Handmade to heal

06/12/2021

ECO-FRIENDLY CHRISTMAS!! 🎄

These are a selection of the products that I dropped off at last week meaning they are now there on the shelves ready for purchase if you're interested! Bottom of Saltash High street. A shop full of wonderful locally made products and run in a way that gives back so much to the community it is situated in! Check it out!!

Also note the cute !! A great pattern designed by .goldenberry ! Mine are made from a mix of organic h**p and organic seaweed! All Handspun by s small collective of women in India and sold by the wonderful !!

My handmade baubles are crocheted using recycled cotton (textile industry waste) from .zpagetti and stuffed with more recycled cotton stuffing! (Pattern is my own, let me know if you think I should write it up?!)

Finally the rope rainbows are made from GOTS certified organic cotton and recycled rope!

Lots of eco-friendly goodness ready to give your tree and extra sparkle or super for gifting!

Hope you are all having a happy Monday!

22/11/2021

Christmas here we come!

Ok so I am going for it... I am officially opening up the page to Christmas!!! Whooooo Haha. This isn’t really because I am feeling especially festive, but rather because I really wanted to share my latest weave with you which, as you can see, is rather Christmassy indeed!!

A similar style to my sunflower weave but with a few new techniques and a splash of festive fun!
The same familiar base woven using the amazing handspun Organic Charka Cotton and Organic slub cotton from , a crocheted christmas tree using Organic cotton from , decorated with wooden buttons (i honestly can’t remember where I got them from) and my favourite touch is the banana yarn star which adds a touch of fibre fun to the top of the tree (again from )

This was the last piece I completed for the exhibition at and one which I have to say I was very happy with and could happily have kept to kick off the decorating in my own home. Alas, something has to pay the bills Haha.

So now I’ve started the whole Christmas malarkey, I may as well ask the big question…

What’s your opinion on when the decorations should go up?! Drop your thoughts in the comments below!!

19/11/2021

Exhibition Ready!!

Well the last few weeks have been tough health wise which has made progress very slow but seeing all my work laid out yesterday before boxing up was quite a joyful moment!

I felt quite the sense of accomplishment that despite the challenges, I have still managed to make these creations and get them all tagged and labeled ready to go!

There are quite a range of products heading to which I hope will be enjoyed by the residents of Ledbury! Everything that you can see has been handmade using eco-friendly and ethical materials!

Massive thanks to my incredible husband for all his support and encouragement and to for this opportunity!

Happy Friday everyone!

posted on their Instagram profile: “Exhibition Ready!! Well the last few weeks have been tough health wise which has made progress…”

16/11/2021

TAKE 4 GALLERY!

Today I have been busy creating my last few items to add to the collection heading to for their Christmas exhibition!!! 😲

I'm super excited that my work is going to be displayed in this beautiful gallery and also highly intimidated by the thought of all the other amazing art that will surround it!

Today I have added this set of two stacking bowls to the collection. Made from recycled cotton (textile industry waste) and a super handy size for all those 'bits and bobs' that never have a place to be or for keys or for... You get the picture!
zpagetti

05/11/2021

MOODY MAROON!

I am STILL enjoying making these flower wall hangings which is unusual for me. I don't usually like making things very many times but these have become a fav!

What do you think of the new flower colour?!

Sometimes its hard to match up to the original but I'm actually enjoying this adaptation I think. The flower is crocheted using recycled cotton from .zpagetti, preventing waste from the fashion industry hitting landfill.

The background weave materials are still totally delightful! 😍 Organic Kadi Chakra Cotton and Organic Slubby cotton from !!! So so so soft and lovely to work with and If that's not enough feels all the better knowing they were Handspun by small collectives of women in rural I did, keeping the mums close to their family and the profits supporting the whole community! 🥰

01/11/2021

✈️ SKYLAR ✈️

Enjoying looking back at this commission piece today! I was feeling quite flat and wasn't sure what to post but then I came across this reel that I shot and hadn't shared and it gave me a proper lift to see a completed piece!

This piece was commissioned as a baby gift for a family with a love of planes. Hope I hit the brief! I believe it is now in its new home along with new baby, which makes me very happy! 🥰

Made from recycled cotton using .zpagetti Soft Cotton DK and hung on h**p twine from (there is no end to the uses of that h**p!)

29/10/2021

GOING BLUE FOR M.E.

Today is a big day for the M.E./CFS community. The new NICE guidelines have finally released with some big changes to what went before. The biggest of which is the removal of Grades Exercise Therapy as a treatment plan and the suggestion that CBT could 'cure' us.

I have only managed to read a small section of the guidelines so far (thanks brain fog), but what I have read has been really encouraging! I hope that the release of these new guidelines will see patients up and down the UK getting better care for this condition and maybe start to reduce some of the stigma and lack of understanding around it!

To celebrate I am sharing this adapted version of my "Going Blue for M.E." wall hanging. The original fringe just wasn't working so I stripped it back and adapted it. I felt this was quite poetic, in that many people with M.E./CFS are used to stripping activities back and adapting them so that they can access or manage them. We are a very versatile group of people who are used to finding ways round things.

It is thanks to the hard work and energy sacrifice of many people in the M.E./CFS community that we can celebrate the release of the new guidelines today. Thank you very much to each and every one of you who played a part!

28/10/2021

ECO-TINSEL!!!

I have really enjoyed testing this pattern for .goldenberry and I'm super glad that there are people like her out there, designing these very attractive eco-friendly alternatives to the plastic madness!

I trialled two different materials with this pattern. This one is made using pineapple yarn from the wonderful ! I also trialled it using h**p yarn which I will share tomorrow so keep and eye out and let me know which you prefer!

p.s. note the eco friendly baubles too. They are one of my makes and will be on sale this year,. Made from Organic cotton and stuffed with recycled cotton!
3 for £15. Keep an eye out for the other combos available. DM me to order.

20/10/2021

BAREFOOT SANDALS!

Earlier this year I had the privilege of being asked to make someones wedding footwear for their special day. The brief was barefoot sandals for a beach theme wedding and preferably turquoise. Do you think I hit it?

I'm not gonna lie, I found this task overwhelmingly stressful at times dues to the hugeness of the occasion and I may have done a bit of avoidance at times as a result, BUT I am super pleased with the final result and I believe the bride was too which makes my heart so full!

🧶They are made from organic cotton and shells that I collected from one of the beaches that has had so many happy memories for our family - Pentewan Sands. (I also sent a plain set just in case they were too scratchy).

Scroll to see the sandals in action and and the amazing spot where the wedding was held!!

Thanks for the honour of making your wedding footwear 🥰💍

18/10/2021

Fun for all the family!

So I have always tried to cut corners on this part of all my crochet projects that have involved skeins of yarn. You would think I learnt after the first fail but no…
ALAS! I have finally learnt to do the first steps of yarn winding properly and even got the whole team involved! It is quite hard work winding that handle after all!

The boys loved being able to help, I tolerated fixing all their tangles and together we had a fun afternoon and made 11 yarn cakes! Looking pretty, hey?!

This yarn is as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside. Manos Del Uruguay have ethics at their heart. Born out of a desire to improve the quality of life of Uruguays rural women, they provide not only an income to rural women keeping them close to their families but also provide opportunities to develop their skills while keeping their traditions alive! They do all of this while producing some seriously delightful yarns and my favourite touch is that the tag on each skein has the name of the artisan that handcrafted that yarn!!! So basically don’t forget to check them out for your next project!

Now to crack on and make something that matches up to the quality of this yarn! Or more likely, procrastinate a little longer… Just me?!

10/10/2021

World Mental Health Day

I am realising more and more how external appearance does not accurately represent what is going on for someone inside, both physically and mentally. Just because someone comes across as, or even intentionally projects the image of, happy and together does not mean that they are OK. People can be really struggling yet show very few signs until things are really difficult and even then there may only be one or two people that are allowed to see the what is really going on.

I was thinking of what else I wanted to say leading on from this and these three words kept coming back to me:
Look, Listen, Love

👀 Look: in this busy world its hard to really know what is going on in each others lives. Try to take time to slow down and actually spend quality time with friends and family. That way we will have more chance of noticing when people are struggling and equally they with you.

👂Listen: when someone is talking to you really listen. Not just nodding along while thinking of what we have to do next or making our own judgements of what they are saying. Just stop and listen. People need to be heard, like really heard. Sometimes that is all someone needs to stop them going deeper into mental health difficulties.

♥️ Love: "love your neighbor as yourself". It sounds simple. We have probably heard the phrase quoted before. But what would it really look like if we loved each others in this way. What practical things would we do, what support would we give?

08/10/2021

My First Stall!!

You may remember one of my last posts, way back when, was me preparing for my first stall! I had never done a stall before (obviously because it was my first 🤦‍♀️) so I was fairly nervous to be honest. I didn't even know how one goes about setting up the physical stall!

I am super thankful to my amazing husband who stepped in to help. He used some wood that we had lying around ( /had been tripping over for the past few years 😳) to knock up this back board for me to hang all my bits off! The white sheet is attempting to disguise the children's outdoor table, our camping table, some stools and a few cardboard boxes that some how came together to make this very 3D display!

I also ran some small drop in workshops at the same time which was probably the highlight of the day. I got to meet some great people from the local community and I loved seeing their joy as they completed their project to take home. Scroll through the pics to see some lovely friendship bracelets and one happy lady still wearing her woven flower with pride a few days later! 🌸

I'm not going to lie it totally finished me off and left me drained for days but I am really glad I did it! I'm proud of the display and all the things I had made. I am proud and glad to have been able to share a few of the skills I have acquired with others ; I am thankful to all my family and friends who have encouraged and supported me along the long road that it has been to get to this point!!!

Will I do another one? I hope so! I will need to learn some things from this experience with regards to energy management and recovery but I do hope that this is not my last stall so watch this space!