Macramé, horror knitting & branching out!

Hello crafters!

First of all I want to thank everyone who has gotten on board with The Moody Octopus project so far! If you haven't started yet then don't worry! There's still plenty of time to get involved!

I've set up a Facebook event for it here!

You don't need to attend on the day, pieces are welcome to be posted in advance! You can find the address here!

I'm thrilled to be doing this project in conjunction with The Liverpool Mental Health Consortium, Time To Change Campaign, Up For Arts and The MakeFest!

The Octopus now has a home at Liverpool Central Library after the day of the MakeFest so if you are local & cant make the day you can still view him afterwards!

Special thanks to The Merseyside Etsy Team for blogging about him too!

I am accepting suggestions for a name...keep referring to it as male. Take from that what you will!

In other news I finally have my couch! Only ordered it 7 weeks ago so finally feel like we can settle properly in our new home & no more living like students out of the bedroom!

Not my living room but my new couch!

I’ve also branched out...I’m now in comics! Well, not strictly speaking, but I am working in conjunction with two lovely chaps on a Kickstarter campaign for a graphic novel which has received rave reviews! I'm making some merchandise for them as one of the Kickstarter rewards; it is an adult comic & it is horror based so you have been warned! The artist Macro 'Sbrillo' Fontanili designed my latest logo & the knitting hedgehog.

It’s been 16 months of hard work for them both so I really hope it does well. If you like any of the old slasher films you’ll love it. I like Kickstarter as a format too; getting a product, just the same as you would via any other method of purchasing but you are directly funding a bit of someone’s dream.

It’s really gotten me in the mood for Halloween though! You can expect a big range from me this year, I have actually started planning...think I have about 30 patterns drafted.

New skill moment! I have taught myself macramé! Totally addictive...takes a while to get your head around all the knots but so worth it!

Due to popular demand I'm announcing new workshop dates over the weekend so keep your eyes peeled!

The Moody Octopus...a call to arms!

Hello All!

This blog post is a little later than anticipated but I wanted to make sure a lot of this project was in place before I announced it!

I am super excited to announce The Moody Octopus Project!

As you all know I am a big supporter in crafts being good for your mental health but lately I have been doing a lot of research into statistics surrounding mental health in this country.

The volume of people that suffer from mental health issues is huge. Emotions are a complicated thing & we all posses them; positive & negative. So I thought rather than spouting statistics & motivational phrases why not demonstrate how different we all feel!

Enter The Moody Octopus! It would initially just be a head created by me with its legs all being created by you, voluntary members from the general public.

picture from ayarnstory.co.uk how amazing?!

The idea behind each rectangle, to be sewn together to create the octopus' legs, is that it’s an individual’s mood diary for a week. Each leg would be totally randomised in design with moods reflecting a colour from a specific colour chart. Once all the leg pieces are collected together they will be sewn together on the day of The MakeFest 2016 at Liverpool's Central Library as part of Girl On Purl Action's stand.

Each day for 7 days you would knit or crochet 4 rows (30 stitches in DK on size 4 mm needles or hook) in a colour that corresponds to your average mood for that day. By the end of the week you will have a piece consisting of 28 rows. The idea is to demonstrate that everyone has different moods all of the time, reflected in a giant display of colour!

The project would see each rectangle being anonymous as I wouldn’t know what way is the right way up or why a person was feeling that way that particular day or even what day of the week they started the project; also it allows for different interpretations of emotions.

I'm also going to be working with local businesses for varied drop of points prior to the MakeFest so you create more than one mood piece and contribute to the animosity of the project! 

A fantastic multicoloured octopus by Olivia Laws!
https://oliviartcreations.wordpress.com/

I would love this octopus to be as big as possible! It also needs a name....

If you are not Liverpool based & would like to be involved in the project GO FOR IT! Drop me an email: enquiries@girlonpurlaction.co.uk or on Facebook & I can give you an address to post them too!

I'm still in discussions on a display home for The Moody Octopus after The MakeFest but it will be somewhere!

Liverpool's Central Library

Colour Chart

Red – anger/frustration

Yellow - happiness

Pink – love

Green - content

Orange – amused/energised

Purple – reflective/spiritual

Blue – sad/lonely

White – hopeful/

Black – depressed/lost

This isn't strictly fixed - have lilac instead of purple? GO FOR IT! This is just the guide that we will be using at the display.

Will you be involved?!

Why buying a handmade gift means more than buying a gift...

There is no escaping it, the Christmas shopping season has started...

My inbox has a daily enquiry about new products, last dates for custom orders & I already have some confirmed!

The handmade market always booms in the winter months & for a good reason. It's so easy to order stuff online from faceless corporate companies & whilst it's often what people want, a lot of the time it's just something to pad out or to add a little something extra. We all know the type, hair products, chocolate, alcohol. No whilst you will NEVER hear me complaining from receiving such gifts something handmade from a small business always stands out in my memory.

Take my Mums house for example. In the kitchen there are roses from Mothers Day 2 years ago & daffodils from last year. A sunflower from her most recent birthday. 

In the living room is a blanket from her 50th & in my sisters room a blanket for her 21st. 

(Thinking I REALLY need to make my Dad something this Christmas!)

Think I'm biased coz I made them? Nope. I can't remember everything I received for past Christmas's & birthdays but I remember the personalised notepad my sister bought me, I remember the Gir hoodie (from Invader Zim) that Chelle made me.

My sister is awesome & only shops at independent stores so anything from her is really memorable!

The point is when you buy handmade anything you are buying more than just the item. You seal in a memory. You make that gift unforgettable to that person. Might be because you can see the hard work & dedication that's gone into the item & 9/10 it's gonna be something that's got a super personal meaning to the receiver.

You might pay a couple of quid more for something but 70p of every £1 spent stays locally when you shop independently as opposed to 5p when spent in a chain.

My Etsy shop has opening this weekend with a few hiccups but I think we are sorted now! 

As a thank you for your continued support I was offering 20% off this weekend (on orders over £5) but I have decided to extend this till midnight on Wednesday coz lets face it, we are all feeling a bit rubbish till Wednesday hits & we start looking forward to the weekend!

The Crafty Side of The Independent Liverpool Festival...

Last weekend saw Independent Liverpool hold its first Festival & it sold out! 

Set in the wonder that is The Baltic Triangle, Constellations & the new Great Baltic Warehouse where full to the rafters of people enjoying the benefits of our fair cities local independent retailers.

I was also there! Sadly I was largely away from the gin VW bar & the prosecco trolley but I got to hang out with the most amazingly talented bunch in Constellations at the arts & craft fair!

Whilst I was showcasing lots of my new goodies (mega thanks to you purchases & admirers alike) I loved having a good old nose & chat with everyone else! 

This Material Culture where my neighbours for the weekend & great crafty pals so that was a pleasure as always! So where The Soap Empire & At What Cost (fellow Rex retailers in the original store too!) so I already felt right at home.

The best shop companion was in the form of Pip The Tiny Pup brought by Scott Duffey with his & Lucy's amazing prints! 

The guys from One Art where as fabulous as every bringing a huge selection of local artists together in pop up shops! If you haven't heard or seen their collective works, then you are really missing out! 

I bought my Mum some local honey from The Postcode Honey guys who offered free tasters from different areas! Can't get better than that!

In true me & Chelle style we supported our fellow local businesses by making it our mission to fill up on independent cake both days!

The food section was packed out all day & everyone seemed to be having an absolute ball.

La Meme Etoffe

As a stall holder we where looked after fantastically well with complimentary tea & coffee both mornings which was greatly appreciated. The guys from Independent Liverpool personally came round to speak to everyone & to see if we needed anything which was really good of them considering the size of the event.

It was an epic although tiring weekend but I can't wait for next year!

Wex who donates profits to the Whitechapel Centre! Amazing!

For those of you that are not Liverpool based I have good news! This weekend I'll be launching my Etsy shop finally! Sadly it's going to be later than I had previously hoped due to my lack of photography skills it's taking longer than expected but if you head over to my Facebook & Twitter pages there will be a discount code running for all of my likers & followers of 20% off on Saturday & Sunday as a massive thank you from me for all your continuing support!

Mini fruit

Mini sushi

Mini biscuits

Yeah they are mini!

Did you attend the festival? What did you think?