New Tea Towels Now In!

I'm very excited to finally have my new Aileen Clarke Tea Towels in stock! I started the process for this idea on September 1st. I have wanted to have them made for years and finally found a UK company to work with.

The original artwork was made using traditional felt making techniques including needle felting with hand stitching and embroidered details. The image has then been professionally printed onto 100% cotton.

Measures 48 x 80 cm 18 x 31 inches. Machine washable at 30°

£10.50 plus p+p

I have them neatly wrapped in cellophane sleeves ready to ship. Makes a great gift and can even be framed!

The tea towels are available on Etsy here or from me at my upcoming events.

I will be at Perth Concert Hall on Sunday 19th November.

And on

Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th November - The Loft at Ardross Farm Shop, Elie, East Neuk of Fife - 9 - 5 pm Free Entry

I'll be very busy over the next two weeks making stock for these events. Other new printed items include these two coo cushions.

Cushions £40

I also have some bags with a few different designs on them. They are polyester and fold away into a pocket or handbag. Make great project bags too!

Bag £19.95

This week has been spent making lots of keepsake boxes in various sizes.

Harris Tweed and Felt Keepsake Box

£45

£35

I also have lots of my textile and resin jewellery available both online and from me at the events mentioned above.

You can also find this jewellery in The Rowan Tree gift shop in Falkland, Maisie and Mac in Cupar, The Atholl Gallery in Dunkeld and Hecla Gallery at Cockenzie House and Gardens.

Upcoming Events for October and November 2017

Events season is upon us and you can find me and my work at the following places; 

Saturday 21st October 2017 Pitcairngreen Village Hall Craft Fair. Pitcairngreen, by Almondbank, Perth. PH13LR 

There is a small entrance fee which includes tea, coffee and cake.

Saturday 4th November 2017 Falkland Craft Market, Falkland Community Hall, Back Wynd, Falkland 10 - 4 pm Free Entry

Sunday 19th November 2017 The Handmade Show, Perth Concert Hall, Mill Street, Perth, Scotland, PH1 5HZ 10.30 - 4.30 pm Free Entry

Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th November - The Loft at Ardross Farm Shop, Elie, East Neuk of Fife, KY9 1EU, - 9 - 5 pm Free Entry

I had a very successful day at Falkland on October the 7th and look forward to taking my wares to all the events above.

New this month are these merino and silk felt ivy leaf brooches. The brooch pins on them are extra long, making them useful as shawl or scarf pins as well.

Brooches £12

Harris Tweed Bird Brooch 

£12

I got into making some green felt using my embellisher machine last week. I have included lots of Shetland fibres as well as green sari silk. This technique produces lots of lovely texture. I then used the felt to make these sheep brooches and keepsake boxes.

Felt Sheep Brooches £18

7 x 7 x 7 cm box £35

The fabric for the sides of these boxes came from Kingcraig Fabrics in Brora. I bought the fabrics to line my boxes but decided they were too nice to be hidden away on the inside all the time.

5 x 5 x 5 cm box £30 

I also made some new Dragonfly Pendants in vibrant blues and purples

Pendants £26

I bought some new fibres to play with while I was at Perth Festival of Yarn. Took me weeks to get around to using any of it! The first piece to emerge was this little cottage picture. I used fibres from a beautiful batt bought from Blue Moon Indigo. It had really subtle strands of pink through it and I added a hint of yellow and green to give a subtle rainbow effect in the sky. The end piece turned out to be quite bold in colour with the purple hills and bright red roof and as it's slightly bigger than my usual pictures, it really 'pops' and makes a cheery splash of colour on the wall. 

Red Roofed Cottage by The Sea

20 x 20 cm in a 36 x 36 cm frame

£125

Lastly I have been working on quite a big piece that I am having printed up as tea towels. They should be available in the next two weeks but in the meantime, I have had the image reproduced as a canvas. It's a great size at 38 x 61 cm and can be hung on the wall as is ir be framed. I don't supply the frames but your local framer should be able to do this no problem.

Cottage, Cow and Cove Canvas Print

£85

I look forward to seeing some you over the next few weeks. 

❤

In The Loft at Ardross Farm Shop November 26th & 27th

You can find me this weekend, Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th November In the Loft at Ardross Farm Shop near Elie.

This is my last event of 2016 and such a lovely one to be at! A special selection of exhibitors in a cosy loft space above the award winning farm shop between Elie and St Monans on the Easy Neuk of Fife.

We are open 9-5pm on Saturday and 9-4 pm on Sunday.

Autumn Fairs in Fife and Perthshire

I had a brilliant start to my Autumn events season on the first weekend in October. It was lovely to be back in Falkland on the Saturday and Perth Festival of Yarn on the Sunday was a great success! It was heartening to know that many visitors came because they had seen the events advertised online so here is an update about more to come.

I will be at the Pitcairngreen Green Village Hall Annual Fair on Saturday 22nd October, 10 - 3.30pm.

 This is a lovely event with tea, coffee and home baking as well as a good variety of stalls. I have been exhibiting at this fair for over 10 years and it's always nice to go back and see familiar faces.

I've been busy restocking my Etsy shop as well with new makes.

Brooches £12

Next up after Pitcairngreen is Falkland Craft Market again on Saturday 5th November.

I will have my full range of items with me and hopefully some new framed pictures as well.

Sheep Earrings £18

Sheep Brooches £18

Sheep Pendants £24

My 7 x 7 x 7 cm Boxes are very popular so I have been making more of them. Made with my own felt and lovely Harris Tweed, this size is £35.

Later in November on Sunday 20th, I will be at The Handmade Show in Perth Concert Hall.

This year's show is shaping up to be excellent with new makers exhibiting along side some firm favourites.

My new coasters have been a big hit both online and offline. I got little boxes for them making them an ideal gift, especially easy to post!

Coasters £14.95

Later in November I'll be In The Loft at Ardross Farm Shop near Elie on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th 9 - 5 each day. This is a lovely two day event, up above the farm shop and well worth a visit if you are in the East Neuk that weekend.

So it's a busy time keeping up with everything. 

Please feel free to get in touch with any questions you may have about my work or any of the upcoming events.

aileenclarkecrafts@yahoo.com

Aileen Clarke Crafts at The Loft, Ardross Farm Shop 28/29 November 2015

November has been a very dark month this year but I was delighted to see a bright morning yesterday with these beautiful cloud formations above the sunrise.

I'm nearly ready to settle in for the Winter with just one event left to take part in this weekend. 

I have really enjoyed taking my work out to lots of events during October and November and this weekend you can find me at 

The Loft at Ardross Farm Shop 

near Elie 

 Fife. 

KY9 1EU

9 - 5.30 Saturday 28th and 9 - 4 Sunday 29th

I have some new makes made especially for the event.

Tweed and Felt Trinket Boxes from £28 - £45

I particularly like the one above. The pinks and greens in the lid go really nicely with the purple Harris Tweed.

Seascape Moon Pendants 

£24

Layers of shimmering fabrics become mini seascapes lit by a full moon.

Lots of new Felt Brooches £12

Tartan Bird Brooches also £12

I have a limited stock left of all my printed Gift items.

Zipped Pouches £7.95

I recently joined Twitter and have been trying to educate myself on how to make that work for business. The first thing I did was reconnect with Hilary at Craft Blog UK and bought her book. I've been up and running with lots of Hilary's suggestions for some time now but although I'm only a few pages into the book, I have been helped to understand a few things better. I can recommend this book to anyone trying to sell their work online. It can be purchased on Amazon here

You can find me on Twitter as @FifeFibreArist. They wouldn't let me use AileenClarkeCrafts as it's too long! Pft! 

 In order to keep making you wee sheepies and to enjoy reading by the fire, I have had to get myself some specs! I decided if I had to wear glasses at all then they needed to be colour coordinated with my work.

I have also found the Just A Card Campaign on Twitter. 

This is to encourage people to make even just a small purchase from Artists/Makers as it all goes toward helping us to make a living, even if all you buy is just a card.

I can honestly say that I am so delighted with the support I get for my work. Online, in person at events and through the shops selling my work. Your purchases all mean so much to me and I'd like to say a huge THANK YOU!  ❤

Lastly for this blog update, I thought I'd share this local street sign with you! Seeing as I never have a needle out of my hand during my working day, I should really live on this street! Maybe I should get a sign made for my work space and call it Needle Corner.

Upcoming Events in November

November is going to be a very busy month!

First of all, you are all invited to the preview of the Friends in November Exhibition this Sunday the 1st November from 2 - 5pm at Penicuik Arts Centre, 4 West Street, Penicuik, EH26 9DL.

Join us for wine and nibbles and a browse around an exciting exhibition featuring weaving, fibre art, stained glass, painting, papier mache and much more.

You can then find me on Saturday 7th November at The Locus Centre, Abefeldy as part of the Aberfeldy Music Festival. I will be there with all my wares from 10 - 4pm.

Then it's all aboard for The Handmade Show at Perth Concert Hall on Sunday 15th November. I LOVE The Handmade Show! I'm working really hard to bring you a full selection of my work including new cushions, pictures, boxes and jewellery.

And my last event for 2015 will be at The Loft, Ardross Farm Shop, Elie KY9 1EU

This is a two day event running over Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th November. 9 - 5  pm on Saturday and 9 - 4pm on Sunday.

I still have some 2016 Calendars available. 

£10 each in my Etsy shop here

My shop is well stocked and will open all the time except for the days I am at events.