August already?!

I'm finding it quite hard to believe it's August already! This year seems to be flying over. Not a bad thing for me though because last time I looked I was staring at two blue lines on a pregnancy test, and then I blinked and now I'm 17 weeks LOL! Baby will be here before we know it :)

We had a gender scan at Babybond the other day and found out we're expecting a little girl. I never imagined that, I was convinced it was another boy so it was a lovely surprise. It still hasn't sunk in properly, I feel soooo lucky! We love her so much already and can't wait to meet her!

As for work, I've been feeling really good and have been managing to get lots of orders out the way. When the kids let me, that is LOL. It's hard working from home during the school holidays but I'm trying to balance things out so that I still get to do things with the boys.

I also started making christmas decorations last month. Seems a bit silly in July but as I said before, this year is flying over and I need to make sure I'm prepared. Last year I had a million (well not quite but I had a lot LOL) of orders and struggled to get them all done and sent out by December. I did it, but I learned that it's better to allow myself plenty of time. Anyway, here are the decorations that I've finished. Large christmas stockings are also a work in progress so I'll have pictures of those soon...

In between all the orders I've been stitching, I made some new hanging heart decorations. These ones measure approx. 4.5" x 4.5" and are lightly padded. They have a cluster of embellishments and a slightly off centre letter for personalisation. They'll make fab little gifts so I plan on making some more in lots of colours :)

Now I'm off to stitch up some more name banners :)

x x x

Almost back to normal...

It's been soooo long since I wrote a blog post, mainly due to the fact that I've been spending all my time trying to get through the first few months of pregnancy. I had to slow right down with work because all I wanted to do was sleep, and when I was awake I was feeling really sick. But, that all seems to be over with now thank goodness! I've made it through my first trimester and am feeling a lot better :)

We had our 12 week scan the other day which was really nice. Baby was chilled right out and seemed pretty comfy in there. It was over far too quickly though, I could lie there all day and watch him/her wriggling about on the screen. So anyway, they put my dates forward a little bit which means that I'm now just over 13 weeks.

I was also prescribed iron tablets as my levels were really low. I've been taking them for about a week now and I feel so much better. Not sure if it's the tablets or just because the tiredness has worn off, or both, but I've actually been more productive in the past few days than I have in the past few months LOL, so I've finished quite a few orders and am working on some more today. Here are some of my latest ones...

I'll be having a 20% off sale when my Facebook page reaches 2,200 likes. I also have some new ideas that I want to work on so will be trying them out over the next few weeks. Remember if you have an idea or would like me to make something that you can't see on any of my photos, just get in touch and we can  discuss your needs :)

xxx

Winners!!

Finally had a chance to sit down and choose the winners of the giveaway! The comments were numbered in order from 1-27 and then 3 winners were chosen using a random number generator. I'll post pictures of the winning numbers along with the comments :)

3rd place (£10 voucher)...

2nd place (£15 voucher)...

1st place (£20 voucher)...

I'll be sending the winners an email in case they miss this post, but well done to them and thank you to everyone else for entering. I also had some really good suggestions for new products so will be getting in touch with the people who asked about them to find out more about what they had in mind :)

News :)

I'm so glad I can finally share this, as it's the main reason I've been taking AGES with orders recently. We weren't supposed to tell anyone other than family until after 12 weeks, but it turns out the news is already spreading and we wanted to be the ones to announce it first. I had a bit of a scare last week so we were sent for a scan which showed that everything is going well. We saw the little heartbeat which was hugely reassuring, and even 3rd time around, seeing that little dot on the screen is absolutely amazing! I can't explain how much we love him/her already and we can't wait to be a family of five (although I have to admit I sometimes think I must be mad LOL).

It looks like the head is on the left but that's actually the yolk sac, and our baby is that tiny little smudge underneath :) We can't wait for our 12 week scan, providing all goes well. Amazing how something so small can make me feel soooo poorly, but that explains why orders have been taking a while. It's hard to concentrate when I feel so sick and all I want to do is sleep LOL. I'll still be taking orders as usual throughout my pregnancy but will be limiting how much work I take on.

Also, the giveaway ends today! Winners will be announced around 8pm tonight so you still have until then to enter. Just leave a comment on the post underneath (not this one) and your name will be entered. Thank you to everyone who has entered so far, and good luck :)

*GIVEAWAY*

I recently found out that holding giveaways on Facebook isn't allowed, so I've had to come up with a different way of doing it. I know a lot of people who have Facebook pages are still using the 'like & share' method to choose a winner, but I just don't want to risk having my page shut down. But the good news is, giveaways will still go ahead on the blog :)

All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post telling me what your favourite Heartworks product is, or what new stuff you would like to see in the future. No liking or sharing this time, which makes it a whole lot simpler, but it would still be nice if you could spread the word and point people in the direction of my Facebook page :) Remember to leave a valid email address otherwise I won't be able to contact you if you win.

I thought vouchers would be better to use as the prizes because it gives the winners more choice when it comes to ordering. I'll be choosing the winners at random on Sunday 3rd June so you have just over a week to enter. Good luck!! Oh, and I hope you're all enjoying the warm weather :)))

*sigh*

*EDITED* - The owner of the page has asked me to remove her details from the screenshot, so I've done so.

So... last night I got a message from someone on FB advising me to go and take a look at a certain business page, so I did. From what they'd said I was expecting to find someone else who makes name banners, etc, and I really wish now that's all it was.

I took a look at the page, and noticed similarities straight away. It was obvious that this page had been taking a lot of inspiration from my own work. If it was just inspiration that would've been fine, I appreciate the fact that a lot of people make similar things to me and it doesn't bother me so much now, not like it used to anyway.

But then I came across a few status' that looked extremely familiar. I'll post a picture of one of them so you can see what I mean...

Of course, this made me angry. I had never come across this page before this point, and yet there I was looking at my own words that they had obviously copied and pasted onto their status. I looked for a while longer to see what else I could find and there were a few things on there that had been taken from my page.

I messaged the owner of the page and politely asked them to remove any content that had been taken from my own  page. I didn't receive a message back until this afternoon, and she claims that she had taken inspiration from my status about postage costs as she liked how I had written it, but she didn't think in any way that it was directly copied. Hmm, the screenshots tell a different story but never mind. It seems to me that she's only bothered to change the last sentence slightly.

I expressed my anger and upset at the situation but she still claimed she had done nothing wrong. She then went onto her own page and posted a status saying that people had been nasty about her and she was being bad mouthed simply because she makes similar items to me. That is so far from the truth it's ridiculous. I said from the word go that I DO NOT care if she makes name banners, hundreds of people do. I just don't appreciate the fact that she is a 'fan' of my page, yet instead of ever posting or interacting with my page she just steals my statuses instead. I don't understand... if you lack the creative ability to even write a status on your own then you're not going to get very far.

As usual, all of my fans and customers were brilliant and gave me a lot of support. There were a few people (who also happen to be fans from the other page LOL) who said I should just take it as a compliment. If she had copied one of my items, for example, then maybe I would. But being inspired and stealing are two totally different things in my opinion.

I removed the photos and comments from my FB page as I made my point, people had their say and I didn't feel it was right to carry it on any further. However, I've seen on her page that she's still making out I'm angry at her for copying my designs, and I wanted to let everyone know that this ISN'T the case. It's not about her work, it's not even about mine. It's about the fact that I work hard and then someone can come along and just steal content from my page whenever they feel like it and use it as their own without so much as a mention of Heartworks. I watermark all my photos, it seems like now even that isn't enough :(

Anyway... apart from that, the bank holiday weekend has been really good :) Hope you've all had a nice time too!

xxx

New stuff :)

Just wanted to share some pictures of a couple of new wall hangings I've been working on. To be totally honest I'm still not sure if I like them, but I've had a lot of good feedback on FB and even a couple of orders for them so I suppose that's a good sign LOL :)

I made this one for my youngest little boy because we call him our little monkey...

This one is very pink and sparkly and girly. It can be personalised with any name or wording :)

I haven't been working on orders as much recently, I caught up last week so I'm actually ahead of time for once. Never thought I'd say that LOL. I've still got 8 or 9 name banners to make and quite a few hearts too, which I'll be busy with over the next few weeks.

Saturday today though, I haven't got the kids and my other half is at work all day so I think I'm gonna lie on the sofa with a blanket and watch TV (just cos I never get to do that in peace LOL), then we're going out tonight to a welcome home party for someone who has been out in Afghanistan and, thank goodness, is home safe and sound. Definitely worth celebrating :)

Hope everyone has a good weekend and enjoys the extra day off on Monday!!

xxx

Some recent orders :)

Things have still been hectic around here. February was my busiest month and I've only just finished all of the orders I had from then. I now only have a couple more to do and then I'm officially caught up!! :)

I'm actually going to be taking a break for 3-4 weeks. I'll still be working on the orders I already have but won't be taking on anymore work. I wanted a bit of time to work on some new ideas, so hopefully this will give me the chance to do just that.

Here's some of the orders I've done over the past few weeks...

The VW campervans were requested by a customer and I was really pleased with the way they turned out. Then another customer asked for them to be added onto her name banner so I made some more :)

I was also happy with how the welsh banner turned out. I cut the dragons out by hand and they were sooo fiddly but worth it I think :)

The 'home sweet home' hearts are a new product. Each heart is extra large at 6.5" x 6.5". I'm planning on making them in different colours with different wording. As always, they can be customised to your exact requirements.

I have lots of new ideas that I'll be working on over the next month or so and will eventually have some ready-to-send items for sale. I'll be ready to take more new orders for banners, etc, after that.

Kirsty

xxx

It's been a while...

I've been a bit quiet lately, it's been hard keeping my Facebook page updated, let alone my blog. A lot has been going on and although I don't usually say too much about my personal life online, I feel like I should explain a bit about why I've not been around as much as usual.

Some of you may know that a few weeks ago my 8 year old son, Josh, was diagnosed with ADHD. For years I've been trying to get someone to take me seriously when it comes to my concerns over his behaviour. I've had people judging my parenting ability and telling me I can't control my own son, and I actually started to believe them when they said it was all my fault. I was only 17 when I had him, and I thought that maybe me being a young mother was the reason for him being 'different' to other kids. Maybe I wasn't capable of looking after a child properly and that's why he was 'naughty'.

Disapproving looks from strangers, nasty comments from parents at the school gates, having to walk out of the supermarket to avoid everybody staring at us, being called into school time and time again and feeling like the worst parent in the world... believe me, I've been through it all. Don't get me wrong, all kids can be challenging and I'm sure every parent out there has felt like I do at some point. But unless you've lived with a child with ADHD before then it's difficult to understand how exhausting it is. You don't realise how much it affects everyday life until you're the one dealing with it.

I was fobbed off by the first person we saw at CAMHS. He said to me that all kids are defiant and will push their parents to the limit. He made me feel like it was my fault and that it was my parenting skills (or lack of!) to blame. Obviously, because he was a professional, I thought he had to be right. But in the back of my mind I always knew there was something more to it. Josh's teacher even said to me that he was certain it was ADHD, so I kept pushing and finally got Josh assessed. Eventually they gave us the diagnosis, and it was hard to hear it 'officially' but I felt relief more than anything. The best thing for me was finally knowing that it's NOT my fault.

So that was that, and I thought that we could learn new techniques to manage his behaviour, and maybe get medication to help, and that things would calm down and get better. However, today we went for another assessment, this time regarding Josh's movement and perceptual skills. I honestly thought there was nothing to be concerned about but it turns out that he has a lot of problems with co-ordination and movement. Things that I've never thought about before, but listening to the therapist giving feedback today, I knew exactly what she meant and somehow it all made sense.

She described Josh as a very complex little boy - some may think that's a bad thing but to me it makes him even more special. It doesn't matter to me what problems or difficulties he has, I love him just the same. He drives me mad, he has me tearing my hair out and sometimes has me wishing I could disappear for an hour and not deal with any of it... but I wouldn't change him for the world.

So obviously this has been quite a rough few months. Work has taken a back seat and things haven't been happening as quickly as they should, so I apologise. I'm trying my hardest to keep on top of all orders and I'm hoping that soon I'll be back on track :)

For now, here are some photos of a few recent orders...

xxx

Ooops!

I really should start updating the blog more often, I just wish I had more time! I can't  believe it's March already. But that means summer will be here soon :) (hopefully anyway!).

I've been busy cutting and sewing and then cutting and sewing some more, usually staying up until around 2am at the minute because I'm trying to get everything done. Here are a few of my latest things...

A pale pink name banner with a bit of checked fabric for a new baby girl. The customer wanted me to keep this banner simple and not too girly (which was harder than it sounds LOL)

Name banner for a little boy, this one is made in my new bigger sized templates so each letter measures appx. 4.5" tall. I think they look better this size :)

Colourful name banner with flowers for a little girl. The customer asked how quickly I could make this as she needed it in a hurry so I got to work, juggled around my other orders a little bit and finished this in a few days :)

Pink and sparkly name banner for a little princess :)

And finally, a 'family' banner in my love hearts style :)

So that's what's been keeping me busy! As for today, I'm working on lots of lovely orders for Mothers Day. I'll come back with pictures soon :)

xxxx