Making Memories with Paper Stars

Last year at about this time I learnt how to make German Paper Stars (Froebel Star).  I know it looks complicated, but once you get the hang of it, they really are quite addictive. There is no glue involved - it is just four strips of paper folded in such a way to make a 3D star. I made then in all colours and sizes  and proudly displayed them at a local Christmas Craft Fair.

 A middle aged couple stopped at my stall, and the lady burst into tears. After several minutes sobbing and being calmed by her Husband she was able to talk to me.

"When I was little" she said "my Father made paper stars just like these every Christmas.  He died when I was still too young to learn how to make them myself. Every year we search to find new ones to replace the old ones which are now torn and faded, but we never find any. Today we were driving through Sevenoaks and saw the sign for this fair, so we decided to call in, not really expecting very much. "

More tears followed, but I now realised they were happy tears.

"So" said her Husband "can we buy all you have, it would make my wife very happy". 

"No" I Replied "I don't think you should buy them, but I will sell you a pack of paper strips and the instructions to make your own"

Overjoyed, the couple left the stall after telling me I had given them the best Christmas present ever.  It still brings a tear to my eye as I remember them, and I hope they are preparing to make some paper stars for this year.

So, why don't you make some with your family this year and create some new memories.  Just take four paper strips and follow the instructions!

If that looks a bit too difficult to follow then go to YouTube here and follow one of the tutorials.

We have lots of different designs of paper strips on our website so why not have a look and see which ones you like Paper Strips

I will leave you with this story overheard in a doctors surgery:

Woman: Doctor I am terribly constipated, I don't go for days!
Doctor: How many days?
Woman: Sometimes a whole week.
Doctor: And when you do go, do you have difficulty passing a motion?
Woman: Something dreadful Doctor. I often sit there for five or six hours.
Doctor: Do you take anything?
Woman: Oh yes, I take my knitting!

Halloween is on the way

Halloween will soon be upon us, and I have to admit it is not something I have ever really celebrated. Having said that, it seems to be becoming more popular in this country as the supermarkets are full of pumpkins to carve into lanterns.

Two of the Glitterwitch staff are however, getting very excited about Halloween.  They are Pearl & Purl the Spiral Witches.

Spiral Witches are excited, Halloween is on the way

They've asked to have some time off - but only for the day

They really are hardworking, they never take a break

Except to have a little snack, washed down with green milkshake

They are getting quite excited, looking forward to the date

To fly off on their broomsticks and hope they're not too late

To meet the other witches, all done up in their best

The meeting place a little vague - just fly towards north-west!

The witches will all gather, on a mountain somewhere high

And laugh and joke and whizz around across the midnight sky

And then as dawn is breaking there's a change of atmosphere

They wave goodbye and journey home to work another year.

Do you do anything at Halloween have you ever been out Trick or Treating?

I will leave you with this witchy thought:

Laugh and the world laughs with you, cackle maniacally and the world backs away from you!

The Spiral Witches were recruited to Glitterwitch by Cathy at Spiral Rose

Granny's Magnificent Jumper & Badgers

Lorna, our Marketing Dragon has persuaded her friend Mr Ian Ashton, to tell us one of his amusing craft related stories.

Granny’s magnificent jumper:

When I was a young boy Granny announced that she would knit me a jumper in which to play cricket. A cricket jumper was a grand thing, all cable stitch and extra-long so it covered your back when bent over batting and the maroon and blue school colours round the vee-neck. 

There was only one fly in the ointment. Granny couldn’t knit her brows.

 The jumper was an almost perfect cone with a neck that descended to about waist level. The two stripes round the neck were a sort of polka-dot with white stitches showing through randomly in amongst the maroon and blue. The cabling was so thick that the jumper made a fairly effective sort of armour against any fast bowling. The piece de resistance however was the sleeves. 

Cricketing jumpers in those days tended to have longer sleeves, especially for bowlers, because the umpire looked after them while they bowled and tied the sleeves round their waists and in consequence the sleeves stretched. Granny’s sleeves would have gone round a very portly umpire without stretching, one being significantly longer than the other as well. 

Of course I had to wear the jumper. Thank goodness my dear aunt unpicked it and knitted it up into something that looked like a proper cricket jumper and because my Granny’s eyesight was not too good and she never noticed either the original defects or her daughter’s reworking.

What a lovely story - thank you Mr Ashton.

Now, I also want to talk to you about badgers. Yes, thats right those black and white woodland creatures who live in sets.  To be honest, they are not something I know very much about as I don't live in the countryside. But one group of crafters feels very strongly about what is happening to the badgers , so strongly in fact that they have set up a small album of badger related items  and will give a percentage of all sale to the Stop The Cull campaign.

Click here to get the facts about culling badgers.

Click  here to have a look at the wonderful makes in the BFG Fight the Cull Badger Showcase.

Well that's all for this week, I will leave you with this thought:

Creativity is contagious - pass it on!

To read more by Ian Ashton click here

A Dragon Romance

Some of you may know that we had a new dragon visit us at the weekend. Well, here is the story that led to us meeting "Oscar".

At night when the household is sleeping

The Dragons are going online

Searching for others all over the world

And helping themselves to some wine!

They have signed up to various websites

Like "Meet a Mystical Mate"

And Lena has taken a fancy to one

Who has asked her out on a date

Lorna says she must be cautious

And not to get carried away

So, Oscar has sent them a photo

And the girls have asked him to stay.

Alfie has done risk assessments

 Of meeting a stranger on line

But Lena says he shouldn't worry

She's sure it will all be just fine

Oscar arrived very promptly

At exactly the time they'd agreed

With flowers and beads to give Lena,

Which made her go very weak-kneed

Our Lena was suddenly blushing

And couldn't quite meet Oscar's eye

Lorna was just sitting staring

For she had gone terribly shy.

So there we are, is this the start of a Dragon romance, and which of the sisters will win his heart?

Well you will just have to wait to find out - come back soon and see what happens,

Lorna & Lena were recruited to Glitterwitch by the lovely Tina from Mists of Azura and Oscar is a OOK (one of a kind) Dragon  from the wonderful  Goblin Dreams . Why not pop over and say Hello to them and thank them for giving us so much fun.

Until next time .......

Searching for New Markets

Yesterday I went to the Craft, Hobby & Stitch Trade Show in London to see what new goodies I could find to tempt you with on the website. A lot of the stands were focused on Christmas items, which I thought a bit strange! They only sell to trade customers and it is nearly October, so most of us have our Festive stock in place and selling. I expected to see Spring or Easter items and was disappointed.

If any of you have been reading this blog from the very beginning you may remember my comments about a previous Trade Show I attended. I shall repeat them again here as the practice seems to continue.

 A couple of the stands I visited had very smart (and good looking) young men on them - always an attraction for ladies of a certain age! Yet on further inspection, they seemed to have very little knowledge of the craft business!  Is this the equivalent of scantily dressed girls at motor shows and is it acceptable?  What do you think?

Now, on a different note, a good friend of mine just happens to be a very entertaining Poet and Author and has very kindly penned this wonderful poem for Lorna (Marketing Dragon) to help her find new customers.

The search for new markets.

I wonder if there is some alien race

That has taken to crafting somewhere out in space.

And I wonder when gazing at night at the stars

If there’s aliens crafting on Venus and Mars.

I wonder if aliens’ fancies and needs

Include knitting needles, and craft wire and beads

And Boshi wool yarn and nice wooden dolls

Or if they’d buy Washi Tape, wholesale, in rolls.

I’m sure if they did, and were willing to pay,

They could get them from Glitterwitch were there a way

Of taking an order and some way to trace

Their payment and post through the vastness of space.

If I concentrate hard I could work out a thesis

For transferring stock via psycho-kinesis,

But I rather suspect banks would refuse to arrange

Any workable theories on rates of exchange.

I’m afraid that the alien market remains

A void to exploit by superior brains

And I’ll have to fall back on my markets in place;

Unless dragons and witches can travel through space.

Many thanks to Mr Ian Ashton for sending us this. If you would like to read more of  his work then click here and it will take you to his website which also tells you about the Burry Port and Gwendraeth Valley Railway which is his great love.    

Lorna the Marketing Dragon

My name is Lorna the Dragon

I help you decide what to buy

My title is Marketing Dragon

Though sometimes I do wonder why!

I spend lots of time taking photos

And trying out things you can make

Then Jan makes me tidy the office

I wish she would give me a break!

I am proud of my Marketing Title

It's something I boast to my friends

But Jan says that I should just do as I'm told

So a title's no good in the end!

Anyway, here is something that I have been trying out for you.

You will need:-

• wire flower shape
• beading wire
• assorted beads
• ribbon to hang decoration

The first task is to thread the beads onto the wire. This can be a bit tricky and time consuming but worth the effort. If you really can't face it, then use a bead spinner to thread them.

Just fill the spinner with beads then hold the end of the wire in the centre of them as you spin it with the other hand. Amazingly the beads will "jump" onto the wire.

When you have plenty of the wire filled up with the beads all you need to do is wrap it around your shape. Make sure you secure the ends and don't leave any sharp edges.

Then all that is left to do is attach some ribbon to hang your new decoration.

Try using different shapes and colours to make decorations for parties, Christmas, or just because you want to!

On our website we have a range of wire shapes here and if you don't have any spare beads, we have packs of bead mixes containing a reel of beading wire here. There is also a range of craft wires in lots of lovely colours here

Oh, and if you can't bear to thread the beads onto the wire we will be getting some bead spinners in very soon.

It is not too early to make some beaded Christmas trees for the Festive Season

That's all from me for now - I have to get back to work. Please leave a comment if you liked this blog then perhaps Jan will let me write it again.
Lorna
x

A Crafty Trip to Belgium

Last month I visited Gent in Belgium and of course has a nose around to see what crafty things I could find.  A visit to the MIAT (Museum, Industrie, Arbied, Textiel) was essential, it having exhibitions about industry, work and textiles. One whole floor was dedicated to the cotton and wool industries which dominated the city as far back as the Middle Ages.  Here are a few of the items on display:-

This Mule Jenny Spinning machine from around 1800 was used to spin cotton yarn with the help of child labour as shown in this picture.

This flax twine mill from 1789 is the oldest remaining in North West Europe. Machines like this provided the technical inspiration for the development of more modern spinning machines in the eighteenth century.

A display of the yarn dyed in the museum using natural substances.

I spent a very interesting afternoon wandering around the exhibition, which of course, had a booklet translating all the text on the displays into English.

My next visit was to a Pipoos shop

They are a sort of high street craft store. They stock everything from beads to yarn including items for papercraft, sewing etc. They seem very popular in Belgium and I wonder if this is the model that Hobbycraft here are looking at, when they announced a desire to have a presence on our high streets. Will be interesting to see how that will work out. 

You will be amazed to hear that I did not buy anything in the Pipoos.

Feeling a little peckish I stopped at a Cuberdon stall with my 2 Euros.  This buys a bag of 5 Cuberdons, locally known as Gent noses as they are a sort of purple cone shaped jelly about 4cm high and tasting of parma violets.

Ok, time to drag ourselves away from Gent and back home. I hope you have enjoyed reading this and that it will inspire you visit such places if you ever find yourself at a loose end in Belgium.

I shall leave you with something that made me smile this week:-

There are no mistakes in crafting - just opportunities to embellish!