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Spring is here, summer is just around the corner and so is Open Studios. This is my favourite time of the year, when the nosey folk amongst us get to see what everyone get’s up to in their studios! One of our Derbyshire based members, Louise Broad is having an Open Studios event this weekend, here is more information about her event.
Our members are such a talented bunch, Lucia of Bettyjoy is our featured member on the blog this week and her fabulous new Crafty Workshops.
Lucia has run several popular workshops for us at Craft Candy and she is now running some of her own at the shop of fellow member Yvonne, Jam Jar Beads. Lucia will be teaching her wonderful Birdie Brooch workshop as well as new sessions such as shoe customisation.
For more information visit Lucia’s Blog!
We have some good news for all of those who missed out on getting a place at Gemma’s Craft Candy Etui workshop recently – Gemma will be running a session in her studio in Rotherham. On Saturday the 1st of May the button tin will be hosting its first official vintage craft workshop and afternoon tea party at the Imperial Buildings, followed by live music and refreshments from 5pm onwards. This workshop will launch a fabulous set of vintage craft workshops at The Button Tin.
Fore more information visit Gemma’s website. For those of you who can’t get to Rotherham, Gemma will be running another session for us in August in Sheffield so watch out for that!
Yesterday I went to visit Craft Candy member Gemma Nemer in her new studio in the recently opened Imperial Buildings in Rotherham and I was really impressed with how fabulous everything looked. The building is fantastic and makes a lovely setting for artists studios. Most of the studios are situated around the gorgeous central courtyard and kiosk.
The building isn’t up to full capacity just yet but several artists and makers have already moved in, one of the nicest studios is the central kiosk though that Gemma is sharing with 3 other makers. I was spoilt rotten by Gemma who gave me a tour and offered me countless biscuits and tea (out of lovely vintage teacups and saucers!)
Gemma is a textile artist, we’ve featured her beautiful work before on the Craft Candy blog, you can take another look at it here. It was great to be able to see Gemma at work and it was obvious that she’d spent a great deal of time making the studio in to a lovely place to work and run workshops. The studio is adorned with bunting, jars of buttons and vintage clothes and tea sets, I was there for 2 hours but really didn’t want to leave to catch my train back to Sheffield!
Gemma also employed the talents of 2 Craft Candy members to add some finishing touches. Sarah Waterhouse screen printed the two signs for her window and Heather Dewick made some lovely hand bound photo albums to display all Gemma’s photographs of her workshops and collections.
Gemma will be starting workshops very soon and don’t worry, we’ll be posting on the Craft Candy Blog when they start. In the meantime visit www.gemma-nemer.co.uk for more information or to contact Gemma, or why not take a trip to Rotherham and see the studio for yourself? The buildings are now open to the public (check with Gemma first though to make sure she will be in her studio before you come!)
We have some lovely exciting news for you this week, one of our members Gemma Nemer is opening a new studio in Rotherham in the beautiful Imperial Buildings as part of a project involving the Rotherham Open Arts Renaissance. She’d love to invite you all to come, here is some more information for you all:
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“Its time to be craft-tea!
You’re invited to an afternoon craft-tea party, hosted by textile artist Gemma Nemer, at her studio the button tin. You can stitch and make lovely, pretty things that are yours for keeps, and there’ll be tea and cakes in a very special opening offer: five pretty pounds for a few craft-tea hours, pop in any time between 2pm-6pm”
Saturday 6th March 2010
Imperial Buldings
Central Kiosk,
High Street,
Rotherham,
S60 1PA
Were opening the button tin, So come down and look right in, There’s vintage crafts and fabric flowers, Sorting Grandmas buttons for hours!
the button tin is a vintage craft studio home to textile artist Gemma Nemer. She will be running a programme of vintage craft workshops in the button tin throughout the year. You will have the opportunity to take classes on how to make a vintage etui (sewing box), pretty bunting, textile jewellery, kitsch little lavender bags, tea cosys, aprons and lots more. You will be able to choose from Gemmas beautiful fabrics and buttons and also learn how to re cycle vintage materials and in corporate them in to your work. It will be a wonderful chance and insight to see how Gemma works.
Gemma will have on hand all her wonderful collections of vintage fabrics, patchwork, aprons, buttons, baskets, books and trinkets to inspire you!
You will even have the chance to see Gemmas one off vintage pieces and purchase them exclusively from her.
Trained in the Fine Arts Gemma has many exhibitions to her credit exhibiting in galleries such as Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Leeds Craft and Design Gallery, The Harley Gallery, The Millennium Galleries.
Inspired by memories of playing with Grandma’s button tin as a child, and her homely hand made patchwork quilts, Gemma Nemer draws on her own collection of fabrics and kitsch objects. She loves the radiant honesty of these materials; every swatch of colourful patterned fabric or even a single beautifully formed button holds a memory. With basic tools, needle and thread, she makes vintage textile jewellery composed with scraps of memories hand sewn together with love and care. Each piece is an individual work of personal art.
Gemma is driven by the notion of finding and caring again for something discarded and lost, the art of salvage and recreation. By collecting, caring for, and re-using vintage materials she creates a nostalgic feel from things she relates to in other people’s history. Finding little treasures in other people’s junk!
The concept of kitsch is challenged in Gemma’s art, she sees beyond the gaudy and tacky, creating fusions of colour, pattern and texture in a bright and beautiful experience.
She delivers courses at community projects, schools, craft groups and galleries. Her skills include vintage textile crafts and her main practise is vintage textile jewellery. She produces showcases as well as commissions and is now running her own vintage craft studio the button tin.
Our member Phantoms Siren, otherwise known as Vyctoria, has been featured in Irregular Magazine. You can download a free copy here:
The interview features lots of fantastic images of Vyctoria’s work and also the alternative Craft Candy logo she designed which we absolutely adore! Here it is!
Here Vyctoria explains why she designed this little beauty!
“When I set up my new personal website I wanted in include the Craft Candy logo somewhere on the site, however the official pastel coloured logos weren’t really appropriate for a Victorian-Steampunk-Horror themed site, so I set out the design something more appropriate to my style. The logo is based on the designs used in Victorian advertising, especially their sweet tins and household products- limited colours, bold text and simple graphics.”
Vyctoria’s website is here. For more information about Vyctoria you can also view her Postcard on the Craft Candy site.
Well, our members have been busy bees recently which means there are lots of lovely events to tell you about, here are just a few of them…
Celia from Jencel has organised a Bead Fair so if you were half as sad as I was when her bricks and mortar shop closed down on Ecclesall Road here is your chance to peruse all the fantastic beads she has on offer.
Saturday 21st November 10am – 4pm
Aston Hotel, Britannia Way, Catcliffe, Sheffield S60 5BD
More information on the Jencel website here.
Another one of our members excitingly has just set up a new workshop business so now the crafty folk of Sheffield have another place they can learn lots of fab things!
“Running with Scissors, a new craft workshop business, has been set up in Sheffield to offer lots of opportunities to learn new craft skills with like minded people. Places are now available for making sock monsters, felt bead jewellery and Christmas Willow Wreaths. The workshops are currently held in Netheredge and are organised by Emma, a member of Craft Candy. For more information check out www.rwssheffield.co.uk or e-mail info@rwssheffield.co.uk”
