Handmade business – The Craft Fantastic

Gift for Geeks, Origami tutorial & Meet the Maker

Hey! How’ve you all been? Ready for Spring? Me too. I’m not good at small talk, so let’s skip that and go straight to the fun stuff!

If niche gifting is what you’re after, this site has got it covered. Present Indicative describe their site as “Thoughtful gifts for curious people”. Blood vessel embroidery? They’ve got it. Make your own catapult? Why not! Soft toys shaped like microbes? Who knew Amoebas where so cute. Being a music lover, I think one of my favourites is this musical domino set.

Gifts can be tricky, though; and gift cards are great, but can sometimes seem a bit boring to give… so how about making a fancy holder? All you need is a sheet of A4 paper. You can find full instructions here; it’s really simple, just a few basic folds! Add a ribbon if you’re feeling extra fancy. I bet you are. Go on, add a ribbon.

Over on Instagram, the lovely Joanne Hawker runs March Meet The Maker. A chance for makers and creatives to share their stories and find other makers and creatives! So why not pop over to Instagram and give the hashtag a follow? I’ll be joining in over on my Instagram account and sharing to Facebook too.

Visit my Etsy shop

Behind the scenes: On board The Craft Fantastic

Intrigued about life aboard The Craft Fantastic? Fancy a peek inside the captain’s quarters? Here’s a behind the scenes look at craft HQ!

Where do I work?

I live in Northampton and work from home, in a studio/workshop/creative space that I set up in my teeny box bedroom. Like all good craft rooms, it’s full to bursting with supplies, materials, tools and projects on the go, which cover most available space – including the desk.

Despite the lack of space, I love working in this room. It looks out onto the back garden, so I can always see the birds flitting around in the hawthorns.

What kind of setup do I have?

Very little of my desk is actually used for making. I like to have everything to hand for whatever it is I’m working on, so there’ll always be tools, templates and materials lying about.

As what I do is very hands on, though, I find myself picking things up and moving them around while I’m working, sometimes holding things between my knees to get the right angle!

Tools live on my desk, with rolls and rolls of paper above. Everything else is generally packed in my handy IKEA shelf unit, or shoehorned onto an old set of shelves. There’s a lot of furniture in there for such a small room.

How do I work?

One of the most time-consuming things is turning ideas into a finished, polished product. As I use a lot of upcycled materials, I usually go through what I have and that’s often the first point of inspiration for me; certain papers and leathers will be crying out to be used together.

I have a brainstorming session, sketching and writing out ideas in a big blank book. Then I go over them, making a list of the materials I’d need and figuring out how to make them; really getting an idea of how feasible they are! I usually make my own templates, so I need to check and double check all the measurements and figure out what order I need to do things in; this is generally what takes the longest.

After I’ve gathered the materials and sorted the process and templates, it’s time to get to work. Here are some finished products from the past few months. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading!