Crafternoon is TOMORROW

We're getting very excited about Crafternoon tomorrow. We hope you are! Remember if you are in the East London area tomorrow to pop in and say hello. We will be crafting away from 12pm in Hanbury Hall (right next to brick lane and the Duke of Uke).

Bunting

Crafternoon is creeping quickly up on us and in preparation for the big day (Saturday 11th September in case you had forgotten!) the Crafty Creatures thought it would be a good idea to make their own bunting - results are in the photo above.

Bunting is incredibly easy to make and looks pretty! The most time consuming part of making it is cutting out all the triangles. To make our bunting we brought 2 metres of different flowered fabric. It doesn't matter, really, what sort of fabric you use but we used a cotton mix mainly because it was cheap and the one we selected had a nice flower print on it. We also brought some dark blue cotton binding and some pinking shears. We would advise spending quite a bit on the pinking shears as they will be sharper and easier to use. The pair we used was rubbish and as a result some of the triangle weren't cut out very well. Hopefully no one will notice though.



Once all our triangles were cut out, we sensibly got out the sewing machine and started attaching the triangles to our dark blue binding. To hid the unfinished edge of the triangles you must fold the binding whilst you sew. You could pin the triangles on to the binding first if you wanted and then iron the binding so you sharp edge to it...we were lazy and failed to do this. Remember to leave a nice gap between each triangle. We left 19cms between each triangle. Once all the triangles are attached you have finished and can hang the bunting where ever takes your fancy. We even had enough triangles left to make another 10 metres of bunting!

CAKE BRITAIN

Art! And Cakes!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gallery/2010/aug/27/cake-britain-mad-artists-tea-party#/?picture=366178685&index=0

This wonderful slideshow is of the 'Cake Britain' exhibition, which runs from Friday 27 to Sunday 29 August 2010, 10am - 6pm at the Future Gallery, 5 Great Newport Street, London WC2.

We can't guarantee the cakes will be quite as intricately designed at Crafternoon. But they'll probably taste better!

Drink, Shop & Do

Drink, Shop & Do is brand new and very fun cafe bar that has recently opened on the Caledonian Rd, Kings Cross. One Crafty Creature went there for lunch today and they serve a fine array of tea, cakes and snacks. You can also buy the chair you're sitting on if you fancy it! The owners of DSD have great things planned so keep an eye on their website for information on forthcming events.

Fiona Bevan

While you're crafting away and sipping your Rosie Lee at our next Crafternoon (11th Spetember), we'll have live music from the fabulous Fiona Bevan, who has been compared to artists as seemingly diverse as Joni Mitchell, Erykah Badu and Mark Bolan! You can have a listen here: http://www.fionabevan.co.uk/

The Roving Bazaar

We know this is a little late in the day to be telling readers about the The Roving Bazaar as their event in Peckham is today. However if you are at a loose end you may want to pop to the Sassoon Gallery on Blenheim Grove, Peckham, for a day of crafty goodness. They are also hosting a vintage, bric-a-brac sale and spinning some quality tunes to get you in the mood for a night of dancing (if you have such plans made).

For more info visit: www.thesassoongallery.co.uk

Crafternoon

The festival season may be drawing to a close, but fear not, the Crafty Creatures are here to help combat those end-of-the-summer blues with another round of imaginative eco-friendly monster-making and cross-stitching, fuelled by a mouth-watering selection of tempting treats and a never-ending supply of tea.

The Crafty Creatures love recycling and we encourage you to bring along a much loved t-shirt, to cut up and transform into your very own cloth creature! Whether you end up producing a material manifestation of your alter-ego, or perhaps a handy voodoo doll of your boss, whilst your creative juices are flowing our lovely hosts and hostesses will be at your beck and call to guide you in your crafting as well as serve up a selection of homemade cakes and hot drinks.

The Crafty Creatures fundraise for the Spitalfields Crypt Trust, a small but vital local charity that offers a range of high-quality support, rehabilitation and training services to people facing problems of homelessness, addiction or social isolation. ALL PROFITS will go to them – so while you’re crafting away you can be happy in the knowledge that you’re helping a very worthy cause.

So come along to the lovely Hanbury Hall, conveniently located just off Brick Lane and 5 minutes from Liverpool Street and Shoreditch High Street, for a fun afternoon of crafts, cakes and feel-good activity. Go on – let your inner Crafty Creature roar!

Date: Saturday 11 September 2010
Time: 12 - 5.30pm
Entry: £5
Hanbury Hall
22 Hanbury St
E1 6QR
Nearest Tube: Aldgate East / Liverpool St / Shoreditch High Street (London Overground)

We are back

Crafty Creatures has been a way for some time now and we apologise for being rubbish. We are returning though in September. In the next couple of days there will be a blog post giving out all the details so watch this space.

Crazy Cakes

Are you the kind of person who likes to play about with cupcakes? Looking for inspiration when it comes to decorating your cakes? Then look no further! This crafty creature stumbled upon a very cool website that's more a game but is great fun to look at. Crazy...Creative... feels like a collective blog that make games out of jazzing up cupcakes. Why not check out their current game to see what I mean: http://www.steelheadstudio.com/100cupcakes/

Do it yourself and save

In this weekend's Guardian and The Observer they are giving away a guide to getting crafty and practical. To us this sounds brilliant and a great way to kick off the new year.

Part one: Home and Garden shows you how to tackle jobs around the house from little things like fixing that broken tile (the one that's been looking at you sadly for months), to daunting tasks like mending a broken washing machine. But don't worry there are fun and creative tips too, including how to upholster a chair and grow a window box.

Part two: Grooming and Gadgets helps you rescue your wardrobe by turning pink clothes white, sew on a missing button, fix and clean precious jewellery or even trim your own fringe (and have fun doing it). What's more you could also save yourself a tidy sum in the process.

For more info click here.

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.