Local craft-and-coffee

A few months ago, Mr Namasi and I moved from a town with an estimated population of 50,000 (75,000, if you include the rest of the borough) to a village with a population of fewer than 900. There is no shop, no post office, and only one pub in the village. 

And I love it. I'd like to see out my days here.

We have made an effort to engage with the community: attending the various functions at the local church, eating in the local pub, joining the FB group, etc. I started a chapter of nextdoor, a UK based online community site, which automatically connects members within close proximity to each other.

I also started a monthly craft-and-coffee. Although I offer 1:1 and small group sessions, for which I charge, I also wanted to have some sessions which were just about engaging and sharing.

So far, we've had three get-togethers. For the first one, we each brought our own projects and talked about what crafts we like to do. One of the ladies brought along a beautiful mixed media wall hanging she'd made. 

So, for the next session, we explored that. Here are the two pieces I made (I should point out that I continued the work at home - I didn't manage all that in two hours!)

Mixed media cushion cover

'Garden' (now framed and for sale)

Yesterday was our third session, and we made Madonna-and-child models out of reclaimed materials (and polyfilla). I had made one of these some years ago, so I was able to concentrate on guiding the rest of the group through the process. It was wonderfully messy, and the results are now drying in my studio, where they will be collected when ready to be transported.

Have a look at these photos and see if you can identify where and how each of the following items has been used:

• piece of MDF or stiff card
• 2l plastic bottle
• newspaper
• plastic shopping bags
• dowel stick or length of bamboo
• old cotton bed sheet
• wire coathanger

Not looking like much, yet

Getting there

And here they are, drying in my studio.

Next time, we'll be making needle felted robins, like this one. Because I don't have the equipment to facilitate this one myself, I have enlisted the aid of Eve Louise Newman (Eve's Gifted Paradise). 

If you're local to the Wellingborough/Kettering area, and would like to join in, please contact me to find out more.

Link love digest: week 9

Looking back over last week's daily link love shares.

Julia Horberry
Julia's Driftwood Furniture and Lighting

Julia's Driftwood Furniture and Lighting

My passion for Driftwood was born when I discovered and fell in love with Cornwall.

Walking along the beautiful beaches provide me with, what I can only describe as ‘Treasure’. The moment that I pick up that piece of wood I know exactly what it’s going to be, the climb back up the cliff with a heavy backpack full of wood is all part of the fun.

Having an outlet for my creations is more of a relief than a job; I have so many ideas constantly filling my head.

I am self taught with only a background in creative den building, Born in East Yorkshire and moving (escaping) to Cornwall in 1994. Yorkshire made me practical and Cornwall give me the freedom to create; the two together make a good combination.

I make a wide range of furniture, lighting and home accessories from Driftwood and other recycled materials.

I've been doing this for 22 years (half my life), but I turned it into a business back in 2008.
All my driftwood is hand picked in Cornwall and sometimes Devon if I am brave enough to cross the Border :-).

Lesley Jane Nixon

Maid on the Moors

Maid on the Moors

After spending 12 years as a hot glass artist, making beads for artisan jewellery designers, I have been somewhat seduced by the beauty of semi precious gemstones.

I used to collect pretty stones as a child ... still do ... now I make pretty things with them too.

All of my jewellery is hand created using copper and sterling silver wire and beautiful gemstones.

Kate Cook
Vandalised with Love

At Vandalised with Love, we love to bring you something different. Creative Acts of Vandalisation, be it from elegant flower hair clips or sophisticated fascinators and crowns, to crazy fun hatinators, accessories and unique and interesting pieces for your home.
We can also custom re-design ('vandalise with love') your own shoes -  you buy the shoes or send us your old, scuffed shoes and send them to us.

Vandalised with Love

 Perfect to revamp your old but comfortable shoes and make them match your outfit.  Prices start from £35 when you send us your shoes. We will 'vandalise' them with love and return free of charge. All of our shoes are handcrafted to order, ensuring each piece is unique.

We also make shoe clips, clutch bags and fascinators to enhance and match your shoes. Take a look through our pages for inspiration and feel free to contact us with any questions.

We cover shoes using the French art known as decoupage. Thin layers of beautiful specialist paper, sealed and varnished with high quality materials; surfaces are therefore not entirely smooth but have a lovely unique finish.

All our treasures are one-offs and 'vandalised with love' just for you.

Christianna
Mes Amies Soaps

Mes Amies

I discovered my passion for making my own vegan soaps after I tried a delightful handmade bar of soap from a Wiccan store in New Orleans, Louisiana.

I am committed to using all natural, high quality ingredients, sourced from around the globe. Charity is also a very important aspect of my business vision: one bar of soap is donated to a local homeless shelter for every 10 bars purchased.

I'm happy to be sharing my passion for soapmaking with you and I hope you love my soaps just as much as I do! 

??

Turquoise kilim

Turquoise Kilim

I have been unable to fins out anything about this person, other than that he lives in Turkey. I can't even find a name. But his beautiful kilims deserve a mention, just the same.








Emma Louise Corry
Emma Corry Designs

Emma Corry Designs

Emma Louise Corry is a textile designer and maker, who lives in Marcham, Oxfordshire, with her husband, daughter, two cats and a hamster. Emma creates beautiful pieces using carefully chosen new and upcycled fabric with attention to detail, colour and design.

Emma remembers the first time she borrowed her mother’s Elna sewing machine, she was about 8 years old. Emma spent a long time teaching herself to thread it and sew with it. Recently Emma bought the same model, as it evokes so many lovely memories. Emma has always been creative – her mother tells stories of handmade paper being made in her blender and printing wrapping paper on the kitchen floor – but Emma's love of textiles really began when she started her two-year diploma at Worthing College for Art and Design in 1984.

After Emma's diploma, she completed a three-year degree course in Fashion and Textiles at Leicester Polytechnic, followed by a two-year MA in Woven Textile Design at the Royal College of Art in London. Graduating in 1991 – Emma was only 20 years old! After leaving the RCA, Emma worked as a freelance textile designer for a short period, then for Monsoon, followed by a job designing window displays for a family run business. Emma started her own greetings card company, specialising in handmade cards. Now that has grown into Emma Corry Designs, which Emma runs from her studio at home, whilst also organising ‘Stitch and Sew’ clubs for primary school children and giving textile support to ‘A’ level students.

Little make

Becky Berry
Little Make

I live and work in our little home in Salisbury, England with my family.

My inspiration at the moment is coming from nature and the animal kingdom. My biggest inspiration is bears and not forgetting my two little girls who help spark my imagination.

Link love digest: week 8

In what has proved to be a fairly hectic week, here are the makers and crafters I promoted. Almosty all this week's crafter's have chosen to keep a low profile, sharing little about themselves online, preferring to let their work to speak for them.

Sue Harold
La Costurera

Unique bridal couture, mothers of the bride/groom, proms and casual clothing

La Costurera

Nikki Meara
Nikelcards

Nikki has shared nothing of her personal story that I can find, but her cards are lovely, so she gets a mention.

Nikelcards

Paul Bentley
Bentley Bespoke Wooden Items

Handmade bespoke wooden items to suit the needs of the buyer.

Bentley Bespoke

Maxine Pring
Max Pring Jewellery

I have been making jewellery for several years gradually learning my trade since 2009.

Max Pring Jewellery

I am primarily self taught and started out making classic designs using beads and string developing my skills through practice and gradually progressed into metalsmithing in the past year.

I usually start with basic metal sheet in either copper or silver and then cut, sand, hammer, drill and polish my work to create unusual designs. I often draw my designs on my i-pad first then sit down with my tools to turn the sketch into a piece of jewellery.

I also love to work with unusual gemstones and try to incorporate my own metal components or wire wire wrapping, these tend to be organic with the design built up around the stones.

Most of my work is one of a kind and rarely repeated. As well as jewellery I also love to paint and create mixed media work and scrapbooks. You can find these in my other Folksy Shop Paper, Chains & Beads. 

Heather Veach
I Dream of Jane

Unique, handmade dream catchers from the Pacific Northwest.

I dream of Jane

Julie Maginn
Dewdrop Cards and Crafts

Handmade on and inspired by the beautiful Isle of Wight.

Dewdrop

Gintare Kersiene
GK Natural Creations

Pure natural handmade soaps and bath products.

GK Natural Creations

Link love digest: week 7

Here is the summary of the makers and crafters I promoted this week. Several of them have display space in Grace and Favours in Northampton. So you have two ways to support them: visit their online spaces or pop in to the shop. 


Remember: when you buy from an independent maker, a real live person does a little happy dance.

Laura and Carly
Butter Bee Creative
Handmade cards and other small craft items in aid of the refurbishment of the chemotherapy suite at Northampton General Hospital.

Butter Bee Creative

Laura and Carly began raising money for the Chemotherapy Suite after Carly lost her Nan to cancer in August 2014. Andrea was very keen to raise money herself for the new unit and began stitching items when she was in hospital. 

Leading on from this, we'd really like to raise as much money as possible for such a great cause.

Deema
Deema Delights

Real petal confetti, accessories, decor, scented petals, wedding favours, bath bombs, cards.

Deema Delights

Deema started collecting petals for confetti in 2016 when she fell in love with the fluttery nature of Cherry Blossom in the Spring! Her business has now grown to include a co-operative of pickers and stylists who help to create vibrant petal mixes, favours, cards, gifts and accessories, all hand-made, seasonal and to order, perfect for any celebration!

Take some of the stress and decision making out of planning a wedding by letting me help with those finishing touches. Together, we can create beautiful memories that will last you a life time! What better way to start your married life together?

Beautifully Bespoke Confetti, gifts, cards and accessories taken care of just for you. Memorable, unique, colourful and fun!

Pebble Crafts

Becky
Pebblecrafts

Beautiful hand-crafted decorations and gifts. Any quotes on slate hearts for very reasonable prices gifts and favours. Bespoke orders accepted.

Emma Wootton
The Velvet Company
A collection of beautiful Room Scents in a simple yet elegant English style.

The Velvet Company

Hand poured, using the finest scents and soya wax at our location in Northamptonshire, England, we offer a indulgent and sophisticated choice of candles and room scents .  We pride ourselves in every detail with each candle and room scent, we believe that every product should arrived beautifully wrapped in its own gift box, so treat yourself or someone special to a gorgeous scent which will give your room the most beautiful scent, with the added effect of our crackle wick candles giving the soothingly crackle when lit  of a relaxing ambiance of an open fire.

In addition to our our gorgeous candles,we also offer gift boxes for those who are looking for something extra to go with their candle.

TLC

Theresa Meen
TLC (Theresa's Lovely Crafts)
Mixed media artist.
A small selection of my art is based in Grace & Favour shop.
Also able to do commissions too.












Janette
Iddy Biddy Boutique

Iddy Biddy Boutique

I used to have a sensible job . . . then a house bunny, oh and two children came along! I needed a job I could do at home. As I had been bending wire, making and selling earrings since I was 18 (oh so many moons ago!) and I adore Jewellery, it seemed a natural progression to further develop my silversmithing skills and start my own jewellery making business.
Iddy Biddy Boutique was born!

I like to think my designs are fresh & funky, with an organic yet modern twist! I create jewellery in mostly silver and copper. I like to oxidise the metals, adding spirals and swirls where I get the chance . . . love them! More recently, I am working with gemstones in my designs . . . ooh so many lush ones to choose from!

All of my designs are original. I get my inspiration and ideas from absolutely everywhere! My head is constantly bombarded with ideas for my next creation.

After all these years, my favourite place to be is still in my workshop (kitchen!) with my tools and bunny by my feet! I absolutely love what I do and I think that is evident in every piece I make.

I sell online, at local Craft Fairs around the North Devon area and my work can also be found at the following venues:
Willows in Braunton & Barnstaple
ID Fashion in The Royal William Yard, Plymouth
Traditsia in Totnes
Dream Jewellery in Tavistock Market.

Grace and Favours

I've been alluding to and hinting about this for a while, so perhaps it's about time I explained.

My friend Julie has set up a shop in Northampton called Grace and Favours. It opens its doors to the public tomorrow: Tuesday, 7 Feb 2017. It isn't something she expected to be doing at this point in her life, but that's a story for another time.

Grace and Favours will sell and hire out party, wedding and event decor, gifts and accessories. A selection of independent makers and crafters of related items have been given the opportunity to sell their wares through the store.

[This is probably the appropriate point to tell you that Julie is arguably the most gracious person I know. She has done a great deal - at significant literal and metaphorical cost to herself - to improve the lot of others in the Northampton area.]

The reason that I haven't written about anything much on this blog lately, is that I have been very busy helping Julie get the store ready. The two of us - especially Julie - have been hard at work. We:

• Removed wall tiles relating to the previous business
• Painted the whole store
• Painted so many other items, I've lost track
• Sourced vintage items suitable for hire, and travelled hither and yon to collect them
• Gave abovementioned items some TLC where necessary
• Spent large amounts of (Julie's) money at hardware stores, craft supply stores, fabric stores, Preloved, eBay... the list goes on
• Assembled a photo booth
• Built an upcycled service counter
• Strung more fairy lights than you can shake a stick at

  

  More fairy lights than you can shake a stick at

• Made and installed display spaces for the various traders
• Crafted all manner of small items to include in the stock: heart shaped trinket boxes, doggy bandannas, badges, tealight holders...
• Fetched, carried, assembled, drilled, hammered, painted, lugged, sweated
• Drank a lot of Diet Coke (with citrus splash in my case - Jules prefers the original)
• Lost sleep
• Injured ourselves (especially me) with various sharp and/or heavy things
• Sang along to the music emanating from my phone on the dock in the corner
• Shed tears of frustration, anguish, pain, and - fortunately - laughter

So, as you can see, it's been a bit hectic!

In my personal capacity, I will be working in the store part time in order to help Julie get established. In my capacity as 'Karyn's Kreations' I will offer 1:1 'krafting' sessions and group workshops. I will also 'kreate' stock for the store. My alter ego, 'your friendly upsycho' will upcycle things to order for the business as required. In time, we will see how it all balances out.

If you're local to the Northampton area, or find yourself in the area for any reason, pop in and say hi.

Link love digest: week 5

A day late, for which I apologise, but I was occupied on site at Grace and Favours all day yesterday (more of that anon).

So let's take a look at my link love shares from last week. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

On a side note, a few weeks ago, one of my link love shares caught the eye of a friend, and that crafter is a now a supplier to the friend's shop. You never know where the ripples may spread to...

??
Papercrane Studios

Papercrane Studios

I don't actually know the name of this crafter, but I love the steampunk pieces s/he creates.

Papercrane Studios is the product of a Theatre Design degree and a whole lot of travelling. We try to combine a traditional jewelry aesthetic, with industrial sensibilities- nature and machine; old and new; salvaged goodies & found treasures from the world over. The pieces we make are unique, and will never be reproduced. They’ve already lived a past life, and now come to you ready to live a new adventure!

Roz Legge
Orchard Felts

Believing I was totally without artistic or creative talent all my life I followed a scientific career until a few years ago when I stumbled into crafting quite by accident and became hooked. Initially all and any craft would do but then I discovered felting and became addicted.

Roz Legge

I love working with wool fibres. Being able to create such a vast range of items from the humble fibre fascinates me and I am always on the look out for new ideas and techniques.

I use lots of felting techniques in my work, needle felting, wet felting, nuno felting and resist felting, to make a wide range of items. My main focus has always been my nuno felted scarves which I adore due to their super soft and lightweight nature, but I love to experiment and other items are always popping into my head and therefore my shop.

Gorgeously soft merino wool is used for my scarves, which in the case of nuno felt is felted onto a silk or cotton base, with other fibres, both natural and synthetic, being used for decorative effect. Other breeds of wool are sometimes used for other items.

I have recently given up my full time job allowing me to dedicate more time to my felting.

Jacqueline Jean
Hip and Clavicle

Jacqueline Jean

Hip and Clavicle is an expression of my adoration for nature, the heady perfume of whimsy, magic and romance that surrounds any investigation into the awe-inspiring parade of forms that millions and billions of years have worked... what better source of inspiration could an artist draw from?

A tomboy at heart, I find artmaking akin to exploring underneath rocks in the garden. There are common themes but each discovery is unique. I take the greatest pleasure in exploring new materials and revising designs. When I'm not busy designing and paper-sculpting my favorite creatures, I can be found outdoors with a camera in my hands.

A couple of themes I repeatedly find myself returning to:

•Bringing the outdoors in and the indoors out.

•Exploring the way ordinary objects and processes come together with human sense and memory in moments that transcend their everyday existence. I am drawn to capture and recreate those moments that spontaneously fill me with wide-eyed reflection and contemplation.

I find inspiration in dark woods, moss-covered bark and wild fields. I daydream constantly and long to live in a treehouse. If I were a piece of music, the instrumentation would include a piano and a harpsichord, and at least a peppering of something broken or long out of tune. ;)

Corinne Thorne
iamjewellery4u

I am a single mum to a toddler I love him and jewellery! I design and create every piece you see in my shop from scratch. Each piece is handmade in my home from silver, copper and glass. I also create Memorial jewellery.

Corinne Thorne

I make handmade one of a kind pieces of jewellery using silver, glass and sometimes copper. Created from design to the finished piece. I also fuse the glass myself so everything is unique.
I bought a piece of glass from America and loved it so much I wanted to know how it was made. I had a read, bought a small kiln, supplies and had a go. I've been making fused glass jewellery for a while now and the glass is amazing. Find me on Instagram corrinet1974 for some small videos. 

I started encasing ashes in glass for people a few years later and this has evolved. I wanted to learn silver jewellery making to enable me to make the memorial jewellery extra special. I did a 12 week course and after week 2 is bought basic tools and again had a go. Now I create one of a kind pieces of handmade jewellery at home. My blog Greyhairedmummy.co.uk (memorial jewellery) gives more of an insight into why I do this.

I love knowing that no one else in the world is wearing the same piece of jewellery. It's as individual as you.

Andrei Voronin
Woodworks

I've not been able to learn anything about Andrei, other than that he lives in Belarus. His website is in Cyrillic, and there doesn't seem to be an 'about' section. So let's let his work speak for him, shall we?

Andrei Voronin

Sue Trevor
Sue Trevor

All my items are handmade and ready to post to you via 1st class royal mail, often arriving through your letterbox the very next day, with the exception of my overseas customers where the items take a little longer to arrive....

All come neatly packaged in tissue paper or with an organza bag. Each and every piece of my work is individually handmade then photographed before I list it for sale in my Folksy shop. Some items will be similar, but no two are the same.

Sue Trevor

I trained at Loughborough College of Art and design. My current body of work started about 12 years ago when I mastered the art of free machine embroidery. Today a lot of my work is based on the botanical world. I layer up my fabrics which are usually hand dyed Egyptian cottons and I often incorporate silk too, as it gives a wonderful sheen. Then I free machine embroider over all the layers to create quite a stiff fabric before I cut, sew, fold and manipulate the fabric into shape, often 3 dimensional, resulting in little treasure like containers.

I have had a love of badges since a very young age and I'm pleased to be able to incorporate these in my current work.

I also love making my own glass beads, known as glass lampworking, this too can be seen occasionally in my work.

Anne Honeyman
Chocolate Frog

Anne Honeyman

I’m Anne Honeyman, a full time textile artist living and working on the beautiful Isle of Skye (UK).

I revel in the visual and tactile effects unique to my medium – from sumptuous textures to delicate lacy structures. With a background in environmental science (PhD in palaeo-ecology), the natural environment is an endless source of inspiration for my work.

I specialise in machine embroidery, but also enjoy hand stitch, dyeing, crochet, and using an embellisher. My designs tend to combine precision and repetition with an element of serendipity!

Since completing City and Guilds Creative Embroidery in 2000 I’ve exhibited throughout the UK in art shows and contemporary craft galleries. I’ve also had over 40 projects published in “Classic Stitches” magazine and have work featured in “Fiberarts Design Book 7”.

Oh, and my two other favourite things are frogs and chocolate! (I didn't even know about the Harry Potter thing when I chose this name!) 

 
Website  
Blog
Facebook

Link love digest: week 4

These digests have been all I've done on this blog so far this year, I know. There's a good reason for it: I am currently up to my eyeballs helping a friend launch her business. Once that is up and running, I should be in a better position to share with you other thoughts and news about this world of making, crafting, remaking and recrafting that we share.

So... to the round up of this week's link love shares. As ever, if you know any of the people whose work I'm featuring, please let them know. These are not people I know, they are chosen purely because I like their work. You will see that I have used the bios from their shops to let them tell their own stories. Sometimes, crafters choose not to share any bio information. But I still like their work.

Charlotte's work

Charlotte Banks
No. 48 on Folksy

I know absolutely nothing about Charlotte, apart from her work, which speaks for itself. She has no bio information in her shop. But please don't let that put you off paying a visit. I choose my featured crafters based on what they produce, not what they say about themselves.

Debbie Lane
Steambear & Co

Debbie's work

I started out by making sock desk toys for friends and family. Nothing brightens up a boring desk, than a sock Bunny!!

My kids are my greatest inspiration and the best critics too! Making toys for them and the delight on their faces and how much I enjoyed making them, lead me to setting up my own business.

My creations are all original designs by me, individually made, making each unique in their own way! Giving each their own personality.

I also put my creations through the CE Self Certification. Took time, patience, sweat and tears (from burning your toy creations) but I can now safely say they are all CE certified and suitable from birth.

Debi's work

Debi Cummins
DeCumi Designs

Animal, Wildlife and Nature Jewellery made from Eco friendly 90% recycled aluminium.

Denise Fitzgerald
Salvij

Denise's work

I love reading everyone's inspiring shop stories. One day I would like mine to talk about how my Etsy shop did so well that my husband and I were able to quit our day jobs and treasure hunt and sell on Etsy full time. But until that day...My story is more about a crafty pursuit that allows me a creative outlet.

So many ordinary things can be repurposed to become extraordinary. My passion is finding new ways to repurpose previous treasures...seeing the new in the old. I have had many crafty adventures which not only leave me with fun works of art (wearable usually) but also A LOT of excess supplies from my "upcycling adventures". My shop is collection of random supplies (because if 1 is good, 50 is better) and some of the treasures I have made with them. I enjoy the search...so if you are looking for a salvaged item - drop me a note. I may not have it, but chances are I know where to find 1 (or 50). 

Martine Brumwell
Maisy Muffin Ragdolls

Martine's work

I've always loved making things and I've been fascinated with textiles since I was really small. I could knit and sew before I went to school and, when I was young, I often disappeared for hours and then reappeared with something I had created from materials around the house.

When I grew up I became a teacher and developed another love - writing.

My rag doll making started as a hobby a few years ago and soon became an obsession. Now I make two dressable character rag dolls called Maisy and Mo, little cotton mice, who live in railway stations, called Little Nippers and the Rag Bag Pirates, who are a very silly bunch. I also write stories about these little characters because I love reading stories to young children and seeing how they get totally absorbed so that the characters become their friends and they themselves become part of the story.

I work in a lovely sewing room, which is full of light and overlooks the garden. In the Winter months, it is really cosy in there with lots of fairy lights - a lovely workshop, in which to create my little characters and write my stories.

Nothing appeals to me more than an art or craft item that has been lovingly created, with lots of attention to detail. (I always feel that part of the creator has gone into creating something when it is carefully and lovingly made.)

My toys are all made of top quality100% cotton fabric and are CE safe

Garret Hicks
Garrett's Metal Art

Garrett's work

I've always loved making things. Seeing something and saying... "I could make that!"

I work in the heating and cooling trade fabricating duct work and fitting of all kinds Commercial and residential. My sons friend introduced me to a auto cad program were I can draw anything I like. We generate lots of scrap metal at work and I always wanted to recycle it into beautiful art. That's when I started making it into "Garrett's Metal Art " 

Shani Mifano
Imelda Shoes

Shani's work

If I ever come-a-cross a support group for shoeaholics, I would be the first one to confess: Hi my name is Shani Mifano and I am an addict to shoes. LOVE SHOES. Can't imagine my life without them.

My love story with shoes started when I was a toddler, about 3 years old. I used to sketch shoes all day long, that is why my mom gave me the nickname "Imelda".
I grew up and tried a different direction - I went to Avni institute in Tel-Aviv to study graphic design. I learned a lot, had a lot of fun, but It just wasn't enough.

In 2007 My friend and I started to design and create leather goods. After a while, I went back to my first and mythological love - shoes. I started an internship with an experienced senior shoemaker, learned the craft from the beginning, and all the secrets of making shoes the traditional way. It was a blast, I simply enjoyed every second of it.

In the last 7 years I have been working with my husband, we have been creating and designing shoes and bags under our own brand named, Imelda Shoes. I think you all can guess how I came out with that name =)

Our studio specialized in leather, and it's known for it's unexpected unique combination of leather textures and patterns. Our shoes are stylish, urban, feminine and very comfy. All of our products are hand made, from premium materials, polished and fine.

Link love digest: week 3

This is the third week of my daily 'link love' posts. I have tended to major on UK based makers and crafters, simply because they are part of my local economy, and I'm very keen on supporting the local economy wherever I go. I have already shared the link to one Austrian crafter, and a few other non-UK based pages are lined up for the future.

Please take a moment to visit the Folksy shops in the links below. Especially if you're looking for something special for someone special.

This week, my shares have looked like this.

From Peter's Folksy shop

Peter Morrison
Solas

"I started designing in 1999. Most of my products started life as something else, a washing machine, car parts or a piece of driftwood I enjoyed taking things apart re-engineering them for an alternative use.I get a lot of my materials donated from car garages, engineering companies and family. Before starting a piece I always look at the materials natural shape, character and texture then it tells me what it wants to be and I created."

Heather Tempest Elliott
Tempest Elliott Printshop

"I have always been creative, trying many different forms of arts and crafts. I went to university to study photography, video and media but craved making something more physical. So I have gradually been trying out printmaking and I adore it! It's great when you find something that is your hobby but you also want to make your job!

From Heather's Folksy shop

I was initially inspired by my trip to Sweden in the summertime, all the different landscapes, the sea and trees- it was a bit of a lightbulb moment! I am always inspired by nature and love a challenge so I pack all of my prints full of tiny details, then combining these designs with bright, bold colours to create something a little different for your walls. I now have the option of hand printed cards if you just want something a little smaller but with just the same amount of craft involved."

Jill, Nicki and Emma 
My Auntie Made It

"We are three Aunties who love to make beautiful things with love in every stitch.

From the Three Aunties' Folksy shop

We make quilts ( any size and to order ) cushions and pretty home accessories as well as purses to bags and everything in between.

We use all sorts of material and try to recycle pretty cottons if we can.

If you see something you like in our shop but would like a different fabric please do get in touch and we will work with you to deliver a design in a fabric and size that you will love."

Fiona Bradshaw
Fiona Bradshaw Designs

From Fiona's Folksy shop

"My inspiration comes from finding existing objects and combining them together in a way that gives a product thematic character. I enjoy reclaiming objects from boot fairs, then either restoring them, changing them, combining them, or all three to create a functional object that has its own character or identity. I am happy to do commissions if you have any objects or themes you would like to be incorporated into a piece of furniture."

Linda Adkins
Leather Design and Craft

"I have been making the things I want to use out of leather for decades, for archery shops for a number of years and for the last three years, full time. Pulling together years of mixed media art and craft experience to design, make and embellish useful items. Design influences? Essentially practical, no frills but with applied designs to suit, these started off as celtic and wildlife inspired.... then a wyvern and an octopus happened and now adorns many of the hair slides, flasks and coasters. My official line has developed into 'things I like drawing'!

From Linda's Folksy shop

One thing that is very important to me is to source leather and fittings responsibly. Many of my hides do not conform to a batch, they are oddments, cast offs and surplus stock, often classified as 'Industrial Waste' (madness) and over 3/4 of the buckles are the odd ones that would otherwise land up in a skip simply because it is not worth suppliers/retailers time to sort/store small quantities.

My workshop is at the front of my cottage (in rural Hertfordshire) although I am likely to work in the kitchen, dining room or garden during the day and often settle down in front of the fire in the evening to sew, make up or decorate pieces"

 Julie

From Julie's Folksy shop

The Posh Scarecrow

 "Working with fabric is a passion of mine and I love making cards so I have combined the two. My unique greeting cards are not just cards, they are a present and a keepsake all in one to be enjoyed for years to come. I like to think of them as an unfolding story. I create greeting cards and gifts that are memory makers and are a pleasure to give."

Claire Barrett Smith
Claire's Handmade Textile Art and Boho Fashions

"I have loved sewing since my mum gave me a sewing machine for Christmas when I was 13 years old (around 30 years ago!!) I now teach Art and Textiles in a secondary school. I love teaching and I adore creating unique Bohemian style garments and wall art.

From Claire's Folksy shop

I use a mixture of new, hand dyed and reclaimed fabrics and trimmings and a range of experimental techniques and processes. Many of the trimmings I use are from Turkey, a place I visit a few times each year with a culture that inspires my colourful, decorative designs. Everything I make is unique, designed and lovingly hand made by me. I like to think of the garments I spend many months creating as 'Wearable Art'.

If you see something you like in my shop and would like something similar but in different fabrics, colours, a different size or with a different motif, I am sure with a little discussion I could create a custom order just for you. Please do not hesitate to contact me- I love making custom orders!!!"