RAINING AGAIN? SURELY NOT.......

Hi everyone

Is it true what everyone says, that once you hit 21 the years rush by just a bit too fast?  21 was quite a few years ago for me, and I can truly say that the weeks/months/years do whizz by.  Is it because life is so busy or that I (like lots of people) set myself targets which I don't achieve and therefore feel time is rushing by?  A friend of mine completes a Tasks Done list each day - the main reason is to see what she has done with her day, but how nice it must be to be able to tick everything off as finished.

Still on days whizzing by, I left my count-down to Christmas clock on my blog and it caught my eye today and I was very surprised to see it is only 177 days to Christmas!  Best get a move on making Christmas cards and get the decorations down from the loft!

An interesting week at Wimbledon.  The first big surprise was seeing Venus Williams lose inthe first round, and an even bigger shock followed not too long after with the exit of Rafael Nadal.  We almost saw the last of Roger Federer as well - he teetered on the brink of going out in the first week.  This tournament never fails to keep you on the edge of your seat, does it?  So, who do you think will win the Men's and Women's Championships this year?  We have been lucky to go to Wimbledon Tennis Championships on a few occasions and even managed to get on to the Centre Court once.  One year we watched Bjorn Borg play on Court No 1, but I can't remember who he was playing (this getting older and memories disappearing thing is a nuisance!) but I do recall it was a great match.  It's a great game and I just wish we had more facilities and finance in this country to support and encourage it.

Have you read my Guest Post from Friday?  Alix Beech of Big Blue Bed wrote about becoming the person she is happy to be.  It proved a very popular post and I recommend you read it if you haven't had the chance to do so yet.  Thank you Alix - love the picture of you in the Snowy the Dog hat.

I know discussions about commenting on bloggs crop up in various places (and other blogs) quite frequently and it is interesting that a post can get many visitors but few comments.  I wonder why?  My guest posts receive an average of 90 visits for each post, but not all 90 visitors comment.  I am sure lots of people visit the post because they know the guest blogger, it may be because they are a regular follower of my blog, or they may have discovered the post by chance on the internet, Twitter, etc.  One interesting thing I discovered recently is that I have seen visitors have commented elsewhere (in forums mainly) about a guest blogger's post, but not on the actual post.  If you have enjoyed the guest post, it would be so great if you could leave a comment for the blogger - many of my guest bloggers do respond to the comments left for them so it's not just a case of blog and run.

I completed a quirky card order this week and yet again forgot to photograph it.  So much for my proposed check-list!  The card was for a cat-loving, blonde-haired, poolside lounger who liked to drink Rioja.  Trying to incorporate all of these was the usual challenge - I hope she likes her card.  A first for me, but I received an order for a Congratulations on your Divorce card - I know there are some cards out their bearing this salutation and perhaps I should make a few for stock when I make up this order.  It did make me think that I should carry a stock of perhaps blank cards (no greetings that is) and decorate them accordingly either for an order or at events.

I saw an advertisement recently that Moonpig are now offering video cards for Smart phones; it may be something they have been doing for a while.  How does a 'paper' card-maker compete?  This article from the Greetings Card Association makes interesting reading about the UK and their greetings cards 'habit' - hopefully the 'real' greetings card still  has plenty of life left in it.  I hope so as it is a major part of my business.

I thought I hadn't any makes to post for Handmade Monday this week - work-in-progress, etc - then I realised that this week I have spent a couple of evenings non-stop making my mini-cards.  I now have 2 ranges: 3" x 3" and 4" x 4".  Some time ago I purchased quite a few packets of paper flowers with the intention of doing flower-pot displays.  I did some but decided against adding it as a permanent range to my business.  I have lots left over and think they are ideal for decorating cards.  These are photographs of 3 of the larger style:

I had expected it to be a dry, occasionally sunny day today - sadly, it has been raining for about 2 hours.  1 July?  Perhaps I have looked at the wrong month on the calendar.  I can see Wimbledon tipping over into a third week.

Have a great week everyone, enjoy the other blogs taking part in Handmade Monday and while there do read Wendy's piece about Increasing Customer Confidence in your Small Craft Business - a great piece of work and lots of reminders about things that we tend to forget.  Do get in touch if you would like to join in my Friday Guest Blog spot (christmaspiecrafts@virginmedia.com).

Jill

TODAY'S GUEST BLOGGER IS......

Alexandra Beech on Becoming the Person I am happy to be

How nice to be a guest blogger.  It is lovely to be in someone else's space and having a natter.

As you read this I am a bit older than when I was writing it, as it was my birthday yesterday the 28^th June.  I am now 44 and I don’t feel embarrassed about sharing that with you as I feel I am in that happy place where I never expected to be.

It is not that I have had a bad life. On the contrary I had a happy childhood and averagely happy adulthood so far.   It has been pretty...average.   I met my husband in my thirties, and had a child at 35.  That was better than averagely happy.  From then on I have been on the path to who I really am.

I do not want you to read this and think ‘uo oh- she is wittering on about herself’.  Well, ok yes I am a bit. But I am more talking about how you should feel confident in being you.

It has taken me some 40 years to be happy being the odd person I am.  Happy enough to wear yellow t-shirts and dye my hair a vibrant red and happy enough to say – yes I am self-employed and I sew, I make buttons.

I work with children (when I am not making buttons).  You can see their fear of being different but their desire to be who they are.  I remember that, do you?  I try to explain that it is ok to be different, to stand out, that the people who do are the ones who become something in the world.

My daughter is a huge Tintin fan, and this year she dressed as Snowy, Tintin’s dog. I made the costume and she was so very happy to wear it.  Of course, some children laughed and she was in tears.  I felt terrible and I blogged about it, and received lots of lovely support from my readers and crafty friends. I tried to tell my daughter that she looked great and that other children might be jealous, and pick on anyone that looked a bit different than the usual Disney Princess.  Now, a few months later she is talking about next year’s competition. She wants to be Captain Haddock (complete with beard).  I asked her if she would worry about people saying anything because she was not dressed as a pretty girl. ‘No,’ she replied ‘it is good to be something different’.    Of course I was pleased and I hope that her confidence in herself is growing so that she can cope with outside knocks, and that it will not take her 30 years to be happy with who she is.

Until recently, if someone asked me what I do,  I was really embarrassed and used to laugh and mutter something about sewing, blah, blah.  I am confident to answer now that I sew, I make buttons and accessories.  I mean if I am embarrassed about it for goodness sake, why should someone else be interested in what I do?  It has also helped greatly to have the support of like-minded people that I have met in the crafting world, through Etsy, Folksy, forums like Crafteroo and Popular Crafts, and on Facebook and Twitter.  Also, I have become better known and have had tutorials and been featured in a couple of magazines.  I have even made buttons for the film industry (details to be released later but it is all rather exciting!).  It is a circle of confidence: - I become happy and confident - I am proud of my work and want to show it - I become better known - I become happier and confident, etc

So this is what I want to say – dye your red red and.., no not that.  Be yourself, you are great!


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