June's Instagram round-up

The end of the month is nearly here and so I thought it was about time for a little Instagram round-up.  If you have been watching our Instagram recently you will know that we took a little break to Barcelona and so that features quite a bit, but who doesn't love holiday pictures!  Also as usual food is a big feature, its a big feature in my life and so it would only be right to show it off.

Live it: Crafty Fox talks

A couple of weeks ago we got a last minute invitation to go to the Crafty Fox Talk in London.  The very lovely Zoe from Craft Candy offered us a ticket, although it was only 'one' so it was a H solo mission - scary!  Zoe was going to be talking at the event and so it was lovely to be able to go and support her.

If you have not heard about Crafty Fox before, you can usually find them running markets in London (see more about them here), but have in the past year embarked on a talks series.  I think their website says it best and so, ahem "The Crafty Fox Talks is an event series designed to bring creative's together for an evening of inspiration, learning and sharing. Each event includes speakers discussing a particular topic with plenty of opportunity for audience questions. This is followed by relaxed drinks, tunes from the Crafty Fox DJs and a chance for guests to meet one another and make connections."   I think that just about sums it up.

The night started with chatting to a few people in the room, having a drink, looking at the inspiration table as it filled up with goodies from some of the attendees.  I got to meet the lovely Tilly from Tilly and the Buttons who was doing a talk and totally had a fan girl moment when she said she had seen our tweet just before the event!

Then, it was onto the talks which were all about using social media and blogging for your business, after a short intro from Sinead who runs Crafty Fox Markets, we met Katie from Eventbrite who was chairing the event and got us rolling. Then Tilly was up and talked about how she got into blogging and started her business.  With some great tips about social networking and finding inspiration for your blog posts, it was great to hear Tilly talk about her blog.

Up next was Jo from HAM who talked about how she started doing pop-ups and used social media to promote her brand.  Then it was Zoe's (Craft Candy) turn for a bit of Pinterest advice and how to use it to gain new followers and interest in you as a brand.  When it was over it was time for a bit of networking and catching up with Zoe properly.  I got to meet some new (to Me) bloggers and crafts people and catch up with some old friends too, from Mister Peebles to Claireabellemakes.

It was a great night and some really useful advice to take back to Live it. Love it. Make it HQ.  Did you go to the talk?  Or have you been to any of the others?

The next talk is in September and will be on the Creative Process, so do go check it out.  Its a great way to meet like minded people and learn something along the way.

H

Who's Who catch-up

We can't believe we are already over halfway through the year, so we wanted to highlight some of the amazing people we have had the honour of interviewing this year so far. We have some really cool 'Who's Who's coming up in the next few months and we can't wait to share them with you, but for now here is a look back at the last six months.  

February was the turn of Hatastic.  Chloe's advice to herself  'Take a step back and breathe a little and then see how it lies. It's surprising how some things seemed like a brilliant idea at first, and then turn out to be a bit of a turkey!' Too true!

March was the turn of Laurel Howells, a Designer-Maker, Illustrator, Photographer, Collage artist and all round creative hailing from Taplow in Berkshire - Just near Sammy and it turns out went to the same Uni as H, small world hey!

In April we brought you Craft Candy.  Zoe's Advice to her past self? 'If I could go back and whisper advice in my ear it would be to get references when engaging with a company or freelancer to do work and to simply be patient.' 

May was Miss Maker's turn, Clare Blackmore-Davies, wife to the lovely John, mum to the adorable Finn, and around all that Miss Maker - prolific crafter and excitable sewing tutor.

In June you got a peek into the world of Holloway Smith Noir, Established in 2010 Holloway Smith Noir are stocked in luxury lingerie boutiques across the globe. their cheeky sellers can be found making mischief weekly at The Wam Bam Club, Miss Polly Rae’s Between the Sheets and a luxe collection is available at Proud Cabaret, London.

July was the month that saw Mr X-Stitch answer our questions, Jamie Chambers the king of modern cross stitch reminded us that 'it takes a very long time to be an overnight success.'

Hope you enjoyed that little look back, if you missed them the first time you can click the links to check out the full interviews.

H and Sammy xxx

Live it: Company Magazine #StyleBloggerAwards

This week (as some of you may already know) we where invited to the Company Magazine #Style Blogger Awards because we had been nominated for best blogging duo and best craft blog.

We didn't come home with either award this year but we had an amazing time at the party and met some pretty awesome people, some we already knew and we also made some new friends too.

H wears dress by New Look, cardigan from H&M, belt from Dorothy Perkins and shoes from River Island.   Sammy wears dress by Very.com, cardigan from M&S, necklace from Etsy.com and shoes from Primark.

We even made it onto the Bloggers style pages on the Company website! (go us) and check out a video of the evening here.

Some of our lovely fellow bloggers, Laura one half of The Afternoon Tea Club (these are our kind of girls) also up for blogging duo and the gorgeous Ann from A Quirky Lifestyle a fellow craft blogger nominee.

Aside from the awards ceremony itself there was lots of fun things to keep us bloggers interested throughout the night. From a lesson in fake eyelash application from The Vintage Cosmetic Company, to hair advice and a new do from the team at Paul Mitchell. There was a fun Photobooth from Dreambooth (what happened to our third picture we will never know!) and a selection of Newlook's (the event sponsors) finest summer fashion picks. 

Our favourite activity though, was of course the crafty option of decorating sunglasses with the lovely girls from Pinned it. Made it. who had a familiar helper on the night, our friend from Craft Candy, Zoe (you can check out the App launch party here).  We also grabbed some cute lollipops from the girls from Candy Kittens, a really cute clothing line, if you like Victoria secrets PINK collection, you will LOVE this brand. Sammy is already planning her wish list!

As we didn't win an award we consoled ourselves with pudding after the party at Spitalfields Giraffe. Well, it was on our way home and it gave us a chance to have a quick look in our goodie bags!  It is also becoming a bit of a tradition with us when we are in Spitalfields.

The venue was the uber trendy Corbet Place Bar in Shoreditch, London. You know your in a cool place when they have a bar half the length of the room. We were treated to Champagne and signature cocktails which we tried Bloggers Delight and Blue Eyed Blogs, both super yummy! 

Food for the evening was provided by All About Wasabi Yummy sushi! 

Now to the Goody bag (always a favourite!) Goodies included... Propercorn (a current obsession of both of ours), Batiste dry shampoo, Earrings from Glitz and Glam, A beanie hat from Candy Kittens, Nail varnish from OPI, Products from Elemis, Yuko and Soap and Glory. A nail file from the girls at The Vintage Cosmetic Company, A voucher from Pinned it, Made it, Self Tanning mousse and mit from Lauren's Way, and the cutest fabric covered button brooch from The New Craft Society (fellow craft blog nominees).  Also shown are Sammy's D.I.Y. studded glasses and our Lollipop from Candy Kittens. Not shown is a copy of Company mag, which went straight in Sammy's handbag and Candy Box blue bonbons which went straight in Sammy's mouth on the train ride home!

We want to say a massive thank you to all our friends, Family and of course our readers for voting for us, without you would we have never been short-listed and although we didn't win, we thank you for all your support, now and always!

Thank you also to the guys at Company Magazine, and Newlook for throwing an amazing bash for all us bloggers.

So you probably want to know who won?? Well here is a list of not only the winners but all the amazing blogs in both our categories, We insist that you go a pay them all a visit right now and show them the support you show us every day, go on you know you want to!!

 Winners in the Blogging Duo Category were www.londons-closet.com these Gorgeous girls wore the most envy worthy neon dresses! 

Highly commended were www.littlewinter.net 

Runners up were... www.thestylerawr.com, www.thesarahsstyleblog.wordpress.com,  www.theafternoonteaclub.com, www.thesugarspunsisters.blogspot.co.uk, www.prettyposhohmygosh.com, www.lwofficial.blogspot.co.uk, www.thestrawberrysisters.com and us of course.

Winners for Crafty Blog were www.trendswb.blogspot.co.uk a fab-u-lous Crafty blog Trends With Benefits, with loads of fun D.I.Y's. 

Highly commended were www.fashionisourplayground.com

Runners up were www.thisfashionismine.com, www.thenewcraftsociety.wordpress.com, www.dreamsthatglitterxoxo.com, www.vintagefollie.blogspot.co.uk, www.angelinthenorth.com, www.quirkylifestyle.com, www.evenartichokeshavehearts.co.uk oh yes and us (just in case you forgot)

You can check out the winners of all the categories on Company's HQ page

Thank you again, and again!

H and Sammy xxx

Who's who: Craft Candy

This month's Who's who comes from Zoe at Craft Candy, you may remember last month we went to the launch party for the app and had a great time, so here is more about Zoe and what Craft Candy are all about.

Who are you?

I'm Zoe, 9-5er by day and crafter and Craft Candy founder by night.

What do you do?

I'm the founder of Craft Candy, the UK's first craft events listing website and App for the iPhone & Android.  Craft Candy is all about community, so we've developed a craft events App which is free to download, the App is fitted with GPS listing local craft events in mile radius from where the user is standing. Craft Candy lists craft workshops, markets and clubs but what makes us just a little special are our creative Advertising packages. Each package includes social media, i.e. tweets, posts or pins depending on the package, to help to spread the event details further than our website & App.

Unlike other sites if you have a free event, i.e. craft market, knitting group or meet-up etc. you can list your event for free on Craft Candy, just upload the event details to the website and it also appear on the App.

I come from a crafting and making background and I understand the margins for making are tight, so I created monthly pay-as-you go advertising options to ensure companies aren't tied into a contract and starting from £10 even the smallest budget can list their workshop on CraftCandy.

How did you start?

I started as a blogger, blogging about local craft markets and workshops and over 18 months my blog grew and grew and it turns out I wasn't the only person looking for local things to make and do. Eventually I decided to take the plunge, researched the market, or multiple markets, craft, social media and the smartphone App market, (I'm not technical so it wasn't a quick process) to see how feasible my Craft Candy business idea was. 

Obviously I thought my idea was amazing, but being a start-up in a market which has seen limited marketing investment unlike fashion, car or technology industries and talking to people about my business idea who have never crafted before and just associated craft with old women was depressing and in the end I gave up talking to potential business partners or investors and I decided to go it alone and so I started saving. Eventually my partner Chris kind of took pity on me and told me he would consider investing if I completed a survey of businesses in the market, I did, the findings were great and now I have a business partner.

What's Next?

Over the next year we have three aims:

To grow Craft Candy across the UK, very early on, we dipped our toe by launching Craft Candy in London, but three weeks ago we opened it up to the rest of UK, the GPS in the App will now work anywhere where there is a craft event in England (which has been uploaded to our site).

The App launched on the 10th March and we intend for it to be a beta App, which means whist you are using it, we are keen to gather your feedback & comments to help to refine it, Good or bad we don't mind, we just want to improve its functions.

Finally, we need to grow our Shop Directory, once our users have learnt or developed a skill, they need supplies to do it in their own time, but where do they buy supplies?  Eventually our Shop Directory will have a comprehensive list of retailers to pick from.

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

This is a great question, I hate regretting mistakes, but I love to learn from them, preferably other people’s mistakes rather than my own, but there have been a couple along the way. If I could go back and whisper advice in my ear it would be to get references when engaging with a company or freelancer to do work and to simply be patient.  

Patience is a virtue as they say, but we at Live it.  Love it. Make it. never have enough of it!  Craft Candy is such a great resource and so you should definitely check it out to put workshops on there or to find workshops in your area or perhaps if your spending a few days somewhere for work or whatever, you could see what is in the local area for you to check out!  We Love it.

Live it.  Love it. Make it

H & Sammy

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Live it: Craft Candy App Launch Party

This week we were lucky enough to get invited by Zoe of Craft Candy to the launch for their new phone app so we thought we would tell you all about it.

If you haven't heard of Craft Candy, then you should definitely check it out. It's a website and now app where you can find your nearest and most relevant craft workshop. It is now nationwide and so you can find workshops not just in London but further afield - including all of our workshops. You can find by location or by Craft such as paper or jewellery, amongst many others. We had a ball at the launch in London!

Firstly we were greeted by a lovely goodie bag which we managed to wait until afterwards to check out! -albeit only to the nearest pret for a drink and a cheeky look through!

There was Gin provided by Jensen, who are a south London brand and as H loves Gin, it was a very lovely treat.

Then onto the cupcakes by The Teas Knees and I think by now you will know we are a cake fan! They had Red Velvet, Banoffee Pie and Lime & Coconut flavours and we tried a bit of them all! Well, you can't review without testing all the goods!

Lets take a moment to appreciate the Gingerbread twitter tree! What's that I hear you ask? We were intrigued too! The lovely lady from Maid of Gingerbread was writing all the tweets about the launch as they were happening and then adding them to the tree. People could then take away a gingerbread speech bubble to eat and it was lovely gingerbread!

We realised we had made it, as we got our name in icing on the gingerbread twitter tree!

The lovely Zoe gave a brief talk about the app and then left us to enjoy more delights from the night.

We then went over to Stars and Scars to make a shrink plastic charm! H decided on an anchor with the blog brand name on it, which is now a delightful necklace to be worn on blog outings and more!

Throughout the night we got chatting to many different crafty people; we saw Inma from The Old School Club; met some of the Shoreditch sisters, Charlotte who had the most amazing Liberty print satchel and Louise who is an avid reader of our blog - hello; and we said hello again to The Make Escape crew (check out the sparkly shoes below). There were plenty of people we didn't catch up with though, so do come say hello here on the blog or at the next event!  We are very friendly, honest.

I couldn't end this post without showing you what we got in the goodie bag!  It would just be unfair really wouldn't it!  So, here goes: Jensen Gin cocktails recipes, DMC cross stitch kits, Crafty Pint needle case and information, a reel of decorative tape, iPhone cross stitch case, Mini Urban 'Naughty word' cross stitch, business cards from all the sponsors and a Craft Candy button card and Bow Tie.

That should keep us busy for a while!

Big Thanks go again to Zoe at Craft Candy, we had a fab night and we wish you all the best with the app and of course the website.  Looking forward to the next catch-up.

H & Sammy

Live it.  Love it.  Make it

Link for the week: French Knotting via Craft Candy

I have got back into my embroidery and cross-stitch more recently and I have been meaning to try this French knotting embroidery technique for a long time.  I used to do lots of embroidery and cross-stitch as a child and so it's all re-learning techniques to take things forward.  

I found this tutorial. It is the simplest I have seen for the French knotting technique and so I thought I would share it with you all.

Head over to Craft Candy

I am going to give it a go with making some little animals I think so I will show you once I have done them.

If you have any links to good tutorials of embroidery stitches you would like to share, please comment below.

H