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

Couple of new things...

Just wanted to share a few things that I've made over the past week or so :)

A brightly coloured name banner for a little girl...

A pink & cream banner for a new baby girl named Willow :)

And some pastel coloured hanging hearts, these would make nice gifts for a new baby :)

Remember the giveaway is also still going on, visit www.facebook.com/heartworkshandmade for details and for chance to win!!

Kirsty

xxx

Giveaway time!

The new giveaway is now happening over at my Facebook page and this time there are THREE prizes to be won. Click on the photo below to take a look :)

I'm still here...

Yes I'm still alive, I've just been too busy to update my blog. I have more and more customers and orders than ever before, which is a good thing, but when you're trying to work from home and half term comes around it's a nightmare trying to balance things.

But anyway, today is the last day of the holidays and the kids will be back at school on Monday so things should get back to normal. Even though things have been slower this past week, I've still managed to get a few orders done.

Pretty pink name banner for a little girl...

A banner in pink, white & yellow... I wasn't sure if these colours would work before I started it but I loved the end result, so pretty and girly :)

I also did another one of my 'LOVE' banners for a customer who liked the pink one I did for the Valentines giveaway...

And I made this hanging heart, the wording and colours can be changed. I've had 4 or 5 orders for these already, I think they'll make nice little gifts :)

My Facebook page is currently at 575 likes, which isn't bad considering it's only been up and running for about 6 weeks. The last two giveaways I've had proved to be really popular and I enjoyed them, so once I reach 600 likes I'll be having another one, this time with more than one winner!

Hope you all have a lovely Friday, I'm off to eat some dinner and then stitch, stitch, stitch :)

xxx

What a week!!

Wow... where do I even start?! LOL, everything has been a bit of a blur since last week. I stayed up until 3am on the Tuesday to get some orders done and I managed to catch up with everything.

Then Wednesday morning my youngest son was sent home from school as he was unwell. He was so bad that on Wednesday night we took him to hospital to be checked over as he couldn't keep any fluids down, and they admitted him to the children's ward for an overnight stay just to make sure he stayed hydrated.

They put him on a drip overnight and he seemed a lot brighter in the morning, so we came home. Then by the following day he'd gone downhill again so back we went to the hospital, where once again he was put on a drip - the first time he'd been oblivious as to what they were doing but the second time he wasn't as easily fooled LOL, so needless to say he wasn't a happy boy when they were putting the cannular into his hand.

After another looonnnggg night at the hospital he seemed better again, so we were ready to go home the next day. Then he was poorly again, then he picked up again, then he was poorly again...

Anyway, we finally came home over the weekend and he's ok now. Inevitably I caught his bug though, so I've spent the past two days feeling really unwell, and I hardly ever get ill!

But *touch wood* everyone is feeling better and I've finally managed to get on with some work. Thank goodness I stayed up until 3am that night otherwise I'd have even more to catch up on LOL.

It's also the last day of my Valentines Giveaway on Facebook tomorrow (click HERE to take a look), so I'm looking forward to announcing the winner of that! :)

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your day!
xxxx