Butterfly in the Blossom Tree

UPDATE

Butterfly Blossom — Sun, 12 May 2013 16:00:28 +0000

Just a heads up that I have no internet (still!) so there won’t be any blog posts for at least another 2 weeks. Thanks for bearing with me (and BT) and I hope to be back soon!

New Bunting Ranges

Butterfly Blossom — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 21:56:45 +0000

A few days later than planned (and a ridiculous amount of calories consumed via chocolate) but I have 6 new bunting ranges to showcase. All 6 have been added to the website so if you want to get your hands on some then click this link.

First up is this adorable chirpy birds bunting (£21 for 3.35 metres):

Second is this fun superhero bunting (£18 for 3.35m):

Thirdly is a fun and fruity bunting (£18 for 3.35m):

Fourth is this colourful mini elephants bunting (£18 for 3.35m):

Fifth is this cute clouds and zoo animals bunting (£18 for 3.35m):

and finally….sixth is this awesome colourful elephants bunting (£18 for 3.35m):

Don’t forget, as well as all these new bunting ranges we also have a clearance sale which is your last chance to pick up some of our discontinued ranges including kindle cases and post it note holders! Click here to go straight to the bargains!

Further reductions in our clearance!

Butterfly Blossom — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 22:09:42 +0000

I need to make space for new items in the shop (and in my home!), namely bunting and cushions, so that means our clearance section just got even better! We have fun stationery items from 20p, Kindle cases for just £6 and cushions from £7. There are also hundreds of gorgeous cards for just £1 a card – BARGAIN!

So head over to the website to pick up some unbelievable bargains on quality handmade items. Once they are gone they are gone!

Hang out the bunting!

Butterfly Blossom — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 18:16:33 +0000

Bunting has proven to be a pretty popular range in my shop recently so I have been busy creating some funky kids bunting perfect for customising their bedrooms and using at parties. I am hoping to photograph the bunting soon so I can add it to my shop but in the mean time here is a sneak peak at a few lengths of bunting that will be making their way into the shop.

Paris Inspires

Butterfly Blossom — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 17:17:39 +0000

I’ve bought a house. It’s the first house I have ever bought and it’s fair to say I am more than a little excited at the prospect of decorating it and making lots of lovely things to go in it. In my quest to find inspiration I bought some lovely Tilda books and have begun making some of the projects in the books (note begun, not finished – when it comes to personal projects I’m not too good at finishing things!). There are some gorgeous items in these books all made by the very talented Tone Finnanger.

I picked up three books:

These are some brilliant books if you like this style and there are so many different projects for every room in the house. My personal favourites are the scented strawberry shaped cushions and the children’s quilt. Both are projects I have on the go at the moment!

I have also been using Pinterest for inspiration and there seems to be a theme running through my boards…vintage florals, shabby chic and Parisian style! I absolutely love Paris and this has been part of my inspiration for my kitchen. I have gone for a mix of English country kitchen and vintage Paris. There is just something about Paris that I love. I have spent most of my afternoon searching for gorgeous prints of Paris for the new home too and it’s fair to say I have fallen even more in love with Parisian life. It’s hard not to love a place like this….

♥

Got My Mojo Back!

Butterfly Blossom — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 21:41:11 +0000

I’ve lost my mojo recently, I think the cold and miserable weather has dampened my spirits and I’ve been feeling so tired all the time that I have barely got off the sofa for the last 3 weeks. But tonight I decided it was time to get back into sewing mode. What better way to ease yourself back in than to make some fab bunting?! So tonight this is what I made…

I bought a copy of a sewing magazine yesterday for inspiration too and found an article about using lightboxes to create accurate applique items. So I used a 25% off at Hobbycraft voucher and bagged myself one at a bargain price. It arrived today so guess what my plan for tomorrow is…

Flammability Testing

Butterfly Blossom — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 20:07:02 +0000

As part of the CE testing for those of my items intended for children, I have to complete flammability testing on my products. I’m pretty scared of fire so I enlisted the help of my brother and sister in law and we set up our testing station in their kitchen (well I wasn’t going to risk setting fire to my house was I?!). Testing was over pretty quickly. The fabrics went up in flames far quicker than I ever expected it to and to be honest I was a little taken aback by the extent of the fire. I calculated the burn rate though and it was within the safe limits although still faster than I would have liked for an item for children. I plan to run the tests again on a complete item as I think the burn rate will be slower on something with a bigger surface area. Once I have made a few items I will go back to the testing area (aka the kitchen sink) and try again. I am hoping the burn rate will be slower but either way the item passes the tests so that’s good news. I will post some proper photos of the flammability testing on the next round of testing but for now here’s a little sneak preview of the fireball I created last week!

Housekeeping

Butterfly Blossom — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 17:46:45 +0000

I’ve spent the last three hours having a spring clean of the shop. Boy was it a mess with bits here, there and everywhere! There are a few changes but nothing drastic. The changes are simply…

1. Lots of items were showing as out of stock. These have been removed and the only items that remain are items that are actually in stock or items that I make regularly that I plan to re-stock. If the item is out of stock it will display this next to the item but you will still be able to add it to your cart but not checkout. If there is an item that is out of stock that you want please get in touch as I can let you know if the item will be coming back into stock and give you an estimate on time.

2. All Christmas items have been removed from the website. The odd Christmas themed item might appear still but at a reduced price and in the clearance section. Which leads me nicely to point three.

3. There is now a clearance section! I have created a section for all of the items that are being discontinued and this is where you will find items such as kindle cases, iPhone pouches and all of our cards. These items have been priced to clear so you can expect to grab yourself a brilliant bargain! You can find the clearance section of the site here.

Procrastination is a strong skill of mine!

Butterfly Blossom — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 21:07:06 +0000

How does time go so fast? In November and December I had been telling myself that between Christmas and New Year I would read all the literature I have on CE marking and product safety for my new range of children’s items and that January would see me beginning the process and writing a business plan. Well we are now 16 days into January and I have read most but not all of the literature, I’ve bought the conformance pack I need and the business plan….well….the book is still on my bookshelf unopened. I just can’t seem to get my mojo back this year. Don’t get me wrong, I love sewing and really enjoy creating things but after the short break I took over the Christmas period I seem to have grown a strong interest in sitting on the sofa browsing the internet and watching TV all night. Not the most productive way to spend your time when you are running a small business!

I haven’t been completely lazy though, I have sent out a few custom orders mostly for crayon rolls which are proving to be ever popular which is great as I really love making them! The pants weather we are having at the moment did mean I didn’t get a chance to properly photograph any of the recent orders but I did take a few fun shots using an app on my phone.

I’m off now to make a start on reading my conformance pack and hopefully make a start on writing the risk assessment for at least one of my items! Before I go though I just have to wish my beautiful niece Taylor a very happy 1st birthday – where does time go?! It was this time last year that I really got into sewing whilst making some items for her nursery and now she is toddling around, laughing at me and giving me high fives! Love her xxx

Shop Update

Butterfly Blossom — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 21:15:45 +0000

Happy New Year Everyone!!

Well Christmas has been and gone and it’s the worst month of the year as Summer still seems so far away, your jeans don’t quite fit after all the festive gluttony and you feel like you have to make resolutions you know you won’t stick to! For me, January is about me making some serious decisions about Butterfly Blossom and putting in lots of hard work to make things happen.

Before Christmas I hinted about changes I wanted to make to Butterfly Blossom pending a meeting I was due to have. Well that meeting has been and gone and I can now finally reveal what my plans are. For a while now I have been toying with the idea of thinning down my product range and concentrating on one area. That area, I have decided, is going to be products for children. I love the cute kids fabrics, the simplicity of designing and making items for little ones (and slightly bigger ones) and I think kids stuff is fun!

My product range will be quite different from what it is now and I will offer fewer items but in more styles and with a clearer focus on who the product is aimed at. I met with my local trading standards officer to discuss this plan as I knew there were certain hoops I would need to jump through in order to do this. Boy did I not expect there to be quite so much work involved!! There is so much to think about, a mountain of paperwork to complete and testing to do all before I can even begin making and selling. For that reason there will be a slow transition from the products I sell now into my future range. It seems silly to keep making items for the website that once I have a complete product range of children’s items I will no longer be selling so I have taken the decision to stop making items for the website and to just sell the stock I already have whilst I work on my new range of children’s items. This does mean that for a while, the website will look very bare and I won’t have much to offer.

I am hoping this is the right move for me and that it doesn’t lose me too many customers and followers. I am really passionate about making lovely items for children and some of my most popular products will still be available such as bunting, cushions and crayon rolls but they will be nicely positioned next to more lovely things for children.

These are exciting but scary times for me as I essentially change my entire business plan but you have to go where life takes you and I believe this is the right direction for me. I really look forward to the challenge (and a challenge it will be!) and want to say thank you to past, present and future customers and followers for supporting me in my ventures!

Happy New Year!