New in Handmade February

So for our second instalment of New in Handmade we are sharing a three new treats for the month for you.  Just what you wanted to close to payday, right??!

Gifts for your Parents

Letterfest Personalised House Portrait  //  Keelham Farm Shop Ginger Sweets Treats Hamper  //  Claireabellemakes Personalised Scrabble Frame  //  Lauren Aston Designs Chunky Throw  //  Lahla Studio Egg pots for Two  //  Anna Wiscombe Wooden Flowers  //  Duck Ceramics Porcelain Mug  //  Tea and Crafting Rag Rugging Workshop With Ragged Life  //  DejaOoh Animal Chopping Board  //  Sophia Victoria Joy Personalised Teapot

Your parents will love whatever you buy them because that's what being a parent is all about, but wouldn't it be lovely to get them something they will treasure? Personalising gifts is a great way to take them from great to awesome! A lot of these gifts have that option but get on them fast as personalised options often take slightly longer to be made and delivered and you don't want to miss out on the perfect parent present.

Sammy and H xx

Check out the rest of this year's guides here:
Gifts for your Little Ones
Gifts for your Pets
Gifts for your Lady
Gifts for your Man
Gifts for your Best Friend

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Makers Month: DIY Colour Block Tray with Claireabellemakes

We are finishing up Makers Month in style with a beautiful DIY from our best blogging buddy Claireabellemakes.  She has a pretty and practical tray tutorial, any excuse for afternoon tea!  Take it away Claire. 

What's on our desks - July

So what's been on our desks this month, it's been a busy one so lets get down to it!

May Makers Month round-up

Wow, what a month hey!  We have had so much fun sharing some really fun stuff with you this month, from tutorials to advice, we have certainly had it all hey!  We thought for those who might be catching up this bank holiday Monday, a round up post would be just what you need to make sure you don't miss a thing!

Simple Styling: Workspace

I thought I would come back to a bit of simple styling this week for another nosey into my house and hopefully a bit of inspiration.  I am nearly there with my workspace and so I thought this would be a good time to show a bit of simple styling.  The rest of the workspace involves shelving and hiding things away in boxes and so not much to show there.  To start with the Table was given to me by my folks and it does extend out so a great thing to have around and the chair is from the local charity shop.

Love it: Craftacular Haul

Yesterday was Bust Magazine's Craftacular day and what a lovely day for going to spend the afternoon looking at more pretty things!  Of course we went to see some of our friendly faces and met some lovely new designers too, which is always good, although maybe not for the bank balance!  I am now on a spending ban before our holiday next month.

Check this out: Craftacular

From Left: Necklace from Rodology, Necklace from Promises Promises and Brooches from Frilly Industries

We are having a bumper crop of activity these past few months and now it's time for the Summer Craftacular in London by Bust Magazine this weekend on Sunday 17th May.  Bust magazine is from America and so it's bringing the cool edge over to the UK.

Another outing really just means that it's more time for us to go shopping and see some of our favourite crafters and of course find some new ones along the way.

Our favourites will of course be there, from I am Acrylic and Claireabellemakes to one of our favourite magazines Mollie Makes of course.  We can't wait to sample the treats of the pop-up cafe from Drink, Shop & Do aswell, of course.

H has picked out a few of the new people she wants to find on the day.  Are you going? Who are you looking forward to seeing?

H


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Makers Month: Who's Who: Claireabellemakes

Up next in our Who's who series for Makers Month is the one and only Claire from Claireabellemakes.  We have been lucky enough to meet her at various events and so can say she is a thouroghly nice person too!  Let's see what makes Claire into Claireabellemakes.

Who are you?

I'm Claire aka Claireabellemakes and I live in Cambridge, UK. I spend my life riding bicycles and making jewellery and accessories, as well as crocheting and knitting. I have a huge stationery obsession and adore sending snail mail. I am also a crazy cat lady which I'm really not ashamed of.

What do you do?

By day I'm a PA for science professors, but I run an Etsy store alongside the day job. All the items I sell are inspired by my home city of Cambridge such as bicycle jewellery (the bracelets have been a massive hit!) and Scrabble creations (Cambridge is the biggest word geek out there). I also write a Blog, Claireabellemakes, which is updated 3 times a week with DIYs, giveaways and general handmade chit chat! 

How did you start?

For me, the blog was a natural place to begin alongside Twitter. I built up my network of crafty friends and began to write about my handmade life. A couple of months after the blog was established I started the Etsy store and managed sales even before I opened! I've always been a creative person, but in 2012 I felt it was the right point for me to start my passion having just finished my graduate studies. I found myself with all this time I previously spent studying, so what better way to fill it that with crochet Totoro's and Etsy makes?!

What's Next?

Claireabellemakes had a SUPER busy summer with the Tour De France as people went nuts for the bicycle jewellery!! Now the focus has moved onto Scrabble Wall Art and making custom pieces for customers to display in their homes or gift as gifts. I've also been working on a makeover for my craft studio so will be sharing this on the blog very soon.

What advice would you give yourself if you could go back to the beginning?

Take a refresher photography course right away, don't wait 2 years! Beautiful images get you a long way in the creative world. 

Isn't it all beautiful! Loving all the Bicycle's and scrabble pieces.  Go check out Claire's blog too, for she has always got a new tutorial to show you.

H & Sammy

Please Note: All pictures are owned by the interviewee and so should not be copied without permission.

 Live, Love, Make, Like, Share, Follow, Tweet, Pin, Add, Enjoy. 

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