knot Just Jigs

Handmade Gifts

2012-01-10T14:32:00.000-08:00

I love making things for people but am sometimes wary about giving gifts that have been handmade, I would only give a handmade gift to someone I knew would appreciate it as it takes a lot of time and effort to make. I love receiving handmade gifts and my friend Dawn always makes me the most adorable crocheted ones. This year has been especially tough money wise so I have made quite a few gifts such as cushions, bunting, owls and personalised alphabet cushions, which I am really glad to say were really well received.

Here's my Friend Chris (hiding!) with her Penguin fabric cushion, she adores penguins and was lucky enough to find some fantastic penguin fabric!

Another Outlet

2012-01-05T06:21:00.000-08:00

Its always good to explore other avenues at which to sell your products, at the moment I sell via (in no particular order lol)

1,Crafts Fairs

2, Events such as Baby Shows, Steam Rallies/Dogs Shows/Boat Shows and Festivals

3, Shop (rent space)

4, Our Website Knot Just Jigs

5, Amazon

6, Ebay

7, Wholesale

8, Charity Events

9, Face book

10, Markets

I also have account with craft selling sites MISI (Make It Sell It) and wowthankyou but haven't got around to uploading things on to them yet as they are specifically for handmade items these require me to keep stock and as quick as I make things they sell ! (I am not complaining though)

I don't sell all my products at each of the places on the list, I set my "stall" accordingly.

Are there any places that you can think of that would be a good avenue to explore or that has worked for you ?

Today we became a new stockist at a local shop that has recently opened in Eastwood, Mummy's Bump and Beyond by a lovely chap called Darren, his shop is an eclectic mix of handmade (by other work at home parent's) vintage homely products and pre-loved high quality children's clothes. At the back of the shop is a specially built photographic studio where Darren offers family shoots at a very reasonable price.

Here is a picture of our space showcasing a small range of our lovely traditional toys at Mummy's Bump and Beyond.

By Special Invitation

2012-01-04T01:28:00.000-08:00

If you have come for a nosey at what I invited you to "like/follow" then your here because your on my friends list and hopefully will want to support me (and probably laugh at me) in breaking through this technophobia I have, I cannot actually believe I have set up (and installed codes!) myself on a networking blog! For anyone who knows me and knows that we have had a Wii for a couple of years and I still don't know how to turn the bugger on will know how big an achievement this is for me, if you are prepared to support me bumbling my way through then I Thank You from the bottom of my heart x x

Challenges for 2012

2012-01-03T02:46:00.000-08:00

Whilst I have my "blogging mojo" back I am going to start by saying I am NOT going to make any New Year resolutions because I always set myself up to fail so I have decided to set myself goals and challenges instead.
This post will be a business related one and I will also do myself a personal one, I will do them monthly and tick them off as I complete. Anyone care to join me ? I challenge you!

10 Business Challenges for January 2012

1, Sort out office into some sort of defined work space/sewing space
2, Finish last years accounts (I know, I know this should be number 1)
3, Book fairs for the year and list on websites where to find us page
4, Set aside one day to schedule blogs/twitter and face book posts
5, Pencil in Mondays to get ALL paperwork up to date and pay invoices etc..
6, Sort out re-vamp of website
7, Buy new fabric (yippeeee)
8, Re-stock handmade items and try out new designs.
9, Plan PR campaign for events during the year.
10, Source new stock.

Looking Back

2012-01-03T01:11:00.000-08:00

Looking back...I couldn't even type that without singing Mike & The Mechanics "Over My Shoulder " here goes some of my high (and low) lights of 2011

At the beginning of 2011 Knot Just Jigs signed another 3 month contract to carry on trading at our retail until in the Nottingham Victoria Centre, this was both a highlight and low light. The experience taught me a lot, it opened new doors, closed some old ones and also helped others along the way.

I started the new year with the resolution that after all this time of being self employed I needed to crack this work/life balance thing once and for all and vowed that I would take at least one weekend off a month and do something with my family and friends, this is the one and only resolution I have stuck to (with the exception of November) and one that I feel has been my greatest achievement of 2011, as anyone who knows me knows I am a self confessed workaholic!

The second quarter of 2011 saw the closure of the unit in the Victoria Centre and a huge sigh of relief and a big weight taken off my shoulders, although I am a workaholic being tied to opening 7 days a week and a minimum of 9 hours a day was taking its toll. On the upside of this it also encouraged me to be more creative and make more things to sell, this side of my business has grown gradually and for me it doesn't feel like work!

Suddenly were half way through the year ! Summer craft fairs are my favourite....

We had a pretty decent summer of craft fairs weather wise, a bit more windy than previous years but hey at least they were dryer!
We did the Nottingham Riverside Festival and the Moorgreen show as usual, both of these excelled our expectations and sales compared to the last 5 years we have traded at both of those events.

Autumn, we have 2 huge (in terms of rent, expected sales, stock required and footfall) events planned Chatsworth House and Lincoln Christmas Market, both of which were meant to happen in 2010 but Lincoln didn't due to snow and Chatsworth wasn't as good ...due to weather lol.

Both didn't disappoint, they were amazing in all ways and whilst being completely knackering (16-18 hour days!) they were worth while doing and made our Christmas much much more manageable ;). My last event was 16th December which was a lovely traditional Christmas Market at Loughborough and I was effectively on holiday (apart from posting out website orders) from then until today, I feel very lucky and very blessed to have had such supportive family friends and customers. Belated Happy New Year to you all x

scheduling, do you do it?

2011-11-28T23:08:00.000-08:00

It feels like an absolute age since my last blog post, my apologies. I always have lots of good intentions of keeping it up to date, I even have a list of subject post I would love to write but sadly I never get around to it as I am always playing catch up with my website up-keep, orders and general family goings on. I have just found a "schedule" tab on my blogger template, so what I might try and do is dedicate a day a month writing all the things I have been planing and then schedule them to come out periodically! Being a total techie I am not sure if this will pan out but hey ho we an give it a go!
Do you schedule your blog posts, tweets, face book updates ? if so does it work well for you and what bits of advice would give ?

I just wanted to share some great blog images I came across whilst googling "blog images"

Best Bog Award

2011-09-26T06:50:00.000-07:00

No I haven't mispelt the title I am really doing a blog post about the best bog!
I did a show just over a week ago at Collingham near Newark and was absolutely amazed and probably a little more excited than I should be about the mobile toilets !
I wanted to take a picture but I was a little to embarrassed to get my camera out and start clicking away inside the bog but I did take a picture of the poster on the back of the loo door ? bizarre I know and I am not sure what the lady in the neighbouring loo thought I was doing when she heard the camera shutter clicking but she did give me a funny look over the basin whilst washing our hands hahaha

So here goes : THE BEST BOG AWARD GOES TO PEA GREEN TOILETS www.peagreentoilets.co.uk

Legoland Windsor

2011-08-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged for a while so I thought I would let you know whats been happening and where we have been. Most recently (Tuesday 16th to be exact) we went to Lego land at Windsor, not my usual idea of a day out as I am not great on rides and cannot stand being ripped off by over commercialisation but what a fabulous surprise, we had a spectacular day.
Money has been tight and we had some trusty Tesco vouchers so decided that as we had never been to Legoland we would "spend" them on a good day out. At £13 of vouchers per person entry I hoped it was going to live up to all its hype. There were 8 of us in total, my Sister and family coming too and we got a great deal of a hotel in Ascot through De Vere (£40 per family room per night INCLUDING breakfast, which was absolutely blummin gorgeous!) .

On entering the park at 9.30 I had butterfly's with excitement! we boarded the train to The Land of the Vikings and speedily set off on a day full of rides, games, entertainment and excitement. The children and adults all enjoyed the experience (2 x 16 year old included!) and we left (well got chucked out) at closing time weary but exhilarated. We certainly wasn't disappointed and it wasn't as much as a rip of as I thought it would be, £3.75 for a HUGE hot dog, £2.10 for a cone of chips? I think this is ok for a treat on a day out. The only bone of contention was there wasn't much on offer for my veggie daughter, we had taken a picnic but this had all been eaten early on so we didn't have to carry it about.

I asked hubby and the kids on the way home to score Legoland out of 10 here's the results
Mum 8/10
Dad 9/10
6 year old 9/10
16 year old 8/10
I think this means that Legoland is a hit with the Harwood family and we will definately go again!

Silent Sunday

2011-07-31T05:38:00.001-07:00

Silent Sunday

2011-07-17T05:55:00.000-07:00

Number Crunching Day

2011-06-15T10:28:00.000-07:00

Today has been a day dedicated to getting up to date with some of our accounts, a job I have been avoiding like the plague. Today has involved lots of sorting out, paperwork and number crunching instead of my usual pastime of sewing and creating. Luckily I don't have to rely on an abacus as my trusty spreadsheets do most of the work for me but I adore this lovely traditional abacus in bright colours which my son has found really useful for helping him out at his maths homework.

I love a little back ground noise when I'm working and have an eclectic mix of tunes to play so first on was my Ultimate Chill Out CD followed by The Beatles, Shania Twain and The Best Of Motown (I told you it was eclectic!) On the side was a lovely big pot of tea Which only added to me daydreaming about sewing a tea cosy ? Never made one before so I have added that to my growing list!

Craft Fairs and Rain :(

2011-06-13T10:01:00.000-07:00

Its seems as though the past few Craft Fairs we have attended have all been spooked by the weather its either been rain, wind or even worse BOTH! On Sunday setting up at Hickling Country Fair it started to feel that we were on the set of the Addams family and we had a bit black cloud following us, that was until the damp wet camaraderie of the Craft marquee made us all smile....if you can't have the flying gymnasts and the marching band in the outside arena then what should we do ? bring it all inside! Customers had more or less finished their shopping in the craft tent so we cleared the aisles and set up "stage"

Our best sellers of the show were our traditional rag dolls and pop guns! it seems you only have to sell one and all the other children hear it and want one too !

2011-03-24T14:28:00.000-07:00

Having had a large order for spinning tops this week I thought I would give you some interesting facts on where and when they originated.
History
Spinning tops were invented independently in many different areas of the world. Clay tops have been discovered in archaeological digs that date as far back as 3500 B.C. in the city Ur, southeast of Baghdad. Spinning tops made of terra cotta were discovered at Troy that date to 3000 B.C. Egyptian, Greek and Roman tops have been found dating from 2000 B.C. to 27 B.C.

Function
Spinning tops have been used throughout history for many purposes. Children have used them for centuries as toys and pastimes. They have also been used in prophecy, gambling and as gifts to honor the Gods, or in some cultures, as items to take into the afterlife. Modernly, spinning tops provide play and distraction. They are also used in tournaments and championships in games of skill, and in role-playing games.

Features
The body of a spinning top has at least one axis, known as a principle axis, around which it spins. They traditionally have a peg shape in which the top of the body is much wider than the bottom, or tip. Spinning tops also include a mechanism to begin the spinning such as a spring cap, stem, string or pump. They can be made of a variety of materials including wood, clay and metal, and are typically brightly painted.

Read more:About Spinning Tops

Traditional, Old Fashioned Toys

2011-03-09T00:38:00.000-08:00

My 6 year old son is doing a topic about old fashioned toys at school, a subject of obvious interest to me!So we have spent some time looking through Mummys shop to see what he could take to talk about and we also searched his toybox (as he has road tested the majority of our toys at some point) to see what he thinks would be of interest to his class mates. Here is what he came up with

Jacobs Ladder,Which is one of my favourites, dates back to Egyption times.

Yoyo, got to be another firm favourite.

Football Rattle, hope this isn't going to cause too much noise!

Is that the time ?

2011-03-07T06:40:00.000-08:00

Well its been a while since I blogged, I have added "write a blog article" to my to do list every week, I even added it to my New Years resolution list but sadly it has been pushed way down on my list.
A quick update about whats been happening since I last blogged, well the snow/weather made life pretty difficult for our packed diary of craft events during November and December, lots were cancelled including the prestigious Lincoln Christmas Market which left myself and a lot of stallholders in a difficult financial position. Our saving grace came in the form of a stand in Nottingham's Victoria Centre, expensive, hard work but a huge learning curve!
We have broken into craft fairs gently with one in Feb, which actually turned out to be great and the weather was positively Spring like and one last weekend which was OK but bitterly cold and very wet.
I have been sewing but sadly not as much as I would like but as our contract at the Victoria Centre is coming to an end I hope to concentrate on this a little more.
I have added some lovely photographs of our stand at Victoria Centre, I hope you like them as much as me, to say I am very proud of our achievement is an understatement!

Sewing, my passion re-kindled

2010-09-21T23:38:00.000-07:00

I started sewing at the tender age of 11 on my Mum's old Jones sewing machine, I think even back then I must have had a little glint of entrepreneurial skills. I can remember making slash neck tops (it was the 80's!) ironing, folding, bagging and labelling them and taking them into school and selling them for £2 !
I went on to make all sorts of clothing, I hasten to add I was very "way out and quirky" back then so a lot of it didn't require much dressmaking skills. This came later on in my 20's when I did dressmaking at evening class. I also did a a course at a factory using their huge industrial over- locker, now that was an experience!
I made all my maternity outfits, the childen's clothes and lots of homey stuff and did alterations but it slowed down (and eventually came to a stand still) when I started my business www.knotjustjigs.co.uk selling traditional toys and rag dolls.
I spent most of my time learning how to update my website, PR, marketing and selling at events, I had no time for sewing.
My passion was re-kindled a couple of years ago when I started making fabric party bags and reached it peak again early this year when a fellow business mum asked if I could make bunting!

I started a textile course in January 2010 and you haven't been able to stop me since!
I am well and truly hooked again, making such pretties as personalised bunting, fabric party bags, padded hearts, cushions and aprons. I plan to extend the range at the beginning of next year but at the moment these are going sew well (see what I did there) that I can just about keep up with demand.
We take custom orders, if there is something you would like, or a current design you would like in a different fabric/shape please get in touch!

Football Rattles

2010-06-16T09:11:00.000-07:00

With the World cup well on its way we have been inundated with orders for football rattles or football clackers as they are also known.
We were lucky enough to have one of our football rattles in the Sunday people magazine in their World Cup feature as a must have!

These simple but effective wooden rattles are a noisy instrument, recalling those used from the early 20th century.
We have 2 types both priced competitively at £1.99 per rattle and also available in multi buys of 5 and as a filled party bag, great for football themed partys!

Wooden Push A Long Toys

2010-05-19T05:30:00.000-07:00

Just had another delivery of these cheeky chaps, our push a long wooden dinosaurs are one of our great sellers at events and craft fairs. Children love them, as soon as they are able to toddle they can hold onto one and it will encourage them to stop upright! It also encourages a child to push and follow the dinosaur so it makes walking more fun (and quicker!)

Our youngest son had one from being about 14 months old and only really stopped playing with it last summer when he got too tall for it (he was 5 in October!). It came on walks with us and was pushed around our garden and played with no end. At £5.99 we think its a great value for money toy with lots of fun and adventure potential.

WINNIBRIGGSHOUSE Giveway!

2010-05-03T14:11:00.000-07:00

All you have to do is mention this lovely blog in your blog (with a link back) to be in with a chance to win some lovely lovely things. Good Luck !

We have been nominated for another blog award!

2010-04-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

Our lovely little blog has been nominated for another blog award this month! We are very pleased to say the least, we would be very grateful if you could vote for us by clicking on the "Dorset Cereals Little Blog Awards logo to the left of the page or by clicking here and casting your vote. Thanks for your continued support of Knot Just Jigs.

Seven Things You Didn’t Know About Me

2010-04-19T02:32:00.000-07:00

I have been tagged by Helen Lindop of Business Plus Baby, so I thought I had better quickly do a post on seven things you didn’t know about me before I forget. Helen also sent me the Kreative Blogger award, which I am really chuffed about!

Thank-you Helen!

1, My name comes from a combination of my Mum and Dads names put together! My Mum was called Ann and my Dads name is Anthony (Tony for short) so I became Toniann. So glad their names weren't Fred and Ethel! not that I have anything against Fred's and Ethel's but can you imagine being called Frethel! lol

2, I am a qualified Counsellor, I went back to college at the ripe old age of 30 to study for 4 years. I then went onto running the counselling service at Nottingham's Women's Aid until I lost my beautiful Mum when I then decided I sadly couldn't carry on.

3, I have a phobia of fur! Its called doraphobia, Cats and rabbits are my worst nightmare but I am also terrified of mice, rats and hamsters!

4, I have never broken a bone!

5, On boxing day of 1998 I was in a terrible car accident due to a milk tanker spilling its load on the carriageway. This lead to me having very bad panic attacks and damage to 2 of my vertebrae.

6, I am double jointed, I can put my foot under my armpit and I can also still do the crab (not bad for a nearly 43 year old!)

7, There is a 17 year age gap between my eldest son and my youngest!

I now have to pass this award on to seven other bloggers. If they want, they can also take up the challenge, which is:

1.Copy the award to your blog
2.Insert a link to the person who nominated me
3.Tell you seven things about myself that I haven’t told you before
4.Nominate seven other bloggers for the award
5.Link to their blogs
6.Tell the nominees about their award

So here are my seven nominees (I hope you’ve not been tagged already!):
1, Dawn at Funky Dory Party Bags
2, Lyndsay from Pretty Beautiful
3, Vanessa at Just Original
4, Sara at From The Hands Of Kitty Eden
5, Fiona at Samigails
6, Kateepie from A stitch In Time
7, Elaine from Littlesheep Learning

Ladybirds Galore!

2010-04-08T03:08:00.000-07:00

It seems whichever way I turn today I come across ladybirds!
I woke up to a very large order of these ladybird yoyo's

I then log in to one of my favourite parenting sites mumszone to find someone asking about ladybird party bags and party bag fillers.
I hear lots of commotion from the garden where I find my 5 year old son running around in extreme excitement that his first ladybird house guest has come to live in his ladybird house he had for his birthday.

Today has started off lovely and sunny and all this ladybird talk has put me in mind of springtime.
I have compiled a list of out top 10 ladybird themed items just in case your in the "ladybird" mood!
1, Ladybird Yoyo 50p each or 10 for £4.50
2, Ladybird inspired fabric party bag £1.50 each
3, Ladybird personalised party bags £2.50 each
4, Castanets £1.50 each or 5 for £6.50
5, Ladybird clackers £1.99 each or 5 for £8.50
6, Button spinners 5 for £2.50
7, Toothbrush timer £2.50 each or 5 for £11.00
8, Large yoyo £1 each or 5 for £4.70
9, Flower press £5.00 each
10 Skipping rope £5.00 each

To finish off Cameron drew a picture of "his" ladybird, his spelling and writing was lovely I just didn't have the heart to tell him he had his colours the wrong way around ;)

French Knitting, Knitting Nancy Dolls

2010-03-25T10:49:00.000-07:00

Whether you call them Knitting Nancys, Bizzy Lizzys, knitting mushrooms, knitting spools, corkers, peg knitters, knitting nobbys (or knitting noddys) or knitting knobbys, these knitting devices all owe their existence to the medieval lucet. The lucet is a two pronged fork with a hole in the handle.
I remember doing the traditional craft of french knitting as a little girl, I didn't have one of the lovely painted knitting dolls that you get today but a wooden cotton bobbin with 4 nails in the top! I am not old by any means but the bobbin belonged to my grandmother and she passed it down to me.

The Knitting doll is one of our best sellers and we get lots of orders in large quantities from schools, Brownies packs and also craft groups so hopefully this long lost tradition will make a huge come back! Its a lovely craft to do with children that have short concentration spans as its fairly easy to do and you get a result very quickly.
We are always being asked for instructions on how to knit with the Knitting doll so we have put together a quick and easy to follow set of instructions.

Instructions

Yarn is fed down through the hole and left to hang. Sometimes a weight is clipped to the knitted braid, which is actually a tube, to help pull it down. The yarn/wool is then wrapped in a four point figure eight around the loops of wire.

The knitting is then accomplished by holding the spool between the index finger and thumb while the yarn is held against the palm by the other three fingers. The incoming yarn is guided so that it lies above the yarn loops already wrapped around the nails or prongs. The spool is given a quarter turn, a needle is used to carry the loop up and over the nail or prong, and the knitted yarn trailing down the hole is given a tug.

Repeat the process of carrying a loop over a nail 400 times and you'll have a foot of braid. After making yards of braid, it can be used to make trivets, appliques, dolls, and so on.

There are lots of things you can do with your completed lengths of braid, as a child I used mine as scarfs for my Sindy doll or made it into mats but I have come across a lovely blog by Anjie Davision which gives you some modern ideas of other things you can create with your modern Knitting doll.

Mothering Sunday, 14th March 2010

2010-03-11T03:46:00.000-08:00

In England the early Christians celebrated the Mother's festival.
They celebrated this festival in order to honour Mother Mary, who is the mother of Jesus Christ.
They decided to celebrate this festival on the fourth Sunday of Lent, Lent being the 40-day period, which leads up to Easter.
What is interesting is that later a religious order stretched this celebration to include all Mothers hence the occasion was known as "Mothering Sunday"
Gradually this festival gained so much importance that people working out of their homes were expected to return to the "Mother" church.
The "Mother" church is believed to have the spiritual power that not only gave all those people life but also protected them from any harm or so called danger. And this unique festival turned out to be an occasion for family reunions.
On this day people started attending church services in honor of the Virgin Mary. And later this practice became a tradition.
This festival gained so much significance that it was treated as the day when apprentices, servants and children specifically those working as domestic helps or as trainees, were given the day off so that they could visit their mother and family.
These people, realizing the warmth of the occasion used to come back home with several gifts, flowers and unique Mothering Day cakes to celebrate their reunion. This day became an occasion when people could spend one special day with their mothers. Even today the Mother's Day celebrations means the time for the children to express their love and concern towards their mums, and they do so by giving presents, flowers and other home made cards and crafts to their mothers.

I am a mum of 4 and my most favourite thing on mothers day would be a lie in (fat chance) breakfast in bed, a hug, an I love you and a lovely handmade card! what more could a mummy ask for!

I just wanted to add, my beautiful Mum is no longer with us so on Sunday I will remember what a remarkable woman she was and I will do as I do every year, buy daffodils and put them with the card I bought 5 years ago, have a cup of tea in the garden and remember her with fond memories. For all those Mothers that can not be with us x

Fairtrade Fortnight, The Big Swop!

2010-02-22T02:54:00.000-08:00

Today sees the start of Fairtrade fortnight,
For this year's Fairtrade Fortnight you are asked to join us in The Big Swap. For two whole weeks we are asking you to swap your usual stuff for Fairtrade stuff. Your usual bananas for Fairtrade bananas, your usual cotton socks for Fairtrade cotton socks, and your usual cuppa for a Fairtrade cuppa.

You can find out more about the big swop at The Fairtrade Big Swop Website this is the home of all things swap, a hub for all your swapping needs. It tells you how to get involved, what you can swap and most importantly, how to register them. Because we need lots of swaps made. One million and one in fact. Every swap will be proof that the people of the UK want producers in the developing world to get a fairer deal.

Knot Just Jigs will be supporting the Fairtrade fortnight by offering free postage on ANY orders that contain one of our fair trade products, a free BIG SWOP sticker and if your order is over £20 you will also receive a FREE re-usable cotton bag

You will find a huge range of lovely fair trade skipping ropes, jigsaws, play buildings, bookends, name plaques and wooden letters. Just add any one of these products to your order and save up to £3.95 on postage! (please quote Big Swop in code box)

Wooden Dummy Chain and Clip on Toys, New in!

2010-02-20T11:14:00.000-08:00

We are really pleased to have a new lovely range of wooden dummy chains and wooden clip in toys starting at a bargain price of only £4.99 !Made by Heimess these products are hand crafted using non-toxic materials and more importantly they are made from saliva resistant materials as we know what little ones are like for putting things in their mouth! The dummy chains are great way to stop baby dropping their comforter and either getting it dirty or even worse losing it! The clip on both products is strong enough to prevent it being pulled off but still safe enough not to snag clothes.

Our Blog Gets A Mention !

2010-02-04T04:14:00.000-08:00

I am always in awe of all the lovely blogs that are out there (I know because I spend far too much time reading them!) so it was really great to hear that our blog had its first mention in the very first Business Mums Blog Carnival! (24/01/2010). Helen Lindop runs the site www.businessplusbaby.com and was the first to host the monthly Business Mum's Blog Carnival. As a business woman its always of great interest to read advice and tips from other enterprising mums and to read their blogs about them, their families and their businesses. Helen's site puts together advice and resources to help mums take that step to becoming a mumpreneur.

Each month, a different business mum blogger will be hosting the blog carnival, listing the best business mum blog posts of that month. If you’re a business mum with a blog, you can submit your own favourite post of that month to the carnival. Don't be shy fellow blogger's, enter your favourite blog post you never know you might get a mention!

Competition Winners Announced!

2010-01-31T00:36:00.001-08:00

Firstly can we say a great big Thank-you to everyone that helped Knot Just Jigs celebrate 3 years of on-line trading by entering our big blog give-away, your support has been overwhelming. All the tweets, blog comments and facebook comments were lovely.
And now the winners !

1, The birdhouse was won by Kirsty Snare

2, Box of wooden cakes won by Sarita Ainsworth

3, Tipsi, traditional family game was won by Jo Bryan

Big Blog Give-Away!

2010-01-22T09:01:00.000-08:00

Happy 3rd Birthday to us!

Knot Just Jigs are celebrating 3 years of trading with a fantastic 3 prize give away!
Prize 1, A box of wooden cakes.
Prize 2, Tipsi, A traditional family games.
Prize 3, A pretty wooden birdhouse

How to enter:
For a chance (or 5) to win one of these fabulous prizes all you have to do is give us a mention and/or become a follower/fan! simple.

Each one of the below = One entry into the draw

Follow the Knot Just Jigs Blog and let us know by leaving a comment.
(if you already follow us - thank-you! ...just leave a comment)

and/or
Become a fan of Knot Just Jigs on Face book and let us know in a comment
(if you are already a fan-thank-you! ... just leave a comment)

and/or
Become a follower of Knot Just Jigs on Twitter and tweet the following "Blog Give-away ! 3 fantastic prizes from @knotjustjigs Traditional Toys and Rag Dolls http://www.knotjustjigs.blogspot.com/

Two Entries =

For 2 extra entries blog about our give-away on your own blog, then pop back and leave a comment to let us know you have done this!

GOOD LUCK!

Give-away starts Saturday 23rd January and finishes at
mid-night Friday 29th January. Winners will be drawn at random and notified on
Saturday 30th January followed by a blog post all about our winners! Winners
have 7 days after contact to claim their prize. Winners will receive their
prizes within 14 days of competition closing. The prize cannot be swapped or
substituted for a cash alternative. Prizes can be dispatched to a UK/EU address
only.

The Noah's Ark

2010-01-06T04:21:00.000-08:00

In the early years Noah's arks were considered to be among the most popular wooden toys in 19th century all over Europe and America. Due to their biblical name and reference children were not allowed to play with them with the exception of on a Sunday.

The production of Noah's Arks can be dated back as far as the 17th century until present day but their popularity peaked during the 19th century. Most Arks found from this period were either made in Germany or made in America by German immigrants.

The animals made for the ark were creative, notional figures and largely produced by a cottage industry. Within the cottage industry there would be a family producing one animal type and another family a different species and more often than not the families had never even seen the animal that they were producing in real life, nor did this matter as they were creating a toy not teaching biology. It was common to see animals painted in blues and greens as their imagination was reflected in their creation. It was also common place to have one family doing the carving and another to finish with the painting.

The rarest of the animals are the small creatures such as snakes and insects and also pairs that have strike a different pose to the other.

The manufacturer of the ark was largely in small factories from wood or often wood that was made to look like straw and these were named "prisoner arks" as though they were made from the bedding straw of prisoners, which some often were. Early on the roofs were removable so that the animals could be stored within the body of the ark but it was found that they kept coming off and getting lost so later on hinges were added and usually a dove was also added to the roof.

The original manufacturer was virtually impossible to trace as they were almost all produced by a cottage industry. The compliment of how many animal should accompany the ark is also difficult to determine, it is thought that it should be 8 as that is the number of Noah's family members but that is not always the case. In around the 1800's lithograph was becoming well developed and was widely use to decorate the arks to save on some of the costs of hand painting.

As a traditional toy website Knot Just Jigs are delighted to be able to offer wooden Noah's Arks in 2 sizes which are both hand painted and fair trade.

Become a fan!

2009-11-16T12:43:00.000-08:00

Our New Years Resolution has to be to post regular updates on our blog/twitter and facebook pages! Keep up to date with all our latest news and special offers by following us, become a fan by clicking on the links.
Thank-you

Christmas Lights Switch On

2009-11-16T09:34:00.000-08:00

Saturday 21st November is the West Bridgford Christmas light switch on with special guests from Britain's Got Talent the wonderful 1940's inspired girl group "Irresistible" and Trent FMs very own Twiggy and Emma!

Situated on the croquet lawns will be the Craft stalls featuring lots of lovely and unusual gifts, why not bring your list and do all your Christmas shopping in one place! There will also the be the very popular farmers market with some mouth watering treats (mulled wine and mince pies are a must!)

Father Christmas is going to be there for the little ones to tell him how good they've been this year and there will be musical entertainment and choir singing on the Avenue from 2pm.

Last years atmosphere was magical, friendly and fun. Come and Join us Knot Just Jigs will be situated in the green tent decked in an obscene amount of tinsel and balloons! Hope to see you there!

Mums Just Love.....

2009-11-10T07:11:00.000-08:00

Mumsjustlove find the best products, retailers and offers online for mums and their little ones. everything promoted on mumsjustlove is hand-picked by their editorial team, no listings are paid for which means they are really showcasing the best! their product directory features the best products from literally 100's of retailers and we are pleased to say KnotJustJigs is one of them! See the products that MJL have picked here .

Here is one of their favourites, and ours this impressive wooden castle comes complete with towers, ramparts, working drawbridge, murder hole, portcullis, ladders and 14 wooden characters!

Nativity Costume Online Shop opens 5th November!

2009-11-04T06:52:00.000-08:00

While Shepherds Watched is pleased to announce that their 2009 Online Shop will open on Thursday November 5th 2009. 'While Shepherds Watched' sells Handmade Children’s Nativity Costumes, and was set up and is run by Mum of two,Lucy Jiwa.

Lucy, who started the business in 2006, says "I am so pleased to be able to offer tunics made from Fairtrade Organic Cotton for the first time this year. After working closely with Bishopston Trading I now have a 'limited edition' range of Fairtrade certified cotton tunics that are just perfect for Shepherds, Joseph, Mary, Inn Keepers - just about any traditional Nativity role! I team these with appropriate head dresses and head bands, and you have distinctive, unusual and beautiful costumes for your little star.

The quality of these skilfully made outfits is unrivalled, which means the costume will last and last."'While Shepherds Watched' has always aimed to be the best place to buy affordable, great looking, handmade Nativity Costumes. Let them take one of the worries of the festive season away, and leave you free to enjoy seeing your little star shine!

Postal Strikes

2009-10-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

Knot Just Jigs would like to announce that its business as usual during the proposed postal strikes and trading will remain unaffected. We will be trading as usual during the postal strikes and would like to remind our customers of our very competitive special delivery option which has been reduced in order to provide our customers with the most efficient service, and all orders over £70.00 remain FREE of charge and willl be continue to be sent by courier.

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Looking back

2009-10-13T11:35:00.000-07:00

Today being so chilly has made me think about our up and coming outdoor fairs. I have treated myself to a new pair of ski trousers as i have lost weight since last year and towards the end of the winter fair season they were falling down!lol

Below are some pictures taken at the Beautiful village of Hickling and every year in September they hold an annual scarecrow festival. Ove 70 scarecrows were displayed outside the houses and building of Hickling and a quiz is handed out to all visitors on arrival to guess the origin (this years theme) Can you believe the weather! it was absolutely glorious. Just look at the sun shining. My view was pretty good too, the local public house!

That weekend i met lots of lovely customers that weekend who have also returned via our website and visited us at West Bridgford Fair. That weekend the winning product had to be our blue wooden letters, so much so we ran out of certain letters!

As usual i was next to my lovely friend Christine who makes the most devine chocolate, she makes the most amazing "dunking lollies" which are made from solid chocolate and are a must after a hard day at a fair. Christines website is http://www.choklet.co.uk/ is well worth a look.

The Moorgreen Show

2009-08-26T05:32:00.000-07:00

The Moorgreen Show for me brings back fond memories of my childhood when we all visited as a family, my dad used to breed caneries so the marquee with all the birds in was his favourite. I also have vivid memories of sitting on straw bales around the arena watching the dogs shows and the horses but today the shows have been brought bang upto date with lots of fresh attractions such as digger dancing and falconary shows. This year see's the show's 160th event, which when you think about it is quite some achievement given some of the tough times we have been through.
Knot Just Jigs will be there, this our 4th year of attending the show and has always been one of our favourites! Its now one of my very own family traditions. Joining us this year are a couple of my friends and fellow crafters Lyndsay from www.prettybeautiful.co.uk and Christine from www.choklet.co.uk both very talented ladies who sell some gorgeous products!
If you get the chance to come along please dont be shy, come on over and say hello.

Show dates & Times: August Bank Holiday Sunday and Monday - August 30th and 31st 2009.
Moorgreen Show opens to the public at 9.00am each day and entertainment ceases at approximately 5.00pm.

Admission Prices:
Adults:
£9.00
Accompanied children (up to 16):
FREE
Unaccompanied children (up to 16):
£2.00
Senior Concessions:
£7.50
Parking:
FREE

The Moorgreen Country Show is a showcase of the area's rich rural heritage. Come and enjoy the Moorgreen experience, two days of entertainment and education packed in to a 40 acre showground.
The provisional programme includes:
Unaffiliated Show Jumping
The Drakes of Hazard Sheep Dog & Duck display
Hucknall Rolls-Royce Amateur Radio Club 'Special Event Station'
The Dancing Diggers
Birds of Prey
Mechanicals
The South Notts Hunt Parade
Wildlife Zoo
Racing Piglets
Equestrian excellence
Chinese Vegetable Carving
Cattle, Sheep and Goats
Glass Blowing craftsmen
Flower & Vegetable Show
CAMRA's 9th Nottinghamshire Real Ale Festival
Craft & Gift Marquee
and much much more............Come along, we hope to see you there !

Very Windy Weekend!

2009-08-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

Last week was Knot Just Jigs very first visit to Long Eaton High Street and we are very glad to report we had a very sucessful 2 days, although the high winds did make me feel like Dorothy in the whirlwind scene of The Wizard of Oz at times !

The gorgeous little tote bags you can see on the left of the picture were very popular and their cuteness drew lots of people over to have a look. We did have our lovely Toy Soldier Bunting displayed around the gazebo for a while but the wind kept tangling it up so we had to take it down, such a pity really as it is absolutely lovely.

We have some lovely co-ordinating laundry bags that could also be used as a storage bag or p.e bag for school.

My Lovely friend's Lyndsay and her Mum Jane also had a stall but they were, quite wisely due to the wind in the large Marquee. Pretty Beatutiful sell some absolutely gorgeous things such as a fabulous selection of dried fruit wreaths, lavender hearts, candles in cups and much more....

This has to be one of my favourites

Riverside Festival

2009-07-28T00:47:00.000-07:00

The Nottingham Riverside Festival at Victoria Embankment on the beautiful banks of the River Trent is a massive FREE event held on Friday 31 July - Sunday 2 August 2009, as one of Nottinghams biggest annual events complete with a spectacular firework display its definately worth a trip!

The Riverside Festival runs from:
Friday 31 July, 6.30pm to 10.30pm
Saturday 1 August, 12noon to 11.30pm
Sunday 2 August, 12noon to 6.30pm

The Riverside Festival is a unique Festival covering a distance of one mile along the banks of the River Trent, at Victoria Embankment, adjacent to the historical Trent Bridge. Come and experience Nottingham's Riverside Festival that offers lots of entertainment and activities for festival-goers to enjoy, with a colourful and vibrant programme of live music, performance, arts and fairground attractions, street fair and huge Craft Marquee offering something for everyone.

Knot Just Jigs Traditional Toys and Rag Dolls Stall can be found in the craft marquee, come and take a look and see what special festival offers we have to offer!

Plain Cotton Bags?

2009-07-08T02:32:00.000-07:00

I love seeing what people have done with our unprinted cotton bags so i was really happy to receive an email with pictures from a lovely lady Gina who bought them for her group to decorate. The bags were designed by members of the Fat Quarters Patchwork & Quilting Group that meet in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire. They took a break from making quilts, wall hangings, patchwork bags, etc., to decorate cotton bags mostly with stamping - but one member has sewn 2 patchwork 'log cabin' squares on hers. I love the groups name i am reliably informed that fat quarters is the way patchworkers buy their fabric - a metre cut into 4 squares makes 4 quarter metres.

These eco friendly cotton bags are really great value for money as well as being reusable and enviromently friendly, the perfect viable alternative to the plastic bag. They can also be used for promotions, as a craft activity or for your child to decorate and give as presents. Knot Just Jigs also sell fabric wax crayons at a very affordable £1.49 for a pack of 8 different colours!

Royal Purchaser and Some New Products!

2009-06-18T13:07:00.000-07:00

Even though The Rutland Show was very very wet a great day was still had by all. I would have been very rich woman if i had a stall selling wellies, umbrella and raincoats.

Knot Just Jigs had a special "Royal" purchaser that day, we won't reveal which Royal but will say he bought a Jacobs Ladder for his Grandson, an excellent choice in my opinion.

The Jacobs Ladder has mesmorised childrens and adults alike for a long time and is one of the most ancient and famous of folk toys. Legend has it that one was found in King Tut's tomb, which means these fascinating toys were played with in Egypt long before 1352 B.C., when the young king died (he was about 18 years old). How amazing that this humble folk toy would have been included among Tutankhamen's most significant effects, along with brilliant jewellary, amulets, masks of pure gold, statues, furniture, and even a full-sized chariot.

We are very pleased to announce two new products this week, the first one being this fantastic new rag doll, one especially designed for the boys after the great success of our beautiful girl rag dolls.

My son had the first road test of these new rag dolls and he absolutely loved them! he wouldn't put "Jack" down so he now has an early Birthday present.

This is one for all football lovers! Traditionally skipping may have been a girlie thing, but boys are discovering the fun of skipping too! We have risen to the challenge of providing fun designs for boys as well as girls. Have a look at our fabulous range of wooden, handpainted skipping ropes

Magical Photo Portrait by Enhance-Me

2009-05-28T00:10:00.000-07:00

WOW is all i can say! This image was created from just an ordinary photograph by the very talented Victoria Dixon of Enhance-Me.

I have admired Victoria's work for a while and thought with Fathers day coming up (June 21st) what a lovely idea for a unique bespoke Fathers day gift for my husband. The process couldn't have been easier and i was amazed at how quick and easy it all was. All i had to do was email Victoria a couple of images of my son and select what theme we liked and Victoria came up with this wonderful fantasy image. My son was equally impressed although a little confused and said "is that me! when did i ride on a dinosaur?" he loves the photograph so much he wants it enlarged for his bedroom.

Enhance-Me do a fantastic range of themes for both girls and boys and also have some wonderful family themes.

COMPETITION TIME
Win a Magical Photo portrait PRINTED in POSTER dimensions!
All you have to do tell me how many different themes there are currently in the Holiday Gallery for Father’s Day?
Closing date is 5th of June 2009

CLICK HERE TO ENTER

Rain,rain and more rain

2009-05-17T10:51:00.000-07:00

Forgot to add and wind too! That what this weekends weather has been like at our West Bridgeford arts and craft fair. I do hope the long month weather forcasts are wrong as julys rainfall is well above average ! oh goodness thats all we need.

Knot Just Jigs aquired a new gazebo this week that got its first outing on friday, i was very chuffed to be able carry this one across the lawns and erect it all on my own! the wind was quite bad but we both survived the ordeal (i am so glad i made full use of the the tent pegs and had put in the spares) the rain didn't seem to bother it either, it had a couple of little drips but thats fine as on the whole it ticks all the boxes.

This week see's our Arts and Craft event at the lovely location of "The Square" in Beeston town centre, a thriving and busy town centre, surrounded by interesting areas of open space and countryside, there is definately something for everyone there.

We will be regulars of this location during 2009, if your in the area remember to come and say Hello!
22nd - 23rd May
24th - 25th July
25th - 26th September and a special Christmas event on
12th - 13th - 14th November

Bumps, Babies and Beyond Event, The Verdict!

2009-05-11T02:52:00.000-07:00

This was my stall at the Bumps, Babies and Beyond event (excuse the wobbly banner i forgot to take my drawing pins to hold it in place!)

It was a really enjoyable event with lots of lovely stalls, whilst the footfall could have been higher i dont think it was at all bad for its first event and hopefully once established it will become a great event to both trade and visitors.

The best seller of the day had to be the wooden plaques and letters, lots of mums-to-be were purchasing them for their impending arrivals! i just hope the sonographer is right with the sex of the baby.

Bumps Babies and Beyond!

2009-05-06T19:55:00.000-07:00

This Saturday, the 9th May 2009 see's the first event of its kind in Ashby. Its very aptly called Bumps Babies and Beyond, Baby and Toddler Fair. Its to be held at Hood Park Leisure Centre in Ashby de la Zouch, from 10-3pm. If your pregnant or have little ones or just wanting to buy something gorgeous and unique then this is the event to visit! it will be full of beautiful clothes, gifts and all the necessarys for "Bumps Babies and Beyond!"

Knot Just Jigs will be there so be sure to come and say hello, it would be lovely to see you. Making a debut at the show will be our gorgeous dinosaur push a longs

This Weekends Events, Stanford Steam Rally.

2009-04-28T10:40:00.000-07:00

Really looking forward to this weekend, its the first of many craft events lined up and the weather forecast looks hopeful! If your in the area why not pop along to The Steam and Transport Show to be held at Stanford Hall, Ashby Road, Loughborough, LE12 5QR on Saturday, Sunday or Bank Holiday Monday from 10.30am till 5pm. There will be lots happening, Steam Engines, Fair Organs, Vintage Vehicles, Commercial Vehicles, Coaches,Tractors, Cars, Motor cycles, Miniature Steam Engines, Colliery Bands, Stone Crushing, Falconry Display, Dako Flying and Angels BURNERWORLD presents: Raleigh Burner Bash ’09.

There will be an a full arena of events, Old Park Farm Dog Display, Stalls, Crafts, DisplayS and Bygones Old Tyme Fun Fair. Entry £ 6.00 OAPS £ 5.00 Children £ 1.00. Free Parking

Rufford Country Park

2008-05-21T13:01:00.001-07:00

Last week-end saw my first craft event of the year! I was a little apprehensive for some reason as the weather wasn't meant to be great and i also wasn't very organised, which is very unlike me. Usually i have everything sorted the day before but i was a little pre-occupied with my 25 year school reunion on the friday night that i couldn't focus on anything else as i was sooo excited.
Well after only 4 hours sleep i was up bright (well, not so bright!) and early packed the car and off i went to Rufford Country Park. What a lovely setting it is too... the craft and gift marquee is set in the beautiful Rufford Country Park,Ollerton nr Newark which features the Rufford Abbey ruins, woodland and lakeside walks, it has lots of ducks to feed and a lovely cafe if you fancy tea and scones (or a sausage cob like i had!)

I had a wonderful week-end,they had a medieval event happening at the same time so was rather busy. Best sellers for the week-end were our gorgeous rag dolls

The little girls were captivated by them!