my creative space - swapping!

Apologies, more knitting. Its that weather here! And with the excitement of the Brooch Swap and some other busy bits its the only creative action happening around here. This is my tea leaves cardigan again.

There is something so satisfying about having a project on the needles, watching it slowly grow. I love how you don't have to think about it, there are no decisions left to make, I can pick it up and put it down whenever I have a moment. I'm already thinking that I need to make sure my next project is ready to go when I finish this.

Thank you so much to all the lovely people who have joined up for the Brooch Swap. Its very exciting, the list includes some of my very favourite crafty types (thanks guys!), and lots of lovely new faces. And if you are interested in joining the swap, there is still time, sign ups stay open till next Tuesday. And if you haven't emailled me your name and address yet please do that.

Make sure you come back tomorrow because I have a special treat for you!! Lovely Kylie Hunt has written and photographed a guest post with a tutorial for her amazing embroidered brooch, which some incredibly lucky swapper is going to receive in the swap! I love Kylie's brooches and I'll share some of her others with you tomorrow. I'm sure they'll help inspire your making if you are joining us for the swap.

More clever types at Kirsty's.

The Big Brooch Swap!

My blog is really close to 500 posts (wow!) and to celebrate I'd like to (finally!) officially announce the Flower Press handmade Brooch Swap!

The idea came to me about six months ago and I haven't been able to get it out of my mind. I love brooches and I buy them all the time, but for some reason I've never made one. With this swap I'm hoping to inspire my own brooch making and yours too.

In my research I've realised that there are limitless ways you can make a brooch and the bigger problem will be choosing just one! You can make a brooch with patchwork, felt, acrylic, clay, broken pottery, embroidery, beading, wood, vintage jewellery, resin, perspex, fimo, buttons, metal, leather, glass, lace, doilies, crochet, knit, game pieces and ephemera, card or paper, veneer and more.

handmade brooches I bought last year made by left Kristen Doran, right Erin Lykos.

Swaps can be lots of fun and give you a sense of community, they can bring inspiration, ongoing friendships and, in this case, you get a brooch too! I find they help fire creativity and its great to see what others come up with. This Swap is open to anyone anywhere (or if you only want to send locally leave a note in your sign up.)

I've set up a Flickr group for the swap to share inspiration, progress shots and finished brooches. I'll be sharing some photos of brooches from my collection and some inspiration mosaics. I'd love to see your favourites too, to share ideas and making. I've already found one great tutorial from Melissa of tinyhappy which explains how she makes her beautiful brooches, below.

In the last couple of weeks I've run the idea past a few lovely talented people to see what they thought. Luckily they were all excited about the idea and promised to join in. Thanks to lovely Kate for sharing her swap organising experience.

 

More of my brooch collection, a recent purchase from Anna Betts and a gift (the daisy brooch top left) from Melissa Wastney.

The Brooch Swap will run over two months starting from today. Sign ups will be open for a week from today until May 10th. Then you have seven weeks to make your brooch, until June 21st. I'm being generous with the timeline because the most important thing to me is that everyone follows through with their commitment. Please don't join if you aren't 100% sure you will come through with your part of the bargain. I know how those swap deadlines can suddenly appear at the worst time, and of course I'm happy to work around unavoidable delays.

To sign up leave a comment below with your blog or email and then email me directly with your name and address details (my email address link is up there on the left below the swap logo). I will send you your swap partner's details once nominations finish. Grab a Brooch Swap logo for your sidebar (on the left there) if you want and spread the word. Let the swap begin!!!

last minute mothers day

I was suddenly inspired yesterday afternoon to cast on this quick project as part of a present for my Mum, whose birthday it is next week. I think it would also make a great last minute handmade Mother's Day gift. Details on my ravelry page.

This is a free pattern which you can knit it in a day and it takes less than a ball of wool. Another bonus is its knitted mostly in garter stitch (knit, no purl for the newbies) so it would be great for beginners wanting to learn a few new skills. The only trick would be separating stitches for the slot and that's well explained.

I love this wool which I bought last year on a whim at Spotlight. My stash is full of single balls which I've bought with no plan in mind but can't resist! Luckily I have two balls of this so I can make myself another, in fact I can see I'll have to knit a few. A great stash buster.

By the way, you know how I've been going on about that swap thing. Well sign ups go up on Tuesday, promise. There are some lovely friends on board all ready and I can't wait to see what they make! Please come and join the fun on Tuesday!