Papercut Practise

A little while ago I tried my hand at papercutting.

My friend and fellow blogger Emma Daniels, who I've known since we were this big...

...is a very talented papercutter and she's recently started running workshops at Baker & Barista in Ipswich. She was holding her first craft workshop over the Christmas period and she wanted to try it out on a few friends first. So myself and a couple of others got together to have a papercutting lesson, complete with wine and snacks.

Emma started us with some simple designs that she had drawn; we started cutting along straight lines and then graduated to curved ones.

Eventually, when we'd got the hang of using the scalpel, we created our own designs for a Christmas bauble papercut. My incredibly unimaginative design included my two pets, Jack and Otis, in a cheesy festive motif.

It took me forever to cut, but it was a lot of fun.

Finally, I had my very own Christmas papercut.

I was pretty proud of it, but I don't think it really compares to any of Emma's work.

Papercuts by Emma Daniels

Amazing, huh? I don't know how she has the patience.

The Christmas workshops at Baker & Barista went really well; in fact they were so popular that Valentine's Day and Mother's Day papercutting workshops have now been scheduled. If you're in the Ipswich area and want to create a unique papercut for a special someone then book yourself onto one of the craft evenings. There's also free cake, amazing incentive!

Check out more of Emma's work on her blog: www.made-by-ed.blogspot.co.uk

P.S. Apologies for the rubbish photos, they were taken with my rubbish phone.

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Penguin Books Nail Art

Penguin Books Nail Art - One Nail To Rule Them All

I just had to post about this amazing nail art from One Nail To Rule Them All (good name).

She's recreated the classic and instantly recognisable Penguin Books covers on her nails.

I'd never have the patience or talent to paint these myself. Plus my nails are a chewed mess.

Penguin Books Nail Art - One Nail To Rule Them All

Check out the One Nail To Rule Them All blog for details of how to paint these yourself.

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Last Day

I have now officially left Aceville Publications and have started on my exciting/terrifying new career as a freelance writer.

It was a bit of a strange last week; we were on press with the October issue of Sew magazine so I barely had time to think about the fact that I would be leaving on Friday. I still don't think the realisation has sunk in.

I got a good send off and some lovely presents, including Rob Ryan goodies and my very own Sew magazine cover.

I managed not to cry but I was very touched. I will miss everyone on Sew and Make & Sell Jewellery magazines and all of Aceville.

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Alyssa Smith Jewellery

Gingerbread men jewellery - Alyssa Smith

We've recently launched a new feature in Make & Sell Jewellery magazine called How I Started. It's a feature on an individual from the jewellery world about, you guessed it, how they started.

I've been lucky in managing to get some big names, including Alyssa Smith. She's got a strong celebrity following (Sheridan Smith and Dawn Porter to name a few). I thought because of this she would be too big to talk to me, but oh no, she was actually one of the nicest and funniest people I've ever featured.

Alyssa Smith

Happy Ever After Necklace - Alyssa Smith

She started her company straight out of university, even though she "didn't know how to fill in a tax form." Now she's a successful business woman. Her Tweetie necklaces in particular are popular.

Tweetie Necklace - Alyssa Smith

I think I like her best because when the magazine came out she posted this on Twitter:

'I put the magazines on the main stand and left all the pages open at my interview. Had to be done! :-D xxx'

Legend!

The magazine is out now so take a look.

Lou Gardiner, Free Machine Embroiderer

A National Treasure - Lou Gardiner

A great part of my job is getting to contact and write about stupidly talented people, one of them being designer Lou Gardiner. She creates amazing works of art using just a sewing machine. It's a level of talent that I'm in awe of.

Lou Gardiner

Pink Fizz and Feathers - Lou Gardiner

I interviewed her for one of our regular features on Sew magazine, My Sewing Room, which is a one page in depth piece on a person from the sewing world. She talked about her inspiration and her work with Sensations crisps, designing the logos for their new flavours.

Kettle Chips - Lou Gardiner

Also, she designs pictures of ducks wearing chef hats.

Bonjour Canard Cupcake - Lou Gardiner

She's now become a regular columnist for Sew where she frequently talks about her love of sherry, my kind of girl.

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