Hello 2016!

I hope that it's not too late to wish you a Happy New Year!  I took a couple of weeks off over Christmas/ new year so it was back to work on Monday.  The last few days were spent catching up with paperwork and writing out my plans for the year before returning to my blog.

The new year is a good time to freshen things up and it got me thinking to all the things I want to do, for work and my own personal goals.  I've not exactly set myself new year's resolutions; my plans are more like a continuation of building on things I started last year plus a few new things I want to try. It's easy to be hard on yourself if plans/ goals didn't go as you wanted, so instead I'm trying to look at things more positively and see things I haven't achieved yet as goals to still be worked on, and the new year is just giving me motivation to get going! (I think this might also have something to my sister, who is a Primary School teacher, talking about the 'growth mindset' she teaches to her children; encouraging them, when they find something difficult, to say they can't do it yet!)

I also like to reorganise things (and make them look prettier!) so was looking forward to the start of the new year to tidy up, change things around in my art room (and house), put up new calendars and use new planners.  I had this pretty diary for Christmas to use for work - I love the colours on the cover...

I seem to have been on a mission to make everything more colourful this week!  I designed new planner pages (calendars, to do lists and business records sheets) all in a rainbow of bright colours. So far they are just for me to use, but I will be adding printable planners as a new product line to my Etsy shop soon.

Before I get going with all the new things for this year I thought I would just take a quick look back at 2015...

Last year I set myself a goal of blogging at least once a week, well I managed 49 posts in 2015 so I wasn't far off that goal and it was more than I managed in 2014.  This year I hope to meet, and exceed, the goal of 1 post a week.

I took a look back at the top 5 popular posts of 2015...

5 Printable Advent Calendar Village

In this post I shared how to make the colour in printable advent calendar village I designed.  This will be coming out again next Christmas!

4 How to make 'Celebrate' card

This was one of the first things I made using my Silhouette Cameo cutting machine.  I used the machine to cut some of my designs on my Christmas cards and I plan to use it in more tutorials this year.

3 May Review

This was the surprise entry to my top 5 posts - I didn't think any of my monthly reviews would be in the top 5! In this post I took a look back at some of the things I did in May, like new designs I had been working on and photos from my garden.  I haven't decided if I will continue with the monthly reviews this year, instead I may include the things I covered in the reviews in shorter, separate posts spread throughout the month.

2 How to Make: Dragon Cut and Sew Plushie

One of my proudest moments of 2015 was seeing the Dragon Cut and Sew Plushie design I made rank in the top 10 of Spoonflower's contest and in this post I shared a tutorial on how to make him.  I was also thrilled to recently see that 2 of my dragons had been made up and sent to Spoonflower for their Softies for Mirabel handmade toy drive.  I hope that the children who receive the toys will love playing with them!

1 DIY Upcycled Jar Flower Vase

There were several other posts which I particularly enjoyed working on in 2015; like the Halloween Cookies and 3 DIY Picnic Ideas, but this one for painting and upcycling jars was the most popular post of 2015.  I hope to be sharing many more craft projects and tutorials in 2016!

Happy 2014!

It’s hard to believe that another year has gone by!  My blog has been a bit neglected in 2013, especially over the last few months.  Sometimes it’s hard to know what to write…  I really want to get back into it this year though and be more organised with doing things like craft tutorial posts, which I have lots of ideas for but never seem to get around to doing.  I have some exciting things planned for my business this year too, including some new products which will be released very soon!

It’s a good time to look back over the past year and remember a few of the things that happened in 2013…

• I finished doing up my old treadle sewing machine and learned some new sewing skills by making myself a top (I also made my sister a handbag).
• I joined Pinterest.  Although it’s easy to get lost for hours browsing, I love using it as a way to bookmark things I like and be inspired.
• I joined Spoonflower and started selling my designs on fabric.
• Having one of my greeting card designs published by Phoenix Trading was very exciting this year!
• I expanded the range of craft supplies I stock and started selling baker’s twine, which was featured in a Folksy gift guide and newsletter.
• The most popular collection of designs for 2013 has been my London Calling range.

Thank you to everyone who reads my blog – hope you have a happy 2014!

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's 2013!  Happy New Year!

Sorry it's been such a long time since my last post.  Things got very busy with craft fayres in November (see how my fayre went on the Creations Fayre blog) and other things have got in the way recently which have meant I've not felt like blogging.

Hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things again.  I have a long list of things to blog about and am thinking of doing some redesigning of my website / blog too.

I wonder what this year will bring - I find the number 13 often pops up when I'm doing things, like I'll be checking my stock and find I've made 13 of something, so I'm hoping that it's a lucky number and 2013 will be a good year!

Happy 2012!!

Happy New Year!  I haven't posted since before Christmas - one of my aims for 2012 is to be more regular with my blogging :)

I gave myself some time off over Christmas/ New Year and today is my first full day back working.  After catching up with emails, paperwork etc I'm looking forward to working on new projects this year.  One of my biggest plans is to expand my craft suppplies shop - adding to my selection of printables and developing new craft kits.  I also have more ideas for Hexley illustrations and some new products which I didn't get round to doing last year.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! After a nice Christmas break (which seems to have gone even quicker this year) I am back to work. I have lots of exciting plans for this year which should keep me very busy!

There are brand new supplies kits ready to be listed in my Etsy shop....

I also have ideas for new artwork, including Hexley illustrations. You can look forward to seeing some of that soon - I will also be posting some works in progress including sketchbook pages.

The first thing I have to complete this year though is backing up files and sorting reference photos on my computer - a long and frustrating job but it definately needs doing! Once that is done I can get on with the more enjoyable work of creating things!

Let's hope that with some hard work and a bit of luck 2010 will be a good year!