New in the shop - map stickers

I love making things from vintage maps, like these notebooks and these birthday cards. I save every little bit of map that is left over and now have quite a pile. The maps just seem too valuable to throw away, so I have been trying to design products that use them up rather than wasting them. I little while back I added these map notecards, but I have plenty of scraps of map so decided to think about other things I could use them for.

Introducing the new vintage map stickers! I am so pleased with these and what a wonderful way to show off the little bits of map.

Each sticker is completely unique, made from real maps over 50 years old. These aren't your bog standard printed stickers, these are little pieces of history!

There are two sheets of stickers in each pack, with 40 stickers in total. You could use them to decorate your journal, or as envelope seals, or on wedding favour packaging. And they would make a lovely gift for anyone who likes maps or travelling.

Available now on Folksy and Etsy. Really hope you like them as much as I do!

Friday Folksy Favourite

I've been choosing my favourite handmade item from Folksy every Friday for quite a while and popping them on Facebook, but I thought it was time to bring them to the blog. There are some truly amazing shops on Folksy with lovely handmade products that deserve to be shared. Pop back each Friday for more!

A porcelain custard cream! This little beauty is handmade by Delphine and Max and inspired by a love of British tea time. It would be brilliant as a quirky gift for a biscuit lover.

Behind the scenes - July

This month, running my small business has mostly involved taking a break! I closed the shop for three weeks and had two full weeks off work. This can be hard to do as I always worry that I will annoy customers and I'm obviously losing out on sales, but it was so worth it. June had been such a busy month and I was pretty exhausted. I was reaching the point where I really didn't want to make yet another travel journal; I don't want making up orders to become a chore, I'm keen to ensure that I continue to love crafting and am glad to create products for customers. After a refreshing break I'm back with renewed enthusiasm and a lot more energy!

And my lovely customers haven't forgotten me - as soon as I reopened the shop I started getting sales again. I'm hoping August will be a bit quieter than June though so that I can get some prep done for Christmas!

In the little bit of working time I had in July I have been designing another new personalised journal which I hope I can share with you soon. I also ordered 750m of double sided tape - there's a photo below if you want to see what this looks like! It's unbelievable how much tape I get through.

Before I went away I sent out the monthly greetings card subscriptions. I put together these little bundles of three cards every month and I enjoy designing new cards, many of which are exclusively for the subscriptions. If you fancy getting your hands on a regular delivery of stationery you can sign up here.

On the blog I posted the third in my series of nursery rhyme Folksy Fridays with a collection of interesting sheepy items and came up with 10 reasons you should send happy mail.

Here's the month in pictures.