Season's Greetings

Hope it was a good Christmas for everyone. We're enjoying a lazy few days watching telly and catching up with family.
All the cards, fabric and paint have been tidied away until next week, but I'm already getting itchy fingers!
The rest of the family arrive on Saturday to spend New Year with us, including little Ewan complete with kilt in the Mitchell tartan which his Daddy has bought in honour of his first Hogmanay in Scotland!
Happy New Year when it comes - I hope it brings good times for all.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas...

Almost.
We finished up on Saturday with the street fair in Perth. As I said in my last post I was hoping for good weather - at this time of year it could have been anything from howling gale to 2 feet of snow. As it turned out it was OK, a bit damp underfoot but not too cold and it stayed dry most of the day.
We didn't expect the same record sales as two weeks ago but it was fine nonetheless. And I got a bit of Christmas shopping done too.
Since Saturday I've managed to keep up to date with website orders, and most have been dispatched within twenty four hours.
We've had a steady stream of top up orders of Christmas cards for our stockists this week and they should all be done by tomorrow.
Then we'll see.
A bit of tidying up and Christmas preparations can begin!

Last Fair of the Year

Next Saturday sees us back in Perth for the outdoor Christmas Craft Market. This will be the last event of 2012 for us although it's fair to say that we've cut back quite a lot on shows this year.
We've got orders to get ready for stockists around the country first of all this week and then it will be heads down to prepare stock for the weekend.
I hope the weather is as kind to us this Saturday as it was when we did the same market a couple of weeks ago. Very cold and crisp, but sunny and still - perfect Christmas street fair weather. The shoppers were out in force and we had a stunning day breaking the record for sales.
We sold out of these, so they're top of the list to make in the next few days.

Happy First of December

I can't quite believe we've got to this time of the year already. Last time I looked up it was still trying to be summer.
But here we are, our Christmas rush beginning to calm down and suddenly I can draw breath and think about things other than getting orders out and keeping stock levels up.
The website is still busy with orders which is great, but the shop orders are getting smaller as the Christmas card demand always tails off in December.
Last night was one of those sleepless ones where my brain was buzzing with ideas and projects which have been on the back burner for months. Everything from rearranging my workspace to planning new designs, new products even - not just cards. And I had to resist the temptation in the early hours to get up and start shifting furniture! I definitely wouldn't have been popular!
So I'm going to be a grown up and start by making a list - and tidying up I think should come top today.
This is my work table after yesterday's orders were dispatched.
And as it's that season here is Ewan and a little red breasted friend. Can you spot him?