Makerly Subscription Box

Makerly is a monthly subscription box for crafters. 

Check out the website for more info HERE

There are 3 different boxes to choose from: 'Stitch-Up'- a sewing themed box, 'Paper-Cuts'- a box full of paper craft and 'Mish-Mash'- each box having a different craft theme eg: paper craft, sculpting, sewing etc. Each month you receive a large letter-box flat box packed with goodies: 

• Instruction Booklet for project
• Project tools and materials (and more) 
• Check out the website for more goodies: ie: project ideas and Makerly blog

If your wanting to start a collection of craft materials then these boxes are great to get you going as they come with more materials than you need for your main project.

The single boxes cost £13.50 per month 

6 Month Subscription costs £70.00 (you save £11)

12 Month Subscription costs £140.00 (you save £22)

This pricing is similar to other monthly subscription boxes however for the materials included and the quality of the instruction booklets the pricing does seem a bit steep.
It would be nice to have a 3 month option.

Personally I have been crafting all my life. I studied Prop Making at uni and my skill set is at an experienced competent level of sewing, sculpting and painting. Saying this, I am super clumsy!
 This might give you an understanding of my skill level in relation to how accessible these boxes are for the average crafter.

I feel they are suitable for anyone with any amount of experience- you can do as little or make it as complex as you like: it's your box, you are given plenty of resources to get stuck in, it's up to you what you make of it! 

Makerly~October 16~Piñata

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Labeley | January 2017 Faves

This month I came across a website that allows you to be creative as well as organised and well, if like me you swoon over anything stationary-related then read on! 

Labeley is a website that allows you to design and create customised stickers, labels, signs and emoji's for just about anything! There is no limit on how many you make and it's free to create a design. There is no signup needed unless you want to save and adjust your design at a later date. The creator tool allows you to resize images, change colours and upload your own photos so you can really create one of a kind designs. 

You can save the images to your computer and print at home for free, share them online or choose to have them professionally printed by Labeley for a fee (they ship from Europe worldwide). In regards to using their printing service, the pricing is competitive and reasonable in regards that it allows you to order a minimum of 30 stickers for a fair price so you don't have to waste money and materials bulk buying stickers if you don't need so many. 

There are lots of options of finish to choose from too:

The site has an extensive range of options to create your designs: label shapes, colours, fonts, boarders, graphics, space for text. 

Screenshots of a small collection of examples.

I love the quirky tool to create your own beer and wine bottle labels- that'd be such a nice touch to a gift, showing a little more thought on the bog standard present when you don't know what else to get them other than alcohol!

Screenshot of Labely's Wine/Beer Bottleneck label maker

The fact you can print the images at home means creativity is limitless, furthermore the graphics are royalty-free so anything you create can be used on your makes and bakes that you sell at markets or online! 

An example to adorn your baked goods or craft wares

I would consider using this tool to create and print graphics onto fabric- just print onto transfer paper and iron on your designs. Parents could do all their kid's clothing labels this way.

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I especially wanted to share this website service as I think it'd be a great tool for teachers (or parents/carers) wanting to create more personalised reward stickers. I work with children with Autism and at school we are forever coming up with resources that are personalised to the individual. This site allows you to upload your own photo so a special toy or cartoon character could be uploaded and used to make a colourful sticker as a reward token to motivate them at school or in their home routines.

There are so many options to personalise your stickers.

Other ideas that come to mind include making personalised cloakroom peg labels or subject-related book labels for children to take pride in their work and their belongings (I miss those days of choosing the right wrapping paper to cover my school books) -it's the little things!

Throughout the Labeley site there is no way of losing your designs without a reminder to save or reset the design before you leave the current page. This feature is so useful!!

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Now, being a member of teaching staff at a primary school I know full well how miserable wet play can be or when you've got to fill in time and a song or story book just won't cut it. If you've got access to an Interactive Whiteboard the new feature on Labeley's website the 'Emoji' category could be a blessing! 

The emoji's popularity has exploded over the last few years and has become a regular form of visual communication in our fast-paced and instant world. These cute little faces are familiar to everyone especially children. Emojis are found on all sorts of accessories, clothes, stationary and there's even an emoji family film coming out this August! 

With the Labeley Emojis tool you can create as many emojis as you like, no matter your design skills. It is a very simple-to-use app that will increase your power of expression and help you create most diverse emojis for any occasion, and save them to your computer to do whatever you want with them completely anonymously. Perhaps you can use this tool as a fun alternative way to teach 'emotions and feelings' to your class or use it as a computer club activity. 

It's super easy to use too:

To start designing all you need to do is select the shape for your emoji

Then, choose the background colour for your emoji.

Afterwards, choose eyebrows, eyes, mouth, noses, glasses etc (which you can resize or rotate) for your emoji design. You can also add special text message to your emoji to make it more personalised or upload any photo and transform it into an emoji. 

Once your emoji is done, you can save it by clicking on the Save Label button. Your design will appear on the left side of the screen in the My Designs section. Right-click on the design and select the Save as option if you want to download your emoji on your PC.

Easy Peasy! 

There's now a World Emoji Day coming up on July 17th so this app will be perfect! 

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The Handmade Fair 2015

Warning: This post may contain a lot of exclamation marks but not surprising as this day involved a very high-on-craft excited B. 

In it's 2nd year the Handmade Fair took place over the sunny weekend of 18th-20th September 2015 and was once again hosted by Kirstic Allsopp adorned in larger than life flower crown and scooted around the fair in a decorated golf cart. This year the fair was situated on the Green opposite Hampton Court Palace, Surrey. More accessible and a bigger, organised more established event in comparison to last year- it's hard to think it's a relatively new show but undoubtedly very popular with everyone and anyone with a love of craft and being creative!

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Museum of Childhood- Small Stories: At Home in a Dolls' House

The Museum of Childhood is a treasure trove of board games, video consoles, teddy bears, dolls, puppets, kits and has-been entertainment toys archived through the ages. From old fashioned Victorian play things to fisher price toys, game boys, Barbies and Mary-thought bears I remember from my 90s childhood. An archive of fun

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Day 83 #The100DayProject

#100daysofhappys

 The Victoria & Albert (V&A) Museum, South Kensington, London is my all-time favourite museum. 

Its draws together craft; art, sculpture, ceramics, jewellery, fashion, design etc from all over the world and brings different and eclectic exhibitions through the year. The main galleries and some exhibitions are free. Special exhibitions are at an affordable price and really worth going to if your arts-crafts, design innovation, cutting-edge technology, history fan.

Today, hazy-headed from the Party last night I went to see the current exhibition 

'Shoes: Pleasure and Pain'. 

(13 June 2015 – 31 January 2016)
Check Out my review here

I also wandered around 'What is Luxury'  

(25 April – 27 September 2015)

'Making luxury is not concerned with practical solutions but with the extraordinary, non-essential and exclusive. Mastery of a craft and exceptional expertise are demonstrated by outstanding precision, attention to detail and remarkable finishes.'- V&A 

  This exhibition particularly resonated with me as I am constantly inspired by new ways of thinking and new approaches to Life through Craft and Design. My degree focused on high-skill and fine detail and finishes so this exhibtion was of great interest to me.

From the list of related words in the photo above I have accidentally cropped off the word Passion.

From being in an industry in a role that is Dick-tated: as in a super snobby designer tells you what to make according to his/her 'vision' I lost all Passion for Making. It's only now that I can Make at my own pace, on my own terms to my own standard and expectation that the Passion is there again. 

I don't know where I'm going with this nugget of information so I'll just suspend it in mid-air on this page...and stop the rambling.

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#100daysofPeggy

Peggy does Pride.

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Day 59 #The100DayProject

The Future of Making?

#100daysofhappy

 Some people save their money. Others buy unnecessary gadgets like 3D Doodlers!

I am in awe and wonder and slight aghast* with the new developing technology based around Craft.

Craft- as in the handmade, primitive, highly skilled making (not witch craft!)- defines a great part of who I am. I went to the V&A, London's Power of Making exhibition seminar a few years ago which literally blew my mind! This was at the birth (or production of) 3D printing and this technology becoming a commodity just like microwaves and technicolour TV: the idea that anyone can even build their own 3D printer at home. So here I am at the first step of owning a kind of (not) 3D printer of my own. Yes, I'm contradicting myself and buying into this form of creation but mainly out of curiosity! Check in soon for a review on this gadget.

*I say aghast as 3D printing could in some ways take over making and handmade Craft could become a thing of the past which would be a travesty as its a primal instinct to us to 'make'.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

Any tips on using the 3D doodler?

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#100daysofPeggy

Peggy 'spring cleans' her cage.

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Day 49 #The100DayProject

 #100daysofPeggy

 Peggy adjudicates 'Classical Art'. 

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#100daysofhappys

Hangover cure. 

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