Arts and Crafts
Art & Craft social Group - with special monthly workshops.
All materials provided for workshops. See poster for details of weekly group in the magazine, or on the Village Hall Notice Board outside the hall, or alternatively contact: Kate Smith on 01827 373368 or Email her on: c.smith284@btinternet.com.
2023 September - Art & Craft Group - Mini Autumn Wreath Workshop
Another fabulous workshop by Kate & Mary. The wreaths had been pre-prepared earlier in the year by Kate's husband (Thank you Richard) in readiness for this workshop.
Kate & Mary had been busy for several weeks before hand making gorgeous felted & material pumpkins, as well as a myriad of "extra" decorations to festoon the wreaths.
What a lovely afternoon we had creating these wreaths.
Thank you for all your hard work Richard, Kate & Mary
2023 August - Art & Craft Group - Denim Recycling Workshop
Wow! What a fabulous workshop this turned out to be. We shall certainly be doing this again, maybe in our new Evening Workshops starting in October.
Who knew there were so many things you could do to recycle denim! Julie really pulled out all the stops on this one.
The denim feathers & Tassels were a great success & very easy too! The Wine bottle bag was also a big hit!
In fact, every bit of a pair of jeans was used to make into somthing. I shall never throw a pair of jeans away again!
Thank you Julie
2023 July - Art & Craft Group - Stitched Cards Workshop
Stitched Cards or Card-broidery - was a very interesting workshop. Easy instructions meant that we were stitching away in no time with Jan's brilliant step-by-step instructions. You can sew beautiful, personalised, greeting cards which are great to give to friends, family & loved ones. The craft of pricking & stitching designs onto card or paper, which is sometimes called paper stitching, paper embroidery, or string art, is an excellent way of making attractive, personal, greetings cards. Just prick the pattern onto your card and stitch with cotton or embroidery thread. Thank you Jan!
2023 June - Art & Craft Group - Watercolour Techniques Workshop
Watercolour painting is extremely old, dating perhaps to the cave paintings of Palaeolithic Europe, and has been used for manuscript illustration since at least Egyptian times, with particular prominence in the European Middle Ages. However, its continuous history as an art medium begins with the Renaissance. The German Northern Renaissance artist Albrecht Durer (1471–1528), who painted several fine botanical, wildlife, and landscape watercolours, is generally considered among the earliest examples of watercolour. An important school of watercolour painting in Germany was led by Hans Bol (1534–1593) as part of the Durer Renaissance.
We owe Kate (founding member of the club) for this great workshop. Thank you Kate for organising sharing your passions with us. The 'Lock Keepers Cottage' exercise was fun - even for the non-painters in the group!
2023 May - Art & Craft Group - Twig/Branch Weaving Workshop
This is really great for those who want to get into weaving, but don’t own a loom just yet. Your 'Y' shaped twig, or branch needs to be strong so that it doesn’t snap when you weave on it. I really like the rough texture of the stick next to the soft woven textures of yarn.
Once you have your ‘perfect’ stick – ensure you safely remove any bumps/hard buds with secateurs, then file your branch until smooth, using a sturdy file.
Thank you to Julie for organising this very unusual workshop. We really got 'stick' in!
2023 April - Art & Craft Group - Needle Felting Workshop
HAPPY EASTER!
This was our third felting workshop. Having created some furry animals in the past and a felted landscape workshop last year.
But this has been the most enjoyable (albeit a few plasters were required - with only a few drops of blood on the artworks!).
The mnay designs of Key Rings & Bookmarks was remarkable.
Thank you Chris for her tuition and hands-on help again for this workshop.
2023 March - Art & Craft Group - Paper Cutting Workshop
The art of Paper Cutting dates back to the 2nd Century CE, in China, when paper was invented by Cai Lun (a court official of the Eastern Han Dynasty). As paper became more affordable,
paper-cutting became one of the most important types of Chinese folk art. Later, this art form spread to other parts of the world, with different regions adopting their own cultural styles. See our own Easter
inspired designs - with Chris's help using templates, or if you were brave enough your own designs!
Many thanks to Chris for her tuition & hands-on help.
2023 February - Art & Craft Group - Coffee Painting Workshop
Yes, it does what it says on the jar!
We used instant coffee to create our masterpieces.
By mixing different strengths of coffee you can create different shades for your artwork & when you've finished with it you can drink it - no not really, we wouldn't recommend it!! By using a hair-dryer we manipulated the coffee over the paper - we especially liked the amoeba creature!
Thank you to Julie for organising this unique and unusual workshop.
2023 January - Art & Craft Group - Knitted Valentine Hearts Workshop
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
With 'Valentines Day' just around the corner we thought that a workshop creating knitting hearts was a lovely way to 'cast off' the old year & 'cast on' the new year (see what I did there!). As you can see from the photos we had a great time knitting & purling and slipping stitches (some off the needle - but were soon found!). We also had the chance to knit a 'face wash' with some cotton wool, which turned out very well.
Thank you to Mary & Helen for organising this workshop.
2022 December - Art & Craft Group - Decoupage Christmas Box Workshop
Decoupage - is the art of decorating an object by gluing coloured paper cut-outs onto it. You can even use in combination with special paint effects, gold leaf, and other decorative elements. We had various shape & sizes of boxes and used Christmas paper, tissue paper & festive paper serviettes. You can use cut-outs from magazines & newspaper clippings, ribbons, paint, bits of coloured or handmade paper, or pages from an old book . Once the box is covered we recommend you varnish until the "stuck on" appearance disappears and the result looks like a painting or inlay work. We managed not to glue ourselves to the tables (well mostly!) and the boxes looked fantastic! Well done Kate for organising this workshop that was postponed from last year! We even had a visit from Santa! Merry Christmas everybody.
2022 November - Art & Craft Group - Calligraphy Workshop
We were very lucky this month to have a "guest demonstration" of Calligraphy by Kitti from DioCalligraphy (diocalligraphy@gmail.com). This art form continues to flourish for Wedding Invitations, Announcements, event invitations, religious art (which can also be illuminated), and graphic designs. Plus, historical documents, like the Manga Carta. However, we chose to create Christmas cards, obviously!
What an array of designs we made. Thank you Kitti we all had a great time learning this beautiful art.
2022 October - Art & Craft Group - Rope Craft Workshop
Well, they say "if you give someone enough rope . . . . ." We certainly had a lot of rope for this workshop! The use of rope can be traced back to the prehistoric times, when a "rope" was a naturally occurring length of plant fibre, such as vines. It was used for hunting, pulling, fastening, attaching, carrying, lifting & climbing. But as you can see from the photos we just used it to wrap any kind of container we could get our hands on! Then decorated it with hand-made tassels, or googly eyes to make a cat face! (better than a “Cat-O-Nine tails . . . !)
2022 September - Art & Craft Group - Corn Dollies Workshop
Corn dollies are a form of straw work made as part of harvest customs of Europe before mechanization.
In traditional pagan European culture it was believed that the spirit of the corn lived amongst the crop, and that the harvest made it effectively homeless. Among the customs attached to the last sheaf of the harvest were hollow shapes fashioned from the last sheaf of wheat or other cereal crops. The corn spirit would then spend the winter in this home until the "corn dolly" was ploughed into the first furrow of the new season. Traditional corn dollies are named after counties, or place names of England, Scotland and Wales.
For example, Hereford Lantern, Stafford Knot, Yorkshire Spiral and Suffolk Horseshoe.
Thank you to Milly (our Guest Demonstrator) for letting us have a go and not seeing our humble efforts as the last straw!
2022 August - Art & Craft Group - Felting Landscape Workshop
Felt may be the oldest fabric known to man; it predates both weaving and knitting. Since felt is not woven and does not require a loom for its production, ancient man made it rather easily! Press Felt is a textile material that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibres together. Felt can be made of natural fibres, such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibres such as acrylic. Well, if ancient man could do it - then so could we! What a beautiful array of colours we had to choose from for our landscape and thanks to Mary's expert knowledge, we all had a masterpiece landscape to take home. I'm glad to say that the First-Aid box was not needed and all the needles were accounted for & not stuck through any fingers! The foam boards did get a bit of a bashing though!
Thank you Mary for organising this very enjoyable & stress relieving workshop!
2022 July - Arts & Crafts Group - Mixed Media Workshop
Well we certainly had a 'mixed' bag of materials to go at for this Workshop.
From tons of buttons, beautiful little gems & creatures for an underwater scene, as well as wool & materials plus more abstract stuff like bottle tops & plumbing fittings! Basically anything you could think of to stick - we stuck (even ourselves at times)! We all dived in and let our imaginations run wild and had great fun - as can be seen from the photos. Thank you again to Kate (with Julie's help) for organising another enjoyable workshop!
2022 June - Art & Craft Group - Easy Watercolour Workshop
What a fabulous subject Kate organised for our easy watercolour painting project. With Kate's expertise everyone managed to get their majestic tiger head onto the watercolour paper. Apparently, you can use such exotic surfaces as papyrus, bark papers,, plastics, vellum, leather, fabric, wood - but we stuck with the standard watercolour paper! (Watercolour paper is often made entirely, or parially, with cotton as this gives the surface the appropriate texture and minimises distortion when wet). Thank you again Kate for organising another "roaring" success!
2022 May - Art & Craft Group - Quilling Workshop
Quilling is an art that involves the use of strips of paper that are rolled, shaped and glued together to create decorative designs. The paper is rolled, looped, curled, twisted and otherwise manipulated to create shapes that make up designs of anything you can imagine!
We started with rolling a strip of yellow paper into a coil and then placing the paper into a circle of paper on a card - hence making up the smiley emoji face. There are advanced techniques and we tried those by using a brush & comb technique. A great time was had by all. Many thanks to Julie for organising this workshop & doing all the preparation. Smiley, Smiley!!
2022 April - Art & Craft Group - Macrame Workshop
Get knotted!
Get Knotted! We well & truly did get knotted, and knotted and knotted as our Macramé wall hanging took shape. This form of crafting is produced using knotting (rather than weaving or knitting) techniques. The are 5 basic knots: the Lark's Head & Cow Hitch Knot used to attach your yarn to the driftwood. Then the Square Knot (or Reef Knot) that produces a lovely twist design, then a Double Half Hitch & Wrapping Knot. The concentration was palpable as we got fully engrossed in our creations. Well done Chris for organising this workshop.
2022 March - Art & Craft Group - Easter Chick Pom Pom Workshop
The sun is shining and the daffodils are blooming - Spring is in the air! With Easter just around the corner, we thought that it was time for a Pom Pom parade of Easter Bunnies, Chicks and a few eggs!
This was a lovely Summery workshop & was enjoyed by all.
Thanks to Janet for suggesting this idea & organising our "woolly" thoughts into great creations.
2022 February - Art & Craft Group - Stone Painting Workshop
We were well & truly "stoned" at this workshop! Not a pebble was unturned in our quest to master this art!
Gardens around the village were bereft of a few stones and pockets were heavy as we made our way up to the Village Hall. This was a fantastic workshop & was enjoyed by all. But believe me - it is not as easy as it looks!
Thanks to Kate for pre-preparing some stones for us to paint and supplying ideas.
2022 January - Art & Craft Group - Book Folding Workshop
The book worms have turned! Now that many of us rely on tablets and e-readers for our literary fix, so many of our once-loved paperback (and hardbacks!) books have been left to gather dust… but not anymore! We've recycled them into these very cute "Hedgehog". Plus, if you get bored you can always unfold and being reading again!
2021 10 December - Art & Craft Group - Xmas Party
What an end to an odd year!! We only just managed to get our Xmas Party in before Covid cases in the village escalated. Kate organised a "game" with plastercine, asking us to come up with a Xmas Scene - I think the aliens really made our scene "unique" and won us the challenge!! Unfortunately, due to Covid we decided to cancel the last Workshop of the year - Decoupage Christmas Box on 17 December - as a precaution. But rest assured this Workshop idea will be carried forward to Christmas 2022. Hooray!
Thanks again to Kate & all the volunteer Workshop Organisers for all their research & hard work in organising these workshops.
Here's to a healthier & happier 2022 with lots of Crafting & Workshops.
Merry Christmas & A Happy Healthy New Year to all our Crafters.
2021 November - Art & Craft Group - Circular Weaving Workshop
We were all running "round" in "circles" with this workshop!! Phew . . .
We went "loopy" threading through the "hoop" for this weaving technique, but we all had a ball (of wool!)
Thanks to Margaret for organising this engrossing craft - it was a "ringing" success.
2021 October - Art & Craft Group - Lino Printing Workshop
This is a printmaking technique, in which a sheet of linoleum is used for a relief surface. A design is cut into the linoleum surface with a sharp knife, V-shaped chisel or gouge, with the raised (uncarved) areas representing a reversal (mirror image) of the parts to show printed.
The linoleum sheet is inked with a roller, and then impressed onto paper or fabric, using a hand held roller.
As you can see from the photos a myriad of designs were created - without any injuries!
Another good turnout for this fascinating craft. Thanks to Chris for organising this fascinating craft workshop.
2021 September - Art & Craft Group - Painting Watercolour Flowers
We're back in Clifton Campville!! Can't believe it was February 2020 when we last had a workshop at Haunton.
Goodness me though, what a beautiful subject to cover for our first workshop in the new Village Hall.
Thanks to Kate for organising this bouquet of beautiful watercolour flowers to see us through the winter.
Another good turn out for these very popular monthly workshops.
As you can see from the photos - we have the occasional male attendee too!
2020 February - Art & Craft Group - Salt Dough Workshop
The Salt & Flour was flying as we attempted to create our cottages ... Great fun!
Chris James summed up another successful workshop: "We spent our afternoon making Salt Dough plaques. (bringing back memories of play school!). Huge thanks to Kate for all the preparation and expert instruction" Thanks to Linda for washing up our mixing bowls and her Mum Jean for the idea in the first place.
Now comes the hard part - baking them - fingers crossed they all survive for painting!