Then onto Liverpool where Becky has been non-stop (bless her) heading up all events in Liverpool, literally every weekend shes been running all sorts of hen party workshops from bookbinding to making pamper products and cup cake decorating, all held in the eclectic Elevator building, with some very happy crafters and some great feedback, this is some from the book-binding hen party “We had such a lovely day, the hen was so happy and has a keep sake she will use as part of the wedding.  The venue was great and they were so welcoming. I would recommend to others as a great way to spend time as part of a large group.  I really felt like we had such good value for money plus the catering was just great, the cake felt never ending”

As well as all our bookings we are celebrating our FIRST BIRTHDAY, next Tuesday the 20th March at Leaf Tea Shop, we’re so so so excited for it, can’t believe it been a year since we had our very first workshop, we never thought we’d be in the position we are now and we’re absolutely delighted with what we have achieved so a BIG THANKS to everyone who has helped us get to where we are now!

The birthday event takes place in Leaf from 6.30pm – 9.30pm with a 50’s inspired craft workshop – from a cupcake and marshmallow decorating parlour to knitting, burlesque workshop, silk corsages and lindyhop performers – this is not to be missed! We hope to see all our wonderful crafters there!
Much love, CC xxx

And in the spirit we will soon be announcing our ethical craft workshops. From beautiful beads made from old magazines, to baskets made from discarded supermarket bags. Which would you rather fill? Your gorgey new basket or an ugly landfill? We know what we would choose.

Join us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/thecraftcreative/ or follow us on Twitter.com @CraftCreative for the latest workshop details.

The Foley Photography journey began similarly to Craft Creative, when they discovered a niche in the market that they were passionate about and sure that others would be too.

When planning their wedding in Tuscany they searched a long time for a non-traditional wedding photographer. They were looking for a photographer who could capture their wedding day in a candid, natural way. They wanted a wedding album full of the real moments they missed because we were too busy talking to guests. They also wanted images that allowed friends and family who couldn’t make the wedding, to share the moments they missed. After searching tirelessly and not finding something suitable, they turned their own love for photography into a business that is now thriving.

We hooked up with Foley Photography via social media and found two very friendly people. As Scott and Amedea love vintage photography and it was only a matter of time before we decided to work together on a Vintage Style wedding shoot. This is planned for the end of April and we have a few surprises up our sleeve for it, so keep your eyes peeled.

We will be shooting in a great wedding venue and we are especially looking forward to shooting with the great Ice cream Dub, who run a great vintage inspired catering company in which they serve luxury ice cream from a great converted VW van or retro ice cream tricycle. This is a great quirky addition for people looking for that alternative, quirky weddings or events.

The shoot will involve Craft Creative handmade fascinators to showcase our fascinator workshops and will also feature our vintage tea parties. We are also looking for some fabulous vintage style wedding dresses for our models to wear. Please contact us if you are interested in working with us.

Here at Craft Creative we love the way that local businesses with similar values can hook up via social media and end up working together on projects that portray the wonderful range of quirky businesses started by likemided individuals. As we see if this attracts business to our region which benefits us all.

We can’t wait to show you the final results!

Foley Photography cover Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Merseyside, Lancashire and the North West, but will also travel to other UK or destination weddings abroad if required.
Tel: 07834 999464 www.foleyphotography.co.uk

Ice Cream Dub are available for private and corporate events. Tel: 07800978298 www.ice-creamdub.co.uk

With our amazing success in Liverpool over the past year, we thought it was only right to expand our services and start up Craft Creative in a new city, and what better place than the bonnie city of Glasgow…already a city that loves all things crafty with weekly craft fairs, a year long programme of art and cultural events and the world famous Glasgow School of Art plus it is the year of Creative Scotland 2012 with a huge focus on craft workshops.

We are even more excited as we have found an absolutely gorgeous venue to host our private events and hen parties, our new venue is called The Tea Rooms at the Butterfly and the Pig on Glasgow’s Bath Street and is right up our street too as it oozes craft appeal with it quaint vintage decor and 1950’s style furniture. The unique interior of welcoming shabby chic makes this a gem of a place to hold our creative workshops, customers can also enjoy a gorgeous afternoon tea served in mismatched vintage teacups and saucers and a scrumptious variety of homemade cakes. http://www.thebutterflyandthepig.com/tearooms/

For more information about our Glasgow events contact Camilla on Camilla@thecraftcreative.com

For information on Liverpool events contact Becky on becky@thecraftcreative.com

Alternative Futures Group are a large charitable organisation, passionate about providing Person Centred support to adults with learning disabilities and mental health needs. They support around 900 individuals with these complex needs in the North West, so we were honoured to be involved and support such an amazing charity!

The aim of the event was to share best practice and acknowledge the contribution of Service Users and staff at their nine Independent Hospitals. The theme of the event was Crafternoon Tea & Talk, and involved art and craft activities and competitions, wellness treatments, promotional videos, guest speakers, and of course, a sumptuous afternoon tea! The event was attended by Service Users, carers, staff and commissioners. Local partners also attended to support the event, share best practice…and talk.

Our lovely aromatherapy expert Michelle Spooner held bath bomb making workshops, teaching the benefits of aromatherapy in order to facilitate wellness and relaxation. Everyone had fun getting messy and left with some great fizzy bath bombs for them to enjoy at home.

Helen Burns, a member of staff at the charity said ‘everyone was delighted with the bathbomb sessions! And the office smelt divine too!’. We were chuffed with the feedback and were glad that we could aid such a great cause and we look forward to working with them again. It was great fun!

For more information on Alternative Futures Group, please go to

Then on Sunday we were ecstatic to be involved with the Hope Street Feast 2011. We offered biscuit decorating workshops in Blackburn House as part of their family fayre. The kids loved getting messy and taking away (or eating) their work. We were fully booked all day and had great fun. We would recommend this activity as a great way to keep the kids entertained on a rainy weekend, so here is the recipe for our homemade sugar cookies:

200g unsalted butter , at room temperature
150g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
300g plain flour , sifted

Method

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer, or use a large bowl with a hand-held electric beater. Beat in the vanilla and egg, then add the flour. Beat until smooth, remove from the bowl, halve and shape into discs. Wrap with clingfilm and chill for about 40 minutes until firm. Heat oven to 180/fan 160C/gas 4.
Dust the work top with flour and roll out one portion of dough to 3mm thick. Cut stars or other shapes with cutters.
Line 2 baking sheets with non-stick baking paper and lift the cookies onto it using a palette knife. Chill for 10 minutes and then bake for 10-12 minutes until just turning golden at the edges. Cool on a baking rack. When cool, it is time to get the kids to decorate them.

We made up batches of icing of all different colours… pink, green, yellow, blue, lilac, peach and white. We covered the tables and the put bowls of icing out with mini spatulas. We then had a range of sweets for the kids to use to decorate, including jelly tots, smarties, liquorish laces (green, red and brown), rainbow drops, chocolate drops (white and milk), sugar sprinkles, edible glitter and mini marshmallows. We got the kids to spread the icing onto their cookie and then get creative using the sweets to decorate. All we can say is sweeeeeeeeeeeet!

Please check out our gallery for images of the event at

To celebrate the Hope Street Feast on Sunday 18th September, Blackburne House will cover all aspects of food and wellbeing: this is where Craft Creative comes in. We will be offering parents the chance to treat their kids to a fun and educational food workshop. Children can choose between a gingerbread person or a biscuit wand or necklace. We will help them decorate this yummy treat while teaching them about the different food groups that are used in making them. At the end of the workshop the child can take their design home (if they can resist eating it!), along with a recipe card and that extra bit of food knowledge. Here’s hoping that we can inspire some budding chefs!!!

Sunday 18th September 2011
Hope Street Quarter, Liverpool 10.30am – 5pm

We have had such a busy few weeks so we apologise for not blogging. We hope you can forgive us! 

Where do we start to fill you in with what we have been up to here at Craft Creative….

Firstly our Lantern Making Workshop at Leaf on Bold Street was a huge success. We were full to capacity and it was clear to see the imaginations lighting up (*cough* excuse the pun). We are always so happy to see our crafters produce such great pieces and hope that everyone’s lanterns look super cute in their gardens on these warm summer evenings. Make the most of them while they last!

Secondly, we have been steaming ahead with our summer hen party bookings and last weekend were privileged to help our hen’s Jayne and Liz wave goodbye to their single lives. Jayne had great fun in a cup cake decorating class. While Liz and her mates, made the most impressive fascinators. See our gallery for photo’s.
We also held our first workshop this week for Action for Children. We got crafty with the kids and their mentors at Action for Children in Walton and everybody loved the kite making workshop. There was glitter flying everywhere and the kids really got stuck in. The end results were fabulous and the mentors will be taking their kids out to fly their kites very soon, so watch this space for photos.

Tonight we have our Jewellery making workshop in association with Alula jewellery http://www.alulajewellery.co.uk/. We are very excited about this and can’t wait to work with the lovely Sally. This had also led to a number of other collaboration with local Liverpool designers and makers. We have a very special leather craft workshop coming up in September with the lovely ladies from Nook & Willow , who make fabulous bespoke leather accessories. We will let you know all the details as soon as they are confirmed, but it is one that is not to be missed!

Finally, we are only 2 weeks away from our fancy dress and festival accessories workshops in Standon Calling!!! We are super excited and are in the process of getting sorted for this event. There is so much to do, but we work well under pressure and we can’t wait to get stuck in with all the lovely festival goers. Bring it on!!! We hope to see some of you there. For those of you who are not attending, we will regale you with all the details on our return.

Summer Rules!