Two Firsts......

Today I'm writing my first blog EVER.  Hope I don't bore you to tears but talking to you all is supposed to be one of the best ways to promote my creations.  So that's my first, first.  My second first is my needle felting kit has just arrived from Japan Crafts on Folksy (thank you) and its amazing.  Cute little kit with Merino wool, cake cutters in 3 shapes (heart, star & flower), 2 barbed needles and a foam pad.  Doesn't sound much does it?  Well, you'd be wrong, its fantastic.  I've literally had it open for 10 Min's and I've already needle felted an heart and attached it to a wet felted phone case.  I'm so chuffed.  Another craft to add to my catalogue. 

When I first started making things again after 16 odd years, it was bridal tiaras and hair accessories that my best friend Sam taught me to do.  That was it - hooked!  I then got another friend, Diane to try it and she was hooked. We became Violetta Handmade.  Beads, flowers, and findings were brought and we set to work building some stock.  Everyday hair accessories came next like headbands and hair combs, then came wire wrapping.  Wire wrapping polished stones and making rings took me over.  Then came knitting, scarfs, bracelets, bags, then back to beads and findings and making jewellery.  Then came our holiday to Staithes in North Yorkshire and a little craft market there.

It was the third time we'd been to Staithes because we love it so much.  Not really any car access, massive steep hill to climb to get in or out, no mobile signal accept in the odd spot that changes position all the time.  You could just be walking along the beach and your phone would beep and in the next step the signal is gone again.  Picture the kids walking backwards and forwards with phone outstretched trying to pick up the signal again because they've been without their phone for a day :-).  Staithes consists of 2 pubs, 3 shops (grocery & 2 gift shops), 2 cafes, a Captain Cook Museum and up a little side street is a church with a brilliant craft market downstairs.  Everything from art, knitting, jewellery, and needlework to painted pebbles, pottery and soap.  As you can guess I was in my element.  I won't put on here how much I spent in case hubby reads it (Hi Ian) :-)  Needless to say, I went in there quite a few times.  My youngest daughter Abigail brought seaside themed items for her newly decorated bedroom and my eldest Megan brought bits and bobs and a wet felting kit to make a purse.  Within a couple of days Megan had made her sheet of felt.  I was half way through knitting a scarf (I was in knitting mode that week) which I wanted to finish before I went home, so all the goodies I brought stayed in a bag.  Most of it was Merino/Shetland wool and coloured yarns from Wheeldale Woolcrafts in North Yorkshire.  I also brought a few kits, one of which being a Nuno felted scarf, from the same supplier.  At the end of the week there was quite a lot extra to try and cram in the car! 

When we arrived home and all the unpacking and washing was done it felt like I'd just been on a day trip, not a weeks holiday.  Knitting with my new wool was my first crafting priority.  The felting kit stayed in its bag for another month.  Amid trying to promote our shop and sell our things on Folksy and doing the odd craft fair, where we didn't do well at all and spent most of the time feeling disheartened, out came the felting kit.   Now I had my new favourite craft which I'll tell you about in another blog I think.  I have so many idea's popping into my head all the time that I never know what to do first and I always have to try and finish something before starting on something else.  I have so many craft things to do but I want to do them all at the same time.  Ideas for a bag flash though my head and that leads to a purse, then to a key chain, then back to jewellery and so on.  Feels like my heads going to explode with ideas.  I have bits of paper and notebooks all over the place with these ideas in but there isn't enough hours in the day to create, promote and sell.  I suppose I need to really concentrate on the selling at the moment to fund my obsession :-)

Well thats it for my first blog, hope I havn't bored you too much - please leave a comment.

Louise