meet a maker

being the inquisitive little feltmaker that i am, i thought it might be interesting to hear about other maker's stories. if you would like to be featured, please leave me a comment and i'll get in touch with some questions for you.

so, grab a cuppa, put your feet up and lets meet charlotte from charlotte hupfield ceramics ...

Please introduce yourself …
Hello! My name is Charlotte Hupfield. I am a Ceramic Designer/Maker, living and making my work in Northamptonshire, UK. My passion is clay! I have a beautiful cat named Molly, I have a huge soft spot for anything earthy, natural & organic, I enjoy going for walks in the woods, I love to sit out in the garden on a summer evening chatting with a glass of wine, sunshine makes me smile. My favourite foods are pizza, roast chicken & marshmallows (although not all together!), and I love trying tasty new recipes.

How would you describe your work / style?
I sell a range of unique handmade ceramic items including vases, bowls, sculptural vessels, clocks, sets of coasters, wall plaques, letter racks, hanging decorations and accessories. I’m always coming up with new items and designs. Each item is an individual one-off so no two pieces are ever the same. My main source of inspiration comes from the natural world and I hope this shines through in the style of my work.Who, or what, inspires you?
I’m inspired by everything natural - especially close up surfaces such as tree bark, rocks, and plants. I like to photograph these types of things whilst out walking, I’ve always got my camera with me! Whilst concealed amongst these natural surroundings in the landscape, I feel relaxed and at home. I find it amazing to see the changes in rocks and coves caused by weathering and erosion from the sea, bumpy and colourful linear patterns found within fields and hills, and the surfaces in nature where no two marks are ever the same – it is this particular aspect that my ceramics connects to.

Do you sell your work? If so, what helped you decide to start selling your work?
I started selling my work towards the end of my degree where I specialised in a BA (Hons) in Surface Decoration, 2008. It was part of one of my modules at university to get my work out there into some sort of venue, and I decided to approach a local gallery about displaying a selection of my work. They ended up selling a few pieces in a short amount of time which was such a great feeling, and this made me want to start selling my work everywhere I could.

Where can I buy your work?
My work can be purchased from various online shops including;
My direct online store: http://www.charlottehupfieldceramicsshop.com/
Folksy: http://www.folksy.com/shops/charlottehupfieldceramics
Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/CharlotteCeramics
Swanky Maison: http://www.swankymaison.com/about/charlotte-hupfield-ceramics.html
Gift Wrapped & Gorgeous: http://www.giftwrappedandgorgeous.co.uk/supplier_13896-products.htm
Made by Hands of Britain: http://www.madebyhandsofbritain.com/makers/charlottehupfieldceramics
Wow Thank You: http://www.wowthankyou.co.uk/store/supplier.php?secondary=26#

My work is also available at different galleries and outlets (see the Stockists page on my website), and at various craft fairs and events I am attending throughout the year (see Events page on my website).Do you have a website or blog address?
My website is http://www.charlottehupfieldceramics.com/ and my blog is http://www.charlottehupfieldceramics.blogspot.com/ I love my blog and enjoy reading others, it's great way of networking with other like-minded people and sharing thoughts, tips, ideas and experiences.

How did you learn your craft and how long have you been creating?
It all started with my fascination with clay at school, which led me to develop my creative skills at college where I completed various A-Levels including 3D Design, Fine Art and Art & Design. This broad range of artistic skills and knowledge got me straight into university where I studied a BA (Hons) in Surface Decoration. I have always found surfaces, patterns, textures and colours the most visually appealing. Throughout this 3 year course I specialised in ceramics and focused on developing my own style of work. I have now been continuing to make and develop my work from my workshop in my garden for the past 2 years.Is there any other craft skill you would like to learn?
I always enjoyed textiles in college, and would love to be skilled on a sewing machine.

Have you had any work featured in magazines/books/galleries?
My large organic structures which were part of my degree show pieces of work were featured in the Ceramic Review magazine, and I have also been featured in the Creative Connections magazine. My work has been displayed in various different exhibitions.

If I wasn’t doing this, I’d be …
Probably dreaming about doing it :)

I couldn’t do this if it wasn’t for …
My mum and my boyfriend for all of their appreciated support.

Describe your perfect day.
Preparing loads of delicious food and inviting my friends & family over for a relaxing day in the sunshine, and then discovering my e-mail inbox was full of orders and sales!Describe your proudest moment.
When I passed my driving test about 6 years ago, I was convinced I'd failed!

What do you do to relax?
I like to sit out in the garden with my feet up on a warm day. I also enjoy snuggling up on the sofa with a good film.

Marmite … love it or hate it?
Hate it :)

What animal would you be, and why?
Probably a cat. My cat Molly is so laid back and doesn't have a care in the world. Oh, and she gets to sleep when she wants, for as long as she wants!What’s your weakness?
There's not a day that goes by where I can't resist checking my e-mails, reading blogs, and reading the Folksy forums.

How do you keep motivated?
Listening to music while I'm working keeps me motivated, I somehow manage to get lots done. If I’m ever feeling stuck for inspiration (which does happen from time to time), I dig out a book I own called Sources of Inspiration by Carolyn Genders and have a good flick through it. This book guarantees to get the creative juices flowing again!

What do you wish you’d known when you first started out?
That my 'to do' list would always be about 10 pages long, so that I could prepare myself to be more organised!What advice would you give to someone just starting out?
Don't let things that get in your way put you off. Follow your dreams and keep at it, no matter if other people think what you're doing isn't right. It is a lot of hard work, and can take up a lot of your time, but it is important to take breaks away from things every now and then! Learn to take really good photographs of your work to show off its high standards, and most of all enjoy it all.

thanks for taking the time to chat charlotte, glad to know i'm not the only one with a 10 page to-do list! don't know about you, but i seem to add three more to-do's for every one i manage to tick off :)

the wonderful world of macro

now that i've discovered the macro feature on the camera, i'm finding that i've got a slightly different view of everything!

maybe it's just me, but look at this ...


i love the iridescence of the surface, the repeating looping pattern, and the colour of the blue!

(maybe i need to get out more ... ?)

lots more kits

i've spent most of the past six weeks making new stock for the lovely shops in crieff and york that sell my fatcat felt range.

i seem to be drowning in felt balls and felt beads at the moment so i was glad to get a break and get these kits finished.

my kits have been quite popular and i really like the idea that they will introduce feltmaking to new folk and inspire lots more creativity.

if you have bought one of my kits in the past, i'd love to see what you've made.

weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them.

a. a. milne

(i shall try to remember this the next time i'm weeding!)

wordless wednesday: välkommen till stockholm

happy pancake day!

> ingredients
120g plain flour
pinch of salt
2 eggs
210ml milk
90ml water
1 tbsp vegetable oil

> method
1. put the flour and salt into a bowl and mix together.
2. make a well in the flour/salt and crack in the two eggs.
3. in a separate bowl, mix together the milk and water.
4. beat the eggs into the flour with a wooden spoon.
5. gradually beat in the milk and water mix to get a smooth liquid, with a creamy consistency.
6. stir in the oil and leave to stand for 30 mins before cooking.
7. add a little oil to a hot frying pan
8. pour in some of the pancake mix, how much depends on how thick you like your pancakes!
9. cook until set and then flip to finish cooking the other side.
10. serve with your favourite filling (lemon and sugar for me).
11. eat while cooking the next one!

not much in the way of a pic for this one, too busy making and eating, making and eating, just an empty plate to show how tasty they were - bliss :)

garden planning

we've had such a long winter compared to our usual - snow from mid november through to the end of january, and then another dump of snow just when we were enjoying the sight of the grass again. followed by weeks of ice and frost, sigh!

as the ground was too hard to dig and i couldn't see the plants to prune them, i consoled myself with sorting through our seed packets and reading books, while planning and making lists.

finally it looks like spring is arriving, we've had a few sunny, but still chilly, days so we might at last be able to get out and start digging in the garden again. time to get tidying, ready for sowing and planting.

each year we plant a little more than last year and try something new, and this year i'm really looking forward to getting some plants in that will give us lovely flowers in the summer before they get harvested for the dye pot in the autumn :)

meet a maker

being the inquisitive little feltmaker that i am, i thought it might be interesting to hear about other maker's stories. if you would like to be featured, please leave me a comment and i'll get in touch with some questions for you.

so, grab a cuppa, put your feet up and lets meet heather from nifty knits ...

Please introduce yourself …
Hello – my “real” name is Heather, but I’m more likely to answer to Nifty ;-D I live in the countryside in Kent, UK with my husband.

How would you describe your work / style?
Quirky, humorous and definitely “off the wall”. Being featured by www.regretsy.com proves that! I’m in the Regretsy book, released in April 2010.

I wasn’t entirely pleased when I first discovered I’d been featured on Regretsy but the resulting sales convinced me it was good!Who, or what, inspires you?
Nature…and TV! The meerkats started after watching Meerkat Manor. I said to myself “I could knit one of them” and the rest, as they say, is history.

Sometimes it’s just looking through my yarn stash and a particular colour calls out to be knitted with.

Do you sell your work? If so, what helped you decide to start selling your work?
I started selling on ebay years ago but they don’t really appreciate handmade over there. My son’s girlfriend suggested another venue, and I was off! At first, like many, I thought of it as a self-funding hobby, but demand increased and showed me it was time to think of it as a business. I’m fulltime now, knit knit knit all day :)Where can I buy your work?
My primary shop now is at http://www.zibbet.com/NiftyKnits. You can find my full range of knits there, Zibbet is a fabulous site which is growing quickly and responds to the needs of the sellers.

Do you have a website or blog address?
All my links can be found on my website www.niftyknits.co.uk
Blog: www.niftyknits-somuchyarnsolittletime.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/NiftyKnits
http://artist.to/niftyknits/

How did you learn your craft?
I first learnt to knit as a child, I remember knitting clothes for my dolls! Later I knitted for my children, but it wasn’t until maybe 5 or 6 years ago that Niftyknits became my passion.

Have you had any work featured in magazines/books/galleries?
I have a (relatively!) bulging media ringbinder, I’ve been featured in:
Popular Crafts, Yarnforward and Period Living magazines, and of course Harry Hill’s TV show “the K factor”.Has your work won any prizes/competitions?
I won the Christmas 2008 Folksy competition, which was brilliant, I won a whole year of free listings. I was also joint second in Folksy’s “Make the News” competition in 2009 – I’ve even been interviewed by radio shows several times!

2010 was the best yet though. Harry Hill’s TV competition, “The K Factor” attracted ten THOUSAND entries – and my Harry Hill Meerkat was one of five finalists! http://niftyknits-somuchyarnsolittletime.blogspot.com/2010/03/k-factorthe-after-party.html

Meridian News commissioned me to “meerkat” their presenters as a result, which was fun. http://niftyknits-somuchyarnsolittletime.blogspot.com/2010/03/compare-meerkats.html

If I wasn’t doing this, I’d be …
Knitting!

I couldn’t do this if it wasn’t for …
My husband. He sorts out my website, goes to the post office for me, and doesn’t mind me knitting all day long! He’s my number one fan!Any funny stories you’d like to share?
There are too many to mention. I often knit commissions, and the email conversations back and forth with my buyers would be hysterical to an outsider, discussing where a meerkat’s beard should be, or whether a female meerkat should have a bust!

Describe your perfect day.
Tea in bed followed by full English breakfast, finish off last night’s commission and post it, network online briefly, go out walking by the sea (which would conveniently have moved nearby!) and then have lunch at the pub. Home to knit some more.

What do you do to relax?
Walk in the countryside, read in the bath.Marmite … love it or hate it?
I’m the exception to the rule, I quite like marmite sometimes, not always though.

What’s your weakness?
Posh crisps!

How do you keep motivated?
Not really an issue, I love knitting, there are always loads of new designs buzzing around my head.

What do you wish you’d known when you first started out?
I wish I’d known right from the start that you can’t just fill your shop with lovely things and the buyers will find you.What advice would you give to someone just starting out?
Promote promote promote! Ask for advice and follow it if it makes sense. There is no point starting forum threads asking why your stuff isn’t selling and then sulking if people tell you your photos aren’t good enough. We’ve all been there. Price properly. Your time is valuable, and handmade deserves respect! New sellers often don’t seem to realise that they need to take their materials, time and fees (both venue and paypal fees) into account when setting prices. My husband created a fees calculator for me which is available as a free download from my website: http://www.niftyknits.co.uk/

What question did you hope to be asked but didn’t?
Have you got a newsletter?

What would your answer have been?
***Please sign up for my newsletter http://bit.ly/7nihIO to be the first to know about new Meerkats and special offers***

thanks for taking the time to chat heather and sharing your great pics, your meerkats always bring a smile to my face :)

hummus

so the healthy eating regimen has finally kicked in, now all i need to do is find time to fit in some exercise and i might start to shift my winter layers (extra pounds unfortunately, not clothing!).

i love home-made hummus, and it feels especially healthy when i have it with rice cakes, seriously tasty.

and if i feel like i can spare a few more calories, i top it with grated cheese - yum!

i lost the recipe yonks ago so each time i make it, it tastes slightly different but here's a rough outline.

> ingredients
a 400g can of chickpeas
two cloves of garlic
juice from one lemon
100ml tahini
25ml olive oil

and you can add paprika to taste if you wish.

> method
1. drain the chickpeas.
2. pop all ingredients in the blender and blitz.
3. taste and add more garlic/olive oil/tahini/paprika if needed.

ta-daa! now you need never eat store bought hummus again :)

a lovely commission

i always love to get a commission, it feels like a compliment that someone likes what i make enough to ask me to create something especially for them. and it's always lovely to make something that you know will be loved and appreciated.

it's an added bonus when a commission encourages me to make a piece i normally wouldn't have thought of, so when i was asked to make seat pads for a lady via mandy at an cnoc, i was a little apprehensive but couldn't wait to make a start.

thankfully the customer liked the sample so much, she ordered two for herself and a further four to give to her sister! happily, the sample also found a good home, on the chair i usually take when i'm at a market.

here's the end result ...
and a little close-up because i've discovered the macro function, and i can't get enough macro shots of felt!

artist talk in edinburgh tonight

the danish cultural institute, (3 doune terrace, edinburgh, eh3 6dy, 0131 225 7189) is hosting an artist talk tonight at 5.30pm, admission free.

glasgow textile artist joanna kinnersly-taylor (www.joannakinnerslytaylor.com) will talk about her own work and danish textile artists, margrethe agger and anet brusgaard, will talk about ‘artapestry’, european tapestry forum (www.tapestry.dk) a juried international exhibition of contemporary tapestries.

the exhibition ’textile, silver, wood’ runs from 21st feb to 15th april, and the opening hours are 10am - 4pm, mon to thurs.

have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.

william morris

on discovering this quote, i explained to m that he should think himself really rather fortunate as i fulfil both these criteria!!!

wordless wednesday: välkommen till stockholm

easy fruit cake

this never lasts long when i make it!

my friend's mum gave me this recipe years ago, in fact the measurements are still in ounces :)

> ingredients
12ozs mixed fruit
4ozs brown sugar
4ozs butter
1/2 pint water
2 eggs
8ozs self raising flour
4ozs cherries
2tsp mixed spice

and when i make it at christmas i swap brandy for the 1/2 pint water, and normally chuck in a little more just in case - nobody enjoys a dry cake now do they?

> method
1. place fruit, sugar, butter and water in pan. bring to the boil and simmer for 20 mins.
2. allow to cool then add mixed spice, cherries and beaten egg. stir in the flour.
3. turn mixture into a greased loaf tin.
4. bake for one and a half hours at 150oC / 300oF / gas mark 2.

see, told you it was easy :)

meet a maker

being the inquisitive little feltmaker that i am, i thought it might be interesting to hear about other maker's stories. if you would like to be featured, please leave me a comment and i'll get in touch with some questions for you.

so, grab a cuppa, put your feet up and lets meet ruth of purple pomegranate ...

Hi – my name is Ruth Lane and I live in the beautiful Northwest corner of Montana, USA. I own a fine craft gallery, The Purple Pomegranate, located in Whitefish, Montana and when I’m not at the store, I’m working on my fiber art. I love playing with textures and combining techniques to create unique pieces of art.

When I discovered felting more than four years ago, I finally found the creative outlet for which I had been searching. As a self taught fiber artist, the versatility of fiber allows me to “play” with a wide variety of materials including wool, silk, fabrics, yarns and threads. Creating one of a kind fiber art pieces to share with the world fulfils my creative passion.

One technique that I especially enjoy is the ancient technique of felt making. Traditionally to make felt, raw or dyed wool was dampened with soapy water and agitated (usually by stomping or rolling) to “felt” the wool. I use this traditional method of wet felting as well as dry felting with needles, either by hand or machine. I then embellish the felt with free motion machine embroidery, hand stitching and other techniques to develop a unique design.
margaret's vase
I am inspired by the beauty of the natural world, be it an “ordinary” piece of grass, a tiny bit of lichen or the gorgeous Montana landscapes. When you look at my work, I want you to be drawn into the layers and details of the rich, textural surface and to “feel” the joy of its creation.

Since I have owned a fine craft gallery for over eleven years, when I started creating fiber art pieces, it was an easy decision to sell my work through the gallery. However, it did take me a while before I decided that my pieces were worthy of a place on the wall beside other artists work. I started selling small pieces such as felted cat toys, recycled fulled sweater brooches, barrettes etc. I am now selling my one of a kind “felt paintings”, machine embroidered “paintings” and felted “quilts” in the gallery.

Work can be purchased through the store www.purplepomegranate.com. All pieces can be seen on my blog called Permutations in Fiber.

{You’ll also find some great tutorials on Ruth’s blog – very inspirational, but beware … feltmaking is very addictive once you start :) }
what i've been dyeing
By thinking about what I want to do and keeping those intentions in the forefront of my mind, I plan to do more creative work in 2011.
1. Explore surface design on various fabrics including felt, silk and cotton.
2. Explore combinations of machine embroidery, hand embroidery and felt.
3. Take further classes at the Gail Harker Center.
4. Make more work and develop a body of work in my own style.
5. Enter a piece in a local exhibition.
6. Place work in another gallery in the area.
7. Blog more frequently and include more tutorials.

While thinking about the two concepts of picking a word for the year and feeling the fear but doing it anyway, I came up with my word for the year. Choose. I know this sounds a bit silly but it's what came to my mind and it won't go away. I have a choice in how I spend my time. I can choose to come home from work and veg out in front of the television or I can choose to play with fiber or play in my studio journal. I can choose to spend my money on whatever strikes my fancy when I'm at the store or I can choose to save my money so I will be able to attend a fiber art class. I can choose to just have my work in my own shop or I can choose to call other galleries and see if my work can be carried in a different gallery. I can choose to not show my work because "it might not be good enough" or I can choose to enter it into a local exhibition.

So this year, I will make my choices with intention. I will make sure that I am thinking about what I am choosing, not just letting a situation occur by not making a choice.
felted poinsettias tutorial
My perfect day is to spend the day with my husband and our two Yorkies in the great outdoors of Montana. We love to hike, boat, downhill ski and just enjoy the beautiful surroundings. Of course I’ll have my studio journal along with me and sketch a leaf or a section of bark for use later in my artwork.

Owning your own business takes a good deal of energy and many times when I get home, I am not really motivated to work on my art. It has been good for me to set specific goals to follow and get into the habit of working for at least an hour a day on my art. Even if I don’t feel motivated, the most important thing is to have a project ready to go so I can just sit down and start working. Once I start working on my art, the motivation is there, the hardest thing is starting. I’m keeping a record of my time in the studio this year and it has been giving me motivation to just do something even if it’s only for a few minutes.

I started making art late in life. As a child, I was discouraged from being artistic because I couldn’t draw. Of course, I never was taught to draw and never took any art courses along the way. This discouraged me from being creative. I wished I had known that everyone is creative and as Twyla Tharp says “Creativity is a habit.” It saddens me when people tell me that they aren’t creative. So many people are discouraged from expanding their natural creativity and I am so much happier now that I am creating on a daily basis. My advice for newcomers is to trust your creative instinct and don’t listen to any naysayer in your life (even the one inside yourself). Follow your heart!
using hand-held sander for wet felting
I am always so amazed at the kindness and generosity of the people I meet in fiber forums and blogs. I appreciate everything I have learned from you all and I look forward to meeting more fiber friends from around the world.

thanks for taking the time to chat ruth, i've been a loyal fan of your blog for a while now and really appreciate your inspirational creativity.

a busy ol' week

well, i don't quite know where this week has gone!

i got back from a long overdue trip to see my family in london on monday night.

it was great to see everyone again and i really enjoyed the trip my mum and i took to the william morris gallery, wonderful - even if it did take three hours to get there on public transport!

then before i knew it, we were off to edinburgh on wednesday for m to read at 'the ghost of shatner', which was held as part of the let's get lyrical festival.

i really loved the idea of this event, which was an experiment to see if song lyrics would stand up on their own, no music, no accompaniment. each reader chose a song that was important to them, gave a little intro and read the lyrics, which worked remarkably well.

a really well organised event, in an amazing venue but a bit of a late night for a work night which meant i slept most of the way home in the car. you can find pics of the event here: flickr - including a rare photo of m and i together that i actually quite like! and audio recordings of all the readers: here.

if i can recommend only one, it would be the last reader of the evening, stephen barnaby who 'read' rasputin by boney m - an absolutely hysterical performance and i can't remember the last time i laughed so much!

friday saw some much longed-for sunshine so m and i headed off out with the nature bag for a walk, heard lots of birds but didn't see that many but we did see lots of mushrooms! it was glorious to be out in the sunshine again, although it was a little windy at the top of the hill ... (as i had hoped to show you but the video i took won't upload for some reason and now i can't even get it to play again, aaaaaargh!!!).





yesterday i went to my first workshop in far too long a time. part of my goals for this year is to learn new techniques and get back to having fun playing with feltmaking and i certainly ticked both of those boxes! i went along to hat in the cat, which is co-owned by jeanette sendler and alison mountain, for a chunky wall hangings workshop and i had a ball.

test piece

this was the first time i had ever worked with raw fleece and i loved it! we were also able to use fleeces that had been washed once and others that had been washed twice, it was amazing to see the difference. but i loved the raw fleece, a lovely warm brown with hints of caramel and oatmeal through it. it was a total aladdin's cave with so many different types of fibre to play with: merino; shetland; cashmere; viscose; soybean ... there were so many i can't quite remember them all.

detail on test piece

it was also a good opportunity for me to see the benefit of making a smaller test piece, which we did in the morning, before jumping in to the bigger piece we made in the afternoon. this is something that i haven't tended to do in the past, partly because i'm so impatient but i'll definitely be changing the way i work now. i love the textures in the final piece, not too sure about my use of colour though ... perhaps it'll grow on me?!

chunky wall hanging with lots of gorgeous chunky surface texture

we also had the chance to have a play at lunchtime and made some felt balls (or 'shapes', mine weren't really ball-shaped when they came out of the washing machine).

and now i'm off to help out some friends who are having a work-party to clear their field and build a fence, followed by the first bbq of the year!

ahhhhh it's so lovely to see the sunshine and blue sky after the fog, rain and bleurgh of the past week. hope the sun is shining on you and you're having a great weekend :)

progress however, of the best kind, is comparatively slow. great results cannot be achieved at once; and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we walk, step by step.

samuel smiles

wordless wednesday: välkommen till stockholm

meet a maker

being the inquisitive little feltmaker that i am, i thought it might be interesting to hear about other maker's stories. if you would like to be featured, please leave me a comment and i'll get in touch with some questions for you.

so, grab a cuppa, put your feet up and lets meet aileen from the sunroom ...


Please introduce yourself …
Hi I’m the Sunroom and my name is Aileen.

How would you describe your work / style?
Textiles based mainly at this moment in time crochet biased but I hope exploratory and innovative.

Who, or what, inspires you?
In the main I’m a self motivator so the answer would be me. On a more realistic level I don’t live in a vacuum and so ideas and thoughts in everyday life surroundings and interactions can all be ripe for the picking. Sometimes it’s a visual stimulus other times it’s just thinking about how or why things are the way they are. Other times it’s a case of what if, or why hasn’t that been tried. bluebell granny blanket

Do you sell your work? If so, what helped you decide to start selling your work?
Yes I do sell my work. The decision for that is twofold 1. Necessity if I sell things then I can make more things. 2. It seems, to me, an utterly selfish occupation to spend time making things to then hoard them. Conversely, I do give away a fair amount of what I make and produce a plethora of free patterns and do create for charities too so that must be my altruistic side.

Where can I buy your work?
Directly from me, by commission or from the sunroom etsy shop

love heart rag rug
Do you have a website or blog address?
Yes quite a few
The main one – www.goodtimesithinkso.blogspot.com
The arty one – www.fibreartuk.blogspot.com
The experimental one –
createablogdialogue.blogspot.com/

On this site we are actively looking for fellow creative people to become contributors. The concept being a communal blog for crafty/arty folks to have a blogged dialogue regarding the creative process. If anyone would like to join as a contributor then please email me at thesunroomuk@googlemail.com.

How did you learn your craft? How long have you been creating?
This is a difficult one – I guess the majority of ‘creative inquisitiveness’ would have been nurtured by my mum at a very early age. Certainly all the basic skills of knitting and crochet were leaned aged 4 or 5. Hand & machine sewing within the next couple of years. I was exceptionally lucky in attending a primary school whose overwhelming priority was arts and expression and it was a fine environment for me. It would probably be likened to a Montessori school nowadays.

I then went onto college to do art where we covered everything from textiles, life drawing, graphics, photography, art history etc. I finally ended up going to Hull University to study Fine Art. Since then I went on to study with the Open University for 4 years (none Arts) and then went and did a degree in Psychology/Sociology in Edinburgh after that. So to answer the question I’ve been creating for many years.

Rag Rug featured in 'Making Gifts' Magazine November 2010
Is there any other craft skill you would like to learn?
I think that the more that you actively engage with the creative process the more you learn and at times it takes you off in new directions. I don’t think there are many things I haven’t done and I’m not intimidated by learning a new skill – it’s down to practice and mastering it and making it your own.

My photography is diabolical but that’s down to eyesight as much as lack of my own interest. I prefer to use my hands.

Anything exciting planned for 2011 you’d like to share?
Createablogdialogue as mentioned previously.

I would like to get my work exhibited in more places.
Currently working on the thing-a-day project which may be of interest to fellow crafties and artists www.thing-a-day.com.

‘Exploring Fibre with Innovation’ Project funded by Scottish Arts Council via Fife Council.

There are 2 other projects that I’m working on which are cloak and dagger – need to know basis – at the moment.

I’m also in the embryonic stages of writing a Crochet Rag Rug book.

Have you had any work featured in magazines/books/galleries?
Not really. I managed to get one of my photographs into the Liverpool Tate - Wall of Colour, which was fabulous. I haven’t actively attempted to get coverage as yet.

I’ve also made some sample rag rugs, wholly recycled howies garments and fabrics for howies.co.uk and have had initial talks about selling them in their Carnaby Street Store, London.

Has your work won any prizes/competitions?
No it’s not something I’ve entered into.
Oh I did win the Dorset Cereals Little Blog Award

If I wasn’t doing this, I’d be …
Doing this in a warm place or a place that is more culturally accepting of Art and Crafts.

Freeform Piece for International Freeform Guild Exhibition 2010 - Somewhere in my world
I couldn’t do this if it wasn’t for …
My life and experience to date – bad answer I know.

Any funny stories you’d like to share?
Nothing springs to mind I must just be dull or too serous.

Describe your perfect day.
Sunshine and brightness and new inspiration/ideas probably in the south of France.

Describe your proudest moment.
On a selfish level getting my academic degree and proving to me I had a brain. Having been always encouraged and nurtured in creativity I wasn’t sure I had a brain. I think I confused things a bit up to that point, if that makes sense.

Altruistic moment – having 3 healthy babies my way.

What do you do to relax?
Epsom Salt Baths, Sleep, Garden, Create, Nurture, brain numbing TV when I want my brain to stop imagining/creating and wine.

Marmite … love it or hate it?
Bad answer again – I can take it or leave it.

What animal would you be, and why?
I like frogs and cows asthetically but probably a cat.

What’s your weakness?
Consumerism – it’s the plague of our time. Wanting things that I don’t need especially lots and lots of new yarns. I am actively trying to lose my consumerism.

How do you keep motivated?
It’s not difficult when you love what you do. My biggest problem is trying to hone my focus – too many ideas too little time.

What do you wish you’d known when you first started out?
Life isn’t always fair and patience isn’t my virtue. I might have organised things better.

Pandora's Cushion - Featured article Inside Crochet Issue 13 January, 2011

What advice would you give to someone just starting out?
Find what you love and keep doing it until you don’t love it anymore and then find something else to fall truly, madly, deeply into.

On a practical note – there is a need to understand that nowadays you can’t just produce your art, there are a multiplicity of roles you will need to undertake:

Self Publicist, PA, Marketing, Salesperson, Photographer, Administration, Blogging, Web development work, Fundraiser, documentation, researcher, follower of other blogs, becoming an active member of various organisations, participating in forums and so the list goes on.

What question did you hope to be asked but didn’t?
Something political.

What would your answer have been?
Let’s stop talking the talk and get on with walking the walk.

You can also find me on:
www.twitter.com/TheSunroomUK
www.facebook.com/thesunroomuk
www.ravelry.com/designers/the-sunroomuk

thanks so much for taking the time to chat aileen, i totally know what you mean about having so many ideas and not enough time! it's a good dilemma to have though :)

hee hee hee

not really a good look is it?!

we went through to oban the other weekend for some kayakaing/swimming/larking about in the sea and this was required attire because it was flipping freezing!

age is an issue of mind over matter. if you don't mind, it doesn't matter.

mark twain

Stop the Corvid Cull

I was horrified to learn of this proposed cull from http://www.thecorvidjournal.blogspot.com. Corvids are a particular favourite of mine and the more I learn about them and study them in action, the more I realise they are totally undeserving of the reputation they have wrongly been given. They are intelligent, beautiful creatures. This does not mean however that I value them over songbirds – I see past the hype and value them equally, who are we to decide which species should live and which should die – isn’t that what nature is supposed to do?!

Plus, I’m really uncomfortable about the level of hypocrisy over matters like this – there are stats from the Mammal Society, which estimate that UK cats catch up to 275 million prey items a year, of which 55 million are birds, and I don’t see anyone calling for a cull of domestic cats! Please don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly not advocating a moggy-cull, merely using this as an example.

And then, when you look further into it, you learn that the group calling for the cull has strong connections with the shooting ‘industry’, and the group backing the cull also has connections with the same.

Anyway, enough ranting from me, you can find more information, from animalaid with details of how you can help oppose this senseless cull.

“The Songbird Survival Trust - several of whose most prominent figures own shoots or have strong shooting connections - has called for a cull on corvids (magpies, crows, jackdaws etc). This is despite there being evidence that these birds do not cause the deaths of songbirds as the Trust claims. It is reasonable to conclude that the group’s close connection to the shooting industry lies behind its cull plans given that shooters blame corvids for eating pheasant chicks and the feed intended for ‘game’ birds.

The group’s dubious motives were exposed in The Sunday Times on February 6th. Nick Forde, the Trust’s principle spokesman could not identify any of the three most endangered songbirds, despite claiming to be passionate about them. He had no trouble, however, identifying a pheasant.

The corvid cull is backed by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), which also boasts a number of leading figures who shoot or profit from shooting. Read the article in The Telegraph.

How can I help?
= Sign this: petition
= Write to Defra to oppose the cull:
Caroline Spelman, Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR
= Contact the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust on 020 7290 0110
 or email (london@gwct.org.uk) to politely voice your objection.
= Attend the demonstration outside the GWCT’s office in London:
Meet: 12pm, Saturday 19th February
Contact on the day: Paul
Tel number on the day: 0799 981 2994
Address: 26 Mortimer St, W1W 7RB

wordless wednesday: välkommen till stockholm

(belated) happy valentine's

in an effort to be more aware of each month and the passing of the seasons, i'm trying to find a tradition (or excuse!) to have a little celebration about each month and what better reason, on a grey and drizzly day, than valentine's day.

given the total lack of any decent light during the day, it was pretty difficult to get a decent shot of this months decoration but here is a little driftwood/beach glass/recycled paper/recycled jewellery mobile ...


and some yummy jammy biccies too ...


hope you had a lovely valentine's with lots of love and loveliness :)

meet a maker

being the inquisitive little feltmaker that i am, i thought it might be interesting to hear about other maker's stories. if you would like to be featured, please leave me a comment and i'll get in touch with some questions for you.

so, grab a cuppa, put your feet up and lets meet victoria from little wren pottery ...

Please introduce yourself
I'm Victoria Baker and I run Little Wren Pottery. I like to produce functional decorative pieces which have a rustic style for modern homes. All my pieces are hand thrown on the wheel in stoneware clay.Who, or what, inspires you?
I tend to get inspired by a number of different sources. I love Japanese pottery, in particular Shoji Hamada. There are some incredible videos of him throwing online, I love the attention to detail his work has. I always think in Japanese pottery nature is directly represented in the colours, texture and balance of pieces - something I try and incorporate in my own work.

I get inspired by nature, the birds in my garden the changing of the seasons. I also look at the work of other potters I know personally and those who I've never met.

Do you sell your work? If so, what helped you decide to start selling your work?
I sell my work predominantly online, I started selling solely as an experiment.

I mainly wanted to see if my work was good enough to sell and desirable enough to be loved by someone else. In a way I haven't finished my experiment yet, I'm still trying to become a master at the art of selling online but these things take time!Where can I buy your work?
I have shops on Etsy - www.littlewrenpottery.etsy.com,
Folksy - www.folksy.com/shops/LittleWrenPottery and on
Dawanda - www.en.dawanda.com/shop/littlewrenpottery.

Do you have a website or blog address?
I tend to use my blog to document my process since pottery is quite complex to the uninitiated. I also hope that it gives some sort of insight to my own personality and habits. In addition to my own work I also showcase other artisans who I know or have bought from: www.littlewrenpottery.co.ukHow did you learn your particular craft?
My Dad has been a potter for over 20 years and through his experience he has taught me an awful lot of what he knows. I don't think I'd be as good as I am now if it wasn't for him.

I also took a night class when I first started, my Dad was keen that I had another teacher for a different perspective on pottery in particular for the more decorative design aspects. I clocked up a lot of hands on wheel time through doing this and all the pieces I created were the first to appear in my shop!How long have you been creating?
Not very long in pottery terms, I've been throwing for about two years now but I still have a lot to learn to adequately manage a studio. It’s amazing to see the difference between when I first started creating very simple primitive work to what I'm able to do now.

It’s exciting to think about where I might be in another two years in terms of my skill!

Anything exciting planned for 2010/2011 you’d like to share?
This year I'm planning on just doing more of everything! More specifically though I'm going to be releasing a new range of products that I've been developing over the Christmas period.

I'm hoping these new pieces will be really popular with buyers despite being fairly challenging at times to make, but you can never really stand still when it comes to crafting.What do you do to relax?
I spend time with my often neglected boyfriend! I really love to bake, watch old films, grow vegtables and knit. My latest project is an arran sweater for myself, I knit my boyfriend one a couple years ago and I got jealous so I'm finally making one for myself!

How do you keep motivated?
It’s really easy to get discouraged online at all the folks out there who might be selling more than you are, but you kinda have to put that in perspective.

Also whenever I'm having a bad day at the wheel sometimes its best to just step away and resign yourself to coming back and trying again later. There’s just no point in trying to do something when you’re not really in the mindset to do it.thanks for taking the time to chat victoria, all the best for your new ranges - hope they're really popular :)