What we did today at... The Craft Cafe...

Every School Holiday, for the past, hmmmm, 4 and a half years? I have run what we called The Craft Cafe.
2 hours of creative mayhem for local children aged 3-13yrs. Todays theme was: ROBOTS!! There are various tables with different crafting activities, all set up and ready for when the families arrive... and one fantastic Crafter had already started his own ROBOT and decided to bring it along:

The children's joy, enthusiasm and talents! really astound me. Before i worked in 'craft' i worked with children. I loved it (love it still)

Parents, Grandparents, siblings, dads... they all pitch in with the children and the atmosphere is lovely.

Seeing the Dads get stuck in, really warms my soul... "Boys don't like Craft": what hogwash! The boys who attend are always hugely creative and enthusiastic - they often come and tell me their ideas for 'next time'

I average about 35 children per morning's session. Today's attendance hit an all time high with 50 children involved in crafting!! Plus a few extra babies who were passed from sticky handed to cake-y fingered adults.

I imagine that the parents are relieved to be able to 'walk away' from the mess at the end. The children seem happy that there are no real 'rules' for 2 solid hours and they can use as much of the crafty stuff as they want. As it's local, they get to see a few friends or meet some new faces too.

The activities were appropriate for ages 3 - 13yrs, with Robot puppets and badges. Design your own paper robot (and laminate him / her... Ooooh we all loved the laminating today)

And, the EVER popular "Junk Table" where anything goes!

You might imagine that a hall full of 50 children, plus adults, was rather chaotic? But children are not chaotic and hectic by nature - quite the opposite. Children are clever, observant, dilligent, curious and creative. It is just that THEY choose when to apply all these skills. Today was one of those occasions.

Of course, there is the 'Cafe' side to all this creativity. Today the Cafe was run by my Sister-in-Law to raise funds for the local Playgroup Association. mMMMmmmMM cakes....

I loved it!! ....I am also knackered.

I know not all the Crafters from today will read this but, if you do drop by, thankyou so much for coming, it was a great way to spend a VERY snowy half term Thursday xxx

Playing with Christmas Presents...

Child says: "I'm bored Mamma"
Mother replies: "Don't be so silly. Go and play with all those new toys you were given for Christmas"
*child skips off to play*... Mother looks down at her hands and thinks *i'm bored*...

So i decided to play with some of my Christmas Gifts: I haven't 'packed' the Cath Kidston sewing basket yet. I am going to fill it with my travel sewing kit. I spend alot of time between my Parents home, my home, and various child related activities. This basket will have all the items i need so i can pick it up and *know* i will have pieces and essentials to work with on 'the move'.

Cath Kidston's craft books have come under some 'fire' from the dedicated UK Designer / Maker devotees and i can understand why. Her items are far from 'handmade' themselves and she is perhaps riding on the back of a growing current trend. I don't mind though. Her books are colourful and fun and i ask little else of my Craft Books.

The "DK Sewing Book" is something i need. I have never had any training in sewing and i get frustrated at my lack of knowledge. I am not a patient person and i want to be 'GOOD' at something immediately... at least i have this book now that might encourage me to, patiently, try some new things.

**Note to Self** take some time off in March and DO things for MYSELF :)

(feel a bit perkier today. A good camera and craft sessions can do that)

FuzzyFish - Felt Fantasia...

Shop talk...
There is an *all new* felt package available in the FuzzyFish store on etsy (and in PaperFish on Folksy) ... actually, there are 2 new pack sizes to play with.
The POND PACK: 33 sheets of felt in A4 size - plenty to play with and great for children and for craft groups ~ £12.00
The FISHFOOD PACK: 33 sheets in A6 size (6x4)- a cute set of felt that replaces the Swatch Book and a cheaper size, great as a scrap pack or for small projects ~ £3.50
That is exciting news.... BUT you should have seen the boxes that arrived....
The supplier *accidentally* sent me 10x the amount i ordered - TEN TIMES OVER! There was felt everywhere.... it was a mad mad moment of felti-ness... i had to get it all out to show you (my 5 year old taking the photos)

It looked so pretty :)

BUT then imagine... they also charged me TEN TIMES OVER the amount i ordered... one week before Christmas. If the penny hasn't dropped yet reader - i don't have that amount of money in my account! I was BROKE :( and too late before Christmas to do a thing about it.

Looking back at the whole thing now, it seems funny. I laugh at the KirstyFish i remember, sitting in the bath, crying, .... the 'bad men' took all my money.... phoning my dad in outrage to tell him what had happend, in true "professional business woman" type style....

But at the time, it was a horrible a headache.

The moral of the story: Kirsty must not try to cram many things in at once and should have waited till after Christmas so she didn't mess up the whole thing.

Still.... nice new felt packs are at least here.

What fun! x

That's a good idea....
I'm not sure what they're actually doing. Something with paint / water / washing-up liquid. Blowing the bubbles and putting paper over the top to form bubbly pictures.
I think there is ONE rule only to this - BLOW do not suck!
(i love LittleFish's sideways glance here, checking out what daddy is doing)


yippee for bubble pictures!

not recommended for very small children - for obvious soap filled mouth reasons....

The need for glasses....

So.... i was super busy and i took, not even ONE photo of the 80 amazing hats that i saw at The Mad Hatters Cocktail Party this weekend! Argh, i hate myself for the missed opportunity to share frivolity with you all.
Instead we have 'The need for glasses' ... Fishy style...
I call this first photo "Beer Goggles" (a blonde me in Barcelona) Then we have SmallFish wearing a respectable pair of real goggles ... of course, we are nowhere near a swimming pool...

Holiday Specs - these sunnies have re-surfaced this Spring to help shade the past 2 weeks GLORIOUS sunshine, here in the UK....

SmallFish in my favourite new Sunnies x

MrsB and I deciding whether the glasses were better in black or red (they had white too)...

I love this colour and these glasses - i remind myself of an 80's pop album cover, very 'Depeche Mode' or something?

Miaaooowww - we all preferred the glasses in RED!

I did wear these as part of my party outift at the weekend (it was a very black and pink combination)

And to finish off, CraftyFish doing silent movie stills, in the privacy of her own photographic studio ...(aka The Bathroom)

A random selection of playing with glasses x let's see your Sunnies!!?! x

An Ordinary Day...

Some days are lovely, but quite like any other...It started to look good when BIGGERMummyFish and SisterFish popped over to share a pot of fresh coffee and freshly baked LemonChoc Biscotti (inspired by this lady)

The dog was outside enjoying the wamest Spring sunshine...

The beautiful child was outside enjoying the warmest Spring sunshine....

The beautiful child was outside enjoying the novelty of having Mummy's digital camera...

(we title the above frame "Dead Cow")

I might title this photo "Mad Cow" x

I love her photography skills!

And this pot of blooms was planted out for me as a birthday gift last week - it has just 'bloomed' and it brightens my garden no end.

Just an ordinary day, in the extra-ordinary life, of little ole me and my folks x

Birthday Fish

I was born on a wednesday ( i think ) at around 9pm.

It was the 12th day of March 1975.

I have been addicted to drugs and alcohol and food and relationships (and cigarettes!)

I have been in and out of hospitals and 'centres' for people who need a little, help...

It is a long and really interesting story.

Tomorrow i turn 34 and i feel such a fool for telling you 2 things changed my life:

The first was becoming pregnant and becoming a Mother (it does that to most women!)

The second was finding out i could earn my living through 'craft'.

Dramatic and as corny as that all sounds - this is true. This is me. Happy Birthday to me x

House of Poodle...

Loving Handmade: I have long since adored the work of House of Poodle. I met them in December 2007 at a Craft Fair, but a year prior to that I travelled to Birmingham for the day to a thrift / handmade market where i knew they had a stall... i wasn't disappointed. They are professional and Tweedy and fun and colourful - very unique and..... friendly! The dress below is a sort of A-line / 40s style? but in a thick red tweedy fabric. Short sleeves and sits above the knee. I adore it and i have worn it sooooo many times.

Zip up the back... I WILL try to make one of these for myself one day (ha ha) but it is finding the time!?! ... and i admit to never having had a sewing lesson or followed a pattern in my life :(

The Grey flower is something i wear alllllll the time. It suits every jacket, every dress, every cardigan... i have worn it many times on my evening party dresses. I always wear it on this capped sleeve grey wool felt jacket.... I even wore it on my funeral outfit this week as it added a cheery of 'life celebration' without giving out too much 'party vibe'. A gorgeous item i cannot live without it (okay, i exaggerate that)

And, i repeat, you only get this sort of joy from unique handmade items! Designed, made, sold here in the UK by fellow crafty peeps x

FuzzyFish...

HA! Over the next few weeks, you may notice an increase in blog posts and Flickr photos involving FELT... The FuzzyFish is born... an online 'etsy' shop dedicated to the joy and colour of that medium many of us love - FELT! mmmmmm x

Of course it had to join the FISHY empire so the name FuzzyFish was an immediate choice - a 'Fish' shop with an ironic edge (never take yourself too seriously, that is my motto)

Of course, after hours of photography, editing, felt in and out of boxes, swatch book making, listing each individual size and colour.... I am hating felt right now.

I am wondering if i took large fourth helping of Nigella's Chocolate Cake without really needing it and this could be 'theee' slice that makes me sick?

The FuzzyFish Felt shop is not going to make my fortune, i know. Tis a competetive market and many people prefer wool / wool blend felt to my 100% acrylic. But this is my felt of choice - i love it! I love the colours and i love the fabric to work with, it is a dream. And, as i buy it by the van load anyway, it seemed odd not to have an etsy shop to sell it all in too?

MMMmmmm, fuzzy, felty dreams in 24 techni-colours ... i'll introduce the new colours all separately in later blog posts ... not because I am attempting a 'hard sell' but honestly because the colours look sooooo good i love the colour fix of seeing them all on screen.

Oh, Luscious Neon fix - 80's revival - i want to play x

P.s. I owe my little Sister a huge thankyou for:

Handing me rolls of felt in the 'photographic studio' (!!)

Organising the colours and the stock control system

Making the Swatch books

Cutting all those little Fishes out

Being good company even though she had a stinking rotten cold

Working on a new shop Banner (on it's way...)

I now declare the *new* Felt shop officially......... open x

Handmade Treat for me :)...

I have got so many things to blog about: When will i get the time?
Firstly, I had to share ToddleFish with you in her Pudding Hat! and her amazingly crafty use of old Christmas Cards.... Blue Peter / Martha Stewart moment: Using an old cereal box and the discarded Christmas Greetings Cards we made a 'Winter Wonderland' scene! Tremendous...!
For those readers who don't know, I chose not send ToddleFish to school last September so we do tend to hang out at home alot and bake / craft.

But really, I wanted to share with you my new bracelet. It is from ELIN (click name for shop link!) I had my eye on it for a long while and then just bought it. I was worried it would feel too 'chunky' on me and a bit cumbersome. But I l o v e textile jewelery so thought i'd give it a try...

It doesn't feel at all chunky. It is, in fact, as light as a feather. Other than taking it off to wash up in (and bathe) it has been on my wrist from the moment i opened the lovely packaging. I am really pleased with my 'whim' and i have her in mind for a few future treats for myself.

I love the colour and the material - crocheted? But with a really fine thread? and grey and white odd patterning to it - I adore it. Thankyou ELIN, you are a talent x

I am in a hurry now though.... Halfway through getting the *new* felt shop up and running... See ya soon (I end with a random self portrait shot because, as a reader of blogs, i like to see pictures of the blogger) x