The best laid plans..

Today I had a bit of a - thankfully metaphorical - stumble. I set myself a hugely ambitious (read:completely unachievable) target yesterday of what I would get done today. And somehow life got in the way ... as it often does when you have a 13 month old boy around .. and reminded me not to run before I can walk. I had planned to get a zillion items listed in my shop, without really thinking about how much work would be involved in creating an individual pack of products for 9 different stationery designs, and that was even before printing or photographing anything, which would be an issue in itself because of the gloomy horrible light we've had here today.

After becoming thoroughly disheartened by it all, I had a bit of a break, had a chat with The Frenchman, who pointed out that I actually ought to be pleased, and that having a lot of work to get on with today was the result of a very creative and successful day yesterday, then got back on with it...with a slightly more realistic expectation of what was achievable.

So, I'm a little bit further ahead now, not only in terms of my work, but also in ensuring that I set myself realistic goals in the future. So still no pics of my work in progress, but here is the yummy harvest from my garden this afternoon.. grown from little seedlings, and proof in question that things will take as long as they take to happen

going...

gone..but I'll forgive those pudgy little wrists anything

Let's just hope there will be some left for dinner!

Lots of little Os

I had quite a successful day today. Not only did I manage to source some more materials for forthcoming twoforjoy projects, but I also picked up the two little gems in my picture (the boy is a little gem I made earlier) I've been looking at this Greg Lamarche canvas from Habitat for absolutely ages, but could never quite justify the £85 price tag. I'm sure that you can imagine my glee then, to stroll in today and find it reduced to a much more palatable £25. It didn't take long for me to make a grab for it and hot foot my way to the till, let me tell you! The little vintage shape stacker on the left was a £3 bargain I picked up at my local second hand shop. I just love it's battered and much-loved appearance.

The other exciting news for today (just in case you were getting the impression that I spend all of my time shopping), is that I have been working on a couple of new stationery designs, which I'm really really happy with and hope to finally be adding to my Folksy shop in the next few days. I'll keep you posted!

Folksy Friday

In a shameless copy - which, after all, is the greatest form of flattery - of the Folksy blog, I'm declaring today to be Folksy Friday. Here are a few things that are currently catching my beady little eye...

A medium I definitely intend to learn more about is screen printing. I went on a day long course a few years ago, and absolutely loved the process and my (albeit rather amateur) results. Looking, as I frequently do, at all the amazing prints that are available has inspired me to try and find a course in my area. In the mean time, I'm quite happy to continue perusing the offerings on Folksy, particularly Dee Beale's amazing prints.

The only thing that has stopped me from buying one of these lovely little chicks from Prince Design already, is trying to choose which design I like the most

Finally, I've been speaking to Emily at Skull and Cross Buns about customing a stamp with the twoforjoy logo for me to use on my paperwork. To keep with the bird theme in the mean time, here's a lovely little owl, who I'm also rather fond of!

I'm very excited to be visiting not one but two craft fairs tomorrow AND a vintage sale.. so I hope my next post will be looking at the goodies I've found. Clearly my interest is purely for research purposes you understand ... or that's what I like to tell the Frenchman anyway!

Oooh, parcels

I got home from work this evening to find not one, but two packages waiting for me! They weren't entirely unexpected, as they were both things I'd bought after all, but nevertheless it was still exciting.

Firstly, some Cath Kidston fabric I bought to back a cot quilt that I've designed and am currently working on. It's a heavier weight cotton than I was expecting, so I may very well have a rethink about it's use for that project. Particularly as there was a certain little someone who seemed to be rather taken by it!

He also seemed to enjoy playing with the contents of my second parcel, which I was pretty excited about too..

Labels for when I start making products to sell.

Back to work Wednesday.

The only downside to having a 5 day break from work is that sinking feeling when the alarm sounds at 5:55 and you know you're back to the grindstone.

In the spirit of remaining positive, I feel that I've made a huge amount of progress in the past few days; not only in terms of starting to develop a cohesive brand and image for my business, but also psychologically. Everywhere I go and everything I do is starting to build my inspiration for products and designs, which I know is where I need to be in order to make my business work. My immediate issue now is understanding how to bridge the gap between what I want to be able to do, and what I realistically can do in the time I have available, without becoming disheartened and loosing any enthusiasm in the process. The words eating and elephant spring to mind! So as well as being back-to-work Wednesday, today's post will also be work-in-progress Wednesday, and my bite of elephant today is in lovely linen blocks!

Fabric and things

As I mentioned yesterday, I spent the weekend visiting friends in Brighton, so decided to take yesterday and today off of work to spend time with my family. Yesterday I took the opportunity to visit a local fabric store, but was more than a little bit disappointed to leave empty handed. Is it just me, or does anyone else find the choice of fabric that can be available frustratingly limiting? Had I wanted chintzy patterns or playing cats printed all over it then I'd have been fine, but there did not seem to be anything available to cater for ... I guess younger tastes. I know that there are a wealth of on-line stores available (I've found Fabric rehab and Saints and Pinners both to be very good) but there is nothing like being able to see and touch the material before you buy.

Feeling that it would have been a shame to come home empty handed, I made a detour to ikea and picked up some linen blend fabric (I'm also having difficulty finding reasonably priced but good quality linen mixes)

I was also in luck, as it was the tail end of their sale, so I picked up some cream tin plates, being sold at the bargain price of 65p which I became very over-excited about, much to the bemusement of the Frenchman ("but they're white plates?!"). I love the matt finish of the paint and I just know that I'm going to wish I picked up a few more of them..

and finally this lovely little fellow, who seems to be enjoying sitting in the window ledge in my dining room...

Oooh, and I forgot to mention yesterday, but I've finished my quilt now, woo hoo! Now to bind!

It's been a while

It's been nearly two months now that I've been back at work, following a years maternity leave. We don't live very close to family or friends, so towards the end of the year I found myself craving some adult company and looking forward to switching my brain back on again. Two months in, and I absolutely know that this isn't how I want life to be any more. As well as feeling desperately detached from the Boys day to day life, my priorities and values have completely changed, and I find myself yearning to design and draw and stitch. With this in mind, I've treated myself..

I had a fantastic weekend meeting up with some old school friends in Brigton. During the 3 hour train journey, I had the rare opportunity to immerse myself in books, and have not only come out the other side thoroughly inspired, but also feeling that perhaps it's not such an impossibility after all...