I Love Making Things.

I love making things hence the title of my blog, Anne Clark Handmade. I also like to create small worlds using papier mache, fabric, wire and knitting. There is a lot of fun to be had experimenting with different materials. A couple of years ago I spent a day attending a Jessie Chorley workshop at Hope and Elvis in Nottinghamshire.  We were given an old cutlery box to do something with and I made it into a small room with clock, curtain and dressing table.

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Hand Cream from Hotel Chocolat

I was very pleased when Abi from the Angeledenblog nominated me to receive this hand cream from Hotel Chocolat  to try. Abi had been given some of their body butter to test and her thoughts can be seen HERE. The company contacted me to ask for my address and it arrived very quickly. When I opened the package it all looked very special in its own carrier.

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Carsington Water

Last week I went on a trip to Carsington Water, a reservoir in Derbyshire. The sun was out but it was a very cold day and the black clouds were gathering. The purpose of the visit was to see what the visitor centre could offer as an educational resource. It had very good  interactive displays and lots of information about where our water comes from and how it is cleaned for household use. I found it informative and fun as an adult but I feel sure it would be equally so for children.

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Fashion Revolution Day

The first Fashion Revolution Day will happen on April 24th 2014. It will then be a year since the Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh, which killed 1133 garment workers and injured over 2500 more. The idea for this day came from Carrie Somers from the Company Pachacuti in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. Carrie has written a blog which tells how she first got the idea and what the plans are for the first Fashion Revolution Day.

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Rat Bags

I recently discovered Rat Bags, a company making items out of sail canvas while on holiday on  the Scilly Islands. I love to visit countries like Italy where you still find small shops with the artist or maker working at the back, producing their handmade goods. It is rare however to find this in the UK so on this recent holiday to the Isles of Scilly I was really pleased to discover a shop called The Canvas Shop in Hugh Town, St Marys, where you can see the handmade items being made. The company is called Rat Bags and they make practical, colourful, bags, hats and clothes out of traditional canvas.

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An afternoon in Pachacuti, Ashbourne.

Last Wednesday I spent a couple of hours sitting in Pachacuti , a Fair Trade shop in Ashbourne,  Derbyshire. I had not gone there to buy anything although I was very tempted. On a previous visit I had left with three hats, two tops and a pair of shoes! Here is a photo of the shop and you can see my little suitcase outside!Pachacuti Shop in Ashbourne Derbyshire.

Pachacuti Shop in Ashbourne Derbyshire.

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Buying Rope

Today I went to Mercia Marina and ended up buying rope! The original reason for my visit was to pick up some knitting that I had done for an exhibition at the Willington Art Festival. Little did I know I would end up buying rope.

My exhibit  was a hoop covered in knitting to illustrate the water cycle. I don’t know why I chose to make this but the idea just popped into my head.

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Shopping in Kirkby Stephen

I wanted to go shopping in Kirkby Stephen. Kirkby Stephen is a small market town about 5 miles off the A66. This is the road you travel across the country on from the A1 at Richmond in the east to Penrith and the M6 in the west. It is a fantastic road with amazing views and small towns, villages and a few castles.

Travelling along the road last Monday we did a detour  for some lunch and to do a little shopping in Kirkby Stephen. I have not been there before and after a good lunch had a  look at the shops. It was so wet I didn’t take any pictures of the town itself as it was a case of dash into the next doorway.

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