Category Archives: Crafts
Advent Calendar
In eager anticipation of the big day, children love opening these mini versions of Father Christmas’s sack. Find an old frame, stretch some twine across it and peg out the little sacks for all to see. make one large bag to keep the sacks in so that they can be safely stowed away for future festivities, while the frame can be used as a noticeboard for the rest of the year.
Button and silhouette cards
There are some simple silhouettes that you can make from vintage materials to make great handmade cards. Strong shapes that are easily recognisable seem to work best. Use a blank plain card or carefully cut and fold your own. Buy envelopes or make them. Decide on a style of image you want on the card: hearts, butterflies, crosses, wedding bells or even straightforward squares of interestingly patterned wallpaper, maps of fabric look really effective, and numbers and initials make your card personal too.
Shifu Weaver Hiroko Karuno
During Japan’s Edo period (1603 – 1868), in what is now the country’s northern Miyagi Prefecture, hand-made paper was woven into a cloth so supple, lightweight and refined that one of the area’s most powerful clans paid tribute to the shogun by presenting him with garments made from this luxurious paper cloth known as shifu. Woven from a paper weft against a silk warp, the production of shifu was tightly controlled and its process a well-guarded secret.
Paper Weaving
Weaving with papers is a truly versatile craft, not least because a variety of papers can be effectively woven, and the pattern permutations are vast. Interweaving paper allows you to create some striking designs, yet it is one of the simplest art forms.
Distressed Vintage Chair
Doing up old, second-hand furniture is a must to achieve the vintage look in your home, whatever era you are going for. One of the best ways to completely transform an old piece is by painting and distressing it. You can find special workshops that can do it for you, or you can try to do it by yourself. It really is an easy and straightforward technique, and has amazing results. What was a dull old chair become a bright and wonderful piece of furniture that gives your interior completely new dimension.
Stephen Bowers’ Ceramic Art
The ceramic art of Stephen Bowers, with its complex surfaces and the capriccios being acted out upon them, issues an irresistible invitation to look closer. Whether a cockatoo-festooned palaceware vase from the 1980s or a mid-1990s tea set involving the artist’s understanding and control of technical possibilities such as multiple firing, underglaze paint colours and intricate line illustration, the result is a seductive richness: porcelain made plasma screen.
Decorative Picture Frame for Baby Room
Celebrating a birth of a baby is a perfect excuse to get crafting and there’s something particularly satisfying about making a special gift for the new arrival, especially if it is something that can be kept and displayed for years to come. You can really go wrong with a pretty decorative picture frame – it is perfect for the new baby, but really suitable for any little girl.
Trish Raine’s Handmade Felt Hats
Originally from Oliver, B.C., Trish Raine moved to Fredericton, NB, and happily found footing within the local fibre scene. Outside of her work as an occupational therapist, she has immersed herself in her craft, felting in her free time, creating one-of-a-kind wearable felt, as well as art pieces that have been included in various art and fibre shows. She felts year round and sells her wares at winter craft fairs in Halifax, Nova Scotia, as well as Moncton and Fredericton, New Brunswick.
A modern home decoration: Concrete Water Bottles
The plastic water bottle has become the nemesis of the environmental movement. It represents everything against sustainability: a nonrenewable, petroleum-based package; a natural product that is abundant and unnecessarily bottled; and an outright superfluous item that millions of consumers toss out on a daily bases.
Balinese Arts & Crafts
Perhaps, there is no place in the earth with such high density of artisans and craftsmen as in Bali. You name it and you can find it here – woodcarving, stone carving, silver and gold smiths, basket weavers, terracotta and ceramics, full range of handicrafts – the list goes on forever. Here is a short list of some of the best things or products available and you can go to find them.
