Mini-One Workshop

I have found  a lovely little treasure box about 2 miles from my house in the form of Kraftyhands. I first found out about this gem of a shop when my mum sent me an email about their open day when I still lived in Glasgow, and would you believe it the Open Day was on a weekend I was visiting Leeds. Yippee!

So off I went with Mr P. The shop is small but has a brilliant stock of papers, mixed media ingredients and craft CDs and the best bit? There is enough room for a couple of tables where the brilliant minds of Mike and Ian can teach the craft curious a multitude of different workshops. I have now attended a few workshops from Steam Punk designs by Ian to art journal techniques and ideas with Mike (who has a fantastic blog and YouTube channel).

This blog post will concentrate on the brilliant mind of Ian (Mike will get his turn soon!), the owner of Verne Industries and the fantastic workshop Mr P and I attended this weekend to make our very own Mini-Ones!

This is what we were presented with when we arrived:

Interesting right?! (please note how well we are looked after at Kraftyhands - biscuits in the background!)

With Ian's patient and easy teaching style we set off painting bits and assembling our box of goodies.  We even had a little plumbing lesson - I can cut copper pipe and have the blister to prove it!

























It was difficult to see how all the bits would fit together but slowly all the components of the lil man start to appear. The eye and knees have LEDs on them so a a bit of wiring was required.

And suddenly he was together!

These photos are a little fuzzy as they were taken on my phone but I will take better ones soon, and a little video of his flashing eye and knees :)

If you like this Mini-One, have a look at the creations on the Verne Industries website. Ian designs and makes all of these wonderful machines. You can find Ian and his creations at Steam Punk Fairs across Northern England and he even takes commissions if you fancy treating yourself!

Surprise Bestseller

I have had my Etsy store open for nearly two years now. I enjoy creating things that people like enough to spend their well earned money on and I love that my designs have made it to the USA, Italy and Denmark as well as all over the UK.



When I first opened my Etsy store I was mainly going to stock it with my crocheted delights and felt pincushions. Then, one night, I am not sure what came over me,but I made this:

I really do not know why I decided to make this. I lived on my own so I didn't have a problem with people not locking the door, and I even had a lock on the door if I had visitors. Why I thought an occupied sign would be my next make is a mystery - but I am glad I did it!

This little sign is now my bestseller! Out of my 37 orders, 22 of them have been my toilet signs :)
 I make them to order and have a wide range of colours - I have had no two orders the same to date.

I hope people continue to like mysigns and I hope to build up a supply of ready made ones so dispatch time will be faster and I am able to take them to craft fairs.

If you own an online shop or sell at craft fairs do you have a surprise bestseller?
I would love to hear about it, if it is an online shop don't forget to post a link!

Stay crafty,

Katie x

Clarity November Challenge

Part of the reason I wanted to start my blog was to take part in crafty challenges andhere is my first entry for the Clarity Stamp Challenge.

The theme is 'Clean and Simple' and I thought the Groovi plate system was perfect for this.  

First I used the letter squares and letters on the Groovi Plate Mate to write 'Merry Christmas'. As with stamping you always want to start with the thing you want in the foreground. I then added the holly boarder from the Deer Christmas Plate.

My white work is something I need to improve but I think parchment craft really needs it.  I decided to use some white work to hightlight the corner of the letter boxes to make them look frosty. I am really pleased with how it turned out! 

After adding a bit of colour using Spectrum Noir pencils I mounted the parchment on some blue sugar paper. Unfortunately most of my craft stuff is in boxes either ready to bemoved to Leeds or already in Leeds! I really need to find something a bit sturdier than sugar paper to mount this on before it gets shipped off to it's recipient. A good excuse for a trip to the craft shop I think!!

Wish me luck!

Happy crafting,

Katie x

Edited to add this card has also been submitted in to the following challenges:
Clarity Challenge - Clean and simple
Crafting for all Seasons - Embossing

Steam Punk Fun

Ok, so my blog was something I really wanted to get going. But a number of really poor excuses meant it has become neglected. So here I am. Lets try again.

The start of 2016 for me means the start of a new job, moving back to my beloved Leeds and moving in with my man. But those are whole different topics that will not be discussed today! My new working hours and not spending 10 hours on a train every other weekend hopefully mean more time to create and write. Something I am very much looking forwarded to!

I have a great crafting family up in Glasgow and I am hoping I can expand this family with a few crafty friends in Leeds. Recently Kraftyhands has opened up a store walking distance from my house and they have some fantastic workshops! Chris and I attended a workshop at the weekend to make a Steam Punk Mixed Media Machine. Here are the results: what do you think?

Steam Punk Mixed Media Machine

 Mike and Ian, who run the wonderful Kraftyhands, were so welcoming and it was a great day! To think this was formed from a box, curtain rings, a CD, somethings plumbers use that I can't remember the name of and a plastic test tube!! Ian has an amazing imagination. He has recently published a book, Alternative Technologies, showcasing his steam punk creations - it is definitely worth a look if you love steam punk. 

I can't wait to see what future workshops have in store for us. I think I might be spending a lot of time at Kraftyhands :) 

Katie x

Crochet delights

I have a lot of yarn. Two big boxes of it. Most of it just one ball of a particular colour so not a lot you can do with it. So I decided to get my crochet hook out. 

I chose some bright colours I though coordinated and took them with me on a recent visit to Florida. An 8 hour flight saw a lot of stitches stitched! What do you think?  

I used a pattern from this amazing blog

http://babylovebrand.net/2013/02/04/free-pattern-textured-circles/

If you like to crochet but hate the sewing that is involved when you have 100 squares staring out at you check this blog out. There's lots of ways to join squares using crochet stitching! 

Travel Crafting

I currently live and work in Glasgow but my boyfriend, CP, still lives and works in Leeds, where we met. This is only a temporary arrangement - if you can call three years temporary. I am very grateful that CP seems to do most of the traveling. Five hours sitting on a train isn't the nicest way to spend Friday and Sunday evenings but when it is my turn to travel I find this the ideal time to do some crafting. 

It's not easy finding portable crafting, I find it tends to be knitting, sewing or a sketch book, not that I can draw! Today I have my sewing with me, getting some more work done on my Christmas decorations. I admit they are not the most traditional of colours for the festive period but I will see if someone else does if they are sold! What do you think? Maybe leave me a little comment below :-)

 

It only took me between Glasgow and Carlisle to do one side so hopefully I can get the other one done further down the line. 

I seem to have sat at the artistic table as the girl opposite me is applying henna to her hands. Hats off to her I couldn't do something that needs a steady hand on the tilting trains. 

Nearly at Preston now where I change to the Manchester train.

Happy crafting

Kate x

ATCs

I attend a craft meetup (Glasgow Craftaholics) every month  and since February we have been doing an ATC swap.I hadn't heard of ATC (Artist Trading Card) before the first swap and since then I have been hooked.

If you have no idea what I am talking about an ATC is a 2.5" x 3.5" piece of card on which you decorate, a bit like a card topper. These cards are then swapped for other crafter's ATCs. Swaps can have a theme whether its the technique you are using, colour or subject. There are lots of websites that can give you more details but I find the Go Make Something has the best description and of course Pinterest always has lot of inspiration.

I sometimes find it a bit daunting if when I sit down to craft and I have a 6" x 6" piece of card in front of me. It's a big area to fill especially if you are trying a new technique. However, with an ATC the area is just big enough to try someting out without being huge. They are  also a lot easier to transport if you want to take some crafty bits to do while you are not at home.

If I have won you over to giving them a go and do not have a crafty community to swap you cards with there are lots of blogs and forums that run swaps. I have taken part in the ones on the Trimcraft and the Docrafts formus. Everyone is really friendly so join up and have a go!