Neglect, terrible terrible neglect!

So it turns out running a business isn't the most busy you can get, closing a business is the most busy you can get! I can't believe how stupidly busy I've been and how horribly I've neglected you all here! Sorry!

I haven't even had to time to catch up with my favourite blogs, which is usually my me time!

I have some nice news too, although want to share it properly so I'm going to leave you on tenterhooks for now he he!

I'll leave you with a picture of what my life feels like right now, only I'm not wearing a beautiful cocktail dress!

I promise I'll be back soon, Notorious Kitsch closes on 31st July and then I'm giving myself a couple of days off, oh yes time off, then I promise I'll be back!!

A post including shoes & random things!

Hi all, hope you're all well!

I thought after all the doom and gloom from me of late I'd kick it up a notch.

As you all know I do some part time work for Lynsey the lovely Miss L Fire and her other company Shellys. I needed to go up to London to interview her for a piece I'm doing for a magazine, I'll let you know more about that nearer the time! I don't live far from London only 40 miles but don't get up as much as I used to, so now it's more of a treat than anything. I used to live there for a while and realised how little you appreciate such a beautiful city when it's just part of your everyday life.

So as I was having a wander around before my meeting I decided just to take it all in, and more importantly look up! I know this makes you look like a tourist, but hey I don't care, I don't think we appreciate the history and beauty around us sometimes

I just snapped off a couple of shots - I didn't want to look too like a tourist ;o) - of things I saw along the way.

It's these things that make London so well, London!

And now onto shoes as I know that's what you're all waiting for......

I arrived at the Miss L Fire offices and Lynsey and I had a great old chat, ok, erm interview! Sammi was there as well, I'm going to blog about all the lovely ladies who work there one day, I'll sneak up with my camera and do a tour, if you love shoes there is nothing that will make your heart jump more than walking into a lovely spacious loft like office with shoes displayed everywhere, yes people everywhere!!

Anyway I don't know if I explained before but when a shoe company first has their shoes produced they get a sample initially, and guess who is sample size, oh yes ME! Of course these can't be sold as they are samples and they are not sure if they will stand up to rigourous wear so these samples just pile up and pile up over the years, until some lucky soul takes them away, yep you guessed it!

There are not many things in life that get me more excited that shoes, I know that's a bit sad, but it's true and I'll admit it right here and now.

So I came home with 3 pairs of shoes & 2 pairs of boots, bear with me for the last pair of boots as there is a real story behind these!

First up is a lovely suede 40s style sling back heel, not too high, I'm a klutz in high shoes and super comfy, I'm already planning to make more brown items for my wardrobe just for these!

Next up is a super cute pair of 40s style heels again, not too high, and you know me I LOVE red shoes!

Then a lovely cute ankle strap low wedge for day to day wear, these are really lovely and I think they'll look great with skirts or trousers, I know I'll get a lot of wear out of these.

Then, and this is a bit of a peek, these fab boots which are Autumn/Winter collection not out til end of August! I don't have ANY boots and have really struggled with the last 2 terrible winters when I had to resort to wellies and many pairs of socks! They have a real Pendleton check look about them and I LOVE them!

And last but certainly not least are these fabulous cowboy boots! Now there is a tale to tell about these. They are not going into production - I know how sad is that! - and these were samples made up, so I am one of the only people with a pair! Well me and Sammi I think! I love them so much I can't tell you. I love vintage cowboy boots but I've never had a pair as although 40's/50's ones aren't too pointy they tend to lean towards a pointy toe, I do not suit pointy shoes of any type, I'm really short and they just make my feet look too long and clown like, so what I love about these is the rounded toe, it's almost like a bike boot/cowboy boot if you know what I mean.

Anyway I digress how lucky am I to be sample size eh?

So although my week has been like a rollercoaster whilst I try to wrap up my business there has been one massive ray of sunshine on Tuesday and some little rays of sunshine in between.

I'm in talks with a couple of people about other small projects I can undertake for them once I'm finished with Notorious Kitsch, and although closing my business is immensely stressful - I can't even tell you some of the stuff that has happened grrrrr - I see a tiny light at the end of the tunnel and what is nice is that all the people I'm talking to I would love to work with. I don't want to jinx anything by telling you who and what yet but hopefully something will come of both these opportunities!

Meantime I shall carry on with the stress and when things are bad look at my pretty shoes!!!

whoops nearly forgot, if you like Miss L Fire shoes, their sale starts today!!

What to do what to do?

I won't lie I'm a little down in the dumps after my announcement the other day. It's not an easy decision but I know it was the best one. The thing is now what do I do and how do I motivate myself?!!

I'm a little too hard on myself sometimes and I know this weekend should just consist of drinking wine, eating chocolate and feeling a little sorry for myself, so what am I doing? Trying to sort out the mess I caused when I moved my office around - mmmm and now I don't need an office so you can see my dilemma, it's ridiculous really!

So I keep distracting myself by looking on ebay, emailing friends and doing anything but sorting stuff out. I know I should stop being hard on myself, give myself the weekend off fully and start again on Monday but when you work for yourself you think you have to work ALL the time, this is the downside people!

Anyway then I thought I'd come on here and pull out some pics that I've posted on the blog in all the time I've been doing it. It's probably a pointless exercise but as I've had loads of new readers lately I thought I'd reminisce a bit. Oh and yes I know I promised a 300 reader giveaway, I promise I'll get around to it but I know you'll also understand, my mind is elsewhere at the moment!

So here goes a collage of some of my random things I've put on the blog! I don't know why but you know I like it that way!

I'm not going to disappear anywhere but I need to put my thinking cap on about the future and get on with selling the stock from the business. So if my posting is a little sporadic, apologies, I'll do my best!

mmm now I've seen that jug of Pimms I think I'll go and make one, not wine o clock yet, ah who cares, after the week I've had I certainly don't!!

Sad to announce...

That Notorious Kitsch will be closing it's internet doors in the next few months, a victim of recession and banks grrrrrr!

It's kind of a sad day but also a relief in a way. This recession has been tough on the best of them, whoever thought Habitat would go out of business, or good old Woolworths.

Anyway it's time, sad but true. It's not immediate, we need to sell the stock we have to pay back the debt we have as a business. It's really hard to run something and build it for a few years for it all to just go horribly wrong, but people aren't spending anywhere like they were and we can't live on air alone!

So I'm a bit sad but now have tons to do :o(

Here's me in happier times on my stall when I was actually making some money, oh and drinking ha ha!