Makers Month: I am Acrylic Jewellery Making Workshops

Here's a selection of amazing things people have made in one of our workshops!

As I am sure you must be aware by now we are great lovers of I am Acrylic!  The Jewellery is so fun and the founders are so lovely too.  So we thought we would let them tell you all about the Jewellery Workshops that they are now doing to add to their workload.  Read on to find out some more.

Hi! We are Ruth Williams & Brendan Fan and we make quirky acrylic and wooden jewellery under the name I Am Acrylic!

We hand-cut all of the components for our jewellery on a mechanical fretsaw and realised recently that this might translate really nicely into running workshops, using hand-saws, to teach people how to make their very own piece of acrylic jewellery - and now we're hooked!

We enjoy getting all the equipment together for the workshops, including buying safety goggles, making bench pegs, getting lots of piercing saws and, most importantly, TONS of saw blades - as they snap quite easily!

We were a bit over-excited when all the goggles arrived! And we always swoon at all the pretty bits of different coloured acrylic waiting to be turned into something lovely!

We have an easy 3 step process for our workshops........You design it, cut it out with the saw, and then clean it up with files and sandpaper! Then we pop it on a chain for you to take away then and there! It's fun, easy and very hands on!

The 3 simple steps in the workshop and the finished thing!

We have run quite a few workshops now since our first one at BUST Craftacular fair last Christmas.

We've really enjoyed the more casual, drop-in ones, that we've run alongside our market stall at several events (BUST, Renegade, CraftyFox & Aspex) - there's no need to book and anyone passing by can just stop and have a go for half an hour or so!

We have also run longer, more involved, two hour long sessions with several lovely hosts (Knit with Attitude, We Make London, Mamahood and LOIS) and the results of these can be stunning!

When running these longer sessions we give people some advice for designing their necklace or keyring beforehand, and give them some examples from our range of the more simple or more complex things they could achieve!

A selection of our products as examples, showing a simple butterfly design or much more complex shape like the flower!

We have been really impressed with all of the designs that have been made in our workshops, and it's amazing how quickly people pick all the skills up!

It was lovely when you guys came and had a go during our drop-in workshop at Renegade this spring - you were naturals! We really hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as we enjoyed teaching you - it was fun, fun, fun!

H's anchor keyring - designed, cut and finished!



Sammy's sewing machine necklace - designed, cut, finished & worn!

One aspect of running the workshops that we've both really enjoyed, is the interest from young children - they love getting involved! - and even though we quite often have to risk our fingers to help them cut the shapes out - they have a great time doing it and so do we!

Brendan helping one of our younger makers sand the edges of a flower she was making!
(Photo Credit: http://marthalovesblog.blogspot.co.uk/)

We're getting super excited now about our next drop-in workshop that we're doing as part of the Crafty Fox Market event with the London Design Festival.  It's on the last weekend of September (26th & 27th) and is at an exciting new venue for Crafty Fox called Kachette in Old Street. The space will be decorated especially for the weekend by paper artist Little PaperVee - and we can't wait to see it!

They'll be loads of great designer/makers selling their wares there - with a different selection each day.

We'll be running the workshop alongside our market stall all weekend - it's free entry and the workshop is just £10 a go - and there's no need to book - you can just pop in!

Here's another brilliant creation from one of our workshops - a very appropriate, and very crafty, fox  : )

And finally, we absolutely love looking at our #iamacrylicworkshop tag on Instagram - there's a great selection of pictures on it that really give you a sense of what we get up to in the workshops!

Here's a selection from the #iamacrylicworkshop Instagram tag.

We LOVED dusting off our DT skills when we did the workshop at Renegade earlier this year and I think a bit of practice at the next event will hone our skills for sure!  We recommend checking out I am Acrylic workshops when you see them!  We just love the fact that they use old school methods to produce their work and help others to use these skills during the workshops.

Thanks so much to Ruth and Brendan for chatting to us.  We know they are off on their holidays for a well deserved rest and so have fun guys!  Check out their Instagram for Jigsaw puzzle related holiday snaps too!

H,xxx

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Makers Month Hidden Treasure: We Make London

Image courtesy of www.wemakelondon.co.uk

We are big fans of this month's Hidden Treasure and what better way to celebrate Maker's Month, than with a shop that showcases British Designer/Makers in the heart of Camden, London.

Last year we attended their 5th Birthday celebrations and they have gone from strength to strength with visits to other shows and markets alongside their shop in Camden.  You will be able to see them at The Handmade Fair this weekend, so go check them out if you are going for a visit.

Image courtesy of www.wemakelondon.co.uk

They have over 30 designer/makers selling a range of items from Jewellery and homewares to children's clothes and gifts.  There is so much to buy for yourself and as presents of course.  This is where H first came across I am Acrylic and Mister Peebles and so there are definitely some great things to be found.

Is there a place like this in your town?  There is a shop where Sammy lives called the Craft Coop which do something similar and H's work, The Lightbox always pride themselves in having designer/makers work in their shop.

Image courtesy of www.wemakelondon.co.uk

We love little places like this and think they should be everywhere!  What a great way to support designer/makers and get the real life shopping experience at the same time!

H

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

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Who's Who: I am Acrylic

It's Who's Who time again and this months subject is bit of an addiction for me and so we just had to find out more!  I first came across I am Acrylic at the We Make London shop in Camden and now have a bit of a collection, alongside getting one of my colleagues addicted to their jewellery too!!  So we just had to share the joy and so everyone can have a I am Acrylic Christmas!  Not hinting, promise!

Who are you?

Hello! We are Brendan Fan and Ruth Williams - AKA - I Am Acrylic. We met whilst studying fine art at Winchester School of Art in 1999.  We now live in Spitalfields, London.

What do you do?

We design and make cute and quirky jewellery, mostly made from acrylic. We like to incorporate wood, aluminium and embroidery too.

We individually hand-cut each component out on our trusty mechanical fretsaw or with our hand saw (we don't use any lasers) and then use files and wet & dry paper to clean up all of the edges, before finally piecing them together.

We like to use this hand cutting and finishing technique as it means that each item is truly unique with a lovely hand crafted finish.

We also enjoy the constraints that our production methods put on our design process. We're forced to keep things fairly simple, within the realms of what is possible to hand-cut and embellish.

How did you start?

We've been making acrylic jewellery since 2004 when Brendan made me a keyring for my birthday from some acrylic we found outside our flat.

The buyer in the shop where I worked at the time, suggested we made some to sell there, so we did!

It was Brendan who then developed the range to include necklaces and brooches, and continued to grow the business over the next seven years, approaching other shops to sell in.  In 2011 I left her job to join Brendan in working on I Am Acrylic full time.  

Since then we've developed the range further to include rings, earrings and cufflinks and most recently little pictures. We like to call these 'Wallery' because they are like little pieces of jewellery for your wall!

What's next?

We have some collaborations in the pipeline and some new designs coming very soon! We're most excited about our new Conker necklace complete with a little piece of real string!

We'd like to spend a bit more time developing and promoting the 'Wallery' range. And, well, hopefully just keep on doing what we're doing really!

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

I Am Acrylic has grown quite organically really and we've quite enjoyed just following our instincts and learning from any mistakes.

What's been really worthwhile is doing a market stall. Maybe we should have considered getting out there sooner and meeting our customers. The instant feedback is invaluable and has led to several new designs and tweaks to existing ones. 

Also, in hindsight, the 70's white jumpsuit Brendan wore in 2006 and the Hawaiian number I tried in 2007 could have been best advised against!

We think that Brendan and Ruth have definitely left their dodgy fashion behind them and have a great future with I am Acrylic.  You can buy from their online shop or find them at Brick Lane market, the We Make London shop and other markets throughout the year - we just saw them at Renegade.  The jewelerry is really fun and would make 'dare I say it' great Christmas presents.  Something really different and fun instead of the same old same old.  That's if H and her friends don't buy all their stock first.

hmmm, now which one should I buy next!

H

Live it: We Make London 5th Birthday Event

Last Friday we were invited to the We Make London Pop-up shop in Camden for their 5th Birthday event. You may remember I went and checked out the shop a few weeks ago and bought a couple of necklaces! oops. You can see that post here.

Who's Who: The Craft Closet

After a bit of a Hiatus, our Who's Who interview is back, so if you would like to be featured in the future, please do send us an email us at liveit.loveit.makei@gmail.com

So, to kick off the new season it's the turn of the Craft Closet. I had the privilege of work with both of these lovely girls when I did my stint at The Make Lounge in London.

They have started up their own business and have managed to get themselves in a book and plenty of magazines since they got going, so they are definitely doing something right!

So let's see what they have to say ...

What is Craft Closet?

We are The Craft Closet and our aim is to inspire and encourage that crafty side in you! The Craft Closet provide the finest materials in each of our unique craft kits so that you can make a beautifully designed gift for yourself, friend or loved one. The designs and instructions are simple, easy to follow and most importantly the kits are great fun!

The business is run by myself (Nicola) and Rebecca. We both have a creative background and a multitude of experience.  I have a degree in Fashion and Textiles specialising in Knitwear design and have worked within the Retail Buying Industry since graduation. Rebecca has a degree in Contemporary Decorative Crafts and experience of working for the V&A and various Artist Studios.

I had always dreamt of starting my own business, using my design and buying skills to create my own brand. Rebecca similarly wanted to create her own niche business in the creative world incorporating her experience, skills and passion for crafts, so after far too many tea and cake catch ups we decided to join forces and take the plunge!

Where do you sell your work?

We have a busy Christmas planned with a string of market dates around London, which are always great fun as it's fantastic being able to chat with our customers.

Upcoming Market Dates:

Saturday 10th November - We Make London Market at Spitalfields (also Inspired:London Book Launch)

Friday 16th November - Greenwich Indoor Market

Saturday 17th November - Designer/Makers Market at Spitalfields.

Saturday 24th November - Greenwich Indoor Market

Sunday 2nd December - Greenwich Indoor Market

Sunday 9th December - Designers/Makers Market at Rotary Walk, Clapton

Saturday 15th December - Designers/Makers Market at Spitalfields

Sunday 16th December - BUST Craftacular at Bethnal Green

We are also currently stocked in 3 London boutique craft shops and of course have a shop on Etsy - www.TheCraftClosetUK.Etsy.com

Or find us in the following shops:

The Make Lounge, Islington

Love 13, Enfield

Creative Biscuit Cafe, South Woodford

What do you sell?

We have a range of 10 Craft Kits which currently include Knitting, Sewing and Cross Stitch.

We are busy working on Crochet and Embroidery Kits for our Spring range which we're really excited about!

Anything coming up that we should know about?

We're really excited about the launch of the new book; Inspired:London which has been created by We Make London to showcase over 150 handpicked London designers and includes a feature on The Craft Closet. The public launch event was on Saturday 10th November at Spitalfields Market where we also had a stall, so you may have seen us there!

What does the future have in store for Craft Closet?

Lots! We have a long list of new Craft Kits we would love to create, so we'll gradually be working on these and bringing our a few new one's in the New Year.

We would also love to reach a few more people out side of London by finding a few boutique craft shops a little further afield to stock our kit range. We're also hoping to start a Blog soon called Tea, Cake & Make which will be full of all our favourite things!

We both love London, it's such an amazing city and the craft and handmade scene has really exploded. It's great to be able to be part of such an exciting and inspiring community, so the future really is looking very exciting for The Craft Closet!

Find us online:

Facebook - The Craft Closet

Twitter - @CraftCloset

Or drop us an email! hello@thecraftcloset.co.uk

So, please do go check them out, they have plenty of stock for fun Christmas presents, I particularly like the knitted purses, but I think I am going to have to get my knitting skills up first!

Live it.  Love it.  Make it

H