You Can Folk It! - Learn it, love it, Folk It!

OUR TOP TEN CREATIVITY QUOTES

2018-07-01T11:05:00+01:00

We love a good quote - when you haven't got the words to explain why we do what we do, when we need the right dose of motivation or when we need to bring a smile to our face, there is a quote for every occasion.

Here, we have put together our 10 favourite quotes, about crafting, creativity and of course, painting. Of course there are so many more fab quotes out there, we have a whole board dedicated to them :)

Whether it is strolling round a gallery, painting and creating or visiting the theatre, art calls to us in a way that nothing else can.

We love painting for the way it allows us to escape our thoughts for a while.

Once you let yourself get creative, it becomes a way of life

It is a cycle - when we paint we feel happier. When we are happy, all we want to do is paint :) It's not about the project we create, it is about the process - about zoning out and getting lost in a little creativity.

Ever been to a Craft Fair or shop and thought this? Yeah, us too ;)

Every weekend.....

We have priorities after all!

There's no such thing as mess when we are being creative!

It's not a choice...its a must!

Don't leave your paint in the bottle! Paint is made to be used...the only question is what will you create

If only!

How to... design your own lace

2015-06-01T09:41:00+01:00

Another weekend has been and gone and with it, another Inspiration Sunday. Keeping the focus on our Series 1 delicate lace kits, Carol showed you lovely Folkers how to develop the skills you learn in the kit and design your own lace patterns. Get those liner brushes ready as we have put all the posts here for you to follow.

Today we will be teaching you how to design your own delicate lace patterns!
The equipment you will need for this is...

tracing paper
a marker pen
a pencil and eraser
light or dark transfer paper depending on your project
different sized coins
low tack masking tape
paints and paintbrushes of course!

Step 1: on your tracing paper, draw out the rectangle/square you wish to edge in a size you need. Then mark it into quarters.

Use a marker pen to draw the square/rectangle so you can rub pencil marks out later - designing lace is a process of trial and error (as all the best things are!)

Step 2: make lines as shown here onto your chosen coins - you can choose whichever size you like but we like 10p and 5p coins :)

Step 3: using the lines you've drawn as a guide, start drawing your scallops. Begin in the centre and work outwards.
The scallops will either fit nicely or need spacing out slightly - this is where you will need your eraser.

INSPIRATION: before you paint your scallops, play with designs - try diagonal, horizontal and vertical lines. Edges can be finished with dots and comma strokes. You can also add dot hearts, dot roses or daisies into the scallops themselves! This is another excellent addition to a painting journal.

Step 4: before painting your lace design onto your object, use your transfer paper to draw your scallops out and mark off your rectangle. Depending on the design you wish to paint in the centre, you might want to use low tack masking tape to mark it out.

Step 5: Add your lace design to frame your design.

When the low tack masking tape is removed, your design will look as though it has been cut out giving it a completely different look to a more structured design that would simply sit in the centre.

Step 6: add extra touches.

Don't forget the details! Just like the envelopes last week, don't forget other features. Add patterns to the rim of the lid to completed your project.

Here is the finished item! The box was base coated in DecoArt's chalky finish paint in 'Relic' a gorgeous dark grey. (No primer needed)

The delicate lace is completed using warm white.
The vintage roses (our Series 1 add on kit) were painted using DecoArt's Americana acrylic in: Plum, Light Avocado and warm white. These stunning colours will feature in our Series two kits!

That's it for this week. I look forward to seeing your lace designs soon. Love Carol x

Ideas, inspiration and advice

2015-05-25T10:00:02+01:00

Sunday saw our very first Inspiration Sunday over on the Folk It Facebook page. Throughout the day, I shared some of my experiments and practice with you to hopefully inspire, encourage and demonstrate ideas to our lovely Folkers out there. Just in case you missed it, I thought I would put it all in one place for you.

Play with colour...

All these boards and the work today was completed using only one pure colour - tomato red. The variety of shades were then created by adding white (the absence of colour) or black (a mix of the three primaries).

You can paint boards as you go or if you want to test them out, use a painting journal to test out various shades until you find one you are happy with. Remember to make notes of the colours/rough ratios you used!

Don't forget the techniques you've already learned!

Using the lace pattern from the kit, I added vintage roses to create a focal point to the design. I love the way the dot hearts also stand out in this design. Remember, this could also be done horizontally across the board too for another look.

Add details

After adding vintage roses to each board, you can create a variety of looks by adding leaves, dot roses, changing the border on the lace, and playing with the colours you use for the vintage roses themselves.

It's ok to limit your palette

Don't be afraid to break the rules. Leaves don't have to be green. By sticking to a limited palette - in this case different tones of the original background palette - including the warm white on its own (see the earlier post) the image is striking and the leaves do not become the focal point.

Don't just focus on your card.

When you are painting your card from the kit, don't ignore the envelope - as we've already seen, the details make all the difference. Use comma strokes, vintage or dot roses, more lace...the world is your oyster.

Experiment with your materials

Experimenting with colour does not stop with paint. Try out different coloured cards/envelopes for completely different looks. Mount the board onto card before putting it onto a white card. Again, work with what you have - I had these left over from another project. Different styles of envelopes also allow you to try out different patterns which is great to build skills and ideas.

Make time for yourself

There is always the danger of just sitting down to paint only when you have a project you need to complete...for a gift, to update a room in your home, for a greetings card. The trick is to give yourself some 'me time' to practice, to experiment and relax. Whatever's going on in life, painting can give you time to switch off and forget about your worries even if just for a short time.

Practice makes perfect.

As the final post for our first inspiration Sunday (which I hope you've enjoyed) I just wanted to admit that even with 20 years experience of painting, I look at what I've done this week and had to acknowledge that some of my experiments have worked better than others. Every time I sit down and paint I can guarantee that I learn something new. The key to it is being gentle on yourself, being proud of your achievements and not criticising yourself for the things that haven't gone so well. Instead, come back to your work later and see how you could improve next time.

I look forward to seeing your delicate lace work soon

Carol x

Inspired by delicate lace

2015-05-21T08:35:00+01:00

Lace has been around for centuries with its delicate appearance being used to enhance clothes and home decor. The origins of lace is unknown but many early pieces were created by nuns and featured in places of worship. As time has passed, techniques and materials have developed and changed but one thing has not - its beauty.

What was once seen as outdated has seen a recent revival as it is once again seen in fashion, in homes and even on the street.

Images from NESpoon PL

Inspired by lace, NESpoon PL decorates: galleries, buildings, wood, you name it, all with beautiful patterns inspired by lace. Not only can the viewer suddenly admire the depiction of the beautiful pattern but it brings out the beauty of all that is around it.

During our time in Chicago, we came across the work of Arlene Linton who is also inspired by this textile. Simple and striking, her work is stunning and it is easy to see why her tutorials are so popular.

Just like these artists have shown, lace is not just for clothes and tablecloths but it can be used to create or enhance beauty absolutely anywhere. That's why we put together a kit that teaches anyone how to paint delicate lace patterns.

Using a liner brush and whatever colour paint you wish, you can learn simple techniques that look beautiful. Once you have mastered the Folk It patterns included in the box, there's nothing stopping you from designing your own.

Over the coming weeks, we will be posting projects and hints and tips to help you fall even more in love with this kit. More importantly, we want you to get in touch with us to let us know what you are creating with your Delicate Lace kit. Post your inspirational pictures on our Facebook page or send them to us at hello@folkit.co

We cannot wait to see what you have created,

Carol & Sandra x

Folk Art of Hungary

2015-02-08T14:10:00+00:00

I've recently been spending time in Budapest and so took the opportunity to delve into the world of Hungarian Folk Art.

First I visited the Hungarian Applied Folk Art Museum

The activities of the Museum are in conjunction with the Hungarian Government. Including the qualification of folk art work as well as contests and organizing exhibitions. The collection is unique in the sense that its items are being produced continuously and therefore are a example of the standards of Hungarian Folk Art. The majority of the collection consists of textiles, embroideries, wood and bone carvings and products of folk pottery. There is a small amount of painted wood items and eggs such as the ones below. The frame and box below is an example of the bright colours of Hungarian Folk Art. When visiting Budapest you see many tourist shops selling this type of bright coloured folk painting - not always done to the standard this museum would expect! The museum is small and so takes no longer than 30-45 minutes to have a good browse.

As I pondered on the embroidered folk art patterns I noticed these work books laying to the side – dated 1915. I urge all new painters to start a journal and keep little snippets of their practice designs, colour swatches and photo’s of finished projects. And so browsing through these old work books, I couldn’t help but wonder, if the person recording their work would have even contemplated that 100 years later, their little work book would be on display in a museum.

Next I went to the the Museum of Ethnography which is housed in the grandiose Neo-Renaissance Palace which was built between 1893 and 1896 for the Supreme Court. It is worth a visit just for the amazing entrance which really is breathtaking!

The permanent exhibition at the museum features 'The Traditional Culture of the Hungarian People' A very large proportion of the exhibition features clothing and tools which was quite repetitive. I was very happy when I came to the original painted folk art pieces among the collection!

The photo's below are from the little church scene in the museum. My pictures don't do the paintings justice as the detail on the ceiling paintings and pew panels are primitive, but beautiful. One thing that struck me is that there are very few 'bright and bold' paintings in the whole collection. Although the painters would have had a limited palette of red, blue and yellow they have mixed them into beautiful dark earthy colours. I love these colours and so they have much more appeal to me than the bright, bold colours.

The church was an important part of everyones life. Marriage being the greatest festive occasion of peasant life. The festival, which was celebrated concurrently at several places lasted for a couple of days with the participation of the majority of the community. Finally it culminated in the church ceremony. The 17th and 18th century painted floral patterns on the ceilings and furniture of the churches of Kalotaszeg (by Janos Gyalui Asztalos and Lorinc Umling) directly influenced the development of the decorative arts of the region.

In Kalotaszeg (now in Romania) the wedding was the occasion to display the decorative household utensils and the bride’s trousseau in all its splendour to the community. During the church wedding the bride's family displayed all the gifts earlier exhibited inside the house. These would be carried later to the groom's home by decorated oxcarts. The bride's trousseau formed the basis of the new household. The pieces of 'house-wear' were meant to furnish and decorate the best room that also served as the festive place for storing the family's valuables. The trousseau included ladies' and men's wear for the whole of one's life, including the dresses needed at death or funeral, as well as clothes for work and festive occasions. If you look closely at the trunk on the bottom right you can see the lid is painted with the couple’s names and the date of the wedding. Although folk art peices were created to provide the necessities of life, and therefore a predominantly functional art form, I've always loved the fact that the peasants took the opportunity to record important events in their family’s history. Can't you just imagine the pleasure the whole family got from making something beautiful from scratch? Although the poorest in the community, lots of creative time would have been spent planning and painting the gifts for the happy couple and displaying them with pride for the whole community to see. A world away from the 'on-line wedding present lists' of today!

There was many more exhibits - here are some of my favourite peices from the

Museum of Ethnography (watch out for the dolls furniture)

As always, happy painting

Carol

PS:: if you want to see more Hungarian Folk Art Painting - then Google Janos Gyalui Asztalos and Lorinc Umling

Hobbycraft Show ExCel London 28th -30th November 2014

2014-12-02T08:17:00+00:00

We had an absolutely fantastic weekend at The Hobbycraft Show ExCel London 28th-30th November. This was only our 2nd show, so after our huge success at The Handmade Fair we were a bit nervous about how this show would go.

To be honest it was a bit of a challenge...we had to set our stand up the day before (Thurs 27th Nov) and after just arriving back from a chilled out time in Mexico that very morning at 7.30am it was like a remake of It's a Mad Mad World! So with a good dose of jet lag we headed back up to Sheffield where our Folk It! HQ resides, we loaded the van with all our display and stock and did a whirlwind turnaround to drive back down to London. We arrived at the ExCel centre at 5pm unloaded all our display and stock, set up our stand and unpacked all of our many, many boxes and by 8pm we had finished. We were totally exhausted and headed straight for bed!

Thankfully we had a good nights sleep and woke refreshed on the Friday morning. Our lovely Folk It! bags and Folk It! t-shirts made an appearance for the second time and it wasn't too long before it seemed everyone at the show was carrying a Folk It! bag.

As soon as the show opened the crowds came pouring in to see all the wonderful craft stalls and demonstrations going on and it didn't take any time at all for our stand to be swamped with people watching our demonstrations.

We had an amazing response from all the lovely people who visited us over the 3 days of the exhibition, we made some lovely new friends and again we had a virtual sell out of our kits and it's a great feeling to know that we have introduced many more people to the wonderful world of Folk Art & Decorative Painting.

As always, Happy Painting! x

Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life!

2014-11-07T08:13:00+00:00

This really makes me appreciate the importance of handmade things that are made with love. I want to find this shop and buy one right now! Makes me more determined to try and create a 'handmade' christmas for my family this year.

The following info is from www.thisiscolossal.com

In an age of the ubiquitous 3D printer, it’s easy to forget the joy and beauty of handmade craft. Take, for example, the 400-year old Japanese art of creating kokeshi dolls. These traditional wooden figurines were said to have been originally made as souvenirs to sell to people visiting the local hot springs in Northern Japan. Although there are about 10 different styles, each doll is made with an enlarged head and cylindrical body with no arms or legs.

In the video, produced by tetotetote, an organization highlighting the arts and crafts of Sendai, Japan, Yasuo Okazaki woodturns solid blocks into the head and body using just a few tools. Okazaki’s “Naruko” style of making the dolls was passed down to him from his father and features stripes at the top and bottom of the body and bangs with red headdresses. I don’t think there’s anything more soothing and hypnotic than the sights and sounds of watching these dolls emerge from a spinning block of wood.

If you'd like to read more there's a great blog post here

Getting ready for Christmas!

2014-11-03T21:28:00+00:00

We're getting ready to deck the halls here at Folk It! HQ and we've simply used the designs that are in the Folk It! Series No 1. collection

Rather than pull the old Christmas tree and decorations out of the loft this year we decided to buy a new tree and hand paint our own ornaments. We love the simplicity of the Scandinavian Folk Art style, you will find many styles are painted in reds and whites and we took our inspiration from there.

We began with some blank MDF hearts, plain glass baubles and some festive ribbon. We base coated the hearts with DecoArt Americana Warm White and Tomato Red, some hearts were painted with a solid finish and some with the distressed finish.

These glass baubles were decorated using DecoArt Americana Warm White. When painting onto glass and other non-absorbent materials always use some paint adhesion medium and mix it with your paints as this will 'fix' the paint to the surface. Then using random comma strokes we painted onto the glass and whilst the paint was still wet we sprinkled on some Glamour Dust to give them that extra Christmas magic and sparkle.

The MDF hearts were decorated using the designs that are all in the Folk It! Series No.1 kits.

Picture 1 is from the 'Heart of Hearts' design included in the Art Supplies & Starter kit
Picture 2 is from the 'Vintage Rose' kit
Picture 3 is from the 'Bluebirds' kit
Picture 4 is from the 'Delicate Lace' kit

You can see how versitle all these designs are and how different they look just by simply changing the colours! We added some wording to a few hearts, make sure you use a permanent marker pen when doing so and add some black dots with the dotting tool to neaten up your writing.

All that was left to do was to tie the festive ribbons onto them and hang them on the tree, we just hope Santa leaves us some lovely presents under there!

We hope you find some time to paint even just one decoration for your tree this year, or as a gift for someone else's. So rather than sitting down to watch a bit of TV, get your paints out find a relaxing quiet spot, pour a glass of wine and before you know it you will have done it!

Please add your comments and any questions to this blog post, we'd love to hear from you!

Festive Folky Christmas Wishes to all x (a bit early we know but us crafters have to have a head start!)

As always, Happy Painting x

How to stop your paints from drying out!

2014-10-26T06:22:00+00:00

A great little addition to your painting tools is a wet palette. Here's how to make one.....

Your paints will stay workable in this container for many, many days. Apart from stopping your paints from drying quickly, it also means that you are saving paints and you don't have to clean up at the end of a painting session - YAY, just pop the lid on and rush off to pick the kids up, go to bed or do whatever else is rudely interrupting your blissful painting session :) Also, you don't need to wash the paints down the sink (shouldn't really do that anyway) When the palette is so messy and you need to start afresh, just discard the greaseproof paper with the old paints into the bin and start again!

Notice how the paper is wrinkled? There is nothing to stop this happening and it's absolutely fine for your beginner paintings. As it's not important that your palette is completely flat - however, once we move on to using the flat brushes, then we would recommend you invest in this Masterson Wet Palette

This is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time

2014-10-22T13:28:00+01:00

Sounds a bit dramatic, but sometimes it's good to stop in our tracks and acknowledge that life is passing by just too quickly. We all know of someone who has been given the awful news of a life threatening illness. At that very moment we all do a quick life audit. We vow that we are now going to slow down, spend more time with family or take up that hobby we've always wanted to do, like learning to paint.

Then life gets in the way again, we get busy and another year goes by and we're still haven't made a start. So what's stopping you?

Motivation? We get so busy we forgot just how exhilarating it is to be creative and learn something new? Remembering how it makes you come alive, inspires others around you and builds communities is buried beneath the humdrum of everyday life. As we get older, many of us seem to forget that we have this creative ability within us. The focus of our lives changes as we put other people first and we are conditioned to be constantly busy doing tasks that have a purpose...cooking, cleaning, making money and taking care of everyone else.

Perfectionism?  Yes, getting good at doing something is a goal to aim for, but to perfect something you first need to create it, and to create it you need to take those first steps. Creativity was part of our every day lives as children, drawing, painting, and playing music, we didn't care whether it was great or not, we just absorbed ourselves in the enjoyment of being creative. Probably the real reason that delays us taking that first step is the fear of failure.
Picasso said -  "Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist when you grow up"
We think he should have said....
"Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist after your primary school teacher told you you were shit"
But trust us, your primary school teacher was wrong - you do have creativity inside you just waiting to be nurtured.

You're waiting for the perfect time? - Like when the kids get a bit older, when you have more time, more money or the right tools. But that perfect time will never come if you don't put yourself first - just for once! So just give yourself 10 minutes right now to take your first step. Even if that means you spend the next ten minutes deciding where you will paint and putting out a water pot and palette for your paints, there you've already set your intention! Small steps add-up fast. You spend ten minutes today, and tomorrow, and the next day, working on these little steps and before you know it you have painted your first project!

Life really is too short, so I do hope you won't let another day pass you by without making a start....Try one little art project just for the fun and to remind you that creativity is definitely good for your soul. And we all need that!

As Always, happy painting, Carol x

The wonderful world of Folk Art Painting...

2014-09-30T09:07:00+01:00

.....Luckily I knew that I could, because that's exactly how I felt before finding Folk Art Painting and I've watched so many times as those same doubtful people had become beautiful painters. Watching their amazement at being able to paint has always been really rewarding, because often, the students would be ladies in their late 60's and 70's who had yearned to paint their whole life.

Folk Art Painting is a style of painting that is learnt in the same way you learnt to write, it's a skill based art so each brushstroke can be practiced over and over until mastered. I have watched time and time again as students who didn't think they could ever paint slowly but surely find their creative side. And it is such a good feeling. Of course like everything else, being creative takes a little nurturing - but for most people the big question is 'where on earth do you start'? - when I decided I wanted to paint, I was sure that painting was some kind of secret club I didn't know how to join!

Folk Art Painting takes the mystery out of learning, because unlike something that is talent based, skills can be taught and as you start painting simple designs and mixing paint colours, the artist within you will naturally show itself. It's not something you have to force, it's already there just waiting to be unleashed :)

The beauty of Folk Art is that there is so many roads to take. In it's simplest form it can be used to paint crafty, disposable items like greeting cards. Moving on you could use it to paint furniture or even walls. But then there is the whole history of Folk Art Painting, which is a fascinating subject and could take you on virtual or actual travels to Germany, Italy, Sweden, Russia, Netherlands and England in research of the beautiful European Folk Arts that still exist.
As always,
Happy Painting!
Carol x

www.folkit.co

The Handmade Fair 19th-21st September 2014

2014-09-23T10:24:00+01:00

We had an absolutely fantastic weekend at The Handmade Fair…

Hampton Court Palace, the gardens and the deer are so spectacular and even though we'd had a week of hectic preparation, sleepless nights (wondering whether we would get everything done in time) and a long drive down to London from Sheffield! We could not fail to be struck with the beauty and appreciate just how fortunate we were to be exhibiting in such beautiful surroundings…

It was the first ever Handmade Fair - so there was a few teething problems and despite arriving at 1.30pm ready for our 2.00pm unloading slot we were kept in a 'holding area' until 3.15pm. Luckily the sun was shining - but we were miles from anywhere and we'd left without breakfast, so we were all starving!!! But once we got underway setting up the stand, the hunger pangs were over taken by the excitement of putting the stand together…

The Fair started on Friday morning…Kirsty Allsop having spearheaded Britain's craft revolution for the last 5 years was at the forefront of the Fair and welcomed the visitors each morning. Although on the 2 occasions we saw her do her royal 'walk around' she walked straight past and failed to notice us, which we couldn't understand as our stand looked amazing!

We didn't have long to wait to see if all our hard work paid off - soon our stand was crowded with people watching Carol demonstrating….

folk it at hand made! from Tom Sykes on Vimeo.

We had 6 kits to sell in total - The Art Supplies & Starter Kit includes all the Art Supplies for the whole 6 designs included in the Folk It! Series No. 1 Collection, including 2 decorative painting brushes. However, you don't use the brushes in the Starter Kit lessons, which are the level 1 lessons and this was definitely the best decision that we made. 99.9% of people don't believe that they can use an 'artist brush' and the visitors to the fair were no different. Artist brushes seem like a scary prospect - and we can relate to that, as that is how we felt before we found Folk Art Painting. So everyone was just so happy they could take home the starter kit and create these beautiful projects without even using a brush…

but Carol's demonstration, showing how the DVD's would teach them step by little step how to use the scary 'brush' convinced them they would be able to learn to paint the beautiful designs in the 5 designs kits…

and soon we had people queuing to buy the kits….some taking the plunge and buying all 6 kits! Which we found a little overwhelming - we've worked so hard to put Folk It! together and getting the response we got was beyond our wildest dreams - we met so many lovely people, who couldn't wait to get home and start painting….

in fact on Monday morning we already had some eager painters posting their first masterpieces on our Facebook which made us feel all fuzzy inside - we started to dare to think that maybe Folk It! will work and we will inspire lots of people to start painting.

Our stand was so busy that we had to draft in extra staff to help and luckily our friend Heather, who lives a stones throw away from London jumped in to help at the last minute - here's Heather toasting our success!

Thank you to everyone who visited the stand and helped make the show such a success for us - Happy Painting and see you next year!

www.folkit.co

Folk It at Handmade Fair this weekend!

2014-09-19T22:26:00+01:00