Up and Running

All of my shops were closed for a little while, but you'll be glad to hear that both my Etsy and Folksy shops are now back up and running again.  I'm still working through my Wow Thank You shop but it's getting there (oh for a 30 hour day).

I had a large order to work through and decided to taken the time to reorganise all of my shops whilst they were closed and kill two birds with one stone.  For a while I have been making the kindle and tablet cases to order but I wanted to have ready to ship cases in stock for the Christmas period.  I'm not a patient person so I always think twice (three times) about whether or order something that needs to be made to order, partly because the item I get may or may not be exactly like the item I ordered and partly because when I order something I like it to arrive and be able to tick it off my list, especially at Christmas.  You know when you just like to know something is done and you don't have to think about it any more.

So anyway, all the custom orders I've been making happily fall into three sizes, all right more than that if you count ipads and phones etc, but the Kindle and tablet cases are now available to buy in three sizes and all are ready to ship.

The Size 1 Cases, suitable for Kindle Nook and Kobo Touch, Kindle 4 & 5 and the new Kobo Glo and Kindle Paperwhite.

Paddington Lime

Paddington Raspberry

The Size 2 cases, suitable for the Kindle 3 Keyboard (wifi & 3G), the Google Nexus 7, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 and the new Kobo Arc.

Notting Hill Raspberry

Kaito Red

And the Size 3 cases, suitable for the Kindle original and the Kindle 2 as well as some of the other larger tablets.

Book Store

Scratched Vinyl

These cases and more are now all available to buy from both my Folksy and Etsy shops, but please feel free to still get in touch if you would like a custom made case in a different fabric ... I haz many!

The Swimming Lessons

Just coming out the other end of a week long swimming crash course for Chloe.  It didn't go just as well as I had a hoped (I really shouldn't get my hopes up so much) but it did go well.  She didn't pass the class which means she will have to retake the beginner class and pass it before moving on to the next level.  The sticking point ... putting her head under the water willingly and confidently.  It's what caught a couple of the kids out so she isn't alone in having to take the class again.

I feel awful for her at the minute because she's actually ok about her head going under.  On the first day she managed to put her face in the water by herself, only for a second though and she slipped off her aids a couple of times and went under too and didn't freak out, she just stood up, wiped her eyes and carried on.  What she needs to do is stand in the middle of the pool with her hands on top of her head, fingers locked, and bend her knees until she's under then stand up again and she just can't bring herself to do it and after a day of trying it started a hinder her in a couple of other things as well.  She did learn to swim a few lengths of herself but not the prone 3 metres she needed to pass, she could float on her back on the first couple of days but by testing day so great was her determination to keep her head out of the water, even the back of her head that she couldn't manage to float.  The one good thing though is that it isn't fear stopping her from doing it, she's just decided that she doesn't want to and that kid's nothing if not stubborn as a mule!

Rather than book the next set of lessons again straight away I'm going to spend a bit of time taking her to the pool myself and my brother is going to do the same and we'll try and get her to put her head under, then she'll start proper lessons after Halloween in school which she can "pass" and the leisure centre will accept that as a pass and let her take one of the higher levels at that stage.

The lessons at Ards Leisure Centre are fantastic though if anyone in the area is thinking about taking their kids to learn to swim, I really can't fault them.  The instructor, Shaun, is great with kids, understanding but firm and turned out quite a few little swimmers this week.  One girl in particular who sank like a rock, couldn't figure out what to do with her arms and legs, and tensed so much with the floats that she went down like the Titanic on the first day was knocking out widths of the pool by Wednesday and she wasn't the only one.  The kids were all great too, really nice and encouraging and cheering each other on when it came to things like jumping into the pool.

So now I need to find a swimming costume ... you have been warned!!!

*************************

In other news I've finally set up a shop on Etsy and I've joined the lovely Crafty Folk Team over there who are kindly showing me the ropes and not getting annoyed when I ask yet another really stupid question that has a really obvious answer.  I'm learning, be nice to me:)

It's one of those things that has been on the to do list for ages now and I just never seemed to get round to it, but I sent the husband to bed with a beer and tv the other night, put my head down and got stuck in.  At the minute I'm duplicating across both shops but once I've settled in and have a better feel for the place I'll start to divvy up.

I've made a start adding a few listings to give me something that resembles a shop and I'll be able to carry on with the daily listing club in the Crafty Folk Team.

To celebrate my finally getting my finger out and getting some work done on the shop I'm having a little opening weekend offer.  You can use the code "OpenDay20" to get 20% off your order until the end of this weekend.  As I say I'm still adding stock a bit at a time so if there is something you've been after and I haven't got round to listing it yet, give me a shout and I'll pop it in there for you.   I'm nice like that:)

Kindle Case in Deckchair Stripe on Etsy

Kindle Case in Lemon & Lime on Etsy

Kindle Case in Aviary Birds

Summer Wrap Up and Shop Update

I never really did get the hang of Summer.  Some people are so organised and go into it with a handful of kids and plans for days out and holidays and trips to the beach and they do this with a clean house, a well stocked kitchen, a mountain of stuff in a rainy day box and with a camera in hand so they can show you how much fun their beautiful kids are having every day.  I fail on just about every level.  I end up running head long into it without so much as a notion scribbled on a napkin let alone a plan and my camera has been plugged in for use the last handful of times because I just don't seem to have gotten round to charging the batteries yet ...

Summers are disorganised chaos here, put it that way, but despite lots and lots and lots of rain we've still had plenty of fun.

I can't quite believe we're into the home stretch already.  Just two short weeks and Chloe will go back to school.  This week is the start of her crash course swimming lessons so even though it's tipping it down again ... oh aye it is .... I've actually got something planned, so there, neener neener and all that:)

She starts swimming classes in school this year and although she's pure water baby (it could have gone either way, I love the water, her dad ... not so much) and she's very comfortable in the water so should take to swimming, the last time we had regular access to a pool we didn't seem to get too far beyond this;

See, having far too much fun and none of us thought to maybe whip the armbands or rubber ring off her and see what happened.  With a bit of luck this week will give her a good start at least and then the school swimming lessons will take over and, save us all, I'll even dig the swimwear out and take her myself a few times.

************************

The shop has been quite tricky to manage this year too.  Way back at the start of Summer I was asked by Folksy if I'd like to be one of the beta testers for the new plus account.  Stupid question .... of course I would.  I figured it would be a great incentive to keep me on track and let me add lots of new stock ahead of Christmas.

Christmas is never a bundle of laughs for crafters, even if we're just making for friends and family as gifts we somehow manage to think we've planned a butt load of time to get everything done and still end up sitting hunched somewhere under the world's smallest table lamp, with the sewing machine on a towel so we don't wake the family at 2am.  I loved the idea of a head start!

 

And cue Summer when I typically get nothing done.

I have managed quite a bit though ... I've surprised myself, but then I've had a huge amount of help from my mum and dad this year as they've whisked Chloe away almost every weekend to let me get on with a few things.

I've really been enjoying making the Kindle cases over the summer, they're a great size so I can cut a few at night ready for sewing the next day, and they're easy to pack away if need be without anything getting so badly out of order that I can't find where I left off.  I'm looking forward to getting back to some larger projects once Chloe's back to school and I've more time and space to play with.

In the meantime I have been motivated by the plus account and have added lots of lovely new kindle cases.

Kindle Case in Coffee House Canvas

Kindle Case in Cherry Blossom

Kindle Case in Harlequin Kaito

Kindle Case in Honey Gold and Flambé Pink - New Season

Feel free to click over for a browse, these are only the very tip of an ever growing iceberg!

New Kindle Cases

Are now in stock and available in more fabrics than you can shake a big pointy stick at.

Navy Dandelion

Forest Fern

Blomma

Aubergine Swirl

Golden Yellow

Chocolate Mimosa

Black and Yellow

And loads more still to come, available in two sizes.

I should point out that they're very well padded so that big pointy stick probably won't do you much good, you might just as well put it down and pop the kettle on instead:)

A few small changes

I've finally managed to set aside some time for a think lately, about my life, my normal day to day and my shop, more specifically the direction I need my shop to go in.

I don't know what it is about the Summer holidays but they always seem to set me off on a "new things" kick and while there's nothing wrong with that, it can be too easy to let it get out of hand and all this development can put a lot of strain on a girl's time.

And so after a fair amount of thought and planning and stopping myself from making my usual snap decisions I've decided to make some changes, hopefully for the better.

I've decided to reduce the volume of different things that I make and really concentrate on the ones that I love to make, the ones that are my own designs and this will mean that I am more able to make them in quantity for my customers because they aren't (or shouldn't) be available anywhere else:)

The card and coin purses will stay.



I love these little things and it's surprised even me how handy they are, especially when I'm out and about with Chloe and could really do with having two hands free. Sometimes I just don't need a bag to carry as well as anything she happens to need.

The regular coin purses will be leaving as soon as they sell or delist. To help them along they've all been reduced to £2.50 and once they're gone, they're gone.


The large ladies wallet will also be leaving in it's current form, a slightly more compact version will replace it later on this year. The last of the wallets have been reduced to £6.00 to clear.


The Kindle sleeves. I actually quite like making these and would be happy to keep doing so, these started as commissions and I decided to offer them in my shop as standard. The only problem I have is that, on their own, they don't really feel like they belong in the shop. It feels like I should also be offering other gadget sleeves for phones and MP3 players and that will likely just send me off on another "new things" kick. These have been reduced to £5.00 and maybe next year, definitely after Christmas at least I'll give some more consideration to extending the range and adding them back into stock. In the meantime, I'm still happy to accept custom orders for them.


The brooches, pendants, plain cuffs, a couple of bag designs and some homewares are all also going, they've all been reduced to clear as well and you can find everything in my half price sale

It seems like I'm cutting back a fair bit doesn't it, it's not as bad as it looks honestly!

The glasses cases will stay. They're very popular and they'll be joined by a zipped case later in the year.



Everything else that you know me for will also be staying, the kids and adult bike bags have been a huge success and more will be added in plenty of time for Christmas. The clutches will also stay in mini, the soon to arrive midi and the maxi wrap clutch. The shoulder bags will also still be available and will be joined by one more design for Spring next year.

The plain cuffs have been replaced by more intricate beaded and embroidered designs and I'm currently working on more of these.

In place of the brooches and pendants will be 100s and 1000s. It's my second shop on Folksy and managing two separate shops is becoming a wee bit time consuming so over the next few weeks I'll be removing the stock from 100s and 1000s and moving it to it's new home at Leanne Woods Designs.


Hopefully all of this works out to give me a better handle on what I'm doing, give me time to introduce a new range of homewares that having been in the planning and making stages just a bit too long, it should definitely make supplies orders easier to manage and with a bit of luck it should also free up a lot more time for making during the free hours I have to myself which will leave me with a lot more time to spend with my family. If it doesn't, I'm going back to making snap decisions:)

I didn't chase the postie this morning

I do love a morning when the postie brings absolutely no grown up post whatsoever.

NO bills.

NO snail mail spam.

NO election leaflets.

NO appointment letters.

Just oodles of lovely things for me to play with:)

Karen of All Things Blonde was in need of a new name for her lovely bias binding in blues. Now I'm fairly rubbish at coming up with names, but (luckily for me) the winner would be picked randomly from a hat, so I had a bash and my gorgeous new bias binding arrived in the post this morning. Thanks Karen!


I genuinely couldn't make my mind up which colours to choose so left it up to Karen to surprise me and she sent a gorgeous selection of reds. I'm particularly fond of the floral one at the bottom and Chloe has already earmarked it for a little reversible top I had planned to make for her. I think I may go the whole hog, order a few more metres of the cherry red and whip up a sun hat while I'm at it, a few metres of the lime green may sneak into my basket while I'm there ... for a skirt. A girl can never have too many skirts.

In other news, the ladybirds also arrived this morning and so the big green beaded leaf has made it's way over to 100s and 1000s.


After having a featured item on Folksy, the past couple of days have been very busy over Leanne Woods Designs so it's high time I got my finger out and photographed my new range of bicycle bags, the shop seems to be getting very light on stock and I get antsy if it drops below a certain level.

Time to get myself out in that sunshine, don't you think?

Whimper

I've only gone and done it again.  Since Tuesday I've had a blinding headache and a noticable case of the shakes after standing for nearly two hours waiting for and then watching the bands with Chloe.  It was a great day and Chloe loved every minute of it, but of course I did my usual routine and spent all our time in the scorching sun covering Chloe up and plastering her in suncream and making sure she drank plenty of fluids and didn't bother a jot about myself.  So I'm a little rough around the edges at the minute.

I'd say we live and learn but you probably all know me well enough by now to know that if I did the same thing last year and th eyear before, chances are that I won't be learning anything new in time for next year!

The July Jesters are still going strong and I'm managing to keep up alongside getting ready for another craft fair on 7 August.  I've been making button bird purses again ...

And the rest of the Jesters aren't exactly struggling to keep up either.

Here are some of my favourites today...

Belmont Tower Craft Fair

I spent almost all day Saturday at Belmont Tower Craft Fair. My very lovely mummy and I arrived a little after 8.30am and started to set up my stall. Well, I set up my stall and my very lovely mummy (who knows better, bless her) sat drinking coffee and watching me from a safe distance.

We all like things done our own way, don't we?

I finished up sorting the stall out and with plenty of time left before the doors opened I started having a natter to some of the other crafters. It turned out that all bar two of us were completely new to the fair so we had no idea what to expect.

I sat having a quick coffee and watched a few people taking photos of their stalls once they were ready and I thought, I must remember to take a photo!

Anyway ....
Head like a sieve as usual, honestly where some things are concerned no sooner have I put it in there, than it falls straight back out again. Photos seem to be one of those things. But look ...

Chocolate!


Thought that might work.

I was really pleased with how the fair went in the end. It wasn't the busiest, but because the other stall holders and the customers were of the absolutely outstandingly brilliant variety it meant that I got to stand and have a chat with everyone instead of having to excuse myself every few minutes.

Sales wise I did pretty well, well enough that I've booked again for next month (bagged the last free table) and I've booked ahead for November too. I was very pleased that the first thing I sold was one of my handbags, this one to be exact. The first hour of the fair was very very quiet and all of a sudden a lady appears out of nowhere and declares "Lovely bags, I'll take that one please".

Do you know when it's been so quiet to begin with and then someone asks to buy one of the most expensive things on the stall and it throws you for a second. My mum and I just looked at each other as much as to say "did she just say she wants a bag?", "aye I thought that too, must be the acoustics in here". We just couldn't believe it for a second, but quickly got over it:)

So you'll find me there again on 7 August. Now if I could just ask one of you lovely people to yell, "don't forgot the photos", on my way out the door that would be great. Ta.

July Jesters - Day Four

And I'm already playing catch up! Though I did only miss one day and I have added two new purses today, so I'm back up to date again.

Still I'll have to try better for the rest of the month . . . I will, honest!

Thankfully there have been plenty of lovely new things listed by the July Jesters, though I can't help feeling put to shame slightly when Pipistrelle can manage to crochet an item a day:)

And NOfkants Curios can make a fossil. Doesn't happen overnight you know!

Silvessence can even make things from metal faster than I can plug in a sewing machine.

I really must try harder for the rest of the month because I'm totally letting the side down.

Can I blame the craft fair, I've been blaming it for everything lately and I guess I can probably drag another couple of good days worth of excuses out of it, even though it was on Saturday.

The craft fair? It was great, but that's a post for another day.