Handmade Sketch Book

Hi all, just wanted to share with you a quick project I made tonight. I have many many sketch books but I wanted to make a pretty one for my bedside as I often draw last thing at night or first thing in the morning.

I used the new Anna Griffin Cecille Collection in 12x12, some handmade papers, the Bind It All and some canvas paper inside.

Have you ever thought about making your own sketch pad? Give it a go and I would love to see what you have created!

Also if you are stuck about what to put inside your sketch pad why not take part in our weekly drawing challenges!

Cathy

The Crafty Adult Craft Club New Format and Dates

New format and Dates for Adult Craft Club

Hi all,

Please note that these will be the Adult Craft Club dates for the summer are

Saturday 8th May
Saturdy 5th June
Saturday 3rd July
Saturday14th August

Craft Club will take place from 2pm to 5pm and will cost €30 inclding all materials.

The craft club is paper craft technique focused and will include tutorials that can be used in cardmaking/ scrpbooking/ altered art etc.

Places are limited so please book early!

Thank you

Cathy

Junior Summer Camps

Junior Summer Camp Dates at The Crafty Alley Shop

11am to 12.15pm (Thurs, Fri & Sat)

1st to 3rd July
22nd - 24th July
29th - 31st July
5th - 7th August
26th - 28th August

€20 for three days or €7.50 for one day

Includes all Materilas
Please book early are places are limited

April Kit design Team Creations Video

April Kit Creations Video

Collage of design team projects for April kit so far

Guys, as we are approaching the end of April and only a limited amount of kits are remaining for sale I wanted to post the amazing projects my design team have created so far.....Would love to hear your comments.

Altered Tiles

Hi all,

Just wanted to share some of the work I have been creating recently. These are altered ceramic tiles - a great way to use up old tiles.Most of these were gifts for people last week.

Tiles have been altered using a lots of different products like modpodge, distress inks, alcohol inks, ephemera, acrylic paints and anything else I could get my hands on!

I will share a tutorial on altering tiles soon.

Cathy

We are packing up and moving

Guys, after much deliberation I have decided that keeping two blogs is just plain crazy for me as my personal crafts and business are so entwined!

So I am going to be blogging over here from now on about my crafts and my business....I hope you will follow me there!

Thanks for all your support

Cathy

A quick round up of the last few days

Hi all,

I hope you are still enjoying the sunshine? It seems to put everybody in a better mood and I hope it continues. It has been a terrible week for all of those stuck in their travel arrangements due to the volcano and I really hope that everybody arrives to their destinations as soon and as safe as possible, be it by boat, car, train or camel!

This week I took part in the RTE Radio 1 show The Business with John Murray.

We took part in a Mad Knitters Tea Party and it was both fun and extremely interesting. I have to say my favourite bit was meeting fellow entrepreneurs in the textile field as sometimes when you are running a business you are so busy you never get to meet others. Everybody was lovely and it was enlightening to see people building businesses around textiles in Ireland.

I have been researching the web a lot this week and I am always on the look out for fabulous creative resources so here is a few of my favourites I have found.

• Sister Diane and her Crafty Pod -http://www.craftypod.com/ (Thanks Claudine for sharing this one)
• Where Women Create -http://www.wherewomencreate.com/ (I would love to get my hands on that magazine if anybody knows a source for Ireland?)
• To all you knitters and stitchers out there I wanted to mention Ravelry again which has to be the single best resource on the net for knitting and crochet. Great way to find the newest patters, meet fellow stitcher's and join an amazing community
• I have also recently signed up to Milliandes community as I was trying to find a community that encompassed my favourite types of art forms including Mandalas and Art Journal and this one does it all. An amazing community for creative women and well worth a visit. 

I noticed as well that all of these people have Facebook Fan pages which is great as it means I get their updates regularly through my Facebook Page. On that note I also set up a Facebook page this week to bring all of us knitter and crocheters together. You can check it out here 

There are literally hundreds more but I don't want to bombard you so I will share a few every week! Also have yo any cool creative resources you can share back?

The sunshine always makes me want to sit outside and draw and paint. Lots of people have been asking me how to improve their drawing so here some drawing challenges over at on the network. Join in!

Happy crafting in the sun guys!

Cathy

Sticky Back Canvas Tag Tutorial

Sticky Back Canvas Tag Tutorial

Junior Knitting Class.

Its time to get the needles out again!
The Junior knitting class is open to anyone of National School age and runs for a 4 week course.
Starting on Wednesday 21st April until 12th May.
From 3-30pm to 4.30pm
The cost is €20.00 for the 4 weeks and needles and wool are provided.
As places are limited please ring us on 064 66 30800 to book a place.
If you are slightly over National School age and would like to knit, why not join the Crafty Knit'n'Stitchers every Friday morning, here in the shop from 10 am - 12 pm.

Winner of Blog Candy

Hi all - the winner of the blog candy is Micki using random number generator!

Well done Micki - if you email me your address details we will get the kit sent out to you!

Cathy x

Video of Crafty Alley Kit Club (April)

Weekly Drawing Challenges

Hi all - if you are interested in developing your drawing skills I have set up a weekly drawing challenge over on http://www.craftyalley.ning.com/.

Week ones challenges are

1. Draw a hand


2. Draw a teapot

3. Draw a cushion

4. Draw a chair

5. Draw a flower

6. Draw a bag

7. Draw a pencil

Join in!

Blog Candy Alert over at The Crafty Alley Blog

To win this months amazing kit look at the blog candy over on The Crafty Alley Shop Blog!

Good Luck everybody!

Cathy x

BLOG CANDY ALERT!

Hi all,

To celebrate the launch of our new design team and kit club for this month only I am offering one of the kits as blog candy!

In this kit you will get

6 patterned papers 12x12 - 1 each of Material Girl Calico, Snip Snip & Tailor Made. & 1 each of Early Bird Apron Strings, Brunch & Ribbon Sandwich.

2 Border pages 12x12 (1 EB, 1MM)

2 Element pages 12x12 (1 EB, 1MM)

1 A4 felt sheet

1 sticker page (either EB or MM)

1 blue Bazzil basic

1 yellow Bazzil Bling

1 A4 corrugated card

2 green A4 linen paper

2 orange A4 cardstock

5 ribbons (50cm each)

3 Fibres (1m each)

1 American Crafts layered embellishments

1 Set of Chalk Pastels

1 set of small wooden Alphabet stamps

1 pack of Photo Corners

1 pack of Brads

1 pack of Bling which includes;Gems, Hearts, Half back Pearls, Half back Green gems, Scissor Charms, paper roses, Small tags, Felt flowers, Pearl ended pins and Buttons.

***Please note that colours and elements can vary between kits***
 
We have been busy bees setting up new design team blogs, ning network, facebook page, you tube channels and more so in order to be in a chance to win the blog candy here is what you got to do!

1. Be a follower of the following blogs

• Crafty Alley Blog
• Crafty Alley Design Team Blog

2. Sign up to our Ning Network

3. Become a follower of our Facebook page

3. Post somewhere about our blog candy linking back to us here on this post and let us know where you posted!!!

We really want to try and build a community of crafters and artists so by signing up to our various sites you are helping us build that community. In return you will get an amazing kit and meet some more amazing crafters and artists!

Also as an added bonus - I will send a little mini gift to 3 other people who follow the guidelines above.

I will announce the winner next Monday evening the 12th April.

So everybody good luck!

Cathy

Tilda is here!

Another exclusive for The Crafty Alley Shop.

Tilda is a craft brand started by the Norwegian designer Tone Finnanger in 1999. Tilda is most known for the whimsical, comical and naive characters in the form of animals and dolls. Tilda's world is without a doubt a feminine one, and the most recognisable features are the faces, with two dots for eyes and rosy cheeks.The Tilda range consists of craft books and craft products for sewing and paper craft.

We are now stocking Tilda's fabrics, accessories, 12x12 paper pads and more.

Click here to see our Tilda range.

We have fallen in love with Tilda...will you?

The Crafty Alley Shop

New Mandalas

Hi all, in preparation for The Creative Journey Weekend Workshop I will be facilitating I started a new mandala art journal. This is the first time I will keep all my mandalas in one place as they are usually scattered through different journals and canvases. Mandalas are a great outlet for letting your creativity flow and are known to have healing properties for meditation. There are no rules just let them be what they will be.

Cathy