Goodbye blog, hello mapledesigns.co.uk

I can't believe it's coming up to a year since my last blog post - how time flies by!

Over the past year I've working hard getting my new website and online shop completed, and I'm pleased to announce you can see the hard work over at www.mapledesigns.co.uk.  The shop will be regularly updated with new products, including some more Christmas 2013 products, so make sure keep checking for updates.

This will be the last post on this blog - I'd like to thank you all for taking the time to visit and read this blog over the past couple of years.

All the best and hope to see you over at www.mapledesigns.co.uk


Lyndsey x

Upcoming craft fairs

It's going to be a busy 'ol couple of months with the craft fair season in full swing, so here is a full list of all the craft fairs where there'll be a Maple Designs stall selling the range of baby bibs, dribble bibs, taggies, Christmas stockings and much more.

Sunday 11th November 2012
Magpie Markets
@ The Circle, 33 Rockingham Lane, Sheffield, S1 4FW

Thursday 22nd November 2012
Village Made Christmas Fair
@ Wesleyan Reform Chapel, Church Street, Oughtibridge, Sheffield, S35 0JB

Sunday 25th November 2012
Whirlow Hall Christmas Fayre
@ Whirlow Hall Farm, Whirlow Lane, Sheffield, S11 9QF

Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd December 2012
Kelham Island Victorian Christmas Market
@ Kelham Island Museum, Alma Street, Sheffield, S3 8R

Wednesday 5th December 2012
HSBC Craft Stall (Open to HSBC Employees only)
@ HSBC, Block 1, Griffin House, Sheffield

Tuesday 11th December 2012
12 Days of Craftmas
@ Electric Works, Digital Campus, Sheffield, S1 2BJ


I'm waiting for confirmation of a couple more fairs, so will post details on the blog, Facebook and Twitter as soon as I hear anything.

Hope to see you at one or two of the fairs - please stop by and say hello!

Lyndsey x

It's been a while

After a short break, I'm back and Maple Designs HQ is a hive of activity again!!

It's been a hectic few months - I got married last month!  As everyone always says, it really is (was) the best day of my/our lives and was so brilliant to spend the day with our closest friends and families....and do it in our special way.

The wedding...Candadian style

I've just returned from two (yep, two!!) lovely honeymoons.  First up we went on a Scandinavian adventure to Denmark and Sweden (two beautiful countries, but very expensive!).  We also had a week in the Cotswolds which was just amazing - such gorgeous places, little villages, great hotels...and the odd craft shops.  Well, it would have been rude not to have a sneaky look inside.

Coffee time

So, now I'm back, I've got a few orders to finish and then it's a few busy weeks in preparation for the Christmas fair season.  I'm booked in for about seven craft fairs over the next few months and I'll post some more information in the next week or so with deails on where and when you can find the Maple Designs stall.

I'll also provide some additional information on the workshops I blogged about a few months ago.

It's nice to be back!

Lyndsey x

More time please

It's been quite manic over the past few weeks in the Maple Designs studio.  I've had orders to complete and get out of the door, new ideas for the up coming seasons along with a whole list of other things.

And it's got me thinking - how can I spend my time more wisely?  There seems to be an ever increasing amount of non-hands on craft related 'things' to do; e-mails, filing, deliveries, Twitter, Facebook and blogs to name a few.

And that's before I've even switched on the sewing machine, picked up a needle or thread or done any of my crafty goodness.

I guess I'm unsure whether I should be regimented and, say, start with e-mails first thing in the morning followed by updates to these lovely social media areas and then moving onto my orders and creative time.  It sounds simple, but Twitter and Facebook, in particular, aren't something that you can particularly put into a timeslot - conversations and threads can take-off at any point and before you know it an hour or two have slipped away, but it seems strange to put myself in a position where I could miss out on a large chunk of happenings for hours at a time.

So, I guess, the purpose of this blog is to ask you, the wide world, how do you get the most out of your day?

 

Let me know - I am genuinely really interested to hear from you and it doesn't matter whether you're into crafts or not, we are all leading increasingly more hectic lives.

 

Finally, thanks to everyone who stopped by at the Maple Designs stall at Mary's Marvellous Vintage and Craft Fair on Saturday at St Mary's.  It was another great day, lovely to meet so many new people and stall holders, a great day.  Keep a look out for up coming fairs where I'll have a stall.

Craft Workshops

I've been spending some time over the past few months thinking of new and interesting ways to make sure Maple Designs keeps being fresh and exciting.  So...I'm looking into running some workshops and wanted to see what people thought of the idea.

First workshop being planned - learn the art of Applique.

What will be covered on the day...

We'll start by with the design or motif and choose from a selection of fabrics to use for the design, then we will transfer this onto a t-shirt, top or babysuit (which will be provided). Finally we'll use a machine to stitch round the outline before adding any final touches to finish your item off.

A finished article...

The workshops are for anyone, from beginner to advanced and will be a relaxed affair.  The date for the first workshop looks like it will be around mid-October.

What will be included:

• All fabrics and materials for your design
• A plain white t-shirt, top or babysuit
• All the tea and cake you can drink and eat!

Duration:     3 hours
Cost:            £25 per person


If you would be interested in joining in a workshop, please drop me an e-mail at lyndsey@mapledesigns.co.uk.

Lyndsey x

Cornwall rocks

Last week I spent a lovely week in Cornwall relaxing and soaking up the atmosphere of this lovely part of the country.

It's the first time back down that way since I was a young 'un and it did not dissapoint.  Our base was a lovely farm cottage (complete with hot tub, oh yes!) and we spent the week travelling around this area taking in some lovely places - Penzance, Mousehole, St Ives, Falmouth, St Mawes and Padstow.

My favourites were St Ives and Padstow, the craft, kiddy and gift shops were simply amazing and hours were spent wandering round the shops, taking in a coffee and people watch and devouring the amazing seafood.  Heaven?  I think so.

Mousehole (pronounced Mousell...I think)

The only dissapointing part of the week was a trip to Lands End - an expensive and tacky tourist trap which felt completely out of place for the area.  With hindsight this probably should have been expected - shame really though.

It's back to it now - the internet in the studio is working again now after a few weeks of, well, not.  I've got some orders to get out this week and preparation for a craft fair in the coming weeks - all go!

Lyndsey,

x

Lights, camera....action!

A couple of weeks ago the first ever Maple Designs photo shoot took place.  It was such a great day - a dream come true to have my very own photo shoot, amazing to have gorgeous models wearing and using my items and brilliant to see the end results.

First up I'd like to say a massive thank you to the Mum's and their little models for giving up their time and taking part, and a BIG thank you to Katie from KTM Photography whose photos are absolutely superb.

It was a really fun day and the kiddies were absolute superstars.  Each one had a goody bag of Maple Designs items for the shoot, including:
- Bibs (fabric fronted, terry towelling backed)
- Dribble Bibs (fabric fronted, fleece backed)
- Taggies (fabric fronted, fleece backed with ribbons)
- Burpee Cloths (fabric fronted, fleece backed), and,
- A range of hand appliqued fabric designs on t-shirts, tops and baby suits.

A few photos were posted on Facebook and more from the day are below for your viewing (and ahhhhhing) pleasure!

Haydn with a fetching 'tash top

No dribbles for Haydn with this dribble bib

Lily wearing an 'L' top and strawberry fabric taggie

Bella, Freya and Jack wearing hand appliqued t-shirts

Freya wears a whale design t-shirt

Jack with his dress down day clothing...t-shirt with tie design

Bunting for Bella

P is for Poppy

Poppy wears a strawberry bib

Lily wears an apple fabric dribble bib

Olive comforted by her spotty taggie

Olive saving mum's clothes with this burpee cloth

All items shown in these pictures are available to order and come in a range of fabrics and designs. 

I can also work on any bespoke or custom items - designs, initials, ages etc - so please just drop me a note to say hello via Facebook or e-mail me at lyndsey@mapledesigns.co.uk.

Lyndsey,

x


 All images used above kindly reproduced courtesty of KTM Photography (c) 2012.