This week (in pictures)

This week Eva has been poorly so the week has taken a different path. So here's some pics to show you what's been going on.


I love these pansies on my balcony, their little faces always make me think of my late Granny Jeanie.

Some screen printing, at my desk - risky!

This plane soaring through the azure sky, boosted my mood!

As did getting all the washing hung on the line.

 Poorly girl, the antibiotics have started to work now so she's finally on the mend.

Enjoy the sunshine, while it lasts!!

Onwards and upwards

Does anyone know why all the bad things seem to happen at once? Last week was a total nightmare and I sincerely hope this week will be better. I don't see how it could be worse.

I got myself very stressed about work and I don't think I realised how much Eva's school offer was affecting me. Incidentally she did get offered a place at our first choice but we were lucky, I know lots of Mums who were very disappointed to not get any of their three choices. It seems such an unfair system and even though we did get the school we were hoping for I can't help but pick up on other people's stress and upset. Not good.

Amongst all this I have been trying to get some new products made, photographed and uploaded as well as tackle the huge number of bunting orders. I did have to bury my head in the sand a little towards the end of last week, but after a very relaxing weekend which involved a night at the theatre to see Derren Brown (who was awesome) and a lovely picnic in the park yesterday I feel more with it and motivated today I'm pleased to say.

I did manage to get one new product uploaded, it's a Father's Day card with a Jammy Dodger on it. Available in two colour schemes, biscuit beige and sea green.

A quirky, original biscuit card, a brilliant way to tell Dad how much you love him this Fathers Day.

In other news I have finally managed to track down a copy of Homestyle Sewing magazine.

I am lucky enough to be featured on page 23. It is a lovely magazine with a great free gift of all the bits you need to make your very own needle case. Not easy to find in the shops though, I had to wait for stock and order my copy from Newstand. But was delighted when it finally did arrive!

Have a great week folks!

Red Riding Hood Glasses Cases

First of all let me start with an apology. I have had a very busy Easter and even though I had a little bit of childcare I totally underestimated how much time I would need to be making up orders. It's usually a fairly quiet time, but not so this year. I am obviously delighted to be so busy but unfortunately the blog has had to go on hold for a couple of weeks. Sorry about that, but I am back now!

I am filling up my etsy shop and the newest additions are my Little Red Riding Hood glasses cases. The case can also be personalised using a freehand machine embroidery technique. The handwritten style that this technique produces makes each case individual.

The cases are printed by hand using scarlet red acrylic printing ink. Each design is hand illustrated and then screen printed in our Northamptonshire studio.

Each glasses case is fully lined in red cotton fabric with soft batting to keep your glasses snug, there is a matching red elastic strap and a vintage button to hold your glasses in place.

Both versions are available from my shop, here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/evajeanie?page=1#save

Exciting Post!!!

I love getting post, especially when it's not just boring statements and invoices, I have had two really cool things arrive in the past couple of days.

The first was something I ordered from etsy US, it is a pattern for a dress, top and trousers. I have been thinking about making some clothes for a while but have completely bitten the Great British Sewing Bee bug and decided I need to buy myself a pattern pronto! The one I chose looks fairly simple and is made by Simplicity. I had a bash at making some clothes while I was at Uni but think I chose the wrong fabrics as I did look like a bit armchairesque in one dress I remember! So watch this space, I will definitely do a blog post when I have something the show for it! I don't want to make things too tricky but I'm thinking about screen printing the pockets....

The other exciting package was from Amazon and is a book that I have wanted for ages.

 

It is called 'I just like to make things' by Lilia Rogers. It is a beautiful spiral bound book, the tag line to the book says 'Learn the secrets to making money while staying passionate about your art and craft'. I don't want to spoil it as I will do a whole blog post on it soon, but I can see just from flicking through the pages that it's just what I need in my life right now, I hope the content is as inspiring as the artwork! I'll be sure to let you know.

One last thing I need to tell you. Tonight is the night (at midnight) when parents of preschool age children in our County can log on to a website to find out which School their child has been allocated. Now if you are not the parent of a pre-school age child, this probably means very little to you but for us Mum's and Dad's of little 4 year olds it's a bit of a curious time. On the one hand I don't want Eva to go to school as I want to keep her here at home with me forever, but as that's not an option I have to hope (along with all the parents) that we have been allocated one of our three choices. I have had nightmares that I receive a letter offering us a place at a School, but the school named is not legible. I really didn't think I was worried but I am now and will definitely be logging in at midnight if only to assist with crashing the website!

Bonnets on for Easter!

Eva's playschool requested that today she attended wearing an Easter Bonnet, preferably one that I have helped her to make. So here's what we did:


First we dug out from the bottom of the dressing up box her old straw hat...

and had fund painting some coloured pieces of card.

 Then I cut some cream felt and pink fabric for some ears, I also added a layer of pelmet vilene sandwiched in the middle to add some structure to the ears. I stitched around the pink layer with two layers of running stitch.

Eva then cut out the eggs and chicks from the painted papers and added detail (her word - from Mr Maker apparently) with a fine liner pen and I stitched some yellow strips of paper around the brim for the nest and stuck on the decorations. I stitched the ears on with the sewing machine.

Last night once we had attached the under chin elastic, she was very excited! Throwing out my favoured theory of less is more I also stuck on some decorated eggs that Eva made at playschool and some small furry chicks, after she went to bed.

However in the light of day, is this the saddest girl ever to wear an Easter Bonnet?! I am sure she'll cheer up when she finds her chocolate eggs. Happy Easter!!

I Love Yarn Knitting Bag - Giveaway!

If you are a reader of Let's Knit Magazine you may have already spotted my hand screen printed, I Love Yarn knitting and crochet bag on page 55. I am delighted to have another product in the press and thought I would celebrate with a giveaway. But first let me tell you about the prize!

These large lightweight tote bags, great for taking your knitting or crochet project out and about. Let's Knit magazine says:

 

"Handmade & Fabulous: We adore evajeanie's I Love Yarn bag and it's perfect for taking your knitting out and about now the warmer weather is here. The bag is 100% cotton and is screen printed by hand right here in the UK. Visit www.evajeanie.com for more goodies!" 

I couldn't have said it better my self!

Let's Knit is a lovely magazine and a must for yarn lovers, it is packed with on trend patterns for spring and for novices to knitting (like me) there are practical guides with diagrams in the back.

 

The Giveaway:

So if you fancy a lovely bag to take yarn shopping and keep your spring project in, then enter my giveaway, here's how, there are many ways to enter.

Please include your email address in each entry below:

1. Visit the new evajeanie website and check out the other lovely accessories in my shop. Come back here and leave a comment with your email address so I can contact you if you win!


2. Follow me on Twitter @evajeanie  Tweet about this giveaway. Copy and paste the following tweet "Enter to win a screen printed I Love Yarn Knitting bag from @evajeanie on her blog http://evajeanie.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/i-heart-yarn-knitting-bag-giveaway.html"  Include the link and your email address in the comment below.


3. Follow eveajeanie on pinterest. Include your email address in the comment below. Pin a bag image from this blog post and mention the yarn bag giveaway in the caption. Include the link and your email address in the comment below.


4. Share this giveaway on your blog or tumblr. Include the link and your email address in the comment below.

You need only do one of the above, but the more ways you enter the higher your chances of winning are.

Each comment counts as a separate entry. I will use a random number generator to select the winner. Please leave your email address or some form of contact in the comments below so I can let you know if you win. This giveaway will end on March 21 and I will announce the winner on the Friday 22nd March.

New Mother's Day Printed wrapping paper and cards

It's been a busy few weeks of developing new products for Spring. I am ever conscious that I want to hand make a proportion of my work so with that in mind I went to Leicester last week to expose a brand new screen to set about doing some screen prints for Mothers Day cards and matching wrapping paper.

Unfortunately my new screen is massive, it's not actually, it's A1 in size but as I am bearly 5ft with short arms to match the short legs, the purchase of this new screen may be a bit of a school boy error.

I was trying to be frugal as I can obviously squeeze more designs and products on to a larger screen but it only just fits on to my base board, think I may also need a new dining room table to work on. I should have realised the problem when I struggled to fit it into the car. Well I'd better get used to it I suppose as I'm stuck with it now!

Here is me working through some prints for new Mother's Day products.

Gotta love a bit of hot pink.

The finished items are available here in my etsy shop.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/evajeanie?ref=si_shop

First time in the press!

Yesterday when I heard the reassuring thud of post landing on the doormat I was more excited than usual. I knew from facebook that I was due to receive my regular copy of the beautiful Homemaker magazine and doubly exciting, this month my handmade vintage fabric buttons were going to be featured in the Vintage Haberdashery section.

So I tore off the plastic coat and flicked through the magazine to hurriedly find my items, I didn't find them straight away and had a little moment where I thought maybe they had reconsidered and withdrawn them from the feature :( Luckily they were there and I did find them (on page 61) and here they are...

Homemaker is a new magazine, but I had to subscribe to it as soon as I saw the first edition. It is beautifully designed and it packed with design and craft inspiration and ideas, there is also a sizable dose of knitting and baking. It really covers everything you would ever need for the perfect homemade home.

My buttons can be purchased from my etsy shop.

New Card Range

I have so much I want to share at the moment, I have been out of action for the last week or so, firstly due to the snow as I had limited childcare and secondly because Eva was so poorly all week last week with a very nasty sickness bug, I took the week off to care for her, one of the massive perks of being self employed is that even though it's a bit of a juggle I know I can be there for my family at a moments notice. So reassuring, I don't think I could manage any other way now.

Happy Birthday Eva!!!
Eva is four years old today, I cannot believe it, it has totally flown by. That's not to say the trauma's of childbirth aren't still fresh in my mind (hence only one child)!



I just have time to share with you the cards in my new range of products, I have re-opened my etsy shop and they are flying off the shelves. One was even featured in the etsyuk email yesterday, I was so excited to see it! It's quite a small pic but it's on the bottom left.

So here they are... my biscuit and sweet themed cards, inspired by childhood nostalgia, a super yummy selection of illustrated cards for Valentine's Day, Anniversaries, Birthdays or just a special card to cheer someone up.

The cards are all available as personalised and non-personalised. There is still enough time to order a personalised card for Valentine's Day, if you are quick!

 Nice Biscuit Cards

 Jammy Dodger Cards

Love Heart Sweet Cards 

 I don't know about your guys, but I'm so glad it's February, good things are going to happen I can feel it!

 

Trade Show Virgin

Yesterday I had a rare but deserved day out. Part of my plan for 2013 is to do a trade show but decided it might be a good idea to visit a trade show to see what it's all about.

I grabbed a couple of my crafty friends and off we went to Earls Court in London to Top Drawer, their tag line claims they are 'The UK's leading event for design-led gifts, lifestyle & fashion accessories.' Perfect!

As you can see from the first photograph, I don't get out a lot.

If I am going to embark upon the world of tradeshow there were some things I wanted to know first. For instance how much space do you get for your money (not much I found) and what sort of printed materials do prospective customers expect? I'm a sucker for a postcard but are buyers and do they expect free stuff too?

I found that there were lot's of creatives like myself there with fairly small stands just handing out business cards and pricelists, and then equally there was the other end of the scale, one stand I particularly liked was Hemingway House. It was a beautiful stand with some very special tiles:

Another eye catching stand was Dots and Spots, owner and designer Becky Peabody was absolutely lovely and gave us some samples of her paper, which I am really interested in for gift wrapping my products.

By mid afternoon I was a bit overwhelmed by the bright lights, so decided it was time to head outside for some air, so we spent the next couple of hours wandering around Notting Hill and Portobello Market.

We were getting a lateish train home so spent an hour or so pootling around the wonder that is St Pancras station. It really is a beautiful place with some pretty nice shops too.

Then we headed home, extremely tired (although Deanne kept me giggling all the way, even when I nearly gave her a black eye opening my train picnic on the homeward journey).

Thanks to the super talented Deanne of Quirky Boots for the pics in this post. We also traveled to the event with seasoned trade fairer and fellow craftsperson Louise Verity of Wall Envy Art.