Pre Break Ramblings

Days are really starting to fly by at a rate of knots, which whilst a little daunting when you still have so much to get done before Christmas, there is a flip side because it means it's nearly here! And that also means it's closer to my rather overdue holiday. Having moved house and dealt with so much this year it's rather needed. 

At the weekend I wrote and sent out my last newsletter for 2013, it was a brief little nugget of news informing that I am winding down for the impending break, my store on Etsy will be closing for the holidays this coming Sunday evening. 

Which on a side note if you do wish to grab a quick present then do nip along. If your in the UK I'll even throw in free shipping, 2nd class, if you use the following code UKLUVXMAS.

I also mentioned my desire to do an early spring clean of the website, start tinkering with designs I want to work on, and in some instances start them. 

I did mention last week that I was going to talk about these plans, and having spent some of yesterday in the company of a very good friend, Laura Howard of Bugsandfishes, it made me think that for me personally that I am better of remaining flexible with my 'goals', have them but not to become too fixated by them, accept that sometimes things don't work out the way you want them too. I admit it nearly crushed me over the summer that I wasn't doing half of what I had planned, and that it was likely I wasn't going to do any fairs this year either...eventually I got over that and the lack of stress was a relief. 

So back to what I have already began to plan to do:

1. Working on the website and getting that tidy is likely to be one that I achieve before I head back to work mid-January. I'll be condensing the gallery, press section, updating about me and making the site a little more user friendly, and I'll be looking closely at making more use of the shop function on the site. 
2. Getting out and meeting/networking with the folks that I have come to talk to rather regularly on Twitter etc, crafty folks. And it's something I am working on with Laura Howard, and hopefully dragging along other waifs and strays we know to pull ourselves out of our little comfort zones. It also gives a great excuse for eating cake.
3. Typography is really going to feature in my designs, and they will be intricate designs that I love to do, think Paradise Bird but lettering instead of feathers. I have the design already in progress for the first piece and will be starting before the year is out. I hope that I will be able to start doing a WIP blog posts about this very, very soon!

For a start of a plan that's not all that bad, what about you guys are you thinking about what you want to do, achieve next year? Or are you going with the flow? 

I promised you also what I thought of Bust Craftacular, where I met up with Laura. Out of the three fairs I've been to over the past couple of months it was the more promising. Quite tiny in comparison to the others but at least I felt like I want to buy, and I did. Admittedly I had gone with the attention to buy the remaining christmas gifts for family and whilst I did buy one gift...I also brought a picture for the flat. In my defense it had a hamster on it and it's for the Hallway which I am going to be decorating in the New Year. 

 

Isn't he smashing?! He's by Jimbob Art, Christmas Fox. I'm going to get him framed professionally, thinking a double mount, one crisp white the other rich red, framed by ebony/black wood. I know the exact spot to put it in too. Can't wait! 

I suppose I should add that goal number 5 should be to get out to more shows, I really would love to go to one of the Cockpit Art open studio days, and Renegade by all accounts was brilliant. I also want to go back to the Knitting & Stitching show in London to find some new suppliers and catch up with folks I know that either exhibit there or attend.

Cor I hadn't really set out to write such a long blog post, I hoped to have pictures to show you of pieces I've been up too...but I didn't actually get up to much stitching this weekend, just lots of tidying up loose ends and doodling. I have a crafting day with my best friend on Saturday so that means there will be more pictures on Sunday!

Christmas Time at Chez Mason Bee

I couldn't quite resist bringing the festive cheer to my wee abode a little earlier this year. Normally I wait until today, 1st December, popping Elf or Muppets Christmas Carol on in the background and getting thoroughly stuck into the decorating. This year, however I think I was just itching to get the twinkling lights up, because I had not one, not two but three Christmas tree's to decorate. Sure I could have easily put my two tiny tree's away but what the heck I put all three up....and I don't regret it.

Giant Red Robin on the top of the tree

Bee and Toadstools...

I didn't need to make any new tree decorations to furnish all three, though I did buy four new ones to add to the stash. This year it was a large red robin, a tiny glass robin, green sparkly star and a glass green and clear bauble. I'm aiming to have a tree one year where no one decoration is a like. Admittedly it might have to be a fifteen foot tree to accommodate them all.

But whilst I've not made for the tree that's not stopped me from making other decorations for the house. I've actually got a door wreath, which is fab and it's one I've decorated myself. I had been utterly swamped with inspiration from Pinterest on what I could do with a wreath form but Friday night I suddenly came to me what I could do with just the fabrics and bits and pieces I had to hand. I had been tempted to cover it in pom-poms or googly eyes, maybe next year!

I'm really, rather pleased with it. I especially like the fact I can also use the form again as none of it, bar the crystals is glued on. it's either pinned or hand-sewn. I don't have any progress shots as it was rather late at night and was too much in the zone to stop and grab the camera. But if you want to have a go...

You will need a wreath form, strips of muslin, red felt, needle and thread, pins and Swarovski crystals (or similar). 

I wrapped the form in a couple of long strips of muslin, to keep it in place I used pins and a few holding stitches at the back. I then cut ruler width strips of red felt and pinned them, temporarily, at certain points around the form, I judged this by eye. Once I was happy with the placing I sewed just the end of the strips to the muslin, the felt you see doesn't wrap all the way to back. To finish it off, I made a nice fat bow, again using pins to hold it in place whilst I stitched it to the wreath. To give it some glitz, and just because I could, I covered the bow with crystals. Then add a felt tab at the back to make it easy to hang.

This is only the beginning of my crafting for Christmas, I've got a table mat to make up, a few gifts and some other bits and pieces to do as well. I would have cracked on over this weekend but I had to finish off a commission (a very one of a kind button clock) and make and write project for a magazine...which as you guessed it I can't tell you about at the moment.

I'll be putting together a wee newsletter during the week, so keep your eyes peeled for that. And then next weekend I will be back to talking about things I really want to make over Christmas and in 2014, hopefully some photographs of bits I am making at present. Also will talk about my wee trip to Bust Craftacular. I am hoping that this craft fair will make up for the two I've been to over the last couple of months. Looks like a fab line up and gives me a chance to meet up with another fellow Laura, Laura Howard of Lupin and hopefully another Laura too, Laura Howard of Laura Fallulah. I think this means that some cosmic event will happen...hopefully it will involve cake.

Hope everyone has had enjoyable 1st day of advent!