I came up with the idea when my friend’s daughter was going to nursery at school. Both my children had gone to the nursery so I was telling my friend all about it. I ended up moaning to her about how all the children had these identical book bags and every day we had to collect them so quickly and find their book bags in a box of identical bags. Even when they put keyrings on them, it wasn’t easy to find your child’s bag when we had to get them and get out in such a short amount of time. The only part of the book bag that was clearly visible was the handle at the top. So I made a simple fabric wrap that wrapped around the handle so it made the bag stand out but was also comfortable and didn’t get in the way. My friend and her daughter loved it and I quickly had requests for more from others in the class. Now, over 3 years later, I have over 30 fabric choices available and I get orders from my customers for them all year round!
I thought that I’d share how easy it is to look after your child’s book bag wrap through showing you my daughter’s book bag wrap. It had been on her bag for a long time and was not looking its best.
1. Wash your Book Bag Wrap in the washing machine on a low temperature.
All of my book bag wraps are made from cotton fabric and can be washed in the washing machine. Of course, you could also hand wash if you prefer. I put my book bag wrap in the washing machine at 30 degrees Celsius with a load of other similar coloured clothes.
2. Dry flat, NEVER use a tumble dryer
Afterwards, I put it on the radiator to dry flat. The wraps are not suitable for tumble dryers. Even though the fabric is cotton, there is interfacing inside and the embroidery thread might not deal with the high temperatures well.
3. Make sure you protect your wrap when ironing
When the book bag wrap was dry, it definitely needed an iron. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you don’t iron directly on the embroidered name or the Velcro. So I used a piece of fabric or you could use a tea towel or pillow case to protect it.
Bonus tip: When I make the wrap, I always use a spray starch to help the fabric keep some shape and strengthen it to be embroidered. I used some when I ironed to help the wrap regain some of that shape too. It is absolutely not essential but it can help. Now it looks like new!
I have always called them Personalised Book Bag Wraps because that’s how they started out but I know that it’s not the catchiest name. Besides, they can be used on lots of different bags and accessories other than book bags! They are so handy on lunch bags, PE bags, rucksacks and even musical instrument cases!
I’m launching a multi-buy deal for my book bag wraps from today. You can use these codes when you get to the checkout to get your multi-buy discount!
For 2 book bag wraps, enter MULTIBUY10 to get 10% off.
For 3 book bag wraps, enter MULTIBUY15 to get 15% off.
For 4 book bag wraps, enter MULTIBUY20 to get 20% off.
For 5 or more book bag wraps, enter MULTIBUY25 to get 25% off.
So it is now even easier if you are buying book bag wraps for more than one child, for more than one bag, if you’d like a spare while you wash the other one or even if you would like to change ‘theme’ throughout the year!
]]>When my oldest started school, I had planned an after school club on the Friday but he never got there. I had to cancel it by Wednesday because he was so tired. He was coming home from school so exhausted that he was asleep by 5pm! I know that every school has different ways of settling the children in. My children started from full time hours from the first week, although I know other schools will settle the children in over six weeks or so. So, whenever they start to go to school for the whole school day, help them to take it easy and try not to plan too much for them.
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
I can’t tell how useful it is to be part of a Facebook group for the class or year group. Not only is it a great way to be able to get to know other parents but being able to arrange a get together out of school so you can have park meet ups, help your children make friends and you can put names to faces when your children come home chatting about their day. It is also a great way to recover lost property. I can’t tell you how many times my kids have come home with the wrong PE top, jumper or even shoes and putting a quick message out on the Facebook group has always sorted it out quicker than bothering the teachers with it!
Photo by Timothy Hales Bennett on Unsplash
I always read that making sure your child has learned some simple skills such as being able to dress and go to the toilet by themselves and being able to use cutlery is important. It is very useful advice but I would say at this point, if your child is about to start school and they can’t do these things, it’s not something I would overly stress over. I have two children and when my oldest was starting school, I was so worried that he couldn’t do these things. My daughter on the other hand, could do all of these skills easily. Every child is different and I know that if a child can do these things by themselves it will not only make their lives easier but also the teachers day much easier too. However, if they can’t do them, please don’t worry. Those skills will come in their own time. Schools can support children if they struggle and being in the company of the other children can really help them so they can follow the others and copy.
I’ve always enjoyed getting involved in the school and the PTA. The PTA raises money for the school for resources and equipment that the school often struggles to afford. The PTA are often just parent and teacher volunteers and I think it’s always the case that there are never enough people signing up to help. In the last couple of years, it’s been very hard to run enough fundraising events to keep the money coming in. I know that everyone is so busy but if you can find a way to take part, it really does help. There won’t just be times to help with the PTA, before COVID, our school would ask for volunteers to be parent readers or even helping out with Christmas Craft Day or school trips. The kids love seeing their parents, carers and grandparents in school, it’s such a novelty!
Photo by Adam Winger on Unsplash
5. Name EVERYTHING!
It doesn’t matter how you do this, you could be sewing in name labels, sticking them in or just using a sharpie on the label, just make sure everything is named; shirts, trousers, jumpers, hats, gloves, scarves, coats, shoes, bags, everything! I’m not promising that your child won’t ever lose anything, it just means that it’s much more likely to come back to you!
These are some fab name label stamps from British Stampmaker, you can check them out here.
Of course, one way of naming your child’s school book bag is with a personalised book bag handle wrap that I sell here!
I hope these tips have been helpful. When your child starts school, it’s such a big step and believe me, it all goes so quickly. My kids are starting Year 8 and Year 5 this year. It really doesn’t seem that long ago that they were in Reception and just starting!
]]>There are 5 steps for me when I design a new product.
Step 1 – Draw it out
When I have a new idea, I like to draw it out either in my sketchbook or on my iPad. I use Procreate and my apple pencil to draw out some sketches. This helps me to get a clear picture about what I want the design to look like and then I can also play about with colours too. When I can see the design on the page, I can start to figure out the shape of the design.
Step 2 – Get the design into the software
I have a Brother Innov-is 800e Embroidery machine and I use the Brother digitising software PE Design 10. All embroidery machines come with pre-loaded designs to embroider but if you want to make your own embroidery designs, you need to use a digitising software to create your own patterns.
There is a function for the software to auto digitise your image called ‘Auto punch’. It’s a useful tool and is great for images that have bright, clear and distinctive colours. Here is my unicorn design with bright colours to make sure the software can distinguish between the different sections.
The software takes you through the steps and the end result looks good. With this function, it is very important that you get your image right at the beginning of the process. Any mistakes and you will have to start the process all over again! This image of my unicorn design was drawn by me and I can change it and make sure that its right for the auto punch function. However, you may not have such a clear image to digitise. If you don’t distinguish very clearly between all the colours, some can be merged together, like the pink part of the ear and the lilac part of the mane, as we can see here.
You can customise each section to change the colours and type of stitch too.
I often prefer to draw the designs out myself in the software using the basic shapes in the program. I feel that it can be quicker and I can make it look exactly how I want it. I use the basic shapes and then use the ‘select point’ tool to drag and change the shape each section.
I love to create my designs with felt and if you embroider this design with filled shapes, this design would have over 16,000 stitches! The felt will struggle with that many stitches in such a small area, it would pucker and wouldn’t look the best. I like to just sew the outlines of each layer and use different colour felt layers to create the design. This not only helps reduce the stitch count, stops puckering and creates a layering that can make the design look more interesting.
Step 3 – Check the Sewing Order
When each layer has been drawn out, I need to check the sewing order. When you are sewing different layers, they need to be sewn in the right order! The software has a function to simulate the design being sewn out.
When I go through the simulation, I can rearrange the layers. My embroidery machine doesn’t cut the jump stitches so when it sews different sections of the same colour, it doesn’t cut the thread in between the section and the thread trails along to the next section. You can change where the machine starts and stops the sewn sections so that you can minimise the jump stitches too.
Step 4 – Sew a Sample and Tweak the Design
The next step is to sew out a sample. As much as I take time to make sure the design is optimised for sewing it out. I always find there is something that I haven’t thought of! It’s great when I sew out a sample and it works but most of the time, there will be something I hadn’t thought of!
For example, when I was making the new bunting styles, I placed the buttonholes for the ribbon centrally. I found that when I hung the bunting up, some of the styles didn’t hang right. The tops were too heavy and so the characters didn’t hang straight. Moving the buttonholes higher up, balanced the bunting characters so they hung in a better way. Just like in the Under the Sea bunting design I have been working on. The whale and crab designs would not hang straight, they kept laying flat. Moving the buttonholes up (in the right pic) meant that the whale and crab hung straighter just like the other characters!
Once the design has been tweaked, the pattern is ready to be sewn out for the final product!
The design has been drawn, digitised, the pattern has been optimised, a sample has been sewn, the design tweaked and final design sewn! It can take some time but I love that I can create a design from the ideas I have in my head! I know that my products will look exactly how I want and are unique to my style too!
]]>What memories do you have of your bedroom as a child? We moved house a few times when I was growing up but wherever we lived, I always had the box room (being the only girl with two brothers). Even though I always had the smallest room, I always made my space my own by putting my own little touches to my bedroom. I always wanted to decorate it pink, I had my favourite ballerina prints and all of my teddies out too!
My daughter has had the same bedroom all of her life and it has gone through a few changes as she has gotten older and now she is very opinionated about how her space should be! Creating a space for your child where they feel safe, calm and happy to be in, means so much to them and hopefully makes life easier for us as parents too when it comes to bedtime and getting them to sleep.
I have been making home décor accessories for a while but I’ve wanted to design and produce a coordinating collection of accessories for a little while now. I started making felt character bunting a couple of years ago for Halloween and last year, I designed the Christmas themed character bunting too. I realised that the themes for character bunting are endless! I have so many to get started with. Once I had started with the bunting, the door sign and fabric storage baskets weren’t far behind. So I thought that I would introduce you to each part of the collection so far.
Felt Unicorn Bunting
There are four characters that I have designed for the unicorn bunting. A unicorn sat down, a leaping unicorn, a rainbow and a cloud. I have included two of each character on the bunting with an option for adding a name as well to personalise this cute accessory. Each bunting set comes with approx. 2m of organza ribbon which means that the bunting will fit into the space you need it to. The characters and name can be adjusted to sit closer together or further apart so it will fit into the space you have. Just make sure that any additional ribbon that isn’t needed is neatly secured by tying it up out of reach of little ones or trimmed to the length required.
There are three fonts to choose from for your child’s name. Fonts one and two are individual letters and can be adjusted independently. Font three comes as one piece as joined up letters.
The name embroidered with font three will be 25cm long regardless of how many letters are in the name. What this does mean is that, the more letters there are in the name, the smaller the font is so even though it will always be 25cm wide, the height of the letters will vary depending on the length of the name.
Personalised Unicorn Door Sign
I ended up with two designs for this door sign and decided that I couldn’t choose between them so included both in the collection! The first design was just the unicorn’s face on grey felt with an embroidered personalisation below. Then, I loved the idea of including the rainbow, cloud and leaping unicorn all in one design as I thought it included all the elements from the bunting and coordinated better. Asking others opinions, I found that both were popular!
I love the idea that this door sign could be used for a bedroom, nursery or playroom and that with the customisation box, you can type in whatever you want embroidered onto the door sign. I’ve shown ‘Evie’s Room’ on the samples but you could have more than one name or even change the room and have a sign that says ‘Lexi & Tilly’s Playroom’ for example!
Unicorn Fabric Storage Baskets
These baskets are bright and colourful but also versatile and practical storage options for your child’s space. They are fabric but they have been strengthened with a heavy interfacing inside so they have some structure. They are sent neatly folded but are easily popped back into shape when they arrive and ready to use. The cute characters I’ve designed are on the front and there is a cheerful lining to each basket too with a little hook so they can be placed on a shelf or hung from a peg. They are perfect for holding nappies, wipes, bibs or even hair accessories, toys and arts and crafts tools.
I am so proud of my new designs and I’ve been so excited to share them with you. I have some new themes coming up very soon as well. I am currently close to getting my final designs for an under the sea and space themes ready to launch. It is always a nervous time to put your designs out there to people but also to try and get across the product too. I love offering different options to my customers so they can have something for their child that is truly unique and fits the space but I’m sure you’ll agree that the possibilities for different styles, colours and fonts are endless and it is a difficult job to get so many options for people to decide between. Sometimes I worry about giving too much choice! I am always open to customers asking for more choices and working with people to get the product that they want to receive so if you have any questions about colour choices, design options or font choices, please message me through my contact me page on my website and I’d be happy to show you other options to make your order with me truly customised and something very special that will bring some joy to your child’s space.
]]>My daughter, however, absolutely LOVES it! So, it’s been quite exciting for me that I can finally feel like I can take part each year! The first year that me and my daughter went trick or treating, she had picked out her costume and wanted me to paint her whole face as a pumpkin. The only thing was, the orange face paint was so difficult to get off. The next day she went to school with an orange face! Parent fail for me!!
My daughter is gutted about missing out this year, so I’ve been looking up some alternative ways to bring some Halloween fun to the little ones in a socially distanced way.
I really liked this idea. Getting some sweets together and leaving them on the doorstep for some children with a little card saying ‘You’ve been booed’ and asking them to pass it on and ‘boo’ someone else. It should be anonymous and the great thing about it is, that as Halloween happens to be at the end of half term week for us, this can start at the beginning of half term week it doesn’t have to be just on the day itself!
For some more information, as well as some free printables, you can visit Halloween Angel's website here.
Dressing up, some Halloween themed food and hiding the sweets around the house for the children to find. You can find some lovely printable scavenger hunt clues online like these ones below...
PlayPartyPlan.com Halloween Scavenger Hunt
Happymoneysaver.com Halloween Treasure Hunt
This may need a little more organisation in your community! I’ve read about a lovely idea where we can put a picture of a pumpkin in our windows and the children can go around the community on a pumpkin search. Every time they find one, the parents put a sweet or small gift inside their bags. This sounds like a lovely half term activity as it could be done throughout the half term week!
I had a lovely idea of creating personalised pumpkin banners for this! I have two sizes available and they be personalised for your family or house number!
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Halloween and Christmas seem just round the corner now but I have been busy in the last few weeks making personalised book bag wraps for all the little ones starting school this month. It seems that some are still getting through a transition period for Reception though and I’ve heard some children aren’t properly starting full time until the end of the month! With the way this year has gone, it’s not surprising that the schools want to have a more gentle approach to settling the children in.
When I was making some book bag wraps last week, I had the idea of showing you through the process of how I make them. They are my most popular product and I sell them all year round! Starting pre-school, nursery or reception is such a big change and having lovely, personalised school things for your child can help to make the experience exciting as well as make them feel very special. Not to mention the sea of identical book bags in the classroom and having something different to help make your child’s bag stand out! I got the idea for the wraps after my friend’s daughter was starting nursery at our school. I was telling her about my own experience with the nursery class with my children, where the book bags went into plastic crates in the classroom and how difficult it was to quickly grab their bag when picking them up. The label with the name on was on the side and with them all stacked upright in the crate, the only part you could see was the handle! That’s when I got the idea and made one for my friend’s daughter. She loved how easy and quick it was to find her daughter’s bag among all the others. Now, it is my most popular product that I sell. So, I thought I would let you see what goes into making them.
Before I even get the sewing machine out, I have to go onto the embroidery software to create an embroidery file for the name to be sewn. The longer the name, the smaller the font gets. I have orders from full name and surname to a short nickname! I love being able to make something so personal for each child.
Each fabric choice I have for the wraps has a very different pattern and size of pattern repeat. I use a cardboard template to help to plan which part of the pattern to use. I like to get as much of the main parts of the pattern onto the wrap. If the child has asked for unicorns or dinosaurs, I like to make sure that they can see them and that I haven’t embroidered over them too much as well! Also, even though the template area might cover most of the pattern, only a third of the pattern will be seen when it is wrapped around the handle. It can be a tricky problem to work around depending on which fabric has been chosen but I like to make sure that I can fit the best parts of the pattern to somewhere close to the name.
Once I have found the best place to cut out the main fabric, I also cut out a complimentary backing fabric as well as two pieces of iron on interfacing.
I prepare the fabric by ironing, starching and finally, ironing on the interfacing. This not only gives the fabric a good stabiliser to be embroidered but also, gives a good shape to the finished product as well.
I embroider the name on to the main fabric.
I place Velcro dots onto the fabric using the markers from the template and then sew them on to secure them. Once the embroidery and Velcro are sewn in place, I pin the two pieces of fabric together and sew leaving a small gap so I can turn the wrap the right side out.
I use scissors to gently push out the corners and then iron before the final sew. It’s important that you don’t iron over the embroidery directly as the heat can melt the stitches, so I use another piece of fabric to protect the embroidery. Once ironed, the small gap can be sewn up and the book bag wrap is finished!
I always call them personalised book bag handle wraps. I’ll be honest, I don’t think it’s the catchiest title! They could be used for so many different things. My daughter used hers for her book bag and when she went into juniors and graduated to a rucksack, she still used hers on that bag too! Someone also ordered theirs to use on a lunch cool bag for when she put her lunch in the fridge at work. If you have any suggestions for a better name, I would love to hear them! Comment below!
]]>I always find it difficult to judge how much stock to take to a market or event and the 3 Foot Festival was going to be the first event that I've been to that was longer than a day! I always have to have some personalised samples of products as well as products that can be bought on the day.
I had already started to make stock for it in preparation before lockdown started so, as we are hoping to move house very soon, I thought I would sell what I had already made at a discounted price (it will be less to move with and worry about during the move as well!). I've added a stock clearance area to the website to sell these ready-made items. They are all made up and ready to be posted out! These aren't personalised items and as they are already made up and I'm packing up my craft room, I'm unable to personalise them. There is limited stock available so once it's gone, it's gone!
As always, I can post products out but if you live near me (Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire) then you can choose 'collection' at the checkout and we can arrange collection from me or I can, in some circumstances, deliver locally as well.
Click here to see the stock clearance products.
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I had no idea I would make so many face masks this year and I initially thought I’d only reopen for orders for a few weeks before we found out a date to move house. I posted about stopping orders so I could pack and sort the house but moving wasn’t as imminent as I thought and we are still waiting to hear an official moving date! It’s been a long and frustrating journey with our house move (whose isn’t?!) but I finally think there is a light at the end of it all and it is actually getting closer. We have been waiting around waiting for news and I have a feeling that we are going to suddenly get a call that it’s all happening and then there will be panic! So, I’m going to leave my website up and running for the next week and then I’m hopefully going to pause orders for a while, just while I get packed and sorted for the move. I will still be on social media, DM’s and emails so please contact me if you need anything and I’ll see what I can do!
We are all very excited about moving house! It isn’t far from where we are now but it’s going to mean an exciting new craft room for me! My current craft room has never been decorated and I’ve tried to make the best of the space I have but it is starting to take over the whole house, so being able to confine it to one space will be a relief for all of my family!
What I will be doing over the next few weeks as I’m sorting out, is selling some ready to go stock that I have already made up. So there will be a stock clearance sale very soon! I know I have a stock cupboard with some made up reading cushions, bunting, chalkboards, bibs and pencil wraps. So watch this space!
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Today we are going to look at some of the tools in the bottom right corner; slice, weld and attach. These tools are greyed out until you have shapes highlighted and therefore something to use the tools on. There are basic shapes in the menu on the left side of the screen. So I’m using these to demonstrate the tools.
Slice
This is a tool I use a lot but still manages to surprise me! You can place two shapes on top of each other, highlight both shapes by left click + dragging the cursor over them.
The slice tool then becomes available to use. When you click it, every line will be sliced. It always surprises me because you can guarantee that I will have forgotten the shape goes behind the front shape and I cut more lines than I realise! This is what the undo button is for! You can see below that the circle has been sliced out of the square so you now have the original circle, sliced circle and the remainder of the square. On the right side of the screen in the layers panel, you can see that each 'slice result' now has it's own layer.
Weld
Welding shapes together is another useful tool. If you want a continuous shape or text joined together so it all gets cut together, this is the tool to use. So here, where I have sliced the circle out of the square, I can weld it back together again to become a square again.
You notice that if you have lined up the circle exactly back into the square, the lines will disappear where it has been welded together. If you are even slightly out, there will still be some of the lines of the circle left. Whatever shapes or part of the shapes are touching, they will fuse together.
Attach
If you have several parts of a design, when you click on the ‘Make It’ button, Cricut Design Space will arrange the parts of the design lined up in whatever order it deems most efficient. If you want to keep a design together so it cuts in a certain way, highlight your design and attach them together. Unlike weld, you can easily detach them if you save and come back to it later. Also, it will still cut out all the lines, it will just keep the design positioned where you want it. Here’s an example of the First Day Chalkboards that I make.
It's a design with many layers and different image and text elements. If I were to cut it without attaching all the layers together, it would cut out on the mat like this.
By attaching the layers together (click and drag over all of the design on the canvas + click attach), your Cricut will cut them like this.
I hope you have found these tips useful and I would love to know if there are any Cricut or crafting tips you would like to see on this blog in the future. Please comment below!
]]>I have a Brother Innovis-800e embroidery machine and I use Brother’s software called PE Design 10. Most embroidery machines come pre-loaded with a number of designs, my machine came with 138 designs and 11 fonts. If you own an embroidery machine, you are either using the pre-loaded designs, designing your own on speciality software or buying them from a website. The pre-loaded designs are amazing to get you started but the scope of projects that you can make means that eventually you will look to expand your design library.
What I love about my embroidery machine is the freedom to be able to create my own designs and personalise them too. Being able to create the same make and the same finish time and time again was the turning point in me feeling that I could sell my products. Getting an embroidery machine has been a learning curve, you have to hoop up your fabric and use a stabiliser to strengthen it (some designs have thousands or even tens of thousands of stitches!). There are different types of stabiliser and I’m still learning new things all the time, even a couple of years later!
The PE Design 10 software has some great functions on it where you can get your own drawings or even photos and create an embroidery pattern. A lot of the time, I like to use the basic shapes and draw my design out from scratch. I like the control over sewing order, direction of sewing and even breaking the design down in to stages by using different colours of thread. From using the basic shapes, you can create loads of great designs. When you draw one shape, the options on what stitch to use for the outline and how the shape will be filled (or not) are so customisable. In a few steps, you can create a great design!
I am in the process of designing some digital embroidery patterns for those who own an embroidery machine to use themselves. It’s interesting to go through all of the embroidery patterns that I have designed over the last couple of years.
Looking at what is out there to buy, a lot of embroidery patterns are embellishments to add to a project or item of clothing. I think I like the designs that are more functional and little projects that you can make with your machine. I would love to know if you have an embroidery machine yourself and what kind of patterns you like to use or buy! Please comment below.
]]>Every day, my children would take in their school book bag and put it into a plastic storage box with all the other identical book bags. They had a keyring or two on the handle to make them stand out but you still had to search through. Then, the school banned keyrings from the bags and there was no way to distinguish their bags from all the others. I made some personalised fabric wraps to wrap around the handle of the book bag so they were easily identifiable. They have been one of my most popular items. My daughter is now in Y3, so she no longer has a book bag but she still has her handle wrap on her rucksack!
Here is an example of one I made recently!
They are a lovely little personalised gift to get a little one starting school and they are available to buy on my website with a range of fabric choices. If there is a theme, colour or pattern that you can’t see available, then you can message me for more options!
]]>I’m really excited about my new plans. It’s going to be a good start to the 20’s and somewhere in there we’ll be moving house as well. I’d love to hear from you about your plans for 2020!
]]>I had a few stalls in the last couple of weeks which needed a lot of preparation. I never know how many products I should take! I try to take a range of items, some on my website, some not as I’ve just been playing about with new ideas. I also take samples of personalised makes and take orders on the day too. Getting the opportunity to talk to people about what I make and what I can do, is a massive part of why I love what I do. On a normal day, I’m sat in my little craft room, making and designing so it’s easy to be too close to it all and be really self-critical. You never know if people are going to like what you make or actually want to buy it! I really enjoyed having my stalls this year, I met some lovely people and had a huge confidence boost with some lovely comments about my work too!
Today is the last day that I am taking orders on my website to guarantee that you get them before Christmas. Most of the orders I get are personalised and are made to order so I usually need 5 working days to amend the design, make it and send it out. I am going to be selling some ready to go items next week to clear out some Christmas stock so watch this space!
I’m looking forward to the Christmas break. My children are so excited for Christmas and the school holidays. It will be nice not to have that morning panic for a couple of weeks! I’m also looking forward to having some time to reflect and plan for next year! 2020 is going to be an exciting year. I have some ideas and plans that I’m looking to launch in the New Year and we are also moving house! We are all very excited about it! There will be a lot to plan, sort and pack but I’m getting very distracted with planning my new craft room! I have my priorities straight!!
In all the craziness, I totally forgot that Little Luna Creations turned 2 at the end of last month! I've been on this journey for 2 years now and I can't quite believe I'm still going! There are so many new designs, ideas and some slightly different paths I would like to take my little business down so I'm going to be working hard over the next couple of months to get those in place!
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I always feel nervous to go to an event. It’s great to talk to people about my makes, get feedback and ideas but there is always the question of what products to take and how much. A lot of my makes are personalised and made to order so taking samples of those products is a must. I do have products that I don’t have on the website as little stocking fillers as well.
I have been to several events in the last couple of years and thought I’d share some top tips for selling at a fair at any time of year for small businesses.
This is not just from personal experience but it’s also been quite a popular comment on several forums I’ve been on. If your prices aren’t clearly displayed, it can put people off buying as people tend not to ask how much your items are.
This has been so important for me for obvious reasons. They often need to have signal and a phone to work. I have fallen foul of not preparing myself with them before the event by not syncing the machine to my phone beforehand. It meant that when I got there and turned it on, I was trying to connect my phone to the machine, only to find that I didn’t have a clue which one mine was in a long list of machines around me! It stopped me from using my machine and I lost sales.
This sounds like a no brainer but it is nerve-wracking going to these events and I have found myself sitting behind my stall and avoiding eye contact with people. I make all of my creations, I can personalise items and I can make custom orders as well. I do have little signs dotted over my stall saying these things but nothing beats talking to people about my business which I’m so passionate about!
It is really important that you have at least one of these! People will take your information away and you never know who will come back to you at a later date. Business cards with your contact details, website and social media on them are great for people to take away. A banner or stand is also very useful. Mine has my logo, website and social media on it. I have had people take pictures of my banner instead of taking a business
All well organised events will require a stall holder to have public liability insurance. It is so important to cover yourself at events. If anyone injures themselves as a result of your stall, you are covered legally. It might seem like it’s an unlikely event but accidents do happen.
An event can be a few hours, all day or even several days and it’s easy to get wrapped up in the preparation of stock and how your stall will look. Taking some snacks, water and even a packed lunch is a good idea. Planning for a toilet break may be necessary too depending on the length of the event! Bringing a friend with you, or knowing that one is coming along helps. I always get chatting to my stall neighbours and that is always useful too so you can support each other if needed!
When you are planning to display your products on your stall, creating height is a great way to make your stall look interesting and will show off your products better as well. It depends on the size of your products but lots of people use wooden crates, ladder style units or shelving. I bought a small TV unit from Ikea for my stall which works well for my frames and leaning cushions up against it.
Most of the orders I take are for personalised makes so having samples of makes is important. It is also important to be prepared with paperwork for orders. I always take a form for me to fill in so I make sure that I get all of the information I need from a customer but I also take a receipt book. For personalised orders, I take a 50% deposit up front so it is important that I can give the customer a receipt for their payment along with my contact details. Having a realistic idea of time scales to turn an order around as well as how many orders you can take on is important too.
Get talking to other stallholders! I love talking to other small business owners at events. Running a small business is not an easy thing to do and chatting with others in the same position can be a great source of support. You might find new ways of working together or share ideas!
It can be a mixture of emotions after an event. Tired definitely, but depending on how successful you feel it’s been, you can feel really positive or like you want to pack it all in! I make everything I sell and it can feel very personal if I don’t sell much at an event. No matter how much I have sold or how many orders I take, I always try to look at the positive side of doing events. Meeting new people and getting your name out there is always a good thing. You never know who will come back to you later down the line.
These are just a few things I’ve learnt so far in my experience. I’d love to hear any tips you have for having a stall at an event or even as a customer what you like to see from a small business!
]]>All of my makes are usually inspired by things I like to make my own children or for friends. I love being able to make personalised, unique gifts and spreading that joy, what better time to do this than at Christmas?!
Well, it is a little later than I anticipated but here are the new Christmas products I've been working on. I’ve added several products to my Christmas Collection and I am so excited to launch them on my website now!
I love making my little pencil wraps! They are a cute gift for little ones and are so handy to have in your handbag for when you are out and about too. Naturally, I have made a new pencil wrap for Christmas, the reindeer one! Like all the other designs, these come with 9 mini colouring pencils and can be personalised too. They would be a great little gift in an advent calendar or even at the Christmas dinner table to keep the little ones occupied!
I’ve added some baby’s first Christmas makes as well this year! I still have my personalised glass decorations but I’ve introduced a personalised ‘1st Christmas 2019’ decoration too.
Paired with the personalised ‘First Christmas 2019’ bib, you can give the perfect gift and keepsake to a little one this Christmas! There is another bib design to choose from, with the Santa’s Little Helper bib as well!
Another lovely, unique gift is the Reindeer Treat Bags. They are a cute gift, party bag or even a reusable alternative to Christmas Crackers! They can be personalised with an embroidered, felt gift tag and can be filled with small toys or sweets or you can buy them pre-filled with some chocolate coins.
Lastly, these personalised wooden Christmas tree decorations are going to be popular! I have a choice of 3 fonts and they will look fab on the tree! I only have a limited amount of these wooden stars, so order now to avoid disappointment!
I’ve been looking forward to sharing all my ideas with you! I would love to hear what you think and don’t forget that I also take custom orders. If you are looking for a personalised, unique gift this Christmas, please contact me through the link above. My order book will close on Friday 13th December to ensure that you receive your order well in time for Christmas. Remember, everything is made to order so it can take up to a week for me to dispatch your order.
Christmas Wishes,
Cheryl x
]]>Last year, I tried to limit how many sweets she got so I made these cute trick or treat bags! They are the perfect size for trick or treating. My daughter had a great time and we didn't get an extreme amount of sweets either! They are handmade bags with a choice of 3 designs and can be personalised too.
This weekend I'm offering a Halloween Fiver Friday Deal on Personalised Trick or Treat Bags! Just use the code TREAT5 at the checkout. Make sure you order before Sunday at 5pm to get your order posted on Monday, ready for Halloween!
Happy Halloween!
Cheryl x
]]>A personalised Christmas decoration is a lovely keepsake that can be used every year. I still have Christmas decorations from my childhood. My great-aunt and great-uncle lived in California and bought personalised Christmas decorations for us all at birth. I loved placing it on our Christmas tree every year and when I left home, my mum gave me mine so I could carry that on. I still have a little smile when I decorate our tree, even 40 years later!
One of the first products I ever sold were my personalised felt Christmas decorations. I have two styles (heart or star) in two different colours (red or white). Each decoration has a snowflake stitched on one side with a button hand-stitched in the centre. I also sell them without a name too!
On the other side, the name is stitched. Depending on how long the name is, depends on how big it will be!
Last year, I introduced the personalised glass Christmas decorations. These glass-etched effect decorations have a santa sleigh and reindeer design with the name underneath.
I also have a variety of Christmas bunting available as well!
I have some new designs in mind for this Christmas and I will be launching them in a couple of weeks. I would love to hear your opinions though and if you have anything you would like to see, please message me or comment below!
]]>I often cut out names with my Cricut to personalise some of my makes and I’m going to show you a couple of different ways to adjust text in Cricut Design Space so you can get the best out of your fonts.
Cricut Design Space has so many fonts to choose from. There are the ones from your computer (system fonts) and Cricut’s own fonts. There are many websites where you can buy or download fonts as well so if you install these fonts, they will also be included in the system fonts in Cricut Design Space.
There are a lot of popular cursive fonts around to make it look hand-written and these often need a little tweaking in Cricut Design Space.
For example, when I type it out in PowerPoint or Photoshop it looks like….
When I type it out in Cricut Design Space, it looks like….
I am going to show you how to correct this!
Firstly, you can correct this within Cricut Design Space itself. If you click on the text, a whole range of new buttons and menus appear. You can change the font, style, size, spacing, alignment, add a curve and even use the advanced feature to ungroup each letter and treat them all individually!
By reducing the spacing between letters, you can get the letters close enough to join. Depending on the font, this can be a bit fiddly and if you have lots of text can take time to get right.
The other way to get the font right is to type the font out in another program and save as a jpeg or screenshot.You can then upload the image and delete the surrounding parts. If you use the preview at the bottom of the screen, you can check that you have deleted everything!
Once you are happy that you have deleted all of the surrounding image, make sure you choose to save it as a cut image. You can see the text that I've typed in to Cricut Design Space directly and below, the text that I have uploaded.
Which technique you use depends on the font. There are fonts that you can make look the same in Cricut Design Space but there are some fonts that would take so much tweaking, that it is quicker to import it as a jpeg.
This font is a lovely font to use for personalising makes. This is what is looks like in PowerPoint.
This is what it looks like in Cricut Design Space, where the letters are disjointed.
If I try to reduce the space between the letters, they don't join completely. Which means that without ungrouping all of the letters and tweaking individually, it would take a lot of effort to get this text right. So, uploading it as an image is the quicker and easier way!
I hope you have found this helpful, let me know if there are any other Cricut Design Space tutorials you would like to see!
]]>Today is Fat Quarter Friday.
A fat quarter is a measurement of fabric. Most fabrics are bought by the metre and if you imagine a metre of fabric being cut into four pieces, this is what a fat quarter is. So, generally a fat quarter should measure around 50cm x 55cm. They are popular with quilters for patchwork projects. I particularly love the fat quarter bundles because they sell complementary fabrics together. It's often cheaper than buying these fabrics seperately too.
I love that fat quarters are so versatile for little craft projects. I make a few of my products out of them, such as bunting and book bag handle wraps. I also make some little projects of my own with them and they are great to try out new ideas with too!
I made this mobile phone rest with a fat quarter. It's filled with a polyester stuffing material and dried rice to weigh it down.
There are so many free patterns and ideas out there for fat quarter inspiration! Check out the link below to see 38 great ideas using fat quarters!
]]>I've added some bibs to my website for the first time. I have made bibs before, but mainly for my stalls at fairs. I definitely need to add more to my website soon! I have a choice of black or white over the head bibs with a choice of 2 designs.
I have also put together a Personalised Halloween Bundle. I have designed pumpkin and cat pencil wraps each come with 9 mini colouring pencils. Along with a personalised trick or treat mini shopper bag and a Halloween themed colouring book, this is the perfect gift for your little ones or an amazing party bag for your Halloween party!
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It has been a learning curve but I’m finding my way with it! I wanted to show you how I stabilise my cotton before embroidering to reduce puckering on the fabric. The light cotton I use in a lot of my projects won’t withstand hundreds of stitches (eg. for stitching a name) in such a small amount of space so it needs to be stabilised. I have always used a light / medium weight tearaway backing stabiliser in the hoop. However, for the light cottons I use and with so many stitches, it isn’t enough. So, in addition to the backing stabiliser, I use starch spray and an iron on interfacing. Here's how:
Firstly, I iron the fabric. I use a spray starch and iron again. This strengthens the fabric and I usually repeat the spray starch twice.
To strengthen the fabric further, I then use some iron on interfacing.
The fabric will then feel completely different and quite firm.
For small projects like the one pictured, I hoop the stabiliser but not the fabric. For larger projects, I hoop the fabric tightly with the stabiliser.
For this project, I let the fabric ‘float’ on the stabiliser.
When the embroidery is finished, a quick iron (use a scrap piece of fabric over the top to protect the stitches! I have melted stitches with ironing before!!)
I'd love to hear what you think, or if you have any other ways of stabilising your fabric.
]]>Today is National Read a Book Day and on Sunday it’s International Literacy Day. I have always loved reading and spent many hours reading and re-reading Road Dahl as a child. I loved getting lost in the worlds he created. I must admit, I knew what I liked though and was reluctant to read much else! Not that was ever a problem, I read what I enjoyed and that kept me reading.
I’m lucky that both my children love reading and it’s never really been a battle to get them to read. I love that enjoyable reading for them can come in so many forms though! My son loves Minecraft and there are so many books and magazines on it (it’s quite surreal to see your son reading up on gravel at bedtime!) He loves anything that’s silly too – the ‘Danger is Everywhere’ books by David O’Doherty are a particular favourite! My daughter loves the ‘Magic Animal Friends’ books and anything to do with animals. This week, she started juniors and brought home books on her new favourite topic, History! She has been watching a lot of Horrible Histories over the last few months!
Not all children enjoy reading though and there is a fab article by author Jeff Norton on the BookTrust website on some great tips to get your child more interested in reading. https://www.booktrust.org.uk/books-and-reading/tips-and-advice/reading-tips/tips-for-reluctant-readers/
Encouraging reading at home by having a little reading corner is a lovely idea wherever you can fit it! Whether you find space in their bedroom, playroom, nursery or even a spot on their bed! Accessorising your child’s reading space with a personalised reading cushion is a lovely addition! I have several themes with unicorn, superhero, goodnight and dinosaur, click on the link to check them out!
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Every time I find a fabric I like, it’s difficult to know how much to buy as you don’t know how popular it will be and you never know if you will be able to buy it again. Fabric is seasonal which has its pros and cons. As much as I hate running out of a fabric I’ve been using, I can also have a lot of fun finding new designs! Buying wholesale has been a big thing for me though and it also meant that I had to buy a minimum of 20m so I have plenty for now!
I will be making up some cushions in the new fabric and getting them onto the website very soon. They have arrived just in time because my current supply of fabric that I make my unicorn cushions is made with is down to my last ones. So order now before they are gone!
]]>I never know what will be popular when I’m selling my makes at these events and it’s all a bit of guesswork especially when a lot of my orders are personalised. It’s nice to have some products to sell, some examples of personalised work and some little bits like the key fobs, coin purses and animal pencil wraps too! Once I have made my creations, I can’t embroider names on afterwards without taking them apart. That’s why all of my personalised makes are made to order. I always stress about how much to make and take but I’ve always made enough to fill the space I have and I’m never left with stock for long!
Once I had got there and set up (with the help of my handy assistant!), I felt so much better. Getting talking to my fellow stallholders and actually meeting in person some lovely ladies that make gorgeous things that I admire on Instagram! When the customers started to come in, the nerves had gone away and I got on with it! The day went so quickly and I got some great feedback about my products as well as some great ideas on what I want to do next! I love running my business and it means such a lot to me when I get some lovely feedback on what I make. It has been a long month and it hasn’t quite gone to plan but I’m glad I can end the month feeling really positive and motivated to get back to it!
]]>The machine might look scary and I remember being slightly wary of it at first. I had a demonstration in my local craft shop and watching it was mesmerising! To be honest, it was probably a couple of months before I could feel that I could successfully thread the machine without the thread breaking or getting stuck! Practise makes perfect though and my embroidery machine is probably the most important tool in my business.
When you embroider your design, you need to 'hoop up' your fabric. One of the areas that I'm still learning about is stabilisers. They are a bit of a minefield because there are so many different types and it depends on the design (some patterns have tens of thousands of stitches in a small area of fabric!) and also the type of fabric as to which ones you use. That is a whole other blog post though!
If you are thinking about buying an embroidery machine, the one top tip is to buy the biggest hoop you can afford. Brother machines are great and as these machines are so technical, Brother have got a good reputation. Janome and Singer are also good makes to consider too. They are not the cheapest thing to buy and they get more expensive the bigger the hoop that comes with them. The cheapest machine comes with a hoop of 100mm x 100mm which, in my opinion, you will grow out of very quickly. The Brother Innov-Is 800E comes with a hoop of 160 x 260mm, which is the biggest that the machine can have. Obviously, there are projects that I could have made bigger than this hoop but it hasn't stopped me making creations like my Easter Bunny treat bags, my pencil wraps and even personalised letter bunting flags too!
Look out for an Easter project using my embroidery machine soon!
As always, I would love to hear from you! If you have any comments or ideas for projects that you would like to see, please comment below!
]]>There are some lovely local businesses at the event and some amazing products. There are some really gorgeous, unique and handcrafted products and I am so proud to be considered amongst these other amazing businesses!
I am working hard to prepare for my stall. A lot of my products are personalised so I will be taking orders at the market but I will also be selling products that aren’t personalised too! I will have reading cushions, chalkboards, bunting, pencil wraps and more!
I never know how much stock to take but I will be taking orders as well. I will be offering a discount to shoppers on the day who order online but in the meantime, if anyone would like to order and collect at the market, please choose 'collect at MumMade Market' at the checkout. If you sign up as an email subscriber, you will get a 10% discount code!
Maree will be announcing a very special giveaway soon where one lucky person will win over £150 of vouchers to shop with on the day! Check out the facebook event page https://www.facebook.com/events/764397497228039/ as well as Maree’s page for future events too! https://www.facebook.com/MumMadeMarket/
]]>1. Fabric pens
I bought these ones from Hobbycraft. These are perfect for younger ones who would like to decorate their make, or if you just like having the freedom to express yourself. These are permanent markers though, so I would suggest that you use them preferably before you make up your purse. Or, you should place some card inside the purse so the pens don't mark all the way through!
2. Stamping
I also bought these from Hobbycraft (I spend a lot of time in there!). You could stamp out a message or a name on your purse. This set also includes a cute little heart too!
3. Embroider
In this picture, I have used my embroidery machine and embroidered the name on it before making the purse up. You can also hand embroider a name on by drawing your pattern or name on and hand stitching along the drawn lines.
4. Heat Transfer Vinyl (HTV)
Here is an example of how I use HTV with my Cricut machine. You can cut out your design or a name and iron it on to your make.
I would love to see some of your makes! Please comment below with any other ideas you have to decorate or personalise your purse. If you have any other ideas of makes that you would like to see on this blog as a tutorial, please message me too!
]]>This make can be as easy or complicated as you would like to make it! When I make mine, I use my embroidery machine as it gives a really precise finish, especially on the rounded edge and I can also add an embroidered name. It doesn’t have to be made with an embroidery machine though, you can use a sewing machine or even hand stitch it if you prefer! I will be showing you how to make it in this post but look out for the post about personalisation where I give you some ideas on how you can decorate your purse!
You will need:
With your template, cut 2 pieces of material. You can keep it the same material or have an outer fabric with a complementary lining. I have marked on where the ribbon goes in pencil. Make sure you mark it on the wrong side of the fabric!
Before you sew the fabric pieces together, you need to set up the keyring and ribbon. I am using ribbon in this tutorial because it’s quick and easy.
Sew pieces together. I have said on the template that it's a seam allowance of 0.75cm. This means (on my Janome machine) that the edge lines up with the foot of the sewing machine.
You need to leave a gap in the straight edge, again see the template.
Once sewn together, you need to trim the seam allowance, particularly the corners and around the curved edge at the top.
Turn it inside out and press to make sure you not only have crisp edges but the gap along the straight edge is neat too. It's a good idea to iron and press the seams at this stage. The reason that you sew a little bit around the corner, is because when you turn the fabric the right side out, the seam naturally folds inwards, making it easier to make it neater.
Sew along the straight edge on the outside.
Fold the fabric into the finished shape. You can check that a credit card will fit in to make sure you have the right size.
Add your snap fastener. I am using plastic KAM snap fasteners with the pliers that fit them. You can also use sew on fasteners or velcro dots too!
I have been getting prepared for a very exciting event, the MumMade market! I will be writing about this event more but I wanted to showcase some of the amazing businesses that will be at the event in April that sell or make lovely things that would be perfect for Mother’s Day.
If you are looking for scrumptious treats, then Nicola at Nellie Noo makes delicious handmade chocolate based fudge! She has some gorgeous flavours including Gin & Tonic and Strawberry & Prosecco fudge!
Alternatively, Banu at The Cake Boutique London makes these beautiful and mouth-watering cakes. Click on the link below to see some more of her amazing creations.
For handmade organic bath and beauty products, check out Doap on Etsy. They have organic moisturisers, bath bombs and loads more!
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/DOAPUK?ref=l2-shop-info-avatar&listing_id=591702837
Iris Design Floral don't just sell gorgeous silk flowers but they also sell lovely home fragrances and very special gift boxes too. They love to sell beautiful things but they also love to give back too and for every sale, they will donate £1 to Pancreatic Cancer UK.
Cast Create Cherish design some lovely frames with casts of not just your little ones hands and feet but also your pets as well.
https://www.facebook.com/castcreatecherish
The Sambo Scribbles creates gorgeous artwork which you can buy framed, unique cards and stationary too. I know I can never get enough stationary and Sam's notebooks are great!
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TheSamboScribbles
Paper Moon Frames sell some gorgeous home decor as well as making lovely memory frames that would be an amazing gift too.
https://www.facebook.com/papermoonframes
If lovely ceramics are what you are looking for, then check out Dottir Studio. For any green fingered mum or gran, there are some gorgeous plant pots and also some lovely pins too.
Deana at Images of Life creates absolutely stunning images which would be an amazing present for any mum, grandma or any special lady in your life!
There are many more lovely sellers at the MumMade Market that will be selling handmade items for children too. Look out for future posts, I will be writing about the event again soon! In the meantime, check out Maree's event page on facebook....
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