Horray......

Finally back on the network...

I personally would chop of hackers hands, when they send out virus's and disturb my enjoyment!!!!

So I best do a quick catch up

Crafting - havent done any!!!

Decorating - done loads over the weekend.

The Plan - working on it nicely and things I hope are coming together, though there is a lot of information to go through.

Did I say i got my card printed in Lets Make Cards - I can't remember, lol.

And finally 2 hours in the garden yesterday whilst defragging the pooter, feeling the consquences now though. I have found long lost muscles, but the veg patch looks smashing :)


Take care all

SHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Ok this is now a quiet zone.

Went to the family BBQ last night, and must have drank at least a galloen of beer, well it feels like it anyway,lol.

3am when we got home, the kids had a great time, and to be honest though I don't always like these occasions, it was quite a fun night.

However this morning, my head decided I had over done it.........

So it you don't mind I'm going to quietly sit in the corner and nurse my banging head.

I Need A Workable Name

My brain has drained, and there is no creative juice left!!!

As the post below I have been wittering on about the PLAN.


Now because of some of the brillaint ideas coming forward, I have ended up confusing myself and others, on the set-up of ....

So I think I have finally K.I.S.S'ed it (Keep It Simple Stupid!)

I've managed to find a reasonable HOST, and I have shot an e-mail to see if I can get some sort of deal in the future.

Now the thing is, because of the KISS principle, it won't offer everything that we want straight from the beginning. (But that doesn't mean that we don't have the vision to get what we want in the future!)

Some of the great feature put forward so far are:

A one stop place to showcase ALL crafters shops (unfortunately we can't offer a place to make your own shops at the moment - but this is being looking into - in fact this very minute!)

A shop of the week.

Demonstrations - hopefully video and picture demonstrations.

Profile pages - come and meet the crafters.

Swop Shop - this is a crafters only area, if you have something you would like to swop come and post it and see what others will give you in return.

And finally but not leastly an E-Mag - hopefully monthly by those that use the site. (Voluntary contributions folks - don't feel pressured)


I know this is far away from the original plan, but the costs were literally out of this world to set up so that we could get individual stores under one roof.
I am trying to get some sort of deal forward - so a case of wait and see on that one.

I'm also aware that some people may not be interested because of forums etc, but I hope you will give us a go when we get up and running.......

Anyway I seem to have gone of the path that I wanted to write about...

I need a name for this site, so this is were you come into it..

Can you think of anything that would be suitable/

Leave a comment if you can.

And don't forget, this is about those that love crafting and hopefully geared towards a fair deal to those that want to sell and buy.

Thanks for reading

Catching Up

Ok, my last post ended crappy.

But to fill you in I got into the money on the Kalooki tournament, this was nice to end the day on.
My craft corner is, well, still a flipping mess.

And finally I am getting around to all my e-mails etc and catching up with everything.

OH OH...

nearly forgot....

I got my card published in Lets Make Cards - yay. (It may have the wrong name on but its there, lol)

So just to let everyone know, I am still working the idea of setting up a selling site for all crafters, and I have been getting some great input of a couple of folks. I really hope this project flies, because we are coming up with some new and interesting ideas... So please keep checking in for updates over the next week or so, it may just be the thing for you.

Have a great day everyone

Todays, To-Do List

I'm still half asleep, and only on one cup of coffee....

But here is todays list.

Firstly and most importantly - Wake-up, lol (working on that one right now)

2 Pots - OK that was painless enough, except for a stubborn pan that was left from last night
3 Hoover - done
4 Washing in -washing out - hmm, mysteriously found two pair of jeans, sat next to the washer!!! I thinks someone is going out tonight and forgot to tell me about it, lol

Time check for those that are interested - 9.18am

***Breaking News*** - Stopped for a spot of breakfast and managed to have a fight with the margerine tub. I won, however the margarine tub committed ArriKari and dived bombed onto the floor. SPLAT, a lovely splodge of margarine to mop up. - 9.28am

5 Attack the greenhouse - hopefully before it gets too hot in there.
And getting the hanging baskets and chimney pots done. - Ohhhhhhh, my back, I forgot that I'm no longer 18. I have a nice table just potting up size and instead of using it, I decided to plonk everything down on the grass and do it the back breaking way. Well anyway, I managed to get 3 baskets up and going, though they look a little untidy at the moment, I'll tidy them up, when the plants have settled. And all three chimney pots are now planted up. They look a little sad at the moment as I have used very immature plants, but now the weather is getting better I think they will do OK. So anyway having another cup of coffee, and trying not to sneeze. I love my garden however my hayfever doesn't love it back. 11.23am

6 Stop for coffee and grab something to eat!!! - Had coffe but not eaten yet - I know thats a boring fact, but I'm sticking to my list, lol

7 Check again how to set up this blog and hopefully get my signature and my beautifully designed Head Banner up and running (I want to talk about that later)- Its up, its up - said the vicar to the nun, lol, sorry, having a daft moment. But the beautiful banner designed by martine is in place. I know these background colours are a bit off at the moment, but thats another job another day, maybe tomorrow after work as I'm only doing a half day.
Don't it look pretty :)

8 Grab every craft item I have and re-organise, tidy them up and use as many bits as possible!!! - OK time to fess up, I did grab everything, but got sidetracked by the card making, soooooo... hmmmm... Got some nice cards ready now for just about any occasion, but my craft corner is a sorry sight!!! - Its 2.53pm so I suppose if I got off my bum, I could have a good tidy up hmmmmmmm...

I'm thinking by now I should be upto or around 3.30pm, so I best stop to get tea on and running.

9 Pots washed and a quick catch up and correspondence down to e-mails etc - Well best laid plans and all that, but I haven't done the pots yet, and I haven't approached my e-mails either, myself and the other half received some bad news, which we need to digest. So from starting on a high, my mood has now dipped. I may get back on track later.

10 Got to play the $1000 Kalooki40 Freeroll

11 Chill out time, lol


Ok so this is a bit tongue in cheek, but I think this list will help me get through the day, keep an eye on it as I go along the day. I'll report back later,

have a great day today,

Frustration through and through

Well I tried to add a signiture and I was pants at doing that, and as you can see, there is none showing.

However it meant my view count went up by several,lol.

I've also been looking at how to alter headers, I would love to have a picture up there, but I think I have over done it with the 'computer talk and tutorials' and now my head is spinning.

I also really wanted to do some card making today, I've been looking at my craft corner, I have got bits and bobs all over the place, which have now spewed all over the kitchen table, under the coffee table in the front room and next to the dark deep corner next to the TV.

It really is no good, especially when you drill into the kids to keep everything tidy!

I have got loads of little bits that I want to make into cards, so that I can use them up and store my cards away for the future.

I also recieved a gift from Tanya at Crafts Beautiful, due to an error at their end, and one that readers will be able to see when the next edition comes out, but I'm not going to spoil it for anyone just yet - you have to wait and see what that is.

I'm still investigating the prospect of getting some sort of crafter selling website up and running, but as normal this takes time and patience and probably trial and error.

I think I am going to make myself a list for tomorrow, and post it on here so you can see how I progress through the day. It will start with the muldane, ie washing breakfast pots, hoovering too hopefully some sort of craft work.

If you don't hear from me soon, I may have well fell into the craft pit and lost my ladder,

for now,

Butterfly Madness

Son's off school today, ill, and I'm not at work, so I decided to have a lazy day with him, catch up with some TV, and to also make Origami Butterflies.

Fifty-Six in total, yep you read it right FIFTY-SIX, and I'm gonna add some more colours later. Problem is my fingers get sore with the scissors, but I've quite enjoyed it and my son is amazed that you can make butterflies like this.

On a not so crafting note, I have some rare tomato's to plant up, they are called Black Tomato's, but they look quite nice.

And today my daughter had her first GCSE exam, I hope her nerves didn't let her down. Fingers crossed for a good result

Heres the Questionaire.

Well not quite yet, I best explain why I am posting it first.

Having being part of a craft forum for some time now, I have noticed that a LOT of crafters get frustrated with sites that offer the chance to sell their goods.

So this got me thinking...

Something that I do sometimes too much of (poor brain cell will burn itself out, if I'm not careful!).

I've been reasearching many of these sites and I am amazed at the variety of costs for setting these things up and also the running costs to the sellers, ie Listing costs, cart costs, transferring funds etc

So I'm thinking of setting up a Crafters Selling Site, but a site dedicated not just the buyers but to the sellers, were the seller doesn't get ripped off by too many charges.

It won't be a site that is just open to the experienced crafters but to beginners also, everyone needs a bit of encouragement sometimes, and one thing I have learnt is that many crafters are willing to help others to make the best of their creations.

Now this would be a new venture to me and probably to you also, and I know its going to be a learning curve also.

So before I go mad and start setting things up I thought I'd ask for your opinions and comments through a questionairre.

So here goes:


As a Seller of Crafts,

1. Would you be interested in a site that sells your crafts. (Crafts defined as anything that is original and handmade)?
   
2. If you would, what would be the main thing that you wanted from the site?
3. What is the main thing that bugs you about the other selling sites?
4. How would you like to see payments paid to you ( think out of the box, and see if it is something viable for it to be used)?
5. Would you be willing as a crafter to help another seller make their product if a large amount of their item was needed in a small time period?
6. How would you like to see copyright issues on site, ( would you like the site to copyright protect your goods or would you like to copyright them yourself)?
7. Would you like to see a 'Crafter of the day' area that showcases products made from a particular crafter - to help with selling, advertising?
8. And finally, is there anythign that you think is totally lacking in these other sites that you would like to discuss in more detail?
   

Thats it for now, thank you for looking and for taking part.

You are welcome to leave your answers either through the comment tab or you can e-mail @

thecraftmaid@live.co.uk

When you answer the questionairre please let me know which forum you are from or not as the case maybe.

All views and opinions are valued and will be taken seriously and not shared with any other 3rd party, unless you would like to be part of a disscussion group in the future. If you do not want to be part of a disscussion group please let me know.

The Craft Maid

Hello hello hello

Hi there been a long time since I did blogging.

I used to blog a lot when I played a lot of poker, but because of lifes ups and downs I haven't really had time to blog properly for ages.

So this is my new start. It may not be every day, it may also not be every week, but I want to try and post at least 3 times a month.

As the name suggests, this blog will be dedicated to all things crafts, the most peaceful part of my life, and probably one of my most enjoyable parts of my life except for the garden. (Nothing like getting muck under your fingersnails to get the creative juices going!)

One of the first things I'll be doing is posting a questionaire so please answer it if you are a budding or experienced crafter.

For now, thanks for taking the time

The Craft Maid

Oh forgot to say I suffer from 'cant spell syndrome' so watch out for the mistakes