So tomorrow is the first day of Feb & as i said in my last post i will not be sad to see the back of January, i felt that i was really struggling to get going & i am hoping Feb brings me a little more get up & go. If you have any spare send it my way – along with chocolate cake :o)

Here is a round up of some badges & things that i have been up to this past week.

We love this time of year as we get to make lots of Hen Party & Wedding Badges – Feb & March seem to be a really popular month for weddings. If you are getting married & have a Hen Party / Stag Party coming up then we have a great selection of badges that you can customise.

Oh & i am so glad that Tax Returns are in and done for another year Its always so stressful & i feel like i have missed something out. I give a huge sigh if relief when they are done.

 

Ok so we are now officially into 2012. The month of January has flown past us. We have been in a blur of hospital visits, car repairs and tax returns. So nothing all that nice so far. To say we are ready to see the back of this month is an under statement.

February is my 13yr anniversary with hubby John <3 We are hoping to nip off for a few days somewhere, but we will see as best laid plans at the moment never come about.

I have been so distracted lately browsing the wonders of the web & have found some fun things i thought i would share.

These amazing leggins from We Are Handsome. If i had legs for them i would totally be rocking them this spring

This Print from handz on Etsy — i need to do this ALOT more

This fun How To crochet your own Jammy Dodger

 

Carey Mulligan — she is SO damn pretty & sylish. I have a wee bit of a crush on her.

I could use a pair of these right now. Scotland is so cold & i am longer for warmer days. Felt slippers from French Press Knits on Etsy

 

Ok the post office beckons me.

We are quite involved in Valentines Day from a badge perspective as we process loads of orders every year for Valentines Day badges. However we often forget to participate in the holiday so this year we have started shopping early for Valentines Day things. Here are just a few of our wishlist items, we will whittle it down in the next few days but couldn’t resist sharing these finds with you all. Support Hand Made products & give the high street card & gift shops a swerve this year.

So first up is a Rock n Roll card that we found on Folksy — by Sam Osbourne she has a wonderful selection of cards.

 

Next up is the wonderful Storeyshop i have purchased cards from here in the past & they are all hand cut. Again she has a huge selection of cards but this is our fave for Valentines Day

 

My husband liked this one! Its from NOTHS by a seller called A is for Alphabet — made me giggle

 

Another Etsy find is this cute Moustache card by Milestonemoment

 

This is the one i am leaning towards — Its from letterhappy on Etsy

 

This bold design from Something Wonderful Design on NOTHS is great

If you have found any handmade cards, or make them, feel free to post a link & i will check them out.

Thanks so much for the sweet words & positive comments about my dad! Although progress is slow he is continuing to improve. There is still no movement in his left hand side & will be going back into the operating theater to put a plate in his skull — but the rehab center he is in is really good & they are pushing him everyday.

We have had a great response to our Valentines Badges & that’s great. Keeping us busy in the workshop. Does anyone have any cute plans for the 14th. I may be planning a small trip away for my hubby. It will be our 13 year anniversary on the 18th of Feb so i will do something for both.

What with going back & forth to the hospital, making badges & making trips to the Post Office we haven’t had time for much else. I’m sorry posts have been few & far between and that ive not had anything exciting to blog about. But as my dad gets better i hope to blog more.

I will leave you with a few pics from this past week.

We have been busy adding lots of Valentines Day Badges to the site over the past few days. They make a great addition to a handmade card or as a sweet way to say I Love You.

It has been a crazy month or so since my dad went into hospital with a stroke. The recovery is still in progress and we are having to be extra crafty with our time management to process all your orders & spend time at the hospital. This means a few things such as the blog & twitter updates have been scaled back to make sure we can still process all our orders, however we are working hard to get back upto speed so thanks for sticking with us.

We are still receiving a ton of orders from you guys, which always makes us happy, and some of your custom badge orders have been awesome. From company logo badges to custom art & illustration badges, not to mention birthday badges & hen party badges, you have kept us really busy and constantly amazed with your designs.

We have also started adding new Valentines Day badges. We are always inundated with orders for valentines day, and you guys really seem to love the custom I Love badge, where you can literraly love anything (and we have seen some strange & funny loves!).

Plans are in motion for the Koolbadges workshop to change location again. We are currently working from a workshop in Scotland to be close to the family, but soon enough we will be looking to move back to the north of England, so we will try and post pics of the places we look at, for your approval of course.

Here are a small selection of photographs from recent badge orders & little days out we have managed to fit in.

OK — so since my last blog about wanting to do some festive blog posts alot has happened but not alot of blogging thats for sure! Im not going to say too much as its not really the place but i just wanted my readers to know that i have not disapeared & am still here.

My dad who is 53 had a massive stroke on the 14th December we were told he might not make it. As a result of the swelling on his brain he had to have an emergency operation on his brain & they have removed part of his skull. His stroke was on the right handside & so has effected his left side. He has no movement in his left side. He spent 4 days in Intensive Care & then back to the Stroke ward. He has made such a dramatic recovery from the surgery that has amazed all the staff — he is a tough cookie, thats for sure.

Its been a crazy 3 & half weeks but the great news is he has a place at a specialist brain injury unit & has stared 6 months rehab program We don’t know if he will be able to walk or use his left arm again but that’s the challenge that is ahead. Its been tough to see my dad so ill & fighting for his life but i am hoping for great things from 2012 & my dad is ready to crack on with the challenge.

So we are still here at Koolbadges & with the help of family & friends badges are being sent out.

I had grand plans for blogging in December, i was going to Blog about some of my gift purchases & decorating the tree, lots of Festive bits & bobs, that has so not happened. I have been really ill this past week. A stinking evil cough has taken over my chest & is not budging.

Along with the non stop coughing i have been overwhelming busy on the badges. This is our 5th Christmas doing the badges & we have never been this busy. We are stunned & very gratefull for your support & for purchasing from koolbadges — We are working day & night to get your orders out to you, just give me a wee bit of grace as i say this cough has been evil.

I hope to do a few festive posts next week as Christmas is fast approaching.

I will leave you with a few Instagram Pics

 

Just stubbed my toe, bloody sore too.?Ǭ† It’s a fitting end to a damn busy week. The Badges have been MENTAL!?Ǭ† I’ve been trying to keep a cold at bay. My throat is scratchy and sore. I hope that’s all and I’ve managed to fight it off.

We are putting up the Christmas tree tomorrow. So Christmas will really feel like its on it’s way. I have finished my Xmas shopping. I like to get it finished before the shops get crazy & the post goes tits up. All that needs to be done is to buy the Christmas dinner. Oh and i have my fave Christmas movies at the ready – Home Alone, Elf, Die Hard, Edward Scissor Hands and Love Actually. What are your fave Christmas movies?

I will leave you with some photos from this past week

Tree in Dundee City, Horrid new coffee shop, Juice Bar, elf Makeup, Mr & Mrs Men Advent Calendar, Christmas pressie off my Mr <3 , Russian Doll Badges, Mixed Bag Badges, John working hard, Photographer badges, Out for dinner

Being a handmade company we always find we are crazy busy at this time of year. Remember when you buy a hand made product you aren’t simply choosing a mass produced item which is picked from a shelf in a warehouse & dispatched. We hand make every product as your order comes in. This means that during busy periods such as Christmas we have to work a whole lot harder to ensure your orders go out on time, but please do allow a little longer for orders to arrive. this does also mean that a lot of care & attention is given to each & every order we produce & you are safe in the knowledge that each badge is made with love.

The past few weeks have seen us working from 7am right through until 10pm (we are still working full speed ahead now at 20:52). We are still making time to keep up to date with the blog, post items to twitter & instagram, reply to all your emails & even make up designs for those who need our help. We will always strive to help all of our customers.

I’d best pop the kettle on, put some mince pies out & get back to the workshop (it’s cold in there in the winter months). Please enjoy our badges & help us out by recommending us to your friends 🙂

Here are a few cute handmade decoration i’ve found online.

These red and white felt decorations from Pretty Plush

Cute idea – from http://www.bhg.com

These sweet handmade felt decorations from Felt and String

More Felt Goodies from – Missy Designs

Are you starting to feel festive?