Embroidered Originals Blog

Annual Roundup - be warned, this is a LONG post

2012-01-04T02:28:00.000Z

As we're at the start of the New Year, which also coincides with the start of our new business year, I take a moment to recap on the highlights and lowlights of the year just gone.
Starting with the highlights -

JANUARY - we were given a gentle nudge by our accountants to maybe spend some money! How about advice like that to start the year. To explain I have to go right back to 1996 when we made a major (brave/foolhardy) decision for Bob to leave his secure teaching job and become a full time partner in our little business. It was a decision of the heart rather than the head. If we'd sat down and considered it objectively it probably never would have happened. As it was we took a gamble - I had gone as far as I could without another full time pair of hands, and he was just about at the end of his tether with his job. So we took the plunge, with two teenage children not far off university and a mortgage to pay. That was when we realised the fragility of our income and how important it was to keep a tight rein on our expenses. We've come a long way since then, thankfully never regretting the decision. The kids went off to uni and the mortgage was paid off but we still equated every penny that came in with the hours of work that took to make it (slight exaggeration) and with the belief that it could all go belly up at any time we put any major plans which cost money on hold. Then when your ACCOUNTANT tells you to SPEND some of your hard earned cash rather than see it dwindle in the bank.......
FEBRUARY By now we had new living room furniture and plans under way for new windows. That was the first dip into the bank account. It got a boost from the Trade Show though where we amazed ourselves by doubling the orders we took the year before. Suddenly the quiet half of the year was no longer quiet and we were working just about as hard to keep up as the usually frantic months of October and November. We got feedback from our stockists that the cards were flying out the door, with some telling us that sale of our cards was paying THEIR mortgage! The new windows were money well spent and very overdue.

going from this

to this

MARCH I got a wonderful surprise on Mother's Day to hear from our daughter that we were going to be grandparents for the first time. (That would help reduce the bank balance!)

APRIL We were still hibernating really - working away on orders and enjoying the unseasonal warm weather with lunches out in the garden.

MAY The Craft Fair season started up again with Gardening Scotland closely followed by the Royal Highland Show a few weeks later.

JUNE Just before the Highland Show we squeezed a trip down to see Laura and Greg and to help them move house. That was hard work, I can tell you and of course Laura, being pregnant had to take it easy and just give orders.

In their new kitchen

JULY Things were hotting up, and I don't mean the weather. The workload was becoming frankly ridiculous and we just rolled our eyes at the thought of how we would cope when the Christmas rush started. I was supposed to, by now, have the new Christmas card designs ready and photograhed for the brochure but there was just no time. We also heard at this time that our oldest and one of our best stockists was closing their shop at Glasgow Airport. A potential blow to our income as they regularly ordered once a fortnight. However they moved on to premises in the centre of Glasgow and the orders kept coming in. Not only that, but since they no longer had the monopoly on us for the airport, we picked up another outlet there, which is proving to be just as successful.
AUGUST Well that whole month is dominated by the Edinburgh Festival Craft Fair - three and a bit weeks, seven days a week. Bob made the journey over to Edinburgh as usual every day and I stayed behind making stock and continuing with the trade orders. Great team work there.

The chalet type stand that was home from home for Bob for 3 weeks.

Also in AUGUST I escaped for a couple of days in York with Laura and the bump. What a great girlie weekend it was - tea at Betty's and lots of shopping.
SEPTEMBER marked one year since we closed the workshop and gave up our own retail outlet.

We now use the workshop as a store and the packing and dispatch department but I have to admit it's quite sad to see it and remember how it used to be when it was stocked with lots of differnt crafts and gifts.

However again the decision made was the right one. We have been so busy this year, it would have been impossible to run a shop and cope with the workload. I still get local customers though who come to the door and that's good. So a year on and we haven't looked back.
September brought other noteworthy events. We splashed the cash again and had a new bathroom installed. Gone was the green bathroom suite (oh the shame) to be replaced with sparkling white. A bit of a marathon it was, mainly due to our tiler who believed a job worth doing was worth doing well and painstakingly slowly. So although it was started in September we just about made it in time for Christmas. But it was worth it and the job was well done.
We also managed to squeeze a week in Greece before the Autumn Trade Show

Bliss

Then all hell broke loose at the Trade Fair. Did we think we were busy in July? Ha - that was nothing compared to what we had ahead of us after the show. We picked up a large number of new stockists to add to the list and the order book was bulging. We were a hive of activity from early morning to early morning - practically round the clock. It was quite funny really - as in the midst of it all we had the plumber, tiler, electrician and painter all adding to the mix at various times. Bob worked in the living room, me down the hall in the spare bedroom/studio and between us was the new bathroom. It was a regular occurrence for three or four of us to meet in the hall at once and have to squeeze past old toilet/new piping/tool kits/ paint pots whatever.

Where are we now? Yes OCTOBER the month of the big Christmas Fairs, the continuing bathroom and the continuing orders. No sleep, no nothing but heads down and get on with it.
NOVEMBER Now we've reached the big one. Country Living Christmas Fair in Glasgow

which is one I do on my own. And the news on day two of the fair that Laura had given birth to a baby boy. She is 400 odd miles away in Cambridge and I'm stuck in Glasgow unable to abandon my stand. A lot of phoning and organising and I had a flight booked at enormous expense for the day after the show to go down to see her and baby Ewan.

Awwww

DECEMBER Another trip down to see the baby squeezed in, a last push to get all the orders out in time for Christmas, a dash round the shops for presents and food, the tree decorated, the food cooked...and relaaaaxxx.

So that it's it for 2011. I've yet to do the end of year accounts but I know our turnover is up by nearly 50% on last year ( which was our previously best ever year). We have orders coming in for 2012, half of them new customers already ahead of the Trade Fair so things are looking bright. Although I take NOTHING for granted. |It could still go belly up - that's the thing about being self employed, but I appreciate that we are in a luckier position than so many who have found themselves without a job in 2011.
Now what about the LOWLIGHTS I mentioned?
Well success has come at a price. Thankfully we are both fit and healthy and long may it continue, but we have sacrificed our lives to our business, more so in this past year than ever. The work/life balance is laughably tilted well over to work. You could say that's all very well but we've had weekends away, a holiday and visited family. Yes but for every day spent away from work we've added the time to the other days around it. So a fourteen hour day becomes a sixteen or seventeen hour day, and that is unsustainable.
My personal time clock has gone completely haywire which is why I'm sitting here at 2.18 am. I fall asleep for catnaps during the day and manage a brief five or so hours a night. A lady of my advancing years should be getting her beauty sleep!
Some things will have to change for 2012 but I haven't had the time to figure out how exactly. Meanwhile the next cash guzzler will be the kitchen - another room I'm utterly ashamed of. And boy do I have plans for that!

Christmas Memories

2012-01-03T02:49:00.000Z

So that was the Christmas holidays, that was.

Tonight I'm looking at the tree for the last time as tomorrow it will all be packed away for another year, along with all the memories of Christmasses past.

Now I'm not going to get nostalgic and sentimental here, although I confess that since our children have left home, I allow myself a little private nostalgia session when I look at the decorations on the tree which span all their growing up years, and more. It's so easy to remember them when they were tiny and they were in total awe of the sparkly decorations. I used to lift them both up and tell them to look for the tree fairy who lived in the Christmas tree. I said they might see her if they were very quiet (great way to calm the Christmas Eve hysteria) and look to see if they could see her moving the baubles and tinsel as she flew around. Then I would breathe as hard but silently as I could ( not blowing, just breathing) so that they were not aware of what Iwas doing, and the breeze would catch the tinsel and make it shimmer. They were enthralled, and it worked every time.

It's lovely to unpack the boxes of decorations each year and find old friends.

This cheap tatty little teddy in a bag is my son's personal favourite. His Gran bought it for him when he was just a toddler and it has to have a special place every year. It doesn't have anything to hang it with so he makes sure it is tucked safely on a flat branch, and there has to be a fairy light close by to keep the teddy company. My son is 28 now of course, but when he came home this year I caught him making sure that teddy was in a good position and the fairy light was there to light him. Bless.

This is one of my favourites. It's a cross stitch picture which came from an old Prima magazine pattern and it was painstakingly stitched entirely by Laura when she was only seven years old. The only concession I made for her age was that I gave her Binca fabric to work it on, which is easier as the weave is bigger. She loved doing it and she made a better job than a lot of grown ups would have done ( Kirstie Allsop included!).

I hang it by the fire every year.

And to create new memories, I wanted to add a special ornament this year as a minding for baby Ewan, who's First Christmas it is of course.

So here he is - found in a local shop - made of painted wood and just the very thing I had in mind. In this picture he looks huge but it's just the camera angle. He's not actually four feet tall, but sits on the mantlepiece like this

next to one of my real Christmas bargains this year - a red metal lantern, one of three I picked up in my local Sainsbury's reduced from £3.50 each to 35p! Now that's a bargain I couldn't pass.

Just thought I'd share my son (the 28 year old's) present from his big sister. A pair of fetching knitted slipper sock things. And no, she didn't make them herself. What's more he likes them!

So that was it for 2011. It's time to get back to normal as the orders waiting to be sent out are beginning to take over the living room again. Quite a few have come in in the past week and encouragingly half of them are brand new customers so the holidays are well and truly over. Back on the diet tomorrow too :o(

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2012-01-01T21:19:00.000Z

I hope you all have had the best of times over Christmas and that 2012 brings you everything you hope for, and more.

It's that time of year when I get the chance to play around doing things like changing my blog background and colours. Don't worry - I'll soon be back to normal - so tonight I'm trialling a seriously dark look.

What do you think?

Just for a change?

I 'll probably leave it like this until the nights get lighter and Spring is here.

The problem now is to work on the Header which now looks very out of place. I've just been looking at tutorials online on "how to design your own header" using Photoshop but I may have to call on my expert photoshopper for advice. That may take a while as she is otherwise occupied with nappy changing and feeding at the moment.

Let's call it a work in progress....

Why Is It

2011-12-20T00:16:00.001Z

that when there is plenty of time and only one or two jobs to do they just never get done? Human nature I suppose.
We've caught up with ourselves at long last. All the shop orders are out and the website orders are slowing down - after all most people have sent their Christmas cards by now.
So with only two orders to do for customers to collect on Wednesday, I thought I'd get them out of the way tonight. How difficult it was just to do that!
This is what's called winding down.

The end of year tidying up is continuing, again slowly. The odd drawer and cupboard sorted out, out of date paperwork shredded that sort of thing.

Today was Christmas shopping in Edinburgh.
Tomorrow is food shopping.

The tree and the decorations are up and looking good

and our Christmas baby is sleeping (hopefully).

or maybe not!

Have a lovely Christmas and a happy healthy and prosperous 2012. x

Three Weeks Old Already

2011-12-10T23:55:00.001Z

This was little Ewan the last time I saw him when he was all of one week old. A whole two weeks have gone by and I'm missing him like mad. So I jumped on to the Easyjet website and booked another flight down to England - that's the third trip in six weeks - and I'll be giving him a cuddle again on Tuesday. The bank balance is taking a hit, but what the hell... we won't see them at Christmas this year - just too far to bring a little one - so this is the next best thing.

He's sporting a beautiful little cardigan and hat ( slightly squint) knitted for him by his Auntie Babs.

We ventured out for our morning walk again on Friday to calm serene water and peaceful colours, less than 24 hours after the famous storm which swept across Scotland on Thursday (known affectionately on Twitter as Hurricane Bawbag!) This was the first proper walk we've had in weeks, months even and it's a sign that things here at Embroidered Originals are beginning to get slowly back to normal.
Ever since the beginning of August it's been non stop. Everything apart from work has been suspended and we've been like two little hamsters on our treadmill.

This year for some reason has been busier than ever with orders to supply our ever growing list of stockists and it has been almost impossible to keep up with demand.

However we've made it this point and all of our shops have received their Christmas card orders and re-orders and re-orders...

I'm now beginning to emerge from the tunnel and look around, mainly at the devastation that constant work leaves in its wake - neglected house, garden, office etc.

But with the energy and excitement to tackle this mountain of cleaning and sorting.

End of term feeling.

Preparing for the new year.

Flicking the switch in my brain to turn me into Superwoman.

Home baked Christmas, beautifully wrapped presents and trimmed tree.

Just who am I kidding!

Although I'm crawling to bed at 3am and dreaming of polishing floors and washing windows, I know that 20 minutes with a duster and I'll be bored to tears.

Twas ever thus.

And I'm even getting, ever so slightly, the urge to be creative again. If you read this blog, you'll know it happens to me every year at this time. Just when the pressure of work eases I find myself reading blogs by talented people again and mulling over tiny grains of ideas.
But then January comes round, and the Trade Fair, and we're off again. So nothing ever gets past the "thinking" stage.
But then what's this picture above all about? Is it something I've just knocked up between packing orders? Nooooooo..oo..don't be daft. This is a not very good photo of part of a nursery picture I made THIRTY YEARS ago for Laura when she was a baby.
So it got me thinking... I now have a grandson.... and I'm ashamed to say I never even sent a card to the poor little mite. Maybe, just maybe I'll sit down over the Christmas break and make something for him.
Not promising anything, but you never know.

So the last Craft Fair of the year for us was today, the Perth Christmas Craft Market and after the storms this week we were blessed with a dry still bright (but cold) day. I say "we" but really it was just Bob. I just turned over and went back to sleep when he crawled out of bed at 6 this morning to set off.
It was his turn anyway.

Introducing.......

2011-11-21T23:26:00.001Z

a special new addition to our family -
Ewan Mitchell Mysak, born on Friday 18th November 2011.
First child for Laura & Greg and first grandchild for us!
This quick post is for all the friends, customers and fellow exhibitors at the Country Living Christmas Fair in Glasgow at the weekend who said they read this blog. I promised them an update on the baby, as he decided to time his arrival with the second day of the fair - and with a 19 hour labour and intermittent texts from Greg, you can imagine that my mind wasn't always fully on the job in hand.

So I'm off down to see him tomorrow, fog and flights permitting. Can't wait.

Late Night Rambler Returns

2011-10-03T00:27:00.000+01:00

Hello again. October already. I hope your summer was a good one. I've gathered up a few pictures to show you what we've been doing that's kept me away from the late night blogging.
Starting with the sunset above, that was 30th July, our 35th wedding anniversary. Yes 35th. We walked along the coast to Lower Largo for a meal and drink, walked home along the beach where the photo was taken, and then cracked open a bottle of champers in the garden with some candles and a log fire. Romantic you might say, but then it was just us two old codgers.

Moving on to August and as usual there was the flurry to set up the stand at the Edinburgh Festival Craft Fair. It always takes care of the whole month as the Fair is open seven days a week for 3 weeks, and although Bob is the one who's there every day, I'm back at base working furiously to keep stocks up as well as coping with website and trade orders.

But I did escape for a precious two days to York to meet up with our daughter and soon to be Mum herself. We had a lovely girly time sampling afternoon tea at Betty's Tearoom and doing a good bit of retail therapy.

The baby bump was on display too.

No sooner was the Festival Craft Fair over and we had to pack the van again for the Dundee Flower Show. But once that was over we forgot about work for a whole week and headed off to the sun. Crete, in fact.

Wall to wall sunshine, clear blue skies, turquoise water and a welcome slow pace

which recharged the batteries in time for setting up the stand at the Autumn Trade Fair in Glasgow just 24 hours after we got home.

It was with a certain amount of reluctance that we set off for Glasgow as the order book was already full with shop orders and Bob's parting words to me as he headed for home after we'd got the stand built was "Don't try too hard to get new customers"
Yes well I didn't try but they came anyway.So much so that we took twice as many orders as last year. That is good, of course it is. But it's also quite daunting to think of the workload before Christmas. Just take it one order at a time...

And finally - what on earth is this? This friends is our bathroom! Lovely isn't it! It's actually where the bath used to be and where the new bath will be - sometime in the near future (I hope). The day after we got home from Glasgow the work started on our new bathroom and sort of en suite. It's been ongoing now for two weeks and we've become quite accustomed to brushing teeth at the kitchen sink and going down to Mum's for a bath, but as our pregnant daughter (now two months on from that photo in York and only six weeks away from D Day) and her husband are coming up for a visit next weekend, it would be nice if there was some progress.
So that's the late night rambling up to date again. See you soon x

What's This?

2011-07-06T17:06:00.000+01:00

TWO posts in 24 hours? What AM I up to, do you think?
Well not a lot, to be honest. Apart from work. And you know what they say - all work and no play makes for boring blogs.
I'm just feeling a bit other worldly and lightheaded this afternoon. Combination of lack of sleep and this horrible weather. Although to be fair it has brightened up, and we had a brief afternoon break in the garden for some fresh air, only to be confronted with the sight of all my cornflowers flattened by the rain, and the (horrible beast of a ) cat devouring a pigeon chick.
Now I'm thinking about the evening meal - usual mild panic until I find a tub of something leftover in the freezer and add it to pasta or rice. But the days when inspiration fails are a problem, although I do believe there's one decent butcher's beefburger needing to be used up in the fridge which will do the man, and I'll have a Weighwatchers thing. Good. Decision made. Our spuds in the garden are quite delicious too, so maybe those with the burger will be healthier than chips.
Then back to work (sigh).

This is the working man hard at work painting our most successful design of the moment.

And this is his production line for today (so far) standing to attention while they dry. Once we've had our meal break they'll be dry enough to move off the table ready for the next batch. Then they will be bagged before breakfast and whizzing off to their destinations by lunchtime tomorrow.

And while I write this another order has come in.

Bye for now - I have a date with a beefburger.

A Bit of a Boast

2011-07-06T00:27:00.000+01:00

If I've not been around here lately there is a good reason. We've been a bit busy of late. First there was the Highland Show, which coincided with a sudden surge of wholesale orders from our stockists and suddenly it's summer, which heralds the start of the "busy" half of our working year. Except this year has been busy since January.
OK, that does sound a bit boastful but it's true. My other half ( who I'm sure you know is already in receipt of his teacher's pension, being a certain age) is waiting for the time when he can take it easier, indulge in hobbies, put his feet up etc etc, but that horizon is becoming more and more distant!
The poor old soul has just finished a straight thirteen hour day of work, with more of the same tomorrow, and the next day, and the next....
Phew.

We're both succumbing to various RSI complaints, due to the amount of work, and it's getting quite competitive - who has the sorest thumb or wrist or even eyes!!

So yes, the Highland Show was good. The weather proved to be better than expected. if not exactly sunny, at least it didn't rain and we ended up slightly better than last year.

Pretty much the same layout of stand as the recent Gardening Show and perhaps looking slightly tired in this photo as it was taken on the Sunday after four busy days.

A tender moment for our feet behind the stand! I'm not sure what the a nasty stain on my shoe is but I suspect it's coffee dribbled from the flask.

This juicy selection of clothes for little ones was on the stand opposite us. Up until now I probably wouldn't really have paid much attention to childrens' clothes, but more on that later...

I always mean to have a lot of photos of the other stands at these big events, but usually bottle it when it comes to actually taking them. It seems somehow suspicious if you just snap away without permission - you might be wanting to pinch ideas for example - and then if you try to explain why you're taking photos it doesn't always come out right. Not everyone knows what a blog is, as I found out!

Anyway, I did get permission to show you the stand next door to me

mainly because I treated myself to a beautiful pearl bracelet in a delicate shade of silver grey from this friendly young couple. Lillymac jewellery is based in Fife too, in Rosyth and create handcrafted bespoke jewellery using the finest gemstones and freshwater pearls.
On the other side of us was Scottish Fairies , an enchanting range of hand-crafted fairy characters.

Sorry Lucy, my photography skills (or lack of them) just didn't do them justice. But they enchanted lots of little girls all weekend.

We got home on Sunday night, via the the fish and chip shop, and discovered just how many orders had actually come through. Something of a record for us, I believe. So many of our stockists had chosen that very weekend to decide they needed a large top up of card stocks fast, like seriously fast. As in " Please treat this order as more than urgent" (quote) and another " The cards are flying of the rack - getting into the danger zone of near sell out".
Agghhh - can't have that - quick, send reinforcements - forget sleep - work, work, work!!!
Well, we did have a part day off on Wednesday when we had a working trip over to Edinburgh to check stocks at Jenners. We chose to travel by train for a change, and where else but Fife can you have a view like this from the train window

We managed a spot of lunch in town and a little bit of retail therapy too.
Now, back to the boasting bit, and also that increased interest in childrens' clothes....
Today Laura had her 20 week scan. Everything is looking spot on and perfect. She's well, healthy and blooming and what about this

Introducing little MASTER Mysak, who according to his Mum and Dad has been captured picking his nose, although I think he's sucking his thumb. And yes, there is no doubt he is a "he". The evidence is there in one of the other photos!
It's very exciting as I'm sure all grannies will agree, but be patient with me please, it's my first time.
So I'll disappear again now for a while. We have another event coming up the weekend after this at Perth Craft Market and more orders than we can keep up with.
Today was our all time record for the number of boxes of orders to go out in one day, but there are just as many waiting to be finished tomorrow. I'm just picking up the late night weather forecast for tomorrow as I type this and we're heading for a day of heavy rain, no wait, three or four days of heavy rain..AND thunder and lightning - so nothing for it but to batten down the hatches and get on with the work.
See ya.

Highland Show time again

2011-06-22T21:02:00.002+01:00

Hello it's me.
I'm having a bit of a quiet night and heading off to bed soon ( yes and it's only 9pm, not the usual early hours).
It's been a busy few days ( understatement), culminating in the ritual setting- up -of -the- stand at the Royal Highland Show today.
Given that it's only the 20th year we've done it, we actually managed to break a couple of records -
1. Didn't forget anything.
2. Packed the van in record time.
3. Set up in record time.
4. Didn't even argue!
So now we're home and I can't face doing anything else tonight. Bob has made his packed lunch and set his alarm clock for 6.30 am - he is the one to be spending ten hours behind the stand tomorrow, while I sort out the chaos left behind in the workshop (It always happens before a show).
I also have my helper/friend tomorrow being Thursday and a growing To Do List for us both.
The weather forecast for the next four days isn't great, but that doesn't stop the thousands of loyal visitors who don their wellies and don't fret about their 4 x 4s being bogged down in muddy car parks. Farmers are made of strong stuff.
I'll show you some photos when I go over at the weekend.

Bottoms Up!

A Busy Few Weeks - in pictures...

2011-06-12T23:02:00.001+01:00

Doesn't time fly? It's been over a month since I've been here on the blog to chat. As usual there's just not

enough hours in the day ( or night). But I'm now getting to grips with this iPhone and posting pics from it, so without too many words here is the reason for my absence, in pictures....

Firstly Gardening Scotland, or the north of the border's answer to the Chelsea Flower Show. We had our usual stand in the Crafts Marquee and sweltered in temperatures of 25 degrees on the Friday, but shivered in three layers of woolies by the Sunday! I do like that show - we've taken part every year since it first started around 11 years ago, and a lot of our customers are regulars who come back every year. A special hello to the lady from Linlithgow I met on Sunday, by the way, who told me she reads the blog. I sometimes forget that people do actually read what I write, and it comes as a surprise when a complete stranger asks how I'm enjoying my new windows (previous post)!

Lots of inspiration, of course. I loved this colour scheme of pink and lavender in Dougal Philip's (New Hopetoun Garden Centre) display garden. It was my favourite I think, and what's more they stock our cards so they obviously have good taste!

More of the same display garden.

And again.

And here I'll slip in a few pictures of our garden here at Blacketyside.

It's coming along quite nicely, especially after yesterday's relentless rain.

My favourite flower is the hardy geranium and I've got more than forty different types in the garden. Some are a true blue like the one above. Others are shades of pink, lilac and white.

But this year I fancied a change from geraniums. I always treat myself to a plant or two at Gardening Scotland - well, you can't not! So I chose two geums, the goldy orange above, and a red one. I like the orange providing a contrast to the blue geranium.

So we got finished and packed up and home at 8pm on Sunday night. Tired, but happy that the show had gone well. We left the unpacking of the van until Monday morning and put our feet up to watch a film. So Monday should have been a day off. I say should, but....
Our next job was to unpack, sort everything out then zip over to Edinburgh airport to catch a flight down to Stansted. Laura (daughter) and her husband Greg live near there, but have just bought a house nearer to Cambridge and Tuesday was moving day, and we were going to be the helpers! Bob and Greg did the real heavy stuff filling two van loads, while Laura and I packed two car loads and cleaned the house they were leaving. Laura, being four and a bit months pregnant (YES I'M GOING TO BE A GRANNY!!) was not allowed to lift anything heavy, hence the reason we were there.
Anyway the pic above is their new living room - not a great deal to look at yet - but what's amazing is they have an open fire and the house is less than ten years old! I've never heard of new houses being built with open fires for logs or coal. What a bonus.

We all worked like Trojans and they were preparing their first meal in their new kitchen within 24 hours of getting the keys.

This was the real selling point - the fourth bedroom. Built above the garage it's massive, with three windows and loads of space for a multi purpose room - office, studio, games room, gym whatever. I'm quite envious.
We had a lovely few days with them, even if Bob's old bones and back were feeling it a bit.
Now we're home and stuck into the orders that were waiting for us.
And in a couple of weeks we'll be packing the van to go to the Highland Show.
It's getting to that time of year again.
Bye for now.

Royal Wedding Windows

2011-05-06T22:48:00.000+01:00

Is the coast clear? Has the world got over the Royal Wedding yet?
Well I suppose there would still be a lot of twittering about it if there hadn't been the OBL news on Monday.
(Joke heard on Twitter - " Who said you can't take the bin out on a Bank holiday!" Well I thought it was pretty funny, though it might not make much sense to any overseas readers.)
I can't say I'm a royalist but I did think as Royal weddings go it was a good one, mainly because Princess Kate looked beautiful, no argument there. She got it just right and I believe much of the decision making had been hers. The dress was perfect, timeless - so that when you look at footage in twenty years time it won't look ridiculously dated. The trees were a good idea, as was the request in the invitation that the guests compete for the most horrendous outfit prize. The bridesmaid's bottom got its own Facebook page and everyone had a jolly time.
We couldn't watch it on our own TV as it was covered in a dirty sheet (more about that later). So we went to a local baker's for some cakes and took them to my Mum's to watch it there. We were homeless for the day you see (more about THAT later too).
So even Mr Cynic ( my OH) was watching too, and he kept his sarcastic remarks light hearted and actually pretty funny, so we had a laugh and enjoyed ourselves.
Anyway, so where am I going with this?
The reason we were homeless and the TV was covered up was this...
We were having our windows replaced (Oh, is that all? you're saying)
Here I have to own up to a dirty little secret.

See this - ( hangs head in shame) - this rotten old window frame is a close up of our kitchen window.

And this is our bedroom window. Note the squares of card, used to stuff into the frames to stop them rattling in the slightest wind. The wood is rotten and the varnish blackened. Well I suppose they are the original 100 year old windows.
But now look!

Same bedroom but new window, beautifully constructed in the traditional style by a craftsman joiner It should last another 100 years.

And again - I'm in love.

And once more. I've dusted them every day since they were fitted. And Bob has been out with a bucket of soapy water more than once removing the tiniest of marks on the glass. Risk of OCD there. They cost an arm and a leg but were well worth it.
So the Royal Wedding and our new windows will always be linked.
Good luck to the happy couple by the way. I hope their marriage lasts as long as our windows.
Another thing I want to say is that there's been a lot of work going on across on our website. Long overdue for an update, I've spent today adding a whole host of new designs. I'm not finished yet either, but there is a Special Offer for May on there already.
And the eagle eyed among you might notice that I've finally got round to changing the List of Events on this blog to 2011! It's only May after all.

Easter in a tin box and a lot of colour

2011-04-29T22:30:00.000+01:00

Hello again.

Since I was last here I spent three days over the Easter weekend here.

This is the "Armadillo" in Glasgow - a large concert/conference hall. And no, it doesn't look much like a tin box. Admittedly I wasn't actually in the Armamdillo but in the adjoining SECC. Definitely a tin box.

I'd been invited to have a stand at the NASUWT ( a teachers' union ) Annual Conference.

Well I thought, a couple of thousand teachers, most of whom would probably be women, would need some retail therapy between conference sessions.....WRONG!

It wasn't exactly a disaster, given that it didn't cost anything to do - apart from my time and sanity - but I could have thought a million better ways of spending the Easter weekend.

See what I mean about the windowless tin box? This was my stand.
It wasn't all doom and gloom though. I met and spent some pleasant hours chatting with my neighbouring stallholder Elaine, who was also having a very quiet time.
And then there was my new love - my iPhone. There was plenty of time to browse all the apps and download addictive games. And best of all the Kindle app. Just brilliant. I got a book I'd been meaning to read for a while. So all in all it was OK.
There was a real need for some colour in my life though after that, and when I got home the garden didn't disappoint. The unusual Spring sunshine had done wonders for my poor neglected garden.

It forgave me for all those months of no attention, and without any help from me just burst into new growth and bloom. Just last month the pond area looked like this.

From the fiery Pieris Forest Flame

to the old faithful cherry tree - The Spring colour in the garden is the best of all the seasons I think.

And what about "our" field!! It's now blue!
Over the weekend they had laid down these long lines of sky blue polythene which will have thousands of strawberry plants in them soon. I do prefer the old fashioned straw which used to spread around the plants to keep the berries clean and dry ( hence STRAWberry). But this is 21st century farming, and it does contribute to the colour theme, doesn't it?

A Bit of Indulgence

2011-04-16T19:14:00.000+01:00

Why is it that when I'm faced with a boring job to do ( like the accounts mentioned in my last post) I suddenly feel the need to add something to this blog? No prizes for guessing that it is, as ever, putting off starting the boring job!
Today it's not really boring as such. But I've had a very energetic few hours digging in the garden and my bottom is sore with all the bending and pulling. All I want to do is crash in front of the TV and then go for a long soak in the bath.
But I should (should, I repeat) give back some of the gardening time to the business of work. OK, so it's a Saturday - most people's day off - but we really need to do some work at some point EVERY day in order to keep on top of things.
So there's a pile of cards printed and waiting to have the designs added, but you know...I can't raise the energy.
So hence this post, about nothing really.
Time for a picture...

Mmmmm....Banoffee Pie with double cream and a fancy swirl of vanilla sauce finished off with a Belgian chocolate straw.
I can tell you it was GOOD.
That was the end of our meal last night at a local restaurant and I wanted to try out the camera in my new Iphone.
I've been very good on my diet for months now, so one pudding won't be too bad.
Anyway, I'm sure all that digging this afternoon burned off the pudding calories.
Now that I've worked out how easy it is to get the photos from phone to blog, I'll maybe be able to make the posts a bit more interesting.
And so to the cards...
This is our monthly delivery to Rejects in Kirkcaldy. They have a spinner of our cards and manage to practically sell out every month. Which is good.

Bright and Early

2011-04-11T06:46:00.000+01:00

Here I am, 6am on a Monday morning, bright eyed and bushy tailed after a good sleep and ready to start the week.
When I woke up and realised that I wasn't going to get back off to sleep (5am) I thought, right, make the most of it, get up and polish off the monthly accounts and VAT before breakfast! That way I can be up to date and feel smug. Send out the statements to our trade customers who are due to pay, and nudge the ones who are a bit overdue to pay. Then do all the other little chores before whizzing off to the swimming pool for a refreshing 40 lengths, visit a couple of our stockists, post out the weekend's batch of orders from the website....and all before lunch.
Way to go!!
So anyway, here I am, now 6.39 am - I haven't opened my accounts package yet but I have played two games of solitaire, read all the new tweets on Twitter and caught up on some of the blogs I follow.
And as you can tell I'm also updating this blog.
But as my old primary school teacher was always telling us -
Procrastination is the thief of time.
So I'm off to another part of the computer now (oh yes I am) and not Twitter or solitaire. Accounts here I come!

Happy Mother's Day

2011-04-03T15:30:00.000+01:00

to Mums everywhere! I hope you are enjoying the day.

The sun is shining here and it's really quite warm. The plum tree is just about to burst into flower and the birds are singing.

Lovely.

I've been having a good weekend making patchwork cards. Firstly there were 80 to be used as wedding invitations and the mother of the bride collected them yesterday. I think she was very pleased with them and I would have shown you them here but I stupidly forgot to photograph them before I handed them over.

Then I spent yesterday afternoon putting together this little pile of tartan ones.

Around 200 or so which are destined to go out to shops in St Andrews, Aberdeen and Edinburgh in the next week.

I do enjoy making them as there are never any two the same. It's a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.

This is just the first part though. All the little squares are backed with bondaweb and ironed on to the card, from these trays of cut out shapes

which now look a bit depleted.

Then the pile of cards gets taken through to the living room where I finish them off with painted details while I'm watching TV- hearts and thistles for the tartan ones.

Do you see the colourful bracelet I'm modelling here? It's my Mother's Day gift from Laura. I love it- thank you Laura!

And also thank you for the card, Nick - you remembered!

We've been at my Mum's this morning with treats for her and home to chat to Laura on the phone.

Now it's back to work to finish those cards.

(And I got another Mother's Day very special surprise, which has me grinning from ear to ear. But I'm not telling!!!)

One Silly Little Picture

2011-04-01T00:40:00.000+01:00

So what's all this about? This, folks is my first photo taken with my new IPhone.
OK, so it's just a corner of my workroom and a glimpse out of the window, but I'm hoping this will be the first of many to appear on this blog.
I haven't been doing much here lately and one of the main reasons is that I never get round to picking up the camera when I'm either out and about, or even in and about.
So I invested in this smart little cookie in the hope that I'll carry it around with me all the time and capture all those interesting moments to share with you.
I also want internet access when I'm away from the computer, so that I can keep up with all the orders which drop into my email box when I'm not looking.
And let's face it, I want to play solitaire when I should be working, download silly apps when I should be sleeping and become one of those morons who never lift their faces from their phones ( unlikely).
I'll start by keeping it switched on, which according to Barbara will be a great leap forward. (My last phone was NEVER on).
I'm going to tuck it into my pocket when we go out for our walk tomorrow, because I've got this app which is a pedometer and will tell me how many calories I've burned so I can come home and eat half a crispbread.
And I might find something interesting to take a photo of as well.
Great stuff.
See you tomorrow.

Moonlight

2011-03-20T17:09:00.000Z

Hello again - another week passed. I'm glad to say the cold germs have moved on and we're both much better.
All I'm left with is a dull ear which is annoying, and a feeling of lethargy. But still on the early nights, so I'm sure the energy levels will soon be back to normal.
We had a rare evening out on Friday - to escape Red Nose Day on TV. Sorry, but I can't be bothered with the whole shenannigans.
So, as it was promising to be a clear night with a bright full moon, we decided to walk along the beach to Lower Largo (about 2 miles), for a couple of drinks.
It was a gorgeous walk - the sky was darkening when we set off, but the large moon was reflected in the water, so we had enough light to guide us. And the beach was deserted.

I've "borrowed" these photos as I didn't have the camera

It was dark by the time we reached the pub. We've got two to choose from, and the first one we went into was the Crusoe Hotel

seen here in daylight, by the way!

But, aghhhh... the place was decorated with balloons and red noses and the staff were all dressed up. It was all going to kick off pretty soon with a full blown Red Nose party - games the lot.

So it was a quick drink there then over to the Railway Tavern

across the road.

Now that was much better. A red nose free zone.

So we had another drink there then strolled home by the light of the moon.

It does you good to have a night off.

Holidays- Pros and Cons

2011-03-13T20:54:00.000Z

We took a few days out of circulation last weekend to firstly visit Laura and Greg (D& S in L) and then on to London for a city break.
Firstly, the PROS...
We got to spend time with Laura - that's always good, and not frequent enough - we also got taken on a tour of the new house they've just bought ( fingers crossed, the sale has ALMOST gone through).
This room was what decided them

Amazingly it's classed as only the "fourth bedroom" and for a new house the size of the room is massive. There are three windows letting the light flood in so it will make a perfect studio for Laura - and there are three more bedrooms for when the bairnies arrive(!)

It's also in a lovely little village just a few miles from Cambridge.
Still on the PROS...
London next. Dry, bright, not windy, but bl***y freezing. Not bad walking weather though. Art Galleries and Museums - always a delight.

This is Laura and I on the Millenium Bridge just after our visit to Tate Modern

And of course we did the touristy things. It was a good weekend but there were just a few CONS.
Last year we had built our weekend round a major concert at the O2. This year we thought we'd just go and find something when we got there - a play, show, concert whatever - London's full of them. But nothing appealed. I mean nothing. I guess we're just too choosy.
Still we had nice meals out and visited the alleged oldest pub in London - the Lamb and Flag.

Well thinking about it there weren't really any CONS during the weekend.

When we got home there was an unusually large pile of orders waiting. Both from the website and the trade. Well that's not a bad thing, but we brought a little something home as memento of our weekend in the big city.........

a full on stinking COLD. Both of us, feeling like death with every bone in our bodies crying out

and asking to be tucked up in bed with one of these. But if you're self employed the show must go on!

I have managed to have early nights though and it's great, you know. Up to bed at 10 with a good book, a Lemsip Max and two Ibuprofen, followed by a long good night's sleep. I'd forgotten what eight hours sleep a night was actually like!

So next year's trip to London will be to coincide with something we want to go to, and we'll be sporting face masks on the Tube!!

It's March already

2011-03-01T18:53:00.000Z

All over Blogland people are waking up to Spring - sunshine with a bit of warmth in it and stretching days. Lots of blogs are sporting images of snowdrops and crocuses - lovely.
We've just emerged as well from weeks of trade orders, and suddenly without warning there are parts of the day without pressing jobs to do.
It can be quite disconcerting when it happens so suddenly, and it takes a day or two to adjust.
Typical male, my OH is starting to fret slightly about being "under employed" while I still have a list of jobs to do longer than my wee short arms. Women always find something to occupy their time.
We have a major order to complete for next week for this little corner shop -

so that is keeping him happy at the moment, while I am thinking ( just thinking, mind) about springcleaning, sorting out and tidying up. Once a housewife, always a housewife.
In case I get carried away and pull out the rubber gloves and Ajax, we're heading off to visit daughter and have a long weekend in London. I think we deserve a bit of a break after this start to the year. It's been like Christmas as far as orders are concerned. Not that I'm complaining at all!
So see you when we get back.
I'll start the Springcleaning next week.

The Patchwork and Quilting Show

2011-02-27T16:35:00.000Z

Every year at this time, Barbara and I head off to Ingliston in Edinburgh for the Patchwork and Quilting Show.
It's a rare day out for me, justified by the fact that I'm there to buy fabrics for the business. As it's also something I really enjoy doing, it's definitely combining business with pleasure.
Of course, I can buy ( and do, frequently) plenty of fabric on the internet. But it's good to see it in reality too.

This time I had a shopping list and at the top were plaids and checks, although I didn't hold out much hope of finding any. But I was lucky and picked up this little lot.

And also a good selection of plains and mini prints.

And this is what approx £130 worth of fabric looks like! Still it is going to go far, once it's cut up into thousands and thousands of shapes like these

And then turned into cards like these

But before I stash all my lovely new fabrics away, I think I'll have to give the drawers a bit of a tidy up!

Oh and we saw some beautiful quilts too. After all that was the main thing about the Show, but of course I didn't have my camera with me, so I can't show you any.

We were in agreement though that the standard of exhibits was a good bit higher than last year. I'm not a quilter, but Barbara is ( yes I can say that now, B, since you do have a few actually finished ones now, don't you!!)

I can admire them though, and wonder at the time it must take to produce such large yet intricately detailed examples.

We had a good day out and came home exhausted but happy with our purchases. Well almost - Barbara being the queen of bargain spotting didn't quite use up all the money in her purse!

It's Spring!....Isn't It?

2011-02-26T19:37:00.000Z

The temperature according to our car today was 15 degrees. The sun shone ( mostly) and we seemed to waken from our winter hibernation.
For one thing the camera was actually taken out of its case.

And captured the sun shining on a vase of daffodils.
Then ventured outside to find Bob washing windows, in his usual precarious fashion.

This should be the last time he has to do that as we'll be having brand new windows soon, which will allow me to wash them from the inside.

I walked round the poor sad garden and this is what I found.

Completely neglected pots of last year's flowers,

And what looks like a muddy puddle, but is in fact the garden pond. It usually looks very colourful with irises and waterlilies, but just at the moment it's clogged with leaves and pondweed and looking much neglected.
HOWEVER.... I spent three hours and six bin bags this afternoon in the warm sunshine, getting to grips with the problem.
There's nothing much to show for it yet, but soon the new shoots will appear.

And lastly the field is back to its usual empty self, after last week's farm sale ( see previous post). The portaloo wasn't removed until Tuesday! The field is ready for the ploughing to begin, I hope, then the seed sowing, and we can look forward to another year of gently swaying wheat.

Roll on Spring.

If You Like Attention to Detail...You'll like this.

2011-02-22T23:12:00.000Z

Thought I'd share this video clip with you. The person being interviewed is one of my old good friends from Art College days. We sat next to each other painting up designs and planning our futures. I think he managed to stick to his plans better than I did!
Raymond and I kept in touch for a few years after college, but then we lost touch until recently when he found this blog and contacted me again.
In the intervening years he has become a very successful textile designer/ lecturer and design consultant working for Liberty, Viyella and Ehrmann tapestries to name but a few.
He has a major exhibition running in London at the moment and here he is being interviewed about his work.

See what I mean about attention to detail?

The Peace and Quiet of the Countryside

2011-02-19T22:58:00.000Z

The weather has been pretty awful the past couple of days - constant rain, heavy skies and no light. Cold too, brrr.

But something unusual has been happening outside our kitchen door.

On Thursday there seemed to be a lot of activity in the field. It's not our field, but we think of it as ours, or at least the view of it from the kitchen door. I love the wide open space and the changing colours. It is usually planted with wheat or barley and in the early summer looks like this -

Then of course as the crop grows and ripens it turns increasingly gold, until it is harvested in the Autumn.
Then the field lies fallow over the winter until the whole cycle starts again. I love it.
So this activity was perhaps the start of work to prepare the field? That was soon proved wrong, as more and more diverse pieces of farm machinery appeared dotted all round the field.
The penny dropped - it was going to be a farm auction.
So this is what we saw when we opened the blinds this morning....

A damp dismal and soggy field full of farm machinery and hundreds of farmers come to buy.

The peace of the countryside was shattered by an auctioneer standing on the back of a truck shouting out the bids while the people were all gradually sinking up to the top of their wellies in the mud.

The normally quiet farm road was a constant stream of traffic.

But what was the most surprising view?

THIS was right outside our kitchen door! Do you recognise what it is? That's right - a green portaloo! Of all the places in the field to put it!!
There was a steady stream of visitors to it all day.
As dusk fell the farmers had all jumped back into their 4 x 4s and headed home. Some pieces of machinery are still in the field, either unsold or waiting to be collected.
Hopefully all will be back to normal tomorrow, and we can look forward to the ploughing, sowing and growing season again. It can't come soon enough for me.
And I hope they don't forget about the portaloo, although we are intending to have a new bathroom put in soon, so it might come in handy.
By the way, I know it's been a while between posts. But I've been busy making rather a lot of Valentine cards for people all over the world. And now I'm on to Mother's Day. I don't remember being this busy at the start of the year before, so I wonder how the rest of the year will pan out?

Time to move on

2011-01-15T00:32:00.000Z

I've popped back here to this blog a few times over the past week, just to look at the pictures of my Dad again, and I've been loathe to write another post and so consign him down the page, but now it's time to move on.
Friday night - today was supposed to be a day of catching up with accounts, but I hit an obstacle early on ( I'm never going to get to grips with this money business, and accounting for it), so I had to make an emergency call to my accountant - which means more money : 0( - and I've got to wait until Tuesday before she can sort things out for me. It's all thanks to this stupid VAT increase.
So the best laid plans... I never feel I can start the business year properly until the accounts have been updated, the bills paid and everything is shipshape.
The other major job this week has been our new website. It's going to be a big 'un with every single product we produce carefully documented, as well as every separate colourway and text choice. It's taking FOREVER to upload all the information, and I tend to work on it each night once the house is quiet - so guess what I should be doing right now!
But the big push is on now as it's being launched at the Trade Fair in Glasgow next weekend. (I hope).
It will only be available to trade buyers, but don't despair if you are not one of those - there is nothing on it that our main website doesn't already have.
Other news this week, Barbara and I had our postponed staff Christmas lunch on Thursday. The snow put paid to the original date, but I have to say I probably appreciated it more in January. We went to the Upper Largo Hotel just along the road and had a really nice meal - they do do a good lunch!

We've also had someone along to measure up and quote for replacement windows. As ours is an old cottage, we want the original windows relpaced with exact copies, rather than modern ones. So that means a LOT more money. It's a complicated job making sash windows, but I'm sure it'll be worth it.

This is a pic from last Christmas, but it shows one of the living room windows. What you can't see from the photo is the state the windows are in ( actually this one is one of the better ones). They rattle in the slightest wind and the wood is pretty rotten in some of them.
So a big expensive job, but it will be great when it's all done. Then it's the bathroom next and let's see, maybe the kitchen and last but not least a porch/utility room. Dream on.
It's been relatively mild today - and quite sunny. Bob took time off to go for a long 15 mile walk along the coastal path, and I was able to spend time out in the workshop giving it a spruce up, without needing my thermals.
Kind of hints that this

might not be quite so far away.
Ahh... breakfast in the garden....

Memories

2011-01-09T23:36:00.000Z

On this day fourteen years ago, I said goodbye to my Dad. He'd struggled through weeks of serious illness, unaware of Christmas and New Year, but the dark days of January were to beat him.
When we visited him in intensive care, there wasn't much of him to recognise through the tubes, lines and drips. But his hands lay over the covers and I will never forget them - so identifiable as Dad's. He had farmer's hands though he'd never been a farmer, reddened with the cold because he refused to wear gloves, strong and solid but bruised and scarred from his many DIY mishaps, and the part of him that is still with me in my mind.
My sister and I miss him a lot, but not half as much as Mum, who has had to make a new life without him.
We left him behind in the 20th century - he had never used a computer, a mobile phone or a video recorder, let alone a DVD player. He would have been gobsmacked that Mum now surfs the net on her laptop and watches DVDs.
He left me a legacy of his looks ( yes, I look in the mirror and see my Dad, while my sis looks in hers and sees Mum - guess who drew the short straw there!). But I think he also left me his cheerfulness, his smile and his poetic talents ( that's more than slightly tongue in cheek, by the way). He was reliable, hard working and eager to please.
He could tell us a good bedtime story when we were wee, made up as he went along, and he was always whistling in his own funny way.
So Dad, this is for you.

What Good's a Blogpost Without Pictures?

2011-01-09T01:17:00.000Z

Who wants to read it when there's no "eye candy"?
But it's been so dark lately and the days so short, there's hardly been a chance to take photos.
I've been busy uploading stuff on to our new website ( for Trade Customers only) which will go live just before the Trade Show in a couple of weeks. It takes a long bottom numbing stint in front of the computer screen every day. Groan.
We also had a remarkable response to the Christmas Sale on the main website ( and it's still on here ). Lots of trips to the Post Office over the past few days with parcels going to Australia, US and Canada, as well as closer to home.
Still not properly back in the swing of things though - I'm in kind of a dithery mood - flitting from task to task, not finishing one before starting another. Very counter-productive.
And still keeping ridiculously late hours, though there's no need.
So that's Resolution number 3 failed.

Another Attempt

2011-01-04T01:17:00.000Z

Hello again. If you read yesterday's post this will make more sense.
It's another late one, but I've been plodding through the chore of uploading photos for our new Trade website. It takes an achingly long time, I can tell you, and so repetitive.
But it has to be done.
So I stopped a while ago and turned my attention to this blog - did you see what it looked like yesterday?
Anyway, I've gone for a soft simple duck egg blue this time and to add a bit of colour there is a detail from one of my textile designs (Campanula, it's called) along the top.
Well I think it will stay as it is now for a wee while.
Haven't quite got back into work mode yet - that's for tomorrow.
Today we were over in Edinburgh doing a bit of sales shopping ( unsuccessfully) and also visiting the Turner in January exhibition at the National Gallery. Easily one of my favorite artists - so ahead of his time and such an amazing colourist.
But I also took some time to study this again. I love these embroideries every time I see them.

This is the work of Phoebe Anna Traquair and is the first in a series of four entitled "The Progress of the Soul".
It is a staggering 180cm high (that's approx 6 feet in old money) and is worked entirely in silk and metallic threads on linen.
I could stare at them all day and marvel at the stitchery.

Stunning.

Not Too Sure About This

2011-01-03T10:27:00.000Z

Do you ever find yourself bored with nothing to do? The evening stretches ahead of you, nothing on telly and it's too early to go to bed?
Well I've got the simple answer to eat up those empty hours.... get yourself a blog ( if you don't have one already), decide in a simple naive way that it could do with a freshen up for the New Year (get rid of all those snowy pictures and worse still those snow falling widgets. Who needs to be reminded?)
Then start to have look over that wide wide web for a nice bright optimistic background to herald the Spring. Mmmm this one? Or this? Let's try THIS one. That looks OK, but the header colour clashes, and the font colour, the title colour etc etc. Right (two hours later) that's it's all tweaked and adjusted. But wait, it's citrus yellow (my least favouite colour) we can't have that.
Start again. ( 3hours later). Here's another one. Make all those changes again. Nah, don't like it.
(4 hours later, very slight exaggeration) Desperation. OK, this one will do. Quick, make all the changes, AGAIN, then switch the damned thing off and go to bed for what's left of the night.
And now it's the morning. The day stretches ahead full of work and chores to be done.
But maybe I should just check this blog again to see what I finished up with last night....
OH GOD.
I DON'T LIKE IT!!!
But it will have to stay until tonight at least.
What do you think? Too busy isn't it? And that pea green header colour.....

2010 - In Pictures

2010-12-30T17:31:00.000Z

With the end of the year almost here, here is a quick look back to the last twelve months before we plunge into 2011.

January brought the first Trade Fair of the year at the SECC in Glasgow, where we tried out our new display racks for the cards.

February we took a long Valentine's weekend in London and visited as many museums and art galleries as we could, as well as seeing Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck at the O2.

March was just a heads down and work sort of month, but April brought news that our son, Nick had been nominated and won Multi Media Journalist of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards. Go Nicky!!!
And also in April, we welcomed home our daughter Laura and husband Greg after their year long world trip.

We headed off again in MAY, this time to Stornoway and the Outer Hebrides for a few days. The weather was chilly but gloriously sunny, and the beaches were vast, windswept, breathtakingly beautiful and empty.

JUNE saw the start of the Craft Fair season with Gardening Scotland at the start of the month and the Royal Highland Show at the end. So it was work work work again and in JULY too, in preparation for.......

the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe Craft & Design Fair. So that was the whole of August taken care of.

It was a bittersweet start to September when we decided to close our little craft shop and turn it into a stockroom. It was a big decision to make, since it had been open for 18 years, but we really needed the space to convert to storage and give us a house back. As well as that, the focus of the business has changed over the past few years with the majority of our customers now being either trade or website/mail order.

But I know some of our local customers of long standing will never forgive us!

However, we left it all behind at the end of September and embarked on a special holiday, starting in San Francisco,

before moving on to Las Vegas and

the Grand Canyon

and finishing up in Los Angeles.

Of course the last four months of our working year are always the busiest, and as soon as we got home from our holiday we were immersed in orders for Christmas cards. OCTOBER and NOVEMBER passed in a blur of 17 hour working days and busy Craft Fairs - Country Living Christmas Fair was just one.

But we mananged to take a weekend off mid November to celebrate a special birthday for Bob by surprising him with a Ferrari driving experience at Knockhill Racing Circuit.

While he was speeding round the track ( his instructor asked him to please keep both hands on the wheel!) Laura and I froze in the starter's box

and Nick was doing his Murray Walker impression.

We all know by now what December brought, and I think there have been enough snow photos already, but just before the snow came at the end of November we had some stunning fiery sunsets

And so we arrived at Christmas once again. The whole family made it through the snow and we have had a houseful in different permutations of people every day since the 23rd. Today (30th) they are all in Edinburgh shopping and having a meal (just the young ones) so Bob and I are once more just the two of us. Peaceful for an hour or two.
Laura and Greg will be back later this evening, and are staying to see in the New Year with us. Nick will be home again on the 2nd to go to the footie with his Dad....and then next week it's all back to normal. The diet will resume and the wheels of the business will crank up again in time for 2011's January Trade Fair.
It's been a good year, very family orientated and we are all well and thriving. I hope it has been for you too, and next year will be even better.
Happy Hogmanay when it comes! (I'll try to get a pic of Bob in his kilt playing the accordion at the bells!!! Quite a sight! But no sound, I promise - I'll let you off that one!)

Christmas message

2010-12-19T12:01:00.000Z

I don't know what kind of Christmas it will be this year - white seems likely, but with family scattered over the country it might be a very quiet one too if people can't get home for the holidays. I just hope this new snowfall today doesn't last too long. We are all but cut off again as I think the farmer has given up trying to clear the farm road, but at least we got our new boiler installed the other day so we are warm and toasty.
I'll be signing off for the holidays as there is a lot of work to be done over on our new Trade website. It's taking shape but there's still a long way to go, so any computer time will be spent there.
We've got two orders left to do and I can't imagine there will be any more before the big day, so it's time now to get everything ready in case our family do make it through the snow ( I'm sure they will!)

So Merry Christmas to you all - I hope you have a lovely time and see you back here soon. I'll leave you with today's snow pictures.

Christmas Clean Up

2010-12-11T21:46:00.000Z

I've now made a start to letting go for Christmas. Does that make sense? Probably not.
What I mean is, for the past six months at least, I've ignored the fact that this house is a home and treat it more like a factory cum warehouse. That's what happens when you run a business from your home and there is only the two of you left to worry about. It was different in the days when the kids were small, as it was important to maintain the homely feel. But of course they're off making their own homes now and we just slipped into being workaholics.
HOWEVER..... Christmas is almost here!!! The time when I do as big a clear up as I can (be bothered to do) and clear away as much evidence of work as possible from the sitting room before putting up the tree and decorations. That's the signal then to LET GO of work for a couple of weeks at least and have just the most relaxing, cosy time with our family around us.
There is still the small hurdle of a new boiler to be installed on Wednesday so the tree will have to wait until after that, which does give me a bit more time to tidy up and sort out. What a good feeling - to put things away in their proper place which have been aimlessly lying around for weeks, and tackle the grotty corners where the spiders have taken over.
I have this (unattainable) image of myself as temporary perfect housewife with my apron on, baking wonderful treats and serving them up on a gleaming table while a roaring fire reflects off the newly polished floor and the house smells of lavender and vanilla......dream on!
There is still work to do - orders are still coming in - in fact the phone has been fairly constant all day today. Twice I had my bottom wedged in the tiny cupboard door of the eaves, scrabbling about in the dark for Christmas decoration boxes, when the phone rang with an order. Both times I had to wiggle out backwards and make a dash for the phone before it stopped. Not a pretty sight.
So today, the windows were washed and the upstairs cleaned. It's a start.

Since I don't have the tree up yet, here is a flashback to last year..

And proof that the roaring fire does actually reflect off the newly polished floor, sometimes.
I have a growing pile of orders waiting to made up so that I can post them on Monday, so I'd better make a start.
Til next time....

Don't mention Snow!

2010-12-07T16:55:00.000Z

It's now officially a banned substance, this white stuff. We're all fed up of it now and just want it to go away.
So I won't talk about the weather except that it was SO cold today it was a pure pleasure to cuddle up to my computer and spend the afternoon adding things to the website. Bob went out for a walk as it was a glorious day - I preferred to use the light to take some product photos.
So the results are, some of these

and these

not to mention these

and this

are now all for sale here.
And there were a few orders pinging through as I was loading them up.
These decorations are all made by a company called Birchcraft, whose work I sell alongside our own at the Scottish Country Living Christmas Fair every year. (They do the same Fair in London but don't venture north of the border). Have a look at the photo of our stand at this year's show on the left of this blog - you'll probably spot the Birchcraft products.
Anyway, they sell like hot cakes and I've now squeezed them on to the website in time for Christmas.
Bob is home from the walk now and I'm off to make the tea.But look what's just been handed to me -

This is our Christmas sherry. Our kind of Advent calendar if you like. Instead of opening a door every day from Dec 1st, we open a bottle! We never have sherry at any other time of the year, but from 1st December the countdown starts to the end of the business year, the end of 17 hour days and frantic work, so we celebrate with a wee sherry to get us in the Christmas mood.
Just one mind - I've still got the tea to make!

Christmas Trees and Special Offers

2010-12-04T18:35:00.000Z

Getting in the Christmassy mood a bit today. We had a lovely walk down to the town in brilliant sunshine and dazzling snow and back via the Farm Shop to pick our Christmas tree ( Be warned - I have it on good authority that real trees are in short supply this year). We won't be putting it up until after the 15th though, because we're having a new central heating boiler put in, but it's been safely stored in the garden.
And I've been doing a bit of updating on the website in time for Christmas with more to be done tomorrow.
So while I'm in the mood, I've set up a special offer code to get free P&P between now and 31st December. Just put the code FREEDEC into the box at the checkout and the postage will just disappear. That's for all our UK customers.

AND there's a free giveaway of one of these

Christmas Patchwork cards when you spend £20 or more. While on the Christmas note, we've made the eleventh hour decision to do the Christmas Craft Fair at the Concert Hall in Glasgow tomorrow. It was a case of delaying the decision to see what the weather had in store.
So there has been a wee bit of a thaw and Bob is going ( me? no way - I'm a complete wimp if the roads are risky, so I'm staying home to do the accounts and work on the website).
If you are in the centre of Glasgow tomorrow have a look at the Craft Fair and say hello to Bob!

A Standstill

2010-12-01T23:20:00.000Z

This weather is getting way too much. We're still buried under feet of snow and yes, it's STILL snowing.
Although we're lucky enough to work in the comfort of our own home, things are beginning to become a problem.
No post since Saturday, so no mail orders have been able to get here. Also no supplies - getting dangerously low in red envelopes, for example. I know there are boxes of them on their way, but who knows when they'll arrive.
I shouldn't moan, at least I don't have to drive to work, and I really feel for those who do.

No collections by our carrier so the shop orders are beginning to pile up in their crates waiting to be packed up. The living room is getting more than a bit congested.

But there are still more orders to do, so this was Bob's array of cards made tonight, all lined up on the table to dry ( each card has a lot of paint).

And this is my little lot - they're not all finished yet - I'm just having a break!

Yesterday before the weather worsened, Bob took the camera for a walk. We're spoiled for choice when it comes to walks from our cottage. You can do a beach walk, a golf course walk, a glen walk, a woodland walk, a farm walk or combine them all. Bob chose the woods up the hill from us and then back home via the golf course.

These photos are for Laura's benefit.

(You'll know exactly where they all are Laura.)

Here is our very own hill, Largo Law. It's not ours of course, but when we moved here from the town many years ago, we were so bowled over by the view from our back door that we called it our hill.

And this is looking back to our cottage across the field from the edge of the wood. Look closely and you will see our bright red back door. (The snow is more than twice as deep now as it was in the photo.)

As I said, Bob walked back along the golf course which is totally obscured by snow.

OK now I'm just wasting time - my teacup is empty and I should be getting back to these cards, but this is our cat - "the Wee Cat" - is his name, except that now he's not so wee. Anyway, being well padded he doesn't seem to feel the cold and enjoys being outside in the snow. I think it's maybe because he's mostly white so this is the only time he can mooch around and not stick out like a sore thumb. And he's also a bit of a poser, as you can see.

Snowed In

2010-11-30T00:25:00.000Z

Yes, we're pretty much snowed in here at the moment. We are about 200 yards up a farm road and it's uphill -the farmer has been out with a snowplough attached to his tractor but although the snow has been cleared from the road now mostly, it has left it like a pure ice rink.
So no post today, no deliveries and also no collections from our carrier. The shop orders will have to wait until Wednesday.
We did have a walk down into the town this morning to go the bank and to post the latest website orders, so at least they are on their way. Six inches of snow on the golf course, which is our walking route to town, and it was lovely.
This is when you realise the benefits of working from home. I would rate trying to drive in snowy and icy conditions as way up among my most hated experiences. I used to have to do it quite a lot and it's left me with bad memories.
We've been doing a lot of looking out of the window today watching the blizzards, the thunder and lightning, the hail...and this...

Can you believe we still have a rose flowering outside our living room window in these temperatures?

Silent Sunday

2010-11-28T22:50:00.000Z

Perth Andermass Street Fair

2010-11-27T23:18:00.000Z

Just a quick note tonight to say that we survived the Arctic temperatures and had a good day at the Perth Andermass Street Fair today.
It was -4 and snowing when we arrived but the sun came out and we had our fan heater (shhh, don't tell - we weren't supposed to use the electricity supply for anything other than lights) and I was wearing six, yes six layers of clothes, so I was reasonably cosy all day.
With both of us there, we were able to take turn about dodging into shops to get a heat and also do some Christmas shopping.
There was brisk business with our Christmas cards and plaques and the opportunity to chat to a lot of our regular Perth customers who always brave the weather to come to the fair.
Back home in time for "Strictly" ( that's my weakness, not X Factor), a hot bath and a quick check of emails - I think a lot of people must have stayed indoors today in the heat and chosen to shop online, judging by the number of orders come in from the website. Thank you shoppers!
I'll be doing a bit of work on the website tomorrow - some new bits and pieces to add.
One more craft show before Christmas - that's the Glasgow Concert Hall next Sunday - a 3D2D Craft and Design Fair - then we can put all the lights and craft fair props in storage until next summer while we have our winter hibernation.

Country Living Scottish Christmas Fair 2010

2010-11-21T23:06:00.000Z

The last post was just before the fair when I was panicking about not having enough stock. ( In fact, I didn't get it finished and I've only just uploaded it - worth a look because it's all about a certain person's birthday treat.)
Anyway, now we're home and the show is over for another year. We did have enough stock after all, but only because I took a large box of cards to paint in my hotel room each night. Picture me sat on a bed with a pure white duvet cover, surrounded by lots of cards covered in wet paint and bottles of fabric paint just asking to leak all over the place. Amazingly, the duvet didn't have a mark on it.

This was our stand - I was very pleased with its location in the hall - right next to the coffee bar.

And I always try to get a corner stand as it keeps it open and light.

I bring in a wonderful selection of Christmas decorations from Birchcraft for this show, because they go so well with our own products.

And also some red and white padded hearts, stars and stockings made by my friend Barbara. (This lets you see that I had them in pride of place, Barbara!)
Country Living is always a great show to do. I meet so many new customers who've never seen our cards before and their comments are so complimentary. The van was much emptier coming home - sign of a successful show - and the unpacking will be left till tomorrow.
It's feet up, glass of wine and probably a bit of a doze by the fire. Tired but happy.

Big Birthday

2010-11-21T22:34:00.002Z

I don't know why I always decide to post something here when it's ridiculously late and I've gone beyond tired. I should be tucked up in bed because I know that working too late and losing out on sleep is counter productive the next day, but I always do it, pushing on just a little bit more to finish off a job or prepare stuff for tomorrow.
Then when I finally give in to exhaustion what do I do? Well I intend to switch off the computer but instead I hit that button that says "New Blog Post" and away I go.
Well actually one of the reasons I'm here at nearly half past one is that we are just one day away from the build up day of the Country Living Christmas Fair in Glasgow and there are lots of worrying gaps in our stock levels. Just how much can I make in 24 hours?!!
It's been said already here that we're working to capacity and beyond at the moment so I won't go on about it. But it's pay back time after a rare weekend off. Definitely worth it though because we had a great time celebrating a certain Mr Embroidered Originals' BIG birthday - all of sixty years old last Friday! ( I can't really be married to an old age pensioner, can I?!!!)
So we decided to give him a birthday to remember...and this is how he spent it -

driving a Ferrari around Knockhill Racing Circuit -

cheered on by all of us - including a surprise visit from Laura and Nick. ( He had no idea they would be there).

Laura, Nick and I even got the chance to be driven round the course in another performance car after Bob's run. And Laura's comment in the front passenger seat on taking the first hairpin bend at about 80mph? "Holy SH*T!!(And that's from a girl who's been skydiving and bungee jumping).
Here I have to say a huge THANK YOU to Graham and everyone at Knockhill who squeezed us in on Bob's actual birthday, when I had only thought to try to book it a few days' earlier. He had an amazing time and we were made very welcome.

If you can open this video, just listen to that distinctive Ferrari engine sound.

Then afterwards we thawed out round a huge log fire in a local hotel and had some present opening, before tucking in to a lovely Italian meal.
The next day we had a little party with my sister and family, much wine and dancing ( embarrassment for my 14 year old nephew - although it has to be said John joined in too!)
Once Laura was safely dispatched back home on the plane on Sunday it was back to work, but with renewed vigour after the weekend off.

I Left My Heart in San Francisco..o..o....

2010-10-05T23:44:00.000+01:00

In fact it was my BRA I left in Las Vegas. But that's another story.
Yes, we're back.
After our ten day holiday in the US.
Three days in San Francisco, three in Vegas and three in LA and another day travelling home. Phew. Six flights, three hotels, one seven hour round bus trip, numerous miles walked in great heat and a wonderful time had by all.
Here are some holiday snaps. Not too many - I know how boring it is having to look at other people's holiday photos.

First off, San Francisco - a city of (steep) hills - up to the top, then down the other side, then up again and down again, and so on. That's me at the top of the hill, the one in the second picture.

The buildings are beautiful, like this perfect green wooden house.

Now a short flight and we arrive at Las Vegas. I wasn't sure I was going to like it and we were only really using it as a base to visit the Grand Canyon, but actually I did like it very much.

Here's the Eiffel Tower, Vegas style.

We don't usually stay in posh hotels when we go on holiday, but this one was a beaut. Pity about the tramp with the carrier bags. Definitely lowers the tone!

That tramp again, aka Bob. Loved the name of the burger place - and the stomach in the foreground has been deliberately stuck out!!

Yes, the Vegas as you know it. But I was impressed with the cleanliness and freshness of the place.

We had an amazing day at the Grand Canyon and this was a little shop in a village called Dolan Springs, where we stopped for cold drinks on the way back.

When things got too hot there was always the hotel pool. (Bob's feet, not mine).

Right, time to leave Las Vegas and on to Los Angeles, just in time to catch their record breaking temperatures of 113 degrees.

We stayed in a hotel near this place, the Getty Centre - a quite beautiful example of modern architecture, perched high in the hills of Bel Air. It's a museum and art gallery housing the huge collection of works acquired by J Paul Getty. We spent a full day here and loved the building, the gardens and the views. Not to mention the paintings and decorative art.

This lovely lady is posing in front of one of those spectacular views ( probably blocking out at least two skyscrapers!).

Then down to the edge of the Pacific at Santa Monica beach to catch the sunset.

And here is the old couple enjoying a seat on the hop on hop off bus at the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The smiles say it all. It was a fabulous holiday.

Oh wait, I had to put these last two in. This is a diner in San Francisco. I love the shiny, sparkly red plastic upholstery and the pistachio green walls. And what about that car!

Well, that's all folks! Except - the bra..... naw, nothing risquee there. I just forgot to pack it when we were leaving Las Vegas, and it was my favourite one too.

The End Of An Era

2010-09-17T00:55:00.001+01:00

Way back in 1992 when Embroidered Originals was just four years old, we decided to build ourselves a studio/workshop to be split neatly in half, one end to be my workspace and the other end to be a shop.

This is our little shop. It is tucked neatly behind our cottage and is approx ten steps from our back door! A reasonable commute to work in the morning.
We used the plan of a garage and had it customised to suit, with insulation and plasterboard walls and proper flooring.

It's really been a success, considering it's all paid for and on our own land so there is no rent or rates. We've had a few transformations too, most notably french doors which we had put in the gable end to allow more light and the chance to open it up in the summer and a rather posh awning too (although that is showing it's age a bit now).

I've had a lot of fun playing at shops - in the early days I was forever moving things around, trying out different types of display, and I even have a shop till ( childhood dreams come true!)

When it first opened, I ran embroidery classes in it two mornings a week which was a bit of a joke. Not the class itself I hasten to add, but the space, or lack of it. There were around ten class members sat around two tables down the middle with the shop displays around the walls. So when customers came in they had to scramble around the table to see things. It all got a bit chaotic so I moved the classes into the house after a while.

Then I also organised "Open Evenings" for groups such as Ladies' Circles. Another hoot. Wine and cheese and a relaxed shopping experience, except it's hardly relaxed when thirty women are crammed in a space the size of a small kitchen and the wine is flowing! Mind you it was always fun and they were always generous in their purchases.
Oh and fond memories of individual customers....like the American lady who I found one morning before 8am standing in the middle of a pile of dirty washing on my kitchen floor. I was in my dressing gown and had just gone upstairs for more laundry. She just beamed at me and asked if she could visit my shop. When I told her I would need to get dressed she told me not to worry about that, so I let her into the shop and served her in my nightie!!
OR the lovely couple from South Africa, who had read a little piece about our shop in a Scottish tourist brochure back home, and decided it would be one of the main attractions when they came to the UK on holiday. So they caught a flight from London to Edinburgh, then a taxi the 40 miles or so to here (what must THAT have cost!) and didn't bat an eyelid when they arrived and saw just how tiny the shop was. They spent a LOT of money and went away in the taxi back to Edinburgh airport very happy.
OR the man who arrived at 5pm on Christmas Eve one year when it was pitch dark outside and I was stuffing the turkey. So I wiped my hands and opened the shop and he proceeded to do all his Christmas shopping for the female members of his family - wife, sister, aunts etc. Another good customer.
ANYWAY, where is all this going? Have you guessed the MBD (major business development) yet?
No?
Well, I'll tell you.
(Drum roll) After 18 years of our shop open to the public, as of Friday 17th September it is going ....to....CLOSE!!!
No longer will there be a shop part anyway. No display shelves, no till, no opening hours, no early morning (and late night) visitors, no requests for personalised cards when I'm serving a family Sunday lunch,.
In a word....FREEDOM!
Freedom to take over the whole area of the workshop as just that, a workshop/studio. Where there will be a place for everything and everything in its place. (Why do I hear so many snorts of laughter, dear readers? Do you know me that well?) Well at least there will space to swing a cat, and I can't wait to sort it all out and make it a wonderful working environment, worthy of some photos here.
But WHY, you say, when you like playing shops?
Well I suppose the novelty has worn off a bit after all this time. And we're busier than ever with our trade customers, our website and mail order customers, not to mention the retail fairs we go to. Something had to give because after all we're not in our twenties anymore.
My choice was to close the shop so that our time would become our own. We can work all night if we like and then take the next day off to go somewhere.
And go somewhere we are. Firstly the Trade Show in Glasgow this weekend and then we're off on holiday to sunny California for a couple of weeks before the Christmas rush starts. Woohoo!

I Need Matchsticks...

2010-09-10T00:09:00.000+01:00

to prop my eyes open. It's yet another ridiculously late night. (Why do I punish myself with these? It's plain crazy and I'm too old for this nonsense!) But here I am again, four minutes before midnight precisely and I'm zipping around the time wasting "social network"- Twitter and now Facebook. Gawd.
Social networking is supposed to good for promoting your business. Hmmm, well I'm sure it is for those dedicated to keeping their name up there. But it is soooo time consuming. I don't believe they can be tweeting and facebooking all day long and still be producing their work at the same rate. Either that or they are superman/woman and I'm a mere mortal.
Anyway, I think I'll wean myself off Twitter for a bit and concentrate my attention back here in my little virtual home.
Today was a real busy one with a lot of shop orders coming in for our new Christmas cards, so there's PLENTY of work to done in the next few weeks.
I've also started adding the Christmas cards to our website and you will find them here. I'd love to know what you think of them, by the way.
And that MAJOR business change I hinted at in the last post.... I'll tell all soon but I want to have some photos to go with the revelation so please be patient.

Get Ready Folks!

2010-09-04T23:41:00.000+01:00

Well, summer's almost over and almost like the change of the season, my thoughts have returned to my blog.
Quite a lot has happened since I last recorded anything here, and a great deal more is about to happen, including a MAJOR business decision. ( More about that later).
It's been a busy summer and things aren't likely to slow down now until after Christmas. But that's good.
I will make time to keep you up to date and I'm planning a rather long and involved post very soon.
Today I was belatedly designing Christmas cards and preparing a Brochure of them for the Trade Show coming up in a couple of weeks.
I think I'm pretty pleased with what I achieved today - the creative juices don't always flow so easily - and I've got seven new designs.
August just disappears for us because of the Fringe Craft Fair. It's an outdoor craft market at the end of Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh, open seven days a week for three and a bit weeks.
I blogged about it last year with pictures here.
This year there was less rain, believe it or not, which means more visitors and more sales, so we were happy bunnies.
Well I'll be back soon with an explanation of that business decision - I'm off to bed tonight - yawn.
Here's a picture first though - I think it's too boring to have to read a blog with no pics!
Apropos of nothing, this is a favourite snap of our two when they were little ( a long time ago). I've always liked this picture as it seems to capture the moment so well.

Look at Nick's blond curls! I love his little baby neck and big sister Laura is so tall compared to him. She's now about ten inches shorter!
Night all.

Hello Again

2010-07-26T00:44:00.000+01:00

It's been a wee while since I sat down and wrote something on this blog.
I think a lot of bloggers take a break during the summer, usually because they are off on holiday, but we are in the throes of our silly season now, and time is a joke.
What have I been doing lately?
Well, a massive clearout for one. Three van loads of "stuff" have been taken to the recycling centre and charity shop and the house seems so much lighter and airier. So is my head, but then that's probably because my brain went in the van too.
Old suitcases, mattresses, videos, computer from a different age, broken furniture, old clothes... you know the kind of thing. Upstairs is now tidy, fresh and clean. Love it.
This is all because daughter is coming home for a few days soon and she is quite badly allergic to dust, as well as cats and pollen.

This is our business van loaded for a craft fair but I borrowed the photo to show just how much stuff can be accommodated in it. And it was three loads this size we got rid of.
Now I've just got to remove the dust of months from the downstairs and we're all ready.
Actually that pic of the van was pinched from last year's blog about the West End Craft Fair.

I can't believe that it's nearly upon us once more. By that I mean the Craft and Design Fair which is held in Edinburgh during the Festival and which is open seven days a week for three weeks.

This was our stand last year just as we were about to start setting it up.

It doesn't look much at this stage - just a shabby little wooden chalet. But after a few hours of hard labour it turns into this.

Then Bob climbs into the cockpit and away we go for three weeks. What I mean is he makes the round trip to Edinburgh each day, rain or shine, and spends the day sitting behind the stand and selling (hopefully). While I am at home making stock for the next day. Team work, and after ten years at least of this routine, we've got it all sussed out.

Yes but I'm not only making stock for the next day, I'm making up orders for our trade customers and keeping our own shop open. Not to mention the website and mail orders.

And Bob isn't just sitting behind the stand either, oh no, he takes piles of cards with him to paint and finish off.

So it's all go.

Despite the panic we're intending taking a couple of days off when Laura is here and having a bit of a life. I hope the weather is decent and we can get away into the hills or coast or somewhere. I think Laura would appreciate that as she misses the scottish hills in Hertfordshire.

Oh and the website....

Mmmm, it's taking longer than I would have liked but already there is a whole host of new designs added. And I've been moving things around a bit to make navigating simpler. Well it will be simpler when it's finished and much needed, as there are now more than three hundred products listed with almost as many again still to be added!

I've had some lovely comments and feedback from some of our regular customers, and they seem to think it's working well. I've added a Craft Market area to the site, where there will be a selection of products not made by ourselves, but chosen to have on display in our own shop.

At the moment we've got -

Fairtrade embroidered bags from India.

Fish Strings from India as well.

And patchwork cushion covers from much closer to home, to mention just a few.

Never a dull moment then.

We were sitting watching a film tonight at 10pm, just winding down for the day, when an email pinged in with a large shop order. 10'clock on a Sunday night!!

Anyway, that's for tomorrow - after we've been to the cinema to see "Inception"! Got to get the priorities right, after all!

Once this crazy month or two is past, we'll have time for our own holiday, and it's going to be a biggie this year, for a certain person's big birthday. That's something to look forward to while burning the midnight oil.

Have I Deserted You?

2010-07-07T00:30:00.000+01:00

No, no not at all. But that old complaint of no time left to do stuff like blogging is back.
Since I was last here for a chat, we have been at the Royal Highland Show, which was four days of glorious weather, record attendances and sell outs of our cards.Which is of course what we want, isn't it!
It's great to be selling the cards so well, so easily, and in fistfuls to many customers, but then you get home and look at empty stock drawers and take a deep breath.
It is only a few weeks to the Edinburgh Festival Craft Fair - three and a half weeks long, seven days a week....
Well we do it every year and survive, so what's new!
Another reason I haven't been here for a while is that I'm trying to rejig our web shop and add loads of new cards and other goodies. So online time has been devoted to that, but oh dear it takes FOREVER to upload photos, add text etc.
It's a bit of a jumble at the moment, so please bear with me. I'm not a techie and things are a little confusing until I get the whole lot sorted out.
I'm trying to simplify the website for customers, so that if you're looking for say, a wedding card or keepsake, you just have to click on the "Wedding" button at the side. Simple, a no brainer you say. Yes but it's such a slog copying every single product from one section to another.
Anyway, that's it for tonight.
Holland have just won the semi final of the World Cup, and if they go the whole way I stand to win one hundred pounds, thanks to Bob, who had a little flutter on them on my behalf. His team (Italy) were out ages ago, so I suppose I should share my winnings with him - that's IF the Dutch do the job.
He says if they win I should spend the hundred pounds on something from Holland - that's a lot of Edam for instance. Then again there's beer, tulips, clogs...what else?

Late Night Rambling

2010-06-13T00:28:00.001+01:00

Sorry it's been a while.
I've been busy - we've been busy, I mean - but I had to add another post to this blog so that the first thing anyone sees when they land on this page isn't that photo of chaos in the workshop.
It's been embarrassing me for days, especially since the workshop is now all nice and tidy, and what's more is managing to stay that way. At least for now.
But you'll have to take my word for it because I haven't had a chance to take any photos.
We had the Gardening Scotland Show to do last weekend so it was a busy time in the run up to get stocks ready. Then there was the usual packing up, transporting, and setting up.
Then three days of the show followed by the same thing in reverse. Amongst all that I did a massive tidy up and shift around in the shop ready for the summer.
So what's new..... well this isn't so much new, as resurrected. A long time ago I did a series of cards and pictures based on prints of watercolours of local and not so local scenes. The cards were embellished with textural painting and the pictures with embroidered foregrounds.

They ran for a few years and then I "rested" them. I found the little watercolours again recently and thought I'd print them on to cards again. Here are some of them....

This shows the last image which is of Largo Law as seen from a few yards up our farm road. It has been printed on to a card and then has hand painted detail of poppies and grasses added in the foreground. The colour reproduction in this image isn't great, as I've just scanned it, but it lets you see just how tiny these landscapes are.

There seems to be a new interest in them, particularly this Largo Law one as it's easily recognisible as a local landmark.

New Designs

2010-05-29T11:48:00.000+01:00

It was a late, very late night in the workshop last night. The birds were singing and the sun was almost up by the time I crawled to bed, and then this was the scene that greeted me when I opened the door again this morning. Err well - I wasn't going to waste any more precious sleeping time by tidying up! All that mess was to produce these cards, hopefully suitably flowery for the Garden Show next week.

And these are a couple of new designs using the long shape of card.

And while on the subject of long cards, some of you might remember me scanning and playing around with some genuine '70s textile designs, painted by moi way back when I was a stoodent. I blogged about them here. Well I thought I'd try a few cards with the designs. Now that I've got them on Photoshop the colourways are endless.

And more colourways of my little birdies - Old Pals.

So it's not all holidays by any means. ( I blogged about our holiday in the Outer Hebrides last night with photos of some glorious beaches. Please take a look at the previous post to see what I mean)

And last but not least I swapped postcards with Emma from "a little bit of everything" blog as it is her 50th birthday coming up. She sent me this beauty which reminds me of where she lives, the Isle of Skye. She has quite a task making fifty cards to send out to blog friends, but the joy will be opening the fifty different ones she will receive in return from all over the world. Great idea, isn't it?

The card I sent her is over on my other blog. The link is on the sidebar.

Right, I'm off to clear up the workshop and start messing it up all over again.

Yes - Off gallivanting again

2010-05-29T01:21:00.000+01:00

Do these people ever do any work, I hear you say. This blog is turning into a travelogue.

Well, in anticipation of a long - and hopefully hot - summer, with no respite from work - the month of August, after all, disappears in three and a half weeks, seven days a week at the Edinburgh Festival Craft Fair - we decided to sneak away for a few days R&R and have a breather before it all gets crazy.
In order to do the sneaking, we worked our butts off last week and had all the website and shop orders finished and packed and dropped off at the various dispatch points - Post Office, carrier depot etc en route to our "staycation".
For the past few years we have headed off to the South of France at this time of year, but the volcanic ash problem (now seemingly resolved) put us off booking a flight anywhere, so instead we decided to visit a part of our own country we've not been to before.
So it was on Monday morning we set off up the A9 to Inverness and on to Ullapool on the North West coast for a night, and then boarded the ferry the next morning to Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis for a couple of nights.

Here come the pictures....

This was the amazing view of Loch Broom taken from our hotel window in Ullapool.

Saying goodbye to Ullapool as we set sail for Stornoway, a three hour ferry journey.

A magical place steeped in history - the Stone Circle at Callanish, with the peat moors of Lewis in the background.

Next day, a shoogly bus journey through beautiful scenery to the west coast of the Isle of Harris, and the breathtaking white sands and clear turquoise water at Horgabost.

We had the place entirely to ourselves.

The receding tide created interesting patterns on the sand.

And on the headland, watching over the beach was this stone - Macleod's Standing Stone - well, unless Bob manged to push it over.

Next day, after a brief flirtation with the "Tangle o' the Isles" it was farewell Stornoway and back to Ullapool, and home.

As we managed to take 117 photos in 48 hours, I reckon you've been let off lightly with just this few, but believe me these weren't the only good ones. Every picture captured an amazing view, despite the inept photographer behind the lens.

So much open space, fresh air and huge skies, sea breezes and stunning colour - we definitely recharged the batteries.

Apologies to anyone who tried to get in touch with us by phone, fax, email or plain knocking on the door - we were not at home!

But we're back, and have got started right away to the orders which have found their way to our inbox.

If I have the chance tomorrow I'll post some photos of work for a change. We do actually do some - between days off!

Next day off is likely to be in September (it's booked already).

A Glorious Day Out

2010-05-20T00:28:00.000+01:00

I thought I'd show you some photos of our day out last Sunday - a trip we've been meaning to make for a long time - and I'm so glad we made the spur of the moment decision to go when we did.

It was a boat trip to the Isle of May, a national Nature Reserve and bird sanctuary situated at the mouth of the Forth, just off the coast from us in Fife. We sailed from Anstruther harbour, in a little boat full to the brim with 100 passengers.

See the vintage cars lined up on the pier? It must have been a rally.

And this was why I was glad we made the trip that day - the river Forth is hardly ever as calm as this - and that is our destination ahead. It took just over an hour from the mainland.

The Isle of May is a summer home to tens of thousands of seabirds - puffins, fulmars, guillemots, cormorants, terns to name a few - and there are spectacular close up views of them nesting on the narrow cliff edges.

The island is uninhabited now, apart from a nature warden who is stationed there over the summer, but it used to have a manned lighthouse with the keepers' families living there. This was a steep little path up to one of the lighthouses which the keeper had to trudge up every day. They aptly named it Palpitation Brae.

In summer the island is covered with pink thrift and white sea campion, totally unspoilt and beautiful. A little bit smelly though with all those seabirds and very noisy too.

We came across this quite magnificent driftwood sculpture near a ruined monastery - not made by long gone monks, but more likely a recent warden who had long evenings to fill.

There were well marked paths all over the island and visitors were asked not to stray off them because the birds were nesting in the grass all around. This female eiderduck was incubating her eggs right at the edge of the path and totally ignored us as we passed just inches away.

The females stayed on the nests while their stikingly marked mates enjoyed a splash about in an emerald green lochan.

On the far side of the island, the side exposed to the wild North sea, there were dramatic cliffs, stacks and huge caves, every tiny ledge crowded with nesting seabirds.

We sailed back to Anstruther in the early evening and with all that fresh sea air giving us an appetite we headed straight for the world famous fish and chip shop!

We have been working too though. This week has been busy on the website, as well as orders coming in every day from our stockists.

I did an evening shift in the workshop tonight ( Wednesdays are always late nights for some reason) and this was the sight that met me when I stepped out of the workshop at nine o'clock - the most glorious sunset.

Sadly my photographic skills didn't do it justice.

And then I swung round 180 degrees to get this shot of the fresh new shoots of the wheatfield right outside our kitchen door. I love this wide open space.

Well as I said, Wednesday nights are always busy, and I'm procrastinating. There is a pile of orders needing to be packed up before bed, and they won't pack themselves up. Hey ho.

Snow in Summer

2010-05-12T12:30:00.000+01:00

Yes I know, that's the name of a favourite old garden plant. But for the purposes of this post it exactly describes our weather yesterday.

Bob was out in his picture framing shed, complaining that it was cold enough for snow, to which I laughed ironically. Ten minutes later he was knocking on the shop window and pointing triumphantly to the flakes falling from the (sunny) sky.

I thought it might be the volcanic ash but no, it was snow.

Today it's still as cold and I'm sitting at this computer in a cold corner of the room and I could do with mittens to keep my hands warm. Crazy.

The garden has erupted into flower though, no thanks to my neglect. And colour is everywhere.

Chilly May

2010-05-09T12:41:00.000+01:00

Unusually we've had three weekends on the trot where we've been socialising rather than working. It makes a nice change.
After the Aviemore Trade Show a couple of weeks ago, we had a lovely family reunion last weekend when Laura and Greg got back from their world travels, and Nick was home for the weekend too, so we had a houseful. Good to see them all under one roof again, even if it was only a weekend.
Laura and Greg are back down south now starting new jobs and house hunting. A new chapter of their lives about to start.
And this weekend we had my sister and her family - another evening of fun and laughter.
It was an easy one for me as Bob did the cooking - and all the washing up! What a guy!
What have I been doing work wise?
Well this week was pretty busy with shop orders and also a whole host of different orders on the website.
I'm also trying to get some time to revamp the website a bit ( I know - you've heard it all before!).

And yesterday afternoon I was playing with this. This is my alter ego, where I'm trying to do some proper embroidery work. At the moment it's purely for pleasure but there might be some progression to include it in the Embroidered Originals portfolio.
I'm charting my progress with this work here.
I might just grab a little bit of time to do some gardening this afternoon - it's sunny outside but very chilly for May.

Aviemore Trade Show

2010-04-28T20:03:00.000+01:00

That's it over for another year. Our annual trip with the trailer tent up to Aviemore in the Cairngorm Highlands for the Scottish Trade Show.
We always stay at the Glen More campsite on the shores of Loch Morlich. This was last year's image. Just beautiful and so peaceful.

We didn't have quite such a colourful sunset this year, but beautiful in its own right.

And this was the view from our trailer tent. Wonderful to wake up to.

As for the Trade Show itself, well it was quiet. It was pretty much as expected I suppose. It has never been a very busy show for one reason or another, but I did meet some new potential customers and took some orders which probably made it worthwhile.
However, socially it was great success. Bob took himself off up the hills as usual, and I spent three days in the hall chatting and gossiping. I don't mind that at all.
We had very sociable evenings too, thanks to Sacha and Hayden , friends and fellow exhibitors who were staying at the campsite as well. Red wine, crisps, Ben and Jerry's ice cream and lots of laughs. We sat at the lochside till the wee small hours much to the annoyance of a pair of courting ducks.
It was home again yesterday, and a text from Laura to say they had landed back at Heathrow, safe and sound after their world adventure.

This was their last port of call - Shanghai.

We're looking forward to seeing them soon, maybe in a couple of days with a bit of luck. I think Greg has about 50,000 photos to show us!

Well, back to work, I suppose.

Proud Mum

2010-04-22T21:13:00.001+01:00

Mums are allowed to be proud aren't they? This is Nick, our 26 year old little boy ( the big one in the photo - the little one is his cousin John).
Nick has just phoned from a posh hotel in Glasgow to tell us that he has won an award. (Drum roll) He has been awarded Multi Media Journalist of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.
He is a journalist at http://www.scotsman.com/ but is also a music journalist and writes for the Scotsman's online music section The Radar.
Not bad for a wee boy who's teacher in P2 thought he needed remedial help in English, and who went on to get a First Class Honours Degree in English from Edinburgh University.
It is OK to be bursting with pride for your son, isn't it!
Mind you, he's a lazy big lump who torments the life out of our long suffering cat, who comes home for the weekend and hogs the computer, who only reluctantly dries the dishes and who hardly ever changes his sheets!
We love ya, Nick. Well done!

Where Has The Time Gone?

2010-04-18T01:33:00.000+01:00

This past week has been quite odd in some ways. There was a slight concern at the start of the week about Laura and Greg in China when we heard about the earthquake in Yushu county. We knew that they were travelling to Tibet, but didn't know where exactly, or when. And there was no way of contacting them.
Anyway, we got a call from them on Friday - they had been only an hour away from the epicentre of the 'quake, but on the day before it struck. They're doing a tour of the country at the moment and really enjoying it. Unfortunately the Chinese authorities are a bit suspicious of bloggers, so Laura hasn't been able to update their blog since Hong Kong.
They'll be home a week on Tuesday, or should be. Who knows when this volcanic ash will disperse? They could well be held up, like so many other people.
What else has made the week odd? What a memory - I start to type a post, and halfway through I've forgotten what I was going to say - senior moment.
Well of course, the eruption in Iceland has been a bit of a surprise. Empty skies are actually quite nice, unless you were trying to get somewhere abroad, or home. Just shows you that Nature can outwit Man every time.
In the Embroidery Workshop, we've been resting on our laurels somewhat. Just jogging along making up orders and building stocks. This is usually a quiet time of the year, and instead of working at our usual pace, we sort of slow down. There is time for other things, and we have both been doing stuff for ourselves. Bob's been working on a new drawing, and I've been doing a bit of embroidery.
I'd like to keep this going if I can, even when we get really busy again, because I think it may well have a positive effect on the business. I could see new designs for the cards and pictures coming out of this.
We'll have to get ourselves in gear though, because the Aviemore Trade Show comes round again next week ( so soon?!).
We should have had all our new Christmas designs ready for that - mmm, some maybe.
So this coming week will be back to our usual panic stations.

Cupcakes at last

2010-04-09T23:40:00.000+01:00

It was time to restock our card spinner at the Farm Shop today. We do this every week if possible, to keep the display fresh, and today we had to replace Easter cards which were left over.

That meant some new designs, and one of them was this selection of cupcakes. (I think I've mentioned to one or two people that I intended to steer clear of cupcake designs because the market seems to be flooded with them. But we had a request from a customer, so I gave in.)

They are fun to make as I could go on for ever making up different colour schemes.

Anyway, hopefully once the visitors to the coffee shop have had their coffee and cake they will be prompted to buy a card to match!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-07T12:37:00.000+01:00

It's Spring at last. Morning walk - sunshine, warmth, flowers and wet feet!

Lanterns For sale

2010-04-02T23:16:00.000+01:00

I just love this photo. Lanterns for sale in Hoi Ann, Vietnam.

Taken from Laura's blog (that's our daughter)

She and Greg are off to China tomorrow for a tour which includes Tibet, and they'll be home at the end of May! They've been travelling since last August and have visited Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Easter Island, New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and now China. Have I missed any out Laura?

Looking forward to welcoming them home.

Stormy Weather

2010-03-31T16:13:00.000+01:00

What can I say about the last couple of days here in Scotland? Wet, snowy, fiercely windy and very very cold.
Our stupid old boiler doesn't cope with the north winds. The fumes get blown back down the flue and the safety cut out shuts off the burners. Result - the heating and hot water are not working when needed most.

Someone knows where to find the heat though.
We've had to step over him all day.
One good thing about this weather, it makes it easier to think about designing this year's Christmas cards, which is my next job.
Jingle bells, jingle bells......
Meanwhile, Happy Easter everyone!

Next comes Easter

2010-03-19T23:11:00.000Z

Well, Mother's Day has come and gone. It heralds Spring and sees the shops full of daffodils and tulips. Much needed colour, if at a premium on that particular day.
So the next event on the calendar is Easter. It's early this year being the first weekend in April. I don't confess to being in any way religious, so it really passes me by - although I have had more than my fair share of Easter eggs over the years, I have to say!
We also don't do much in the way of cards for Easter usually. This year though we have had quite a few requests from our customers for cards, so I've made up some designs and added them to the website.
So, if it's your thing - Happy Easter to you when it comes. I like to think of it more as a celebration of Spring and the new life of the year- lambs, birdsong, flowers, that sort of thing.

Here are the cards ( they are also on the website)

Happy St Patrick's (Birth)day Mum

2010-03-17T17:04:00.000Z

Another year has rolled round since I mentioned Mum's birthday on this blog. Just amazing how the time has gone in.
So it's Happy Birthday Mum, again. I won't mention age! She's had a chat to granddaughter Laura in Saigon this morning and a visit from grandson Nick this afternoon. Not to mention a weekend full of her other two grandchildren John and Izzie.
She's about to buy herself a new laptop ( she'll be on Twitter next!) so will be able to keep up to speed with this blog.
Of course with Mother's Day on Sunday past, she's got a mantlepiece full of cards, and they are all bright cheerful flower designs. Just what's needed to welcome Spring.

Here are Mum and Laura at Laura's birthday weekend last June - the last time we saw her before she set off on her world trip. She'll be back at the beginning of May, but has been keeping an online journal of her travels ( the link is on the right).

It seems the world has been waking up and stretching this week. After this cold hard winter we've had, it's not just the plants which have been hiding. February was a quiet month for our trade customers, but suddenly this week the orders have been coming in again. And I can tell by the number of cars in the Farm Shop car park that people are beginning to get out and about at last. We have a lot of orders due to go out to Garden Centres and they are bound to busy now that the growing season has started.

So one good thing to come out of the long winter is just how much everyone looks forward to and talks about the warmer weather. It really does lift the spirits. But you know what they say "Dinnae cast a cloot 'til May is oot!"

Embroidered Card

2010-03-10T13:05:00.000Z

The second in the the series showing the processes in our card making centres on the hand embroidery done for the Large Special Keepsake Cards. I've had to embroider a card for a special urgent order today and as this is a rare occasion, thought I'd capture it step by step. (It's a rare occasion because this is usually a job that Barbara does for me - she is the French Knot kid - but the order has to go out today and I won't see her until tomorrow, so I've had to thread the needle myself).

This is going to be a Baptism card for a baby girl. So we start off with mother of pearl sequins sewn in a circle on white slubbed silk.

Next we choose two shades of pink and a white embroidery cotton, and using the paler pink embroider four tiny french knots between each sequin.

This is followed by more french knots in the deeper pink and white and little green leaves in single chain stitch.Sorry this pic is blurred.

The embroidery is then mounted firstly into one aperture card and then double mounted into a larger one. This gives a good strong finish for the card and accentuates the embroidery in the middle.

Finally the card has detail added with fabric paint. You'll see painted daisies on the inner mount, some little beads of paint to fill out the embroidery and the hand lettering. I've hidden the name on the card as I don't want to spoil someone's surprise.

This card is now going into a frame and will be packed up and posted off this afternoon.

As it's a glorious day today I took a few more pics around the workshop, just to celebrate the colour in the sunshine.

Some tulips from Amsterdam in my favourite old vase with some juicy new fat quarters purchased at a recent Patchwork and Quilting Show in the background.

A colourful corner with one of Barbara's patchwork cushion covers, some handmade soap and some wooden hearts just showing at the top.

A view of the wall with a bit of splash of colour.

And lastly, some fresh new cards for Spring - using some of the new fabrics from the show. They are on the website here.

Hope you are enjoying this sunshine too.

Fabric Paint - the lifeblood of our business

2010-03-04T23:49:00.000Z

I thought it might be an interesting idea to do an occasional post about the processes we use in our card making.
Today it's the turn of fabric paint ( or dimensional paint, call it what you will). Fabric paint is a bit of a misnomer as it can be used on any surface, is a bit like icing a cake, and dries with a permanent slightly raised finish.

Life for Embroidered Originals isn't simple though. I wonder if anyone remembers Colorpoint paint? It was widely available in the 1990's and was the paint we started with all those years ago. It was well designed, easy to use ( no spluttering ) and easy to clean.
But, the manufacturers Tulip decided in their wisdom to withdraw it and replace it with a poor inferior version now available as Tulip paint. The paint itself is fine, but the bottle shape and more importantly the nozzle is frankly hopeless. It just doesn't work.

You can see the difference.
So our old colorpoint bottles are worth their weight in gold. Of course the paint in them was used up a long time ago, so much of our time is taken up decanting from new bottles into our old bottles. Usually involving a lot of mess and many ruined clothes.

We now have a huge collection of paint from all different sources. Some colours have been mixed especially for us, some colours I have mixed myself and many more are standard colours.

Here are just some of the variety which end up in the little bottle.

Silver glitter - we go through about 150 bottles of that stuff every couple of months.

So what do we use all this paint for?

Well, every card in our range has hand painting on it in some form or another. Outlining appliqued fabric, adding textural beads of paint and the hand painted lettering.

Here is a rather crappy video of one of the large cards (which has already been embroidered with flowers and sequins) having the detail finished off with paint, in this case the stems of the champagne flutes.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marionmitchell/4406852841/

Apologies for the poor quality of the film - the only available cameraman had gone to bed, so I was holding the camera with my left hand while painting with my right. Not easy.

And while we're at it, here is another rubbish video, this time I'm painting the lettering on the card. OK so you have to put your head sideways to see it - I forgot that the camera has to be the right way up. Sorry.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marionmitchell/4406867375/

Maybe the next instalment will be more professional.

Mr Embroidered Originals

2010-02-23T17:27:00.000Z

Time to sing the praises of my other half. You'll know that he is my business partner as well as husband, but what you won't know is his considerable ability with a pencil and talent as an illustrator.
Caught up in the demands of this business, he, like me has no time to indulge his original passion. But I've been scanning some drawings he made many years ago, for another project, and thought I'd share them here.

You will see that he also has an interest in the cinema.

I've Been Away -

2010-02-17T00:05:00.000Z

Well, as you may have read, Valentine's Day was the new Christmas for us this year. Two weeks of frenzied activity thanks to the Sunday Post and by Friday of last week we had dispatched hundreds if not thousands of cards to all parts of the UK.

On Thursday night we had one card left...so I sent it off to my Mum!

We were more than ready for a couple of days off and our own Valentine's treat was a long weekend in London.

I'm not going to be boring and recount it all here - but we got home yesterday, and were back in business today. After all, Mother's Day is only four weeks away!

We had a camera full of pics of the usual - London Eye, Big Ben etc etc - nothing worth posting here. But we also stumbled upon Chinatown one evening bedecked for the Chinese New Year

and it was magical. The colours were so vibrant and the lanterns were all swaying in the light breeze.

We also overloaded on culture at the Tate Modern and other galleries, but the main reason for our trip was to see Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck at the O2 on Sunday night.

Some people who read this, I know, are Clapton fans - you know who you are! - so look what I found on Youtube - someone has got concert clips up already. There was mixed opinion about who was the better performer, but in my mind you have to go a long way to beat Clapton, although Jeff was right up there. My only criticism about the concert was the audience. Maybe the O2 is such a big venue that the atmosphere gets dissipated, but I reckon those two old guys up on stage deserved a warmer reception than they got. I'm sure once they get to NY the crowd will be right behind them, but it was pretty staid in London.

One more photo before I sign off. I just found these on the camera - Bob took them a few weeks back when he was out trekking up our local hill, Largo Law. Snowscenes are always serene and beautiful.

This was looking across a steel grey Forth from Largo Law.

And a crescent moon was just visible in the gloaming, over the old power station in Leven.

But there was also a bit of colour on the walk - this still life of fishing bits and pieces on a whitewashed cottage wall in Lower Largo

and this everlasting and ever changing flotsam sculpture on the beach beyond Largo.

That's all for tonight folks. I hope you like the Clapton clip..... Janet!!

PS

2010-02-06T10:05:00.002Z

Just added a PS to the last post.

And it continues...

2010-02-03T01:17:00.003Z

Today it was the postman's turn. Lots of envelopes plopped through the letterbox, each containing a cheque and a note requesting a valentine card, or two, or three. Some had little stories attached - who it was for, where it was to be sent to, why they wanted to buy it. Others had the bare minimum - return address only.

And then the phone started ringing again. Normally I answer the phone when it rings ( Bob says that most people want to speak to me anyway. They don't believe a mere man is capable of taking an order!!) But Tuesday morning is my food shopping time time with my Mum, so Bob was "Mr Embroidered Originals" for an hour or two.

And the stories he had when I got home - an old man ordering a card for his 86 year old wife, a batch of calls from people who didn't really know what they wanted (Bob's answer to that is to send them a Mail Order Catalogue) and various other gems.

We had two trips to the Post Office and then ran out of board backed envelopes and stamps. Emergency online order for more supplies and the next lot of orders will have to wait till tomorrow when the envelopes arrive.

I've been wandering around in a daze the last two days, mainly due to lack of sleep and brain overload, trying to keep calm and carry on, basically - avoiding if possible my usual chaos.

There is one person I haven't heard from though, and it's troubling me. For a number of years now an old gentleman has been a regular mail order customer, ordering very special Valentine, birthday and Christmas cards for his wife. She was in a home, unable to recognise him or anyone else. He was the eternal romantic, a lovely man who visited her daily until one or two health problems meant he could only do the round bus trip twice a week. She is 92 and he's 91.

He would phone his order to me and we would have a good old chat. I last heard from him before Christmas when he was ordering his Christmas cards.

Since then, nothing.

He would normally have got his Valentine order in before now and I'm beginning to think the worst. Not because I might have lost a paying customer, but because if something has happened to him or his wife, I'll never know. It's sad.

You know, that's the thing about this business, it may just be greeting cards at the end of the day, but it means that people are coming to the shop or phoning because they want to buy for a special occasion - a new grandchild, a son's wedding, a friend's birthday....and whatever it is more often than not, they tell me all about it. So I get to hear their stories, usually happy but sometimes harrowing. It's not always conducive to work, standing blethering for half an hour or so, but ach well, so what.

( Confession - if Bob sees a car parked outside for more than 20 minutes or so, and he's usually working in the house rather than the workshop, he "phones" me on the intercom button on the phone. I pretend to the customer who's in full flow about something or other, that it's an important call that I must take and that gets rid of them!!) It's not that I don't like talking to them - I could stand blethering all day - but every half hour or hour when I have a chatty customer means I'm not working, so that time has to be added to the night shift at the other end or else the work would never get done. That's probably put a few noses out of joint! If you read this and think I'm meaning you - naw, I'm not, it's someone else!

Help ma boab - look at the time - 1.11am!!! There will be a little old lady in Glasgow or somewhere with her alarm clock set for 6am so she can be our first "old lady call" of the day, and I'll have hardly got to sleep.

I'm off to bed - I feel the old brain getting a bit scrambled - who am I kidding, I AM a little old lady!!
PS Saturday January 6th Just had to say that I got some good news about ten minutes ago - a happy ending to the story - my old gentleman has just phoned to order his Valentine card for his wife! All's well with the world.

Valentine's, the Sunday Post and Cullen Skink

2010-02-02T00:39:00.000Z

I think I said here a couple of days ago that we were well stocked and feeling that there was nothing really pressing to do. A time for planning, designing, organising and other worthy things.
Well...
On Sunday there was a tiny feature about us in the Sunday Post - a Scottish Sunday paper with a worldwide distribution. They published a photo of one of our Valentine cards along with how to contact us and the website address.
I forgot all about it until the phone rang at 8.15am and woke me from a deep sleep. A little old lady ( little old ladies always get up before the crack of dawn) wanting to order a Valentine card for her husband.
Oh yes, the Sunday Post feature, the penny dropped.
While Bob watched the tennis final ( poor Andy) I sat beside the phone and took call after call from people all over the country wanting this Valentine card. I heard from one man that he wanted to give it to his wife who left him six years ago, in the hope that she would come back to him. A lady who wanted a card for her husband who died two years ago, but she would put it by his grave. Another lady who wanted two to send to her grandchildren in Canada. And so it went on.
All day Sunday and into the evening. Then I checked the website - hoowee - 45 more orders - and not just for Valentine cards. People who had never seen the site before and were buying all sorts of things.
Today we had 40 more calls before we nipped out to do some business stuff - bank, post office etc - and home to a pile of phone messages.
Just crazy.
I checked the website a minute ago and the 52nd web order of the day arrived at 2 minutes to midnight.
The card in question was the I Love You Mair one. I think I put it on here a day or two ago.
Anyway, it seems to be a taste of home for ex-pats all over the place, and I'm pleased that people get enjoyment from it.
The message on the card might sound a bit like gobbledy gook to anyone who hasn't grown up in Scotland but the "translation" can be found here.
Sorry there are no photos tonight, but I haven't had the time.
What will tomorrow bring?

February's Nearly Here

2010-01-30T23:24:00.000Z

A short month, sandwiched between Winter and Spring.

For us, it's about production - forcing ourselves to crank up the pace in readiness for the busy times of Summer and Autumn.

We've got the Trade Show orders in the bag, the stock drawers are full, and we are fighting this sense that we are up to date - with nothing to do.

Silly and short sighted. One juicy order and the stock is halved.

So we've cleared out more stock space and started to fill that too. Bob is in charge of stock control. (That makes it sound important!).

He is forging ahead with his workload - I'm faffing around with the many and various other tasks, as usual getting nowhere fast.

I'm focussing my attention on the website at the moment. So much needs updating, and it all takes time.

But this is the ideal time, start of a new season, to springclean and freshen it up.

February is also about Valentine's of course, and as card makers we can't ignore that.

We've gone through thousands of red envelopes this past month, and most of our shop orders are out.

February 14th will see the two of us at the O2 in London in the company of Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. Great Valentine's weekend to look forward to.Talking of Valentine's Day........

In The Bag

2010-01-26T23:13:00.000Z

We're just home from Glasgow after three days at Scotland's Trade Show. I don't have time or energy to say much tonight, just a few snippets of the weekend
* Our new stand display did the job admirably - a worthwhile investment ( photo soon)
* I made tartan bunting ( finished at 3am on Saturday morning) to add some colour to the stand. It was special "Embroidered Originals no-sew" bunting - bondaweb and staples were the main ingredients. I will get the sewing machine out and go over it properly - some day.
* We took a satisfying number of orders, with a good percentage of new customers. So look out Banff, Galashiels, Stewarton and Toronto - our cards will be in your shops soon!
* I met old friends and made new ones, chatted and gossiped in the quiet times of the show.
* Answered some strange questions from visitors to the stand - like - "If I was to buy 35,000 of these cards, what would you charge me?" Answer - 35000 times the cost of one card! No discounts for bulk buying when each card is made by hand! ( I don't think I'll hear from that potential buyer again)
* Came home with very sore dry eyes - I think the dry atmosphere of the SECC was to blame.
* Spent 3 nights on my own in a good little hotel just a few minutes' walk from the SECC, which is as good as a holiday. I could please myself with the remote control ( rare treat!), read mags, eat naughty things and catch up on lost sleep. Bliss.
Talking of sleep....

The Unveiling

2010-01-22T00:26:00.005Z

Well, there's only a couple of days left before the Trade Show in Glasgow - our shop window for trade customers, old and hopefully new. This is our first chance of the year to reach buyers for gift shops, galleries and the like throughout Scotland and beyond, and we have to get it right.
This year, we've pushed hard since the New Year to produce a larger than normal collection of new designs, and as I'm putting all the new images in the Brochure tonight ( a long and tedious job) I thought I'd share them here too.
There's quite a lot, so here goes.....

A bit of a mixed bag really, some of them you have to be Scottish to get!

I've got two more I want to finish before Saturday, and that will be it. So, Trade Show here we come.

I'll be off the radar until Tuesday, as I don't have a laptop (yet), but hopefully I'll find some time to take a few pics of other inspiring stands and post them here next week.

January Update

2010-01-16T16:41:00.003Z

Well I did say I was going to be busy being creative and forging paths in new directions...... and I have been making some progress.

I don't have anything photographed unfortunately because the light has been so bad the past few days. So dark that the sensor has been putting on the outside security lights at midday. It's quite depressing after the lightness of the snowy weather, but I'm still glad the snow has gone.

I'm not someone who is affected by the short dark days, thankfully. It's an excuse to shut out the world and get absorbed in work under my bright anglepoise lamp.

Firstly the textile designs from the last post - they've been tweaked and shunted around on the computer, cropped, repeated, colour changed, faded, blurred....printed on various sizes of card, embellished and painted. Much of it has been trashed, but that's OK as it's a process of elimination or distillation, until I get a result I'm happy with.

OK I've just taken a photo of a pile of little cards ( gift card size) that I made up mainly as colour samples.

There are actually about 30 of them in different colours.

The larger ones are still works in progress and won't be photographed until finished.

The other project this week has been to prepare a batch of new designs for the Trade Show coming up next week.

Usually we introduce half a dozen or so new card designs, but this year I felt we should freshen up a lot of the ranges, so we've been busy.

Again, it's still under wraps. Not intentionally secretive, just waiting until they are finalised.

We've invested in new display equipment for the show too, which was long overdue, and I'm really quite excited about setting it up next Saturday. For so many years we've made do with homemade shelving systems which are getting pretty tatty now and do nothing to enhance the visual display.

I think all that is part and parcel of the new direction idea.

Anyway, it's back to work now. Bob is making the meal tonight - something from his Italian cook book that involves potatoes, bacon, onion, cheese and by the smell from the kitchen, lots of butter! Not good for the dieter, but who cares? Dark days need comfort food.

I'll leave you with an image from this wonderful blog of the most amazing photos of Scotland taken at dawn or dusk.

The link to the blog is always on the right hand side here, and is well worth a regular visit. This image was taken by ruairidhsollas and I hope he doesn't mind my posting it here.

Till next time.

Retro style

2010-01-05T14:36:00.004Z

Following on from last night's outpouring, I've made a start.
I am increasingly drawn to the very retro 60's and 70's styles which are current favourites in textile design. I'd never have thought they would have returned, but they have in a big way.
A quick rummage under the bed unearthed a portfolio of textile designs - you guessed it, from the 1970's.

I've scanned some and put them up here - not sure what I'm going to do with them yet, if anything, but I may play around with them as backgrounds for cards. No copyright issues as they are my own designs, and they are truly antiques.

These are colourways of one design, each of which was laboriously handpainted in gouache. I've just been playing around with these scanned images in Photoshop and produced another 2 dozen or so colourways in 5 minutes. What I would have given for a glimpse into the future in 1975!

Next job is to decide how to use them. I'll get back to you on that one. Wish me luck.

New directions

2010-01-05T01:20:00.001Z

This is a bit of a ramble, but it is that time of year to reflect and make plans, come to some conclusions and hopefully start to act on them.
Maybe it's because we've popped out of the other side of a busy period and I can look up and see what's happening around me, what I've missed over the past few months, that I'm feeling like this. And maybe as I said, it's that time of year.
Anyway, the idea came to me today while I was tidying up and sorting out the workshop - the annual clear up. There was the usual pile of out of date catalogues, things kept because they might come in handy one day ( and didn't), odds and ends of half completed projects which will never be completed - you know, the usual.
And lots of spiders, dust and neglected corners. After all, the workshop has now been in existence for 18 years. Can you believe it?
So, the idea. As craft businesses go, this one of ours is pretty successful, I have to say. We aren't well off particularly, and it hasn't come easy, but we have reached a point where the business rumbles along on its own. We are cogs in the wheel - making up the orders as they come in and adding new designs every so often to the core, which has been the mainstay for so long. I found a sketchbook of designs for cards which goes back 20 years, and some of them are still in production!
Where am I going with this? Oh yes, if there's one thing that keeps me awake at night it's the fact that I am totally responsible for the success or failure of this business and therefore our livelihood and future comfort in old age. Each decision made could either propel us into super stardom or rack and ruin. So far, things have worked out. But could they have worked out better? Maybe I haven't taken enough chances? Haven't worked enough at aspects of the business where I feel least comfortable - like marketing and promotion for example.
Been content to spend the time making up multiples of cards when I should have been delegating and using the time to be more creative and try out new directions.
2009 has been our most successful year to date, successful enough for our bank manager's jaw to drop when he realised what our turnover was. ( I don't think he has much respect for craft businesses.)
So why should I rock the boat? Well, because every self employed person, crafts or otherwise probably wonders when the bubble's going to burst.
So far, a mixture of intuition and luck has kept us ahead of the game - when things got sticky in the craft fair side, we had already gone down the road of wholesale, for example.
But going back to what I said at the start of this rant, I've raised my head and had a look around me - there are so many talented designers out there - and it's so easy to find them now, on the internet and blogland. So much fresh exciting work, and I find myself thinking - I could do that! Before I miss the boat completely.
OK - so what? What do I do about it? Drag myself out of the rut probably. Waken up.
Prioritise.
Delegate.
Get inspired.
Create.
Last year I thought I wanted to find an outlet for my creative yearnings through going back to my embroidery and textile roots. This year I've realised that my creative home is the business itself.
So, (big intake of breath) the time has come to do something about it.
2010 could quite easily be a carbon copy of 2009, and there would be nothing wrong with that in monetary terms, but today in the workshop I wanted to scoop everything up and chuck it out. To start afresh.
Don't worry friends, it won't be so drastic, But with a bit of luck and perseverance you may see changes begin to appear among the familiar Embroidered Originals products. Little ones to start with, but with hope for more to follow.
I usually end my blog posts on a high note, with a bit of whimsy. But not tonight, I'm not going to be flippant.
If you've had the staying power to get this far in this post I thank you for listening. I almost don't expect anyone to have bothered, but that's OK.
There's something about seeing it in print that makes it more tangible. So maybe I'm more likely to stick with it.
I should stop now, but there are a couple of things bothering me - one is that it might seem arrogant to be ranting on about me, me, me. Not intended and please don't take offence.
The other is that I know there are ideas swirling around in my head and I need to get them sorted and act on them. That is a lot more difficult than writing about it.
Tomorrow I have to do something about it before we start getting busy again and the year flies away.

PS My best friend and business helper who has been with us for almost the whole journey, has had her own battles over the past few months. I've missed our weekly sessions in the workshop, when the tongues worked as hard as the hands. Maybe because she hasn't been my sounding board, I'm writing this now.
But as I say, she has had a lot more to contend with lately, and I have nothing to grumble about in comparison. To my friend - I sincerely hope that you have left it all behind in 2009 - finished, over - and look forward to a bright New Year that's peaceful, healthy, happy and above all, normal.

PPS Where does my husband and business partner figure in all of this, you might be wondering? Doesn't he have a say in the decision making? Well, yes of course. But he's not the ideas man - he listens, agrees or disagrees, but ultimately lets me get on with it. He knows what's good for him. (And I wasn't going to be flippant!)

The machine is cranking up again

2010-01-03T23:49:00.001Z

Well, as I've already said, this Christmas break has been all about doing nothing ( apart from eating). But all good things must come to an end ( the fridge is now empty ), and it's time to heave the expanding waistline off the settee and get back to work.

Still, after a couple of weeks of over indulgence, the prospect is quite appealing, I must say. I need a bit of structure back in my life.

So, tonight I tackled one of my least favourite New Year chores - filling out application forms for Craft fairs in 2010.

Some organisers make the form filling easy, others are just sadistic. Like making you print your name,address, phone number, fax number, email address, website address blah blah blah on EVERY page of the application form, which in one particular case stretches to TEN pages.

But anyway, that's two major fairs applied for at least.

On the subject of Craft Fairs, we recently found a list of the fairs we did in one year, way back in 1995, and believe it or not there were 47 of them, some of them over 2 or 3 days as well! That meant we had to pack up for a fair just about every weekend of the year, sometimes even packing two vehicles as we were doubled up at two events on the one day.

Those were crazy times, but the wholesale side and of course the website were non existent, so we had to go out on the road to reach our customers.

Over the years, we've cut back drastically to just some major events each year - the Royal Highland Show, Edinburgh Festival and Country Living are the main ones. But I'm not averse to adding in the odd little one, especially near Christmas as they can sometimes be wee goldmines.
I certainly don't miss the old Friday night ritual of packing boxes and stressing out about what to take and what we've forgotten. Then setting out before dawn on a cold snowy winter's morning and driving as much as 120 miles when everyone else in the world was tucked up in their cosy beds, and don't get me started on the number of times the car broke down when I was by myself in the middle of nowhere.

No, checking the website for the orders coming in, and taking calls from our shops while in the comfort of our own home is much the better option.

OK, enough rambling. Today's picture shows that I haven't just been a couch potato over the past few days. Oh no - I have been doing the JIGSAW FROM HELL, or La Paz, Bolivia to be exact.

This was Laura's inspired idea for her Dad's birthday - a photo from their South America travels turned into a 1000 piece jigsaw. Great idea, but the one she chose....

well, see what I mean? Just click on the picture to get a better idea.

Bob fell by the wayside very early on - I think he just looked at the box of pieces and decided to get back to work instead.

I thought I should do a mother's duty and make it up for Laura's benefit ( are you reading this, Laura!) It took days, nights and days again. But at exactly 4.30 pm this afternoon the final piece went in! That was after going to bed with stinging eyes and a sore back at 4am this morning, not to mention the heartburn and indigestion caused by being bent over the jigsaw for days on end while scoffing Thorntons chocs.

But my side of the family is known for its tenacity - Mum knows what I mean. We can get quite single minded about getting a job done, usually when it's the time wasting sort rather than anything meaningful. So, Laura, here it is. I'm going to keep it made up to show you when you get home, then I'm going to break it all up and present it to you as a challenge. Have you inherited the Clark gene?

Happy, Healthy, Wealthy 2010

2010-01-01T23:02:00.001Z

Out with the old and in with the new.
I'm sitting here on New Year's Day ( Ne'er Day in Scotland ), thinking about the year ahead but not too seriously yet, since I'm still full to the brim with Christmas leftovers and with a brain too sluggish to work properly. Not a hangover though, thankfully - just a couple of glasses of wine and a wee dram to welcome in the New Year.
It was just the two of us last night and it was too cold/icy to think about venturing out.
We watched a bit of telly, played a game or two and then hung out of the upstairs window watching the fireworks display in Edinburgh across the water from us.
What a glorious bright night it was, crystal clear and very light with the full moon reflecting off the snow. The fireworks were clearly visible although they must be 30 miles away.
The best bit of Hogmanay was a three way chat with Laura and Greg in Auckland and Nick in Edinburgh ( he was working over at the Scotsman building). Laura was already 13 hours into 2010 by then.
Then a bit of Jools Hootenany and then bed.
So what will the New Year bring?
- More snow for a start. It's getting boring now.
- A new central heating boiler - can't put it off any longer.
- INSPIRATION from somewhere PLEASE for new designs and ideas to freshen up the business. I have a feeling that this year will see a few quite major changes ( all good) to Embroidered Originals.
- A big birthday for both Bob and Laura, with 30 years apart.
- The usual (yawn) resolutions to lose weight, get fit, be energetic and achieve lots.
- And a plan to give ourselves a little treat to look forward to every couple of months. That's a resloution everyone should make I think. It's too easy to let time slip by and never get out of the rut. Last year it was all work and no play for us mostly. OK we had a few days in France in the Spring and a few days in Italy in the Autumn, which was very good, but we worked seven days a week for months averaging 12 - 15 hours a day.
I daresay we'll continue to do that - it's become a way of life - but we've decided to punctuate it with something no matter how small to liven things up.
To that end, I've been online today booking a long weekend in London for Valentine's with the highlight being a concert at the O2 - Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, two old codgers ( like us) who really can play guitar.
That's our first "look forward to treat".
It's been a good festive break. In previous years I've tried to spend the Christmas holiday getting back to my textile/embroidery roots and do something for myself, bringing it's own sort of stress in a way, as I didn't have enough time to do anything much.
This year I vegetated.
I found ( amazingly) one or two good things to watch on TV and did just that. It was soporific but nice.
We kept the CLOSED sign up on the workshop, and only opened up if requested by a customer. Only a few hardy souls ventured up the farm road, it being a sheet of ice from top to bottom.
The workshop is freezing and I've collected up all my bits and pieces for work and set them up in the house until this cold spell is past.
I did start the Christmas card sale on the website though, and have had quite a brisk response in the past 24 hours - from as far afield as California.

So, that's us into 2010. Bring it on.

Christmas Day at Blacketyside

2009-12-28T23:15:00.001Z

I hope you had a lovely Christmas too...

There was only three of us this year, with Laura being in NZ. But we had various video chats with her over the few days so she didn't feel quite so far away.

Our day starts with a trip through the snow to visit Gran.

Then after opening presents and being fortified with a large glass of sherry, it's home for some fun in the snow.

Throwing (rather icy) snowballs.

Sledging down the farm road which is just a sheet of ice.

While others just numb their bottom on the metal garden chair

and enjoy the view across the virgin snow in the garden - wistfully remembering the years of building snowmen.

Even the Wee Cat joins in and yes, this is that baby boy in the buggy 24 years ago!

Then when every extremity is numb with cold, it's into the kitchen for soup and bread, both homemade by Bob, his Christmas tradition. This year it's Scotch broth and ciabatta, both delish.

Like probably 99% of the rest of the country the afternoon is spent in various states of recline trying not to scoff all the chocolates while the turkey is cooking.

Then candlelit Christmas dinner - yum.

Soon be time to get back to work, but doing nothing just now is just fine.

For the rest of the Festive Season......

2009-12-27T19:15:00.000Z

we hope you have a warm and happy time, and that your stockings were filled with all you wished for at Christmas.

With love and best wishes from Bob & Marion.