Summertime Spring

Haven't we been having the most glorious summerlike days!

I swept out the summer shed earlier this month thinking that really I was a bit ahead of myself but we have been basking in there this week whenever we've had a chance. Just wonderful and so relaxing.

We were gifted this pretty blue and white china by friends who moved into a new house. The previous owners had just left it. I love to display flowers in jugs and teapots so we have given this china a nice new home and thanks to all this sunshine, we have an abundance of daffodils, flowering current and lenten roses to pick.

I know it's a bit early for lupins but I couldn't resist putting a few in this new landscape piece.

Below is a 'sketch' for a bigger piece I hope to make in time for Open Studios in May.

 I have also been working on a few more little boxes to add to the collection. These are just 5cm x 5cm and are made with genuine Harris Tweed.

And here is Foxee showing off our beautiful new brochure for this years Open Studio event.

You can pick one up in most public places around Fife, Edinburgh, Lothian, Perth, Tayside, Dundee and Angus. You can also download one at www.openstudiosfife.co.uk

Only 5 weeks to go!

To read about how Foxee became a beloved member of our family go here and here.

Seaweed Abstracts in Textile

Following on from Sunday's experiments with a whole heap of naturally dyed fibres, I continued to experiment with more fibres and yarns and the embellisher machine.

I also intorduced some free machine embroidery and shibori into the mix along with some hand stitch and here are the results.

The shibori piece here is inspired by the suckers found on the roots of bull kelp.

It's usually a greeny yellowy brown colour but a bit of artistic license lets me make mine teal and purple.

Aquatic Roots (1)

The background fibres in the piece above are hand dyed in Orkney.

The fibres in the background below are all handspun and were bought on the Isle of Skye.

Aquatic Roots (2)

The hand dyed nature of the fibres lends itself well to art pieces inspired by nature.

I really love drift wood as well and always pick up a few bits when we find ourselves by the sea. I made a point of collecting some tiny bits last time we were at the beach in Elie a few miles away on the Fife coast.

I have looped some faded pink chiffon around a piece here as it reminds me of the way seaweed drapes itself on pieces left on the shore.

The background here is a wet felted fusion of hand dyed fibres, silk flibres, Wensleydale locks, hessian fibres and hand dyed scrim.

Drift (1)

I've had this triple apperture frame for a while but couldn't decide what to put in it. This tryptich of felted fibres suits it well I think.

Abstract Seaweed Tryptich

More dfrift wood, a few shells and some beach glass have been incorporated into this piece below.

Shoreline Finds

I have enjoyed using all these natural shades in my work and have had some of these ideas floating around in my head for over a year! I would love to push the ideas further to see what would develop but it's back to landscapes this weekend and onto jewellery after that.

I did have time to make this box though.

I have enough of the felt left to make another tiny box and might possibly make some more to make a treasure chest shaped box. The ideas are flowing already! Oh for more hours in the day.

I have some printed cards available featuring landscapes made using the naturally dyed fibres.

You can find them in my Etsy shop here

Our Open Studios event here in North Fife is on Saturday 5th, Sunday 6th and Monday 7th May 2012. We are working hard to get our beautiful brochures distributed far and wide all across Scotland so look out for one in a gallery, library, gift shop, cafe or business near you.

The brochures are free and also available to view and download online.

www.openstudiosfife.co.uk

You can also keep up to date with us on Facebook 

Even if you are too far away to attend our event, by becoming a fan of our page, you can help us to spread the word.

Thank you!

Love Is In The Air

After a restful January and February whiling away the last winter months making and creating at leisure, March has sprung upon me with a frenzy of activity. The garden has come to life, the birds are busy nesting, the days are longer and brighter with opportunities to sit outside and my time is suddenly divided across many different activities. Included in this months endless to do list were the the flowers for my cousin's wedding.

It's always a pleasure and a privilege to do the flowers for a wedding but even more so when it's for family or friends. My cousin's fiance chose a mixture of pink roses for the table arrangement. I included white cymbidium orchids, eringium thistle, eucalyptus leaves, ivy and bupluerum to set the roses off.

My daughter was the flower girl and looked absolutely adorable carrying her little posy. The large pink rose is 'Sweet Dolomiti' and the smaller pink rose is 'Sweet Akito'. The cream rose is 'Vandella'.

The Sweet Dolomiti roses have ever such a slight perfume. This is unusual in cut roses as the scent is often lost. Garden roses have a heady scent but cut roses often don't so it was nice to have that pefume present.

Here's me holding the brides bouquet. A tight hand tied bunch of Vandella roses, each with a pearl headed pin. A loose collar of eucalyptus leaves and bear grass loops finished it off and the stems tied in matching voile ribbon.

We got a large piece of cake home with us and I have to say it's delicious!

A wonderful day was rounded off with a good ceilidh interspersed with a variety of classic songs sung at weddings to get folk up dancing. I might have passed on a few of the non ceilidh dances had my daughter not dragged me up to every single one! She put us all to shame as she was still up bopping at half past midnight when we were all starting to flag.

We spent the rest of the weekend catching up with the family and really feel like we have had a holiday and an extreemly enjoyable time.

No time to relax now that we are home though. Open Studios North Fife will soon be upon us in less than eight weeks time. The brochures have been printed and will be distributed soon. To keep up to date with where you can obtain your free brochure, why not become a fan of our Facebook page. Just click this link and if you are a Facebook user, click 'Like' at the top of our page. Any updates from our page will then appear in your news feed.

All 84 participating artists and makers are busy creating new work and thinking of new ways to make your visit even more enjoyable. This really is a great event so put Sat 5th, Sun 6th and Mon 7th May 2012 in your diary and look out for updates and info nearer the time.

Pinks and Blues and New Sheep Too.

Here is a quick visual feast of new pieces made last week.

I haven't been out and about taking many photos so I don't have much to blog about. Just been busy making new things and getting pieces out to stockists. Some of the places you can find my work are

An Cnoc in Creiff

Starfish Studio in Johnshaven

Studio 222 in Newburgh

Room 15 in Oban

and

Zigzags in Dunkeld

All of these new pieces can be found in my Etsy shop here.

The competition to win one of my framed felt landscapes and a set of six cards is still open in the Scot's Magazine. You can enter up until Wednesday 29th Feb by sending your details to

mail@scotsmagazine.com

I'm delighted to have been asked to do a few really nice events this year. I'll be anouncing where and when soon!

Find Yourself a Felt Making Kit

I get asked a lot if I do workshops or teach felt making. I don't but I know people who do!

I have also seen some great kits out there, some of which I have listed below.

Felt making is such a versatile craft. There are so many things you can make! There are two basic felt making techniques, wet felting and needle felting.
Wet felting involves laying out wool fibres called merino tops in layers and matting them together with hot soapy water and a simple rolling method until a fabric is formed.

Needle felting is when you stab at the fibres with barbed needles causing them to mesh together and either form a flat fabric or a three dimensional shape. You use a foam pad to stab into so that you don't hurt your fingers or damage your work surface. (Both are still possible but it's an easy technique to master!)

There are lots of 'How Too' videos on You Tube. Just search for 'How to make felt' or 'How to needle felt' and watch a few videos to give you an idea of what is involved.

Below are a few kits that you may enjoy trying.

Here is a Beginners Felt Making Kit from Maria at Creative Bumble Bee.
£9.90 contact Maria at info@creativebumblebee.co.uk

Maria has also come up with this brilliant kit for making Needle Felted Bird Brooches

£9.50 makes at least three brooches. Click here to go to Maria's website.

Lisa at 'Tigerlily Makes' has also come up with some fantastic kits.

This beautiful Scarf Kit costs £19.99 plus £4.50 p+p. Includes all the wool fibre and instructions to create this stunning one off piece.

This Rose Corsage is also available as a kit.

£9.95 plus £4.50 p+p

Click here to see the full list on the 'Tigerlily Makes' website.
Tigerlily Makes is based in Lichfield UK. Classes and workshops are also available.


Nicola Brown lives in Co Carlow, Ireland and makes really beautiful felt pieces including these felt purse/pouches. These are really fun to make as it doesn't matter how your felt turns out, you can just cut it to size, fold it over and sew it up the sides.

Nicola sells these kits from her Etsy Shop priced £6.50 plus £2.60 p+p (prices are approx as Nicola lists in US $'s)

You can also find details about workshops and tutorials on Nicola's blog here

Diva Designs based near Forres, Scotland also have a wide variety of kits for varying levels of felting skills.

You can choose from Needle Felting, Wet Felting and Felt Bead Kits. Other kits are also available from their webiste here.
Kirsty and Christine at Diva Designs also run workshops at their studio.

We are lucky to have a fabulous felting supplies and wool shop here in Fife called Twist Fibre Crafts. Based in Newburgh just south of Perth, this shop is very accessable as it's not too much of a detour off the M90.

 Felt Mirror

Everything you need to make a colourful mirror with decorative felt. Available in blues with fish or greens with flowers. Overall dimensions 20cm x 20cm.

£10.50

Felt Flower Bouquet

£12

Penguin Family

Kit includes foam block, 3 felting needles, felting needle handle, enough fibre to make 3 penguins and instructions.

£7.50

For the full range of kits from Twist and details of how to buy click the link below.

Twist Fibre Crafts Kits
Twist also run a variety of workshops and classes. See their website for details.

If you are in the Fife area you can also do a complete beginners workshop with Kirsty at

Falkland Felts
Kirtsy will taylor the workshop to your ability level and you can discuss the kind of things you would like to make before you begin. You can also liase with her about dates and times.

You can find some of these wonderfully creative and helpful people on Facebook. I'm sure they would love to hear from you and will happily answer your questions.

Falkland Felts
Creative Bumble Bee
Tigerlily Makes
Diva Designs

A Mosaic of Makes from 2011

2011 has been a fabulous year for Aileen Clarke Crafts.

My work has sold really well through various gift shops and galleries here in Scotland and gone all over the world thanks to the wonders of online shopping sites like Etsy and Folksy. Apparently my shop is among the top 250 sellers on Folsky which truly amazes me. It is one of my goals for 2012 to keep both of my online shops well stocked with a full range of items.

Events like Open Studios North Fife and The Handmade Show have also helped me focus and given me the opportunity to meet so many more people face to face, both customers and fellow artists.

Textile Trinket Boxes

My little boxes were an instant hit and have all gone to new homes over the past couple of months. Only two left in stock.

I do hope to develop new ideas for these and make them regularly available.

These photo mosaics are just a snap shot of pieces I have made during 2011.

Textile Wrist Cuffs

My range has certainly expanded and will hopefully continue to grow throughout 2012. I have enjoyed making a few commission pieces this year including pendants, earrings, brooches, wrist cuffs, handmade cards and art work. 

Fibre, Textile, Glass and Resin Pendants

Earrings

Brooches

New to my range this year have been these rings. I love wearing them myself and have to admit to owning at least five in all different colours.

Also new this year have been the Sheep Pendants, Earrings and Rings.

There are so many different colour combinations and different fibres that can be used that the possibilities are endless! It means that every single design is different. It also means that it is sometimes hard to choose. I've had customers at fairs swithering for ages not knowing which one to get for a friend and ending up buying one for themselves instead.

A variety of Sheep Jewellery is still available in my Etsy Shop

Card making was my first love and really how my whole Aileen Clarke Crafts business came about. I still make hundreds of cards but most of them go out to local shops and sell at craft fairs. I find them difficult to photograph for selling online and the time taken to get the photos just right is worth more than what the card will sell for. One of my plans for the new year is to buy a  new and better camera during the sales so hopefully that will allow me to make more of my cards available online.

The bookmarks continue to be a hit but again, I have struggled to find time to make more of them in recent weeks. Much of January will be spent making back ground felt for lots of different projects so hopefully I'll get some new bookmarks made in the new year.

Over the past year I have met people in real life that are regular visitors to my blog and fans of my page on Facebook. They have all helped and inspired me to come up with new ideas and make more of everyone's favourite items. Thank you to all of you who take the time to leave comments. It's such a great source of feedback and encouragement especially for someone who works from home. 

It's great to be part of such a wonderful creative community as well. So many of us are busy making and creating trying to make a living doing what we love and the internet has certainly provided us with a fantastic way of helping and supporting each other.

Felt Art Work

I'll leave you with this little selection of cosy cottages.

Bonnie Wee Hooses

 I think it's fair to say and obvious through my work that I have a bit of a thing for wee cottages.

I was brought up living in a cottage on the outskirts of Perth and I've lived in a few different ones over the years including the one I live in now with my husband and two children. 

This is the cottage I grew up in as a teenager. My brother lives in it now.

Painting By Jim Douglas

This is the cottage we live in now.

You can just about make it out behind the trees! The trees provide a nice bit of shelter and are home to lots of Greenfinch in the summer. Thankfully they are all still standing after yesterday's gale force winds! I felt like I was in the opening scenes of a disaster movie yesterday when I went out for wood and coal!

 I found these old photos taken in 1996 on a visit to Donegal with my Mum. I can remember we were ridiculously over excited with these cottages much to the bemusement of the old fella we met in the driveway.

 We were even more over excited when we saw that this one was a florists!

Mum and I both worked as florists for years and we thought this our absolute dream place.

A few weeks ago I spotted a photo on Craft Blog UK that really intrigued me.

It was of a knitted cottage against the backdrop of the beautiful Scottish Highlands. I immediately went in search of it's maker and got chatting via email to Julia Marsh, owner of Hand Knitted Things based in the north west of Scotland. 

Julia sells knitting patterns for her little croft house cottages but seeing as knitting is not one of my talents she offered to knit one for me!

 Drum roll please.............

Ta da!!!

 I am so delighted with it! I think it's the cutest thing ever.

It reminds me of some of the wee hooses we saw on holiday this summer out on Harris.

And of course it's like a 3D version of one of my own little needle felted ones.

Sunset Behind The Croft

£40

You can find out more about Julia and her Hand Knitted Things here

So we had an unusually wild and windy day here yesterday with the children off school and the fire needing fed like a hungry animal.

My postie still got through though and brought me some new supplies to play with.

 These new Felt Flower Pendants are now available in both my Etsy and Folksy shops priced £20.

More colours coming soon.


I also have these new Sheep Earrings available in both my shops. Just click the images to go to the listings.