Five of my favourite online papercraft shops

Last month I shared with you five of my favourite blogs to read in my new mini-series of posts, and this month I thought I'd share my top online papercraft shops. There really aren't many craft shops in Hull at all, apart from Hobbycraft, so I buy most of my crafty stuff online. It's quite hard sourcing decent craft materials, so once I've found somewhere I like I tend to stick with them. Do check out these wonderful craft shops that sell supplies for papercrafts.

1. My favourite shop for coloured card is Papermill Direct, a paper mill based in the Lake District. Definitely the best I've found for both quality and price (A4 sheets of card work out at only 8p each!).

2. If you're looking for unusual craft paper I can't recommend The Exotic Paper Company highly enough. Their beautiful recycled papers come in all sorts of varieties, including paper made from rhino poo, bank notes and wildflower seeds. All made in their mill in Hemel Hempstead.

3. Payper Box is the best place to buy double sided tape, as well as paper, card and other craft essentials.

4. For luxury papers with all kinds of amazing textures and finishes I love Inspire Me Papers. They source their wonderful paper collections from all around the world.

5. Fred Aldous have a great selection of craft materials for pretty much any craft on your bucket list (plus a ton you've never even thought of!). Their papercraft section contains a good selection of accessories and kits as well as some lovely handmade papers.

Handmade favourites - 8 of the best travel journals

Since my travel journals are one of my best sellers, I thought I'd find 8 of my favourite travel journals for this month's handmade favourites collection. If you're off on your holidays this summer why not record your adventures in one of these super journals, all handmade in the UK.

The world is a book A5 travel journal by Bookishly

Scratch map travelogue by Luckies

Explorer's notebook by Coulson Macleod

Screen printed lighthouse travel journal by Sukie

Personalised travel journal by Grace and Favour Home

Bear spotters A6 notebook by Hole in my Pocket

Old suitcase leather journal by Bobby Rocks

A6 leather journal with recycled maps by Girl With Beads

Open for business

I'm back from a wonderful week off and my shop is open again. I do love running my little business but my fingers really did need a rest from making so many wedding cards and travel journals. I haven't used any double sided tape for 10 whole days!

As promised I did make myself tidy up my craft room. You can now see nearly all of the floor (just a little bit more sorting needed!) and the desk is nice and clear. I hate tidying, but boy do I feel better starting work this morning in an organised space rather than stressing about the chaos around me! We'll see how long it lasts once the orders start pouring in though...

I didn't have time to make as many cushions as I was hoping but I did finish one. It's looking a little bit lonely sat on our sofa all by itself so I really hope I get chance to make the others soon. I'm really not a sewer so I'm pretty pleased with my attempts. Not quite ready for the Great British Sewing Bee yet (especially given how long it took to make!) but I enjoyed spending time being creative in a different way.


Back to making with paper again today!

If you'd like to see what other creative peeps have been up to this week pop over to the Handmade Monday link up.

I'm having a week off :-)

Gosh what a busy couple of weeks making up orders! Thank you so much to all my lovely customers. There are going to be lots of happy couples receiving handmade cards on their big day!

Just a quick post to let you know that my shops are now closed for a week whilst I have some much needed time off. I'm going away to the Yorkshire Dales for three days then have some time at home. I'm going to have a big tidy up of my craft room (I hate tidying, but you should see the state of it. And if I tell you I'm going to do it I really will have to stop putting it off!) and I've got some crafty projects planned too. I'm not the world's best sewer (give me paper over fabric any day!) but I've treated myself to some rather snazzy fabrics and I'm going to attempt to make some cushions to brighten up our lounge. I'll let you know how it goes. 

If you're looking to buy something from my shop please pop back on Friday 13 June when it will be open again and I'll be ready to get making your order.

Five of my favourite blogs to read

From time to time I like to have a mini-series on the blog to share a little more about me. It's all very well talking about craft and handmade and the say it shop, but it's not particularly personal. Now, you're not about to start getting posts about my recent holiday or what I ate for dinner last night. What I get up to really isn't that interesting. But I do like to share a few of the things that make me tick. Last year I wrote a series of blog posts called I like where I shared some of the things I, er, like! And since it's been a while I thought it was time to do a few more personal (ish!) blog posts.

Welcome to 'Five of my favourite...'. Every so often (I'd like to say once a month, but I hate to make promises I don't keep!) I'll take a topic and share with you my top five. First up, here are five of my favourite blogs to read.

1. Amy Wanford of Crafting Confessions is a card-maker who comes up with some fab designs. I love her fresh ideas and her clean and simple style.

2. Claireabellemakes is a blog full of craft, handmade, stationery and all things Cambridge (a city that I love but sadly don't live in any more).

3. A wonderful blog full of inspiration is Pretty Paper Things. Kristie Bradfield finds the most amazing paper creations to share.

4. A fairly recent find Paperphilia is full of all things paper, written by book artist Rachel Hazell

5. My favourite blog for business advice is Create and thrive. It's run by a group of creative business owners, so they know what they're talking about!

Let me know your favourite blog to read in the comments and I'll take a look - I love finding new blogs to add to my reader.

Handmade favourites - travel accessories

The sun is shining and it's the time of year when people start to head off on holidays, so for this month's handmade favourites collection I've chosen my top handmade travel accessories. Everything is handmade right here in the UK.

Retro personalised laundry bag by Seahorse

Leather passport holder by Lost Kind

Fox wash bag by Katherine Thompson Handmade

Personalised luggage tag by Namees

Travel card holder by An Exhaltation of Larks

Green spot travel pouch by Kitsch Devine

Standeazy portable phone stand by Phonestand

Waxed cotton washbag by Weldon

A day in my shoes

In the Saturday Telegraph Magazine (that I only read when I go and visit my parents) there's always an interview with someone which asks about their daily routine. It fascinates me to learn about how others plan their days and use their time. So, just in case anyone else is as nosy as I am, I thought I'd share what my typical working day looks like. I am so grateful that running my shop is my job, and that I don't have to do it full time (I usually work three days a week). Sometimes I don't stop and appreciate that enough.