How ToTransform A Shed in Four and Half Hours

Our shed was a mess. I had always wanted to make this into a little garden retreat but it seemed like a huge task. We always call it the Summer Shed because it has glass on two sides and although I used it a few times as a potting shed it had become a dumping ground. The roof used to leak but my husband re-felted it last year and I decided that today was the day to transform it.

As You can see the mice had a field day during the winter with some stuffing from old patio chair cushions.

The previous owner used to let his Grandchildren play in here and it was set out like a shop when we moved in.

I wonder who Katie loves now....she is 21 and had just graduated!

I gave my Dyson a real work out sooking up all the cobwebs and dust, then went rummaging for some emulsion for the walls.

I found a tin of 'Precious Jade' which must have been used for our kitchen walls goodness knows how long ago. I just gave it a good stir and slapped it on.

And here we are! A lovely wee garden hideaway. 

All the bits and pieces are taken from the house. We used to have a lilac colour scheme in the bedroom but don't now so it's great to make use of some pieces that don't really fit in the cottage any more.

I'm so pleased with how this has turned out! The extension cable reaches here from the cottage so I can see me doing some crafting out here aswell as relaxing with a book.

I've managed to squeeze in two adult sized chairs as well as a child sized arm chair and a wee stool.

The old sea chest is housing all the plastic pots and seed trays and I have a big pile of stuff to go to the recycling centre. I managed to squirrel away some of the other stuff into our other shed so that only leaves one homeless bike.......it's not coming back in here!

New Gift Boxes and Other News

All Aileen Clarke Crafts original jewellery now comes gift wrapped in these pretty little boxes.

 This week got off to an unusual start with all that wild weather. We had a 30 hour power cut which left me half way through a batch of card making with no way of using my sewing machine or printing out my labels. Unlike the winter weather though, the storm did not stop the postie getting here and I was delighted that my new gift boxes arrived.

If you ever wonder where I get the inspiration for my work then look no further than the photo below. This was the view from the patio of a holiday cottage we stayed in back in April. There are even sheep in the further away field! I thoroughly enjoyed sitting out here first thing before the breeze got up, drinking my coffee and doing a little needle felting.
The cottage is in highland Perthshire and we enjoyed three nights there thanks to friends of my Mum.

 

 

Perthshire is my home county and I do miss it sometimes. North Fife has a charm of it's own but I really love the wild areas of highland Perthshire.

 

We drove away up to Loch Rannoch then on to Rannoch station. If you cross the railway line and walk down the track a bit you come to this beautiful loch on Rannoch Moor.

Loch Laidon

It's only 12km to Glencoe from here. We spent a glorious couple of hours enjoying the exceptional April sunshine and I soaked up lots of inspiration too.

 

The textures of these mossy stones and dried sticks really appealed to me.

A couple of weekends ago we had the privilege of having our cottage used as a venue for the filming of a traditional music DVD.

Redbarn Stuidos are making the DVD and were looking for a venue that had a traditional cottage/bothy look about it. We have exposed stone walls in the kitchen and sitting room so they used these as a backdrop for the singers.

It was a great session and an interesting experience having a film crew in the house.

 Here is my Mum, Doris Rougvie with Gillian Murray from Redbarn and Alsitair Ogilvy who is not only a fantastic singer but he makes good tortilla wraps too!

If you would like to hear Alistair singing just Google him as there are a few lovely tracks on You tube.

 My son had a brilliant time playing camera man. Gillian gave him a small camera to film extra footage on and he got to keep an eye on this big one to make sure it was capturing what it was supposed to.

Included in the DVD are bothy balladeers Jim Taylor, Geordie Muirison and Joe Aitken. Joe won Scots Singer of The Year at the 2010 Trad Awards. They are such fun people to be around and they know so many wonderful songs both beautiful and funny.

Speaking of singing and songs, I was coerced into entering a song I wrote into the Edinburgh Folk Club Songwriters competition last week and despite the very nervous performance I gave, I won second place! A cash prize of £50! I'm still gob smacked. I treated myself to these beauties with the winnings.

Is it a bit mad to share photos of new shoes on the internet? Well people love shoes and I know that some of my blog readers will love these :)

So what did I do during our 30 hour power cut with no sewing or embellisher machine or even an iron available?

I turned my hand to a bit of embroidery and worked on a wall hanging that I started the weekend of the Open Studios. 

If you visited me at the studio you will remember me telling you that the leaf shapes I was working on with the embellisher machine were going to be made into a wall hanging with leaves and birds. Well this is as far as I have got.

I have new stock heading off to Zigzags in Dunkeld today to if you are in that vicinity, pop in and say hi to Dave.

Lots of New Things Available!

The great thing about working so hard in the build up to a big event like the Open Studios is that you get a nice build up of stock.

I am adding new items daily to both my Folksy and Etsy shops.

I have made lots of these lovely felt heart pendants in various colour combinations and using various techniques.

These pink and green 'moon' pendants are so hard to photograph as they really catch the light in an unusual way and gleam like fire.

 Although I made lots of purple pieces I only have a few left. Definitely the most popular colour.

 This new design below with the added stitching was well admired at the weekend. I had some pre prepared and stitched felt which customers were able to choose their favourite little section from, to have made into a pendant.

 

My sheep are still heading off in flocks all over the world.

 Available with or without a tree.

 Still got a few bookmarks in stock. Look out for some new designs coming soon.

And I have made a few new felt pictures available in both my shops.

'Sheep In The Apple Orchard'

 'Lavender Cottage'

 'Peaceful Glen'

And last but not least, this wall hanging inspired by the Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye is now available too.

For information and prices, just click on any of the images above.

There are many other pieces in my shops too so for an over view just click on My Etsy and My Folksy.

 All designs, work and photographs on this website are protected under international copyright laws / All rights reserved.
© Aileen Clarke

Skye Walking

What a busy and wonderful time I have been having this April!

First lets go back to Glenfarg Folk Feast which was only a week and a bit ago but already feels like ages.

The Rainbow Cottage picture was won by Susie Kelly and The Home Brew Crew for an inspired song about the Rainbow Colours of Susie's Home Brew. Hysterically funny and truly a last minute entry with the last lines of the song being written as they came in the door. It was a worthy winner. Susie and the gang were great company over the weekend with many stories, songs, tunes and laughs shared.

This is what the picture looked like as the front cover of the programme.

We had beautiful weather for the weekend and we all enjoyed singing in the sun out in the gardens in Glenfarg. To find out about other folk music festivals happening in Scotland this summer click here .

After Glenfarg we headed straight up to the Isle of Skye. Well actually we headed straight for ASDA in Perth to buy sunglasses and Optrex for my poor eyes. Three extremely late nights in a row had me looking like a banshee.

This was our third trip to Skye and we usually stay at the Dun Flodigarry hostel on the Trotternish peninsula. This year however we went to the Minginish area of Skye and stayed at THE BEST HOSTEL I HAVE EVER BEEN IN!

 Skyewalkers Hostel in Portnalong is run by musician couple Brian and Lisa Hill. They moved to Skye five years ago to own and run this hostel and are making an absolutely fantastic job of it.

 This is the back of the hostel which used to be a school many years ago. 

My favourite feature is the Solardome. Lots of benches and deck chairs make this the perfect place to relax. It gets really warm inside with just the slightest amount of sunlight and we loved to eat breakfast out there and do some drawing and painting. The children especially loved being in there as it was like being outside but not being blown about by the Skye winds.

Brian and Lisa are incredibly friendly and make everyone feel welcome and comfortable. They have a great sense of humour which can be seen around the place in quirky wall art and full size Starwars figures around some corners. There is a nice Scottish feel to the place but it's not at all tacky or kitch.

The accommodation is comfortable and very clean with private twin bunk rooms available as well as dorms and there are even two luxury en suite twin rooms available for those that don't fancy a bunk bed for the night. A brand new well equipped kitchen made cooking up meals a pleasure and there was plenty of room to eat and relax. 

Unlike many hostels we have been too, Brian and Lisa are not interested in cramming as many people as possible in per night. They choose not to take campers at the moment to avoid over crowding in the kitchen, toilets and showers. They do want to make a living but they are not greedy. Your experience while staying there genuinely matters to them.

Brian and Lisa

We were lucky enough to land in on a night when there was a music session in full swing. Having come straight from a folk festival this suited us fine! Not all hostelers are interested in listening to people play music and it takes great skill to draw a crowd in but they managed it and soon had a young crowd of Belgian students singing to us in French and joining in other well known songs. Great fun was had by all and I would highly recommend this hostel to anyone looking for somewhere great to stay on Skye. Musicians are especially welcome and are actively encouraged to play and sing the days and nights away. Hosteling is not just for youths either. Well, we certainly aren't youths! We met older couples, families and hikers as well as back packers from around the world.

For more information, photos and music videos check out the website here

Another great reason to choose this hostel to stay at is location!

It's only 3 miles from the Talisker distillery and a few miles from the famous black Cuillin mountains. We don't go to Skye for hill walking achievement but we do try and do at least one hike with the children every year. This year we chose to visit Glen Brittle and hiked up to the Fairy Pools. It was an easy walk and quite exciting to be making our way towards the majestic and mysterious Cuillin. The day was a bit over cast which made it even more atmospheric. As we approached the pools the children were starting to gurn a bit but as soon as they saw the first waterfall, all gripes were forgotten and the pools cast their spell on us all.

 It is impossible to capture the depth and beauty of each pool in a photograph. We all wanted to jump right in! Of course it would have been freezing even on a hot day but if the sun had been out I think I would have gone for it.

 The contrast of the turquoise water and russet browns of the vegetation and stone really appealed to me.

 I was also really taken with the patterns created on the floor of the pools by stones, slabs of rock and pebbles.

I knew I would create something in textile inspired by these pools and I got to work yesterday on a series of wall hangings. Rather than making this piece representational, it's more of a celebration of the colours and textures, reflections and patterns seen in the water as it flows down from the Cuillin. 

The drift wood branch was found on Glen Brittle beach.

 So that was probably a lot to cram into one blog post, but with the Open Studio event looming and me totally behind with my work, I can't see me getting many updates written over the next couple of weeks.

Did I mention that I sold nearly ALL my jewellery at Glenfarg? hee hee. I really need to be getting some work done.

Hope everyone is having a lovely Spring so far. We have our grass cut and the patio chairs out ready to enjoy any sunshine that comes our way : )

Totally Snowed In

We are completely snowed in. My husband has tried getting the car out and managed to to get to end og the track but couldn't get up the hill then got stuck on the flat! He has tried getting to work by bus and train. The train on Wednesday nearly got to it's destination but was turned back then got stuck due to frozen points for three hours. The trains are not even running now. The buses say they are running on major routes but we are not on a major route so that's out as well! 

We are running out of supplies

Welcome to A Winter Wonderland.

Welcome to the Winter Wonderland of Fife this snowy November!

Here's our wee cottage hunkering down against the wild east wind that has been bombarding us with snow and sleet for the past two or three days.

The sun is trying it's best to break through today but those clouds look like they may have more to offer!

Our garden birds are very busy at the feeders with the blue tits coming over to the window ledges looking for insects.

Thankfully we got the Craft Fair at Cupar out of the way before the worst set in. A big thank you to Laura for organising it. 

Thank you to everyone who came along. It was really nice to meet so many lovely people! 

I have these two mounted pieces available in my Etsy Shop right now. No snowy hillsides depicted yet but I may be tempted to have a go at a felted wintry scene.

This piece below was a commission for a lovley couple I met at the St Andrews fair in September. They had bought a few pieces from my stall at Crail Arts Festival and ordered some more from me at St Andrews. They loved the felt landscapes so much that they commissioned me to make them this piece with the stream and bridge.

I have incorporated some hand dyed roving from the Orkney island of North Ronaldsay into the background hills and a little bit of free machine embroidery adds texture and movement to the water.

My next job is to make more felt landscape bookmarks as they have been very popular. I've also had a run on brooches recently so I better get some new ones made for the next Open Studio Day. That will be on 

Saturday 11th December 10-4pm

The Green Door Craft Studio

64 Commercial Road

Ladybank

Fife

KY15 7JS

(On the corner of the main street that runs through Ladybank and Church Street)

This will be the last chance to buy directly from me this year. All my framed pieces, brooches, cuffs, necklaces, earrings and cards will then go off to all my stockists around the country.

Oh my goodness, there's the snow back on! Better get some more fuel on the log burner and stick some extra layers of clothing on the children!

From Scotland to Anywhere.

Well it's been a busy time here at Aileen Clarke Crafts over the past couple of weeks.

Most of my crafting time has been taken up with an order for 100 cards. They are off to an English language bookshop in Nerja, Spain! I got the order through Facebook so anyone still not sure about the power of social networking for your business....get a Facebook Fan Page set up now!

I also had a lovely visit to Twist Fibre Craft Studio to stock up on felting supplies. It is such a beautiful shop to visit and just bursting with inspirational ideas. As well as fibres, yarns and all things knitty, they sell beautiful fat quarters, buttons and beads. 

I made this cuff just so that I could line it with this gorgeous printed quilters cotton.

I've stitched little squares of shimmer organza onto the felt for a little bit of shimmer and shine and added a  swirly vintage button from my own collection.

 

I just love the lining fabric.

I've used it to back this bookmark too.

 

Both the Cuff and the Bookmark are available from my Etsy shop now.

Coming up this weekend is a Craft Fair at Cupar Corn Exchange. I will have a wide selection of work available including some of these smaller felt Landscapes at £25. They come complete with frame and are also available Online.

The Bookmarks have been a great success with sales coming in from as far afield as Italy, Sweden and Slovenia.

I'm working on a batch this week to go to 'Room 15', a lovely little gift shop in Oban. 
With these you can send a little bit of Scotland to anywhere!

I also made a couple of purchases. 

My best friend who taught me to make felt also makes and sells her felt creations. She is into needle felting and makes fabulous cushions, 3D animals, pictures and hot water bottle covers. She is still in the process of building up her little business and I took this piece below in to the studio for the last Open Day. I then brought it home and hung it on my wall for safe keeping and now I cannot bear to part with it! It reminds me so much of looking across to 

Great Blasket Island from Coumenole beach.

Now why on earth would I be buying a felt seascape when I make them myself you might wonder. Well, every time I make something that I think I might keep, I end up selling it and my walls are bare. I also think it's good to have other peoples art around the house. I find this piece very relaxing and dreamy.

'Dream Beach' by Kirsty Tudor
Falkland Felts.

My other purchase arrived last night.......

It may seem daft but I am so delighted to have my feet back in a pair of Dr Martens! It has been a good few years since I wore my last ones.

The winter weather can do what it likes now. I am prepared!