**UPDATED 27TH JULY**   (updates at end of article) As you may have seen the website hasn't been updated in the last few weeks! The reason for this?...

At present we're going through a house sale and I'm also expanding icklebits. This means I'm building a new site which will be dedicated to all crafts, not just miniatures.

Also due to lack of alone time I can no longer make miniatures as you know. I had hoped to make paper plates again but in the months since saying it, I've found it impossible to start. However, due to us moving I need to start earning money!

To do this, I've started importing beads and jewellery making supplies...

 It is a quicker and easier way to make money than making time consuming miniatures. When I move I shall have a proper office (yay at last!) and when Charlotte turns 3 later this year she will be off to nursery for a few hours a day. I will also be selling any remainder of my miniatures stock (including odd bags of plates!).

This means of course that tutorial hunting for icklebits miniatures website will have to take a back seat for a while. Especially when we physically move house next month! To be honest, I'm making myself ill trying to juggle being a mum, housewife, running icklebits, designing new site, pricing and photographing beads and also moving house...

The tutorial-hunting internet time needs to be reserved for building the shop I'm afraid. I shall still update photos for your galleries, open new blogs and galleries, answer questions, newsletters etc. The only thing that will change is no more new tutorial updates. I won't be writing many new articles myself (any you submit will be published), updating events or finding lots of new tutorials (you have nearly a 1000 to keep you going!)

However, I made a promise to one of our members that I would find some tutorials on making dolls house miniature jewellery so I shall do that over the next week.

Once the new shop is up and running then I will be back to tutorial hunting....I'm just not sure when that will be.

I've set up a gallery of products so far. There are nearly 250. These will be for sale in an online shop as soon as the new site is built.

To view the gallery click here.

To be notified the second the shop and new site goes live, please click here and then "Subscriptions". Then choose "Beads" (please make sure you are logged in first)

Updates since article published:

What will happen to my blog when the new site is up? Your blog will be perfectly safe. This website will run for a while after the new one (maybe forever) anyway.

4th July 2011 - What if there is a tutorial that I can't find? Still email me and I'll do my best to find  you one. It just may not be done within the hour like it usually is!

14th July 2011 - Am hopeless at the moment. Life is chaos due to the move and we've had no phone for about 5 days due to a tree. Anyway, back online now but moving on 18th July so will be again without a line. I think its best to say it will be middle of August before icklebits gets moving again. Am really sorry.

20th July 2011 - What a palava. On the 15th our house sale fell through. Have spent the weekend wallowing in my own misery. However yesterday it was all back on again! YAY! Now we're moving on the 1st August. The point that I'm making is that there will be no tutorial updates to the site until probably the end of August. I do hope you understand!

27th July - Well we're off on our move Monday! It's came around quick. We've been told (and no amount of begging helped!) that the internet will take 14 working days to connect! Madness! All emails will be replied to on my return...unless the local library has access to the internet. I don't know until I get there. Thanks once again for your understanding. In the meantime, please check out the latest newsletter

This has been a big decision that I've agonised over and I'm really, really sorry to let you all down and truly hope you understand.

Please stay in touch at facebook and by email: donna@icklebits.co.uk