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

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

Hannah Blavins from Spans Studio

When Jill asked me to write a guest post I decided to talk about what handmade means to me.

But I’m not going to talk about the meaning of the word or what I think a handmade product is.

To me handmade is more than that.  It’s a process.  Making something by hand takes time and energy.  You go through many emotions, trials and errors and triumphs.

When you buy something that’s handmade you are buying someone’s journey, a part of them.  It’s a brave thing to do to give something of yourself to the world to be judged, rightly or wrongly, by others.  It’s what all creative souls that make handmade items for gifts and to sell do.

To me handmade is about healing.  About finding something that defines who I am and allowing myself to do what I love and be happy.  I know a lot of people deny that part of themselves and it’s very freeing to accept that part of yourself and make something for whatever reason.  Everything I make is a part of my healing journey.  Depending on the medium depends on what it does for me.  Sometimes it calms me, sometimes distracts, sometimes it brings me into the moment.  Sometimes it stirs emotions and I find that by working through it I heal. That is part of my process.

Hand making things makes me feel worthy and whole, whether it is seen as a quality item is irrelevant as by the time it is done I’ve gotten all I needed out of it.  I have been through the process and come out the other side and I am usually looking to the next project.

Learning a skill to make something takes time and lots of practise, this is something that never ends.  There is always something new to learn and add to the process of creating.

I hope you understand what I mean when I talk about handmade. I think its easy to just think of the end product as that is the tangible thing but the process behind it, what the person has gone through for it to get there is what makes it unique and the reason why I not only make handmade things but I buy handmade products too.

I have many gifts that have been made for me by family and friends and each one means a lot to me as the process was taken with me in mind.  They have given that part of themselves to me and I feel very blessed to be the person that receives it.

So next time you see a handmade item and like it, ask yourself, what did the person that made it have in mind? What journey did they and the item go through to get there? Hopefully you will see what I mean when I say that handmade is more that just a product.

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