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10/11/2017

Charity knitting drop off & Christmas Markets


Its November, where has this year gone? The clocks have gone back, its getting dark early and slowly getting colder.

I personally love Christmas! Decorations, treats and spending time with family and friends.

Some of my christmas decorations available on my Etsy shop

My personal love for coffee is heightened now with all the seasonal speciality flavours! Nothing better than a sweet hot drink all warm and snug inside whilst the weather is horrible.

With this in mind I have designed a few new seasonal Christmas mug cosies - the Rudolph is my favourite - which one is yours?

Available in my Etsy shop from Monday 13th November

I am doing 3 Christmas fairs this winter, the first is Capstans Bazaar at The Baltic Market on Thursday 23rd November for their late night shopping experience. Then its open cultures wonderful Winter Arts Market on 2nd December at the Anglian Cathedral & then on the 7th December I’m back at The Baltic Market with Capstans for any last minute bits!




If your are Liverpool based and would like to shop local for your Christmas presents this year The Merseyside Etsy Team have put together a fantastic Etsy shopping page and with over 500 members you are sure to find everything you need, even for those hard to buy for people - we all have at least one!

A few weeks ago I created a public knitting/crochet patterns for The Merseyside Etsy Team for their campaign for The Whitechapel Centre. They are intended to decorate the centre for Christmas so need to be delivered soon! With that in mind I am asking that they are delivered to me at the next craft meeting on Monday 13th November at The Everyman Theatre. You can see the pattern here. They take no time to make and are a great stash buster!



You might have seen on our social media we have a few issues with the location of the craft meetings and this is due to the changing opening hours of The Everyman Theatre around shows.

I am thrilled to announce however that of January 2018 our craft meetings will be held in the fantastically beautiful Liverpool Central Library! Keep your eyes peeled for 2018 dates coming soon!




24/10/2017

Sleeping Rough & A Free Pattern!


On Friday 13th October myself, an a few other members of The Merseyside Etsy Team, slept rough in an old graveyard in a church on the outskirts of Liverpool city centre. 



The reason? To raise money for a local homeless charity: The Whitechapel Centre.

Now I've never done anything like this before; I have not even been camping! It was definitely an experience that I wont forget in a hurry & I think its something that if you have the opportunity to experience, you should.

Now its not camping. There are no tents; you built your own shelter out of cardboard, no stoves, no alcohol, no campfires etc. Its you & what you can carry.





You would be surprised at how much stuff you take with you for one night.

I had:
  • sleeping mat
  • sleeping bag
  • headlamp
  • blanket
  • waterproof coat
  • cardboard
  • flask of coffee
  • extra socks
  • extra leggings
  • extra jumpers
  • food
  • hat
  • gloves (2 pairs)
  • scarf
It actually was not too physically difficult. Yeah the ground was hard & we worried that the shelter would not stay put (some peoples didn't) but the weather was unseasonably warm. We all still had our mobile phones on us with 4G so totally contactable. 

The biggest thing that keeps you "ok" to do something like this is the psychological difference between us & people who are actually homeless - we knew we could go home. 

We knew that although we'd had no sleep, it was uncomfortable & it was a bit cold around 4am, we knew at the end there was a warm meal, a hot bath & a comfortable bed somewhere secure with our names on it. 

The psychological aspect is what stays with you afterwards. It was mentally draining. You get no sleep as every little noise disturbs you as you are very aware that you are exposed.

When I got home the first thing I did was slide into bed; it was 7.30am & I was in the day job for 12. I have been complaining about being broke & wanting a new mattress for a few months now but not anymore. I do not think I have ever felt so comfortable in my entire life. I am so grateful for everything I have including food, hot showers & the ability to pop the kettle on whenever.

The following Friday night storm Brian hit. It was very cold, windy & raining heavily & whilst sat on my couch, under the duvet, with a hot coffee I felt guilty as I was grateful that the weather had not been like that the week before.

I personally set myself a goal of raising £150 & I raised £274.78. 
As a collective (The Merseyside Etsy Team members who slept out) we raised £1310.13

Overall - from everyone who slept out - £37,718 has been raised.

The biggest thank you to everyone who donated.

Donations are still being taken until 11th November. You can read more about The Whitechapel Centre's amazing work here.

We spent the evening knitting, being a crafty group & all. I have designed a very simple pattern for knitted or crochet 'paper' chains which we are donating to The Whitechapel for Christmas.

If you would like to get involved you can see the pattern here.

We are collecting them together around 11th November so I'll post more info on my Facebook page & on the next blog post.





21/09/2017

Halloween & The Sleepout

How is it nearly the end of September?! 

It's all go at GOPA HQ (aka home) as I am getting ready for The Mega Liverpool Horror Convention on the 7th & 8Th of October at The Exhibition Centre on the Kings Dock in Liverpool.



I'll be taking my full halloween range with me, which is now live on my Etsy shop

Selection

Some more Halloween stuff

If you are attending & want to pre-order anything for collection (its all very limited) just drop me an email

I have 6 more new items coming next week!


We have just had our first craft meeting of the autumn season - however we have hit a snag. Yesterday (Wednesday), The Everyman Theatre emailed me to say they will be varying their opening times which does impact the advertised dates massively but I'm working on a solution now...keep your eyes peeled for more information. 






I'm also doing taking part in a big local charity event called The Liverpool Sleepout. Its for our local homeless charity, The Whitechapel Centre whom I have personally done work with before. 
Merseyside Etsy Team Sleepout 2016

Me & other members of The Merseyside Etsy Team are sleeping rough for one night on Friday 13th in the garden of the old St James in the City Church - not at all spooky.  The idea is to highlight how difficult it is sleeping rough & the raise some money to support the charity through the winter.


We will also be using this night to create Christmas decorations which will be sold through the Whitechapel's charity shop; the Open Door, to try & raise even more money.


If you can spare any sponsorship it would be greatly appreciated!




21/08/2017

Creative Seasons, YouTube Fame & Things to Come...

Wow...that was a mental two months! I was so busy it felt like Christmas & I adored every minute of it!



The majority of my new makes have been custom pieces and there is nothing more satisfying than being pushed, creatively and succeeding; even after multiple froggings! 

New Flamingo!

My Etsy store is slowly getting to how I want it, still has a long way to go, but the hard work is paying off as more of you are able to see it with the more I can get on it! 

Tropical Bunting

The accidental theme for this summer has been tropical, last year it was more nautical but being able to use bright colours really appeals to me.


Fab pen


Summer is now coming to an end and as we head towards the winter months (sadly) my brain is overflowing with new ideas, projects and possibilities.

Coming soon for Autumn

My makes always reflect the seasons, they are in part, a massive source of inspiration to me.

Most of my halloween range is already up on my Etsy store and I've been working away on some new Christmas ideas. Ive seen a lot of fellow creatives posting about Christmas lately and whilst it does seem to annoy the average person there is a method behind the madness. 

Pumpkin keychain
Zombie hand
For a handmade business, Christmas can be the busiest time of the year. We only have one set of hands and therefore meeting demand can be difficult so we have to start early to spread as much of our creative love as we can without spreading ourselves too thin. 

New mug cosies for Christmas 2017

* I say this but there is ALWAYS a point where I end up working till silly o'clock and then get back too it first thing in the morning. However its my passion and I would do it everyday if it was required of me!

When we make we never know who we are making for...as I found out this month when I created a special gift box as a surprise present and it ended up on YouTube! Fabulous vintage lifestyle blogger Laura Salmon said some lovely things about my work and it made me smile for about a week! 



I'm taking a short holiday from Thursday 24th August till Monday 4th September but I am leaving my Etsy shop open - just be aware that the dispatch time will be 2 - 3 weeks from now as my next available postage date will be Wednesday 6th September.









10/07/2017

Summer Fun Time


Wow, how & when did we end up in July?!


June was a blur of creativity for me getting ready for lovely big events!

Late June saw the return of Open Culture's Summer Arts Market, held in the incredible Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool - it is the just the most wonderful fair there is! 200 craft stall holders, vintage traders, foodies & I was lucky enough to be amongst them!




Although not as busy as The Winter Arts Market (who doesn't love craft shopping at Christmas though?!) - there's always so much going on in Liverpool & that weekend saw the Africa Oye Festival celebrate its 25th anniversary & the weather was glorious - it was just a brilliant day in a marvellous location surrounded by truely talented people.



The week after saw the arrival of this years MakeFest in Liverpool Central Library. This year there was no giant octopus but we had lots of fun decorating hand knitted cupcakes & crochet donuts.





So what's next you ask? 
I'm getting new stock up on my Etsy shop all the time now, including the new graduation crackers! 



The baby shower crackers will be launching next week too so watch this space!

New stock has landed in Arts Hub 47 - they got dibs on my new ice cream pens & Rare Bear Boutique are getting first dibs on the baby shower crackers.




My next big event is now not till October in which me & all my Halloween goodies will be at the Liverpool Horror Convention.


Im also planning the end of year seasons (if you catch my drift) & im toying with the idea of releasing some of my patterns for free, what do you think?
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Sneaky of me but this is a dual blog - I’m launching a range of craft parties in conjunction with some other creatives & we had a secret teaser night at the very end of May - you can find out more about that here.



Who doesn't love crafts & gin?




Crafty Doo-Dahs

Hands up, who's ever been to a doo-dah? Have you ever heard of a doo-dah?
A doo-dah is a term for something that the speaker cannot name precisely - in this case it applies to a party that may or may not require an occasion.

Crafty Doo-Dahs are a two hour craft & gin based workshop.



Absolutely perfect for hen-do’s, birthdays or just, why not, afternoons. 

Based on the Liverpool waterfront at the historic Baltic Fleet Pub you will create a vintage fascinator, mask or embroidery keep sake, perfect as an adornment to your celebratory outfit.



We will provide a full range of crafty goodies for full embellishment including crystals, feather, lace, fabrics, ribbons, buttons, flowers & more!



This new venture is being run by myself, Delia from Hobo Kiosk & The Baltic Fleet Pub.

At the end of May we ran a taster session for local crafters & wedding bloggers to gain honest feedback, iron out any kinks & to see what areas needed improving. As with all ideas, the first go is never perfect & we have taken all the reviews on board.



You can read them all here.

For more information you can visit the website
or follow us on our Twitter, Facebook or Instagram accounts!

Hope you will check it out :)