Where has this year gone?…I can’t believe it’s less than 7 weeks until Chrimbo!! I’m not sure why I feel so surprised as it’s ALWAYS manic this time of year, especially for designer-makers who have the inevitable Christmas fairs and shows to prepare for. It just feels like there is WAAAAAY too much to do in a measly 7 weeks :/ there’s the Spring 2012 issue to plan and set in motion, UK Handmade’s 3rd Birthday celebrations to finalise, Guildford Craftacular fairs and We Make London Christmas Popup Shopping Experience to prepare for, Beekeepers Quilt Competition Stitchathon and that’s not even touching on family commitments…just thinking about it all is making me a tad dizzy!

I’ve managed to squeeze in some making time myself with several commissions and some stock for fairs which is a good feeling as it means I feel “relatively” well prepared for my participation in Guildford Craftacular on Saturday 26th Nov and 3rd December which makes a change!

I reckon the fact that I am sharing a stall with my rather talented friend Laura of LAM Designs is keeping the sweat from my brow. I’ve always thought that stall-sharing is the way to go, not least because it means you’ve a mate there to chat to and someone to man the stall whilst you dash to the loo (^_-)

In other news, I was approached by the makers of a wonderful film called “Hafu” about the experiences of mixed-Japanese people living in Japan (I am half-japanese and half-english myself if you didn’t already know) to donate a few pieces of jewellery to help them raise the funds to complete post production on the film. It’s a REALLY exciting subject matter which has hardly ever been touched upon by the Japanese media, which is what makes this film so unique, special and NECESSARY! You can check out a little teaser video of it here: http://www.hafufilm.com/#!home

It seems that the pieces I donated (a cherry blossom necklace and bracelet) set a bit of a record and sold out within hours of being posted up on the fundraising website which is always a nice little bit of validation for a designer-maker! I feel really pleased to be able to support a film project so close to my heart. It is a strange experience growing up with a foot in 2 such different cultures, knowing that you might never be fully accepted in either….I hope this film examines issues like that and helps young mixed-Japanese people feel good about their mixed heritage.

One thing I have fallen woefully behind with is my hexi-puffing endeavours and my other knitting *cries*…I shall be contributing a couple of the little blighters to the Beekeeper’s Quilt Prize Competition so my total has fallen back down below 10 I hope to re-immerse myself in the knitty goodness over Christmas break though and will hopefully manage to finish the project I am working on with my Debbie Bliss Paloma stash (^_^) PLUS I bought myself a bundle of lovely vintage wooden knitting needles which I just couldn’t resist so even more excuse to get stuck in. All I want for Christmas is a bit of quiet time with my hexipuffs and wool stash is that too much to ask for? lol

Anyway, heyho back to the grind….no rest for the wicked (^_-) x