Tuesday 31 December 2013

A Happy New Year





Christmas 2013 has been and gone and New Year is upon us. We've had a lovely time celebrating, quietly with close family and friends and quietly is exactly how we will be seeing in the New Year. It's been quite a few years since we celebrated lavishly in fact I will probably be tucked up in bed long before the chimes at midnight begin to ring! Tonight I will be curling up on the sofa admiring our Christmas tree with all its decorations that hold many happy memories, being warmed by our wood fire and enjoying a glass or two of wine!
2013 has been a good year for 'a crafty hen' and I'm looking forward to seeing what 2014 brings. 
Thank you all so much for your support, A Crafty Hen' wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you! 
Now where is that glass of wine!  
Whatever you are up to tonight enjoy and stay safe and I wish you all a 'Happy and Healthy New Year.' 
See you in 2014!

Monday 9 December 2013

On my Sewing Table - New Baby Bibs








I have added a few new baby bibs to my shop, they can be found here. I am not sure now why I thought adding new stock at Christmas would be a good idea, especially as the light levels are so low at the moment which makes taking decent photos of items that bit more difficult! I have had an amazing busy few weeks, which I am so grateful for but it does mean that my shop is looking a little bare! I am now unable to replace gift sets as they sell out, so if there is something you like now could be the time to buy it!

Friday 29 November 2013

Thursday 28 November 2013

I wish you a Sunny Winter!


Yellow Lady Long Maxi Dress ...
$79.99

bandit boy handmade soft scu...
$65

VINTAGE COFFEE GRINDER - Wo...
$29

Alice in Wonderwall
$29

Baby Bib and Burp Cloth Set ...
$23

1960s Lunch Box / Vintage Fl...
$49.3

Toddler and Youth Girls Yell...
$48

1960s Purse. Handbag. Mad Me...
$22

Cocktail pouch - Geometric d...
$57.6

Crochet Cowl - Lacey Croche...
$50

Mustard Mod Style dress with...
$149

Homework Leather Pencil Case
$30

heart shaped pottery bowl, m...
$23

Handmade Fabric Letter P -12...
$32

Two pocket multi Backpack (Y...
$60

Mustard, Cat Sitter, Mustard...
$22


What a lovely bright and sunny treasury to have my Baby Bib and Burp Cloth featured in. I rather like the cocktail pouch and the 1960's lunch box! Thank you to Hadas for finding such lovely items! You can find my baby gift set here.

Handmade Christmas: Greeting Cards


With only days to go until December now is a good time to start thinking of writing those Christmas Cards. For those of you that haven't yet bought the cards (that includes me!) here is just a small selection of the wonderful cards that can be found on handmade sites like Etsy, Not on the high street, and Folksy. For more handmade gift ideas take a look at my other Handmade Christmas selections.

1. Pack of five 'Crap Cat' Christmas Cards by a very talented artist Angela Smyth whose facebook page is worth having a look at as well.
2. 'All I want for Christmas' card by Ashley Phal whose Etsy shop is filled with wonderful papercut stationery.
3. 'Fairy Light Deer Christmas Card' by Draw Abiding Citizen which is a fairly new shop on Folsky. I have treated myself to this card as decoration! 
4. 'Cardinals in Snowy Tree' by Man vs George, a great modern greeting card with an added bonus of a another design on the flip side! This card comes in a set I also love their Retro Red Scandinavian Reindeer card set.
5. 'Penguin Card' by Seeing Stars. This is a lovely shop on Etsy, her work reminds me slightly of the artist Eric Carle whose books and illustrations my children adore. I have my eye on some of her prints especially this Lightning Bug print.

I'm back off to my sewing machine to get today's orders done. Please check back tomorrow to see what offer I have in store for 'Black Friday' - 'Cyber Monday'!

Tuesday 26 November 2013

Inspiration - A Handmade Success Story


A few weeks ago I was invited to Jane Foster's book launch at her new studio and lets just say I was very excited! I have been an admirer of Jane's work ever since I stumbled across her vintage fabric cushions on ebay a good few years ago. She has a stunning collection of vintage fabric including a lot of Luicenne Day's classic prints which she often showcases on her blog and it was for that reason I become a keen follower of Jane's work. One of Jane's other passions is screen printing and she cleverly combines vintage fabric and her screen prints to produce gorgeous soft toys, which she sells along with her other work worldwide. She is a 'handmade' business success story, the sort of success that myself and many others with handmade businesses dream off. And the story of how she got where she is today is one that many of us can relate to. Jane started selling her vintage fabric cushions and vintage finds whilst still teaching and it was the success of how popular her stuff was that finally convinced her to give up teaching. Along with the help of her partner, Jane set up a studio in her home, working whilst also bringing up their young daughter, juggling the care between her and her partner which meant working late into the evenings. It's clear that it's taken a lot of hard work and determination to get where she is today. And it was lovely to see her partner and daughter sharing in the excitement of her latest project her new book 'Fun with Fabric' and also in the delight of having her first ever studio away from home! Her new space is amazing and what really struck me was how she had different areas for the different aspects of her work. A space to sew, an area to screen print and a packing area, every one as inspirational as the last and I can clearly see the benefits of having these different spaces to work in and how much smoother they can make the day to day running of a business but I can only dream of having this much space. The other thing that really stood out was how strong Jane's branding is. I read a lot of articles before setting up 'a crafty hen' all full of advice of how to start a business and the importance of branding came high up on the list of priorities but I couldn't really understand it at the time, surely having a good item that sold well was the main concern! But standing in Jane's studio it suddenly become clear and it got me thinking!
It also reminded me that I still have so much to learn!

Tuesday 19 November 2013

On My Sewing Table...............




It's been a busy few weeks and it doesn't look like it's going to let up, well not just yet anyway! I finally finished two custom baby blankets. 
One using my favourite deer fabric mixed with lots of grey and mustard prints. I was so happy with it and could have quite happily kept it! 
And in my excitement and hurry to get it sent out to its new owner completely forgot to photograph it finished along with the other blanket! 
Yes I could kick myself!! It's also been a busy time for baby gift sets, there are a few new ones in my shop and also lots of favourites in stock!

Sale Time

The countdown to Christmas is here, there really is not long to go now! To celebrate I am having a flash sale in my etsy shop . 10% off...