Love it: Hobbycraft Haul

If you follow me on Instagram you will have seen my receipt from my recent trip to Hobbycraft

Well, a few of you asked to see what I bought so I thought I would show you. We have never done a haul post here before, so let us know in the comments if you like this kind of post and we can do more of them.

Make it: Button fun

1.Button phone case  /  2.Button Rings  /  3.Button Christmas card  /  4.Button Hair pins   /  5.Button Magnets  /  6.Button Gift wrap  /  7.Button Art  /  8.Button Monogram


Last night we held our Button Jewellery workshop at Norden Farm, as usual we had a fab night with all attendees and made loads of pretty things with buttons. 
I have a massive collection of buttons, I have been collecting them since I was a child, We were on holiday in York visiting family and Mum took me to Duttons for Buttons. I was enchanted! 
Ever-since I have bought and collected buttons from all over the place, I recently found in my parents loft a hat that was covered in an array of novelty ones from when I was little, it got me to thinking what else can we D.I.Y. with buttons? Here are some of my favourite ideas that I have found around the web.

So I hope you have fun this weekend raiding your button collections to have a go at making some of these.
Sammy xxx

and the Winners are ...


As I am sure you will already know we had our 2 year birthday last week and gave you all a competition to win 2 different boxes of goodies.

We put all the names into 2 hats for each of the boxes and took out a name each.

So, the winners are ...

Celeste who wins H's Blue Box

and

Hannah Jurgelis who wins Sammy's Purple Box

Congratulations you guys.  We have sent you an email, so please do check your inbox (and junk mail just in case) and we will post them off to you.

Love it
H & Sammy

Love it: Satchels


Don't you just hate it when you know what you are looking for, but you just can't seem to find it!
I have been looking to replace my trusty Satchel which I brought last year in the Accessorize sale.  It was only a matter of time before the strap came off altogether as I have a tendency to overstuff my bag.  I wanted to replace it but just couldn't find the right fit.

I had done the very thing which you should not do, which is look at too many and so then not be able to make a decision.  They were too big or too small, too stiff, not the right colour, not enough pockets etc. I was beginning to think I would not find something just the way I wanted for the price I could afford.  I really wanted a tan one to replace my old one as it goes with EVERYTHING, but I was starting to get sidetracked by blue and spots and well just about everything.

I eventually went to eBay and found a bag which was originally from Next, but even eBay has its perils of me bidding for 4 other bags before this one was mine!  I am not a natural eBayer as I can't handle the 'just before the bid ends - outbidding' minefield.  It just becomes too stressful for me!  ha, ha.

Anyway, as I was looking around I thought I would share some of the ones I found, so that it might help you in your search or just give you more bags to be tempted by, sorry.
The Classic Batchel |Cambridge Satchel
If I had the money, I would definitely have gone for the Cambridge Satchel Company to buy my satchel from.  They are great bags, but unfortunately I just don't have the kind of money to afford one at the moment.  A little more saving up before I can get me one of these.

This lovely blue number is from Zatchels, another very good company, but alas still a bit on the pricey side for me this time, but do check out all the pretty colours.

Image 1 of ASOS Smart Retro Satchel
This one is from ASOS and I think its a man's bag, but doesn't it look very vintage?  A great alternative if you don't fancy trawling vintage shops or if you just don't fancy something pre-loved.

Now, this would be the ideal.  Soft leather, beautifully made.  I love Ollie and Nic bags and so this would be the ultimate.

I think that is quite enough drooling for now, plus also even though I have a lovely new bag, all these are making me want another one again!

What's your favourite and any others I should check out?  Just let me know in the comments section below.

Love it
H

Make it: Hen Party workshops

We are getting right into Wedding season now, as it is H has 6 to go to this year - she is a seasoned pro!

So, we thought that it would be a good idea to let you know what crafty things you can get up to with us for your Hen Party, or if you are planning that special weekend for your friend, then lets make it a bit easier for you by sorting one of your activities.

We can turn up at your place - or chosen venue with our trusty suitcase full of crafty goodies in tow. Look below, isn't it beautiful!


If you have an idea of what you would like to make, then do let us know or you can choose from our selection. Over two to three hours you and your Hens will make something for you all to take home the same day, or get you started with skills to complete some of the details for your big day. 

Now onto some fun ideas of what you can do, but remember you can choose your own, so please don't think these are exhaustive.

The Hen Party workshops we already offer are: 
Vintage Headbands, Memento frames, Shoe clips, Wedding favours (options on request), Ribbon rose bouquets and corsages, Bridal garters, Wedding decorations - including personalised bunting, Tissue paper pompoms and tassel's, Bridal headpieces and veils.  Phew!

We can also tailor our standard workshops to fit your theme.  We can offer jewellery 101, Embroidery hoop art,  Flowers, hearts and bows, Bunting, t-shirt decorating, Denim up-cycling and Clothes customisation.

If you let us know the wedding or hen party theme we can adjust these classes to work with it.  Easy as that.

For more information, prices or to discuss ideas email us at liveitloveitmakeit@gmail.com




Live it: Art on the Street June 2013

It's that time again, for me to gush a little about my little town and the amazing event that is: 
Art on the Street. A couple of weeks ago our High Street was once again the place to be, a beautiful array of artists from near and far, filling our town with artwork, music and community spirit. 

With over 120 artists displaying their work at this outdoor market, the weather was totally on their side as the sun came out and shone all day for this years event. It is a spectacle to behold as the highstreet is filled with gazebos housing everything from acrylic paintings to watercolour to photography and the list goes on.


A full day of music organised by our friend Carly of Maidenhead Live and a second stage this year featuring the best talent from one of the event sponsors Claire's Court school.

Another brilliant feature of this years event was the amazing work of mural artist PHILTH who spent the whole day creating a beautiful female inspired work on a blank space at the end of the High Street. The piece sponsored by Maidenhead's branch of Bovilles art shop and Liquitex paints is a beautiful addition to the town. It is placed on a wall that can be seen from one of the main roads, I drive past it everyday to get to our shop.




The most lovely thing about this artist working on his piece during the event was that people were coming up and chatting to him all day long, kids and adults were having their picture taken with him.  He even had a visit from a local resident and artist some of you may know, Mr Timmy Mallet.


One of the things I love most about taking photos at this event is that I get to chat to some of the amazing artists that take part. I got to have a chat with Georgina Adby, who I first met at last years event, I am always drawn to her pitch because of her vintage suitcases that she uses to display her pretty prints. I loved her new gemstone outline print, another addition to the wishlist.

A couple of our friends had their work on show, the lovely Gemma Collins had her floral acrylic paintings up for sale (I know that she sold her foxgloves painting to another of our friends Maria formally of Happy cakes) and the gorgeous Laura Spires had some of her stunning HDR photography from her recent trip to France on show. I had a great chat with Laura and fellow shutter-bug Rob Of Rob Percy Photography.  We were discussing the idea of putting together a collective of young local photographers, all with different skills sets and styles. 

This year more than any other I felt that the mix of artists was so diverse, there was every kind of technique and style represented. It was a feast for anyone's eyes, art lover or not.

I also had a lovely chat with Nicola of Betsy Blu, she had some of her beautiful butterfly paintings available to buy. they looked so pretty in the sunshine.


An empty shop unit was put to good use, housing ceramics and even more works of art. The piece above was the work of Janette Crouch.  It caught my eye because I recognised the pattern, she had used a lace trim (that we sell at Sew Crafty) to make impressions into the clay, then painted, glazed and gilded the bowl. I loved the touches of gold and the raw quality of it.

I really liked this sewn art piece by Ramandeep Bhamra who is a part of the Long Close Art Space a group of young artists based in Slough.  I also discovered a new ceramic art crush in the work of Jane Schneider of Petits Carreaux. Her comic book and tattoo themed pieces are firmly on my wish list.

These ceramic busts are the work of Suzanne Nedham I really liked this beautifully hand-painted bust form.
The Students from Claire's Court (aswell as entertaining the shoppers on the High Street) also had a home in the Nicholson's Shopping Centre where they had their art work on display alongside running art workshops thoughtout the day, making use of another, usually empty shop unit.


The team behind the Fuhaar Indian culture event that also take's place in the town, showed off their rangoli skills in the shopping centre with this beautiful piece of sand art.

It is always so amazing for me to see my town looking so busy and full of happy people. It is sometimes very sad to walk down the high street with all the empty shops and not many shoppers, but days like these remind me of how brilliantly vibrant our town can be.
The five women who organise this independent non-profit event really do deserve medals for the work they do for our community with this event, Marie, Harri, Steph J, Steph G and Carly are, as they say themselves 'on an unstoppable mission to fill our town with art!'
And a jolly good job they do of it too!

I will leave you with a full view of how PHILTH's mural looked before I headed home.  He carried on until it was complete and it is stunning. If you want to see what ended up being painted in that glowing ball, you will have to pop down and see it for yourselves <3

If you are local, or ever find yourself in the area go check out the Enjoy Maidenhead website, full of all the info you need about the town and details of all the events that take place here and if you want to find out more about Art on the Street and their next events, check out their website, or like them on Facebook, or follow them on twitter.

Very proud to be a Maidonian.
Sammy xxx


Link for the Week: Mark Webber


Whilst at work last week I got my digital version of Creative Review in my inbox, always a nice treat!

I love checking out what's new in Design, it takes me back to my design roots and makes me feel all arty.

I saw an article about Mark Webber (not the Formula One driver).  He is an artist from my old neck of the woods in Reading and he does Lino prints with a difference.


He makes such largescale pieces of work that for his latest one of Berlin he is asking if anyone has a steamroller so that he can ink it up to print it!  Now that's making it a little different to the usual lino prints! 
The idea is that he maps out a place using all the roads and area names makes a large scale lino cut of a city like London or Berlin.  The video which is attached to the link above is amazing to watch and I can only imagine he has some serious repetitive strain on his wrists.

If you want to know more, you can also check out his website, it's well worth a look.

Love it
H


Favourite Friday: Blogs

I have H joining me on Favourite Friday this week in honour of our blogging birthday, to share our favourite blogs!
Some of these guys are the reason we started blogging and some are ones we have found along the way but each of these is special to each of us in their own way. 
You can see from our sidebar that we read a lot of blogs ourselves so we wanted to tell you about the ones we love the most. 

H's Favourite Blogs

I love Meet Me at Mikes because its so fun with its American ideas for getting adults and children doing something fun.  I must admit to mainly preferring UK blogs as I feel that when they talk about a product, I can actually go out and buy it rather than working out what its UK equivalent is.  But this blog just makes me smile and there is nothing wrong with that.


I don't have the patience or talent to knit - apart from finger knitting or with a loom, but it's not quite the same.  I love that this blog shows you some really fun projects to have a go at, or if your like me, just some fun projects to look at while you pretend that you are actually going to get around it learning to knit properly.


Florence sews alot, has some great tutorials and advice on dressmaking and basically just makes me feel bad for just not getting on with that project.  But that's why I love it, seeing what she gets up to and how she goes about it is the fun part, right?!

Sammy's Favourite Blogs

One of the first blogs I ever found, blogger Danni is so cute. I Love her style and have made more than a few purchases at her on-line store. She now has bricks and mortar store in the U.S. too. In between pretty, beautifully styled photos she is honest and heartfelt. I always enjoy reading her posts.


I literally ADORE this blog! Just the right amount of crafty goodness and inspirational spaces. Always pretty, always cute and funny. Reading Claire's blog is like having a chat with a friend. A must read blog for any UK craft enthusiast. Just beautiful. 


Ashley is a D.I.Y. genius, most of my very favourite DIY ideas are from this blog. If I am ever searching for a new project to try my hand at I always head here first to check out her latest offerings. Always beautifully photographed and with a colour scheme to die for it is a hub of inspiration. 


Our Favourites

Wow don't even know where to start with all the things we love about this blog. Elsie and Emma have created a Wonderblog. Elsie started 'A Beautiful Mess' in 2007 and it has grown and grown. If there is any blog we aspire to as a blogging duo this is it. Their photography is distinctive and their styling is vintage cool. Their mix of yummy food, awesome DIY's and vintage fashion is a perfect mix that makes for a beautiful blog. 


Possibly THE coolest fashion/DIY blog around 'Honestly WTF' (wicked name) is a mix of high end fashion and artsy cool. Somehow Erica and Lauren manage to re-create high fashion accessories for a fraction of the price, and show us how to give it a try ourselves. If you have lusted it on the catwalk, without a doubt the WTF version isn't far behind. 
Always bored, sometimes crafty, always odd, we like how this girl rolls! Filled with inspiring tutorials for clothes and accessories. A fabric collector after our own hearts, we love seeing Meream's newest purchases and her super cute cats!

Now over to you, What are your favourites? 
Where do you go to learn, read and relax around the interwebs?
We are off to finish off our blog birthday cakes. 

Have a lovely weekend
H and Sammy xxx