August in the Craft Room: Cosy Autumn Gifts and Christmas Preparations

It never ceases to amaze me how the year plays out. How quickly it flies, and how August somehow arrives heralding the cosy autumn months while many flowers and plants are still blooming beautifully.

I always feel I'll be further ahead with preparations each year. Life has a way of disturbing my plans with other very important duties and commitments. You may find that too.

Nonetheless, I've been forging ahead wherever I can, trying to keep things moving on all fronts for my customers. There are quite a few things quietly taking shape behind the scenes at Parade Handmade, so I thought I'd share a little glimpse of what's brewing.

Cute Autumn Gift Ideas

Some of the new handmade collections coming to Parade Handmade are coming along nicely.

I've been talking to Ditsy Designs about some very sweet pastel-coloured hand-stitched mushrooms, which will contrast beautifully with their earlier collection of sumptuous velvet mushroom keepsakes.

The new mushroom collection will consist of one-off designs, each with its own little felt display stand. They're made using sweet cotton patterned fabric and are wonderfully tactile. They can also double up as pincushions as well as decorative keepsakes, making them both pretty and practical.

I'm rather looking forward to seeing these come together.

They're due to arrive in September, all going well.

You can have a peek at the earlier Ditsy Designs Velvet Mushroom Keepsake Collection in the meantime.

A Little Christmas Gnome Magic

Meanwhile, I'm excited about another project I've personally been working on.

A brand new Christmas Gnome greeting card pack of six.

I've had to put my current painting, The Ducks' Lunch, on hold for the moment, although it's almost finished. My little Gnome character has won out for now!

I do love this particular character. He seems to make an appearance every Christmas in one form or another, whether he's popping up on cards or appearing on festive decorative pieces and getting into the swing of the season.

You may have seen him before.

He's been baking, skiing, ice skating and carrying his Christmas shopping bags. I've even painted him prepared for a day at the beach.

Apparently, he has quite a busy life.

I always like to have my Christmas card designs finished by the end of July or during August, so I'm rather pleased that I've somehow managed it this year.

All the artwork for the new Christmas Gnome Greeting Card Collection is now complete.

Next comes the printing, choosing the card stock and putting everything together ready for a little product shoot.

I've chosen lovely red envelopes to accompany the six designs, which should give the collection a wonderfully festive feel. The cards will be A5 size and designed so that they can also be framed quite simply, allowing you to keep and enjoy the artwork as part of your Christmas decorations for years to come.

If all goes according to plan, they'll be ready for shopping by the end of September or, at the latest, around mid-October.

I have another design in mind too.

I'm not entirely sure my time will stretch to it...

Aghhhh!

You never know.

Cottagecore Cosy Accessories

Moving into the cosier end of the year, there are also some lovely chunky hand-knitted accessories on the way.

If you're fond of thick, old-school, long, hand-knitted stocking-stitch scarves and cosy cowl-neck styles, you may be in luck.

There are some new styles in the works too, which means a fashion shoot will eventually beckon.

That's always fun.

So far, there are some dark flecked purple and dark flecked brown pieces still waiting for their finishing touches. They'll need the wool ends tucked away and then they'll be blocked before they're ready to make their way onto the website.

Depending on how the time goes, there may be other colours too.

But I'm making no promises!

That's about all I can divulge for now. There are more things brewing behind the scenes, but because everything here is handmade in relatively small numbers, I don't want to push the boat out by making promises I can't keep.

There will be more news next month, or perhaps you'll hear about something sooner through my craft news newsletter.

That's part of the fun of handmade, I think.

Things appear when they're ready.

In the meantime, summer is still doing its thing outside, the flowers are still blooming, and somewhere in the craft room Christmas is quietly taking shape.

If you'd like to follow along and receive occasional news from the craft room, you can sign up to my craft news list here.

And if you're beginning to think about cosy autumn treats, thoughtful handmade gifts or getting a little ahead with Christmas, there's always plenty to discover at Parade Handmade.

Wishing you all the best for the months ahead, take care, Amanda