After a bit of a delay in production, the rusty iron version of Harriet Hare is now back in stock!
I originally sculpted her in wax and she is now being produced as a limited edition in three different finishs; iron, pewter and with a weathered bronze patina.
She’s quite ‘hefty’ at 6kg in weight and I feel ever gram when I polish her on my bench grinder!!
‘Tis the Season to be Jolly, I have always loved Carols around a tree, the pretty lights, the anticipation of piles of gifts on Christmas morning, the buzz of excitement in the air but I will confess as I have got older the magic is fading for me. I see adverts on the television of happy families sat playing games and enjoying themselves but in reality as I read the papers I see a different world one where many families are separated and the older generations are possibly spending the day alone as they don’t want to be burden on relatives, or those families who don’t have money to put food on a table let alone buy gifts, who then have to deal with the question why Santa leaves lots of gifts for some Children but not them.
I read a lovely article in the Telegraph yesterday, saddened slightly by its content, but felt it was also full of Christmas Spirit as it made reference to a school in Blackpool where the Head is opening the school up on Monday to have a Christmas Eve eve party for the children, with Santa and hot food, to ensure that all children had that magical experience and a hot meal over the holidays. I am sure this isn’t first school to do this, and I doubt will be the last.
For many of the gifts I will be giving this year they are sourced from small businesses not large corporations, I will try and avoid the pressure of the sales post Christmas, and only purchase something if I really need it.
It is a most wonderful time of the year, but we do shop all year round, not just a Christmas so if you could continue to buy from the small business owner I can hand on heart tell you that really does help put food on the table, and keep a roof over someone’s head. Perhaps you can spare the odd gift for a child who is without, or pop an extra roll of toilet paper, or can of soup in the trolley for the food bank at your local supermarket – you never know the joy that small act of kindness could bring someone. Don’t get me wrong I have nothing against the corporates (I am an Amazon Prime Customer ?) , but I am hugely aware that by using them we are feeding anonymous shareholders but by buying from an independent you are helping keep that small business afloat, and that alone does deserve a happy dance ? Merry Christmas and wishing you a Happy New Year
My pigs in blankets Christmas decoration was a new design added this
year. I can’t believe how popular they have been and managed to run out
of the cute little star buttons I was using! So they’re officially out
of stock this year while I search for an equally sweet alternative for
them next year… perhaps with some extra blanket colours or an extra
pig design?
I am so happy to know that people loved my pigs as much as I loved making them! I wonder how many of them are wearing their blankets and how many are enjoying Christmas in the nude this year!
I’ll hopefully be able to think up some brand new quirky creature decorations ready for next year. So a massive thank you to everyone that had a look at my pigs, liked or bought one. And if you can’t wait for next year to see some adorable new designs don’t worry! My valentine’s selection will be in store in the new year so check back soon.
Have a lovely winter everyone!
I had my one and only Fair of the year last weekend at Sandon Hall and it was absolutely fantastic. I love it when someone sees my glass from across the room and comes across for a closer look and Smiles. That smile makes my day.
I often get ‘complaints’ that I provide too much choice….. that’s because I like to make sure I have something for everyone and for every occasion. Hope you find something you like in my shop.
I’ve been making pretty collages of some of my glass to promote the lovely British Craft House site to the world at this busy, busy Christmas shopping time so here are a couple…. to help you choose if you fancy some of my lovely glass 
I just thought whilst I was photographing, listing, measuring and generally sorting what planters and window boxes I have made it would be a nice idea to introduce myself properly.
This is my world of Metal Garden Planters.
Welcome, my name is Fiona, I have 2 children (12 and 9) 1 mini dachshund and an OAP Cat who thinks he is a teenager still. I live in the town of Grantham in Lincolnshire, famous for being voted the most boring town in the UK one year, being the birth place of myself, Margaret Thatcher, Doris Stokes and Sir Isaac Newton to name a few.
The image is of me, no makeup, not having done my hair and dressed for the cold, about to set off in my VW Flatbed, with some roofing sheets on the back. I sell a variety of Box Profile and Corrugated roofing sheets, and manufacture the flashings to finish the edges in house. It was from the waste I was generating in terms of making the flashings which lead me down the path of making metal boxes.
I was on the hunt for an office bin one day, and the cost shocked me, let alone the fact they are all fairly boring looking so after some cutting, measuring, and general faffing with the Guilloline (not the kind the Frenchman used to lop off the heads of Aristocracy) but a blade which can cut thin metal sheeting safely, and my bending machine (its clamp with a lever that once lifted puts a fold in a metal sheet in its simplest form) A bright yellow tall, square bin was created, and 6+ years later it is still used daily.
So thats how I started, if you have any specific questions for future blog posts I would be happy to answer them, in the meantime I will continue selecting troughs, and planters along with a special gardeners gift pack I am pulling together.
Morning Everyone and Happy Sunday, a month before the Big Day and the
Adien Grotto is in full swing! Today I thought I’d tell you about one of
this weeks makes, polymer clay pendants which are an old favourite of
mine but which I have never tired of making over the years.
Polymer clay is such a versatile medium to work with and these days is available in so many colours, I am like a kiddy in a sweet shop when buying any new.
I decided to make some of my Swirlygig (as I call them affectionately) pendants with a little addded sparkle for the Festive season.
I am sure that every clay user has their own techniques so mine may differ but I have found the way that suits me best, as many Makers do through trial and error I am sure.
First off I selected the colours to use for the pendant which in this case was a lovely turquoise, a silver and a light creamy shade. Before using it the clay has to be conditioned to make it pliable and easier to use, so I use a pasta roller to do this, sometimes if the clay has become a little old I add some clay softener and work it into the clay as there is nothing worse than getting half way through your creation and the clay starts cracking. After rolling and kneading each colour is rolled into a long sausage, I added a little sparkly glitter powder onto the cream before doing this.
I use a large piece of marble tile to work on, I find it smooth and cool and easy to clean. The next step is to twist all the colours together into a long coil, this is when you will know you have conditioned the clay properly as if it starts cracking you know you haven’t, and it’s back to square 1. Then it is a case of rolling the clay into a long sausage, twisting and rolling again until you get a pretty marbled effect. The number of times you do this varies, you can go too far and the colours will have blended too much, or not enough so the marbling isn’t clear, it’s just a case of judging by eye. I then shape the clay into a fatter piece about 3 inches long. This piece I then cut into 3 and roll round and round, up too 100 times, to shape the pendant, again it is knowing where to stop when you think it looks pretty.
Onto the final stages now and the beads are ready to go into my little oven, I have a mini oven on my work table which is used solely for clay so into there they pop and bake for about half an hour. After cooling they are given a few coats of protective varnish which also adds to the shine, add some wire for hanging and a sterling silver chain and they are ready for my shop. I also made some I called Christmas Toffee and Sparkle Berry, I called this one I have showed you Blue Christmas.
Well, that’s all from me, and that is probably enough! I hope you have enjoyed seeing a little of what goes into making, this is my first blog of this type so I hope I haven’t gone into too much, or too little detail. Hope you all have a wonderful day, if you felt like leaving a little comment you would see me doing a happy jig knowing I am not talking to myself. Di xx
So, after getting the super exciting news that I had been accepted to sell my handmade gifts and goodies on TBCH, I’ve gotten my first few items up in the shop (including my personal favourites, my unique magnet in a matchbox keepsake gifts, and some quirky Christmas cards). So, eighteen items already in and more to be added every week things are taking off here in my new online home!
I definitely think it’s great to spread the word of TBCH and help promote my fellow sellers so I’ve decided to show off some of their fabulous creations in my blog. For today’s theme I went with penguins. The little felt penguin gift in the middle at the bottom is mine but the rest are from different UK sellers. If you like their designs you can check out their shops here;
https://thebritishcrafthouse.co.uk/shop/joysofglass/
https://staging.thebritishcrafthouse.co.uk/…/antheas-arts-and-craf…/
https://staging.thebritishcrafthouse.co.uk/…/kay-lacey-watercolours/
https://staging.thebritishcrafthouse.co.uk/…/sue-roche-illustration/
https://staging.thebritishcrafthouse.co.uk/shop/gentangle-designs/
https://staging.thebritishcrafthouse.co.uk/shop/celebrateyourway/
https://staging.thebritishcrafthouse.co.uk/shop/larryware/
I’ve been making up and photographing my pocket sized Labrador treat tins today, and discovered that ‘human’ treats fit quite nicely in them too!!! You can get THREE chocolate HOBNOBS in there instead of bonios!! (Or maybe even a skinny mince pie…?) ?
Hi and welcome to my very first blog.
My name is Lorna and LouLou & Reg is my small business that I love with a passion. I started LouLou & Reg last year (2018) because I had another small business selling home décor but could never find the kind of items that I wanted to sell, so I thought I would make them instead of sourcing them and voila LouLou & Reg was born!
I live in the South of England with my husband and our son and we live in our forever home in a lovely part of Hampshire. I have always been very creative but woodworking was new to me (except the woodworking that you did at school – did anyone else make a wooden robot?)
I knew that I was doing what I loved and what I should be doing, when I bought my first sander with some birthday money that I was gifted and after that my husband bought me my very first multi tool and screwdriver set, which made my year!
When I applied to be a seller on The British Craft House, I was very nervous as I know this website is and will be amazing for hand crafted
items. When Dottie accepted me as a seller I was over the moon and still nervous as I want my little piece of The British Craft House to be a success which means hard work but I am up for the task. All of my items are made from start to finish by hand, from cutting each piece of wood by hand, to sanding and painting by hand. I design the wording, choose the font and paint with acrylic paint, each sign that has wording and I love it. Where I can I recycle old and discarded wood and MDF as I love that each piece of wood has it’s own story and re-purposed wood is an unwanted item being given a new lease of life!
Thank you for reading my first blog and I hope to bring you updates that will take you on a journey with me, in this wonderful new home for handcrafted items.
Hello my name is Camilla, a bit of background on how I started making Jewellery.
I took up knitting and crocheting when I was a child, and I have always loved making things. As time went by I put my artistic leanings to one side and chose a career in computers, and later went on to raise a family. My children have now grown up and no longer need my time, so I decided six years ago to return to my creative side, and began making jewellery – using my knitting and crocheting skills to make a different type of jewellery.
I love to create new ways of using different threads, wire and beads and to juxtapose different colours in my jewellery. Choosing colour combinations is exciting as well as therapeutic. Inspiration comes from all around me, whether I’m walking through the woods and fields, by the sea, with my dogs, down the high street, through the shops, or looking at the new season’s clothes.
I took up Japanese Braiding (Kumihimo) five years ago to add to my jewellery skills. This offers another way of using different textured threads and beads, adding a vast array of techniques and colour combinations to create interesting pieces of jewellery. The colours and effects are endless.
In 2016 I got excepted by the Surrey Guild of Craftsmen, to become a Member and to sell my Jewellery through their Gallery, which I was thrilled about.
Everything I make is a one-off and is never repeated, each piece is unique to the person who buys it.