Crafting Fingers: when one craft isn't enough: Page 19

You have to keep your workspace well-ventilated when you’re working with a pyrography pen.

In practice that means I’m enjoying autumn air and a gentle smoky scent whenever I practise my doodles. I’m still getting used to handling the tool and understanding pressure, movement, and the heat involved. I did some soldering in a workshop in school years ago; I was never any good at it!

But the pure pleasure of pyrography means even when the results aren’t perfect I’m enjoying the whole process.

(Plus, I quickly learnt the wood squares I bought are a bit too soft for my pen’s temperature. That means they burn REALLY easily. Oops.)

Other sensual scents I’ve been enjoying recently are these two Yankee Candles. I haven’t even opened them yet but they’re so strong my office smells wonderful. (The little crown stamp is by East of India and was a cheeky treat for myself. Shh!)

Did I mention I freaking love autumn?

I already mentioned that September’s craft is smoky, rustic, and perfect for autumn.

Doesn’t woodburning tick all the boxes? ;)

Some of my earliest memories are of my mother decorating little crates with pyrography techniques. The crates were being prettied up for market displays. (Can you guess where I got my DIY bug from?)

There’s a revolution of crafts being made modern again and I think pyrography is coming more and more out of its shell. The beauty of this technique is that it’s so simple it can be traced back hundreds and even thousands of years back. Heat applied to wood to make art was seen in Egyptian times. Wood burning is probably as old as human’s control of fire itself.

In China it was called ‘Fire Needle Embroidery’. How awesome is that?!

Now, amazing artists are making gorgeous guitar bodies and contemporary chairs and

Were pumpkins a good choice?

I know September hasn’t even started yet, but I’m eager for autumn! It’s my favourite season of the year. Summer is beautifully lush, but busy. I find autumn so calm and rejuvenating. And maybe I’m just a little bit biased; my birthday is in November.

And my goodness, I can never get enough of autumn’s colour palette!

Today, I’m sharing some of the most inspirational needle felting links I’ve found across the web. These beautiful needle felted pumpkins are made by Mia, the seller behind CloudBerryCrafts on Etsy. Her creations are whimsical and wonderful, and too inspiring not to share!

Southbank Centre in London is running a summer-long event called ‘Festival of Neighbourhood’. They wanted to ask,

What makes the perfect neighbourhood?

Last weekend, I was invited to take part in the Village Fair (Aug 24/25). The key theme of the Fair was community and bringing people together to share their passions. There was a series of interactive talks called the Craft Code Village, which explored the relationship between the craft community revival and the web. Twelve bloggers from across the UK were invited to take part in a virtual stall, and four of us were at Southbank Centre in person.

Crafters have traditionally sold their goods and services at markets. Craft bloggers, on the other hand, are more likely to share online and often share how to make their craft too.

So what happens when craft bloggers create a virtual stall? What does a craft blog neighbourhood look like?

Here is the outcome of the craft bloggers virtual stall: a Tutorial Stall where each blogger has shared their own top pick from their blog.

These 12 pretty makes are the result. Enjoy!

Things have been quiet on Crafting Fingers for a few weeks, but never fear!

I’m still learning and crafting on!

But breaks are good. Sometimes, when you’re pushing to maintain a regular output (like blog posts a couple times a week or more), it’s easy to forget to take the time to think about why you’re doing something.

I took a creative writing class (by Melanie of Inward Facing Girl, who is simply fantastic) and it gave me the courage to take the time to just think.

(Chasing butterflies in my garden is just for the thinking time, honest.)

There are so many things to do and too many things to read. I still want to share my crafts and projects, but I want to do more than that. I want to encourage others to learn and try new crafts, too, and help spread word of the amazing designers and business owners who have been encouraging me. I want to blog with purpose.

I already love blogging about my crafts because it gives an extra purpose to my crafting. It forces me to think of the easiest process of making something. It forces me to take the time to really finish something properly, because if it isn’t done to a high standard, everyone on the web can see it. Forever. (Eek!)

Instead of Crafting Fingers being just about me all the time, I’m going to share more about other people, and what they make. I’m going to make it about all our crafting fingers.

(Have a blog or handmade biz you want to share? Get in touch!)

Now, back to my needle felting:

xo,