Crafty Alchemy Shop

Friday 4 August 2017

List Love - 5 Things About Me


My name is Claire and I'm a list-a-holic. I have lists for everything, there's the food shopping list on the fridge that we add to all week ready for the weekend shop, there's my book wishlist on Amazon, a list of school holidays in my diary, my daily to do list for Crafty Alchemy, the list of lists goes on and on (If at this point you start to think I may need therapy, don't worry, I agree with you completely).

Seeing as I've just launched this blog after 2 years away from the Blog-o-sphere I thought a bit of a "get to know me" post may be a good idea, so here are 5 things about me:

1. I love to drink tea, can't get enough of the stuff, as soon as one mug is finished, the kettle goes straight back on again for a refill. Yorkshire Tea is my absolute favourite, in case you were wondering. (Note: All tea always tastes better with cake!)

2. I run Crafty Alchemy from my home studio (formerly known as the Front Room) 



Don't be fooled by the tidiness, these were taken as I was moving everything in.

3. I love to crochet blankets, I find it sooo relaxing just counting to 3 & 4 over and over again, minimal brain power required so I can switch off a bit. I always make really huge blankets too, everyone in my family has at least 2 blankets, except my dad, I'm making him one for Christmas (sshhh! don't tell him!)

4. I'd really like to write a book someday, I have a few vague ideas of what I want to write a book about, so lots more planning, research and, probably, lists are required.

5. I love a good box set binge, at the moment I'm watching Sleepy Hollow. My all time favourites include Supernatural (#TeamSam) and Criminal Minds.

So there you have it, 5 things about me. I'd love to hear about you too, what are you watching or reading? what TV shows do you recommend? what's your favourite biscuit? or your favourite colour?




Tuesday 1 August 2017

To Blog or Not To Blog?



I've been meaning to start blogging again for ages. It's been just over 2 years since I last put together a blog post and I've missed connecting with readers and other bloggers, so here I am, back in the Land of Blog as it were.

But what to write about? I lost interest in my old blog because it had become stale, it had turned into "Today I made this.... (insert photos of created item here)" and I just lost the will, inclination and  inspiration to blog and it was totally my fault. A lot has changed in the last 2 years, I've changed in the last 2 years, I've learned and discovered new things, I have new passions and so many new goals to achieve.


So I made a list of all the things I enjoy doing and wanted to write about (it will soon become apparent that I have a thing for lists). I wrote a rough schedule of when I'd like to post about certain subjects so I could plan my content perfectly and then I started to write, or, more accurately,  I didn't start to write. I had lots of titles for posts, and rough basic ideas & notes written down, but could I turn it into an interesting coherent post? No. I was completely blank, staring at the screen.


Whilst I was staring blankly at my laptop waiting for lightening to strike and fire off some sort of inspirational spark to an idea lodged somewhere in the slightly chaotic filing system of my mind, two realisations occurred in very quick succession



  • Once I start doing something and focusing on one specific task it all seems to start to flow easily and then other little wheels start turning which leads to more ideas and scribbled notes on post-it notes all around my studio, which, later, become fully fledged plans.
  • Secondly is a piece of advice I received from the lovely Julia Bickerstaff of the Business Bakery which is "Don't wait for perfection, do it now and tweak it as you go" whether it's launching new products, building your website, writing a newsletter or even launching a blog.


So here I am, totally winging it writing this post, I have a sort of plan, but it's not set in stone, I can "tweak" as I go, and as I'm sat here trying to work out how to end this post another realisation has just occurred, I'm really excited about re-starting my blogging journey. I'm also really looking forward to getting back into the habit of writing regularly and taking more photos - something I should have been doing all along.

Thank you for stopping by




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