Cute Pups

Today seems to be the day of focusing on books! Another great book to look for is Cute Pups, which, created by Chie Hayano, gives you instructions to make a very cute puppies and some accessories for them. In the front of the book each pup has a home and its own name that make them even more irresistible. For the crafty dog lovers out there this is the prefect present.

Russian Diary

Welcome in the New Year with a new diary. In the ICA bookshop they are selling some cracking diaries including this gem - the Russian Diary.


This diary is produced by Redstones who have pulled together a load of children's cartoons from Vladimir Mayakovsky, El Lissitzky, Nikolai Smirnov, Osip Mandelstam and many others. Through the 20s and 30s, in the early Soviet Union, there flowered briefly a golden age of children’s books. Great artists and writers, often prohibited from other work, created a benign and fabulous alternative world. It was a world made for children, where learning went hand-in-hand with enchantment.

Oh so pretty

The Crafty Creatures love pretty things and there really isn't anything as luxurious as looking pretty in nightwear. Trailing through the internet looking for Christmas presents I stumbled upon these beautiful Kimono style dressing gowns from Caro. They come in a variety of designs and colours. My favourite is this one below!

Frock me

On a chilling Sunday afternoon one Crafty Creature was stumbling down the Kings Road on an voyage to find vintage. Every other month the Chelsea town hall gets taken over by Frock Me who put on a vintage fashion fair. For four glorious pounds you get to enter what can only be described as shopping heaven bar the fact you have to pay for things. Scattered around the town hall are numerous stands selling clothes and accessories from different eras. The prices seem to vary a great deal too. One stand I visited had beautiful dresses that were relatively reasonably priced but other stands had items that cost hundreds. Its worth taking cash though as you can buy some really good quality things at Frock Me.

Also, rather excitingly, there is a old school tea room at the back of the town hall. I managed to resist the cute cupcakes and devilish good looking chocolate cake (its was very hard) but had a lovely cup of tea from a pot and was served by a very friendly chap. On the way in to the tea room I spotted this rather fetching shrug. However I don't think I could ever wear anything with a head and its possibly a bit much for work so I didn't buy it.

Hummingbird Bakery

Crafty Creatures are very excited by the opening of a new Hummingbird Bakery in Soho, which opens today. Now we can eat all those lovely, yummy cupcakes without having to trek to West London. How convenient of them. Also, if you haven't got their cook book then we heavily suggest you purchase it or ask Santa to bring it to you as a little treat.

For more info on Hummingbird Bakery visit their site: www.hummingbirdbakery.com

Bust Magazine's Christmas Craftacular

Christmas appears to be the time of year in which everyone goes craft crazy. Every weekend there appears to be another craft event, not that we are complaining. We are in our element.

Bust magazine, the independently owned craft magazine that has been running for over 13 years, is hosting its Christmas craftacular this Saturday at York Hall in trendy East London. This is a craft event not to miss as York Hall is transformed into Santa's grotto as over 60 vendor's sell their hand made wares.

Even more excitingly there is going to be a Tatty Devine Christmas-Tree Tombola; tea and cake at the Lady Luck Rules OK Pop-Up Christmas Party; knitting and sttching in the DIY Den with Fabrications' recycled rosette workshop; knitting know-how with Prick Your Finger and Knit & Destory's giant knit-along Christmas decoration.

The Crafty Creatures will be there as the clock strikes 12pm (we want our free goody bag) spending lots of money, eating lots of cake and being, generally, very merry.

For more info check out the Bust magazine site: http://www.bust.com/craftacular/About-London.html

Photos from our Christmas Craft Extravaganza!

Crafternoon may seem like an age away now but relive the wonderful day by checking out the photos. We, hopefully, will have more coming soon.

Craft Guerrilla "Christmas Craft Market"

The lovely people at Craft Guerrilla are hosting their own Christmas Craft market this weekend.

Here is the info from them about it:

It seems to be quite fitting that we are hosting our Christmas Market in the home of the father of the Arts & Crafts movement! Situated on Forest Road the gallery is home to some stunning art work and we're very happy to be able to set up our event amongst the works of these great artists,craftsman,philosopher, socialite and all round super star!

Come spend the day browsing through contemporary craft in these beautiful surroundings. Find extraordinary one off designer gifts, view one of the richest collections of Art & Craft in the country, try your luck at the the Tombola and buy something you won't find on the High Street!

Also to be confirmed: Local Choir to perform a few seasonal tunes to get you in the festive spirit.

From 11 am to 4pm. Free entry.

Whilst the cat's away...

If you can't wait for the next crafternoon (we forgive you) then you can get a craft fix at next Tuesday's Make and Do Craft Mash Up at the Hoop and Grapes Pub in Farringdon from 7pm.

Make and Do host workshops across London in cafes and bars. This is a great opportunity to make Christmas presents, to learn something new or to brush up on forgotten skills.

For more information visit their meet up page: http://www.meetup.com/Make-and-Do/

Entry costs £5 and includes refreshments. yum.

Thank you for coming

Just a quick post to say a big thank you to all those lovely people who came to our Christmas extravaganza on Saturday. We raised £688.80 from all your cake eating and crafting. Well done you.

Keep an eye on our blog for pictures.

Crafternoon is tomorrow!

We're excited. Are you?

After, what feels like, a long wait crafternoon is finally upon us. Starting at 1pm tomorrow (Saturday, in case you read this another day) at St Olave's Chruch Hall we will be preparing you for Christmas by creating our very own grotto. Even Santa is coming along.

Upon arrival you will have the choice of making your own advent calendar, creating your own Christmas baubles, designing wrapping paper and crafting a Christmas cross stitch. Also, on hand to teach you to knit and supply you with Christmas knitting patterns are our friend Purl Stitch. Experience knitters are also welcome!

All this crafty mayhem will be sound tracked by the lovely RDA who, as well as performing their own material, will be knocking out a Christmas number.

As Marie Antoinette said: Let them eat cake! And, yes, we plan to eat lots of it.

Crafternoon finishes at 5pm so come early to make the most of the day. The area will, also, be sign posted so you can't possibly get lost.

See you all tomorrow!
Crafty Creatures x

Easy mince pies

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way! Yay, Christmas is coming and that means its time to stuff our faces with yummy mince pies. To do this you don't have to always pop to the shops and buy pre-packaged mince pies. You can easily make your own and we are going to guide you through it.

The first step is to buy ready made puff pastry and ready made filling. So may say this is cheating but others, the sensible people, say that you can buy very tasty fillings now so why not. Plus is you buy a jar you can have many, many more mince pies and who really wants to fart about making pastry?!

Once you have your puff pastry, defrost, let it sit for a while (time for a cup of tea and don't forget to preheat the oven at 200C!) and then roll out so that its a couple of millimetres thick. When you're ready take a biscuit cutter and cut out and many rounds as possibly, re-rolling the pastry cut offs. Lay out a baking tray with a grease proof paper, place half the rounds on the tray, fill with the mince meat filling and brush with a milk and egg mixture, which will stick the bottom of the pie to the top. Once you have done this brush the top, make a couple of holes in the lid and sprinkle with sugar so that when they are cooked they have a crunchy top.

Cook the mince pies for 25 minutes (this will vary due to the thickness of your pies so you might as well have another cup of tea or read a magazine). Then you done and eat mince pies until you feel a little ill.

Vintage Vogue patterns

After seeing in Vogue a feature on DIY fashion and how certain editors had recreate their favourite design one crafty creature was inspired to try and create her own vintage inspired garment.

Available in most haberdasheries the vintage Vogue patterns are incredibly cool and come in a variety of different levels of expertise. You can, also, shop for them online: www.voguepatterns.com.

This crafty creature is attempting to make this pattern. Fingers crossed it goes ok and looks better then the woman modelling it! Will keep you posted.

King of Cakes

Finding gems in unusual places is always great especially when you love cakes. Kings Cross has never been a mecca of great cafes or interesting shops but with all the regeneration planned for the area things seem to be improving.

On my lunch break today this Crafty Creature went to a really rather lovely cafe called Simmons on the Caledonian Road. It sells a variety of sandwiches, biscuits, snacks, cakes and drinks but the best thing has to be their cupcakes. Also, when you order tea it comes in a pot with beautiful vintage cup. It made for a very dignified lunch.

Jingle Balls

With Crafternoon a week away, (yes a week away now...actually, I lie, 6 days away) us Crafty Creatures decided to make some Christmassy baubles like the ones you can make at crafternoon. They are pretty simple and quick to make and look fantastic.

The first thing to do is to get a polystyrene ball (available from ebay) and wrap it up in wool, material or paint it so that the base is a nice texture and colour. See us the lovely ladies below doing this.
Once they are completely covered we then stuck colourful pins into them, beads and attached ribbon to form a bow which can use to hang them to a tree...a voila:

You could always turn then into an accessory if you fancy. Crafty Julia took this to a completely new level to show how versatile they can be

Monster Mash

Here is our own monster after doing the Make Your Own Monster kit. Say hello to snappy.

Crafternoon Christmas Flyer!

Hurrah - a new batch of Crafternoon flyers have arrived! We'll be dropping these into the grimiest pubs and the loveliest craft shops all round London (well, mostly South London where the Crafty Creatures live).

Send your friends the link to this blog so they can see how much fun we're going to have!

The event is taking place in St Olave's Church Hall, which is near to Fenchurch St (Rail), Tower Hill (Tube) and Monument (tube) You can see a Google Map here:
http://tinyurl.com/ybzom9n
...and there is a more exact map on the flyer below.

Come along and try your hand at an advent calendar that will last a lifetime (and you can put chocolates in), homemade baubles, hand-printed wrapping paper and present tags and Christmas cross-stitch!

Remember to bring £5 for entry, pocket money for cakes and mulled wine and a spare t-shirt (or other fabric you have lying around). We'd love to see you there!

Just hear those sleigh bells jingle-ing...

Make your own monster

At crafty creatures HQ we love crafts, as you would have guessed. Sometimes, though, we don't always have the time to create things from scratch. If you have a problem finding time for crafting too then look no further then Donna Wilson's make your own monster kits. They're scarily good.

One crafty creature purchased one from Magma in Covent Garden for £15. We believe they are available from other shops too.

The kit comes with everything you need to create a small, unusual monster. There are a number of different shapes but they all come with a pre-sown body shape, stuffing, cut out shapes and a step by step instruction guide.

Donna Wilson, also, makes a load of other really cool things. You can find them all on her website: www.donnawilson.com

The Independent

The Independent have kindly feature us in their christmas gift guide. This is mega exciting!

Ideas for the weekend...

If you are looking for something to do over the weekend look no further as we suggest some fab things for you to do.

Tart...
No, we are not calling you a tart but if you like tarts (the sweet kind that you eat) then this might be the event for you. This afternoon enables you to let out your inner lady, a don your most prettiest dress and stuff your face with cakes in the quaint setting of east London's boutique hotel, 40 Winks.

Starting at 2pm on Saturday 14th November, this event will set you back £60, which may seem like a lot but you do get lots of treats included for that amount.

Oxfam Mad Hatter's Tea Party
Who isn't a fan of Alice in Wonderland? Or the idea of dressing up like some bizarre extra from the film? Oxfam brings, for your pleasure, to Circle Bar, Clapham, a nocturnal mad hatter's tea party to remember. With live music from Othay and Wilderness and Jonny Clark powering the wheels of steel expect a night of beautiful hats, Cheshire cats and tea martinis! Sounds great to us.

Tickets must be brought in advance through: http://madhatterteapartylondon.eventbrite.com/

Grind A Go-Go
The 1960s return to Bethnal Green this Saturday as the working man's club is turned into a den of go-go dancers making moves to the sultry delights of girl group vocals, Mersey beats and psychedelic sounds.

For more info visit their myspace: http://www.myspace.com/grindagogo

Potty for Teapots

Interestingly radio 4 have a new series on teapots, which starts this afternoon. Now this may seems like a very dull prospect but the series is narrated by Spitting Image's Roger Law so should be a light hearted and funny listen.

For more info visit: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00npf9t

Knitting...

Hello all,

At our christmas crafternoon on Saturday 28th November we will have a special team headed up by our friend Martin on hand to teach people how to make knitted christmas treats.

Looking forward to seeing you all in a couple of weeks.
Crafty Creatures x

Work Bake Off

One little Crafty Creature made her work do a charity bake off and here is some of the results.

Crafternoon - 28th November

Crafty Creature’s Christmas Extravaganza

ENTRY: £5

ADDRESS: St Olave’s Church Hall

TIME: 1 – 5pm

http://www.fairpensions.org.uk/

On the 28^th November the Crafty Creatures return with an all day Christmas craftathon at St Olave’s church hall, East London.

With Christmas in the air and the mulled wine bubbling on the stove we will be turning our hand to making material advent calendars that can be used for many festive seasons to come. There will be the opportunity to whip up your own Christmas decorations and wrapping paper so that when it comes to turning your home into a Christmas grotto you are fully prepared. Our saucy cross stitch team will also be providing jolly designs to get crafty with.

Whilst you get stuck into Yuletide crafting Santa’s little helpers will serve up a selection of cakes (including mince pies), savouries and drinks, and our house band will treat you to your favourite Christmassy carols. All you need to bring is a hungry belly, a well loved t shirt – that you don’t mind cutting up and recycling – and a generous dollop of Christmas cheer.

We have an extra special guest at this crafternoon to make the festive proceedings official. Santa will be dropping by (minus his reindeers) to grant Christmas wishes and hand out presents to those who have been well behaved this year. With a venue that is situated close to Liverpool Street and Tower Bridge, a fun afternoon of craft and cake couldn’t be more convenient.

The Crafty Creatures fundraise for the charity FairPensions, who campaign for your pension to be invested responsibly and ethically. All profits will go to them – so while you’re stitching your advent calendar you can be happy in the knowledge you’re helping to make the world a better place. So come on down to crafternoon and let out your inner crafty creature!

Advent Calendar

With crafternoon approaching we thought we'd turn our hand to making an advent calendar, which is the main craft for the forthcoming crafternoon on the 28th November. As you can see our is not the most christmassy but, hey, we're open to all kinds of interpretations on the advent calendar.

On the day we will be handing out most of the necessary components for anyone to be able to make a advent calendar. It would be great if anyone has any christmassy fabric, be that t- shirts or PJs, at home that they want to get rid of they could bring it along.

More info about crafternoon is coming soon. See you on the 28th November.

Next Crafternoon

A date has been confirmed for the next Crafternoon and it is going to be on....drum roll...Saturday 28th November at St Olave's Church Hall, Hart St, EC3R 7NB.

More info to follow shortly.

Alternative Village Fete

So the weekend is rapidly approaching and I am sure you are looking for things to do. If you are not thinking of going to Hunga Munga and if the day is prefect for strolling along The Thames you might want to pop along to the Alternative Village Fete, which is happening outside the National Theatre over the weekend.

For more info visit their website here:
http://www.homeliveart.com/current-projects/11-the-alternative-village-fete

Hunga Munga Festival

After, what feels like, a long time off for the summer Crafty Creature are back in business and returning with the next crafternoon in November. Be sure to keep checking our blog and fan page for updates.

If you are hungry for craft this weekend then you should go to this weekend extravaganza put on by Hunga Munga:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=231294595229&ref=mf

Here is whats planned:
The Gallery Cafe and St Margarets House are extremely excited to be hosting one half of this years Hunga Munga Festival.
acts so far confirmed are:

Saturday 26th September
an arty garden party, art bazaar and live music til midnight
at The Gallery Cafe, Bethnal Green
with
Tallulah Rendall
The Bobby McGees
Tabloid
Lail Arad
Tristram
Thee Intolerable Kidd
Emil and the Dogtooth
Lulu and the Lampshades
Jess Bryant
Jim'll's Brain
Mariam
Lora Linhazes-Marx
Aliyah Keshani

Sunday 27th September
an indoor festival with arts and crafts, bands, gameshows,
burlesque, dancing and comedy
at Bethnal Green Working Men's Club

with
Alessi's Ark
Gabby Young and Other Animals
Dark Captain Light Captain
Yearner Babies
David Cronenberg's Wife
Off Ground Touch
Caroline Doyle
Antony Elvin
Local Girl Saves Planet
Olly The Octopus
Gabriel Kain and the Ables
and more tbc

comedy line-up for Sunday to be confirmed...

Tickets are now on sale from Moondog Loves you...
http://moondoglovesyou.ning.com/page/the-hungamunga-festival-2009

Kniting in Camberwell

Some of you maybe aware that an arts festival is happening in Camberwell this weekend. Yes? Good. If not then a number of venues around Camberwell are taking part in a open house style event and showcasing the cultural diversity of the area.

Crafty Creatures just stumblde upon this treat that may interest our South East London crew. At the Sun and Doves on Coldhabour lane there will be a massive stitch and bitch and knit fest on 25th June!

For more detail visit the camberwell arts festival website:
http://www.camberwellarts.org.uk/

Craft corner

For all of you that miss crafternoon check out the Guardian's craft page. Its filled to the brim of handy hints and tints. Everything from making your own beads to guerrilla knitting.

here is a link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/craft

Photos from Saturday

Time Out

The kind people at Time Out have listed our event, which is great but they got the address wrong. boo. Please note that St George the Marytr is in Borough - across the road from the tube station - and NOT in Holborn.

Closer got it right though! we love them.

Pom poms!

We've been practising our pom pom making - check it out! Accessorise your shoes, hairbands, earrings...