Thursday 12 May 2011

More grist to the mill

As you can see I have added to my stock of goodies for the market in July. I didn't like the cream sleep pillows I made first and have ditched them and made organza pillows instead. I've filled little organza bags with lavender to fill the hatbox, plus large bags of lavender for customers to fill their own.  The lace on the medium bag is taken from a table runner and glued onto the front of the bags once filled, then a little baby's breath glued on top. Very fiddly. I have also filled little bottles with lavender essential oil and sealed them ready for labels and pricing tags. Also, not pictured here, I filled tiny organza bags and placed 9 into a circular tub, tied purple ribbon round them and glued a couple of flowers on top. I'll put up a picture next time I blog.

I never realised how much time it takes to tag every item, but customers won't pick items up unless they have a price and a 'Made in Devon' label to take home with them, so it's worth it in the end. I also have to put large notices with each item on the stall like the "4 for £2.00" for the hatbox and descriptive notes on lavender for customer queries.

This week has been especially busy because my washing machine broke down, then the tap connection under the sink started dripping like mad so I had to turn the water off and this meant waiting in for repair men to come and charge me the earth to rectify everything. Isn't it strange that electrical goods always break down together as if they have a union - one out, all out?

Well, back to work...



Sunday 8 May 2011

Stock and stuff

I'm so busy making stock for my new venture that blogging has taken last place. From 1st July I shall be selling lavender and lavender products at the local market on Thursdays and need to fill the tables; so I've taken a leaf out of my friend's book and made all the items she made before she sold her business plus a few of my own invention.
Take a look at my pictures to see what I've been up to the past 6 weeks:

 

The pomander was really easy to make but the other stuff was more time consuming. In the picture above right there is a sleep pillow at the back, a lavender sack to the right, and at the front, a pomander, gingham lavender filled heart and a domino car freshener for the gents.

I still have to make 5 clear cartons with 9 small organza bags inside each, a ribbon round and a flower on top, also various organza bags filled with lavender to sell separately. Then there are lavender scented clay drawer fresheners, clay hearts (same) to order, little bottles of essential oils to fill and cap etc, etc. I have never worked so hard since I gave up making waistcoats.

I did find time to go to my Devon History group and listen to a talk about Queen Anne's Walk in Barnstaple, by the architect who restored the monument. He showed us pictures of his research back to 1850's to make sure all the detail of the monument, friezes and wall sculptures were authentic. It was a fascinating talk and lasted well over the hour scheduled for it.

Apart from all that, my washing machine broke down last Monday so I'm back to hand washing...those were the days, remember?