A Day Trip to Hawes!

Yesterday, I had a lovely day out with my lovely felty friends Jo and Chris to celebrate Chris' big birthday - yes, she is 21 (again)

We headed to Hawes, a lovely little village in North Yorkshire, with the main purpose being to visit Andrea Hunters studio in Hardraw.

Andrea is a felt artist who makes the most beautiful felt 'paintings'.  I particularly like her paintings which use natural wools in greys, blacks and whites depicting sheep, highland cattle and views of North Yorkshire.  Her studio is beautiful and you can purchase her original felt pictures, prints and cards as well as admiring her work.  The most striking piece for me was a triptych of trees - it was just amazing and I spent ages looking at all the detail and depth.  Sadly, I could not afford to buy it and had to make do with 2 print cards instead.  You can find out more about her on her site - www.focusonfelt.co.uk

Of course, we then had to head to the local cafe for a drink and cake (coffee and walnut). The cafe had sone beautiful crochet scarves for sale along with pottery!  There was also this fabulous crocheted bicycle outside if the church - the more we looked, the more little features we saw.

Once back in a Hawes, we looked around the shops including the wool shop, The Knitting Basket which was also sporting a crochet bicycle outside.  The shop stocked West Yorkshire Spinners - squeal!! I spent ages deciding what to buy and settled upon a ball of 4pky in butterscotch as I just don't have enough yellow yarn in my stash.  I definitely recommend a visit if you're ever in the area as it's a great shop the owner is super lovely!

The Herdy shop was the next stop as I'd been ordered to bring a gift back for Mr Bunny.  I resisted the temptation to buy yet more yarn and a cookie stamp and bought a coaster to go with the mug I bought him a while back.

We finished our day with tea in The White Hart, a lovely pub that serves delicious food.  The rhubarb  crumble was amazing and Chris was pleased that it wasn't 'arty farty' and a real crumble.

I eventually got home at 9:30pm tired but very happy after a fabulous day!

Fame at Last!

I'm famous! Well, I made it into the paper not once, but twice this week.

My first feature was in the 'What's On' section of the Wigan Evenng Post sharing information about my studio open day this Saturday!

The second was far more exciting.  A few weeks ago, I was contacted by a local journalist who had seen my poster about my studio on Twitter and wanted to do a story on me.  They sent a photographer who took some crazy and quirky photos, which I just love, and then this week the story was featured and it takes up half a page!  It is a lovely write up (yes there are a few spelling mistakes but who cares?!) and I'm very grateful to them for featuring me and giving me a boost as I start my new venture!  

I've Made a Kit!!

As my Open Studio day gets ever closer, I've been busy rearranging my studio (again), putting up posters and making beautiful creations to sell.  I have, however, been working a new product entirely - a kit!

I've been wanting to create a kit for a while and this was exactly the right time.  

My first kits are for felt beads! One is a felt bead bracelet kit and the other a felt bead necklace kit.

Each kit contains comprehensive step by step instructions, with photographs and all the matetials you need to make your beautiful and unique bracelet or necklace.  

I'm most looking forward to putting together the colours for the kits - I've just got to wait for them to arrive!

I have to say a big thank you to Fiona who came and tested my instruction book for me on Saturday.  This was a really important part of the whole process to ensure that they where clear and easy to follow.  I made a few changes and additions to them following this.

I'm going to be launching my kits at my open studio day next Saturday and they will be available to buy in the studio and from my Folksy and Etsy shops - you can even choose your own colours if you wish!

I've Got a Studio!!

As the title says, I've now got a studio! It is soooo exciting and why I've not posted for a few weeks.

I moved in about 2 weeks ago, into a small studio space in Nooch (a Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten Free grocery store) in Wigan.  I've been selling my items in there for a few months and, when Ged suggested I get a space to work in, it seemed like a great place to be.

I've got room to work, teach workshops and sell my creations, as well as storage space for my supplies.  I've spent a lot of time making it look great and I've still got things to do - like putting up my bunting.

I now feel like a real artist and have even taken the big step of changing my job title on Facebook to Textile Artist.

To go with my studio, I've now got a website with details of my workshops on.  In time, there will also be a shop on there to - www.thegingerbreadbunny.co.uk 

To celebrate, I'm having an open studio day on the 16th August where you can have a peek try your hand at felt making, enjoy some refreshments and 10% off all purchases (including workshops) on the day.  If you live near a Wigan then it would be great to see you.

Keep popping back for more photographs.