Bex, Joe, Kara and Gracie popped over this afternoon.
They have other family staying this Christmas including another cocker spaniel, Oscar ... I think Gracie is quite exhausted ... Dilly and her gave each other a lovely hello (it has only been a couple of days!) and then promptly fell asleep under the table!
I guess Christmas is a tiring time of year!
well we are back in Cornwall for Christmas
Dilly seems to have spent the last few days cuddling Luke :)
She has also enjoyed re-discovering her old haunts and meeting up with some doggy-friends. She is one happy doggy :)
Dilly is loving the snow ...
the snow sticks to her in clumps and its quite hard to get off ... but she does enjoy it :)
when she comes back in I tuck her up and keep her warm!
Some people love it ~ some people hate it! I know it can be dangerous when driving on, but I am one who loves it ... especially when it is fresh with no footprints in it. It started last night and by the morning our world was white. It was crazy-pup's first experience of snow and she LOVED it ... just wanted to be out in it all the time ... Dilly-dog is a fan too, so it was lovely to watch them play.
I braved it myself this afternoon to go to the Post Office ... it was so lovely on the way home, the sky was a beautiful peachy colour and it made the snow look magical.
If the snow is making you feel Christmassy ... you can see my winter goodies in my shop on
Folksy ...
Keep warm!
Every evening Gracie and Dilly wait for my brother Joe to come home .... he isn't
really Dilly's daddy, he is Gracie's but Dilly is borrowing him for a while ...
they always know when he is due home, and wait for him by the back door while he puts the car away ... its so sweet that they never tire of giving him such a welcome!
I know I say this all the time, but where is it going? .... only a few weeks to Christmas already! I seem to have spent all my time of the last month packing up goodies and posting them (this is good ~ not complaining, but I am beginning to wonder if I am coming or going!)
Sadly this means that I haven't had much time to make & design new jewellery and gifts, but I have lots of ideas and can't wait to start them in the New Year :)
This is
Dilly-dog looking after some of the post while we get the rest of it done ... she loves walking to the Post Office as she is good friends with the lady who works there!
I hope everyone is having a lovely run-up to Christmas and feeling Christmassy ... We have been playing Christmas music at The Butterfly Factory for a couple of months now so are feeling very festive! (A couple of months you say! ... Yep, my little elf helper ~ my sister-in-law LOVES Christmas and so we started in October!)
Don't forget if you have any presents still to get our eBay shop is full as well as our online shop &
Folksy shop!
Merry Christmas everyone and although it is lovely to give gifts to people, remember that the important thing is to spend time with and tell the
people that we love that we love them xx
I cut myself a fringe today ... and then did a photo shoot with my laptop ... what do you think??
I'm quite liking it ... makes me look very different ... keep catching myself in the mirror!
It is so cold at the moment that whenever the doggies come back in from outside, their noses and paws are freezing, so when they curl up I am tucking them in .. they don't seem to mind ... and as you can see Gracie is still sleeping in Dillys bed! (they are both Dillys ... I bought the one that Gracie is in from the bedroom)
we had a lovely walk on the cliffs today .. it was cold and windy but great fun!
Dilly was exhausted when we got home ... so I tucked her up in her bed ... is that sad?
After being inspired by some twitter-friends to open a supply store on Folksy, I was REALLY excited when I sold something after only a few hours!!
Here is it
BUTTERFLY BUYS SUPPLY STORE ...
After being in business for 9 years I have got lots of bits & bobs, beads & buttons, paper & pieces of goodness knows what that I haven't used ... (to be honest I have been getting crafting bits all my life, so there are a lot of boxes for me to sort through!) These are never used 'new' items and are going to be listed in
BUTTERFLY BUYS SUPPLY STORE!
I am also going get some new items from a supplier that I have ... I hope enjoy having a look around ... there are only a few bits at the moment, but watch this space!
Well today I am giving up sugar properly so please don't tempt me!
My lovely sister-in-law gave it up for lent and then continued, she looks amazing now and although it has not been easy for her (she is defiantly a recovering chocoholic & must NEVER have it again in her life!) I am not that bad and have never had as much sweet stuff as her, but I do enjoy chocolate & sweets. Well I have decided that I have faffed around enough and am just gonna do it ... so bye-bye my lovely comfort food ... I need you no longer!
I am also going to continue not eating in the evening as that is really working for me. So watch this space ... by Christmas I may be a new woman! hehe!
This last week or so seems to have disappeared into a haze ... my lovely mum came to stay last week and this week my sis-in-law's mum is staying .... it has been lovely as we don't see them very much & there is nothing like shopping or watching a girlie film with your mum ... or having a hug from here when you need one! It has meant that I have only been doing the bare minimum with work though! ;S
Mum had great fun going through all the things I have made since she was last here .. and even bought some of my new compact mirrors for little extra Christmas presents! (thanks mum!)
I won't see her now until Christmas :(
It has been ages since I have written anything ... been very busy doing tax returns (left it very late this year ~ slap on wrist ... must be more organised next year!) and opening my NEW ONLINE SHOP!
In my last post I had just got a scrummy pink rose ring from Glitterysah ... well, I can't believe how this looks, but I have been shopping on her lovely site again, but this time its not for me ... honest! I have got this cute little brooch called 'Twinkle' (yep ... pink!) for my nieces birthday at the end of the month. She has suddenly (in the last couple of weeks) become really into Hello Kitty & I have also got her a Hello Kitty makeup bag, so 'Twinkle' will be a perfect addition to the present!
Glitterysah has also included these great hot pink beads & I know that my little niece will have great fun making some jewellery for herself (& maybe me if I am lucky!) with them! Thanks Glitterysah! ~ you can see all of her lovely handmade goodies at
www.glitterysah.com
Just had a thought ... its a good job my niece is too young to read this!
In getting goodies ready to list in my new on line shop, I have had a good look through my stock room (well corner really!) and found some things that I thought were listed on eBay and in the hundreds of listings that I have on eBay, managed to get missed ... so they are perfect for my new shop. I am hoping that I can reduce my eBay shop (and the fees I pay!)in favor of my 'sparkly new shop'
Little Pumpkin is a cute little fella who doesn't want to be left on the shelf on 31st October ... he is a happy chap who will go with you where every you go & his lovely shiny blue wellies means he is prepared for any adventure you want to take him on!
this little fella is available in my
Folksy shop :)
I have been making these sweet shabby chic letter magnets for a year now and they have been really popular (which is good!) ~ made to order for 50p per magnet just pick the letters you need to make the name/word you want.
Yesterday I made a set of letter magnet to match my butterfly & daisy set for a customer ~ she wanted the word Daisy ... here they are ...
I am so pleased with them I have made a whole alphabet and have them as a
made to order set too! I really should have made them in the Spring,
ready for the Summer ... but I guess its never too late for something
pretty! ~ I hope you like them :)
Been feeling pretty low recently and am still really tired all the time, so I decided to cheer myself up with a little bit of prettyness .... its pink ... its roses ... and its a ring .... 3 perfect reasons why I love it (and it didn't break the bank!) .... here it is ...
I don't want to promote shopping for comfort but sometimes a little something that makes you smile is all you need!
Thank you Glitterysah ~ visit her shop here ...
www.glitterysah.com ... for more pretty loveliness
Well I made it - 9 years today :) I have had a lot of ups and downs, but I am still here doing what I love ~ making pretty girlie things :)
It hasn't always been easy but I have learnt a few things. I am no way an expert, and these are only small tips, but still important. They are in no particular order, just as I think of them
- Don't sleep in the same room as you work ... this is very important. You need to be able to really switch off and if you can't sleep it is too tempting to just get up and potter.
- Do your accounts regularly (something I still find hard to get into the habit of as I find it boring!) but it doesn't take long for them to get on top of you and then it is a big job that you have to catch up with.
- Try and keep your work area tidy (again something that I find hard!) as it does dry up your creativity ... I always get a lot more made/done if my desk is tidy.
- Make sure you take time off (either shut the door on your work or go out) ... this may sound like an obvious thing to say, but when you are your own boss there is always a job to do and you are the only one to do it.
- Make friends with someone else that is self-employed. This also may sound like an odd thing to say, but it can actually be a very lonely and no matter how many friends you have it is good to have some one to talk to who knows what you are going through.
- There will be lots of ups and down times ~ the year is very seasonal. When you are having a good season, tuck something by for the quiet times.
I hope these are helpful, as I say, I am no way an expert ... I have had some lovely & great support from my family and friends (thank you guys xxx) and some really lovely customer (thank you guys too ... I would not still be here with out you xxx) I also haven't mastered all
the things that I have written in the list above as when you are self-employed you have to be very self motivated and that can sometimes be hard.
If you are wanting to be a craftster working from home, it can be the most rewarding and wonderful thing ... especially when something you made sells! So my advise is GO FOR IT!!
I am so excited about my new mirrors ... they are 4.4cm in diameter so are quite tiny, but perfect for keeping in your handbag or even purse so you can check you eye & lip make up when you go out!
I have only made a few designs so far but have loads of ideas of designs for them and they will soon be available in all our shops ... is it sad how excited I am about them???!
just had to share these sweet photos of my niece working at my desk ...
and yes they are my sunglasses ... 'cos serious work can not be
achieved without sunglasses on!
Here is a sneaky-peek at a few new Christmas goodies that I have made ...
Some Christmas greetings cards taken from some paintings that I did many years ago!
They have detachable badges with matching designs ...
... and this sweet set of NOEL magnets
They will soon be available in my
Folksy shop :)
Can you believe that it is almost the end of the summer? The weather has been lovely and my long list of jobs to do has got shorter, but I still feel that there is a lot I haven't achieved :( .... I guess I will just have to do better this autumn!
I do feel as though the Summer has slipped through my fingers ... like time ... like my life ... I don't seem to be able to stop it or slow it down .....
it has been a busy day for two little doggies ...
there has been a log that they have been trying to dig up for ages and after a little perseverance .... today was the day .... Dilly was so pleased with what they had done that she did a lap around the garden with it.
Dilly thought she would bring it inside to show me, I managed to get it from her and took it back outside .... but now she can't find it .... and after all that hard work too!! ...... I know they are thinking 'well at least we still have the hole that they dug to get it out ... they can bury lots of treasures there' :)
taken on my iPhone
While waiting for a bus today I was thinking that waiting for a bus is like life ... you wait for ages ... loads of people go past and they seem to have very important places to go and things to do ... sometimes if you wait long enough the go past again, or they pass you on their way back! And you are still waiting. You think, I am sure that it should have arrived by now ... maybe I should start walking, I could have been there by now if I had just walked ... but if I go now I bet one will come and I won't be near a bus stop when it passes. So you wait ... eventually you see one come over the hill and would you believe it there is another one right behind it! Two come at once! Typical!!! I waited over half an hour for a bus today and the moral of the story is don't wait for the bus to arrive ... walk into town ... it only takes 40 minutes anyway!!
This pretty bus stop is in Fowey, Cornwall ... sadly the bus stop I waited at today was not as pretty!
Gracie is at it again .... while Dilly is trying to sleep, she is taking up most of the room in Dilly-dogs bed!
taken on my iPhone
I had a best friend when I was a child who was very special ... we only lived near each other for a few years and when I moved away I was heart broken ... we would write to each other every week, but being only 12 and moving so far away over the years we lost touch.
Since I joined facebook a few years ago, I have been searching for her and guess what .... today I found her and we became facebook-friends :)
I am so happy
this was us when we were about 10 ... we really were bestest friends!
oh happy day!
so just to prove that I sometimes work in a tidy office I thought I would show you some photos ... look ... a tidy desk!!