My 1st blog!… “there just isn’t enough hours in the day!”

Brilliant inspirational first blog post by Tracey in York.
Ver helpful for small business’ 🙂 thank you Tracey!!!!

Let the blogging begin

Yesterday in a facebook group i asked the question, “What is your biggest struggle with your business right now?” and a particular answer kept cropping up – “there just isn’t enough hours in the day lol” 

My instant reaction to this was “really? what are you doing with your time? There always is the same amount of hours in the day ‘every day’ always has been, always will be. (ok before you all start shouting “what about when the clocks change ey” yes that does change things slightly twice a year) also it’s the same for everybody (hhmmm) so yep we all have the same amount of hours in the day every day”

You may sense I get slightly ‘het up’ by this conversation? well yes it’s safe to say I really, really don’t like it when fellow business owners say ” i just don’t have time!” So i thought i’d…

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HOUSNG CRISIS – THINGS IVE FOUND THAT MIGHT HELP

I know at the moment there is a huge housing crisis which is causing mass homeless and people not with secure housing and places to call there own. In York there are a number of services that help these people by offering food on the night and lots more support which is fantastic and i try my best to support them.

Im quite the internet searcher – and i have moved house 25+ times… so quite an expert on renting/where to find cheap housing etc. i have found certain sites that offer cheaper housing. private renting is absolutely ridiculous and i cannot fathom how people afford this – i am personally with Yorkshire Housing paying minimum and i am so lucky to have the one bedroom flat i have. I am warm on the night and there are plenty who are not.

When i was going to live in Darlington (whilst eventually settling on Darling Buddhist centre for a year for 250 a month) i was going to use these websites and move into a property which is currently empty- suitable for living but it is temporary – so good for people who like to move- haven’t got dependents etc Here are the websites i used – there are hundreds of housing all over England that are empty and the can go for as little as 150 pounds a month to have a roof over your head so check them out –

ad hoc – Providing vacant property protection with live in Guardians – Empty property protection or a cheap place to live across the UK

camelot europe – Property in the uk and abroad.

 

I also used several other sites which offer private housing but on a cheaper basis as you dont go through an Estate Agent. These are

Gumtree – Gumtree (be careful on this)

open rent – an amazing site with cheaper properties – sign up to their newsletter to get updates.

 

I will still update this once i find more sites but i hope this helps a tad.

xxxx

Personalised Bunting

fab tutorial on personalised bunting!

theoriginalthread

I thought I would give making bunting a go, it is quite a nice way to add colour to a wall and great way to personalise a bedroom.

I drew a triangle with the measurements of 18.5 cm (7.5 inches) along the bottom, 26 cm (10.5 inches) along each side, and 24 cm (9.5 inches) inside from the top of the triangle to the base.  I used cardboard for the template, see below.  I then cut out 10 triangles of coordinating fabric because I decided to make 5 double-sided flags.

I decided to personalise my bunting with my daughter’s name, and no, her name is not ‘addy’ as per the photo below, I had already started sewing the ‘M’ on the flag before I remembered to take a photo!

For the lettering, I printed it off and then simply drew the letter onto fabric and then cut out.

Note; if you don’t have a chalk/fabric…

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Arty – or Crafty? Join the Crawl that puts makers on the map

Planet South Bank

Photo: Pixabay.com

Next month sees the return of our Craft-y-Crawl, a Sunday stroll round the streets of the greater South Bank area of York (including Bishy Road and the streets off it)
The event, on 12 November (12.00-4.00pm) offers a chance to visit local artists and craftspeople in their own homes, who will be displaying and selling a range of handmade items, including jewellery, prints, stained and fused glass, Mexican tin decorations, cards, eraser carved stamps, Christmas decorations and other exciting and unusual items!
As a participating artist/ craftsperson you can exhibit in your own home, pal up with a friend or two in your house or theirs, or book a table at The Winning Post pub on Bishopthorpe Road (this is a new initiative for this year).
To be part of the event, email info@planetsouthbank.org.uk giving your contact details and a description of your art/craft. Closing date for participants…

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Local craft fair in York

https://www.facebook.com/events/126737184579944/?ti=as

Please come to the etsy made local craft fair in December in York. Lots of very talented crafters so you can stock up on goodies for chrimbo and support local businesses at the same time. Over two days 2-3rd of December !!!!

Church St
YO1 8BE York

Repair Café returns!

fantastic event in york!

Planet South Bank

Following our successful first Repair Café in April, Planet South Bank is putting on another event on Saturday 21 October (10.00am-1.00pm) at Clements Hall in York.

The date falls in International Repair Café Week 2017 (14-22 October) when communities around the world will be organising similar events. There are now over 1,300 Repair Cafes operating globally, with 92 in the UK.

Monitoring by the Repair Café International Foundation shows that, in the past year, approximately 250,000 kilos of waste were saved collectively and that the most popular items for fixing were bicycles, vacuum cleaners and kettles.

Our experience from our April event confirms the popularity of small electrical items; chairs, lamps, clocks, jewellery and textiles were other popular items brought in for repair. Overall, we managed to repair 60 items, with only five items found to be not fixable at all.

As before, we will be relying on…

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Where do you get your inspiration from?

So… I want to know, Where do you creative’s get your inspiration from???

My sources-

• Pinterest. I really love this site. I have the app on my phone as well so I visit it regularly and update my boards. I mainly use it just for the images as I sometimes find the DIY projects a bit misleading or sometimes they don’t really turn out the way you thought they would? That happens 90% of the time I would say.
• Instagram. My FAVOURITE site ever. If this wasn’t created I would probably be a lot more productive and more bored at the same time… if that’s possible. I follow so many people, people in recovery from mental health problems, doll makers, celebs including Jack black, SJP, Alicia Silverstone. Home decor stores, magazines I buy and probably a lot more… Oh yes and some select friends who I find have quite interesting lives! Instagram gives you an insight into the lives of people you dream about and admire, it is actually them IRL posting, sharing there creative ways. I also enjoy uploading pics of my makes as well and getting feedback.
• Galleries – I love visiting galleries and museums when I go travelling and in York. You can pick up some really interesting ideas just looking at other people’s work and taking inspiration from them.
• Magazines – my favourite mags are –

Flow

MAGAZINE The best things happen when you dare to follow your heart. And that’s exactly what we did when we hatched this idea for a new Dutch magazine in an attic room several years ago. We dreamed of a magazine with which we could explore our love of paper. A magazine of unhurried time, all about doing things differently and making new choices. Small happiness, daily life and the beauty of not always managing to be perfect. That is how Flow began. Flow is all about positive psychology, mindfulness, creativity and the beauty of imperfection. We love illustrations and in each issue there is a gift made of our much-loved paper. We print the magazine itself on different types of paper. – https://www.flowmagazine.com

 

Breathe is going to return to its youth and make the most of the autumnal delights.Expect to find us turning cartwheels, splashing in puddles, skimming stones and admiring wild flowers as we head off on long, leisurely (yes, we’re embracing the slow movement, too), fun walks along the UK and Ireland’s beautiful coastlines. Awesome. http://www.breathemagazine.co.uk/magazine/

 

 

 

 

Reloved is the exciting new magazine at the heart of thrifting, shabby chic and up cycling. With an emphasis on breathing new life into old, forgotten objects, it brings a hands-on approach to this thriving pastime. Featuring at least 25 substantial projects each issue and priced at only £4.99, Reloved is the practical magazine for everyone with a desire to create and adapt beautiful things. http://www.relovedmag.co.uk/how-to-bu/

 

Womankind represents a new era for women: Womankind is an advertising-freewomen’s magazine on self, identity and meaning in today’s society. Womankind magazine features the top journalists, authors and artists in a 132 page, perfect-bound magazine – offering a signature mix of reporting and commentary on culture, creativity, philosophy, nature and ways to live a more fulfilling life. http://www.womankindmag.com/about-us/

 

 

They are mainly to do with being mindful of your surroundings and everyday life. How to be kind to others. Gorgeous photos and illustrations. Travel tips. Food ideas. Crafty tips and home decor ideas… My FAVOURITE things basically in magazine form which is always nice to flick through because you come across things you don’t normally search for on the internet.

 

• Library – we have a lovely library in York which i visit regularly. I get inspiration from there as it gives my choices i wouldn’t normally see. I mainly look in the travel section, crafts section and also the poem books.

Any other thoughts on inspiration?? If so please share!

 

GIVEAWAY

I am doing a giveaway on my Instagram for a gorgeous cat cushion

All you have to do is follow my Instagram and tag three friends:)

Please enter!!!

 

https://www.instagram.com/gembobs_crafts/

 

I’m in amsterdam!

Thought I would go on a little break to a place I’ve always wanted to explore.. Amsterdam! So I’ve just come back from there after five days. It’s been really good fun, I’ve met a lot of lovely people and stayed in a hostel! I didn’t want to spend too much money on accommodation so I looked on booking.com and found a central hostel called ‘clinkNoord’. I shared with three other people and we had our own private bathroom which was Nice! The hostel was over the river right next to train station, so every 10 minutes a ferry came and carted people (mainly on bikes) across the water for free which was different! Oh my god.. I have never seen so many bikes. I thought York had alot but I actually found out in Amsterdam there are more bikes then people! And there are plenty of electrical cars that are tiny which is blizzare!

The hostel was lovely I really couldn’t fault it. I had to change my room because the first night I couldn’t get to sleep at all because the two guys (who I ended up spending most of my time with) were snoring, so the staff kindly let me swap rooms at 4am in the morning and it was so much quieter. Every where is spotless, staff were wonderful and it was very close to the train station which I always find helpful. And it was very cheap! So yeah… I met a few people, colin from Vancouver and Kim from norway. So I got to hang round with them on all of the days which was fantastic because I’ve never done that before. I love staying in airbnbs because I’m a private person and have routines, but it was isolated. Hostels you get to meet so many different people from all over the world!

Things I did in Amsterdam –

• Boat tour
• Van Gogh gallery
• I Amsterdam sign visit
• Lots of coffee shop visits
• Shopping in the boutique stores
• Two free walking tours

Here are some photos I took. The weather wasn’t great.. abit like England if I’m honest!

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Boho Decor Items For Sale in my Etsy Shop

I just thought i would kind of do a self promo because i haven’t posted about my products for a while! So, Im kind of a hippie at heart, and so this sometimes reflects in the products i make. I have a few items in my shop that are ‘boho’ and ‘hippie’ that i wanted to tell you guys about!

First are my Patchwork Curtains – They are made from fabric I’ve sourced from literally everywhere, i try to good quality fabrics that normally have a pretty pattern and can do any size thats needed. Ive made a lot of curtains now, all have been individual and one of a kind which is what i love about them. These are the ones i used to have in my own flat, i used quite a few vintage scarfs in this one but they are always lined so light doesn’t flood through.

I also have some lovely boho cushions available in lots of different colours/materials! Each one is one of a kind so YOU get to pick what you like and i will do my best to acocomodate.

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I have lots of lovely bunting available also, which would look fab in a hippie style room.

Here are some other things I really really want in my own home from sites on the internet and also what I have found on the amazing Internet which i will keep adding too!!

tapestry – 

Isnt this wonderful?! I would definitely get this… although i haven’t got enough room on my walls as i have covered them with pictures!! But it is only 12.00 which is a bargain.

 

dream catcher – gorgeous dream catcher from someone n Etsy. I really advocate etsy, people work so hard on there and i dont think others realise how hard it is to get your shop noticed and get sales.

Glass Dome 

Another gorgeous boho etsy shop that sells glass! how brave!! I love these, i have lots in my house ranging from candle holders, hanging domes, they just look gorgeous and are very popular at the moment!

 

 

Check back to see more goodies 🙂