IT'S ALL GO IN THE CHRISTMAS PIE CRAFTS WORKSHOP

Hello everyone

As it says on the packet above, it's all go here and exhausting too.  I know it is the same for everyone involved in any sort of business at this time of year, but those of us involved in the world of handmade know that it seems to be doubly exhausting.

I took part in my last wedding fayre of the year today and have five quotations to prepare and hopefully future contact from people who said 'I'll be in touch'.  I know we all hear that occasionally, but the optimist in me is hopeful.

The weather here today has been lovely - I was hopeful that the good weather would bring the brides out and I wasn't disappointed.  Lots of other lovely wedding sellers, but the most eye-catching was a wedding cake stand (they always catch my eye) and here are photographs of two of the gorgeous creations by Alexander Taylor that were on display at today's fayre - what a talented person he is:

A burger, hot dog, box of fries and a coke.  I wouldn't want to cut into it.  The designs are so out of the ordinary, you couldn't fail to be amazed by them.

Love and peace man - a Sixties themed cake.  Incredible!

Alexander's wife and her father were on duty today and as you can imagine there was a lot of interest in their stand.  The best bit was seeing the look of 'I don't believe it' on visitors faces.

I had planned to make an all white range of wedding stationery for today and I managed to make some of the range.  My thanks to Jan of Handcrafted by Picto for the suggestion to have a red trim.  A great idea and I did just that using burgundy velvet ribbon and diamante embellishments.  Here is a photograph of them - not very good because the lighting at the event wasn't great:

In the Christmas Pie Crafts workshop, I have been back on the make, label and pack treadmill.  The fear of not having enough stock is hanging over me: have I got enough of this, should I make more of that, will they sell.  I am sure my fellow handmade business people know this feeling.

I bought four heart-shaped willow wreaths recently and have decorated each them in a different way.  The light has gone now and I cannot photograph them, but will do so during the week and post them on my blog next Sunday.

This time next week, I will be breaking down my stand following my three-day event at Secretts Garden Centre - I am looking forward to it (and feeling nervous about it too) and will be making stock up to the very last moment (probably during the event too), but there is that 'oh dear, I hope my things sell' feeling, and I will let you know next week how the event went.

Back to the treadmill now, but before I go don't forget to visit the bloggers taking part in Handmade Monday and a big thank you to everyone from last week's linky party who visited my blog and commented - always appreciated.

I have had a couple of people say they are interested in being a Friday Guest Blogger - that would be lovely and I look forward to you joining in, can you email me on christmaspiecrafts@virginmedia.com and we can arrange dates, etc?

Have a good week everyone - Milly will be here on Wednesday and I will be back 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

EVENTS, CARDS AND KITTENS

Hi everyone

Another beautiful day - days like this are very welcome at this time of year because we never know what is around the corner.

This week has been busy, busy making stock for this week's 3-day event at Secretts in Milford.  The marquee goes up tomorrow and we can start piling in at 7.30 am on Friday.  Exciting and nerve-racking really, but really looking forward to being with lots of lovely crafters and, yum-yum, food sellers too.  Just in case your are local or likely to be in the area it would be lovely to see to see you - complimentary mulled wine and mince pies are being offered.

A few years ago I used to be a big fan of Jolly Nation (or was it called Paper Nation then?) and made lots of different cards using their decoupage sheets.  As with most crafters (and customers) tastes change and I 'filed them away', but came across them during the week while ploughing through the massive stock of craft materials I have accumulated.  I am still trying to reorganise everything in a tidy way so that I don't keep doing crazy things such as buying something and then discovering I already have it!  I decided to make up a few for my bigger mini-cards range and these are some examples:

I love decoupage and also spent time making up some A4 Christmas cards with decoupage poinsettias on, which I will photograph and add to my next Sunday blog.  My problem at the moment is that as soon as I make something I pack and price it ready for loading into my boxes for events, this means no photographs.

It's Handmade Monday (although we all post on a Sunday) time and I am linking up as usual.  Lots of great blogs to read and all posts are getting more and more Christmassy.

I am in the process of setting up another 'bricks and mortar' (B&M) spot for my cards.  I am going to visit the shop and meet the owner next week, and I will add some more information to my post-visit blog post.  I hope it works out, it certainly sounds good, and the rental terms are also good, so watch this space.  My plan (or rather my hopes) has always been to have other B&M outlets in addition to my spot at Bourne Mill, so this, fingers crossed, may be my second venture.

I hope you had a look at this week's guest blog spot - a really great way to use what must be our most favourite confectionery, chocolate.  Thank you Vicki for a great post and I think your chocolate sounds gorgeous and really is a great promotional idea.

I have one more guest blogger for November and then I am going to 'hang up' the guest blogging spot until next year.  Everyone is very busy and I know it is hard to write our own blogs, let alone a guest spot.  Thank you to everyone who has been a guest blogger and thank you to those who have visited and commented on the posts.  The spot has been running for ten months and only two Fridays have not had a guest blogger.  I hope it has been successful for everyone who took part - I have really enjoyed the variety of the posts that I have received.

Here is a photograph of Jasper and Wallace; Wallace is the kitten on the right hand side and the reason Jasper looks as though he is about to jump off of the chair, is because he has seen a biscuit on the edge!  He is a little bit of a piglet and nothing much appears to put him off of his food.  I have a family coming to see them this afternoon with a view to adopting them - I hope so as it would be lovely to see them settled into a new home.  They are still rather nervous, but so gorgeous and I am sure with lots of TLC they will soon become fantastic feline friends.

We went out for a meal with a friend on Friday to the Harrow in Compton.  We go there quite regularly and the food was, as always, very good.  Massive portions, so if you go to this place don't have a starter!  We forgot our own warning, but did have a Meze-like meal between the three of us, so we managed (just about) to eat the main course.

The pottery hair cracked on my mask - soooo sad.  He now just has a very small toupee.  Oh well, all good fun and I learn something new every time - what not to do more often than not.

Back to work now, plenty to do and I might try to get a little gardening done.  The weather is too nice to not try to get some outside time.  Enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone. I will be back on Wednesday with my post, which will be a cat-related one for Woking Cats Protection.  My last guest blogger of 2012 will be here on Friday, so please come back and read their great post.

Jill