TODAY'S GUEST BLOGGER IS....

Hello There...

My names Emma Louise, I’m 21 years old and I live just outside of Manchester with my family and my lovely kitty cats Sasha and Susie. I’m currently going into my last year at Salford University studying Illustration. I’m new to the craft world and don’t have many crafts under my belt but so far I’ve made a variety of different things. From Sketchbooks to Headbands, Cards to ATC’s and a few bits in between.

Being creative has always been a passion but recently got enhanced when I decided to take it further and begin crafting. It’s pushed me further as a person and an Illustrator as I’m combining the two together and producing what I believe to be better work.

I first found my love of crafting after being asked to make Wedding Invitations but the couple didn’t want just your run of the mill invitations that could be mass produced they wanted bespoke, one off’s that nobody else will have had and they wanted 200 of them! I loved every minute of it. From start to finish and seeing the smile on the couple’s faces was the best feeling in the world. To know that I had contributed to the most special day of their lives made me feel fantastic.

That’s when I realised I wanted to make anything I possibly could to make people as happy as they where!

After deciding I wanted to get involved in more craft work I trawled the internet for little projects I could do and that’s when I came across the idea of making paper beads and making up bracelets. I started immediately!

Making the beads is great fun but hard work on your fingers after a while when rolling the paper into shape. Almost like friction burn but the outcome is worth it and I had friends and family requesting for their own bracelets. I haven’t sold many of these as personally I think people prefer more eccentric looking jewellery. For example polymer clay charms have taken over in all there cute and quirky little shapes and sizes.

Following on from my bracelets I went on a girly rampage and thought making headbands and clips would be something fun and could sell but yet wear myself and I already had all the equipment so I gave it a bash. I only made a few to start with and then a little flier came through the door saying that one of the local schools was having a craft fair and I jumped at the chance and got myself a stall. That was my chance to go mad and make anything and everything I rummaged through my crafts box and made a list of everything I could make to sell that included more headbands and clips along with more bracelets and even better a chance to print out some of my illustrations to try and sell. I got to work straight away!

I made up several headbands and several pairs of clips to sit alongside my bracelets, illustrations, cards and painting and invited my grandma to add some of her beautiful baby knitting to finish off my stall. Little did I know I was going to be put in a back room with 3 other great crafters and sellers for 5 hours to sell a blanket and 2 pair of clips!

I was gutted I put in all that hard work for the opportunity to get my work and crafts out there for nobody to seem interested. Thinking back on it though I got to have a good look around to see what others where selling and take note for if I decided on doing another fair. 

After that disheartening day I had a little break from crafting and concentrated more on my Illustrations and studies and where one door closed another one opened and that little break was where I came up with the best collection of prints and drawings I had ever done and with my new found energy and happiness for creating something that I was truly proud of I thought it was time to have another dip back into the crafting world and I’ve never left since!

Below are a few more pictures of crafts I’ve done

Notice board

Sketch book

ATC's

Thank you all for listening to me babble on about me, myself and my crafts and I hope to speak and swap tips with you all soon. If you have any questions for me then please comment or send me a message through any of these channels.....

Blogger - www.emmacrafts.blogspot.co.uk

Facebook - www.facebook.com/emmalouiseszostok

Twitter - @em_louiise

Email – emmalouiise_@live.co.uk

Thank you all again !

Emma Louise Szostok x

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A CRAFTER (AND TEMPORARY KITTEN FOSTERER)

Hi everyone

Those of you who drop in on Wednesday know that my mid-week blog post is not always focused on crafting, but this week it is.  The main reason is so that I can take part in Week 2 of Caroleecrafts Blogging Thursday event.  My post will be published at the normal time (or around the normal time) on Wednesday and on Thursday morning, I will link to the Thursday Blogging event and visit the other blogs taking part.

Because of being involved in a large job at the moment, I don't have anything completed to post on here today, so I thought a day in the life of a crafter (as in me) would be my post.

My 'Crafting Day' is always a mix of things.  In my mind I produce a plan to accomplish a lot of work, but my plans don't always come to fruition.  However, once up and about my day will begin with a large cup of coffee and breakfast for my two cats (plus, at the moment, the kittens I am fostering).  While consuming my coffee and some Rich Tea biscuits (great with coffee) I answer emails that have come in late the previous evening or during the night.  I also check Twitter and Facebook to see if anything needs answering, but also to 'chat' with two local Tweeters I have become friendly with over the last few months.  During the day I will drop in and out of Twitter, answer any private messages that have arrived, reply to tweets that are for me, re-tweet any posts that I feel need a wider audience and also re-tweet the guest blog post from last Friday, and I regularly check my emails.

Once the early morning 'chores' are out of the way, I begin work.  Up to August 2011 I was a wage slave, often working around 35 hours spread over three days.  The beauty of being self-employed is that, yes I may do long hours, but I can choose when to do them and I enjoy what I do.  I get up very early and will begin work early - I find I am more productive in those first few hours than at any other time during the day.  Old habits die hard.  I can, and frequently do, work during the evening while watching the television - however, most of the time I couldn't tell you what I have watched because I often find I haven't really watched anything!

I would love to say I am an organised crafter, but I am not.  I start work on something and very often move onto something else that has caught my imagination.  I find that unless I am working on an order, I am a butterfly crafter - flitting from one 'make' to another.  In a way, I need the structure that working for someone else brings to a working day.  At times during the day, I will stop crafting to do some research on the Internet for ideas, suppliers, other blogs to read, new resources to buy or, even better, freebies such as decoupage downloads.  Very often this leads to me getting side-tracked by something that catches my eye (occasionally nothing to do with crafting).

Yesterday was slightly different to the norm as a friend of mine, Linda, is starting up in business selling her jams and chutneys, as well as wedding and Christmas cakes, and having been there, done that and worn the T-shirt, it was great to be able to give her some advice on what she needs to do to get up and running.  (Actually when you look at it in a list it is quite frightening, and I wonder why we all rush madly into it.)  She is helping me at my first event on 22 September - the bride and groom I am making wedding stationery for have invited me to their church service, which is right in the middle of my first event but not too far from the event venue, thank goodness.  This will be a good opportunity for Linda to see first-hand what managing a stall is like, plus she can promote her business while she is there.

Today included a long telephone conversation with the bride I am producing wedding stationery for.  We have finalised the Order of Service and discussed potential layouts for the Table Plan.  I have really enjoyed this particular commission and you can see a photograph of the Wedding Invitation here.  This is a side of my business that I want to expand and my hairdresser (off to see her tomorrow) has kindly said she will help the promotion by handing out my wedding business card to her clients.

My plan for the rest of today is to start work on a range of Christmas cards I have been planning for a while.  I can't get any further on the Orders of Service until this evening, so I can leave those for a while without feeling too guilty.

As you can see, there is no such thing as a normal or ordinary day when you are a self-employed crafter - but isn't that the best part?  Doing something you really enjoy and doing it when you want to.

I hope you have enjoyed my post - I am looking forward to reading the other blog posts tomorrow of those crafters taking part in Caroline's UK Handmade Blogging Thursday.

Jill

GOING FOR GOLD

Hi everyone

What a fantastic week it has been for Team GB; some heart-breaking moments for some of the athletes and some really wonderful achievements.  Can there be a more exciting medal-winning day than yesterday?  Well done everyone.

This week has been wall-to-wall wedding invitations plus two 'need it now please' card orders: one for a friend and one for my sister.  As always, I forgot to take photographs!  I purchased some material for fabric wreaths this week, because I couldn't resist them when I saw them in the shop, but as the invitations (and now the Orders of Service) have been top priority the wreaths are further down the Crafts To-Do list.  Here is a pic of how the invitations looked in the early stages (a cream pocket with orange ribbon - the colour combination is lovely):

I am moving ahead with the Craft Workshops I want to set up; a message has been posted on Twitter and Facebook and I am producing some posters to place on local noticeboards.  My plan is to have everything in place to begin the workshops around late September.  I would also like to run Christmas card workshops and think this is a good time of year; school holidays will be over and perhaps parents may have time to attend a workshop on a Friday morning.

From feedback and comments posted this week on a very interesting Handmade Harbour blog post about blogging etiquette, I understand that chatty, newsy blog posts may not always be welcome in the crafting world and as my followers/readers know, I have a tendency to write (and enjoy writing) this type of post.  Handmade Monday (HM) followers take part in the weekly event because of the blog's aim to bring crafters together to share and talk about their work and see the creations of fellow handmade artists.  Even though my Sunday blog post is not written specifically for HM (it is my main weekly post), my future Sunday posts will be for HM only and will be about my creations and craft-related topics.  This will, as usual, be published on Sundays and from this week onwards I will publish my chatty, newsy round-up of the previous week's goings-on at Christmas Pie Crafts on Tuesdays.

Don't forget to check out the other Handmade Monday blog posts this week - lots of beautiful crafts, tutorials and interesting posts to read.  I will be back next Sunday with my Handmade Monday post, but do visit my blog throughout the week to catch up on the tales of life in Christmas Pie Crafts.  There will be a Guest Blog post on Friday of this week, and I have 4 lovely bloggers who are already writing their posts for publication in the coming weeks.

Enjoy the Olympics everyone - it's getting more exciting every day.

Jill

WEDNESDAY'S BLOG BITS AND PIECES

Hi everyone

Despite promising myself that I would not watch too much television, it has been very hard not to sit glued to the Olympics.  I am not a big sports fan, but like most high-profile events, they just have to be watched, don't they?  I have been so impressed by the good humour of everyone, spectators are clearly enjoying their time in London and (so far, I hasten to add) the predicted problems on the roads seem to have either not occurred or have been very minor.  Lots more to watch, so come on Team GB.

In my last post, I forgot to write about my visit to see the potential workshop venue at the Normandy Therapy Garden.  It is such a lovely spot, gorgeous flowers and veggies all looking really healthy and well tended.  The room is a good size, naturally lit from two sides and perhaps my only concern is that it seems to be a bit of a thorough-fare to all other rooms in the building.  However, I don't think that will be a problem.  The catering facilities are good and there is plenty of outdoor space (tables and chairs available) to enjoy a coffee break or perhaps lunch for a full-day session.  I am advertising my sessions on Blink Collective and I will begin to promote them locally, on my blog and my website - when it is finished of course.

Possibly no Friday Guest blog post this week, but the good news is that I have three lovely bloggers who are currently writing posts and these will be posted from mid-August onwards.  Can I ask a favour of my previous guest bloggers please?  Would you mind very much mentioning the guest blog post on your blog and asking if any of your followers would like to join in?  Thank you - it would be lovely to get more people interested in what has proved to be a great 'event'

Working very hard on my wedding invitation order - I am really pleased with how it is going.  I have a deadline delivery date of Monday, 6 August for the wedding invitations and later in the month for the Orders of Service.  As you can imagine, it is all systems go at Christmas Pie Crafts.

Back to the invitations.  Do come back on Friday as you never know there may be a guest blog post and if you would like to be a guest blogger, do get in touch on christmaspiecrafts@virginmedia.com

Enjoy the Olympics

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

SUMMER TIME AND THE LIVING IS WET!

Hi everyone

Can I ask you to pop your head out of the window and tell me what that 'thing' in the sky is?  To me it looks like the sun but I have very few memories of that particular object to be able to state 'yes, it is the sun' with any confidence.  I am therefore asking for your advice.

Last week disappeared rather quickly and although I was working throughout the week (well most of it), I have very little in the finished items department to post on here.  I haven't even finished some of the things I was working on the previous week.  This butterfly behaviour has to stop!  I blame it on the weather or perhaps the saying time flies when you are having fun is true.

Thank you Sarah of Top Toy Box for your guest post on Friday - lovely ideas for the long summer break from school that is looming and as the weather is likely to be pretty unreliable, these may help lots of people who want some fun crafty things to do with their children.  Would you like to be a guest blogger here?  I would love you to join in, so get in touch if you would like some more information (christmaspiecrafts@virginmedia.com).

However, it has been a good news week for me really.  Two friends I had lunch with on Monday placed orders with me for earrings; then another friend ordered earrings and matching necklace.  I keep saying I am not intending going into the jewellery making business, but I am pleased to have orders.  In addition to that I had orders for a Ruby Wedding card and a card for someone who is running in the Olympic Torch Relay.  Even better was the call I received early in the week from someone who had seen my work and wanted me to make their wedding invitations!  There is a bit of a tale behind this, but it is exciting and a nice type of feedback about my work, and means the butterfly behaviour has got to stop.

We were supposed to be attending an open air event at Farnham Castle yesterday, but had to cancel our plans.  The friend whose birthday we were celebrating sprained her ankle and this meant walking through the mud would be rather difficult.  Not that we wish her anything other than a speedy recovery, but we were not too disappointed.  As you may know, the UK has had quite a bit of rain recently (British understatement) and the prospect of sitting in mud while being rained on was not something we were mad keen to do.  However, we had a meal with our friend yesterday evening - in the dry.  I tried to sell the tickets on Twitter and Facebook without any success - now who would not want to sit in a  muddy field??  But, never to be put off, a friend of mine organised a French Flea Market yesterday to raise funds for her church (yesterday was Bastille Day).  She asked me if I would like a table for my cards and as it was only a few miles away and a very reasonable stall price, I agreed.  The organisers were disappointed with the turnout, but given the weather I think they did very well - and so did I!  It is amazing how you can do well in the least likely of places.  I donated the tickets to the raffle and they were won by a really nice couple on the table next to me who have just started an up-cycling/re-cycling furniture business, so I was pleased the tickets went to a good home.

In addition to selling well on the day, I had a commission for 2 cards to be made there and then.  I always carry a stock of materials to make cards during the 'in-between times', so this was good and I also made some for stock, so will add these here for my Handmade Monday makes.  Plus, I was given a great idea for somewhere to sell my wreaths and once I have made some enquiries, I will tell all.

Don't forget to visit the other Handmade Monday blogs to see what goodies my fellow crafts-people have been making this week.

I know we all look at our Blog stats regularly, but do you ever carefully review the search strings people use that eventually lead them to your blog?  Some of mine this week made me wonder, scratch my head and smile (copied exactly, so apologies for the grammar and lack of capitalisation):

ear piercing invitation card
mr pie craft story english
one day when i caught in rain
2012 limb holiday craft faire

I will leave you to ponder these and wish you a great day in the sunshine.  I am off to make an ear-piercing invitation card as it must be needed. I will be back with my Wednesday witterings and look forward to chatting with you then

Jill