Moo-vallous!

Mini Moo cards have been on the scene for a while. They are very popular among crafters but up until now I've not needed a set. I had 400 business cards printed back in 2006, and three years on, I've finally finished them. Sadly I haven't had 400 offers of business but they have been the perfect conversation piece as they featured a 1960s retro Bollywood actress.

Everyone I gave one to thought it was me on the front. So this time I decided to put me on the front for real, along with an image of my work on the back!

Using the Moo website is easy and it's super quick too. They have a range of designs you can pick from (which are actually very tasteful) or you can upload a photo, crop it on screen and design your front and back. They are also very affordable at just £11.99 for 100 (coloured and double sided) but most amazing of all is their mega speedy service.

I ordered my cards on Dec 23rd, one day before Christmas Eve, got an email to say they would arrive on January 6th but then as if by miracle, they appeared in the post on Boxing Day......even though post doesn't get delivered then. Which leads me to believe they actually arrived late on Xmas Eve.....which means they made and sent them on the 23rd.......and not a single bit of Xmas post delay got in the way. Probably the best delivery I've ever had!

I'm such a fan that I've now ordered a sticker book from them as well. They convert up to 90 of your photos into little stickers inside a sticker book for you. I opted for 'my highlights of 2009' photos, it's only £5, so much cheaper than ordering proper print outs, and it will be much more fun 'sticking' them into my new album!

It's Christmas and I'm Crafting!

How hard can it be to drag a 3 year old and a 4 year old away from Cbeebies? Much harder than you may think! Over the last day I have discovered that my nieces are even happy to watch the same programme three times in one day........so how did I finally manage to entice them away from their favourite hobby and get them doing something far up my street???

With crafting of course! We rummaged through some drawers and found scrap fabrics, yarn, pom poms etc and set to work. The only trouble is we had no glue so we had to tie on lots of bits instead. PVA would have been the best thing, but then again, crafting without glue creates far less mess which is perfect for someone who hates tidying like me!

They both got stuck in straight away, Sabrina created what can only be described as a 'disco diva' spoon puppet while Farah's attempt was far more of 'magician' type affair.

This is budget crafting at it's best. Being bored at home, finding scraps lying around and whipping them up into something special. Next up of course is putting on a puppet show though not sure if I have the energry left for that part!

Merry Christmas!

In the mood for Christmas

The great thing about not actually celebrating Christmas is that I don't have to worry about sending gifts! I send a handful of cards to 'work contacts' but I don't have to worry about sending them to friends and family! Admittedly I celebrate Eid instead and as there are two of those a year it's actually double the gifts.....

It's really exciting seeing everyone else getting prepared though and I love looking into people's lovely decorated front windows. And I'm a big sucker for fairy lights too, I like to use them all year round.

Last year I did the 'Christmas Market' in Greenwich selling handmade crafts. But this year I couldn't face being outdoors all day so I've been doing 'indoor' markets instead!

My favourite stall at the Sunday afternoon Wonderland Fayre at Bethnal Green Working Me's College was"Now Voyager" who came all the way from Southend. The girls have just started out and it was their first ever market stall. Their website is still under construction but they also have a shop if you're visiting their neck of the woods anytime soon. I treated myself to their magificent 'Robin Fascinator'. Perfect for the party season!

My friends Tony, Shohid and Aiyaz popped into to say hi and enjoyed the live music, mince pies, mulled wine and sushi on offer.

Although it was fairly quiet, I managed to sell lots of things and now have very little stock left so it's time to design some new things for 2010! Yay!

Welcome to my new blog!!

For the last two years I've been writing a blog called The Craft Cafe (www.thecraftcafe.co.uk) which was hosted by a fabulous website called Creative-Choices.co.uk.

But it's now time for me to move on and do my own blog, my way, so here it is.

I've been shortlisting hundreds of names, deciding what to call it. My original blog was called 'The Craft Cafe' as I've always wanted to open one. It would be a place where people can pop along, have a cuppa and slice of cake, hire a sewing machine, make stuff, buy craft materials, flick through craft books, do a short course, meet crafty folk and generally have a lovely time. I still think i'll do it one day.

But for now, it's a shock to discover that practically every 'blogspot' name I thought of was already taken! I still had 30 to pick from though, Choosing between the top 3 was especially hard but I settled for the one that said the most about me 'cos i like making stuff.'

So in the blog I'll be writing about making: what i'm making, what I want to make, what others are making and just making in general. I have no idea how often I'll do it and whether or not I'll slip up and start writing about other stuff I like, i.e. bollywood, but we'll see. For now though, it's Sunday morning, I have a cuppa in hand, dressing gown still on and I'm going to find some other blogs I want to start following : )