What Katie Did

experimenting with felt, a soapy wet tree here to be a series of Nursery Rhyme panels

and some more of the laminated pre-felt thing that I tried out earlier this year. The scale of this one is hard to work out - each little square is less than two inches. This might be a cushion cover?

New dolls come to join the party
I have had such fun making these, I can't bear to part with them!

painting some paper mache in the sunshine

Archie having fun

The end of my Art Tour, the start of my Folksy Sale!

I have really enjoyed the Open Studios Event that has happened in Northumberland for the last few weeks, over 200 visitors have come to my little shed and if you were one of them - I thank you very much - it was lovely to meet you!
And now I am left with some of my handmade things still for sale so there is a chance for those of you geographically too far away to come and visit my shed in the virtual world. I am currently listing some of my more postable items on Folksy and you would be most welcome to have a look and a browse. So although you are unable to sit in the bath
and enjoy a picnic in my garden like these folk (don't look so grumpy Daisy!)
... you are able to see the things I have been making this year for sale in my wonderful little shed.
Welcome to my far flung friends. And what do you know - I've put a few things in my old Etsy shop too! - check that out if your prefer to shop there!Let me know what you like!

Willow Bower...

...though Ruth calls it an arbour. Ruth is a Wonderful Willow Worker who was up for a bit of barter yesterday. I mended her canvas yurt covering and she made me this

I think I got the better deal, though the white yurt now has a couple of bright patches!
I have a plan for the seat that will go inside here. As a living structure it will come into full leaf soon and be a cosy place to sit and admire my shed! We just need the weather now and wow, what weather we have been having! Long may it last!
made these this week

in here

Lovely

Little Books

Well - I have been overwhelmed by your comments about my little books! Thank you all so much! I made some more to celebrate.
and I have listed some for sale in my Folksy shop. It has been ages since I put anything in there, ages since I even checked it in fact! - I see I have some other things for sale too - (only one bag of juggling balls left now - I put together some more paper packs the other day, some new envelopes too and there are still a few of the beano badges in the shed)
If you are not in the UK I would be happy to enter into negotiation for a custom order on Etsy? I haven't got anything in my Etsy shop - I really am a dead loss when it comes to flogging this stuff!
I am so enjoying the process of making these little books - it's something about getting a production line going - all the pages cut and selected, the piles all ready to be sewn
the bin full of slivers of trimmings
and the enjoyment of choosing the covers. I have been saving books and papers for so long now, I knew there would be a reason.
Hey ho!
And here is the reason I was late for knitting on Thursday Thank you to everyone who left comments about the little books - I can't tell you how important that is to me!

Paper, glue, craft knife, thread, time - books!

Piles of paper
Lots of cutting, folding, sewing, sticking and assembling. A great deal of Radio 4, plenty of fresh coffee, a whole bar of fair trade chocolate and a lovely creative wave of energy.

Here they are. 12 little books made from old papers. Martha and I had a discussion about the right term to use - recycled? upcycled? preloved? gently preloved? vintage? What do you think of all these words that describe what I make things from? All I know is that I take something that might have ended up in the bin, keep it for months in piles and boxes in my shed and my house and then, when the mood takes me, like now, make them into something else.

It gives me a huge amount of pleasure, and if you like them too then that is a big bonus.

I like this one best
the cover is a page from a fabulous old bible that was falling apart - I rescued this one over a year ago and have been using bits from it ever since.
I am on a roll - back to the shed for some more!

Finally - The Shed is Open to the Wolrd!

After much Planning and Deliberation and Help from lovely friends (thank you Matt, thank you Martha, thank you Sue) I am happy to announce that the Shed Shop is

If I have done everything right there should be a link over there in my side bar to my new Etsy Shop and in this little shop you should find a growing collection of the things I love to make in my shed.
Regular readers will know that I have a workshop at the side of my house that used to be the bike shed and is now the most wonderful little (largely pink) craft shed. It is a place to escape to when the rest of the world gets too busy and where I can be my own kind of busy.

now I can invite you all to come for a Virtual Visit and if not a sit of the sofa and a cup of tea, then at least you can look at the things I make - I hope you like them! Here are a few - and I will be adding more (and more) now that I have got the hang of it!

little bags for little girls

juggling balls

50 kids book pages to get you scrapping!

badges - these are all from the wonderful Beano

bangles- bendy and bright!
Enjoy your visit - I will be inviting a celebrity guest to officially OPEN the SHOP once I can persuade someone to do so - now - does anyone have Liam Neeson's email?

A Visit From Gloria

Art Tour is nearly upon us which means some - many - hours spent in the shed making things. it also means another Big Shed Tidy Up and I wasn't looking forward to it one bit. The shed had become a messy place full of scraps of fabric, piles of papers and all sorts of 'things' that may come in useful one day. With the first Art Tour date being about a week and a half away I was putting off the Big Clean for when I was in the mood.Well - forget all that because I had a visit from Gloria. Now the shelves are tidy

the drawers are too

and the fabric is all colour coordinated  - nice ... the books sorted by category ... what?

the carpet is clean and the strawberry rug had a beating

and we are nearly ready to go.
But I think we may have peaked too soon - open studios are 8th June for four Sundays and this is still May. I think Gloria will have to come again and check that I have not messed the place up! Everyone needs a friend like Gloria.
Thank you - for you and for anyone else who needs a bunch of virtual flowers