I've moved

my blog that is. I've built a new website with lots of help from my friend Carol (she has the patience of a saint!) and moved my blog there. You can now find me at www.corrigancards.com
Hope to see you there.

The Scottish Deer Centre

I had a stall at the Scottish Deer Centre yesterday - what a gorgeous venue. Unfortunately it was very quiet (for a bank holiday Monday) but that was probably more to do with the weather than anything else. It's a shame, but the manager is planning on hosting more regular fairs there, so hopefully once word gets around the customers will start flocking in. The staff up there were lovely and the setting very beautiful - even if it did take us twice as long to find it in the first place. Usually a very easy place to find, however, Fife Council in it's wisdom, shut the direct route to there and the diversion signs were sporadic to say the least. However, eventually after taking a minor tour of Fife we got there. I think I may have to go back and actually visit the park itself sometime soon.

Another full week

It's been a week of events this week. Last week, my mother who lives in Cyprus, flew back to the UK and stayed for a week with her friend in Bury St Edmunds. On Tuesday, she took the train up to Edinburgh to stay with another friend so I dragged the husband and kids over to visit for a while. Tomorrow she and I are hitting Glasgow for some much needed catchup and retail therapy.

I also got my roller banner finally delivered and it's fantastic - huge, but brilliant.

I also got an unexpected email inviting me to take a stall at the Scottish Deer Centre in Cupar, Fife on bank holiday monday, so a nice trip upcountry is planned for Monday. I'm hoping it'll be busy (and profitable), but even if it's not, it's another venue to get myself out there.

Interesting day

Roughly six months ago I lost my keys - couldn't find them anywhere and suspected the dogs had taken them and buried them as they're wont to do. On the keyring was my memory stick with some of my templates etc for my cards. Anyway, this morning I found them!!!! What are the chances of that happening? Then my daughter came downstairs and told me she'd got a commission for me from her boyfriend's mother and then.........I got an email inviting me to take a stand at a craft fair next Monday. Well they do say things come in threes

Website and other fun stuff

Well, considering I've had the house to myself for two days and therefore plenty time to make cards, I've come up with nothing - no inspiration whatsoever. Ah well, I'm sure it'll come at some point. So I've spent the time updating here and tidying my website up. I've added a few more dates for the year and my calendar's looking quite healthy for the year so far. I've a few more things I want to do with the site, but that'll have to wait until I've taken some advice. Keep an eye out here though, and I'll post the changes as they happen.

Pets

Well, I broke down this morning and cleaned!!! One of the cats woke me up at seven this morning(woohoo, a long lie in), and since I had the downstairs to myself I thought I might as well make a start. So now it's quarter to ten, the house is sparkling and smelling lovely, all the windows are open to let the fresh air in and the sun is shining - glorious day. I now feel completely non-guilty about sitting down and making some new cards.

So here's the reason I got up so early today.... Kai


The reason I have to do so much housework...Rosie & Logan, and my old man - he's been with me the longest... Oscar

Friday at last!

It's been an awful long week. No idea why because I've been really busy and that usually makes the days go quickly, but this week seems to have dragged. Anyway, I've got a free weekend for once - no fairs, no commissions (all done and dusted), paperwork is all up to date so I get to play this weekend. I've got a couple of family birthdays coming up so I'll be able to get those cards done this weekend and I really need to update the website. I'll need to find something to do to keep me busy or I'll have no excuse not to do the dreaded housework!

Long day

I was up at omg it's early (read 5:30am) this morning to finish off a commission before going to work this morning. Highly confused the dogs!! Spent all day at work wishing I was at home making cards or outside enjoying the sunshine and now I have to have a quick meal and then I'm out again to a meeting of the Dunfermline Wedding Co-op. I enjoy these meetings, but my brain's fried by 8:30 so not a lot goes in my brain by then - thank goodness we get copies of the minutes! I've also realised I've got to do some artwork for an advert I've signed up for, make up some templates because the dogs ate my memory stick which had all my templates stored on it. Memo to all crafters.......don't have mischevious dogs or hide stuff really, really well. On the upside, I got an email to tell me there is a space at my regular craft fair next month if I want it......yes I do!!! So I'll be out at Balerno on 9th May.....maybe see you there.

Commissions, commissions...

I had a commission to do a handbag card for a lady who lives in Balerno last week. She received it and was so pleased with it, she's ordered another card from me.....yay!!! I've also got to tweak a wedding invitation proof, so, I'll be busy today working out designs........I can think of worse ways to survive a Sunday.

Craft Fair, Dunfermline cont....

Wow, what a fantastic day yesterday was - fabulous footfall, who'd have known so many people lived in Dunfermline. We were packed all day long even after we'd finished for the day and were packing away, there was still people coming in. I've booked up for the November one too now and here's hoping it's, if not as busy, busier than yesterday. I came home on a high but absolutely knackered and was asleep in bed by 10......rock'n'roll lifestyle me lol. My friend, Carol, who shared a stall with me yesterday has a new business line too - encaustic art. Absolutley fantastic work and I've commissioned her to do a painting for me for a member of my family. I've seen a photo of it, now can't wait to get the real thing!!! As soon as she gets her website up and running, I'll post a link to it.

Craft Fair, Dunfermline

Well, going to an Arts & Crafts fair tomorrow and this time it's in my home town. You'd think it'd be easier since there's minimal travel but no.....there's no free parking, infact there's no parking at the venue so my choices are, take the car and pay for all day parking, take the bus and lug all my stuff on and off or walk lugging my stuff all the way there. I've decided I'm too thrifty to pay for the parking so I'll either be walking or busing it...weather dependent. I've also realised that I really don't need to take as much stuff as I usually do to craft fairs....so all in all not a bad thing. Here's hoping we have a good day tomorrow.

My friend Andrea

is such a fantastic friend. After driving myself almost demented trying to put a slideshow on my blog here, she stepped in and made it happen within minutes. She didn't have to, she has tons of things that keep her busy and has enough on her plate as it is without me and my witterings. Yet, she did and you can see the results to the side there. She's always there for me, a friendly, non-judgmental ear and a shoulder to cry on when necessary. She's also one of my biggest fans when it comes to my cards, but will tell me honestly when something isn't quite right......in the nicest possible way! We don't see each other nearly enough as we live quite far apart, but we talk most days - usually over the internet (what a fantastic invention lol).

So Twinnie.........thank you for being there to boost me up, a shoulder to cry on and just being a good mate!

The sun is shining and ....

It's such a beautiful day today - the sun has some heat to it and there's not much wind for a change, seems a shame to stay indoors but I've got loads to do today. Good thing I don't have work today! I had a bit of a panic this weekend. I got a commission to make one of my handbag cards for a lady and I couldn't remember what supplier I got the paper from..........help!!!! After much googling i finally found it, but it taught me a lesson. So today I'm going to organise myself. I've got a notebook and I'm going to take scraps of all my papers and note down the name and supplier of each one so I don't have this problem again. A little pendantic? Maybe, but I don't want to be caught out again. I've also realised I really need to stock up on 'out of season' papers when I use them in projects that are not necessarilly 'seasonal' projects. For example, this handbag card was made using a Christmas paper - not so easy to get in April! I also need to sort out my receipts for this month....the taxman sent me my paperwork and although it doesn't need to go back to him until October, i don't want to be sitting for hours working out my expenses for the year all in one go. I really need to get myself more organised.

T-shirt

I've just been online and ordered some new business cards and while I was on there, I got myself one of these

Rather sporadic blogging

I seem to be rather sporadic in my blogging lately but I've just been so busy with...............well life really. Had my first craft fair of the year yesterday (I was supposed to be attending one in February, but I was ill so had to cancel). I love doing the Balerno Farmers Market and Craft Fair - it's such a nice atmousphere and the stall holders are all very friendly. I don't usually make much, but tend to cover my costs and make a little profit. Yesterday was quiet, although I made a few sales and got a commission (yay!!). I sent Ben out to hand out leaflets during the first half of the morning and made three sales through that alone - wish I'd thought of it sooner and wish I'd taken more leaflets (we ran out after two hours). I also got the chance of some advertising at a really reasonable price, so hopefully that will bring in some custom.

I also got a wedding commission......I love doing wedding stationery.....and this one is going to look lovely, all chocolate brown and pale gold. An added bonus, I'm going to the wedding as a guest too :-)

After the craft fair, Ben and I popped up to Leven to visit Blacketyside Farm - if you live in the Fife area, do go visit and grab some lunch while you're there - the toasties alone are well worth the drive!

It's been a while....

since I updated my blog. I've been so busy lately between my day job, family life and five....yes FIVE wedding fayres this month! I don't know if people are postponing their weddings because of the recession, but the four I've attended so far have been very quiet. Of course, you get the usual...'oh I'm making my own invitations, but I thought I'd come and get some ideas' which are a wedding stationer's worst nightmare. I'm sorry, but I work very hard to come up with designs, I don't need you to steal them. Ok, rant over.

I had fun at the fayres though - it's lovely to meet all the brides-to-be and hear their plans. It takes me back to when I was planning my own wedding just over two years ago.

Back in January this year, I joined the Dunfermline Wedding Co-op. Such a lovely bunch of people and very helpful too. I couldn't attend the last wedding fayre as my son was in a show sponsored by the National Theatre Scotland. I mentioned this to a couple of the people in the Co-op and they told me if I went up to the venue during the day and set up, they would break my display down and bring it back to Dunfermline where I could pick it up - how nice was that!

I've changed the way I lay out my table too - although I still have plans for more changes. However, that will have to wait a bit until I get the money to put them into action .... watch out here for updates in the near future. I thought you'd like to see my table though so I've added a couple of pics.

Panic mode!!!!

I realised yesterday that we're at the end of February (for some reason I though we had another week to go!). That means my first wedding fayre is this Wednesday...........aaaargh, I'm not ready yet! I've spent the morning up to my eyeballs in glue, card and printer ink and come up with a couple of newbies. Hope you like them. There's a few more, but you'll have to visit my website to see them ;-)

I'm back

Not that I've been anywhere, but this time last week I wanted someone to take me out back and shoot me I felt so ill. Anyhoo....I'm better and ready to go back to work tomorrow. I knew I was on the mend when daytime tv started to seriously get on my nerves, and I started to notice the mess in the house again. Once I started to feel better though, I did some work on my site - re-branded the whole lot and re-did some of my designs...and I think they're a lot better now. I did have to cancel going to a meeting tonight because I didn't want to push my luck - knowing my luck, I'd have a relapse and I can't take any more time off my dayjob. Frustrating having to cancel the meeting as I really enjoyed the last one - ah well, thems the breaks.

I also managed to do another design for my wedding stationery line - hope you like it.

Craft Fairs

Well, I'm now booked in for this years craft and wedding fayres. The first one will be at Balerno Farmers Market on Saturday, 14th February. I love doing this market, it's such a friendly atmosphere and because most of us are regulars, we've all come to know each other. Ben loves coming to this one too and helping me out........he's good at it too - a real salesman in the making!

The next one's I'm booked in for are in March. Three evening wedding fayres,

4^th March Kingswood Burntisland 6.30 – 8.30

5^th March Pitbauchlie Dunfermline 6.30 – 8.30

11^th March Victoria Kirkcaldy 6.30 – 8.30

I'm really looking forward to these ones. It's a different atmosphere at wedding fayres, although they're fun to do, they're a bit more serious. Plus, it's always a kick talking to the brides to be about their wedding plans.

....and a few more

Finally got my creative juices flowing again

It's been a while...........I seemed to be stuck in a quagmire of no inspiration at all. Fortunately, I seem to have got myself out of it.

New Toy

My printer died a death at the weekend, so we gave it a decent burial and went out and bought a new one. I love it........it's got so many buttons to mash I don't know where to start. I eventually, after humming and hawing in the shop for ages and driving the assistant mad, bought the Epson Stylus Office BX300F. It prints, copies, scans and faxes.....now I just have to figure out how to get it to do the dishes and walk the dogs and I'm sorted.

Printers

My printer finally gave up the ghost and died on me today. Not bad considering I've had it more than two years, it gets used daily and I paid nothing for it. So I now have to go and buy a new one. I did some research and, good grief, what a lot of choice there is out there now.

It used to be you bought a computer it came with a printer, you plugged it in and off you went. Now, there's mono laser printers, mono inkjet printers, colour laser printers, colour inkjet printers, all in one's with printer, scanner and copier and even all in one's with faxes included with the rest. Confused? I am!

Not only that, the toners or inks all cost different prices too and last different amount of times, so not only do you have to take in to consideration the cost of the printer but the cost of the ink/toner as well. Sense tells me it's more cost effective and I'll get a better print if I buy a laser printer, but my bank balance tells me that it'll probably have to be an inkjet one.

So now, do I buy a regular inkjet or do I get an all in one? Choices, choices!

Creative spaces

I need a craft room! I've been wandering round the web trying to get some inspiration for when, either I win the lottery and can afford a big house with a HUGE crafting room, or...more likely...my daughter finally moves out and I can convert her room. These are a few I've found

Busy weekend

I've had a very busy weekend. I heard about a new craft supplies shop that had opened in Edinburgh so I toddled over there on Saturday morning. Turns out it had been opened for three years........but it's new to me so there!! Tiny little place, but crammed to the gills with all sorts of crafting goodies and very reasonable prices too. While I was there, I popped in to visit with some friends who I haven't seen for ages and spent a lovely couple of hours catching up.

On Sunday I knuckled down and got some work done. I was contacted by an old friend who I used to work with. Her daughter's getting married next year and they asked me to mock up some invitations. I was pretty pleased with the end results. I emailed the pics to the bride to be who contacted me to tell me she loved them. *yay me!!!* It's always exciting to get a commission, but doubly so to get a wedding commission - I just love weddings (as long as I don't have the stress of organising them myself!).

Now I just have to get myself organised for the next couple of months worth of craft and wedding fairs - Balerno Craft Fair every month this year, a craft fair in Dunfermline in April and two wedding fayres in March....busy, busy, busy.

Craft Robo

How very frustrating. I've been lusting after one of these for ages and now thanks to some very generous in-laws I've just taken possession of one. However, it doesn't want to play with my puter!!! I can see a couple of very frustrating evenings coming up until I persuade it to play nice.

Back into the crafting groove

I'd basically put aside my crafting during the holiday season. For two reasons really, (1) I don't have a dedicated crafting area so during the holidays everything had to be stored away out of sight, and (2) i think I overdosed on crafting getting ready for christmas between the presents (all homemade) and the boxes for the table.

So yesterday, I dragged everything back out of the cupboard and set up a dedicated crafting area in the dining area of our lounge. This is now MY space....I've claimed it. I can feel a few ideas bubbling away so I guess over the next few days the family won't see much of me........apart from the mess I generate LOL

Government targets obesity

I spent the morning catching up with the news and lo and behold, the government is now targeting obesity! Ok, so what are they doing?

Are they putting money into the schools to teach children about nutrition and how to make healthy choices or giving the schools more money for the PE departments to help promote exercise? No!

Are they putting money into the community to teach adults about nutrition and healthy choices for their families? No!

Are they promoting breastfeeding? No! (in fact, they’re making it harder and harder for mothers to breastfeed while outside the home by closing down facilities for breastfeeding mothers…but that’s another rant)

So…what are they doing? Oh right, they’re putting adverts on the telly for three months! Hmmmmm that’s going to whip the nation into shape.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in the best of shape myself. I carry a little excess weight but that’s MY fault. Due to the choices I make. I know I could lose the little excess weight I carry by making better choices and exercising a little more……..but I’m an adult. I take responsibility for the choices I make. When I was at school, it was compulsory to take PE twice a week. I had a lot of choices too – we had volleyball, rounders, gymnastics, swimming, basketball, cricket, rugby (yes, even the girls), athletics, skiing….the list goes on. Our parents never had to pay for these things, it was paid for by the local council as part of the school curriculum. We had home economics, which taught cooking, budgeting, planning a menu, sewing, knitting and even a little home decorating and maintenance. Why have these things stopped? Personally, I’d prefer my hard earned tax pennies go back into the community than pay the Wallace & Grommit creators to put a couple of adverts on the telly for three months.

We seem to be living in more and more of a nanny-state where parents are relinquishing the responsibility for their children to the government. Instead of taking the time to ensure that their children receive healthy meals and get out and about exercising with them, parents today want to sit back and blame the government for the fact their children are fat and lazy. Children are a reflection of their parents. If you are polite and respectful to your children and teach them the basics of right and wrong, they will be polite and respectful back. If you plonk your child down infront of the tv, x-box, playstation everyday, what do they learn? Nothing……..well they learn good hand-eye co-ordination. I’m not saying that children shouldn’t have these things, they have their place. God knows, I lived for the half-hour that Barney came on the tv so I could get ten minutes peace and quiet, but my children never spent all day sitting infront of the tv. We got out and about, doing things, learning things, just being together and enjoying each others company. Isn’t that what being a family means?

I think this recession could be a blessing in disguise. It will teach people to make better choices. To stop wasting things…….we have become a nation of ‘wantitnows’. If something breaks, we don’t try to fix it, we throw it out and get a new one. If we have food left over from a meal, we chuck it in the bucket instead of refrigerating it and using it for a meal the next day. We say we’re too busy to cook healthy meals when we come back home, tired from working all day……well, most homecooked meals take approximately 20 minutes to cook – that’s less time than it takes to drive to MacDonalds, KFC or get a pizza delivered.

We’re no longer willing to save up for luxuries – we just put them on the credit card or overdraft and worry about it later. Well later is here! Instead of throwing out the leftover food from a meal, we’ll be forced to use our minds creatively to find a way to use them in the next day’s meals. Instead of nipping out for a MacDonalds, or KFC or phoning for a pizza to be delivered, we’ll have to make meals from healthy foods, like vegetables!!!! These things should be LUXURIES…but these days they seem to be the norm because they’re cheaper to buy than healthy foods. No wonder our nation is overweight…...it’s not the government’s fault, it’s ours because we’ve become lazy and unimaginative.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Here's to 2009
Starting afresh
Learning from past mistakes and forgiving ourselves for them
Getting it right this time round

Happy New Year everyone - lets hope it's a healthy and wealthy 2009