Zines are here!

I finally did it! Zines are up and listed in my etsy shop, get 'em while they're hot! A pillar box red cover for our first issue, and a big thank you to all my contributors. If you took part and haven't sent me your answers yet, I'm still very much accepting responses so do get them in to me asap. And if you want to take part but haven't got around to it yet, drop me a line (my details are in the top right hand corner of the blog, just use an @ instead of writing at). There's a great discount for contributors so hop on board.

Next issue, 28 February.

In the meantime, enjoy!

Markets are coming!

I won't be selling this weekend, but I will be popping in and out. There are lots of new sellers and some old favourites (see www.glasgowcraftmafia.com tomorrow for a full rundown), and lots and lots of lovely things to spoil your valentine with.

Hope to see you there!

Made by Hank

However she spells her name, Katie Henry is one talented lady. I already own a few handly little pouches in the tough ruffles style, along with a pencil pouch and a little trim pouch which is the best home ever for my darning needle.

I digress, but I've managed to have my darning needle for 15 years, in four different countries, without losing it. As a serial loser of things, this is really quite amazing. I'm even happier that it'll never get lost now it's in its lovely pouch. And even lovelier is that said little trim pouch was a gift when I bought my pencil pouch and original tough ruffles pouch in cocoa and chocolate.

And now, after months of waiting and watching, I was in the right place at the right time and managed to grab myself this wonderful bag. Which will be a much-appreciated birthday present from my lovely husband.

I love to read Katie's blog, which is the best place to get a heads up on lovely goodies becoming available. Her photography is wonderful and the crisp, clear colours of the bags she produces remind me of the macarons featured heavily over at another favourite blog, Domestic Sluttery.

Back to Made by Hank, I love everything about this shop, down to the little plastic dinosaur gift with purchase and the wonderful wooden tags on every little bag Katie makes. I think one year I'm going to buy all of my friends a little pouch of their own for Christmas, what a wonderful present that would be. Go and browse her shop right now this minute, you're bound to find something you like, whether for yourself or to give as a gift any time of the year.

Weekend blogger

I think I've become a bit of a weekend blogger. Most of my crafty shenanigans right now revolves around my inbox, while I prepare for the first Answers on a Postcard zine. I should be receiving all the final entries in the next few days which gives me, eek, about a week to sort out the first issue for distribution starting on 31 January.

Next weekend I'm off to Manchester, home of some very crafty things indeed, and of course, my home town. I'm going to the hen weekend of a former flatmate from our time in New York. It's strange that we grew up 5 miles from each other, but met in a city of I don't know how many millions of people.

And I'm also in a treasury right now - those same envelopes that you can find featured in this book are also in a lovely collection of my old pals' work over at Hoarders Unite. I'm not officially a member right now due to my somewhat heavy workload, but it's lovely when they remember me! Thank you, whoa it's me!

Feeling wintry

All this snow and ice we're having is making me think about the forthcoming winter olympics in Vancouver! Well, that and the article I read in this morning's paper about Paris Hilton currently being in on holiday in Whistler...

Everyone was getting pretty excited about the winter games when we visited in October, and the fun officially begins in just over a month's time.

So I did a bit of hunting on Etsy and found some great olympics-themed souvenirs...

First of all, this necklace and upcycled map pendant by dlkdesigns



And extra cute, these needle-felted little darling Snow Birds by lojo55n

I wanted to look for some more, but frankly, I'm too in love with the little tiny birds with the little tiny hats to carry on looking! Have a great weekend everyone, and stay warm.

Girl Industries Glove Giveaway

My blogging buddy, provider of thank you cards for our wedding, and maker of all-round fantastic stationery, Shauna of Lemon Drop Studio, is hosting a giveaway to win a pair of my gloves on her blog. I'm really enjoying being featured and getting lots of useful feedback on my etsy shop, where you can of course buy a pair of my gloves if you aren't lucky enough to win them.

Welcome new readers, if you found me by following the trail of lemon drops!

I just made my first ever treasury!

Take a look here in the next 48 hours, but here's a screenshot in case you miss it!

It was a lot easier to do than I expected, and as I thought, it was all about being in the right place at the right time.

Happy New Year!

Here I am, as promised, with the Girl Industries manifesto for 2010!

It looks as though we are going to be moving house and it could well be a renovation job (I'm spending a lot of time looking to A Home for All Seasons for inspiration here), so for the first half of the year at least I'll be scaling back the crafting and making for the shop. One other pressure on my time at the moment is the fact that I absolutely must complete my MSc dissertation by the summertime so there is time for all the administrative process to take place before my final deadline at the end of the year. It's a really prestigious course with the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, so I don't really want to mess it up. It's also pretty important for my day job, and is on a really interesting topic, so I have a lot of time and effort invested in it, it would be such a shame to fall at the last hurdle.

So for 2010, I'll be concentrating on the upcycled envelopes (which are such a joy to make and really becoming very popular), a few little wedding themed bits and pieces, including a wedding zine that I've been working on, a craft kit that I've been putting together (with some help from Marceline of Asking For Trouble) over the last year or so, and, of course, there'll be an Answers on a Postcard zine to look forward to at the end of every month.

I'll be doing very few, if any, markets this year as my weekends will be taken up with research, writing and evaluating for my dissertation study project and I'll have to stop the destash as I start to pack all my crafting hoard away over the next few weeks! I'm sure no-one will want to buy the flat we currently live in with piles of half finished projects and random tins of haberdashery (as lovely as it is) taking over the place. I will be continuing to blog, though, and will bring you updates on my crafty new home as I go.

No doubt I'll be tweeting, too, so you won't miss a thing.

Happy New Year, everyone!