Playing shops and making pretty things

Well hello to you all.  I thought it was a long time since last I wrote but it isn't as bad as I thought.  The days just blur in to each other at the moment and I am feeling slightly jaded.
The shop however is feeling like a proper shop at last. It looks quite trendy and my landlord says he has seen one on the television quite similar but that one was in London.

As you can see I couldn't resist playing around.  There are still things laid around like the great sheet of slat board on the floor but it is definitely looking very nice.  The walls are a very pale shade of grey and not beige and blue as in the picture.  That must have been a trick of the light.

I can't wait until all the wool is in and the heads are swathed in warm snoods and headbands.  I think it will look really smart and just like I hoped it would when I started dreaming about it many moons ago.  There is still lots to do and plenty of things to think about.  I keep waking up in the night and then can't get back to sleep.  I'm hoping that this is a temporary thing but I'm not counting on it.

I did manage to make a pretty little brooch amidst all the madness. This was an idea I came across whilst out at the weekend.  I saw something similar in a shop in Edwinstowe which I intended buying but unfortunately the shop didn't take debit cards and I didn't have any cash on me.  When I got home I had a look in my button stash and came up with this. It needs quite a substantial brooch pin on the back as it is surprisingly heavy.

This is a plant pot cover I have just finished knitting from a lovely book called Vintage Knit Knacks.  I have made several things from it as the projects are just so different.  I couldn't find any leaf buttons so I had a brain wave and made some using a cake decorating leaf shaped cutter and some coloured clay similar to Fimo. I think they did the job just right. All I need now is a plant pot to fit it which is proving more difficult than you would think.
I should have a few more makes to show you soon as I am frantically trying to do things to make the shop look a bit more crafty.
As ever thank you for taking the time to join me and please feel free to drop me a line or two.
Regards Paula x

Knitting Update

Before I started writing today I had to check to make sure I hadn't already posted about my recently completed knitting.  I seem to be playing catch up at the moment so please forgive me.
Christmas and the New Year flew by without much effort by me as my mind is firmly fixed on the future.  We did have a lovely long break and didn't do too much which was good.  We both realised that once the shop opens holidays will be a thing of the past for a while so we endeavoured to make the most of our time together.

I did manage to finish a few bits though.  The above, knitted in James Brett Flutterby Chunky is for my son's friend whose wife has recently had a baby girl.  This wool is lovely to knit with and is so soft it makes you must want to snuggle up to it.

These cardigans are bigger versions of the ones I knitted last year with extra buttons.  This was an order for the same little twins who have grown quite a lot since 12 months ago.  I had to add a few stitches on to make them big enough.  The wool is James Brett Marble Chunky.
In the pipeline is a knitted clock, (I am waiting for the working parts to arrive from Amazon) a plant pot cover and a jumper for myself. In between I am about to start to sew a sign for the door at the shop and would like to crochet a net for the front door so I'm going to be kept very busy.
The sign and window decoration are to be fitted in the next week or so so that will be exciting.  Watch this space for the photos.

The end of an era

I unfortunately missed wishing you all a Merry Christmas so I will be early with my good will message for the New Year instead. Happy New Year to you all and I hope 2014 is a prosperous one for everyone.

As you already know I have been working my 2 month notice and finally finished on Christmas
Eve.  It was a very emotional time for me and much sadder than I could have imagined. We did however manage to have quite a lot of fun too.

Me with Lucy

Me with Lucy and Pam

Me with Lucy, Pam and Dolph

Me with Lucy, Pam and Tanya

Me with Lee and Jon

Me with Andy aka James Blunt

Me with Alan who was complaining that he didn't like having his photo taken

Me with Gill - Step away from the Pringles

 Well now it is time to get on with the rest of my life.  The shop is still a long way from being open and we have agreed that we start the hard work again tomorrow.  We have had quite a long break so we need to get cracking again.  There is loads to do including a trip to every Argos in the district to buy a certain type of shelving I need.  Such fun!

The Shop Floor

It seems such a long time since I chatted with you all.  As you know my time is currently being taken up with the new shop which I can tell you is coming along nicely thank you.
We uncovered a full quarry tile floor recently and tried desperately to clean it.  It was unfortunately damaged beyond recovery due to careless previous owners.

It was absolutely tragic but in the time we have to get up and running we just couldn't do it.

So here is the beautiful alternative.  I love it and it makes the place look wonderful.  I am so proud and excited I could burst. The finishing touches are being done today together with the middle room and toilet.
The walls will get a makeover tomorrow.
I have now dropped another day at work on the lead up to finishing completely so hopefully this might free up more time to blog.

My New Shop

I am now able to reveal the reason that I have been so elusive lately.  As I explained I have been trying to get my website off the ground and this has proved to be much more time consuming than I thought it would be.  I still have lots of photos to do but the bare bones are in place bar a few minor tweaks.
However at about the same time I received a phone call from a lovely gentleman who I know from working in insurance who owns several properties in Worksop.  He explained that he had a tenant who wanted to move out and he thought that the shop would be ideal for me.  I had mentioned that I was looking for a place back in March but he didn't have anything for me at that time.
Anyway I went and had a look and hey presto I now have the keys to my own place.

This is how it looks at the moment so it needs a bit of a make over but I am so excited.  I can't wait to get started. 
I handed my notice in at work on Monday last and am waiting for a leaving date.  So far I only have the official one which is the 10th January 2014.  I have a 2 month notice period which is proving to be a problem as I need to open the shop as soon as possible.  Anyway that is just a small obstacle and it will be overcome.
Everyone keeps saying how brave I am but it feels so right and I think that if I don't take the plunge now I will regret it for the rest of my life.
We are going today to take more photos together with measurements and we can then brainstorm a few ideas.  I don't think it has properly sunk in yet.  I'm being very calm and I am just trying to soak it all in.  I don't want to get all flustered and stressed, I just want to enjoy every minute of it.

Driven to distraction

Oh boy, who would have thought that getting a brand new website up and running would have been so much hard work?

I've taken pictures of ribbons.

Patterns, all 195 of them.

Wool

and buttons and I'm ready to drop.

Poor Neil who is making the website is equally over whelmed.  He's just about finished with the actual design so it's just the photos now but I think it is proving quite a task.
I have to do the labelling of the photographs later so that he knows what on earth they all mean.
When I was doing the buttons I got a bit distracted and started getting a bit arty.

I had to keep putting the camera down and this is what I saw through the view finder.  Quite nice I thought.

Then I started getting carried away.

Oh well, enough messing around.  Back to the grind stone.

Quilted Phone Cover

I made this when I replaced my old phone.  I was nervous about the new one getting damaged and thought that this little cover was just the ticket.

• Cut two pieces of material about 3 cm wider and longer than the size of your phone.  Mine is the Samsung S3 so I cut my pieces 10.5 cm x 16.6 cm.  The actual phone measures 7.5 cm by 14 cm.

• For the lining cut one piece of fabric the same width but about 1 cm shorter than the patterned fabric to take into account the fact that there is no middle seam. NB If you use a fabric which is the same in both directions you can just cut one piece for the case and an identical size piece for the lining.

• 1 strip 4 cm by 13.5 cm for the tab.

• 1 piece of wadding the same size as the lining fabric.

Sew together the two pieces of outside fabric ensuring that when they are joined and folded both pieces face the same way i.e. the houses are the right way up and not upside down.

Attach the wadding to the back of the joined fabric.  Using tailors chalk or an erasable marker pen, draw on a grid of diagonal lines at 2.5 cm intervals.

Hand quilt along the lines using quilting thread and needle and working in running stitch.  Alternatively machine stitch along the lines.
Fold the tab strip in half width ways, right sides facing and sew the side seams together.

Turn out. Place the tab on the quilted case rectangle so that the open end is centred on one short edge of the case with raw edges matching.  Tack the tab in place.

Fold the quilted case rectangle in half width ways, right sides together and close the side seams.  Repeat with the unquilted case piece (lining) leaving a gap of about 5 cm in one seam for turning out.

Put the case inside the lining, right sides together, so that the top (open) edges match and sew around the top edge.

Turn out through the opening in the lining and sew up the opening with small hand stitches.  Press the case carefully.
To complete
Attach the top of the press-stud to the tab and determine the position of the other piece of the press-stud on the outer case.

Placing your phone in the case to check the fit first.

I added a pretty crocheted flower to mine but a simple button would do fine.

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial.  I would love to see your pictures should you decide to have a go yourselves.