Planning, Research and Sewing Class!

 Hey Guys! I know I've been quiet again but for the majority it's because I've spent most of my time doing research, planning and writing to-do lists. I can't share too much right now but I have some really exciting projects coming up soon that I can't wait to write about!

The first make of the year that will be listed for sale in my White Fairy Etsy Store (hopefully tomorrow) is this gorgeous little applique pattern that I'm turning into a range of key-rings, brooches and hair-slides. The pattern itself is courtesy of Avondale Patterns and was a lovely item to work on, the blue one you can see here had a really good response when tested out among friends and I went a little bit mad working on them. There will literally be a rainbow of colours to choose from if owls are your thing, if not then drop me a message and I'll see what else I can find. I'm going to attempt to work on a new pattern every week under "Try it out Tuesday" as a way of getting through the mountain of crochet patterns I currently have on my to-do list (the last count was somewhere above 300!)

In other news, tonight I enrolled on a sewing course to hopefully win the war that is currently going on between me and my sewing machine. There is a much more exciting reason for the course but I can't release that yet, sorry! The photo on the left shows the block pattern that was today's task and I was introduced to a weird alien looking tool. I think it was named a French Curve? I'm loving learning a new skill but am very much a fish out of water with this one.

Unfortunately I have my accounts and Tax return to submit soon *shudder* so I can see the next few days being quiet on the blog front but you're never far from my mind! Until next time, Jxx

My big black dog

Happy New Year! In past years I have started each of my posts with an apology for how long it's been since my latest update. For people who follow any of my Facebook pages you'll know that I've pretty much neglected my online presence for a while and today I want to explain why. I'm not writing this for sympathy, I just want to settle the score.

I'll start by bringing your attention to a video that is so perfectly created I cried my way through the first time watching it; I had a black dog, his name was depression. I have depression. Although I don't use my Black Dog as an excuse there are times when he is so over whelming and I can't face the world. This is where I disappear off to.

When I picked up writing last year I had so many hopes and ambitions but never put any of them into practice. Working from home sometimes means I get caught up more in my personal life and people forget that just because I’m at home it doesn’t mean I’m free all the time. I try really hard to keep my work separate but I got into unhealthy relationships that gave my self esteem a pretty nasty knock. At the end of the summer I referred myself back into therapy and for the first time in my life I felt happy. I started to make plans for the future. I was confident not only in myself but in my work. This was short lived though. Over Christmas my Black Dog was at his most ferocious yet, almost as if he was rebelling to the fact that for once I was in control.

New Year is always a time for fresh starts and new chapters in your book of life. I can’t promise that this year I’ll write everyday because chances are I won’t. What I can do is try to be more open and share my experience. I don’t want to turn my blog into a place for me to rant, far from it! I want to show off my love of my work and hopefully get to know my followers more.
Here’s to an amazing 2015! Until next time, Jxx

The Dork Knight

Hey guys, so today is hug a GI day! Unfortunately I couldn't find a pattern for an army man so instead I worked on a different kind of crime fighting hero - Batman! Apologies for the very poor connection there but it was the best I could do!

Over the last few years I've volunteered as a runner at various Sci-Fi costuming events in the area. During an event last summer I was introduced to one of the North East's greatest cosplayer's, The Dork Knight - no that's not a typo, that's really what he goes by!

Later in the year I was given the opportunity to attend my first convention as a trader, which I found really scary! Up until this point I was used to only selling at craft fairs so to then move on to a convention was a really daunting prospect but one I knew I needed to at least try. As soon as I got there and set up I felt awful, everyone around me was a well established business or trader in collections etc and there was me with my little selection of handmade articles. Once the costumers had kitted up and started walking about I felt much more at ease since a lot of them are friends I'd met at the events I'd volunteered at. For a lot of them this was the first time they had seen what I do for a living - including The Dork Knight! He was even kind enough to pose with one of my minion hats on!

I always try and support local artists and businesses to spread the word on events and talents etc. As soon as The Dork Knight revealed that he had a promotional T-shirt made up I bought one straight away (if nothing else I really like the name, it makes me chuckle every time). Unfortunately when he dropped it round on Sunday he caught me hungover and still in my pj's - I was absolutely mortified! So if you read this dude then I'm very sorry! On the bright side though it got me straight in the mood to make something Batman inspired and started on a logo blanket. After around 3 hours working on it though it became pretty obvious that it's going to take a lot longer than I originally anticipated so there's a good chance I won't be making anymore to sell once it's finished. Onto plan B - a Batman inspired super hero!

The pattern I ended up buying was from Polkadot Squirrel. I got a bit distracted and got a few more of hers while I was browsing yesterday. I also went completely off topic and spent the remainder of the day making other items which I'll tell you about another time! I quite enjoyed working on him today however, I'm still undecided whether or not he'll make it into my product list. I've had some great feedback from friends on Facebook but he takes longer than I'd normally like to spend on an amigurumi figure so would work out more expensive than I'm sure anyone would be willing to spend on him. I might try re-making him a different size to see if that makes much difference... Anyway, until next time, Jxx

National pig day

So today is national pig day! Also St David's day (but that's too traditional for us). According to holiday insights this is the day to be thankful for domesticated pigs. I personally don't own a pig but do find them very cute, Miss Piggy and Babe being my favorites. Oh, and Wilbur and Spider-pig from The Simpsons... Maybe there's more famous pigs than I thought... Anyway!

I spent the day trying out a nifty little pattern from Craftseller Magazine on a crochet pig holder and I'm quite in love with the result! I'm going to make a whole rainbow range tomorrow and hopefully photograph them and get them in my shops in Monday!

Isn't she a cutie! She even has a curly tail! I'll edit the post with more links etc on Monday but for now have a fab weekend and catch you soon :-) Jxx 

*UPDATE* 

I decided against making a rainbow of pigs until I tried the holder on a take away mug so went out and bought one last night! Thankfully I now have something to fit the pattern to so as soon as I have a few ready I'll get them online in the shops :-) If you have any particular colour combinations you would like to see then please feel free to get in touch! Until then, Jxx

Buying handmade

Hey guys! As some of you know from my last post I was having a lot of issues with my sleep so the last month has been a blur of fixing my sleeping pattern and work! It's absolutely flown by and I can't believe I've left another massive gap between posts, for this I am very sorry! On a better note though some quite exciting things have happened too! I've booked into some fantastic events (that I'll tell you about nearer the time), I've found some patterns that I'm really looking forward to working on this year and I've completed an NVQ in business growth!

The course I attended was 'Going For Growth' held by 'Enterprise Made Simple'. I don't want to go too much into that now but it was an amazing week and gave me so much confidence in my business and personal life. It also made me see a lot of things that I need to change in order to succeed better. My main issue I need to overcome is underselling myself - which leads me to this great story that a friend shared on Facebook. *DISCLAIMER* LCGCreations didn't write this so if by any chance the owner of the image has an issue with this I will remove the post :-)

 So with this in mind I'm going to be making a lot of changes over the next few weeks to my pricing etc. I have about 100 different things to tell you about too but for now I'll leave it there! Hope you're all well, until next time, Jxx

Trivia day

Hello! I'm putting this out there now, I'm absolutely pants when it comes to trivia and general knowledge so don't have anything to comment on this holiday with!

I've spent most of the day on Etsy shopping for new patterns so I have plenty of new products to tell you about hopefully in the upcoming days! :-)

I've literally just had my crochet stuff returned to me so haven't had a chance to make anything but I'm going to make up for it now and get some hats done! Hopefully my blog will get more interesting from now on! Jxx

Festival of sleep day

Hey guys! So today was the festival of sleep day, apparently its a day of cat naps and sleep etc... Other holidays today are 'Fruitcake toss day' and 'Humiliation day'. My original plan was to opt with the fruitcake thing but we didn't have one this year so I was going to tidy up my craft room. I didn't actually wake up until 3pm though so opted for the sleep holiday and spent the rest of the day chilling out on the sofa and looking up new patterns I can buy for upcoming projects!

My crochet tool box is currently sat at a friends house so I haven't managed to make anything to show off today. I should be getting it back tomorrow though so until then here's a photo of my cat (I was getting bored of just posting text only pages). Until tomorrow, Jxx