Merry Christmas to everyone! :)

Thursday, December 19, 2013
Merry Christmas Everyone!!

I wanted to do a blog post as I know I've been really rubbish with my blog this year! So firstly I am sorry that I haven't been the best blogger this year, but with facebook, the website and twitter sometimes it all goes over my head! :S


Some Reindeer and Holly bunting

On the 8th November some of you were able to attend our Christmas Open Night. It was a fabulous evening full of mulled wine and mince pies.  
Thank you to all of you loyal customers who came along and bought Christmassy things. And thank you to my new customers that came for the first time and some of you have been in a few more times since then! So thanks again to you all!
Here is a little video from our YouTube channel if you haven't seen it. 



Christmas has come around far too quickly in my opinion. Some of you may know I've been working on Christmas 2013 since July. But I didn't think it would all happen so fast! And now we're only 6 days from Christmas Day! I hardly feel ready!


Personalised Christmas Sack

Thank you to everyone who bought from me this year. All your orders, commissions and little gift purchases have meant that I can carry on making for at least another year yet haha. 
This year has been a total whirl wind for me as so much has happened. I'm so excited for all the things happening in 2014 but this year has been one of my best!


Handmade Felt Mistletoe Bunch made for a commission

SO much has happened. From being given the opportunity to write projects for Homemaker Magazine (http://homemakermagazine.co.uk/) and Crafts Beautiful Magazine (http://www.crafts-beautiful.com/) to making some really beautiful commissions for individual customers.


One of my projects featured in Homemaker Magazine

I cannot express how much this all means to me. I know I'm always saying thanks and making a big deal out of things but that's just because it's a BIG deal for me! 
Every time you all order something or buy from the shop it makes me happy, you are all giving me the opportunity to have the best job in the entire universe and it's just the most amazing feeling.!

 Special Thanks to:
My Mum and Dad for their support and help. 
My gorgeous Boyfriend for whom all my logos, leaflets, graphics, websites and cards would be nothing without! 
My sister for letting me be her boss on a Saturday and not shouting back! 
My lovely friend Jess for buying from me, spreading the word about me, listening to me moan and having a giggle. 
My wonderful friend Katy from Rustic Rose in Sturminster Newton (http://www.rusticrose.co.uk/). Not only is she an amazing florist but she's also a great friend and has positive attitude bursting out of her, she's never too busy to listen to me and give me advice.
And to Lizzie Hudson the editor of Homemaker magazine for giving me my big break and opening up many other opportunities for me!

Thank you to all my customers and I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and an amazing 2014! 

Love Sophia x
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Our Little English Holiday... Part Four

Monday, October 21, 2013

 I know this is so so old now! But I realised I didn't finish sharing photographs of our holiday! And I absolutely love the next few photos so I had to put them up!


We went to this cafe in Minehead which is a very touristy seaside town. It's not our favourite place to go but it has all the shops we like! PLUS this newly discovered place to eat!! It's called the creamery and they sell brilliant value for money tasty food!!


The inside it all vintage and 1950's style, every table is different. Every counter is different. Brilliant posters on the walls! It was my kind of heaven!



And they sold these milkshakes!! Proper milkshakes with ice-cream! The best treat on holiday!

Another favourite place to visit and eat is Periwinkle Tearooms in the National Trust village of Selworthy Green.  Full of 'clotted cream' cottages and cute rose gardens its a beautiful place to visit!


The tearooms are really traditional, with low slung beamed ceilings inside and  cute tables in the garden surrounded by pretty flower beds and potted plants!

Lastly Locke's Tearooms in Dunster is also a favourite of ours, except this year it was the favourite of wasps too! We only ate there once though as we thought we'd get attacked by all the buzzing blighters!


They do the best Cheese on Toast, Savoury and Sweet Scones and Rocky Road-if you have a sweet tooth!


They also do really light and frothy milkshakes- of course strawberry is my favourite, I am a sucker for any pink foods! :D

Right well there we go! I have now shared all my holidays treats with you all! I'm sorry it's taken a while! Normal blogging will now resume!

Happy Handmade!

Sophia x


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Our Little English Holiday... Part Three

Friday, September 13, 2013
 Hi Everyone!

I am just going to leave this post as a photographic one. I took some photos of the most amazing flowers in 'The Dream Garden' in the grounds of Dunster Castle in Somerset. I hope you get some inspiration from them!

Enjoy!

Sophia x






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Our Little English Holiday... Part Two

Thursday, September 5, 2013
I love buildings- especially cute old cottages and houses. I took so many photos of beautiful homes I saw around Somerset and Devon. Here are just a few of my favourites!


I love the way a simple splash of colour can make such a huge difference to a house. These cottages just had window surrounds or doors painted in bright colours- but the effect is huge!




As you might have guessed this pink cottage was my favourite! The thing I love most about all these homes, is their owners care about them. Making a conscious effort to pretty the outside, put lovely plants outside and keep it all looking lovely. It's so nice to see well loved homes!


 I want this front door so much!!!

All of these buildings were in the gorgeous town of Dunster! It's probably my favourite town in Somerset! Although they say it's a village!! With a beautiful Castle, lovely shops and cafes and amazing houses you couldn't ask for anything else in a village really!



This picture below was taken inside an Antiques House in Minehead. I love old furniture so I dragged my family in there to have a look! And on the top floor was this amazing display of vintage lights! It was such an amazing place and I couldn't leave without taking a picture!


Well I hope you enjoyed looking at some pretty pictures of houses! I will hopefully get to writing more this weekend! Have a lovely day everyone!

Love Sophia x
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Our Little English Holiday... Part One

Saturday, August 31, 2013
Hi Everyone!

If you're a liker on my Facebook Page you will know that I posted a Video of Little Snippets of our Holiday to Exmoor!



But I have loads more to share with you! We stayed in Somerset within the Holnicote Estate in Exmoor. Its a beautiful part of the country, with purple heather and gorse covering huge rolling hills. Being near the coast and in Exmoor, the roads are pretty steep and we stayed in a cute box cottage in the middle of no where! The farm was stunning, but I wish my Punto was a Land Rover for the two weeks we were away! 



Here is a picture of the little cottage we stayed in! I'm sorry for the wonky picture but the cottage was also on a steep hill, and the garden went up and down around the house, so it was hard for me to get a good picture!


The cottage was lovely and old. Each bedroom had lovely ornate fireplaces and the floors were all creaky rustic wood- which made for interesting toilet trips in the night!



You can see from the staircase the gorgeous wood! Each room was on a different level- wearing socks was treacherous! 



In our room, the bed was dark green metal, and had old wooden chairs, tapestry cushions and patchwork throws. It was so cute and cosy.


The views from the house were beautiful. This was Mums Bedroom window! Opposite the cottage were cute piglets and the farm dogs Bean, Sherlock, Watson, Moriarty and Scaremonger (Jack Russell, Labrador, 2 Collies and Pomeranian!) who all kept watch over everything!



I'm a sucker for a good bathroom, and the cottage one was so cute. It was a little small, you could just about get out the bath and turn around, but the taps and finishes were lovely and classic. I've always wanted a free standing bath and a huge tap like the one above!


Well there was the house! I will write a post every couple days! I hope you enjoy reading them all!

Thanks for reading! Oh! And Happy Autumn!

love Sophia x

Holiday Cottage Website: http://www.hindonfarm.co.uk/

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How we started!

Saturday, August 3, 2013


Here's a little video of how we started! Hope you enjoy it!

Check out our YouTube channel for more Jessalli Videos!

Sophia x
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Summer Sun and Heat Waves

Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Hello Everyone!

Well at the moment (like most other parts of the UK) North Dorset is in the middle of a Heat wave! Everyday is around 30 degrees, which I absolutely love! I love the sunshine and this weather makes me so happy, even though it's quite hard to concentrate in this heat!


The Beautiful Cake my sister made me.

It was my Birthday last week so I was so happy we had this amazing weather. I had a lovely day and was very spoilt! My Sister Bea made me the most amazing white chocolate and Strawberry Cake! She's so talented! Wish I could bake!


 Me in the shop, shooting our youtube videos

Some of you may know that we have been making some videos about the shop. We've only done two so far a Workshop Tour and a Spring/Summer Products preview. Please check out our Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/JessalliHandmade
And tell us what you think. If you have any requests of what you want us to film- get in touch!  


A fab photo my sister took of us shooting

It's so summery, everyone has been ordering things in really bright, beautiful fabrics. I've had to get a lot more swatches recently for pretty, colourful florals for people to look at. We've also had a discount voucher for July for all Facebook Likers! If you like our Facebook page you can get 10% off any orders or products in store and online!

Thank you all for all your continued support, this truly is the best job in the world and I love making every single product and order you get from me! So Thank you. 

Now go out and enjoy this beautiful weather! Slap on the suncream, pour out your glass of cool Pimms, get the garden chairs out and relax!

I pray that this heatwave continues! Thanks for reading! 

love Sophia x

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Busy Busy Bees....

Saturday, June 15, 2013
Hi Everyone!

Sorry It's been another long period of time between blog posts, but I promise it's because I've just been too busy. 

I'm still working hard on the New Range for Agnes and Vera! It's coming along nicely, and will hopefully be in their beautiful shop at the end of this month! 

I've also been trying to keep up with orders! I think the change in weather has made everyone addicted to handmade!! It's been wonderful to make so many different things, from online order, facebook orders and customers coming in the shop! I really really love being busy. I know that's probably an obvious thing to say with a business, but I really love those days where you're rushed off your feet and there's not enough time in the day to finish things! (I know I'm weird!) 


Beautiful Personalised Pinny for a special order. 

On another note, I've also made a few New products!! I mentioned the printed cards in my last blog post-well now they're printed!! AND for sale!! :) The Cupcake cards are available HERE. There are four designs in total, so hopefully you'll like at least one!


The finished Bea's Cupcake Card Design.

 If you're a 'liker' of our facebook page, you'll know about the little challenge I've bee doing. I've asked everyone to Share my facebook page, I'm trying to get to 300 likes. And if we achieve this I'm giving EVERYONE a reward!! So if you're not already a 'liker' please go and like our page! And you could get something lovely!! 

Thank you to those of you who read this and keep up to date with whats going on! (I know I always say it!!!) It really does mean the world. 

Happy Handmade!
 
Sophia x

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Exciting things to come...

Friday, May 10, 2013
Hi Everyone,

Just a quick update with whats going on in the shop!

Its starting to pick up with more orders coming in! Please check out our new products in the NEW IN section of our website! The 'My Fav Things' Bunting is very popular at the moment!

Thank you to those of you for your continued support of the shop and what we're doing. I know I always say it, but I really do appreciate it!


One of our new card designs "Bea's Cupcakes"

We are currently working on a few projects. One of them being a new card range. We have always had our popular sewn fabric cards at £3. Which are available in other shops too. But we wanted more detailed prints at an affordable price. So I asked some of you on facebook to like your favourite designs. The most popular will be printed onto high quality cards, and will be available individually or in packs! WATCH THIS SPACE! (Follow us on facebook for more updates on this and to view all the designs!)

Another project we are doing is with Agnes & Vera. Agnes & Vera is a gorgeous gift shop in the heart of little town Sturminster Newton. They sell all sorts from  super soft Jellycat toys to Cath Kidston!

We are working with them to create a "Jessalli for Agnes & Vera" Range! Its super exciting and we've got some beautiful country inspired wares in the pipeline! We're hoping to have products in-store this Summer!


Some Personalised Bunting made this week.

You've all been going bunting bonkers recently! It must be the sun coming out! I've had so many orders for Traditional Personalised Bunting and 'My Fav Things' Bunting! So Thank you- I've had a lot of fun making them all!

Right I better get on with some sewing! Thanks to those of you who read this and take an interest in the goings on of Jessalli!

Happy Handmade Everyone!

love Sophia x

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Spring has.... definitely not sprung!

Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Hello Readers.

I am terribly sorry that the blog has slowly diminished into a blank canvas! I've been really busy and sadly the blog is at the bottom of my list! But I'm here now!

Thank you to those of you who have asked me about the blog too! Thank you for reminding me that people do read this and for kicking me into action!


Personalised Wedding Day present for an American and British Couple. 

I have had a lot of wedding orders so far this year! So many lovely people tying the knot! I've made frames, flags, bunting, bibs- you name it!!

I've also been busy organising Children's workshops! It's been something I've wanted to do for AGES! But I just haven't had the time to si down and plan everything. But now I have and I'm fully CRB checked too! So hopefully I'll be doing lots of workshops this year!


Personalised Mother's Day Card

Mother's Day this year was very enjoyable. So many of you lovely people came to me for personalised cards, stuffed hearts, pictures and most of all APRONS! I have made so many aprons this year already it's unbelievable! So thank you to those of you who have ordered with me already this year! You're letting me do what I love!

It's not a very exciting post I'm afraid but I needed to update you one way or another! If you want to be REALLY up to date with the daily goings on of me and the shop please visit our Facebook page! I'm always on there being heavily distracted!

It's so chilly at the moment! The shop is rather cold and I have to wear so many layers to stay cosy! The heaters I have sadly don't warm up the shop very well as it's so airy has such a high ceiling! I hope not too many of you have been effected by the cold weather, we luckily haven't had too much snow! TOUCH WOOD! But I really hope we get some warm 'spring time' weather soon!

Thanks for reading! And as always Happy Handmade!

love Sophia x

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2012 in a... Blog Post!

Saturday, January 5, 2013
2012 really was a big deal for me. I opened the shop in December 2011 and when January came about it was full steam ahead!

Opening the shop has been the most amazing experience of my life. I don't really think my friends and family quite knew why I wanted to take such a big leap! If I'm honest, although it is cheesy, it just felt right. As the orders were piling up at home, and I was really struggling with juggling a full time job as well, it was the next step in making my dreams come true.


The empty shop Dec 2011

 The first day I walked into that empty shop was incredible, the excitement I had was through the roof. A lot of people asked me whether I was scared of it not working out, but I really wasn't, for me if it doesn't work out, at least I tried- which is why I just work harder and harder! The support I got when I opened was out of this world. I never imagined it would take off that quickly, but it did! I now have an amazing group of supporters and regular customers, aswell as a lovely online following! Without all of you-2012 wouldn't have been as successful as it has!


Mum, Dad and I at our open evening Dec 2011. 

My friends and family have been amazing this year. My mum now comes in every Wednesday to help out (and chat of course), My sister helps me on a Saturday, my dad helps with all the boring business stuff and paperwork and my boyfriend helps with all my marketing, advertising and computer stuff! Thank you Mum, Dad, Hugh and Bea for just being the perfect people! 

Looking through all the photos I've taken in 2012, I've noticed that my work has got better and better. I think (and hope) that I'm getting more creative and more comfortable with my own style and what I think will go well. It is hard being in the crafting world as so many people do it, and you really can't help some people copying your ideas, so I really do try to change my products constantly, and I hope I keep it up throughout 2013 too!

 The shop Spring 2012


One of my favourite pieces I made this winter (2012)

I did struggle with the amount of fairs I did this year, as I wasn't quite prepared for the amount of orders I'd get when I booked them! Especially at Christmas! But I do love to do fairs, meeting new people and other small business' is a huge perk of the job! Its a lot of fun! But I'm afraid I won't be doing too many fairs in 2013!
Christmas 2012 was a huge highlight. Being in the 'gifting' industry Christmas is your important time, and if you're not busy it's generally a bit of a scary moment. With this in mind I was a bit nervous about how things would go, but I never ever expected the amount of work I got! It was hard at points, work did seem to follow me home most nights, but it was worth it! I am glad I did a last order date, though because of my niceness (which I really cannot shift) I did let a few in afterwards-well, ok, a few too many! But who am I do deny someone a beautiful handmade gift?!


 Christmas Fair, The Exchange Nov 2012

Other good memories and achievements in 2012 were moving out of the family nest, turning 21 and having the most amazing two weeks traveling around Italy!

2012 has definitely been a year to remember and I am very excited for the improvements, changes and challenges that lie ahead!
Thank you all for everything! I cannot express that enough! Happy New Year and Happy Handmade to you all!

love Sophia x

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