Spent the morning visiting this great new Gallery in Edinburgh. It’s the latest venture from Stick Factory Creative Projects and it’s filled with a lovely mix of contemporary fine art, gorgeous wooden handmade furniture, plus lots of other goodies, including jewellery, textiles and greetings cards.

Tucked away, behind the Gallery space, there’s also a fully equipped workshop, where they make furniture, stage scenery, props and displays which can all be commissioned to your own specifications.

I’m very happy that as from today,  a selection of my textile creatures, purses and brooches can also be found there!

…including Suzy, who I made yesterday and have a bit of a soft spot for.

The Stick Factory Gallery – Fine arts & crafts

www.stickfactory.co.uk

©2012 materialised. All Rights Reserved.

Well…it snowed, and it snowed some more…

If there was somewhere I really need to be, there’s still public transport running…I think.

But it’s at times like this  I feel really lucky and grateful to be able to work from home. I know many people are struggling to get to work by any means possible because they have no alternative,  and my thoughts go out to them.

So what have I been going while I’ve been stuck indoors?  making bunnies a plenty!  For stockists and fairs in December.

My button stocks are starting to get low – I’ve already put out an appeal on my facebook page for more.

I know it’s a bit cheeky to ask , but if you have any going spare I’d be very grateful to have them .  Unfortunately I can’t offer any cash in return, but if you include your address I’ll send a thank you card and a  discount voucher to use in my shops. The address to send to is here Thanks in advance x

Tomorrow I’m going to try out an idea I have for owls…I’ll let you know how I get on.

©2012 materialised. All Rights Reserved.

I’m celebrating  the opening of my little bigcartel shop by adding a free handmade gift to the first three orders placed there.The shop has had more than 200 visitors, but no sales as yet…although it’s only been open a few days!

Customers can choose from the items shown above. There’s only one of each so it’s ‘first come first served!’

(sorry about the quality of the picture it’s so dark here today) Claiming your free gift is very simple – when you are at the paypal checkout mention either 1.dress brooch, 2. Pouch or, 3. lime green brooch – in the instructions to seller box. Don’t worry if you forget to add which you’d like I’ll contact you to ask for your preference.  Hope you see something you like ;-)

©2012 materialised. All Rights Reserved.

The materialised store is now open!

The brand new shop is hosted by Big Cartel  and can be easily found by clicking ‘shop‘ above.  This new venture will run along side the well established materialised etsy shop, where you can already find a selection of my fabric purses, brooches, and other textile goodies.

Until further notice there’s free delivery within the UK and a low flat rate for Europe and the USA.  There will be a little extra gift included with the first three orders from the new shop. Browsers are most welcome!

©2012 materialised. All Rights Reserved.

Just taking a break from the mammoth sewing marathon I’ll currently engaged in… The Magpie market is only a few days away now – Sunday to be precise…and still so much I want to make before then!

The  motif of the dress is a popular metaphor in the art world for the female gender. I’ve had it in mind, for a while, to make something dress shaped.  Here’s what I came up with – brooches, made with scraps of vintage & recycled fabrics,  embellished with little stitches, beads and sequins.  So now my days of mini-dress wearing needn’t be over!

And, two of my favourite dress songs , which fill me with nostalgia for dresses, dancing and very LOUD music!

…which leads nicely to a short  you tube video of Polly Harvey and David Byrne talking about their creative process – its an absolute gem.

©2012 materialised. All Rights Reserved.

This weekend was the eagerly awaited Eco Crafts Market in Musselburgh, hosted by Frugal Cool . It turned out to be a really wonderful event, which ran over three days, showcasing  many local artists and craft makers. The woman behind Frugal Cool is Nicky Orr ; she’s  on a mission to promote local ethical handmade crafts  and she has worked really hard in organising and promoting the market. I’m so pleased for her and everyone else involved that a lot of people came along …and really liked what they saw! Thank you Nicky  for inviting me to showcase my work ,  and for selling on My behalf.   You can see pictures of  just some of what was on offer here

I also managed to do a little Christmas shopping there -  sorry I can’t show  pictures  of the pressies but I don’t want to give the game away!

©2012 materialised. All Rights Reserved.

This week I’ve been having a mini love affair with silk and embroidery thread – working with them to create a series of brooches. Each one is heart shaped and expresses a different mood.  Some joyful…

And others less so ;-)

Available in my etsy shop now.

©2012 materialised. All Rights Reserved.