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Volume 2/2009 In This Edition:---------------------- If you have received this newsletter from a friend, No email addresses on this list will ever be sold or given away for any reason whatsoever. To change your details or to unsubscribe, ---------------------- The Red Balloon Craft Gazette is sent out free of charge, and we are therefore dependent on advertising revenue and income from affiliate links to keep this newsletter going - so please support our sponsors and use the links provided in this newsletter should you wish to purchase their products! ---------------------- Crafters, suppliers, teachers and shop owners: ---------------------- |
Thank you, friendsThanks so much for all the fantastic emails we received after the last edition of the Gazette. You're a lovely bunch of people, you know that? ;-) And I suspect a few of you must have forwarded the Gazette to your friends and family too, because we've had quite a lot of new subscribers joining us in the last month - so thank you for that, and a big welcome to all our new readers! Website newsWe're busy cleaning up all the information on the website at the moment (quite a process, I can tell you!), so that you'll be able to find what you're looking for more easily, and so that we don't keep a whole lot of markets that are no longer running and shops that have gone out of business listed. And once we're done with that, we're going to start investigating some very exciting new ideas and technologies that we think you're going to love. A requestIf you're a crafter, supplier, teacher, shop owner or market organiser whose business is listed on the Red Balloon Craft Junction, could you do the following for us as soon as possible, please?
We would like to get everyone moved over to the new system, which will give you complete control of your listing and allow you to update it as often as you like. Thanks in advance for your co-operation! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Teabag folding: from Holland to the Helderberg
I've always been rather intrigued by the name "teabag folding", because, well, I think it's fairly obvious: How on earth do you fold a teabag?! And I know I'm not the only person to have wondered about this oddly named craft, because I've had friends ask me about it too. In fact, there are probably a few of you who are reading this right now asking yourselves, "What on earth is teabag folding?" And of course, I'm going to tell you. It has nothing to do with teabagsWell, that's not strictly true. It has nothing to do with teabags here in South Africa, because our teabags are mostly supplied in boring old foil packages. In Holland, however, teabags are supplied in pretty colourful paper wrappers. And one day, as Tiny van der Plas, a Dutch origami artist, sat drinking her tea, she started folding these colourful papers into symmetrical designs. Aaaah, I hear you say, now I get it. And then what you do with them?These beautifully folded pictures can be displayed as tiny artworks in their own right, or can be used to embellish greetings cards, book covers, scrapbooks and a host of other things. Quick facts
Introducing Laurette van der MerweLaurette is an unbelievably prolific (and multi-talented) crafter, who hails from Somerset West in the Western Cape. She calls herself a freeform fibre artist, a name used by those who employ techniques such as crocheting, knitting and embroidery to produce works of art. She is also something of a teabag folding expert, and has used her design skills to produce her own version of the Dutch teabag wrappers, which she now uses herself and sells to other crafters. See Laurette in actionIf you pay a visit to Laurette's stall at the Country Craft Market in Somerset West on 30 May, you will be treated to a colourful and exceptional display of craft at its best. Laurette will be doing a teabag folding demonstration, as well as explaining all her other craft works - which are absolutely exquisite, I assure you. You can read a little more about Laurette and see some gorgeous photos of her craft pieces on the Country Craft Market site. (Just a note: you might see that the date given on the website is 25 April; however, that demo was rained out, so Laurette will be doing her demo on 30 May instead. Her stall number is 166.) ----------------------------------------------------------------- What's onIf you are giving a craft class, running a craft market or organising any other crafting event, please remember to add it to the Red Balloon Events Calendar so that we can share it with everyone.
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If you can help with either of these requests, please email us at info@redballoon.co.za, and we will pass the information on. You can send any requests of your own to the same email address. ----------------------------------------------------------------- On the bookshelfA Perfect World in Ribbon Embroidery by Di van NiekerkA Perfect World is a rich, sumptuous celebration of the beauty of the natural world. The design, painted in watercolour by South African artist Verde, consists of 17 panels containing a total of 60 elements. Each element is presented individually, along with a list of its required materials, making it really simple to utilise a single element on its own in another craft project such as scrapbooking or knitting. 
A feature of the book that I find very appealing is that each element is given with both its Latin and common names - education through craft! A Perfect World features a full-colour double-page spread of the completed design, the original watercolour design for copying onto fabric, and a line drawing version of the design for those who'd prefer to choose their own colours and background; there is also a comprehensive (and easy to follow!) stitch gallery. The book is suitable for both beginners and experienced embroiderers, and is also available in Afrikaans as 'n Wonderwereld vir lintborduur en stumpwerk. And the best part? It's on special for just R140 at Kalahari.net. You can get the Afrikaans version here (also R140). Find more book reviews in the Craft Compendium. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Opportunities for craftersGet more info on these and other places to sell your crafts, in the Craft Outlets section of the Red Balloon Craft Junction.
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