Gosh, it's been a while since I've been here hasn't it? *blows the dust off*

I've been laying in bed with eleventy million thoughts buzzing around my brain as usual & I was compelled to write some of it down.  Sometimes that helps, just to have it down on paper somehow means I can put a pin in it for now & get some sleep knowing if it's important it's there, written down, for me to sort out & make sense of it when I'm awake & hopefully less tired & frustrated.

The dilemma I had was, do I buy a paper diary, write in it with a pen, the good old fashioned way, OR, do I grab the laptop & write in my blog?

Then of course the questions come pouring into my head.  Do people want to read about me, warts n' all?  Do people come to this blog knowing they'll get a frank & sometimes blunt & bleak glimpse into what makes me, Donna, tick?  Should I be writing down all the things that make me me, all the ups & downs (you should probably strap on a seatbelt if your answer is yes to that) OR do people come here just to see the fluffy, sugar coated Miss Red & what she's stitched recently & how her little business is progressing?

I really don't have the answers, & that's partly why I've not written here for a while.  I've been ill, struggled with pain, with mood, there's been a lot going on, a lot to cope with, & not really much fluffy nice stuff in my life recently.  

I wish you could respond as I write this, it's tricky being stuck here with just my own train of thought for input...


I question why I'd want to write the *real* things in a blog for all to see rather than keep them in a private diary hidden from the world.  A surprisingly selfless reason pops up, I'm not thinking of baring all out of some weird ego trip or to get sympathy or solutions, part of me just thinks there may be a few people out there going through similar things who might actually benefit or take comfort from knowing they're not alone.  I'm not saying my story is the same as theirs exactly, or that I have all the answers but I'm a real person, dealing as best I can with the issues I have & I'm not entirely sure it's helpful portraying myself as some mega clued up entrepreneur who never has any problems & is always bright & breezy.  I've been open about my M.E & depression from the beginning of this blog last year & it'd be unrealistic to say that in that time I've not had some pretty dark times.

Of course, even if it is a good idea to put everything out there, this blog is attached to Miss Red, my business.  Does it help then to keep things light & fluffy here & find some other forum for the more rounded & realistic view OR are people open to taking me as I am & accepting me as a whole person going through some tough situations but who also happens to be damn good at creating corsets, designing cross stitch patterns, making gorgeous embroidery & selling great value craft supplies?

What do you think?  Please do indulge me with a response, whether it's a comment here or private message, I really do value the opinions of the people who actually read this blog.

Thanks in advance & *huge hugs*

Coo, getting back into the swing of things after a couple of days stuck in bed is always difficult & that was a really horrible few days.  Changing pain meds is not the ideal thing to be doing whilst trying to run a business!  I shall mostly be working in zombie mode today so forgive me if I seem a bit out of it.

Anyway, more importantly, free stuff!  If you've been reading my newsletters you'll know that I'm about to stop making them automatically post to Facebook & Twitter so that subscribers get that little bit extra.  This month I'll be doing my first newsletter prize draw, anyone who subscribes to the newsletter AND opens the email will be automatically entered into the draw each month with various different prizes on offer, from cross stitch kits to supplies, embroidered items, clothing and, well, whatever I can think of really!  The newsletters will also include subscriber only discounts and pre-sales, so if you've not signed up already, what are you waiting for? Sign up now!

Just because I'm feeling extra generous today, I'll let you in on the secret, the prize for the September draw will be this cross stitch kit, a fab Christmassy kit featuring the artwork of Heidi.  I really enjoyed stitching it & I'm sure you will too :)

So, join my mailing list!

It's been a while since I've done one of these, and being poorly again this one is going to be short & sweet.

Firstly, for anyone who might have missed it, the first collaborative cross stitch piece has been completed.  You can now buy Happy Holidays Hedgehogs from myself or from Heidi Made This! in PDF pattern or kit form.

What else have I been up to?  Well, it's Avon week for me so this:

And in between sleeping & fainting (stupid body) I've been packing up aida, cross stitch kits, DMC threads, embroidery hoops & bobbins.  Tomorrow I'm hoping I'll be up to a post office trip before the pile of goodies gets too big to carry.

Last but not least I've made a good start on the next Heidi Made This! piece :)

...head squirrels that is.  You know them?  They're all distracting with their fluffy cuteness but if you get up close they can be quite scratchy & bitey & everything they leave behind is nuts!

I've had a right old problem with the head squirrels this last few weeks or so.  For me they come out a lot in the sunny weather, my body can't regulate my temperature so I'm feeling exhausted & in pain, which in time invites depression & anxiety to take hold, meanwhile positivity is off having a nap in a dark room somewhere.  Perfect squirrel conditions!

As most of you know my business is still just a new one, around 7 months in I'm still really building the foundation & finding you gorgeous ideal audience members...yeah, you there, I saw you drooling over that corset earlier, did you know you can have it in any size, shape or fabric you want? ;) 

I digress.

My point is, nobody expects me to have earned my first million within 7 months of business do they?  (Do they?!?)  So why, when the squirrels invade, do I think I'm useless at this whole self employed lark because all I've managed is not to go into overdraft? NUTS!!!  

In reality, my last wage was over a year ago & I've supported myself since then.  How many people could truthfully say that if their wages stopped tomorrow without warning they could survive a year without outside financial assistance?  My guess is not many!

Yes, it would be fantastic to be living comfortably & never to be thinking "jeez, I really need to get a proper job" but I'm hanging on in there & I have A PLAN & I'm not going to let the squirrels win!

I do have a teeny tiny favour to ask to help me out a little, & I suspect those of you who haven't stopped reading already are just the kind of lovely people who will help me out.

If you see something from Miss Red you like or know someone else would like, share it. 

You can tell just one other person about it, shout it from the rooftops, plaster it over the whole of the internet but pretty please with cherries on top, don't keep it to yourself. 

You could start my sharing my Facebook page, Twitter, the website, the newsletter or even just a particular product.  It'll probably take about 30 seconds, you could do it right now ;)

Thank youuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!

Are you an artist or designer by trade or do you just love creating beautiful pieces of art?

Would you like to see your artwork in a different medium?

Would you like more widespread recognition for your work?

If your answer is YES then YOU may be just the person I'm looking for!

(If not then pretty please do me a huge favour & share this with your talented arty friends, I'll love you forever!)

I currently draw all the artwork for my cross stitch kits by myself & this can be very time consuming as well as limiting what I can create - because 
a) I'm no artist &
b) the length of my working day is completely dependent on my health day to day.

The idea is that artists could make my process shorter by creating the original artwork so I can focus on creating the patterns, stitching them out, editing & creating the completed counted cross stitch kits.

• A new medium & line of sale for your artwork
• Professional kit creation using genuine DMC threads & quality materials
• New audience
• Credit for your work on the kit packaging, within all sale listings and in general on the Miss Red website & social media
• Links to your own website on mine so people can see more of your work
• Choice of how many pieces to submit & how often to submit
• Final review of the kit before it goes on sale to ensure it truly reflects the quality & value of your work
• Collaboration with MEEEEEEEE ;D

A choice of:

• A percentage of profits (to be negotiated)

or

• Kits and/or digital patterns to sell yourself (pricing to be mutually agreed)

Here are some of the kits I've already made:

Interested?  Great!

Drop me an email or message me using the contact page - a link to some of your work would be fab too ;)  Thank you for reading.

I've been trying to get a new stock item every time I re-order & this time I opted for the no-sew roller frame pack from Siesta.

This is a mini frame for projects up to 9" wide, for larger projects see my split roller frames & hoops.

The instructions are easy to follow & assembling the frame is  quick & simple.  Various sizes of frame can be created using the 6" or 9" rollers & positioning them 3, 4 or 5 inches apart with the 4 holes in the side bars.  The fabric is taped onto the rollers using masking tape - a bit fiddly at first but you soon get the hang of it.

This lightweight frame is easy to stitch with & has the advantage over using embroidery hoops of being able to get to the whole width of the fabric & roll up/down the length with minimum effort, as well as not having that horrid dilemma of whether to fasten a hoop over sewn stitches.
(We've all been there, worrying whether the stitches will end up smooshed beyond repair, eep!)
Also it's worth keeping in mind this would replace anything from a 3" up to a 9" hoop due to it's versatility.

Over all this is a handy little frame pack that's simple to set up and comfortable to use.  What more could you want really?

And the price?  This pack will be selling on my website for £8.45 here (& as usual just slightly more on Ebay)

Obviously you may well assume I'm biased since I'm selling these packs but hey, don't take my word for it, give it a try yourself ;)

Wednesday again & it's all go today.  I've had a morning of battling through legal waffle to get me all up to date on Consumer Protection changes.  I'm just really glad to have had help from Nicola over at Handcrafted Academy & Business Success for Handcrafters because the documentation is loooong & made my brain hurt - but by jove I think I've got it now!

So, the rest of the day is a bit of stitching & a visit from the big little bro & his brood of sproglets to hand over his embroidery ahead of the Performance Vauxhall Show at the weekend where he'll be sporting his awesome embroidered hoodie & t-shirt (not that I'm biased ;) )

Not too far off finished with this one now, I love how it's coming out.

And this one's sooooo big it's taking forever.

Righty ho, back to work...some riveting reading for this afternoon.  Wish me luck!

Tentacles!

That eye keeps looking at me as I'm stitching the rest...

Also, nearly finished with the bag.  This one has a clear window in the front to display my AVON books. :D

There were some little offcuts so there's also a matching lady bear skirt for one of my little helpers & a ruffle for my hair.

Bit of wandering the streets in the rain delivering flyers in the hope of gaining new Independent AVON Representatives for my team too.  If you think that's something you'd like to do then pop along here and join my team ;)

Manylots of embroidery bits to do next - busy busy.  But for now, it's time for a cuppa :)

New: 6" wooden hoops £1.85.
Restocked: 5" wooden hoops £1.60.

Restocked:  bobbin winders.  These whooshed off the shelf last time so they're back.  Only 99p!

New in - tape measures.  Two different kinds, folded at £1.69 and retractable at just £2.50.

Coming soon - hand made bags :)

On your travels browsing the site you may have noticed that I'm not just Miss Red but also an "Avon lady."  It's a completely separate business & AVON is in no way affiliated with Miss Red but the earnings from my second business have helped me pay my bills while I build the first up. 

It's really flexible so I can do as much or as little as I like fitting it around my main business and also my health issues.  I now have a lovely bunch of customers and I'm really enjoying getting to know some of the people who live around me. :) 

This month I went from being an Independent Avon Representative to an Independent Avon Sales Leader...good eh?

That means I'm now on the lookout for some of you wonderful people to join my team!

AVON is one of the world's leading direct selling companies of beauty and beauty-related products.  Why not become an Independent Avon Representative?  Find out more about AVON's fantastic flexible self-employed earning opportunities.  

Contact me with any questions you might have, or join me on AVON Connects now. 

Even if you don't want the extra cash involved in becoming a rep AVON still have some great products for women, men and children, with a range for every pocket so please do pop along & have a browse of the brochure.

Thanks for reading, and sorry if parts came over more sales-y and less *me*...there are guidelines I have to follow when talking about AVON (like having to write it in all caps), and their pre-approved texts all sound a bit more formal than I'd like to have put it.

Please do have a think about joining my team though, it really is a great opportunity!