THE LAST BANK HOLIDAY OF THE YEAR

Hi everyone

I know it isn't the last one, but the next one is Christmas and it seems a long way off - I'll forget the fact that at the moment I am surrounded by material for making Christmas cards, gift boxes, etc.

1 Crafty Tales

I haven't done a lot of craft work this week as I have tried to concentrate on my website - yes, I know I have probably written those words at least ten times in my blog, but it is getting to the point where I know I really do need to get a move on and get it published.  As you know from my blog, I love bright colours and originally my website was black (text mainly and some accents), white and lime green - the lime green was rather prominent.  I liked the colour scheme but have come to the conclusion over the last week that it really needs softening.  I therefore decided to introduce purple, well lilac really, into the colour scheme.  I have used lilac as the background side-strip colour and also in some of the accents.  I decided to use dark purple for the text, but still kept some lime green as I think it is a fresh bright colour.  I may still go for a lighter shade of lilac on the side strips, but am playing around with that at the moment.

I am ploughing through adding items, but the dilemma is that a lot of my card stock is at Bourne Mill - it is my bricks and mortar selling point, so I keep very little stock is at home.  This means I need to make stock that only goes on my website, not something that I am relishing really as it means working twice as hard (oh dear, sounds pathetic).  However, with long winter nights on their way (sorry to mention winter, almost as bad as mentioning Christmas) I should have more free time to work on stock production.  My big problem at the moment is that when the weather is good, I really want to be outside either working in or enjoying my garden.

In the meantime, this is my home page - so far.  What do you think of it?  Do you think the lilac should be a shade or a few shades lighter?  I have had some feedback that the green doesn't go well with the lilac, but the green is 'me'.  It's one of my original colours and I don't really want to lose it - plus a lot of my promotional material uses this shade of lime green.

I plan to 'go live' on 1 September, even though not all of my sections will have stock, but I think I have dragged my heels long enough and a small presence (growing regularly) on the internet is better than no presence at all.  I really cannot attend any events this year and to the many people who ask if I have a website, reply 'it's nearly ready' - especially if they asked me the same question last year!

It's time for the Handmade Monday bloggers to visit the other participants to catch up on their makes and 'doings' for the past week, but before you go, it would be great if you would consider being a guest blogger here on the Christmas Pie Crafts blog.  If you are a regular Friday visitor you will know the posts have been really great and just as good are the ones I have ready to be published.  It's a great chance for you to increase traffic to your blog and website as well as other social networking that you are involved in.  Interested?  Email me on christmaspiecrafts@virginmedia.com - it would be great to have some more Handmade Monday-ers take part.  A bit of free promotion for your new Christmas stock?

Did you read Krissy's guest post on Friday?  I really recommend you visit while you are here to read about how Krissy decided to open up her boutique.  Many thanks Krissy for being one my guest bloggers - I really enjoy reading about how people came to the 'today' stage of their life.

2 The chitter, chatter bit

News of the day: Trio broke out of my neighbour's home!  Smashed her way through the cat flap, wandered around the garden, jumped up and landed on a 6' high piece of trellis and miaowed to be rescued!  This is the cat with one hind-leg missing who has only been 'in residence' for about two weeks!  She has been exploring in sheds and garage, brought out many cobwebs (better than a duster) and seems very happy to be free.  Shadow is completely confused by her, but Jazz is interested as he likes the 'older woman' cat.  Another one of our neighbours had a very elderly lady cat and Jazz would follow her everywhere - she was a bit grumpy (Holly by name and by nature) and this irritated her very much.

I met up with Caroline on Tuesday and over large cups of coffee we attempted to solve the crafting riddle of the day; we didn't find a solution, and after lots of coffee think we had forgotten what the original question was, but it was great to take time out and catch up with what each of us has been working on.

I had a call from Cats Protection last week asking if I would be able to feed some kittens next week.  A cat-fosterer who lives near to me is going on holiday for a few days and I am the nearest CP person to her home.  I went to meet my charges on Thursday and they are so cute: one long-haired ginger girl called Fifi (18 months old) and two long-haired black kittens aged 4.5 months.  I also met some of the fosterer's own cats - three tabbies, and all gorgeous.  Not sure I can do this work without increasing the size of my own cat population.  My biggest concern, apart from wanting to take all stray cats and kittens home with me, is how I will cope with a case where the kittens or cats are not as healthy as those I have met so far.

I don't know if any of you have come across BlogFlash2012?  It is a blog-post-a-day event organised by Terri G Long (Terri's blog is about the Art and Craft of Writing Creatively).  Terri has provided a topic for each day of August and as you can imagine it must be hard work writing something new every day.  I haven't had a chance to read all of the posts, but particularly wanted to dray your attention to those created by Lesley Beeton (one of my favourite guest bloggers).  She has written some very interesting posts and I feel that most of them (all really) have a chapter 2 waiting to be produced.

I read a post on Twitter a short while ago with a link to a YouTube video about the Follow Friday (#FF) activity.  Like a lot of people who use Twitter, I take part in this and have tended to follow the crowd with a group FF tweet.  I am embarrassed to say I cannot remember who produced the YouTube (I am sure someone here will), but their recommendation was that if you want to encourage people to follow, just FF tweet one person at a time with a reason why they should be followed.  It was suggested that group tweeting can sometimes be viewed as spamming, so I decided to keep with the single FF tweet and I will continue this in future.  I did this on Friday and limited time meant I only managed two, and thank you to those same two who included me in their individual Follow Friday tweets.

The garden beckons as my neighbour has given me some lovely Primula Denticulata to plant - the garden is also the best place to be as Richard is removing the fireplace from the dining room!  The noise of the chisel and hammer are bearable, the moans and groans are not.

I hope you have a good Bank Holiday Monday - sadly I think the weather is going to be pretty grim.  I will be back on Wednesday with my mid-week catch-up and don't forget to visit on Friday to read this week's great guest post.

Jill

GOING FOR GOLD

Hi everyone

What a fantastic week it has been for Team GB; some heart-breaking moments for some of the athletes and some really wonderful achievements.  Can there be a more exciting medal-winning day than yesterday?  Well done everyone.

This week has been wall-to-wall wedding invitations plus two 'need it now please' card orders: one for a friend and one for my sister.  As always, I forgot to take photographs!  I purchased some material for fabric wreaths this week, because I couldn't resist them when I saw them in the shop, but as the invitations (and now the Orders of Service) have been top priority the wreaths are further down the Crafts To-Do list.  Here is a pic of how the invitations looked in the early stages (a cream pocket with orange ribbon - the colour combination is lovely):

I am moving ahead with the Craft Workshops I want to set up; a message has been posted on Twitter and Facebook and I am producing some posters to place on local noticeboards.  My plan is to have everything in place to begin the workshops around late September.  I would also like to run Christmas card workshops and think this is a good time of year; school holidays will be over and perhaps parents may have time to attend a workshop on a Friday morning.

From feedback and comments posted this week on a very interesting Handmade Harbour blog post about blogging etiquette, I understand that chatty, newsy blog posts may not always be welcome in the crafting world and as my followers/readers know, I have a tendency to write (and enjoy writing) this type of post.  Handmade Monday (HM) followers take part in the weekly event because of the blog's aim to bring crafters together to share and talk about their work and see the creations of fellow handmade artists.  Even though my Sunday blog post is not written specifically for HM (it is my main weekly post), my future Sunday posts will be for HM only and will be about my creations and craft-related topics.  This will, as usual, be published on Sundays and from this week onwards I will publish my chatty, newsy round-up of the previous week's goings-on at Christmas Pie Crafts on Tuesdays.

Don't forget to check out the other Handmade Monday blog posts this week - lots of beautiful crafts, tutorials and interesting posts to read.  I will be back next Sunday with my Handmade Monday post, but do visit my blog throughout the week to catch up on the tales of life in Christmas Pie Crafts.  There will be a Guest Blog post on Friday of this week, and I have 4 lovely bloggers who are already writing their posts for publication in the coming weeks.

Enjoy the Olympics everyone - it's getting more exciting every day.

Jill

CHELSEA (THE FLOWER SHOW THAT IS) HERE I COME

Hi everyone

The best show of the gardening year has arrived.  I love Chelsea - even though it is always busy, you have to queue for certain things and the time you are there disappears far too quickly, it is a fantastic show.  I love to see what designers do for different sizes/shapes and styles of gardens, but I think the most beautiful section is the exhibits in the marquee.  The colours and fragrance are so gorgeous.  Last year we saw some gorgeous 'hats' designed by floristry students - stunning.  If you are going, I hope you have a great time.  My friend and I are going on Wednesday and so far the forecast is for a dry, sunny day - hope it stays that way.

My bags were 'on show' at a Plant Sale yesterday and I went along to meet up with my friend who was organising it and to buy one or two plants - well that was the plan.  I bought some dahlias, some heucheras (which I love), scented-leaved geraniums and some rock plants.  I also bought some marmalade for Richard and a raffle ticket - would you believe I won a prize of a pack of notelets.  My friend emailed me after the event to say my bags had sold well - not all of them, but I am always pleased with all sales and as they are a fairly new addition to my range, it's always nice to get positive feedback.

We went to the Harrow in Compton for a meal with a friend on Friday - it was her birthday so celebration time.  The Harrow has recently been refurbished/changed hands and is looking good.  The food was good, very large portions so next time just one course I think.  It probably wasn't helped by having a snack lunch with a friend on the same day!  I was very impressed: soup, bread and cake all home-made.  Made me feel very guilty as I can always find very good reasons for not making soups, bread, etc.

Despite having dealt with many of the problems that exist in my computer (and there are still a few) this week has still been odd in computer-land.  My midweek post disappeared completely!  It made it to the outside world, Twitter, etc on Wednesday and by Thursday it had fallen off of the planet.  Lesley mentioned on Twitter that my post appeared to have gone AWOL - thank you Lesley, as I probably wouldn't have noticed until I went to post the Friday Guest Blog post.  Then when I came to sort out the Friday post I discovered that the document had become corrupt - yet when I checked it upon first receiving it, all was OK.  It's a weird world in computer-land at times.

My makes for Handmade Monday this week are Father's Day cards.  I wanted to make several for placing on my wall at Bourne Mill, but had commissions for two as well, so they took precedence.  The customers do not read my blog, and have said it is OK to display them on my post as the recipients are not blog-followers either.  One is for a golf-mad dad and another one is for a rugby and football fan.  The third one is for Bourne Mill and I used some material left over from a previous birthday card commission, so double value.

I am in the middle of decorating a willow wreath with beautiful fuchsia-coloured hearts and ribbon.  I bought some wooden hearts from the art shop in Godalming (one of my favourite places) and discovered when I got home that the hints and tips were in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish - er, bit of a problem for me.  However, I emailed the company and they responded immediately (I was very impressed) and sent me the English translation.  I had hoped to have the wreath finished today, but as so often happens numerous other things got in the way.  My Handmade Monday post next week will include pics of the finished wreath but before then don't forget to visit the other blogs taking part in this week's 'event'.

I hope you enjoyed Eva's post on Friday about Cyprus?  We went to Cyprus many years ago and always said we would go back - nothing arranged as yet, but Eva's place looks and sounds very tempting.  If you would like to be a guest blogger on here, please do get in touch: christmaspiecrafts@virginmedia.com.  I am looking for a blogger to take part on 8 June - so any takers?  Just a reminder, about 600 - 800 words is fine, please include pics as well and don't forget to finish the article with your links to your website, blog, Twitter, etc.  Once posted, it also hits Twitter and Facebook, so plenty of exposure.  I also tweet about the post 2 or 3 times during the day/the following day of the post and it's nice if the person who is the guest blogger does the same.  It's a great way of showing our work to new people and also getting new followers on our blogs.

Back to card-making now as I want to get some Father's Day cards finished too.  Out to lunch in Clandon tomorrow with a couple of friends - we have been trying to arrange a get-together for about 6 weeks and something keeps happening to force us to move the date.  So far, nothing affecting tomorrow's date has occurred.   I will be back on Wednesday with my mid-week post which will be about my trip to Chelsea - really looking forward to it and hope to buy some more heucheras as well as do some celebrity-gardener spotting.

I hope you have a good week.

Jill

SUPER SUNNY SUNDAY

Hello everyone

It's the beginning of a gorgeous day as I am writing this - very appropriate for Mothering Sunday really.  The daffodils in the gardens look so lovely - I wonder if any colour other than bright, sunny yellow could represent spring better?  My Forsythia is flowering and a few flowers are showing on my Kerria.  What a beautiful time of year this is.

I hope you enjoyed Eva Godden's guest blog post on Friday?  Eva is an old friend - in the sense of having known her for a long time that is.  We taught on the same course many years ago and are both lucky to now be doing work we really enjoy.  We meet up every so often with other shared 'old friends' and we are also frequent Tweeters and Re-Tweeters.  Many thanks Eva - I am already looking forward to your future guest posts.

The Friday guest blog spot is going well - fully booked up to and including 13 April and one booking for May.  Lots of lovely posts on the way - some craft-related and some not.  If you are interested in writing about a topic that is close to your crafting heart, or on something not craft-related, please do get in touch: christmaspiecrafts@virginmedia.com.

Our massive clear out continues.  My biggest problem is that although I know I should dispose of so much, especially as I haven't used it or needed it for years, I am a hoarder and getting rid of things is so very hard.  Any tips anyone?  I have been more ruthless this time around - mainly as I think we are running out of space!  Went to the RSPCA at Chobham this week with a big bag of goodies, books, some old towels and some cat food - how I didn't come away with a few more cats I will never know.

A bit of plugging here: the RSPCA Chobham have a Car Boot Sale on Sunday, 15 April.  If you are local, how about either taking part or going along to buy lots of goodies and have a look at the gorgeous animals there in need of homes?

Had lunch with friends on Friday and one told me about an event at the end of March that she is involved with - it is very local to me and I will definitely be there.  Once I have full details I will add them to my blog.  Who knows, by then my website may be up and running too.  My background is IT (and accountancy) and Richard is always saying that he will take me to A & E to have my computer surgically removed from me, yet I seem to find it very hard to get my website set up.  Lots has been done on it, but not enough for me to feel happy releasing it on to an unsuspecting public.  It is almost as though I feel that spending time working on my website takes away from the time I should spend making cards, etc.  Odd?  Yes, I know - must be the time of year!

Handmade Monday is with us again (tomorrow, I know, but I am keen) and I used to hate Mondays because it meant the beginning of the working week.  It still does in a way, but working for me, not for someone else, so that 'oh dear where has the weekend gone', no longer exists.  Yippee.  While you are checking out the other great blogs participating in Handmade Monday, don't forget to look at Wendy's new 'baby: Handmade Harbour - full of great tips and information for makers.  Well done Wendy - look forward to reading your regular HH blog.

Hannah Blavins (a recent Friday guest poster of mine) opened a topic on the Popular Crafts Forum on Friday asking what everyone had in their 'Craft Bucket' - by this she means what are we  planning to do or what would we like to do that's crafty.  A long list has been drawn up by Phoebe Moore and this thread made me think about what other crafts I wanted to do.

I would love to have a go at glass fusion - the work I saw at the event in Godalming by Fran McCaskill was beautiful.  However, the financial outlay would prevent me taking that up seriously.  When I finished work (well working for someone else that is) I had planned to enrol on a Calligraphy course (did a taster day last summer and loved it), but didn't pursue it - planned to do lots of courses, and got no further than looking.  It seems that the majority of craft work involves a lot of expense, so if I took up something new in a business-sense I would have to be 100% sure of its success and I think that is not really possible in the current climate.  But that doesn't stop me doing something new for fun, so I have enrolled on a pottery course.  I did pottery at school and loved it and have looked frequently at courses that are available locally, and done absolutely nothing about joining one.  My course begins in April and I am really looking forward to throwing some clay around again.

I have had two card orders this week but as I know both of the people who will eventually receive the cards are readers of my blog, I can't post the pics here yet.  My make for Handmade Monday comes from a card kit I bought recently.  The pack contained four pre-decorated cards, with bits to be removed and embellishments to add.  I made up three of the cards, but changed each one to something slightly different: for one I hung the salutation in the 'knocked-out' hole, for another I added the salutation to a ribbon and fixed that to the card and for the third I used the circle that was from the knock out of another card to add something different to the inside of the card.  I hope you like them.

Off now to enjoy some more of the sunshine, dig some weeds up, prune some more shrubs and generally soak up the warmth.  Hope you all have a good week - don't forget to email me if you would like to take part in the Friday Guest Blog spot.  I will be back on Wednesday with my regular mid-week post.

Jill

MEANINGS

Hi everyone

Thank you lovely blog posters/followers for commenting on my Monday post and for producing such great posts this week for me to read.

Thank you also to the five great bloggers who have joined me in the Liebster Award - I am looking forward to seeing who you awarded it to.  It's great to be recognised by fellow crafters and and even better to be able to pass on the award.

A busy week so far - my car was in for its MOT on Monday and thank goodness it passed.  I sometimes feel an MOT is like going to the dentist - a painful way of parting with money and not an awful lot to show from either appointment.

As you know, I am in the process of producing my website and still not 100% sure what to put in the About Me section.  One thing that I thought would be good to include is why Christmas Pie is so called.  Shortly after we moved in, our local village historian society held an exhibition at the village hall.  We discovered that a family called Christmas originally owned the land around here and a pie (in land terms) is a parcel of land.  Apparently the Christmas family name in this area goes back to 1513.  More interesting information about the name and the area can be found on the Normandy Historians website.

As my post today is about meanings I came across the meaning of liebster which in German is friend, love or dearest.  A nice way to think of fellow bloggers really.

A brief post today - I hope you all have a fantastic day.  The sun has just come out and the temperature is so much warmer than this time last week.  Long may it last.

Don't forget, fellow crafters, I would love you to be part of my Friday Guest Blog adventure - so please do get in touch.

Enjoy the rest of the week everyone - check back on Friday for my guest post.

Jill