Latest creation

Just thought I'd share my latest creation with you - it was a personal creation for my sister and she has kindly said I could post images of it on here. As it was her 40th birthday last week, and she is the "baby" of the family, I wanted to giver her a gift that was unique to her, memorable and that she would hopefully treasure for the rest of her life. I decided to create a "Memory Box" - so (in the space of a couple of weeks, as I only hit upon this idea on 31st December) I contacted as many of her friends and family as I possibly could without her knowledge. I told them what I was doing (painting the box in one of Rachel's favourite colours) and asked for contributions from them of their favourite or earliest memories of Rachel. I was pleasantly surprised and touched by the amount of replies I received. The box I bought was much larger than any I've decorated before, so I was hoping for a lot of replies in order to make it look reasonably full! Thankfully, it did - with photos, letters, cards, poems, newsletters and memorabilia galore - even a tee-shirt from Australia arrived in time. I wrote on the inside of the box with names of places that Rachel has lived, liked or worked at over the years, and she has told me that it's brought back a lot of happy memories for her already, especially all the funny tales that her friends have recounted for her.

I may even use this idea as a selling point for large boxes in the future, who knows? They would obviously have to be made to order, but it might be a good way of giving a personalised and unique gift to someone.

I bought the box from aspire 2702 on ebay, and it is a really well made sturdy pine box with carrying holes at each end. I would definitely use this seller again and there are so many boxes to choose from!

I lined the inside of the box at the bottom with funky foam and the base of the box itself with cork.

Here are a few photographs of the finished box:

Last minute entries.....

Please tell me I'm not the only one who leaves it 'till the last minute to send in application forms/enter exhibitions or competitions etc! I'm not quite sure why I do it, as I consider myself to be fairly well organised and plan events well in advance usually. However, when it comes to getting things in on time for exhibitions, I tend to think "Oh, it doesn't need to be in until the 24th of July (or whatever)" so I wait until the few days prior to that before I even start to think about it. Why? I've no idea. There is no logical explanation for this behaviour, and I really am not good at working under pressure, so I do wonder why I act this way. Does it make me more focused, having to think hard about which items to include in a short space of time rather than deliberating for weeks on end? I like to think that's the sole reason - I am not good at making decisions and unless I make a quick one, I probably never will!

When I entered the Ferens Open Exhibition last week, it was within an hour of the closing time that I finally managed to take my paintings in. Granted, I'd only found out about it two days earlier, which was unusual, and I had been unwell and was busy performing in a play that week. However, I have just completed my application form for possible selling of my craft related items in a local gallery - Artlink, in Hull.  I received the email request for artists several weeks ago, stored the cut-off date (and time) in my head and knew I would wait until one day this week before I completed the form. Sure enough, I've emailed it just now with 3 hours to spare. I think I've written a decent artist's statement, I've made sure I've included all the relevant information in all the right places, and remembered to attach the document to the email. Now I just wait to hear from them.

Anyway, that job done, I'm going to spend the rest of the day helping to write a play for our Junior Section at Bilton Amateur Dramatic Society. Having trawled the internet, as well as looking through our own vast selection of plays, we (my husband, Keith and I) thought we'd have a go at writing our own, based on the children we currently have in the group. I will let you know how it goes, but I'm sure it will be a long process and there will no doubt be many arguments on the way!

Here's a selection of the 10 items I have included in my application for possible selling at Artlink, Hull.

The pleasure of hand-made

I've been sorting through photographs that I've loaded onto my PC today, and amongst the many since before Christmas, I remembered one I took of a felt brooch that I treated myself to from fellow artist and craft-maker, Andrea Farmer.

This particular little gem called to me first of all in April last year, when I received a box full of goodies from Andrea to sell at a craft fair I organised. It didn't sell at the craft fair, but I took it and other items with me to the craft fairs I've taken part in since, sometimes having the space and/or permission to sell the items on my table, at other times they have just come along for the ride! It wasn't until all my fairs were over that I finally picked out a couple of other items to give as stocking fillers for my two grand-daughters - for Matheea I bought a red, black and cerise coloured button badge (her current favourite colours are red and black, so she thought this was "Cool" when she opened it). For her sister, Evie, I bought a white and pink button badge, with little pink owl buttons along all the petals - she was also chuffed, and as she was wearing a pink outfit the day I saw them, she put it on straight away. Both girls have developed a love of "Make and do", so they have learnt to appreciate hand-made gifts from a young age, which I encourage as much as possible. I also made them a wardrobe styled trinket box each for my sister to give to them as gifts for Christmas - and as a place for them to keep all their badges and other small trinkets.

The brooch I bought for myself was a perfect match for a cerise coloured cardigan that I'd recently bought, and it is a firm favourite of mine at the moment.

I've taken photos of the three items I bought from Andrea, apologies for the poor quality, I had to take the photos in a rush before I wrapped the badges up for Christmas and in between other jobs!

Andrea sells a large proportion of her craft based items in her Etsy shop online, but if you live in the Chelmsford area you can visit "Make, Do and Mend" at 94 Byron Road, Chelmsford CM2 6HJ. They stock many hand-made gifts by local people and also run various workshops - more details on their web-site here.

The beautiful felt brooch made by Andrea, which is now MINE!!!!!

Matheea's button badge

Evie's pink and white owl badge

For the gifts my sister commissioned to give to Matheea and Evie, I opted for their favourite colours again and as I like to name my creations, I used their names also, and personalised them a little further by painting their initial on the top of the box.

Evie's mini wardrobe trinket box.

Matheea's mini wardrobe trinket box.

I think hand-made items are so much more than just a gift - you are giving a part of your personality away as well, and I only hope that whenever someone is given a gift made by me, they feel the same as I do whenever I receive something hand-made.  I smile at my felt brooch when I wear it, and always imagine the work that's gone into making it, and somehow that makes me take more care over it.

My mini wardrobes have mainly been created for commissions, although I am hoping to build up enough stock to sell them at local venues as well as in my Etsy shop online.

More wooden trinket boxes

I've been checking my stock and trying to get more items ready in preparation for the coming weeks of craft fairs, so here are a couple more new items for you to have a sneaky preview of before I upload them to Etsy or sell them locally!

Two interesting shapes this time, a heart and a star. The star was definitely the most intricate to decorate, and I am pleased with the end result. The heart has my finger-prints in paint all around the edges, so I've really put a bit of myself into it this time! I decided not to try and line the star-shaped box, as I think it would've been beyond my capabilities! Furthermore, If I had lined it, the amount of space available for storing things inside would have been reduced, so I took the sensible option (well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!).

"Twinkle, Twinkle" - the lid.

"Twinkle, Twinkle" - the lid lifts off and has magnetic catches.

"Midnight Love" as viewed from above

"Midnight Love" showing the funky foam lining.

As you can see, I have given both the boxes a funky foam protective bottom, so they will not scratch any surfaces. They are both approximately 2 to 3 inches high, and 5 inches across the widest point.  I will be uploading them to my Etsy shop soon, and if not sold by 5th November, they will be coming with me to the first craft show of this season.

Latest Craft Creation

I've just uploaded some photographs of my latest matching wooden trinket box and mini canvas painting. They are sold separately, but I'm always willing to give a discount if anyone would like to buy the set. Please contact me for prices. More to be created soon!

Both the easel and the mini canvas are painted with acrylic paints. The trinket box has been painted on the outside and inside with acrylic paints, and I've created a funky foam base and lining for the trinket box in complementary colours. I've named these PC Plum, and will be uploading more shots of them to my FB page and my Etsy Shop too. If these don't sell before-hand, I will be taking them along to the Christmas Craft Fair in Bilton on 5th November so you can check them out there if you are in the area!

Sold on Etsy!

Geometric Green - trinket box on the left.

I have just sold another one of my decorated trinket boxes on Etsy - the above named "Geometric Green" . Most of the sales I make on Etsy seem to go to the United States - perhaps they are more keen to buy hand-made pieces  than the people in the UK are! I shall have to ensure I get to the Post Office today before the snow arrives again as promised!!!

You can see the rest of my Etsy items in my shop here at Arty Aitch. Most of my items would make ideal Christmas presents - but you will need to be quick in order to ensure delivery in time, especially with the current weather  predictions!

"Chocolate Inspiration" featured in TAS Treasury

I am pleased to say that I have just been added to a Treasury on Etsy curated by the founder of Total Art Soul, Cathy Savels. This particular Treasury focuses on members of the art site that Cathy created and is a great way of thanking us all for our continued support and input.

Total Art Soul is a free website set up to unite artists of any discipline across the globe and it started in January of this year. Already it has gained 1974 members (as of today - the number seems to increase almost daily!) and the forum is an active area of inspiration and helpful tips and advice to others. The site also has a blogging area for all members, as well as individual blogging facilities and a gallery where you can upload up to 2 images per day. Please have a wander across and see what you think to this global community at http://www.totalartsoul.com

I am therefore very proud to be part of that thriving community and honoured to be included in this Treasury. You can see all the items individually by clicking on the link here.

 My trinket box "Chocolate Inspiration" is shown on the bottom row of the Treasury.

Christmas Craft Fair

I know it's early yet to start using the C word, but I just thought I'd share my plans for a craft event I'm planning this year, since it's the first one I've organised. It will be held in the auditorium of the Bilton Theatre, home to the Bilton Amateur Dramatic Society (of which I have been a member the past 20 years).

I have already contacted several of the sellers on Etsy who are in the list of "Shop Local" when I do a search in Hull, East Yorkshire. I'm hoping to have 6 or 7 various artisans present - either for one or two days, whichever they can manage. The idea is not only to create a unique selling event for local creative talent based on Etsy, but if it proves successful, it will also raise some funds for our Society as well as promoting the theatre at the same time.

Lowlander Dye - Trinket Box & Mini Painting with Easel

Decorated notebook

I will be selling my decorated notebooks, trinket boxes, magnetic shopping pads, mini paintings and hand-made cards. I have bought some more notebooks today for decorating, and Keith is planning to make some more notepad holders for me to paint.


I may even make some more fudge and tiffin to sell.

Cranberry & White Chocolate Fudge

Tiffin

Other artisans already interested include a photographer specialising in flowers, an illustrator who creates wonderful cat designs and a jewellery maker/handbag creator. More details will be divulged once I've confirmed all the sellers - with links to their Etsy shops. Next thing I will be designing is an application/entry form - no craft fair is complete without one!

Latest Creations in Etsy

I have recently listed my latest mini art and trinket box creations on Etsy, which you can view either from the link at the right of this page, or by clicking on the title of this post.

Struggling to find a suitable title for these two items, I decided to do a bit of "cheating" and just entered the two main colours, yellow and red, into an online anagram solver. The result actually astounded me by providing over 4,500 solutions!! I went with "Lowlander Dye" because it just seemed to suit it, somehow, although I have to admit there were a few ridiculous ones in there that I was tempted to select!

Here are the two items as a set, although I am selling them separately:

Mini Art - latest works

I have been working on 4 new mini art works recently, all of which have been uploaded to my Etsy shop, but here's a snapshot of the latest one, along with the matching trinket box I have also decorated. They go well together but are listed separately in case anyone just fancies buying a miniature work of art on its own, or a trinket box as a gift.

This paritcular creation is called Celadonia.