The above photo was taken on Boxing Day when we decided to have a day at home and spend it by ourselves (well, apart from saying goodbye to my sister who was going back to Guernsey). My 2 monkeys wanted to climb the old Mulberry tree in our garden and then insisted I take photos - well of course, who am I to argue ?!
Looking back at the last year craft / business wise, I cannot believe what I have managed to achieve in such a short space of time. At the time, it seemed to take forever to get off the ground and I apologise now for all my grumblings to anyone who was kind enough to listen. I'm just impatient and couldn't wait for things to get going ... of course, once they did things just seemed to get better and better.
I can't believe Picture it in Stitches (as it started out) is a whole year old (even though it has now changed its name to Blooming Felt) and that when I started out, determined to design and stitch beautiful textile pictures, that I would end up with a different named little Company and a completely different product range !
Sadly, the pictures just didn't take off. Despite my very best efforts with marketing, press releases, selling through various websites, knocking on doors of shops etc., it seemed that textile pictures weren't popular and I was wasting my time !! However, once I ventured into the wonderful world of felt, it became quite obvious that I was not alone in loving this wonderful medium. The people I have met through "felt" are absolutely amazing and have become real friends (even though I haven't actually met half of them !) and similarly the people I have connected with through blogging are equally amazing and have also become friends - thank you to all of you lovely people. I really appreciate all of your kind words and support.
As 2007 ends and I look back I can be truly thankful - to have a business (albeit a tiny one) that is slowly getting off the ground and people are starting to recognise and buy from ~ to have met lots of fantastic people through Blooming Felt and through blogging ~ to have a wonderful family that support me all the way (hugs and kisses to all of you) and finally, to be doing what I have always dreamed of doing ... designing and creating lots of crafty items for other people to love, appreciate and enjoy... just as I do.
Sarah xxxxx
PS. My SALE is now on !!!
Oh, and if you fancy a bargain, all of my textile pictures are on 
It was extremely busy and I had a constant stream of visitors throughout the 2 hours. Unfortunately, I didn't do as well as I would have hoped, but I certainly can't complain. This time I was very pleased because, after moaning that all I sold at the last fair were the peg doll kits I had bought in, this time I sold only 2 kits (a bit disappointing considering I had bought in extra supplies!), but I sold absolutely loads of pocket money priced things that I had made myself. Everyone was extremely complimentary about all of my goodies and I actually ran out of my brochures which, considering I took almost 100 with me, was pretty good going. I also had lots of enquiries about my "name in a frame" pictures and am expecting a few orders as Christmas presents.
only 2 of the red gingham hair bobbles that I made specifically for the fair as they match the girls blouses
and not one single piece of fair trade felt that I had imported from Nepal.
