It has been a week since my new look website launch, and I can’t believe how that time has flown! I had intended to write this blog post a little sooner to coincide with the launch, but life happens and it kept getting pushed back. I’m in full-on market prep mode for our Etsy Made Local events here in Newcastle, but it has been in the back of my mind that I wanted to at least say hello again before then. So, hello! I’m back – yay!

I really hope that you love my new site as much as I do. I have to say that I’ve had some wonderful feedback about it over the last 7 days, so thanks to everyone who got in touch via social media! It has been a labour of love as I’ve been building it myself since the end of September. I’m not going to lie, fitting it around family life has been a bit tricky at times. But Tom has been amazing as ever, and we worked out days where I could have decent chunks of time to work on it. This has actually been a gamechanger to be honest, and we now try and work it out each week. I find that it’s a great way to avoid procrastination and I can approach the week much more positively when I know that there will be time to work on my business.

Crafty Commerce

I basically have no coding experience whatsoever, except for the odd occasion when I’ve managed to copy some code to sort out spacing (haha!). My friend Dan from Baltic Design (who has hosted my blog for years) and said he wanted to create a platform for creatives to build their website, and I have basically been testing this out for him. I am so thrilled with the results! It has all been done front-end and I have created something which is unique to me. I now have my own shop, where you can purchase my embroidered items, kits, workshops and more! My blog is much more appealing and I feel like I can actually share it with people again (it was a bit of a mess after I tried to change the theme – nightmare!). So yes, this platform is coming but it needs a bit more set-up before it’s widely available. If you’re interested, you can find out more about Crafty Commerce here.

In other news…

So there are a LOT of other things going on, some of which you’ll already know about if you follow me on Instagram. We are getting used to life with 2 children and our baby boy is just the sweetest. He is in love with his big sister, crawled at 6 months and his current favourite thing is waving. We can’t remember life without him now!

I also handed my notice in at the day job in September, so will be fully working on Hello! Hooray! from January! I am beyond excited about this – my book comes out next summer and it just felt like the right time to go for it. That and the fact that it has been making me feel like rubbish for longer than I should have let it. That’s all I’ll say about it for now – onwards and upwards!

These little rainbows are my current favourite make and they have been popular in the shop! Custom versions are available, and I’m working on getting more ready to ship hoops too. Once my markets are done at the end of the month, I’ll list any here so you can snap them up. I have too many ideas and not enough time right now, but I’m hoping to use some time in January to get some more things made.

I have embroidery workshops listed in my shop, and I’m delighted to be hosting some at For the Love of the North in the New Year. I’m a huge fan of Lucy and Paul and how they support North East creatives. They have just opened another shop at Spanish City in Whitley Bay, and we’ll be stitching there at my workshops. So excited!

YAY it’s good to be back!

Sign up to my newsletter (link in footer or sidebar) if you’d like to be kept up-to-date with more happenings, and find out first about new products and special offers. And look out for more blog posts coming soon…

Tell me what you’ve been up to – I’d love to know what you’ve been doing, seeing and making!

The post My new look website launch appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Indie Roller Keep Going

In case you don’t know about Indie Roller, I’ll brief you on the basics! The Facebook group The Indie Rollercoaster was set up by Leona from Lucky Dip Club as ‘a supportive community for creative independent business owners to share information, experience and cheerlead one another!’. It’s an amazing community, and what I love about it the most is how supportive people are. You definitely get that sense of community over competition, and in the creative world that’s becoming so much more important. The ‘Keep Going’ idea grew from that, and people have been submitting their own pieces to provide daily motivation and to share what inspires them to keep sharing their work with the world. I’m always really interested to hear about that, and the contributions have been amazing! You can check out the Keep Going Indie Roller Instagram if you want to see more of the submissions so far.

My Indie Rollercoaster Keep Going hoop

So my hoop uses quite a few colours (36 in total!) in order to create the 3D effect of the geometric pattern. I did play around with them a little bit to take some photos – putting things in rainbow order is always fun (like my rainbow shelf in my craft room!). The hoop is stitched entirely with satin stitch, so it took a little while to put together. I think I spent about 2 and a half weeks stitching on an evening and when Little One was asleep, so it was a big project to finish even though it’s in a 6″ hoop.

I started by stitching around the letters first, to make sure that I was happy with the negative space and the tension around it. There were a few tiny patches of colour and fiddly bits to stitch. I find the middle of the letter ‘o’ quite pleasing! To keep the stitching consistent, I stitched each shade in the same direction to make it look nice and neat. When I had almost finished, I realised that there was one purple side going in the wrong direction…so I had to unpick it and do it again! Otherwise it would have bugged me forever… I decided to use a royal blue paint to paint my hoop, and I think it sets off all the colours nicely.

Keep Going cards from hellohoorayshop

This piece is a bit too time consuming to make them to order, so I decided to have some cards made with this design! It comes in three different colours and they are currently available to pre-order here (I’m hoping to have them ready to ship over the next couple of weeks). Which one is your favourite?! I keep changing my mind haha!

This card would be a perfect reminder to keep going – a daily dose of inspiration and colour. Thanks to everyone who has ordered so far! And a big thank you to Indie Roller for such a fantastic campaign. I can’t wait to see more of these super illustrations and designs!

The post Indie Rollercoaster Keep Going hoop appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Hello, spring you wonderful thing!

The 9-page PDF pattern is packed full with all the details you need to make this 8″ hoop. You can even choose between text only and a version with a cheery daffodil! Both versions use 3 basic stitches – back stitch, satin stitch and French knots (there are only 2 French knots so don’t be put off by that if you’ve never done them!). There are detailed step-by-step instructions and photos showing you how to do these stitches. The pattern also gives you a list of materials, colour suggestions and templates, and shows you how I finish the back of my hoops. So if you’re a beginner or a more experienced stitcher, you’ll have everything you need. If you’d like to see this pattern in my Etsy shop, click here!

Vintage floral bouquet

The second pattern now available is actually an update of the first pattern I released – it’s my vintage floral bouquet. This is also for an 8″ hoop, and it now includes step-by-step stitch guides as well. This is actually the first pattern I ever designed so I’m really proud of it! It’s based on authentic vintage floral embroidery, but the bright colours bring it a bit more up-to-date.

Also included is the material list, colour suggestions and colour guide, templates and guide to finishing the back of your hoop. If you’d like to see this pattern in my Etsy shop, click here!

Limited edition ready-stitched hoops

All three of the hoops pictured in this post are available to purchase and are waiting to head off to their new homes! These are limited edition pieces, so I won’t be stitching any more of them. For the pink ‘Hello, spring’ hoop click here; for the daffodil ‘Hello, spring’ hoop click here; for the vintage floral bouquet click here. [All pieces available at time of writing this post]. Thanks so much for supporting my little crafty venture! If you have any questions about the patterns or hoops, leave a comment below or get in touch via Instagram @hellohoorayblog.

The post New embroidery patterns from hellohoorayshop appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

I’ve been super busy getting everything organised and sending out my first few orders (yay!) that I completely forgot to share this with you. My poor blog has been neglected lately, but I’m hoping to change all that…I know I’ve said this before! Juggling family life, the day job and my shop and blog is a bit of a military operation, but I’m getting there. And after years of wondering about making things to sell, I’m so excited to finally be doing it!

Colourful and fun hand embroidery

So I had to think of a way to best describe hellohoorayshop, and basically it’s all about colourful and fun hand embroidery. I love colour and it has been really great to start designing my own embroidery patterns. I have a LOT more ideas than time at the moment, but the pattern for my Sunbeams banner (which features a super quote from Roald Dahl) is available to purchase now. Just click here if you fancy a look. I have designed all of the hoops and banners in my shop, so it’s great to see my designs come to life!

Limited edition hoops

One of the things that put me off opening a shop for so long was that I don’t really enjoy making loads of the same thing. Do you know what I mean? I personally find that it takes the enjoyment out of stitching if I’m constantly making the same design in the same colour. So when I had the idea to sell my hoops as limited editions, I knew I was on to something that could work for me.

So all my designs are limited editions, either one of one or one of two in the given colour combination. This means that you’re guaranteed to have a limited edition when you make a purchase!

Fancy a custom order?

I am always happy to take requests for custom orders – if there’s a quote you would like stitching or you’d like something else designing just for you, let me know! Get in touch by email clare@hellohooray.com or send me a convo via Etsy.

More new designs will be coming soon! And I’m hoping to get my website shop back up and running very soon too…thanks for your patience!

The post hellohoorayshop on Etsy is now open! appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.