Time, Motivation and moving forward

So, I have been giving a great deal of thought recently to where I am now and where I want to be and what I want to achieve.  I know, eventually, I would like my crafts to be more than just a hobby. I know to achieve this, not only do I still have a lot to learn, I have also got to find my niche. I feel I am so eager to have a go at so many different crafts I'm finding it difficult to consistently work on something, or even a variety of things, that I could successfully sell on. Would even like to look into being able to run classes or craft clubs, being able to share my interest with like minded people.
So, the question now has to be, how do I get to where I want to be, what goals do I need to set myself in order to achieve my dream?
I'm a part-time working mother of 2 under 3 year old daughters. At the moment the best times for me to be able to sit down and get a good couple of hours work in is after bed time.  This is when I spend most of my time for my bigger, more time consuming projects.

I have also rediscovered my love of crochet.  I have made a few home decor hanging hearts as well as being in the process of making my first blanket.
For the heart which is pictured I also made the beaded charm to hang off it, and then gave it as a thank you gift to someone.

To make the blanket, so it doesn't seem as daunting, I have told myself I will make at least a square a day. This, I feel, is going really well. I so far have about 11 squares with a further 14 to make plus the putting together.
Crochet is something I really enjoy, plus something I find relatively easy to squeeze in around my girls, especially in the day, say at nap time or down time, I find it isn't something that requires at least a couple of hours concentration, like, say, one of my sewing projects.
So my goals: I am currently learning to drive so that I am able to travel and attend craft shows. In the meantime, I intend to keep working on various items I think I could sell, building up a stock for when I can get out. I would also like to start building some sort of online presence. I have this blog and a facebook page, as well as using Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram to share my pictures and thoughts. I feel its this cyberworld marketing I need to learn the most with, or get as much advice about as possible.
So, that's about it for this installment. As always I will keep you all updated as to my progress. I thank you all for reading and following me. If you don't currently follow me, please consider adding me to your friend list, and for everyone, please have a look round my facebook page, or just follow me on Pinterest, Twitter or Instagram. All comments always welcome, good or bad, and I hope to be hearing from you all soon.
For now, happy crafting
Sam <3

Paper crafting

After seeing a pin on Pinterest recently from the blog, Homespun with Heart, I decided to have a go at making some paper flowers.

I then used these to decorate a heart, which I plan on hanging up with some ribbon as a cute decorative item.

Here are a few pictures of my first attempt

If you look carefully (though not sure it shows up too well on this picture) there are small gaps, and I'm not totally happy with all the flowers, though as I have made more I have gained confidence with them.

Therefore I am going to attempt another one, hopefully make it gap free, with flowers that are more similar in height, but not necessarily size as I think that variation helps with the look.

As I do plan on making another because I wasn't totally happy with this one I haven't bothered adding the ribbon to it.  However, my mum didn't want this first attempt to go to waste, as I was just planning on putting in my craft box and probably forgetting about it, so she has used it in her bedroom and stuck it in the middle of her bed head board (What would we do without proud parents????)
I have to say though, from a distance it looks pretty cute (if you dont get close enough to notice the gaps)

Will keep you updated with any new ones I make.

Until next time :-)

New Toys

Having recently taken my interest a little more seriously of late, I have recently taken a trip to Hobbycraft and bought myself some new toys.

First, a quick note on Hobbycraft. I love this shop.  It's the only really good craft place (that I know, and I don't proclaim to know a lot, lol) I can go in Sheffield where I am actually able to view what I want to buy before I actually buy it.  However, when you look about on the deals you can get on the web it is quite over priced.

I would love to hear anyone else's view on this and where people actually get their craft supplies from.

Anyway, I had time on my hands where I could spend time getting creative, so my lack of patience led me to buy a few bits and bats from Hobbycraft so I could crack straight on when I got home.

Here is what I bought:

A butterfly paper punch
A heart paper punch
Acrylic stamp block
Pack of Birthday Stamps
Pack of 2 butterfly stamps
Black ink pad
Gold/Silver/Bronze ink pad
Red/Green/Black in pad
Forever friend decoupage Christmas pack
A Christmas pack of various card-making accessories (papers, toppers, decoupage)

As you can see my thoughts are currently focusing on Christmas, and what I can do for everyone.

Anyway, I have been playing around with bits of my kits and wanted to show you what I have been able to do.

      

     

These 6 cards were made from the Christmas pack I bought, using decoupage, toppers and papers provided in the pack. The 'Christmas Wishes' and 'Merry Christmas' were done with my new stamps too.  On the card in the top left corner, the 'Noel' was a topper provided in the pack, and the main background was achieved with a robin stamp I got in my pack, with the red and green ink pad I also bought.

The card on the left was made, also with the the Christmas pack decoupage and paper. The stamp was again from the Christmas ones I bought.  However, also on this card I used my embossing board which came in my pack. It doesn't show up very well in this picture, but I used a snow flake, which I embossed around the edge of the decoupage topper (all the white area), which I thought looked pretty cool.

The card on the right was made with my Birthday stamps, the background paper was one I already had in my kit. The stamps I coloured in with my metallic pencil crayons.

I have also done another 2 cards using the butterfly paper punch I bought.  I coloured half a sheet of A4 cartridge paper using pastel pencils with a red and a brown colour.  I then used the butterfly punch to cut out various butterflys, and used them to create these two cards.

 

Again please feel free to leave any comments, feedback would be much appreciated.

Thanks and see you for now. Hopefully speak again soon.

Sam <3<3<3