My Creative Space

Well, Anna and I decided it was about time we showed you our creative spaces. It's going to be so interesting, because of course we're both making mice, but in two different countries and each with our own ways of working and our own "studio setup"! So this week you'll be hearing from me (Naomi!) here in the UK. Right now, I am working from a mixture of little exciting bundles of materials and other goodies that Anna has been sending me (like those parcels they drop on desert islands!) and my own sourced materials, for the mice and their clothes and accessories. I've been making good use of some wonderful boxes with fabulous little compartments and cubby-holes that had not been properly used before to store my new wealth of threads, materials and allsorts.


The mice are sitting mostly on the desk with me at the moment, but as I make more and more I am finding that they need official 'homes' before they are adopted, if I want to keep my work space clear! It's going to be fascinating to look back on these Creative Space posts and probably laugh at my very first attempts at some sort of organisation. As I get more and more familiar with the mice, I am sure little tricks will emerge on how to keep things organised! (Any helpful hints, Anna? Or anyone?!) :-)

Oh yes, and finally... This little guy rarely fails to make me grin when I'm mousemaking in here.... He's been lovingly nicknamed "Pinhead", the poor little thing... If anyone would like to rescue Pinhead from his doomed existence, then please do buy me a pin cushion! ;-)

Want to play the Creative Space game with us? Visit Kootoyoo's blog!

Much love,

Naomi xx

Giving myself some "Me" time

When you run your own business it is amazing how many different tasks can take up your day. There is a never ending list of orders to fill, packages to ship, supplies to buy, emails and convos to answer, suppliers to call, marketing, promotional and networking work to do that we rarely find enough hours in the day. It is easy to let certain things in our life take 2nd place. The things that lose out can be anything from your social life to remembering to clean the house. Although personally I know I should clean, I just don't want to!

There are several things that I continuously fight to keep in balance, but something I noticed I am not doing enough of is giving myself some creative "me" time to just explore new ideas and dream for a bit. I know that it is essential to enjoy what I do to keep my passion for The House of Mouse going. But somehow over the last few months I have let the orders and everyday chores completely take over so when I am in the studio I am only making the "old favourites" from my store and a few custom orders when they come in.

Yesterday I gave myself some time to create and just enjoy the process again, and oh how I needed it! It has really sparked my interest and fascination with sewing all over again. I have several new mice that I am going to make over today and possibly tomorrow too. I can't wait to show you my new designs!

To any sellers out there who let their other chores take over, I say reserve some time just for you with no interruptions or detractions, and make something just for yourself. You won't regret it and you will probably be rewarded with a whole load of new ideas and excitement over what you do.