In the Studio // When Things Go Wrong

This is my first post of 2015 and it's not a positive one I'm afraid but sometimes it's best to be realistic and share the bad times along with the good. Jilly thought a dark 'moody' photo suited this post rather than her usual bright pastel photography! This is me trying to fix our sublimation printer...

A few weeks ago it seemed like all our equipment was broken or on the verge of breaking, the printer had just given up, the mug press was being unpredictable and then our pocket mirror maker decided to not work either. Plus, we had supplier problems on top of all that! It's annoying but the worst thing is when you get caught up in it and let it stress you out when things go wrong. Especially when you know it isn't the end of the world and that these are pretty silly problems in the grand scheme of things.

The main problem when we have days like those (spending almost a whole day trying to fix something to then find out it's completely unfixable and that you wasted all that time) is trying to resist giving up. It's far too easy to decide to go back to bed or have a sofa day (or two) with Netflix and comfort food! It's easy then to fall behind with daily tasks or fall out of the work routine so we've had to work on coping methods whether it's just going out for a walk, accepting that you need a break or agreeing to take a half day off when you can. After all that's the fun of being your own boss! It's so important to keep calm and remember all the positive things in life to stay motivated and remind ourselves that so much else is going well. Being self employed is great, and we're not complaining, but the fact is you have to take responsibility during the bad times and work through them to be able to enjoy all the good times.

One thing we've learnt is that there is no point in beating ourselves up about it. So what if we miss some social media posts, don't stick to our weekly planner or forget to schedule a blog, it's not the end of the world - we can work harder next week or just learn to let it go and get on with what's next.

At the end of the day, I think that it is the little things that keep you going when times are trickier; like happy customer emails and surprise blog features. That's enough of that rant and hopefully next time we'll be back to normal!

In the Village // Fayre Earth Gift Shop

I've been meaning to feature Fayre Earth on the blog since we moved to Falkland last year so I'm glad I've finally got round to it! Owned by the lovely Elizabeth, Fayre Earth is easily the most colourful shop in the village, filled with locally made, recycled & fairly traded gifts. 

Fayre Earth sells a fab range of home accessories including my favourite velvet floral cushions and beautiful pieces by the Wee String Plaque Company. There are also gorgeous glass lanterns and candle holders, I love the choice of bright and bold homewares. If you're looking for quirky accessories then there's plenty to choose from too with cosy clothing, hats, scarves, cute arm warmers (which have been on my wish list for ages), floral brooches and fun jewellery.
Fayre Earth also do the best coffees; my favourite is the peppermint mocha (David likes the coconut mocha best, he says it's like drinking a Bounty). There's now a little window bench inside as well as outside where you can have your coffee and watch the world go by. We love to get a coffee to keep us warm while we go for a walk at this colder time of year and tried to make Mocha Mondays part of our routine but something usually gets in the way! If you do visit Falkland make sure you pop into this cheerful Aladdin's cave of trinkets, I'm sure you'll find something to treat yourself with!

Photo a Day Fortnight # 1

part of me: my rings are like part of me and each mean something or remind me of someone // open: I love our studio open/closed sign, helps me stay out when I'm meant to be finished work for the day // geometric: the only vaguely geometric items in our studio!

out the window: we're so lucky to have this view of the Lomond Hill out the studio window // remedy: a candlelit bubblebath is the perfect remedy for relaxing after a stressful day // sweet: this sweet pattern mug design of ours is one of my favourites just now // young: I love this photo of baby me with my Mum and Dad looking so young

make: we've had to make lots of mugs this week! // floral: Our floral pocket mirrors have been popular for Mother's Day // happy place: Our very pink living room is my happy place, especially when I'm sitting with a pretty cup of tea

details: gift wrapping orders id all in the details // colour: new rainbow colour cupcake stud earrings at JillyJilly this week // favourite: our favourite way to do planning is with tea and scones at Miss Daisy Gifts yum! // small: Daisy is so small; she loves to sit on the desk while I'm working 

Earlier this month I decided to try the Fat Mum Slim Photo a Day challenge over on Instagram. I've failed miserably in the past but now that the prompts are weekly it seems a bit more manageable and although not perfectly on time I'm proud of our first fortnight of photos. This gave me the idea of making a regular 'Photo a Day Fortnight' feature on the blog where I'll share a quick catch up of the photographs from the last two weeks. So here it is! I love this photo challenge as it helps me to stop and appreciate the little things in life which are easy to miss when you're busy getting caught up in work... especially when things go wrong (which David will be sharing a bit about on the blog later this week). Have you tried this or any photo challenges before?

Collection Spotlight - If Mothers Were Flowers I'd Pick You

If Mothers were flowers I'd Pick You Illustration Card £3.50

Pastel Floral Patterned Mug £9

 Illustrated Flower Badge Set £3.50

Floral Mum Pocket Mirror £3.50

If Mothers Were Flowers I'd Pick You Quote Mug £9

Pink Polkadot Glitter Daisy Stud Earrings £7

We've been doing a lot of blog planning recently; looking at our more popular posts and thinking about what we like writing about most to try and help encourage us to blog more regularly. We've come up with a few new regular features including this which is the Collection Spotlight - a little look at our latest collections where we'll share our favourite new products and the inspiration behind them. As well as that David will get back to writing his In the Studio posts which had great feedback last year and we'll be designing more cute free downloads for you guys.

Our latest collection is the flowery goodness that is 'If Mother's Were Flowers I'd Pick You'. We wanted to come up with something simple and pretty in time for Mother's Day but also something really fresh and Spring feeling. The Spring vibe was a big part of it and pastels seemed the perfect choice! I think at this time of year we're all getting a bit sick of the colder weather and just want some warmth and colour back in our lives. You definitely get a sense of this with all the photos of snowdrops popping up on Instagram shared with excitement along with captions such as "Spring is nearly here!". Another reason for florals was that I've always wanted to design a floral print so this seemed like the right opportunity, I doodled lots of flower styles before going with a bit of a mix but couldn't resist adding a definite daffodil. These designs are available on most of our products including mugs, prints, cards, badges, mirrors and earrings. For Mother's day the pocket mirrors are such a cute little gift, especially for posting along with a card as a little keepsake. My favourites from the new collection have to be the floral pattern mug and the pink daisy stud earrings, they certainly make Spring feel that little bit closer. You can see the full collection here.

I hope you've liked this first Collection Spotlight post! Let me know what you think of the new designs in the comments.

Birthday Goodies

Yankee Candle - Miss Daisy Gifts

Daisy Illustrated Card - Winnie Shek

Floral Bird Trinket Dish - Pebble Aberdeen

Tea Cups and Saucers - Asda

Macarons - Almondine Aberdeen

Afternoon Tea - Miss Daisy Gifts / Red Velvet Cake - Cake Aberdeen

Last month I celebrated my 23rd Birthday and so, because it seems to be the only regular blog feature I can stick to (3rd year running!), here is a peek at some of my lovely presents. I spent my Birthday morning in Falkland with David and Daisy where I was treated to breakfast in bed and a quick afternoon tea at Miss Daisy Gifts before heading up to Aberdeen to spend the weekend with family. I was spoilt with beautiful flowers and cards, red velvet cake from Cake, yummy Almondine macarons (new flavours including salted butter popcorn!) and presents. My main present is train tickets to York which we're going to visit again in April, I can't wait! As well as that I was so lucky to be given:

1. A pink Breville hand blender (perfect for smoothies). 2. A polkadot satchel from LYDC. 3. My favourite ever strawberry Lindt chocolates. 4. Black Plum Blossom Yankee Candle. 5. An amazing illustrated card of Daisy which will be getting framed in the studio by my friend Winnie Shek. 6. Adorable knitted cakes - calorie free! 7. Cute little birdy trinket dish from Pebble. 8. Pink & mint teacups and saucers from Asda. 9. A magical looking vintage pink glass jug which changes colour in the light. 10. Some vouchers and money which I can't wait to treat myself with.

I had such a nice relaxing birthday weekend and it was so nice to catch up and see family properly. Thank you so much for all the birthday gifts, cards and wishes!