LIFE UPDATE - THINGS ARE LOOKING UP

Hey gang,

These past few weeks have been super stressful. First I had uni work to finish and hand in, then there was a whole to-do which meant I couldn't exhibit my magazine project. Then I had to decide what to do with my life.... I was between applying for Hobbycraft or volunteering until I found something better. Hobbycraft would have been fab but it involved Commuting (shudder) and it wasn't enough hours.
Then I found Perfect Job.
I wrote an application.
I got an interview.
I bought Grown Up Clothing for the interview.

And now I will describe the last few days of last week.

Wednesday: Found out I had got a 1st in my magazine project, which brought my final grade at uni to a 2:1 which I am absolutely over the moon about!

Thursday: Interview.

Friday: Phone call saying I had got the job. Evening out with my parents to celebrate.


Wondering what the job is? Well, recently on my travels I had seen a shiny new building being built. For a while I was curious what it would be, until I saw the job being advertised. It is a brand new sixth form college and from September I will be the Visual Arts Technician. So basically I will be showing people how to use cameras and Photoshop, among lots of other things. It's creative but doesn't require me to actually make stuff, I just get to help other people make stuff and achieve their creative ambitions. Cool, eh? From the sounds of it, no two days will be the same. For once in my life I'm excited to do something that requires me to leave the house. And I'll be getting paid for it!

The best bit is, I can buy craft supplies guilt-free! Woohoo!

And you know what? I AM ME AGAIN! For so long I was stressed, anxious and miserable. But once I got that phone call... Now I can forget about sorting out my life and craft, which I haven't felt like doing much over the past month or so.

So my first ever job application and I got it. I still can't quite believe my luck but I'm glad to have taken another step in life.

I still hope to be designing, so this blog should still be updated, although maybe less frequently.

Thanks for reading!
Emily xx

This Week.

Hi everyone,

No Tutorial Tuesday this week... I tried recording something yesterday but I'll be honest - what I was making just ended up in a huge mess so I gave up on it.

Instead I want to use today's post to share what's been inspiring me lately and what I've been up to.

Firstly, this exists and I need it more than any paper pad I've ever needed before.

First Edition paper pads are (relatively) pricey but the paper pads are so high quality it's worth it. I'm a little jealous of my friends - I know people on the Trimcraft DT and they received this in their kits, and another friend of mine won it in a competition on Instagram. Hopefully Trimcraft will have a DT call soon and I can throw my hat into the ring. Their products are gorgeous and I've love to design for them. 

Yesterday I saw that I'd made my first sale on Folksy, plus I sold some clothes on eBay - I've started writing my profits down in a notebook, and I have accumulated enough to buy this paper pad (once it comes out - I haven't seen it anywhere yet), and it will be bought guilt free! 

Speaking of sales on Folksy, I had to make a set of 'business cards'. Well, just little cards to make the order a little more professional. I had some for my Etsy store but that was more for my 'art' side of things... so for these I wanted them to be a little more craft themed. 

Last week I did a little doodling, I drew some shells on my desk, painted them with a little watercolour and then scanned them. I learnt how to make patterns in Photoshop so used the shell drawings to come up with some paper designs and used one of them for the background of the little cards. 

I do need to come up with more designs and spend longer playing around with ideas on Photoshop, and when I do I'll be sure to make them into printables that I can then sell online. I love papers that look hand painted, so hopefully other people will too! I've wanted to be able to combine drawing with crafts for so long so maybe now is the opportunity to do so. 

I love packing things to be posted. Getting the bits together, wrapping them up in pretty tissue paper, printing a little card and a packing slip... I'm not weird, I swear....

Finally...

Kaisercraft Boho Dreams.

I was all ready to buy it on Sunday when they had a free postage offer on at Craftie Charlie....  but it was out of stock! Gah!

Anyway, thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Stash Update!

Hi all,

Just a quick post today, to share the newest additions to my stash.

The first is from The Range. Docrafts have new products out and though a lot is a bit same-y or not my cup of tea, I couldn't resist the adhesive tiles or gold triangles, or the mini dies. The dies are a really good price and they're quite general so useful for any kind of project. Then I got some mini cards, just to experiment with stamping a bit more. I'm not that great at making cards so hopefully the smaller scale will be a little less daunting for me plus I can try out different techniques. Finally a box with small compartments in to store smaller embellishments in. It's a bit rubbish though, the inserts that slide in are too wide so really difficult to get into the slots, some don't reach the bottom so anything really small will slip underneath, which is quite annoying....

Next, The Works have some really nice things in at the moment. Lots of plain bits that you can cover in paints or inks or paper. My favourites are the little plaques that are covered with tree bark, they'd be perfect for a nature themed project. My favourite thing about The Works is that their products are so similar to the bigger companies we're so familiar with, but they are so cheap that there's none of that guilt that comes with spending £5 on a pack of embellishments are pretty much everything is a pound or less.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Emily xx