New Yarn Shops

So much to write and so little brain to do it with, also one less finger working well,. due to a wasp or bee sting. I don't even know which bugger it was...summer don't you just love it.


Anyway on with the stuff. First of all number one in my new quest to visit, photo and buy something from every yarn shop in every place I visit. What would be a good name for this quest? All suggestions gratefully received.

This is the yarn shop in Lueven, Belgium where my hubby and I went for a weekend to celebrate our 10th Wedding aniversary and his 50th birthday.

The flipping thing was shut on a Monday! can you believe that? I can understand shut on a Sunday, (which it was as well) but a Monday!! So I couldn't buy anything but I took these photo's anyway.

It looked like a really nice yarn shop too....

Craft fair photos: This was a stall I shared with my friend. It was pretty dire for both of us. I just about covered my stall hire costs but  not my time or coffee and cake bill. For some reason doing a stall makes me nervous and anxious and I eat more when I'm nervous and anxious. Two cakes, one curry and two cappocinos...not good for the figure or the pocket.  I think I was trying to reward myself for the dissapointment of not doing well.  The organisers want to make it a weekly affair. The actual market was lovely and its soo close to where we live...but if I do that badly on the last one would it be a good idea to do a regular stall? Hubby popped in too visit this morning and said there were not nearly so many stalls. Perhaps it is a good idea to get in on the ground floor of what might prove to be a popular venue, I would get regular customers and hopefully some commission orders. On the negative I could waste a lot of money and time and I would lose my lovely lazy Saturday mornings..please guys I really would like some of your thoughts.

COMPETITION:...Announcing my 600 fans competition, please comment on my blog, I really would appreciate an actual comment about some of my posts rather than just, 'I'm commenting' anyway, if you are a follower of this blog then please mention that in the comment and you will get two entries. If you are not a follower you will also get an extra entry if you follow my blog as well. You will have to mention that in your comment.  At the close of the competition, (which is July 18th, midnight BST, ) I will pick a random name out of my large organza bag and that person will win either an iPhone sock, a coffee cosy or a mini kit for one of those two. Sorry no gloves. I am saving these for a really big number now, cause I don't have many left.

Bonus - if you are follower number 100 you will also win one of these prizes or even two if you are follower number 100 and get picked!!

Happy commenting...

Appreciation Photos

Blogger seems to have been broken for the last week or so, wouldn't let me sign in to my own account..what gives? Anyway here's hoping that it works now..Its Thursday and its pouring with rain, we really need the rain here in London but why does it immediately start flooding? No doubt some deeply complicated thing to do with too dry ground or something. Tonight I have a knit meeting in a pub, we are trying to knit the Clapton Mile. Its for the Clapton Festival which is happening on the weekend of the 11th and 12th June. I'm also going to be doing another craft fair as part of that festival, I know after Sutton House I vowed never to do another craft fair as long as I lived..I must be a glutton for punishment. Also, spring/summer is not the best time to sell crochet, but it's making me make my kits up so then if I get it together I should have some stuff to photograph and post. And...all this when I'm going away for the weekend before and the deadline for the wedding shawl is fast approaching.
Next time I blog I will do some update pics of the wedding shawl. Meanwhile here are three lovely customer appreciation photos from the equally lovely DancingRainbows. I can't post them in Etsy because it only lets you post about specific transactions and these gloves were in fact won by my fan for my 500th FB fans landmark giveaway.

So keep a watch out for future giveaways, also I see I have nearly 100 followers on here so perhaps there will be a giveaway here too.

 

So once again, thanks DancingRainbows.

Folksy Friday - Folksy Mayhems

Hi back again, too long between blogs. Somehow I only managed one blog in April, and I don't expect I will get round to another in May so here is my Folksy Mayhem blog. Folksy Mayhem is the daily listing club for May. So here are some picks from fellow Mayhemers. This time there's no real theme, I just favourited things that I liked as I clicked on my fellow daily listers.

First a lovely pick from the Whimsical Wren. Great name too. I love the idea of putting Alice in a bottle, so original. Please click here for a link

 Next a lovely picture, this original work of art uses needle felting and embroidery, both things I love, I can't do either of those crafts but I love the look of them..it can be seen here

Now for some more yarny stuff. This of course will be making its way to my wish list, you never know I might get it for Christmas. Hey if someone buys something off me I could afford to buy it! Here it is

This next item is truly exquisite and would be going on my wish list, but I don't think I'll be able to afford it even if I do sell something on Folksy. It's a more than reasonable price for the materials and work so come on you rich people out there.....you can buy it here

This next pendant is also beautiful, I love the choice of colours and the tiny detail which makes it look like a pop art painting in miniature, please view it here

Finally a bouquet of lovely flowers to cheer you up and leave you looking forward to the weekend..please click on the links and view the items in their shops, so as to boost their views.

Happy browsing...

Folksy Friday - April Show-ers

Oops sorry this is late. I got distracted yesterday by the sunshine and took youngest to the Lido and then we sat in the park chatting to a friend of mine. It was a lovely afternoon/evening but after that I was too tired to do anything but eat dinner and fall asleep to a DVD..

This week I am highlighting the lovely peeps in April Show-ers. This is a forum thread in Folksy forums. People try to list at least one thing everyday and then they post their items in the forum and look at other people's listings. We also celebrate sales. I can report that I have had two sales so far in April and one was for two items..so is that two or three..who knows, whatever, its great anyway.

So enough of Waffle on to the first item.

I love Fuchsias and these gorgeous colours..reminds me of a lovely holiday in Connemara. Please click here to see these at folksy. These were listed today..so hot off the press

The rest of my selections were posted over the last few days..next

 

This ladybird baby suit is just too too cute, almost (but not quite) makes my want to have a little baby again. View it in situ here

Here is another blast from my past, Snoopy..I used to love Peanuts so much. Actually I do still like them..just too big a part of my childhood to let go of...

Please have a look at it here.

And here is my own craft being used in a different way. These cards look very lovely and very springy.

You can view them here

and...last but not least, sometimes I list things in this blog theme that I might want to buy, infact I did buy the peridot ring. So here is something I've already bought. It is beautiful and soft and generally lovely altogether. I can recommend this seller, great service and communication and a brilliant item.

I don't think you can view it as it has been sold, but you can look at her other items here.

Well that's all from me. Enjoy the weekend..

Foolish Folksy Friday

Wow, how did it get to be that time of year, three months gone already..and not much to show for it. I've joined a new thread on Folksy...the April Show-ers. I'm going to be trying to post at least one item a day for the month of April. I saw where some posters were using people from April Show-ers to be their Folksy Friday. I will be doing that in future if I can find stuff that fits whatever hair brained search criteria I come up with.

This Friday though in honour of April Fools day here are some funny Folksy Folk. I adore this sign which can be found here

This is me in the morning...not worth talking to until I've had my tea or coffee and perhaps breakfast as well...what would I have for breakfast..

Fried eggs of course. I know these earrings weren't listed as funny but they look so much like fried eggs. I love them to bits so I hope the maker won't be offended. Please look for her here

And if you spill some of that yolk you might still need a bib,(I should probably have one, I'm not a much neater eater than I was when I was a baby!!) How about this great personalised one. Available here

Who could resist these lovely mitts, check the site out here

finally here's something that also fits me to a tee...sigh...but at least my husband still thinks I'm hot....well occasionally..

Please have a look at this here...tha...tha...thats all folks

Folksy Friday - Lace

Since I'm crocheting a lace wedding shawl I thought I would search in Folksy for lace. I found a plethora of gorgeous things so here are some of them.

Here is the first and perhaps the most traditional use of lace although not in a traditional way. A beautiful dress that would be just right for a summer picnic on the lawn of an English stately home. Simply stunning...I tried last time to make the pics the links but instead I got rather untidy writing under the photos...sometimes I really hate Blogger..anyway hopefully you can click here to see this site.

On to jewellery, well how long can I go without browsing jewellery!..

This amazing bangle is made by trapping lace in resin, there is some lovely resin jewellery out there and this is such a great idea...love it. Please go to the site here

And just to keep the theme going is a beautiful pair of earrings..

I would love to know how they are made, they look stunning and would certainly be a lovely thing to wear on St Patrick's day. Please visit the site here

Now on to something completely different, (ed, did I already use that link?..)

This gorgeous bowl is in porcelain one of the most beautiful clays to use. It allows you to make delicate though still strong details such as the lace rim of this classy bowl..make a lovely wedding present...but more of that in my next blog. Please visit the site here.

What can I say about this lovely scarf. I adore knitted lace, I can't do it myself which makes me yearn after it all the more. Crochet lace is good but I actually prefer the look of knitted lace...go figure. Beautifully photographed as well with the complimentary colour background..see getting technical there..lol. You can see the site here.

And, last but not least this charming bag made of lace and animal print, also decorated with flowers, buttons and sequins it looks lovely inside as well so check it out here to see all the photos...

TTFN hope to manage another blog next week but who knows I might be flooded with orders...lol..or sick kids, the latter is the more likely option as we wait for the work cold to strike us down.

I've been featured in a Magazine

Yay, here it is the exciting news I promised on Face Book. This is a page from the February issue of Inside Crochet the UK's only monthly crochet magazine. In my naivety I thought that when the mag came out I would be deluged with orders. I managed to stop myself ordering huge quantities of this yarn! Good thing too.

I was contacted in October by someone from this magazine saying they would be featuring my kit in the January issue which came out in December. I sent them a kit, then in December I got another email asking me for a photo of the gloves, (the one featured here). I was given another email address to write to and ask for a copy of the mag, which I did of course. So I sat back and waited for my mag and waited for the orders to roll in....

....Cue February, and still I had heard nothing. I emailed my first contact but heard nothing. Then I phoned the company and found out that my first contact didn't work there anymore. They gave me the email address of the woman who was doing her job. All this time I thought they had decided not to feature my kit, that's why I took so long to re contact them. I didn't want to hear bad news. Anyway as soon as I contacted this person I got an email back with good news. I had been featured and she would send me a copy of the magazine and my kit back. They also said they would include a link to my site on a new website they were setting up.

And here is the feature, it looks great and I'm thrilled in be in print. Thank you Inside Crochet..great mag by the way, I think I will subscribe to it.  But...and here's the big but, I never did get that rush of orders..I made two sales, one a kit and one of a pattern. I thought those were just random sales and that the rush was still to come...ah well, I guess its just one more thing I've learnt. By the way, if you add postage and the fact that I still haven't had my kit back then I made a net loss from this effort. Its still good to see my work in print...