This was given to me over the weekend (did I mention that I have had people stop me in my local village and pull things out of their bags and say "I thought of you when I saw this" - that was a bit how this came to be!). The best bit of it so far? The first paragraph of the introduction:
So in 1946, items that were homemade and homely were making a revival?
Fast forward to 2012!
How funny is that...
It is so invigorating to see the weather slowly start to change to Spring!
Speaking of change, I saw this video series via Design Sponge called Made by Hand and I thought it was worth sharing. This one is about a beekeeper in Brooklyn. It is such a simple movie but so captivating - I dare you to not be inspired to do something that touches your creative soul....
As a girl who grew up on a farm, in what was at that time, a very remote part of Vermont, I have a real affinity with people who do things differently. My Mom and Dad moved to Vermont when no-one was moving to Vermont - there wasn't the desire to go back to a simpler, more "made by hand" lifestyle which is what Vermont offers in abundance. But they were living in the suburbs of New York City and both working in the City, which they knew didn't suit them. So they picked up sticks and moved to Vermont. Some of their friends thought they were crazy but my Mom and Dad knew living a life that was about making contact with the things that matter was what they wanted.
We even made our own horse!
Do something homemade today...... I won't think less of you if you don't make your own horse!
I have been so busy that I suddenly noticed...it is winter!
"The Invincible Summer," a quote print by Matthew Kavan Brooks for Society6
You could forgive me for not noticing it as much as the weather has been so mild that one would, at times, confuse it with Spring. But I also have been so busy....obviously not blogging you may have noticed! But in my defense, I really have been busy:
- being filmed by the BBC! Okay - if you have been following the Studio on Facebook and Twitter you will be sick of me going on about it but it was such a great experience that I feel a bit like I need to shout it from the rooftops! The five minute movie will be ready for on-line viewing sometime the end of February or March. I am in a bit of a hiatus whlist it gets edited but I really want to have fun with it when it does finally become available. I am thinking I may have to do a movie premiere locally - when will I ever get this opportunity again I ask?
- I have started writing a section for the Crafty Network called This Crafty Business- which started after a few conversations with the ladies who run the Crafty Network about wanting to include a business section but one that is focused on the special needs of small,creative businesses. I love being crafty but there is a part of me that loves how technology makes it so much easier to own and run a small business - from blogging. to photo editing to using something like Folksy - all of these are essential to running a small business and technology and the introduction of software for the small business arena has made it possible. I want to make sure that anyone who is starting a business does so with the best possible chance and that is what technology will give you!
- I have added a few additional workshops based on feedback from folks - Loopy about Crochet and a sweet little workshop on Basic Alterations. These two have been a long time in getting organised as I couldn't seem to find people to do them and suddenly, like busses, two arrived at once!
-and to help make the winter a little more bearable, we will be having Open Craft Night at Coffee au Clay - a local ceramic arts studio - the third Thursday of each month. But just to be a bit awkward - the first one will be 26 January and is an open night kind of night - people can come and meet the tutors and see what the Open Craft Night is about. I will post more details next week on Facebook and Twitter.....watch this space!
So please forgive me for my lack of contact......maybe 2012 is the year I blog with vengeance?
I have been taking many photos recently and downloading them into my Picasa files (in an attempt to keep them in some semblance of order!). It occured to me that the negative to digital images is that you don't tend to keep them anywhere where you can look at them on a daily basis - I tend to look at them. go "wow, that is lovely" and then that is it. So I decided to take a very random selection from the last six weeks and post them - just so I can see them once in a while!
Children's felt drying alfresco.
Addison catching the last dying rays of the autumn sun.
Canning and preserving stuff - ready for show.
Quilt strips on their way to being finished.
My daughter Sydney made a gorgeous Octonaut cake for Addison's birthday.
The beginning stages of the Canning and Preserving workshop that just passed. What a great workshop!
I hope you are all gearing up for the holidays - I know I am but this year I have decided to pace it out a bit. I have slowed down on workshops from the beginning of December and am concentrating on some other studio stuff - putting new stuff on Folksy, sorting out a monthly "Create" night at a local business, writing a business support section called This Crafty Business on the Crafty Network and of all things - hopefully being filmed by the BBC!
All the best and for those back in the States, here is to a wonderful Thanksgiving!
If you are visiting our website and expecting to be hit on the head with a schedule, we are much more subtle than that! The complete listing can be found on the above link, both a live version and a take away version for reading at your leisure. If you want to register, you do it via the live page where it is a simple, few-click process!
And now off to have a few hours in the lovely sunshine!
When we were getting things ready for the festival, the one thing that takes you by surprise is the amount of time you take to make really creative tags for your stuff. It is really is ridiculous how you will spend a half hour on each tag - come on!
And then I saw this lovely post on how to make cute tags re-using sewing patterns that have seen better days. I have loads of them - some just gathering dust in a box - so this is a great way to re-use them and be creative!
For the full posting, visit From Glitter to Gumdrops blog...
Back to unpacking!
First of all, I have to say, I really liked writing that title as we often pick on Beryl about being a master felter - and just think of what her business card would read!
Beryl has a very special place in the development of Make and Do. About two years ago, I took an ad out in a little paper that gets pushed through people's doors. At that point, I was only offering sewing workshops but wanted to offer more workshops - but needed other people to add to the list. I am a sewer really, even though I have dabbled in knitting and I remember when I was little crocheting. But I knew my expertise was in picking someone to share their knowledge in this area....not to teach it!
At the bottom of the ad, for some odd reason, I put "if you have tutor potential, please get contact the studio" - I have only put that once and have never needed to put it again because Beryl replied, saying that she thought she had skills that I would be interested in and could me chat.
Thought she had skills? - this lady is crazy talented! She knits small villages on the weekends, has passed her City and Guilds Embroidery Part 1 and recently passed her City and Guilds Feltmaking Part 2 and 3. She is a Member of TX – a North Cheshire Textile Group and is the Regional Coordinator for the International Feltmakers Association. She is so passionate about her crafts that when she comes around for a chat - she opens my eyes to new experiences (we recently made compostable felt bowls which you can use as an outdoor planter and when left outside to the elements, it will slowly decompose back to earth - and the colours are to die for!). I am 100% certain I would never had been exposed to this if Beryl hadn't politely asked, in that British way, whether we should meet to discuss her skills.
If you would like to see some of Beryl's creations, please come by our stall at the Stockton Heath Festiva craft market. If you want just have a go at basic feltmaking skills, please come along to the Make and Take sessions in the craft tent - we have several sessions which are great for the curious and creative!
Three down, two more talented Makers to go!
I have been up to here getting ready for Stockton Heath Festival, which takes place 7 - 10 July. We are involved with both the market - we have a double stall selling items produced by people who are associated with the Studio on Saturday the 9th of July - as well as an all day sample session called Make and Take (you can read more about it here).
There are a fantastic group of women who will be selling their items at the Make and Take stall (and in some cases, teaching at the Make and Take workshops) and I would like to feature one of them every day this week so that you can see the variety of crafty items we will be selling but to also try and show you the connection that the Studio has to the local (but growing!) crafty community. In the case of Liz, who makes sock monkeys under the name Lilibet's Monkey Hut, it started when she came to a All You Need to Know to Sew workshop about eight monthes ago! I will let Liz tell her story....
My name is Liz, I am 33 years old and I am a crafting addict.
I have always made or created something - from selling friendship bracelets at school, glass painting to making cards and Jewellery. I can’t draw or paint but love colour and pattern, so this was how I fed my addiction for many years.
I started making Sock Monkeys about a year ago. I saw one in a shop whilst on holiday that was very expensive and thought to myself (as many crafters will relate… ) “I wonder if I could make my own.” I had bought a small sewing machine a few months earlier that was still in the box, suddenly I had a use for it and a few weeks later the first Monkey was born. From there, more and more socks were brought to life as Monkeys, when friends and family started to ask me to make them for gifts. I then got brave and decided to join the technological age and set up the Blog - Lilibet’s Monkey Hut and the Facebook page Lilibets MonkeyHut. (Both were surprisingly easy to do for those thinking about doing one!)
Next came the logo and face of the Monkey Hut which is based on Maggie Monkey, my favourite Monkey! She was made for my gorgeous Goddaughter Lucy Margaret, who hadn’t been born at the time and I was trying to convince her mum to call her Maggie. This was then used to make the Adoption tags and business cards.
The Monkey Hut has come a long way in a short time! And I’ve lost count of how many Monkeys have been rehomed. The problem now is finding time to make them as I do have a real full time job.
I also have another crafty habit now… An obsession with looking for funky socks everywhere I go to make into Monkeys!
There will be many Monkeys running amok at the Stockton Heath Festival and in need of a good disciplined home to tame them. The monkeys and I hope to see you there!
I saw this post from BrandCamp and oh, how it rang true!
You can read the rest (expletives included!) clicking on this link but anyone that knows me, knows that swearing has helped me get through some rough patches. At my previous job, I worked in an office with two men who were not un-used to the odd swear word over the monitor, but when it was really getting sticky (like in the middle of my divorce), the words flew thick and fast. So much so, one of my office mates asked me if I had swearing related tourettes symptoms!
But I have discovered that it acts as a release....when I feel like it is all getting just a wee too much and that "here comes overwhelming" knocking on me door, it just makes me feel....better. And better=stronger.
And when something makes me feel stronger, it does help me tap into that creativity.
If you happen to be in ear shot of me when I am on a good rant. I apologise in advance.
The only thing I can say in my defense.....I learned it from my very creative mother!
Calling all creative wanabees! Stockton Heath Festival has been kind enough to make some room for us to have a Make and Take session on Saturday 9 July! Make and Take allows for a quick "dip in and out" approach to crafting - and you can take home your completed project! All registrations can be allotted and paid for on-line or by post.
First, look at our list of workshops and decide which one (or ones!) you would like to register for -
2. If you would like to register on-line click on the following link(s) to the individual workshop(s) and this will take you directly to a payment page which also acts as a registration page. NOTE: You do not need to have a PayPal account to do this - the payments taken are Visa, Mastercard or American Express - just click on the link for payment using these payment cards.
Making Simple Bunting - AM or PM workshop
3. If you would like to register via post, please fill out this form, and post to the Studio address on the form.
4.You will be e-mailed on the 7th of July to remind you that you have booked on your workshop and also to give you more detailed information about where you can find us within the Arts tent.
5.Your workshop fee is non-refundable. However, we are happy to have someone else attend in your place but we must be notified of any changes by 6 July.
If you have any questions or queries, please e-mail workshops@themakeanddostudio.co.uk.
Thank you for supporting this great local festival - and here is to being creative!
