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

A little bit of everything...

Hi all, hope you are having a wonderful weekend:) Well, as usual, this past week has gone by far too so fast, I can't believe we are nearly at the end of March already. Have been enjoying the sunshine as I've been out and about this week, and it's even been warm enough to have the window open in my studio too, so nice! Have been sewing lots this week too -  Wednesday morning I think it was I designed this pretty little handbag mirror, appliqued with my most favourite  of floral fabrics, with 'Best Mum' stitched in the centre.

I wasn't going to do any specific Mother's Day items this year as I've been so busy lately I just hadn't had the time to design anything new. But the idea just came to me, and I'm quite pleased with how they've turned out - I think it's the summery colours, they just look nice and cheerful don't they! Anyway, as I am so late off the mark with the whole Mother's Day thing this year, I've only made a small batch, but if you fancy treating your mum, you can buy one here, I'm sure she would love one, hint hint!

Talking of Mother's Day though, these 'I heart' mirrors have also been selling well this week, most of them are along the lines of I love My Mum, Nan, Granny, Mummy...etc, which is nice - lots of much loved mummies and grannies around! I feel a little like I have been glued to the sewing machine lately though, so am having a day off from it today, but I do have a (growing) pile of these to make up tomorrow.

For the last couple of days I've also been working on another trade order, which I somehow managed to get finished and sent before the weekend - result! It included lots of my printed cards, as well as a selection of magnets and badges such as my little frog and flower magnets. They all arrived in their new home safely this afternoon (I will be doing a separate blog post on this lovely stockist soon) which is fab, am very impressed at the speed of Royal Mail - for once!

Sewing frogs, butterflies and flowers yesterday did make me feel that spring is definitely here, although today the weather is disappointingly overcast and grey....sigh! 

Since I am supposed to be having a 'day off' though (not sure I really know the meaning of those words) I ventured out into the garden this morning, planting up these gorgeous primroses I bought this week. Love the purple and yellow combination, they are very cheap and cheerful, but that's just what I like! It's lovely to look out of the window and see such a splash of colour.

I'm not really much of a gardener it has to be said, although I do really enjoy it and wish I had both a bigger garden and more time to spend in it. I would love one day to have a really lovely rambling cottage type garden, with wild flowers growing everywhere, lots of different grasses and chickens wandering about, but for now I will have to make do with my flower pots:)

So anyway, I best go, it's taken me ages to write this post for some reason! Not sure what I shall be doing this evening, though I may do a little more tinkering with my blog - do you like my new blog buttons down the side? (the ones that link to my website/facebook/twitter). The old ones were just a bit big, so have streamlined them a little, and I have to say I quite like them myself. I also really wanted to get rid of the grey line around my photos in my posts, but can't for the life of me work out how to do it. Have a feeling it may be something to do with the template I've chosen, but any advice would be much appreciated?! 

Anyhow, thanks for stopping by, I hope you are all having a gorgeous weekend, Jenny x

New products... how very exciting!

I'm very excited today as my new product ranges, including badges, magnets and lavender bags are now all available on my website. Although many of them have been up on my Not on the High Street shop for a few weeks now, it has taken a little longer to update my own site, but it is now live which is great news!



Over the last couple of months, I have begun to concentrate more and more on little handmade gift items such as embroidered badges, fridge magnets and lavender bags as opposed to my printed range. This is for a couple of reasons really.... over the last year as I have been developing my business, I've had time to work out which products I like making the best, what my bestsellers are and alternatively which things have proved problematic. It has been a big learning curve - and I am still learning for sure, but it is a conscious decision to try a slightly different approach.

Since I purchased my badge maker a few months ago, it has become somewhat of a best friend, and I do think it is one of the best things I have bought in a long long time! Although they can be fiddly sometimes, my badges and magnets are fast becoming my most popular sellers, which is very lovely as I've not been selling them long at all. Working on such a tiny scale is rewarding when you see the finished product and I think they look so smart all lined up on their backing cards... what do you all think?
Concentrating more on handmade products, it also means that I don't have as much reliance on printers and suppliers, etc, making it easier for me to control my stock levels. Also, because I don't want to have to place massive orders with manufacturers and printers, I sometimes end up paying a premium for a short print run which isn't very economical. The only downside I guess is that with a bigger emphasis on the handmade and bespoke items, it means more pressure on myself in a way to be able to produce enough to meet demand without my back giving in from too much sewing! I'm sure in the future I will maybe return to having more printed products in my range, but I like that at the moment, everything is made by hand here in my Somerset, with love and care and passion.







Hurray, you made it to the end of my ramblings for today! I hope you like my new products, I would love to hear your thoughts on your favourites...etc so do take a look at my website and leave me a comment if you are passing:)

I am also always looking to have more independent shops stocking my products, so if you have a lovely boutique or gorgeous website that you think would suit my products, please email me at hello[at]jennyarnott[dot]co[dot]uk for trade prices and more information, I would love to work with you! x