Christmas is finished for another year, and, as always, I didn’t manage to give as many home-made presents as I wanted. I had the recipient list, all the ideas and the impetus, I just lacked the time. So whilst I’ve decided to start making for next Christmas right now (I know, it’s ridiculous!) I also thought now was the time to have a short round-up of quick crafts for those pushed for time. Use them for last-minute birthdays, for a feeling of satisfaction of an evening (it’s always great finishing a project!) or to build up a stash of presents ready for the festive season.
The market for handmade products is always caught between two contradictory forces. On one side, you have really good artists and artisans who can produce high-quality products in a consistent manner over long durations. They will obviously charge a lot of money for their products and will be worth each and every cent you pay. On the other side are those individuals who manufacture ordinary quality products but still get away with charging a high price simply because they offer handmade and customized products.
Chess is one of the first things many people think of when talking about craft work. The skill in making a truly high quality chess piece is remarkable. Everyone remembers the scenes in The Shawshank Redemption where Andy Dufrene spends years carving out pieces for a chess set out of limestone. The work requires care, patience, pressure and time. The capital remains a focal point for the craft world and there are a variety of different chess sets in London made by some true artists.
With budgets tight for many people, Londoners in particular are feeling the strain on the purse strings and many are going without a lot of the comforts they usually rely upon. Winter approaches and with it the looming figure of Christmas is shining on the horizon; an unwelcome reminder of the gift giving season. The craft world seems like an ideal choice to search for a unique gift for a significant other. The chess sets in London available to buy are amongst some of the highest quality sets to be found anywhere in the world. Many of the craftsmen showcase their work in London and gain increased sales as a result.
Hand made gifts are cool, right? Handmade gifts are personal. Hand made gifts can impress the recipient. However, handmade gifts can be a nightmare for a person who has absolutely no idea how to make a sculpture. The idea of giving a sculpture as a gift is a very cool one.
The idea of making it on our own is even better. However, most persons will stop here and conclude they just cannot come up with a sculpture that is More
The title of this post might put you off if you’re more of a numbers person, but the truth of the matter is that many people have a secret ability to carve within them. It may be a bit stubborn about coming out into the open, but that isn’t to say it can’t be trained. With time, someone with no history or experience in sculpting stone or wood can produce some great-looking work.
I know this because I have taught a few people how to carve in stone. And don’t worry about needing loads of chisels and expensive tools: in reality all you need is a couple of chisels and a decent mallet to hit them with. Just remember – the more you spend, the longer-lasting the tools and equipment will be.
The first question to ask yourself is this one: can you keep your hands steady and do you have good hand-to-eye coordination that you can trust on? If you answer yes to both these things then you should have all the skills necessary to create some stunning ornamental coasters for a close friend or relative!
it’s a relatively easy thing to learn with a good helping of determination and patience
Start by drawing out whatever the pattern to be carved is. Do this in white or black chalk-pen, depending on the stone, and be sure to make it as accurate as possible (so that you can relax while cutting the stone). As a guide, hard stone will be tough to carve and soft stone may be a bit too easy. Really, you want to aim for some reasonably tough stone in-between the two. The key is as with everything: practice makes perfect!
Say you have written out 3 piece suit on a wide piece of stone and you want to start carving it: you will need to place your chisel at a 45 degree angle to the stone, so that the inner edge of the chisel burrows deep in enough until it reaches the mid-way point. You then follow the outline of the stone in a V cut, so that you cut one half of the stone at a time. After you have done one side, turn the stone around and follow it up by doing the same on the other.
This may sound highly complicated but in reality it’s a relatively easy thing to learn with a good helping of determination and patience. Be prepared to make some mistakes along the way, of course, because as everyone knows you can’t achieve anything without going wrong at least a few times!
You probably realized the importance of giving good tips when you receive an hour of free advice from a financial expert from Rowan Dartington as your birthday gift. Most of us have absolutely no idea why we give gifts. We participate in this ritual simply because not doing so will raise many questions.
Further, we never bother to ask ourselves what the recipient really wants. We simply go with what the world think the recipient wants. The end result is More
I was inspired by Ayman Baalbaki’s installation at the Bluecoat in Liverpool called Destination X, it featured used cars in Lebanon, literally. It was meant to exemplify the universal experience of the migrant, and it was an old white car packed with a family’s belongings. The Bluecoat features family art projects on a Saturday that integrate the exhibit in some way. On one particular Saturday, they had kids colouring in cars and pasting images from shopping catalogues on the More
My nephew, Robbie, recently turned nine years old. Children grow up so quickly these days and before you know it they can have transformed themselves from a bright and bubbly boy or girl into a sullen teenager whose preferred modus operandi is sitting in glorious isolation listening to their ipods, sending semi literate text messages to equally morose friends or playing lous and violent computer games loudly and violently. I knew that I had to get to Robbie while he More
Everyone has a bit of a sweet tooth; and that makes it easy to think of great home-made gifts for anyone! From boxes of fudge to the ever-popular cupcakes, personalized biscuits or even jars of preserves, there is no end to the possibilities you can create with a kitchen and bit of imagination! I first discovered that I could make a mean lemon curd when I had a bunch of egg yolks left over after using the whites for a More
