Fibre Art Jewellery

I've been making fibre art jewellery lately and thought you might like to see some.

This is a blue cotton and red button flower pin brooch. I can make them in different colours and sizes. They look great jazzing up a little black dress or on a casual outfit. They also make beautiful hair band decorations.

This is a freeform turquoise and silver necklace I created a while ago. It took me a long time of laying out the individual discs until I was satisfied with the shape of it before sewing them all together to get this asymmetric necklace. It is a one off as it is made from vintage cotton sparkle yarn that cannot be purchased any more. I love how it has turned out. It is a real statement piece. 

When I was a little girl my dad liked to play tennis and he would take me and my big sister with him to the grass courts at his work and we would sit on the sidelines eating picnics, playing at being ball-girls and making daisy chains together. This is my first attempt to make daisy chains from yarn. I will be having another go and this time I think I will get some yellow pompoms to put in the middle so they look more daisy like.

I hope you like them. I will be working on more in the coming months.

Artisan of the week, Kwun of Treaclezoo

I love the name of this weeks artisan's shop. Treaclezoo is just one of the best names I've seen in ages! This shop is full of the cutest creatures and the yummiest looking faux food. I challenge you to look through her shops and not come away with a feeling of longing to own one of her items. Pook the cat might have to soon come and live at my house, but shhhh don't tell Jon I'm spending money.

Could you please introduce us to who you are and what you do?
Hello, I’m Kwun, and I am the hands and heart behind Treaclezoo. I am lucky to be living on the border of London and Kent, enjoying easy reach of the buzzing city life where I was born & grew up, and lightning access to some of the most lovely English countryside. I took a career break to bring up our daughters, and like for many, crafting was a resumed pleasure from childhood.

I sew with felt and fabric, and I crochet, (mainly with acrylic wool as I have sensitive skin) making goodies that seem to largely fit the "kawaii" category: cute, fun, often anthropomorphic, regularly of little functional value yet often a "must have" because it just adds to the joy of life! So, amigurumi creatures and cute keepsake dolls are one strand, and the other reflects my love for food, which manifests in the ever popular playfood concoctions.

What led you to take up your craft?
I learnt to crochet as a result of my first love – library books! I do believe it was a Ladybird book borrowed when I was around 9 years old. Sewing? Well, my mum was a machinist when I was a child, working many long hours at the loud, industrial sewing machine running up sackloads of clothes for clothing manufacturers. I was mesmerised by the boxes of leftover thread bobbins -the colours! - I loved sorting them. I just "needed" to sew to use them!
A desire to reclaim "me", a distraction from the tedium of housework, to delight & inspire my offspring, these all play a part in what led me back to crochet and sewing. Also, I guess, the inability to be idle, a desperate need to be "creating", a surreptitious wish to "show off", and something purposeful for all my squirrelled haberdashery purchases?


Which part of your work do you most enjoy?
The shopping, lol. For some women, it’s shoes and handbags (case in point my sister & mum), but for me, there is nothing more intoxicating than being let loose in haberdashery shops; I will lovingly stroke my new purchases of wool or lay out my newly acquired fabric scraps in the way many women like to do with their latest fashion buys. A bit weird, but since joining the bigger online crafting world, I realise I am not alone!
Of course, on a more serious note, it goes without saying that the whole creative process is enjoyable (otherwise, why do it? Not for the money that’s for sure!)… it’s can be maddening, trying to transform a floaty idea into something tangible, but I guess that's what makes the final stage most thrilling!


Which part do you find hardest?
On the business front, it has been a steep learning curve, having learnt on the Folksy forum that I was meant to have registered as a small business when I started! I am determined to do things properly, and so I’m learning how to sort out the paperwork & work with HMRC :o)

Where do you hope to be in 1 year’s time?
I hope to be healthy and well, enjoying my time with my family & celebrating my daughter having passed her 11+ exams! I hope that Treaclezoo will continue to grow its following of delighted customers and that I will continue to make lovely goodies that people want to buy & enjoy owning or giving. I also hope my husband will continue to enjoy helping me with his wonderful photography and pc expertise!

What is the best advice you have ever been given?
On many craft sites & blogs, the mantra of "make what you love" is espoused, and I’d have to say it rings true. My parents always told me that if I work hard, I will be able to achieve: I will always be indebted to them for instilling self confidence in me & pride in what I do – they are rare breed of Chinese parents, where often, the norm is to belittle your kids efforts in the hope it spurs them onto greatness!
Proverbs 16:3, "Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed" is very important to me and underpins my life and all I do.


Could you name artisans sites/shops would you recommend are worth a visit?
There are so many! And many I enjoy have been mentioned many times by others, so here are a couple you might not have heard of so often:
for pure crochet yumminess & the simple pleasures of being a homemaker, Laura at Attic24.
Patchwork really appeals to the fabric-love side of me, and Laurraine makes exquisite goodies that take patchwork away from the bedspread in a way that I love.
Lastly, local to me, Daisies are our Silver is a local lass whom I like to drag down to the ghost town that is our local high street, so that we can rummage in charity shops together. Her 3D work is beautifully detailed & not captured sufficiently in photos – the kind of work that needs to be held in one’s fingertips to be truly appreciated. I find her cartoon sketches delightful. She sells on Etsy & Folksy and her descriptions alone are always worth a peek.

What is your favourite sandwich filling?
Anything with egg, whether boiled & mashed with mayo & a handful of cress, or fried with crispy bacon, or maybe an omelette with mushrooms in a baguette… mmm, feeling hungry just thinking about it!



Thank you Kwun for agreeing to join us on our blog! Your Etsy and Folksy shops are so full of fabulous goodies. Dear reader, if you want to see more of Kwuns work she also has a Flickr account you can take a look through. Remember all the photos link to the items in their shops, so click through and look around. Happy Sunday browsing everyone!

Written by Lynne of Hyperloop Hoops and PiratePixieCrew

Artisan of the Week, Heather of Nifty Knits

Good Morning all! I'd like to introduce you to a lovely lady, Heather of Nifty Knits. I first noticed Heather's work in her Etsy shop. It was her Morris Dances that caught my eye, as one of my friend's father is a Morris Dancer and for some reason a knitted morris man made me giggle. Heather has taken so many items from my childhood and turned them into knitted works of art. I mean, who wouldn't want a knitted Clanger! As you can see below, her work is beautiful, so get a cup of tea and spend 5 minutes having a break and reading all about her.


1.Could you please introduce us to who you are and what you do?
My name is Heather, I'm an ex-teacher who hasn't found a replacement day job yet. Consequently I have lots of time for crafting! I knit and/or crochet all sorts of weird and wonderful things but my favourites are my pots of flowers - I started with tulips and daffodils, then bluebells as they came into season, and more recently pots of poinsettias for Christmas time. I've also knitted fuchsias, but these were designed as earrings and pendants rather than in a pot. I like making something unusual, you won't usually find knitwear in my shops although I did bow to demand recently and made some scarves and gloves.

2.What led you to take up your craft?
I first learnt to knit as a child, and remember knitting clothes for my Sindy. I took it up again last year when I was off sick from teaching. Knitting stopped my thinking about work! Before long my house was beginning to be taken over by small knitted creatures, so I started selling a few on Ebay. My son's girlfriend told me about Etsy, and although at first I was intimidated by the quality of work there I decided (with her encouragement) to give it a go. I then taught myself to crochet using on-line tutorials...and the rest, as they say, is history!

3.Which part of your work do you most enjoy?
I enjoy the creative process of trial and improvement as I persuade the yarn to become what I can see in my mind's eye. I often get swept up in the flow, for instance whilst working out how to knit flower pots seamlessly I managed to get right up to the point when I "sealed" the top of the pot closed...and then realised there was the small matter of weighting and stuffing to be done first! The other most enjoyable part of course is when the customer emails to say they LOVE my work.

4.Which part do you find hardest?
In the crafting sense I am not a big fan of "sewing up", which is why I taught myself to crochet, to try "amigurumi style" without seams. I'm transferred this to my knitting, and more and more manage to knit items which don't require sewing up at the end. In terms of running my shops it is definitely promotion that I find hardest. I try to always make sure I have business cards in my pocket, and during December I didn't leave the house without wearing my knitted holly earrings - but I don't find it easy to respond to compliments with "Here's my card". I'm working on it!

5.Where do you hope to be in 1 year’s time?
I hope my photographs will be clearer, they're a lot better than they were but there's still plenty of room for improvement. I want to develop my range of flowers further, they're what I see as my "signature" pieces. I'd like to be more focussed in promotional terms. At the moment I flit between facebook, myspace, twitter....you name it...and I'm not at all sure much of it is productive! For the sake of the bills I hope I will have found a day job...preferably one which includes plenty of knitting breaks.

6.What is the best advice you have ever been given?
I will be eternally grateful to Lenny for telling me to "go for it!" and start up an Etsy shop. I wouldn't otherwise have found Folksy, and having just won free listings for a year in the Folksy Angels competition I am really looking forward to building up my shop.

7.Name other artisans sites/shops would you recommend are worth a visit?
Wow - there are so many! I was astounded when I first joined Etsy by how many crafts and styles there were that I'd never even imagined. Steampunk was just one example, I'd never heard of it! I looked at Mad Art Jewelry so many times before I finally bought a wonderful necklace from her. She also introduced me to "custom" sales, as she designed and made earrings especially for me to go with my first piece. The necklace is called "Tempus Fugit" (time flies) and was so relevant to me at that time when I was ill and not knowing what direction my life was going in. Vicki Diane Designs is inspirational when I'm looking for encouragement with my photos! Hers are so vibrant. Bombus helped me enormously - not only did she buy my first listings on Etsy but she also staged and photographed them for me to show just how much difference a decent photo makes. Pennydog Accessories helped me out in a similar way by recreating my banner - using my idea but making it look infinitely better.

8.What is your favourite sandwich filling?
No thinking time needed here! Grilled crispy bacon in fresh white bread, with the crust to chew on while I'm waiting for my husband to finish making it. Sometimes I have Heinz tomato ketchup, but usually just as it is.

Thank you Heather for joining in with our blog. Your work gives me a warm smile every time I visit your shops. I also hate sewing up knitted work, hence I prefer crochet and have started to knit much more on the round than straight needles. Good luck in you job search. I hope you find the perfect position. So dear readers take a look in Heathers shops for more gorgeous woollen masterpieces.

written by Lynne from Hyperloop Hoops and PiratePixieCrew