Stitching and Recycling

I worked on some new denim cuffs the other day. My best friend tore up an old pair of jeans to make a Hulk costume then donated the jeans to me to make things with. And so began my upcycled denim cuff journey.

The new series use beads, metal findings and bright colours. I like using text on these so if you think of anything you'd like to see, let me know!

Don't forget my Christmas in July Sale finishes Sunday 24th July (that's tomorrow!!). Use coupon code july10 to get 10% off your cuff order :-) But hurry!!

Christmas in July!

Christmas in July Sale!!!

I'm having a Christmas in July sale in my Etsy shop until 24th July. Use coupon code july10 to get 10% off your entire order. Also, check out the SALE section to find jewellery already 30% off!!

Here's a few for you to look at:

Etsy Craft Party!!!

This past Friday was the international Etsy Craft Party day. I went to one in Whitstable organised by the lovely Samantha Osboure of Fishing for Pearls (check out her store here).

We met in the Made in Whitstable Big Black Hut where 12 local artists are selling their wares for the next 6 weeks. If you are in the area please drop in, there is some lovely stuff there.

We had a great time chatting and crafting, here are a few photos:

The Made In Whitstable Hut



The embroidery I was working on



Our supplies...



Samantha and I working away

I hope everyone else had as much fun at their Etsy Craft Party as we did!

Hope For Japan - Finished!

My charity piece for Japan is finally finished! I decided to add a hand printed background and Japanese characters around the outside of the flag to finish it off...

When I get home in about a months time I am going to put this up for sale in my Etsy shop and the proceeds will go the the Red Cross to help Japan. If you're interested you can email me here

You can still donate to the Red Cross here as well

Um.... Autumn Jewellery...

So, I was going to show you my Halloween costume.... but I can't get the photos off my camera just now! I managed to take the memory card out so the photos are on the internal memory.... and I don't have the cord with me.... Stupid Joanne!

While I work on getting the photos off my camera, here's some autumnal jewellery for you instead :-)

In my stash of beads there has been a bag of leaf shaped beads. It has been sitting there for a while, waiting for me to find a use for them. Finally, the idea for my autumnal wire and bead necklace seemed the perfect project!

This necklace is made from copper and brass coloured wires, wrapped together with glass and plastic beads from Europe. Scattered between the gold, red, brown and orange beads fall the leaves, whilst displayed in the middle, wooden seed-shaped beads remind us of pine cones and chestnuts descending as well.

This necklace is fully adjustable with a gold ribbon closure. This piece will make a statement worn against dark colours or will nestle warmly with a harmoniously coloured ensemble. Bring the warmth of bonfires and the crisp crunch of Fallen Leaves to your jewellery box!

More Naked Cycling!

After my feature the other day I was contacted by some lovely people!

Sara from SewCreativeBySara send me a lovely message and would like to offer my readers 15% discount on a seat cover if you mention the A Crafter At Sea blog when you order!

So go get yourself one here!

Also, Melanie aka mellovelo of Bike Bums deserves a second mention as she is sending me a pirate seat cover! How awesome is she?! Go check out her stuff too!

Naked Cycling!!

I got into an interesting Twitter conversation with GoingPlacesToo this week. She had seen naked bicyclists in Seattle celebrating the beginning of summer and it reminded me of some naked bicyclists I'd seen in Vancouver a few years ago. It turned out we had had the same thought - What kind of bike seats are they using?! GoingPlacesToo kindly looked up bike seats on Etsy as our conversation escalated and I just had to share some with you:


Left to right, top to bottom:

Florida Theme Bicycle Seat by mellowvelo
Frankenstein Bike Seat Cover by kalleen
Fleur des Lis bicycle Seat by madebyjulianne
Bicycle Saddle Cover by SewCreativeBySara
Vintage Upholstery Bike Seat Cover by BeatriceHoliday
Blue Wool Bike Seat Cover by EmilyCrochetsPants

Let's get those bikes out and be green people!

Share the Handmade Love Wednesdays - Shisha

A while back I discovered shisha embroidery through Penny Nickle's blog DonkeyWolf. Check out her stuff, it's very cool! I'm going to blog about it soon, but for now, here is some handmade love for shisha on Etsy!


Left to right, top to bottom:

Embroidered Apron Top by pgasparotto
Shisha Mirror Hand Felted Cuff by lanadeflor
Belly Dance Benjara Belt by MagicCarpetDanceArts
Beaded Brooch by CrimsonPetalCouture

Share the Handmade Love Wednesdays - Skulls

So, I've been feeling a little bit down the last week. Nothing major, it just reminded me of my Goth days back when I was teenager. And so, in tribute, here are some gorgeous items made from skulls!


Left to right, top to bottom:

Romantic Skull necklace by OutsideCatArt
Storytime skeleton blockprint by redhydrant
Day of the Dead patch by Lizmiera
Reversible infant bib by MyWoobyandMe
Hummingbird skull prendant by mrd74
Crow Skull Jacket by Tadaboutique

And if anyone wants to buy me a raven skull pendant from mrd74 I'd love you forever!!

Beachcomber Necklace

I made this piece in the same way I made my Sea Gypsy Necklace. As I wasn’t going to sell my Sea Gypsy necklace I figured I could use the same look with this piece of worn shell I found in St. Kitts. It conveniently already had a hole in the top, which made me automatically believe it had to be made into a necklace. I used the pre-existing hole to create a wire shank and added a swirl at tie the piece in with my other work.

As with the Sea Gypsy necklace I gathered together pale hemp cord, wooden and glass beads. I used five strands of hemp to make the main cord, threading the wooden beads from Miami on all five strands. I threaded the glass beads from New York onto a single strand so they nestled between the others partially hidden.

I like the dramatic affect of this necklace – the central piece is chunky and bold, while the hemp is finer, hiding the smaller, more delicate glass beads.

This piece is currently available for sale in my store here

Busy Busy Busy!!

I know, I know, I missed Share the Handmade Love on Wednesday! It's been madness around here. Ever since I got back to my ship it's been non-stop! I've been learning the ropes of working with the Nickelodeon costume characters and doing their slimy laundry (don't ask!) and after only 48 hours on the ship I had my hand up SpongeBob's butt!! I had to fix a snap, ok?!

The Nickelodeon stuff is a lot of fun actually. We have Meet & Greets and breakfasts and live shows. One (with the slime) is a full gameshow in our theatre which the kids love. There's a lot of laundry, but not more than I can handle and it's interesting to look after a different type of costume. That's a new special skill on my resume!!

In other news this week I got my first custom order! I'm very excited to be making a belt for the daughter of my new friend Deezie. They liked the belts in my Etsy store but they were all too big for her daughter, so I'm making her a custom one based on my Rock Belt (see it here). In honour of the occasion, here's one of my other belts!

I wanted to create another belt like my Rock Belt and originally wanted to make something a bit more feminine and floral. I used an old pair of jeans that one of my dancers had left for me and was thinking I would embroider on the denim outside with flowers, vines and butterflies. I tried sketching out some ideas but nothing looked right to me. I then discovered as I cut the waistband off the jeans, that the inside of this pair was lined with a white fabric printed with a floral pattern! I decided to follow this pattern and let the design develop organically, excuse the pun!! I started by hand embroidering over the flower shapes in the print with colours I consider to be floral – more pretty and subdued than vibrant, but bright nonetheless. I considered sewing butterflies and other gardeny items on to the belt but it didn’t feel right. I went for the simple approach and just used the original flowers as the focus. I added green vines to anchor the flowers to something, instead of leaving them floating on the belt. I added green beads to represent leaves and green buttons to continue the natural theme.

This a very feminine piece and will look good with outfits in pastel or pale colours – maybe for a wedding or a garden party?!

This belt is currently available in my Etsy Store here

Share the Handmade Love Wednesdays - Food!!

This week I'm sharing the handmade love with food.

I ♥ food!

I love cake and coffee and Mexican and Italian and Japanese. I love cookies and chai and pizza.... yum! When I'm on the ships I can't cook for myself and the food can become a bit samey. So as I am going back on Friday... here's a little food tribute!


Left to right, top to bottom:

Fresh Strawberry Marshmallows by calabasascandyco
Red Velvet Cake Truffles by lollidreams
Butter Cookie Black Tea by NOTJUSTTEA
Mustache on a Stick Cookie by FairytaleFrosting
Mississippi Mud Organic Flavoured Coffee by katherynmd
Green Chili Pork Taquitos by athyme2bcomforted

Rainy Craft Fairs and new stuff...

Today, my mum and I went to the Weald of Kent Craft Fair. It rained all day! We had a good time and spent lots of money anyway! It gave me lots of ideas about where I want my stuff to go and how I could display my wares if I went to a craft fair. We also went into the supplies tent and I bought some Angelina fibres to play with. I'm planning on making lots of sparkly stuff!!

Also, I now have a shop on Folksy, the UK handmade marketplace. Please go check it out and let me know what you think!

And now some of my crafts! I mentioned my Rock belt before, back in February when it was National Embroidery Month. It was quite difficult to get good photos of this piece because it is quite long and the embroidery is fine. But after a photo shoot with my dancers, I think I cracked it!

My Rock Belt is made from the waistband of an old pair of jeans that my best friend cut up for his Hulk Halloween costume. He gave them to me to add to my stash and this is what I made from them. It has frayed denim and chains hanging from it and is hand embroidered with rock symbols and words. I drew each of the symbols myself and chose bright colours to realise them on the belt. I imagine this piece being worn low on the hips, maybe with a band tee and some dark skinny jeans. I think you could wear it casually during the day to punk up your outfit, or out with your best threads to a gig!