SPECIAL FEATURE: Clare Sherwen

Today, I am happy to introduce Clare Sherwen and her lovely work.  Printmaking and painting is something that interests me, and knowing a little about the process, I was very impressed with Clare’s work. I am delighted that she agreed to be a special feature on my blog.  Please click on the photos and visit Clare’s folksy shop and have a browse.

Clare says:

“My favourite item in my folksy shop has to be my Purple Cat print, he came out so well and has just been featured in a brand new book called “The Printmakers Cat” which I am still in shock about!”

How long have you been selling on Folksy?

"Since 2011 and I am on my 111th sale which I still can’t quite believe!"

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself, your background and how you got to do what you do?

"I’ve always been arty and love creating things and I did my degree in Fine Art (Printmaking) a few years ago. I specialised in the etching printmaking process at university but it is not really the safest form of printmaking to do at home with all the acids etc! A few years ago I managed to get an affordable table top printing press and started experimenting in collagraph printmaking. This is a safer form of printmaking which involves using a card printing plate and adding various textures with paint, enamel, glue etc and then I print from these plates on my dining room table."

“I’m very reluctant to part with the original painting that this card is taken from. I was there at just the right moment to catch that typical sleepy cat look!”

"This year I have been concentrating on selling online and getting my artwork out into exhibitions. So far I have had three exhibitions and two more are coming soon and I still love the thrill of seeing my art displayed on the wall!"

What is the inspiration/motivation behind your designs?

"As you can see from my shop I’m a little obsessed with animals, especially cats! I’ve just got a tiny mischievous black and white kitten called Morpheus and he is definitely the inspiration behind my most recent artworks!

For my exhibition work I mostly produce prints based on architecture which create a sense of heritage and have a very textural and tonal quality, for my online work I tend to do smaller prints and recently a lot of animal motifs have been creeping in! I have been concentrating on making animal prints and have done a series of purple animal collagraph prints with my most popular being a hippo print which sold very well in the USA!"  

“Another favourite is my lino cut print of my new kitten Morpheus looking very cute!”

"I also love watercolour and acrylic painting and have recently started painting ACEOs (mini collectable artworks that are 3.5 x 2.5” in size) which I only discovered about on the daily Art Thread on the Folksy forum. I’ve now sold over 200 of these all over the world and love the fact that anyone can afford a small piece of original art and start building up their own art collection!

How do you decide what to create next?

I always work from photos so I’m usually inspired by the last place I have visited whether it’s the local zoo with their amazing tigers or my recent holiday to Turkey where I took over a thousand photos and still need to find the time to start working on them properly! I get bored working on just one thing so I love being able to work on a huge animal painting one day to a tiny cat print, to then printing up a load of bags the next day!"

“This is one of ACEOs. They are a real challenge to paint so small but very addictive!”

"I’m hoping to start promoting my watercolour pet portrait commissions soon as I had a break from doing too many as I was so busy over the Christmas period last year. I’m hoping people will be a bit earlier with ordering them than last year so I’m not painting right up until the last Christmas posting day again!

What else would you like to share?

I’d like to say how grateful I am to everyone on the Folksy forums. I’d never been on a forum before so it was a little scary at first but everyone was so welcoming and helpful. The knowledge base that is on there is amazing and I don’t think I would have been able to get quite so far with my selling without everyone’s help."

“This is one of my most complicated to do collagraph prints as the bridge is so detailed so it was a real challenge but I am so pleased how it has came out.”

I asked Clare which three items she liked from my folksy shop.

“Love the colours and detail on this one.”

“Love the notebooks and very hard to choose a favourite but this fabric is so pretty.”

“Beautiful coloured fabric.”

If you would like to see or know more about Clare and her work then please click on these links.

Folksy shop

Facebook page

Blog page

Website

Thank you for visiting my blog.  I hope you have enjoyed reading about Clare and her work. Please come back soon.

BFN

Edwina

Fabric, Chinese take away, chocolate limes and hessian

Fabric

As you can see from the photo I have recently purchased some new fabrics.  I get really excited when new fabrics arrive and I start thinking about all the possibilities that they represent.  What shall I make with them?  The tractor fabric was on sale and a total bargain so I immediately thought of a pencil case for a boy – I am not sure what else, as I find boys difficult!  Do you have any ideas?

I am sure I shall be making pencil cases, purses, probably a sketchbook or two, notebooks, and may be a couple of diary covers. As it’s that time of the year when you start thinking about the big C, no doubt I shall consider other items too.  Well, I never used to think about C. in August but now I have a shop to stock, it’s different!

Pinterest Boards

Recently, I have made a few Pinterest boards that I really like – I don’t seem to share the same view as folksy on this, but never mind!  Anyway, I thought I would share a few with you and also some selected items from the boards to illustrate my blog post.

Chinese take away

Let’s start with “Chinese take away”.  This board was inspired by Shirley’s Dolls House Rug Chinese Dragon in Blue from Whimsy Woo Designs.  It started me wondering what other Chinese handmade items were available on folksy.

When I start searching for images for my board, I never think: what have I got in my shop that fits the theme?  So it always a nice surprise when I am searching, to come across one of my own items that fits in nicely with the theme.  You can find this large Chinese silk cosmetic purse in my folksy shop Handmade by Edwina.

Now who does not like "chocolate limes"?  Well, folksy apparently, because this was another of my boards that has not been chosen for the front page.

Chocolate Limes

This time my inspiration came from the knowledge that the two boards I had previously created and folksy had chosen for the front page were both single colour boards.  So I thought of a colour and then decided to forget that idea, and do a themed board based on two colours: chocolate and lime!

Some gorgeous items were discovered in my search.

Love this tatted brown lace bookmark by Heather from TataniaRosa.

I love buttons so I was definitely drawn to this pretty button bracelet by Clair of Folbar Beads.  I must get around to buying one as they must be really fun to wear.  (Clair is on holiday at the moment, but please do come back and visit her shop.)

Finally, my very favourite board is called simply “Hessian” and what a lovely selection of items I found during my search.  I feel hessian is a much underrated fabric and it certainly deserves much more attention.

Hessian

Those of you who know me will understand why I have chosen this Love Hanging Embroidery hoop.  Yes, I love embroidery!  This was made by Lisa of dilly dally.

Cupcakes – now who does not love them?  So when I saw these cards with the hessian background, they were definitely made for my board.  Created by Lucie from Love, Lucie these Yummy Cup Cake 'Lovely Mum' Card are a super combination of texture and machine embroidery.

I have created one or two other boards, but I think I will end it there.  Do visit the shops of these creative sellers by clicking on the photo and have a browse at their lovely products.

Hope you have enjoyed reading my post and looking at my Pinterest boards.

BFN

Edwina

Creative Angels

August Angels is the name that was chosen for the daily listing club on folksy during the month of August. This is a group of individual creative sellers on folksy who share their newly made items, chat, laugh, offer and receive support, commiserate, and celebrate both personal and folksy triumphs and report all folksy sales. A daily (monthly) tally is kept of all sales received by the group members. The club is open to anyone who wants to join and who regularly add new makes to their folksy shop.

What are angels?

Wikipedia defines angel as a supernatural being or spirit, usually humanoid in form, found in various religions and mythologies. They are often depicted as benevolent celestial beings who act as intermediaries between Heaven and Earth, or as guardian spirits or a guiding influence.

Other roles of angels include protecting and guiding human beings, and carrying out God's tasks.Whether you believe or don’t believe in angels, the notion of a supernatural benevolent being who acts as a guardian does appeal to some people. They like the idea that a guardian angel watches and cares for them during their 21st century lives.

Early Christians inherited Jewish understandings of angels, which in turn may have been partly inherited from the Egyptians. In the early stage, the Christian concept of an angel characterized the angel as a messenger of God. Angels are creatures of good, spirits of love, and messengers of Jesus Christ.

Many Christians regard angels as asexual and not belonging to either gender . Angels are on the other hand usually depicted in painting and sculpture as looking like male human beings. However, while cherubim and seraphim have wings in the Bible, no angel is mentioned as having wings.

Contemporary belief in angels

As recently as the 20th century, visionaries and mystics have reported interactions with, and indeed dictations from, angels.

A 2002 study based on interviews with 350 people, mainly in the UK, who said they have had an experience of an angel, describes several types of such experiences: visions, sometimes with multiple witnesses present; auditions, e.g. to convey a warning; a sense of being touched, pushed, or lifted, typically to avert a dangerous situation. In the visual experiences, the angels described appear in various forms, either the "classical" one (human countenance with wings), in the form of extraordinarily beautiful or radiant human beings, or as beings of light.

In the US, a 2008 survey by Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion, published by TIME magazine, which polled 1,700 respondents, found that 55 percent of Americans, including one in five of those who say they are not religious, believe that they have been protected by a guardian angel during their life.

A 2008 survey of over 1000 Canadians found 67 percent believe in angels.

The creative sellers in the folksy daily listing club are not angels as defined by Wikipedia, but they do regularly make the most beautiful handmade items, e.g. jewellery, cards, art, paintings, purses, knitted and crocheted goods, cushion covers, wonderful throws, blankets, quilts, cases, book covers, novelty items, and as in my case, handmade notebooks and journals.  You can also buy craft supplies – did you know that? I have illustrated my blog post today with a few of these lovely items.  Please click on the photographs and it will take you directly to the seller’s shop on folksy. Stop, have a browse, you are bound to find that gift you have been meaning to buy, or why not treat yourself?  Many of the sellers have "sale" items so you may even find yourself a bargain!

I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog post on angels and will come back for another visit soon.

BFN

Edwina

TOP TO BOTTOM: Violet Vickers Creations, Bojanglies, Wild Rose Designs - Handmade Bags and Accessories, The Card Jeanie, The Beaded Garden, JAustenJewelleryDesign and Whimsy Woo Designs.

Colour and texture

We all need colour and texture in our lives otherwise life would become very boring.  I have neglected my blog for a few weeks because other things in life have been more important. I loved the arrival of Phoebe Millie and she is so sweet – very beautiful and so quiet!  I told my niece if she was my daughter I would want to keep checking she was still breathing!  What a fussy mother I would have made!

Visits with my family, days out with friends, shopping with my sister – all these provide colour and texture to my life.  Celebrating my birthday was lovely.  I always enjoy this day whatever I am doing because it is the one day in the year that is special to me – (and all those who have birthdays on the same day!)  But, you don’t think about that when you are opening presents and cards with lovely sentiments.  One of my sisters sent me a card that included these words:

For you deserve the best

As those who know you will agree

Because you’re very special

To your friends and family

How often do we get told that during the year?  That’s what makes birthdays so enjoyable!

On the crafting front I have so many projects at various stages that it is so frustrating not to be able to finish them!  All the while I am trying to complete things, my mind is full of ideas for new ones.  Sometimes, I think that having a couple of clones might help me get all the jobs done.  We could all work on different projects and get them finished so much quicker than just little old me!

Recently I was watching two brilliant musicians play – Nigel Kennedy, the violinist on a DVD and the Japanese pianist, Nobuyuki Tsujii who has been blind from birth, at the Proms on TV.  Two extremely gifted musicians who play from memory – the music is stored in their minds.  I have such great admiration for people who have such a special gift.  Listening to them play the beautiful music I was reminded again of how important colour and texture is to our lives.

In my crafting space I am surrounded by colour and texture and that makes me happy.  I remember an old tutor from Art College saying that silk is a texture. I think he thought I was focussing too much on raised texture – surfaces that you can touch and feel the surface pattern.  I don’t think he needed to worry.  Silk is one of my favourite textures and I have a project planned using some pink silk dupion – I just need a window of time to focus on it!

I hope you have lots of colour and texture in your life.

I have illustrated my blog post today with images and items from the July Jazzies daily listing club on folksy.  I hope you enjoy the colour and texture illustrated and will click on the photos and have a browse in the shops – you won’t be disappointed!

BFN

Edwina

FROM TOP TO BOTTOM: Ann Chandler Originals, Paper Chains & Beads, Knittingtopia, Brockstones, The Card Jeanie and Adien Crafts

Baby Fever

Don't you agree that there is nothing more special than the arrival of a new baby.  It is just so exciting.  Over the last few months I have been buying lots of handmade goodies to give as gifts to my niece and the little baby girl she is expecting any day now.  I have purchased most of my items either from Folksy or Facebook.  Actually, come to think about it I did buy one of them from Etsy – gosh I have been a busy bee!

For my blog post today I thought I would show you, and any expectant Mums, (and Dads) or family or friends who want to give gifts on the occasion of a new birth a selection of beautiful items that you can purchase from Folksy.  So sit back and enjoy, for once I shall not be saying very much.  (Was that a collective sigh of relief I heard?)  Yes, I know I am too wordy in my blog posts, but today you will happy to know I am going to try and be very quiet!

To start with we have beautiful card from Emma at Clarkie Designs.

Next we have a gorgeous knitted cardigan from Carol at Knittingtopia.  It is a wonderful colour, don't you agree?

Susan from Dottie Designs has made this beautiful memory book.

I just love baby clothes - they are just so cute and Natalie from NOfkants Curios has made this lovely baby jacket.

Now here is something very special for the wall of the baby nursery.  It is so colourful and full of meaning.  This is from Linda at Uniquely Yours Designs.

You can't have a new baby without having something special to wrap him/her in or place over the crib or pram.  This super crocheted blanket is by Rosalind from Myfanwysmakes.

I have to confess my very favourite thing is buying a super soft cuddly toy for the new baby - in fact I bought more than one for little baby Phoebe!  This little cutie has been handmade by Claire at KnitnPurl.

Finally, there are so many different cards available on folksy that if you wanted to choose something completely different from the traditional style, then here you have a lovely handmade card from Jean at The Card Jeanie.

Handmade is best! Do click on the photos and have a browse in the seller’s shop.  You are certain to find that special gift you are looking for.  And enjoy all your new arrivals!

BFN

Edwina

UPDATE**********UPDATE***************UPDATE************UPDATE***********

Baby Phoebe Millie was born on 10th July 2013 at 12.50am weighing 6lbs 12oz.  Both mother and baby are doing well!

Pinterest and Folksy

Over the last couple of months I have been creating Pinterest boards for consideration for the folksy front page.  I have really enjoyed making the boards which is just as well, because every board I have made and put forward has been ignored, rejected, overlooked and met with folksy’s disapproval.  I have no idea why, or what I am doing wrong and I am sure I am not alone in this feeling.  One thing I have noticed, and although I know folksy will adamantly deny this, there is a bit of favouritism that goes on.  Certain sellers who create a board always have them chosen for the front page, but I am not going to name names!

For this blog post I thought I would talk about my boards and what has inspired me to create them. To illustrate my blog post I have chosen some of the items from the Pinterest boards I have created.

One of the first boards I created in May was called: "The Guitar Player".  This was directly inspired by watching a DVD of Eric Clapton in action.  Even if you don’t like his music you just have to appreciate his skill and awesome ability with playing the guitar.  Perhaps it was an age thing.  Is it possible the folksy team have never heard of Eric Clapton?  I love browsing folksy and seeing what handmade items are available and sometimes I am always surprised.  When I am creating a board I have four things in mind:

Does the item fit the theme?

Is it a good product?

Is the photograph good enough and does it show the item to its best advantage?

Have I selected items that have a variety of different medium and prices?

Sometimes there are lots of items that meet the above criteria, but when you are working towards creating a board with only 18 items, unfortunately a lot of items need to be rejected.  I have often rejected numerous of my own items too!  One item I was intrigued about was the number of handmade plectrums that were available.  When there are lots of the same item, choosing just the right one can be quite difficult!  In this instance I am afraid I broke my own rules and chose two plectrums!

Moving on, another of the boards I created was called: “A Fine Romance”.  Being a romantic through and through, I associated summer with romance and selected items that went with this theme.  My friend was on holiday in Vietnam in January and she met a lovely man and whilst initially it might have started as a holiday romance, six months later it is still going strong despite the fact he lives in Guernsey!  They commute back and forth to spend time together so this is what inspired this board.

“Beautiful birds” was inspired by fabric that I have come across with birds on.  This type of fabric is very popular and there are so many to choose from.  So whilst I was inspired by fabric, I tried to look and include non fabric items for my board.

Another gripe I have about the folksy selection process is the way most boards that get selected have just one day and night on the front page, but on Friday the board that gets chosen for that day ends up with three days (Saturday and Sunday).  I don’t like this.  What’s the point of changing the board every day during the week but then having the same board on the front page for three days?  It’s just plain daft.  They should choose a board for Friday and then choose another for Saturday and Sunday – surely it is possible to programme the change? Or have boards on the front page for two days each or whatever.  But I get bored with the same board come Sunday and wish they would change it.  Strangely enough they do change it on a three day weekend i.e. a bank holiday!

I am sorry if this blog post has been very critical of folksy, but when you have an itch it is very hard not to scratch it!  I try not to be negative but sometimes you just can't help yourself!

“Colour and Texture” was inspired by the project I was working on at the time.  I had started to make vintage lavender hearts.  I was struck by how textural they were because I was using vintage lace, vintage embroidery and buttons makes these make an interesting texture. There was colour from the embroidery and I thought about how important these two elements are in creating something unique.  “Colour and Texture” is one of my favourite boards and I tried not to include too many textile items, but I think I failed because there are quite a few, but then I am very drawn to these obviously!

Finally, my best boards or my very favourite boards are “Candy Floss” and “Guacamole”.  I felt sure folksy would choose one of these. I was wrong!  Another problem is that they have so many boards to choose from and they don’t appear to choose them in any particularly order or to any particular kind of criteria, but I may be wrong.  I know they like to have boards that take into account special days and events.  So at the beginning of Wimbledon there were a whole range of boards with connecting themes.

I love “Candy Floss”.  I was thinking about holidays again and remembered seeing a board that celebrated ice cream, so I thought why not?  I am not really a “pink” person, but I was delighted to find so many items that had a similar shade of pink or made a good contrast. This is what I wanted rather lots of images of candy floss!

 “Guacamole” is my very favourite board.  This is the last one I created and probably will remain my favourite until I make the next one!  I was inspired by a specific colour of green – apple green.  Not sure exactly why.  When I started creating the board I had not chosen the title.  I was thinking green as in fresh, new, virginal, but once I had finished the board and I looked at it as a whole I saw something different  - guacamole.  Again texture and colour!  The main fault with this board is that it has too many textile items (I can’t help it!)  I have also noted that many of the items have sold that I included on this board.  

I love jewellery and ceramics and always I want to include these items – there are always lots to choose from.  I also love art and art prints, photographs, paintings etc. but these are not things you can hold in your hands and fondle and touch and smell!  And so my leaning is always towards something tactile.

Hope you have enjoyed looking and reading my rant.  Please click on the photographs and have a browse in these shops.  You never know what you might discover.

BFN

Edwina

Special feature – Linda from Wild Rose Designs

As regular readers of my blog will know I used to make bags and many of them have been featured on my blog.  I still love bags and I constantly have to resist the temptation to buy them!  Some while ago I purchased from Linda at Wild Rose Designs the most fabulous bag that I love to bits and use all the time!  I invited Linda to be featured on my blog because obviously I am a great fan of her work.  Over to Linda:

“I've been selling on Folksy since February 2011, so just over two years. It was a while before I joined in on the forums, but I'm glad I did as everyone has been so helpful and supportive.”

“I am a Mum to two children and a Grandma to four lovely children aged 14, 8, 6 and 2. I've been sewing since I was a child even making one of my school dresses. I continued to sew and I've since made everything from clothes to curtains and soft furnishings. In fact, I did have my own curtain making business for a few years, but gave up when my daughter returned home from university and reclaimed her room which was also my workroom. I've worked in various offices, and was a greetings card merchandiser before I started Wild Rose Designs.”

“I had wanted to work for myself again for some time and became interested in bag making particularly evening bags. I'm not sure where the idea came from but it stayed with me until I decided it was now or never.”

“I think it's the fabrics themselves that inspire me. I'm not really a frilly and fluffy girl but I do love pretty things, and if it glitters or sparkles, so much the better. My evening bags are all vintage inspired and so are many of my day bags. I can waste hours trying to decide what to make next! I sometimes have so many things that I want to make but I can't decide which one to do first. I usually sort through my fabric stash until I'm drawn to one (or more) fabrics and go from there.”

“Craft wise I can knit and crochet and I've dabbled in card making. I made the invitations, place cards etc. for my son's wedding. But my newest interest is Jewellery making. I find it relaxing and therapeutic especially if I've had a bad sewing day! I've started adding some of my makes to my shops and I've even sold a few pieces!”

I invited Linda to choose three items from my folksy shop that she liked.  Linda said:

“It's difficult to choose just three items from your shop as there are so many lovely things, but I've chosen these.”

I hope you have enjoyed reading about Linda and her passion for what she does. I think you will agree with me when I say her work is stunning. Please do visit Linda’s folksy shop and also her website to have a look at her gorgeous items.

Folksy:http://folksy.com/shops/wildrosedesigns

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyWildRoseDesigns

Blog : http://mywildrosedesigns.blogspot.co.uk

Website: http://www.wildrosedesign.co.uk/

BFN

Edwina

If any folksy sellers would like to be featured on my blog please message me on folksy.  I am always looking for the opportunity to share other people’s beautiful work.