Busy Little Bee

Where does the time go? It doesn't seem like 5 minutes since I made my last post, but I've just checked the date and it was MARCH!!!!!! That is not good! Sorry, I've been neglecting this I promise I won't let it happen again!
You see, I'm in the process of buying my first house and it's all going through as we speak so I'm all over the place.

I haven't done a craft fair for ages because I just didn't see the point because of sales at the last few I've done. OK, getting experience and knowledge from fellow crafters is all well and good, but if you don't cover the table cost then it's just a waste of time (in my opinion!).
On the plus side, sales through friends and family have increased which is keeping the creative juices flowing, and I've added a few more cards to my MISI site so I hope they go down well.


This is a card that I did for a friend (apologies for the quality of the photo, I've lost the cable for my camera so this was taken on my phone!). I have decided to use a similar design to this for my Father's Day cards. I mastered the origami shirt, which I was pleased with - I am now raising the bar with the origami tie!!!
I'm pleased that a few of my mates have put orders in already, and I've put a Facebook message out to spread the word some more.


My mom's friend wanted a card for her Granddaughter who was 1 (and called Sophie, in case you hadn't guessed!). I was having a creative evening and had just started to pack everything away, when I remembered that I hadn't made this....... I managed to 'throw' it together in about 10 minutes, which is quite an achievement for me! She was so pleased with it - it's so nice to get such great feedback.


The same friend's Daughter is getting married next week so she commissioned a wedding card. This took slightly longer (I messed up the first attempt!), but I managed to use the ribbon from the invite to get the exact match of red.
Well, I need to get my camera up and running again and I will finally get round to doing a portfolio of all my work - unfortunately, there are some cards which I just didn't get time to photograph, which is a shame - in the meatime, I've added a slideshow to the bottom of my blog.... enjoy!

Me again!

Well, bang went my plans of keeping up to date with my blog.
Things over the last few weeks just seem to have gone belly up!
Work is a pain, I've got loads of cards to make and no time to make them, and I've split up with the boyfriend...... crap!

I did a craft fair last night, which was fairly quiet - just about managed to cover the table cost. It was great for hints and tips though - I got chatting to Claire from the Craft Forum (ladyluckjewellery) and we're going to look into doing shared parties, and she's got a few avenues where I might be able to get my cards into. She's also going to put me in contact with other crafters in the Northamptonshire area, so hopefully I can get a few more sales etc through them.

I've developed some new cards, which I need to get photographed so I can put them on Facebook and then get them up on MISI. They're similar to what I already do, but new colours and different papers that I've managed to get my hands on.

Ooh, on the subject of MISI, I had my first sales the other day!!!! A couple of people off the Forum bought stuff, which is great. Got to get them posted out today after work.

Right, I've got enough off my chest now, so I'm off to do a small portfolio of photos that I can show people.

Where does the time go?

Well, I can't believe it's been nearly 2 weeks since my last post!
There's been Valentine's Day, my 1 year anniversary with my boyfriend and a few nights out to celebrate birthday's in that time so it's been action packed!!!!

Needless to say, I haven't had much time to do any crafting, but I've got some orders to sort out over the next few weeks for cards - and they're not all from family which is a bonus!
I haven't really had enough time to develop any new card ideas, which is great because most people seem to like what I'm doing at the moment, so they just want cards adapting to their own colour scheme. I've got to go out after work to try and find some claret and blue card/ paper for a birthday card for my friend's Dad (he's a massive Villa fan!) so I'm sure that will keep me occupied for a bit!

Well, this is going to be a short and sweet, so I'll try and get on again before the end of the week x

As rough as a badger's bum!

Oh dear, it looks as though the time spent in the snow last week has left me with a terrible cold :(
My boyfriend and brother have also been suffering, and it seems that they've been kind enough to pass it on to me!!
It really has scuppered my gym plans for the next few days (although, I am usually trying to find an excuse not to go!!).
I might crack on with some cards, or put some more stuff on my MISI site until I feel a bit better.
One thing I am grateful for, is the lack of snow overnight - I think that would've just about finished me off!

Is it really Monday again???!

Oh, I wish it was still the weekend!!!
The snow has really messed up my plans for the last couple of days, but I was hoping for a bit more so I could have an extra day off work!! I battled the elements Thursday and Friday to get into work on time, only to be sent home.
It was my birthday on Saturday, and I had a big night out planned, and the snow completely ruined that. It just seems that the whole country comes to a complete standstill as soon as we have the smallest amount of snow, which is totally pathetic.
Sorry, rant over!!!

I suppose I could've used the time off productively, by making a few cards and getting more items posted on MISI, but I chose to get out there and make snowme - or I stayed in the warm and caught up with the goings-on on Neighbours and Home and Away!
I've got a few cards that I need to get made for the next couple of months - including a new baby girl card for my Godfather's new Grandaughter!!
I'm going to try and get to the gym after work, and then I'll crack on and get the cards done.

Hope the weather hasn't affected you guys too much x

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!!

Ooh, I do love a bit of snow - although I might not be saying that at 6pm when I leave work to get home!

The craft fair at the weekend was not the greatest because it was so COLD!! People were literally coming in, doing a quick lap of the venue and then leaving again! For those who have never been before, the Fishmarket in Northampton is a lovely venue but, because it used to be a Fishmarket (hence the name!) it is FREEZING in there! My mom travelled down from Birmingham to give me a hand and we just couldn't seem to keep warm. The organisers and fellow stall-holders were friendly, but I can't remember half the day because I had brain-freeze!

I got some great feedback about my cards which is great, but people just weren't stopping long enough to buy. I have every sympathy with them because if the roles had been reversed, I wouldn't have left the house in the first place!

I've listed some of my cards on my MISI site (still waiting for my URL to be approved, but I'll link it on here once it goes live!) and I've had a fair few hits on that, so that's a good sign.
One of the stall-holder on Saturday had a genius idea, which I think I'm going to give a go. She said about contacting residential or old people's homes in the area and ask if they wanted to have some of my cards available to residents to buy and use. I hadn't thought of that idea before, but it actually makes a lot of sense!

So, I've got plenty of things to be getting on with this week and I'll keep you updated as to how I get on. I hope you all stay safe in the snow!

It's the weekend, get in!!

Oh, you would not believe how happy I am that it's nearly the weekend! This week just seems to have dragged on forever.

I've got a craft fair tomorrow, but I don't have to be there to set up until 11am, so it means that I can have a nice lie-in - unless I wake up ridiculously early panicking that I don't have enough stuff to sell! Anything that I do have left over will be put onto my MISI site, so that will keep me occupied on Sunday!

I've managed to pick up some lovely patterned paper over the last few weeks, so I'm putting it all to good use. I've found that The Works (the cheapy bookshop) has started stocking more crafty stuff, escpecially good for card-making and scrapbooking and it's much cheaper than Hobbycraft - even the local stationers is cheaper than Hobbycraft! I admit that they don't have the same range of products that Hobbycraft have, but I just can't believe how ripped off I feel when I look at the difference in price - plus crafters get a 10% discount on certain lines, whic is a bit of a Brucie bonus!

Maybe I should club all my 10% savings together and use it to pay off the mistake that I made yesterday! I went on Ebay to try and find some paper bags to use when I'm at a craft fair for people to put their purchases in and I found some fairly cheap near enough straight away. I'd had a look before and couldn't find anything so, before I though anymore about it, I clicked on the 'buy it now' button. Thinking no more of it I went through to the Paypal bit, and wondered why they'd charged me over £15 (the bags cost £9.95). Yes that's right, they've charged me £5.95 p&p for a normal 1st class delivery. Is it just me, or is that a complete rip-off?! Obviously I couldn't cancel the order because I'd get bad feedback as a buyer, but I certainly won't buy from them again in the future.

Sorry, rant over! I'll make sure I update this over the weekend and I should get confirmation of my MISI domain status today, so there'll be a new link to look out for!!