PeggyCrafts...hello!

Featured!

2010-05-25T12:46:00.001-07:00

Ooooh, I'm very excited!

My PeggyCrafts buttons have appeared in a magazine!

I've never actually bought this magazine before, and I have to confess to rushing out to get a copy because my buttons were going to be in. But, having read it, I think I'll have to start getting it regularly - it's lovely! So many easy to make ideas, and really lovely fabrics featured (as well as tips on where to buy).

Although, it did make me realise how much I have still to learn about sewing. There was a sewing machine featured for £5800! I wonder if it makes you cup of tea while you rustle up some jeans?

New brooches

2010-05-11T11:09:00.001-07:00

This past week has been a lot more relaxing. Work is a lot less busy this month, and I had a day off on Friday to spend with my OH on his birthday. We had a very tasty takeaway pizza from a restaurant called Gusto, followed by some visits from friends and some games on the wii!

Meanwhile, I've been coming up with new brooch designs...I'm quite pleased with how they are turning out.

Seeing spots

2010-04-25T07:40:00.001-07:00

This weekend's peggycrafts activity has mostly been centred on spots and dots... (spotty buttons available on my website)

I also had a little experiment with a button / sequin combo which I'm quite pleased with... (it was a bit dark when I took this picture)

As well as trying to tidy up my piles of felt and sewing things which have been slowly taking over the living room!

New jewellery bags

2010-04-21T13:00:00.001-07:00

Just popping by to post a picture of the new sequinned jewellery bags I've added to my website this evening.

I love the gentle colours of this one. I only realised after it all came together, that it would be lovely for holding wedding jewellery or for giving small presents to lovely bridesmaids.

I also received some exciting news today, but unfortunately I can't share this with you just yet! As soon as I know a bit more, I'll post news and pictures.

Bye for now,

xx

A week of sewing and planting

2010-04-17T09:15:00.001-07:00

This week I've been spending some time outside while the sun's shining, planting up some summery looking plants!

This is the first time we've had a place with an outside patio, so I'm really enjoying learning about the different plants, how to care for them, where to put them etc. I hope we get a lovely long summer so I can sit outside and enjoy them!

Indoors, I've spent a fair bit of time sewing orders for jewellery bags. I've had a large wholesale order for them and a few smaller orders as well. It must be all those talented jewellery makers out there, wanting some pretty soft packaging for their creations!

Below: my sewing kit (don't you love my pretty tape measure :) )

Bye for now!x

Tinkering

2010-04-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

I've been tinkering with my website this afternoon, just improving the look of the home page and adding a few pictures here and there.

It's been a nice relaxing Easter in our household, with lots of choccy being eaten! I've used the four days off work to relax a bit and catch up on some jobs here and there.

Wow...Thank You!

2010-03-13T02:42:00.000-08:00

Just popping by to let all my dear readers know (in case you don't already) about a lovely and fabulous new site called Wow Thank You.

http://www.wowthankyou.co.uk/

It has recently been launched by the very dedicated Tracey and Georgena and I think the site is looking fabulous. It just makes me realise how many extremely talented people there are out there - I was so impressed by some of the things.

If you look closely, you might see one or two Mrs. Flowers hiding in amongst the lovely items for sale!

It has also made me realise, that I wish I had more time to devote to my crafting. It is always there, on my mind, that I'd like to do a bit more, but I just never seem to find enough hours in the day. I know it's a cliché, but there always seems to be so much going on. I think if I just aim for half an hour a day, that should be doable, and I can rustle up something very cute in that time.

Anyway, I think you should all hope on over to Wow Thank You, and marvel at all the handiwork, and treat yourself to something lovely!

A little bit of sunshine

2010-03-02T11:54:00.001-08:00

I went on holiday last week to the Canary Islands...

As you can see, it was sunny, warm, and beachy!

Now that I'm back it feels like there's a touch of spring in the air.

I'm off to plan a few easter themed craft goodies!

Pretty things

2010-01-27T12:39:00.000-08:00

I've spent the last hour or two looking at some peoples' lovely things on etsy and wondering just how much money I could spend on there?

Look at these unbelievably cute paperclips...

I have to have them!

Meanwhile, I've been enjoying these lovely not-real-but-look-just-like-the-real-thing flowers, now up on our kitchen table...

And wrapping up one or two Peggycrafts things.

Hello everyone

2010-01-20T11:57:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone

I haven't been around in blogland much over the last couple of months but I've been popping in to read other crafty blogs now and again to see how everyone's doing.

Unfortunately I wasn't so well at the end of last year, I had a lot of anxiety having lost my dad earlier in the year. I had a bit of time off and concentrated on me-time and feeling tons better now. I'm back at work and feeling a bit like an outsider but on the whole it's been good coming back and getting into the swing of things!

I'm also going to spend more time just enjoying my crafting this year. I'll see how it goes as time goes on but would like to expand my little business and maybe concentrate on it as more of a full time thing.

Hope everyone's well
Love

Helen xx

Holidays

2009-09-24T11:43:00.000-07:00

This week, we got back from a fabulous holiday to Florida.

It's been a little tricky adjusting back to the cold English weather, I can tell you!

I'm keeping myself busy with preparing for the craft fair at Ordsall Hall, Salford on 11 October. It was a good day last year with a lovely atmosphere and some fabulous crafts.

If you're in the area, come and visit!

PeggyBakes

2009-08-16T00:38:00.000-07:00

I love making cupcakes.

I saw some delightful little cakes a few weeks ago in a magazine, and decided to have a go at it myself. And, pleasingly, it turns out that cake-icing is not all that different from making pretty things from felt!

I mean, obviously, there’s no sewing involved, and the cake itself is a lot tastier than the fluffy stuffing I use in my felt projects. However, it still involves pretty colours and Mrs. Flowers!

I (well, my mum) am now in the process of trying to get all the bits and bobs I need sorting in order to sell my little cupcakes at craft fairs and on my website. I’m so excited at all the cakey possibilities there are. Personalised, fruity, pastel, brights, fairies, footballs...

There’s a fair bit of research, information-gathering and experimenting to do before expanding my little business to include PeggyBakes. Do I need a new website? How do I package cupcakes safely enough to send them?

But I’m so excited!!!

It's August already?

2009-08-02T01:28:00.000-07:00

Oh, where does the time go? I’ve been so busy since starting my new job, I have to admit I have been putting my little blog on the back burner. But don’t worry, little blog, I am back to nurture and provide updates to our lovely readers!

I have also been quite busy with nurturing my little garden. It’s only a little patio really, but it is the first proper outdoor space we’ve had so I’m making the most of it with Busy Lizzies, a lilac hosta and some very bushy fuschias! They all seem to quite like the rain, so it’s not all bad.

Congratulations go to my blog friend Claire who has had her little baby last week. Looking forward to seeing more pics of your little bun growing up, Claire!

I enjoyed making this little felt version of a football kit for my brother’s birthday – the real kit for next season doesn’t come out for a while yet so I wanted to give him a little replica – I might start selling similar ones through my website!

We are off on holiday in a month or so, so I’ll be getting quite a bit of crafting in before then. I’ll be back soon with pictures!

A busy few weeks

2009-07-07T11:59:00.000-07:00

I started my new job a few weeks ago and it’s all been going well so far. For the first couple of weeks, I didn’t have the energy to do any crafting in the evenings, but things have settled down a lot now and I’m back to the felt! Yey! It was my birthday last week and I received some lovely pressies, and, TWO fab cakes! Look - this one even features Mrs. Flowers!

Meanwhile I think I’m going to get started on a range of PeggyGreetings Cards. I’ve been dreaming them up for a while now. My plan is to do them for friends and family birthdays at first, but depending on the response I might put them on the website in due course.

PS, where’s the summer gone? It was lovely last week and now it’s raaaaaaaining!

Receiving swap parcels is funnnnn

2009-06-10T01:19:00.001-07:00

Look at the lovely parcel full of things I received recently from Hannah at Spans Stichin.

I was delighted with everything, but I have to say that my absolute favourite thing ever (and not just in swaps) was this trowel for doing my pots...

I am a very lucky little crafter!

I am sorry for my lack of blogging over the last few weeks - it's been a bit of a difficult time following the death of my dad in March. Although I didn't mention it at the time, the effects of it have just kept lasting, leaving me little time for keeping up with normal things. However, I am starting to get back on track now, and normal blog service will be resumed!

And the winner is...

2009-05-11T13:46:00.000-07:00

Gemma! http://littlegemsbakery.blogspot.com/

Gemma's comment came out in my random-pointing-while-not-looking-at-the-screen test, and I love her idea of felted cakes. I can see where you get your inspiration from! Could you please send me your contact details helen (at) peggycrafts . co . uk and I will get a pressie to you!

Meanwhile I have to apologise for my delay in blogging recently. You see, I spent most of last week busily preparing for an interview, and I'm pleased to say that I got the job! woop!

Back soon with crafty news xx

April Competition Time!

2009-04-25T02:20:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Time to start a little giveaway.

To celebrate the start of spring, I'll be giving away one set of PeggyCrafts prizes to someone who leaves me a nice comment on here. All you have to do to enter is...

1. Tell me which is your favourite peggycrafts product (you can find them all here)

2. Give me an idea for a new creature to be made into a lovable peggycrafts item. I have been working on new keyrings and brooches recently, and would love to have some more characters to add to the range. So, if you fancy a felt kitten, felty rainbow, or anything that could be cute, let me know about it!

The winner will receive a big parcel of goodies, possibly including:

Buttons, Plant Decoration and Mrs. Flower! - amongst other things, plus a prototype of your suggestion (if do-able!)

I'll close it on 4th May. You can enter several times if you have lots of ideas! Please join in wherever you are, worldwide postage is no problem :)

Good luck!

London, Tulips, Buttons, and Beefeaters

2009-04-21T12:35:00.000-07:00

I had a lovely day in London at the weekend - just look at this pic of the spectacular tulips outside Buckingham Palace!

The weather was lovely, and I even caught a bit of a tan :)

I've made a few new buttons this evening...

I'm particularly fond of the lilac swirls :) - will put them on my website soon.

I've noticed an increase in sales of my Mrs. Flower kits - it must be this lovely spring weather we're having, inspiring everyone to make their own friendly Mrs. Flower!

Get your own kit here for just £3.50.

New fabric

2009-04-15T11:17:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone

I have been busy working on a big bag order this last few days, so I haven't been creating much new stuff to speak of. So instead, I thought I'd share a picture of some new fabric I bought recently...So pretty!

It's from a shop in Chorlton in Manchester called Leon's, well worth a visit if you're local.

And a Mrs. Flower who I caught sitting on the fridge.

Easter Fun

2009-04-10T12:02:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

I've had a nice relaxing day today, after a very busy few weeks.

I met my mum for lunch in the pub which was lovely, and the very best thing about it was the chocolate fondue pudding :)))) Well - my mum's company was lovely too, but man that was good pudding ...

Meanwhile I've been working on a few orders for my new range of jewellery bags which you can find on my website and on etsy. I'm welcoming descriptions from jewellery sellers who are after a range of bags tailor-designed to their business or logo.

Tomorrow I am going to try and get a last minute hair appointment as my doo is growing out of control, and *hopefully* do some sewing on my patio!

xx

Small Bags

2009-04-05T14:39:00.001-07:00

Here's my new range of little bags.

They're perfect for holding items of jewellery, or other small precious things!

They are all available to buy individually or in sets of ten at my website.

Each bag measures roughly 3" square and is secured with pretty silver ribbon!

More Buttons

2009-04-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

A few more buttons using new fabrics I've bought recently :)

All available on http://www.peggycrafts.co.uk/ and http://www.peggycrafts.etsy.com/ !

And, some felt & flower button decorations! The possibilities are endless with these little cuties - card toppers, brooches, notebooks, gift tags...

Mrs. Cloud

2009-03-26T04:53:00.000-07:00

Please give a nice warm welcome to Mrs. Cloud...

She is currently sitting atop my most recent tote bag.

Only £7.50 from my online store!

Felt Hearts

2009-03-25T06:04:00.000-07:00

I've been busy sewing these felty hearts recently...

They are available plain, or scented in rose, vanilla or lavender.

I'll be putting them up in my shops later on today!

Checking in

2009-03-23T01:59:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

I am STILL without the internet at home (pooo) so I am just posting a quick one to say 'hello!' and don't worry, I am still crafting! By the time we finally manage to get the web up and running, I am going to have squillionz of new peggycrafts products to show you - I have been busy working on my button range as well as my new scented hearts and also my tote bags.

I have had a big order from a shop (eek! yey!) for lots and lots of pretty buttons so I am working on that this week (my poor thumbs!) as well as everything else. I sincerely hope to have my web connection sorted at home soon - when there will be pictures overload!

Love

Helen xx

Connectivity

2009-03-15T03:31:00.000-07:00

Since moving to our new flat, we still haven't got the internet up and running, so I am in the gym over the road this morning using their free internet connection. (Not doing any exercise, I hasten to add!)

So I just wanted to let my lovely readers know that normal service should be resumed in a week or two, when I plan to have a giveaway to celebrate 1. Spring and 2. The return of me being on the web!!

Recently I've been working on the following:

- Cute little scented hearts to go in drawers etc
- Acquiring many types of buttons (because I love them)
- Creating painted beads and painted wooden buttons
- Making multipacks of felt card-toppy things
- Tidying my new house!!

xx

Hulme Hall

2009-03-08T06:16:00.000-07:00

Hi readers!

Just a quick post to say that I've signed up for the April 13th Craft Fair at Hulme Hall, at Port Sunlight, on the Wirral. Has anyone been to this one before? And more importantly, will anyone be going to it in April?

I've decided to concentrate on making bags and purses for the fair. Surely, everyone will need nice new pretty bags for the summer??

Sorry I don't have any pictures today, I am at the gym (!?!?!?) where they have free internet! Yey!

Moving House

2009-03-06T01:20:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to explain my absence for the last week - we've been moving house!

Our new flat is really nice and spacious, which is allowing me plenty of space to do all my crafting! My OH was getting mad when I spent the first half-a-day arranging my craft cupboard, when the living room was still full of carrier bags and boxes...teehee.. but Mrs. Flowers have to have a good home to live in!

Normal blog and crafting services to be resumed next week :)

Blue Spotty Button Bag

2009-02-25T03:47:00.000-08:00

Listed today on Etsy.

There's a free one with every button order before the end of Feburary!!!!!

New spotty buttons

2009-02-21T06:10:00.000-08:00

Here are my latest buttons...

There's just something so nice about spotty things!

I'm very happy today because we signed for our new flat this morning. We're moving about 2 miles down the road but the flat itself is so much nicer and we should be in by this time next week, fingers crossed. :)

Don't forget my free button bag offer with every button order before the end of February.

Twitter

2009-02-19T03:35:00.000-08:00

Could anyone possibly explain to me how twitter works?

I have signed up, and so far I have started following swirly arts (hi swirly!) and beads by lili and also the innocent drinks (those smoothie making people)! (not sure why)

I have put one update in but I don't know who can see it or how I find other people on there?

Help, please!

Showcase

2009-02-18T05:13:00.000-08:00

I'm in an etsy showcase today.

http://www.etsy.com/showcase.php

You might be able to see one of my Mrs. Flower bags hanging out, making friends with other people's pretty bags!

Buttons and Freebie!

2009-02-16T06:17:00.000-08:00

Hooray! My new button page is fully stocked with photos!

I'm really enjoying making buttons recently and there's no limit to the designs I can come up with!

There will be a free button bag with every button purchase until the end of February.

Valentines

2009-02-15T13:17:00.000-08:00

No photos today I'm afraid (it's dark already!) but just wanted to put a quick post to say that I had a fabulous valentines weekend! - I hope you all did too! We spent a lovely weekend in a town near Blackpool, and when we went to the Pleasure Beach I even went on the Big One! It was awesome - we could see right out over the sea and down the promenade .. that is until we dropped about a million feet at 300mph (or something like that!)

I received lots of lovely pressies from Rick as well including a tub of my fave body butter from the body shop and some choccies and a red rose. :)

In crafty news, my new Pick'n'Mix button page is coming along nicely ...

I just need to add the piccies!

New button page

2009-02-12T12:04:00.001-08:00

I've added a new page to my website containing the buttons I've been making. http://peggycrafts.co.uk/page3.htm

I'm thinking of having a way for people to buy either a set of four, or a pick'n'mix way of buying a mixture / grab bag. The light's not too good for taking any more pictures now, but I will be adding others to my button collection soon. :)

Buttons and woes

2009-02-10T00:54:00.000-08:00

Oooh I do love making buttons.

I made these four greeny buttons using a remnant of some Amy Butler fabric. I am not sure if to list them in my etsy shop though? Any thoughts?

Aside from this, I have not been crafting much since last week, as Rick and I have been running all over the place trying to sort out our house move. We thought we had it all sorted yesterday, but there's been some delays etc so we will just have to give it another couple of weeks to see what happens.

I'm off to my mum and dad's today before teaching this evening so I'd better go and get ready!

Buttons and Bags

2009-02-06T06:30:00.000-08:00

What better than to combine two of my favourite things.. buttons, and bags?

A button bag!

This cute little bag measures 5.5" x 4" and is listed in my etsy shop. It contains these two little butterfly fabric buttons as well. What better place to store your buttons?

Look also at these little pretties purchased from the bead store in Chester - I'd highly recommend it if you live in the area :)

Eagle eyed readers will also notice the bargainous prices!

Stripy bag

2009-02-02T05:45:00.001-08:00

I do like making bags!

I'm putting this new stripy one in my etsy shop today.

Lined tote bag

2009-01-29T11:56:00.000-08:00

This is my latest creation - a spotty tote bag with a smily Mrs. Flower on the front. It's fully lined and machine sewn, and I'm really quite pleased with it!

Sorry for the delay!

2009-01-26T06:25:00.000-08:00

It's been two whole weeks since I last posted on here - I'm sorry, dear readers! It's been a really manic two weeks so I do have a good excuse (honest!).

Since going part-time at work I've been busier than I ever thought possible - I am teaching 4 evenings a week now including a class of 10 which is great.

And also, my dad has been very ill this past few weeks so I have been rushing all over the place, including a delightful late night trip to the hospital at 12.30 on saturday night (nicely timed, Dad).. he seems to be improving now though, so that's good.

Consequently I have not been left with very much time at all to do my peggycrafts things, but have no fear, I will be back with a vengeance soon! I also found out about a new fabric superstore (how did I not know of this before?) in Manchester so I will be going along there as soon as I get a spare hour.

Helen xx

Being planet friendly

2009-01-12T11:30:00.000-08:00

I've added a new PeggyCrafts sturdy, re-usable cotton shopping bag to my etsy shop.

It's nice to think that my little crafty bag might save someone from having to use lots and lots of carrier bags. PeggyCrafts is going green! :)

Scented Mrs. Flowers

2009-01-11T08:48:00.000-08:00

Hmmmmmmmm!

http://peggycrafts.co.uk/page3.htm

I'd better not tell anyone on here that this was actually my boyfriends's idea, as it might make him appear less manly than he would hope. So, no-one tell him! ;-)

New Year's Eve!

2008-12-31T02:31:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

Firstly, did everyone have a great Christmas? I hope so. Mine was really nice - at home with my family for a few days and my boyf came along too, so it was really enjoyable. Here's a pic of my dog after the present-giving festivities had ended... you can see what his favourite present was!!

A huge thanks to all of you who left comments on my left blog post to help me think of new ideas for the 2009 peggycrafts range! My out and out winner, mostly due to sheer volume of ideas, is lovely TipTop! Ruth, please could you send me your address, and I will post out a little thank you to you! I particularly like the idea of pencil toppers - definitely going to get going on that one - and felty alphabet and animal characters too. Thanks everyone!

Well, I'd better get on with cleaning my flat now, ready for our New Year's guests this evening! Happy New Year everyone!!xx

Mrs. Snowflake and Competition Time!!

2008-12-15T12:24:00.000-08:00

Look at Mrs. Snowflake on top of her tree :)

I've had some good news today - it's been confirmed that I will be going part-time in my day job after Christmas and

that means... that's right... lots of crafting!!!! I'm going to get super organised in January, and create a whole new range of products which I've been dreaming up.

To celebrate, I welcome any comments containing ideas for new characters to build into my new range. Already I have flowers (many of them), christmas characters, Mrs. Cloud, hearts... Any ideas received in my comments before Christmas will be entered into a little draw and I will send the winner a New Year's parcel of goodies...

Ideas on a comment, please!

Sneak Attacks

2008-12-08T13:07:00.001-08:00

I've just found out about the coolest thing which I'm so taken with, I decided to post about it. There's a big group of people who log on to http://www.handmademovement.com/ and participate in 'Sneak Attacks'. Basically, everyone goes to a little-known, usually new etsy seller, one who hasn't had many sales yet and looks as though they are struggling to get started selling their crafts. Then, as many people as possible purchase something from their shop, meaning that the seller gets squillions of sales all in one go! What a confidence boost to new business owners!

Well that's my sharing for the day. How are all of you?

I was thinking of having a little sale as well. I've got one Christmas stocking left (tree design) who I'm hoping will be snapped up before Christmas. Anyway, it's now 25% cheaper at my etsy store, and may even have a free gift thrown in too. :)

Brrrrrrrr

2008-12-04T13:14:00.000-08:00

It's very cold up here in the north these last few days... I'm at home with my fleece and scarf on and I'm enjoying the little bit of warmth given out by my laptop!

It's been another busy week, and Friday has come around really quickly. I've been out for coffee with my friends this evening, which was nice - we chatted about school and teaching (we're all teachers of one sort or another). Last night I was sliding about in my car going between lessons, and my favourite pupils gave me a bottle of wine to say thanks for their lessons so far - so that was very nice.

On the crafting front it's been a little quiet - the fair we were supposed to go to last weekend was cancelled unfortunately. I'm tootling along nicely with etsy and the website - and have an order from a work friend which I will complete over the weekend for some Mrs. Snowflakes!

New Etsy items

2008-11-27T04:48:00.000-08:00

I've been busy on my lunch break today adding new items to Etsy. Firstly, I've added my cute little Mrs. Flower keyrings onto there...

Also, an individual Snowman decoration, and my Mrs. Snowflakes. I won't post the pictures, as they've only been featured recently, but you can see them over there -> in my etsy pic!

In other news, I've decided to try a slightly new craft...button making. I've ordered some supplies from Blooming Felt so I will be experimenting with them after this weekend's craft fair. For which, incidentally, I am feeling a little underprepared - I am going to sew lots of things together tonight and tomorrow and by then I should hopefully be a bit more ready! :)

I'm so happy :)

2008-11-23T14:00:00.000-08:00

Because, I've been given a blog award!!! :) :) :) :)

Lovely TipTop has named me as one of her chosen people to receive the proximity blog award. For the following reasons...

This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships!These blogs are exceedingly charming.
These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends.
They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement.
Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!
Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

Now, my job is to pass this on to 8 more people. Hopefully, they will smile as much as I am doing!

Sarah at Blooming Felt, who has lovely pretty things!

ClaireP, whose blog entries always make me smile, and whose to do list is possibly longer than mine..

Sarah, because my Happy Tree is smiling down at me from his shelf :)

Sara, because she always has a lovely comment to share..

Rachel, who sent me the most lovely swap package, and whom I am still hoping will start a crafty business :)

Teacher man, whose blog I found when researching teacher training, and who makes me laugh out loud whenever I read new entries! (no idea of his name!)

Swirly, who has a blog purely for the joy of cute things (what more could you ask for??)

and finally,

Carolee Crafts, who is an enthusiastic and helpful on the craftsforum.

Phew, that took a while! Thanks again TipTop!x

Doodles :)

2008-11-16T07:41:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

Just a very quick post to say that if anyone lives in the Tadley / Basingstoke / Reading area, please go to visit a brand new craft shop which has opened on Franklin Avenue in Tadley, called Doodles! I am soon to be selling some of my PeggyCrafts items there alongside lots of other very talented peoples' craft work. Good luck to the two owners, Melinda and Katy, I hope it goes really well for you guys!!

Meanwhile, a little picture of some Mrs. Snowflakes...

Full steam ahead

2008-11-09T14:08:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone

I've had a busy weekend preparing for my next craft fair which is this coming Wednesday. I've been making lots of felt phonecases,

more Mrs. Flower keyrings and brooches...

and also, some very cool Christmas stockings!

All available on my website and at etsy. :)

Some recent pictures

2008-11-03T13:00:00.001-08:00

A few pictures of the decorations I've been making recently...

It's no wonder I have sore thumbs!

Busy me

2008-11-01T14:24:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone

I've realised that another busy week has gone by since I last posted on my blog. It's been very action packed - I've had another big order through my website which I've been finishing off today ready to post on Monday. And a few friends have been requesting items as well - which are also nearly done!

We had 'Wear it Pink' yesterday at work to raise money for Breast Cancer Research, which went really well - everyone looked very pretty in pink AND we had tasty pink fairy cakes - hmmmmmmmm!

You may find it uncool that I'm blogging on a Saturday night ... as do I ... we did have plans to go out, but unfortunately our friend has come down with nasty old food poisoning, so we have postponed for another week. On the plus side, I have enjoyed a nice glass of rosé and the X factor... ;-)

'Til next time, I'll leave you with this pretty pink flower xx

Website re-jig

2008-10-26T10:06:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

Before I start, I just realised that it's only 5 in the afternoon and it's DARK! And raining!

I don't actually mind winter, in fact I quite like the whole staying in where it's cosy thing, but I think it's always a slight shock to the system when the clocks go back.

I've been fiddling about with my website this afternoon and have managed to put my lovely Christmas decorations in pride of place on the front page!

Thank you to Sarah at Blooming Felt for giving them a lovely mention in her blog, too! :)

Back to work tomorrow, but I need to do lots of crafting in the evenings, to prepare for the two craft fairs I have coming up in November.

Happy Sunday everyone xx

Etsy Treasury

2008-10-23T12:23:00.000-07:00

I made an Etsy Treasury today!

Have a look here...

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=16905

It was so much fun! I had to look through lots of different craft items on etsy and choose some to go into my treasury - I chose the theme of Rudolph & Santa as I came across so many cute reindeer things and Christmas seemed a bit too vague.

You have to wait for the number of treasuries to drop below 333 before you can make one, so I was watching the screen for ages! Now I know how to make them, I'm going to make more!!

Halloween sale!

2008-10-22T13:38:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention earlier, that I've reduced the prices of my Halloween Trick or Treat Bags to £1.50 - I would like to send them all off to happy trick or treaters before the day itself! I have three left, so if anyone has three kiddiwinks who plan to go trick or treating, just pay for two through my website and I will throw the 3rd one in for free!

Phew!

2008-10-22T10:55:00.000-07:00

I've realised that I've not posted for over a week now - eek!! I've been so busy, I just don't know where the time's gone. It's a hectic time of year at work, and I'm also teaching a few evening classes too. And, most excitingly, I've finished my very first wholesale bulk order!

Hooray!

I have packaged everything up (very carefully, I didn't want any of them getting travelsick) and sent them all off today, so a supersized load of my Christmas decorations are winging their way to Blooming Felt ready to appear at some craft fairs in the South. :)

I'm going to have a relaxing evening tonight, and then get going on creating some more felty goodness tomorrow. I've got another craft evening in 3 weeks, so I need to get ready for that - and have you noticed how Christmassy it's getting in town? With any luck, there'll be lots of keen shoppers at the next two craft fairs!

Hope everyone is well :)

Christmas Decorations

2008-10-13T13:15:00.001-07:00

Evening all,

Just stopping by to post a picture of my new Christmas decorations..

These packs of five little Christmas tree buddies are available on my website and etsy shops now and cost just £6 for a pack of five!

I was a little surprised, and extremely happy, to sell out of these yesterday at the Ordsall Hall craft fair - yippee!

One down, two to go

2008-10-12T13:19:00.000-07:00

I had the first of 3 craft fairs today at Ordsall Hall in Manchester and it went surprisingly well!! I'm very pleased to say! I made a nice profit (not going to put me in a new tax bracket, but it may cover a few small purchases in hobbycraft) which I was really pleased about, and received many nice compliments about my things. :) Hooray. My mum came along too which was great - thanks mum! :)

I also got to meet two lovely people from www.craftforum.co.uk - Ruth from Tip Top Toppers and Susie from SusieQ cards - was great meeting u both :)

I've got a stack of crafting and other jobs to do this week but I think I'll make a start on that in the morning!

Craft Fairs Galore

2008-10-09T02:06:00.000-07:00

I've got three craft fairs coming up in the next two months. The first is this Sunday at Ordsall Hall in Salford, near Manchester. I've been umming and ahhing about whether it's too early to have Christmas stock at this one - so I have decided to just take a bit of Christmas stuff with me and see what happens.

Then there's one on 12th november at Cloverlea school in Altrincham, and finally one on 30 November at Port Sunlight on the Wirral. Phew! I certainly won't be getting bored!

One of the things I'm hoping will attract some interest is my Halloween Card Toppers.

In other news, I'm very excited to have had my very first wholesale order!! Woohoo! Lovely Sarah from Blooming Felt has asked for a job lot of some products and I'm well on the way with getting them all finished!

Freebie winner announced

2008-10-06T09:08:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I'm pleased to announce the winner of my halloween themed freebie this sunny October evening... congratulations go to... doo doo dooooooo

Debbie!

Debbie said...
Hi Peggy...These are soooo cute and very reasonably priced. Great idea! BTW, I love everything there is about England!!! Wish I were there, too.
03 October 2008 07:05

I asked http://www.random.org/ to choose me a number between 1 - 20 and it chose 17 - hooray! Debbie, please could you e-mail me your address (helen at peggycrafts dot co dot uk - hope my anti spam technique is legible!) and I will post out your pressie. :)

In other news I have been extremely busy creating a new set of seasonal buddies...

These festive tree decorations will be in my etsy shop and my website soon!

Trick or Treat?

2008-09-29T06:27:00.000-07:00

I've got the day off from my regular day job today and I've been spending it wisely!

... making Trick or Treat bags for Halloween!

These will be in my etsy shop in a few minutes and on my website too. Only £2.50 ($5) - total bargain!

Keep the comments coming for entry into this month's freebie!

Returned mojo and freebie

2008-09-28T05:33:00.000-07:00

Feeling a lot more inspired by crafting again now, I think mostly since I've had a good sleep or two!! I spent a great day with my mum yesterday as well and bought some nice new fabrics so I'm going to have a creative afternoon.

To celebrate the return of my mojo I've decided to have a freebie giveaway! Anyone who leaves a nice comment on my blog between now and next Sunday will be entered into a draw, and that person will win a selection of the goodies I'm preparing to take to the craft fair in two weeks.

Spoooky!

Helen :)

Friday feeling

2008-09-26T13:29:00.000-07:00

I'm sooo glad it's Friday evening - it's been crazy busy at work this week and I really need a rest! I'm going to visit my mum tomorrow and we're doing a spot of shopping and coffee drinking in town :), then I'm going to not one but two housewarming parties tomorrow night! yey!

I've also been doing some evening jobs this week as well, as I am also a teacher, so that has been keeping me really busy - it feels like such a novelty to be in the house in the evening!!

This is a pic of my doggie who's had a doggie operation this week - luckily he's recovering well!

Have just been reading my virtual friend Claire's blog and I think I feel the same about losing the crafting mojo. :( I just don't know what it is, but I am going through a phase where I don't feel motivated to make anything. It's probably because I haven't had much spare time recently, but I sometimes worry that people don't like my creations...although my logical side tells me I'm probably being silly! Poooo.... I'm looking forward to the craft fair on 12th October and I have a week off work the week before hand to prepare - that should sort me out!! :)

Does anyone else go through phases like this??!

xx

Spooky

2008-09-21T07:53:00.000-07:00

Voila my new Halloween Card toppers....

They're available on my website and etsy shops now.

Hope everyone's having a super weekend - I'm loving this chilled out Sunday. Have been busy at work all week so I needed a day of doing not much!! Only 3 weeks until the craft fair at Ordsall Hall in Salford now - better get preparing!!

Love

Helen x

I'm one of the Folksy folk

2008-09-14T11:16:00.000-07:00

I have a folksy shop!!

http://www.folksy.com/shops/PeggyCrafts

How exciting!

Been busy creating my halloween range of felt card-toppers this afternoon..pics soon... :)

Scented Mrs. Flowers and Freeeeeeebie

2008-09-11T12:36:00.000-07:00

I've just added some Scented Mrs. Flowers to my website - they look and smile just like my normal Mrs. Flowers, but they are filled with lovely potpourri so they smell gorgeous! I've got two different scents at the moment - vanilla and rose - and also a version which is empty, so that people can add some of their own potpourri. I might add some more scents at some point - depending on how well they sell.

Here's one as we speak hangin' around at the window...

Meanwhile, I've decided to have a little freebie session, to cheer myself up after finding out that I didn't guess the weight of the buttons correctly over on Sarah's blog :( ... teehee... The prize is going to be a Make Your Own kit, so that the lucky winner can have a go at making their own friendly flower. For everyone that orders something from www.peggycrafts.co.uk in the next week (until Thu 18th), there will be one of these popped in the package as well. :) hooray!

Anyway, that's all for now, Friday tomorrow and then the weekend, yey!

Etsy

2008-09-08T13:16:00.000-07:00

I'm on etsy!

http://www.peggycrafts.etsy.com/

yey! :)

I'm online!

2008-09-06T10:34:00.000-07:00

Well PeggyCrafts has been up and running for two days and it seems that a few people have been stopping by already to see it. Thank you to all who have spared a minute to visit my Mrs. Flower population! :)

I'm going to really enjoy the chance of a relaxing Sunday today..drink lots of tea...do some sewing...watch tv... :) woohoo!

I went to Bury Market in Manchester yesterday, it was great, and I can really recommend it to anyone who lives near to Manchester. There's loads of great fabric stalls, including a few who sell all the trimmings (zips, buttons). We also saw quite a few cardmaking stands, people selling the papers, trims, pens etc. A fun day out if you're in the Northwest, plus we stopped at Heaton Park on the way home, and actually managed to catch some sunshine!!

(a felt ice cream cone!)

Finishing Touches!!

2008-09-04T13:07:00.001-07:00

I'm spending this evening finalising my website and adding pictures. It feels as though I've been picture-taking, uploading, tweaking and typing forever now - I really admire crafters who have huge ranges of things on their sites!

Anyway, it's been a massive learning experience for me to design and build a website, so I'm quite proud of myself. I just hope that people will tootle along and have a look at my things and leave me comments.

I'm not charging postage for this first weekend (Friday 5 - Sunday 7) as it is my grand opening (!!!) so I want as many people as possible to stop by and grab a Mrs. Flower or two!!

Wish me luck everyone :)

Helen xx

Big Bro

2008-09-02T14:52:00.000-07:00

Yes that's right I'm watching Big Bro. Nope, not embarrassed, I love it!!

Also went for a nice swim earlier on and decided to stop at Tesco on the way home for milkshake ingredients :))))) Hmmm! Our super milkshake tip is to add a couple of scoops of Ovaltine to a milkshake, it makes it all tasty and sweet and sooo nice - it goes with any flavour and it's sooo good!!

Only 3 days, yes 3 days until http://www.peggycrafts.co.uk/ opens itself up to the big wide world, I'm very excited and have been sewing like a crazy lady for the last few weeks. I've decided to make a whole category for felty embellishments, because all the cute ideas I have could be used for anything - pins, card toppers, bag decorations, all kinds :) all will be revealed in a day or two :)

Easy like sunday morning..

2008-08-31T00:38:00.000-07:00

Good morning folks,

Only a very quick note this morning to say hi as I'm going swimming in a moment! Yes that's right, exercise on a Sunday! eek!

I hope to be back later on with photos of my recent pot plant decorations, felt embelishments, and the all new Mrs. Cloud :)

xx

Bloggy blog

2008-08-26T11:41:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I couldn't think of a very interesting title!

Had a good-ish day at work today...good because we had a good laugh and it was nice to start the week on a Tuesday...ish because I feel a bit as though I have reached a natural end with my day job. It's exciting times for me at the moment though, especially with PeggyCrafts, and also because I am soon to be starting some voluntary work in a primary school which I'm really looking forward to. So, plenty of things for me to look forward to!!

Nipped into town after work today with the main aim of getting my new specs adjusted. But I accidentally found myself going into a fabric shop! I just don't know how it happened!! :-) Only spent a tiny little bit though, and bought a few new sheets of felt!

Really looking forward to Friday next week when my site will be open to the public :) I'd better go now and get to work on some of the Pot Plant Decorations I'm going to be selling..like Mrs. Bee (below!)

Not long to go now :)

2008-08-24T08:49:00.001-07:00

I've been really busy preparing for the launch of peggycrafts this weekend...

Before

After...

Yey!

Don't forget 5th September when you can order your own Mrs. Flower.

Have a super bank holiday everyone :)

Website launch date!!!

2008-08-19T10:38:00.001-07:00

Yey! I've decided on a date to officially launch peggycrafts.co.uk which is (drum roll...) 5th September!! Hoorah!

I decided to bring it forward from my original date because I find that I work better and quicker when I'm under some time pressure, so the five weeks I had given myself to spare were doing me no favours. So now I have just over two weeks to go and I am going to pack in the sewing!!

I hope as many of you as possible will come and visit my new site on 5th September. :)

Lots of love

Helen xx

Snip snip

2008-08-18T12:42:00.001-07:00

I've been sooo busy cutting things out recently, I really think I might have given myself an RSI!

It's quite good fun actually, I just watch the TV at the same time (occasionally have to throw some away if a good bit came on and I cut the wrong way)

I've got a craft fair in mid October which seems to be coming round really fast, so I'm making some advanced preparations.

I have to admit though that I am WELL behind on my robot swap. I have got some cool ideas but I need to get on with getting them onto paper!

Scary Film :(

2008-08-15T15:33:00.000-07:00

I've decided to do some very late night posting as the boys are watching a VERY scary film on tv ... it's called the Grudge... if you've ever seen it, you will know how scary it is too!! :( So I am keeping my eyes firmly on my nice bright computer screen! Phew!

Anyhoo, had a very busy day at work today so I am very glad it's the weekend. :) And plus, my Mum is coming to stay!! Woohoo!

Craft-wise, everything is going really well - spent a lot of time snipping out new shapes of felt yesterday so I'm all ready for doing plenty of sewing over the weekend. Website launch date is going to be September 26th...yes put it in your diary people...only 5 weeks to go!! :) So this week apart from sewing I've been deciding on the 6 categories to go on www.peggycrafts.co.uk

Mrs. Flowers
Craft & Scrapbooking Supplies
Felty Greetings
Keyrings, Magnets & Brooches
Make your own kits (I'm especially excited about this one!!)
Tags & gift-wrap thingies

YEY! I'm sooo excited!!

Will put piccies up over the weekend :))))

Aaagh!

2008-08-10T04:05:00.000-07:00

I had a very stressful time this morning trying to get to a craft fair / general market type place in the city centre. I found it ok (thanks to Rick's trusty sat-nav) but when I got there, it was £3 to park. But oh poo! I only had £1.50 with me, and as it was in the middle of nowhere, I had no idea how to get to a cash point! :( I thought about parking on a nearby street, but there was some slightly scary-looking 'travelling folk' nearby and I was too worried about leaving Flo.

Anyhoo, in crafty news, everything is going nicely to plan for my website launch next month. I've been busy sewing, sticking, purchasing things from hobbycraft and organising my website. Not long to go now - I'm aiming for 1st October. :)

Well I'm just about over this morning's chaos now so I'm going to have a cup of tea and get on with making some more felty goodness.

Have a lovely day everyone

Mrs. Flower Keyrings

2008-08-05T13:24:00.001-07:00

I've been working on some Mrs. Flower keyrings recently..I'm really pleased with how they have turned out. :) They are so smily, I find myself smiling back at them like some kind of crazy woman!

Mrs. Flowers are everywhere

2008-08-03T05:03:00.000-07:00

I'm having a really relaxing day today which is much needed after a busy week at work and a late night yesterday - went to a wedding of an old friend which was lovely and the bride and groom looked very happy. :) ahhh.

I've also been informed by Claire that I'm going to be in a robot swap!! Yey! I've never done a crafty swap before and I didn't know how to go about joining one, but Claire has become one of my favourite crafters so as I was busy checking out new creations on her blog, I found out how to sign up - yey! I'm not too sure how my robot design will turn out yet, but I'm very excited!

Meanwhile, Mrs. Flowers have been getting up to all kinds. I've been very excited to learn about a new shop which is opening soon who will be stocking my Mrs. Flowers - and shortly they will be available to buy on my very own website which is coming along nicely!!

Website working!!! :)

2008-07-28T10:45:00.000-07:00

YEY! My website troubles are now long gone and peggycrafts.co.uk is up and running! I have a LOT of work to do on it yet so you'll be seeing lots of 'under construction' signs in the next few months, but I have lots of plans for it and I'm really excited. Please keep checking back for developments!!

Had a nice day at work today, not too frantic and some of my friends had returned from their holidays so it was nice to catch up, although I was jealous of the suntans! I'm going to stay in and watch some tv tonight, and get on with some sewing- I have got a sewing to do list going on!

It's my bro's birthday tomorrow so we're all going out for a meal in chiquitos - really looking forward to it and have got him a super pressie!!

Grrr

2008-07-24T12:06:00.001-07:00

I've been on the phone to a customer service department quite a lot recently and it's getting very frustrating!! This particular company's customer service dept is in Australia of all places, so I'm worrying about my phone bill... :-/ and I keep being told that I'm next in the queue, and that my call is important to them...but they just don't know the answers!! POO! I'm only trying to get them to do a simple thing...you would think it was rocket science??! :(

Anyhoo, onto chirpier things, we've got a new TV today! It's huuuuuuuuge! Rick did all of the setting up / shifting furniture around to make space for it, and when I came home from work it was all ready! Yey! Never before have I watched hollyoaks in such glorious technicolour!

Had a good day at work today, nothing too exciting happened but just a nice pleasant day. Plus, the weather is LOVELY here so I enjoyed my early morning walk to the bus stop!!

And finally I had a slip from the postman today telling me there's a parcel for me at the post office - how exciting - I have no idea what it will be. I'm going to collect it tomorrow - fingers crossed it's something nice and not dull like a gigantic bill!

Nice weekend

2008-07-19T13:53:00.000-07:00

I've had a really nice chilled out day today with some sewing, some housework-type jobs and a bit of a lie-in. :) Unfortunately Rick is not too well but he's on the mend now and is even managing to drink a milkshake! Had a really fun evening last night with some friends playing monopoly - it got a bit insane after a while as we all wanted to win (of course this had nothing to do with all of the wine we were drinking teeheehee)

I've been brainstorming this evening on how to develop my ever-growing family of Mrs. Flowers, and I've had some good ideas as to what I'll do next. The latest Mrs. Flower wants to say hello...

Many things going on

2008-07-14T10:41:00.000-07:00

It's been an insanely busy day at work today, so I'm going to chill out this evening with a well deserved pair of pink slippers and the TV! Also going to do some sewing :) and catch up on some jobs in the flat!

I'm back!

2008-07-12T10:42:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

It's been a while since my last post - I've been away on holiday for three weeks and since I came back last week I've been back to work already and trying to make our new house look presentable and pretty!!

Our holiday was absolutely amazing, the weather was wonderful and the theme parks were fab. NY is a crazy city, so much going on and so much to look at, we were totally overwhelmed but in a good way. I am glad to be back now, there's nothing like a holiday to revitalise and inspire you!

I'm planning all kinds of exciting things for PeggyCrafts. My website is still under construction and will be launched in the autumn, so meanwhile I'm going to get busy creating. I had so many ideas whilst I was away, mostly inspired by things I spotted in Disneyworld or NY - I just hope I don't forget them all (must remember to start carrying a notebook around with me!) So, pics will be following shortly.

I'm off to see Hancock (?) at the cinema this evening which should be good, and our friend's mum who is coming along is a real-life TV star!! I'm very excited - don't think I've ever met a celebrity before!!

Muscly

2008-06-15T01:23:00.000-07:00

This week at work our office was relocated, which meant packing up everything and moving to another building just over the road! Our new office is quite nice and I am now sharing an office with some of my favourite people at work :)

We're also moving house tomorrow so I've spent most of my weekend packing, dusting, moving, shifting and tidying - and a lot of sneezing! Most of my things are in bags now so it's just a question of moving (our new flat is very close by so that's good!)

Congratulations to my friend Z who passed his medical finals this week - yey Z!

And in very happy news - my mum's coming over to visit today! Even better, we're going shopping!! Holiday on Saturday - only 6 days to go! Yippeee!

In crafty news, I've started building my new website which will be up and running in late summer. It's taking me a while to get used to the new programme, but I'm getting there. Meanwhile I've been creating a whole family of Mrs. Flowers ... they've been busy posing too...

Website Troubles

2008-06-09T12:38:00.000-07:00

Evening all,

Grrrrrrrrr I'm having all kinds of website troubles this evening. As some of you may have noticed, peggycrafts.co.uk has been offline for a while. I decided to switch to a new host, which is more creative and straight-forward to use. But now I'm having problems with moving my old domain over to re-use. The nice people at my old host sent me step-by-step instructions on how to do it, and I SWEAR I'm following them exactly, but I keep getting an error message! POO!

So have sent them another e-mail and hopefully I'll be up and running in no time!

I'm very excited for getting my new site underway. I'm going to have all my things organised into different sections, and it's going to be really easy to use as well as being extreeeemely pretty!

Freeeeeeeeeebie winner and weekend catch up

2008-06-08T11:50:00.000-07:00

Hello folks,

Well I am very excited to announce the name of my first freebie winner... (drum roll please) it is...

craftyjan!

I was flummoxed as to how to pick so I gave each comment a number and then the first footballer number which came on the tv was the winner! Hoorah for some random German football player! (Got to make the most of all the footy on tv)

Please can you send me your address, craftyjan, and I'll post your parcel out :)

I've been busy felting today, partly making the above pressie and partly starting to prepare for the craft fair in October. Yes it's ages away, but it's good to be ready! I might try to sign up for another one around the same time, as well. I haven't taken any pictures today, but I will do soon.

I have been sitting outside in the sun today as well - until it got too hot! Yes that's right, too hot! (I have very fair skin, you see). Rick and I went to collect our holiday tickets from the travel agents yesterday - only a week and 6 days til we go :-) I'm sooo excited. I'll put up LOTS of pics when I get back!!

Back to work tomorrow and it's going to be busy..have got my coffee supplies at the ready!

Freeeeeeebie

2008-06-04T05:53:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone

Thanks for your kind comments and e-mails! I'm a little snowed under both at work and outside of work at the moment. Work (my actual day job) is seriously crazy - I have piles of paperwork to go through, training courses to go on, and an office move next week! But, we're all managing to stay sane (just) and have a laugh.

Don't forget to comment / e-mail this week as I'm going to be sending out my freebie prize at the weekend - to say thank you to everyone who's putting up with all my crafty chattering! (either online or in person...teehee)

Better get back to work..eek

Helen xx

So much to doooo

2008-06-02T11:23:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone

I am finding that I keep thinking of more and more things I should be doing in the name of PeggyCrafts and it's hard trying to fit everything in! Tonight I'm going to be updating my blog, creating letterheaded paper, and hopefully doing some more sewing if I get the chance. I received some compliments on my homemade felt phone case today so I might make some more of those.

I've also learned that I have a stall at a craft fair in Greater Manchester in October so although it's a while away, I intend to start making things soon! :-)

I've got the day off work tomorrow, so I'm going to do some tidying, some crafting and some shopping!! Only two weeks til we go on holiday now :)))) yey! Need to pick up some suncream and some summery clothes. I forget if we've mentioned before, but we're going to Florida. Yey!

Oh yes and most importantly I am having a mini giveaway to celebrate posting 100 messages on the craft forum. Please leave a comment on my blog or on the forum by Friday and I'll send a celebration pressie out to a name drawn from the hat at the weekend. :-)

I don't have any new crafty pics so I'll put on this pic of some fireworks instead!

Sleepy

2008-06-01T15:07:00.000-07:00

Just a short post tonight, it's past my bedtime already!

Have had a very busy weekend, but it's been really fun. We all went to stay at my mum's last night which was great - we had a lot of tasty food, watched the final of Britain's got Talent, and had a good laugh. :-) Also went to a very fun housewarming party on Friday, but have also fitted in some crafting today!

Mrs Flower III - for our friend Yvonne :-)

A case for my mum's new phone

Then my phone got jealous so I had to make another one ... tee hee

Sweet dreams everyone!! zzzzzzzzzzzzz

PeggyCrafts

2008-05-28T13:22:00.000-07:00

I've renamed my website this week to better reflect the things I actually make. I've always loved painting, since I was a wee tot, but I have found recently that I get far more pleasure and enjoyment from sewing and textiles. I think the main reason for this is because I can make actually useful things, as well as decorative things - which is great. Whilst I'll always enjoy painting, I do find that it is a lot more work and frankly we have no wall space left. I love working with felt and other textiles and I'm going to love creating textile pieces for other people too.

Anyhoo, things are going well chez peggycrafts. Have been ridiculously busy at work this week again - sooo many students coming to our university next year. But, happily, it's all interesting stuff, and I enjoy the interaction with the students, especially as they come from many far-flung places across the globe, which makes for a very varied day.

Only 3 weeks and 3 days until our holiday now!! Wooooooo!

Had a good catch up with my friend Bethie yesterday who mentioned that she's been reading my blog - Helloooo Bethie!! :-)

Going to fiddle about with my website for a bit now. I'll blog again soon and revamped website is on its way. hoorah!

Loooong weekend

2008-05-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

I'm really enjoying the long weekend - it's so nice to be a sunday night without that 'going back to work' feeling! As much as I enjoy my job, it is nice to have a rest for an extra day.

I haven't been doing much crafting this past few days but hopefully will get the chance to do plenty tomorrow. Today I have been tidying and sorting through many cupboards and drawers ready to move flats in a few weeks. We also went to have a look at a new TV - the one we've chosen is huuuuge so we really want to get a nintendo Wii now - they look so much fun! :-)

My next crafty project is to make a holder for my phone. I have sort of started it already but it needs some more work... will post a pic when finished!

Hope you all have a nice bank holiday, will post pics soon.

:-)

New arrivals

2008-05-18T12:17:00.000-07:00

It's been a very busy week and dotted amongst the mayhem there have been quite a few new arrivals!

The most exciting was our friend from work who has had a baby girl. We're all really pleased for her and very excited to meet the little one soon! I've made her a little card which you can see here...

Also, my funky little happy tree arrived this week too!! It's going to hang in my car when I next go out for a drive but for the moment happy tree is busy posing for photos...

Awesome! Thank you to Sarah for my happy tree which came in a very exciting and colourful parcel.

Meanwhile I've been busy creating things myself - meet Mrs. Flower and Mrs. Flower II...

Heehee :-) back to work tomorrow (groan) - have a good week all!!xx

Felty fun

2008-05-13T11:13:00.000-07:00

I've been experimenting with my new supplies of felt recently and I have decided that it is my favourite ever craft. It's just so versatile, comes in every colour under the sun, and is a dream to sew with!

I love it! :-)

I've subscribed to Quick & Crafty magazine as well - it covers all kinds of crafts and is a good source of inspiration. I found this lovely felt wrap-thing for holding things - I guess you could put pencils or make up brushes in it...

In other news, we had a super weekend mostly spent outside. We had various celebrations for Rick's birthday, and two barbeques! Hello to all my lovely friends if you are reading - and good luck to those with exams!

Bye for now! xx

Yey!

2008-05-06T13:59:00.000-07:00

I'm sooo happy.

I won a happy-tree disguised as a gnome!!

This might sound a bit confusing. But, take a look here... http://www.paper-and-string.blogspot.com/ and all will become clear! I'm sooo proud. Flo is verrrry excited.

Meanwhile I've had a really bad cold the last few days so I've not felt like blogging. But I'm on the mend now. I just sound a bit croaky and have a VERY red nose.

On Sunday Rick and I went to a park in Manchester and hired a little boat to go out on the lake - it was really fun! There was also a little animal park there and some really cute little goats...

In crafty news, I've made a felt cushion this weekend...

It's Rick's birthday tomorrow so we're going out for tea :-) Happy Birthday my lovely xxx

Nice day

2008-04-30T14:29:00.000-07:00

I've had a nice day today. :-) Work was good - we're really busy at the moment, but it was a productive day all round. It's been quite sunny here in Manchester too - so I think everyone was extra chirpy! Plus, I have started a new Jill Mansell book called 'Thinking of You' - I love her books as they're always so happy and you can really get to know the characters.

This evening I've been making some felty pressies for my friends at work - I'm going to give them to them tomorrow. :-) I love them! I have taken some pictures which I will put up soon, since I'm having computer troubles!

My mum and dad came over yesterday to visit and brought casper with them. It was really nice. He's getting a bit old and doesn't really know which paw is which so he has trouble with stairs, and since I live on the third floor this was a bit tricky! Luckily I enticed him with some light & tasty dog snacks.

Weekend

2008-04-26T10:37:00.000-07:00

I'm really enjoying the weekend. Today I have been busy with some translations which is one of my part-time jobs. Documents are sent to me in other languages and I translate them into English and send them back. It's good and interesting, but this one was really hard! :-o so, I've decided to stop for today and do some crafty things instead.

I've finished my first sewing project and it's a ... needleholder! I'm very proud of it. I'll put up a picture soon.

Meanwhile I'm going to put a picture of my doggy.

Casper!

Feeling crafty

2008-04-21T07:49:00.000-07:00

To the right is a section of a picture which I did for my mum a few years ago. It's actually a little house which belongs to a lock-keeper in a small village in Berkshire.

I'm going to start uploading more pictures soon-promise! At the moment, I'm just trying to get very very organised. I've spent a long time doing research on crafty projects & chatting with all of my new found friends on the crafts forum and now I'm at the organising stage. I've been buying supplies, some off the internet from a lovely felt provider (so pretty!) , some from hobbycraft, and even B&Q!

The next stage is to get organised. This is actually quite good, as I like to tidy! I've been organising all my bits into storage, working out what I still need and already have. I've also been going through old boxes of things and throwing useless bits away, and saving pretty things which can be used again!

And soon I'm just going to start creating. Yey! :o)

Saturday

2008-04-19T13:47:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I've been fiddling with the layout and colour of my blog a bit this evening and I'm also going to have a go at adding some pics! Here's a nice one of some flowers we had in our flat recently.

I think it worked! :)

I had a very nice day of shopping / wandering round Manchester with my mum today. We had a good catch up and a giggle. This evening I've just been watching some tv and listening to my flatmates chattering ( I live with 4 others - all boys) so as you can imagine it gets a little noisy!

I've got a free day tomorrow so I'm going to sort out all my crafty supplies as they're beginning to take over the flat.

Happy sunday everyone! :-)

New blog

2008-04-18T06:01:00.000-07:00

Hello folks

I've decided to swap blog host cos I was having trouble with my old one. I think it worked fine and everything, but I just couldn't get to grips with how it worked!

So I've just copied my old posts into this one and am starting again.

so hopefully now it will link to my website! http://www.peggyprints.co.uk/

Helen xx

Meanwhile, I've been doing some online craft shopping this morning. I bought some felt from a lovely website called http://www.paper-and-string.co.uk/. I'm very excited for it arriving. I've never really done much sewing but I'm going to have a go at making some small felty type things with beads too - like brooches, maybe. I was so overwhelmed at all the lovely colours to choose from, that I ordered a multipack containing all the colours! yey!
I have so many craft ideas at the moment that I seem to spend more time thinking than getting anything done! And then every time I look at someone else's site (which I find off http://www.craftsforum.co.uk/) I get a whole new set of ideas! If only I had a lot more time (and didn't have to go to proper work!)
I'm going shopping with my mum tomorrow in Manchester and I think we'll have a look at the craftcentre in the northern quarter. I also need to get some new jeans since I dropped a porcelain pen on my usual ones and there's a big blob of ink in an unfortunate place.
Hope you're all enjoying that friday feeling!! Better get back to work now hehe xx
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Enjoyable weekend
by peggyprints @ 2008-04-13 - 22:02:32
Well I've had a really nice weekend but now it's sunday night and back to work tomorrow.
Friday was a good day at work, we had a day-long meeting which was good as it was with my lovely friends from the office (us young ones!) we got everything done which we needed to, but also had a good laugh and chat too.D I love my work friends, and we do keep each other going when stress levels are high!!
Went to see 'Son of Rambow' on Friday too, it was really good, I'd definitely recommend it if you fancy something light-hearted and funny. And on Saturday, we went to the North-West fireworks championships courtesy of our friend Maddy who's an events organiser, which was also really good - the fireworks were great and we went on some rides too!
Also have made a new clock this week which I'm pleased with, I just need to finish it off and then I'll put it on etsy so please check back if you'd like to see.
Hope everybody had a nice weekend!!
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My new Etsy shop
by peggyprints @ 2008-04-06 - 10:31:41
I've just opened my new Etsy shop, which is on a site recommended to me by the lovely folks at the craft forum.
It's an American site which showcases all different types of handmade crafts and I think my things will look nice in there.
So far I've just put in one of my wall clocks. You can see it here...
http://www.peggyprints.etsy.com/
Yey!
xx
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Saturday and website updates
by peggyprints @ 2008-04-05 - 16:36:36
Hi everyone
I've been busy making some updates to my website today, adding more pictures and the 'about me' section. Hope you get time to have a look. I went to buy some more art supplies this week, so I will be keeping myself busy doing some new paintings over the coming months.
We went out for tea last night, to a lovely pub called 'The Didsbury', which is in Didsbury (not suprisingly), in Manchester. I can highly recommend it - great food, and a lovely homely warm atmosphere with friendly staff. We each had a warm chocolate fondant pudding, it was sooo tasty, hmmmmmm
And also, my brother Mike has been promoted today!! He was made supervisor of the shop that he works in. Well done fee!!
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by peggyprints @ 2008-04-03 - 22:19:11
Hiya!
This is my second blog post and I don't really know what to write about...
Are you supposed to put hello at the beginning? I'll have to look at some other people's and see what they do.
Anyway, how are you all?
I've been busy updating my website this evening thanks to some helpful tips from my friends on the craft forum. There are so many talented people on there, yet everyone is willing to share tips and help others too.
It was my last day at work today until Monday and it was a pretty busy day. I've been helping out another team within my office all week and it's been really enjoyable, especially sitting opposite Nic who has been regaling me with pregnancy stories can't wait to meet our office's new arrivals!
Well hopefully I'll get lots of painting done over the weekend, I've a few things in mind which I'd like to get started on, so will post them as soon as they're ready.
Have a nice Friday everyone
Helen xx
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Ooh!
by peggyprints @ 2008-03-27 - 17:22:59
I've just set up my very own blog! I'm very excited!