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

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

Settling in

The last few days of our school holidays were just lovely. The weather was (stinking) hot and we finally gave in to the kids nagging and filled up the pool.

There is something about water that evokes calm and relaxation...even just water in a (big) blow-up pool! I found myself really relaxing while I sat and watched Miss A and Master R paddle and play in the pool, and listening to the sounds of splashing water and my children laughing made me smile.

It made me feel happy, and it made me grateful. Grateful for the time we had just spent together as a family over the holidays, grateful for my happy home, and grateful for my happy children.

But then, just a few days later I found myself feeling really quite sad and overwhelmed with thoughts of the holidays ending and the new school year beginning. With Master R beginning Year One, and Miss A beginning Kindy, it suddenly seemed like a really big deal. I wanted to continue on as we were: together, at home, on holidays.

But of course we couldn't, and on Wednesday I let them go. It wasn't easy, but I did it. And I surprised myself and felt ok. They were brave, and confident, and excited, and so I was too. I was grateful for the lovely classrooms and teachers, grateful to my man for being there with us, and grateful for the friends who were there (and elsewhere) doing it alongside us too. And the fact that we got through it ok made me smile.

While we are still settling in...to school and new routines....I know it won't be long before it's all familiar and comfortable, and for that I am grateful.

Bird Embellishments Paper ::Cotton ::Love

Felt Flowers Paper ::Cotton ::Love

And then there is that little bit of extra time...time for me...time for craft...time that I caught a little glimpse of on Wednesday, and time that I have again today. After six and a half years as a SAHM, I know I will be grateful for that too...once we are all settled in.

Today I am linking this post to Maxabella Loves 52 Weeks of Grateful at Kidspot

Hope there are plenty of smiles in your week too

xx

Finding a focus

Twelve months ago I opened my store on Etsy, Cotton And Card. Even with the massive amount of stores on Etsy, I managed to make sales, and my store has steadily grown.

Over the past couple of months though, a few issues have caused me to feel a little dissatisfied with Etsy. Over the year I have sold a bit of everything, but not enough of any one thing to help me to direct my focus...some items in my store take months to sell, often resulting in a lack of motivation to make the item again...photographing many different items of all shapes and sizes has been a headache...and I haven't been able to create a consistent look and feel that I am happy with.

As much as I enjoy sewing and crochet, it was my love affair with paper and card that started me on this path many years ago, and is often what gets me the most motivated to 'make'.  For quite a while I had been considering adding some handmade paper-craft supplies to the mix at Cotton And Card, but I hadn't done so as I felt that it would only make the shop window look even more random and inconsistent.

And then, a couple of weeks ago I discovered Craftumi, a site especially for selling (handmade) craft supplies, and I knew instantly that it was what I was looking for. 

Two days later, Paper :: Cotton :: Love was born!

Paper :: Cotton :: Love sells handmade embellishments, die cut card, card and gift tag blanks, Kraft card and other unique and sometimes quirky 'bits and bobs' for craft projects.

There is something really satisfying about selling my handmade craft supplies, to other crafty folk, who will make something nice, maybe even something they can sell in their own shop!

While I might not be getting a lot of sleep right now, the constant flow of ideas swimming around in my head at 2am is making sure of that, I am focused. And focus is what I was looking for. I know exactly what I want to make. I am enjoying the complete process from start to finish, and I am completing projects quickly and easily despite the constant (usual) interruptions from Master R and Miss A! 

It's only early days, but it feels good, and it feels right for me. Maybe I have found my niche. Only time will tell. I have definitely found a focus, and that is making me happy for now.

I hope you are focused and happy too xx