The winner is .....

Hello folks

I have a rather important announcement to make!

Using a random number generator The Circle of Love Handcrafted Giveaway winner has now been chosen !!!!  Yaaay!

The winner is:

 Helen Small 

 Helen's blog is 'Small Things Bright And Beautiful'

http://helensmalldesigns.blogspot.co.uk/



Helen's gift from Fiddly Fingers is a knitted wire brooch!

Congratulations Helen!

Hope you like it!

Thank you to Natalie from Free Spirit Designs for organising 

The Cirlce of Love Handcrafted Giveaway

 http://freespiritdesigns1.blogspot.co.uk/

A Fantastic Workshop

Hi there!

I have had a fantastic day today and thought I would share it with you all!

I ran the Knitted Wire Brooch workshop at Countess Wear Village Hall, Exeter, Devon today http://www.countesswearvillagehall.co.uk  and I am very pleased to say a brilliant day was had by everyone.   A lovely group of ladies, 8 in total, with lots of chat and laughter and some wonderful brooches made by the end of the day.

I took Chester with me today, to promote the two crochet workshops in April.  He managed to squeeze into the front seat on this journey!  He didn't look too comfy but didn't complain!

I arrived early to set up well in advance.  

Here is the hall, set up ready for use.

Chester 'supervised' the table with the beads and wire and the ever important tea and coffee!

He seems to have a certain 'air of importance' about him, don't you think?

Wire and bead colours chosen, we finally got down to business!

Here are a couple of brooches with the outside edge completed
and before the centre was added.  Looking good so far!

At this point we stopped for lunch and how lucky we were!  The sun was shining and there was a little sheltered spot just outside the hall door, perfect for a picnic!  Not the most scenic position (hence no photos) but good to feel the sun on your face.

After lunch, fat, full and drowsy after our session in the sun, we pressed on with the centre part of the brooch and finally got around to sewing all the components together.

Here are all the finished brooches.  Don't they look fantastic?

You may notice there are only 7 brooches but there were 8 people on the workshop!  One lady had been ill previously and this was her first day out.  Unfortunately during the afternoon she was feeling unwell again and decided to go home.  She just needed to sew everything together so took it with her to complete when she felt better.  We all wish her well and hope she starts feeling well again soon.

From the above photos I think you will all agree everyone produced a very unique brooch, some of which were being given as presents.

I'm about to blow my own trumpet now as I had wonderful comments from all the ladies, with requests for some more workshops (which I shall work on as soon as I can).  I hope you don't mind but I feel so proud and would love to share them with you.  I've listed them below!

"A very well paced day - very relaxing.  

Instruction sheet clear and plenty of personal attention"

"Great to learn a new skill"

"Great course

Great lady

Great way to spend a Sunday

Thank you"

"Fascinating day learning a new craft"

"Knowledgeable tutor, friendly group. Good size class.

Great to produce something in a day.

Lovely selection of colours of beads and wire.

A really enjoyable, creative day.

Thank you.

Look forward to further classes with Alison."

"Really enjoyed the knitted wire corsage course.

Many thanks"

"A lovely day - I'm so pleased with the end result.

Thank you"

The delightful ladies showing off their unique creations!

Thank you to all the lovely ladies who joined me for the workshop and for your wonderful comments. 

 You really did make my day!

Alison x

Knitted Wire Brooch Workshop - Countess Wear Village Hall

Hi there!  Happy Monday!

Have had a very busy weekend with my daughter's birthday.  She and her boyfriend cooked a meal for 16 on Saturday night.  Absolutely delicious :) Just managed to seat everyone at the dining table! Our other daughter and her boyfriend came to stay for the weekend too. So lots of fun, eating and drinking all weekend :)

Today I have been busy starting to think about the Knitted Wire Brooch Workshop I am running at Countess Wear Village Hall http://www.countesswearvillagehall.co.uk/vh/Courses.html  If you are interested in any of the courses on offer here, please contact them via the link to their website.

Here is the kind of brooch we will be making.   

I have started measuring out the wire so everyone can have a choice of colour.

Still a few more to go as we may have up to 12 crafters.

Glass pearls for the centre of the brooch.  Oooh which colours to order?

Would you believe that this has taken me all afternoon to sort out and I'm still not finished!

Chester

Unfortunately Chester has ground to a halt until I can decide what to stuff his arms and legs with!

I emailed a foam company to see if they could help with any waste bits of foam but they haven't got back to me yet!  Maybe I shall have to try somewhere else.

Taffy

Taffy is relaxing at the moment and having a fitting for his new boots, kindly being made for him by my daughter! The birthday weekend and Uni work seem to have got in the way though!  Should be finished soon hopefully.

Needle Felting

I've been having a play on something a little smaller than Chester recently!  This is a tiny needle felted picture which is a fraction under 2" square.  It is made completely from scraps of carpet yarn needle felted together.  It's not backed on felt or any fabric and was done using a single needle.  I really must invest in one of those multiple needles!  This is my first attempt at something like this so the picture was made up as I went along.  I shall have to see if I can find a few inspiring designs so I can try another one.

Ok, shall be at work for the next 3 days so not too much time for crafting :( boo hoo! but needs must.

Folksy

Just a last minute thought!  I've got a small shop on Folksy (only two items on there at the moment!) and am thinking of getting organised on the selling front and putting more items on.  If you've had any experience with Folksy or Etsy I would love to here how well your items sold or didn't as the case may be!

Thank you for taking time to read my ramblings, I've enjoyed my little chat with you all :)  I read, appreciate and reply to all comments you leave so please feel free to stop by for a chat.  

Bye, see you all again soon!