10 years and counting...

I was having a clear out my 'office' this morning; old paper work, clearing out folders, chucking out old catalogues, you know the kind of thing and I stumbled across papers dated 2000. It took a while for the cogs to slot into place but when they did it was like a lightning bolt. I have been in business a whopping 10 years. 10 years!

So why do I feel like I've only just started out? Has it really taken me that long to find my feet? It's not that I'm inexperienced - the first 5 years I ran a successful wedding and bespoke design business but it's a massive step to go from selling commercial work to selling your own and I never truely appreciated just how long that would take me. (Add to the mix 2 children and 2 house moves along the way and very little sleep.)

2010 has started feeling truely like a new start. I feel like I have done all the ground work, made all the mistakes, tried and tested and tried and tested and thought and talked and analysed myself to death and now I am where I want to be.

All that is left is to create and create and to put all my experience and new found confidence into practice.

(And cross my fingers and close my eyes and sprinkle a little fairy dust to help things along a bit.)

Beautiful Day

UK Handmade Magazine Winter 2009

No one told me when I ended up as editor / webdesigner of ukhandmade it would take over my life (probably because they didn't want to scare me off!) but however tough it gets it's this moment that makes it all worth while. The flutter of butterflies I get when Jo has waved her designer's magic wand over it and sends it back to my inbox all sparkly and finished is irreplaceable.

You can read it in all it's glory over at http://ukhandmade.blogspot.com/2009/12/uk-handmade-magazine-winter-2009.html - enjoy!

Fragments

This didn't come out as I had originally envisaged it but after living with it for a couple of days now I don't think I want to touch it. It has it's own energy, albeit a slightly broken one (hence the title) that is slightly disturbing but not unpleasant. I've noticed too my work has been getting more and more monochrome. This wasn't intentional but I've been so concerned with texture and and technique that making decisions about which colours to use has obviously been moved to the bottom of my list of priorities. Should I read something into this? Probably not. I am running out of white paint though...

Reflect

This horiztontal motif has stayed with me for a good few years now, and I never really figured out why. Lines of trees, dry stone walls, city skylines. Compositionally I like the way clear skies and undisturbed landscapes are broken by the upright jagged lines. Emotionally they feel like a rhythm, a pulse - music on a stave, an EKG.

What am I saying? No idea. Don't think, just feel.

Relaunch

It's been a long time coming but I am finally ready to relaunch my shop properly, and to celebrate I am offering 15% off when you spend £25. A good chance to buy in time for Christmas! Pop over to the Chalk Hill Blog for more details and product updates.

Jump!

Crazees :D

I am up to my eyeballs in work and not really having anything to blog about sadly, but I do make sure I have time with the kids - nothing better for clearing away the cobwebs than a good run around the downs! The time away from my personal work has also given me time to work out what I want to do next year. I am slowly pulling everything together and feeling more and more confident about the future plus I've been busy sewing a few seeds that will hopefully pay off in the long run. My habit of jumping at ever opportuntity that comes along has only resulted in me being over tired and over stretched and confused. No more. I only take the things that will help on my chosen path and say no to the rest.

Saying that I was busy saying no to craft fairs because I felt they were an indulgence that didn't really get me anywhere but I had a bit of an epiphany regarding fairs, hence I am doing the Cambridge Handmade Fair on the 5th December and really excited! There are some fantastic designers and makers so it is a must see if you are in the area, perfect for buying christmas pressies direct from the makers!

And if you want to know what I've got up my sleeve you will just have to wait and see :D

7.30 am

Autumn Colour

Sketchbook Peek

Recently I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Sue from Nottingham Craft Mafia for her blog, check it out here!

UK Handmade Autumn 2009

The Autumn Issue is out now at www.ukhandmade.co.uk. Big thanks to everyone involved!

Chalk Hill

A while ago I decided to scrap the Chalk Hill blog and put everything in together here, but recently I've been feeling a lot more focussed and confident about what I want to do with the business and now is the time to seperate them again. I've started with a newly designed version of last year's calendar for 2010 to start things off, with lots of other products on the way. Christmas is just around the corner and I can already smell the pine and feel the cold chill in the air. Indian summer? Ha, I've moved on already and have dug out the woolies. Pop over to the Chalk Hill blog for product updates, news and features of other designers from around the world.

Settling in

While Anya was starting school yesterday I got to spend my first day in my newly spruced up little studio uninterrupted! As you can see I have got it nice and cosy (I don't do tidy despite previous photos suggesting otherwise) but I do like to be sort of organised.

So imagine my delight at spotting this pretty little chest of drawers in a local furniture shop, ex display and reduced to a mere £27! And bet you can't guess what I keep in it....

...Paper of course!! Exciting huh? A proper little treasure chest. So in between trying to finish off my techie based website jobs I was able to finish a painting (or is that the other way round). A good day all round.

A New Chapter...

starts today as my little girl begins school! All my plans for the summer holidays (like fun, work, diy and more fun) went out the window for various different reasons so there is a lot of catching up to do and the house to put back together and websites to finish and new stock to make and photograph and and and....(deep breath) but at least the daily question 'do I go to school today mummy?' is answered with a yes followed by a jump for joy instead of the usual 'oh' and sulk.

I realised I have been blogging for 4 years, starting when Anya was just a few months old. I remember the excitement at having a second child as well as having the space to change my business -I had been slogging my guts out making wedding stationery for too many years and I wanted to do something more personally satisfying as well as needing a hard earned rest!

It wasn't easy, muddle head that I am. I use a 'suck it and see' approach to making decisions so any poor soul who has stayed with my ramblings over the last 4 years has seen me twist and turn and chop and change over the path I want to take and how to get there. And guess what. I think I have finally figured something out. Thinking is my enemy. So I am not going to talk about it anymore, or worry or fret or um or aah. I am just going to get on with it. Whatever it may be. Now let's turn the page....

early morning light

We've had 3 days of sunshine and 3 days stuck inside while the house is taken over by plumbers. I won't show you the ugly tanks and boiler currently sitting in our garden so here are a few blooms that are still hanging on in the over run borders. Autumn is already in the air along with the promise of new adventures and a new focus. I am itching to get started but need to get the workmen out of the way, spend a week with my children doing the things we haven't been able to do all holiday and spring clean the house for one last time!

work in progress....

The walls have been stripped, filled, sanded and painted, the nasty carpet pulled up and replaced with clean, new wooden flooring we had left over from our last place (and to think we nearly threw it out when we moved!) and my little studio has a new lease of life. It will be a while before the proper workspace/furniture is in but with bits and bobs swapped over from other rooms in the house I am happy to make do for a while. Already feels a lot better. It's amazing what a lick of paint can do.