Christmas over, prepare to greet 2012

I do hope you all had a very happy holiday.  Ours went very well with a lovely Christmas Eve with my daughter, her partner and his teenage children.  During the evening we Skyped my family in Australia for whom it was already Christmas morning and watched the grandchildren busy with their presents.  They were getting ready to go off to the beach for Christmas lunch!  A quiet morning and a late afternoon (very grown-up) Christmas lunch at a local hotel followed.  My 91 year old mother who, as many of you will know had a fall and fractured her pelvis managed, with the help of a wheechair and helpful family members, to join us and have a lovely time.  Before I set off with her we spoke to my brother who lives in America and was only just starting his day.  What an around the world Christmas!

Back to what we are doing with Katie Chucklemouse.  This week I want to show you the first piece we are putting on Etsy.  It's one of the first pieces I made in order to decide on a design for our Toy/Laundry Bag.  You will see changes to the design with the piece I am going to show you over the next few weeks until we decided on the final one.

I hope the help I have been given on my favorite forums when it comes to taking better photos is beginning to show and that you are getting a good view!  Don't forget you can click on the photos to get a better view.

One of this weeks jobs is to set up the Etsy shop and then this will appear so keep you fingers crossed that I can work out what to do!

Another Tuesday, another post

I thought I would let those of you who haven't been in on the thinking process into the name and logo we have chosen for our new company.  My daughter Kate said she liked my ideas for a crafty business and would like to be involved.  I spent a while looking for a crafty name which would cover a variety of items and then I had a lightbulb moment.  When my daughter, the now grown up Kate, was little, her dad was in love with her chuckle; it was the sort that should be prescribed on the NHS, it made you feel so good.  So he called her Katie Chucklemouse and that was just the name we needed.  So

was born!

We started with lots of ideas and one of the first things I made was:

Lots and lots of little lavender bags in Cath Kidston fabric to go at the front of our stall when we go to our first craft fair.  The whole house smelled of lavender while I was making them - lovely.  (There are quite a few more than are here).

I think we are aiming for Easter for the first fair but we are also looking at online selling and more. Next week I will start to show you some of the other items I researched and where I got with them.

Happy crafting and a very Happy Christmas to you all.

Such a long break

I am so sorry that I haven't been keeping up with my blogging.  In an effort to update you with what I have been making I am starting on the backlog today.  Strangely, as I have only made a few cards and done a lot more sewing since I was last in touch, the first item is a card

I did this for a WI competition (which I won and felt very pleased with myself).  I love the Tim Holtz Old  Jalopy Die and have plans to use it in a very different way later on but it gave me the basis for this card.  The card blank was a gorgeous Hunky Dory card which I had great difficulty using as it was so beautiful.

The Guipure Lace is from Wild Orchid.  Beware if you go to this shop.  I have just been to check the link and they have some very exciting pins.  The "congratulations" was made on my Cricut machine.  The pearls where from my stash and I am not sure where I got them.  The "veil" was a circular wedding favour net, again from my stash.

 I put the silver tissue paper through the cuttlebug in a pretty folder. The box was totally over the top and didn't go to the competition.  It was a spare fold-a-box box that I had and which I trimmed with matching lace.