Old moodboards

A couple of my moodboards.

Old things I've made (and finally got round to photographing!)

my handmade tree
word up
thug luvin'
nature club
cute n' cozy

My New Old Bike

I've wanted a vintage bicycle for ages and I finally got this one (or have been loaned one long-term!) from my boyfriend's Dad. He found it in his garage and gave it a spruce up and its looks as good as new, even though it is 36 years old, now I just need a bell and a basket. Word of warning to others wishing to get your hands on a vintage cycle - they are pretty hard work to pedal even on a slight hill as the gears of yesteryear don't seem to be geared (geddit!) up for biking up and down hills - which is pretty much all of Sheffield, then, but its all good exercise!

Dear blog...

Sorry! I havent deserted you completely, just been mega busy - will be back to normal soon! For now, here are a few images I liked this week. For links to the sites they come from click here. Will post pics of my new vintage bike, my new veg plot (providing said veg hasn't died before I get to take pics of it!) and other things I've been up to soon.

Come along...

Next one this Wednesday, email craftyworkshops@yahoo.co.uk to book a spot or for more information

Naomi Lingerie

Cute handmade lingerie from Japan by Naomi Lingerie

XT Atelier

I found XT Atelier's work on flickr a while back, I just love the fresh and free feeling of her work and the inspiration that her studio, furniture, art and blog all give me. One day, maybe i will be living in a warm mediterranean country with my own atelier. Until then, I will keep looking at these lovely images

Some things I liked this week

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Some lovely things.

Mini Fairs

The mini fairs, which I help to organise on behalf of Craft Candy are back! The first one is going to be held at Bungalows and Bears on 12 June from 1-5pm. Be there or be square!

Word clouds

I ran a small shoe customisation workshop last Sunday at Jam Jar Beads and met some lovely ladies who made some beautiful adornments for their tooties. I love running workshops and seeing the lovely things each person makes which are all so unique. One of the ladies who attended the event has created this lovely word cloud based on the day. Its such a lovely idea and something I had never heard of before (word clouds can be created at Wordle), but I love it, here is the link for you to look at others or even create your own.

Focofilms

Always one to help a brother out, I wanted to put a shout out to my li'l brother (and his fiance) who have got their website up and running for their company Focofilms, specialising in documentary film work. Their film called Eloise recently won the judge's award at Reedfilms and the Guardian chose this film to be shown at the Hay on Wye festival yesterday too.

Tara Badcock

(this one is the front panel of a wedding dress that Tara designed for a friend!)

Wow! This lady's work is absolutely stunning! Tara Badcock, creator of Paris Tasmania resided in Paris for 3 years before returning to Tasmania. She creates her own range of homewares, fashion and textile wares using fabric manipulation and embroidery techniques. I am absolutely in love with the wedding dress embroidery she created for a friend!! There are literally hundreds of amazing images of Tara's work on her flickr site. Go check it out!

Felt Mistress

My boyfriend recently commissioned the super-super talented Felt Mistress to create some hospital/medical inspired characters for a photo-shoot he was doing for work. Once the shots are signed off I will share them here, but for now, I thought you might like to see some of the amazingly detailed work that Felt Mistress has created. (A lot of these characters are over 1-2 feet tall!)

Blog of the week

..is normally on a Friday but I've been a bit lax over the last couple of weeks, so I'm doing an extra one this week. Craftsville is a pretty new website and the joint venture of Helen Entwhistle of Hello Memo and her pal Michelle. Its a great site featuring tutorials, giveaways, whats on listings, opportunities, reviews and even more! Sarah, our talented Craft Candy founder, has a post on there this week showing you how to make your own fabric banners for fairs

Dreaming

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One day I will ride to my super-organised and downright lovely workshop on a pretty pink bike and then after a lovely day making pretty things, I will ride back home on my sugar-pink bike to my adorable wooden house. One day, one day!

Shoe Customisation Workshop 30 May

I'm doing some more workshops at Jam Jar Beads in Sheffield city centre this month. This shoe customisation workshop will be held on Sunday 30th May from 11am to 1pm and costs just £18. This is a fun and easy workshop where you can come with your own shoes and using our fabric and buttons/beads/ribbons, make removeable shoe embellishments to match your outfits and leave with one of a kind, exclusive pretties for your tootsies.

If you would like to book a place or would like more information, please email me at craftyworkshops@yahoo.co.uk

Brooch Workshop 15th May

I'm doing some more workshops at Jam Jar Beads in Sheffield city centre this month. The first is a fabric brooch workshop on 15th May (pictured). This is a fun and easy workshop to make brooches using laminated images in a nest of vintage fabrics and decorated using beads, buttons and ribbons. I will also show you other methods for making more easy fabric brooches at home. This workshop costs £15 and will take place from 11am til 1pm on Saturday 15th May at Jam Jar Beads in Sheffield City Centre. If you would like to book a place or would like more information, please email me at craftyworkshops@yahoo.co.uk

Roadside Projects

I came across these lovely papercut designs today by Jayme of Roadside Projects and wanted to share them with you, in case you haven't seen this wonderful work before. If you fancy some of these lovely artworks to adorn your walls, then pop over to the Roadside Projects etsy store.

I really admire artists who create work that has its own unique style. Its something I've found hard to do, i think I spend so much time looking at the lovely work of other people that when I sit down to design or make something, it often seems to sub-consciously become a watered down (much less successful) version of other people's style. I think I need to spend more time creating and less time on the computer, maybe then I would develop my own unique style over time... that might be pretty tough - I love looking at the work of so many talented people on the 'net. Maybe, a late new years resolution.