Craftyguider – CraftyGuider

Messers Valentine and Valentine (and Valentine…)

February 14th is on it’s way and millions of people will be exchanging cards, men will be raiding garage forecourts for flowers and fretting over what size their other half takes in uncomfortable lingerie, all in the name of St Valentine.

However, did you know there is more than one St Valentine’s Day and more than one St Valentine?

Here in the West we celebrate on February 14th, but the Eastern churches celebrate twice in July, and Brazil chooses June 12th. Furthermore, there are two Saint Valentines celebrated on 14th February. A whole lotta love!

Over the centuries, St Valentine’s Day has moved towards a celebration of romantic love through traditions and literature. The tradition of giving cards and gifts started in the UK and then spread worldwide.

This year, perhaps look out for something handmade rather than a mass printed card from the supermarket, or have a browse online for ideas to make yourself. I’ve pinned some ideas on my Pinterest board, and I’m sure there is plenty more “research” to be done!

Follow Louise Craftyguider’s board Valentines Day on Pinterest.

#SBSevent2015 – Meeting Theo Paphitis

On January 30th, Mr CG, the monkey and I headed to the ICC in Birmingham for the #SBSevent2015. For those not in the know, #SBS is the twitter hashtag for Small Business Sunday, an initiative set up by Theo Paphitis. Small business owners tweet to @theopaphitis on Sundays between 5pm and 7.30pm. He personally chooses 6 winners and retweets them to his 462,199 followers (at time of writing). I won on 6th January 2014 and for a week my twitter feed went mad, I wrote press releases for the local paper and the national Guiding magazine and tried to put Craftyguider out there.About every 12 months or so, all winners of the #SBS awards get to go to a big event for networking, Q&A and meeting the man himself. I felt a bit out of my depth as I’m not a career woman any more. Craftyguider is a fundraising venture and I take no money from the business other than material costs. It’s lovely when people do buy from me as it means a lot that someone has appreciated something I’ve created, and it means a lot to my Guides who benefit from the money that I invest in the unit.

After the networking session, Kypros Kyprianou, Group CEO of Ryman Stationery (and fellow Spurs fan!), took to the stage to introduce the next part of the day, and then his boss, Theo Paphitis.Theo talked through some of the great things that were happening with SBS, including the newly updated SBS website. I’ve been on and updated my profile page already.

After lunch, there was a Q&A session with Julien Callede, co-founder of Made.com, Judy Naake who introduced St Tropez tans to the UK, and Rob Forkan, co-founder of Gandy’s flip flops.

Towards the end of the questions (which overran their time slot), some people started queuing for their photo with Theo. I didn’t as I thought it would be a bit rude to walk out on the session, and I was interested in what people were saying. Some people had long journeys ahead of them though, and with the cold weather, they probably needed to get away as quickly as possible.And this is me with my certificate and Theo. By this time, I managed to squeak to him that I was Craftyguider, a Guide leader who made things, before my voice gave out completely! Mr CG has had the benefit of me being almost silent for more than 48 hours now. We collected our goody bags and fortunately had a clear journey home to relieve my parents from their 24 hour babysitting stint.

And when I got home, I found I’d been nominated to receive a Certificate of Good Service from Girlguiding Hertfordshire “for being totally devoted to Girlguiding and for helping in many and varied roles”. Whilst my #SBS is fantastic, this Guiding award is more special to me. It means that 2 people have taken the trouble to write nomination letters for me, my commissioner has agreed the nomination, and that the awards committee have approved it.

I’ll be back at #SBS next year. Mr CG has said he might want me to try and get an #SBS for his company, and eldest Craftyguidelet will shortly launch her polymer clay jewellery. #SBS winner at 8 years old?

#SBS One Year On

One year ago today, I sent a tweet to Theo Paphitis for his Small Business Sunday (#SBS) competition. I wrote “When I was a Guide, I earned 2 Craft badges. Now I’m a leader, I design and make badges.” I was hoping to be one of the 6 businesses to earn a retweet from him the next day, and my aim was to keep trying every week during 2014. I couldn’t possibly imagine that he would choose me as the first winner of the new year.

I can’t say that it has changed my life. Craftyguider.com is strictly a fundraising venture for my Guide unit. I don’t earn a penny from it (as all profits go into my Guide unit), and I don’t want to as long as I can recoup my costs. I am interested in making it a success though, and I do get a buzz when people buy from me and give me positive feedback. 2014 was by far my best year and I’d like to thank everyone who has supported me.

One result of all this is my 8 year old is already planning her business empire. She wants a career involving music, singing, polymer clay and chocolate. She wants a business like mummy, and is keen to help out. She was there on my stall the day Craftyguider started up in September 2011 when she was only 4. She’s already asking for a twitter account so she can enter #SBS too.

On January 30th, I’ll be at the SBS Winners Event picking up my certificate and having my photo taken with Theo himself. Perhaps Craftyguidelet can make it a family thing and be there in her own right the following year? She’s already got 2 Brownie Craft badges so she’s got a head start on me already.

Dear September

Where did our time go September? 30 days and it was all over!

You gave me glorious weather (mostly!) and lots of time in the garden appreciating the wonderful flowers still blooming their socks off. Considering that from February to April it looked like a muddy mess, now it’s landscaped and lovely.

My little Leprechaun turned Imp now has her Brownie Gardener badge for the hard work she put in sowing seeds, thinning out, weeding, watering and finally clearing away. Hopefully she’ll help again next Spring, and her grandparents want to hire her for her skills with a seed packet.

I achieved things, September. This pretty dress for Rainbow Craftyguidelet, some cards, some bunting, and even a tutorial for the book bags I made for the Craftyguidelets’ music lessons. Sales have been picking up with Craftyguider following a bit of promo work, and the big push to Christmas starts now. The Christmas shop is now open. I just need to fill it up a bit more!My Guiding life has started again. Guides and Rainbows are back, and once again I am juggling admin, trying to get as many girls as possible off the waiting lists and into units where they can join the fun, and trying to encourage more volunteers to come forward and help this to happen.I have also started Trefoil Guild which is like the WI for Guiding types. It was so lovely just going to a meeting for grown ups, not being asked to do anything, not being responsible for anything, not feeling guilty for not doing more. I just enjoyed the talk on the fabulous work of Guide Dogs and the puppy walkers. Finally something just for me to enjoy!WI planning has started again for our Handmade Christmas Craft Fair on 16th November. I need to get a shifty on for my stall!

But then just like that it was over September. 30 days of full on busyness and then phwoomp! October happened.

Autumn is here and I’ll be joining in with Miss Beatrix’s #BashSAD challenge to banish the blues of the shorter days. I’m also attempting to complete a whole month of the Fat Mum Slim #fmsphotoaday challenge on Instagram. My house is finally gaining some order after a summer of neglect, the kids are settled at school. Let’s do this October!

What was that? Half term at the end of the month? *sticks fingers in ears and pretends not to hear*

What are you up to this month?

Dear August…

Oh August. Our relationship started so well. You gave me time to start blogging again, I started creating, I got things done.
My nephew came to stay and then later on there was the celebration of his Christening.
Husband’s birthday came and went, and the Craftyguidelets’ vision of a sailing themed birthday cake was realised.
The Craftyguidelets and I found 38 Books About Town book benches in 3 different areas of London, did some sightseeing, fell in love with the impressionists in the National Gallery, and completed the summer reading challenge at the library. Oh August, you kept us busy.

But towards the end it went wrong. A trying extended-family holiday culminated in little Craftyguidelet breaking her arm and spending 2 nights in hospital. How could you let that happen August? My little girl looked so tiny on that big bed as they wheeled her away for surgery under general anaesthetic.
You brought me flowers – hydrangeas to remind me of our lovely holiday in Cornwall and roses from husband for our wedding anniversary.
But it’s too late August. The pain of the hospital stay and seeing my poor little girl’s deformed arm, and now the huge cast that she has to carry around is too much.

It’s over August. I’ve decided to give September a go. The Craftyguidelets will be back at school and my volunteering with Guiding, the WI and school starts up again. I’ll need to be busy preparing Craftyguider for Christmas, as well as starting my own preparations. I’m also joining the Trefoil Guild and hoping to start my Voyage Award.

So long, and perhaps I’ll see you around some time in the future.

Craftyguider x

February’s Mission

Aside from my back going twang and the rest of the family going down with the lurgy, January was a very positive month for me. I got lots done, I started decluttering, I’ve been crafting, I’ve gained new skills and things are going well.

I need to carry on this positivity and keep the momentum going. I still have more sorting out to do, particularly my email, and there are always crafty WIPs to finish. I want to set myself another couple of goals for February.
Firstly I want to get my Etsy shop relaunched. I set it up in February last year, listed one item and then abandoned it. Obviously it’s more advantageous for me to attract business through my Craftyguider site as I don’t have to pay fees to list there, but I hope that Etsy will help me reach more people. Hopefully by the end of the month I’ll have a selection of products listed.
Secondly I want to get fitter and start losing weight again. I’m supposed to be following a Slimming World plan but my weight fluctuates up and down because I’m not strict enough. I want to shed the last bit of weight I need to shift, and also get a bit more exercise, in particular, starting pilates to strengthen my back so it won’t go twang again!
And finally, I am going to finish my mending, and sewing badges onto the Craftyguidelets’ badge blankets. I might even get a couple onto mine, but I am 7 years behind so I don’t anticipate on completing this one!

What do you hope to achieve in February?

January Review

And just like that, it’s the 31st January! One month of 2014 has passed and the next 11 months are stretched out ahead, full of promise. On the whole it’s been a good January for me. I’ve felt a lot better (apart from putting my back out in the last few days), I’ve made decisions on what I want to do with the business and my blogging, and I’m in a positive frame of mind.
January started really well for me. A couple of days after my birthday, I won a retweet from Theo Paphitis, and my twitter feed exploded with new followers and good wishes.
I managed to get my craft on and make cards, get some scrapbook layouts made, finish some decoupage and get some sewing done. It’s the most creative I’ve been for a long time.
I’ve also started crochet lessons which is something I’ve wanted to do for a couple of years now. My doubles and trebles lesson was a bit more successful than my tea gloves lesson. Perhaps it’s because I don’t drink tea, I just don’t have the tea gloves gene in me.
Probably my greatest achievement is to get more organised. My magazine mountain is now a foothill, and several WIPs have been completed. I’ve got a long way to go still, but with each mini breakthrough, I feel more weight coming off my shoulders.

How was your January?

Handmade Update

I’ve had a very productive few days. I have organised, crafted, planned Brownie badges with eldest Craftyguidelet (Craft badge is first!) and decluttered. However this morning I managed to throw my back out. I was emptying the waste paper basket of all things!
As we are having some work done on the house, I couldn’t go back to bed so I have been stuck at the kitchen table with my ibuprofen and heat pad. I did manage to get my decoupage papers and mod podge out and I’ve managed to complete my “bake” sign for my kitchen. I used the Hobbycraft Deco Mache papers which are really pretty, and chose the colours to go with my handmade place mats which use Cath Kidston spotty fabric.

What I really needed to do today was photograph and list my new handmade cards.
On Sunday I had a play with some Anna Griffin papers. Look at the wonderful vintage images of flowers I was working with. I’ve got a huge pile of cards to list for all sorts of occasions so keep an eye on the website.

This is one of my favourites. I love the blue tones on this birthday card.
I also used some of my craft themed supplies. This one uses a Sizzix die for the mannequin and some swirl dies that I bought a long time ago and have never used.
I have also been doing my crochet homework. Regular readers would’ve read about my lesson with Jean-Mary at Betty Makes where she managed to tame my disobedient crochet hands into yarn holding, treble making, crochet wannabees.
Still a bit wobbly, but look! It’s crochet! I haven’t counted my stitches or rows, but I think the technique is coming.
I’ve even tried the edging. It’s loops! The pattern became a bit of a foreign language after this so it’s not got much further. Jean-Mary says I need to treble in my loops. Hmmm. Might get a translation and a few pointers tonight if my back will let me go to my lesson.

I’ve also managed to keep up my decluttering in January. I’m still on track with my challenge to recycle a magazine a day. The pile is going down. I won’t have finished a WIP a week though unless I get a sudden surge of creativity in the next few days, but I am getting more organised.
My loose crafting papers were in a box that was too heavy to get down from the shelf every time I made a card. I managed to clear a space in a filing cabinet by turfing out some obsolete Guiding paperwork, and put the papers into files by colour. I might actually use them now! I’ve also sorted through my 12″x12″ scrapbooking papers and managed to do 3 scrapbook layouts. No pics as I generally use photos of the Craftyguidelets in my scrapbooking, but it’s been really nice to have a look through images of them as babies (yes, I’m that far behind!).

It’s been a really productive January, so hopefully my back will clear up quickly and I can carry on. I’ve got plans for February too to keep 2014 as a positive year for change.

Linking with Handmade Harbour’s Handmade Monday.

#Economyblockalong Quilt

I have a lot of fabric. I have confessed before to my addiction; I see something, I like it, and I’ll buy a metre or two because “I’ll make something from it” and then never do. This is a photo of my scraps bag which are defined as smaller than a fat quarter but bigger than a 5cm square. I use a lot to make mirrors, tissue holders, and rings amongst other things, but it’s still full to bursting.

I read on Instagram about the #economyblockalong on @sewjustinesew’s feed and spotted an opportunity for a fabric stashbuster, a step up for my current patchwork skills, and a community feel to my crafting should I need support. There is an excellent tutorial on Red Pepper Quilt‘s blog, but I thought I would drag out my Sizzix quilting die’s that I bought some time ago to help me cut the pieces out.

I found 3 dies that gave me a vague approximation of an economy block and made a trial square.

Yes, I know it’s not ironed, and it still needs trimming, but it’s a trial, OK! In a true economy block, the corners of the centre square should touch the centres of the ‘diamond’ square, so I’m going to have to weigh up the convenience of using my dies to cut out rather than doing it the conventional way.

Is anyone else doing the #economyblockalong?

Linking to the Handmade Monday linky party.

Theo Paphitis #SBS Winner

I wanted to get more focused on my blog and my webshop in 2014. I’m still on catch up, so my targets for January were just to get my workspace organised. Simple but achievable.

However, I did start a couple of things. I have a plan in place for what themes I am concentrating on for www.craftyguider.com month by month. I have started following more accounts on instagram, pinterest and twitter, as well as more blogs on bloglovin, and I started entering Theo Paphitis’ Small Business Sunday competition on twitter. Two weeks in, I won!

My winning tweet said “When I was a Guide, I earned 2 Craft badges. Now I’m a leader, I design and make badges.”

I am so pleased Theo Paphitis personally chose me, and having had a quick look through the #SBS winners website, the benefits are fabulous, I’ve increased my exposure on twitter, and I hope this, with a bit of hard work, translates to more sales in my webshop. And best of all, I hope to meet Theo and get a certificate at his next winners event.

I’d love to hear from you if you have any creatives you think I should be following on social media. And obviously feel free to click on the links above to follow me!