Box of Treasures

I love going to the workshops with Ian and Mike. I really enjoy making the items and I am always amazed atthe things that come from Ian's mind! Just have a look at Ian's website, link here, each item has so much thought, love and fairy dust in it's creation.

At one of the workshops earlier in the year we started off with a plain and ugly box from The Works and turned it in to this:

We used leather to cover the box, replaced the hinge and the clasp and added embellishments.

The inside was lined with felt. So simple but very effective.

If you like this box and haven't had a chance to take a look at the Mini-One I made under Ian's patient instruction...

Crafty love until next time,

Katie

Art Journal Newbie

On a previous post I have told you about how wonderfully awesome Ian Campbell's Steam Punk creations are. Now it's time to give Mike Deakin's classes a turn!

I am new to the world of Art Journals and if it wasn't for Mike holding a class I probably wouldn't have given it a go. Mike has a fab blog and YouTube channel, with fantastic tutorials. If you have not discovered him before, please go have a look!

The first class I attended was a technique class, adding texture with paint, stencils and texture paste. We started two pages, one of them I have now completed but the second I have not touched since,I'm just waiting for my inspiration!

We used a credit card to apply the texture paste, dried this and added paint to the topof the page. The paint was sprayed with water and allowed to dribbled and rung through the texture paste highlighting the different shapes.

This is as far I I got with this page so far.I think it's the yellow... I'm just not sure where to take it.

The second page we applied the texture paste through a stencil and applied paint with a baby wipe. Mike is always very generous and supplies us with a sheet of three of his art journal collage sheets that can be found in his Etsy store. We added these to the page along with torn paper - going through the basics of page layout and balance. 

This page is still not finished but I don't thinkit will take long to add the last finishing touches. Look out for a post in the future!

Crafty love until next time,

Katie

Brusho Birthday Card

As my friends and family know, I am rubbish at making cards and getting them sent off it time. I have all the stuff to make the cards,and I think I have the capabilities of throwing ink on paper to make it look pretty but I never seem to have time! 

I met three very special ladies when I live in Glasgow and I am trying really hard to make sure they each get a handmade card that arrives on time, I think I am succeeding so far! This month it was Linda's turn and here is the card I made for her.

I started by laying a stencil on a sheet of paper and spritzing it with water. Then the fun - sprinkling on the Brushos! I absolutely love Brushos - the colours are so vibrant and I love seeing the different elements that make up each colour - the black is amazing with speaks of greens, blues and yellows.

While this was drying I stamped out 'Linda' with the Clarity alphabet stamps, and cut around the letters. I added a boarder with distress ink.

I thought the shape of the stencil was a bit lost with the Brushos so I laid the stencil back over and drew around it with a light purple colour. It was enough to highlight the stamp but it doesn't stand out a lot. After cutting down the background to size for the card I stuck the sentiment on with foam pads and added a black boarder with a Sharpie.

Finally I layered the topper on blue card. What do you think?

I have entered this card in to the following challenges:

Inspiration Destination
Through the Craft Room Door
Artistic Inspirations
Craft your Passion
613 Avenue Create
Inspirational Challenges
Crafting with Friends
Simply Papercraft for All

I always loveto read your comments so don't forget to say hi!

I hope you are all having a lovely crafty weekend,

Katie

Spinning Adventures

A couple of weeks ago I went on an adventure to Cumbria with my friend, Jennie, to have a go at spinning. I follow a lot of hand spinners on Instagram and I love the colourful skeins produced. So I thought I would have a go myself!

The class was taught by Elaine at her home near Grange over Sands. She was wonderfully welcoming and a very patient teacher - which was definitely needed! With just four people in the class there was plenty of opportunities to get one to one help and rescued from tangles!

The lesson included what to look for when buying a fleece, how to prepare the fleece and then we were let loose with some fleece and a spinner! First of all we tried a drop spindle while we got to grips with drafting the fleece. I found the drop spindle difficult to handle and could have done with a second pair of hands! 

Then it was time to have ago on a wheel! 

I was seated a a modern looking double treadle wheel. We were guided through setting it up and then away we went! We spun threads of two different fleeces and then plied them. It certainly gave me the appreciation of hand spun yarn. It's challenging and must take months if not years to get up to the standard that can be sold! 

If you fancy a go, details of Elaine's workshops can be found here.

I now have itchy fingers for a spinning wheel but space is tight with all the rest of my crafting supplies... Unless anyone knows of one going for a good price ;)

Happy crafting 

Katie x

Zombie Apocalypse

My little pin cushion is one of my favourite makes. He is called Derek.

Derek!

Early last year I was very excited to receive and order for 16 of the little rascals from the Costume Supervisor of The Walking Dead. Now I have to be clear - She was ordering them personally and I sadly have not been endorsed by the programme!

This lovely customer wanted them as a wrap present for her crew. Lets just hope my stitching skills were up to scratch... Never did I think my work would be flying over to be greeted by professional seamstresses.

If you would like your very own little zombie pin cushion you can find them in my Etsy store.

Then I started thinking about the zombie fans out there that may not want a pincushion but still wanted something useful. So I am proud to present my new zombie key rings!

This is Gus!

I've been busy beavering away, making a stock of these in different colours. A couple have been sent off to IG friends and now the remaining need to be photographed (hopefully with better lighting than those above!) and uploaded to my shop.

I love the way he looks like he is holding the keys. Makes me smile :)

Happy crafting,
Katie :)

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