Love Lavender?

I love Lavender though I think it may be a bit like Marmite – No not smell like it, but it’s one of those aromas that you either love or hate.

I love it because it reminds me of my lovely Nan and Mum, they both used to use it in their drawers so the bed linen always smelt of it, a great idea I think given it’s well known calming properties.

My mum used to grow it in her garden too and I have happy memories of picking it as a child and trying to make perfume from it, or using it to fill small bags to put in my drawers – I don’t do that anymore but maybe I should?

I use it now in my bath and body products but as I said earlier people either love or hate it. I feel those who hate it, and I remember one person saying she couldn’t use it because it gave her husband a headache, are missing out on some of it’s wonderful therapeutic uses.

Lavender oil has a soothing and calming effect on the nerves, relieving tension, depression, panic, hysteria and nervous exhaustion in general and is effective for headaches, migraines and insomnia. It is also very beneficial for problems such as bronchitis, asthma, colds, laryngitis, halitosis, throat infections and whooping cough and helps the digestive system deal with colic, nausea, vomiting and flatulence.

Lavender oil relieves pain when used for rheumatism, arthritis, lumbago and muscular aches and pains, especially those associated with sport. On the skin, lavender oil tones and revitalizes and it is useful for all types of skin problems such as abscesses, acne, oily skin, boils, burns, sunburn, wounds, psoriasis, lice, insect bites, stings and also acts as an insect repellent.

Lavender oil is one of the few essentials oils that can be used neat on the skin, and this is especially useful when treating a minor burn wounds.

There are so many different ways to use it, though it would be hard for us to extract the essential oil it is a great plant to grow in the garden, it is relatively hardy it just needs a bit of a prune after it has flowered. The aroma even when it isn’t it flower is gorgeous and it attracts bees and aren’t we supposed to be encouraging them back into the garden?

I’d love to go and lie in a field of lavender would you?

Before using essential oils please check out the safety guidelines
http://www.essentialoils.co.za/essential-oils/lavender.htm

Trials and Tribulations of a Craft Fair

Craft fairs… “Noun a fair at which objects made by craftsmen are offered for sale” (WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/craft+fair?s=t)

So that is the ‘official’ definition of a craft fair, but ask any crafts person for the definition and you could get something like the following: “A place you frantically try and get a stall at, pay anything from £5-£30 for a stall, spend hours preparing items you hope people will buy, little sleep the night before worrying if you have everything/enough, if people will buy to cover your costs, a manic morning trying to fit everything into your car and then setting up a stall that looks appealing and not too overwhelming. A place where you then wait and wait some more, for people to arrive and look – and hopefully buy! – at your items”

Craft fairs are a great place to get people to see your products in the flesh, with some many people using the Internet as a source for sales it can mean that the personal side of crafting can disappear. However, a craft fair allows you to get out, meet people and show your products off with pride. Many crafters, including me, worry about craft fairs – will people come being a main one! There is nothing worse than all the preparation for a craft fair, sitting in a drafting hall full of other stallholders and waiting for people to arrive and no one does! Sitting and talking to other stallholders is nice, you can make some great contacts, but really we want to see you.

Then someone enters the hall… all the stallholders sit up straight, plaster smiles on their faces and hope that you come and look at their stall. If you are the lucky one then the stallholder faces a dilemma… after a smiley ‘hello!’ how much more do you speak to them? Do you try and force a sale or do you leave the person to look in peace? It is a difficult choice, you want to talk about your work as you are proud of it – we are almost like little kids coming home from school with that model they have made and want to show off! – but we do not want to scare you away! All the other stallholders are looking at you and your potential customer thinking ‘will they, wont they?’ and then when you walk away with nothing more than a smile and a nod everyone smiles in sympathy at you whilst you sit and wonder what is wrong with your products.

As stallholders, as well as sales obviously, we would love to be able to stand and talk about our products, so next time you see a craft fair please pop in and say ‘hi’, take the time to talk to stallholders, ask them about their products and ranges, take a business card and if you don’t buy anything – we are realistic, we do know times are hard at the moment – please bear us in mind for the future when you need a gift, a new blanket/cushion/glass/toiletries/card. Knowing that people appreciate our craft and have taken the time and effort to speak to use, find out more about our products and have been interested enough to take a card for future reference goes a long way to ease the stress of a craft fair!

Ssssshhhhh........don't tell the hubbie.........

But I have bought some more fabric! There are many cartoons depicting men being dragged around fabric shops/complaining how much the female is buying and this is one of my favourites, purely because it is so true! 

What is it about fabric? I have drawers and containers filled with fabric, all neatly organised into colours, size and then design. Some of it I love so much I cannot bear to use and then sell on! Fabric shops both real and online are my sweet shops! I cannot come out of one without having bought something. My postman loves it when I buy online as he gets to deliver it and cart it around his route! He does get a good tip at Christmas so I keep him sweet!

I am drawn to fabric in much the same way a moth is drawn to a light. I love the texture, feel and colour of fabric and the way that I can then sit and transform this piece of fabric into an item that can be loved and cherished. If the post arrives whilst hubbie is at work I can squirrel away the fabric without him seeing – unless of course I need to add to my storage and then less room is available in the dining room! Buying to fulfil someone’s order is fine, he knows it wont sit around in the house, it will be made up and gone but the buying just because ‘it’s gorgeous’ doesn’t quite get the same response from him as from my fabric friends!

Finding a new fabric shop is amazing, sitting online I can sit and fill my virtual shopping basket with gorgeous fabrics until my hearts content … well until I look at the total cost and it is easily in 3 figures so the laptop is quickly shut down! The colours, design and the image in my head of what I can transform the item into all adds to the draw of it, I am sure that if you listen hard enough you can hear it saying “Mrs Fabric, Mrs Fabric, come and buy me, you know you want me… Mrs Fabric, Mrs Fabric come one, come on we love you, we want to sit in your containers with all your other fabric”! Who can refuse such a lovely request?!

Now with all the fabric and ideas I have, all I need is someone to look after my kids, someone to do my housework, someone to do my day job and someone to do all the other mundane things so that I can sit and sew and use up the fabric. But, oh no! Then I will have to go and buy some more… oh dear, ssshhhh, don’t tell the hubbie!!

The Cost of the Wool

How many of you have browsed the stalls of a local craft fair or looked at handmade items for sale online but come away empty-handed ? Not because you haven’t loved the products but because well, it’s all a bit expensive isn’t?

Pricing is a tricky business and there is more to consider than the cost of the ‘wool’. Basic costs vary from craft to craft, I can keep the costs of my bags fairly low because I upcycle materials as much as possible (great fun & economical!) but there is still the thread and other bag hardware that has to be bought.

There are also other expenses that must be factored in, bubble wrap for packing, boxes and other fancy bits to make the product look pretty, after all, wasn’t it that cute little box with the lovely ribbons that attracted you in the first place? Then there are the boring expenses like Paypal fees, public liability insurance, licences (some patterns and fabrics can only be used under licence) oh and remember that local craft fair? A table there will cost anything from £5 to £30.

What about labour costs? We are the product designers, marketing managers and accounts department. On the shop floor we are the production line and packing department. What hourly rate would you expect if you had to wear all of these hats in a day? I suspect that an awful lot of crafters are paying themselves well below the minimum wage.

Next time you look at a handcrafted item and think it’s a bit expensive please try and remember it’s not just the ‘cost of the wool’.

What is it that makes us like an aroma?

Humans can distinguish more than 10,000 different smells (odorants), which are detected by specialized olfactory receptor neurons lining the nose.... It is thought that there are hundreds of different olfactory receptors, each encoded by a different gene and each recognizing different odorants.
From Molecular Biology of the Cell

Smell is a very powerful sense. In order for you to smell something, molecules from that thing have to make it to your nose. Everything you smell, therefore, is giving off molecules - whether it is food cooking, garlic, a favourite fragrance, a piece of fruit or whatever. Those molecules are generally light and easily evaporated in the air, where they then float into your nose.

At the top of your nasal passages behind your nose, there is a patch of special neurons about the size of a postage stamp. These neurons are unique in that they are out in the open where they can come into contact with the air. They have hair-like projections called cilia that increase their surface area. An odour molecule binds to these cilia to trigger the neuron in your brain and cause you to perceive a smell.

Each of the hundreds of receptors are encoded by a specific gene. If your DNA is missing a gene or if the gene is damaged, it can cause you to be unable to detect a certain smell. For example, some people have no sense for the smell of camphor.

When you smell things like fruits or flowers, what you are in fact smelling are the esters evaporating from the fruit or flower. Esters are organic molecules. For example, the ester that gives a banana its smell is called isoamyl acetate, and the formula for it is CH3COOC5H11. The primary smell of an orange comes from octyl acetate, or CH3COOC8H17. Esters can now be made artificially, and that is where artificial flavours come from.

So what makes us like different aromas? 
Is something triggered in our brain when we smell things? When we were running around the countryside and living in caves smells would alert us to danger and help us find food, but we don’t use those skills now.


I know why I like certain fragrances and it is because of my memories, certain things remind me of happy times and because they do I enjoy using them in my products. 


Do you have a favourite “smell” and do you know why it’s your favourite?

Who am I? Batman?

Much like the other craftyholic ladies, I wear and bear several hats. (Sometimes the odd cape). I am a mother, wife, teacher, daughter, sister, niece and friend. Oh, and I am a crafter too, but not just one craft, nah, that would be too simple (!) Patch worker, quilter, cross-stitcher, embroiderer... I’ve given most crafts a try, expect crochet. Crochet cruelly did not take to my fingers; it discarded me and decided to settle in my mother’s deft hands. I won’t let that one needle (can’t be that hard surely) beat me; I’ll give it another go. But when??!

Most people have responsibilities, some care for a child (whether that child is a little ‘un, a big ‘un, step, grand or man), others hold down employment outside of their craft, some more make a living from their craft. I am admiring of all, as they are all equally of benefit to society and the economy. I have a mini-Bramble to nurture, a Mr Bramble to look after, a Patch that needs tidying, hoovering, dusting etc., and a flock of leaves to tend to (my day job as a teacher).

People often comment, “Oh, I don’t know where you find the time”. I just shrug and think, well, I love making, I have a mini-Bramble, so the house is always going to look like a toy factory exploded in my living room. Life’s too short.

I wonder how many more people out there are who feel an overwhelming sense of “too much to do” and turn to crafts to help soothe their hectic lives. Generations ago, learning a craft was a necessity, people needed to know how to make and to mend. In a previous blog post I have bleated on about how people are too consumed with ‘stuff’. People buy, and they buy, and then they buy some more. Shopping has become a therapy for us as a country and an economy. As a hobby, or therapy, shopping is an expensive one. One which many are now unable to afford.

Crafting as a therapy is much cheaper and ultimately more fulfilling. When you make something with your own hands, your own mind, you have made something truly from nothing. How satisfying is that? Very!

When you turn your efforts to making, instead of just consuming, you treasure things more. I bought a cake today, I felt good about that. Why? You ask. For one thing, I blooming love cake, but also because a colleague had made them by her own fair hands AND all of the money raised by her baking will be given to a charity.

Making something is beautiful in every way. Try it today as therapy. It’s cheaper than the alternatives, I promise.



Mrs Blackberry

Gorgeous Flowers - Tutorial

I love tutorials don’t you? Every time I get a bit stuck on a project, I switch on the computer and I let Google lead me to ‘those who have the knowledge’.

I have read tutorials from how to make a vase from a light bulb to how to put in a concealed zip, with some quite weird ideas in between ( upcycle a  man’s suit into a dress anyone?)  It seems there is nothing you can’t learn from an online tutorial!  One of my favourite things is how to make a decorative flower from organza and I thought I would share this with you. This is my first ever attempt at writing a tutorial but you should be able to work out anything I’ve forgotten to tell you.

You will need:

Fabric (I use organza from a craft shop)

Scissors

Candle

Needle & matching thread

Beads for the centre (optional)

Step 1: Cut your fabric into squares slightly larger than the size you want for your finished flower. You could cut them into flower shapes or circles if you want them more structured. They don’t have to be exact so it doesn’t matter if they’re not all the same size. You will need at least 3, the more layers you add, the fuller the flower.

Step 2: Light your candle (there are probably health & safety implications with this next bit but you just need to be careful) CAREFULLY hold the edges of the fabric close enough to the fabric so it just starts to curl & singe, turning as each bit curls. This happens quickly so pay close attention!

Step 3: Layer your singed bits together, holding in the centre until you have the flower that you want, I like a nice full flowers so I use about 6 but I guess it depends what you want to use the flower for.  When you have the desired look use a matching thread and secure with a couple of stitches. If you are using beads in the centre sew these on now. TA DA!!..... a completed flower ready to attach to whatever you want!

A Bit of Glass

I’ve always been a bit arty, I remember as a child on Christmas and Birthdays, Mum would buy us the clothes and toys and Dad would always buy us something arty crafty. Being a 70’s child meant Etch a sketch, Spirograph, Spiro-Matic and Shaker Maker to name but a few and I never got tired of making things.

I’ve tried many different crafts, I’ve knitted, cross stitch, made cards, I’ve even made miniature furniture from clothes pegs, but all of these were fairly short lived.

Then one birthday a childhood friend popped in and gave me a hand painted jar tealight holder, that she had made, it was beautiful, she said that she was rubbish at drawing and that I should have a go…………So I did!
First tumblers then wine glasses and so on and on and on. If it was made of glass I felt the overpowering urge to paint it. I am now painting and selling glassware and ceramics

But, yes there’s always a but, with this passion comes a problem.

I live in a small maisonette with my partner and 4 cats and my spare room is floor to ceiling with glassware, what’s wrong with that you might say, well the problem is I buy more, it doesn’t matter that I already have 50 wine glasses yet to paint, if I see some I like I just have to have them.

And the reason I’m telling you this is because this little glass buying addiction has bought me to this group of lovely crafty ladies and even though we have never met I see each and everyone of them as my new found friends

Miss Glassy

It Began Like This.....

My mum was a knitter. She taught us all, even my brother and dad were made to try! She was never happy with a pattern until she could knit, watch the tele and read a book at the same time! She hated knitting for 'big' kids, usually not knitting for anyone once they hit school. Picture knits and cables were her speciality. (I still have a cable cardigan she knitted for me over 9 yrs ago!)

So, inevitably, I began knitting when my first daughter was born in 1996. But I never the developed the 'lurve' or the skill levels my mum had. By the time my second daughter was born in 2001, I was bored with it and wanted a new, different hobby.
I was living near Hinckleyy (Leicestershire) at the time, and the Dunhelm Mills fabric shop there was a vertible treasure trove! It seemed to be a bit of a grave yard for roll ends, and most of them were 50p a metre! At that price, they were begging to be bought. And, of course, I obliged! I had no idea what I was going to make, or what sort of pattern to use, but I cut about a million and one 6inch squares, by hand, uneven, not measured properly and began to stitch! Having never made anything bigger than a cushion, my first project was, surprisingly, a super king sized throw! I started with the middle row of a diamond pattern, making each row smaller than the last, not realising I was making a diamond SHAPE until I came to stitch it to the backing! I made an error and ended up with a double row across the middle, had to make four 'corners' to make the blanket square, none of the seams matched and the colour choice was limited to what I could get, but suddenly, it was finished!

I was very proud of myself, to be honest, and when mum came to visit, she was very impressed too! She then produced a kit she had bought from somewhere, with templates and patterns for different patchwork patterns, and said she didn't want it, do I? I did some playing, and more purchasing of 50p metre fabrics, and the rest, as they say, is history!

I discovered my 'lurve', my 'thang' as mum said! I picked it up as I went along, learning from my mistakes (of which there were many!) buying new tools, books and magazines, (and of course fabrics), as I found them, in charity shops and jumble sales.
My fabric, book and magazine collection take up a large part of the storage in my house, but I won't part with anything! as any good crafter will tell you, "I might need it one day!"
Mrs Patchie x

I need to make a confession about my obsession!

I'm not sure how it started, probably when I started making bath bombs, I bought a book with a few photos and recipe ideas in it and the writer suggested that ice cube trays made an ideal mould.

I started with the square ones but they were soon dispensed with when I found some other funky designs in Ikea (can I blame them for my addiction?) The pile grew fish, stars, hearts, until I needed a bigger box to store them in. Then there was a trip to a Lakeland store– oh they have so many different designs and they make silicone moulds for cakes and chocolates, my heart palpitated when I first saw their range, I needed a bigger box.

So the pile grew larger and the box got bigger I thought it was something I could control but the desire to create new fun designs was too much so I need something terrible I used Google – “ice cube trays” is something I should never have typed into that search engine! Do you realise how many different shaped ice cube trays are available in the UK? Dolphins, seashells, cars, trees, ducks, cars, icebergs and titanic ship (I kid you not),bullets, hearts, stars, pac man, skulls and bones, guns, dogs, balls, penguins, brains, cats, robots.......you get the idea? My box is definitely too large I need to stop but I constantly find myself drawn towards the home aisle at the supermarket, I find it hard to go pass a £1 shop without nipping in to have a look and my children sigh when I pop another one into the box!

But now I am making soap and doing more soap workshops they will all come in very handy, what child wouldn’t like to wash their dirty little hands with a glittery snowflake?

And Sew it Started

I was faffing about in the loft, looking for things to take to the charity shop, when I stumbled across dozens of boxes of baby clothes. I hadn’t the heart to part with my boys’ clothes; however I didn’t want them hidden away anymore. As I sat there going through the boxes, my secret hankering for a sewing machine resurfaced.

With the help from the tax man (unbelievably!), who generously gave me a tax rebate, I bought my first sewing machine. There was just one problem; I had never used one before! So I took myself to the magnificent You Tube and watched video after video. Thankfully I have the wonderful ability to watch something once and remember it. So with my newfound knowledge, I went back to my babies’ clothes. I didn’t have all the tools then that I do now, and cutting out the patches seemed to take months. It was quickly approaching my baby’s first birthday, and I so wanted his blanket to be ready in time. The night before, I was up late into the night, but when he opened his present the joy on his face made me want to cry. That was the start…

The thing I love the most is that they are so personal to the child that they are made for. I also love recycling, if you are unable to pass the clothes on (like me), or don’t wish to donate them to charity, then this is the perfect way to keep those memories close. I have found that the children themselves adore their blankets. They already smell like them, they are soft and cuddly, and there are so many different colours to delight and amuse. My three year old spends hours looking through the photo albums, pointing to the pictures of him and then to his blanket with the same item of clothing.

Why aren’t more of us ‘making do’ and mending?

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”

 William Morris (British craftsman, early Socialist, Designer and Poet, whose designs generated the Arts and Crafts Movement in England. 1834-1896)

As a craftyholic, I am evangelical about recycling. Being a patch worker and quilter means that I can use the smallest pieces of fabric to make something. Are my quilts beautiful? I hope so. Are they useful? Yes!

Why have I chosen this quote for this blog post? I worry, all the time; it’s like a disease with me. I worry about the small things (that seam doesn’t match) and the big things (why society and economy is going to hell in a hand basket).  Crafters make beautiful pieces, and often they make pieces to sell, so they must also be useful.

But, what worries me more is our preoccupation with collecting more and more ‘stuff’. Often this ‘stuff’ is cluttering up our houses and making us unhappier. This leads me to my main question then, why aren’t more of us ‘making do’ and mending? We throw cheap ‘things’ away and go and buy more cheap ‘things’ to replace them. Our ancestors would be horrified by our complacency and contempt.

People, and I count myself as one of them, get pleasure from shopping.  How has this come to pass as acceptable?  We are quite literally filling our homes with cheaply-made, mass-produced tat. Everyone ends up owning the same old tripe and we develop identikit houses. How blooming dull is that?

There has been a great resurgence and interest in vintage values, such as ‘keep calm and carry on’ and ‘make do and mend’. Is this because it is a jubilee year (God bless her), and we are sentimental for simpler times? Perhaps, people are coming to realise that our parents, grandparents, great-grandparents were right. They were happier. They had skills; they knew and practiced crafts at their elder’s knee. They may have had less ‘stuff’, but does that make them any less advanced than us? I sincerely doubt that.

When you purchase something handmade from a craftyholic, you are making an investment; the time spent in making something both useful and beautiful, and also you are making way for something in your home that no-one else has. You’ve chosen the vintage route, what your forebears would have done. You’ve said no to the throwaway society and economy we have become.

You have helped a beautiful and useful craftyholic continue to thrive.

Mrs Blackberry 

So What Do We Do?

So this little group was formed of random women from the land of Facebook who all had one thing in common - our love of crafting. We all have business pages on Facebook and spend hours and hours networking, talking and promoting our pages. Always sounding upbeat and positive about having a small business in these difficult economic times.

Initially, like all new friendships it was polite, but supportive, conversation about how best to advertise our pages, advice on new products we were creating and asking for help with things we needed or did not how to do. Once we all got to know each other through these conversations, which was very quick, we soon developed it into lots of banter and got to know each other's addictions in greater detail! Conversations are fast and if you are not around over the weekend you can easily miss out on lots. I think we can easily compare ourselves to a Mothers Meeting when we get going and have often said what fun it would be if we could actually meet up one day - crafting talk, tea, coffee, cake and good friends - a perfect get together! We are able to let off steam when products are not working, orders fall through and customers are being tricky. This allows us to take off the smiley face of the business and offload in a more professional manner, after all who wants to go on a business page and hear the owner ranting and raving? I don't, that is for sure!

This little group of crafters all do different crafts, from fabric related, glass, bath products, wood and wool and all have addictions to different aspects of it. For me, and a few others, our addiction is fabric. We can spend hours 'chatting' and comparing places to buy fabric, searching for the best deals and fabrics around. Our delight at finding an undiscovered treasure cove of fabric is quickly shared with the others and the credit cards are soon quivering in our pockets whilst partners are grumbling about something like 'don't you have enough fabric?'

It can be lonely crafting, it isn't quite a team sport! But this little group of fantastic and talented women make it wonderful. Logging on to see who has had a sale, how everyone is and even just to say 'hi' can make a bad day a whole lot better. xx

Families have trees

Families have trees; what do friends have?

All life starts with seeds; the same is true of friendship. As a craftyholic I have ideas floating around my head like dandelion seeds being blown across a field. Sometimes those seeds need to settle and be sown. What could possibly grow from these ideas? The thought of multiple shoots of new ideas can be daunting, so who do you turn to?

I have been crafting for many years, but it appears my family (and their rock solid tree) were always of the ‘make do and mend’ variety.  I have been fortunate to inherit all manner of materials: lace, cotton threads, embroidery silks, embroidery patterns and a sewing machine. What serendipity to have a piece of my family history on my craft bureau.

When I first started patch working, I would never have thought that there would be someone else out there in the world that cared about matching seams as much as I did. But there are, and they are pretty amazing and supportive women.

We may not have the same ‘roots’ or even been in the same field (we are all dotted around the UK), but we are like those dandelion seeds, being carried through life’s breeze.

Sometimes our individual breezes can become more blustery, but we are still being carried along together on this journey. I know, in my heart, that these lovely women are there to support me.

One day, we may settle together and sow our seeds. What would grow? It’s exciting not knowing, but I know that these women would be there helping to tend and nurture those dandelion seeds.

Families may have trees; friends have seeds. Trees have roots; seeds have potential to become something beautiful and strong.

Just like all of the craftyholic women are.

How it all began

We would never have met if Mark hadn’t decided to begin his venture into social networking, and I wonder if, without him we would ever have started our small businesses?

Our relationship started, I suppose the minute I saw the lovely products they all make and pressed that little “like” button. It must drive my friends mad when I appear on their news feed with another creative page to add to my vast collection of likes. But there is a big difference between liking a page and actually interacting with one isn’t there? So the relationships started when I began commenting and responding to the things they posted and I can’t remember the exact comment that lead to our small group being formed but it must have been “Help I’ve bought more fabric, my other half is going to kill me” Whatever the comment was it lead to me confessing about my ice cube tray habit (more about that another day!) and we all realised we weren’t alone in our obsession for crafting.

Thanks again to Mark for the ability to start a private group with people you barely know, they say it’s easier sometimes to say things that you won’t say to friends or family to a complete stranger and I think we have all found that with our group. I think the idea was that we would have somewhere to rant, discuss, ask for advice etc away from our business page – how unprofessional is it to moan about things on a page that you use to promote and sell your creations? It has become so much more than that and we all now find ourselves checking daily (sometimes hourly) on how our lovely new friends are, what they have been doing, listen to their rants, help them find solutions to their problems and support them with personal crisis.

How long with it last? How long does any relationship last? It’ll be there for as long as we all need it to be and when it’s gone I’m sure we’ll always remember trying to do a chat with 10 women online at the same time – not an easy task, I think we need more practise.