Around the house....

Still not unpacked.

Cybher 2013

Last weekend I was kindly asked by Most Wanted to pop up to London to visit Cybher. Cybher is a women's blogging conference and consists of many talks and few workshops for fellow bloggers to take part in.
(above was the free neon satchel we all received on our arrival from Leather Satchel Co)

I wasn't so sure what to expect as I have never been to such event before but I pleasantly surprised by the amount of women there and their passion for blogging. I met all kinds of bloggers, from lovely interior design bloggers to passionate knitters. It was sponsored by some great companies that provided us with some goodies on entering. Including a pretty special neon leather satchel.

I had already roughly worked out which talks I wanted to go to beforehand so that I was prepared. I was pretty glad I did as the handout didn't have the descriptions for each talk so was a bit hard to work out what the talk would have been about.

Below is a little about the talks I went to:

Living the Lifestyle Dream
- This talk was by 3 great lifestyle bloggers, Natasha from Candy Pop, Caroline from 91 Magazine/Patchwork Harmony and Rachel from Ted & Agnes. It was great to hear their experiences from blogging and how you can meet some really interesting people. For example Rachel has just published a book with Dottie Angel who lives in the states and they met purely through their blogs and have formed an amazing friendship. I thought Rachel's talk about her experience of publishing a book was so informative and really inspiring. Maybe one day I could publish a book. I have no idea on what though???

Keeping it Legal
- This talk was one of the main one I wanted to attend as I think the legal side of blogging is a little foggy. It was great to hear from Emma who is a solicitor and she really helped clear things up when it comes to Copyright and wording you should use when you are creating a 'sponsored post'

Living on the Edge
- This what about how to use Facebook to benefit your blog. I am new to having a Peas and Needles Facebook page so wasn't too sure how you make your page stand out from the rest. We were told 3 golden rules…
1. Post content audience will love
2. Live it, breathe it
3. Test and learn

(Image above from the Home Barn stand)

From Auto to Manual Photography
- I would imagine like me a lot of bloggers when it comes to taking photos stick their DSLR onto manual and just shoot. I wanted to learn how to step away from this and to try and improve my photos… Jay kindly and patiently explained the differences between shutter speed, ISO and aperture. Her ending words were… 'just practice'. I need to practice.

Pinteresting
- This covered the pros to using Pinterest and how to gain followers on your pins. The ladies who did this talk suggested pinning recipes, seasonal content and downloadable resources to improve your Pinterest audience. Obviously this would then direct them to your blog if pinned correctly. I love Pinterest but have never thought about using it to improve my blog audience so this talk was interesting to listen to.

How to Make Your Blog Pay
- I'm not sure that I would want my blog to pay as I think my blog is more of a hobby than a 'job' but I thought it would be interesting to hear what they had to say. The talk was from the people who run School for Creative Start Ups and spoke about advertising, marketing affiliation and how to benefit from this route. I'm not sure I came out any wiser to the pros of blogging for money as I mentioned I do it for a hobby but I'm sure it might have helped if you had more time to spend on going down this route.

If you are interested in how to improve your blog and how to go about making it a business and not just a hobby I would definitely recommend going to this next year. I had a really great time and met some lovely people, it also helped build my confidence in talking to people I don't know. I guess thats what happens when you are in a room full of people who have the same passions and interest as you!

Currently...

A little spot of weaving...

The other weekend I popped down to the beach to have a cup of tea and to do some weaving! It's a bit of an odd craft to do at the sea. Its also pretty addictive. Maybe I'll make a wall hanging for my new place.
 

3 go to Berlin

Well Berlin is pretty awesome. Here is some things we got up to.

- ate a lot - walked a lot - got lost a lot - didn't sleep much - ate some great pancakes - ate some great waffles - one of us was really poorly for 24 hours - used the photomatics way too much - visited the wall - had a drink at the Michelberger - got confused on the U-bahn and S-bahn - met a nice man on the bus who came for breakfast with us - stayed in a beautiful apartment overlooking the canal - visited the DDR museum - went up the TV tower - went to a party with live animation on the walls - did some shopping - went to a flea market - drank a lot of coffee - got snowed on. A lot.

So yep... we had a pretty ace time. I want to go back when its warmer and you don't have to wear 4 pairs of trousers!

Secret Garden

Recently I was sent a copy of Johanna Basford's new book Secret Garden, this is the most detailed colouring book I have ever seen!!! The illustrations are amazingly intricate that it would keep you busy for hours. The book would appeal to any age, but I think you would have to buy 2 copies though. One to scribble in and one to t o keep!

The other thing that I thought was lovely about this book was the quality of the paper. Most colouring books are normally printed on thin cheap paper which results in the ink seeping through to the next page. That bugs me. This doesn't happen with this book.

Now I just need 5 mins to sit down and enjoy it properly!

Super Super Summery Window

On Friday I installed my first window display for Super Super HQ in Brighton. I had kindly been asked to partake in their monthly window displays which they ask various artists to take part in.

I decided as it is the start of the summer months (I hope) that a nice ice cream themed window would fit quite well. I decided to make 30 'ice cream' pom poms, some double scoop, some with knitted flakes. They were all held in hand sewn fleece cones. I even took on the task of sewing in the grid of the cones to make them look like the waffle style ones.

It was so nice to see the response from people walking past and their reactions were pretty funny. I think it went down quite well. Even with a few possible sales from the local ice cream shops round the corner!! 

I had some awesome help from Amy and Helen who helped me put it all up and figure out the spacing and placement of the cones. Wouldn't have been able to put it up without them. Pretty ace ladies! Thank you!

If you're in Brighton please do pop by.

Busy times...

Lots of bits and pieces happening right now, installed a window display yesterday, Laura came to visit today (best day) and about to move again at the end of the month.

Happy bank holiday!!

I'm in a book!! yeh!

Last year as part of my 52 Project I upholstered an Ercol chair and little a footstool then later on that year I was contacted by a publishing company asking if they could use my images in a new upholstery book....yep!! I was pretty chuffed as its just a hobby of mine.

You can see the images that they used below and one of them is on the cover too!! 

The book is filled with rather beautiful pictures for inspiration and loads of tutorials on how to create your own piece. It's definitely going to help me out on my next project. I should probably finish the ones I have on the go first though! 
 

If you fancy treating yourself to a new rather lovely book you can buy it here.