Made by hand......

I'm joining Christina and her weekly Made by Hand linky thing, because I have actually been doing some making today.
I am slowly changing my attitude to my crafty activities so it is more than just a hobby,  I'd like to earn a small living making things and selling wool, so I need to put the time in and not feel guilty about all the other things I could be doing.  If I was working for someone else doing the same things, I wouldn't feel like it wasn't work and not worthwhile, so I don't really understand why I feel that I am being self indulgent when I am working on things here at home by myself.
 Am I worried about what other people think of my choices?  Do I feel like I should get a 'proper' job?  Am I just easily distracted?  I don't know. Hopefully I will be able to get rid of these negative thoughts and enjoy the making process and get excited about making things as more than just my hobby.  I think I really need to do a bit of time scheduling, and block in some solid crafting time, maybe then I would be a bit more productive......

Anyway, enough of my moaning, let me show you what I finished off this morning, a couple of my little tree decorations.  They had been sitting here in pieces for ages, (I think I showed progress pictures a long time ago), so I am glad they are complete now.
The idea was for me to make a collection of these and sell them coming up to Christmas, but they are taking me so long to make, I'll probably only have a few finished.  Hardly seems worth it!
Gotta get my act into gear.

 The thing I like about these little guys is how the colours all work together in the layers, I like looking down from the top and seeing hints of colour and snippets of texture.... looking at these pictures is giving me a few ideas for a motif colour scheme.....

.....so here is my work space, looking pretty crowded as it is doubling as my wool shop, but I love having all the wool around the space, I don't have to go far for colour inspiration!...
I am also working on a little secret something that I hope you guys might like, it is not really that exciting but I am having fun putting them together, but more on that later......

Anyhoo, what have you been making lately?


Before I go I'd just like to say a big hello to any new readers (and all you long time guys!) that have stumbled across this little space recently, thanks for visiting here, my posting has been quite sporadic lately, so I appreciate all the visits I get and I enjoy all the comments you leave, so a big, friendly wave to you from me!   I have been struggling with things to blog about recently, hence the lack of posts, but I'm sure my inspiration will come back soon!  

Talk soon .....xxxxxxxxxx

I'm going to be a shopkeeper (when I grow up)

Hello! 

How has your week been going? All good I hope.

I have been a bit preoccupied with something quite exciting. ( For me anyway!)

I decided that it was time to stop dreaming and procrastinating and wondering whether I should get another job outside home, and just have a go at a little venture of my own!

You might remember a bit over a year ago(!!) I got all excited about opening a yarn shop in our town, I got all enthused and was looking at a shop in Hastings and dreaming of all the crafty goodness that could go on in such a place.  Well, reality had to enter the equation somewhere, and sadly it was just going to cost way too much to set up and was just too much of a risk for our little family to take on at that time. So dreams were put on the back burner for the time being.

Well, now I have decided to have another go at being a yarny shopkeeper , we could do with another income and I can't think of a nicer way to earn a wage than being a purveyor of all things yarny and wooly !  The only difference is it's going to be online and a virtual shop!

Of course it is on a much, much smaller scale than my bricks and mortar idea, but you never know, from little things big things grow, and all that .... :) ( very, very, little things in this case!! haha)

Well what to sell?  The next question!

I thought I would start with yarn I know and love, stuff I use for my own blankets and makings and the yarn that I get quite a few enquiries about. It might be harder for other people to find as it is an Australian brand.

I contacted the company that makes a lot of the lovely wool I use and put an order in for my starting stock (gulp!!).

I spent a long time agonising over which colours to get first, money is limited for this start up, so I had to choose carefully to get a nice range that I think you all will love!!  I was a bit like a kid in a lolly shop, so many possibilities, it was a lovely task.....

I have a big list of colours that are waiting to be ordered next!! :)

So anyway, I now have a biggish pile of lovely yarns sitting in our lounge room, the boys are making jokes about wool taking over the house, and I have to make a shop for it all.  ( Nearly there with that, quite a slow process, photos, unloading, working out prices, shipping rates etc,  but fun!)

I am planning a give away of yarny goodness to mark the opening of my shop, so stay tuned for details later in the week.  

It is a little bit scary too, you know, doubts creep in, what if it doesn't sell? What if I stuff up orders? What if I'm destined not to have my own little shop?  What if no one likes the colours?   

All that sort of stuff.... but I guess I'll just give it a go and see what happens. 

Maybe I'll put together some colour schemes from my blankets to give people ideas, pick out nice patterns from ravelry and make up a few examples for everyone to check out....... I'm sure there's lot's of other things I can do with a big heap of gorgeous wool!! :)

So that's my big news, I'm going to be a (virtual) shopkeeper! Yay!

Hope you are doing something fun this week, fulfilling some dreams too I hope!

I'll  be back soon with more info and links and all things shoppy.

Have a great day!!