Cartography Exhibition at The Royal Exchange, Manchester

I was very excited at the end of last year when The Craft Shop at The Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester got in touch to ask if I'd like to be part of their Cartography Exhibition which starts today - and of course I said 'yes'!

The Craft Shop has regular exhibitions concentrating on different themes, and from today until 25th March 2015 it's all about maps.

I've sent along some keyrings, cards, bookmarks, magnets and pin badges all made with original vintage maps which feature places all around the world. I also sent a selection of places local to Manchester.

A range of Manchester map items from Pink Flamingo's 'Made with Maps' range

A range of world map items from Pink Flamingo's 'Made with Maps' range

As well as my work you'll also find map inspired items, including prints, jewellery and textiles from:

ILLA Studio
Made With Maps
Paperboat Jewellery
Bryony Fawn
Hannah Grace
Studio JCF
Jane Revitt

Cartography Exhibition, 7th January - 25th March 2015,  The Craft Shop,  The Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester

Fairs, Markets and Unique Shopping Events in Sheffield - July, August, September

There are lots of events that happen around Sheffield which are great places for local artists, crafters and producers to share their work...and for customers to find unique treats, do some one of a kind shopping and meet the makers. 

Here are some that are coming up in the next few weeks...

July

4th-7th
The Steel Stage for the Tour de France 
Music, stalls, entertainment, beer festival and lots more. And on the Sunday you get to see the Tour de France go passed too!

5th
Sheffield Country Market
A regular Saturday morning market at Broomhill with locally made food, crafts, plants and produce. Spooner Road 9am-midday.

Sheffield Alternative and Burlesque Fair
A shopping event full of burlesque, rockabilly, vintage, gothic and much more at the Corporation nightclub.

10th, 11th, 12th 
Craft supply sale at Bird's Yard
The designers based in Bird's Yard on Chapel Walk are having a clear out and selling lots of supply based bargains in the shop.

12th & 13th
Kelham Island 1940s Weekend and Vintage Fayre
Lots of wartime themed entertainment including a tea dance, vintage hair and beauty, swing dancing and live music as well as vintage and craft stalls.

20th   
Sharrow Vale Market
The popular street market returns with a mix of food, entertainment and crafts along Sharrow Vale Road. 12-4   

26th
Bird's Yard Craft Fair
A mix of food, craft, art, handmade and other entertainments in the city centre shop on Chapel Walk. 11am-4pm.

Devonshire Market
A mix of food, drink, vintage and handmade at the outdoor market. 11am-6pm

 

August

30th
Devonshire Market
A mix of food, drink, vintage and handmade at the outdoor market and this time it's a Street Theatre Special 11am-6pm
 

September 

6th and 7th 
Art in the Gardens
A two day celebration of handmade, crafts and arts in Sheffield's Botanical Gardens.

14th
Whirlow Farm Fayre 
Stalls, food, entertainment and animals all set on a farm!

Sheffield Antiques Quarter Late Summer Market
Both indoors and outdoors at the Abbeydale Picture house, this market offers vintage, antiques, crafts and food. 

20th
Mary's Marvellous Market 
A mix of vintage and craft at the popular market held in St Mary's church, Bramall Lane.

21st
Nether Edge Market
An outdoor street market packed with food, craft and art. Lots of entertainment too! 12-4, Nether Edge and Glen Roads

27th
Devonshire Market
A mix of food, drink, vintage and handmade at the outdoor market and this time it's a Sheffield Jazz special 11am-6pm 

Lou Lou's Vintage Fair
Lots of lovely vintage clothes, accessories and home wares at the city hall. 

Craft Supply Sale Preview

On the 10th, 11th and 12th July Bird's Yard in Sheffield is holding a special sale...and not just any sale - it's all about craft supplies! Their independent designers have been having a sort out and are setting up a special section full of bargains for customers to get crafty with.

As one of the sellers in the shop I'll be taking along some supplies, but I've also been having a little nosy through what others are selling too. I've just got to make sure I don't come home with more than I take...

There'll be supplies from lots of the shop's designers covering lots of crafts. Expect to see treats from: Galabeer and the Dog, Handpicked Books, Inkling, Life's Big Canvas, All Wrapped Up By Alice, Atelier Raniera, Talented, Shadowcrafts, Molly Rouge and lots more!

Here are a few sneak previews of what you might find (if you're quick enough!)...

Pink Flamingo (me!) ... lots of embellishments. Look out for fabric, scrapbooks, stamps, vintage papers, craft kits and beads too.

Galabeer and the Dog will have lots of vintage choices... this is just a little taster of what you'll find

Life's Big Canvas is bringing lots of origami inspirations... as well as buying packs to take home you can also learn how to do it yourself on Thursday the 10th July.

My Weekend...

I had a fun weekend with two different events where I was able to meet people, do some organising and a little shopping too!

Saturday

I helped to organise and run a 'competitive craft fair' at Bird's Yard in Sheffield where customers could vote for their favourite stall from independent designers. We also had live music and tarot card readings!

The winners were My Vintage Sister who make scented candles in vintage teacups and glasses as well as pretty paper creations. They'll be joining the shop in July for free!

Sunday

On Sunday I went to Nether Edge Farmer's Market as part of Sheffield Country Market where I had items for sale along with other local handmade craft and food treats. I also treated myself to lots of local food from the other stalls too including delicious marshmallow from Sociably Sweet, oat and apple bread from Forge Bakehouse, beetroot sour dough from Seven Hills Bakery and some lovely curd made with goat's milk (as well as chutney, ice cream, burgers, stuffed vine leaves, raspberry shortbread, mushroom flan, coconut and rice milk drinks...there's a lot of tempting stuff there!)

Friday Finds...

...this week I've found fun upcycled gifts (for you or a loved one!) on Etsy.

1. Earrings upcycled from a belt and a briefcase by Insomniac Treasures
2. Rings whose images are made with upcycled papers by Heidi Kind Finds
3. Baby shoes made with reclaimed linen by Leila Badblood
4. Apron made with an upcycled towel by All Things Old Are New
5. Hedgehog paper holder made from an old book by Lauratoaccessories
6. An upcycled wristlet bag that comes with its own story card telling you its past life by Whimsical   
    Ever After

Let Me Introduce You To...some talented local designers

In my last post I wrote about the 'competitive craft fair' I'm helping to organise at Bird's Yard in Sheffield this coming Saturday (11-4 on Chapel Walk!); here are the 'competitors' who'll be displaying their work hoping the customers will pick them to be the shop's latest designer.

All the sellers are local, independent small business owners and make wonderful, unique pieces. Click on the titles to find out more...

Tommy and Zac

Cute and Quirky Girl

Apple Harvest

My Vintage Sister

Strangelord

Natalie Burton

Sillie Billie Designs

Maker's Meadow

A 'Craft Fair' with a Difference - Bird's Yard 21st June

Craft fairs are great places to find unique items, local interest products and good deals. I love shopping at them and selling my own creations at them too. But now I also have a  new way of approaching them...helping to organise one.

I love organising. Any excuse to make a list and use colour coded folders makes me happy! So when Bird's Yard in Sheffield was looking to hold some events, I jumped at the chance to help out and get out my notepads and highlighters.

The event I came up with is a 'competitive craft fair' where potential new sellers for the shop get to hold a stall and tell customers about their work, as well as letting them buy it. The customers can then give their feedback and the stall with the most votes gets to be Bird's Yard's latest designer rent free in July! (And of course if our customers fall for other stalls too I'm sure they'll be space for them along with our other sellers).

As well as the craft stalls there'll also be live music to entertain us and the customers throughout the day, tarot and playing card reading and face painting too. Lots to keep you entertained on a Saturday afternoon!

To find out who's selling there visit the event page

or visit on the day!

Bird's Yard, Chapel Walk, Sheffield, S1 2PD

Made with Maps...a new collection from Pink Flamingo

I admit it. I have an addiction to maps. And it's spilled over into another Etsy shop for Pink Flamingo - introducing Made with Maps.

Following the success of my 'I Love This Place ...Sheffield' range which are made out of vintage maps of Sheffield, I've now made keyrings, bookmarks and cards made with maps from around the world.

And there's more to come too. Ready to be made and become available are magnets, gift tags and badges so watch this space.

So far a few items have been listed in my new shop, but there are plenty more to come - I was just too excited to wait before they're all there to spread the news! And if there's a place you'd like to see featured, custom orders are welcome too.

 

Visit Pink Flamingo's new shop Made with Maps here - www.madewithmaps.etsy.com 

Tips for Crafting with Paper Ephemera

A few weeks ago over on my ephemera page on Facebook I started a series of posts called 'Thursday Tips' where I share a little tip or trick that I've learn through my own crafting. I thought, now I've posted a few of them, that I'd collect them here to create a little article.

I also like to post projects I find, things I make, ephemera I have for sale and anything other vintagey and papery I find! If you'd like to discover a new tip every Thursday do head over to my page take a look.

Thursday Tips

When you've finished cutting up old book pages use a circle punch to make small colourful circles with the scraps. I save them until I find a suitable projects for them. These 1/2 inch circles are left from a 1960s book I cut the pictures out of.

                            


Use a black (or other colour) fine liner pen to create a stitch effect border around paper embellishments for cards and scrapbooks to make them stand out and look defined.
                           

 
To help add definition to pieces of paper you might be layering in a card making or scrapbooking project, gently run an ink pad around the edges. It gives a slightly muted soft edge to help it stand out.

                           


When cutting out small details from paper use a small, sharp pair of scissors and keep them still. Turn and move the paper with your other hand. This makes for a cleaner and sharper cut.
                             

Ephemera doesn't just have to be old paper (although that is my favourite type!). Technically it's any item that was produced to have a short, one off purpose and not meant to be kept and last a long time. I find it useful to keep a box to put all these kind of items in so I've always got plenty of ephemera ready to go when I'm feeling crafty!

                            

If you're making paper beads using strips of vintage (or other) paper, use a quilling tool to make the process easier. Just slot the end of the paper between the gap in the middle of the tool and roll up! It's a lot quicker and neater than rolling paper around cocktails sticks like I used to do.
                                         


If you're doing some stamping over vintage book pages try stamping the pattern as normal (the darkest green in this picture) and then re-stamping without adding more ink going backwards to create a worn effect to match the vintage style.

                                   


If you're making something with vintage papers and there's a tear or mark on it, cover the blemished part with a postage stamp. (This is why my vintage map cards have stamps on!)

                                        


If you're decoupaging an object and are making paper strips to cover it, use a ruler to tear the paper rather than cut it with scissors. Tearing the paper instead of cutting it gives it a softer edge so it lays flatter to the object you're gluing it to and using a ruler means the torn paper will be straight!

Pink Flamingo and Apple Harvest

Yesterday I tried something new for a craft fair - a shared stall. I'd been chatting with Sue from Apple Harvest about a new craft fair that was taking place in Sheffield and we thought we'd try it out together. So together we went along to Lou Lou's Artisan Market at Sheffield Town Hall...

Pink Flamingo and Apple Harvest's shared stall

Sharing a stall meant thinking of different ways to display my goods too. Not only was there less space so I had to get creative, but I also got to play with Sue's display items too! This basket proved useful for carrying items to the market and looked great on the floor in front of the table with my pictures and notebooks in it along with Sue's lavender hearts.

One of Sue's ebay buying sessions lead to her acquiring this handy little stand - perfect for my Sheffield keyrings! And she was generous enough to lend it to me for the day.

There were also a wider range of goods for customers to look at and we inspired each others' making sparking ideas for each other. I loved Sue's 'chopstick flowers' which have her hand felted flowers attached to chopsticks which are covered in green ribbon but still have Chinese writing visible on the bottom. I thought they also looked rather cute in their beer bottle vases!

A selection of goodies from Apple Harvest

And there was a box of vintage sewing supplies! Sue was sharing her cotton and sewing accessories for sale (even though she'd be happy keeping them for herself!) I loved the tags hanging from the box showing prices and saying what they were - an idea for me to use too.

We're planning other projects together in the future which I'm sure will be a lot of fun! Look out for us in September at Art in the Gardens, Botanical Gardens, Sheffield.

 You can find out more about Apple Harvest here:

Apple Harvest's Etsy shop

Twitter

All Good Stuff in Sheffield

A couple of weeks ago I shared the news about All Good Stuff opening on Arundel Street in Sheffield and added some photos of the artists whose work would be available there. Well, now it's formally opened I've been back to take a look myself and I couldn't help but take my own photos to share with you!

There are lots of beautifully handcrafted and produced gifts, art, jewellery and more from a range of talented makers all connected with Sheffield and Yorkshire. It was nice to see some familiar items there from some of my favourite local makers but there was also a great variety of (new to me) work to discover. Here are some things I found...

All Good Stuff at Butcher Works, Arundel Street, Sheffield city centre

Opening Hours:
Tues - Sat 10.30 - 5.00

All Good Stuff on Facebook

Fun With Felting

Felting is something that always looks fun and there are some amazing creations out there, but it's never something I've tried before. Until today! Sue from Apple Harvest very kindly invited me to play with her wools and show me how to make a flower. This is what we got up to...

Lots of gorgeous colours to play with!

Some of the 'tools' needed - hot soapy water, bubble wrap and a rolling pin

You have to keep rolling and turning the wool until it 'knits' together. It was also useful to use the end of the rolling pin to bash the flower too! One it's holding itself together, we rinsed the flowers in cold water then pinched them together and put them on a radiator to dry.

This red flower was my first attempt and didn't turn out quite as flower like as I was hoping! I was happier with this purple and pink creation though...

But Sue's creations are what you really need to see to show you how it's done...