Our next shopping evening is coming up so come along on Monday 1st February to get 10% off all our homemade goods, perfect as Valentines Day is just around the corner! So treat that special someone!  Hooray for handmade! 

Each month a member of the craft mafia will be donating one of their handmade items for the prize and to enter all you have to do is leave a comment below and at the end of the month a name will be picked at random and we will post your prize to your door!

This month’s prize comes from Petal Textiles:

This beautiful handmade felt and embroidery picture features a single poppy. Created by wet felting merino wool tops, machine embroidery has then been added. 

The picture is framed in a black / dark wood frame and has a cream window mount. 

The frame measure approximately 16cm x 21cm and is 4.5cm deep. The picture is approximately 8cm x 13cm in size.

For your chance to win, just leave a comment below and your name will be put into that hat! good luck!

(comments on this post on our Facebook page will also be counted)

Congratulations to December’s winner, Maxine Grant who won the crochet corsage by April Marie Textiles!

Hello! I’m Jo! *waves*

I’m the cheeky soul and sticky mitts behind Hello Sunshine and Munkybum and I’m here to deliver scrummy recipes to you every month! If you have a favourite recipe feel free to send it on to me and I’ll add it to my growing collection of mouthwatering treats to bring to all you lovelies!

So, it’s snowing (YAY!) and it’s mighty cold (Brrrr) so here’s a warm, chocolately, superspeedy and uber yummy recipe to kick start the year and melt away those chills!

**IMPORTANT!**

This recipe can lead to major NOM in a matter of minutes…. you have been warned!

**ENJOY!**

Recipe donated to the Boots Merchandising Children In Need Recipe Book by Karen Skipworth

Donna Wilson is an icon of UK Craft, and here she’s been kind enough to share the patterns for 35 of her wonderful creatures in this fantastic book. The patterns range from simple enough for beginners (there are some basic knitting instructions at the back of the book) to some more complex ones that you can work towards. For those of you in Nottingham you can buy some of Donna’s work in the shop in Nottingham Contemporary at the moment!

For our First Sketchbook Peek of 2010 we interviewed Stephanie Levy, an amazing artist hailing from Munich via USA. Her artwork is fantastic and I’m a real admirer. You can ckeck out her website here http://www.stephanielevy.com/ where you can link to her blog and shop.

This is what she had to say….

I’m an American artist and illustrator, who now lives in Munich, Germany with my husband and 2 little girls. I always loved to draw and paint and make creative things at home, and now it’s fun to see my children making artwork too. I studied Art at the University of Tennessee before moving to Germany 13 years ago.

I love living in Europe! I enjoy the culture, the huge variety of languages, foods, and customs, and being able to jump in the car and go to France or Italy or Switzerland within a few hours drive. My love of travel inspires my collages, and several pieces of my artwork are even titled after places I’ve been or countries/cities I’d like to visit one day.

I also like to cook and try new kinds of food, and I suppose my ideal vacation would be to travel around Europe (and the rest of the world), looking, eating, sketching, painting – with an unlimited bank account of course ;)

I’ve always had a sketchbook, and some of my art professors during my art studies even required that we keep one. I find a sketchbook helpful to jot down ideas or images I might be able to use at a future time, and also to try out new materials.

How often do you use your sketchbook?

It depends on what I am working on. If I’m feeling stuck on a particular piece or series, or I need to brainstorm new ideas, it’s great to take a break and warm up in my sketchbook to get into the flow again.

Do you have a favuorite sketchbook?

I use different types of sketchbooks for different reasons – ring-bound notebooks are fine for jotting down notes and quick ideas, and I like to use more aesthetic sketchbooks with handmade paper for instance, when I am working with paints and collage.

How do you feel about starting a new sketchbook with all the lovely blank pages?

Sometimes it’s scary, and especially when the sketchbook itself is very beautiful, it takes me a long time to get started using it! When the book and papers are pretty, it can be difficult getting past the “not wanting to mess things up” stage.

When and where do you get your sketchbook inspiration?

I start by making the ink drawings, often using photographs as a resource. Sometimes I make the drawings on other papers first, and then I glue these down with an assortment of materials as I am working. Inspiration may come at any time – for instance when I’m looking through a book or magazine, or even from the Ikea catalog.

How would you describe your sketchbook process?

I try to have fun with the sketchbooks and not worry about whether or not things are too perfect. I want to experiment, be a loose as possible, and not think about the end result too much. I keep the process as playful as possible.

What is your favourite medium to work with?

I love collecting and using various exotic papers and non-traditional “fine art” media. I like adding string, stars, and “kitschy” things to my collages to give them an off-beat, glitzy touch. Acrylic and water-based paints are my favorite ways to add color.

Where is your ideal sketching location?

At home in my studio where all of my materials are close at hand, and I can make a big mess!!

How have your sketchbooks evolved over the years?

I think they have become freer, and reflect my own personal style. The sketchbooks I had in art school were much more traditional and formal, and all based on real-life observation. But I’m much happier with the mixed media approach I have now!

Today my favorite mixed media drawing is most likely of the Japanese bowl with red chopsticks. I added Japanese “luck-bringing” stamps that I bought years ago in Tokyo to this page, and the stamps bring back warm memories of that trip.

Thanks for taking part in our series of sketchbooks and for showing us your work Stephanie

This month we are visiting Resin Jewellery maker Pennydog’s work space in rural Leicestershire.

Briefly describe your workspace?

It’s an ex-dining room, about 20ft square with a fireplace that we are going to start using to eradicate the fumes in my room as well as a lovely toasty working environment! I have lots of storage, a table for sanding, drilling and composing my jewellery, a desk for casting and a desk for varnishing if necessary.

Favourite things about your workspace?

I love the size- in our old house I had a box room to work in and everything would spill into every room of the house. With this room, I have room to expand, have friends round, hold workshops and also enough floor space to work on large scale future projects, such as furniture. It’s a retreat away from the rest of the house as it isn’t immediately next to the living room or kitchen areas. The medieval style chandelier lighting gives it character too.

Is there anything you would change?

I would like to replaster and redecorate the walls as an old damp problem has made them crumbly around the bottom, however it is a rented house so for the time being I just hide the damage away!

Thanks Pennydog for showing us around your workspace.

Well it’s nearly Christmas and the stock in Get Made is literally flying off the shelves!! I thought I’d show you some of our Christmas goodies on sale now, from April Marie Textiles, Jo from Hello Sunshine and Helen from Petal Textiles, as well as the amazing Christmas tree made by our Gavin from Frailloop.

 Petal Textiles

Hello Sunshine

We are holding another Christmas Shopping Evening at Get Made on   St   James Street on Wednesday the 16th December.  We will be open from 4pm until 10pm. As well as a great selection of local handmade gifts there will also be homemade cakes and a free glass of Bubbly.

We have extented our opening times over the Christmas period, so please come and see us for any last minute gifts!

Get Made Christmas Opening Times:

Thursday 17th Dec:    11am – 6pm

Friday 18th Dec:          11am – 6pm

Saturday 19th Dec:      11am – 6pm

Monday 21st Dec:         11am – 6pm

Tuesday 22nd Dec:        11am – 6pm

Wednesday 23rd Dec:    11am – 6pm

Thursday 24th Dec:        11am – 2pm

Exciting stuff for the run-up to Christmas, we had a lovely message from the girls at Curisoity Haus this morning…

We are holding another small indoor event at The Chameleon, this Sunday from 1-6pm.
Come along to get some gifts for Christmas, or treat yourself to Arts, crafts, gifts, vintage, illustration, jewellery and textiles alongside The Sunday Sessions live music event.

Also, The Chameleon will be serving Sunday dinners from £3.95 – yum!

So, come and get some handmade gifts for Christmas, soak up the atmosphere and enjoy good food and live music!

Hope to see you there!
curiosity.haus xx

The Sherwood Christmas Craft Fair is being held on Friday 11th December from 4pm – 8pm at The Robin Hood Pub on Mansfield Road.  This event follows the success of the Sherwood Summer Craft fair, which was held as part of Sherwood Art Week at the pub in June.

Its going to be a fantastic event with a large range of locally produced crafts, carols, live music, food, mini beer festival, cakes and mulled wine, plus much more.  Its sounds like a perfect way to do some Christmas Shopping and start the weekend.