naughty...

me. i've been a really rubbish blogger lately, i'm sorry. i woke up this morning to find i'd sold my 199th item in the summersville shop! amazing, it's totally blown me away. i expect there will be a nice little surprise for my 200th sale :)

ohhhh, before i forget, i've just got hold of a load of lined notebooks the same size (A6) as my sketchbooks for those of you who don't like the idea of writing on blank pages. so you can write lists galore without risk of a downhill slide...(actually my pet peeve - i've been known to rip out pages when my writing goes south, it's the OCD tendency coming to the fore...) anyway, i'll be adding them to the etsy listings, and do shout if there's a pattern you'd like to see on a sketch/notebook - i can do a custom one for you.

what's been happening? well, nuthin' really - not much to report anyway, it's all a bit flat this time of year, isn't it? we managed to avoid the worst of the snow, although we've got more forecast this week. we did have fun in the snow - sam attached a sledge to his tractor and the boys and i were pulled along the fields at a surprising speed - that was brilliant, but it was snowing really heavily at the time, poor arth at the front looked like a mini snowman.

i'm slowly making corners of the new house feel more like home - i painted an old dresser pale blue for a dull area in the kitchen, and i'm thrilled to bits with it. now my coffee pots are on display, the house is much cheerier and less like a rental property!

playing

i messed around today with some prints i made...little tiny notebooks with a very bright summery feel. can anyone tell i'm loving the clocks going forward? spring at long bloomin' last. although it was actually rather parky in the wind today...but i don't care! the sun shone anyway!

mint chocolate...

is the name i've given to my new sketchbook, available right now in the etsy shop.

sorry about this...

more stock in the form of sketchbooks for etsy. i know, i know, it's all i go on about these days.

heavens to betsy, my etsy shop is open!

much whooping and excitement please, because i can officially declare my etsy shop open! yay!

yeah, yeah, i know, i know, about bloody time! it's looking a little bare, but new things will be added constantly. the pin bugs will be added soon, and i've some notebooks (that still need to be made, hehe) that i want to add too. so what are you waiting for? go and have a look!

'world renowned contributer'

yep, that's what i've been described as (along with others, of course) in 'quilting arts gifts'. it's a magazine brought out by, yes, you've guessed it, quilting arts magazine. i was asked to do a project a million years ago, so there i was making 'winter' inspired journal covers in may! hehe, it seems such a long time ago. when i googled myself earlier, i discovered that they'd used a pic of my blue tree journal on the website, and i thought you would enjoy seeing it in august! :) see the full page right here!

predicting great things...

sample_sheet, originally uploaded by susyjack.

for susy jack, a lovely talented boston (boston u.s., that is) gal. she's already been on a few blogs, but she's gonna be on a million more, because her work is gorgeous. her fairly new etsy store is full of fresh, bright patterned notebooks such as the ones above. susy also has a new(ish) blog, full of delicious photos and the latest news on her fledgling business. well worth a look for anyone thinking of starting their own indie business, it's a really interesting and entertaining read. so snap up her fabulous stuff before she hits the big time! (by the way, click on the image to be taken to susy's flickr page!)

the other things that have caught my eye...

no pics today, have done nothing (well, actually i cleaned the house like a maniac, i even dusted my lampshades. yes, you read that correctly, my lampshades. they were foul.) at all today. i also explored etsy, which was a lovely indulgence and i thought i'd share my finds with you, and perhaps show you some clever little peeps wth some clever little products you might not have seen before. (and some you've probably seen alot.)
first up, kalliART's 'rolling waves cards,' absolutely beautiful and very handy to have around the house for forgotten birthdays and totally unisex. gorgeous.
next, this company has been on a billion blogs, but for good reason. the green chair press shop is so yummy, especially the type and text prints.
remake is a brilliant find. all of their paper goods are made from recycled and salvaged paper and envelopes. especially great are the envelope covered notebooks for just $6, and the terrific screen printed decorative labels for just $5 for 12. really unique and for five bucks, who can say fairer than that, eh?
last but by no means least, linea carta's shop is lovely, in particular the 'take a walk' gocco printed notebook. yum, yum, yum.
so, my loyal band, there you have it, a few of my etsy favourites that may persuade me to part with some hard earned moolah.
right, can't decide whether to scoff the open pack of dairy fudge that's in the cupboard or whether to make myself a cup 'o tea. i think it had better be the latter, it's weightwatcher's tomorrow. oh bugger. how many calories are in an enormous bag of fudge anyway? who the hell put temptation in my path? (not looking at my husband at all) actually, random question, why is it that men can have few of something i.e. fudge sweets and then forget about them, where as i sit there and can feel the damn things calling me through two walls?