KTHDSN

Strawberry Moonbeam

I have been knitting, crocheting and sewing for years, and in the past I have ventured into selling my creations with some success. Since we moved back to the UK two years ago I have intended to start up again, but for one reason or another it has been put on the back burner. Last spring I decided I really wanted to give it another go, but the store engine I tried to use kept having problems so I lost heart once again. My wonderful other half, Ric, came to my rescue, and slowly (oh so slowly) started to build me a custom store.

Today, the store went live! I am so excited to finally be able to announce this!

I have listed what’s left of the stock that I made when we lived in Canada plus the few things I have made since we got back to the UK. I will be continuing to make and list new stuff after the holidays when life is less hectic, but for now there is plenty to choose from if you fancy doing a bit of last minute christmas shopping!

Everything in the store is hand made by me personally. I use environmentally friendly materials where I can source them, and knit, crochet and sew at home in my spare time. I design my own patterns or just make things up as I go along, so there are some unique and possibly slightly quirky items on offer.

I am not a fan of mass production, corporate control and boring shopping experiences. I want to live in a world where people are able to exercise their creativity, shop for items that have been made with love and care, and appreciate the craftsmanship that went into the things they own. I hope that my little store can bring a bit of these ideals into the world and maybe inspire others to give it a try as well.

Please take a look and if you like what you see, make a purchase or help spread the word.

Visit strawberrymoonbeam.com.

I previously described a system I had created to decide what to cook for dinner. I was using a combination of a recipe managing software and a rather clunky spreadsheet, which functioned reasonably well but was tedious to use. I suggested to my other half that he build me a web based tool to replace the two bits of software I was using and combine the functionality of both into one easy to use solution.

He reluctantly coded up a very basic web tool for me to use. Initially he thought of it as just another one of my crazy organising systems that would take up a lot of his time and not be very useful, but as he started to understand why I wanted him to make it for me, he began to see it’s potential. He has started working on creating a website that others will be able to use to help them decide what to eat, encourage them to cook from scratch using recipes and help them to eat a more varied diet.

The site is in the very early stages of production and is not yet available for you to join, but I am very excited about getting it started and I thought I would share the news and see if anyone out there is interested. The basic idea is that you input your recipes (there are plans for a recipe search so you can find new ones to try as well), then select what you plan to make. The list of recipes is organised so that recipes containing ingredients you haven’t used for a while are near the top of the list and those with ingredients you have used more recently are pushed down to the bottom.

Recipes you have selected are placed in your shopping basket, and a shopping list is generated, showing the amounts of each ingredient you will need to make your recipes. You will be able to mark which ingredients you already have in your kitchen, and print a list to take with you to the store. You can leave the recipes in your shopping basket for as long as you want so you can easily find the ones that you have chosen to make. When you have made them, remove them from the basket.

The system will keep track of when you last used each ingredient. If you add a recipe containing an ingredient you haven’t used before this will be given greater priority, encouraging you to try new things and increase the variety of your meals. You will be able to add an unlimited number of recipes.

Does this sound like something that would be useful to you? Do you want to be notified when it is ready to try out? Please let me know your thoughts!