Well as I said on my last blog I was ready for a rest of the chaos that Christmas brings, and I also said that I knew that after a few days break I would be dyeing to get back to it - Well that I certainly am!!

I find it very hard to think that it is very nearly the end of November, last time I looked at the calender is was the 3rd September,  so where has the last few months gone?

I have had an absolutely great time at the fairs and the ceramics are going down a real treat. I really love this time of year as I get to meet so many lovely. I have done many miles travelling the roads of Cheshire and Shropshire and I now only have 4 fairs left to do.

In between the chaos of lots and lots of trade orders I have been TRYING to increase my own stock levels as I have so many events booked over hte next few months and invitations are arriving on almost a daily basis. The first event is this coming Thursday a very dear friend of mine is very kindly hosting a launch party for my ceramics, I am really looking forward to having some feedback.

I have also started to take orders for personalised Chrsitmas stockings, these are now available to buy on the website. I have had the last 2 days stitching nothing but Chrsitmas Stockings, but we are in the middle of a September heatwave, so it has proven slightly difficult to remain focussed, however it has been so lovely,  to work with the door open, as before I know it I will be stiching away with my fingerless gloves on.

Well the summer holidays flew by as quickly as ever, we had a really lovely 6 weeks and I was as sad as Harry was, when he went back to school.

However towards the end of the holidays I was starting to struggle with juggling working through lots and lots of orders with being a mummy. I was slightly concerned with what the christmas seanson would bring , order wise, the last 2 years have been great for me, but I am well aware that the country is really struggling financially and my products are not needed, they are a luxury, but all those fears where laid to rest in August when the orders started flooding in thick and fast. I have been chatting to a likeminded friend (Sarah) for the last couple of months about coming to work with me if I am rushed of my feet in the build up to Chrsitmas, It was decided that, when the children went back to school, she will come and give me that much needed helping hand one day a week for as long as I need her, she is proving to be an absolute godsend and it is so lovely to chat things through with someone as working from home on your own can be very isolating.

We are currently working towards Christmas trade orders and stock levels, most of the Christmas orders went out last week and the next lot will go out mid October. We are also tring to think about the 2012 brochure and also a huge revamp of the website, so watch thic space.....

What a fantastic morning I have had.

The lythographs (transfers) had arrived from the printers so at LONG LAST it was time to put the images onto ceramics, we did not manage to complete the full collection, but the majority are now done and on their way to being fired, I will get them back next weeek and really can't wait, I feel like a child at Christmas!!!!!

(The yellow around the images will disappear in firing.)

It has been a long time since I last wrote, and I have very a very legitimate excuse- lots and lots of work!!

I am sure the majority of you are enjoying the summer holidays we certainly are, although at times it is proving hard to work and spend quality time with Harry,  I do feel on a whole we have a good balance, we are having lovely days out together and the days I have to work he is goes 'exploring' in our garden or the lego tub is  tipped out onto the living room floor and a whole new world is built in an afternoon. 

The new trade brochure that I mentioned in my last post is proving very popular and I have had lots of orders from customers new and old. I am working very hard, day and night ,towards Christmas at the moment, both for trade orders and also to increase my stock levels.

But the best is yet to follow....................

When I started my little business 2 years ago I had a dream to take my designs onto ceramics, and after 2 years of pondering over it, I have eventually gone for it and my Bee, Chicken and Flower designs are being put onto lythographs as we speak to then be put onto staffordshire Earthernware I will have the finished samples back within the next 10 days. I am so so so excited about this, so watch this space, images will follow on my next post.

Until then take care and enjoy the holidays. x

I must apologise for not writing for so long, it is hard to belIeve where the time goes at the moment.

It has been quite a busy couple of months since last time I wrote.

When I set the business up 2 years ago a friend and I sat for several days and produced my trade brochure which I printed out, lovingly tied up with ribbon and sent out to various shops throughout the country.I was so proud of it and it successfully got me trade orders, but, as time went on the business grow and I started to realise that our home printer wasn't that great, and I had less and less time to lovingly tie the brochures up. So last month I took the plunge and had the brochures professionally printed for the first time, it was all a bit nervewracking, I had looked for the best deal and the only way I could do it was to email my pages to a printer who would print it and return it within a few days, I had done all of the graphics myself to try and save some pennies, but I am no graphic designer. The brochure arrived in a box several days after it was sent, I was realy thrilled with the results, it is not quite perfect but for a first attempt no bad at all. AND I am already receiving trade orders from it.

As we were moving last year I remember opeining a newspaper and looking at a picture of a beautiful cushion, reading the details that went with it, it came from a company called 'Swanky Maison' I have held onto this pic for the last year on my notice board.On my list of things to do for 2011, was to look more closely at 'Swanky Maison' which I have done and was thrilled to join them as a partner a couple of weeks ago. If you don't know the site, it is well worth a look ,it is full of independant designers and producers, who all have their own page within the site. I am really thrilled to be part of something that I truely beleive will one day be a huge name.

I have got several Zoe Corney parties in the pipeline as well as several shows, the first of which is Alderley Edge Vilage show on Sunday, so must get back to the sewing machine.

Chat soon

What a week it has been.

Before I start rambling on about the last week at Zoe Corney HQ, I must say what a lovely day we had last Friday, we were all glued to the TV from first thing and then eventually at 11am Kate Middleton arrived at Westminster Abbey and shortly after became the Duchess of Cambridge, it was fantastic she looked stunning and what an amazing dress. It was so lovely to watch all the pomp and ceremony I am so proud to be  British, we certainly do know how to put on a show. The day ended with a bit of a do for our friends and neighbours and rather a lot of Vino!! Fantastic.

All the excitement soon ended when on Saturday a local tractor driver lost his trailer and knocked the telegraph pole down, which meant no phone or internet access for 5 whole days, nightmare!!! I hadn't actually realised how much we take them both for granted, but it is so hard to run a business without them. We are back on line now and everything is getting back to normal.

The last couple of days has seen me trying to get my head around my 'frooly' site. For those of you who don't know 'frooly' it is a website designed for british designers and works on the same line as Etsy, When you get a minute have a look, www.frooly.com/Zoe-Corney I still need to add quite a bit to it, but it is well underway.

And last but certainly not least, yesterday saw the first ever 'Zoe Corney' party, it was really good fun, well attended and all my things seemed to go down a treat. If you are interested in having a party please let me know.

Apologies for not writing for a while. It  has been a busy time with lots going on, and then to top it all,we have the Easter School Holidays in the middle of it. But Harry is back at school and I am slowly getting through my huge list of jobs and feeling a lot more organised ( but for how long remains to be seen! ).

We had a fantastic day at the Country Living fair, I came home all refreshed and inspired.

Our day in London was followed by a marathon of events and coffee mornings, I had a fantastic response from them all, it is hard to judge fairs at this time of year,  I wasn't expecting great things due to the economic climate so I was pleasantly suprised.

The first 'Zoe Corney' Party is booked and I am very excited, the invites are printed and the event is on the 5th May, which gives me a week to get through some stock. The parties are a natural progression for the business and I have been giving them some thought for some time, a lot of my work seems to be commission work, so to have a captive audience where I can speak to each of my cutomers seems ideal. If you are interested in having a 'Zoe Corney' party please email me. The host will receive 10% of sales taken in either a Zoe Corney voucher or a charity donation.

I have also been giving a lot of thought to my new designs, I like to get my Christmas brochure done by June, so have been working very hard towards that and have made the brave decision to have it professionally printed this year, Will keep you posted.

I am really loving this time of year, it is so lovely to have the sun shining through the Kitchen window as I work, it is filling me with inspiration.

Following my recent success with the Glasses and Gadget covers, I have had a play with some spring like designs and colours and produced these zip up purses, I am excited about these as I was about the gadget cosies, so I hope I get a similar response from my customers.

I have a busy few days ahead of me know, we are taking a much deserved break on Wed and having a day in London visiting the Country Living fair, I really love this fair and we are both very much looking forward to some retail therapy along with dinner in Covent Garden if time will allow. I love to visit the 'big smoke' every now and again, it is such a huge contrast from our peaceful quiet life.

After our visit to London I have 5 events in 6 days ! most of these are coffee mornings but really looking forward to all them and hopefully will meet lots of lovely people on the way.

And then to finish it all of my agent that I deal with, that carries my wares around the shops of Yorkshire is coming back of maternity leave next Tuesday, it will be great to have her back oon board WELCOME BACK NAOMI!!

Take care and enjoy the spring  xx

It is hard to think of Christmas trees and snowmen when the sun is shining and the daffodils are about to erupt in the garden, but I have had a day of chasing a few answers for Chrsitmas events, the good news is I have only had one negative so far, and the one that I didn't get into coincides with another event so actually all has worked out very well. I am still awaiting the answer of another one but so far so good. If you are planning any events throughout the year and would like me to bring my stock then please contact me.

I have also been setting my mind to greeting cards, I have an school chum who is very talented at Stationery design, she and her family had a lovely weekend with us in December and we got chatting then about the possibility of us doing some work together. I have been having a play aound with a few ideas today so hope to have something to show you within the next couple of weeks.

Until next time- enjoy the sunshine!!!

Joining Etsy was on my list of things to do in 2011, I had been putting it off for the last month as I felt slightly daunted by it but after having a chat with a friend and feeling very inspired I decided to take the plungs and do it. So, I am now the very proud owner of an Etsy shop, it is supposed to be easy to use and so far it has proven a doddle even for a technophobe like me, I will keep you posted. Have a look when you have a minute www.etsy.com/people/zoecorrney

                                                     I am very excited !!!

Easter is quickly approaching and are many events most of them being quite low key local coffee mornings, but I really love the smaller events as I seem to have more time to chat to my customers and get feed back. This time last year my personalised egg cosies feautured in Cournty Living Magazine, I was really thrilled, it proved to be a huge success for me and I had many many orders. I am still recieving orders from Country Linving and am hoping to really promote them at my upcoming events.

This image is of my latest commission from the above mentioned article.

Further details are on my Gallery page.

  Part of this weeks challenge has been these personalilsed kit/toy bags made form recycled fabrics -jeans and dress fabrics . I did an awful lot of thes on the build up to Chrsitmas and each one was different.

                   I really love them!!!

 Personlised toy/kit bags!

I am trying very hard to clear the decks as we are heading away on Holiday within the next few weeks, well when I say holiday what I really mean is a few days in our home county North Yorkshire catching up with friends and family. We moved to Shropshire last Spring and it has been such a crazy time we haven't had chance to head home since then, we did have a day trip planned before Chrsitmas but as the weather was so bad we had to cancel.

I promised our god daughter and my husbands god son a memory blankets over a year ago so I have desperately been trying to finish them, as well as lots of commissions that seem to arrive on a daily basis- which is really nice, I really love doing commission work as each piece is different

All commissions completed and ready to be posted. I have had a great week and had lots of lovely things to make.

This weekend  I have my other role to play 'the keepers wife', we are very nearly at the end of the pheasant shooting season so tommorrow is our last day. Today has seen me making soup for all the bush beaters and a big carrot cake that Harry helped me make when he arrived home from school. Tommorow will start early as we all get kitted up in our tweeds and ready for a day out in the fresh air. I see myself as so lucky to lead the life that we do, and also for the upbringing that Harry has, it's certainly not for everyone but for us life doesn't get much better than this.

As I mentioned in my last post I have a lot of commssions to work on this month, the majority of these orders were taken at Christmas fairs and as they weren't christmas gifts I have managed to delay them until January.

In between stictching I have been applying for Christmas fairs, it seems crazy it only seems like yesterday that I was loading the car up with my wares and travelling the lengths and breadths of Shropshire and Herefordshire to attend Charity events and Prep school fairs, but you have to book early for these events especially the Charity ones. Fingers crossed they will love my things and I will have lots of acceptances !!

This is one commission I have been working on, it is made from the grooms trousers and brides t-shirt.

After much deliberation here I am at last in the world of Blog writing.

The last 3 months of 2010 was an extrmely busy time for me, I really love that busy times but by the time Christmas eventually arrived I was well and truly ready for the break. The busy times seem to creep up on me, but this year I WILL be organised!!! 

After a short break over Christmas, my first trade order of 2011 arrived on the 4th January- lets hope the rest of the year carries on in this way. I have also been working hard on my Spring designs and have managed to get  my Spring 2011 brochure out in the post to all of the shops that I deal with. I am very excited about my new designs and also waht 2011 has to hold for us all - watch this space.