Painting Limerick Craft and Design

It's been a busy couple of weeks for me and the craft co-op that I'm part of, we've been painting the shop space and all of the units. I'm a total novice when it comes to DIY, or rather I was until I got a crash course by being thrown into the deep end.

We are at the very end stage when just a few bits need an extra lick of paint, the floor needs clearing and darned good hoovering. It's been a great experience seeing this coming together so well, it's been such a long time at the planning stage I can't quite believe it's happening. I must say though that I had no idea how much hard work painting is!! I feel like I've been in the gym 24/7 with all the stretches and squats that I'm doing.

For anyone who is a new reader this 'project' I'm talking about is Limerick Craft & Design, a craft co-op made up of 35 different Limerick based crafters and designers. I've been heading the project for about 9 months trying to get everything organised, and we will be opening very shortly on Sarsfield St. For more info head over to the website and Facebook page.

Update: We are running a competition on the page at the moment where you can win a €100 voucher, just like Limerick Craft & Designs page and share this photo to gain an extra entry...easy peasy!

Ericka and John working hard!

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Crazy Cactus Pincushions

Here is the newest addiction to my ever growing pincushion collection. Ever since I got these little terracotta I've been wanting to make a cactus for it. Did you know it was the first plant I ever grew as a child? I even got it to flower, I was so proud of myself, it's the only green fingered achievement of my life to date, much to the chagrin of my gardening Goddess Mother.

As with any new design I did a couple of test prototypes to see what size they needed to be, and went through a bit of tweaking. Then I made out my template and got my production line rolling. I made 20 of these little fellas, but I made all the faces individual. I have a mix mustached Mexicans, eye-shadow girls,  lipstick ladies, crazy grins, sad faces, laughing loons, and crooked teeth ghouls.

It seems I have an obsession with pincushions as I have even more ideas to expand the line...watch this space!

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Craft Inspiration from Pinterest

It seems like I've become completely addicted to Pinterest(an online pinboard for endless pretty thing,ideas, and craft projects). It has been a really great research tool, but the last thing I need in my life right now is another online distraction!

On the upside though I've found loads of new craft blogs, sometimes I feel the internet is this amazing party, but I'm lost and I can't find the right address. I read an article recently that said that the online community is made up a an endless series of small circles, just like society. Most of us go to our usual 10 favourite sites, rarely dipping our toes out beyond that. I'm guilty of this just like everyone else. Pinterest(like Stumble Upon) is a great tool for escaping this never ending cul-de-sac.

Here are some great projects I found through Pinterest:

This is a fab suitcase upcycling project. I'm always seeing old ugly cases in charity shops(it's a rarity to find a pretty gem) and this is a perfect way to use up my scrap paper and make some pretty storage for my studio. See the project here.

I have tonnes of fabric and paper scraps that I refuse to throw away. I also have lots of canvases that I had great intentions for, but have never gotten around to filling them with master pieces. I think this collaged canvas would look pretty nifty in our front room, especially if I used varying sized bits of paper, and maybe did some aging on the canvas. I was really into collage when I was in college, and this would satisfy the scrap hoarder in me. See the project here.

It's insanely sinful that I've had a shadow box for years and I've done nothing with it. I think I love them so much I can'decide what I want to do with it, there are just too many options. I don't think I'd like to make something as ornate as this, as I still want the box to be the focus, but I still thought it was pretty cool. I got mine from a skip in college, they were throwing out an old letter press machine...shocking I know! See the post here.

I've been doing lots of research on card making, as it's always good to have fresh ideas. Whenever I used to Google card making I came up with the cliche ugly do-it-yourself house-wifey stuff...you know what I mean?? I'm delighted to now have an endless supply of cool blogs to look at. After I read this post I ordered some stamp carving rubber. It arrived yesterday so expect a stamp making post soon! See the post here.

I'm always looking for new things to make each year for Christmas. I made something similar before as a tree decoration, but I love that this one is in a pot. Yesterday I got some dinky red pots in a discount shop that will be perfect for this project. See original Flickr image here.

Now I just need to find gallons of spare time to make all this stuff!

Monthly Artisan Craft Fair: August

Tomorrow I'll be selling at the monthly Artisan Crafts Fair being held 11-7pm at the Milk Market in Limerick city. I did the first one last month and had an amazing time selling there, as there was a fantastic atmosphere with oodles of beautiful crafts to see. The venue will be be totally full which is fantastic, and there will be live music, face painting , and live salsa dancing. There is a huge selection of traders to choose from like knitwear, felting, patchwork, glass work, ceramics, painting, illustration, photography, silver smith, wood work, and lots more.

Last month I took some photos that I totally forgot to post of some of the traders there.

Noreen Foley from HanoraK Designs makes beautiful knitwear scarves hats and cardigans. I own a few of her pieces and I always get compliments when I wear them. Noreen is a good friend of mine as we sell beside eat other at the market every week. You can also see Brandon here on the left, he makes beautiful copper and silver jewellery made from old Irish coins.
Bonzie and Ger from the amazing etsy shop Bonzie, and fellow Etsy Ireland Team members. They make amazing steampunk accessories and beautiful baleros perfect for wearing to a wedding.
This is the lovely Kate Ramsey from Feltfieltrofilc, fellow Etsy Ireland Team member, she makes beautiful felted scarves, cardigans and brooches. On the day she was doing felting demonstrations too.
Fergus Grant makes stunning silver jewellery, and on the day he even brought his very impressive work bench and was making pieces during the show.
Just a small selection of lots of the lovely pieces that were on show from Limerick Ceramics
Local photographer Neville Gawley was selling his stunning framed prints of Limerick scenes and eye catching landscapes.
Sadie Cramer from Smartstudios has some really endearing illustrations, they were so lovely. I already have my eye on a couple of them as Christmas presents.
This is Mary O Dea who makes great screen printed t-shirts, local limerick scenes abstracted into trendy designs. She also offers a great service that she will print t-shirts of your kids drawings, which would be really fun for parties and functions.
Salsa!!