Making for the future

Felt necklace on sale at the Phoenix Exhibition in the Physic Garden, Petersfield £25

Felted flowers for Handmade Happiness

More felted flowers for sale in Handmade Happiness

Experimenting with paints and tissue paper

100% cashmere bunnies for little hands to hold

This week I've been making in the shop. More cashmere  bunnies that sell so well. Lots of felt flowers to buy as decorations or to wear as brooches. And I  finished off a felt necklace ready for the Phoenix Stitchers exhibition which runs from today until Sunday 10-4 daily at the Physic Garden. Plus I enjoyed gluing tissue paper leaves onto a painting to add interest.

It is worryingly quiet in the shop at the moment. This year it's as if the customer tap has been turned off. I know it's the same in all other shops. People have just stopped spending.  So shops can't survive. 

Everyone tells me that people are buying online now and certainly that's part of the picture but I think the main reason people have stopped spending is because they are worried about the future and the natural response is to hunker down and save any money you can for worse times ahead. 

I didn't vote for Brexit and of course, I have no say in who our next Prime Minister will be and these are the issues that are depressing people like me. It's that feeling of helplessness. We can't influence these things but we sure as hell are being affected by them.

 And of course, there is the mammoth issue of climate change to grapple with. I look forward to the next David Attenborough series 'Seven Worlds; One Planet'. 

He is a person everyone trusts to tell the truth about our situation.

Meanwhile I'll keep making. I'll create a stock of items for Christmas sales because in November and December I'll wish I had made more! 

Felt workshop

Sarah Waters' sample. Making bobbles

Sarah Waters samples. Nuno felting

Sarah Waters' sample. Using a resist.

Some flower shapes I made.

On Wednesday I learned more about felt making techniques than I thought would be possible in just one day. 

 Felt expert Sarah Waters first showed us how to create bobbles like the ones above. I had been really looking forward to doing this to add texture to the flat felt that I usually make but, to be honest, I found this technique quite difficult. A lot of felt making takes time and requires patience. 

Sarah had made a beautiful tunic from nuno felting which is incorporating pieces of silk into the wool to create a draping fabric which can be used for clothes. (Small samples of nuno pictured above.) This takes time and makes this sort of item expensive. Much as I've always wanted to sell nuno felt clothes in my shop the price would be prohibitive unfortunately.

Sarah pointed out that felting painted or dyed silk into wool fibres takes time and I'm not sure I'm patient enough. Sarah also showed us some beautiful felt hats she has made.

I love the look of the black and white piece above. When you lay a resist (in this case masking tape) over areas of felt and then felt more fibres on top you can create patterns. This is fascinating and I will definitely explore this technique more in my own time. 

Sarah also showed us how to make little bowls and how to make flowers. Making flowers I found the easiest and quickest of the techniques which is why I've been making them ever since!!

If you have a chance to go on one of Sarah's felting workshops I urge you to go. Highly recommended. Her website is sarahwaterstextiles.com and Instagram page is @swtextiles

Shop CLOSED today!

Sarah Waters' felt pieces.

Today I am excited to be going on a felt workshop given by Sarah Waters.

I saw her give a talk to Phoenix Stitchers last week and it was so interesting.

Although I make felt in a small way I have never mastered nuno felting or experimented with textures in felt, so today is the day!

Check out sarahwaterstextiles.com to find out more.

Apologies for the shop being closed for the day. But business as usual tomorrow onwards. And I'll let you see what I make today later this week. Can't wait!!

Liberty store visit

I was lucky to find this remnant at half price. 

I like these wings in the Rockett St George area in Liberty

Gorgeous velvet cushion in Liberty

More wings This time framed

In Liberty looking up and looking down is equally rewarding.

 

Fabulous roses in the Liberty flower shop

Yesterday I met my daughters at Oxford Circus and after a long coffee and puting the world to rights we spent time looking round Liberty. Such a beautiful store. Not just the merchandise, some of which is pictured above but also the carved wood and ancient detailing in the architecture as you go up the staircase. Unique and representative of the best of British.

Please note Handmade Happiness will be open tomorrow, Tuesday instead of Wednesday June 26th when it will be closed.

This week

I experimented by making a few bags from painted paper

Bracelets inspired by delphiniums. £12 each in the shop

Is this art? See below

On Monday I quickly painted a few pages of A4 to see what sort of folded bags they'd make. I think they look quite interesting and could be used as gift bags.

In the morning I gave a free workshop to what used to be the local Embroiderers' Guild and is now known as Phoenix Stitchers. I had no idea how many would turn up for it and was pleasantly surprised when 23 people appeared!

Of course I didn't have enough sellotape and glue sticks for everyone but I think they all had a good time and didn't mind sharing. And as it was at the local community centre we had plenty of room.

We made almost 100 paper bags in different sizes like those pictured and around 20 carrier bags which will be used at Phoenix Stitchers exhibition in the Physic Garden from July 5th to 7th. Let's all stop using plastic bags!!!

If anyone wants a free workshop on bag making in the shop let me know.

I've also been making jewellery this week and having made bracelets and necklaces inspired by sea colours last week I took my inspiration from the colours of delphiniums this week. Next theme will be roses.

Now - Is it Art?

My son is holidaying somewhere very hot and when baby grandson wanted to draw outside, his wax crayons got wet in the rain. So they were put in a plastic bag and left to dry out in the sun. Result Art. Or at least art inspiration. If this were done in oils on a big canvas I think it might sell ! 

Making

Necklace inspired by sea colours by Jenny Stacy

Bracelet inspired by sea colours by Jenny Stacy

Hand felted brooch with velvet centre made by Jenny Stacy

This week I've made knitted pants, sewn a skirt and crocheted some shoes for my rag doll.  All by Jenny Stacy

It's been a making week. 

I've decided to make more jewellery for the shop. 

I used to make a lot of jewellery for shops before I had one of my own. 

Nowadays I get easily distracted into painting or making other things but actually jewellery has always done best for me. That's what I started making, including making and painting my own beads. And now, with two jewellery shops having closed down in Petersfield, it feels the right time to go back to it.

Love this!

Two kinds of cherries in a Greek supermarket

Perfect fruit in Greece

I haven't seen these white beans before and white aubergines are a rarity here. Greek supermarket

I had to share these pictures of beautiful fruit and vegetables.  

Yesterday I went to a British supermarket and noticed how many items look tired and past their best or not ripe enough to eat. Not only that but most of it seems to be imported from South Africa, Spain or the Netherlands. So many items that can be grown here the supermarkets prefer to bring in from overseas. But it's much healthier to eat local.

In Zakynthos where I went on holiday for 8 days the freshness and beauty of the food excited me. I even found ashkedinias and I bet I'm spelling that wrong, otherwise known as nisperos or loquats, which I haven't seen since I was a child in the Middle East. 

I voted against leaving the European Union but if we must leave then hopefully it will encourage Britain to be more self-sufficient and to buy what we can grow in this country and to return to eating seasonally as we used to. 

In the shop now

I knitted her a jersey, now I'm knitting her underpants and then I'll sew her a skirt.

This lovely quilted throw is for sale in the shop. £95SOLD

Hand knitted cotton cloths for cleaning with then machine washing. £2.99 each

The shop has many new things to look at. Just yesterday Brenda Tilbury brought in three pictures, three knitted bags and a clutch of lavender bags made from retro fabrics. These have made the shop smell wonderful!

Eight days in Greece - Olives

Olive press. A donkey was tied to the central post and as he walked round the olives were pressed under the heavy wheels

I love the grain on this olive wood handmade spoon and I use olive oil soap for felt making

Olive wood reputed to be 1,500 years old

Looking down on the beautiful turquoise sea

I've been in Zakynthos a small Greek island. My youngest rented a villa and invited me to go along. A wonderful opportunity. 

Olive trees abound. The olives are delicious and local olive oil was decanted into an old plastic water bottle for us to cook with. 

I love the grain on olive wood and I bought this spoon and olive oil soap as souvenirs. 
I loved my holiday and I will also love getting back to my shop Handmade Happiness which opens today from 10am to 4.30 pm.

A shop post next but I hope you will be happy, dear reader, if I write about my holiday again in future posts.

Annual Break

The shop at 9a Dragon Street next to Disking and Tara Interiors

Please note that the shop will be closed from Thursday May 23rd to Friday May 31st  re-opening on Saturday June 1st.

I would hate anyone to come from any distance to find it closed.

It will be open tomorrow Wednesday May 22nd 10am to 4.30pm

Apparently the shop nearby that was Wild Damson and then Tallulah Fox is to be used by Petersfield Museum as offices while the museum is undergoing a year long re-furbishment. We don't know yet what is coming into the premises that was the JSW restaurant opposite our shops.

Garden and shop

It's May so peony time in my garden. So beautiful. My favourite flower.

New in the shop. Pure cotton knitted wash cloths

New Aran cabled cardigans in all sizes for children up to 10

Camilla Flint's lovely dancer drawings.

Shop flyers and textile jewellery

Received more shop flyers with updated information

Sewing felted elements together

Added a bit more - on the way to becoming a necklace. The colours look different against blue.

While this country waits to see what is going to happen in the future and the feeling of uncertainty and unrest persists little shops like mine are struggling. I am determined to keep Handmade Happiness going and in between customers I am making items to sell.

This necklace is similar to necklaces that Bee Mellor and I made a while ago and, once it is complete I'll do some felt flower brooches. I used to make a lot of felt flower brooches and they did sell well. It's funny the things you make and then forget for a few years while you focus on making other things. 

Textile jewellery and dolls and buttons have always been what I make. And although I'm not planning to make buttons again it is good to come back to felt again after forgetting it for a while. 

Happy making everyone!

New at Handmade Happiness

I've made some medals out of all that felt. These are just waiting for dangly bits to be sewn on.

New leg warmers from Kate Box and more of her popular wrist warmers!

New felt brooches from Karen Boller. £9.50 each.

Handmade Happiness is lucky to be supplied by some really talented local makers. I think this is why it has kept going for so long when other independent shops in the town have folded. People know that they will find something unique and beautiful at HH so they come here for gifts and for nice things for themselves. 

There is also an excellent range of cards mostly showing the printed works of local artists. Jill Poole who does lovely mixed media art of birds and flowers has just re-stocked with lots of new card designs. 

Isn't it funny how you find out things by chance sometimes? I was lucky enough to see a poster showing a local business networking group meeting up the following morning. I went along and it was brilliant. Women supporting each other and men too of course although in fairness it was mostly women who showed up. I am so pleased to find this group. It meets monthly and although I had to leave early to open the shop, just to see all those bright, enthusiastic people made my day!

Colourful felt and What is this?

Made some reversable felt this morning

The iris are out in the garden

I dug this up while gardening but what is it?

I dug up this glass object and I'd love to know what it is. It says Empire Made on it  so could be over 100  years old, and has an opening at one end. It's only two and a half inches long (6 cms) so it's not a baby's bottle as has been suggested. I reckon it once held a medicine or vaccine. What do you think?

I must clean out the dirt with a pipe cleaner. Sorry but you are seeing it freshly dug up !!

I love these iris. A friend gave me one and they've spread.

I made the felt this morning;  Experimenting with lots of different colours to see if it could be completely different on the reverse. I used to make flower brooches and/ or wrist warmers out of these pieces of felt but it feels like the wrong time of year for that so perhaps I'll just save it for colder weather.

Making paper flowers and trying to make wax seals

Painted crepe paper flowers by Jenny Stacy

Handmade paper roses by Jenny Stacy

Experimenting with wax and stamper

Some craft experiments are more successful than others!

I was pleased with the way these painted crepe paper roses turned out this morning and I've painted more crepe paper to make more.

However the other day I wanted to make some wax seals. The local art shop had the wax but not those metal stamps to press into the hot wax. I decided to try with a wooden stamper with a rubber image and it didn't really work as you can see above... I will have another go.

I don't know if you have ever tried stamping into gold wax. You light the end and drip it onto (in this case wax proof ) paper so you can remove them afterwards. I became a bit over-confident after the first few seals and managed to drip the hot gold wax over both hands. Luckily I had a sink of water nearby and plunged my hands into it. The strange thing is that the wax stays on the skin for a while. Anyway no lasting damage I'll just be more careful next time and hopefully next time I'll produce some better seals I can actually use!!