Black Friday/Cyber Monday Free Shipping Event

I've been so busy the past couple of days that I forgot to post this here!



That's right, free worldwide shipping for the next four days!

In the 4 1/2 years I've been running this business I've never done a deal like this before, so I suggest you take advantage of it while you can.

Meet The Dolls, Part 4

I'm busy this week getting ready for a free shipping event I'll be holding this weekend in my store (Nov 25-28), but I thought I'd take a moment out to write up another post introducing more of my dolls!

First up is Jesus, affectionately known around here as Zeus. He is Ophelia's oldest son:

(Wearing Dorset's olive green t-shirt)

His girlfriend, Maggie:

(Wearing my green and white striped cardigan)
Her's was the first faceup I'd attempted in about a year! I do about one a year and usually hate them, wiping them off to give to someone far more skilled. Hers is actually growing on me for once.

And their son, Harry:

(Wearing my grey and black striped t-shirt)

So that was a quick little post, got many more to introduce over time!

Confessions of a fabric-a-holic

Yesterday on my tumblr I was asked to take photos of my fabric collection. I am rather well known amongst those that know me for being a fabric addict.

Besides the obvious motivation of being a seamstress, having worked in a fabric store for 9 odd years means you spend a lot of your pay on fabric! Once I stopped working in the store, it didn't seem to stop me from buying more fabric. T_T

My old house used to have no kind of order to my sewing room. It was more known as my fabric room because it was to messy to actually sew in there. When we moved house I knew I had to sort everything before I moved in (because we all know that once you're there, it's all too hard!). So with the help of my friend, we spent a day sorting all my fabric by type. I donated about a third of it to charity, and this is the rest!



Organising by type was really one of the best things I did. It makes searching for things so much easier.



These spacebags are sorted by type too, but are the stuff I don't need constant access too. When I can afford it I want to get boxes for all of this as well.


My childhood chest of drawers is an excellent holder of fabric. I have a whole drawer of just brocade there!


Under my work bench. These boxes hold fabric I want to work with in the near future. Fabric gets cycled through here, often when I search through other boxes and drawers and get excited and inspired!

So there you have it. They say the one who dies with the biggest collection wins, and I think I'm well on my way! I have to force myself into having fabric free months to stop adding to the collection, but it is very hard for me to go to a store to get thread and not come out with something else. ;)

Lest We Forget

Sometimes working from home means that I live in a bubble.

I've been having a bad week. Nothing seems to be getting me out of this rut, no matter how hard I try I feel like I'm making any progress in my goals. It's certainly hard to keep motivated.

But then I was reminded that day is Rememberence Day, and I felt more than a bit humbled.

I live in a peaceful country, that is home to over 180 nationalities. I have a roof over my head, food on my table, an amazingly supportive husband, and loving family and friends. Times get hard, but I still consider myself lucky.

The last time I was reminded of this was when my husband and I went to Russia earlier this year. We went to Volgograd, better known by it's old name of Stalingrad. The whole town was destroyed by the Germans in WWII, and those that survived lived in holes in the ground during the battle, as all buildings were bombed.

Coming from a country that, whilst having gone to war, has never really experienced it on it's own turf, this was incredibly confronting. My grandfather fought in WWII and survived to tell the tale. My ex boyfriend's grandfather also fought in the war and spent a substantial time in a Japanese POW camp. His stories seemed amazing and yet at the same time hard to truly relate to.

When we visited Mamayev Kurgan, a field in Volgograd which has now been turned into a sculpture park and war memorial, it finally started to sink in, and made my heart ache.

Every Russian town has an Eternal Flame, ever burning for those who lost their lives in the war. It's a beautiful thing to me, and this one in particular made me cry, when lined up with the statue I posted at the top, of a mother holding her dead soldier son.

I am no advocate of war, as I'm sure most of us are. But I have nothing but respect and sadness for those who have fought before us. Sadness that they had to fight at all.

Age shall not weary them,
nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun
and in the morning
We will remember them
Lest We Forget