Cooking with Mama ..

and her new AGA saucepans !

PS. This photo was NOT taken with my new camera because it didn't arrive yet ... grrrr

xx

Be careful what you wish for

The funniest thing happened on Monday. There I was, beavering away in the studio, listening to Absolute 80s on the radio and thinking how lovely it was to be doing something simple like picking and packing orders (rather than running around like a headless chicken), when the phone rang.

I answered it, in my best posh voice, as I always do, and heard the lady say "Hello, I'm calling from Create and Craft. We saw you at the Knitting & Stitching Show and loved your kits. We were wondering if you could possibly come in to do a screen test on Friday this week, with a view to presenting a 1 hour TV slot on our Create & Craft channel on Sky TV". This was met with stunned silence, before I replied (in my very best Essex accent) "is this a joke ?" !!!!

Obviously, this wasn't the reaction the lady was expecting as she burst out laughing (she probably thought "NUTTER") ! And then went on to explain exactly what it was that they were looking for, basic T&C's etc. It was REAL !! They wanted ME to take part in a one hour TV slot demonstrating MY KITS !!!

However, after my initial reaction of "Hurrah ... Fame at last", the reality of it all hit me and after lots of discussions with my trusty assistant Alison and hubby, we decided that we're just not ready (for various reasons which I won't bore you with) to take such a leap, at the current time.

So, like I say, be careful what you wish you .... it might just come true !!!!

xx

PS. Look out for fab new pics (hopefully) on the next post. I'm treating myself to a new camera !!

BLOOMING KITS !!!

AT LAST !

I can finally reveal our fantabulous new Blooming Felt kits that we launched at Ally Pally last week.

These were extremely popular (thankfully) at the Show and will also be featured in the January 2011 issue of Sew Hip (out in the shops in November), so just in time for Christmas !!

First up is our lovely KITE kit. This isn't a real kite of course, because felt would never fly - but it makes a really lovely wall hanging for a girly bedroom.

As with all of our new kits, they contain all of the components to make the item - in this case, the pre-cut triangles, wool to sew them together, felt string for the tail and a mixture of felt balls, buttons and felt shapes to decorate the tail. Each kit is presented with basic instructions / ideas in a lovely printed cotton Blooming Felt drawstring bag.

All of our kits can either be sewn together or glued - we know this because we glued our samples (and they're all still intact, despite being transported to and from Ally Pally and poked and prodded at the show !) We used Superglue, but fabric glue works just as well.

The KITE kits can be found here on the website.

Next up is a ROCKET wall hanging kit - perfect for the little men in your lives. Buy it here.

And last, but by no means least, our Rainbow BUNTING kit. This kit contains enough components to make 3 metres of felt bunting - all of the flags are pre cut, you'll get 3 metres of felt string / cord and a bag full of felt balls, buttons, felt shapes and ribbons to decorate your bunting. Buy your FELT BUNTING KITS here.

The photos above are all for illustration purposes (the kits are pretty similar, but do contain some different felt shapes). Just a little word of warning - as with most things these days, our kits are unsuitable for children under the age 3 due to small parts which may present a choking hazard.

Now .... GO BUY !!!

xx

Phew !

It's official. I am EXHAUSTED !! I'm not sure if it's just that everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) has been manic over the last month, or if it's the fact that I'm a year older than I was this time last year, but boy, do I need a rest !

The Knitting & Stitching Show was fantastic. Once again, the response we had from everyone at the show was really lovely and that alone makes it all worthwhile.

I just want to say a very quick thank-you to my trusty assistant Alison who slaved away with me at the show. She's as exhausted as I am and I think she's starting to wonder what she's let herself in for ! Also, to my very good friend Amanda who once again, gave up her Saturday to help us at the show. Also my Mum & Dad for being fantastic and Paul for becoming Mummy for the best part of a week (and coping admirably !) Thank you all - I couldn't have done it without you xx

I also wanted to say a very special "Hello" to Maureen (you know who you are !) Maureen is a lovely lovely lady who started out life as a customer of mine. She now makes up all of the wonderful tutorials that you find on the website and we met for the very first time at the show. Sadly, a cup of coffee was nowhere near long enough to chat and get to know one another, but hopefully we can get together again very soon and have a proper catch up ! Thank you so much for coming Maureen - it was lovely to meet you at last xx

But, being away at the show meant that the orders piled up on the website and we are now manically trying to clear the backlog. If you are waiting for an order to be dispatched, please bear with us - we're working as fast as we can.

Sarah xx

Oh the stress !

Whoever said it was a good idea to exhibit at the Knitting & Stitching Show was completely mad !

I'm going round and round in circles, still making lists (from which not much is being crossed off), lurching from one thing to the next and never actually managing to finish anything.

Sadly, some of my stock that I was wanting to take to the show still hasn't arrived, one of the kits still needs making up - well, when I say 1 of the kits, what I actually mean is 1 design of kit still needs to be made up and we need to make up 100 of the things - arghhhh. Then all of the kits need tagging with swing tags (that's 300 kits !). All of the jars need to be restocked with felt balls etc., all of the price tags need printing, all of the stock needs to be divided between batch 1 (on the stand from day 1) and batch 2 (back-up stock) and in between all of this we are still trying to process the huge amount of orders that are coming in every day.

So, this email is to inform you that any orders placed between Saturday 2nd October and Tuesday 12th October inclusive won't be processed or dispatched until Wednesday 13th October. Many, many apologies for any inconvenience this may cause but unless we stop doing orders, we're just not going to be ready for Ally Pally next week.

Sorry again and if you're coming to Ally Pally next week, do pop by and say HELLO !!!!

xx

Child Labour ...

is alive and well at Blooming Felt !!!

When you buy your felt stacks, please spare a thought for these poor children (although maybe not so poor as I'm actually having to pay them !!)

Sarah x

Finally !

The kitchen is FINISHED !!!!!!!

Hurrah !

I can't believe it. Nearly 6 weeks after we started, the kitchen is pretty much finished. All that remains is for me to choose the material for the blinds and get them fitted.

Maybe now, we can get on an enjoy it !!!

This week has seen my little shadow start at "big school".

After the initial excitement of her first day, she has sadly realised that she's in it for the long haul. She doesn't like the teacher because "she bosses me around" ! Sadly my gorgeous girl, that is what teacher's do. "I told them that after refreshments, we always do colouring at nursery and they said I couldn't do it" - that's because you're at big school now and not nursery anymore. "How many more times do I have to go there?" LOTS !!!

It really breaks my heart when she tells me all these things. Of course, she has her brother at the school as well, but his patience is starting to wear a bit thin because she seems to spend the lunchtimes crying and the teachers have to get Sam to try and cheer her up, which was fine to start off with, but now he's missing playing footie with his friends and is getting a bit cross with Grace.

How hard it must be to be 4 years old.

xx