS customer newsletter on Wednesday - I've never been featured in one of their newsletters before, but the sales started coming in almost immediately! They have such a massive customer base, so fingers crossed I may be lucky enough to be featured again sometime soon!

There are some really gorgeous things in this catalogue so I am going to have a proper 'front to back cover' read of it this weekend. I have to say that the quality of it is so much better than some of the previous ones - the pages are thicker and it just has a nicer feel to it, so I am really happy to be taking part in this one.

Last but definitely not least, I also need to say a big thank you to Claire at Les Bijoux de Claire for awarding me a stylish blogger award yesterday - so lovely and I am really touched to receive it. I've now been honoured to receive it 3 times in the last few weeks, so I shall do another post with 7  more things about me soon (bet you can't wait for that!) Here is the first '7 things' post if you are interested! Thank you again Claire:)

So that's about it for now... I should probably get a move on and stop faffing about on the Internet as I have a jam packed day of making personalised badges to come, the first of many I hope! I also need to pop to  town and the post office - it is another beautiful cold but sunny day here, which lifts my spirits no end! Have a fantabulous weekend, hope the weather is kind! xxx

Cupcakes, Mirrors and Blog Award No. 2

I can't believe it's a week already since I last blogged, it's gone by so quickly! I've mainly been working on a couple of new products over the last few days, in particular little handbag mirrors which I make with my trusty badge maker and my new 58mm die!

The first little range is very pretty and girly, featuring cupcakes, butterflies and flowers which are always a favourite of mine. I am so in love with this cute little green daisy fabric, and was very excited this week to find a yellow version too (see below) which of course I bought up for future projects. I just love little ditsy prints like this, especially as their small scale makes them perfect for my little badges and mirrors. I also bought this gorgeous Cath Kidston-esque printed floral fabric, which I just love. It's so bright and cheerful, I really want to make something for the house with it, I just can't decide what!

Ok so back to the mirrors... I'm really pleased with how these turned out, and hope they will be popular as girly gifts.

On a different subject, I also was very honoured this week to receive my second blog award, this time from the lovely Vivienne of Green Rabbit Designs.

This award is different from some of the others in that it celebrates handmade and artisan blogs, with 300 followers or less. The aim is to promote small handmade businesses and encourage more readers to their blogs and more visitors to their online shops, which I think is fantastic. 

I now need to pass this award onto several other crafty/design blogs. Several of the blogs I awarded last weeks 'Stylish Blogger' Award to would have been very deserving of this one too, but to play it fair, I have chosen four different blogs to pass it on to. They are all run by very talented ladies, but do not have too many blog followers yet, so make sure you go and check out their beautiful work...

Caroline Watts Embroidery

Roslyn Mitchell Designs

Artwork by Angie
Sabah Designs 

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend,

Jenny xxx