Busy weekend

Well my first weekend back at work has certainly been busy!  I'm a woman on a mission to get this house ready to sell!  😊 I finished stripping and sanding 3 layers of paint off the door into the downstairs wet room.  This door will be purple to match the door into the kitchen. 💜

This is the inside   It will be just boring white!!

Despite the pissing down heavy rain, OH sanded the area to the entrance of my front door and primed the sheltered bit.  What a huge difference painting it white will make!  The front door will also be white.  I never use this door but it's the one first time visitors will enter.  We're hoping the weather next weekend will be kinder and it will be finished.

I spent some time today meal prepping for the week.   I began by saving my veg scraps to make vegetable stock at some point.  I'll keep adding to the bag in the freezer and when it's full I'll make stock.  I don't know why I've never done this before!!!  I saw it on a Youtube video.  Just shows you can always learn something new!

So my fridge is now full with 4 portions pulled beef, 4 portions shredded chicken, 3 overnight oats, 1 portion almond pancakes, 3 mugs of soup, 1kg roast cauliflower, 3 roasted peppers and 2 sweet potatoes sliced and baked into 'toast.'  Since I took this photo I've also cooked some rice.

 So lots of meals all ready to go, no thinking required!

I recently popped into TK Maxx and found this jacket.  It's a Michael Kors and was £69.99.  Lightweight, warm and showerproof.  Perfect for work especially as it's got a hood!  Interestingly (or not!!) it's TJ Maxx in America.  I'm assuming it's the same company?!  That brings my annual clothing spend so far up to £421.21.  I need a few more technical tops for the gym so I'm keeping an eye on the sales for some good deals. 

Catch up

It's been a wee while since I've posted.  Sorry about that.  The Teen hasn't been well and kindly shared his bugs with me.  A few weeks of flu followed by a nasty d and v bug hasn't been fun!!  He seems to be back to normal and thankfully is on school holidays now.

 

Lots of stuff has been happening here.  I had another viewer last weekend.  They still haven't come back and said if they're interested or not.  I'm finding the whole process disheartening.  I think it's very rude when people come into your home with a view to buying it and don't even have the decency to respond to phone calls from the agent.

 

Today I attended a craft fair.  It cost £10 for a table, £12 in petrol costs and I didn't sell any of my tartan things.

 

I did get lots of lovely comments but no one bought anything.  More experienced sellers than me have been telling that craft fairs are just soul destroying and not worth doing.  Maybe they're right.  Think I'll concentrate on my Etsy shop and FB.

My lovely mum and aunt knitted some wee chicks and bunnies and stuffed them with a creme egg.  We sold a few of them and made £11.  Barely enough to cover the cost of the yarn and the egg.

Good job I scored some 10p bargains in the supermarket last night then!!  2 pizza bases, 2 vegetable samosas and a mini garlic baguette.  All went straight into the freezer.

Facebook Page

I finally got round to setting up my Facebook page for The Tartan Tower.  I've uploaded tons of photos into albums of my work.  There's a lot more than I thought now I see it all together :-)

I'm not good at blowing my own trumpet but if I don't promote my stuff I won't sell anything.  I'm attending 2 craft fairs as a seller in the next few weeks.  Both events are on FB so I'm hoping to get a wider profile.  Sounds like I know what I'm talking about!!

If you use FB, please look at my page and like it.  Just type The Tartan Tower into the search box at the top.

Thanks :-)

Keep calm and carry on

It's been one rollercoaster of a week here.  Death and illness puts a lot of stuff into perspective.  But I'm happy with my life and am grateful for the good things in it so won't dwell on the negatives.

 

 

I still haven't got round to re opening my Etsy shop or getting my website ready to sell directly.  So many things keep conspiring against me (mainly time!!)  But I have been stitching.  These wee dog brooches are Royal Stewart tartan.  They're so small (only 5cm) I guess it's hard to tell what tartan they are.  But still love making them.  The best bit is adding the stuffing and seeing them come to life :-)

 

 

The local craft boutique has requested more owl and dog cushions.  They are my big ticket items at £30 each so I'm more than happy to put in the hours for these fellas.  Each one takes about 2 and a half hours to make. I'm (im)patiently waiting for my delivery of cushion stuffing so I can finish them off.

 

 

My January food budget has been successful! :-)  One day left and I've overspent by 1p.  One single penny!! I am so thrilled especially as I included dog food in the total.  I've worked hard to make sure I haven't wasted a single scrap of food and that we've eaten healthily.  The above chicken was rescued off a chicken carcass before I popped it into the slow cooker to make stock for soup.  It was enough to flavour a risotto for me.

This is my house in the snow.  I love my house and wish dearly I didn't have to move.  But I do so it's still for sale.  I had two viewings recently.  One couple's feedback was that it was too remote and was too much work for them.  The other couple haven't even bothered to respond. 

No point in getting annoyed about it.  I'll just keep calm and carry on as usual

My first Christmas Fair

Although this was my first fair as a seller I've organised and taken part in many fairs over the years as a teacher and PTA member.  But it's very different when you're on the other side of table trying to earn money for yourself!

 

The venue Mar Lodge near Braemar is a National Trust property.  It's a country house originally built as a sporting lodge in Victorian times. It can be used for functions and events.

 

When we arrived we were told to pick a table.  All the local folk had bagged the downstairs area so I had to go upstairs to the panelled landing.  It was a lovely setting but very dark!  It took us ages to work out how to use my lovely new camera but I managed to take some pics.

 

 

First layout of my stall.  When I stood back it looked too cluttered so it got re arranged several more times after this! I didn't take any more as customers started to arrive.

With the baskets removed

My lovely mum and aunt knitted these wee Christmas puddings.  They have a well known chocolate inside ;-)

Heart cushion.  I nearly sold this but the lady dithered (good Scottish word!) and said she'd think about it and come back.  She didn't!

Star cushion.  Really thought I'd sell this one.

In the end I sold 4 wee brooches, a star tree decoration and loads of the wee knitted decs.  Total made was £53.  Not a huge amount for 4 hours but the table was free.  I handed out a few business cards so maybe I'll get some commissions at a later stage. And I can add a National Trust Christmas Fair to my CV.

But the best part of the day was talking to 2 of the other stall holders.  They were so generous with their advice.  I learned loads of practical tips about setting up my stall (battery powered fairy lights, bunting in the textile you're selling, display boxes/shelves) and got amazing business advice to take my stuff to the next level.

They both talked about how you can never predict what will be a good fair (in the sense of making money) Weather, location or time of year don't seem to be indicators of potential customers or how much they will spend.

The lady next to me made items in Harris Tweed (phone covers, keyrings etc) She has been trading for just 18 months.  She was featured in Country Living magazine and sells her products throughout the UK!!  Like me she works from home and has turned a hobby into a thriving business.

I am seriously considering her advice.  Scary yet exciting at the same time :-)

Technical stuff!

I am not a techy person at all but today I out did myself.

I built my own website!!! :-)

Have a look here www.thetartantower.co.uk

Still a work in progress but once I've figured out how to do the photo gallery I'll be happy.

I also set up a business email address and ordered some business cards.

All low cost so hopefully I'll re coup it over a period of time.

I've had lots of lovely comments from friends and family.  Let me know what you think!

What a week!!

In the space of a week I had a house viewing (not interested!), I completed 13 cushions for the local craft boutique and got 2 invites to attend craft fairs to sell my stuff!! :-)

 

 

One set of elephants

All 13 cushions - 3 owls, 6 elephants and 4 dogs

My owls

My Scottie dogs now with collars

And the local contemporary craft boutique shop front.  Can you see one of my owls in the window? ;-)

I have a viewer!!

Just a quick update to say I have a viewer tomorrow.  The last few days have been manic trying to make sure the house is looking fabulous.  They say that you make up your mind about a house in the first few minutes.  So I'm focusing on making the entrance hall, living room and conservatory look amazing!

But I fear it may all be a waste of time as next door has been renovating their house for the last 2 years (yep 2 whole years of builders!!) and the driveway is an obstacle course of skips, pallets, bags of sand etc etc.  And the driveway has been dug up in many places as they investigate a leaky pipe.  So their first impressions of my fabulous location may not be that good.

Fingers crossed!!

Selling my house

I've already mentioned here that my house is back up for sale. So far, zero viewings.  What I haven't said is that it was up for sale last year for 9 months.  I had 5 viewers.  Everyone said they loved the house and the location but it needed a lot of work.  Not true!  The house is structurally sound (home report verifies this) and has a stunning new bespoke conservatory and mud room that cost us almost 6 figures.  The house doesn't need a lot of work!!!

 

But I will concede that it may need some decorative touches.

 

Now UK readers will know that this lovely man is Phil Spencer.  And yeah, that's me grinning like an idiot. Not my finest moment when I gushed "I'm a huge fan, can I have a photograph?" I was lucky enough to meet him at a Homes Show in Edinburgh when I was helping a friend out (hence the tag!)  He's a TV expert on buying and selling houses and did a Q and A session.  He currently has a show on Ch4 called Secret Agent where he goes into houses and tries to work out why they're not selling.  He gives advice on what the owners should do to get a sale.

So I've been trying to look at my house with a 'Phil Spencer eye' and think what he might say about it.

This is my living room, well about half of it as there's a dining area with a large table and 10 chairs not shown.  This pic is on the house schedule so people see this on the internet if they're looking at my house.  Yes it's a mustard yellow colour!  Not painted by us, it was that colour when we bought it.  I like it but could this be putting people off?  To totally redecorate would cost a fortune.

So imagine my delight when the Make It and Mend It site that I love for inspiration announced a competition to win £300 of Wickes vouchers.  I thought I'd give it a go!  All I have to do is describe the room I'd re decorate and what I'd buy. So here's what I would buy if I won.

 

 Trade Matt Paint Magnolia 15l £31.99

Magnolia paint!  Litres and litres of the stuff.  Phil says 'Keep everything neutral so potential buyers can imagine their belongings in your rooms.' Bit boring but hey, if it sells houses......

MDF Diamond Lattice Screen 3x605x1220mm £23.49

 

I've got 4 ugly storage heaters in the room. Practical but not nice to look at so I'd cover them up with a lovely radiator cover made from this diamond pattern.

Screwless Flat Plate Socket 2 Gang £12.56

 

And look at these lovely chrome sockets and switches.  My long term plan was to change every socket in the house to these.  The conservatory and mud room are done and I've got some in the kitchen.  The living room has a hotch potch of gold and white ones.  I'd change the whole room to these ones.

Screwless Flat Plate Switch 1 Gang £7.49
 

 

TV Socket with Black Insert £7.64
 

 

 

To totally redecorate this room the way I would like would cost a lot of money.  If I was staying in this house I would save up and do it properly.  But right now all I need is gallons of neutral paint at a decent price and a few decorative finishes to make it look lovely.  £300 in vouchers would be very handy!!

 



Good news!

So, I met with the owners of the new craft gallery/boutique last night to show them my cushions, brooches and tree decorations.  They loved them and want to stock them in their shop :-) On a sale or return basis but that's ok with me.  They also want to take my stuff to craft fairs.  Brilliant!! It costs a small fortune to take a stall at these bigger fairs, not something I would be able to do on my own.  But they will take all the other artists' stuff as well.

I'm absolutely over the moon!! It's one thing when your family and friends tell you the things you make are lovely.  But when a 'professional' likes them, it really is thrilling.  I won't make a lot of money from it but I do love making things.  And that's more important to me just now.

Cushion collection

Here's the first wee cushion made from my recent fabric finds.  A slightly different version of my trademark Scottie dog.  The back is made from the green kilt from the charity shop.

Another version of the elephant, slightly bigger than the last one.  Think it could go a little bigger but I'm happy with this size.

And here is a group photograph of completed cushions.  Not all are on Etsy yet.  I have a meeting arranged with the local craft shop next week.  They've asked me to bring my items and a price list. I'll take these guys plus a selection of brooches, tree decorations and the advent calendar if I ever get it finished! I'm not sure if they will sell my stuff on a commission basis or if they buy them outright.  It's all very new, very exciting and if I'm honest rather scary.  What if they don't like my stuff after all?

Babies

Not everyone appreciates a handmade gift but the exception seems to be a gift for babies.  What's cuter than a teeny babe in a soft hand knitted cardigan?  It has been suggested to me that I knit baby items to sell.  But people are not prepared to pay a fair price for the labour involved.  Take the wee cardigan below.  It took me around 6 hours to knit and finish off.  Even paying myself minimum wages and adding in the cost of the yarn would make the price tag around £42.  Not enough people are prepared to pay that amount for a garment that will only fit for a month or 2 and needs to be washed and dried frequently.

But the pleasure for me is in the knitting so when the gift is handed over it's out of my hands if the recipient appreciates it or even uses it.

Baby cardigan knitted in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, colour mink, size 0 to 3 months.  It's beautifully soft!

Cuddle bunny blanket also knitted in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, colour clotted cream

Baby vest knitted in Sirdar Snuggly, colours navy and lime green. Size 6 to 9 months.  Machine washable and tumble dry-able!

All 3 items were knitted from my vast stash of yarn so cost nothing in monetary terms.  And I loved knitting them :-)

Wee dogs

I used to run the Nearly New shop at my son's school.  I sold mostly blazers and sports kit but there were some things lurking on the rails that used to be part of the uniform when it was a boarding school.  All girls had to wear a proper kilt to church on Sunday.  So there was a small selection of 100% wool kilts but no one wanted to buy them as they were in teen sizes and no self respecting teenage girl would be seen dead in a kilt!!  So I bought 4 of the lesser moth eaten ones for a fiver.  3 blue to make cushions and this red/pink/green one.

Girls kilt age 14

It's actually more red in real life! 

I unpicked the pleats (about an hour's work) then cut off the waistband. I popped it into the washing machine and washed it at 90 degrees to felt it.  I ended up with about 1.5 metres of lovely felted tartan wool.

I played around with some scottie dog shapes until I found a few I was happy with.

I cut out 2 shapes from the same template then hand stitched them together using blanket stitch.  I left an opening big enough to add stuffing and finished it off.

This wee one is about 8cm by 10cm

The bigger one is about 22cm by 20cm

I'm really chuffed with my efforts.  Again they've cost nothing to make as I had all the materials.  There's plenty of felted tartan left so I can make more.  I think I'll try a cat and an elephant next.  If I can make them quickly then selling them might be an option :-)

Cash for old CDs

Nowadays there are websites for selling just about anything.  I've spent a few days going through my collections of CDs and DVDs.  I've already uploaded my music to my iPod so they were genuinely sitting gathering dust.  Same for the DVDs.  I'm just too busy to sit and watch a film these days.

So 114 items listed makes a grand total of £51.50.  Not bad for stuff that was no use to me any more.  And a courier will collect them from my house free of charge on Monday.  Hopefully the cheque will arrive and be banked for the official start of my 4 year challenge.