Upcoming Event - The Handmade Show! Sunday November 18th 2019

The Handmade Show is on at Perth Concert Hall, Sunday 18th November, 10.30 - 4.30pm!

I will be there as usual with all my new makes and regular favourites.

New since my last blog post are these cotton canvas tote bags.

Each bag is double sided with a different image on each side. Heavier duty than your average canvas bag with nice long handles too.

Bags £14.95

I also have new tins available with my artwork on them.

Great for use as a sewing tin, button, biscuit or cake tin. Crochet hooks, knitting notions, bits and bobs, the list is endless!

Tins £9.95

I should have another design in time for The Handmade Show as well. 

My needle felted brooches have been very popular this year and I will have a good selection of them with me on the 18th. I also have some in my Etsy shop in the 5 cm round size above and the oval shape below.

Brooches £18.50

The treble clef brooches are also new. They are made with my own handmade and embroidered felt. Each one is different and beautifully textured.

I have new earrings in stock featuring beautiful handmade ear wires by Newburgh based jeweller Anne Miller. Pendants to match also available.

My felt Ivy Leaf Brooches and Harris Tweed Bird Brooches are great at this time of year for brightening up a coat or cardigan, also useful for keeping cardigans closed at the front or for use as a shawl pin.

Brooches £14

These birdies above feature a cute little thistle on their wings to compliment the Harris Tweed.

Back in May I received a  beautiful selection of hand turned wooden trinket boxes by local wood turner Mike Kelly, inlaid with my felt artwork. They sold like hot cakes and I am delighted to say that a new batch arrived last week!

Turned Wooden Boxes £65

They are so beautiful to touch and hold as they are lovely and smooth and polished to a beautiful sheen. Each one is different and made from either beech, ash or cherry wood. They are all in my Etsy shop at the moment and will be coming with me to The Handmade Show.

Another new addition to my range of 'useful items printed with my artwork' are these pocket notebooks. A6 size with the pages alternating between plain and ruled, they make great little project bag books, sketch books, hand bag notebooks etc.

Don't forget that my 2019 Wall Calendar is available now!

Calendar £12 Free UK p+p

The Handmade Show is my last event this year but of you can't make it along, my Etsy shop is the best place to find everything that is available right now. I'm working hard to keep it up to date every day but as always, feel free to contact me with any enquiries.

I also have a selection on my work available on 

Handmade @ Amazon. If you prefer to shop on Amazon, I am happy to list items on there for you if they are not there already. Just email me at aileenclarkecrafts@yahoo.com

♥

A Hint of Autumn in the Air

Living in rural north Fife, surrounded by barley, wheat and oat fields, it is impossible not to notice the transition from summer to autumn as the fields turn gold, the harvest is cut and bales start to dot the landscape.

Our roadsides and hedgerows are abundant with rosebay willow herb and every year the contrast of cerise pink against the colour of the ripened crops captures my imagination. 

This year I just had to have a go at including some hay bales in one of my needle felted pictures.

This is loosely based on a scene I see every day on my walk around our area. There is a riot of willowheb and grasses growing up around a dry stone wall with a wee cottage away in the distance. 

After needle felting the hay bales, I built up the flowers and grasses using machine stitch and embroidery.

The finished piece. 

Barley Field Cottage 22 x 22 cm in a 39 x 39 cm frame 

£155

Some autumnal colours made their way into some of my felt sheep jewellery this month as well. 

Sheep Pendants £24

Brooches £18

New to the Aileen Clarke Crafts range of gift items are these high gloss, super cute Fridge Magnets. 

They measure 5 x 5 cm and make a great little gift or treat for yourself.

I also had these Lens/Screen Cloths produced using my designs and they are just the best thing for cleaning your phone or tablet screen as well as making your glasses sparkle!

Lens / Screen Cloths £2.95

They come packaged on card in cellophane making them a perfect little present and light weight to post.

Also new this month are these fabulous bags! They measure 40 x 50 cm and fold away easily into a hand bag. They are really strong and washable. These are not in my Etsy shop yet but will be coming with me to Perth Festival of Yarn on Sunday 10th September.

It is advisable to buy tickets online for the festival as only a limited number will be available at the door and it's first come, first served. 

https://perthfestivalofyarn.uk/

I'm really looking forward to the day, not only selling my wares but meeting up with friends only and new and seeing what all the other vendors have to offer.

I have been playing around with a bit of crochet over the summer. I'm just making it up as I go along and it's just for fun, not for selling.

Not sure if this idea is really working or not. I taught myself how to make the crochet flowers and thought I'd add them as a row onto this shawl. They are only tied on at the moment but I'd like to figure out how to make them more secure and carry on crocheting, making them a part of the shawl or maybe I should leave them as a trim. Or maybe I should have made them less three dimensional. 

It's fun to experiment and learn as I go.

♥

All Aboard for Perth Festival of Yarn! Sunday September 10th 2017

I'm back from my holidays and already making and creating in readiness for my next run of events! I started the season with a stall at Aberfeldy Highland Show and Games at which I won a rosette in the Best Small Trader category! This was my first rosette for anything ever and I was chuffed to bits with it.

I had a great day and was in the craft marquee alongside David at Moulin Yarns and we were dishing out flyers for Perth Festival of Yarn at every opportunity. 

The line up for this year's event is just fabulous with many of my personal favourites coming along.

I will of course be bringing plenty of felt sheepies with me. This lot are in my Etsy shop just now. All £18 each.

I also have some new designs printed on notebooks. The pages alternate between plain and ruled. £5.95 each.

Lots of new cushions just arrived today! The artwork has been digitally reproduced onto suede effect fabric which gives a lovely soft feel but is completely washable and durable. 

These two seascape designs are new additions to the range.

And for something a bit different, I had this standing stone picture made as a cushion and I love the way the fibres look real in the print!

Cushions measure 45 x 45 cm

£40

I have a few more new things arriving from the printers in time for PFY and hope to have lots of new artwork ready as well.

I do have some originals available.

Wildflower Croft is in my Etsy shop just now.

£145

Look out for an update between now and 1oth September and remember you can keep up to date via Facebook and Instagram

Open Studios North Fife Saturday 29th, Sunday 30th April & Monday 1st May 2017!

Open Studios North Fife is this weekend and I have been incredibly busy preparing for it. 

New framed originals plus a large range of items printed with my art work as well as lots of textile jewellery and felt accessories will be available.
You can find me at Venue 25
64 Commercial Road, Ladybank, Fife, KY15 7JS
10 - 6pm each day
Full details and map on the website here

I have been excited to see how my felt artwork looks printed onto box canvases and can honestly say I am delighted with the results! The prints retain the textural and tactile look of the felt and it's hard to tell that they are not originals. 

I have four sizes available.

20 x 20 cm at £20

20 x 30 cm at £30

35 x 35 cm at £40

and

50 x 50 cm at £80

20 x 20 cm Box Canvases £20

My wee collie dog picture featured above proved to be very popular earlier this year so I have made another, again on a background of Shetland fibres. I think it looks like the sheep have got themselves over onto the headland and are thumbing their noses at the dog!

'Ba Ba Baa-Baa Baa'

£95

My son was home from Ireland for a week during the Easter break so we hived off to Skye for a few days as a family. It was a wonderful time spent together and we enjoyed incredible views out over the sea from our accommodation and were enthralled by the April showers changing the light every five minutes.

This simple felt seascape came out of my head the day we got home as a result.

'Sound of Sleat - Light on Water'

£125

Another new original is this piece below. I purchased a pile of hand dyed Shetland Fibre from The Wool Shed in Orkney earlier this year. I ordered by phone so had to trust what they sent me and I was not disappointed! The colours are stunning and I put lots of them into the background here.

'Lambing Time'

£345

I'm pleased to say that this design works especially well on a cushion cover. I have my cushions professionally produced. The image is printed onto suede effect fabric which retains the soft feel of the felt but is durable and practical as the cover can be zipped off and washed.

Cushions £38 

(Open Studios Special Price. Normally £40 online)

I also made the original artwork for this wee coo using the Shetland fibre. Now available as a mug, card, canvas print and shopper bag.

Mug and Gift Box £8.95 (Open Studios Special Price. Normally £9.95 online)

Cotton Shopper Bag £6.95

I sold out of nearly all my felt sheep jewellery during Edinburgh Yarn Festival last month so I have been very busy making more. I think I will be burning the midnight oil this week to have as good a range as possible ready.

New to my range of brooches are these mustard and grey Harris Tweed birds with the Celtic heart beads. Quite a different colour way for me to use but I had the tweed in my stash and felt sorry for it always being passed over in favour of my favourite purples and blues.

Harris Tweed Bird Brooches

£12

I have also made lots of lots of my textile and resin jewellery. 

Textile and Resin Pendants

£26

I have 16", 18" and 30" chains in stock.

Earrings, Bracelets and Shawl Pins also available.

I nearly sold out of my textile trinket boxes at EYF as well but have been able to make a new stock of all sizes in time for Open Studios. Probably not as many as usual so it's first come, first served.

I'll leave you with some photos from our recent visit to Skye. 

We found this little stream and pool near Loch Shianta. A most enchanting spot.

Loch Shianta - The Healing Loch with it's incredibly blue water. We just love this place but have never been when it's warm enough to put more than a hand in the water! I'd love to swim in it.

We love the Quiraing and always take a walk here when we visit Skye. 

Mossy wall in The Fairy Glen. Another most enchanting place.

The Fairy Glen with it's grassy tors and hillocks.

Love the colours and textures of this lichen stone.

The view from our accommodation at the Dun Flodigarry Hostel. We love the Staffin area and the Trotternish Ridge and the hostel provides great family accommodation in this area.

And lastly, the view back to the mainland and the Trotternish Ridge and the Old Man of Storr with a dusting of hail stones and snow.

If you are interested in any of my new work but can't make it along to Open Studios, I will be doing an Etsy Shop update next week, probably Wednesday 3rd May.