I have just finished reading an interesting book, ‘Sustainable Luxury and Social Entrepreneurship, stories from the pioneers’.
It is a book written by entrepreneurs who have started businesses making beautiful things while at the same time thinking about their effect on our planet and the lives of the people who produce the items.
Continue reading Sustainable Luxury, Social Entrepreneurship
The ‘Here and There’ art walk is to take place in the Belper Parks wood during the weekend of May 23rd to May 25th. Artists who would like to take part can find out how to apply on the Corridor Arts website. I am writing this blog to encourage knitters, crocheters and textile artists to make pieces of work inspired by nature. These will be exhibited as part of the ‘Here and There’ art walk.
May 15-24th 2015 is Voluntary Arts week. During this week woods all over the country will be decorated with woollen creatures and vegetation as part of the Woollen Woods. The part of the art walk weekend that I am involved with is ‘Here and There’, inspired by the Woollen Woods. The plan is to get as many people as possible to make items to decorate the woods.
Yesterday I made some hazelnut and raspberry cakes. My starting point was a Nigel Slater recipe for blackberry and hazelnut friands. I had made these cakes last Autumn and they were delicious. This time I decided to use raspberries as I didn’t have any blackberries. Unfortunately I didn’t check my cupboards before starting to cook. I discovered that I did not have all the necessary ingredients. I also got distracted half way through and completely forgot one of the ingredients. Luckily the cakes I produced looked good and tasted good.
Saturday was a lovely sunny but cold day, the perfect time for a relaxing day out and a visit to the Peak District. The plan was to visit Hathersage for coffee and then visit David Mellor Cutlery for lunch. However things did change along the way. Driving through Chatsworth Park we decided to stop at the farm shop and have our coffee in their restaurant. The farm shop is being extended and it was very busy. You can see why an extension is needed. There is so much amazing food to buy its difficult to choose. I bought some English apples and a loaf of Pumpernickel bread. The bread felt heavy but I have just eaten some for tea and it was delicious spread with honey.
I am sitting enjoying a cup of tea after an enjoyable, exhausting weekend making part of a ‘What if Machine ‘ at Derby Silk Mill Museum. It was such a fun experience that I wanted to record it straight away. To explain, a What If Machine is based on the idea of creating a very complicated machine to cause something very simple to happen. These type of machines were drawn by Heath Robinson in England and Rube Goldberg in America. Neither illustrator made their machines but have inspired many to try. Wallis and Grommet films have some fantastically complicated ideas for achieving simple tasks.
There is one drink I can’t live without and that is, a nice cup of tea. I enjoy tea of all varieties and as I write this I am enjoying a cup of red bush or rooibos tea. This variety of tea is naturally caffeine free so is good to drink in the evening . The underground health website details ten reasons that this tea is good for you. I have recently purchased a glass teapot which is perfect for brewing more unusual teas.
I like to use up bananas once they are too squashy to eat by making a gluten free banana loaf. I first made this gluten free banana loaf several years ago from a recipe found on the Angel Eden blog .
Its 2015, Happy New Year to anyone who reads this blog. The last four months of 2014 were very busy for my family and I hope things will be a little quieter now so that I can start blogging again.
In November I had a new Stoves duel range cooker and I am still trying to get used to the way it cooks. My previous oven burnt everything and I used to compensate by turning the temperature down about 30% and altering the timings. I am now working on getting used to my smart new cooker.
Last weekend I visited the Harley Gallery and Welbeck village. The village is owned by the Duke of Portland. He is responsible for continuing the Welbeck Project started by his Aunt, Ivy the Duchess of Portland. The village is not usually open for the public to walk around so it was lovely to be able to visit it.
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.
