Hello! The fact that I haven’t had time to update this blog since September 2014 will tell you how busy I have been lately. Which is a nice problem to have and I’m not complaining. However…

My personal life is hectic at the moment. I won’t bore you with too much detail but as many of you know, my wife, Luce, got a fabulous new job last year but currently has a four hour daily commute to Manchester and back, which is not much fun. We’re hoping to move to Hebden Bridge later this year but in order for that to happen we must sell our house in Shropshire and I need time to concentrate on making that happen. Also, a close family member is in the late stages of Alzheimer’s and I am doing everything I can to support them through that. This is difficult to plan for as it often involves dealing with problems as and when they arise.

All of which means that I am absolutely frazzled and struggling to keep going with my usual irritating enthusiasm.

After much thought, I have decided to close my order book for commission work for a while. I am currently fully booked through March/April and have lots more people on the waiting list, so I need time to catch up. If you have placed an order or sent me an enquiry please don’t worry. All existing orders will be finished (obviously!), all quotes will be honoured and if I have discussed a project with you I will be happy to book you in if you decide to go ahead. I will still be taking orders for some smaller items too – like slate signs – and I will feature these on my website/Facebook page.

I love doing commissions but it is very time consuming; a single piece will often take me a whole day to make, so if you think of the highest price you would pay for a custom model, it only takes a quick calculation to figure out that’s not a living wage. Any other models end up being made in the evenings and at weekends and I also have to fit in admin, networking/advertising… hence my current frazzled state. Once I start taking commissions again I may have to look at a better ordering system, probably one which allocates the amount of time I have available each month rather than having a massive work list stretching ahead of me with long waits for customers.

Most urgently, I need to restock my website with new ranges of ‘ready to post’ models – I have *so* many new ideas and I have had zero time to make them over the last couple of years. I have plans for a whole new Steampunk range, some more ‘Myth and Magic’ figures, more doodles, more rainbow dogs and flower dogs, ‘Dogs with Jobs’ (in various uniforms/work gear), Musical Dogs playing instruments, Sporting Dogs, Graduation Dogs… Seriously, no shortage of ideas. I’m also thinking of producing a range of printed goodies, like greetings cards and mugs and I would love to find some new stockists, especially if they are near Hebden – if you know of any, please give me a shout! One day, (after we move house – I’m not a total fantasist) I’m hoping I will also have time for some more diverse artistic projects and I might make a separate website for that. Some of this stuff has been on a back burner for years and it’s time to make it happen.

So… challenging but exciting times ahead! If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading and thank you all for your patience and understanding while I make changes (and tiny dogs).

Bonus points if you got the Bowie reference in the title; come and talk music with me.

– Sam