Give, Craft, Make

Looking for inspiration for a summer craft project? Look no further!

Glasgow Craft Mafia is back with Give, Craft, Make - the perfect event for all you crafters out there :)

On Sunday 12th August (that's this Sunday!) from 12 noon - 5pm at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow, there will be stalls selling lots of crafty goodies to get your imagination going. I'll be selling oodles of yarn, all manner of haberdashery, beads, and some lovely knitting pattern books too.

There will also be craft workshops on the day along with a yarn donation station so if you have any oddments of wool you no longer need, feel free to give them to charity!

Hope to see you there! :)

We want Wool!

This is the perfect time to get back into knitting, it really does feel wintery today. Mind you, it's not as if I actually have a time of year when I'm not knitting, if I'm being honest!

Anyway, some of you may remember that earlier in the year, I donated to the Red Cross for every Space Invader sale I made in March and April to the Japan Tsumami Appeal. Almost 8 months later, many people are still trying to piece their lives back together after the 8.9 magnitude quake and resulting tsunami.

One aid project which I think is particularly wonderful is run by Imperfect Planet, and they've been asking folks to donate yarn so that they could host a wool craft party for people in Japan who have been affected by the tsunami and ensuing aftermath. It's so great that someone has thought of helping by enabling a little bit of craft.

They are still hoping for more wool donations, ideally to arrive in Japan before 15th November 2011. Details of where to send yarn to in this post.

If you fancy "crafting for a cause," there are a couple of other noteworthy projects underway:

The annual call for little knitted hats to adorn Innocent smoothies is also known as the Big Knit. Money raised this year goes to Age UK. Get in volved and download/print your Big Knit Kit here.


Now for what is possibly the cutest charity knitting project I have ever heard of...! Handmade jumpers for little New Zealand penguins affected by the recent oil spill.

_{Image via Mother Nature Network}
They have apparently had such an overwhelming response that they now have a surplus of pingu tops! Check out the Skeinz blog here for more cuteness and updates.

Thinking of Japan

I am truly shocked and saddened by the events unfolding in Japan in the aftermath of the 8.9 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami. My thoughts go out to those affected by this, and their friends & families, it must be devastating.

Japan has been very much in my thoughts of late and so I have decided to try and make a little contribution of my own...something to help the relief efforts. (I've been inspired by Laura at Lupin, or the Bugs and Fishes blog and Mochimochiland's silent auction for Japan!)


For the rest of March, I will be donating a percentage of the sales from any Space Invader item sold to the Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal.

[EDIT: I have extended this to include any Space Invader purchases in April too.]

If you buy one of my Space Invader scarves, in either style, I will donate £8 (per scarf) - and if you buy a Space Invader badge, I will donate £2.50 (per brooch).


You can find these items on DaWanda, Folksy and also in my Bigcartel shop. Alternatively, you can always choose to simply donate via the Red Cross if you prefer.

The Big Knit 2010

Innocent - the people behind those delicious smoothies - are once again running the Big Knit! This year they are raising money for Age UK.


How does it work? Well, you (and anyone else you can rope in!) knit little hats for their smoothies, send them to Innocent towers and for each behatted smoothie sold (in Boots or Sainsbury's) this winter, they will donate 50p to Age UK, a charity dedicated to helping improve the lives of older people in the UK.

The deadline for all hats this year is Friday 15th October, so there's still time to get involved - get knitting, use up some stash scraps, have fun *and* raise money for a good cause, all at the same time! Bonus!

If you don't know how to knit, or aren't yet very confident of your knitterly skills, don't fret - they have downloadable 'How to Knit' guides and even feature the 'Hat Pattern of the Week' on their blog if you're in need of a little inspiration.

P.S. They are also looking for student knitting ambassadors to encourage folks to get busy with string and sticks - find out more information right here.

Crafting for a Cause

Red Nose Day 2009 is fast approaching. So, with that in mind, for every Handmade Felted Sweetheart Brooch I sell from my etsy or folksy shops during the month of March, I will donate the proceeds to the UK charity Comic Relief.



I thought it was about time I did some crafting for a great cause. The money raised is used by Comic Relief to "help poor, vulnerable and disadvantaged people turn their lives around across Africa, throughout the world's poorest countries and closer to home here in the UK."

In 2007, I made this corsage and sold it to raise money for Red Nose Day on my etsy shop. A group of other UK etsians did the same, making other items featuring the colour red - a colour very much associated with Comic Relief and their red noses - in their work. A treasury featuring many of these pieces made it to the front page of etsy, which was great for raising awareness.



For more information about the charity, or to donate, see www.comicrelief.com