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.

Sales at the Craft Fair

The first Christmas Craft Fair of the season, which I took part in yesterday, wasn't as hugely successful for me as I'd hoped in terms of sales. However, I was pleased that I'd taken the time to create these new Christmas Tree decorations, since half of them sold on the day, and I've got a commission for six more to do!

Beady Spiders....

If you haven't already seen them, these little beady insects make great gifts for girls of all ages (or boys, too, if they like insects). Made by Lorna Storey you can see the whole range on her website here but I just had to share with you the photos I took of our two grand-daughters wearing the beady bugs I bought them as an Easter gift. They were so pleased with them, as you can tell by the photos - especially when I suggested they were attached to their headbands as unique hair accessories!

Matheea with her Scarlet Aranna beady spider.

The sisters wearing their beady spider sisters.

Evie proudly displaying her Amethyst Sparkle spider

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!

New Items On Etsy

I have recently listed two more of my magnetic note-pads on Etsy, which you can purchase there by clicking on the title link of this post. I am taking all of these to the next RGC exhibition on May 16th in Cookham and still have a couple left to decorate before then.

They make great birthday gifts at only £6.75 each (on Etsy everything is priced in US dollars) and they are practical as well as arty!

On the left is "Palest Sprite" and  on the right is "Tartanic".

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:

More sweets..

Another one of the sweets I made at Christmas was Tiffin, which can be made in different ways. The recipe I use regularly is one which my sister-in-law gave me years ago when she first introduced me to it. I now have little additions and tweaks of my own that I sometimes use also.

It is very more-ish and usually a hit with anyone who likes chocolate - although there are nuts in it too, so probably not very popular with those that suffer from allergies to nuts! You could alter the recipe slightly to suit, however.

Here's the recipe for this delicious sweet:

Tiffin:

Ingredients:

1/2lb (8 oz) Digestive biscuits (or any plain biscuits)
1 Tbsp Caster sugar
1 Tbsp Drinking Chocolate or cocoa powder
1 Tbsp (or more, if preferred - I often add more of this) Golden Syrup.
1/4lb (4oz) Margarine
6-8oz Cake Chocolate (the more the better, it's nice to have a thick layer of choc on the top!
4-6oz each of Glace cherries and walnuts.

Method:

• Crush the biscuits inside a large food bag, using a rolling pin the make them almost the size of bread-crumbs. You can leave larger bits in if you like, it just makes the mixture stick together easier if the biscuits are finely crushed.
• Chop the glace cherries and walnuts into tiny pieces - again this is up to you, but I prefer to chop them very small so that I can cut through the tiffin easier when it is set.
• In a saucepan, melt the golden syrup, margarine and sugar to create a runny sauce consistency. I have also added a few drops of vanilla essence at this point as a variation, or some runny honey.
• Add the cocoa powder, crushed biscuits, cherries and walnuts to the pan and mix well. Press the mixture into a greased tin or one lined with parchment paper. ( I usually use a lasagne dish for this, too!)
• Melt the chocolate either in the microwave according to the manufacturer's instructions, or slowly in a pyrex bowl over a pan of boiling water. Once it is melted, pour the chocolate over the top of the tiffin mixture, spread evenly and refrigerate until set.
  
• Cut into small, bit-sized squares and eat!