An Irish Craftworkers Good Life

New Irish Arts Blog

A very exciting new Irish Arts Blog has just been launched, the brainchild of Paul O'Mahony. I'm particularly excited about this new blog as I've been invited to join. The blog is a group effort with eleven Irish artisans contributing posts. Most of these are based in Ireland, or are Irish and working abroad. The scope of work is amazing, there's something for everyone. Fibre crafts are represented with some stunning work hailing from as far afield as Mexico, there's glass, mixed media, painting, photography ... well why not pop on over and have a look, be inspired.

By Cliodhna

Fabric Painting Gifts

Fabric painting is something I thoroughly enjoy and it opens up a whole world of possibilities when making gifts for children. Have you noticed how they love to own something with their name on it? Whether its a mug, a T-shirt,  a doorplate, whatever it is seems to result in a swell of pride. I've made a few personalised pillow cases for children I know. I always try to incorporate something into the design that the child is particularly fond of. This pillow case is for a little girl who spends the summer skipping around the garden watching butterflies as they flit from flower to flower.

And this is a pillow case I made for another little girl who has a penchant for mice.

I must confess I share this fascination and when I was eight years old I had a pet mouse that lived in my cardigan pocket.  By the time my parents realised a wild mouse was visiting her cage each night  (he was small enough to squeeze between the bars at leisure) we had a flock of sixteen baby mice to contend with!

The Christmas Card Dilemma Solved

I have a pile of Christmas cards that I simply can't bring myself to throw away. Being honest, I still have last years Christmas cards too, and all this years family birthday cards as well. Throwing them in the bin seems so wasteful.  So last week I gathered the family around and we read through all the cards again. Then I armed the children with glue and scissors and we began to cut out the images to make a big A2 collage. It all went quite well ie only a couple of items got glued to the floor and there was one minor flesh wound.  The resulting collage is hanging on their bedroom wall and it looks really fantastic. Its a great way to remember all the lovely cards we received and it invokes memories of all our friends who sent them. It justifies a little more all that paper we use sending cards only to be thrown away a couple of weeks later and its a great kids craft activity for a rainy day.

The blank backs of the cards have all been saved and threaded together to make a shopping list notebook. When the notebook has been used up it will then be re-reused as a fire lighter ... and then the ashes will go on the compost heap ... and then, well you get the idea.

There, now if I thought the receivers of my Christmas cards did the same, I might just actually send some next year! As it is my eco-conscience prevents me from sending any for a couple of years in a row, then my social conscience normally gets the better of me and I send out a batch in roughly three yearly cycles. I don't yet have the excuse my late Grandmother had ... she would say quite often in her final two decades 'Oh I didn't bother sending any cards this year, my friends will just think that I'm dead, and then when they do get one next year it will be such a lovely surprise'!

Feltmaking Workshops

Here are the dates I've set for felting workshops over the next six months.

Felting is an ancient art which involves the combination of animal fleece, soapy water and hand pressure to form a textile. Its great fun and very therapeutic. Felt can be used to make clothing, accessories, jewellery, blankets and sculpted pieces. On workshops I provide a wide range of coloured sheep fleece to work with and a selection of threads and yarns. These small courses are set around the farmhouse table with a maximum of four participants. We make two A4 sized flat pieces of feltwork suitable for framing or use as a wall hanging. Weather permitting will also visit my goats, and assuming a little cooperation on their part, take a snip of their fleece to use!

Felt Workshops for 2008

Sunday 3rd February, 10am - 12.30pm FULLY BOOKED
Saturday 1st March, 10am - 12.30 pm places available
Tuesday 8th April 10am - 12.30pm places available
Wednesday 7th May 10am - 12.30pm places available
Saturday 7th June 10am - 12.30pm places available

To read about the fun we had on 21st April 2007 workshop visit this blog article

I hope to re-run this course at least monthly throughout the year. If you are interested but can't attend the dates above, please email to register your interest and I will arrange more dates to meet demand.

To book email danbecky@iolfree.ie or phone 071 9632212
Cost €46, includes tea/coffee & biscuits and materials
Times : 10am till 12.30pm
Max. number of participants - four

Magazine Article - Felting Tutorial by ... me!

As you know I enjoy crafting in my spare time. One of my main textile passions is the art of felting. I can let you in on a little secret that I'm quite excited about. I was approached by Yarn Forward to write a tutorial a little while ago. Its a fresh and fairly new magazine based in the UK thats packed full of all things woollen and doing very well. As I'd initially thought, its not just a knitting magazine, but so much more. There are craft items suitable for a range of abilities throughout the magazine. I'm not a knitter yet when I opened up a copy that was sent to me I managed to lose myself in the pages for a good hour or two, several times, so I was delighted to take up the offer of writing my first ever freelance article for Yarn Forward.

My item is based on the art of felting, but thats all I can say at this stage until the magazine hits the shelves in a week or two. I can't wait to get my copy in the post and see what my first paid freelance writing gig looks like in the flesh.

Cooking Aprons

When our children grow out of clothes we swap them with friends (the clothes not the children) or give them to a charity shop. Sometimes (well, more often than not) the clothes are badly ripped or have permanent stains and so aren't suitable for the traditional routes of reuse.  So rather than throw them in the bin there is another way to reuse them  .... this year I kept some of those clothes not up to scratch and took out my scissors to rescue the usable fabric. I love seeing the items of clothing that hold so many family memories of picnics, tree climbing, swimming in lakes, blackberry hunting etc being reborn.

With this fabric I made a range of cooking aprons for my children and those of friends. They make really lovely Christmas or Birthday presents. The bow on this apron is taken from a box of chocolates. As a final touch, include a hand written recipe for some delicious buns or biscuits. No cash is paid out but for me the giving or receiving of a handmade gift is very fulfilling. There's something about the commercialisation of Christmas that doesn't sit well with me, so I try to claim back some of the meaning behind the giving of a gift by taking time to make a few of them myself.  I hope I'm not deluding myself, perhaps people groan at the thought of opening gifts from me!!!

For those of you who share with me an odd and unexplained attraction towards the making of aprons, try visiting Tie One On, you won't be disappointed!

Felt Christmas Decorations

Some of you may be aware that I had a crafting blog called An Irish Craftworkers Good Life, its where I began my blogging life. I felt that smallholding and living sustainably were my true passions which is why I started Sallygardens here leaving Irish Craftworker fallow over the busy spring and summer months. Now that autumn and winter are here, some evenings are spent crafting by the fire again. Other evenings are spent annoying the household with my fiddle practice, writing a blog post, or enjoying family company. I have decided that I won't be resurrecting Irish Craftworker, instead I have added a new 'craft' category here in Sallygardens. If by chance you are interested in purchasing an item of craft please get in touch. I'll be adding a paypal shop window to the sidebar here over the coming weeks where individual items of craft may be available to buy now and then. The paypal shopping cart is actually being integrated as part of an exciting new Sallygardens initiative, but more on that at a later date.

Textiles are my main creative passion and felting is a huge part of my life for the last ten years. At this time of year I like to do my best to make handcrafted gifts for friends and family (you can hear them all groan!). After all, our lifestyle is time rich and hence cash poor - not that our 'rich' time is spent lounging about. Every day is a full and physical days work for both of us.

Back to the felting. I have made my own felt from merino sheeps fleece, then cut out heart shapes to make a stuffed decoration. I have decorated these with buttons which are of huge sentimental value, and then added a little hand embroidery. Fill the heart with toy grade stuffing available from fabric shops.

Hang them from the Christmas tree or keep them out all year on cupboard door knobs. Another option is to fill it with dried lavender or rose and pop it into your clothes drawers. And the buttons? They belonged to my late mother. She was a great woman for sewing and craft. As a child I loved sorting through her jar of buttons, making them into little piles of various colours, shapes and metals.

I've also added a crafting section to the Sallygardens Bookshop, why not have a browse, and suggest any of your favourite craft books you think could be added.

Christmas Gifts with a Conscience

This year when you are searching for gifts why not consider some of the following pickings? If you consider the gift of self sufficiency worthwhile (and who wouldn't!) how about taking a look in our Sallygardens bookshop where I've stocked the shelves with all our favourite titles. These are books that we have on our own book shelf, and get thumbed through on a daily basis. Theres so much to choose from ... the original bible of self sufficiency by John Seymour 'The Complete Guide to Self Sufficiency', or a fantastic cookery book like Madhur Jaffrey's 'World  Vegetarian Cookbook', what about something a bit risque and ground breaking 'The Humanure Handbook' or 'Liquid Gold- the lore & logic of using urine to grow plants'!

There are so many people out there handcrafting in their own homes, and the internet allows us to buy direct from them. Many offer eco or organic options. Some of my favourites are toy makers that include the delectable Julie at Little Cotton Rabbits in the UK (we have two of her creations), the infamous Hop Skip Jump toymaker in Australia,  Anke at  the Irish Bear company  only half an hours drive from our home, or my own husband Dan and his Hobby Horse Toys.  For beautiful creations from cushions to hangers visit  lovely Nonnie. You may well find that many of these people are so popular and their work in such high demand that their order books are already full for Christmas. Its still worth window shopping though, and keeping them in mind for birthdays or next Christmas. There are also a couple of sites that stock work from a collection of crafters ... visit the wonderful world of Cherry Menlove down at the magical Tales from Pixie Wood. Alternatively call over to the ebay of the craft world ... Etsy where your head will spin with all the choice on offer.

Photo from Little Cotton Rabbits

Why go for mainstream soap and beauty products like the average punter, find something very special in all senses of the word at Marie Chantal, a regular contributor to comments on this blog. Her blog has a wonderful giveaway at the moment too. Or discover how to make your own soap at the ever generous queen of soap making at Gracefruit ... don't leave without visiting her blog, and her website stocks everything you need to make your own.

Merry shopping!

Flurry the Friendly Monster

At last back to a little bit of crafting! You may remember quite a while back I had a particularly good 'fabric find' experience in our local charity shop in Carrick on Shannon. Recently there was a very special new arrival for one of my best friends. Baby Lilian came 6 weeks earlier than expected so she didn't mind waiting a little while as I used that lovely schematic floral design to make a cuddly toy friendly monster for her.  So meet Flurry, I hope she isn't too frightening!

With a sweet little face like this, hopefully she doesn't seem too vicious!

Kids Art

The evenings are drawing in and theres a definite chill in the air again as autumn approaches. We grab any opportunity to be outdoors but sometimes there's no alternative to indoor entertainment. Any of you who followed my Irishcraftworker blog will know how I love giving children the opportunity to use 'real' art materials (in moderation!). So heres what they created (aged 4 and 5) when let loose with my chalk pastels ...

... the colours are far more intense than when using kids crayons

... don't forget to read the packet first and make sure the materials you offer your kids access to are not toxic, and supervise their use, then watch their delight as new media open up more possibilities for their art ...

Launch of the New Sallygardens Bookshop

You may have noticed some tinkering around in my sidebars lately! I get so many enquiries about what books I  recommend on the various topics that we cover at Sallygardens that I originally began listing them in my sidebar. Recently I discovered that its possible for me to open a 'bookshop' via Amazon, and to choose what books go onto the shelves. I can also write comments about each of the books. And there's a bonus for me too ... if you order anything via my bookshop, I get a little bit of commission in the form of a book token. I have done my best to select the most useful books, and split them into various categories such as sustainable living, keeping pigs chickens goats, cookery, preserving, charcuterie, fruit and veg, self build and even a section on Ireland. Many of the books I own myself. Anything in the bookshop that I own, I've written a small review for those books. I will continue to add books to the shelves as I get more myself, and as readers recommend them to me. Have fun browsing, look on the left hand sidebar and click on the books.

Making Ends Meet on the Smallholding

Dan is still getting a constant flow of orders for his hand crafted hobby horses. Making financial ends meet on a smallholding is probably the main challenge of the lifestyle change. We discovered that in our case we need to combine a range of ways and approaches ... to both decrease our expenses and also generate an income.

The hobby horses are an important part of generating income. In terms of reducing expenses we now grow most of our own veg and meat. Growing our own carbon neutral biofuel for central heating is another major saving on our pockets. Naturally, all these activities not only save us money, but are also far more gentle on the environment. Of course, we set out with living sustainably in mind when we moved here, and finding a financially viable way of surviving is part of it. Thankfully, most of the ways to reduce financial expenses, are very often also the best approach in terms of sustainability and eco friendly practice.

This summer is the first time we will be in a position to offer our surplus food for sale, thanks to the polytunnel. I plan to put up a chalk board at the farm gate, and bring a cool box of veg to playgroup. Next year, with any luck, honey will join the items for sale. When autumn arrives I get out my felt and sewing machine, and begin making items to sell at the Christmas fairs.

Finances are probably the biggest source of stress on our smallholding. Giving up regular incomes is a big gamble, and we are still striving to find a comfortable ground. Diversification seems to be the key to this (as it is with the enviroment!), but on the other hand one has to find a balance and not spread energies too thin.  Bartering has also become a viable and valuable route in our lives. For example, we recently bought a sausage making machine, which we are 'renting' out to other local people who rear pigs for their freezer, in return for a kilo of their sausages!

Craft for Children

As Saint Patricks day approaches the children will be off school for a few days and needing some entertainment when the parades are over. In our household we are fans of salt dough, and have been having great fun, particularly with painting the items afterwards. To get started mix a mug of plain flour, a mug of salt and roughly half a mug of water to make a soft dough. When your finished making your pieces 'cook' in the oven at 150C for half an hour, then switch the oven off and don't open the over door for another hour.

Then have fun painting. We made a variety of fish and also a pot full of dough beads ready for a rainy afternoon of jewellery making in the future. These are the fish the children made, they are incorporating them into their games (teddy is going fishing!) ...

And here are mine which I'll hang with ribbon from the kitchen dresser ..

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Biofuel & Basketweaving Willow

We spent a very sunny afternoon planting 1,500 willow whips in the far corner of our field. Rather than just putting an evenly spaced square plot we designed it with a very aesthetically satisfying organic curvy edge ... after all, it will be part of the view from our bedroom window. Then we thought, 'lets make this a fun place to walk and play as well as a fuel and basket making resource' .... so we laid out three twisty footpaths that lead to a central circular grassy clearing just the right size for a family picnic, or a secret quiet retreat.

As well as the fast growing species of willow which is ideal for multi fuel burning to heat our home, we have also  planted among the copse  a couple of hundred brightly coloured species perfect for basket weaving.

Some are a blast of sunshine yellow, others a fire blaze of oranges, we have earthy peaty chocolate browns and rich ruby reds. Now all I need to do is to learn how to make a basket!

In a month or two the willow will begin to sprout into leaf, making our design easier to see on the ground. It will be 4 or 5 years care before they are ready to begin harvesting for firewood, but much sooner for taking whips to make baskets and willow sculptures. Our friend Brenda will be running a course this year on how to make a living willow sculpture, you can have a look at the one she made for us last December here.

A Majorly Huge Announcement (for us!)

I have some incredibly exciting news to announce. We have been working behind the scenes on something and we are ready to launch our new venture. Its entirely due to the overwhelmingly positive feedback from readers of this blog, about the eco-conscious lifestyle that we strive to live here on our farmlet, that we have been inspired to launch a new blog

 

With special thanks to Julie of Little Cotton Rabbits who designed this banner for us while cooking dinner for her children and simultaneously knitting two rabbits and a panda

 Irish Sally Gardens is all about living the sustainable dream in rural Ireland and sharing the knowledge of our experiences with like minded souls through consultation and workshops

So a massive and sincere THANK YOU to all those who have been in touch, asking, encouraging, and admiring what we do. Now that we know so many others seek the same, we are going to try and help you get there too, by sharing what we have learned, and continue to learn every day. Yes we've made some great mistakes along the way ... so you don't have to repeat them!

We are keeping everything small and informal, friendly and homely, around the farmhouse table. Visit the blog and have a look at the courses on offer. If those dates are filled, we will add new ones. We will also run workshops on request, on days to suit you, as long as we get a minimum of two participants.

Courses include :
An Introduction to Rearing Piglets for the Freezer
An Introduction to Keeping Goats for Dairy or Meat
Living Willow Sculpture
How to Identify the most Appropriate Alternative Energy Technology for your Home
Feltmaking for Total Beginners
How to Create a Blog : One to One workshop

An Irish Craftworkers Good Life will continue here as normal, posting about my craftwork and various day to day farm antics. Irish Sally Gardens will be totally farm and sustainable living orientated with a lot more detail and focus on how to implement ideas into your own lifestyle.

Wish us Luck!

Going Live

Today we officially launch this new blogsite, yes we are going live! WELCOME aboard. Its entirely due to the overwhelmingly positive feedback from readers of my other blog An Irish Craftworkers Good Life, about the eco-conscious lifestyle that we strive to live here on our farmlet, that we have been inspired to launch this new blog; Irish Sally Garden , which is all about living the sustainable dream in rural Ireland and sharing the knowledge of our experiences with like minded souls through consultation and workshops.

So a massive and sincere THANK YOU to all those who have been in touch, asking, encouraging, helping (Julie who designed our banner ) and admiring what we do. Now that we know so many others seek the same, we are going to try and help you get there too, by sharing what we have learned, and continue to learn every day. Yes we've made some great mistakes along the way ... so you don't have to repeat them!

All our courses are now listed with dates and prices and we look forward to hearing from you. If you quite fancy the look of a particular course, but the date doesn't suit you, drop us an email and we may well be able to run the course on a day that does suit you. We only need a minimum of two participants to run a course (max 4 or 5 on most), so perhaps you have a friend who'd also like to come along, or maybe we have another eager participant on a waiting list who would fill the gap. We are aiming to keep courses small and friendly, very informal, around the kitchen table with a cup of tea and a few biscuits, punctuated with a light home made lunch.

If you are interested in a particular course please get in touch and we can send you a course outline, and help you decide if its what you are looking for.

Courses include :
An Introduction to Rearing Piglets for the Freezer
An Introduction to Keeping Goats for Dairy or Meat
Constructing a Living Willow Sculpture
How to Identify the Most Appropriate Alternative Energy Technology for your Home
Feltmaking for Total Beginners
How to Create a Blog : One to One workshop

An Irish Craftworkers Good Life will continue as normal, posting about my craftwork and various day to day farm antics. Irish Sally Gardens will be totally farm and sustainable living orientated with a lot more detail and focus on how to implement ideas into your own lifestyle.

Wish us Luck!

 

Landscaped Felt

I have to tell you about this place ... not far from where I live, there's a magical little mountain called Sheemore which lies in the southern end of County Leitrim. In Irish, its original name is Si Mor, pronounced 'she-more'. Translated that means Si 'fairy', Mor 'big', so large fairy hill (now you know as much Irish as I do!). Within its view is Sheebeg ... little fairy mountain. I've always found them to be jewels in the landscape and whenever they come into my line of vision I feel a surge of admiration and quite a large dose of sheer awe! Infact, sometimes I take a detour from my route to pass them by. Other times I turn a corner and there they are, just where I least expected to see them!

I often admire Sheemore from various angles, noticing how it's always different depending on the light, how the patchwork of fields sweep up to its foot, how the hawthorn trees have formed windswept silhouettes on its shoulders, how the nearby lake splashes sheets of sunshine up its shanks, and white sheep decorate her green cloak. Ah, she never ceases to feed the soul!

And her beauty is more than skin deep, oh yes, she has the wisdom of age on her side too. Legend has it that these big and small hills of the fairies open their gateways at halloween to release fairies and spirits into our realm. These fairies known as 'the Sidhe', were decendants of the mythical Tuatha De Danann, who are said to have retreated into mounds like these across Ireland, into space and time different to our own. At this site there was a battle between the fairies of Sheemore and Sheebeg, and this event is often referred to in the lyrics of locally composed songs and poetry. The Sidhe, unlike other European fairies, are said to be tall and handsome, with magnificent banquet halls and wonderful feasts. There are still people today who fear upsetting the 'good people' and refrain from damaging certain fairy cairns (mounds), fairy sites and known fairy pathways.

So I needn't now explain why I've been so inspired to do a piece of landscaped feltwork based on these two familiar little mountains. The piece incorporates those patchwork fields, lichen clad hedges, and a lane that twists up towards Sheemore. This is the work with all the fibres laid out, before felting ...

... and the image below is how the work looks at the moment. Its been felted by rubbing hot soapy water into the layers of sheep, silk, goat and alpaca fibres for quite a while (at least until the skin on my fingers goes wrinkly!). Although there are only a few strands of goat fibre, I'm particularly pleased (verging on smug) that I clipped those fibres  from my very own part angora goats this morning, and the alpaca fleece from a herd few miles off! Thanks ladies (they do appreciate the acknowledgement!).

I'll be putting this on the sewing machine for a little more work over the fields, to accentuate their boundaries, and then hand sewing some detail into the foreground ... perhaps some grasses and flowering plants, and finally adding some beadwork here and there. The piece measures about the size of an A4 sheet of paper. It is for sale, and I'll post an image of it when completed on this blog.

The Competition Winner Is ...

Once again thank you to everyone who entered the competition to win a piece of my feltwork. I'm touched so many people have been so keen to enter. Yeh, right, hurry up, I hear you ... so all the names went in a hat and I pulled one out and written on the paper it said ...

... Holly, of Winona Queen, Ireland. Woohoo, congrats Holly. I was supposed to send her some of my goats fleece last week, but found they had lice, and so I held off until after their treatment.... Holly said she wasn't sure how well lice would felt or spin so we postponed!  She is  a fellow felter, go see her  amazing  felt jewels and other work.

Him Outdoors

The last few weeks my husband Dan has received orders for his hobby horses from Ireland, Australia and America. So between 'her indoors' (as some refer to a wife here), and 'him outdoors', theres been a lot of crafting going on. A couple of these are going to readers of this blog and the new hobby horse blog, so many many sincere thanks for your support.

You can see how proud he is of his work, and so he should be.