A couple of months ago, I decided to pack up my life and move to London (I know the title says East Coast - bear with me)!
And despite my excitement over making the decision to move to a new country, I was conflicted about leaving my business behind, as the complexity of moving it to London just seemed too daunting. However, my mom and I had an idea of a hybrid approach - she would continue to help me deal with operations in the US (in Connecticut, where my parents live), while I work remote in London!
Basically, this means: TheCloudFactory will go on, but orders will be fulfilled in Connecticut now. And also lessens the stress on my end (as for the past 5 years, it has been a one man show), and gives me the time to use my creativity and work on the backlog of designs/kit ideas that have been queueing up in my head. It was the perfect solution - TheCloudFactory is now a family operation!
I'm currently at home in Connecticut, showing my mom the ropes as I await my UK work visa; I'll most likely make my way across the pond in late September. Above is a pic of the newest office setup!
So far so good - orders are being processed faster, we have New York craft fairs lined up for the summer, and I'm excited to be working on some new kits and design ideas!
If you're in the tri-state area - hope to see you around!
]]>Hope everyone is staying safe during these tough times. Isolating at home alone can put a big strain on you mentally. Remember that physically isolating doesn't have to mean mentally isolating as well - pick up a phone and call a friend!
At TheCloudFactory, we believe that crafting is the perfect activity for releasing stress, increasing happiness, and keeping your mind sharp. A CNN study showed that crafting can help reduce anxiety, depression, and chronic pain. Our mission is to make crafting easier and more accessible for people of all ages, so that everyone can experience the joy that comes from making something beautiful from scratch.
We know that it these trying times, our mission is more important than ever. That's why we're committed to working extra hard to keep our craft kits stocked! We're happy to announce that from now until the end of June, we will be donating 10% of all profits to Mental Health America!
]]>I had so much fun choosing the colors for the pattern! The bottles are so bright and colorful, and made for fun pattern-making.
After sketching out the initial design and then finally drawing it out on my handy dandy MacStitch, I stitched out my final creation:
I found some leftover tropical wrapping paper to take the photos on (super lucky on that front too - look at how the colors match!).
La Croix's official instagram account even posted my photo on their account!
A solid week's work.
]]>Breakfast of Champions
To me, there's nothing like the sight of a crisp, red apple. The simplicity, the contrasting colors (bright green on bright red), the timelessness, make it a perfect muse. So at long last, I created a realistic apple cross stitch pattern!
I had so much fun with this pattern - from selecting the perfect apple picture (you would be surprised how finicky I was about this...) to creating the pattern and selecting the colors, and finally (the fun part), to stitching it up!
I thought this would make the perfect housewarming gift for my aunt, who's moving to Seattle this summer!
I spread out the stitching, spending around an hour per day, finishing after 5 days. Not too difficult of a pattern, definitely enough to keep one occupied for a few days. I was so excited to see the final result!
Loved the bright colors in the end result! Anyways, hope you guys have fun with this, and you can find the PDF and kit here:
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