I have recently rediscovered my love of sewing with a sewing machine.  Due to the way some Cafe Bless International projects are developing, I have been lead to dust off my sewing machine and begin relearning how to use it all over again.  It has been years.  We will soon have a small base from which Cafe Bless will be able to run regular craft workshops and having a base of our own means we will be able to store and set up items for use that, up to this point, we haven't been able to.  The list could include items like sewing machines and an iron, meaning that we could increase the creative learning opportunities that we can offer as well as teaching larger projects.  It's a very exciting turn of events but in order to teach others how to confidently use a sewing machine, you have to be very confident using one yourself!

You may have noticed things have been a little quiet round this part of the internet recently...but I assure you I'm still here!  I'm just going to dive right on into the latest news...
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Recently I've been flitting between painting in the studio and creating a range of new handcrafts for Café Bless.  This week the crafts came in sewing form as you can see on the left.  I completed a flock of 10 birds, each unique in colour and style.  They are made of embroidered felt and make a cute addition to any space! You can hang them on doorhandles, noticeboards...in your car!  We'll be having a craft sale to raise funds for the work of Café Bless at the start of April and the birds will be there along with many other goodies.  Café Bless is a small charity that works around the world to improve conditions for people facing severe poverty...check out the website for the latest news and ideas on how you can support them too!

Lastly, I've also been doing a little bit of experimenting this week!  Aslongside making handcrafts to sell, another way I work alongside Café Bless is I keep a lookout for new craft skills that could be passed on to others as a way to help them create their own work and potentially provide people with an income.  I had great fun experimenting with paper clay at the weekend and thought it has real potential as a craft skill to teach others as not only can you mould it into a variety of items, the materials needed to make it are easy to source and it's actually a great way to recycle old paper!  It needs a little further investiagtion...but watch this space!