Saturday, December 24, 2011

Market update and a lovely video

Hello everyone,

I'm so sorry for not updating before. We have lost our camera - gahhhhhh - so I have nothing to show you after the two Christmas markets.

I can happily report though that both were a fantastic experience. The learning curve was pretty steep from making business cards, pricing, display and packaging and I loved every minute of it. The best top tip I can give from learning the hard way is NOT to stay up late trying to make new creations the night before the market - it leads to lots of mistakes, consequential swearing and resulting items that I ended up leaving at home through the shame of it. Ho hum, I'll know for next time.

There were a few items that sold really well, and some that completely sold out(!!) so that's really helping me to pinpoint my key products. I also found that the more items I make, the more ideas I have to make other things. I'd heard about this "creativity breeds creativity" theory before, but never actually managed to allocate so much time to creating before.

Since the markets I am left with feelings in equal measure of pure excitement about where I am going with this dream of mine to work from home and of achievement too - I have to keep pinching myself that I actually made and sold items at a market!

For now I plan on spending the next few days chilling and celebrating with my family. They have been so supportive with my dreams and I am so grateful to have them.

I wish you a wonderful holiday time with your friends and family. I shall leave you with this lovely (short) video which I found on sense and grace's blog. I live in hope for a similar Christmas morning in our house :)


Friday, November 18, 2011

Christmas Fair Countdown

On the 3rd and 4th December I'll be taking part with my two talented friends Silke and Petra in our first Christmas market. It's exciting as it's in our village and will be our first public outing, which also makes it nerve racking as we will know people there. I feel it would be easier to sell my wares to people I don't know? Anyway, at worst, as we are three, we can sell each others' things. I would have no problem showing off Silke's beautiful clothes and Petra's gorgeous jewellery.

Anyway, back to the market and the sewing machine has seemingly (seamingly? haha) been working non stop. Luckily my mother-in-law was here over the last ten days and she took the children in hand while I could concentrate on bag making. First off are the totes for kids:

These are the ones I made using a production line system - by first doing all the cutting, then sewing all the handles etc. Although each bag is slightly different I've found that this is not my favourite way of sewing - I drifted off from what I was doing and felt less creative. I much prefer to do a bag at a time and see where my creativity takes me although this is obviously not the most efficient way of getting the bags made. The bird tote bag below is for adults and is an example of my preferred one-bag-at-a-time method - from the exterior fabric to the lining, from the zip colour to the inside zip fabric, I loved selecting them all as the bag came together.


My son fell in love on the spot with the dinosaur fabric - he even commissioned his own tote and chose his lining! He has since been carrying it everywhere with him, with his favourite toys stashed inside, which makes me really happy.

Are you making anything for a Christmas market and if yes, how are you at selling your own wares?

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Get your banner on

I am one squealing, bouncy girl today -  thank you so much for your sweet and encouraging comments and for starting to follow me. I had no idea (as you can see from the lack of a proper banner) that this blog thing would go so fast! It's so exciting and motivating. 
There are lots of things I need to improve on Rose and Lula and joint first on my list of improvements to the blog (along with updating the About Me section) is to bring it in line with the style I have in my head. I've put some of my favourite things together and come up with a moodboard which I can use as inspiration.

The "wish" part over the charm bracelet really spoke to me. Let's see where we go with it!

PS The lovely tape strips come from Pugly Pixel.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Mollie Makes Me Happy


My Mum was here last weekend and brought me, along with a major stash of teabags, the latest copy of Mollie Makes magazine. I have been hooked on this magazine since I first saw the first edition at the newsagents in the UK, and what's more is that it's produced in Bath which is near to my hometown. We're now at issue 6 and it just gets better and better. I immediately settled down with a big cup of tea to read this visual feast.



Mollie Makes concentrates on making, thrifting, collecting and crafting. Every issue comes with a really cute craft kit. This month's is a gorgeous little coin purse and the double bonus is that I have recently been wondering how to make these (I love how they open and close).


As I flicked through I fell in love immediately with Jeanette Lunde's work. Scandi style at its very best - minimalist but cosy, white but colourful, homely but modern. Jeanette's blog is beautiful - she seems very sweet, her photos are stunning and her style is inspiring. Not surprisingly she's been featured in many magazines and books so I fear I am rather late in discovering her. It is instant blog love. Jeanette has also been poring lots of time (how does she do it??) into putting together a digital magazine ByFryd.



Back to Mollie Makes, and there are lots of interesting articles covering various crafts - even if you can't actually knit or crochet (I can't) the photography is so gorgeous it still draws you in. As I live in France we've looked into an overseas subscription. You can also get it as a digital version but then you don't get the little craft kits. Hmmm. For the time being I will rely on "Mum post"!

If you're not already hooked, check out the little promo film for Mollie Makes here.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Making the cut



I'm on week two of the Blogging Your Way course and wowsers I have already learned so much about this blogging lark. Holly Becker and Leslie Shewring who are giving the course frankly rock. They are inspiring and motivating and very generous with their tips. You really feel they want to make the blogosphere a beautiful, interesting place. I'm learning skills which I can also transfer to my budding bag business such as style, colours and photography. It is an amazing course.

The news hot of the press this week is that following our last Rosebud meeting (I'll tell you more about the Rosebuds another time) we've decided to sign up for our first Christmas fair! This is so exciting, and so scary and so panic inducing - for a start where am I going to find the time to make 20 bags with the school holidays just starting?? But I am a girl who loves a deadline and I'm sure 20 bags will be made. I spent time yesterday sourcing and ordering behind the scenes items such as magnetic snaps, zips and interlining and am very much looking forward to seeing Mr Postman over the next couple of weeks (I'm sure he is not looking forward to seeing me - truth be told he is rather a grumpy man who doesn't like to deal with packages).

Back to bag making and I've realised I'm reluctant to cut into these beautiful fabrics. I'm fine when it comes to calico and muslin to test my pieces but cutting into the real stuff is somewhat fear inducing. I'll keep you posted.



Sunday, October 9, 2011

Late to the party




I feel like I am very late to this blog party. I've never tweeted. I hardly facebook. I've certainly never created a blog. Until now. 


Goodness I'm amazed at how exciting it feels. How creative it all feels. I am one happy bunny. Who knows, I may have arrived late but maybe I'll never leave!


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