in Devon

I'm back home after a soggy but enjoyable day at in Bovey Tracey at the Contemporary Craft Fair. We were treated to a heavy downpour, a pork roll, half a pint of cider and some very nicely made things. Below are three of my favourite things I saw today.

Wren Brooch by Rachel Eardley. Rachel had a few of these brooches and other jewellery pieces on show, all made out of defunct coins, as well as some very sweet illustration and embroidery work. Dissecting the images on each coin is quite a neat and original idea, and pretty fiddly to do I would imagine. I particularly enjoyed the one with all the heads in profile.

Ecoh by Eiko Yoshido. There is never alot of paper work at craft fairs, I suppose its a harder sell than jewellery, but the colours of the paper flower really stood out for me.

Helen Noakes makes the most incredible jewellery in silver and resin. All of the little figures frozen in these miniature scenes are railway models from Germany. She said she ended up making them because she liked them so much she had to have some, why you would need a penguin on your railway I do not know, but I'm glad someone thinks you might. There is a bit of jewellery around using tiny plastic things, kooky mini ice cream earrings being a case in point. What I love about these pieces is that they are so humorous and endearing without compromising on the quality of making.

an outing

Please come and visit me at the Made in Bristol Spring Fair at Colston Hall this Saturday and Sunday. I'll be selling thermochromes, cosies and some other bits and pieces.

furniture-by-numbers

The toy like quality of the outdoor kitchen by Nina Tolstrup only increases its appeal, but the best thing about it is the fact you get to make it yourself! A blue peter worthy project indeed.

This is easily my favourite of the designs on the ten-plan website, available to download and make yourself, with contributions from familiar names in furniture. While some of the other designs seem a little throwaway, and at worst a little patronising, Tolstrup's design really needs the extensive instructions for us to re-create it. Its a real project of the kind that incites swearing, bleeding thumbs and genuine gratification.

As soon as I'm united with my own outside space, I'll be down the hardware shop.

new shoes

These boots started life as a tracing of my foot on a scrap piece of card. Raphael is a shoemaker working out of wooden shack in Meru, Kenya. He studied at the local polytechnic before starting his own business making safari boots and repairing shoes. Small shops and businesses, from dressmakers to carpenters, appear in clusters along the dusty roads around Meru. People sustaining themselves and their families through their own skill.

* little bit of kenyan dirt in there.

yarn

These are from  my visit to Nanyuki Spinners and Weavers in Kenya, a women's group that teaches valuable skills to women that they can use to make their own income. Starting with raw wool from the local area, the women make woven products from rugs to scarves that are sold onsite, as well as over the web and to shops in the USA. This one is me spinning wool ( I was not that great, she laughed at me)

I love the holistic approach to making here, and the fact that its done more out of necessity than to adhere to some 'crafty' aesthetic. They make yarn in a variety of colours, all of which are derived from plant or animal products. Above is Lois, with a piece of cactus covered in tiny cochineal beetles, well known for its ability to make pink cakes. They collect the beetles from the forest and, when fermented for different periods, it produces a range of purples when used to dye the yarn. Almost all the other things used to dye are grown within the compound. This means they are independent, and are not reliant on the producers of chemical dyes and the prices they set, and not working with harsh chemicals.

http://www.spinnersandweavers.org/

house of sticks

This is a house of one of the Samburu people, built from acacia branches, cow hide, dung, string, cardboard and other found materials. They are incorporating modern materials that would otherwise be considered waste into their traditional building methods, which I find quite interesting considering the huge amounts of rubbish that are either burnt of accumulate in the streets in Kenya. I love the resourcefulness of these structures, and its something that I've seen lots of since I've been here. Re-using packaging, ingenious structures built out of unexpected materials as well as the guys who ride around on bikes with twenty plastic crates strapped onto rack with bungee, delivering groceries door to door.

Since being in Kenya I've been struck how much people here really do rely on their environment. In Meru, where we are staying, there are farms and homesteads everywhere. Allmost every person grows some kind kind of produce, whether its bananas, cabbage or tea and much of the fresh produce they eat is grown and sold locally. Water is the key for all of this, and is connected with what we are doing here, replanting areas of the Imenti forest in the hope of providing water security for the area as well as conserving indigenous species of plants and animals. Both water and resourceful, unusual and haphazard assemblies of materials will probably come to form a big part my new project.

a trip

It must be almost nine months ago now that I sat in my parents house, faffing around on the internet on a drizzly afternoon, when I stumbled upon something that I almost didn't follow up. But I filled in the forms, sent back the application and the references (at the very last minute). I even went to an interview, but four months of job hunting had taught me not expect much from those.

So when I got a call, on a similarly dank afternoon in August, and the woman on the end of the line was telling me I'd been accepted to Platform2, that they were sending me to volunteer in a developing country for 10 weeks, I was honestly so shocked I sat down on the floor and could not speak. I don't even remember if I thanked her.

In less than one week I will be flying to Kenya to volunteer at a forest conservation project thanks to this scheme. Platform2 is run by Dfid, Christian Aid and Bunac, and gives young people like me the opportunity to visit a developing country and learn about global issues first hand. Despite all my research and reading, I still can't conjure a satisfactory image of what its going to be like, thats why I can't wait to get there, so it will finally feel real.

minimalist cake

Very beautiful images from the new IKEA cookbook that has no words in it. Probably not very useful for making a cake though.

The End of the Road.....

Just got back from a fantastic weekend at End of the Road, the first outing for the thermochrome lanterns.

Leaning off a ladder  twenty feet in the air, we raced the fading light and my spinning head from vertigo to get fifteen lanterns safely hanging in their tree. Rejecting kind offers to go up the ladder in my place, I stubbornly hung each lantern from the branches of a huge evergreen. Each night I dragged my assistant/ spokesperson (while occupied up a ladder)/ official photographer away from the music and the beer to light each one in turn. I was so pleased with how they looked I didn't get even slightly furious when one was broken.

Thanks for everyones help and support, especially Dave, even though I would let him climb that ladder, thanks to End of the Road for having me and for lovely weekend.

mess

One week to go before the festival and I'm spending all my time, when I'm not painting things pink, inventing things that could go wrong, then thinking about them and deciding they are going to happen. Also, trying not to make a mess of the kitchen.