Merry Christmas Everybody!

I thought I'd start off with a couple of festive photos! I'm busy today with a looong list of jobs to get done while Peter's out at work and the house is quiet, but I'm taking a break and have made myself a coffee so I can sit down and write what will probably be my last blog-update of 2013!

Big big news is that I am now only three sales away from having had 500 Etsy sales - I still can't quite get my head around that figure...I doubt that I'll reach that goal before the end of the year, but to be honest I'm not really that bothered about WHEN it actually happens, it's just a huge achievement whenever it comes around!

I just had a look at my 'shop statistics' the other day and I have actually done better on Etsy this year compared to the last twelve months. I need to remind myself of this kind of thing every so often, as I can get so bogged down in comparing myself to other people and shops on there, when really I should try to just focus on myself and making my own shop bigger and better {easier said than done, but one day I might just get there!}

I treated myself to a big order from BlackSheepWools last month - it was so big that it had to come in two packages :)

I've used up some of it already - making hats with the Rico Galaxy, King Cole Moorland and both lots of Wendy Celtic.

I also ordered some bits and pieces from PurpleLindaCrafts but had them delivered to Peter's Mum (in England) as I was meant to be going over there earlier this month, but I got sick so Peter had to go instead. I really have zero will-power!

I've kind of been on a spending spree recently but this is the time of year when I have more selkie-money so it makes sense to buy stock/supplies now rather than in the middle of the summer or whenever.

So in this spirit, I've bought 100 greetings cards from Moo :) I've included some new photos rather than keeping getting the same old ones over and over again - I thought I'd try selling ones with close-up photos of my crochet and I just love this photo from Valentia.

I'm selling the 'crochet' cards individually or as a set of four (in the photo above) - hopefully they will sell for me :) People are always saying how neat my work is, and I loved the colours so I chose those four as a 'test' to see how they sell.

I also bought 100 more business cards from Moo - they were having a sale and it always makes sense to stock up on that kind of thing when you can get a bargain.

I've used up yet more of my lovely wools from our Italian holiday -- the hat is a 60/40 blend of wool and silk. Oh I wish I had bought more of this instead of just one skein...

...and this is the second of the mohair blend with sequins which I bought there too...happy sigh... I still have lots left in my 'Italian' bag so keep watching for updates and photos!

Right, that's nearly the end of my second coffee so I'm going to finish up on the computer for now and wish you all a wonderful Christmas and all the best for 2014.