Do you want newer updates to my blog?

This blog is an older blog of mine, so if you head over to www.craftychitchat.blogspot.com you'll find my newer updates and chatterings on there..

See you soon!!!

oh dear...

This really isn't doing too well is it... lol.. updating the old bloglet I mean. Whoops!

I know I promised some card pictures from the previous Create and Craft shows - and they are on the camera... I will honestly try to get them updated soon.

This week has been a bit of a whirlwind really - we have had some work done in the garden, which looks absolutely fab! We had the a new fence put around the garden, and along the side of the house. My next door neighbour, Ian, has done a fantastic job with his dad, and I loves me new fence... so thank you Ian!

I've also been back down to Create and Craft for a few shows last Wednesday, which went really well. Well done to everyone who managed to get the Xcut dies - I am sure you're gonna love them as much as I do.

I also had Craft class on the Tuesday - lots of fun there as usual - and also a demo at Scents and Sentiments in Barnsley on the Saturday.

It's the first time that I've been to this shop, and it took some finding, but cor blimey!!! What a little treasure trove that shop is!! Melanie and her hubby were lovely, friendly and we had a really good time. I'm booked in to go there later in the year too, so I'm sure I'll see all her lovely customers again soon. I even managed to convert some crafters into stamping - result!!

On top of this, I have had time to reignite my love for Cross stitch! I had met Jane Greenoff a while ago at Create and Craft and said if ever she needed any doing, I was here to help.. I haven't cross stitched for many many years, but I got a little kit from her a couple of weeks ago, and I've been doing it most evenings. I have LOVED it!! I can't quite understand where my mojo for cross stitch went to all those years ago, but it well and truly back with avengeance now!

I was using linen to stitch onto... and I love linen.. but obviously I can't give you too much more information, other than to say, the design is wonderful! Such a talented lady and a great designer too. Now to hunt out my favourite charts, cottons and a bit of fabric.....

So that's what I've been upto this week - and yes, I promise I will get the photos of the camera and get them onto my blog... lol.. in between everything else I need to do.. actually, joking apart, things aren't too bad this week. I'm waiting for delivery of my Docrafts designer kit for the next loop of demo's, I've got a few more shows booked in for Create and Craft (details to follow asap), and I'm working on samples and ideas for the next session of filming for Creativity TV in Bath, which is coming up in March.

Whatever you're upto this week, have a good one! Let me know if you update your blogs and I'll pop on over and take a look..

Jo xx

Oh my poor neglected blog...

17th Jan? Really?? That was my last post on my blog?

Gosh, I can't believe time has gone so quickly recently. However, things have been a little hectic in Austin Towers...

I've had quite a few shows scheduled in for Create and Craft with the totally fab Docrafts products. In fact, one of these was a full week of the Tatty Teddy Pick of the Week.. which lasted a total of 48 hours. Well, it was just under the 48 hours actually.. We released the collection at 12pm on Friday and it had sold out during the 11am show on the Sunday!

After it sold out, we moved onto the back up plan of Forever Friends papercrafting kit. It was just as fab as the Tattys, and people had already started buying it because the Tatty's had sold out. This lasted until the end of the week, then I was back on Saturday with the Moments of Faith and Portabello Road collections. It was a very very busy week, but so much fun!

Before my journey's back and fro to Ideal World House, in Peterborough, I had been down in Bath for another filming session for the Creativity TV. I absolutely LOVE doing the videos, and we have so much fun too. Alun who does the filming is lovely and so patient, and the day goes so quickly.

So... Bath, Peterborough, demo's and life - I haven't had an awful lot of time to update my bloglet. However, I will try to do better.. lol.

I am back in Peterborough again on Wednesday, and craft class tomorrow night, plus a demo on Saturday and some cross stitching that needs doing for the 27th... so it's all go.. but I'll try my best..

10 things about ...... just me!

After checking out my favouritest blogs this week, I came across this FAB idea by the ever lovely Emma Collins... click on Em's name to go to the page..

Basically, post 10 things about yourself for your blog readers.. so here goes me!

1. I started my blog - on a whim - in May 2007, and the name has changed quite a few times as I have a tendency to change my mind ... lol. So, I purchased my .co.uk link so I didn't forget where I was looking! I love blogging, when I have chance, but this year I am aiming to blog a little bit more often than I had been late last year! I also want to be a bit more chatty and interactive, so if you have any ideas - let me know! (mmm.. this one's failing drastically as it's taken me about four days so far to do this post...!)

2. I began my working life as a hairdresser. I did my apprenticeship with a lovely lady called Jean over in Chesterfield. I then moved to Doncaster and did hairdressing, Marks and Spencers clothes machinist, lots of cleaning jobs, working in a chippy, became a qualified (with letters after my name!!) photographer, then got offered my job as a demonstrator with Docrafts and the rest, they say, is history. I love what I do, it's the best job in the world, but I'm never totally happy with what I make. However, I always say that when I do get to that position, then I'll probably stop doing it because the challenge isn't there anymore.

3. I married my lovely hubby way back in 1987... and this year we are celebrating our Silver Anniversary. We have three wonderful children, but after my second in 1990, I had really bad Post Natal Depression (and it was really bad!) but I survived it. I still have the bad days even now, but I pull myself out of it and tell myself that I really have nothing to feel bad about. I also find that cleaning and crafting help those bad days.Cleaning?? Really....?? Well, it works for me!

4. Two out of three of our beautiful wooflets are rescue spaniels. As you may guess, we have three spaniels. Two springers - Holly and Scooby, and a cocky cocker - Truly. Our alsation had just died and after just six weeks, Holly was bought on the spot when my son and I saw her (much to the hubby's disgruntlement! lol). It was just lovely to hold a puppy in my arms and losing Asti was still raw, so it didn't take much convincing! Scooby came to live with us six months later. He was 18 months old at the time and his owners didn't want him anymore for various reasons, so he'd been put into rescue. Truly came to us six months after this after arriving in England from Ireland. She'd had a bad start in life, and even now, years later, she is still pretty much the oddball she ever was and has a few 'problems' shall we say..... I will do a post about each of them very soon so you get to know them a little better!

5. I have been a 'cuddly' size for years.. but 2012 is the year this is not the case!! After telling myself for years that being a slightly larger than average ( !! ) size is okay, and I'm fit but fat, and I don't mind being big.. all the usual things! ... now I can see that it simply isn't true. For years I told myself that other people who had lost lots of weight didn't know what they were on about, and how could you feel different.. it was a load of tosh.. and I was DEFINATELY happy how I was. They're just saying it was what I thought. But no. I do feel better, and I realise that I wasn't happy how I was and it was exhausting just trying to stay jolly! I am currently around 7 stone lighter than what I was in July 2011, and I still have a way to go. But I'll get there!

6. My name is Jo Austin and I'm a procrastinator! How bad does that sound?! But yes, confession time - and this is definately one of my failings. I tell myself that I am trying to be organised, but in reality it's procrastination. Again, 2012 is the year this is happening no more! I am being mega organised with the help of the Day Timer blog, and my favouritest filofax blog.

7. Organisation isn't one of my strongest points. (what .. you mean I have a strong point???) I try to be, and on occasions I succeed.. but with the development of mobile phones with calendars, reminders and organisers, surely I'm getting better? Well, simply. Nope! After trying most forms of techniques to keep me on the straight and narrow, I still come down to my trusty A5 filofax. I've tried various sizes of diaries, but this one suits me better. I scribble, doodle, make notes, do reminders, sort out my day, plan my month, check the bills... all in one place! I love my filofax, but I love the philofaxy blog even more!

8. I am not just a cardmaker. I dabble with scrapbooking - albeit not all that successfully - and other crafts. I also take photographs (lots!) after becoming a qualified photographer and also teaching the subject. But I also like to draw, and paint, and play around on Photoshop. I've always been quite artsy, always keeping my hands busy with something, be it crochet, knitting or cross stitch. So I guess it was inevitable that I would start cardmaking at some point. Cutting, sticking and colouring in is great fun!

9. I love people. All my life I've done jobs where people are the main focus, and I love observing their ways, how they interact, seeing what makes them tick... and I find it quite amusing sometimes. I often find myself saying 'I'm glad I'm not like that'.. or 'I wish I was more like that'.. but generally, I'm just me. Like it or lump it.

10. Blimey.. number 10 has been hard to get to!! There are so many things about me that not alot of people know, and I quite like it like that. I have been told many times I have a brick wall, my own little bubble.. but you know what? I like my bubble! It's safe, warm and welcoming (most of the time!!). And yes, it's complicated, confusing, funny, awkward, sarcastic... but that's just me!

It's all becoming clearer!!!

I've been spending the last few days, in between work prep and tv stuff, trying to neaten up my blog. It's been getting very cluttered recently, and I have lost a few links and stuff with all my editing..

So.

• My links are now all in one place under 'My Favourite blogs' .
• My demo's are on a new Page under 'Things to do, places to be'.
• My labels are intact (although need clearing up!) and everything is now 'getting there'..

If anyone is missing who wants linking, please let me know.

Have fun looking through my blog listings - these were mostly ones taken from my blog during my Stampin' Up days... which are well and truly over!

Positive thinking..

This morning, I've had my usual jot around Facebook and noticed a crackin' post by Emma Collins.. which was talking about another post on a Blog, and it was all about Positive Thinking.

I have been trying since the New Year to think more positively, and things are starting to pay off. I do try to be positive most of the time, until it drastically fails, but last year found things getting to me sometimes, and then I started to get a little more temperamental (ahem.. ) than usual. It does tend to inflict on your life sometimes when things start to 'get to you'.... and this is where my other resolution of 'out with old, in with the new' came in.

I also think that when you have had depression, which I have in the past, when you start to feel that things aren't going to plan, or things start to get you down, you do get those really bad days where things seem worse than they are. The 'dips' seem worse than they would for others.

Now confession time - I did have one day this week where I buckled to my own resolution and made that call I said I wouldn't do... and I kicked myself for doing it.. never again! Never, ever!

Anyway. Enough waffle. HERE's the link to the Positive thinking post.. it will make you think, it certainly did me.

Thank you Photofairy for the fab post!

Are you keeping up?

I did my Resolutions list on my last post... and so far is so good! I'm keeping up with them.. well, to a degree.. the 'being organised' one is being done today - but better late than never eh?

The 'Out with the old, in with the new' is going okay. And I'm not regretting it for a minute, and so far have been working on the OLD bit.. I'm keeping my promise to myself and feeling great about it too. The New side of it will be commencing this week when I get a minute! lol.

I am really pleased that this week I was down at Create and Craft doing three shows (more on this later.. ) and I met the wonderfully lovely Jane Greenoff. What a really nice lady! We were both talking about the New Year, and our Resolutions and we both said that we were going to be more organised... I'm not sure how Jane's is going, but mine isn't doing too bad. I've got plans to write up for the Blog, and lists that need to be listed!!

De-cluttering - well... this one is going superbly well!! I even spent an hour yesterday sorting out my demo bag for this past weekend, and put everything where it should be. All little bits of paper that I won't use have been thrown away, and my clutter has been tidied.. result!! It is a fantastic feeling walking into a tidy craft room, already to start the next crafting episode!

Now... the photography side... well.. that hasn't happened. However, I've been playing with my new Flip video over the past few days to get more used to it - so hold on to your horses.. more video tutorials coming soon!!! It's fab. And I love it. Soooo easy to use.

Let me know, how are you doing with your Resolutions!? Are you keeping them?

So.. onto Create and Craft, and I had a great time. Thank you so much for your emails. Sorry if we didn't get chance to read them all out, but I did see them. There was a lovely picture sent in from Nicola (NJ) and I was in awe of it. Nicola, if you're reading this, please send it to me so I can show it on my blog.

The first show I was doing glass painting with Martin, the second was acrylic painting with Leonie and the third was with Howard, and a mix of glass and acrylic painting.

The three hours went very quickly, but it was great fun. As I said, I'd been talking to Jane in the Green Room, in between our shows, as we were both there all day, and she is a lovely person. Very calming, and very funny. She was showing me the new Cross Stitch designer program for the computer - and I must admit, I'm quite tempted.. But. I haven't done much cross stitch for a few years, and the pieces she showed me has totally inspired me to start again!

So, on Friday, I picked up a needle, some threads, some linen and started stitching. Just in the evenings, but it's been nice to keep my fingers busy and be sat in the room with the wooflets and hubby and have an hour chillin' and sewin'.

I'll show you the finished results when I'm completed! lol.

I've also this week had my first demo for 2012.. I was really excited to be visiting Craft Central again, because I knew the lovely Jackie was going to be there. She is such an inspiring person, so friendly, and genuine, and a pleasure to know.

The demo went really well, and I had a great time with new and old customers who came to see the new Docrafts products being shown - and what a lovely range there is this month too!! Such freshness for January - the pinks, the blues, the royal colours.. just fab!! And the Diggity Dog... oh wow... lovely woofers - evidently I love this range!!!

And if you fancy winning some of the new range of papers, Docrafts are giving away 23 sets worth over £40 each... just click HERE to enter.

This month's prizes include all paper sizes, mini buttons, blitters, ribbons, bows and more.. Here's a peep..

Fab eh?

Right.. must make a move - it's Craft Class tomorrow so I need to get sorted.

Until next time, Happy Crafting!!