For those less dedicated to my life and career, I am Home and Food editor for iVillage, and part of that involves my gallant plight to get hooked into this new trendy crafts movement.
So far I have knitted a mini scarf (genius because it takes the fraction of the time, is cheaper that its grown-up counterpart and utterly pointless), made a recycling bag courtesy of Danielle Proud (a genuinely useful thing to have - see how to make it here), and attended a cool and funkyTM craft night at the Notting Hill Arts Club.
If the mere utterance of the West London hotspot triggers images of boho types wearing berets, smoking from cigarette holders and men in skinny jeans you'd be half right. But there's also a splattering of 'normal' people: girl pals, old eccentrics and larger groups of friends so diverse they can only have met at work.
Upon entrance you are presented with a craft kit containing all you need to complete your creative task of the night, according to a theme which was, this month, 'flick books'. Now flick books are complicated beasts involving technical acuity and some degree of foresight - a far cry from the messy, glittery abstract formation that emerges from a casual beer-fuelled session of wild creativity and animated chats with friends - which is what I expected from my evening.
This was serious business, so I put my head down and got drawing. 2 hours later - having been utterly submerged in my own world, filtering out everything around me, including people and various DJ sets - I was done. And here's the result:
So 'focused' were my craft companion and I that we missed judgment, but the kind lady granted me a consolation prize anyway. Thanks lady, I've always wanted a Spiderman sticker book but was too embarrassed to put it on the birthday list.
I hear there are more like this, so I'm going to check them out. It could become an addiction. Please keep an eye on me.
Some more pics for you:
Check out all the latest goings on in crafts at iVillage here