WIND, HAIL, RAIN, SUN, SNOW - WE HAVE HAD THE LOT!

Hello everyone

What a mixed bag of weather we have had here!  Fed up with it?  Me too!  However, the pictures of people living in Somerset make me realise how lucky we have been in Christmas Pie.  I can't imagine how dreadful if must be to still be dealing with flooding in my home three weeks after the first downfall.  I hope they do not suffer from this week's forecast.

Most of this week has been spent on my new event venture, some online advertising, letters produced to local businesses to see if they will support by way of advertising and I have also changed the name of the business.  About two years ago it was called Godalming Independent Market; it was changed at the beginning of 2013 to Independent Markets to reflect the plans to spread out from Godalming with new venues elsewhere in Surrey.  I have decided that the name should really reflect that change by calling it Surrey Independent Markets.  I had seriously thought about changing it to something completely different, but when a company changes its name it sometimes rings alarm bells, so I added the county name to the existing name.  Have a look at this week's blog post to see what is happening.

Not much making this week, so sadly no pics to show.  However, some changes to my current pottery makes: the backing plate I had made for the cat plaque (see last week's blog post for the photo of this) has bitten the dust,so to speak.  The cats are fine, but the backing was thin and despite covering with plenty of plastic, the edges curled up and dried (not, not died), so I trimmed all round the cats and once I have glazed them, I will add another photograph on here.

The second disaster occurred with the second firing of my tall wrap-around vase.  On Thursday I discovered it was in several pieces - not too sure if it was dropped or exploded in the kiln.  My tutor and I have left a note asking the Pottery Technician if she can let us know what happened.  Very disappointed as I was really pleased with the style and shape.  A pottery day of two steps forward and several back.  Oh well, all part of the learning curve - or so I keep telling myself.

I am off to read this week's posts from my fellow blogging crafters taking part in Handmade Monday - do go and have a look at their really beautiful work.  Soooooo talented.

See you next week and I hope where you are the weather is kind to you.

Jill

MILLY'S DIARY

Hello everyone

The sun is shining again - how fandabbydoozee is that?

Jill has bought herself a new computer, so I am claiming the laptop as mine, all mine.  Although she does keep borrowing it from me.  Huh!

Everywhere in my garden is thick mud still and my white fur tends to look a little grubby at times - I do try very hard to keep it sparkling, but sometimes Jill says is looks a little grey.  Could it be that secretly I am trying to make myself into a black cat?  I can hide from birds and frogs that way - not that there are many frogs around at the moment.

Jill spoke to Mary's new family yesterday (she was our last foster kitten) and she has settled in very well.  Very pleased to hear that she has learnt some of the tricks I taught her - 'removing' things humans think are theirs.  Well done Mary - got to keep these humans on their toes.

As I said at the beginning of this post, the sun is shining and I really love to be outside when it is, so off I go.  I will be back next week - have a good week everyone.

Milly

IS IT SPRING?

Hello everyone

What a beautiful day!  Everywhere is still very wet and soggy, but the sun has been shining all day and it is so nice.  Makes you feel much more motivated and happy when the sky is blue and not a sign of rain anywhere.  the Pie cats love weather like this and it also means we can get some gardening done too - pruning, clearing rain/wind damage and some general tidying up.

It has been a madly hectic week.  We have experienced a cooker delivery saga: it wasn't delivered on the day it was supposed to be, when it did arrive it didn't work, removed and no replacement available on that day, replacement arrived on Wednesday and woo hoo it works!  Lots of work this week on my new venture, Independent Markets, arranging bookings with the Godalming Borough Hall, sorting out forms and emailing details out to everyone who has either taken part in the past, wanted to but couldn't get in because dates were full and new enquiries.  The week finished on a good note, a friend who had bought one of my hand-decorated jute bags took it wither her to her exercise class.  It was seen by a shop owner and they would like to stock some.  How exciting is that - and of course more panic: have I got enough bags, felt, material, glue, what more do I need to order, make, etc.  Thank goodness the first event I am organising is not until April - although I am still hoping to be able to arrange something out for Valentine's day.

I have started a blog for the Independent Markets and you can read my first post here; for some odd reason I cannot get the comment section working/set-up, but perseverance is the name of the game.

Last week was not all mad and hectic, in between was a peaceful day's pottery.  This term's project is to make a plaque with our house name or number on it.  We already have one that is built into the brickwork, so another one isn't really needed.  However, I wanted to join in and decided to make with my five cats on:

I cut out five cat shapes, as you can see the shapes got slimmer as the number of cats increased.  I trimmed round all of them so that they would lie flat on the backing.  They have been lightly covered to dry slowly and  once 'leather-hard' I will biscuit fire them, then add a different glaze to each cat (need a steady hand so that I don't end up with smudgy bits on the one next door) and then fire them at 1250 degrees.  I am still enjoying my pottery sessions even though I know my creations will not be appearing in a hundred or so years on the Antiques Roadshow.  But you never know, tastes do change.

I think it is break time now - well time to nip over to Handmade Monday and catch up with everyone.  A weekly must and I really recommend you stop by and read the blogs of those crafters taking part.

Have a good week everyone 'see' you next Sunday.

Jill

MILLY'S DIARY

Hello everyone

A very early diary this week because I was up very early.  Didn't have any choice really because Jill had to get up early to take a delivery in; this was due for 7.00 and they arrived at 6.30 am - good job I had changed out of my pyjamas!  I didn't get an early breakfast though :(

Guess what?  It's raining here - again.  We had sunshine for most of yesterday and it was so nice - back to a rainy day today.  Everywhere in the garden is very soggy and five cats x four paws means lots of muddy paw prints inside.  I think it makes a nice pattern, but Jill and Richard don't seem to agree with me and keep removing them.  I often see cushions and blankets with a paw print design, so what's wrong with having a floor with a similar pattern?

We had a notice through the door last week to say that a black cat who lives around the corner from us has gone missing, so the Pie Cats are keeping their eyes open.  If you live locally to me, please do check your sheds and garages to see if an unfamiliar cat is hiding in there.  Jill and Richard told us about a cat of theirs that went missing - this was a long time before I moved in.  They did manage to get him back even though he went walkabout for three months.

I can hear breakfast being prepared for me, so time to whizz off.  Have a good day everyone - I will be back next week.

Milly

THE LATE, LATE, LATE SUNDAY BLOG POST

Hi everyone

I thought January would be fairly peaceful - silly me!  It's nice to be busy, but at times the old headless chicken appears.

I am in the process of booking dates/venues for my new venture and have had lots of lovely emails from past and present exhibitors wanting to take part in this years events.  I feel a little nervous about all of this, which I know is natural, but really looking forward to what this year brings.  If any of my blog followers are local to me, please do get in touch if you would be interested in taking part in one of the events - dates and venues will be on here soon and in the market's Facebook page (and its very own blog, which I am setting up as we speak).

In addition to the events, I am also starting bi-weekly card-making workshops at Farncombe Day Centre.  the plan is to not only add an extra activity for regular users but encourage new visitors to the centre.  The Day Centre is in a lovely building and it seems a shame that more local residents do not use it for meetings, lunch, cake and coffee pit-stops - I am hoping that I may be able to encourage new and experienced card-makers into my workshops.  My fellow crafter, Dawn of Stone Pit Crafts, is running a weekly knitting group at the centre too - so if you knit and want to natter as well, it's the place to be.

A short post this week to keep everyone up-to-date, but I will be back next Sunday with lots more information about this year's events.  Have a good week everyone and don't forget to visit my fellow crafting bloggers at Handmade Monday.

Jill

MILLY'S DIARY

Hello everyone

Sunshine, no wind or rain here at the moment.  I can go outside without needing to put my wellie boots on - it does take a while as I have to put two pairs on!

The Pie Cats are fed up with the rain.  With the exception of Daisy, we all like to play outside and can't wait for spring and summer to arrive.  I haven't been able to bring any feathers in for Jill and Richard because they have been floating away!  Jill said something about them being like Pooh sticks, although I have no idea what that means.  I think the rain must be making her brain soggy.

Jazz is going on a diet - I think he looks nice and cuddly, but Jill thinks he needs to lose some weight.  She has been looking into some special food for him that will stop him snacking in between meals - problem is we girls like to have biscuits available between our meals, so she has a job on her hands managing the food here.   I will let you know how Jazz gets on with his diet - he likes to play football and chase things, so some extra exercise might be an idea.  Hey, he could bring out his own exercise dvd: Jazz Yourself Slim sounds rather catchy.

Time for me to go back outside - the sun is still shining and I have to make the most of it.  It seems to disappear so quickly.  Have a good week everyone.

See you next week

Milly

NEW BEGINNINGS

Happy New Year everyone

I hope you had a lovely Christmas.  The weather has been dreadful everywhere and it seems there is more heavy rain and wind still to come.  The bottom half of our garden has been underwater off and on for the last two weeks - we should be grateful  for this (yes, I know that sounds odd) as at least the garden slopes away from the back of our property rather than towards it.

Have you made lots of New year resolutions?  I decided a year or so ago not to make New Year's Resolutions because I rarely achieve them; this meant lots of disappointment so by not setting any, no disappointment!  Although I have not really made personal resolutions (apart from the permanent, written in stone one of trying to lose weight), I have made some business ones.  I intend investing more time into the wedding stationery side of my business; I really enjoy this part of handmade, but know I have not spent as much time on it as I could and should have.  I have booked wedding fairs, both in March which means I have time to plan and create new designs - but I know this is something I must begin working on immediately, rather than my usual Scarlett approach: tomorrow is another day!

I also want (hope) to start early on making season stock: Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's day and dare I saw it, Christmas 2014.  I am really bad at leaving things to the last minute, and have always found this to work well - however, when it comes to making stock, that is just not possible, so this year I have to change and improve my stock control planning.

A new challenge, rather than a resolution, is that I have taken over a small event organising business.  About one year ago, the organiser of the Godalming Independent Markets (now known as Independent Markets) made the decision to move back to Australia with her family.  At the time I expressed interest in acquiring the business, but someone had beaten me to it.  Incredibly lucky for me, Anna Matthews, the new owner contacted me just before Christmas to ask if I was still interested in the business.  Anna has decided that with everything else going on in her life, she had to make the difficult decision to move away from this particular business venture.  I thought about it over Christmas, although in my heart-of-hearts I knew what the decision would be and I am the proud owner of Independent Markets.  

Anna has worked very hard during the last year to promote the image of the market, as well as the quality of what is sold at the events.  She is a great supporter of handmade work and has welcomed some brilliant designer/crafters as regular stallholders.  She has passed on to me some great plans/ideas she had to expand the markets into another local areas during the coming year, and I plan to follow through with these.  Exciting and challenging times ahead for me and I will keep everyone updated with news of future events in existing and new venues.

I haven't done much making during the Christmas break because of the above, but I did have an order from a friend for a black cat jute bag:

This week, as always, I am joining the Handmade Harbour linky party and really looking forward to catching up with everyone and  finding out what they have planned for 2014.  

Have a great week everyone - Milly will be here on Wednesday and I will be back next Sunday

Jill

MILLY'S DIARY

Hello everyone

I hope you had a happy Christmas and are looking forward to a great new year.  We survived Christmas with only a small power cut, thank goodness.  The bottom of our garden was flooded (and is flooded again today because we have had heavy rain for several hours and it is very windy - again!) and I did wonder if I would see our goldfish swimming around the lawn, but no, they are safe.  I am sure that like me you are getting really fed up with this bad weather?  I keep nipping outside and rushing back in again because I don't like to get wet.  I am planning on snoozing on the windowsill after I have finished my diary - nice and warm there with the heat from the radiator wafting over me.

Mary went to her new home yesterday and I know she will be very happy there.  We don't have any foster kittens at the moment, but I am sure I will be telling you about new ones soon.  Don't forget that if you are looking to welcome a kitten or cat into your home, please do check out those on the Woking Cats Protection website that are looking for their forever home.  There is even a cat on there called Milly - not as gorgeous as I am but that is impossible as I am THE most gorgeous cat there ever has been.

The windowsill is calling me, the outside looks very dark, it is raining heavily, so time to snooze.  I will be back next week and hope you all stay safe and warm today.

Milly

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Hello everyone

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that it was not ruined by power cuts or flooding.  Bad weather is never welcome, but at Christmas it seems even harder to cope with as it is a time when families get-together and this year that may have been impossible for some people.  I hope the New year brings better weather for all of us.

We had a mini power cut on Christmas day (not long after the turkey had been put in the oven), but as our power is via overhead electricity cables, this is something that happens fairly often and didn't cause us to rush out and light the BBQ (believe me, we had planned this as an alternative way of cooking Christmas lunch).  However, two roads very near to ours were without power for most of Christmas Eve and friends in Godalming and Shackleford were without power off and on for long periods of time over the holidays.

We had a lovely Christmas Day.  A close friend spent the day with us  and once we had eaten our way through a mountain of food (well , it felt like that) we were able to relax, listen to music and play some 'old but fun' Christmas quizzes.  As always happens we seem to have catered for a coach party - plenty of leftovers to munch our way through while we catch up on television programmes we have missed over the Christmas break.

Christmas Pie Crafts made it into the Surrey Advertiser in time for Christmas.  By chance I was at home when we had a visit from one of the newspaper's journalists who was asking residents about the name Christmas Pie, its origins and what people though of the name.  How could I resist mentioning my business?    I love a bit of free advertising, always very welcome - thank you Surrey Advertiser.

2013 is nearly over and it's time to reflect on the highs and lows of the year and make plans to move my

business forward in the New Year.  I have some ideas and there are new things on the horizon for me and my business and rather than rush into new things and possibly regret some of them, I am taking time to plan.  Although there will be new activities for Christmas Pie Crafts to get to grips with, top of my 'To Do' list is to spend more time on CPC Wedding Stationery than I have in the current year.  I have already booked two wedding fayres for 2014 -with companies I have been with this year and they were successful for me.  The fayres are both in March so I have time to plan new ranges, marketing and promotion - however, as I am very good at putting things off, I must make a concerted effort to begin making for them very soon.

The sun is shining, hardly any breeze, although still frosty but a good time to get out into the garden.  Because most recent week days and weekends were spent in the Christmas Emporium very little work was carried out and there is still quite of lot of tidying and pruning to do.

Happy New Year everyone.  I am looking forward to reading new and 'old' blogs in 2014, welcoming new followers and hopefully starting up the Friday Guest Blogger spot again - anyone interested in being the first guest blogger of 2014?

Jill

THE FAT LADY HAS SUNG

Hi everyone

Yes, the fat lady has sung because it's all over.  My last day in the Christmas Emporium at Secretts Farm Shop was yesterday and I am completely shattered.  I have worked almost non-stop for the last 30 days - in the Emporium or making new stock or completing orders.

This year at Secretts has been very successful for me and I have enjoyed it immensely.  We have had tears and the odd tantrums along the way, but that's life when you get a bunch of women working closely with each other, isn't it?  Sadly, two stallholders lost their takings on one day - a situation arose where a large group of people came into the Emporium, the stall holders who were on duty were busy with customers and some sneaky person or people took advantage of the situation and walked off with hard-earned cash.  Most of the stallholders are small business sole traders, creating beautiful handmade items and although I do not condone stealing of any sort, big companies can bear the loss better than the small business person.  Needless to say, after this happened we were all very vigilant and, sadly, suspicious of nearly everyone who came into the Emporium.

My best sellers of the event?  My hand-decorated jute bags and wreaths - on the list for more jute type goodies for 2014 I think.  Cards sold slowly, but I came to the conclusion a long time ago that people do not buy handmade cards in large quantities because it becomes too expensive for them.  The odd personalised one, yes, but 20 or more drains the Christmas expenses pocket.

A quick post form Christmas Pie Crafts mainly to wish all of my followers, friends and readers a very Happy Christmas and a BIG thank you for your support throughout 2013.  I wish everyone a great 2014 and particularly those of us in the world of handmade, I hope the UK recognises that we are a force of talent to be reckoned with.

Have fun everyone and I hope you manage to avoid this atrocious weather.

Jill