A Break from the Norm

I've been doing a few different things since I finished my quilt.

A friend asked me for some mug cosies, which I'd been meaning to try out for ages, but just hadn't got around to it.  I was quite pleased with how they came out.

The one on the left, around the red mug, was just a strip of crochet with a button hole at one end and a button on the other. Buoyed by my success, I was a little more adventurous with the second.  I made it as one piece joined over the handle with a loop button hole and button.

The other project I'm still working on, but I can show you a picture of my first attempt.

I was asked to make two doilies.  The only experience I have with doilies is seeing them at my great nan's when I was a small child.  I conferred with my mother in law about it as she is a brilliant crocheter, and she pointed me in the right direction.  After quite a lot of faffing around, this is the first one all blocked out on my ironing board:

I'm pleased with it, as it was very fiddly and it took me ages!  Ill post a picture when I'm finished with the second one.  I've designed this one myself, so this will be interesting!

Time for the blankets to come out!

Well, the weather certainly changed very quickly here!  I've been listing the blankets and more winter items in the shop over the last couple of days.

I'm still working on another blanket design, I'm nearly finished now and I'm hoping to be able to post a picture later this week of the finished article!

I do love summer, but at least the cooler days mean I can wear my favourite jumper again!  I certainly needed it this morning,  I took my grandparents out to the Mucking Nature Reserve as they hadn't been there.  We had a short walk to the riverside, and a long cup of tea!  I always pick the wrong days for day trips out.

Photography

It's really important to have really good photos to display your items when you sell online, and so I've spent the last few days working on my photos for the shop. I'm still struggling to get a finish I'm pleased with.  I'm thinking about a theme to keep all my photos on the shop looking as professional as possible. The white background I have been using gives a nice, clean finish, but I think it's a bit dull and uninteresting.

I tried a baby themed background before, but that looked a bit too busy:

I'm hoping to spend the majority of the day today actually sewing, or maybe crocheting, so Ill give my photos more thought and hope for some inspiration!

Is Spring ever coming!

This weekend, I finished a blanket for my friend.  Now I’m just waiting for her baby to make his appearance!  I’m really pleased with how it came out.  I used treble crochet the whole way through because I like the way the stitch finishes.  It gives a nice, thick, warm feel to it.  Ideal for this delayed spring! 

I’m intending to start with our summer items this week.  We are making sun dresses with matching shrugs, some tops and matching bottoms, as well as some shorts and tee shirts, and cricket style jumpers for cooler evenings.  We’ve been accepted to another craft fair in June, so hopefully the other weather will be warm enough for our summer pieces by then!

Photography Lessons

Since I last posted, I've been giving a lot of thought to the way I photograph my items for sale.  It's really important to have excellent photos of clothes as the customer can't get to feel, or see the clothes before they are purchased with online selling.  I've got some software I've been playing with, but I don't think that will make up for a natural lack of talent!  Luckily, I have a very talented sister in law and Im going to ask for her advice tomorrow.  Hopefully, I will have some better photos to share next time around!

One picture I was pleased with was this one:

I thought it showed the actual colours of the jumper nicely - which Ive been really struggling with, with flash and shadows getting involved!

I also liked this one:

 I was trying to get creative, and think of different ways to show off the blanket!

Looks Like Spring Is On The Way!

Well, our craft fair went really well!  We had a great time, and met some great people!  It was nice to get feedback on our items and we were well pleased - but exhausted - at the end of the day!

This is me, albeit headless, behind our stall.  I think we learned a lot of things that we can take along to our next fair.  We are already looking for a summer event.

Since the fair, we have finished up a couple of special orders, and I have been having a bit of a rethink regarding the online shop.  I've got a few ideas in mind for new products, and some are a bit different to what we have done before.

As usual, you can keep up with us on Facebook and also keep checking our store.

See you soon

Louise

Only 2 More Days To Go!

Our first craft fair is almost up on us!

We are now finished our preparations - everything is washed, ironed, tagged, priced and labelled in boxes ready to go!  We are really excited about saturday, it will certainly be a very sharp learning curve for us.  The other stall holders sell some amazing items so Im really looking forward to meeting new people and seeing what they do.

We've got a few new products which we haven't put in the shop before to try out at the fair, and Im looking forward to seeing how people like them.

We've also had a couple of special requests in the last fortnight, so we are still busy!

Hope to see you Saturday!

Our First Craft Fair!

After an eventful Christmas, we are now back to usual.  We've received the details for the craft fair we will be attending, I've attached the flyer below.  We are very excited, though there is still a lot of work to do.  We had a practise run at our table display today, and we are pleased with what we have decided on so far.  We have also got some new items which we will be offering for sale for the first time at the fair, so if you are nearby, drop in and say hello!  We will be really pleased to meet you.

A Big Step!

Well, we've finally taken the plunge and applied for a craft fair.  And we've been accepted!  I'm sooo excited about it, but at the same time, a little apprehensive.  It will be great to get out there and meet customers, but have we got enough items to sell!  I'm sure we will be ready by Feb and we are planning to have a few practice runs at designing our table.  We are hoping to be able to show for the first time a few new designs and products too!  So all in all, there's much work to be done.  We've got so many things to do and decide on, I'd better get going!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

With all the Christmas adverts on the tv the thoughts of all at Sunshine Baby Crafts have turned rather festive. It has set us to looking at what little knitted toys we can make at this time of year- Debbie used to make us knitted dollies each Christmas and we both still have our Snowman dollies, although 20 years on and my Snowman has no fluff in his neck where I dragged him about! I am looking forward to seeing Louise's crochet dog when he is finished, he will be an excellent addition to our growing teddy and dolly selection.

As readers will know we recently went on holiday to Norfolk and purchased some pretty new materials for our new designs. A new project that we are trying to get off the ground is bandana bibs for toddlers, and we have some fun and bright Christmas designs that we hope to get on our website soon.

We are currently working on a number of orders for different customers and friends but have been able to complete a selection of beautiful snuggly cot blankets, perfect for the current weather. They are so pretty and warm that we just love them!

As ever please take a look at our website and our Facebook page in order see our newest products!

A busy October!

We've been really busy over the last couple of weeks.  We made a jumper, a cardigan, a long tailed hat and some mittens for a friend.  Since then, we've taken another couple of orders, this time for two adult sized long tailed hats, and for a new baby boy a cardigan, a striped hat and matching mittens!  I really like making things for special orders because it means that we get to meet our customers and help them directly and personally which is something you can't really experience from an online store.

As promised previously, here is a photo of some of our new materials that we are going to start our new ranges with.  I've got a design in mind for a cot quilt, and Debbie has got plans for summer dresses for next spring.  

I've also taken a picture of my dog that I was crocheting.  He's obviously not quite finished, I need to finish stuffing his head but I ran out today.  Then I need to close the stuffing hole, and make his legs and ears, as well as a tail then embroider a friendly face on him!  Im also making a lilac and white striped hoodie, but that's on hold for a bit while we finish our customs orders.  I'm pleased with it's look though. I like bold thick stripes! We are also applying the finishing touches to some blankets at the moment, so Ill post some pictures of them once we are done.

As ever, please check our shop and our Facebook page for more updates!
 

new toys - in progress!

So, here is an "in progress" picture of our new toys!  As you can see, only one is complete, but we think they are very sweet!  I especially like the little yellow and pink rabbit!  I'm a bit behind with my dog, so I haven't included him in my photo.  Eash toy is stuffed with toy stuffing which complies to

In other news, yesterday we went shopping for more fabric supplies and we are already thinking about and designing our spring and summer collection.  My fabrics were delievered in the week and I'm really pleased with them.  I can't wait to get my sewing machine out!

As ever, please look in our shop and on facebook for more photos of finished items!

Shop update

I've just added a new line to our shop - long tailed baby hats!  It's always a bit nerve wracking, putting something new up, but it's exciting to see who likes them!  I really like these hats, I think they are so cute! 

We've also got some more tiny baby items to go on sale in the next few days, little matching sets made of a cardigan with a matching hat and mittens.  We think they are lovely, and hope you do too!

To take a peek at our other newest arrivals, go to our shop - http://sunshinebabycrafts.folksy.com

Winter product launch

I just wanted to blog to let everyone know that we are launching our winter collection in the next few days.  We’ve been busy over the last few weeks and months designing new items, and we are pleased with what we have to offer and hope you are too!

We have blankets, jumpers, hats, hoodies, vests, and cardigans – all for babies up to a year old.  We have also worked on a range for tiny babies, so please keep checking our shop for new items!

http://sunshinebabycrafts.folksy.com