Workshop Review - needlefelting for beginners at Dalmore Croft

the stove is lit and I am all set up and ready to go!

Hello! Last Saturday I held my first ever craft workshop at Dalmore Croft, Barry and I wanted to share my experience here in this blog post because the morning went very well, the ladies all enjoyed themselves and they learnt a new skill. I should add at this point that all recommendations are my own, this post has not been sponsored.

materials and tools

I have been needlefelting for many years now and I almost exclusively use gilliangladrag.co.uk for my felting supplies. It's a bricks and mortar shop in Dorking, England which also has an amazing online shop - go check it out! I am a huge lover of colour so for me this online shop is a delight and I would love to go to the shop itself one day, it's on my list!

craft and tea!

When I arrived at the studio on Saturday the stove had been lit and it was wonderful and cosy with the fairy lights twinkling too; the scene was set for a creative morning. It didn't take me long to unpack the wool tops, needles etc and shortly after that my students started to arrive. There was tea, coffee, freshly made scones and homemade blueberry muffins for everyone to enjoy.

so much concentration

The first project was a simple pincushion with a vintage cotton reel for the base. This taught the basics of how to handle and manipulate the fibre into the shape they wanted. Smooth Merino wool tops was on offer for this project in a large variety of colours - something to suit all tastes. The next project was a bunny brooch which was slightly more challenging but everyone approached it with the confidence of their new found skills. To mix things up I offered various British, undyed wool tops for this stage, to allow the students to work with something a bit different and experiment with texture.

nearly finished

By the end of the morning my students had a finished pincushion and a finished (or very nearly finished) bunny brooch. If anyone wasn't quite finished they had the skills and materials to take it away and finish it off at home. I handed out feedback forms at the end are here are a few of the comments I received in the "what did you like about the course?" section; "Everything! Marta was a very good teacher and I loved doing a new craft." and "I liked learning the basics of a new craft and having a finished product."

So, I am definitely going to be running future workshops - more needlefelting ones, including advanced needlefelting - but also other handcrafts. I feel that people enjoy taking time out of their busy lives to stop, take a break and try something new. If you would like to keep up to date with news of all my future workshops please sign up to receive my newsletter.

Until next time,

Marta xx

Introduction to Needlefelting

bunny brooches - perfect for Spring time!

Hello! I have some very exciting news to share today - I am going to be teaching my first workshop! This is something that I have wanted to do for a long, long time but have never actually taken the time out to fully visualise, plan and organise ... until now!! 

pincushion in progress

So, what is needlefelting? Put simply, needlefelting is the transformation of wool into 3D objects using a very sharp, barbed needle. The wool fibres become tangled and then tighten causing them bond together into a solid shape. You can manipulate the wool in many different ways creating a huge variety of effects. It's a craft that I really enjoy because it very quickly develops from a smooshy handful of wool into a finished piece - it's very satisfying and addictive!

needlefelting in action!

My first workshop will be held on the morning of Saturday 7th March at Dalmore Croft, Barry near Carnoustie. Dalmore Croft is a 12 acre small holding owned and run as a small mixed farm by Rosemary and Dan Champion, and the workshop will take place in their wonderfully cosy, converted outhouse - complete with wood burning stove and comfy chairs.

the studio at Dalmoe Croft

bunny brooches with the cosy
wood burner in the background

Over the course of the morning I am going to teach my students to make a small pincushion with a vintage cotton reel base and a bunny brooch. There will be lots of colour options available in the Merino wool for the pincushion, playing with colour combinations will be fun! The brooch can be tailored to suit lots of different styles and made in natural Blue Faced Leicester wool or in the bolder colours of the dyed Merino fibre. By the end of the morning my students will have the skills and confidence to carry on with the craft at home - the possibilities are endless!

... and me!
 All photos taken by Niall Mitchell

As you can tell, I am really excited about the opportunity to start teaching - I hope this is the first of many! If you would like to join me on this course you can book here. If you have any questions, please get in touch via the comments below or directly with Dalmore Croft.

Until next time,

Marta xx

Not crochet, but still creative ...

Hello! Recently I have begun chalk board art and today I wanted to share some of my latest boards with you. It will mostly be a pictorial blog post because chalk boards are a visual thing!

drinks menu, Gather, Carnoustie
photo credit - Niall Mitchell

I beagn by doing a few boards for  Bethany in Gather in Carnoustie just before Christmas. they were seasonal boards and because they were my first venture into chalk board art there were lots of little things I wasn't quite happy with so I didn't take any photos of them! However, early in the new year the café opened at Gather and I did a couple of menu boards for the café which I was much happier with.

specials board, Gather, Carnoustie

Soon after that I was approached by Vicky at Millie's Pet Services in Carnoustie and asked to do their internal chalkboard around the walls and the sandwich board outside. By this time I felt much more confident and I had a lot of fun with these boards, which I feel reflect the personality of the pet shop very well.

sandwich board, Millie's Pet Services, Carnoustie

detail of sandwich board, Millie's Pet Services, Carnoustie

sandwich board, Millie's Pet Services, Carnoustie

internal walls, Millie's Pet Services, Carnoustie
photo credit - Vicky Gunn

Back at Gather I helped to create an information board to make it clear to everyone that Gather is a dog friendly café - a trend which I am pleased to see is catching on in many cafés!

information board, Gather, Carnoustie

Now that the warmer weather is with us, I drew the board below for Gather to advertise their new iced latte. I use Pinterest for most of my hand lettering inspiration - there is so much chalk board art on there, it's amazing! I work out my ideas on scaled down pieces of paper before beginning on the boards. This really helps me to plan out the layout and see what is going to work in the space I have.

sandwich board, Gather, Carnoustie

I am always keen to take on new chalk board work, if you are reading this and are local please do get in touch below to discuss your requirements, I would love to work with more local businesses to promote their brand. If you are not so local, I hope that my photos have inspired you in some way - perhaps to take up chalk board art yourself!

Until next time,

Marta xx