So That Was 2012...

As it comes to the end of a year, most of us look back.  What was good about it, not so good - and what did we achieve?  And please do read on, because I want to hear from you too!

So, my own 2012 was probably better than I thought:

This Blog...

I started this blog in March this year.  It's had over 93,000 visits already, which has completely blown me away!  I'm amazed that some of my posts have been shared on blogs and forums around the world, sometimes even in languages I can't understand.  The power of the internet (and blogging in particular) never fails to amaze me.

Sewing...

I finally dug out my long-neglected sewing machine earlier this year, which was promptly spotted by a visiting child!  Reacting to her enthusiasm, I started teaching my now 10-year-old granddaughter to sew - she was really excited about the idea of using a sewing machine and it's sparked a brand new interest for her, which is lovely.  We've made lots of cushions together, among other things, and she now has grand plans for bag making.  2013 may well be the year of the bag!

Writing for Magazines...

Both Sewing World and Craftseller asked me to design/write for them on a regular basis after I submitted some ideas to them!  I've even had projects featured on the front cover of both, which is really exciting!

I must admit, this particular issue was the most exciting, when my little upcycled travel sewing kit took centre stage!  It was pretty unbelievable, especially as the sewing kit wasn't actually designed with a magazine in mind to begin with.  It was just one of those projects that started with a bit of upcycling (in this case, an old hardback diary).

Sewing Patterns...

I made a (very slow) start in the world of selling downloadable sewing patterns.  Some of the projects which have been in magazines this year will be available to download in 2013 (if all goes to plan, that is). Each magazine has its own rules as to how long must elapse before you can sell the pattern, online or otherwise.

This sewing machine applique cushion 

is one of the few patterns already in my Craftsy shop.

Blog Sponsorship...

I have been privileged to receive some fabulous free stuff (much of it in the form of yummy fabrics!) in return for blog mentions and as giveaways for my readers.  I think I've come to rather love this aspect of blogging, and it fits in very well with this blog.  Yes, it's sponsorship, but I am OK with that - it allows me to do more.  It probably goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway!) that I wouldn't accept sponsorship or freebies from anyone if I didn't think it was relevant to what I'm doing and and from anyone who wasn't a good value, good quality supplier.

It's a win-win situation, because the supplier gets links and visits from each mention and I get gorgeous fabrics like this:

fabric from Abakhan

Writing Books...

I made serious inroads into writing books.  Yep, that's plural, I couldn't just start one book and finish it before starting another, could I?!  I have plans to do a bit of e-book publishing, but I kind of fell at the last hurdle...

I think two things slowed me down, pretty much to the point of stopping altogether:

1. an unrealistic aim for perfection (I know as well as anyone that perfection is never gonna happen.  Why does it bother me so much?) and...

2. a downright fear of the whole idea of self-publishing: What if nobody buys it?  Worse, what if someone buys it and slates it?  Could I honestly live with a one-star review on Amazon?  Aargh!! How does anyone ever publish a book?!  If ever there was a case to illustrate the self-help book feel the fear and do it anyway, this is it for me.  I really must do some finishing off and actual publishing in 2013... (yikes.  I've said it publicly now)

Nah, that slim little thing posing for the camera with a laptop isn't me.  

Sorry to disappoint!

Phew! 

I think maybe I achieved more than I set out to do and I'm glad I wrote this post - beforehand, it didn't actually feel like I had achieved much at all (possibly because in my head I was focusing on what I hadn't achieved ... yet.  If that's what you're doing, do remember that little word "yet" - it changes the whole focus of lack of achievement into something altogether more hopeful).

More importantly than what I've achieved in 2012 though is this: I think I have some strong building blocks which I hope will make good foundations to start building my 2013.  I'll be back soon with some of my plans and hopes for the brand new year.

What about you?  How was 2012 for you?  I know I said we'd have a break from Handmade Monday, but perhaps if you've done an end of the year post, you could link up here as a one-off?  Or leave a comment?

Merry Christmas!

Amidst the last-minute shopping, the wrapping paper and the twinkling lights, I just wanted to pop in and wish all my readers a very merry Christmas.

all wrapped up yet?

I hope you enjoy your festivities, wherever you are.  If you're in the UK, I hope our incessant rain and rising water levels aren't affecting you too severely.

Travelling Reindeer...

The reindeer from the last post - the last-minute Christmas Giveaway - have a new owner, so the reindeer will be travelling via Royal Mail this afternoon.

The winner was Alison, who is going to let her two boys decorate the reindeer.  I think they'll enjoy that!

By the way, do pop over and see what Alison has done with an old cabinet - it's really striking and stylish.  I love makeovers, don't you?

Last-Minute Christmas Giveaway!

I know this is a bit last minute, but these gorgeous reindeer only arrived yesterday afternoon!

I was delighted to help when Homecrafts offered me these lovely papier mache reindeer for a giveaway - but there's only a short time to run this...

...so, if you'd like to win a pair of these, please leave me a comment right away on this post!  I'll be picking a winner tomorrow lunchtime and I will post tomorrow afternoon if I can contact you in time.  They'll be sent first class, so you should get them in time for Christmas.  The winner will get two reindeer, one of each size. I can post to the UK only for this giveaway (sorry to all my other readers - there will be other giveaways coming up soon!).

What would you do with them?  I think they'd look good painted white, with some printed book pages or sheet music torn and decoupaged...maybe a raffia bow and a silver bell at the neck?

Handmade Monday 97

Welcome to the last Handmade Monday before Christmas.  In fact, the last one of this year!  We'll be back on Sunday 6th January at 6pm.  I will be back here blogging before then, though!

It's not long till Christmas, and I hope most people out there are much more organised than I am.  I have given up trying to plan Christmas early - sometime after the last posting dates for first class mail* (20th this year) is early enough for me!  However, with four adult children (+ partners) and four grandchildren and with two of my children born in December (one on Christmas Day itself, poor child, and one today - happy birthday to my one and only son!) it is no mean feat.  Phew!  I'm exhausted just writing it all down!

Still, it happens every year without fail and I really should be used to it by now!

Craftseller issue 19 January

In other news, the latest issue of Craftseller magazine arrived this week - and I think my iPhone 5 cover looks pretty good (if I do say so myself).  I love the zingy mix of colours and patterns in this one ( I just adore the Summersville fabrics range for its freshness and uncomplicated style).

iPhone 5 cover

It's a handy phone pouch pattern, because it incorporates a wrist loop, a keyring, a clip for attaching to a belt or bag and a pocket for travel tickets and/or a credit card.  I've used buttons as fasteners, because part of my brief was to incorporate Craftseller's free buttons (they're a cover gift) but it could be made without buttons - Velcro would be quick and easy.

My lampshade project is in this issue too.  I'm less fond of this one, simply because the colour is just not my cup of tea.  But it proved to me how simple lampshade making actually is.  I'll definitely be having another go at this.  It's such a quick and easy way to liven up a space or add a cosy feel to a neglected corner.  One of the things I love about making is that even if you're not fond of what you make, you've learned something from doing it.

woodland lampshade

I did worry about the fire safety aspect of this project (paper and heat are not always a good mix - and my brief was using their free papers) but the fire safety advice is pretty prominent in the magazine.  I used a special lampshade backing from Needcraft which helps with making the lampshade safer.  Also,  today's light bulbs are cooler in use, making them safer.

fire safety advice

Right, for me it's back to the painting right now.  There's a lot to get through, and it's got to be done by Thursday at the latest for posting out.

I'll be in the studio if anyone wants to pop through with a cup of hot mint tea for me...

*if you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll know why the last posting date is significant enough to dictate my life - if you're new here: it's because I make personalised gifts to order and they all need posting out.  It doesn't take much imagination to appreciate that the run-up to Christmas is by far my busiest time of year for website sales.

Tidying and Tetra-Paks

Sharing my home with a man who would be an Olympic gold medallist in cleaning and tidying, if only it were a sport, has its distinct advantages. I know there are people who would queue up to pay if I rented him out (I don't).  I'm sure there aren't many men who get the ironing done before breakfast on Sunday.

I know you're starting to get jealous now.

I only usually iron when sewing

However, there are disadvantages. I can never find things if I leave them lying around. Paperwork, buttons, pens, half-empty coffee cups ... you know the kind of thing.  I've taken to hiding them in a cupboard (no, not the half-empty coffee cups). I've had to train him not to take away kitchen tools when I'm in the middle of cooking.

Then we had this discussion about tetra-paks, because I'm going to be using them in an upcoming project for Craftseller magazine.  I'm going to need around 8 or 12, I think: the project will probably take three or four of them, but I want to play around with the design first, so I'll need a few spares.

And yesterday, I carefully washed my first one out, left it in the kitchen to dry and - rather predictably, I suppose - it disappeared off the face of the earth.  I suppose if I wasn't Mrs Messy* in the first place, he might have realised the carton wasn't rubbish.

I guess we need to have the tetra-pak discussion again.  Maybe I just need more space to store my rubbish  er, raw materials for design purposes?

* I guess it's unfortunate that my real last name is Massey, which is a little too close to Messy for comfort.  My Mr Tidy was amused that the mechanic who recently worked on my car gave me an invoice addressed to Mrs Messy.  He thought perhaps he might know me very well indeed.

Free Sewing Class and Shoe Fabric!

I know a lot of people are really getting into sewing these days.  One of my daughters is teaching herself quite a lot with her new (to her, anyway) sewing machine (I'm impressed with her creative skills so far).  And my 10-year-old granddaughter Keira is really excited about learning to sew.  She's made lots of cushions and a snuggle bag already but wants to move on to making bags.

I mention this because I just found a brilliant free video class on Craftsy that teaches you how to make a tote bag.  I've downloaded the video and I'm going to get my daughter and granddaughter to watch it.  Maybe they can even have a bit of auntie/niece bonding over it!

On the bag theme, Keira has plans to make a shoe bag - with a shoe print fabric (above and below)  The fabric is just amazing, and one metre gets you enough to make a few bags.

the fabric is wide, and the print is sideways on to the selvedge

 (in the image above, the selvedges are top and bottom) so there's plenty 

(there's a 12" ruler at the side of the fabric to help scale the photo)

But I like the idea of a hanging panel too - the wording on the fabric just lends itself to something you could put on a wall!

welcome to my house!

You may remember my dotty denim from this post - it's from Wholeport like the shoe print fabric.  I have more plans for this denim - I want some oven mitts from it and also a cushion.  Unfortunately, I did waste some of it when I got my photo frame wrong when I was experimenting with a design, so I don't have as much as I'd like.  I may have to order some more, or maybe I'll back the cushion with something else.  Either way, I do officially love my dotty denim!  It's quite soft for a denim fabric, and I can imagine it would work for all sorts of things - including bags.  I can imagine it with a brilliant red or bright floral print lining.

the gorgeous dotty denim

It's busy here so all these plans will be put into action sometime in 2013, which isn't too far away...

Handmade Monday 96

Wow - can you believe it's the 96th Handmade Monday?  Time is going far too quickly for me...

...mostly in a mad whirl of clocks, plaques and canvases!  With the odd money box thrown in...

a recent request

I've had a lot of problems with spam comments recently - possibly Blogger's filters aren't doing as well as they should be at the moment?  Or those nasty spammers are getting cleverer?  Whatever the reason, I've decided to switch on comment moderation, which I think is preferable to Blogger's word verification (which always drives me slightly mad when I'm doing the rounds of commenting - I'm sure it puts people off).  I'll try to get the (genuine) comments published as soon as I can.

I have a search engine optimisation (SEO) article coming up on this blog soon, written by Fiona from The Sewing Directory.  I mention this because I know SEO is something that doesn't come naturally to a lot of people - me included, although some of it is simpler than you'd imagine.  I have also downloaded a book about SEO onto my Kindle and am working through it (very) slowly ...  if there are snippets I can share with you then I will do.  While SEO isn't strictly about handmade, it's definitely something that affects all of us who sell handmade online so I think it's worthy of a mention here.

For those of you wondering what the heck SEO entails, I leave you with this graphic:

Learn about data visualization software.

Next week's Handmade Monday will be the last one before Christmas but for this week...

101+ Things to do with Glitter

If you like a bit of glitter in your life, then this is definitely the book for you!

I was sent a copy of 101+ Things to do with Glitter (it's by Momtaz Begum-Hossain - click on her name to read Momtaz's blog) to review, and was a little worried before I saw it that maybe I wouldn't be able to identify with it.  I think I expected fairly predictable projects and too much gratuitous glitter - but I was wrong.

OK, so I think there is possibly a little bit of gratuitous glitter, but then that's surely forgiveable, given that the book's all about celebrating (and making!) everything glittery.   There's so much more in this book than I expected, though - it is chock-full of ideas. There is something within its pages for everyone and despite all the glitter (none of it loose or messy!) there's an eclectic mix of projects (using a wide variety of techniques) in four main sections:

• fashion and accessories
• homes and interiors
• gifts and food
• cards and papercraft

plus a good intro to all things glitter, craft supplies, inspiration and types of glitter (there's more than you'd imagine!)...and all the templates you'll need for the projects.

a good selection of templates

If you want projects and fun ideas, you won't go far wrong with this book; they're here in abundance.  If you want a variety of craft techniques, too, then this is definitely your book; it's really a book packed full of projects and ideas, with glitter being the theme that binds them.  If you want to try a range of different techniques with instructions and templates to help you complete (and even learn from) your project, this book is perfect for you.  It is easy to dip into, with numbered instructions and top tips and ideas jumping off the page.

Would you like a taster of the projects in its pages?  OK then, here we go:

A pin board made from an old egg tray

Sparkly shoe cookies

Mehndi-inspired gloves

Wizard of Oz shoes

OK, so I know where my review copy of the book is headed: I know a gorgeous pre-teen girl, very much into glitz, glamour and making her own stuff (I can see already see her in those Dorothy shoes!).  I think her mum may never forgive me for it as their house will be permanently filled with glitter from projects for a long time to come.  She will get over it though!  Inspiring the next generation to make (and have fun making!) is a big part of books like this.

With Christmas just around the corner, 101+ Things to do with Glitter would make a perfect gift for anyone into glitzy crafts and shiny things.  It's not about sophistication and subtlety, it's about fun and frivolity.  Maybe we all need a copy!  If you want to buy it, head over to Amazon.co.uk now (or Amazon.com if you're in the US).

This book is from Vivays Publishing - pop over there to have a browse of their other titles.

Handmade Monday 95

Welcome to another Handmade Monday (click the link to find out what it's all about).

Well, we're in full head-on Christmas shopping mode over on my website, with this week and next expected to be the busiest weeks of the year.  It seems every time I look at the computer there's another order or several waiting for my attention.  I'm sure many of you are the same, and that's probably why Handmade Monday seems a little quieter recently.

the "finishing off" table

You may have noticed we're hurtling towards not just Christmas but another celebration: we're rapidly coming up to the 100th Handmade Monday!  Now, because Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are both Mondays, I decided we'd take a little break over the holidays - I hope that's OK with you.  The last Handmade Monday before Christmas will be 16th to 18th December and the first one in the new year will be 6th to 8th January.

So the 100th Handmade Monday will happen on 21st January ... IF my adding up is right! (always a big IF, that one!)

To celebrate, there will be giveaways!  Freebies are coming from more than one direction, so do make sure you come back in the new year!

Anyway, back to this week: I have managed to negotiate delaying one of my Craftseller magazine projects until after Christmas, which I'm supremely grateful to be able to do. I don't know where the time would have come from otherwise!  I'm already working evenings and weekends.

I will pop round to as many Handmade Monday links as I can this week - forgive me if I don't leave a comment, although I will do my best to comment on as many as I can.