Just in case you were wondering ...

I'm still alive. 

I've been busy busy for the last six months and a bit neglectful of my shop blog. That's my first Open University course finished now, which is a shame because I was having so much fun. So much fun, that I have registered for the advanced course and will be starting again with my studies in October. 

In the meantime I need to get cracking on some new products for this year's Perthshire Open Studios which takes place in September.

I'll try not to leave it so long before my next post.

Fiona x

Que Sera Sera ....

What ever will be will be...

And whatever doesn't turn out the way I planned will just have to be taken apart and started again.

It's been a funny couple of weeks around here.

After the rush and excitement of Open Studios it all felt a bit flat for a week or so.

I'm just about back in my stride again and looking ahead to what my customers might want for Christmas. We are being told by the weather forecasters that we are in for another harsh winter so I'm hooking up a storm and crocheting the days away. At the last count there were another dozen cosy hats waiting to keep out the winter chill. So how annoying do you think it is to find that the country is being treated to an "Indian Summer" ?

The "boys on the bridge" assure us that the snow will be coming early this year so maybe I should just stick to the original plan for hats, mits, ear warmers and cosy scarfs. Mind you I do have a cute pattern for a crocheted bikini.

Crochet and Crowds

I wouldn't really describe myself as an extrovert but I have been learning this week that I am  bit of a show off at heart.

We are now half way through Perthshire Open Studios and I'm having  a ball. It's so nice to have so many visitors to the shop who are genuinely interested in what I make, how I make it and where I get my ideas from.

I've been trying to have little projects on the go all week so that I can have something to demonstrate for my visitors. Crocheting bracelets has proved to be a crowd pleaser. Of course you can't keep doing the same thing over and over without getting just a little bit bored so I looked out a crochet book with a section on edging patterns and came across this one. It looks rather nice in gold and silver coloured wires with little glass pearls. I may be biased.... but I do rather like this one.

There are loads of creative people showing off all over Perthshire. Just look HERE and see.

And for the rest of the world just look HERE and visit Our Creative Spaces

Procrastinating..............???

Oooh ... It's not long now.

I think I discovered a new synonym today (just checked the dictionary to be sure that really means what I think it means. My English teacher would be proud of me)

I took some perfectly suitable posters for POS

Plugged in the laminator

...... and laminated them.

Dictionary entry for the day then is...

procrastinate - verb - to put off (an action) until later

see also.. laminate, crochet

And this is how I procrastinate over the last couple of days.

To be honest, the shop is looking really good.

Stocked full of handcrafted loveliness.

There are still a couple of little projects that I would like to finish off but I'm all ready for the big week and looking forward to meeting lots of new customers.

Eight days to go...

..... till the start of PERTHSHIRE OPEN STUDIOS

You know that feeling when you know that you are well organised ?

It's not a feeling that I often relate to but for once I am well prepared. One of the best bits about POS is that visitors and customers are going to be expecting to see me working in my space, so even if we are mega busy over the first few days I can replenish my stock and call it "in house entertainment." 

Since it's Thursday today it's time to show what I've been doing in My Creative Space.

But first I have a small confession to make..... I went to the Scottish Bead Fair in Perth last Sunday and spent a small fortune on stuff I don't really need but just couldn't resist.... Hopefully I'll be so busy over the open studios week that I will find that I really do need all the gorgeous beads that I bought.

You may remember that I dabbled with Chain Maille earlier this year. A lovely blogger called Ady told me about a great web site called Bead Sisters who supply all sorts of funky coloured jump rings and rubber 'O' rings for chain maille. I resisted the temptation to order anything from them despite being sorely tempted.

Now guess which supplier I spotted the minute I walked into the hall on Sunday.  Oh yes... Bead Sisters were right there in front of me.

So.. this week I have been trying out new chain maille patterns. What do you think ?

Join the Creative fun and pop over HERE

My Creative Space

Today is the day to share my creative space with other crafty and talented bloggers.

Now the question is... what have I been doing in my space today ?

I finished off this teeny tiny newborn baby hat. I was at a little craft fair on Saturday where I had a selection of hats for adults and children and was asked if I would make a little blue one for a new baby boy who is due very soon. Do you ever feel the urge to say " No, I'd rather sell the ones I've already made. "

I actually know someone who regularly says that to her customers and surprisingly they seem happy to accept her terms. I don't think I'm bold enough to do that though.

I've nearly finished my first crocheted rattle and just have to secure some loose ends. This is a really clever idea which I found in a recent crochet magazine. The rattle bit is made by putting a few beads into a little  sealable pot. I used a plastic egg which I had left over from Easter, surrounded it with toy stuffing and stitched in the loose ends. Now all I have to do is make a matching blanket and it will be ready for the baby gift corner.

I could have finished the rattle properly if only I could stick to one job at a time. I was easily distracted by some shiny buttons after lunch and decided to replenish my stock of button necklaces and bracelets. What had been a fairly healthy display of button jewellery, was looking a wee bit depleted after some recent sales. By this time tomorrow I'll be fully stocked again, unless, of course, I get distracted again.

Meanwhile, the idea of showing my Perthshire Open Studios brochures in the window along with Andy's rocking horse is proving to be a bit of a crowd puller and I've had lots of people popping in to get more info about the event. Oh, and I even remembered to send some copy to the local paper to promote the Open Studios week.

I think that's enough work for one day and it's now a good time to visit ourcreativespaces

Join in by clicking the link.



Too busy to blog ???

Well no.. Not to busy to blog but it seems too busy to take photos to show what I've been busy with. To be perfectly honest I was waiting till I got some photos but it seems that facebook isn't working this lunch time so I've popped over to blog instead.

It's been a busy couple of weeks with lots of prep for a couple of events coming up. There's a wee craft sale on this Saturday at Airlie Village Hall from 10am till 2pm with soup and rolls for lunch and teas, coffees and cakes for anytime at all. I've been getting some new jewellery together for the day and since Airlie is just 10 minutes along the road I'm hoping to meet lots of future Buy Design customers and introduce them to the wonders of my little shop.

Then it's just a few weeks till the start of perthshire open studios and I'm busily trying to stock up and freshen the look of the shop for a busy week. Did a major turn around in the window this morning and have been getting lots of great compliments already. I'll tell you more about the open studios in the next week or so.

And as if that wasn't enough to be going on with I have just signed up to start and Open University course starting in October. I'm really excited, and just a little bit nervous about returning to study but life is all about new challenges and this will certainly be a new challenge.

Oh, and my husband has just graduated, having studied for a BSc with the OU over the last four years. We've had a couple of celebrations for him. One with the kids then one on our own. We went off for a sleepover in Blairgowrie. Yes Blairgowrie is only five miles away but it was lovely to go out for dinner and not have to come home till the next day. We had a very relaxing evening at the Altamount House Hotel. Dinner was delicious, our room was very pretty, we had a lovely walk in the grounds after dinner and breakfast was fab. 

The challenge has now been set and my man keeps telling me that I'm going to get the study bug myself. Meanwhile I keep saying that I'm only doing one course and that doesn't mean that I'm going to be studying for a degree. Mmmm we'll see. Obviously, if he can do it whilst working full time then so can I. But I'm definately not committing myself just yet.

Back to normal..or as close as it gets.

When you don't know what to expect do you overestimate or underestimate ? Do you hope for the best and prepare for the worst ? Or are you totally relaxed and prepared for anything ?
Perthshire Open Studios is over for another year and I am now trying to assess how successful it has been for us. I had been hoping to be really busy with loads of visitors and fantastic sales and that didn't quite happen. We did however have a lot of lovely visitors who seemed to really like Buy Design and who said they will definately be returning in the future.  Hopefully this means a busy Chrismas for us.
The general feedback from other participants is that it was very quiet compared to previous years, but since this was my first year I don't really have anything to compare it to. What I do know is that in my experience ( not vast as I have only been open for two and a half years ) September is generally a quiet month. It's too early for most customers to be thinking about Christmas and they have just paid out for summer holidays and new school uniforms.
I seem to have spent the last week talking, talking, and talking again about how I started making jewellery, and how my hobby has developed into my business. I do like talking but I was starting to feel a bit talked out by the end of the week. So this week I am back to the business of making again and looking forward to the next challenge.
Oh... and we have just seen our daughter off  to Aberdeen University to study psychology. It's been quite a week all round.

Perthshire Open Studios

Tomorrow sees the start of  Perthshire Open Studios  Hopefully all the hard work this week will be well worth the effort. This is my first year taking part in the Open Studio week and so I'm not really sure what to expect. Many thanks are due to Ali, Maureen, Mary, Mark for restocking their spaces this week and to Cathy who will be minding the shop and showing her glass engraving next Saturday. Also to Sylvia who's husband distributed brochures in Dundee this week.
No time for photos this week as I have been busy making instead of blogging about making.
Have a look at the link above to see a bit more about the Studios and the artists taking part.
Fiona x

My Creative Space

My space this week is pretty busy. There are just under five weeks till Perthshire Open Studios

and just about five months till Christmas which means lots of preparation, lots of making and lots of controlled panic..

My pattern this week reads like this..

*knit 1, solder1, crochet 2 tog. Rpt from *

insert 1 tea then start again.

 Have a visit to Kootoyoo for some more creative spaces.

You can also visit Perthshire Open Studios on Facebook HERE

Perthshire Open Studios

I mentioned a few weeks ago that we are taking part in Perthshire Open Studios in September this year. The organisers have just started a facebook page so if you want to pop over for a look or join or like or become a fan, click on the link above.
I imagine that as we get closer to the event there will be lots of interesting reading.
This may be my shortest post yet....
Fiona x

Perthshire Open Studios

I have now confirmed that I will be taking part in Perthshire Open Studios this year. Click here if you would like to know more from the official site. It's not fully up and running yet but should be in the next few weeks.
I'm pretty excited and a little bit cautious about this venture which takes place from 11th till 19th September this year. Basically, artists, designers and makers from all over Perthshire open their studios to the public for the week. I have visited some of these in previous years but the first year I didn't have a studio and the second year I missed the deadline for applications. So this year I got myself organised well in advance and am now waiting for the brochures to appear.
I'm hoping that this will introduce Buy Design to a much wider market. The thing about being in a small town is that there is always going to be a limited number of customers. However the Open Studio week is really popular amongst people from all over who are interested in art, craft, and design, and who are interested in seeing makers actually making... I'm going to have to polish up my pliers and wire cutters. Or would I look more professional if my tools look well worn ? Still have a few months to work that one out.