The Make and Do Studio

I love the colour in these photos....

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! 

 

 

 

Think you can't learn a bit of old school food preserving?

As you may know, if you follow what we are up to with new workshops, in a few weeks time, we are doing a workshop that is a bit different from our normal workshops - we have a great workshop for those interested in the basics of preserving and canning (or as someone else pointed out, really it should be preserving and pickling!).

 

I think the idea of preserving your food is so timely, as these challenging economic times means that the emphasis is on making seasonal food last longer and at the same time, trying to reduce the amount of waste that you create. Preserving does all this as you don't have to have fancy packaging - just some glass jars that have been been prepared by sterilising them and fruit and vegetables that are in season (so hopefully, not expensive!).  In our workshop, you make three different items (cranberry and fig chutney, pickled seasonal vegetables and a fruit infused liquor) to show you the ways to incorporate preserving across different food/drinks type.

And when I opened my delicious magazine yesterday, the foodbites section editors choice was all about the "big trend in drinking.....is about added flavour".  They mention Shoots Shots Sloe Gin at £22.95 for 75cl or William Chase Elderflower Liquer is £8.99 for 20cl - by no means a cheap hobby but by learning how to do it yourself (and some of the tips like expensive alcohol is not always necessary as the fruit covers the underlying alcohol flavour!) you can certainly put it in your affordable range. 

I will make sure that we post some basic information about canning (I got a great resource list from a lovely Dutch lady...you know who you are!) so if you can't make it, or want to give it a go at home, then you have a bit of help from us!

Roll on the holidays!

 

Our new Autumn workshop poster - what do you think?

Part of the fun of running your own business is that you get to create your own image/brand (I kind of wince at that word as it is so overused but it is the only word I can think of that reflects what your little business is about!). I love my designer and the stuff that he creates for me - like our new poster! 

Now I am off to the printers as well as getting ready for the quiltmaking workshop this evening - all go over here!

Autumn is sneaking in and I need to get back to posting on a regular basis!

It is really hard to get in to a posting frame of mind if you haven't done it in a while!  But I have said that today is the day to get back in the posting saddle again.....

First of all a bit of promotion for a new workshop coming up in November - Basic Canning and Preserving , which is also our first Saturday workshop!  I am really excited to have this workshop as I think it is a great way to add to the idea of being able to Make and Do.  Plus Nathalie Francoise Cosier, who teaches the workshop, grew up in France to a french mother and a british father - she lives and breaths preserving! And she is one of those people that, when she dropped into the studio the other week and was looking at my button mountain, said "when I was living in Russia and working buying fabric, I used to be given loads of free buttons....."  Russia, working, BUTTONS - I will never be able to say a sentence like that!

And for those of you that want to combine the above course with your sewing skills, there was a great post on Skip to My Lou on how to make fabric bow ties for your preserving jar:

And because I love to share anything with folks that makes my life easier (and I am a closet techno geek!) I discovered this download called f.lux  - it is for those of us that work at night and have to adjust from the glare of the screen to the subdued lighting in the room. F.lux, when downloaded (and it is free!) will adjust the colour of your monitor to the light in your room  - so as the nights draw in, instead of facing a bright, white screen it has a lovely, yellow glow to it.  From their website:

"f.lux makes your computer screen look like the room you're in, all the time. When the sun sets, it makes your computer look like your indoor lights. In the morning, it makes things look like sunlight again"

My eyes are so happy! 

 

 

Just a quick one about our Autumn workshop schedule

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!

What a great idea for making tags - I should have known about this earlier!

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!

 

Back in (sewing) action.....so to speak!

This weekend pooped me out but I really loved it!  The weather was fab and the people were so lovely and enthusiastic! We were busy with the stall but also had some great workshops in the arts tent:

Feltmaking workshops.....

Beaded jewellery workshops...

And even a display from Sue Lacey Giftwrapping...

I even managed to finish the Autumn schedule of sewing and craft workshops - click here - or if you want the printable version, click here.

And as an added incentive, if you have never booked with us before, we want to give you a 10% discount on your first workshop booked online!  

Off to unpack boxes and try to organise the Studio again!

 

Meet the Makers day four - me!

Oh today.....how you tease me. You know I don't really have the time to sit down and blather on about myself but I had put myself down and as I have made everyone else do it (and I suspect that I will be too busy tomorrow to do it!) today is the day!

A list of ten things that I would want to know about me:

1. I have three beautiful children - they are both the ying and the yang of my life. I hope they think I am good mom when they are older. 

2. I moved to England from New York 18 years ago (!!). I was working for Oxford University Press in New York and they told me working in the UK would be a two year adventure.....here I am 18 years later.

3. I am from Vermont originally. Vermonters are known for being free thinkers and a bit independent.

4. My husband thinks I am a free thinker and a bit independent. I love my husband very much.

5. I grew up in a family that was very creative but not always for artistic sake - we lived in the middle of no-where so you had to make stuff - clothes, food - as there was no large department stores. We were 45 minutes from the closest McDonalds!  

6. I have not had any formal tuition in sewing - just my Mom and her patience.  I wish I had sewn more with her when I lived closer to her. 

7. I was a licensed private investigator as a job when I was in University, where I worked for a large financial institution. The rest is top secret.

8. I am so glad I started Make and Do as it puts me in contact with such creative, giving people. I am not sure where this journey of owning a small creative venture is taking me but it sure is fun!

9. I found out the hard way that fanny in American English has a much different meaning than the British English.

10. Life is too short....I tend to think I will regret the things I didn't do more than the things I did.....so don't be afraid to do something that scares you a little.  Like asking your mother in law to move her fanny out of the way...

 

 

 

Meet the Makers day three - Beryl Woodcroft of all things felt

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!

 

 

Meet the Makers day two- Jenni from OffBeat Beads

I feel really lucky to have met some fantastically talented people whilst massaging Make and Do from its earliest incarnation ( a few sewing workshops ) to our jam packed roster of today (and growing!).  Jenni is by far one of the most supportive, insightful (she has given me some great tips and helped me with my first dip into the world of Facebook) and creative lady to come through my door. I do feel really lucky to have met her!

She originally booked on to our Beginner Feltmaking workshop as she had intended to learn how to make felt balls so she could add it to her jewellery repetioire. We ended up chatting and from there, I found out she really wanted to teach. So we had a few brain storms, looked at what might work for a workshop and Making Beaded Jewellery was born.

Jenni also taught, and continues to teach me about how to use the technologies that are available to you to help market yourself better - she has several times helped me reach small milestones on Facebook and recently, she introduced me to Pinterest. And she is slowly nudging me towards selling some of my own personal creations on Folksy, where she has her virtual shop.

If you really want to read more about Jenni, I did do a feature on her a few monthes ago - you can read it here.

And if you want to meet Jenni, and perhaps dip your toes into the jewellery making water, come to her Make and Take sessions at Stockton Heath festival :

And tomorrow we get to meet Beryl!  Until then.