SPECIAL FEATURE: Louise from Loutul

Welcome to my blog.  Today I have another special feature.  Louise from Loutul makes the most exquisite handmade items.  Please visit her folksy shop.  You won't be disappointed. I asked Louise tell us about herself and her work. 

"I first opened my folksy shop in February 2012 but stopped trading in October 2012 and I have only just started listing again."

"I am an avid crafter who loves embroidery and pewter embossing. I am also a keen scrapbooker and spend most of my free time doing one of the three. I do work a 5 day week as a business analyst so I don't have as much time for my crafts as I would like.

I am a South African by birth and relocated to the UK in 2011 with my husband and 2 dogs."

"Pewter repousse has become my favourite pastime these days. It isn’t very well known in the UK but is very popular in South Africa and in the States. I only became involved with this wonderful craft about 5 years ago."

"I have to blame my cousin for my obsession. I saw a set of pewter sculptures she has in her bathroom and I fell in love. She gave me my first lesson. After that I joined a pewter school close to where I lived and attended classes twice a week for about 2 years. In fact I only stopped going when we moved here to the UK."

I asked Louise about her inspiration and motivation behind her designs: 

"Just about anything and everything motivates me. If I see a drawing or picture that I think would look good in 3D either in pewter or as an embroidery I’m hooked."

"I rarely plan on what I’m going to do next – it purely depends on what design I see. Most times I only decide what its going to end up as is when its finished. I’ve a number of sculptures that haven’t become something yet because I haven’t been able to decide whether I should frame it, make a box and embed it in the lid, put it on a leather case of some kind. I’ll have to wait for the inspiration!"

"I quite often use the same design for both pewter and embroidery. Like my Art Deco Ladies, I have embroidered them and “pewtered” them. You can see them here in both forms if you’re interested: "My two favourite pastimes"

I asked Louise if she had any favourite items in my folksy shop.  This is what she chose: 

For more information about Louise and her work become a follower on Facebook, Twitter, her blog and Pinterest.

I would like to thank Louise for sharing her work and telling us a little about herself.  Personally, I had never seen Pewter repousse before and when I did, it blew me away.  I am happy to say that I have a lovely framed piece of Louise's work and it is a much loved treasure.  It was supposed to be a gift, but I couldn't part with it! 

Thank you for reading my blog.  Please come back again soon.

BFN

Edwina