A rather hectic start to a year...

Well it's all been really hectic over at Trouble HQ for the past few weeks. Craft-wise I have had a few commissions. I had a quilt order in the middle of January so the gorgeous elephant and orange quilt is now in it's new home in Australia. Apparently it arrived on Tuesday and its new owners are really happy with it. Baby hasn't quite arrived yet so it is yet to be tested out!

The Elephants and Orange Baby Cot Quilt

A few days after that was ordered I also got an order for a baby name frame - baby Emma now has an addition to her nursery. It was ordered by a lady in the US who wanted it for friends in London. Her feedback was absolutely lovely: 

Alex was wonderful to work with! Super fast with communication and shipping. My friends loved this as a baby gift!

I also got a surprise opportunity to go to a craft fair - The Balham Craft Fair which is now on every fortnight but in two different locations. I went armed with a limited stock and shared a table with the lovely organiser, Emma, who I have also been plotting workshops with. We had a lovely day, made even more so because I wasn't expecting to be there - Emma called up the evening before with a sudden space and asked if I wanted it. Yes please!

Another reason it's been so hectic around here is that I have been trying to get my Etsy shop looking a little better. My photography has always been quite poor but I have been trying to work on that (I now have a light box!) and I've also been working a little on getting an About page sorted, updating my policies, being more active in some of the teams and generally putting a bit more time into it.

www.etsy.com/shop/creatingtrouble

But the main reason is nothing to do with crafts whatsoever. The main reason has been because of my ankle. I've been waiting for ankle surgery for a LOOOONG time now and it finally came up. Because of the flat I live in and the fact that I work as a freelance teacher and therefore don't get paid if I don't work, I have had to give up my lovely flat (waaah!) and have moved back to my parents' house (poor them) for the time that I am off work and on crutches. My surgery was meant to be in March but was rather suddenly brought forward two weeks ago and I went in for my op yesterday. I'm now safely out the other side and am doing a good job of being an invalid at my parents'. Because of the nature of my ankle issues, I'm actually going to have to go in for another op in a few weeks time and for the moment am completely non-weight bearing. So much so that they haven't even given me a cast, just some bandages.

Which is a bit of a pain as at present I can't even get myself a glass of water because of the crutches. On the plus side, my crutches are an attractive shade of aquamarine and have reflectors on the back of them so people can see me in the dark. Not that I'm planning on going anywhere in the next few weeks!

Rather typically, I got a message this morning from a lady enquiring about me making her a pendant - and of course all my mosaic making tools are back in London! However, I will have them all by tomorrow evening so I'll be back at the arts and crafts in no time at all. I will certainly have time to do some over the next few weeks!