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Sunday 21 October 2012

IS IT REALLY ONLY 65 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS?

Hello everyone

65 days left to get everything ready for events, orders and our own Christmas!  Am I panicking?  Of course not!!  Calm, collected and running around like a headless chicken not sure what job to start first, and often not starting any because of dithering too long about which one is the most urgent.

A hectic week - seems to be the norm at the moment.  I spent Monday helping a friend set up/sort out her spreadsheets for her business - not long in business and wanted to ensure she had the break-even calculations set up correctly.

Around numerous other non-crafty activities, I managed to make lots and lots of mini-cards.  I now have two ranges: 3" x 3" and 4" x 4".  Very easy to make and a whole variety covering Christmas and all other events that occur throughout the year, including birthdays. They always sell well at events and I want to ensure that I have plenty of stock for the ones I am taking part in in November - especially the 3-day event I am doing when I want to be able to move stock around so it looks as though each day has a brand new basket-full of mini-cards.

As well as mini-cards, my makes these week have involved ribbon.  I love ribbon, I can never have enough of it and buy it even if I don't have a use in mind - yes, I am a ribbon addict!  This addiction is not helped by my ribbon supplier often having offers of a discount of 25% off all stock and that means more ribbon arrives at Christmas Pie Crafts.  Lovely great big 50 metre rolls of the stuff.  However, I am not a complete nut-case, I am making inroads into my stock and this week I decided on a different type of wreath/wall-hanging made of Black Watch tartan ribbon and here it is in it's nearly finished state (unfortunately, I discovered my camera's battery is as flat as a pancake so I used my iPhone, which seems to have turned the Black Watch tartan blue!):


I bound the ring with the ribbon and I am in the process of making red velvet roses to attach to it - guess what they are made of? Yep, that's it, ribbon!

That's my confession over for the week, but I bet that if you visit the other participants in this week's Handmade Harbour blogging event you will find more addicts - craft addicts that is creating beautiful things and writing great blog posts.

Before I leave my crafty bit of blogging, don't forget to read this week's guest post from Claire of Lady Luck Jewellery - it's all about the good, the bad and the ugly of craft fairs.   It is a great insight into craft fairs from both an organiser's viewpoint as well as that of a stall holder.  Many thanks for being a guest blogger Claire, I really enjoyed your post.

The Other Me

As well as the crafting me, the other me has been busy this week with kittens.  Monkey and Damon went to their new home on Thursday.  As always, it was hard to see them go, but more so this time because Monkey was such an affectionate kitten; you sat down, and so did he - on your lap, neck, shoulder, anywhere he could get to.  I know they will have lovely lives and that is the important thing.

I now have Jasper and Wallace, two little ginger boy kittens aged 7 weeks.  They are very nervous, Wallace more so and although you can stroke them, picking them up to cuddle is not easy - they wriggle a lot.  I feel this is going to be a challenge and I will let you know how things go over the next week or so.  Here is a photograph off them; they are not as keen on having their picture taken as Monkey and Damon were:


Jazz, as always, is fascinated by them and what is very interesting is that Jasper appears to like Jazz as he purrs when he is near by.  Daisy looks at them with a 'oh, no, not another lot' look on her face.

In my pottery sessions I have added ears and hair to my mask.  I have decided it is going to be as you saw last week, not blending the features into the face.  Perhaps this can be my practice mask and the next one will be the 'real' thing.  The hair is not quite hair, but looks (to me) like the top of an acorn, so Mr Acorn it could well be.  I made another pendant this week, but no earrings; I planning on using a shiny black glaze this time, with some 'rubbed out areas to give depth'.  I do enjoy the course and I am really glad I made the decision to join last term and book both morning and afternoon sessions this term.  Hard to believe we are already half-way through this term and I know the weeks after the half-term break will whizz by even faster than the first half.

Time to get back to my ribbons - so many ribbons, so little time to enjoy them.  Before I forget, this week's funny keyword search terms are 'tellero' (er, how did the searcher end up on my blog??) and 'christmas wrapping ribbon'.

Have a great week, don't forget to come back on Wednesday for my mid-week post and Friday for my guest blogger.  I haven't forgotten that I mentioned I will be starting a cat-related blog post on Thursdays, but will be leaving that for a week or so.

Jill

21 comments:

  1. Cannot wait to see your finished wreath. Hope that your new residents do not find your ribbon stash... eek! :)

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  2. wow, a three day fair - you must need a LOT of stock for that!

    ribbons are addictive aren't they! a bit like buttons... :) x

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  3. You have been busy! Good luck with your new kittens.
    Wendy

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  4. Really love the idea of moving your stock around so it looks like it is all new. Great tip.Hope you have another productive week.

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  5. Ribbons are fantastic! Looking forward to seeing the wreath, I bet it looks gorgeous when finished.
    Aww to the kittens!

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  6. That's a whole lot of ribbon!
    I love funny search terms- somebody found me looking for 'cement cowboy'?!! And one I probably shouldn't post on here as it sounds rather rude!

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  7. Cant wait to see your finished wreath, we always think we have plenty of time to get organised but time just seems to creep up on us. Aud x

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  8. There's nothing quite like a ribbon stash is there? I love your wreath, it's stunning (even in blue)!

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  9. Gasp those little kittens are so sweeeet. I bet it is hard to let them go to their new homes, but at least you know they are going to be well taken care of.

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  10. I'll be popping back to read the guest post. Looking forward to seeing the wreath.

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  11. The wreath looks lovely and I actually quite like the blue, although it'll be stunning in the black watch. the kitties are gorgeous!

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  12. Glad to hear that you are busy and staying out of trouble ;-) What gorgeous kittens those little ginger chaps are.
    Hope you have a great week, looking forward to seeing your fab stall in Godalming x.

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  13. Cute kitties once more! Sounds like you've been as busy as Wendy

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  14. What gorgeous kittens! Sounds like a busy time ahead but i'm sure you'll manage it. 65 days til Christmas? Yikes! x

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  15. Oh what beautiful kittens! I bet they are helpful in the work room!

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  16. I think the wreath will look lovely with the red roses when finished.
    And the kitties are very cute!

    Melanie x.

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  17. The Christmas countdown has begun in earnest it would seem!! Good luck with your upcoming events!!
    Have a good week xx

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  18. Can't wait to see your finished wreath. I love anything tartan. It's a good job my daughter doesn't read your blog she'd be adopting all your cute kittens. Have a lovely week.
    Ali x

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  19. You are such a busy lady. I feel worn out just reading your posts!

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  20. Oh Dog! Jasper and Wallace look like baby June Buggies! I hope they act alot nicer! woo woo woo!

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  21. I'm never quite sure how you fit everything in!looking forward to seeing the ribbon wreath-I always feel like I should use it more!Love the kittens-how gorgeous!

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Thank you for your comment - it is always lovely to have feedback and I hope you enjoyed my post.