SO vintage!

It seems Vintage is the thing, the way forward (kind of) at the moment. Everyone is knitting vintage, baking vintage, selling vintage and people love it, don't they? I mean, I do!

I am dying to knit a jumper now that I've finished all the knitted hearts (4 days to go until the big day - crazy!) So, of course, I started browsing the net for yummy designs. That's when I stumbled upon Stone Hill Collections. If you want vintage you need this site.

You name it, they got it: buttons, knitting patterns, lace, jewellery...everything from bits to bobs!

And...I found my jumper pattern there too. Do you like? So the colours are a little 'off', but that's the joy of knitting, right? Knitting patterns, your way. Ask me in a year and I might be able to show you the finished article.

For now I'm working on my not-so-vintage scarf, but more on that as it progresses...

Get creative. Get vintage!

Bouquets with a difference

Isn't this just the coolest thing you've ever seen in your LIFE!

They are made by a Princess Lasertron and it is how she makes her living. I want to be her!

Check out her amazingly creative blog here.

Day 329: Sewing, here we come...

On Saturday, I put up a picture of my unopened presents, which is pretty and all, but it's a bit mean if I don't share what's actually under the wrapping paper. There were a few creative gems in there, one being the massive one at the back (scroll down to take a look). My lovely Mum, Step Dad Mark and grandparents gave me a sewing machine!

I am so excited. My creative enthusiasm hasn't been let loose on one of those since I made a Mickey Mouse Apron in Year 8 (which was awesome, of course.) I can use the Meet me at Mikes Book (see Day ...) I got for Christmas to sew toys, coasters, skirts...pretty much anything really. What would you make?

I have banned myself from even getting it out of the box until after Uni. Final slog now. Knitting is destracting enough without a new creative toy to play with.

If you know any good sewing websites/blogs, leave a comment below. Best to help each other out with all this creative stuff, right?

Day 319: Royal Wedding Creative Competition!

As it gets closer and closer to the Royal Wedding the whole country seems to be getting in the patriotic spirit. Everyone's flying their Union Jack to show their support for Will and his wife-to-be, Kate.

This got me thinking about our flag and how it's used all over the place. You can get posters, t-shirts, mugs, cushions, I've even seen a sofa covered with it! Sometimes its in different colours or using textures. Sometimes there's flowers added or that worn leather look...It's been used over and over again, but the all the creative ways in which its changed astounds me. For a flag, it's a pretty elaborate anyway, so to use that as a base it a difficult one I reckon.

What would you do with it? How would you change it to make it unique? Have a think and a play, then send me your creative flag pictures and your name to emma.fowler@bathspa.org by 28th April 2011. I'll put the best one on my blog on the day of the Royal Wedding to celebrate. Have a go at getting creative and share it with the whole world at the wedding!

Day 274: My Grandparents

Today's blog is dedicated to my Nanny and Granddad, Doreen and Malcolm.

Nanny is a talented and wonderfully creative lady. Even though she's retired, she isn't just sitting around in the garden, she's even busier than she was when she worked!

This morning she sent me an email at 7:40 in the morning to show me these:

She's made them out of paper! How cool! It beats my origami 'flower' any day.

It's not just animals she makes out of paper. My Nan makes the most beautiful cards which she sells at craft fairs all over the country. She also knits amazingly complicated scarfs, she cooks and wears really funky clothes. She even paints her nails every week! I mean, what a cool Nan!

If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be such an enthusiastic knitter!

As, for Grandad, well he is the most enthusiastic reader I've ever met. He's always got his nose stuck in a book and they've got the most amazing wall in their house, completely covered in book shelves. He used to be a type setter (organised book's layout) and after that he was a proof reader, so naturally he's getting involved in my writing competition/anthology project!

There is a lot to learn from grandparents, so don't rule them out. What could you learn from yours?

Day 264: Creative Kids

This week I've been helping out with a kids club, it being half term and all. It has been so much fun, singing songs with actions, colouring, sticking, and all other creative things. Don't you think kid's creative stuff is so much cooler than ours, well, sort of?

Anyway, on Thursday, the 4/5 year olds blew me away. (Not literally, they've only got little lungs!) We did this craft thing where they made a little field with sheep in. The sheep were made out of plasticine and I thought, 'man, they are gonna struggle with this. Maybe I'll encourage them to just make one big sheep instead of three little sheep. It's too fiddly.'

But, you know what, their sheep were amazing! They were probably better than any sheep I could make. And they loved it.

I think sometimes I really underestimate exactly how much a 5 year old can actually achieve. Children are so creative. I'm pretty sure that, given the choice, most of them would spend all their time being creative if they could. I know I would of. (Well, I still would now!)

What fun it is to be young, eh? (Man, I sound old!) How could YOU use your creative talents to help kiddies? Why not get involved in a local club for kids and get them creative. It's more fun than you think!

Day 259: Annoying Knitting!

For the past two weeks I have been using every spare moment I have knitting. I've been working on a (pretty complicated) hat for my sister and I wanted to get it done quick so I can send it to her. But when I got to the end the depressing truth became all too obvious. It's way too small!

Don't be fooled by its pretty appearance! I don't know how many hours I've spent on this hat and now what am I going to do with it? I've got to start all over again to make a bigger one, which will take even longer!

Sometimes being creatively ambitious can be so annoying! You know what I mean? Does this mean we shouldn't bother?

No! I will damn well carry on and make a better (bigger) hat for my sister and she will love it!

Day 217: Wooly Winters

Good News Folks! I found out from BBC this morning that wool is on the up. More people are buying knitted stuff. More people are knitting. Which means, British wool is making money for our country, yay!

You wanna know why I'm banging on about this, don't you?

Well, the truth is guys, knitting is cool! Creating your own bags, clothes, toys...is the way forward.

So get out there and start creating. There's never been a better time to support our country's economy. Plus, it's real good for the environment too. Hardly any fossil fuels needs to be used to produce yarn and British wool is being sold all over the world.

If you need an excuse to get creative with wool, here it is. No more excuses people. It's time to be inspired by sheep!

Day 212: Make your own thank you cards

There's always people you get pressies from at Christmas who you don't see to say, thank you too. So you need some cards, right? Well, try these ones out.

I spent a few hours making them yesterday and, as they're creative, I thought I'd tell you about them. It's super easy to make them, so get involved if you want to save some cash and make your own funky thank you cards.

All I did was get some old magazines and cut out patterns, colours and textures I liked. Then I cut each bit into a letter and stuck them on the card! Easy.

Here's some tips;

• Chose your card colour before you start cutting. I did mine on black, but had loads of black/dark patterns which I couldn't use. Equally, if you do it with white, you don't want anything too light.
• Work out roughly how big you want each letter, so they fit on your card.
• You could use different magazines for different people. If you're doing one for a boy, maybe use a boys' mag. If you're doing one for a kid, use a kids' mag...it's up to your creative slant, of course!

So, have a go at creating your own cards this year. They make pretty good birthday cards too...

Day 203: Decopatch

Do you like my hearts? Well, actually, mine is the middle one and the other two were decorated by my sisters. Amongst Boxing day's festivities, we took time out to do some Decopatch.

What the heck's Decopatch, I hear you ask? Well, basically, it is covering stuff in little patches of tissue paper to jazz them up. Find out more on their website.

It's proper easy, so if there's a scuzzy old ornament you need to sparkle up, why not try to Decopatch it? You can do it on anything; lampshades, boxes, bowls, chairs...

Chose your colours, patterns, shapes, sizes...see how creative YOU can be...

Day 202: Boxing Day

A very Merry Boxing Day to everyone this afternoon!

I thought it only appropriate to talk about presents! All of us will have opened at least some present yesterday. Did you get anything creative? I thought I'd share a creative present or two...

This is a super cool crafty book I got from Steve, my Boyfriend's Dad (thanks Steve) called Meet Me at Mike's. It's full of 26 things you can make like this:

A notepad cover. I mean, who doesn't need one of these? It's full of instructions and stencils for making...I can't WAIT to get started!

And...I got a camera too (hence the sparkly new pictures from my camera) which means if I see something creative, all I need to do now is whip out my camera and walla (I'm not sure how you spell that, but you get the point), I can share it with you all right here...

Watch this space for more creative inspiration!

Day 199: Crafty Christmas Fun

Christms Eve Eve...No one really knows what to do on this day, so here's a few creative Christmas ideas to fill the day! All you need is a pine cone. Click on the link to find out more...

Try me out

Christmas Wreath

Pine cone girls

...or this one

Enjoy...

Day 176: Baby bootie!

As you may know, the creative adventure I'm having at the moment (other than creative writing) is knitting. I thought it was about time I shared with you my achievement. Behold, the (single) baby bootie...

Isn't it cute? (get the pattern here.)When I finished it, I was so proud of myself. I love it when you try something new and you actually do something with it. Ok, so I've only made one, but I'm half way there, so wahoo!

What are you doing creatively at the moment? Is it time to start something new and exciting? Is it time to get on with what you are doing, step it up a notch?

Wherever you are, I hope my little baby bootie encourages you in your creative adventure. If I can do it, then so can you!

Go...

Day 129: Ooh.com

Do you ever feel like there's nothing to do around here? Do you get in a slump and can't be bothered to do anything? Well, fear not my friends, because I've got a treat for you...

Check out Ooh.com. It's full of loads of stuff you can do all around the world from scuba diving to a school of rock workshop! There are loads of creative things on there and I guarantee you can find something going on near you.

So, there's no time to lose. See what's going on where you are and get involved.

Remember, creativity is infectious, so spread it about!

Day 69: Networking

Networking? What's networking?

You know they saying, 'it's not what you know, but who you know'? Well, that's networking!

If you're a creative person and you take yourself seriously as one, then you need to know about networking. Everyone who is creative as part of their job speaks to each other and makes contacts. Then they all help each other out.

I'll give you an example of my own networking. I went to a children's event as part of the Bath Literature Festival earlier in the year. Frank Cottrell Boyce (who wrote Millions and Cosmic) was speaking and he was really good to listen to and learn from. At the end of the event, I was cuing up to get my book signed by him and I ended up chatting to this guy called Karl. Turns out he is one of the managers of the event, so I gave him my card (which has my name and contact numbers on it) and now, because I made that contact, I am volunteering with the next festival.

I know what you're thinking, 'I'm not doing creativity for a job, so why do I need to network?' What do you do? Dance, craft, animation, blogging, art? If your into dance, do you go to dance shows and events? If you're a blogger, do you follow other blogs? The great thing about being young, is that you've got everything ahead of you! Learn from people. That's what I'm doing. That's why I'm volunteering, to learn from those who know more than me.

So, be brave and talk to that person at the event. Give them your email address or ask for theirs.

If you liked some of the recycled craft from yesterday's blog, then get in touch with them. Check out their websites and ask them how they started...

There is so many ways you can network and anyone can do it. If you're creative, then be inspired to make things happen for you.

Oh, here's another saying, 'if you don't ask, then you don't get.' True, true, true!

So what are you waiting for, go ahead and make things happen!

Day 68: Trash to Treasures

I was looking around on the web the other day, as you do, and I found this competition which asked people to make things from recycled stuff. As I was looking through the entries, I thought how many creative things you can make out of rubbish. The closing date had already passed (which is a shame), but luckily for us, the winner has been announced:

This crocheted flower is by Jane of Hooked Yarn. Can you believe its made from carrier bags? How amazing! check out her technique here.

There were loads of cool entries like necklaces made from Cheerio boxes, a heart wall hanging made of paper shopping bags and even some frilly knickers made from an old wedding dress!
Check out all the entries at http://www.makers-online.co.uk/blog/ You could follow their creative endeavors on their daily blog too.

What do you make? Do you knit, sow, make cards, jewellery...why not try making it out of unusual stuff? Be inspired by the stuff that's already out there and do your own thing with the ideas it gives you!

Be different, be creative...

Day 26: Learn from the best

Today I encourage you to pick up a new craft/trade/creative thingy. I'm thinking along the lines of sewing, web design, drawing, blogging, tap dancing, singing...whatever you fancy. What have you always wanted to know how to do (creatively speaking), but never got round to it? Well, make this the summer of discovery!

I hear what you're saying, 'that's all well and good Emma, but how exactly am I supose to learn this new thingy? I have no money!'

Well, I am suggesting that the first step to achieving this new goal is to find someone you know. Pull on the resources you have. You MUST know someone who has a talent you admire. Well, if so ask them to teach you. Simple! It could be your auntie, cousin, friend, brother, your brother's friend, a friend-of-a-friend (you get it!).

People love it when you compliment them on what they are good at/love doing, so make this your way in!

For example, my friend Beth is AMAZING at knitting. She can knit, socks, gloves, hats and she just invents her own woolen gadgets (she's really is exceedingly good!). Although I learnt when I was younger, I've never been very good at it. So, I asked Beth if she could help me and hey presto, I am at least a little better than I was before. I even started making a hat on round needles (sounds impressive huh)!

Who did Beth learn from? Her Nan of course. And so the links go on...

Without my friend Rhea, this blog wouldn't exist cause she helped me set it up (I really am useless when it comes to computoer, but I'm learning, yay!)

Take up the challenge. What will you learn this summer...?