Treat yourself or a loved one to a basketry course in the New Year

Rachel Evans, a basketmaker based in Oakamoor in the Staffordshire Moorlands, is running a two day course in January 2012, teaching beginners or intermediate learners how to make a round or oval shopping basket.

The course covers; varieties and preparation of basketry willows, correct ways of making in the English traditional style and all the techniques needed to make further baskets at home. Makers can have a go at working on a lapboard, in the style of professional makers of old.

All participants will take home at least one shopping basket with a sturdy handle and possibly another smaller project, using a variety of basketry willows in all colours cut by hand by Rachel in the Staffordshire Moorlands and Derbyshire. Numbers are strictly limited to 8 to ensure a quality learning experience.

Rachel Evans, the tutor has been making baskets for 17 years and in 2010, was awarded a bursary by the Basketmakers Association to study over the course of a year, apprentice style with Adrian Charlton, a noted Norfolk maker.

The two day course is to be held at Oakamoor Village Hall in the Staffordshire Moorlands over the weekend of 14th and 15th January and costs £100. Vouchers can be purchased from Rachel to send to friends and family as a brilliant idea for a Christmas present. Book quickly as only 6 places left, these courses are very popular.

To book, contact Rachel on 07779121031 or email wheatcroftwillow@googlemail.com

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Rachel Evans
Wheatcroftwillow
www.wheatcroftwillow.co.uk
07779121031

Doug Wild is a new travelling restaurant specialising in wild food and traditional country recipes.

All of our food is foraged locally or supplied by local farmers and growers. Many of the vegetables, fruits, roots and leaves you will pass day after day but will rarely if ever have eaten.

We are currently looking for a venue within 10 miles of New Mills. A club, pub, church or schools hall even a scout hut would be ideal. If you have a reasonable kitchen and would allow us to host a wild food evening please contact

doug-wild@hotmail.co.uk

The evening will consist of a 3 course menu with options of 5 starters, 5 mains and 5 dessert and tickets in advance £25. We will also have a full range of our sauces, jams, preserves and recipes for sale.

If you are hosting a conference or exhibition we will gladly provide a buffets that either you pay for or the guests by from us by the plate. W are happy to provide outside catering and home or workplace preparation and service. We also supply dishes for home delivery either ready to eat or cook and eat later. All the cook later meals are fully prepared and ready simply to heat and eat. If you are planning a special dinner party or just want to impress someone. We will come to you in your own home prepare and cook the food and serve as if you were in your very own restaurant. You can even choose your own menu.

We can also prepare and serve food in the open air. So for that extra special proposal dinner, you choose the place and we’ll be there to make your evening perfect,.

Using only fresh local ingredients and wild food not often seen on restaurant menus we can assure you a meal to remember.

We passed 5 months old this week, and the viewings continue to rise by the week, by the time this news item goes out the site will have been visited 4000 times, and these have generated 15,500  page views. Just short of 1200 returning visitors climbing each month.

The 3200 UK visitors confirms that the target market is being reached - 800 or so overseas vistors taking a good look through the pages.

Just thought you would like to know !

Mathew Look

Image by Look Creations - sunset toward Ilam Moor from a point below Mothercap on a very cold evening - nice crunching through the snow though !

An exciting new collection of craft kits and gifts using natural, sustainable leather, under the name of ‘MakE’ was launched this October.

Sarah Benson and Kate Willison have worked to put together a selection of kits and gifts using left over leather and sheepskin pieces from local tanneries and local makers wherever possible. The kits vary from very simple to more advanced – from birdhouses to rag cushions – all using this sustainably sourced leather.

Inspired by seeing the caught wool from the sheep on my daily walk in Cowdale, near Buxton we came up with ‘Dolly the Sheep’ keyrings or bag decorations. Made from real sheepskin and leather piece we sell them made up or as a simple fun MakE kit.

Also inspired by the beautiful landscape of the Peaks, we have put together  ‘Inspiration packs’ for appliqué and needlework projects. These include a collection of leathers in differing colours and textures, some speciality gold or silver textured leather and some vintage beads thrown in for good measure.  We look forward to seeing what people make with these packs…

We will also be running workshops at our Matlock studio to make up leather wreaths, birdhouses, and leather craft such as belt making.

Sarah has a background in textiles interiors and craft, and Kate is studying for a Creative Art degree in her spare time.

We are currently selling through local craft fairs, Matlock Farmers Market and the internet and are very interested to look at local stockists – if you are interested in becoming a stockist please call Sarah on 01629 581 403.

mail@theidentitystore.co.uk

www.theidentitystore.co.uk

"Where I live in Old Glossop in the Peak district is a wonderfully inspiring place. I collect Derbyshire river stones from various banks near my home, they must be smooth and stand up unaided, unusual shapes are also very welcome. I wash, lightly sand and then hand paint them with 'woodland doors for attracting fairies', these are doors, dwellings and shops cafes and pubs for the wee folk. All are inspired and named after the nearby British wild flowers depicted. There is madame cowslips cake shop where the wee folk get their fairie cakes, the star of Bethlehe inn where they go for a wee dram, and cottages such as chamoile cottage where they live. They are very popular at the local produce market, my intention is to invite people to invite magic into their lives.

Images shown

Perriwinkle post office

The Star of Bethlehem Inn

Lily of the valley house

Kathryn also makes 'Silver Spiral Jewellery '  - Unique handmade silver jewellery - we hop eto bring you more details in due course.

contact  - 01457 864359, mobile 07950653077.

Sue Prince of Beechenhill Farm in the Staffordshire Peak District village of Ilam creates folkart paintings set in and inspired by the Peak District landscape, painted in egg tempera made with eggs from her farm’s organic hens.  The method originally came from Sweden, and was discovered in a Peak District National Park Authority business project BESST (Business and Environment linked through Small Scale Tourism).  Sue is passionate about local food and a sustainable countryside so this natural method of painting brings all her interests together.

The paintings, in the tradition of the Bayeux Tapestry, tell stories.  The words, as important as the images, are sometimes Haiku like or almost folk song lyrics.  The paintings celebrate and comment upon modern life, rural and urban through the eyes of a Peak District person.
Peak District women depicted in Sue’s bonads (Swedish for decorative wall hanging) are dressed in gowns with traditional well-dressing patterns; this led to the creation of a series of works about water featuring well dressing Angels.  Other series include local food and farming, protest, trees and birds.
‘It is the Shepe’ showing a typical sheep shearing experience was awarded a medal in the 2011 Derbyshire Open Arts competition.   Sue has exhibited in the UK and has works in the permanent collections of galleries in Sweden and Slovenia having also participated in the 42nd gathering of international naive artists at the Galerija likovnih Samorastnikov (The Gallery of Naïve Artists) Slovenia.
Sue’s latest commission was for Sir Richard Fitzhertbert of Tissington, his gift to his bride on their wedding day 28th October 2011.

Sue has a current  exhibition at Gallery at 12, High Street Eccleshall, near Stafford
www.galleryat12.co.uk 5th to 26th November 2011

Sheep to Chic: from sheep-rearing to designer hats on a single Peak District small holding.

On frosty mornings the hay steams as I take it from the shed out to my sheep: tiny, rare-breed Soays, small, sure-footed and hardy and ideal for the upland pasture of my small holding high on the boundary of the Peak Park. Their fleece - deep brown “natural black”, honey, or creamy “natural white” is the raw ingredient of my felt-making. It is processed locally into smooth, washed and carded wool for felting, or to soft, spun yarn. I have a dyer’s garden too: the wool fleece and yarn are dyed with my own dye plants: Golden Rod, St John’s Wort, and Woad (so far: I hope to add others that can survive up here). This is a messy process, time-consuming and not always a success: it is possible to get a huge variety of light brown shades from almost any vegetation, but the rarer blues, greens and deep reds seem elusive… I shall keep trying.

The fleece and yarn, either in its natural colours or hand-dyed, is transformed into felt by the traditional technique of hand-rolled wet-felting. The soft local water is ideal for this, and I use my own hand-made soap produced from mutton fat from my own hogget meat combined with ash from wood fires (our own windfall timber, too!) to open up the wool fibres, an essential part of traditional felt-making. Then I shape hats, bags and scarves from the felt and finish many of them with crochet in the wool yarn also from my sheep. Stone, leather and antler horn fastenings complete the organic simplicity of these items.

There are some things I cannot produce-bits of bling and glitter to add a touch of sparkle, or strong colours for which I have to use acid dyes- but the silk linings of my hats and bags are remnants from the silk mills of Macclesfield, which specialize in tie fabrics and designer scarves for the London market. The contrast of colour and texture of these stunning designer linings and the gentle colours of my wool is always a surprise to purchasers as they turn the hats and bags to investigate the inside….so almost everything I use originates within or close to the Peak District, and (I hope) expresses its character.

I sell only within the Peak District, in galleries, and at curated exhibitions and events, and offer workshops in feltmaking locally. I want my work to keep its local character and distinctive feel: to create a genuinely regional product which epitomizes the nature of the Peak: rugged, elemental, natural and in the soft colours of our local landscape.

Linda Moss

Sheep to Chic

By means of a break from the workshop, today was a day out in the Peak District.

The 'dramatic sunrise' image ...well let us say that the fog was on hand - just a little too thick at 7 am.   After several cups of tea and the arrival of my two friends, we set off to Grindleford Station Cafe to await our final member of the team Andy Astbury of Wildlife in Pixels. The overcast and foggy / misty conditions lent themselves to Padley stream as our destination - it is a great place to have some fun being creative with photography. Even better for a quiet walk through some old Oak wondlands.  As usual, the Station Cafe was busy and the fire was welcome, more tea & possibly the best Bacon Butty in the Peak District, we set off up the path to see what we could come up with.  I love the opportunity to play with differing exposures, compositions and the various bits of kit which I have obtained over the years, carrying it over the slick rocks and muddy banks is offcourse a downside !

The image here is from a period I spent watching and trying to capture the movement of the water - without including the various colourful elements of oak leaves, mossy rocks and peat stained water as distractions  - possibly not what some would choose and I may never print it out, in many ways that is why I like my photography... it is mine and allows me to explore ideas without worrying about potential sales or use.  If I do not like the image - I simply delete it and take another.  

After the last weekends busy 2 days at the Devonshire Dome care of The Weekend Shopping Company and the catch up Monday & Tuesday - the walk, noise of the stream and banter with the 'boys' was just what I needed.

I returned home mid afternoon, more tea and chat, then on to the PC to see what I had managed to capture.

Meanwhile, Tracy Brooomhead at the Live and Work Rural Team (Peak District National Park) has been kind enough to send out details of the November Competition for the website. Have a look back through the News Items for details - best news Item wins a subscription worth £100. Put yourself on the Creator Locator Map and your stockists, events etc.....

I hope to hear from you soon

Mathew Look

Welcome to The Weekend Shopping Company

"bringing together a diverse offering of quality products in exciting venues"!

Dates: Saturday 12th November and Sunday 13th November 2011.

Venue: The Devonshire Dome, 1 Devonshire Road, Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17 6RY (formerly The Devonshire Royal Hospital and now part of the Univerity of Derby. Next to the Palace Hotel)

Time: 10 am – 4pm

£1 entry for adults including entry into free prize draw. Children Free.

Supporting Peak District Friends of Cancer Research UK

Facilities

Building: Grade ll listed town centre building with Britain’s largest unsupported domed roof.

Food: Cafe at The Dome open for the duration of the event serving breakfasts, deli goods, pannini’s, carvery, hot & cold snacks and afternoon tea and cakes. Alternatively, The Restaurant at The Dome is open for a 2 or 3 course Sunday lunch. Book directly on 01298 28345

Hair & Beauty: The Devonshire Spa’s hair and beauty salon is open on the ground floor on Saturday 12th November. Please call 01298 28334 to make an appointment. Also, the luxury services offered by The Devonshire Spa on the lower ground floor focus on total relaxation and indulgence with access to some of the world’s leading spa product ranges. Call directly on 01332 594408

Disabled access: Full access from Devonshire Road entrance. Disabled access toilet facilities.

What’s On

Approximately 70 stalls representing…

·         Home and garden

·         Food and Drink

·         Stocking fillers and gifts

·         Children’s gifts and toys

·         Wreaths, decorations and stationery

·         Clothing, accessories and jewellery

·         Soap and bodycare

Transport links

Train: Buxton train Station –less than 5 minutes walk away

Buses: from Leek (118), Macclesfield (58), Derby (7/TP) and Stockport (199)

Council car park: 5 mins walk away

What a fantastic day at the Devonshire Dome - Buxton. A great event, with over 60 different stalls and all looking busy throughout the day. I never got a few minutes to get teh camera out to take a few pictures for this feaure - maybe tomorrow.

It was great to see some clients returning and meet new ones.  We received our certificate for the Environmental Quality Mark and had it on display with plenty of leaflets explaining the process and its objectives.

Time to catch some sleep before we start to restock the stand at 8.00 am for what I hope will be a repeat of todays trade !

I hope to see you Sunday - please make the trip, Buxton is a wonderfull Spa Town and teh Devonshire Dome is a fantastic venue - something for every taste.

Mathew Look

Look Creations

&

Peak District Creations