Month: February 2018

I’m just a girl who can’t sit still…

I grew up around amazingly skilled women who knitted, sewed and crocheted; thankfully they taught me the basics. As I got older, my Auntie Phyll enrolled me on a beginners patchwork course with her and we were off!

I’ve enjoyed learning all my life and thankfully, in crafting, you never stop learning; there is always another technique or craft to be tried and improved. Though my Aunt has sadly passed, I have a lot of friends who enjoy making costume, patch-working, crocheting and knitting and her voice, along with the oft repeated rustic wisdom of my Grandmother ring in our ears as we work.

Learning new crafts has allowed me to see projects from unspun wool through to woven and crafted complete items. Starting from as early in the process as possible is something I have always found fascinating. It allows me to know exactly where and how materials are sourced and how they are prepared. It also gives me the opportunity to lower the miles associated with a final product. If there’s anything you would like to know about what I do or the processes I use, just ask – it will give my husband a break from having to listen to me witter about my crafts!

If only there were more time to sit and craft…. 

View my Etsy shop here

“Each of my textile pieces is completely unique and all the parts that make up the whole are hand-made by me.

I am excited by the use of colour and the unexpected results that I get when hand-colouring fabrics. I use various colouring techniques which include break-down printing, mono printing, various discharge techiniques as well as block printing and shibori techniques. I then start to build up texture with the addition of felted fleece and hand and machine embroidery”.

Anne has had her shop open on etsy since 2009 and is based in Northampton, England.

Rachel is a ceramicist, potter, classically trained musician and master of steel pan playing. One of the reasons that she began learning and practicing with ceramics is because she gained a connection with it – Something she never really had with music. Music is a performance art whereas being able to create an object, you can play around with it until your happy with it and it is a lot less stressful. She has been working with ceramics for about 2 years and has been using various different aspects of life to inspire her.

Rachel often suffers from insomnia and it is during these times, when she is laying in bed or day dreaming, that she comes up with most of her ideas for pots. Coming up with ideas can be quite tricky as she really wanted to create things that nobody had done before.

Check out the full interview below!