Lovely Lucy Jackson is a fellow new member of the Glasgow Craft Mafia and I had to feature her here because her beautiful handmade books are absolutely to die for! Please note that due to Flickr’s privacy settings and a lack of time on my part, I wasn’t able to show any of Lucy’s photographs. I urge you all to check out her Flickr photostream to see her amazing work for yourselves.

What do you make?
Everything! Well not quite everything but I am addicted to crafting so I find myself trying lots of crafts. At the moment I am making a lot of books and journals, felt brooches and button hair slides. My newest products are kits for making your own felt brooches.

What got you started in this field? Were you always a creative type?
We have always been creative in our house some of my best childhood memories are of my mum and I making things and being crafty, I think it was inevitable that I would be a crafter!
I started in business gradually, one Christmas I made cards for everyone at work and then come Valentine’s day and Mother’s day some of my colleagues asked if I could make cards for them and that’s where it started, I realised people wanted to buy the things that I was making.

When and how did you learn?
Like I said I did a lot of arts and crafts with my mum as a child, my dad is artistic too so it was encouraged in our house to be arty and crafty. I loved art at school and then went on to study product design at college and went on to get an MSc in Product Design and Development at Uni. After Uni I found that the jobs were all in the computer side of product design and I was more interested in the creative thinking, idea generation and making the products. When I want to try something new I learn from books, other crafters, classes and YouTube is a great way to learn things there are so many people sharing their skills and techniques.

Do you make things by hand?
Yes, pretty much everything is hand made, I have some cool gadgets to help me along, a bind-it-all a crop-a-dile and a corner chomper.

Do you believe that being creative is good for you?
Oh yes, you get so many warm fuzzies from crafting; when you successfully complete a project, when someone buys something you have made and showing people how to make things themselves is also good feeling.

Is there anything that frustrates you about being a creative type?
Sometimes you can be misunderstood and people don’t get you! Trying to differentiate myself as a craft business and not a craft hobbyist.

Do you believe the internet has had an effect on your creativity?
If anything it has made me more creative as it has created avenues to sell and an infinite resource of information, tutorials to learn new crafts and there is the buying not just of other crafts but tools and materials.

Thanks Lucy for doing this interview and thanks again to all of our crafters who agreed to be featured this week! If you’d like to find Lucy online, here’s where to look:
Lucy Jackson Designs
Lucy’s blog
Twitter
Folksy
Etsy

Posted under recommendations

I mentioned in Monday’s post that I’d met Connie when she tested on of The Life Craft‘s classes for me. The same night I also met the lovely Lucy McWilliams of Lucy Loves…. Lucy very kindly made Jenny and I a goodie bag of her gorgeous soaps & bath products and I’ve been a raving fan ever since! She’s kindly agreed to be our third interviewee in the “Sisters are doing it for themselves” series.

So Lucy, tell us what you make?

I make soaps, bath bombs, bath salts and lots of other wee pampering treats.

What got you started in this field? Were you always a creative type?

I wouldn’t say I have always been a creative type. I actually began making soaps on a whim, as I was looking for something a bit different for my wedding favours. It has just kind of snowballed from there. I realised I was quite enjoying myself, and the experiment hasn’t stopped from that point. I am still looking for new ways to do things, improving my techniques and so on

When and/or how did you learn?
When I ordered my first mould! I bought a few things off the internet to get me started and to see if it was something I could do. Like I said, totally on a whim! I spend a lot of time on some great websites such as http://www.teachsoap.com/ for some great ideas to help me get started.

Why do you make things by hand?

I really enjoy it. I love it when people come round to my house and comment on how good it smells, or how much they like the soap in the bathroom. It gives me a real sense of accomplishment when I create something that other people will like! It’s a good feeling!

What is your craft ”philosophy”?

Handmade and not mass produced! I know it only too easy to step onto the high street and pick up a hugely over-scented eye-wateringy strong bath bomb, which is technically handmade. However I think its a bit nicer when you get a product that’s made for you at your request, or one that is slightly unique, as all handmade things inevitably are!

Do you believe that being creative is good for you?

I believe it is certainly good for me personally. It is nice to have an outlet, and something I can go away and work on when I can’t be bothered with the rest of the world, or when I need to chill out.

Is there anything that frustrates you about being a creative type?

Only that people want handmade items, but they want to pay mass produced prices. To be entirely honest, I was a bit like that until I realised the amount of work ad effort that goes into handmaking something individual.

It makes it very hard to price your products accordingly, as you don’t want to sell yourself short, but you also don’t want to intimidate people with high prices. Its a toughie!

Do you believe the internet has had an effect on your creativity?

Yes, its distracts me from the Soap Kitchen! However its such a valuable marketing and networking tool that it seems to be essential to very business these days!

Profuse thanks to Lucy for taking the time to do this interview when she’s just arrived home from holiday. Lucy can be found online in the following places:
Folksy
Facebook
Twitter
Lucy’s blog
Flickr
Email

Posted under recommendations

It’s day 2 of our “Sisters are doing it for themselves” series and today we’re going to meet the lovely Leigh Shepherd. I’ve been following Leigh’s blog for quite some time and as I absolutely adore her work I thought I should share it with you lovely lot. So without further ado, let’s meet Leigh!

So tell us a bit about Leigh Shepherd Designs – what do you make?

All of the things I make involve upcycling tiles, papers, and resin. I create a range of jewellery using upcycled games pieces. My brooches are made with vintage draughts and domino pieces. My pendants are made with Scrabble pieces presented in matching Teeny Tiny Tins and Mah Jong Tiles with matching Glass Keepsake Pots. I also create Tiny Tile Paintings and Collages featuring vintage imagery. All of my pieces are then finished with resin.

What got you started in this field? Were you always a creative type?

I have always been creative. I went to art college and have a Fine Arts degree, I’ve worked freelance in animation for films for television. After working for eight years in education and with children on the horizon I sat down with my husband and mapped out what we wanted from life. This mainly involved both of us working from home doing things we loved we also wanted to be around the kids as they grow up. So with a few sacrifices, a few risks and alot of work we are now doing just that.

When / how did you learn your craft?

I have always played around with jewellery making and I have continued painting and drawing since college, even when teaching I made things for friends and family.When I had decided that I wanted to do this full time I made up a few sample pieces (after alot of experimenting with different types of resins and papers) and took them to a local craft gallery. The owner placed an order which sold out very quickly and has continued to re order ever since. Approaching shops and galleries can be a hard thing to do and I think this is the step many new makers are afraid to take. For many creative people marketing themselves is the most difficult yet essential part of starting their business its an area I find challenging but its the only way to move forward.

Why do you make things by hand?

When I decided to set up my own business rather than return to teaching I really didn’t consider anything other than this. Making things by hand is a natural way for me to work. It is rare today for one person to be able to take a product from initial idea, through the design and making process and marketing, making by hand allows me to do this and I get a real buzz from that. I love sourcing my materials, especially the vintage finds that I use in my brooches and Tiny Tile Paintings.

Do you believe that being creative is good for you?

I can only speak for myself, but I do believe that being creative has been good for me.

I previously worked as a primary school teacher and special needs manager, this was at times very stressful. I found that to express myself creatively helped me to relax and look at situations more positively and think things through more clearly. I find working for myself much more satisfying. Whilst running a business can have its own frustrations working on a new design is an exciting process.

Is there anything that frustrates you about being a creative type?

My biggest frustrations come from not knowing how to do things that are outside of my creative field. They are usually connected to the day to day running of business or are techie related!

Do you believe the internet has had an effect on your creativity?

The internet has been key to helping me to keep in touch with other makers, its really helped to see how many other people are working in a similar way, and stops me feeling isolated when I’m working by myself. I love to read blogs and I find this is very supportive. Whilst I do use the internet alot I don’t spend much time in the many craft forums, I find time runs away from me when I do. It’s been an essential tool to track down materials and resources. So the internet probably has had an effect on my creativity, helping me to move my business on.

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into another indie maker. Thanks to Leigh for doing this interview, you can find her online in the following places:

Leigh Shepherd Designs
Folksy
Facebook
Flickr
Twitter
Leigh’s blog

Posted under recommendations

Kicking off this week’s “Sisters are doing it for themselves” special we have the lovely Connie who – along with her darlin’ husband Jamie (aka Mr Kapow) – runs Konnie Kapow! Connie was one of our class testers at The Life Craft and is someone I have a lot of time for. So, without further ado let me introduce you!

Tell us about Konnie Kapow! What do you make?
We make offbeat greeting cards from original artwork either by Mr Kapow or myself. Jamie has a degree in Fine Art from Bath Spa University whereas I have a degree in weird doodling from the University of Colouring in Books!

Our focus is on vintage styles, cowboys, rockabilly, pop culture, silly jokes, and lists of things we like, good drawings (and some bad!), birdies and custom artwork.

What got you started in this field? Were you always a creative type?

Jamie is a natural born artist, he’s really talented (and handsome!) but after he finished his degree his confidence in his own abilities plummeted. When we met it had been quite some time since he had done his last painting. In fact, I witnessed him selling off one of his big abstracts at a car boot sale for £3.50!

I am an avid craftsperson who loves making things, especially knitting! I have a really strong desire to learn new crafts all the time however; my talent for art is that I have no talent for art! It’s long been a joke amongst my family (a creative bunch, both my sister and dad are talented artists) that I can’t draw to save my life! During my ‘horsey’ phase I would churn out sketch after sketch of strange beasts with long necks that looked like dog/giraffe hybrids and name them “Trigger” or “Swift Wind.”

Ever since I was a little girl I have had an unhealthy obsession with stationery and made my own in various forms since school. I was always sending stuff to one friend in particular who really ‘got’ my sense of humour. I figured I’d probably offend anyone else who received it! I used to “illustrate” letters to Jamie when we were doing the long distance romance thing and he saw their er… potential?

Then last year I went through a period of suffering badly from anxiety which meant I was off work for about 6 weeks. I’m never at peace, always got 5 or 6 things on the go at once (making a terrible mess) but I found I didn’t have the concentration to knit or read or even watch telly and I was SO BORED but too scared to leave the flat. We had hundreds of card blanks left over from the wedding so I started turning them into silly and or quirky cards and they went down so well with friends and family that I searched online for a UK equivalent of Etsy (where I had purchased a lot of stuff for my wedding) and came up with Folksy where I opened my shop!

Why do you make things by hand?

For me! Because there’s nothing quite compares to the feeling you get when you’ve finished something – whether it’s a card or a hand knitted lace scarf, or a cake for that matter – you hold it out and look at it and think (or shout depending on company) “I made this!” Being creative and making things by hand gives me a sense of achievement like nothing else, “look! I made this! ME!”

What is your craft “philosophy”?

This ties in quite well with what I was saying about the sense of achievement thing. I personally don’t like greeting cards! (gasp!) Well, I don’t like manufactured ones (phew!).

When we got married for example we got hundreds of congratulations cards and I would say that they were mostly about 5 or 6 designs in duplicate. No offence to anyone who sent us a wedding card intended but you send a card because of a life event, something important, every individual is different and I think that this should be reflected in the card. I’m the type of person who has kept practically every letter I’ve ever received and I love it when I get a card that someone has picked because it’s unique, or even better, relevant to me!

At the same time, I am aware that there isn’t much choice out there, particularly if you don’t want (insert name of well known greeting card company) style sentiments so this is why we make cards in the style that we do. One of our favourite things to do is custom cards, we’ve done T-Rex (the band) 40ths, T-Rex 25ths (the dinosaur), dogs sailing boats, elephants in socks, Bruce Willis, rock chicks and are currently working on a Star Wars 40th!

Do you believe that being creative is good for you?

I know it is! Like I said earlier, I was at a very low point when I started Konnie Kapow. I opened my Folksy shop on 10th September 2009 and had my first sale on the 24th which was probably the most exciting thing that ever happened to me! By the end of the month I had notched up a few more sales and my confidence was growing. I started encouraging Jamie to get involved too as it was something I felt we would work well at as a team. He was a bit apprehensive at first but after some of his designs started selling too (everyone loves Owlvis!) you could see his confidence starting to come back and he’s doing a lot creatively now with his painting and photography.

Before I started all of this it was so easy to come home from work and slip into familiar habits of eating dinner in front of the telly and then before you know it it’s time for bed and then you do it all over again! Crafting keeps me sane, literally!

Is there anything that frustrates you about being a creative type?

Yes, the frustrating thing about it is I still have to work full time! Although I’m one sale away from 80 in my Folksy shop and regularly do craft fairs as well as selling in The Maisonette, I couldn’t possibly survive on my craft alone at the moment which is very frustrating! Every second I spend not crafting is doing something I don’t really want to do (with the exception of eating and sleeping, they’re my favourites!).

Do you believe the internet has had an effect on your creativity?

Yes both negatively and positively!

Positive: there are so many tutorials and how to guides available it’s very easy to get free resources and cheap materials using the internet. There is also a really welcoming and strong online crafting community to get to know and lend support when you need it! It’s like being part of a big family! (Incidentally, I wrote a wee article on the sense of community for online craft mag Indie Smiles!)

Negative: the internet can be a hindrance too though, you go on to do a quick blog or update twitter and something else catches you eye or you get into a conversation with someone and before you know it you’ve wasted a whole day!

Many thanks to Connie! You can find Konnie Kapow online in the following places:
Their website
Folksy
Facebook
Flickr
Konnie Kapow’s blog
Konnie Kapow’s twitter
Mr Kapow’s blog
Mr Kapow’s twitter

Posted under recommendations

So after discovering that I had something ridiculous like 12000 unread posts in bloglines I – for the first time in four years – marked all as read to start again. Woe is me! Before doing this I looked at any blogs that I hadn’t made a concerted effort to check and unsubscribed from them (mostly big American ones with thousands of readers) but this means that if I haven’t commented on your blog lately, I haven’t read it and I’m sorry. I’ll make an effort to keep up this time!

Anyway, one of the benefits of cutting out the deadwood is that I’ve actually been able to keep up with my favourite blogs and I’ve recently discovered a new one that I think my sewing friends are going to love. Zoe (who actually reminds me a lot of Melissa from All Buttoned Up) is participating in “Me-made-May” which does as it says on the tin – participants are going to spend the month of May clad in clothing they’ve made themselves. Which I think you’ll agree is quite an audacious feat and one which I am green with envy over. Can I just show you some of Zoe’s stuff?

Click on the image to go to Zoe’s blog post about it.

So I’ve decided now that the Business Plan of doom is finished and I have a Bona Fide Fashion Design Graduate working for me that I have no excuse anymore. It’s time I made my first garment for me. Bearing in mind that I’m a bigger lass (UK16 on top and UK16-18 on the bottom) have any of you got recommendations for flattering dress patterns that I could attempt?

I have fallen in love with Zoe’s bird blouse, made from this pattern which was in Burda 01/2008. I can’t seem to work out how to buy back editions on the Burda website, I can’t locate this edition on eBay and nobody on twitter has a copy to lend me. Can any of you lovely lot help me?

Posted under recommendations, sewing

A few months ago, Amanda declared a crush on me. What I haven’t really mentioned is that this is a reciprocated feeling. So I’ve decided to start the Kitschycoo fan club.

A few weeks ago on facebook, I pondered buying this awesome pettiskirt for Erica to wear to Greer’s christening. Opinions were divided amongst my friends and Amanda emailed me offering instead to make Erica a dress. Which she did, and what a dress. Not only is it made from the most awesome bird fabric ever, but it’s REVERSIBLE! It has a massive 60 inch circumference hem which went down very well with my little twirler. Did I mention it’s reversible?

Awesome side 1

Awesome side 2 (she was not impressed at this stage. Also, I’d crossed the ties accidentally which is why the dress isn’t sitting quite right.

When I was last through visiting Amanda, she got a fabric delivery from the States which gave me instant first dibs on the frankly stunning prints new to the Kitschycoo range. Having recently realised that Erica’s wardrobe consists of dresses, dresses and dresses I asked if Erica could have a couple of tunics made from the two prints that really caught my eye. And look what arrived yesterday!!

and

Needless to say I’m thrilled. Erica’s thrilled. And there’s a kind of smug satisfaction gained from supporting another Mum rather than a faceless corporation. Thanks again Amanda – you’re a star!

Posted under recommendations

Very local-centric post quickly, just to say that Mandors in Glasgow are starting their own craft group from this Sunday! I am going to try and make it along – will I see you there?

Posted under general crafty updates, recommendations

Firstly I’d just like to say what an amazing and wonderful bunch of people I am HONOURED to have as readers and therefore as friends. I was gobsmacked by the response to my last post and I’m truly overwhelmed at the outpouring of support and experience that came from you all. Thank you, all, from the bottom of my heart

OKAY! Now we’re done with the schmaltzy PDA I can show you what I’ve been doing while I’ve not been doing anything. I know this won’t come as a surprise to any of you, given that I have four children but I’ve been indulging a lot in that naughty S word…*

…SHOPPING. You filthy minded scamps. What else did you think I was going to say?

So. My good friend Evelyn posted photographs of her gorgeous daughter Esmé over a year ago and of course being me my first response was, “ZOMGshe’sgorgeousEvelynWHEREDIDYOUGETHERDRESS?!!” Evelyn graciously directed me to Cindy’s shop on Hyenacart but alas, she didn’t have any fabulous technicolour dreamdresses available in stock. I bookmarked the store then completely forgot about it until a couple of weeks ago when I was clearing out my email, I found an exchange between Cindy & I. I decided to drop her a quick line to see if she was still making the dresses and oh FRABJOUS day not only was she making the dresses but she had space for me to place an order. Hooray!

I thought Greer was probably a little young for the full twirly dress effect so I got one for Erica and one for my niece Bailey. My sister Stephanie and I have a pretty good deal going, I give her Erica’s clothes once she’s outgrown them then she passes Bailey’s clothes back to me for Greer. We have just acquired a new niece last week when my stepbrother and his girlfriend had a little girl so no doubt these dresses will be passed on to little Maissie too! Anyway, I digress. Point is, beautiful dresses of wonder arrived this afternoon and I immediately stopped what I was doing to make Erica put hers on. It’s so colourful it has immediately washed away bad mood (I was really irritated today because it’s been raining constantly for months and I need some sunshine!)

I think Erica likes it.

What do you think?

*That reminded me of a story. When I was in Primary 3 (so 6-7 years old) I remember grassing someone in my class in for swearing. The teacher asked me what the swear word started with and my precocious little reading mind went into overdrive and I said, “It began with an S.” The teacher had a think and couldn’t work out which particular profanity had been levelled so told me to whisper it, so I whispered, “shit“. She gave me into trouble and told be it didn’t start with S, it started with Sh! Isn’t it funny the things you remember?

Posted under for the kids, recommendations

Greer is settling into family life and proving to be a very laid back kind of child – very like her oldest brother Findlay, and nothing like Nairn and Erica were as teeny tinies. So much so that I’ve actually been granted time to bake a little this week. I’ve thrown together one of my Cherry Bakewell cakes using raspberry jam instead of cherry, a batch of smarties cookies and the most gorgeous cinnamon apple upside down cake using Apryl’s recipe. I’ll blog the smarties cookies recipe tomorrow when I find the scrap of paper I wrote measurements down on

I had a bit of a freak out a few weeks ago over the state of the boys’ bedroom with the result that we dismantled their bunk beds this week and installed brand spanking new cabin beds complete with storage space *swoons*. This of course meant there’s been spare bits of bed lying around the house whilst Bob got the grunt work done.

This is what happens when you leave a mattress on its side on the stairs. The toddlers get it, pull it over and spend the day doing this:

I promise I do dress them occasionally

Posted under baking, family

This post was written by Vonnie on May 27, 2009

Tags: bake, baking, cinnamon apple upside down cake, erica, Nairn, recommendations, smarties cookies

As promised, here is my belated 100th post giveaway entry!

I’ve been trying to come up with entry criteria but due to lack of sleep thanks to a very cute little girl I haven’t got the imagination. So! I recently finished reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (which is amazing and beautiful and made me cry) and I absolutely loved it. Embarrassingly this is the first book in many a month that I’ve successfully completed but it’s really triggered my inner bookworm.

With that in mind, to enter this giveaway I would like you to recommend a book to me – it can be any genre at all – and tell me why I need to have this book in my life. If you’re not a literary type then feel free to recommend a website that you think I need to see.

In return? One of you lucky types will win four stitch markers, a pair of gorgeous pink resin knitting needles (made by Kerry at PennyDog Jewellery) and the knitting bag made by me and embellished with a removeable needlepointed flower brooch by Debbs for the Crafteroo mixed media craft challenge (with apologies for the picture of the bag, it’s not the easiest thing to photograph!).

Go!

Posted under recommendations, site stuff