Echo!

I haven't blogged for awhile because I have been busy... usually doing things I want to blog about. 

I've been doing a little bit of this:

A little bit of that: 

with a sprinkling of the other:

I'm also in the process of making the Halloween costumes for the kids - They're dressing up as Link and Zelda this year (Their request - Nerdy Parenting WIN) and I found a handy guide for making medieval dresses Here which I'm going to modify. Should be fun, right?

So that's what I've been doing. What are you up to? 

xx

GUESS WHAT

I have plans. Not big, megalomaniac ones, (but not small, insipid ones either,) and they're going to be going hand in hand with a bit of Blog-Redesign.

Now, I know we've been through this all before. Which is why I'm writing this post and saving it as a draft, and I'm only going to publish it once the plans are ACTUALLY in motion. So if you're reading this, we're past the whole "Oh she SAYS she has plans and I'll believe it when I see it!" phase of the endeavor.

OK. So after all this build-up, you might be wondering what these plans are, and I have two words for you.

Printable Stationery.

.......

So maybe it falls in the slightly insipid end of the plan scale, - it's not going to cure cancer or anything -  but if you have an occasion to use stationery, (say, a birthday card!) and you want a quick, easy, inexpensive and relatively instant solution to your lack of stationery, (eg: OMG, I FORGOT TO GET A CARD FOR X'S BIRTHDAY AND I SEE THEM IN FIVE MINUTES!!!) I think printable stationery comes into the fore.

Having said that, I don't have any cards ready YET. But I DO  have, designed and ready to launch, note-paper and envelope sets, which I will also offer as personalized invitations. (ooh! Custom stationery!) I'm also working on designing birthday and greeting cards, labels and tags for home-made gifts, Paper Dolls and other Printable toys and goodies.

If all that takes off, I'd like to offer real PHYSICAL stationery and paper toys that are printed on lovely paper and comes in a package in the mail (because buying real things on the internet is always like buying a present for yourself!)

My Esty shop is HERE and will launch on the 24th of August, 10am GMT, which is less than a week away! 

Have I mentioned that I'm both excited and nervous? 

Because I REALLY am!

xx

Hollytron

AS AN ASIDE: On my trip to Google to check that I had the correct spelling of stationery, (as opposed to stationary - I play fast and loose with grammar and spelling all the time, but some things you have to get right!) I came across the Wikipedia page for Stationery, and was delighted to discover that the name came from the STATIONARY nature of the merchants who sold  goods near universities, and that the Stationer's Company were a big ye-olde mega-company and were the first to use copyright. 

History is Fun :)

x

Progress - It Happens!

Believe me, I'm rather shocked and more than a little proud that I actually have been chipping away at the projects that I've set myself!

Part 1: The Rug.

We took these (old worn out Jeans kindly donated by friends and family!) and ripped them into strips....

This is a small sample here.... then we pick three and begin to braid and braid and braid....

I used my sewing machine to weigh it down, which was handy because whenever I ran out of one strand I would pick another one and sew it on. So it grew and grew until we have....

So now I have enough done to make a decent sized rug, but I still have to stitch it together - and you thought the braiding was the tedious part!

So that's the story with the rug! Almost done! <3 

Part 2: Paper Doll! 

This requires far more prototyping and experimentation that I thought it would initially. I really like the idea of dispensing with annoying paper tabs (always tearing!) and replacing them with MAGNETS - this poses a few issues with polarity and what not, so I'm playing with different ideas while I draw outfits on my doll!

There are a few design issues as well, (the hair style shown has been modified since discovering the difficulty involved in cutting out individual strands of hair!) Emily is also helping me come up with outfits for "the lady" so when it's all said and done it will be well and truly kid tested!

So that is it! I feel pretty good for getting this much done in between the school run, domestic goddessery, Roller Derby training, the occasional graphic design work and my constant battle with General Lethargy... oh no, I'm going to have to draw Lethargy in uniform now aren't I?

Love to you all, 

xx

Getting Stuff Done

Well that is the plan, at any rate. I hit a bit of a slump in the old productivity over the past few months, but with a few changes in place (the elder child starting school, the younger child having daycare for a couple of days a week and Himself going to college) I should have some time aaall to myself. And it is in this time that I shall Get Stuff Done.*

The first thing that is getting done, house work and other pressing matters aside, are paper dolls. When I was a smaller person I loved paper dolls, we had several sets and there was something special about them that you just couldn't get with an actual doll... who knows, maybe it was an early sign of my future "pretty things on paper" fetish which has manifested itself over the past few years! So it's something that I wanted to share with my kids. I have the base doll drawn up, and all I have to do now is give her some clothes...

Second on the list is to make a Rug. I have two collections on the go at the moment, one of old t-shirts and one of old jeans. Both are destined to become rugs. We shall see if they are worthy of being shown to the world.

So now that I've blogged about doing these things, I am obliged to keep my promise to the internet (and you, dear readers) and, you know, actually DO them. Wish me luck!

*I know that serial capitalisation bothers some people, but I truly believe that some things have transcended mere noun-ness and deserve the hallmark of a Proper Noun. I beg your forgiveness for my little follies, they make me happy :)