Button Tree art canvas

Adults like to play you know..... it's true, crafting is theraputic and allows you to relax and chill.  (As long as the craft you choose isn't too taxing on the mind of course!)

The Button Tree Canvas class I did in the summer achieved just that, a relaxing, mindful, calming couple of hours, with a nice wall art to take home at the end of it.

We started by drawing a simple brown tree, I find that being really mean with acrylic paint on the brush, and dragging it over the canvas thinly, you can create a bark like effect without any effort at all.

I also take a hair-dryer to these classes to dry of the paint before we start sticking the buttons in place.

Some people had colour schemes, look at the grey and yellow, doesn't it look great?

And some people just took the buttons that grabbed their eye and used those.

Little flowers were added at the bottom of some.

And butterflies on others...

And all the ladies had a lovely work of art to take home.  

You don't have to be an artist to make these button trees - just a little time and space to let yourself chill and create.

Try it yourself...  (ooo, did that sound a little like Neil Buchanan off Art Attack?  Whatever happened to him?)

If you fancy doing a class with me, I will be running this workshop in Brampton Community Centre on Friday 11th November 2016.  Shout out for more details.

A "drop-in" purse making event

I tried a new type of workshop last weekend, a drop-in class where you could just roll up, make something and go on your way again.

This was a little coin purse workshop and cost only £5.00 to make your very own lined, zipped purse.

I only had three people attend, which in a way was good as I wasn't overwhelmed, and of course those people might return to other classes  :)  It was very quiet as it was the Cumberland Show that day too, so maybe everyone was away visiting that.

Anyway, they all got to work with their sewing machines - this young lady has never used a machine before so she did marvellously.

They got to choose their own fabrics of course, then match them with a zip.  These are the results.

A pink number with fabric from the same Fat Quarter pack so they team up perfectly.

Some Kirsty Allsop Charm Pack pieces which worked nicely together and that bright blue zip just finishes it off beautifully.

And last, but not least, teaming a teal and white design with a dusky pink lining worked really well.

Thanks to you ladies that came, I will pop this class back on sometime and try it again  :)

Snakes & Ladder Board

The summer is approaching and I needed to come up with some ideas for the Kid's Club I run throughout the holidays at Hobbycraft.   I can't keep re-doing the same crafts as the young folk that come along are going to get bored, so I have to shake my brain to come up with some new ideas.

What about something they can continue to have fun with at home?   A board game.... or rather a game board.

I got Daddy L to cut me some 12" square bits of card (he used to be a framer so has all the mount cutters etc.... I make good use of him sometimes  :) )  and I grabbed some pens and got to work.

First of all I sectioned it off into 100 squares and numbered them.

Then the fun part, drawing the snakes and the ladders.  I guess you could draw as many snakes and ladders as you like, but I just did three of each.

I ordered some counter and dice packs of the internet and voila!  We have a board game that can provide hours of fun.

If you think your little ones might like this workshop then it will be on Monday 8th August, 10.30am-12.00pm at Hobbycraft in Carlisle.  And the best bit... it only costs £2.00!!

£2.00 for an hour or so of crafting then numerous hours of playing once home again - bargain  :)

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.

A little zipped purse

I keep getting a similar statement off people that have recently learnt to sew......  "I can't put a zip in".

Well, actually, you can, it's real easy.

So to prove a point I thought I would devise a little drop-in workshop where people can just pop in and make a simple zipped purse, just like these ones.

But not only are they zipped, they are lined too, to make them even prettier and of course, stronger against the rub of the coins.

So, keep an eye on my events on my Facebook page, you might like to pop along and make one for yourself!

www.facebook.com/Soozintheshed/events

Teen Stitchers Course at Hobbycraft

I have recently just finished running another Teen Stitchers course at Hobbycraft in Carlisle.

I had three lovely young ladies on it, all wanting to learn how to use a sewing machine and begin sewing beautiful things.

The first week we spend learning how to thread the machine, as well as general housekeeping like changing a needle, swapping presser feet, changing stitches... and more.  Then we went on to make bunting, but I forgot to get a photo, which is a shame as it was really nice bunting.

Anyway, week two was cushions.  They each made their own pattern from graph paper, then cut out the fabric before sewing it together and embellishing it with ribbons and buttons.

I remembered the photo this week, don't those cushions look fabulous?

Here, have a close peek.  They were free to choose their own fabrics of course, and such great choices they made too.

Week three was "Tool Rolls", where they made little storage rolls for pencils, make up brushes, knick knacks.  Phones were measures so they could go in too  :)

Here they are proudly showing off their Tool Rolls.

Again, superb colour choices, they all co-ordinate so beautifully.

The final week was stuffed owls, with appliquéd tummies and eyes.   This took a little skill as they had to very carefully work around their pieces with a small zig-zag stitch.  You could cut the concentration with a knife, it was that thick!

I am sure I don't need to tell you what a great job they did of these, you can see for yourself.

This little fellow was finished in a bit of a rush and got his wing caught.....

... but you know what?  I like it, I think he has his hand on his hip in a rather joyful manner.  Maybe I will adapt the pattern so they all end up like that   :)

You will see some of these young ladies again as I am doing a follow up course, which starts at the end of June.  Looking forward to that one.

Decoupaging old School Chairs

I had managed to  get my hands on a few very old wooden school chairs. In not bad condition too.  

But what could I do with them?   I buy these things without a plan, and have to think of the plan later.

Aha!  I could run a decoupage workshop with them.

And that is exactly what I did.

Some lovely ladies joined me and got to work with some sandpaper at first, scrubbing the varnish off the chairs to give it a rough edge for the paper to stick.  

Just look at that wee baby enjoying the movement at Mummy scrubbed the chair!  (she was picked up by Dad soon after, before the messy play started).

Each lady picked a completely different colour scheme, some went for pastels, some for vintage, some for brights and bolds.   I wished I had picked all of them as they all worked up really nicely.

The workshop was just two hours, and of course you can't decoupage a whole chair in two hours, but they made a good start on the seats, then took home the skills and materials to complete the chair in their own time.

Just how fabulous are these?  I think the pink is my fav... no wait, the blue.... no wait, maybe the....... agghh, I just cannot choose!

And a close up so you can see just how nicely the papers worked.

I cannot wait to see these chairs finished, and if you are reading ladies, please do not forget to send me photos.

Filet Crochet - monthly workshop at Hobbycraft, Carlisle

I have been designing Filet Crochet patterns of late for a new monthly workshop I am running in Hobbycraft, Carlisle.

Each workshop is a different pattern, you learn the format of Filet Crochet, then learn how to follow the chart to produce a panel of around 12" or so.

Colours are chosen by the students, but I find Filet works better with lighter colours.  Although that Hazelnut Brown seems to work very well.

Claire, one of the ladies that comes, sent me this photo this week.  She has been to 3 classes now and has finished the heart, butterfly and owl, and she is now in the process of reversing the heart pattern to make it a little different.  (Yep, that's easy to do too!)

If you fancy it, I hold these classes on the 2nd Tuesday evening of each month in Hobbycraft, Carlisle.  If you only come to one you can learn enough to make a cushion, a few more and you can make a throw or bedspread.  It's an addictive way of crocheting.

Alternatively, I have started putting my patterns up on Etsy, it includes the chart and an instruction sheet on how to follow it. You can find them here .... www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SoozinTheShed

Beautiful things made by creative young people.

Last week I ran my usual school holiday activities for young people.

I do two different workshops, the younger ones are age 3-12 (ish) and last around 30-40 minutes, which is about right for concentration levels of the younger peeps.

The older sessions are from around 8-16 yr olds and last about 2 hours.  They really get to grips with an activity in these sessions and see it right through to the end.

This time on offer was..... Yarn Wrapped Wreaths.

Brooke came and made herself the most wonderful wreath.  She chose a lilac yarn with a complimenting air-force blue.  We then found some gorgeous lilac roses to match.  She looks pretty pleased with it, and rightly so!

The next session was bunting making, but using a sewing machine.  The young ladies had to first draw and cut their own pattern template, then choose the fabrics before cutting and sewing them all along the length of some cosgrain ribbon.

How beautiful are these bunting lengths?  I think there are some pretty bedrooms somewhere in Carlisle that are decorated by this gorgeous bunting.

French Knitting was the following session - do you remember French Knitting?  We used to call ours a "Knitting Nancy" when I was young  (A good while ago I can tell you!)

Just look at the concentration coming from these guys!  How lovely to see boys crafting and these two enjoy it lots as they come to most of my sessions.

Another little French Knitter, deep in thought. It's a tough decision deciding what colour yarn to have next you know.

I thought they might get as far as seeing their work pop out from the end of the knitting doll, but by the time the session was over they all had really good length tails.

Beaded Bangles came next, I thought a few more bangles might have been made but so much time was spent searching about in the bead box that productivity was low - although incredibly beautiful, with lots of patterns and pretty colour choices made.

And last, but not least, for this school holiday was Button Tree Canvasses.

First of all they painted a tree, then decorated it with loads of pretty coloured buttons.  Adding butterflies and flowers too.   Works of art they were.

Even though the ladies were presented with the same materials, the results were very different and equally impressive.

Thank you so much for coming if you did, the reason I put these sessions on is for people like you, so keep on crafting and I hope I will see you all soon!