February 2011 Blog Posts (35)

I've been planning to create a home Gallery of children's artwork in my kitchen for ages, and I'm really pleased with the way my chalkboard wall turned out....

See the full post…

Well I nearly have this piece finished. Not sure how I want to finish it, what materials to use for the neckband and fastening. The tacking stitches are just to hold the backing in place and not part of the design. Would really welcome your comments.

Erika…

Artisans in the Hills' top tips on using the internet to promote your art work. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the big buzz word and key to getting your website noticed by Google and other similar companies. Follow the link to read our 7 tips for getting you noticed and hopefully on page one in the search engine results.…

Visit www.silverwiredesigns.com  and enter the competition to win handmade jewellery worth £50. best of luck.…

Random thoughts . . . .

It’s easy for those of us who are a little bit creative to start taking ourselves too seriously . . . .

So, hopefully avoiding that one, just a few thoughts about my stuff  :

Every piece of timber has its own intrinsic beauty, and tells a story.   Passing years, seasonal and climatic changes, fungal attack and other events are recorded in the  growth rings, grain pattern and colour  . . . .   and that’s before we start messing with it.

I’ve…

I'm so excited my dad has been nominated for the Handmade Olympics.  Please vote for him here if you can spare a minute!…

Watched the BAFTAs last night and Helena Bonham Carter looked ab fab as usual. I would love to make something for her, a real statement piece.

Spending the day uploading my handmade polymer clay beads to my site. I did have them in a local bead store but it has now shut. Another casualty of the recession.

It's a truly happy day for any artisan when they receive, completely out of the blue, a request for a special one-off piece.

I am trying to focus my blog more on jewellery and like to feature fellow designers/crafters in my blog.

Let me know if you are interested. I would also like to contribute to other people's blogs.

I have been planning a range of textile jewellery and made a start. I have been making beaded jewellery for a while now and thought it was about time I went back to my roots.

I want to make some real statement peices and here is one I have started.

This will eventually be a collar with a beaded…

This is a new events company that has set up with the aim of holding events which promote strictly handmade goods, to encourage the crafters among us to stick to our guns!  It is sometimes really hard to turn up to craft fairs and find yourself competing with other stalls who have bought in their goods and are selling mass produced items next to our handmade crafts.  The founders, Victoria & Amy, are both crafters themselves and know from experience how hard it is to exhibit at these…

I like seeing the spaces people create for their work areas and I have finally got around to blogging about my own corner of the house at www.bluekilnbeads.blogspot.com.   I tried to insert a photo but it is too big!