New Designs for Spring

I'm delighted to share some new products that I have had made using some of my artwork.

This is Bunting Boat and Rainbow. It was inspired by a boat trip we took from Elgol to Loch Coruisk on The Isle of Skye last year. The boat was strung with bunting for a wedding later in the day and we saw rainbows all along the road on our way there.

I've had it printed onto matching Mugs and Coasters.

Mug and Gift Box £9.95

The design goes all the way around the mug with no gap between the front and back and it is split over two coasters so that when you put them together you see the whole picture.

Set of Two Coasters £7.95

The image also fits perfectly onto my Zipped Pouches.

Zipped Pouches £7.95

The pouches are washable and great for all sorts of things including pens and pencils, make up, glasses, paints, crochet hooks...the list goes on!

I also revisited this sheep design and gave the mamma sheep and lambs a more colourful world to live in with the addition of some wee birds. It also makes great mugs and pouches.

New to my range are these cotton bags. They measure 38 x 40 cm and have a nice length of handle. 100% natural coloured cotton.

Cotton Bags £7.95

Also new this week are these four designs as limited edition large printed cards.

The cards measure 15 x 15 cm £3.50 each.

And last but not least, I have two new notebooks in stock.

Dragonfly Cottage and Hughie the Coo

The idea for Dragonfly Cottage came to me when I met an Outlander fan in the village of Falkland. We got talking about my work as she was buying one of my cards in a shop and she said it reminded her of a scene from the book. She suggested I make something Dragonfly themed as the next series of Outlander is called Dragonfly in Amber. This image just floated into my head!

These notebooks have plain pages, perfect for sketching, painting or just keeping notes.

I will have all these and more with me at Falkland Craft Market on Saturday 5th March and at Edinburgh Yarn Festival on March 18th and 19th. You can also find everything in my Etsy shop here

Upcoming Events this Spring

I'm busy already preparing for some upcoming events starting in March.

Saturday 5th March 2016 - 10 - 4pm 

Falkland Craft Market, Falkland Village Hall, 

Back Wynd, Falkland, KY15 7BX. 

Free entry

These Markets will be running every first Saturday of the month until November and I will be at the March one, then June, October and November.

Friday 18th & Saturday 19th March 2016

 Edinburgh Yarn Festival - 10 - 6pm 

Find me in the Pop Up Market at Edinburgh Yarn Festival 

at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange 

11 Newmarket Road, Edinburgh, EH14 1RJ. Tickets £10

The yarn festival is such an amazing event! The exhibition hall is full to bursting with the most incredible selection of vendors selling the most beautiful array of fibres, wools, yarns, equipment and everything to do with knitting, crochet, spinning, weaving, dyeing, felt making and more! There is such a great atmosphere and so much going on, worth every bit of the ticket price!

Saturday 7th, Sunday 8th and Monday 9th May 2016 

 Open Studios North Fife 

10 - 6 pm each day. 

This is my biggest event of the year. Come and see me at 64 Commercial Road, Ladybank, Fife, KY15 7JS. I will be exhibiting my full range over three rooms in this little venue. I will also be demonstrating some felt making techniques. Refreshments available. You can read all about this brilliant event on the Open Studios website here.

 Brochures are available mid March so you can plan a route and visit some other artists as well over the weekend. There are 10 taking part in Ladybank alone! Free entry to all venues.

Annual SALE Now On

My annual SALE is up and running with over 70 items, many Half Price.

There are also some original pictures  with £15 - £20 off and a few oddments including a couple of boxes. mugs and coasters.

You can find all shop items Here 

Giclee Prints of My Work Now Available

I am delighted to announce that these eight different images are now available as 

top quality Giclee Prints!

I have chosen to use the website Scotland's Artists to produce and sell my prints for me. They can be easily ordered via their website. There are many advantages to this system. One is that you get Free postage and packaging within the UK. 

As they will post directly to you, it saves your print going through the post twice and saves you paying any postage at all.

It also saves me having to buy and store lots of prints. The images are printed to order so there is no waste and no chance of prints getting damaged in storage.

I had a sample of the large 28 x 28 cm print sent out to me this week and it is absolutely gorgeous! I have it framed already and you can hardly tell that it's not a felt original.

Pink Thistle Bothy

There are three different size options for most of the images.

12 x 12 cm £35

17 x 17 cm £45

28 x 28 cm £55

Mounts are also available 

Click here to go to the Scotland's Artists website. Clicking on the images will take you to the buying page for each print.

Poppies and Coo

Pretty Bird

Stepping Stones to The Bothy's

Morning Mist

Sipping From the Stream

Light On The Horizon

Harvey The Highland Cow

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.

The Makers Market this Saturday 21st November. St Andrews Town Hall

Following on from a hugely successful Handmade Show last week, I will be at The Makers Market in St Andrews this Saturday the 21st November.

The Town Hall is on Queen's Gardens just off the A918, the main street running through St Andrews. It's a lovely venue and it's shaping up to be a great event!

I will have lots and lots of everything with me!

Harris Tweed and Felt Trinket Boxes from £28

Printed Cushions

Earrings £18

Pendants £24

Sheep Jewellery from £15

Lots of boxes!

Brooches £12

And printed gifts from just £4.95

All these are available in my Etsy shop now.

I will also be at 

The Loft

Ardross Farm Shop

Elie

Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th November

9-5                                       9-4