Category Archives: Norfolk & Norwich Open Studios

An office in the sun!

Well, this is a rare occurrence, Higgins and I have moved outside. We’re on the veranda outside the studio, there’s blue sky, sunshine, flowers, birdsong…What could be better? office_in_the_sun

Only last week we were huddled under a blanket (in Higgins case, three blankets) watching the rain lash down so I’m making the most of every minute now.

There is just one weekend left of Open Studios here in Norfolk and it’s been good, as usual. Really nice to meet the people who come to visit who are really interested in what we do, and in who, in turn, have interesting stories to tell. Higgins has been working well with the meeting and greeting, he even had an assistant! Higgins&Coco It did get very tiring in the end though… tired Higgins

I have been been diligent in my decluttering efforts. So many things which I have made in order to create patterns, but eventually I have to reluctantly part with them in order to make room in the studio, and in my head, for new ideas.

It’s not easy! The knitting mobile has been sold…

it’s off to Germany as a present.

And the Hearts and Flowers Mobile is off to grace a little ones bedroom which is lovely. It’s nice to know it will have a good home.

Hearts and Flowerts Mobile from Planet Penny Quite a few little needlefelted pieces have been sold too, although I’m not going to part with Clover the sheep!

Flock of needlefelt sheep - Planet Penny

Clover is the one in the middle!

So if you are in the area next weekend do call in. There’s bunting and baubles and fairy lights and books too! I’m never going to rival decluttering queen Marie Kondo, but I’m trying!

Back soon…x

It really is the Blog Hop!

As promised, and alas somewhat belatedly, I’m carrying on the Blog Hop from Claire of Mrs Brown Makes. Being asked particular questions really concentrates the mind, none of my usual waffling!

So here goes…

What am I working on?

This is a hard one because I’m a butterfly brain by nature, and I’ve always got a bit of a conflict going on between all the things I want to do. At the moment I know I really need to work on some new ideas for the Planet Penny cotton yarn to add interest to my Etsy shop, but I’m also planning a fresh project for my next needlefelt workshop. I’m also in charge of social media and the website for our local community shop…, and the window displays. Oh, and I’m also designing leaflets and flyers for Arts Desire, which is where I hold needlefelt workshops. And there’s a book review… Hmm, sometimes I feel I need to clone myself!

So the latest pattern for the cottons is for a hat and bag based on the granny square…

And the experiments in flat needlefelt and embroidery will culminate in a workshop on making a sketchbook cover…

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Gosh, that’s a hard one. We all like to imagine we are unique, don’t we and then when you do compare yourself to someone else, it’s generally unfavourable! I suppose with the cotton and the patterns I accidently struck a chord somewhere. People love rainbows, and managing to source the yarn and colours that people love was serendipitous. The Rainbow mice too.

I’m not very good at being serious, (it got me into a lot of trouble when I was at school) and the things I create generally end up making people smile. When I was at Art School I was told I would ‘grow out’ of wanting to make happy stuff, I’m so glad I didn’t!

With needlefelting I do compare myself with others. There are some amazing artists out there who make wonderfully realistic things with needlefelt and if I think about it too much I feel rather inadequate. However, I don’t actually want to make things like that myself! I do love the process, I like turning soft fluff into firm sculpture. When people talk to me about what I do during Open Studios the main emotions seem to be surprise… and laughter. Nothing wrong with that!

This is the Green Man I created for this year’s Norfolk and Norwich Open Studios and you can see how he came into being on the Two Rivers Trail Blog...

Why do I write/create what I do?

Well, I create because I’m alive, it’s just part of me. I’ve done it since I was old enough to hold a crayon, snip with scissors. And as for writing, I started writing the blog when I was at a low ebb and writing about what I was doing meant I had to do something to write about. (It was very good therapy, I recommend it!) Now it’s second nature and it really bothers me when life gets in the way and time passes and I haven’t written anything. And I love being part of the Blogosphere with all the interaction with the rest of the World Wide Web.

How does your writing/creating process work?

Because I’ve been writing the blog for so long I have a sort of virtual filing cabinet in the back of my head where things to write about are noted and kept, and I usually have my camera or phone with me so I can capture images which inspire me to write. I don’t usually struggle to find material to use for a blog post, it’s more the other way around, there so much stuff stored in there I can’t decide what to write about first!

As for creating, it’s really hard to say. Sometimes when I’m needlefelting things sort of arrive when I’m not expecting them, I suppose my subconscious is working out what’s going on because it doesn’t trust the conscious me to get it right!

And now to send you hopping off in another direction…

First up is Gina, a very talented lady who writes the ‘Fan My Flame’ blog. You might remember the beautiful little Alice in Wonderland I bought from Gina a couple of years ago…

Gina describes herself as ‘a textile artist, machine embroiderer, teacher, passionate baker and blogger’, which is very modest considering all she does. You’ll find out when you visit ‘Fan My Flame’, I recommend it!

Secondly is Sue, aka Mrs Micawber…

“My name is Sue Perez – alias Mrs. Micawber – and I live and crochet in Wisconsin. When not crocheting, I read, blog, cycle, take photos when cycling (for the blog), cook, and occasionally clean the house. In winter I walk (though not as often as I ought), and grumble about the weather. I’ve been known to knit, sew, bead, and quilt, but crochet is far and away my favourite craft. These agreeable activities are financed by a job outside the home, but why talk about work when there are so many more pleasant things to discuss? 🙂

My blog, Mr. Micawber’s Recipe for Happiness, was started to while away the time when my work hours were severely cut. Through blogging, I’ve made friends all around the world, and now I can’t imagine life without it.”

Sue writes the most beautiful crochet patterns, again, well worth a visit!

I hope you enjoy hopping about in Blogland. It’s worth working backwards too if you are looking for interesting new crafty blogs to follow…

And I’ll be back soon…x

Needlefelting in Norwich

Well, Open Studios may be over for another year, but the needlefelting goes on… Last Saturday I packed my big spotty bag with a rainbow of fluffy fleece and went off to the Craft Lounge at the new Arts Desire premises. It’s all looking very lovely there now, and I especially appreciated the posh new coffee machine, and Kay’s newly acquired skills as a barista. I function so much better after a shot of caffeine!

We had a lovely group of people on the Needlefelt workshop who were very creative and soon got into the swing of needlefelting, with only the odd squeak as someone missed the work and pricked a finger (with no swearing, I was impressed)

At the end we had an eclectic mix of creations, several birds, a cuddly mouse, a French bulldog, a scary monster and a rainbow hedgehog…

I’ve now had a request for a workshop for making needlefelt notebook covers so if you are interested, do let me know.

Back home, I’m trying to get to grips with the garden which seems to have gone mad while my back was turned. I’ve made lots of moments to just stand and stare at the Albertine Rose though…

For 48 weeks of the year it’s a complete thug. It’s rampaged over the fence into next door and is swarming up their house too, fortunately they really like it. It sends out long, long branches covered in large thorns which grab at unsuspecting callers and it takes our son, Will, who is also our gardener most of an afternoon to trim it, tame it and train up the wires he’s put on the house. But at this time of the year it completely redeems itself, smothering the front of the house with fondant pink. I love lying in bed and viewing the world through rose petals!

It’s all too brief though, and already the North wind of the past couple of days has made the doorstep look as if we’ve hosted a wedding reception…

Such a fleeting moment…

Going back to the needlefelting again, one or two sharp-eyed people spotted the little old man in the tree when they came to visit for Open Studios…

I’m going to leave him there and see what happens. Will he rot? Will he be eaten by slugs or moths? Will he be dismantled by birds for nesting material? Or will he still be there for next year’s Open Studios…?

We shall see!

See you soon…x

The Joy of Open Studios

Could there been a better day taking part in Open Studios? I don’t really think so. The sunshine has been glorious and the sky blue…

…the butterflies discovered the flowers on the courtyard and kept us entertained all day……and Higgins had a bath, specially!

The Studio is still looking astonishingly tidy…

…and we’ve had so many lovely visitors.

A lady from Yorkshire demonstrated tatting…

My best friend from Art School came with her husband and friends (and there was soon as much noisy laughter as there ever was when we were studying together!) Lots of local friends arrived to find out what we get up to and old pals from way back arrived to surprise us.

We got rather too excited when we discovered that two of our visitors ran a circus! And that he was the clown and she was the Ringmaster!

The clown really loved Higgins and I think the feeling was mutual so for a short while Higgins running away to join the circus was definitely on the cards.

And Emma from Silver Pebble came with her family and stayed and did crochet and finger knitting which was lovely…

When eventually every left to go home we sat on the verandah and ate strawberries, clotted cream and chocolate cake and agreed it had been a splendid day all round.

If you’ve ever wondered about taking part in Open Studios yourself, and it happens all over the UK,we would both thoroughly recommend it. Yes, we make sales but its much more than that. People are so interested in what we do and how we do it and it’s great when they go away enthused to try something creative themselves.

And there is still next weekend, so if you are in the area and would like to visit you can find out all about us and the rest of the Two Rivers Trail of which we are a part right here.

Hope to see you then…x

It’s Raining…It’s Pouring!

After a mostly bright and sunny three days for the first weekend of Open Studios, today we have a deluge! The water butts are overflowing…

… the back yard is flooded…

…and the few steps from the back door to the studio are enough to get soaked through.

I tried to work out there but the rain on the roof is deafening so I’ve decamped to the dining table with the laptop where I am typing with one hand because I have a very worried little dog trembling in my other arm. Higgins hates the rain, hates the wet, the noise and the possibility of thunder too, one supposes. Anyway he’s stuck to me like a limpet all morning and just wants to sit on my lap ’till it’s all over.As you can imagine, the last week or so has been really busy, first getting prepared for Open Studios, and then opening the doors and welcoming people in. So I haven’t managed to personally thank everyone who left such lovely comments on my last post, but I do thank everyone for such supportive messages.

The studio is now a display area and you can imagine just how much stuff I’ve got squirrelled away all over the house to make enough space! As usual Kit is sharing the space with her beautiful prints…

…and we have lots of other things to look at and hopefully to inspire people…

…with of course our little Meeter and Greeter at the ready!

Higgins is quite convinced that Open Studios is actually the annual convening of the Higgins the Miniature Dachshund Appreciation Society. He greets every visitor with complete rapture, and by the end of the first day was utterly exhausted…

We now have a few days to catch up before it all happens again next weekend. If you are local, it would be lovely to see you. There’s a lot else to see on the Two Rivers Trail, (you can find out more on the website) Printmaking, textiles, painting, woodcarving, feltmaking, spinning, beautiful alpacas…

…and of course, Higgins…

See you soon…!