Friday 3rd

[Caroleecrafts]

Morning All

Cold and wet here today, so not going far. Have been beavering away on my crafting though. My embroidery machine has had steam coming out of it. A snowdrop card and sachet done yesterday along with another Victorian style postcard. Will finish off the last 2 postcards today then can start on something new. Oh forgot have a rose love pillow to make. so many ideas.

The northern lights fairy is so pretty Shelley, will post a pic when done, think this will become a door pillow.

Not much else to report, HAGD and BBL x

[craftdancer2]

Morning all! Still dark, rain early this morning so wet outside, temperatures look good on paper but feeling cold.

Yesterday, small weekly shop done, brother visited, label templates printed so have a stock ready for when I get going on the cooking again. Several sessions on the family tree - the end of this phase is in sight and I'm eager to get going on the next phase.

Today, general tidying and clearing already done, no specific plans but will potter around and get bits and bobs done.

Caroline - did you get new batteries for Christmas? You are tubo-powered again on the creation and productivity!
Hope everyone else is well and starting to get back into routine.

HAGO, BBL
Linda

[MornieG Jewellery]

Good morning.

It was still dark here at eight o'clock, been raining overnight but forecast dry today with near zero temps tonight.

Day off so a major shop to do as we haven't really done one since before Christmas and I need to make sure I have what I'm supposed to eat so no excuse for eating the wrong stuff. Fasting day today so only 500 calories allowed, should be interesting. Will give the house a clean on Sunday when I take the Christmas decorations down. My workroom / conservatory had a tidy up on NYD so at least I can get to my desk now and the spare easy chair will go back in the living room on Sunday.

Caroline is running on duracel again.

Enjoy your potter Linda.

Hope Dave is well into the cutting again and the itch from not doing much over Christmas has stopped.

Looking forward to seeing your new makes Shelley. Glad you are easing back into work and you get your breathing sorted.

Have a good day all.

Mo.XX

[AubreyBay]

Hey guys,

I found the coffee morning thread - good to be here.

Weather is cold, wet and really quite dull however being from the North this is a generally considered t-shirt weather (by some).

Today, I'm going to continue to tidy the office which is getting converted into a candle craft/and storage area once the production line is up and running. It's a little-used room so the hoarded items, over the years, will make for many trips to the tip and for the more salvageable items, to our local charity shop.

Linda,

It's great to see that you have your labels sorted and organised. This is one area that we have found rather tricky. There are so many types of materials and finishes. We've decided to get them printed online. We have completed the design and ordered them; crossing our fingers that they look great when they arrive.

Product development costs shouldn't be underestimated.

Mo,

Good luck with the fast. I do the 18:6 version a couple of times a week. Something that is sorely needed after the Christmas indulging.

Have a great day everyone.

[3dDave]

Morning all....

Blue sky here, just had a light rain shower, river level has dropped.
Got to go down to Petes for the Christmas baubles that didn’t sell. I’ll either put them away or repurpose them for other occasions....do people have baubles for Vals, Easter etc?
Cutting well underway, “ Morella” is coming along slow but sure, just lots of it but most of the uber fiddly is done.
Taking the dog for a test walk today, vet said should be okay, no running for the ball though.
Bought some new ph neutral conservation grade pva to try...
Got the Artisan market tomorrow so need to kit up for that too....
Welcome to the thread Aubrey Bay ( do we call you Aubrey?) great to have another crafter commenting on here, nice to hear another perspective for the day be it general life or craft....we do it all.

Dave.

[craftdancer2]

Linda,

It's great to see that you have your labels sorted and organised. This is one area that we have found rather tricky. There are so many types of materials and finishes. We've decided to get them printed online. We have completed the design and ordered them; crossing our fingers that they look great when they arrive.

Product development costs shouldn't be underestimated.

Hi Andrew

Glad you found us - we're always delighted to have someone else to have a natter with

From another not-in-the-south (it's further to Edinburgh than it is to London from my bit of the country - Humber Bridge area) bod, but with you on the fur boots, warm coats umpteen jumpers for "southerners" and t-shirt but might need trousers instead of shorts for northerners weather! LOL!!!!!!

I'm pretty organised with my primary craft stuff (home made preserves), having spent 40+ years in secretarial and admin work and with a touch of OCD. I print a template of the fixed information on my labels and hand write the variable information. Because I make such small batches and am constantly creating/making varieties I haven't done before depending on what fruit and veg I am kindly gifted from local gardeners and allotmenteers, it's the only financially viable way for me to do it. The Trading Standards lady approved the layout - and even helped with suggestions when I first set up.

Too right about product costs - potential purchasers just don't see it a lot of the time. I'm sure many of my customers have no idea how much the jars cost, never mind the washing/sterilising/storage costs etc.

Sounds like you've got your work cut out clearing, sorting and organising your storage/crafting area. It will be well worth it when you've got it done though. I'm lucky and have a small walk in cupboard for my preserves and ingredients, but that is currently in need of a full clear out, clean up and reorganise after the festive season events I did (been too ill since to get in there, but thinking about doing it in the next week or so).

Keep us up to date with progress.

Linda

[AubreyBay]

Hey Dave, Andrew will be fine. Aubrey Bay is my wife's creation for the brand name - an amalgamation between Aubrey (a family name) and Druridge 'Bay' which is a special family place for us up in Northumberland. It's got a great beach and country park where we spend a lot of free time. Well worth checking out if you're in that neck of the woods.

My wife is the crafter and she's been battling away with getting waxes, fragrances and wicks just right for the candles. I thought it would be good to have a place to touch base with like-minded individuals in case she needs a bit of help. Apparently, I'm banned from the kitchen due to my lack of the 'crafter-gene'.

I'm more of a techie geek, websites and the like, so I'll keep an eye out in the forums for any threads where I can add a little value and drop my ideas in.

Regards,

Andrew

[Caroleecrafts]

Welcome to the forum Andrew. Luckily do not have the dreaded return to work feeling, not since Feb 2008. so for me every day is the same hence why I get confused which day is which sometimes.

My bunny batteries are working very well Linda and Mo. Have just completed 2 postcards, that leaves me free tomorrow to start something different. Have the 2 ideas mentioned above just which one to start first.

[Lilly42]

Afternoon all,

Dry, sunny and not too cold down here on the south coast.

I think I am the furthest south of everyone, tends to be weird weather here because of our position on the Solent we get 4 tides a day and some of our weather comes in on the tide so it can change dramatically.

Caroline looking forward to seeing the northern lights fairy pillow, you do seem to have found a fresh set of batteries

Linda keep up with the pottering, slowly does it to complete recovery. It does seem to be working, you are sounding better.

Mo hope your big shop went well and your cupboards are now full of foods you are allowed to eat. I really hope this works for you, it is important to look after yourself.

Andrew, well done on finding your way here, hope the office sorting is going well, it nice to have a space you can dedicate to your craft. They make'em tough up north I am a bit of teckie too, Simon and I run an audio electronics hire,sales and repair business. Have done so for the last 43 years

Dave glad the dog is on the mend, and you are back on the cutting. The special PVA sounds good, nothing worse than your hard work being ruined by yellowing glue. I gave up with glue and just use my Xyrons and red liner tape, only use glue when there is no other option.

Today Simon took my car off and got it a new battery Yeah. So I am off to the shops to stock up the food cupboards when I have finished this. I am lucky and have never needed to diet.
I have finished the card and will do photos this evening, it didn't happen yesterday.
I found a place online that does blank card inserts (they do printed ones too but not for me) for my favorite card sizes at very reasonable price so ordered 4 types, will make it a breeze to finish them off, I was putting off packing them up and putting them out for sale on the rack in the shop and online becuase I had to cut inserts.
I need to make a start on the butterfly card order this weekend. taking the tree and decos down on Sunday so properly back to normal on Tuesday.
I wanted to give my craft room a tidy over the hols but I will just have to do it this Monday or the next.

Take care all and have a good day.

Shelley

[Lilly42]

Oh yes I meant to say - be careful writing the date this year. If its important or for legal reason make sure you write the date out in full. 2/5/20 can be changed to any date this century so some unscrupulous person could change it to for example 2/5/2035 or 2/5/2001.
Just be careful.

[3dDave]

I seriously need to have a clear out, paper packs everywhere, folders full of stuff, mount board stash needs thinning out, boxes of frames need sorting, I’m straddling stuff to get to the mount cutter table ?who'd be a paper cutter eh?
I must be the most central of us all in Shropshire...?


Dave.

[3dDave]

Shelley, I haven’t yet have a glue go yellow when its dried but I’ve generally only used glues specifically stated as non yellowing however they are not all acid free or ph neutral, just usually say “ Solvent free”, not the same thing. I prefer PVA glue above all, with much searching I finally found this one. Same as normal PVA but thinner consistency. Because I have to stick down using 1-2mm dots or less as “tacks” added by a pokey tool dipped in a small blob, only glue will do as tape etc would be pretty much impossible.

Dave.

[Lilly42]

Dave, I meant over time. I have found things I made a few years ago and the glue has gone yellow, it was on a piece of acrylic so you could see the side with the glue, on an ordinary card you wouldn't see it.

But I don't like PVA or solvent based glues. I don't know if you are aware of the Xyron sticker maker? I have one that will take an A4 sheet of paper, well actually the width of A4 but upto 18ft long. But I only use this one when it is too wide for my smaller ones.
I put the die, card/paper through the xyron, then run it through my die cutting machine and hey presto I have a sticker, peel off the top clear layer and then the backing and stick it where you want. They do different types of stick and ones that you can turn things in to fridge magnets with magnet sheet on the back, laminitors and more.
For me this avoids the toothpick glue dots or the back of the hand applicator

I don't think it would be at all suitable for your work and I am sure your method works well.

Shelley