Posts belonging to Category christmas

So, with Christmas nearly upon us, here’s my small craft business version of the The Twelve Days of Christmas.  Feel free to sing out loud with a mulled wine and mince pie to hand!

♪  ♫  ♪  ♫   ♪  ♫  ♪  ♫  ♪  ♫  ♪  ♫  ♪  ♫  ♪  ♫   ♪  ♫  ♪  ♫   ♪  ♫  ♪  ♫  ♪  ♫  ♪  ♫  ♪  ♫  ♪  ♫

♪  ♫  In the run-up to Christmas, my business gave to me . . . ♪  ♫

12 bags of parcels . . .

bags of parcels

11 custom orders

10 brushes dripping

9 plaques a-painted

caravan plaques

8 frantic emails

7 glue-gun blisters (ouch)

6 hours a-packing

♪  ♫   five so-ore fingers   ♪  ♫

4 hours in bed at night

3 rushed snacks a day

2 aching shoulders . . .

♪  ♫  . . . and a coffee that’s tu-urned stone cold (sigh…yet again).

What’s your run-up to Christmas been like?  Worth singing about?  Well, whatever the run-up to it’s been like, I wish you a very merry  and happy Christmas.  Enjoy!

With only 30 sleeps left till Christmas, where are you up to in your preparations?

I know some people are ultra-organised and have most or all of their presents bought (and wrapped!) and others are like me: Last Minute Lil.

sleeps till Christmas

If you want a fun way of counting down, especially with children, this little sleeps till Christmas chalkboard might just do the trick.  You can buy it on the Christmas page on my website – along with other Christmassy plaques.

Whether you’re a Last Minute Lil or an Organised Annie – enjoy your Christmas preparations.

Do you know someone who’s excited about making a wishlist for Santa to fulfil?

This little plaque comes with a star on a sturdy wooden peg and can be personalised with any name or wording.

Harry's Christmas list

You can also have a heart version.

all I want for Christmas

If you want to choose a different colour combo, just let me know.  You can find these and other Christmassy goodies here.

I think this is one of those things that will become part of a family’s Christmas traditions.  I love making this sort of thing!

After one of my Christmas plaques being featured in Craft Focus magazine – and people asking about Christmas goodies – I thought I’d better make the Christmas page live again on the website.

If you’re not ready to think about Christmas (and yes, I know it’s only August!) do feel free to ignore it.  I’ve not put it up near the top of the page menu yet so it’s not too in-your-face.

Christmas at home with the family

It’s all happening at once here!

This magazine

Craft Focus

dropped onto my doormat on Saturday, but only now have I had a chance to blog about it.

My little Christmas plaque is featured on page 45 with a lovely little write up:

Craft Focus feature

as well as making it onto the contents page

Craft Focus contents page

I was pretty chuffed.

It’s a trade magazine, which is why they’re featuring Christmas stuff already.

dreaming of a white christmas but when the white's gone we'll drink the red

This little feature actually goes to illustrate the power of lazing on the sofa with Twitter.  That’s what I was doing, when up popped a tweet from Craft Focus magazine asking for Christmas gift ideas by email.  I emailed.  They were interested! Yay!

However, I then received a phonecall asking would I place a paid advert.

I don’t pay for advertising.  I can’t justify it and to be honest I keep pretty busy without it (er, OK, when I’m not lazing on the sofa with Twitter . . . ).  I’m not entirely certain ads really work any more, either.

The lady on the phone told me there was no guarantee my plaque would be featured if I didn’t take out an ad, as priority for features goes to paid advertisers.  OK, fair enough, I said, thanks anyway, and thought no more of it.  It’s a free magazine and has to be paid for somehow (just not by me sorry).

I really didn’t expect it to be featured, so was really surprised – and unprepared – when someone phoned me from a shop asking about the chalkboards in the feature (they mentioned my countdown chalkboards too).  I hadn’t seen the feature at this point.

sleeps till Christmas chalkboard

If you don’t have a copy of Craft Focus, you can read it online (free) on the Craft Focus website.  You can also subscribe and have a paper copy delivered directly to you (free of charge if you live in the UK).

Thank you to the eagle-eyed Ali who spotted it days ago and emailed me a lovely little congrats note!

Now, I am gearing myself up for a possible biggie.  One of the big magazines with a massive circulation has photographed one of my plaques with the intention of putting it into a Christmas gift guide.  I know how these things work, and my plaque could just be dropped without a word, so I don’t want to get too excited.

If it gets published, I’ll let you know!

I’d like to wish you . . .

 a Very Merry Christmas and a Healthy and Happy New Year!

merry christmas

Anyone who has taken the time to read my blog ramblings, looked at (or bought) my products, recommended them to others – or posted a review on www.maps.google.com or www.freeindex.com  - has definitely helped me in this amazing journey I’ve embarked upon.  I’ve had some fabulous comments from customers (every one of which means more than you’ll ever know!), an amazing number of orders in the run-up to Christmas, and such a brilliant (if slightly exhausting) time doing it all.

santa

I may have worked some of the longest hours possible just recently – but I absolutely love, love, love doing it all!

Anyway, presents are now wrapped, the tree is up and the cupboards are positively bulging. 

fancy a clementine?

However much I enjoy working, it will be very nice indeed to take a few slightly indulgent days off.  I very much hope you’re looking forward to something similar – enjoy!!

It’s ironic, really, that I’ve spent almost every waking hour (and a few which should have been sleeping hours!) creating plaques, clocks, canvases and chalkboards which my customers have bought for Christmas gifts, yet I haven’t yet managed to do any Christmas shopping of my own!  It’s been a bit like a Santa’s Workshop  . . .

image from pewterkingdom.com

with the making and painting, cutting and sticking, wrapping and packing . . . oh, and the frost and the ice, the tutting and swearing (not everything goes to plan all the time, probably not even in Santa’s Workshop!), the long hours and oh-so-short nights!

Yesterday was my first day off (I haven’t even been taking weekends off) and I was ill.  Typical.  Coupled with the extreme cold weather (highs of minus seven) meaning the car wouldn’t start (who could blame it?) I didn’t get very far.

I did consider calling the probably very overworked RAC but the car did eventually start at about 2.30 pm.  I made it to the post office but not much further.  A poorly me and a poorly car didn’t make a very good team anyway.

So wish me luck today as, with predicted highs of minus ten, I will attempt to battle my way into town for a little festive shopping. 

christmas shopping

 It’ll only be when I get there that I realise I’m not the only one who has left it late! 

santa shopping

It’s been an incredibly busy run-up to Christmas, with a lot of people emailing or phoning to ask if I can do last-minute orders.  I’ve been able to accommodate most of them, but I’ve now really had to draw the line!  If you’ve not ordered it by now, I’m afraid I can’t do it.  I have some packing and finishing to do tomorrow, one last post office run to make on Monday and a couple of local orders for collection.

It’s been a frantic few weeks and I’ve worked every possible hour I could, even doing the finishing bits (wire twirling, ribbon tying, pen outlines, packaging, etc) in front of the TV at night.  Other people have sandwiches or cakes on a tray, I have frames, plaques and order forms!

a tray of things to finish off

I’ve learned a lot from this busy time though – and next year I’ll be much more geared-up for this last-minute rush.  I need to plan ahead and make higher stock levels of my most popular items.  Even getting backgrounds painted in advance is a big help when things get busy.

But a big thank you must go out to all the customers who’ve kept me busy, because I absolutely love doing this and wouldn’t swop this job now for any other.  It’s wonderful to think that I’m paying my mortgage and putting food on the table simply because people are buying things I’ve made. 

It still amazes me and still makes me go “wow!”

However, now my thoughts have to turn rapidly to preparing Christmas for my own family, as I’ve not had a spare minute in the last couple of months.  As much as I love my business, it will be so lovely to take time off over the festive season before the lengthy January to-do list comes out.  I’ve been adding to it on a regular basis during November and December – anything I have no time for now has gone on there and it’s about a mile long now! 

One of my daughters won’t be able to make it home for Christmas and will be coming home for a week in January instead, which will extend our festivities.  Another daughter is expecting a baby over Christmas (her sister’s birthday is Christmas day!) so it could well turn out to be a busy few weeks even if business is quieter.  Exciting times, but that to-do list may well end up having to wait a little longer still.

So, the best of festive good wishes to everyone out there – and I truly do hope your Christmas is more organised than mine is at the moment!  Now, where were those tree decorations? Or the tree, come to think of it?!

I’ve been selling these Christmas plaques at fairs as well as online – and at fairs I always need a sample so that people can see what’s on offer. The named samples have always sold too – and this is the very last sample from the very last fair:

Christmas at home with the Mathers

Why did I pick the name Mather? I have no idea – it seemed liked a good idea at the time, but perhaps it wasn’t so brilliant as I don’t know anybody called Mather!  It was personalised in the freezing cold – an outdoor fair in sub-zero temperatures, I was wearing 6 or 7 layers of clothing (you start to lose count after the 5th jumper).  The brain freeze I experienced that day is the only explanation I have!

So . . . I am proposing to give the plaque away. If your name is Mather, then you can have it (providing nobody else has beaten you to it!).

If you’d like it, please email your (UK only) address to: wendy@1stuniquegifts.co.uk and I’ll pop it in the post to you. I’m not even charging postage costs: this will be my little gift to you!  I can only send this to a UK address because it wouldn’t get to anywhere else in time for Christmas – sorry.

Please feel free to share this information with anyone else who may be called Mather!  There is only one plaque to give away. 

 There are literally just two more available to buy with any name or wording -  http://www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk/christmasitems.html - but be quick, orders are officially already closed as it’s been manic here getting everything out!

Just a quick reminder that our last ordering date for Christmas delivery to UK addresses – 10th December – is fast approaching.  We can also post to west European addresses still – but orders for the rest of the world can’t be delivered until after Christmas (sorry).

If you would like to order

sleeps till Christmas chalkboard

any of these

all I want for Christmas is . . .

please do so as quickly as possible!  You can buy all these (and more, of course) at www.1stuniquegifts.co.uk

when the white is gone we will drink the red

Thank you – and a big, big thanks also to those of you who have already placed orders – we are getting through them as quickly as possible at the moment.  Ususally, there is just me, but it has been all hands on deck these past few weeks.  Three other people have been involved in painting backgrounds, stringing, twisting wire, wrapping sticks of chalk, glueing, packaging, packing and even doing some local deliveries for me.  It’s amazing how much more you get through with an extra pair of hands – or three!

you cannot seriously expect me to be tidy as well as creative

Nobody has been brave enough to tidy the studio for me yet, though.  There’s a mammoth task for January if I ever saw one!

chaos panic and disorder my work here is done