Easter Egg Felting Workshops

Easter is just weeks away so I have created these beautiful, soft felt Easter Eggs to share with you.

Easter Eggs come in all shapes and sizes, full of chocolate or not, but these delicate beauties make the most wonderful decoration for Easter Day, to hang on Spring branches for your Easter table, piled up in a basket or hidden, alongside their chocolate cousins, around the garden. 

Not only do they look and feel wonderful - they also are really creative and very good fun to make and leaving you with a great sense of creative achievement.

I am offering Easter Egg Felting Workshops at The Atelier from this Friday and throughout the next few weeks until Easter Sunday.

The workshops are open to adults and children (age 8 and over).  Places are limited to just  six per workshop and  they last two hours, you will have the opportunity to work with the Felt in many colours and make an Easter Egg (or two) to take home and keep.  

All the wool, Polystyrene eggs and needles are provided together with lashings of tea and home-made cake...have a look here to book your place for just £20.

I have also been asked to host a Easter Egg Felting Workshop exclusively at  The Barn Gallery, Church Farm, Kington Langley - so if you live in that area and would like to bring your children along to this exclusive workshop - find out more here. 

Roses roses everywhere!

What an amazing morning we had.  A big thank you to the lovely ladies who joined me at the Royal Crescent Hotel for the first Charity Rose Crochet session.  Many of them came as a result of the feature in this weeks Bath Chronicle  and the Bath Magazine which just goes to show the power of publicity! It was a good job they came because otherwise I would have had to eat all the delicious handmade shortbread biscuits myself!  

And when I returned home there were a pile of roses waiting for me on the doormat sent from wonderful ladies who have been busy at home making roses for this great cause.  

Next week we are gathering at the rather swish  Carluccio's in Milsom Place and you are all welcome to join this growing movement of happy knitters and crocheters.  There will be a warm welcome, free wool and hooks and plenty of refreshments to keep us going.  It is happening on Wednesday 12th March from 10:00 - 13:00. Let's fill our city with wool and make Bath Fashion Week 2014 one to remember.  Every rose we make raises 10p for the Kids Company charity so make a rose and make a difference!  

Mothers Day Pin Cushion

Here's a little treat you can make for mothers day and all it takes is some colourful  felt, a felting needle and that very special tea cup that you never use to drink from!  

I'm always on the look out for old china I can use in my mosaic work and as a result I seem to have collected  a wide range of odd tea cups over the years.  On my journey through second hand shops, car boot sales and vintage flea markets I've managed to accumulate a wide array of cups too beautiful to break!  Indeed one shop I frequent even refused to sell me a tea set unless I promised not to break it for mosaic....she knows me well! I made the promise and scurried off with a fabulous set of tiny blue tea cups!  

So years later I'm looking at these wonderful tea cups wondering what to do with them when it suddenly struck me! Pin cushions....of course! So I set about gathering up my felting wool and laying it all out on my table top before selecting some of the much loved china and contemplating all the beautiful things I could do! Choosing the colours was the hardest part because there are so many delicious choices of wool.   I have to keep telling myself that sometimes less is more!  Once I have felted the main design and filled the cup with wool I decided to embellish some with a little basic embroidery. I'm not the worlds best embroiderer but I still had a lot of fun playing!

I think the results are stunning and they make the perfect mothers day gift.  

If you would like to spend a couple of hours in felting heaven making one of these beauties then March is your lucky month because I shall be hosting several workshops just for these.  You can book here or alternatively you could give the gift of learning a new skill by giving your mum a voucher to come on a workshop herself...or even better you can come together!  

Bath Fashion Week Yarn Bomb In Preparation

I am well known as quite a prolific Yarn Bomber and have been involved and created several Yarn Bombs to date...so you can imagine how excited I was when Bath in Fashion approached me asking me to single-handedly Yarn Bomb the World Heritage City of Bath during  Bath in Fashion week - held this year from May 5th until May 10th. 

Yarn Bombing, is, as you probably know,  graffiti with wool - an urban art that attempts to humanise public spaces. It’s an interaction between materials and places and at its heart lies an intention to awaken people to their surroundings often injecting humour into everyday objects.  It’s an old craft with a contemporary twist. For Bath in Fashion 2014, city spaces will be decorated with roses, hand made by me, and, hopefully by you too.

Roses will be springing up in the city so make a rose and make a difference…

Here is how you, and me, can help Yarnbomb Bath and make a difference to vulnerable inner-city children through  the charity Kids Company. For every hand-made crocheted rose that is made, Bath-based business Cloud Direct will pledge 10p straight to Kids Company.

So contact me here for your free crochet pattern or come to my Crochet for Charity sessions (sessions are planned every week so check the website for details) or come along on Wednesday 5th March 10.00 am – 1.00 pm at The Royal Crescent Hotel & Spa (the official sponsors of Bath in Fashion 2014) or alternatively on Wednesday 12^th March 10.00 am- 1.00 pm Carluccio’s at Milsom Place.  The deadline for sending in your rose is April 30th and they can be any size, any yarn, any pattern knitted or crochet, it's all for a great cause! Thank you x

School Community Art Projects

Over the last few years I have worked with many different schools producing a piece of art with the pupils.

The directive for students to work collaboratively on a unique piece of art for the school place is usually driven by the school as a desire to do something completely different, to celebrate an important date or give the community of students the ability to connect together through the medium of creativity.

It is always a lot of hard work but so very exciting to work on these projects - producing a piece of art that every single child has contributed to, that connects with the school's individual ethics and looks wonderful to boot!

The images above depicts this process, here you can see how each student is given the opportunity to work on the overall project.

This school wanted to create a piece of artwork that incorporated an understanding of mathematical shapes and symmetry  - the overall effect using mosaic as a medium was incredibly effective and very beautiful - the school installed the finished work in the school's garden so that it could be admired by all of those children who were involved and in the future inspire and be enjoyed by new students.

I am currently working with a primary school and we are creating the most wonderful tree.

On the tree each child in the school will be represented as each pupil will create a leaf. I will reveal much more about this project as it continues and of course when it is finished in the next few weeks.

If you are a teacher, a student or event a parent who would like to find about more about the kind of work I do with schools then please get in touch with me - I am always excited abut working with children - who never fail to inspire me with their knowledge and ideas. 

Turn that unwanted gift into something loved!

Earlier this week husband and wife team Dan and Rebecca celebrated Dan's birthday by coming on a mosaic workshop together.  Dan bought a rather beautiful William Morris print mug as he decided he would rather look at it as a mosaic than sip his morning cuppa from it!

I love projects that incorporate a piece of ceramic that really means something or that is just so beautiful it would be a shame not to break it!

So before we had time to think about it too much he broke the mug ....now there was no going back!

Rebecca set about giving new life to the mug and decided a heart would be an ideal mosaic.

Time passed really quickly as they got stuck in.

And here is the finished work. One beautiful heart .........

And one AMAZING lizard.....congratulations Dan and Rebecca

Unique Children's Craft Party

Another year another birthday party, these days parents are always on the look out  for unusual, unique and quirky party ideas to keep groups of children entertained, amused and happy for an hour or two. 

Magicians are old hat as is pass-the-parcel - how about a crafting party? A party where your group of children can learn a new craft, make a piece of art to take home and have a thoroughly fun and exciting time as well. 

Children absolutely adore to be given the freedom to make, glue, stick, bang, paint, sew, knit, craft and get as messy and sticky and have as much crafting fun as possible. Emma Leith Atelier can create a crafting party for children which could be crocheting or mosiacs or if you have a burning idea to create something else - just let me know - we can create anything you desire!

So what better way to celebrate your child’s birthday than with a group of friends learning a new craft and producing a personal piece of art to take home.

Here at the Emma Leith studio I can accommodate a maximum of ten children. Or, if you prefer, I can come to your house – within a five-mile radius – bring all the materials and plenty of enthusiastic artistic energy to keep the children well and truly entertained for a birthday party they will not forget.

So get in touch with me today and we can talk about exactly what we can do together. 

New Year Resolutions - What's Yours?

What are your New Year's Resolutions for 2014? I have a list as long as my arm! Including giving up chocolate, cutting back on wine and all the usual plans I make every year: more exercise, less beer, less spending, more walking, more tweeting, less hoovering - you know, that kind of thing?

However, there are some ideas on my endless list which I plan to really ensure that I achieve, for example - I have rather fallen in love with yarn bombing and after two very successful yarn bombs in 2013 - 2014 will see me involved in more gorilla knitting!

So watch out - as coming to a street near you there may be a yarnbomb crocheting it's way into your consciousness...

If you are looking for a yarn bomber to help you promote a cause, collection or campaign - please do get in touch.

I am going to be adding new workshops, masterclasses and I am always interested to hear from you about what you would like to make, craft,  design or construct - so never hesitate to talk to me about trying something new - I am as excited about learning new things as you are!

Finally, I am going to be making and crafting like crazy! Being in the studio and working on a new piece gives me such joy, comfort and pleasure and I want to impart that to all of you who want to take part with me - creating is such a wonderful skill to have and to use.

So Happy New Year to all of you and let's make 2014 an absolute whizz banger together!

Merry Christmas Everyone

I would like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a wonderfully healthy and prosperous New Year.

This year has been incredibly exciting for me - with the launch of my new business and website - being involved with some wonderful local arts projects. 

Single-handedly creating and delivering not one by two yarnbombs one in Corsham which was videoed watch the film here, and one a few weeks later in Trowbridge. The Corsham Yarnbomb was created to celebrate the opening of The Peacock Arts Trail, which was a huge success, I cannot wait for the next trail. The second yarnbomb was made after some artists approached me and asked me to yarnbomb their town hall as part of an installation for the launch of a visual arts exhibition in the beautiful town hall in Trowbridge - of course, I could not resist the challenge and although I just had days to pull it together – I did and created a showstopper for the town hall and it’s stunning staircase! 

I have so many brilliant and hilarious and touching memories from all the wonderful people who come and take part in one of my workshops. Each workshop is designed to produce a piece of art and learn a new skill. However, they are also a place where people come for solace, relaxation, discussion and sharing. I am very proud of each one and each unique piece of craft that is made and the kind and imprtant time we have shared. 

I also launched a project on my Facebook page raising money for the Jessie May Trust, a children's hospice. I promised to donate 25p for every like on my Page that I receive in a bid to reach 2000 likes and raise £500 for the trust. This project is ongoing so please continue to like and share this with your friends, colleagues and family.

In 2014 I have so many exciting plans to share with you. There will be more workshops and new crafts and I am always open for new ideas or crafts you are interested in - never hesitate to get in touch and have a chat to me about it. 

Find me here or on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest! 

Have a super Christmas and a wonderful New Year - love Emma xx.

Relieve Stress, Feel Better: Crochet

Research into knitting and crocheting has found that all needlework is extremely good for your health.

Scientific eveidence has found that the repetitive and rhythmic action of knitting and crochet work helps to prevent and manage stress, pain and depression which in turn strengthens the body's immune system - making you feel more relaxed, much happier and altogether healthier. 

I found this video documenting how needlework makes people feel - and the response is so wonderful and inspiring - so give it a go - book a crochet workshop with me and discover a new way to help you feel better in your life and produce something handmade and beautiful as well.