I don’t know about you but I love it when spring is in the air and I particularly love it when the clocks go back and at last we get reminded what it is like to come home after work in the light! I haven’t been too keen on the recent winds and showers but I guess we need the water for the beautiful flowers to burst into bloom!

Anyway, it’s the time of year when I feel like I can crawl out of hibernation and wake up and be a bit more alive than perhaps I feel in the Winter!  My mind and creative streak also seems to be more alert with new ideas popping into my head. It’s also a great time for new beginnings and to have a jolly good spring clean – steady on girl…that may be pushing it a bit too far!

So last year with the approaching of Spring came my desire to have a garden office and we (well, those that have read my previous blogs) all know how that turned out! It took over my life for a while as not only was it a garden office build but a whole transformation of the garden into a beach theme (that blog post is on my ‘To Do’ list) and the addition of Danny’s Bar!  So this year I am not looking for a major project, but if you know me I always have to be trying something new out so now I have a good team working at Crafty Monkey, I have been able to work on opening up new avenues!  I’ve also been able to set up things that have been on my ‘To Do’ list for several years!

One such thing is the making of ceramic jewellery and hangers, an idea I had several moons ago when we introduced Clay Imprints. If you’ve read my blogs on upcycling, you’ll know it pains me to throw things away and I like to make use of everything I can (a trait kindly passed down from my ‘on the hoarders spectrum’ parents) and that includes the left over clay we get when doing imprints.  To be fair it really isn’t a great deal of clay and it’s not about the cost, there’s just something inside me that knows I could make use of it. I also recently inherited a whole plethora of craft stuff (more an Aladdin’s cave) – it was like all my Christmas’ had come at once and I am eternally grateful to the lovely lady who gave me it all as it has completely reignited my fire and has already brought me and others so much joy!

Anyway finally, I found the time to sit down and have a play with all my new and old stamps and cookie cutters and of course clay.  Remember making cookies and gingerbread men as a pre-schooler with mum?  Well I relived that moment, minus my mum being there to supervise as I’m supposedly a big girl now (yeah right!).  You can look and see what happened below (blog post to come on how to make them! When/IF I find the time!)

Another thing I have also finally actioned and crossed off on the ‘To Do’ list, along with finally setting up an Etsy shop called ‘Crafty Monkey Crafts’ so please do pop over and have a look, the shelves are still being stocked so bear with but it will give you an idea of the kind of thing I’ve been making.

If local to St. Neots then feel free to pop into Crafty Monkey to have a look at some of them on display!

Likes of this post or comments below are always gratefully received as I won’t then feel like I’m talking to myself, although I do find I talk to myself on a regular basis!