Stitching, Sewing & HobbyCrafts Show Ticket Giveaway....

Stitching, Sewing & Hobbycrafts returns to the ExCeL in London for three days from 20th - 22nd April 2017 and I have teamed up with ICHF Events to offer five lucky winners a pair of tickets to this fantastic show!

There will be over 100 exhibitors bringing the latest craft supplies for sewing, knitting, crochet, papercraft, jewellery making and more! The show is being described as a "Crafter's Paradise". I know I can't wait to stock up!

The show is the perfect place to find the very latest ideas, innovations and products from the world of creative craft.  There will also be demonstrations, inspirational advice from the experts, special features and Make & Take workshops giving plenty of inspiration and new ideas. You can find all the details of the show on their website here.

How to enter....

There are a number of ways to enter the Stitching,Sewing and Hobbycrafts Show ticket giveaway, and each one will be counted as one entry, so do all four and you will be entered four times!

• Tell me why you want to win in the comments below. 
• Follow me on Twitter and tell me why you want to win. Please use the hashtag #StitchHobbyfizzi and tag me @fizzijayne otherwise I can't count it.
• Give fizzi~jayne makes.... Facebook page a like and share the giveaway post.
• Head over to the fizzijayne Instagram, follow and give the Stitching, Sewing and Hobbycrafts post a like and let me know why you would love to win the tickets. (You'll also find a bonus entry over there too!).

The deadline for entries is 8pm (GMT) on 9th March 2017. The giveaway is only open to UK entrants, sorry my international chums!

The five winners will be picked at random and announced on 10th March 2017.

Good luck!

Read on for full T&C's and info about the show....

The Stitching, Sewing and Hobbycrafts Show takes place at ExCeL London, on 20th -22nd April 2017.

Opening times are 10am - 4.30pm (5pm Saturday). Tickets are priced....
Adult £12.00 (£10.00 Advance Price*)
Senior £11.00 (£9.00 Advance Price*)
Children are free if accompanied by an adult with a valid ticket, otherwise £6.00
*Complete your order before 5:00pm on 17 April 2017 to receive discounted prices

Terms and Conditions 
The giveaway is open to UK entrants only . The tickets are valid for entry to the show at the ExCeL, London on one of these dates - 20th, 21st OR 22nd April 2017. Deadline for entries is 8pm (GMT) on 9th March 2017. The five lucky winners will be picked at random using random.org and announced on 10th March 2017 on this blog. This competition is for a pair of tickets ONLY and does not include any expenses.

Visit www.ichfevents.co.uk for more details and all the latest information.

Day Out at the Tate Modern....

The other week I felt the need to venture out of the craft den in search of inspiration.  I went to the Tate Modern to see their extension, the Switch House which opened in June 2016. It's simply amazing and the day I went was beautiful, look how blue that sky is! Perfect conditions for photos.

The design is really impressive with latticed brickwork and folded surfaces. 

I went to the viewing gallery first and I couldn't have picked a better day to view London in its glory. 

I spent a while up there taking in the views as well as taking these photos.

View of St Paul's

The Shard with the city skyline in the background

Patterns in the brickwork with the sunlight beaming through. I'm still seeing patterns everywhere after the #100DaysofPatternCBC challenge.

Blackfriars rail bridge over the Thames

I went around the galleries scribbling ideas in my sketchbook. In one room I 
spent time just doodling and didn't worry about the end result of my sketch, as you can tell!

In this sketch there are 4 pieces of art represented, the backs of 3 people and a hat!

I was inspired by the Gerhard Richter collection 'Cage' on display.  He worked on these paintings whilst listening to the music of John Cage.  This got me thinking of how music can influence your work. I'm going to play around with this idea and with a paintbrush in hand I will listen to different music and see what happens.  It may be one big mess but it will be fun to see what happens.

A souvenir for the craft den wall.

#CraftBlogClub Challenge ~ crafty resolutions....

It's time for our first #CraftBlogClub challenge of 2017!

The challenge is.... "Crafty Resolutions".

Following the popularity of this challenge in previous years, we thought it would be perfect to start 2017 challenging you to learn a new craft or technique.

Whatever craft you want to learn this challenge is hopefully the motivation to get you started.  Alternatively, you may have received a new craft tool/machine for Christmas that you still need to take out the box, it's time to get it out and give it a go!

As it is a new craft/technique and the thought of having to complete a project may be terrifying. Don't worry, the whole point of the challenge is to have fun learning a new skill and if you don't have a completed project we still want to see your work in progress.

If you don't have time to learn a new craft or don't have one in mind, why not go back to something you haven't done in a while? Dust off those sewing machines / crochet hooks / knitting needles / paint brushes etc and get crafting.

Anyone can join in the challenge, don't worry If you've never joined a #CraftBlogClub chat before, everyone is welcome!

The Rules....

• Challenge;
• Learn a new craft, or,
• Try a new technique within a craft you already enjoy, or,
• Pick up a craft you haven't done in a long time.

• We will be revealing our makes in our Twitter chat on 14th March 2017 and If you have a blog also present your lovely project in a blog post by this date.
• Please mention #CraftBlogClub in your blog post and link back to this page.
• Let us know how you’re doing throughout the challenge on Twitter. Don't forget to use our #CraftBlogClub hashtag.

I hope you will join in and I can't wait to see what everyone makes!!...

Psst.... If you don't know what #CraftBlogClub is and you like the sound of this challenge, we'd love you to join in and you can find out more here.

2017 Goals....

It's that time of year to plan and think about what you want to achieve in the year ahead. I'm taking my experiences and lessons from 2016 to make 2017 a great year for me and my business, so this is what I have planned....

This blog

• I'll go back to posting weekly with more tutorials in 2017.
• Write everyday. This will help keep on top of all the posts I want to write but also improve my writing, practice makes perfect! I worry this may not be realistic but I'm planning to fit in 15 minutes every day whilst having my morning coffee.
• Start my #100fizzijaynepatterns challenge inspired by #100dayofpatternsCBC. I will be designing and creating my own patterns.  It's not a 100 day challenge, I don't want to put myself under that sort of pressure but through the course of 2017 I will create 100 patterns using various techniques. I'm really excited about starting this and seeing how I develop creatively.

My business 

• Start teaching craft workshops. I want to share my passion and knowledge to help others have a creative lifestyle. I'm in the early stages of planning and sourcing locations in my local area at the moment but hope to start these in Spring.
• Regularly list products into my Folksy shop, at least 10 per month.
• Launch new products and designs. 
• Following the success of selling through No3 Royston I want to find another stockist in 2017.

To help me plan and to actually achieve these goals I am following the 100 Day Goal and using the Your Best Year 2017: Productivity Workbook and Creative Business Planner

Personal

I need to have a better work/life balance, so I will take time off when I need it, I just need to work on not feeling guilty and be able to switch fizzi~jayne off once in a while! 

I want to....

• Read more. I have a pile of fiction as well as business development books I want to read.
• I started to practice calligraphy last year and this year I want to try out brush lettering.
• Sketch more. I want to make time to just doodle and improve my drawing skills.
• Learn German. I did a year of German at school and was actually quite good at it but due to timetable clashes I chose to continue in French and Art. I always wanted to go back to it and I've been recommended the App Duolingo which I'm finding really easy to fit into my day. I feel a trip to Germany needs to be planned for this year!
• If nothing else, I need to start believing in myself more and not put any limits on what I can achieve.

Overall I want a healthy, happy and creative 2017. 

Disclaimer: The Amazon links in this post are affiliated.

#CraftBlogClub Secret Santa....

Happy New Year! I hope you have enjoyed the festive break and 2017 has started well for you. I hope this year is a happy, healthy and crafty one!

To start the year off it's time to reveal my #CraftBlogClub Secret Santa.

My Secret Santa this year was for the lovely Kay who has been one of our guest hosts on #CraftBlogClub. I made her a Christmas decoration....

I painted an MDF bauble and stamped it with a funny sentiment in black ink.  I used green irridescent and silver metallic acrylic paints giving it a satin finish.

Along with it I sent a Made By Mrs M notebook, I love these, I have some myself. They are a handy size to keep in your bag and I thought a great place for Kay to keep ideas for blogging, crafty projects or whatever else she would like to use it for.

Notebook by Made by Mrs M

Tonight is the first #CraftBlogClub chat of the year and we will be sharing our Secret Santa gifts.  Don't worry if you haven't taken part we will also chat about any handmade gifts we made or received for Christmas.

If you have taken part in this year's Secret Santa please link your blog post below so we can all go and check it out.  This is the best part of the challenges, seeing what everyone has made.

Tonight's chat is over on Twitter from 7pm (GMT). If you have not joined us before we are a friendly bunch and welcome newbies all the time, you can find out more about our club here.