I have moved!

You can now find me over here, blogging at Paper Cotton Love! Feel free to drop by and say 'hi', I would love to hear from you x

a change of heart

I've been thinking a lot about blogging again today, and it seems I've had a change of heart. Rather than write a daily post, I've decided it might be time to stop posting all together...

Blogger has been wonderful, and I've met some amazing people along the way, but it just isn't where I want to be spending my time right now.

You can still find me here and here though, and I'd love you to pop over and say hi.

Tracey xx

painting

Miss A is always drawing, painting and colouring-in. I've got folders overflowing with her artwork, and pictures stuck all over the fridge. But this latest painting was definitely deserving of a frame. Even her Kindy teachers were blown away by her trees, and the clever technique she used to 'dab' the paint on to make the leaves on the trees look real.

So today while the kids were at school, hubby and I framed her painting and when she came home we hung it in her room. She was as proud as punch, and so were we.

Hubby did some painting today too - in the laundry. Although the laundry was next on the renovation list, it certainly hadn't been on our list of things to do today...at least it wasn't until we popped into IKEA...now that is a sure fire way to kick start a renovation. Not only did we leave with a frame for Miss A's painting, but a laundry storage unit, a work top and lots of ideas!

And still on the painting theme...the Canterbury Art Show opened tonight! It runs all weekend, and I am so excited and proud that some crochet bags and beanies handmade by my mother are for sale in the Gift Shop. Have a peek over here to see some of the amazing artwork for sale, and the gorgeous handmade goodies in the Gift Shop!

xx

bakers twine - for photo a day may

I spent most of this morning photographing these cute cards wrapped in Bakers twine, for Paper Cotton Love, so it seemed appropriate to post one of them here as my photo for the day.

I know lots of people are following certain 'rules' for Photo a Day May, such as using Instagram to photograph something related to the particular theme for that day, but I am not doing that here. I am just using the idea of 'a photo a day' as motivation to get me back into regular blogging. I want each photo to be taken without effort, rather than it becoming another 'task' to complete within the timeframe.

I photographed the bakers twine in lots of colours, but this blue is my favourite. The twine is over in my shop if you want to have a peek at the other colours too. Let me know which one is your favourite!

 xx

a photo a day in may

Lately I've been neglecting this little space. I've been busy on Facebook here and here, and very busy making crafty things for Paper Cotton Love and Lollipops And Love. I love every bit of what I'm doing, but I want to keep up my blogging too.

I've been searching for some inspiration...for a simple idea to keep me motivated...for an easy way to fit blogging into my day. Today I found that inspiration, at Foxs Lane. Kate is making a crochet motif every day in May...and I am going to post a photo every day in May!

It might be a photo of something I'm working on, a moment with the kids, a place I visit or someone I see...anything that captures a moment in my day.

Today's photo is a crafty one. This afternoon I found a little time, in between working on customer orders and new products, to start making the first of several cards I need to finish over the next week or so. I have a couple of mothers day cards to make, a birthday card for a friend, and a 4 year old birthday card. I'm usually so busy making things for Paper Cotton Love and Lollipops And Love, that I often forget to make time for my own craft projects, so today was a nice change.

I'm looking forward to posting a photo a day in May!

xx

off to Melbourne...

I wish I could say it was me who was off to Melbourne... but no, it isn't me, it is a lovely package of crochet hats, bags and beanies destined for the Gift Shop at the 2012 Canterbury Art Exhibition.

Several weeks ago we received an invitation from the organisers of the Art Exhibition to provide some handmade crochet items to be offered for sale in their Gift Shop.

These items I am sending over have been handmade by my mother, who is an incredibly talented crocheter, with over 30 years experience. Her inspiration comes from various books, magazines and websites, often making her own yarn and colour selections, and adding her own twist.

I believe there will be an amazing selection of handmade goodies in the Gift Shop (oh how I would love the chance to shop there!) along with a magnificent display of art. If you are lucky enough to be in Melbourne from May 4th to 6th please pay a visit to the show, and show your support for local Australian talent. If you can't attend the show, you can still visit lots of our crochet and other handmade goodies over at Lollipops And Love xx

online...offline

It seems I may have forgotten how to blog.

I've been away from Blogger for only five weeks...but even after that amount of time, I am struggling to find my way back in.

What do you blog about after such a break?

Family? Craft? Work? Right now I really can't decide, but it's time that I wrote something, just to get the ball rolling again.

And I don't want to use the "I've been too busy to blog" excuse, because we're all busy folk these days right?

So instead I am going to blame my recent absence from Blogger, on Facebook. I am not one of those people who can be EVERYWHERE online at once...Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Blogger...and the list goes on. For me that is incredibly exhausting. So when I began spending more time here...and here...something had to give, and unfortunately that something was blogging.

Until now I had never been a fan of Facebook, and I'm still not entirely convinced it's all positive, but it is proving to be a nice little networking tool for my online shops. Over the past few weeks, through Facebook Pages, I have met some extremely talented crafters, discovered wonderful businesses, chatted with some of my customers, and learnt new networking skills.

But am I going to be able to keep up with it all? The most important thing is that I have enough quality time for the real hands-on crafting...the sewing, the crochet and the paper-craft...it doesn't sit right with me when the amount of time I spend online outweighs the amount of time I spend actually crafting.

And it's school holidays right now, another good reason to keep it simple, not take on too much, and instead enjoy lazy days at home with the kids...

So now I'm back, I've written a post, and I hope to be here posting more regularly again xx