Creative Crafting December 2011

interviews

Projects

Your items

features

CRAFTfest 26th - 27th November

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THE TEAM Editor and Ad Sales - Anna (The Crystal Lady)

CREATIVE

thecrystallady@creative-crafting.com Technical Editor - Avril (Sprinkles Sparkles) sprinks@creative-crafting.com

FEATURE WRITERS Tina - In the Garden Tracey - Wowthankyou Claire - Elderberry Arts Jim- James Kath Guitars Betty - Betty Bee Vintage Dianne - Heartmade Gifts Kerry - Scrapbookery Jan - Cajame Creations Melissa - MakeMe Workshops

It’s that time of year again! We are all busily getting all our presents crafted, the Christmas cake’s being topped up with brandy, and we are deciding when to get the decorations down from the loft, as it only feels five minutes ago they got packed up there for another eleven months!

Here, at Creative Crafting, we have survived our second CRAFTfest, which was held on the 26th & 27th November. We had 175 craft and supply stalls selling their crafts all around the world. From New York, United Kingdom to New Zealand! For everyone that had a stall, and for those that just came along to shop, we hope you had a fantastic time! Look out for the next CRAFTfest in March!

This issue is full of Christmas inspiration, from making your own gift tags, festive jewellery, and making your own gifts on a budget.

Jamie - Mr X Stitch Julie - Centre of England Arts Donna Kelly Sean - Hobby Tools Natasha - Jeeberella’s Craft Castle Gayle - Happy Hands Belcoo Kirsty - Little Floating Craft Co

We have our regular contributors, Jim, from James Kath Guitars, with his new life in Sante Fe, Tracey, from Wow Thank You, Tina from In The Garden, Claire, from Elderbbery Arts, with her festive jewellery project, Betty Bee, with a vintage crafting project, Dianne Murphy Rogers, from Heartmade Gifts, making paper mache decorations, and Jamie, from Mr X Stitch, who you probably saw recently on Kirstie’s Handmade Britain.

We welcome and introduce a new feature writer to Creative Crafting this month, Julie Hyde, the owner of Centre of England Arts. Read more about what Julie has achieved in the last year!

Of course, we have our other contributors this month, so check out their features and projects throughout the magazine.

Remember, if you would like a hard copy of this issue, look out for the links on our website. It is paid for by the page, but worth it if you would like to hold onto a hard copy. The magazine is printed by HP Magcloud.

We hope you all have a lovely Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year, from the Creative Crafting team!

www.creative-crafting.com www.creative-connections.ning.com

AvAnna

Publications

~ Raising the profile of the crafting community ~ Your Creative Team

Anna - Editor Avril - Technical Editor

Visit our site using your mobile QR APP!

Get in touch!

We always love to hear of your crafting experiences and read your feedback for Creative Crafting.

Email us at: articles@creative-crafting.com

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Cornish Quilters Christmas Jan from Cajame Creations

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Crystal Magic They Crystal Lady from Mystic Earth

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A Year in Santé Fe Part 2 James Kath from Kath Guitars

12 Crafting your way into Christmas Betty Bee from BettyBeeTowers

15 We wish you a Merry Craft Fair and a Happy New Year!

Tracey Kifford from Wow Thank You

20 Needle Felting Melissa Marchant from Make Me Workshops

22 Tina in the Garden Tina

25 In the Spotlight Mr X Stitch interviews Karen from MimiLove

27 Coffee Break Crafts Maria from MinXtures

34 Christmas Star Choker Claire from Elderberry Arts

36 All Tooled Up Sean from Hobby Tools

38 CRAFTfest!

42 Post Office Van in the Snow Julie Hyde from Centre of England Arts

Emma from The Sparkly Fairy

43 Centre of England Arts

Donna Kelly

45 What’s in a name?

Natasha from Jeeberella’s Craft Castle

31 Wrap up in Handmade Crafts this Christmas Kirsty from The Little Floating Craft Company

48 Christmas Scrapbooking Kerry from Scrapbookerry

50 Papier Mache Christmas Tree Ornaments Dianne from Heartmade Gifts

52 Blogtv Gayle from Happy Hands Belcoo

54 Crafter’s Directory

Become a part of a WONDERFUL COMMUNITY

Customise your OWN PROFILE PAGE

UPLOAD PHOTOS AND VIDEOS to promote your creations

Promote your business and NETWORK

Hosts of

CRAFT fest

CHAT Creative Connections is sponsored by

www.creative-connections.ning.com

PCG

Do you own a small craft business?

Are you fed up of friends and customers thinking it is just a hobby?

Join us now and receive your unique registration number, certificate and badges for your website to show just how serious you are about being a working crafter.

Help us to elevate the status of handmade gifts and take advantage of special Guild Discounts from craft suppliers.

CRAFT fest A Virtual Craft EXTRAVAGANZA Handmade crafts at their best!

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10th &11th

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LIVE all day Both Days!

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Professional Crafter’s Guild

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Take part in ONLINE CRAFT FAIRS

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Join in on the FUN IN THE FORUM

Spend time in our CHAT ROOM and host your own CHAT EVENTS

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online!

The fair is open to the general public, although free membership is required for sellers. ctions Creative Conne Crafter’s Network

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CREATIVE Crafting www.creative-crafting.com

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A Cornish Quilter's Christmas

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don't know about you, but I'm finding it hard to believe where this past year has gone? It's simply flown by. As I sit writing this article, I know I need rescuing from my "ostrich with head in sand" apathy before Christmas is upon me. I really do have to get myself organized. This year I was fully intending for it to be a handmade Christmas; with everyone receiving a beautifully wrapped gift lovingly made by little old me. Oh - but this is the stuff of dreams! Who am I kidding?

It's going to be a last minute dash, with harassed wrapping on Christmas Eve as always.

Rather than dwell on my crafty Christmas short-comings (though it's tempting.... I could go on for pages), I shall instead share with you a few festive delights made by my wonderfully talented mother-in-law, Elaine May - of Foxhollow Quilters, Cornwall.

For several years, Elaine has been running quilting workshops from a beautiful Country Cabin at the bottom of the cottage garden, of her home in rural Cornwall. The classes are always well-attended, and over the years the 5

students have created a host of fabric loveliness. Knowing I had to choose which items to photo for this article was a toughie!

The cabin is packed to the rafters with fabulous makes. You walk in the door, and you really don't know where to look first.

At the time of writing, the cabin is still wearing it's Halloween "outfit". There are pumpkins everywhere! The most fabulous quilts, bags, and wall-hangings are crying out to be photographed. I'm sorry pumpkins, you're not what I'm here for - I'm on the trail of festive makes.

Before I lose myself in Christmas items though, I will give you a little taster of the quilt Elaine is currently working on; This is just one glorious leaf panel out of many (each one a different fabric) currently adorning the work-table. I can't wait to see the finished quilt, it's going to be stunning. Looking at the leaf in detail.... can you see just how tiny and perfect the blanket stitching is? Makes me want to weep quite frankly. I love to do blanket stitch too, but shall I say that mine is a trifle more naive (for naive read huge).

It's rather lovely to have a mother-in-law as bonkers about fabric as me. I don't know anyone else outside my on-line community that is. I am constantly in awe at the speed at which Elaine completes her projects. I can think of an idea, dabble at it, and maybe in six months time (if I'm lucky) it may just be completed. I can give Elaine the same idea, and it will be finished the day after tomorrow!

Anyways.... onto the Christmassy bit Isn't this a darling little pillow? A pretty patchwork of wintery fabrics, with the "let it snow" wording and snowman appliquĂŠd by hand.

I love the little stuffed snowman that dangles from the side.

(These are jolly easy to make -- and if you look at my blog later, you'll find a tutorial to make your own).

This jolly little chap on the left is one of my favourite Christmas items. He's simply charming, and I love the folksy heart and stars. Again this pillow has been appliqued and embroidered by hand.

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For a spot of rustic country charm, check out this little display. A pretty embroidered pillow, two hand-crafted chickens, ditto dolls, what looks suspiciously like a bird-house brought indoors as an ornament, and two pumpkins.

And that's in just one tiny shelf unit.

If only I could show you it all! You'd love it, I know you would.

This snowman resplendent in his cheery red scarf and dapper hat, sits as the centre piece of a small quilt, in charming rustic tones.

Check out the Christmas lights around the border! Fabulous.

I shall say goodbye for now, and end by wishing you a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Don't forget to pop over to my blog Cajame Creations where you will find a tutorial to make your very own little snowman. Great to hang on the tree or attach to a gift, this dangly snowman is quick and easy to make using a scrap of fabric and a little bit of simple embroidery. I've included a sheet of suitable words to decorate each snowman with.

n a J x

Written By Jan May

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ell, it’s now been close to three months that we’ve been in Santa Fe; some things have moved forward and some haven’t. But the good news is that we’re still here and still as determined as ever to make a go of it.

A Year in Sante Fe Part 2

For those who are inexplicably worried about our swamp cooler situation, you’ll be relieved to know that it is now cold enough here to turn off the noisy beasts for good.

However, now we have to deal with the weird “built into the concrete floor” heating. I’ll keep you posted on how that works out. But to summarize: warm feet, cold head.

Need I say more? Also, the builder in his infinite wisdom decided that a Kiva was needed in the bedroom, so we have that to at least take the chill out of the air (Kiva is the Native American word for fireplace, it’s not a city in Russia).

The coyote situation here deserves constant vigilance. As the weather gets colder and all the rabbits are hunkering down (or have already been eaten), the coyotes are starting to search for new dinner items. One evening Maritza and I took our yorkie, Sable, to the nearby park (okay, it’s really just the desert, but she thinks it’s the park). I was standing with my back to the desert and talking with Maritza about fifty yards away from me, A few feet away from me Sable was sniffing and peeing, sniffing and peeing, peeing and sniffing.

Suddenly Maritza’s eyes went huge and she yelled “James, watch out!!”

(She calls me James, makes me feel important). I spun around and could barely see a coyote about ten feet from me eyeing up Sable like a Christmas turkey. I quickly picked up Sable and fled to safety (I don’t normally flea, this was a unique situation). The coyotes blend into the grass so perfectly that it’s nearly impossible to see them. Many neighbors have lost cats, dogs, teeanagers, okay I made that up, to these voracious hunters. (See picture).

above - Coyote hiding in the grass. below - Coyote with a squirrel.

below - Sable resting after the Coyote Scare

the wildlife. Birds!! Not angry birds like the stupid mobile-phone game everyone in the US is currently obsessed with, but pigeons. LOTS of pigeons. We feel like we’re in an Alfred Hitchcock movie. I guess they like the roof of our house because it’s flat and probably warm during the day. I think they’ve nested next to the swamp cooler because I can hear them through the ceiling. The roof is too high to climb up there, but they’re making me crazy. It’s sounds like I have gremlins walking on the roof all day and cooing at each other, as gremlins are known to do. (Note to self, catch a coyote and put it on the roof, two problems solved). We also have decided that we have a ghost in the house. The lady that lived here before passed away here. So, we sometimes don’t know if it’s the birds we’re hearing or the previous tenant.

She moves things in my workshop, makes me forget to do my husbandly chores, drinks all the milk and puts the container back empty; she insidious!!

They have a word they use to describe the attitude of workers here in Santa Fe: Mañana, which in Spanish means “tomorrow”. It’s like a sign I saw in a bar once “Free Beer Tomorrow”. No matter what you need, everybody here says “Sure, I’ll have it for you

Before moving on to the subject of art, let me say one more thing about 9

The site of the coyote debacle! tomorrow” and of course tomorrow never comes. Mañana.

We had a guy come to fix our fridge the day we moved in and we’re still waiting for the part. It’s been three months and every week he says “I’ll be there by Friday”. Fortunately it’s not an important part, just a filter, so we still have a working fridge, just no water or ice. Mañana.

On the art front, business has been picking up! We’re at the Santa Fe Railyard Artisan’s fair every Sunday and the “Neiman Marcus” crowd is starting to arrive. For those not familiar, Neiman Marcus (also known as Needless Markup), is a high-end store that sells a lot of the same stuff as everybody else except they charge triple. It’s better stuff cause you pay more.

Neiman Marcus headquarters is in Texas, so it’s used as a term to refer to all the wealthy folks from Texas who come up to Santa Fe to vacation and buy stuff they don’t need. God Bless them all!! The tourism increase is great for Maritza’s business since she sells very unique jewelry that can only be found here in Santa Fe, her work is truly beautiful (www.lalunaranchwear.com). My business is totally different though, I have what they call a long-tail as far as sales are concerned. Most people aren’t going to do an impulse buy for a six-thousand dollar hand-made guitar, so my target audience is the local Santa Fe musician crowd. I’ve been doing advertising in a local paper and one of the papers actually did an article on me which resulted in a lot of guitar repair work. That’s how you sell custom guitars, you do repair work so

that customers get comfortable with you, then eventually they’ll buy a guitar, the long-tail. But it’s going really well. I’m currently backed up about three weeks with repairs!!!

Marketing is everything. As I said last month, “Publish Or Perish”. You gotta sell. It doesn’t matter how great your product is, if you don’t sell, it won’t survive. Two years ago I worked for a web development firm (I’m a computer programmer of thirty years) and I learned a lot about how shameless self-promotion works. You have to remember that nobody and I mean NOBODY is thinking about you unless you slap them in the face and say “Hey, I’m here!!!”, metaphorically speaking. We’re all so self-absorbed that most of the time we’re just thinking about ourselves. If you don’t believe me, then stop right now and pay attention to what you’re thinking about. It’s not your friend Mary’s hand-made oven mits, is it? So you have to remind people who you are.

The thing I learned from this webdevelopment/marketing company is that you should never wait around to be noticed by the media or passersby.

Call the newspaper yourself and tell them “Hey, I’m a really interesting person, do an article on me”. It works. I was scared to death to try it because, mostly, I hate myself and don’t think there’s anything interesting about me. But I need to eat and pay the bills. I went to the website of a local paper and found the music editor and sent him an email. The next day he was here doing a story on me.

Remember, they have deadlines and quotas to meet and are always

Our street. So Pretty

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This is our Kiva scrambling for new stories. You’re actually doing them a favor.

When I started working for the web firm, I was impressed with the multitude of trophies they had displayed in their lobby. First-place awards for best web design, most creative graphics; all from prestigious organizations. What I soon learned was that you apply for those things, then pay about four-hundred dollars for the actual trophy!!! That’s more than I can afford, and I hate trophies in my house, but the point is that the owner didn’t sit waiting to get noticed, he called the people and paid money in order to be honored. It’s a pretty messed up system if you ask me, but that’s how it works.

Remember, if you don’t promote yourself then who will? Nobody, that’s who. Nobody, outside of your house, has your best interest at heart, they’re all thinking about their own lives, problems, dreams etc. You can do it in a way that doesn’t sound conceited.

Like with my guitars, people always complement on how beautiful the wood is. I tell them, “I can’t take credit for that, God made the wood, I just glue it together.” When in fact I had to sand for a week, apply twelve coats of lacquer over three days, wait two weeks, buff it, buff it, buff it, then hand polish for two hours. It took a lot of work to make the wood jump out like that, but if I bragged about it I’d look like an idiot. And anyway, God did do all of the work, he’s the one that gave me the skills and the patience to hone them, I can’t take credit for anything.

Bloom where you’re planted. No excuses. Excuses are just a way of saying “I really don’t want this bad enough”. If there’s no market for your product where you live, then move. If you can’t move, then create the market. Use Etsy, use eBay, get your product into a catalog, put a stand in front of your house, have a craft party with free food (people will put up with anything for the chance at free food, and if you invite me, there better be bacon) and tell your crafty friends to bring their stuff to sell too. But don’t just rely on one thing and put all your eggs in that basket. Sell your stuff everywhere you can. Coca-Cola didn’t become big by sitting in a basement somewhere hoping somebody knocked on the front door and asked for a drink. They are everywhere! And they never stop advertising everywhere. No matter where you go, there are coke signs. It’s really annoying. But they built an empire on sugar and carbonated water. Surely your product is better than that!!!

Jim Left - Guitar for a customer Right - The Guitars are piling up below left - Guitars in the works

If you missed the first instalment of ‘A Year in Sante Fe’ you can find it in our October 2011 Issue.

Join us again in February 2012 to see how Jim and Maritza are getting on in Sante Fe.

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www.kathguitars.com

Written By Betty Bee

Crafting your way into

Christmas For many, this Christmas will be one of the hardest financially they have faced in years. Nothing is quite as stressful as looking at your list of who to get presents for with sinking feelings of worry, knowing that two pay packets is just not going to stretch that far.

This is where crafts can really be a lifesaver. With a little bit of preparation you can create some fantastic gifts for hardly any money at all and as they have been handmade rather than shop bought, it’s more thoughtful and often more environmentally friendly-what’s not to love?

Here’s a really quick and easy gift idea, which I made recently for my mother in law. She loved it and as it took only a few hours, it’s easily made even in the busy run up to Christmas.

An old box- I used one which had previously contained perfume so had two little drawers.

Black Gloss Spray paint.

Some pictures (these can be printed out although I have used decoupage paper as it is less likely to tear under glue and varnish).

PVA Glue.

Quick Drying varnish.

Ribbon.

Glue Gun. Scissors.

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1. Spray your box. It may need two coats depending on what colour and condition it is in.

will need to apply quite a few coats of varnish (hence the reason I use quick drying varnish).

2. Cut out your pictures.

As my mother in law loves butterflies and is a keen gardener, I went for butterflies and flowers.

5. I replaced the rather tatty looking handles with ribbon using a glue gun 6. You can fill the box with pink tissue paper and include a few small treats, soaps, perhaps some beauty samples (make up counters are great for giving these to you for free especially perfume) or even fill it with some handmade chocolates.

3. Glue your pictures onto your box.

Leave to dry.

4. Apply a thin layer of varnish. To get a really lovely glossy decoupage finish you

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You can see more of Betty’s Ideas for crafts on her blog www.talesfrombettybeetowers.blogspot.com

Voila!

A fab gift, which doesn’t cost the earth and is very pretty to look at.

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We Wish You A Merry Craft Fair …

And A Happy New Year H

ere we are again ... Christmas is approaching fast and the festive craft fair season is upon us.

What makes a Christmas fair for you? Is it the atmosphere with carols being sung in the background? Mulled wine and mince pies with maybe a sprinkling of Victorian dress, or snow? Or is it a cosy atmosphere among friends at the local church hall? What does make the perfect craft fair at Christmas? We asked some WowThankYou sellers about their experiences of festive events of Christmases past and present.

Vicky Kitchen of All Fired Up is enthused by Christmas craft fairs that go the extra mile to provide a festive atmosphere for sellers and customers alike. “

Reindeer Decoration by Raggedy Homespun ” Christmas Time, Mistletoe and Wine ...

Mandy Quinn of Raggedy Homespun Crafts has attended many enjoyable craft fairs at Christmas and recommends the Chatsworth House organised market. “

” However this year Caroline has decided to concentrate on better takings. “

” Carolee Crafts’ Caroline Nash has mixed feelings about craft fairs. “

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” See Amid the Winters Snow Another case of best intentions not quite coming to fruition is the Christmas tale from Louise Carswell of LoubieJewels Bespoke Jewellery. “

” Caroline is a little bit worried about the future of craft markets and how handmade products are being sidelined during the recession. “

” However it’s not always due to the shoppers lack of interest; sometimes the Gods don’t smile and it just doesn’t happen... Zoe Chambers of Summer Pudding had an interesting experience at Rufford Christmas Craft Fayre. “ ” In the Bleak Midwinter ...

Some sellers have had some rough experiences at craft fairs full stop, whether it be Christmas or not, and maybe the season of Good Will has turned into the season of Good Value and convenience for some?

Linda Regel of Made by Ewe relates her tale of a Christmas fair that didn’t work out so well. “

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” But Christmas can still prove to be magical. With a good atmosphere and the right amount of Christmas spirit a market can be a wonderful experience and also nicely profitable.

Scotty Dog Fabric Memo Board by Nik Naks for your home Nicola Duckworth of Nic Naks for your home told us of her Christmas experience last year. “

” As for me personally, I love Christmas and especially the Fairs and Markets.

As a child I remember the way

longing for that idealised Christmas!

But life isn’t a movie alas, so instead I rely on Christmas markets and fairs to bring my festive cheer ... and this year I can’t wait to dive in with a long list of events, big and small, near and far, to visit. Bring out the mince pies and mulled wine – I’m on my way!

Have a very Merry Christmas and a healthy and prosperous New Year. I hope you sell out of your Christmas stock and enjoy yourself doing it. In these austere times, sales may be hard to come by, but remember, handmade items made by all of you here in the UK are so much better than any ‘disposable’ manufactured items from overseas - in the end quality counts, and we will win the day!

Tracey

” Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire ...

Emma Ricketts of H is for House is really looking forward to her Christmas fairs: “

American movies depicted Christmas – it starts snowing in New York on Christmas Eve and everyone is wrapped up in long coats, scarves, hats and gloves. Presents from department stores came perfectly wrapped in bow-tied boxes, all neatly stacked on top of one another as the character made his way through the snow to a sprawling house with a wide snow-covered driveway, and a massive hallway bedecked in tinsel, a huge tree and lots of happy people to welcome him/her (often him) at the door in their festive sweaters, full of cheer. Thirty years on and I’m still

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Written by Tracey Kifford From Wow Thank You

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Needle Felting Needle felting is one of the most popular classes at MakeMe and seems to be cropping up everywhere. People are amazed at what can be created and are even more surprised when they see how it’s done! It’s not difficult really but the possibilities are endless…

Felting (wet felting) is actually a very ancient craft that has recently undergone a revival. Making felt from wool was one of the first textile inventions as it dates back to early Neolithic cultures. It predates spinning, weaving and knitting with wool by a long way! Ancient examples of felted work can be found in Greece, Turkey, Persia, India and China.

The story goes that felting was discovered by accident when wool fleece from sheep was put into boots for warmth and under saddles to protect horses’ flanks. The moisture, friction and heat generated by movement resulted in some of the first felt pieces. Recognising the warmth of the material, felt came to be commonly used.

Most of us have inadvertently created our own pieces of felt by washing a wool jumper in water that is too hot.

The result is that the fibres have ‘felted’ together from the friction and heat.

Although the felt may be lovely in itself, the jumper is probably too small to wear!

Methods of creating patterns in felt have been developed throughout history and wonderful workshops can be found today where you learn how to arrange the wool fleece in attractive patterns.

The difficulty is that the process of friction required to create the felt will often distort the pattern. Needle felting is the answer to the problem!

Since the Industrial Revolution, felt has been created using the wet method.

However, it was discovered that when barbed needles are used they create friction and meld the fibres together without the use of water and heat.

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This method was adapted and used in craft in the 1980s. Some ingenious artists used the barbed felting needles traditionally used in industrial factories to embellish already felted fabric. These techniques have continued to develop and some stunning needle felted work has been produced.

To needle felt the only equipment required is wool fleece, felting needles and a sponge. Wool fleece (sometimes referred to as ‘wool tops’) is sheep’s wool that has been scoured, combed and dyed but not yet spun into yarn.

The result is a wonderfully soft, fluffy length of wool fibre. Felting needles are made from carbon steel and are about 3 inches long. They have an ‘L’ shaped hook at the top and have a triangular shaft. This shaft has many barbs cut into it which causes the wool fibres to felt together. Felting needles come in varying sizes (gauges) depending on the type of work undertaken the results desired. A sponge is also very useful when needle felting as it provides protection from the extremely sharp needles!

Needle felting can produce three dimensional shapes (like teddy bears) or flat pieces of work like paintings. In both cases, the felting needle is repeatedly inserted into tuffs of the wool fleece until the desired result is achieved.

In MakeMe’s needle felting workshop, our tutor teach clients how to ‘paint’ using wool fibres to create gorgeous landscape scenes. Wisps of fibres can be used to build up tone and colour just like paint. We also show how to create three dimensional shapes like hearts, butterflies and letters of the alphabet.

We have cookie cutters and moulds for inspiration. Wool fleece is added a little at a time until the shape is created.

Then additional embellishments can be added to add interest or detail to the shape. Cake stamens make fabulous antennae for butterflies!

In a typical workshop each client would produce two pieces one of which is taken home is a 5 x 7 box frame in order to properly display their gorgeous creation!

Our needle felting tutor, Margaret Harvey is a wonderful artist and teacher.

She has sold her needle felt works

throughout the UK. Several people who have attended our needle felt class have come back for another as it is seriously addictive! There’s something therapeutic about it …

MakeMe Workshops is located in the idyllic 19th century Medicine Garden in Cobham, Surrey. We run over 40 different workshops including many

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seasonal sessions for Christmas.

Details of our needle felting class and others can be found at www.makemeworkshops.com.

Written By Melissa Merchant from MakeMe Workshops

Tina in the Garden

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i! I’m Tina, It’s great to be with you all again. Thank you so much for joining me again in The Garden.

Well, it is a little wet today so let’s sit indoors and look at the Garden through the window. It is so enjoying the rain.

Come and join me for a good cup of tea, and maybe a biscuit or two.

First an update on what has been happening in the garden since your last visit. You will be able to see the change from the picture at the top of the article taken at the beginning of October, and the one at the end, which is late October. Note the smoke from my better half’s bonfire - it does look like Autumn.

As you can see, we still have roses.

They just do not want to stop. The Pampas Grass is here in all it’s glory and the Hydrangeas are still great even if they have changed their colour.

Nature is just wonderful.

As you can see, the Nerines were all just gorgeous in October. Of course I just have to show you the bog. It still manages to look mystical and you can just make out the end of the wooden bridge over the stream.

left - Roses above - Fatsia

I just have to share this plant with you, it is a Fatsia. Yes, I know that it is an indoor plant in England, but this one evidently does not understand ,so who am I to argue.

There is, however, a little story to this plant. Only a little one I promise.

When we moved here about 16 years ago, the house was in need of repair and the garden as it is today did not exist. I arrived with a small collection of plants, one of which was the Fatsia from the conservatory of our last house. Well, there was no conservatory and the house was a bit of a state, so as the weather was good I put it in the garden thinking to move it back indoors later. The work however took some time and the following summer there it was, a little scrappy, but still alive. Just look at it now, all set to take over the top - Roses garden and every October it produces middle - Pampas Grass these wonderful, if strange, flowers. bottom - Nerines 22

The Garden now is ready for its winter above sleep. The berries were on the holly in The Bog October - holly berries and roses, what a strange, but wonderful year. The bulbs and spring plants are all set and the tidying up is done.

So, what about Christmas? I have done a little project, well, quite a big project actually. I hope our dear lady editor will

give me a little extra space and that you will bear with me as it is a little bit of a craft project too. I am sure that all of you could do a better job on the crafting side and if any of you do please let us see the finished article.

Throughout the summer we have been enjoying a lot of fruit and I have built up a collection of plastic containers. They do no recycle the containers in our area, so I came up with this idea. Maybe it has already been done., If so, I apologise.

I have used paper to decorate the Christmas Pot and the Lighthouse Pot. The extra Pot is made with cards, although you could use photographs and make one for any occasion at any time of year. You will need three plastic containers for each pot.

1. Christmas Pot. First measure a piece of Christmas wrapping paper and cut to fit around the sides of the first container and cut to size.

5. Lighthouse Pot. You will need the first container to be larger to enable you to fill. Insert second container.

2. Wrap paper 3. Place the first container inside 4. The finished pot. around the side of the second container and push the first container down. and hold in place.

6. Here are the plants we potted 7. Fill a third container with a up in the last issue. mixture of compost and grit.

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8. Replant new plants into the container and top with grit.

9. Fit into the finished pot.

10. This is an extra pot showing that you can just make any design.

Oh! You have to leave now. I was so enjoying your visit, but I do understand that coming up to Christmas is your busy time. So do not work too hard - easy for me to say, I know.

Have a great Christmas and New Year and I will see you all next year.

Your green fingered friend,

Tina

All finished!

~x ~

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In the Spotlight with

mr x stitch Name: Karen Grenfell aka Mimilove Medium: Watercolour &/or acrylic paints with embroidery Story: I have been painting and messing about with art since I was knee high to a spacehopper.

After a spell at Uni, various jobs and the advent of internet, Mimilove was born! I had always provided a portrait service, selling on eBay, word of mouth etc. and had been pretty successful, including a few celebs’ signings and even selling a painting at Sotheby's, but I just felt there was something missing.

I have never really been taught to stitch‌ as you can probably tell ;0)... but always felt it was something I wanted to do even from an early age.

I remember watching a programme on TV, way back in the mists of time in the 70's about stitching, handicrafts and so forth; a kind of a *"Paint Along with Nancy" but with sewing! That whetted my appetite. Then as time passed, pocket money increased and I was allowed access to sharp objects, I decided to stitch myself a bed cover. I had visions of flowers in all sorts of glorious colours, encrusted with jewels and sequins etc. Unfortunately, I bit off a bit more than I could chew and all I managed was a very ropey satin stitch "rose" and when push came to shove the pocket money invariably went on the latest Smash Hits or Jackie and that was the beginning/end of my stitching career until fairly recently!

My nan and dad were pretty nifty with a needle, (my dad made some of my mum's maternity clothes when she was pregnant with me so it could be osmosis!) and I've since found out that a great uncle was also a dab hand at embroidery, which was a surprise, so it's in the genes...and jeans! :) So I've always had a love of embroidery/stitching but never actually got round to trying it again; I just felt a bit 25

intimidated by it after the bed sheet experience! It's been a slow development though and there have been all sorts of factors and inspirational folks that led to taking up embroidery and now it just doesn’t seem right if I do a painting without it!

What’s your favourite piece of work thus far?

Blimey, that's a tough one! I would have to say all the commission pieces that have featured somebody's loved one (as opposed to a random kitty, dog, flea etc.).

I do enjoy working on the Cockney Sparrows though, they make me laugh! ;0) What do you find challenging?

Apart from threading the needle with my increasingly bad eyesight?! Trying to maintain confidence and motivation especially during quieter times… it's like buses; nowt for ages and then all of a sudden 3 come along at once! Also juggling the time for family, cake breaks/naps and the boring day to day stuff etc.

Any advice for newbies?

Grab a needle and thread and dive in!

I know people think I'm probably just a big lazy lump who spends most of her time shovelling down copious amounts of Darjeeling and Mr.Kipling's in between snoozes… and they'd be right… but!

Point I'm grasping to make is don't fret or panic if sales are slow in coming or beat yourself up if you're not spending every waking hour strapped to sewing machine/canvas etc. Sit back, relax and enjoy/love what you're doing and if it's starting to become a chore and you're losing heart, step away from the stressiness and have a drop or two of something yummy.… mind you I'm 2 vanilla slices away from a muumuu so don't take too much notice me :) Visit Karen’s Etsy store here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/mimilove If you would like to find out more about mr x stitch you can find his hugely successful blog here:

Don’t miss ‘In the spotlight’ in our February Issue.

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Coffee Break Crafts

Coffee Break Crafts

Coffee Break Crafts Coffee Break Crafts Coffee Break Crafts

Handy party coasters, gift tags, gift pouches, hanging decorations, embellishments and patchwork Button Wreath Christmas Card Irish Crochet

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Coffee Break Crafts

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Contrasting fabric 3 or 5 mm ribbon Large needle.

You can use an overlocker, sewing machine or hand sew.

1. Cut 2 circles of contrasting fabric.

2. Sew or serge wrong sides together.

This is a very quick and easy tutorial with Written By Minxtures endless possibilities!

1.

2.

4.

5.

3. Fold 4 sides in so they touch, creating a square.

4. Fold corners back to the centre of the square.

5. Thread ribbon, approximately 40 cm, through all corners.

3.

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Coffee Break Crafts

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Coffee Break Crafts Coffee Break Crafts Coffee Break Crafts Written By The Sparkly Fairy

Button

Square Card, Blank Die Cut Circle Buttons Ribbons Greeting

Wreath

Christmas Card 1. Attach the die cut to the square card blank.

Set out the buttons in a circle shape, but don't affix until you are happy with the design. Then either with double sided tape or glue, stick them down.

To make it easier you could draw a circle in pencil as a guide.

2. Continue around the circle until you have used all your buttons to make a wreath.

1.

3. Next make a bow from your ribbon and attach to the top of the wreath.

4. Finally add your greeting. You now have a stylish, yet easy to make Christmas card!

2.

3.

4.

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Coffee Break Crafts

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What is Irish Crochet?

In the year 1840, Nuns of County Cork Ireland had a secret. Behind closed doors, they were not praying on their rosary, but crocheting beautiful lace and sewing it on pillow cases, collars, cuffs, underskirts, and bed spreads. They designed a 3-D rose, padded leaves, against a delicate diamond background with little loops called picots. The nuns would share their beautiful lace of crochet, tatting, knitting with other nuns in another area of Ireland.

In 1845, the potato crop failed in County Cork , Ireland. Poor people were eating grass. These nuns took compassion on on the poor people.

They asked themselves, “What can we do to help them?�. The nuns decided to reveal their secret, and brought out their beautiful lace for sale. With the money, they gave it to the poor people so they could buy food. Once the crochet, tatting, and knitted designed

were shown, the weavers copied the lace.

Irish Crochet uses a foundation cord to crochet over, so the lace is thick. The cord is pulled to tighten and curve the stitches.

A smaller crochet hook is used to make the background design used in Irish Crochet.

Dresses, blouses, shawls, collars, cuffs were made with Irish Crochet. The motifs often looked like flowers, or shamrocks, leaves, padded circles and were pinned on to material cut to the shape of the item. Then the background was crocheted around the motifs and connected to the next motif.

I make Irish crochet roses and leaves and sew them on velvet pillows.

Needlework has become a hobby for me as a retired music and kindergarten teacher from Springfield, Illinois. Now I Written By Donna Kelly

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Written By Little Floating Craft Co

n i p u p a r e W d a m d n Ha s t f a r C s a m t s i r h this C

When I think of Christmas, there are a lot of really vivid images that come to mind; our childhood creative crafting sessions building egg box bells with matchstick dingers all dipped in glitter, the baubles we decorated as a family, the mock-Fabergé eggs mum made one year to house the cash gifts for all my cousins… the list is endless… but what it really ends up at, is the way my mum wrapped our presents.

You’d never just get an envelope, or that nasty thin wrapping paper that’s

for sure – even when she didn’t have easily make your own custom stamp by cash to splash around! gluing string onto a little block of wood.

It’s not just a Christmas thing either; as a family we like the gift to look as much like the actual present as the surprise it holds within. It doesn’t have to cost a lot to give something a special look as you easily can clip a pretty hair slide on to a ribbon bow, or print on plain brown paper using nothing more complicated than a stamp pad and a potato – or if you’re feeling really creative you can

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You’ll have gift wrap that no one else on the planet will have, making your present stand out and the recipient know that you really thought about them! Isn’t that why we give gifts after all?

If you’ve no time to make your own goodies then take a look around some of the fantastic websites where you can

get your paws on handmade gift tags?

Folksy, Etsy, Facebook – all places where there are a huge range of crafters working to give you a unique celebration.

There are so many different styles that you’re bound to find something that suits you – or suits the person you’re giving your gift to. I love making tags, embossing the edges with glitter, giving them the full on Christmas sparkle effect but I’m not the only one!

My own little floaty love of wrapping gets utterly indulged at Christmas and I’ve been known to festoon gifts with handmade tags and bunches of mini baubles in amongst the ribbon, tie voluptuous huge bows from two toned organza, and colour theme everything.

But this year it’s all about brown paper, string, soft satin ribbons, and beautiful vintage style gift tags that look like I relocated them from my favourite antique shop.

They take a really long time to make as there are layers of inking and distressing on top of several layers of stamping, and then once the ink’s dry the embossing

can start! There colours/tones of powders available really soft vintage like I’ve used this gift tags.

are some amazing sparkly embossing but my favourite is a mix of ivory and gold on the edge of these

For the presents to look their best though, you’ve got to make your tree look great. I’m not talking baubles from Harrods here though; I’m talking about giving your tree a personality. For those with youngsters, why not do what I did with my mum and make some decorations? For £1 for some glue and 50p for some glitter you can really go to town either on cardboard shapes (cut out of cereal boxes) or make your own egg box bells? Add sequins to some cheap (and safe) plastic baubles, and streams of ribbon, perhaps even with beads tied in…. The only limit is your imagination.

These took just half an hour to make and they’re absolutely unique! With the gold, I’ve simply used a glue stick to run a line of ribbon around the middle of the

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bauble and then added detail with some sticky back gems! The big detail is the tassel which is made from a few short lengths of two different ribbons. I’ve wound it around a few times at the top and secured with a couple of stitches but you could easily just glue it.

chimney with the fire left burning to keep the house warm overnight?

MAGIC! I found the most gorgeous vintage keys, and paired them with some of my truly vintage styled gift tags to make “magic Christmas keys” that if left by your front door on Christmas Eve will magically work for the man himself Then I’ve then stitched some vintage so he can get in to make his all pearls to the ends of the strands of the important delivery. I even penned my tassel to give it some weight. A few of first poem since leaving school some these in complimentary colours would twenty years ago to explain the magic! make your tree look really expensive, So think about your decorations this but I used no more than a metre of year – get a bit of heart in there and each ribbon and a handful of beads. make them special for you and your The chocolate brown bauble simply has family. a line of tiny sticky backed pearls popped on around its middle but I love And don’t forget the Christmas table!! it!

A centre piece made up of some of your decorated baubles in a bowl, perhaps We really get to run riot creatively with a little string of those battery around the holidays but it’s not just us; powered fairy lights (these were about a the kids let loose their creative sides and pound in Tesco’s last Christmas!!) or imagination too. This is what prompted even sit them on a little mirror so another of my Christmas ideas. everything gets bounced around in the light!

A lot of us live in modern houses with eco energy efficient heating systems Think outside the box and use what you that don’t involve a fire or a chimney – have around you in a different way to so how does Father Christmas get in?? make Christmas YOURS! Or for those with traditional open fires they wonder how can he get down the

Lots of floaty lovexxx

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Christmas

Star Choker

1 x coil memory wire necklace 1 x large wire star pendant 1 x 6 mm jump ring 1 x Magnetic clasp 28 x 6 mm red glass beads 14 x 6 mm green crackle glass beads 14 x 6 mm clear crackle glass beads 30 x 4 mm silver plated beads

1. Attach the jump ring to the top of the star. Put the pendant onto the memory wire and let it fall to the centre.

2. Thread the beads on to the memory wire in the following order, 1 x 4 mm silver plated bead, 2 x 6 mm red bead, 1 4 mm silver plated bead, 1 x green beads, 1 x clear bead, and finally 1 x 4 mm silver plated bead.

3. Now add beads as follows - 2 x 6 mm red bead, 1 x 4 mm silver plated bead, 1 x 6 mm green bead, 1 x 6 mm clear bead, and finally 1 x silver plated bead to the memory wire.

4. Repeat step 3 four times. You should have 37 beads in total threaded onto the memory wire necklace.

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5. Work through steps 2, 3 and 4 again on the other side of the necklace.

6. Repeat step 3 once more and then make a small loop in the end of the memory wire (trim of any excess as needed). Repeat for the other side.

7. Open loops slightly and add clasp to finish.

Written By Elderberry Arts

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! p u d e l o o All T Learn about new tools with Sean from

Whether you’re a jewellery maker, model maker, or just a general DIY tinkerer, the contents of your tool box are an essential part of your craft. Many crafters have a tool box overflowing with tools, some of which they simply cannot live without, others that have never seen the light of day. In this review we are going to tell you about a tool we have added to our “cannot live without” category... (not only that, it comes with its own little tool box!)

The RC12 Single Speed rotary Tool Kit This tool is not just one addition to your tool box, but thousands (or 44 in this case). With the correct attachment you can turn this tool from a wood sanding tool to a glass cutting tool, or (if you are feeling a little more adventurous) it is even widely used as an industrial nail file in human and pet nail salons worldwide. The rotary tool really is a quintessential part to the hobbyist hobby tool kit.

The RC12 is the entry level rotary tool made by Rotacraft. It is a hand held miniature power tool which offers the user 18,000 rpm of pure crafting bliss. As with many good rotary tools the attachment being used is what really defines the drill. This being said, without the correct base unit to use your attachments, with you could soon find yourself with another tool that you simply don’t use. However, get the correct base unit and your crafting capabilities will go through the roof. The RC12 features a small sleek design which comes with a built in “pen grip”. This grips offers support for natural hand placement, and combined with the ergonomically designed housing it allows intricate crafting to be performed with ease - this could include engraving those precious stones for that next necklace, or a fine detailed carving into your next wooden sculpture.

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The RC12 comes with a 12 volt plug in transformer adapter allowing it to be plugged in to common household sockets. With a wire of length of just under 2.5 metres the user has ample space and flexibility when using the tool. The RC12 is a single speed rotary tool; this means that the user is unable to determine the speed produced by the unit.

This being the case the more delicate of tasks (say for example drilling glass) would require a variable speed tool as these tools allow the user to determine the speed produced offering heightened precision for those tasks.

The RC12 comes with an additional 44 accessories. There are 4 Collets included in this pack (1mm , 2.35mm, 3mm & 3.2mm) this allows for accessories from other brands to be used with this tool. As well as the collets you get 40 different accessories which can be used in a broad range of applications.

The accessories included are: 4x collets (1mm , 2.35mm, 3mm & 3.2mm) 4x Drill Bits (1mm , 2.35mm, 3mm & 3.2mm 2x Large Polishing Wheel 2x Small Polishing Wheel 1x Polishing Wheel Shank 6x Diamond Points 10x Grinding Stones 1x Mandrel 3x Cutting Wheels (22mm diameter) 2x Sanding Drum Mandrels 6x Sanding Drums 2x Wire Brushes 1x Nylon Pencil Brush As you can see from the list above, this tool can be used for cutting, sanding, polishing, grinding and so much more (In fact I think one of the only things it cannot do is make the cup of tea after you have finished!!)

One thing to consider when looking into purchasing a rotary tool is it’s purpose; there are thousands of accessories out there that will fit this tool, all of which designed to do a different job. As mentioned above, if you are looking to do some of the more advanced tasks like glass burring, then this entry level unit is not for you. The RC12’s inability to allow the user to determine speed means that tasks which require a gradual increase in speed cannot be performed with this tool. However, if you are looking to add that finishing shine to the beads on your new piece of jewellery, bring back new life into a old piece of furniture (or even up cycle some old furniture into a wonderful new piece) then this tool will make these jobs so much easier and less time consuming.

The durability of this tool is outstanding - I have been told about 1st generation Rotacraft RC12s still being used in a professional capacity after 5+ years of hard grind (excuse the pun). I have had mine for 3 years and it has been through some wars (the biggest of which was its brief stint on a building site where it was outperforming £500 worth of power tool) and despite losing a little torque I still use it now. I have since upgraded to one of the more advance models but still use the RC12 for polishing my golf clubs or sanding down freshly made furniture (that is when I can get it off my partner who uses it for her jewellery crafting). It’s easy to go through the accessories as they soon wear down but this tool will last through a large number of replacement drill bits, and even if this workhorse does start to slowdown, I have found that simply taking off the case, giving it a little clean and lubrication restores it to full working potential The RC12 is currently on sale at www.hobby-tools.co.uk for £19.99, (RRP: 29.95), this comes with the 44 additional accessories as described above and an aluminium tool box (pictured above).

Members of The Professional Crafters Guild will gain an additional discount by quoting their special discount code and adding their registration number at the checkout. http://www.procraftersguild.com Perfect for under any crafters Christmas Tree!

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CRAFT fest At Creative Connections, we hosted our first trial run fair in September. We had over 140 stall holders attend the two day spectacular weekend, with fantastic feedback.

So, we did it again! On the 26th & 27th November 2011 we hosted our second CRAFTfest, with 175 stall holders from all around the world.

Each seller was put in a group. Purple, pink, teal, blue, or lilac. The purpose of the groups was to to advertise each other and the upcoming CRAFTfest event, to chat amongst yourselves and work out campaigns and ideas.

We now go behind the scenes to meet our group leaders!

The idea of CRAFTfest is to showcase sellers using interactive albums, 'your stall', which allows sellers to browse and purchase items through an interactive link in your product descriptions, 'your voice'.

You sit behind your computer screen, and sell interactively to your sellers through Creative Connections chat room, Facebook, Twitter, and many other social networking sites.

Purple Leader - Maria Snell My name is Maria, I'm a self taught dressmaker living in a small East Dorset village with my husband and 2 children. I wanted to be able to do something from home as my children are young and I have Multiple Sclerosis. I started my Minxtures shop to go along side my dressmaking and alterations and it was somewhere I could put all the things I kept making for no apparent reason (addicted to making patterns) You'll find all sorts in my Folksy.com shop. I do particularly like to make useful things, especially for children. I recently opened a shop at www.wowthankyou.co.uk too.

I thought CRAFTfest was a wonderful idea to get more people using the network. It's such a great place to meet new people. Since volunteering to help and becoming the purple group leader, I have realised promoting and meeting people can actually be fun! My computer skills are certainly a lot better too! The best thing has been seeing the most amazing work done by people I probably wouldn't have come across otherwise as well as making www.wowthankyou.co.uk/minxtures

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Teal Leader - Lorraine Dowdle Step into Lorraine Dowdle’s studio and experience a world of exclusively designed and exquisitely unique, hand-created wearable sensations. Lorraine crafts all her own lampwork glass beads in the flame and incorporates these little artistic treasures with her passion for wirework, offering an eye catching, desirable, and unique work of Art, that easily transitions from being a daytime accessory to a glamorous evening conversation piece. Lorraine offers daily work shop classes in both mediums, to share her love for handmade with others. Custom creations are her speciality. Lorraine will help you express your own creative flair though her work, by making a special piece just for you. For more details visit www.lorrainedowdlecreations.com I enjoyed CRAFTfest very much.... it helped my creative world become a little more organised lol... I met so many wonderful people with so many insanely creative talents.... by that, I mean genuine talent and I hope to be a leader in the next one too.

Pink Leader - Natasha Tideswell My name’s Natasha, I’m 25 and a half and live with my partner of nearly 4 years in a little flat where I call Stoke On Trent home! We don’t have any children (yet!) but we dote on our two godchildren who are 1 and nearly 3 years old.

I work full time as a project administrator for a bank and run the castle in the evenings and at weekends. I’m a bit mad, or as someone at work once said “you’re weird but in a lovely way”. I don’t have much luck with cars (first courtesy car I had, the back windscreen exploded and the next one got ran into!), I like drinking tea in big mugs (although my other half makes them better than me) and I don’t like odd numbers although my favourite number is 3…go figure!

Jeeberella’s Craft Castle opened for business Valentine’s Day 2011. I love personalised things. I love how it makes things a bit more special and unique.

When it came to presents for my goddaughter’s baby shower, EVERYTHING had her name on it! So, naturally, when I started my business it centred around personalisation. Initially I started off just making cards but have slowly but surely expanded the product range quite a bit. I also take custom orders too, which have mainly been for cards but I’m open to a challenge! http://jeeberellascraftcastle.co.uk When I was asked to send a photo, I thought I’d send one that showed me at my happiest. It was taken in Devon last year. It was the middle of October and even though it was a bit chilly, it’s one of the best holidays I’ve ever had.

It was a proper relaxing holiday in our favourite place in the country. Will hopefully be heading back there next year.

I didn’t actually volunteer to be a group leader for CRAFTfest I was asked to be one instead. I probably should have asked at the time why they thought I’d be good at it, but fingers crossed I’ve done a good job!

When I was asked what colour I wanted my group to be, I naturally chose pink. You only have to look at my logo to see that I like pink things.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from being a group leader if I’m honest but skills from my day job certainly helped. As a project administrator things have to be organised and at home, I take charge of the social diary and bills and things.

It is different however, organising fellow business pages especially when a lot of my team have been in business for longer than I have! Still very enjoyable though, supporting people and helping them on their way.

Being a team leader has been mostly enjoyable, it’s been a great networking exercise for me and everyone in my group (I hope!) as I encouraged my team to get to know each other and visit each others pages. We’ve all supported each other with queries which has been great!

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Blue Leader - Kerry Goodman I am Kerry and I own Scrapbookerry from home as well as running the family and looking after our little boy. Scrapbookerry is very new and is still in its first year, but is growing from strength to strength every day. I have always scrapbooked, and moved onto making mini albums when my son was born three years ago.

More and more people started asking for my handmade items and it suddenly occurred to me that I could run this as my own little business, and still be able to be at home with my son.

Scrapbookerry is your first stop for beautiful keepsakes made with style. See your memories come to life with our unique journal jars, mini albums and scrapbooks.

Each a gift they’ll treasure forever.

I make a selection of items, including Journal Jars, Five Paged Albums, Squash Books, Accordion Books, BABY Albums, and Explosion Boxes. I also do a lot of custom work and everything that is made is completely original and no two things are the same. www.scrapbookerry.com I love the idea of CRAFTfest and love the concept of a Virtual Craft Fair. I don’t have the time to be going out and doing a Craft Fair. It would mean finding babysitters and dog sitters as my other half works very long hours and most weekends, so this is a great opportunity for getting new customers and meeting new people for me. Meeting people who understand others in the crafting business, and understand how we all tick.

I believe that if you are passionate about something you are the best person to promote it; this is the reason why I volunteered to be the group leader of the Blue Group for CRAFTfest. I have loved being a group leader, it has made me use skills I have not used for a long time, but the best thing is that it has got me communicating with people. I have got networking with lots of other crafters and got them networking too! I have also learnt a lot from these people and I hope I have helped some people to get the most out of CRAFTfest themselves.

Lilac Leader - Felicity Howarth My name is Felicity and I run Perfect Patchwork; I set the company up in 2009 after I found that I had created so many patchwork quilts, that I didn’t know what to do with them; and a friend suggested that I have a go at selling them. I create a large range of items; including bags, quilts, play mats, wall hangings and craft items. Here is a sample of one of my original designs.

www.perfectpatchwork.co.uk

I had my website created and struggled for a while getting traffic to the site; this led me to looking for other avenues and ultimately led me to Creative Connections. I joined the last CRAFTfest and loved it. I found the best part for me was meeting so many lovely people, especially through the chat room. It was one evening when I was on the chatroom that they were discussing running groups for the upcoming CRAFTfest and on the spur of the moment I offered to be a group leader (Lilac group).

I am so glad I did, I have ‘met’ even more wonderful people, and being a team leader has led me to closer interactions than I would have had simply as a seller. I feel I really know ‘the team’ and other group leaders, and they are wonderful people and so helpful.

The best thing for me has been the socialising with like minded people and swapping of knowledge; e.g. I have discovered some useful tools like Crowdbooster through the wonderful people here on Creative Connections. If I were lucky enough to be asked again, I would definitely volunteer to be a team leader for the next CRAFTfest; and think it would be easier next time, having created my spreadsheet with all the info I need to be able to support and promote all my team, in the easiest way.

Thank you guys for the opportunity.

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CRAFT fest A VIRTUAL CRAFT EXTRAVAGANZA Browse through the selection of virtual stores from the comfort of your own home. l n

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10th &11th

march 2012

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Handmade crafts at their best! j a v

LIVE all day

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Host your own craft stall,

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The fair is open to the general public, although free membership is required for sellers. ctions Creative Conne

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Crafter’s Network

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Written By Julie Hyde

Step 1. Lightly draw the van a sign post and a suggestion of the horizon. Make sure that your horizon is about one third of the way up the paper.

Step 2. Sky and trees. If you want to add salt for snow affect, get that ready then mix washes of:• Ultramarine Blue • Ultramarine Blue + a touch of Cadmium Yellow (a stronger blue/green) Wet all the sky area with clean water with a mop brush. Tilt your board then load your brush with the wash. Working with a big brush (No.10 or 12 round) add the blue, working across the paper, just overlapping the last layer of paint as you work down the paper. While this is still wet, add tree shapes into the background with the blue/green colour. Immediately add a few grains of salt here and there (about 20 to 30 grains) LET IT DRY. Step 3. Foreground. With the wash of:• Ultramarine blue Add streaks of the blue for the shadows in the snow.

Step 4. Van. Paint on to dry paper over the area of the tyres, roof and radiator using washes of:• Ultramarine Blue + Burnt Umber (weak blue/grey) • Ultramarine Blue + Alizarin Crimson (weak blue/purple) Paint this on to the wings and windscreen as well but wet the paper first.

For the headlamp.

• Cadmium Yellow (very weak) • Ultramarine Blue + Burnt Umber (weak blue/ grey) For the writing on the side of the van • Cadmium Yellow (strong) Then finally add the red and black areas with strong mixes of:• Cadmium Red + Alizarin Crimson (post office red) • Ultramarine Blue + Burnt Umber (dark blue/ Black) Add these colours on to the dry paper leaving the paler highlights. Build up the dark areas with two or three layers of the dark tone waiting for each layer to dry before applying the next. Add these colours on to the dry paper leaving the paler highlights. Build up the dark areas with two or three layers of the dark tone waiting for each layer to dry before applying the next.

Step 5. Sign Post. Using the strong wash of:• Ultramarine Blue + Burnt Umber (dark blue/black) Add this to the sign post for a suggestion of the wording You may find that the shadows need to be stronger once you have added the rest of the colour so add a little more blue.

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years ago, Julie decided to give up engineering and pursue her interest in On Saturday 23 October 2010, a dream art – by running classes and workshops in the Solihull area in village halls. These came true for Julie Hyde from Meriden when the Centre of England Arts (COEA) rapidly gained a loyal following but the lack of a permanent venue was in Hampton in Arden was opened frustrating. That's when Julie conceived officially by the Mayor of Solihull, Councillor Ian Courts. A charity founded the idea of setting up an arts centre – it for the education and pleasure of people coinciding with the availability of suitable premises in the newly of all ages who wish to explore their developed Patrick Farm Barns. Founded artistic talent, the COEA had been an as a not-for-profit company and ambition of Julie's for many years. registered as a charity, the Centre of Now, one year on, the Centre, which is England Arts was born. located in a rural setting at Patrick Farm Barns on the Meriden Road, Hampton in In the past year, weekly classes in watercolour painting have been run on Arden, holds weekly painting and drawing classes most days of the week Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays

by Julie with experienced tutor, Barbara and a range of one-day art and craft Hunt, holding acrylics painting classes workshops at weekends. on Monday afternoons.

Despite ambitions to be an artist from These have been complemented by a when she was a child, Julie failed to wide range of one-day workshops on obtain a place in an art college and Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays run by went on to study to be a mechanical guest artists and tutors. Many art and engineer. A successful career in this craft skills have been taught in these industry followed but she continued to paint and draw in her spare time. A few workshops including working with 43

www.facebook.com/CentreOfEnglandArts

stained glass, enamelling, textiles work, jewellery making and photography.

There have also been workshops for life drawing, portraiture and landscape painting.

Julie Hyde says: "We like to give people a range of skills to try. To come here for just a few hours and take home something handmade using skills they never knew they had is a real thrill for people."

The Centre of England Arts deliberately does not run accredited courses or courses that lead to examinations.

Julie Hyde says: "Accreditation adds to the cost of running a course and, besides, we are not competing with colleges. People who come our classes do so because they want to hang their painting on a wall, not a certificate."

The cost of places on classes and workshops is deliberately kept low. A 14-week two-hour class works out at just £7 per session and can be paid for in two stages – £49 at the beginning of each seven weeks. The cost of places on workshops varies depending on the subject matter and what materials are provided but for a six-hour workshop a typical charge is £30 to £40 per person.

In addition to on-going weekly classes and a number of one-off workshops leading up to Christmas (full details of which are on the website www.coea.co.uk) the COEA will host its second art and crafts exhibition on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th December, from 10.00am to 5.00pm each day.

Admission is free and the exhibition is a wonderful opportunity for visitors to see the work of students and tutors.

They can also find out how people have developed from complete beginners to skilled artists as a result of attending weekly classes or workshops at the COEA. Julie Hyde and other tutors will be on hand to discuss the classes and workshops, Light refreshments will be available in return for a small (or large!) donation.

Julie Hyde says: "It's been hard work setting up and running the Centre of England Arts but I've enjoyed almost every minute of it! When someone comes along who has never held a paintbrush before and walks away with a completed painting two hours later, I know it has all been worthwhile."

The Centre of England Arts is at Patrick Farm Barns, Meriden Road, Hampton in Arden B92 0LT. For information about the many classes and workshops on offer go to www.coea.co.uk, telephone 01676 523357 or send an email to coea@live.com

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What’s in a name?

Jeeberella’s Craft Castle To get to the heart of Jeeberella’s Craft Castle you first need to know how Jeeberella was born. It began 11 years ago…

I was 14 and I needed a name for the MTV2 forum (I was a part time grebo as we were called back then). I’d sat there for a good hour trying to think of something cool when I started to watch an episode of The Simpsons. As fate would have it, the episode in question was “Missionary: Impossible”. Homer becomes a missionary by accident and due to his lack of religious faith keeps calling Jesus, Jebus instead. I don't know why but I loved it, so I decided on female jebus.

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Latch hooking kit

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DIY card kit

I failed miserably at the cross stitch as I couldn’t figure out what the pattern meant. I tried watching YouTube videos on latch hooking but just couldn’t grasp it. I couldn’t decide on a photo for the tile kit and I was really disappointed with the card kit.

After seeking some professional advice from a lovely lady who I knew through work, I finally got my head round cross

As I started to use the forums more people very quickly shortened it to Jeeby, which I quite liked. At the time, my two younger sisters were aged 4 and 6 (and I can't remember which sister said it) but I overheard one of them playing and say princesserella. It made me giggle so I put Jeeby and princesserella together and hey presto: Jeeberella!

From then on I was Jeeberella. I’ve had the same email address for 11 years now and if you Google Jeeberella there are over 6,000 results. While I haven’t had the time to check them all, from viewing the first few hundred I can confirm that in one way or another they are all me!

Flash forward to Christmas 2010…

Crafts kind of discovered me over the Christmas break as I was a bit bored so took a random trip to HobbyCraft. I came home with:

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Cross stitch kit

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Ceramic tile kit

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stitch and latch hooking and off I went.

In January I was showing my partner of 3 years, Neil, some of the lovely canvasses that a friend of mine in Plymouth did. She does custom orders for people as well as working full time.

Neil said if I put my mind to it I could something like that. Now, I can’t paint for toffee. Even now I have no idea how I got a B in Art at high school. Instead I be something special, something decided to do a collage in time for our different. And here’s where it comes full rd 3 anniversary in February. I spent days circle… trawling the internet for ideas and When I was thinking about a new settled on gorgeous brown mulberry business name the first thing I thought paper, carefully selected photos and was Jeeberella. For days I couldn’t some lovely gold lettering and words. decide between craft castle or craft Turned out quite well so I made palace. Palace sounded posher but I something similar for Neil’s goddaughter’s birthday and from there I liked the alliteration of craft castle. And there it was, Jeeberella’s Craft Castle. started to get other ideas…

It’s been a whirlwind ever since; setting up the Facebook page, registering with Creeping up to February 2011 HMRC, setting up an email address, networking, blogging, expanding, I love personalised things. You’ve only expanding and some more expanding. got to ask my friends about the pretty personalised things I try and buy for From humble beginnings making a few them. In fact, for my future cards, the range is now huge. Cards, goddaughter’s baby shower, bunting, fridge magnets, bookmarks, EVERYTHING had her name on it! door signs and more unusual things like letters from Santa and the tooth fairy.

So I went back to the DIY card kit and Postcards to send to people asking them decided to see what else I could come to be your bridesmaids, maid of honour up with. My first cards were quite cute, and godparent are popular because you but basic. Then I wondered if anyone don’t see them anywhere else. One of else would be interested in my cute my most popular card designs is for a designs too, so I set up a Facebook new baby to send to their older brother group called Tasha’s Crafty Cards and invited all my friends. After a few days I or sister. Having a new baby in the family can be tough on older children decided my business name needed to and these cards really are a good way 46

to make them feel involved. My latest offerings seem to be going down well too; car window signs to advertise your business on the go and baby body suits with transfers of their name or nickname.

The castle now has nearly 850 fans on Facebook, hundreds of Twitter followers, regular blog updates, shops on Folksy and Wowthankyou and the feedback from custom orders has been fantastic, not to mention all the support from fellow small businesses. The best example I can give you is Gayle of Happy Hands Belcoo who made my logo for free after a friend drew the design for me!

Considering I work full time, the business is going from strength to strength. My mission now is to do as much as possible to get the castle advertised and out there. So keep an eye out, you never know where it might pop up!

Written By Jeeberella www.facebook.com/jeeberella

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Christmas Christmas Scrapbooking Scrapbooking C

hristmas is a great excuse for a mammoth amount of Scrapbooking, but it can also be an incredibly daunting job. What to scrapbook, when to scrapbook as you have so many people around, and then having great plans to scrapbook and realising that you haven’t got any great pictures!

So the one piece of advice I would give you for Christmas Scrapbooking is - be organised, plan what you want. We all know how many Christmas can be - there are people all over the place, excited children or adults and general mayhem. Here are my top tips for organising your Christmas Scrapbooking: 1) CHARGE the camera. There is nothing worse than going to take the pictures and realising there is no battery charge!

2) If you can, have a designated photographer for the day or move the camera around throughout the day so that

you get different pictures by different people.

3) Think of what photos you would like, and don’t feel silly for writing a list. Ideas can be the tree, table decorations, all the presents before they are open, children opening their stockings, opening presents, playing with presents, a picture of everyone on Christmas day, the evening, pets that are around, the decorations, Christmas Dinner, new clothes, the list is endless. Add whatever is important to you to your list and you will find it so much easier to remember everything on the day. You won’t always get the photos you envisaged but you will get others! That is fine. This list is just a guide.

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4) If you want to add journaling to your pages, then have some little journaling boxes already made and write in them as things happen at the end of the evening so that you don’t forget. This is also great way to get other relatives to write their Christmas messages or thoughts as well.

5) Why not prepare your pages earlier. This is a great stress reliever! Get all your pages made with some space to add the pictures after Christmas. This means that all the stress of finishing the pages is taken away. You can do this for traditional or digital pages, just save the pages and save again when the pictures are added.

6) Don’t make your pages too complicated if you want to finish your Christmas Album quickly and easily. Keep them nice and simple and easy to complete.

7) Buy a kit. Scrapbooking Kits are great. You can buy paper kits, which have paper, matching embellishments and alphabet letters. You can also buy kits that include an album so everything is there to complete the album.

8) Make sure you have enough adhesive to stick your pictures into your albums.

9) Decide where you are getting your pictures printed; if you are doing them at home make sure you have enough ink, as running out of ink late into the night could be very stressful.

10) Save important things to put in your albums, Christmas cards, tags, wrapping paper, letters, notes, crackers etc.

BUT most importantly have fun making your album. It should not be a chore and you should not be getting stressed about it. If you do all of these things in the run up to Christmas, you could sit down one evening and complete your album in no time at all.

So Christmas has passed and you have all your photos. What do you do with them now?

This Christmas Page is a really quick and stay safe page for the beginner Scrapbooker, and is suitable for a first time Scrapbooker as well.

EQUIPMENT: 12 X 12 Scrapbook Page Adhesive Alphabet letters White Card Background paper for the title 6 X Pictures all 6X4 size.

METHOD: 1) Get your 6 pictures and arrange them on the 12 X 12 page, with three pictures at the top of the page and three at the bottom. You can overlap the pictures slightly so that you leave a little border around the edge of the paper.

2) Stick these pictures down.

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Written By Kerry from Scrapbookerry 3) Using the Alphabet letters, write, “CHRISTMAS COMES BUT ONCE A YEAR” or a similar title on the White Card.

4) Cut the white card out to form a title.

5) Stick this card onto the Background paper for the title.

6) Cut this card out to make an edge around the title.

7) Stick this title in the middle of the page, covering the line across the photographs where the top and middle meet.

Your page is finished. It is one of the simplest pages ever and can be made by anyone and repeated over and over.

If you want to add journaling, just stick a journal box over one of the backgrounds of the picture.

Made from recycled materials and simple techniques, these little tree ornaments are easy enough to make with the kids, but versatile enough to create a lovely gift for someone special.

Basic materials: torn strips of newspaper cardboard box craft knife/scissors pencil plain flour and water Other possible materials for decorating your ornaments could include paint, glitter, beads, buttons, ribbon, old book or magazine pages, herbs and spices ‌ anything you have lying around, in fact!

Basic papier mache method: 1. Cut some simple Christmas shapes from cardboard.

Draw them freehand onto cardboard from an old box, or make yourself a stencil by drawing your shape onto a piece of paper (you can trace or photocopy a template from somewhere, if you don't want to draw freehand.) Transfer this onto the lid of a margerine or ice cream tub and cut out with scissors or a craft knife. This will provide you with a durable stencil that will last for ages.

2. Tear newspaper into strips along the grain (1-3 cm wide) If you tear a newspaper along the grain it will tear easily into strips. The width will depend on the shape you have chosen. Smaller shapes need thinner strips, as do more complicated shapes (Christmas trees and stars, for example.) The thickness of your newspaper will also vary. Thinner paper is easier to fold and mould around corners; thicker paper is better for simple shapes, but gives a lovely rustic finish, if that's what you're after.

3. Prepare glue – mix one part plain flour to one part tepid water You can also use diluted pva glue or wallpaper paste, but I like to keep things natural and eco-friendly, so always use flour and water. Whisk the flour into the water until smooth. Don't use warm water as this will make the flour begin to stick together and make a gloopy mess! But you can take the chill off, to save your hands getting cold.

TIP: Be prepared to make a mess! Keep some kitchen roll or an old tea towel to hand.

4. Spread plenty of glue over your shape.

5. Run strips through glue and then through fingers to remove excess.

6. Wrap strips round your shape, smoothing creases as you go.

Leave to dry thoroughly and repeat with a second layer. Wrap in at least two layers, but further layers will make your finished ornament more robust; add as many as you like, drying thoroughly between layers.

Paint with a base coat of emulsion paint. (This is a great way to use up scraps of paint you have hanging around. But poster paint or acrylic will 50

do just as well, if you haven't any emulsion.) Sand gently and repeat if you like, to make a very hard, smooth surface. (A simple, na誰ve finish can be very beautiful, though.)

Make a hole with a dremmel, a nail or a thick needle and add ribbon, string or wire to hang.

Now have some fun indulging your creativity!

Decorative Suggestions: The simplest decoration is the paper you use to cover your ornament. Try recycling an old book (especially if it has a Christmas theme), or using sheet music as the final layer of paper.

Paint your ornaments using any kind of paint. Leave them simply painted or try spots/stripes or Christmas motifs. Try painting lots of hearts red, embellish with a gold pen (or perhaps white for a Scandinavian flavour) and hang together for stunning effect.

Unvarnished, your ornaments will last well if you take a little care, wrapping them carefully in brown paper for next year and avoiding any contact with water. But you might like to varnish one you make as a special gift to ensure it lasts for a long time ... or if you just want them to be shiny!

Once you have your basic ornament, you can add embellishments as you like. Your imagination is your only limitation, but here are a few simple ideas: Glue on a simple ribbon bow.

Or a charm or card topper.

Cover in glitter or sprinkles. Try using the same colour and shape.

Or use the same colour but a different shape.

Or a different colour.

Decorate with fabric and buttons.

Or make holes around the edges and thread with wire and beads.

Use gold thread, elastic or ribbon and beads to decorate a Christmas tree shape.

You could also try collage, perhaps using a photograph to personalise your ornaments, or use a pen to write a special message.

Wrap in tissue or cellophane and put in a pretty box or bag to give as a gift. http://heartmadegifts.wordpress.com

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Written by Dianne from Heartmade Gifts

H

i! I’m Gayle, owner of Happy Hands Belcoo. I handcraft Bespoke wedding accessories. It has always upset me when people can’t see the time and love that goes into any handcrafted product. My partner was always trying to encourage me to cast on blogTV.com. I have been a member since 10:12:2009 as a personal user. In one of my frustrating rants with my partner, he again said it would be a perfect medium to promote my work. After a great deal of consideration, I decided to take the plunge with my first ‘show and tell’ cast were I showed my products live via web cam whilst answering chat room guests questions. I’ve never been a great at writing and struggle with my blogger account. I find it hard to allow my personality to shine through and remain professional at the same time.

Do you? Is it possible to achieve both?

name a few, can watch direct from the external site without entering blogTV.com, although they can’t join the chat. My shows are in many Could you craft live formats. My most valuable are my ‘In over the internet?

The Make’ shows, where viewers watch me while I work. This has I would like to be able to achieve solved my dilemma, as now people both, as I think brides expect a are able to see how time consuming it professional and confidential service is to make intricate, yet deceptively but with bespoke products based simple, pieces. I also do ‘chat’ shows around the bride’s personality, it is which are basic questions and important that my personality shines answers shows where I play a slide through too! I decided to take the show of my work and chat to guests. plunge!

I also create detailed “item specific” Setting up wasn’t difficult. I registered shows, providing viewers with 3D as “Happy Hands”, plugged in my views of specific products. webcam and clicked “start broadcast”. Personally, I’ve found my niche. I It really is that simple. My first show have no fear of the cam and enjoy only had 8 viewers. Once you start, making the shows. I’ve also on you forget about the camera and it several occasions now , had the becomes quite natural. honour of being used as blogTV's As with many websites, your page is ‘Your Featured’ Show, which is live on like a profile which you can edit. I blogTV.com's home page. This means have been able to set up schedules that each person who logs on sees for my shows with detail specific to your show first in the main screen. that show. My playground also Whilst featured I’m able run a link to contains a mini bio, my schedule, links my website and Facebook, which has to my important sites, photo galleries definitely boosted my traffic to both and my Facebook page badge. I have sites. also embedded my blog page into many of my sites meaning that my website and Facebook visitors to

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So what is blogtv? mobile platform, making it even more accessible and convenient! logTV was a dream that began in blogTV is a leading live, interactive, Israel as an experiment in June internet broadcasting platform that 2004, and was a pioneer in the enables anyone with an internet webcasting industry. It’s goals were connection and a camera to connect to supply anyone and everyone with to their audience in an evocative, internet access, a way to express direct way. Unlike previous their talents and ideas to the world “webcasting” technology, blogTV uses and to socially network with people a 1 to many model, which means that face to face. blogTV.com was officially the user can broadcast to an audience launched to America and the rest of of unlimited size. blogTV's platform the world in June 2007. Just six has been used to broadcast months after its commencement, everything from high school proms to blogTV.com celebrated an impressive exciting music concerts, and people 100,000 member benchmark. 2008 are finding new and innovative uses also marked the launch of blogTV's for it every day. Whether viewing

b

Today, people are using blogTV for everything including: * Live music events and personal chats between bands/musicians and their fans. * Self-made talk shows . * How to shows for everything ranging from cooking to fine art. * Educational shows teaching job skills, history,Theology…etc. * Life changing events such as weddings and births. * Gaming competitions where users can join in as co-hosts. * Fund raising for a plethora of charities Specific events include: * blogTV's has had a couple of live weddings, among them a user who couldn’t make it to her own mother's wedding who was able to watch it live on blogTV. * One YouTuber named Spricket24 gave birth while her chatroom cheered her on :) * One user took her viewers to her high school prom. * blogTV's has had streams of live news events: i.e. Occupy protests, Ground Zero "celebrations" when Osama BinLaden was reported dead, real-time updates from the Japan Earthquakes

(http://blog.blogtv.com/2011/03/japa n-earthquake-blogtv-livecoverage.html), etc. * Live weather streams: Tornado chasers, eclipses, a Supernova, etc. * Several users went on to receive fame and recognition on other platforms (one was a regular guest on the Howard Stern Show, one on the Ellen Degeneres show, one recently won an Emmy Award) * Musicians use blogTV to talk to fans, broadcast rehearsals, live streams from their music studios, concerts, some filmed their music videos and albums live on blogTV. * US soldiers have streamed live from Iraq * One user recently broke the Guinness Record for both Longest Continuous Rap and Longest Continuous Freestyle rap - Over 9 hours of live freestyling. * blogTV's has had several live animal cams, including several streams where animals gave birth live on cam (birds, dogs, storks, etc). * Many celebrities have used blogtv’s platform, some even before they became famous (i.e. a very young Justin Bieber * Artists use blogTV to show off their skills and talents: painters, puppeteers, tattoo artists, arts and crafts, etc. One artist even wrote a book about how she made money from the virtual world and the use

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Written By Gayle Scarratt special live events like blogTV’s session with Suzanne Vega, live shows with R&B superstar Montell Jordan and basketball bigwig Stephon Marbury or just exploring blogTV's archives for unique UGC content ranging from up-and-coming musicians, actors or news anchors; blogTV is all about quality content. It opens up a new world of possibilities and experiences to our broadcasters and viewers equally. The now old fashioned world of pre-recorded videos and static, non-interactive l ogging simply cannot achieve these outstanding results.

of blogTV in the process http://tinyurl.com/5v6onrb) * We've had pizza delivered live to a bathtub :) * Live tutorials: cooking shows, make-up tutorials, art tutorials, tech and computer tutorials.

Over the years blogTV has accumulated awards including the GSM "Best Made for Mobile" award in Barcelona, the GMCA "New Trend Leader" award at the Seoul digital forum and Adobe's "Site of the Day". Today, blogTV does what it set out to do providing anyone with a webcam and internet access a way to share with, network and enjoy the company of a global community.

Visit Gayle on blogtv and her websites. www.happyhandsbelcoo.com www.facebook.com/happyhandsbelcoo www.blogtv.com/people/happyhands http://happyhandsbelcoo.misi.co.uk

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Creative crafting Directory of Crafters

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Don’t miss our Valentines issue Out on 1st february 2012

More projects, more interviews, more crafting possibilities.

Don’t forget that you can embed our magazine reader into your blogs and websites.

www.creative-crafting.com