NewsBeautiful Arlington Court29 November 2011 Last weekend we demonstrated large crocheting and the peg looms in the morning room at Arlington Court, North Devon. We felt extremely grand, but had to be very careful with our rustic crafts amongst the beautiful historical pieces of furniture and ornaments. The staff and volunteers were lovely and very helpful, thankfully they told us the ghost stories at the end of our visit, but where we were sitting with the sun streeming in through the tall majestic windows, ghosts were the last thing on our minds. The highlight of our weekend though, was when the duty manageress brought down an undisplayed little basket made of newspaper. It was woven using a technique we have never seen before, which made it very strong and survived intact for many years. Handmade and recycled never goes out of vogue. Hopefully someone may be able to tell us a bit more about it soon and I am trying to discover anything similar. All in all a fantastic weekend, a big thankyou Arlington.
Christmas Events03 November 2011 We are able to confirm some of our upcoming christmas events! First up is the blackdown market in taunton. We will have our beautiful collection of fairtrade and handmade scarves, bags and gifts a perfect selection of christmas presents! We also have a range of beads, buttons, paper, yarns, printing blocks and other craft goodies if you are inspired to make your own chrismas gifts and christmas wrapping paper!
An inspiring trip to the Fibre Fest23 August 2011 On sunday we travelled down to Bicton College to see the Fibre Fest in full swing. It was a stunning day and what a beautiful setting! We were all amazed at the variety of yarns and craft work at the fest and are all very inspired to create more! Thank you to all involved, we had a super day out and feel very inspired to use the yarns we bought... just what to make with them!
New Yarns have arrived!15 August 2011 We have just had a beautiful collection of different yarns arrive. We have silk/wool mixes, cotton yarns and even recycled sari yarns! I have put a few of the selection on the website but for more of a range you can visit the Keepers Makers Shop, in the Marina shop on the esplande in Watchet. More will be on the website soon!
More Jewellery added!08 August 2011 I have just added some more hand made and fair trade jewellery to the website! You can now see some beautiful handpainted beads fair trade beads as well as some beautiful textile jewellery which has been crocheted from recycled materials. Hope you love them as much as we do! More items are being added all the time so keep checking back!
Buttons!03 August 2011 Our new craft goodies are starting to be added to the website! The first items to go on the website are buttons! All the buttons are fair trade and they have been hand painted. For something a little different to fasten your bags with have a look at our colourful hand painted buttons! More craft items being added soon! Enjoy x
CRAFTS DAYS A SUCCESS26 March 2011 A great time was had by all who joined us for our fund raising event on the Sunday 6th March and the following Sunday 13th March. The first day our visitors had a go at peg looms and extreme crocheting with some fantastic results. The second event we hand block printed cotton bags which many chose to use as a present for Mother's Day, a very lovely idea. All of this raised money for the Esther Benjamin's Trust, which Georgie is going to take with her to Nepal in early April. A VERY BIG THANK YOU, to everyone who supported our crafts days, and to everyone who has donated monies to the charity. Hopefully when Georgie gets back she will have lots of piccy's and tales to tell of where and how your money has been directly used in this very important work that the Esther Benjamin's Trust do. Thank you again.
Celebrate Fair Trade Fortnight!!28 February 2011 For Fair Trade Fortnight we are holding 'Have a Go Crafts' on Sunday 6th March and Sunday 13th March. You may think, what has this got to do with Fair Trade, and until researching these issues I would have said the same thing. It really struck home for me when I visited many venues with Sustainable Somerset teaching recycled 'Rags to Riches' drop in classes. Many people appreciated the time involved in 'making' crafted items. When we further discussed putting an hourly rate on that time involved and how much you would need to make and then sell to have a survivable income, the Fair Trade message really starts to hit home. But we don't want just a teach and preach day, there will be all sorts of recycling crafts to have a go at, and all we ask in return is a donation of your choosing to the Esther Benjamin's Trust. We have a display with details of the fantastic work that is done by one of our Fair Trade Suppliers - Hatti Trading, so even if you haven't got time to 'have a go' at some crafts, you can see selected items we have on sale that all the profits during Fair Trade Fortnight will go to this charity. We look forward to seeing you soon.
Make a pledge on Valentine's Day09 February 2011 Valentine's day is coming, when many turn their attention to their sweethearts and loved ones. We at Keepers Makers want to add to the love and affection of the day and are asking everyone to think of our beautiful earth and all the people on it, need a small bit of our loving thoughts. Make a pledge and do something small - recycle that extra bit of rubbish, buy Fair Trade chocolates as a gift, walk to work or catch the bus to reduce your carbon footprint. Do it with love, and make change. With our love for Valentines. Keepers Makers x
Thankyou17 January 2011 Thankyou one and all for the wonderful support we received in the shop over Christmas and the New Year. We hope you enjoyed visiting us as much as we enjoyed meeting old friends and making new ones at the same time. I am having a bit of a move around in the shop at the minute, as I have said to many of you about about holding workshops. But I feel it would be better to have a less formal affair and just hold informal 'drop in' 'have a go' sessions. Keep an eye open, and when I've arranged a comfy work area, pop in, and try some new crafts and ideas.
A wonderful weekend at Hestercombe Gardens22 November 2010 We had a lovely time at Hestercombe Gardens Christmas Market this weekend! We were there from about 8.30am on Saturday to set up which always takes the longest time, but worth it when it all looks pretty. We were with a beautiful collection of stalls with lots of different handmade items and goodies! Each stall was dressed with a festive theme and looked magical. There were teas and coffees as well as food available from the Hestercombe House cafe which was lovely and much needed because outside it was a little chilly! Inside we were treated with heaters so it was quite cosy! We had lots of fun, met lots of nice people and even got some of our own christmas shopping done! A highly recommend event! We hope you had a good time too if you came, if not we hope to see you there next year!
Our new shop in Watchet03 November 2010 At Last!! We have our own little space. We have joined a great group of people in the Chandlery, on the Esplanade at Watchet. We have the back rooms in the Chandlery, but take time coming through to see us as there's lots to look at and friendly faces to help you with any queries. In our shop we have our full range of stock on dislplay, plus some new lines. We have gift and craft paper, peglooms that you are more than welcome to have a go on, and a small selection of yarns. Stay for a while and try your hand at crochet, or tackle our massive knitting needles using recycled materials. We are also going to include in our range, buttons and beads, vintage and fair trade for your own craft work. After Christmas, if you want to fill the gloomy months with something new to do we shall be holding more formal workshops and include lunch, all in the wonderful setting of Watchet. Come and visit us, we are open seven days a week, 9.30 - 5pm, Sundays 10 - 4pm, closed from 1.30 - 4.30pm on Monday afternoons unavoidably. We look forward to seeing you.
It is October already!?08 October 2010 We just can't believe we are already in October! Where has the year gone?! At least there are still a few sightings of sunshine around. October means colourful leaves and halloween but also for us makers, the start of the Christmas designs. Other more organised folk have probably already been making their Christmas cards and Christmas decorations but we try to leave it as long as possible, we don't want to ruin the Christmas feeling! So you will start to see some new additions appearing, but don't panic it does not mean we are going to be wrapping our Christmas gifts just yet!
Friday Market on Watchet Esplanade10 September 2010 This friday is one of the last few markets being held this season on the Watchet Esplanade. We have been very lucky in terms of weather so far and we are keeping our fingers crossed for this friday.
Watchet Festival Soon!25 August 2010 Tomorrow we are heading to Parsonage Farm to set up our stall in preparation for the Watchet Music Festival. It has been a little rainy there today so we will be wearing our wellies but it won't put us off! Its part of the experience really!!
A wonderful day at the Watchet Carnival Fete!25 July 2010 We had a beautiful sunny day at the Watchet Carnival Fete today! The hot sun came out too today which was gratefully received!! (although I have got too sunburnt again, really wasn't prepared for sun!).
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