Open House

Firstly, I just wanted to say "THANK YOU!!!" to all those of you who sent me lovely messages, trying to calm me down after my panic in my last post. 

And..... you were all right!  There really was nothing to be nervous about!!! 

A few less people turned up than we would have liked.  But, apart from that, it was a really good evening!  I made quite a few sales, gave out as many of my little postcards as I could, and chatted to people about my makes.  Yes, I dared to SPEAK to people in REAL LIFE!!!

Here are a few photos of my stall.....

I’m afraid I don’t have any photos of the other three stalls (there just wasn’t any time after we got started).  It’s a pity, because they looked really fantastic!  

BUT, if you’d like to ‘meet’ the other members of my little ‘craft collective’, here are their homes on the web:

• Stones in My Pockets
• Siobhan's Secrets
• Cacotato

Michelle, Siobhan and Maria, I can’t wait to work with you again!!!  ♥

Dear readers, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.....

Carly

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Panic!!!

Phew!  I've had a ridiculously busy few weeks!!!

We're approaching the end of the school year, so things are VERY busy at work.  My 'to do' list is two sides of A4, and I'm spending longer adding more items to the list than I am crossing them off!!!

Things here at home have been crazy too!  I've been busy preparing for a joint 'Open House' party with some crafty friends....

And the big day is TOMORROW!!!  Aaaaaaaaaah!!!  

I'm excited about it, of course.  But, I'm ridiculously nervous.  What if nobody shows up?  What if lots of people show up, but none of them like my makes?  What if I'm too shy to talk to anybody about my things?  What if I forget something vital in setting up my stall?  What if I give someone the wrong change?  I know this is all ridiculous.  I've done two 'Open House' events before, and survived them both without any major injuries!  But that knowledge doesn't calm my nerves at all.  

I'm a worrier - it's what I do best!!!  Does anyone else panic like this about showing their crafts???  

Everything's ready (I hope I haven't forgotten anything) - all boxed up and ready to go.....

[a BIG basket full of stuff]

[and an EVEN BIGGER basket full of stuff]

[and HEAPS more stuff besides]

..... I'll let you know how it goes.....

Carly

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Come back, summer!!!

I took this photo from our bedroom window, about 3 weeks ago, on a VERY stormy evening. 

Since that night, we’ve had glorious, summery weather.  It’s been hot, the skies have been blue, and there’s been a nice, gentle breeze.  We’ve spent a few lovely evenings and long-weekends (thank you, Germany, for all your bank holiday days) sitting out on our terrace, gardening, eating alfresco, digging out our summery clothes.....

Well, that was until today!  It rained, and the temperature has dropped by about 10 degrees.  Yuk!!!

So, in attempt to make the sun come back out to play, I thought I’d show you some sunglasses cases I’ve been making. 

These are all for an ‘Open House’ event I’m planning, with some other crafty ladies, for the beginning of July.  More on that to follow in another post.....

Before I say "cheerio", I just wanted to say THANK YOU for leaving such lovely comments on my last post.  You made me smile, made my day, and boosted my crocheting-confidence all in one go!!!  

Until next time.....

Carly

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Christmas Open House Party

I did it!!!  I survived the preparations for my Crafted by Carly Open House Party!!!  It went ahead on Thursday and, all in all, it was pretty successful.  I was a little bit disappointed that more people didn’t pop in to have a browse.  I decided to have it on a week-day-evening, as I thought people might be busier at weekends at this time of year.  Maybe I’ll try the weekend next time, and see if that makes a difference.  BUT, those who did stop by seemed to really enjoy the get-together.  The glühwein went down very well indeed (and the house still smells of it – mmmmmmm)!  I got lots of positive feedback from people about my things, and some suggestions about things I could add to my list of ‘things I make for selling purposes’, and I managed to sell quite a lot of my bits and bobs.  "THANK YOU!!!" to those of you who were here!!! 

Here are some photos of my makes for the event.....

There were lots of things for the grown-ups:

[Toiletry Bags]

[Carry-all Bags]

[Gadget Cases]

[Felt Flower Corsages]

[Purses]

And some things for the little ones:

[Little Girls' Bags]

[Kids' Aprons]

['Find-it' Games]

And, of course, some Christmassy thingies:

[Little Christmassy Houses]

[Stockings]

[I like how they looked all hanging up together!!!]

Here's how my dining room looked on the night of the party:

And what did I learn from my experience?

·         I was right to start setting up the day before (it took me AAAGES to get everything looking as I wanted it to look).

·         It was good to have someone there to help out with serving drinks and letting people in (S was my little helper on this occasion), so that I could be free to chat about my things and generally mingle with people.  S thought he should wear just his trousers and a bowtie for his job on the evening, but we decided against that idea.  Maybe next time???

·         I need to get better at talking about the things I make.  I like them (of course – or I wouldn’t make them), but find it really difficult to ‘sell’ them to other people.  Any tips there???

·         Perhaps the day/time I chose wasn’t ideal.  Next time, I’ll try a weekend.  Around this time of year, it’s hard to know when most people will be free (and have husbands/babysitters at home).  Tricky!!!

·         I think I should have sent out more invitations.  And I should have sent my advertising postcards out with them (as these show the kinds of things I make).  I’m going to have a think about other options for advertising future events too.  Again, does anyone have any good tips on that???

If you stopped by on Thursday, thank you SO much for being supportive.  I really appreciate the fact that you took the time to call in!!!  And thank you to all my super blogging pals for all your words of encouragement and advice.  I wish you could all have been here to share a glühwein too!!!

Until next time.....

Carly

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Christmas Tree Decoration Tutorial

I’ve been ridiculously busy over the past few weeks, preparing for a Christmas ‘Open House’ party I’m going to be hosting on December 1^st.  I’ve been making lots of all my ‘usual’ thingies – bags and pouches and corsages.  But, as it’s going to be a Christmassy do (with mulled wine and Christmassy nibbles, and carols, and my tree up VERY early indeed), I thought I should have a go at making some festive things to sell too.  Coming up with ideas for cute decorations has been lots of fun!  So far, I’ve made some little Christmassy houses and Christmas trees.  Tomorrow, I’m going to have a go at making some mini stockings and (possibly) some little birdies.

The Christmas trees were super-easy to make, and looked really cute when they were finished.  So, I thought I’d post a tutorial on how to make them.....

First, cut out 2 triangles of the fabric you want to use for the tree.  These could be as big or as small as you like (so I haven’t included a template).  Cut out one rectangle of the fabric you want to use for the tree trunk.  This should be twice as long as you want the trunk to be, as you are going to fold it in half before attaching it to the base of the tree.

Now fold the rectangular piece in half (right sides facing), and sew up the sides.

Turn the trunk piece right-sides-out.

Place the trunk piece on the right side of one of the triangular pieces, with the open end level with the base of the triangle.  Make sure it’s right in the middle.  Then pin it in place.

 

Now place the second triangular piece on top of the first (right sides facing).  Line up all the edges and pin in place.

Sew the pieces together, with a 1cm seam allowance.  Leave a small gap for turning your tree right-sides-out.

Now you can turn your tree right-sides out.  I used a chopstick to gently push out all the corners. 

   

Fill the tree with stuffing.  Again, I used my trusty chopstick – this time to poke the stuffing all the way into the corners of the tree.

When your tree is as firm as you’d like it to be, topstitch the little turning gap.  Then use a needle to attach some string or embroidery thread to the top of the tree, so that you can hang it up.  Now your tree’s finished - it’s as simple as that!

You could add some cute appliqué or buttons to your tree before sewing the pieces together, if you wanted it to have more detail.  Or you could make lots of them (as I did) in different Christmassy shades.  I think they’d look cute handing together somewhere!  These ones are to sell at my ‘Open House’ party, but I’m going to have to make some more – just for me!!!

I’m finding it hard to take decent photos at the moment (because it’s still dark when we leave for work in the mornings, and dark again by the time we get home).  But, when I get the chance, I’ll post some shots of other things I’ve been working on for the ‘Open House’.

Hope you’re all enjoying your Christmas crafting!

Carly

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