Chennai Elephant wood stamps
Chennai Elephant wood stamps
Friday, January 29, 2016
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Bhutan - Legend of the Burning Lake
Come on a Colouricious Holiday to Bhutan to see, learn and enjoy the crafts and culture of this ancient wonderful country high up in the Himalayan mountains.
Monday, January 25, 2016
Colouricious Sewing Patterns
Colouricious Sewing Patterns
It is always good to get back to basics every now and again and get to create some lovely projects using block-printed fabric and a good sewing pattern. Some of the techniques we have on the Colouricious website can be complex, but this week we wanted to get back to basics with some lovely ideas and projects that you can easily do. They are perfect for beginners to crafting and also have the potential to be embellished for the more accomplished crafter.
The sewing pattern page on our website has several videos and many images showing you exactly how to make some wonderful projects. If you do make any of the projects from our videos we would love to see them, so please feel free to send us some pictures of your finished product. I am sure they look wonderful!
Click on the picture below to see the videos on our Sewing Patterns webpage
Check out our selection of SEWING PATTERNS for you to get started on printing your own fabric and then using that fabric to make something simple.
You will love it.
Lovely Wooden Block Sets
We have some wonderful sets of wooden printing blocks on our website that will make the perfect accompaniment to any crafting project you undertake.
Take a look at these four sets and see which one takes your fancy!
If you like any of the beautiful sets then just click on the picture or name and you will be taken directly to the page on our website where you can place your order.
The sets are all in stock and your order will be processed the day it is placed to make sure it arrives as quickly as possible.
Place your order now!
Come to Kashmir!
The Kashmir is the North Western region of India is located at the western end of the Himalayan Mountains. As you can imagine, this means that the sights and scenery of the region is breathtaking and mind blowing.
Kashmir is at the centre of several different cultures within Asia and as such there are many different influences on their daily life. It amalgamates Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist philosophies as well as Northern and Central Asian cultures. Add to this the fact that Kashmir has some of the most beautiful fabrics and materials means that this really is a place to visit.
We are organising a trip to the wonderful region in July and we would love for you to join us. The trip is a fully escorted by me and an English speaking tour guide. We will get to see the highlights of the region, as well watching villagers show their crafting techniques.
We have organised this trip to coincide with the fantastic Hemis Festival which takes place in Hemis Monastery in Leh. The two-day Festival celebrates victory of good over evil. You can see a number of people dressed in bright and colourful clothes to celebrate the festival. The Tibetan calendar indicates that on lunar month’s tenth day, the Lama Head organises this Hemis Festival. In order to protect his people, the Tibetan Buddhism founder, Guru Padmasambhava, fought the evils. On his birth anniversary, all the people celebrate Hemis festival grandly.
Although I have written quite a bit about this holiday, it really is difficult to put into words how exciting and enjoyable this tour will be. It really is a trip of a life time and you will take pictures and have memories that really will last forever.
If you are interested in joining us in July, then come on over to our website and reserve your place, we would love to see you on the trip.
Share the Colouricious News
Many of you have been spreading the word about the Colouricious newsletter – thank you. We need your help to help Colouricious grow, please! We are always looking for ways to spread the Colouricious word and get more people to know about us and the crafts that we do. By growing we will be able to expand our offering of blocks, holidays and anything else to do with textiles.
You can find us on Social Media as we have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube and Pinterest. We would be very grateful if you could find some time to spread our message with your friends by sharing our Social Media posts or just telling anybody and everybody to come over to our website to take a look and subscribe to our newsletter.
Thank you all very much.
Learn, Create, Be Happy!
kind regards
Jamie Malden
Colouricious
Colouricious Sewing Patterns
Monday, January 18, 2016
Wonderful Rogan Art
Wonderful Rogan Art
You can be excused if you have never heard of Rogan Art before as it is only practiced in the Kutch district in the Gugurat region of Western India. Rogan Art involves the painting of a castor oil-like paint onto silk fabric and then dyed with natural paints. The designs are intricate and detailed and can take many hours of painstaking work to complete.
Given the scarcity of Rogan Art (it isn’t even that well known in India) it is not something you will see very often on crafting sites but we do have a page on the Colouricious site that is dedicated to Rogan Art and show you some of the wonderful designs that can be created using it.
Click on the picture below to see our fantastic gallery of Rogan Art
We are planning to see this textile art first hand during our textile holiday to Gujarat, that is available for booking now! So if you love this style of hand painting textile – Rogan Art then do come with us to see this for yourself in Gujarat which in in the Western Region of India. You can travel independently (advisable for our American & Australian guests), and join the group in Ahmadabad. Come by yourself and meet like minded ladies, come with a friend/sister/neighbour/mother/daughter – the more the merrier! We have a wonderful guide called Gulam who specialises in this region so you will have top quality experiences, with me as your host too!
An exciting year for Colouricious Holidays
We are really excited about the up coming months as we have some wonderful trips and tours planned. The Luxury Holiday in March in fully booked as is the Creative Jaipur in September. We are repeating that trip again in January 2017 so you do not miss out!
Our visit to Kashmir in July has really caught your attention as it is a wonderful region to visit with lots of fantastic scenery as well as lots of textile art and crafts to see and do. We have incorporated the Hemis Festival as well into the trip so there really is something for everyone on this tour. There is now only a handful of places left after we mentioned it in last weeks newsletter, so if you don’t want to miss out, then reserve your place now. You will go to places and see amazing sights that you never knew existed!
In the Rogan Art section we mentioned about our trip to Gujurat in October. We will be incorporating lots into this 14 day trip including workshops incorporating silk weaving and bead work, screen and block printing, yarn dyeing, and several others that we know you will really enjoy. We will also be attended a shisha embroidery class which is my personal favourite activity!
The western region of India has a very deep history of tradition and culture and they use embroidery and shisha mirrors in a lot of their crafts. This will be a super trip to go on and we would love for you to join us.
If you are interested in this tour of Gujurat, then visit our website and use our online booking form to reserve your place.
Beautiful Gift Sets
You will love the new gorgeous wooden block sets that would be super to use for some of your Spring craft projects. They are crammed packed full of blocks of all shapes and sizes, and some also have sets of fabric paint as well, so you really are getting a craft project in a box! Because each block is hand carved, we have a limited number of each set, so if one or more of these catch your eye, then get over to our website and make your purchase to make sure you get your wish!
Olive Branch
Just click on the set you want and we will get it sent out to you as quickly as we can.
Happy Block Printing!
Please spread the Colouricious word
Many of you have been spreading the word about the Colouricious newsletter – thank you. We need your help to help Colouricious grow, please! We are always looking for ways to spread the Colouricious word and get more people to know about us and the crafts that we do. By growing we will be able to expand our offering of blocks, holidays and anything else to do with textiles.
You can find us on Social Media as we have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube and Pinterest. We would be very grateful if you could find some time to spread our message with your friends by sharing our Social Media posts or just telling anybody and everybody to come over to our website to take a look and subscribe to our newsletter.
Thank you all very much.
Learn, Create, Be Happy!
kind regards
Jamie Malden
Colouricious
Wonderful Rogan Art
Monday, January 11, 2016
Mastering Quilting Techniques
Mastering Quilting Techniques
The art of quilting is one of the more popular crafting arts when it comes to our club members, so we have made sure that there are lots of ideas and techniques on our website to help you both learn the basics and the enhance your quilts with new techniques and ideas.
Quilts make for wonderful stitch projects and will be treasured by anybody that receives it as a gift or as a heirloom. Quilts that are passed down through the family will invariably incorporate many different designs that can show trends and styles over a long period of time. They are special pieces make learning the art of quilting so much more special.
We have several excellent videos to show you how to master several different quilting techniques. You take a look at them all by clicking on the video below.
We have an excellent DVD that will give you a beautiful introduction into quilting techniques as well as innovative ideas on how to combine colours in your crafting projects.
Our Printing and Patchwork DVD is an hour long course with me and Mary Gamester as we take you through ideas and techniques that will prove to be invaluable for your next crafting project. Click the DVD or the buy it now button to purchase your copy.
If you are prepared to spend an extra 1 PENNY you can get my Block Printing DVD as well! Click the DVDs or the buy button if you want that deal!
Time To Book Your Holiday
The cold damp and frosty weather has finally arrived here in the UK and it is clear that its arrival has turned a lot of peoples thoughts to where they will be going on holiday this year. We have had several booking reservations this week and places are filling up quickly for many of the wonderful Colouricious Trips and Tours we have arranged.
Handicrafts & Culture of Kashmir – I am taking a group of craft lovers to Kashmir in July 2016 and would really love you to come with me to see the beautiful crafts – heaven on earth in the Himalayas – this holiday is planned to include the wonderful Hemis Festival in Leh. You can come by yourself, with a friend, daughter, mother, partner, granddaughter (ideal for textile & art students) or why not get a gaggle together of your creative friends, from your stitch/quilting/mixed media/embroidery group. We can only take 16 people of this trip and if you book by lst February you get £100 off for your early bird discount – . (the price is correct on the website).I am in South India at the moment and will be back in the office on lst February. So you can either book online or you can contact me on 01494 721 471 if you need help with your booking. Would so love to share this rare and special holiday. with you.
The Colouricious Creative Holiday Jaipur with Kim Thittichai in September is now FULLY BOOKED. We have arranged another Creative Jaipur for January 2017 which will be fully escorted by myself and Kim Thittichai. We have already had several people disappointed they couldn’t come with us in September so we are repeating the same holiday again in January. The online booking form is the best way to get your place reserved for this trip.
You will really have a wonderful time on any of these trips, making new friends and learning more about our wonderful creative world.
Animal Wooden Blocks
Our Animal Wooden Printing Blocks always prove to be very popular. Whether it is Elephants or Camels, Geckos or Hedgehogs we have a block or set of blocks that will be perfect for your next crafting project.
Perhaps our most popular animal block though is our Rabbits. We have several Rabbit sets which would be ideal for a project that you are planning for Springtime.
Just click on the set you would like and we will get it packaged up and delivered to you as quickly as we can.
Happy Block Printing!
Please Share
We need your help to help Colouricious grow, please! We are always looking for ways to spread the Colouricious word and get more people to know about us and the crafts that we do. By growing we will be able to expand our offering of blocks, holidays and anything else to do with crafting.
You can find us on Social Media as we have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube and Pinterest. We would be very grateful if you could find some time to spread our message with your friends by sharing our Social Media posts or just telling anybody and everybody to come over to our website to take a look and subscribe to our newsletter.
Thank you all very much.
Learn, Create, Be Happy!
kind regards
Jamie Malden
Colouricious
Mastering Quilting Techniques
Monday, January 4, 2016
Mastering Free Machine Embroidery
Time to grow!
Happy New Year!
2016 is now upon us and we would like to wish all of our Colouricious Club members and happy, creative and peaceful year. We have lots of new ideas for the forthcoming months and are looking forward to sharing them all with you. We will continue to send you lots of new ideas for crafting projects in our weekly newsletters, as well as several brand new plans we have that we will tell you about in due course.
We would also like to ask you to help us in 2016. One of the keys to our success is getting the Colouricious name spread out as far as possible among the crafting world. We would ask you think of a couple of your friends who are interested in crafting and spread the Colouricious word by forwarding this email to them. If they were to join our club, this would help us to grow and then enable us to offer you even more great deals and ideas.
Master Free Machine Embroidery
Watch & learn how to create your own fabulous leaf and tree designs
Machine Embroidery involves using a sewing machine or embroidery machine to create patterns on your crafting projects. The patterns can be as intricate as you wish and will bring depth and texture to the craft project you are working on.
We have a super page full of interesting facts, pictures and videos on how you can use machine embroidery on your next craft project. You can take a look at it here.
To go with our website page, we also have an excellent DVD from Gina Ferrari where she goes through every aspect of machine embroidery including the different types of machines you can use, the threads, stitches and also some ideas for your next project. It is well worth investing in this DVD you want to improve your embroidery techniques.
Competition Winner
We ran our first of what will be many competitions just before Christmas to win this lovely set of wooden printing blocks. The winner of the competition was:
Laura Stringer
Congratulations to Laura and we will be in contact with you shortly. Thank you to everybody else who entered the competition, sorry you can’t all be winners, but we plan on having several other competitions in the near future, so we will let you know when the next one is up and running.
Come to India with us this year.
By the time you read this, we will be in the air on the way to Chennai for our next adventure to Kerala and Southern India. This is going to be a wonderful trip and me and the rest of the group are very excited about it.
Last week we detailed all of the holidays and tours we have planned for 2016. If you are tempted to take the plunge and reserve a place on one of these wonderful trips, then please head over to our website and book your place now. You will not be disappointed and we look forward to seeing you.
Luxury Textile Tour of North India
one place left – to share a twin room with a new found friend. If that place is for you, click here to find out full details. Book online now! Please phone -1494 721 471 to check availability for this last place – thank you
Learn, Create, Be Happy!
kind regards
Jamie Malden
Colouricious
Mastering Free Machine Embroidery
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)