The Handmade Show, Sunday 21st November 2021, Perth Concert Hall

 

I will be at The Handmade Show with my full range of Aileen Clarke Crafts felt work, jewellery and gifts!

This will be my first event since the last Handmade Show two years ago and I can't wait to set up my stand and meet visitors face to face again!

There are 40 exhibitors this year so do come along and enjoy this fantastic event. The show is being held in the foyer of Perth Concert Hall with plenty of space and good ventilaton. 

FREE ENTRY

Keepsake Boxes and 2022 Calendar

I've had quite a productive summer compared to the last 18 months and I'm delighted to be back in my 'making zone'! The pandemic is by no means over yet and so many things are not and may never be 'back to normal' but I seem to be able to focus better and actually get stuff done!

I've been developing some existing designs and added these little latch hook clasps to my little Keepsake Boxes.

The latches are not just decorative but actually work! I think they are so cute and love the way they keep the lid securely closed.

I have brass ones on the boxes in rustic shades.

 

And silver tone ones on the boxes in blues and purples.

Keepsake Box £34.95

My boxes are made with my own handmade felt on the lid and Harris Tweed or Scottish Tweed for the sides.

Keepsake Box £38.95

I have a few of the 5 cm and 7 cm sizes available with the latches and plan to make the larger sizes over the next few weeks.

Also new in my Etsy shop this month is my 2022 Calendar!

I know, most of us are still trying to process 2020 but it will be 2022 in just over 4 months time!

My calendar features my most recent felt picture on the front. The puffin was inspired by puffins we saw at Duncansby Head on a trip to Caithness in July.

I've also used the puffin as the image for July.

I just had to use my Bluebell Woods image for May.

And my tribute to Fungie the Dingle Dolphin for June.

And I decided on a colourful little robin for December.

Other images include sunsets, boats, cottages and of course sheep.

2022 Wall Calendar £12.95

I have one event planned so far for November. 

The Handmade Show in Perth Concert Hall will be on 

Sunday 21st November. 

10.30 - 4.30pm

FREE ENTRY

 Mill Street, Perth, Scotland. PH1 5HZ

It's so long since I exhibited at a show that I'm not even sure where my table cloths etc are! It will be great to be out seeing people face to face again though and I'm working on building stock already.

♥ 

Handmade Gifts that should have been at The Handmade Show.

 This weekend I should have been exhibiting at The Handmade Show in Perth Concert Hall. This is a real highlight of my events calendar and I have exhibited there every year since it started in 2011. As with all events this year, it has been cancelled due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. 

However! My online SHOP is well stocked with all the things I would have been bringing with me to the show!

This time last year I started making my Felt Bookmarks again and they have been very popular since. I'm always making new batches and each batch is slightly different. I have plenty of these three designs available at the moment.

Felt Bookmarks £12.95

I finished these two Keepsake Boxes this week. The felt for the lids feature gorgeous rustic hand dyed fibres and the sides are made with genuine Harris Tweed.

Keepsake Handmade Box £48

10x10x6 cm

Lots of Sheep Earrings, Brooches and Shawl Pins have been flying out the door but I do my best to keep the Sheep Jewellery Section of my shop topped up and I am usually able to make to order if your favourite colourway is not in stock.

Felt Sheep Earrings £19.95

Felt Sheep Brooch £22.95

Sheep Shawl Pin £19.95

If you are in Fife or Perthshire looking for independent shops to support, the following beautiful shops stock my iridescent jewellery and tweed brooches,

Silver Linings Design Studio, 13 High St, Perth

The Atholl Gallery, Dunkeld

The Rowan Tree Gift Shop, Falkland.

I also have some new pieces in my Etsy shop this week.

Iridescent Textile and Resin Earrings £19.95

Pendants £26

Harris Tweed and Felt Brooch Shawl Pins

£15

My 2021 Wall Calendar has been really well received. I still have some available.

2021 Calendar £12.75 

I had a new delivery of printed lens cloths and tins this week. These make great little presents.

Lens/Screen Cloths and Tins £4.95

So all this and more is available HERE. 

The easiest way is to browse is by shop section. 

All UK orders are being sent First Class and all International Orders are being sent Tracked. You can also order things to be sent straight to the recipient with a message from you at no extra cost. 

Thank you for visiting my website and I hope we can meet at some events before too long!

♥

Felt Pictures, Textile Jewellery, Scottish Gifts and The Handmade Show!

The weeks are rushing by as we head through autumn and The Handmade Show is this Sunday the 17th of November!

I have been busy making a selection of new textile and resin jewellery in lovely deep blues, some of which I have added to my Etsy shop.

Pendants £26, Earrings £18.95

£1.95 UK p+p

New felt brooches include the leaf shapes above in mixed merino and silk fibres. The bird brooches are made with Harris tweed and I have different motifs including treble clefs, thistles and hearts.

Bird Brooches £15 in UK p+p

I also have a selection of these Treble Clef Brooches available. Makes a nice gift for a musician, singer or music teacher!

Treble Clef Brooch £18

My range of printed gift items featuring my artwork is starting to run low. I tend to restock in the Spring so if you have your eye on anything shown here, be aware that there are only a few left.

I've also been working on some original felt pieces including this picture

'Daydreams of Donegal'.

£175 inc UK p+p

Inspired by the coast around Rosbeg near Ardara, I wanted to capture the light and sky as well as the headland, rocks and beach. I used a variety of fibres to create the effects I wanted including some fabulous had dyed Shetland fibre I got in Aberdeen earlier this year.

'Ceilidh Cottage'

£98 inc UK p+p

These two cottage pictures both feature hand dyed fibres I sourced at Woolfest and Loch Nesss Knit Fest this year. I love meeting the dyers in person and getting my hands on unusual fibres that add texture and colour to my work.

'An Bothan Caora' or 'Ewe Cottage'

£98 inc UK p+p

I'll have more of my Textile Trinket Boxes available on Etsy by Tuesday 19th November. There are a few on there just now but I plan to make more this week.

To see what's available click here

So you can see all of this in person at The Handmade Show this Sunday the 17th November. It's held in the foyer and Norrie Miller Studio inside Perth Concert Hall, Mill Street, Perth PH1 5HZ  from 10.30 - 4.30 and it's FREE to get in. 

Don't forget that my 2020 Calendars are still available.

£12.75 inc UK p+p

The Calendars feature a different print for each moth plus a whole calendar page to write on. Prints can be framed after use.

Upcoming Events June 2019 and Some New Makes for May

I was beginning to think that I might never blog again but here we are half way through May and I have finally got a chance to do an update! What a busy year so far! Not much point in talking about events that have already past (Make::Wool at EYF and Open Studios North Fife) except to say that they were a huge success and have kept me extremely busy for the past few months.

My next event is at Aberdeen Yarnfest on Sunday June 9th. Last year was the first AYF and it was really good. The vendors list has been extended this year and looks excellent! As with all the yarn shows I exhibit at, I am excited to be going as a vendor and as a customer! Can't wait to get my hands on all that yarn and fibre!

I am really excited and delighted to say that I will be exhibiting at WOOLFEST in Cumbria this year! I have always wanted to go as a visitor but never been yet and here I am jumping in at the deep end as a vendor! I have been training my husband up to man my stall so that I can go shopping while I'm there! You can find me on stand K255.

Back in April we spent a week in a caravan at Laide up in Wester Ross and I took the opportunity to gather lots of inspiration for new felt seascape pictures.

Sketching on the beach at Mellon Udrigle

Big Sand Beach, Gairloch

I made quite a few larger pieces. Big Sand Beach and Evening Light are both bigger than the piece I am holding above which is pretty big for me. I usually work small scale. The piece above sold but I am taking the larger ones to exhibit at Woolfest.

Evening Light at Mellon Udrigle

These two are around the size of the one I am holding and are available now on Etsy  priced £225 including UK delivery.

I also put some of the seascape inspiration into these textile and resign jewellery pieces. I won't have these with me at the wool events but I do have lots listed on Etsy here 

Pendants £26, Earrings and Rings £18.50

I had quite a few new cushion designs made for Open Studios this year including the cockerel and sheep. 

Special Offer on Cushions! 

£39.95 inc Worldwide Shipping!

(Overseas orders are sent without the inner padding.)

Earlier this year I made a little alpaca picture which sold immediately but I had him printed on cards and tins and he is proving very popular! I now have four tin designs all of which are available here 

Small Round Tin £3.95

New brooches for 2019 include these lovely green tweed birds with thistle motif.

Brooch £15 inc UK p+p

I have lots and lots of items available on Etsy and will have a huge range with me at both Aberdeen Yarnfest and Woolfest. 

Building up stock for events takes up most of my time and I have really neglected blogging. I think a lot of makers that have had blog pages for years have let them slip at some point. I also took up crochet and probably do that more in the time I used to spend updating my blog. Got lots of beautiful scarves and shawls though! 

These are two I made this year using Scheepjes Whirls. I like whirls because I love gradient yarn, they are cotton so not at all itchy and they come in 1000 m balls ready to work with and that's plenty for a full shawl such as these. There are also lots of great patterns that suit whirls. I do love hand dyed yarn from independent dyers as well and buy it when I can.

Bruinen Shawl Free Pattern on Ravelry made with Scheepjes Ombre Turquoise Turntable

Droplets Shawl  

This is a bought pattern and I love the effect. It uses about half of a Rosewater Cocktail Whirl. 

So that's it for now. Hope to bring you news of new products soon. If you regularly visit my blog, thanks very much for sticking around! If you are new to it then thanks very much for dropping in.

❤