I get by with a little help from my friends (and family!)

Often, when I am devising a new class or workshop, I need help.  Sometimes I just need something made for a photograph, other times I need samples, and most importantly, I need to test the craft out to see if it is something that non-crafters can do.

I do get people who come to my classes who want to start crafting, and we don't want to put them off by giving them something achievable do we?

So I use my friends, family, anyone who makes the mistake of visiting, as unpaid testers.

This is Hubster, doing Needlefelting for the first time.  This was a "Young Folks" class, so I thought if he can do it, they can do it.  

He managed not to stab himself too!!

(Now, if you have never stabbed yourself with a needle felting needle, don't be in a hurry to try it.  The tool is barbed, it hurts so much more on the way out than on the way in, and you usually just jab so it is out and in before you realise, and boy, does it sting..... for ages after too)

So, thankfully in this case, no blood on the felting wool.

Using a cookie cutter to protect those fingers, and to give the shape of the piece, he got to work making a duck.

Didn't he do well for a first attempt, I was rather impressed.

A couple of days later my son, Iain, came for tea  (I'm Northern, the evening meal is Tea, not Dinner as my Southern Hubster keeps insisting it is called)

And guess what?  He got a crafting job.  "Make me a dinosaur", I asked.  "No" he said.  "Then I won't have time to make your Tea", I said... so he did.

I'm thinking that this 25yr old, father-of-one is a little too pleased with his dinosaur, don't you?

He made me a fish too - Hubster made the butterfly, and I cooked Tea.  It seemed like a fair deal.

May Half Term Kid's Club

Gosh, these school holidays really come around quickly don't they?   All of a sudden I was having to plan for my half-term Kid's Club & Young Folks sessions.

It was only a week this time, so couldn't squeeze a lot in due to other commitments, but I did manage to put on these workshops.

Plate Weaving.   This is a lot of fun actually. Once the plate is threaded up, the young peeps then choose their own yarns and weave them in and out of the threads.  They end up with unique wall hanging which looks quite spectacular.

Just look how happy this wee chap is with his creation.

And these ladies too  - they were with Grandma and she wasn't sure about giving permission to put their faces out on social media, which of course is absolutely fine, so we took this arty shot instead as they really wanted to show their work off.

A "Young Folk" workshop followed, these are a little more structured as the attention span of the young people are higher at this age.   

They made bunting with Air-Dry clay, which they textured, patterned then glazed before taking them home to leave to dry out for a few days.

Can you see what this says?  I keep seeing "chocolate"!!

The last session was to make a cress pot, then sew some cress seeds to grow at home.

We wrapped the cups in yarn, round and round to cover each bit.  Then put some beads in the weight, followed by damp kitchen roll & cotton wool.  Finally we sewed the seeds.

My cress is growing really nicely on my window sill, must be ready for harvest soon.  Better boil some eggs   :)

If you are interested in Kid's Club and Young Folks sessions, keep an eye on my Facebook events where I pop them up.

Air-dry Clay name bunting

As I run workshops for young folks, I keep having to come up with new ideas so they keep coming back to take part.

Sometimes the ideas just ping into my head and sometimes I have to dig deep to find things that inspire me enough to make.

Now, this is a surprising one, especially as you might have read my previous blog about my awful attempts at pottery, but I picked up a block of Air-Dry clay and a tub of Wilton Alphabet Cookie Cutters.

Rolling out the clay to shortbread thickness, I then looked about for things to texture it with.  I am SURE I have texture plates somewhere... just cannot find them!

The first thing I used was some hessian sacking.... BIG MISTAKE, the clay was suddenly covered with tiny brown hairs that took ages to pick off.  I used bubble wrap and lace for other pieces, along with just jabbing other pieces with various tools to create a pattern.

I also wanted the clay to be painted at the same time - normally you would need the clay to dry before painting it, but then I would need to make parents buy paints to take away which seemed a bit unfair.

After a chat to some colleagues we came up with the plan of mixing acrylic paint with PVA glue which would form a kind of thick glaze which wouldn't be too wet and which shouldn't hinder the drying out stage afterwards.

And you know what?  It worked!

As for the workshop, it went really well...

Young Folks Crafts over the Easter Holidays

Due to popular demand, during the Easter Holidays this year I will be offering some more Young Folks Classes.  

Each class is £6.00 per young person and runs from 

Age guidelines are 8-16 years.

The class times are all  12.30pm - 2.30pm  at Hobbycraft in Carlisle.  The places MUST been pre-booked as materials need to be prepared.  You can find booking details HERE.

The crafts are as follows:

Tuesday 29th March 2016 - Wool Wrapped Wreaths. 

Friday 1st April 2016 - Sewing Machine Bunting. 

Monday 4th April 2016 - French Knitting.

Tuesday 5th April 2016 - Beaded Bangles.

Friday 8th April 2016 - Button Tree Canvas.

If you would like any more information, please contact me on soozintheshed@gmail.com

Summer classes for young folk - 2015

Following on from my Kid's Club post about the classes I held in Hobbycraft  over the summer every Tuesday........ also on offer, each Friday was a schedule of classes for older young folk age about 8-16, this was a more structured class with a skill to be learnt.

The first week I had a group of young ladies that came to learn how to use a sewing machine.   They threaded bobbins, threaded the machine, changed the needle and the presser foot, tried out different stitches and finally went on to make their very own pin cushion each.

The next week we did recycled rag-rug making, using hessian backing and old clothing to make the designs.  I forgot to grab an end photo, but they would take a bit of finishing off at home anyway  :)

But, a couple of weeks later one of the young ladies brought this in to show me - she had finished her rug, isn't it glorious?   The voile fabric works so well with the others to make it luxurious.

Following on from that was a knitting class.   Although they had a choice of lots of colours of yarns, they all seemed to pink pinks and purples, except one who chose green to match her green needles  :)

The week after knitting was crochet.  Lot's of hooking going on, and just check out that Granny Square!

Simply fabulous for a young beginner.

The following week was learn to Patchwork, and I am so annoyed that I forgot to get an end photo for this one as we had an array of brightly coloured patchwork flower, which were so beautiful.

And finally, we did Bunting, on the sewing machines.   Great fun was had with this class, and the bunting produced was brilliant, so colourful and cheery - something every girl should have for her room!

And didn't they do well, they looked pretty pleased with their makings   :)

Thank you all for attending, it was lovely to meet everyone and I hope to see you again at future events.

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