MOVING FORWARD AND, YES, STILL CATCHING UP

Hell everyone

Hard to believe we are rushing towards another Bank Holiday weekend.  Although I no longer 'go out to work' (I work from home) I still look forward to weekends, and Bank Holiday ones are just as welcome as they were when I was a wage-slave.  Hope the weather is good as we are holding a birthday BBQ for a friend of ours - nipping in and out between rain showers to do the cooking is never that much fun (but I do seem to be able to delegate this job to Richard).  But then isn't that what Bank Holidays are for?  Dodging the rain, hoping for sun and getting a mix of both?

Earlier this year, I held a Vintage Bazaar in the Merrow Village Hall.  Vintage events are becoming more and more popular, but there do not seem to be many taking place around this area.  With that in mind and with bags of enthusiasm, Fee Fraser of Thimble & Thrift, and I have begun a joint-venture to create events for vintage enthusiasts (both stallholders and customers) and our new venture is called Village Vintage.  A new venture is always full of excitement as well as 'oh goodness me, will it work'.  I hope so, we both have lots of skills and experience to bring to the pot, so if you are around for our first event (19 September 2015) or you are interested in having a stall, do get in touch.

My moving forward and catching-up has involved lots of changes in my life; not all good ones.  My sister was diagnosed earlier this year with Parkinson's Disease - she is a very lively, fit and active person so this has come as a blow to her and our family.  Not long after this 'news', a good friend had a stroke - a minor one, but still life-changing.  It is hard when you really do not know what tomorrow will bring; we can plan as much as possible, but the future is definitely not in our own hands.

Because of the changes around me and changes in my life, I had to make decisions to give some things up.  Sadly, I decided I had to give up fostering kittens for Cats Protection.  It was a very hard and difficult decision and I really do miss having them here, but it became harder and harder to fit in the viewings, vet trips, the support they needed, and it also often felt unfair to my own furry gang.  I still support the Woking Branch in ways that I can, but I do miss those kittens.  I also had to give up managing the accounts of a friend's church - again a hard decision, but necessary.

Now I think I am bang up-to-date with life in Christmas Pie-land.  I am off to Chelsea tomorrow - really looking forward to it.  I go every year with a good friend who like me loves to garden and it is the highlight of our gardening year.  I get to meet my favourite Heuchera people again, Plantagogo, and this year I also want to check out Euphorbias - lovely structural plants.

Have a good week everyone, and enjoy the Bank Holiday no matter what the weather does.

Jill

MILLY'S DIARY

Hello everyone

Well, what happened to last week's diary post?  I have to put it down to there being so much sunshine that I that I just ran out of time - sorry about that, but I do love sunshine.  I was born in August, so that explains it really.

We are foster-kitten-less at the moment - although I am still really a kitten.  Primrose and Jasmine went to their new homes last week and have settled in very well.  Jill donned her blue Cats Protection fleece last Friday morning for some fund-raising at Byfleet's Pets at Home - she bought us some new catnip twists.  One was very, very strong and I feel asleep in a basket after playing with it!

Richard has been dismantling the shed and we have been helping him.  Coco jumped out of a tree where he was working and frightened the life out of him.  Every time he moves a piece of wood we all take turns at jumping into the space he has created.  I don't think he is very impressed with our efforts to help him though.
It's quick post from me today, or rather tonight, because it really is my bed time - lots to do tomorrow if the sun shines.  Have a great week - see you soon.

Milly

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

LOTS OF GORGEOUS SUNNY SUNSHINE

Hi everyone

What a fabulous week!  Okay, the nights are cool and the mornings a little chilly, but the days have been amazing.  Warm (well hot really), sunny, little breeze - just wonderful and so very welcome.  Long may it last.

A crafty week - or not

Because it seems to take me ages to write my BIG blog post, and I normally begin doing so some time on Saturday, at this stage I am not too sure if I will have anything ready to post for Handmade Monday - a 'make' that is - but, who knows, by the end this may have changed.

First of all I have a request for my fellow Handmade Monday-ers.  As you know, I have a guest spot on Fridays and what you may not know is that many of those who have taken part are members of the Handmade Monday bloggers.  I know blog-commenting can be an issue and is very much a personal choice, and I do not want to get into the rights and wrongs of commenting here.  What I am asking is that as our aim for Handmade Monday is to support fellow crafters, will you occasionally spare a few minutes on a Friday to visit my guest blogger's post and leave a comment please?  There are some fellow bloggers who visit and comment every Friday without fail and that is very much appreciated by myself and the guest bloggers.  Whilst we all love writing our own blog posts, it isn't easy to write a guest post - we are never 100% sure if what we have written is going to be what the host blogger (or their followers) is looking for.  Support from you would be very welcome for those guest bloggers that take part in Handmade Monday and I guarantee you will read some really great posts.

How about making last Friday's your first visit?  It is a great post by Kat Shenton about 5 ways to make yourself a better crafter.  It is a serious post written with humour; a great post and one to make you stop and think.  Thank you Kat, I really enjoyed it and you can see there are already some comments for you to read.

Unfortunately, by the time I completed this blog post I didn't have anything handmade to post on here, but as I have spent time this week advertising and working on getting my craft workshops sorted out, here is a pic of my post-card ad that I have been placing around the village noticeboards (I will let you know in future posts how things progress):

Before I forget, I am no further forward with Vistaprint and the problems I have been having with my website!  Boy oh boy, how hard can it be to sort out the width of a website and the resulting colour?  I am fed up receiving emails telling me: You will receive a response from us regarding the issue you are having after the Technical team have managed to resolve it.  Perhaps there is only one person in their Technical team and they are overloaded with website problems.

The Christmas Pie every day news

It has been a jam-packed kitten week here at Christmas Pie Crafts (I am taking regular photographs as I think they may make some lovely cards in the future - er, do I need to get their written permission to use their photographs??)  I parted company on Wednesday with my two little black kittens - following their second jabs and micro-chipping they went off to their new home in Windlesham.  However, they were soon replaced with Ash and Micro - Ash (almost needless to say) is grey and Micro is black and white - so called because she was very, very tiny when born.  They are lovely, great fun and exhausting!  A family came to view them on Saturday afternoon and will be deciding over the weekend if they are just what they are looking for - I hope so because they deserve a nice home.  An update: yesterday's visitors are going to adopt Ash and Micro - they rang the Woking office not long after their visit, so the kittens clearly made a big impression.  Here is a pic of the now-homed kittens:

A friend and I had planned to go to Wisley yesterday, but didn't make it after all.  However, I did manage to get a whole lot of plant moving and new planting completed yesterday, so it was a successful day.  So nice not to have a hosepipe ban as there was a lot of watering needed.  More gardening this morning as well as the car we sold last week is being collected this afternoon.  Existing with one car will last a little longer as the car we are buying is not available until late-ish September.

A friend (the afore-mentioned Wisley one) is spending the afternoon with us and I can see much sparkle (liquid that is) along with nibbles and natters.

Another busy week looming.  I must finish the Orders of Service for my bride and groom and also work on their table plan.  Trips to the vet with Ash and Micro are also in my diary, plus meeting up with a friend who is starting up a jams and chutneys business.  I also need to get down to some Christmas stock-making as my first event is only two weeks away.  No more booked after that until November, but I feel that it would be crazy not to have some Christmas stock available for this first event.

I am off to lounge in the sunshine now - hope you all have a good week and don't forget to visit the other blogs taking part in this week's Handmade Monday event.  If you would like to be a guest blogger, please do get in touch on christmaspiecrafts@virginmedia.com.  I will be back on Wednesday with my mid-week post and don't forget to drop in on Friday for this week's guest blog post.

Jill

TUESDAY CONFUSION

Hi everyone

This is very confusing - I haven't got to grips with blogging on a Tuesday and consequently I am writing this much later than planned.  I promise that by next Tuesday, I will have sorted my head out.

Needless to say the Olympics are top of everyone's agenda.  The enthusiasm and friendliness of the participants and spectators is amazing and I hope it continues long after the games have finished.  Apart from the spectacular results, the great thing is that the event has far exceeded everyone's expectations in that so far it has gone without a hitch (OK, some technical blips and the odd doping issue, but all dealt with very well).  I am sure a large part of the UK population held their breath when it was announced we had won the games for 2012 - the majority wondering how on earth we could afford it, how could we cope with the massive increase in visitors to London and where on earth would the events take place!  But it is here and we are coping and having a tremendous time whether at the events or watching it on the television.

As mentioned in my Handmade Monday (HM) blog, I am devoting my Sunday blog to my craft work to fit in with the aims of the event.  That doesn't mean to say that I won't mention any crafty type things in the other blog posts I produce.  However, no new work to mention so far as still working hard on finalising my wedding order.  I had some lovely comments left on my HM post about my chatty style of blogging - thank you all very much, they almost made me feel I should have left my weekend post as is.  However, decision, made and I am sure it is the right one.

This morning I did an early morning kitten collection run in my role of Cats Protection Cat Catcher (always sounds a bit cruel).  I had to collect a kitten from a lady in Egham and take back to Woking for a vet's appointment; then I had to do the journey again to return him to Egham.  I feel shattered already and the day isn't over yet!  He has been poorly and although he is putting on weight and looks good, he is back on the anti-biotics.  I will probably have to do a repeat of today's trip in a week's time for his next appointment.  One of the good things about the volunteering is that I am getting to see parts of Surrey that I wasn't previously familiar with.  Thank goodness for Tom-Tom as I have no sense of direction.  I walk out of a shop and have trouble remembering whether I should turn left or right.

I am out this evening to have a meal with a friend.  She is having a fun-type wine-tasting get-together.  Thank goodness it is in walking distance!  Luckily there will be quite a few people there, so if I nod off to sleep in the corner nobody will notice - oh, I hope I don't snore!

That's my blog for today - a little less than I normally write, and I must get my post-Sunday blogging head working.  No blog tomorrow - think I will remove Wednesdays from  my blogging calendar as I will now be blogging on Tuesdays.  However, I am hopeful that I will have a Friday Guest Blogger (FGB) this week, so do please come back then.  Don't forget, if you would like to join the growing group of FGBers, please do get in touch: christmaspiecrafts@virginmedia.com.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the Olympics - I will  be back on Sunday with my HM post.

Jill

IT HAS BEEN A HECTIC WEEK

Hi everyone

Did you watch the Olympics Opening Ceremony?  What did you think of it?  Wasn't the lighting of the fire pit spectacular?  I had wondered what all of those brass bed pans (sorry copper kettles) were going to be used for.  I think it was a very good choice to have Sir Steve Redgrave deliver the Olympic Torch to the Stadium and how about the Queen and James Bond?  Both very game jumping out of the helicopter - thank goodness the fire pit hadn't been lit - all in a day's work for Mr Bond.  David Beckham looked good - as always - and very proud too.  Like all sporting events, there will be shock wins and losses, great races run, silly comments by the commentators, but I hope everyone enjoys it.

Have you had a chance to read my latest guest blogger's post?  Thank you Zofia for a great post.  What do you think - are women better blogger's than men?  Zofia's post may be my last guest post for a while - unless any of my followers or fellow Handmade Mondayers (or new visitors?) would like to contribute?  I have been really pleased how successful the Guest Blog spot has been and hope everyone has enjoyed it as much as I have.  Hard to believe it has been running for six months and every post has been brilliant.  Contrary to a recent comment, I feel the guest blog spot did 'take-off' and I am looking forward to posting and reading many more guest blog posts in the future.  So, if anyone would like to join in, please do get in touch on christmaspiecrafts@virginmedia.com.  Remember your post doesn't have to be craft-related, it could be about marketing, blogging, event organisation, a hobby you have, travel, or how about a book you have read - or even better one that you have written.

Last week was pretty hectic.  Had a meal in Ripley with friends on Wednesday evening.  The weather was great and we dined outside - sadly the staff seemed to forget the outside diners and service was a bit hit-and-miss at times.  Not too much of a problem really as it was a mostly non-stop talking get-together.  One of the friends I met up with is looking into starting a business making chutneys, relishes and jams - something she is very good at and feels she is ready for the next stage.  Our next group get-together is going to be a tasting of her range - yum, yum.

A couple of weeks ago I volunteered to assist the Woking Cats Protection Group with catching and helping abandoned, unwell and feral cats.  Although we live in the Guildford CP area, I chose Woking because we adopted Daisy from them.  My 'job' will be to set up cages/pens to catch cats and kittens.  I did my first trip on Thursday afternoon with a fellow CP volunteer and we did a return visit on Saturday morning.  My biggest problem will be resisting taking them all home with me!  I know Daisy wouldn't mind as she will be a mum to the kittens, not too sure Jazz will welcome another cat or kitten with open paws though.

After my Thursday cat visit, I met with my bride and groom to discuss their wedding invitations and they signed off on their order.  Although they had a design already (having gone through the process of designing an invitation with another wedding stationer who sadly let them down) they were very pleased with my interpretation of this.  All systems go now and some intensive invitation-making days and nights ahead of me.  Once they have been completed I will ask the couple if I can post pictures on my blog as I would love you to see them.  A little taster: the card and paper are pearlised pale ivory with orange and purple trims, ribbons, etc.  Here are a couple of sample invitations I made recently, but the couple's design is completely different to both of these.

Still on Thursday, a friend and I went to RHS Wisley for the evening.  Wisley rarely opens after 5.30 pm - sometimes they have musical or special events, but it is rare that the gardens are open.  During July, the gardens were open until 8.00 pm on four Thursdays and we had arranged to go to the last one.  It was a gorgeous evening, hot, still very sunny and everywhere looked good.  Surprisingly, it wasn't very busy and on arrival we discovered that a member's only Wine Tasting Event was taking place - not too sure how we missed out on that.  Despite tickets still being available, we were both driving so unable to take part - but we did.  We decided some sit-down and people-watching time was the way to take part.  Surprising how many people think wine-tasting is to get as many glasses of wine drunk in as short a space of time as possible.  Oh, well, they looked happy.  Up to a few years ago, Richard was a professional wine taster, so I took home a set of the tasting notes for him.

The next couple of weeks will be very busy as in addition to the wedding invitations, I have jewellery to make, birthday cards, wedding anniversary cards and a thank you card to do as well.  I am trying to set aside time to make Christmas stock because I am getting concerned that I may not have enough for the events I have booked.  Although the main ones are not until November, my stock boxes are telling me that I need to get a move on.

We have had heavy rain, thunder-storms and a little hail so far today - just like summer really.  I hope it doesn't last too long as I am sure there are many sports that will not benefit from wet weather.  However, there are some very dry parts in my garden that are crying our for rain - tap water doesn't really do anything other than keep plants alive.

It's Handmade Monday time again, so don't forget to visit the other blogs and see what everyone has been working on during the past week.  Don't forget to contact me if you want to give guest blogging a go.  Enjoy the Olympics - I will be back on Wednesday.

Jill

IT'S BEEN A BIZEEEE WEEK

Hi everyone

What a gorgeous day it has been.  We went to a good friend's birthday lunch today and it was great and the fantastic weather was a bonus.  I made the name cards and menu's for the meal in West Ham colours, as our friend is a great supporter of their team.  It was a lovely day.

I have had a hectic week.  As well as the name cards and menus, I also had two card orders to finish, plus get everything ready for my first event of the year in Godalming.  This is the second event I have attended that was organised by Loretta and she really does work hard getting everything right - in addition to regularly checking that we were all OK, she spent a lot of time outside encouraging potential customers through the door.  Although the event wasn't all handmade, there were some great stalls there.  I was next to Fran McCaskill who is a fused glass designer - her work is absolutely beautiful and I do recommend you visit her website.  I bought one of her glorious big red hearts - it looks so lovely with the sun shining through it.

Events are interesting in that people will pay a high price for things that are not handmade, but  refuse to pay what, to us who make handmade, are reasonable prices.  Do you find this happens at events you take part in?  My mini-cards did well again, so I need to get making more.

One of the card orders I had has been posted and received by the recipient, so it is safe to put it on show.  I used various layers of gold card and other lacey and numbered papers and then topped this off with two champagne glasses with a figure 50 in the middle - I added gold star glitter to the figure.

The 21st birthday card should have been received by the birthday girl this time next week, so I will be adding that to my next Handmade Monday post.

The week before last I spent a Spa Day with a good friend and as usual it was more chat than spa - I did do some gym work though, so felt pretty good about that.  During the day, we talked about business life in general and crafting in particular and decided that we would have a go at a joint-venture later this year, so watch this space.

My Friday Guest blogging has taken off again, and I have some great posts coming up over the next few weeks - not all craft-related, so look out for some great topics.  It would be lovely to host some Handmade Monday bloggers, so if you have a topic you would like to share, please do get in touch: christmaspiecrafts@virginmedia.com.  Thank you Hannah (Spans Studio) for your post last Friday - it was great and certainly struck a cord with the handmade community.

A bit of a short post today as I am so tired - it has been a week of hard work (as well as socialising).  Next week I have some more card orders to complete, plus we are still battling our way through all of the 'stuff' that we have accumulated over the years.  Why the walls haven't fallen over trying to contain the things we have 'held onto just in case' I will never know.  Phyllis Tuckwell, the RSPCA and Cats Protection are benefiting from our 'down-sizing' and I hope it helps them.

Have a great week everyone and thank you to everyone who stops my my blog and leaves a comment - I love to read them all.  I don't always get the chance to reply to all of them, but I do appreciate them especially the great advice and helpful suggestions many of you leave for me.  Don't forget to visit the other Handmade Monday bloggers to read this week posts and see everyone's lovely makes.

I'll see you all on Wednesday.

Jill