It's beginning to look a lot like christmas!

My last Christmas market of 2012 was on the 8 December. A huge thank you to all the lovely people who came and chatted, and especially to those who bought things! It was a great event, busy all day and the Horniman Museum was an amazing venue in the bright winter sun. Thank you to Lucy and the Horniman for putting it on!

I have to admit, I was pretty shattered after three weekends of markets in a row, and weeks of making stock, but I had the next challenge to concentrate on so after one night of R&R (a Chinese take-away and the X-Factor final!) it was time to DIY!

We moved house in August but months later there were still loads of packing boxes in each room. With a Christmas deadline to get downstairs presentable at least I needed to get busy in the workshop! Our dining room has two large alcoves, and I own about a gazillion books so it made sense to build in floor to ceiling shelves to house our 'library'. I made these thick 'floating' shelves from mdf and timber (and am happy to provide details should anyone wish to make some themselves) They are pretty easy to make and relatively easy to install (although I speak from experience when I recommend that someone should always hold the ladder. Poor Kieran!)

With the addition of some ultra cool Star Wars inspired retro prints from Etsy and our gorgeous old wooden table purchased from Ardingly antiques fair, it's finally starting to feel like a home. We also made time to tackle the enormous box mountain that was in the corner of the front room: a couple of hours later and the corner looked like this!

Hooray! It's beginning to look a lot like christmas.....finally! We are hosting our first ever christmas lunch with both families round to us. The husband is in charge of food and I am in charge of spatial design (ie making sure we can all fit!) and decorations. A pretty good deal I think? Even though there's less than a week to go, there's still time to make some lovely festive decorations, and great finishing touches.

As this is our first Christmas with a child who understands what it's all about, I'm really keen to start some family traditions of our own. My next post will be all about quick, simple handmade christmas ideas that could become part of your festive rituals. I'd love to hear about any quirky traditions that your family have at this time of year too!

Thanks for reading :)

A white christmas?

This completely sums up my 'theme' this Christmas, both at home and with my This is Wiss products. I know the scandi look of red and white can look super cool and oh so festive but I'm yearning for more colours this year. We've got a white box of a dining room, and because we are still settling in the decor in the rest of the house isn't quite what we want it to be so I think I'm overcompensating with the Christmas Decorations, but I'm thinking big, bright and bold!

The same thing has been happening at This is Wiss HQ. I've got some great new, some festive products and they are a bit technicoloured. And why not? I love them and so do kids.

The pink fluoro material I originally made my dice from was strictly limited edition and I've nearly used it all up. I've been searching for a suitable replacement that was just as bright but that could be washed too. A few weeks ago I found what I'd been looking for. Neoprene comes in a range of eye-popping colours but is machine washable, so ideal for my squishy, baby-chewable dice. The new dice are multicoloured - pink, green, blue, orange, purple & yellow - and very silky to touch. I hope you like them!

The felt crowns that I made for The Queen's Jubilee have been flying of the shelves - in fact they are perfect for school Nativity Plays! I have widened the palette for these and the crowns are now available in grey, pink or original yellow, all with multi-coloured 'jewels' and adjustable velcro fastening.

My Moustache t-shirts have been so popular that I thought I'd give some a chWISSmas twist. These Rudolph and Santa t-shirts are available in sizes 4 months - 4 years, and are appliqued onto Organic Cotton shop-bought t-shirts.

I wanted to have a couple of Christmas products this year so thought my Felt Twisted Streamers would be perfect for festive decorations (although they could be used all year-round and are a great alternative to bunting) These are made from synthetic felt so can also be washed and re-used. These will be available in various combinations of pink, aqua, green, red and white.

The final new product I have to show you is something I've been working on for a while. There are more and more people crafting, making, sewing, knitting etc etc and there really isn't a feeling that can compare to creating something yourself. I've been keen to make a kit of one of my products so that someone can make it themselves if they'd prefer and a Rudy Reindeer seemed like the perfect place to start. I've put together a complete kit which includes everything you will need to make your very own Rudy, including the wooden spoon. (You will need a needle and thread, or maybe a sewing machine though!)

All the usual This is Wiss products are still available too. Now for the important bit - where can you get them all from?

I am very excited to be part of two fantastic local Christmas markets. The first is this Saturday in Gipsy Hill, SE19. The Palace Christmas Fair is at Christ Church and will be open from 10.30am-4.30pm. See the link for more details and a list of all the other stalls and entertainment too.

The second is next Saturday 8 December at my favourite museum, The Horniman. The Fair Christmas Fayre is London's longest running ethical market place and will have loads of unique stalls selling handmade/eco/fairtrade items so you can feel good about your Christmas purchases! There is also a Santa's Grotto and a Carol Concert so click the link for more details.

If you can't get along to either of those then you can purchase via my online shop or visit my new Etsy shop!

Enough of the sales pitch now, thank you for sticking with me through it! As you can probably tell I'm a little bit excited (and maybe a little bit exhausted too!) I'd love to hear your thoughts about my new items, and if you've got any thing new you're making for christmas then let me know about it!

See you soon, angela