2010 - a sum up and celebration!

So it's the end of 2010, and some pretty significant milestones have been met:

1. I got married to my fiance of 5 years Stewart in May
2. I managed to hold down a good job at the same place for nearly a year - the longest so far!
3. I've managed to get to 100 sales in my Etsy shop - thank you Andy from Ontario, Canada!
4. My health is starting to improve in small but steady steps...

Debs and Stew enjoying Cornwall in 2010

It's been a funny kind of year - I'm really pleased that I kept my head and didn't turn into bridezilla at any point before or during my wedding - it was a fantastic day enjoyed by all - and showcase some amazing handmade items - see my blog post for full details!

Our Wedding Day in Cardiff May 2010, St Davids Hotel

My knitting skills have really improved - I've gone from a hesitant knitter who couldn't knit in the round, and wasn't much past knitting, purling and different kinds of rib. Now I'm able to cable, do lace stitches and have mastered knitting on magic loop needles. For 2011 my next skill to master is knitting on double pointed needles. I'm sure if I sat down with my super talented knitting friend Linda I'd pick it up after a few attempts, but it is beyond me at present. One of my big musts is to learn how to crochet by this time next year. I've been trying for years without success! My friend Zoe taught Sarah, a complete novice, how to do it in one evening. There again, Sarah seems to be able to pick things up SUPER quickly. She mastered knitting in a weekend... I'm not green with envy... well maybe a little!

One of my new range of hats launched Spring 2010

Our Craft Night set up between local friends (and with visits by their dogs) has been a major success - meeting once a fortnight on alternate Tuesdays and Wednesdays (I know...) we have been able to relax, eat good food, drink plenty of tea and make projects just for us - as well as having a good gossip and a moan!
 
My Etsy shop is looking much more cohesive - I'm really happy with the branding on my shop banner and blog - i think they match in well. I've had business cards made up with the same branding (thank you free premium business cards on Vistaprint!) - and I've tried to keep up with Twitter and Facebook to keep interest (although with the office being really busy this month it has slipped a bit - but I'm not beating myself up about it.)

New Handmade & Found branding designed in 2010 by me!

My goals for 2011 are pretty straight forward:
1. Keeping myself in work for another year 
2. Build on the success of my Etsy shop, working on new products and designs
3. Treat my long suffering husband in little ways throughout the year (maybe with cake...)

So have a very Merry Christmas / Festive Season, and a happy New Year! 

Want to celebrate in style...? Use discount code NEWYEAR15 for 15% off across my Etsy store until 31st January 2011(including custom orders) - as a big thank you to everyone who has got me this far. 


Debs

Return of the Knitter...

I vowed to myself that I would be blogging at least once a week... I failed  this last week sorry - I've been really busy at my office job organising conferences and working all hours under the sun, so today I'm making my triumphant return to you all this week - Yay!

I'm celebrating a few things this week:

1. I managed to pull off a big local event with work 
2. I'm at 98 sales in my etsy shop!
3. My knitwear is being sold in a local shop in Pontypool (!)
3. It is exactly 2 weeks until Christmas!

We went out for our office Christmas party last night - I've promised not to share the pictures on my blog, but rest assured everyone had a great time and ate and drank plenty of tasty things...


I'm feeling pretty festive; and now that the Christmas rush in store is calming down, I'm knitting Christmas presents for family and friends - I never stop knitting!!

Here are some of the projects I've been working on:

This is a lovely custom tea cosy order for a customer to match her retro melamine kitchen - dark blue, cream and aqua - looked great!

Another custom order on a brown kitty set - I changed the way I embroidered the paws and I think it really looks great!

These fab mittens have extra long cuffs - in a gorgeous deep red colour - they look fantastic on and will keep your arms nice and warm!

This was a gorgeous navy wool ribbed beanie hat for a local customer - wide rib to the edge with a larger rib pattern to the rest of the hat & a lovely soft wool yarn too.

So as you can see I've been keeping busy! Some of these new custom designs and ideas will be making their way in store over the next weeks; I really like it when a customer gives you a great idea for a new stock product - it really comes from demand!


Debs