MAKE, LABEL, PACK. MAKE, LABEL, PACK

Hello everyone

How are you?  I hope you survived the storm of last Sunday night/Monday morning.  Quite a few trees were uprooted around here, but as far as I know no damage sustained by homes or people and no loss of power.  I know there are lots of moans and groans about the 'event' being over-dramatised by the media, possibly because it was under-dramatised back in 1987.  It, did, however give us a chance to prepare for potential problems.  Because of past bad weather, loss of power, etc some time ago we invested in a generator - it's a small one, but at least it means we are not lit just by candle-power during the frequent power-cuts we have.  It was interesting to see people in supermarkets shopping as though they were never ever going to be able to get to a food shop again!

An event free weekend, thank goodness, but the last one for a long time - I think my next event-free weekend is the one after Christmas.  After my three-day Christmas Fayre at Secretts Garden Centre, I am

having space in the Christmas Emporium  (doesn't that sound good?) and on Friday of last week, Linda (who shares the after-three-day-event space with me) and I attended a lunch and meeting with our fellow emporium-ists to review the floor plan, marketing and promotion, duty rota and all the other little bits and pieces that needed to be dealt with.  We may all have different products to sell (not all handmade) and certainly we all have different ideas, viewpoints and plans, but we all want to sing from the same song sheet throughout the event.  We talked about having Christmas carols playing when we were open - perhaps we could form a singing group?  Uhm, perhaps not.

This week I have made what seems like 100's of mini cards, some more jute bags (one which has a lovely owl as the design) and loads of Christmas cards - no photographs unfortunately as I am pricing and packing them as soon as I have made them.  I already have 4 large cardboard boxes full of stock and that's without all the loose piles of things everywhere, the large laundry bags full of table and wall coverings, bags and all the other things needed at an event, and the tables, racks, etc.   Thank goodness Secretts is near to me as I have a feeling it might involve at least a couple of trips to offload what I need for just the three-day event, let alone the longer one afterwards.

Now it is back to make, label, pack and even more make, label and pack,  A little light relief from making Christmas stock is my final wedding fayre of the year at the Old Thorns Hotel, which takes place next Sunday.  I haven't done a wedding fayre this late in the year and I am wondering if it will be as busy as those I have attended recently.  I want to make one completely brand new range in all white with a ribbon trim - haven't decided on the colour yet, hope to have photographs for you next week.

Thank you everyone who visited my blog last week and an extra special thank you to those who commented - I love feedback, its always helpful and often gives me ideas of things I need to change and/or new things to make.  Don't forget to drop in on this week's Handmade Monday blog party and read what everyone has been up to during the past week - lots of lovely Christmas makes are appearing each week.

If you would like to be a guest blogger, now is a great time to join in.  You may have events or a new product range that you want to bring to peoples attention - how about a blog post here?  Get in touch if you would like to join in or would like more information.

Have a great week - see you next Sunday

Jill

WE'RE HAVING A HEATWAVE, A TROPICAL HEATWAVE........

Hello everyone

It ain't half (been) hot, mum!  Phew, just when you thought it could not get any hotter, the next day finished a few degrees higher.  Today, just before 9.30 am, it was already 27 degrees here.  Richard is a gadget freak, so has numerous things telling us what the temperature is outside, in the greenhouse and in the conservatory - boys and their toys.  To be honest, the majority of us don't need boys' toys to identify that it is hot, hot, hot.

Work has been difficult this week, not because of the heat, but because I cannot sit comfortably to work on cards - so, yet again, not a lot to show for my week's endeavours.  However, I have been busy-ish.  A while ago I bought 12 linen, scallop-edged place mats with the intention of turning them into lavender bags.  My idea was to cut them in half and sew them into triangles.  I have completed several of these, waiting for some lavender to stuff them with so, as I always promise, will photograph and show them next weekend.  I know lavender bags are always popular and my fellow Handmade Monday bloggers often have them - all very gorgeous and all very different.  It's a good time to nip over and have a look at their week's words and works.

I also decided that I want to set up a blog specifically for my wedding stationery, and I have spent some time looking for a background that compliments my existing colours and business style.  I don't want to move too far away from the colours I use, but do want it to be along the lines of a wedding, perhaps flowers, something like that.  Finding something that isn't too dissimilar is proving tricky.

I have also been updating the leaflets, price lists and handouts for next week's Wedding Fayre (just hoping it is not as hot next Sunday as today).  Why did I leave the work so late???  I can see my printer is going to be exhausted by the end of this week.

Just before I went into hospital I received an invitation to take part in this year's 3-day event at Secretts Garden Centre in November.  I am really pleased about this as thoroughly enjoyed myself last year and have accepted the invitation - I know that I now need to knuckle down to make stock for that event, plus the other events I have booked for the remainder of this year.  I have lots of ideas for new Christmas items, but want to make sure I don't get carried away with them and forget to focus on the main items I make and sell.

I had to miss out on the last two sessions of my pottery course and a smoke-firing session had been planned by our tutor at her house to take place once the course had finished.  This was to fire in a different way some of the pots we had created.  This is taking place on Tuesday and some of my lovely fellow potters are picking me up and bringing me back home once the firing has been completed because I cannot drive yet.  I have signed up for next year's course and I actually feel my work is improving (well, I think it is).  I think I have realised the importance of concentrating on doing something well, rather than doing as much as I possibly can!

Off to cool down - again.  I hope you have a great week, not too hot and thank you to everyone for the lovely comments left on my blog last week.  I really do appreciate them.

Jill