Any day now!

With baby number two due any day now my order books are currently closed until mid-September. I will then open them up again for limited private commission slots on a first-come-first-served basis. 

I hope to find the time whilst on maternity leave to resume regular blogging. I look forward to sharing my favourite Mummy bloggers with you and showing you all of my latest creative makes for our home.

See you on the other side! Claire xxx

Two Years On ....

Olivia's Second Birthday Party Hat

I can't believe that it is now just over two years since I closed my shops in preparation for the arrival of my daughter.

At the time I had a very much rose-tinted view of how things were going to be and was happily sure that I would be able to start work again once my daughter was six months old. I imagined her sleeping peacefully or playing happily by my side as I sewed. The reality has of course been very different!

I opened up my shops again once my daughter turned one and have been working mainly in the evenings (and late at night) since, as it turns out, my little one is really not that keen on sleep! It has been so much harder than I ever imagined to get some kind of work-life balance going on. Whilst I am looking after my daughter full-time I feel guilty for neglecting my business and when I am working or worrying about work I feel guilty that I am not giving my daughter my undivided attention!

Thankfully things are now getting easier. Daytime naps are a distant memory and I still mainly work in the evenings but my daughter does now play happily along-side me if I need to work during the day. She is turning out to be rather creative herself and can be entertained for quite some time with a supply of stickers, her crayons and paints and her current favourite - sparkles and sequins!

I have kept my product selection very minimal in my on-line shops and have a manageable steady stream of orders from those. I have also had many previous customers return to me for personal commissions which has been fantastic. I am lucky to have so many lovely customers who have developed a soft spot for my products and keep coming back for more! It is my personal commissions that I love making the most.

I continue to work on growing Claire Hurd Design and, as always, have many plans for my products, website and branding. However, I am now a lot more realistic about how long-term this vision is! I hope to find the time now to blog more to show you all what I have been busy with these last couple of years, from personal commissions to toddler crafts. I also want to make the time to catch up with my favourite blogs again and find out more about some recent blog discoveries. I shall share my favourites with you soon.

Thank you for continuing to follow my little blog. Your company in much appreciated.
Claire x

New Make-Up Bag Colourway

My best-selling make-up bag is now available in this pretty dusky pink colourway. If you would like me to personalise one for you, please email me at studio@clairehurd.co.uk with your requirements.

Personalised Make-Up Bag - £36.00 including free mainland UK delivery

Wishing you a lovely sunshiney weekend, Claire x

Baby Blanket Commissions

I am very pleased with the response I have had to my personalised baby blankets. Here is a little collage of a few of my recent commissions including a specially commissioned design for baby Isaac.

If you wish to order a blanket of your own please email me at studio@clairehurd.co.uk with your details. Blankets are now available on a cream, blue or pink base and cost £40 for up to nine characters. I am currently offering free UK courier delivery.

(Apologies for the quality of the photos - I am still waiting patiently for some sign of sunshine to take better product images this spring!) 

Personalised Baby Blankets

I am pleased to announce that my personalised baby blankets are now available to purchase.

These blankets are double layered cream 100% cotton jersey. They measure approx. 74cm x 74cm  and are machine washable. The appliqué fabrics can be tailored to your needs, simply contact me with your requirements. The blankets are priced at £40 each with free UK courier delivery.

I'm Back!

Hello!

Gosh, it has been such a long time. I am finally back to blogging after a lovely break with my baby. The time has flown and I have so many things I want to share with you.

Firstly though, I am back working and taking commissions. I have very limited stock and an early last order date for Christmas of the end of this month so if you would like anything please email me (studio@clairehurd.co.uk) with your requirements ASAP.

I look forward to writing more blog posts as I get back in the swing of things. Thank you for continuing to visit Claire Hurd Design. I shall leave you with an image of my new limited edition version of my best selling handmade personalised Liberty print make-up bag.

£38.00 with free UK Delivery

Online Shop Closure

Just a quick note to let you know that my online shops will be closed for my Maternity leave as of midnight Saturday (9th July).


My stock clearance will continue via my blog and I shall be adding more items soon.


Claire x

Stock Clearance Sale (Part 2)

Here is your next installment of handmade goodies all at reduced prices in my stock clearance sale. Again, simply email me at studio@clairehurd.co.uk if anything takes your fancy. Cx

Tea Time Bunting (The total length of the bunting (excluding ties) is approx. 148cm.) - £20.00

Green Christmas Stocking personalised with an 'L' as shown (height 57cm, heel to toe 38cm)  - SOLD OUT

Ice Blue Christmas Stocking (height 53cm, heel to toe 36cm)- SOLD OUT

Baby Blue Wash Bag personalised with a 'T' as shown (approx. W.21cm, H.19cm, D.4.5cm) - SOLD OUT

Christmas Robin Hanging Decoration - SOLD OUT

Love Heart Brooch - SOLD OUT

I love Cake Brooch - SOLD OUT

Stock Clearance Sale (Part 1)

In preparation for a shop overhaul in order to refine my product range I am having a stock clearance sale. All products are available with free UK P&P and payment can be made by PayPal.


If you are interested in purchasing anything you see listed here then simply drop me an email at studio@clairehurd.co.uk and I shall send you details for payment and arrange prompt delivery to you by Royal Mail 1st class post.

House Card - SOLD OUT

Wedding Card - SOLD OUT

With Love Card - SOLD OUT

Baby Chick Card - SOLD OUT

Mushroom Make-Up Bag (approx. W. 19.5cm, H. 18.5cm, D. 5cm) - SOLD OUT

Cupcake Make-Up Purse (approx. W. 15.5cm, H. 14.5cm, D.4.5cm) - SOLD OUT

I shall be adding more products over the next few days so do keep popping back for more reduced items. Claire x

I'm Back!

Hello! It is lovely to be back in blog land - I have missed sharing my creations with you. It has been a very long absence, I do apologise. I have a good reason for not being around though ........


 I am currently expecting my first baby!


It has been a difficult start as I suffered quite badly from nausea and sickness for the first 21 weeks. What with feeling so under the weather and getting used to commuting to London again for work I am sure you can appreciate that I have been left rather exhausted in the evenings and at weekends. A break from online life was unfortunately necessary. Thankfully my sickness has now passed and I am feeling fit and creative again!


I have so many things that I want to make - new products for my online shops and lots of lovely things for baby. I look forward to sharing all of my makes with you as I finish each project.

A Busy Start to 2011

A belated Happy New Year to all of my lovely blog followers!


The Christmas period was rather overwhelmingly busy here at Claire Hurd Design. There was many a time when I wondered whether I would be able to keep up with all of my orders but happily I managed to get them all sent out in time. In between the moments of worry about whether I could keep up if orders continued to arrive at the same rate this year were the more pressing moments of worry where I wondered what I would do if the orders stopped completely after the Christmas rush. I am very pleased to say that the orders have slowed down to a manageable pace and have not stopped arriving! I have also had quite a few baby gift commissions this year which are always lovely to do.


In addition to running Claire Hurd Design I am delighted to share with you the news of my fantastic new in-house furnishing textiles designer role at Jane Churchill which I began in the new year. It is such a wonderful opportunity to develop my design skills further with a well established and very well respected brand. I am loving it! I really couldn't have asked for a better working environment and lovelier team to begin 2011 with. A big thank you to everyone at Jane Churchill for making me feel so welcome.


Another lovely surprise this new year was being awarded the 'Stylish Blogger Award' by Emily over at Emily Parkes Vintage Textiles and Illustration. Thank you so much Emily, what a great start to the year! I shall have to think of seven facts to share with you and seven blogs to pass the award on to (that is going to be difficult as I read a LOT of blogs!). I will update you in my next post.

Well that is all for today. It is lovely to be back online. I shall be writing blog posts for you whenever I can and look forward to sharing lots of lovely textile goodness with you over the next few months.


Claire x

Merry Christmas!

I want to wish all of my Blog readers a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.


It has been an exciting year for Claire Hurd Design with lots more planned for 2011. It has been wonderful to be able to share my goings on with you all and I look forward to blogging even more next year.


All of your custom, support and comments have meant the world to me and have helped Claire Hurd Design become what it is today as I sign off and put my little business to bed until the 5th of January. Thank you so much for everything and have a wonderful happy, healthy, family holiday.


Best Wishes, Claire xxx

And the winner is ........

Helen Ruse!


Congratulations Helen, I hope Father Christmas brings you the craft supplies you have wished for!


If you could send me your address to studio@clairehurd.co.uk I shall put your goodies in the post for you.

Thank you to everyone who entered, both here and on my Facebook page. You left some lovely comments. The overwhelming wish was for families and friends to be together this Christmas. There were a couple of entrants with poorly family members so I wish them a speedy recovery and hope they have a fit and healthy festive period. 


Claire x


(winner selected using random.org)

Christmas Giveaway Update

Unfortunately Facebook are no longer allowing competitions to take place on business pages. I am therefore transferring my competition to my blog. All existing entries will be included and anyone else wishing to take part can leave me a comment below this post.


Simply tell me what is at the top of your Christmas wishlist this year.
Competition closes at 5pm tomorrow (Monday 6th December) - good luck! 

Christmas Giveaway on Facebook!

I am having a Christmas giveaway on Facebook. Pop over to the Claire Hurd Design page to join in. 


All you need to do to win the handmade Christmas goodies below is leave a comment under the giveaway post telling me what is at the top of your Christmas wish list this year. A winner will be selected at random next Monday.

I look forward to hearing your Christmas wishes, good luck! 

Framed Artwork Commissions and a Cake!

I have just had some lovely feedback regarding a framed artwork commission I did earlier this month so it is now safe to share it with you without spoiling any birthday surprises.


I was asked to produce a customised version of my Boating Artwork to sit alongside a customised version of my Afternoon Tea Artwork that I was commissioned to do earlier this year. Both artworks were to celebrate 60th birthdays. It is always so lovely to be asked to produce gifts for such special occasions.

 'Love of the Sea since 12th November 1950'

'Loving Tea since 13 May 1950'

If you would like to order one of my personalised items or would like one of my products customised to suit you then please email me at studio@clairehurd.co.uk.


Now, on the theme of Birthdays; Having received lots of lovely cake making goodies as wedding presents I have been eager to do a bit of baking. The perfect occasion came up with my Husband's birthday so I made this..........

A real chocolate feast! A true 'boy' cake with homemade chocolate Lego men and Lego bricks. I really enjoyed making this. My next cakey makes will be cupcakes so a bit easier to ice!

Winchester Handm@de

I had a lovely day on Saturday selling at the Winchester Handm@de Christmas craft fair. The fair took place in the Guildhall which has been refurbished since we were last there in the summer and is now looking great, much more light than before.

My products sold well and it was lovely to have a chance to meet my customers face-to-face and get their feedback. It is so nice when people have the time to stop and chat. People had such lovely things to say about my work and were so encouraging about where I am heading with 'Claire Hurd Design'. Most of all people admired the quality of my work which I was really pleased about. It is so important to me that everything I produce is manufactured to the highest standard. I want to show with my products that 'handmade' means made with love, care and attention to detail; making it stand out from mass-produced goods. 

As is always the case with the Handm@de craft fairs the other stall holders were all really friendly and there were some beautiful products for sale. In particular it was really lovely to catch up with Meninafeliz again. I first met Meninafeliz before I had taken part in any craft fairs and when I was still new to online selling. They have always been so friendly and encouraging and full of advice. We had such a lovely catch up and I was even treated to one of their lovely products (I won't know what until Christmas day!) by my Husband. Take a look at their beautiful work HERE.


My neighbours at this fair were the lovely 'Quercus Silver' and 'Jude Allman'. It makes such a difference at craft fairs when you are positioned with people that are producing beautiful that captures your interest and that are nice and friendly! Quercus Silver were selling silver and resin handmade jewellery and Jude Allman was selling beautiful ceramic pots, buttons and decorations. Do check out their work as I am sure you will love it as much as I do. Quercus Silver can be found HERE and Jude Allman HERE.

A Trio of Christmas Decorations

My handmade Christmas decorations are now available to purchase as a mixed set of three; consisting of one Christmas robin, one Christmas pudding and one Snowman.


Click HERE for more details.

Personalised Christmas Stockings

I am rather late with these this year, many apologies. Thank you to all of those that have enquired about these and placed your orders already.


My handmade personalised Christmas stockings are now available to purchase from my Folksy shop!

A generously sized handmade Christmas stocking personalised just for you. These bright and festive Christmas stockings are handmade to order making them a truly special gift that can be treasured forever. This Christmas stocking measures approx. 59cm tall, 37cm from heel to toe and 22cm across at the opening. The hanging loop measures approx. 9cm and is stitched downwards inside the stocking hiding it from view when not in use.


Click HERE or contact me directly at studio@clairehurd.co.uk to place your order 

Christmas Robin Brooches

I really hate to give up on a project or throw anything away. This has resulted in many half-finished projects and test samples for new designs around my studio. I recently came across the Robin test sample I made for my Christmas decorations last year.


This first sample really didn't work, it was much too small, tiny even. Tiny but very cute! So, I have tweaked it slightly and turned my rejected sample in to a cute little Christmas Robin brooch to wear at my upcoming Craft Fair (Winchester Guildhall, Saturday 13th November, 11am-5pm!). I was so pleased with the results that I have created templates for the design and am producing it for sale in my online shops.

This cute little fellow has a bead and sequin eye, a foam beak and a lined felt wing. He has been lightly stuffed and the wing has been secured half-way so it stands proud. The brooch is fastened on the reverse with a silver-coloured brooch bar with safety catch. The robin measures approx. 8cm from tip of beak to tip of tail and approx 4cm tall.

This festive little bird would be a great addition to a Christmas outfit or snug Wintery coat and can be purchased from my Folksy shop or my NOTHS shop.