Meet the author of "Cute and Easy Quilting and Stitching" textile designer Charlotte Liddle

Charlotte Liddle creates beautiful highly embellished fabric and paper designs, handmade accessories, ballet shoes, peg dolls, and cards which are sold in a number of prestigious retail outlets including Liberty and Designers Guild in London. Here, Charlotte tells us more about how she got started in crafts and her new book Cute and Easy Quilting and Stitching.

When did you first become interested in sewing and stitching?
I’ve always been creative and loved making throughout my childhood. I loved art at school and then went on to study an A level in fashion and textiles, I enjoyed every minute of it and decided that it was definitely the career for me.

Jam pot covers

How would you describe your style?
I would describe my work as being quite girly, quirky, vintage and nostalgic. I love collecting and working with vintage fabrics and creating pieces that make people smile. I tend to use a lot of traditional techniques in my work but give them a bit of a modern twist and these often make people remember techniques they learnt when they were younger and recall happy stories of sewing or patchworking with their favorite grannies.


There are 35 projects in the book, what inspires you when you’re thinking of new designs?
This book was much bigger than my previous two which is why we decided to split the book down into a few chapters. This meant that I could design in smaller collections, concentrating on one at a time. I take inspiration for many different places; the fabric I’m working with can often determine a colour palette. I also visit exhibitions, see what’s happening in shops, have a good look around on the internet to see what’s happening on the craft scene. Blogs are a great place for inspiration. However this particular book was quite heavily influenced by the Quilts exhibition at the V & A.

Coffee pot cozy

What have been you favorite projects to so far?
I loved making the hanging Russian dolls and the Russian doll picture for the book. I’m a bit obsessed with Russian dolls at the moment.

You’ve recently become more involved in educational projects, can you tell us more about those?
Yes, I started doing a lot of workshops and then I applied for a position as an adult education tutor and from there I was also offered a part-time job as a lecturer in fashion and textiles in a college. So at the moment I teach about half the time so two and a half days a week. It’s great to be working around lots of other creative people and it really helps with inspiration when I can share ideas and concepts with like-minded people.

What advice would you give someone who is just starting their career in the craft industry?
I would say that it is essential to be flexible and to be able to manage lots of different projects at the same time. When I set up in business – I found quite quickly that I need to have some understanding of all the different jobs roles within the business. As well as looking after designing and making you also need to market yourself, do your own administration, look after your accounts, answer e-mails and phone calls. At first it can feel quite very overwhelming but you soon pick it up and I particularly love the fact that every day is different and I never get bored!

Baby shoes

What do you like to do when you're not crafting?
Because crafting is my job I often feel that I need to do something that is very different, I love walking my dog Alfie and I have to admit that I’m partial to a game of poker, which isn’t very girly at all! I play in a local pub league which is great fun – we have such a laugh and giggle.

What’s next for Charlotte Liddle?
My next adventure is working as a craft instructor on a cruise ship which I am so excited about. I have my first two-week cruise booked for September, it's on the Oceana ship and its sails around the Canary Islands – can’t wait!

You can find out more about Charlotte and her work on her website www.charlotteliddle.co.uk.
Cute and Easy Quilting and Stitching by Charlotte Liddle (£12.99) published by CICO Books, photography by Penny Wincer.

Meet the authors of "A Green Guide to Country Crafts"

Nicola Gouldsmith and Jacqui Mann met in an old soap factory in July 2009 and quickly realized that they both shared a lifelong passion for making things, growing their own, and making the most of the beautiful rural surroundings in which they life. These shared passions led them to set up Halfpenny Home, an arts and crafts centre where artists and crafters can meet, create and inspire each other.

A Green Guide to Country Crafts is their first book and is full of traditional country craft projects, gorgeous photographs and practical demonstrations.

Can you tell us the story of how you met and started the arts and craft emporium Halfpenny Home?

We met through a mutual friend who thought we’d get on and work well together, and she was right! Lisa described us as a Victoria sponge and raspberries with Greek yogurt - delicious eaten separately but when put together they make a spectacular combination! She didn't say which one of us is the sponge and which is the fruit...

A Green Guide to Country Crafts features projects on soap and candle making, weaving, dying and recycling vintage finds. Why did you decide to write a book about traditional country crafts?

It felt right because we love recycling and making the best use of what we have. It feels great to give unwanted and unloved items a new lease of life. It’s lovely to see the traditional crafts given a new twist.

Dyeing with Woad

Where did you learn your skills?

We both come from ‘crafty’ and thrifty families, used to making things.

What advice would you give to someone who is new to crafting and isn’t sure where to start?

Don’t be afraid to just give it a go, part of the fun is learning! Joining a local craft group is also a great way of meeting like minded people who will provide support and inspiration.

There are 35 projects in A Green Guide to Country Crafts from deckchairs to fire lighters, how do you find your inspiration?

It’s all around us! Beautiful countryside, nature, food……you name it!

Woven egg basket

Which is the item you’ve made that’s most precious to you and why?

Jacqui: For me it has to be the Blue Peter Theatre I made as a child. So much love and care went into it, that it still makes me smile today!

Nicola: There are so many things that I've enjoyed making both for myself and for other people but I have always been particularly pleased with the fancy dress costumes I've produced. My best friend Danda who has been both a great Queen Amidala and Damsel in distress in recent years and the ones that I've made for my son Miles who has been a brilliant Dark Magician and Buzz Lightyear in the past - I still have very fond memories of the Marshall Amplifier dress that I made for myself!

pine cone firelighters

Where do you feel most inspired?

The Suffolk coast and countryside.

What’s next for Halfpenny Home?

We’ve got loads of ideas…..how long have you got?

A preview of A Green Guide to Country Crafts:

You can find out more about Nicola and Jacqui and Halfpenny Home on their website: http://www.halfpennyhome.co.uk and blog: www.halfpennyhome.blogspot.com

Health tips for January from Hazel Courteney

• Natural sunlight helps to suppress production of the hormone melatonin, which is produced by the pineal gland at night. This is why we tend to feel more depressed and sleepy during the winter months. therefore, get out into the daylight as much as you possibly can, especially in the mornings, and if you work in an office without full spectrum lighting make sure you use full-spectrum light bulbs at home and where you can at work. Try using Real Sunlight lamps, available at several specialist clinics in the UK. The harmful frequencies of UVA and UVB have been filtered out, making this sunlight safe.
  
  
• If you are suffering from a winter sore throat immediately take Homeopathic Aconite, along with Echinacea and Golden Seal capsules 3-4 times daily. Also take Garlic capsules and gargle with a little Tea Tree Oil in some luke warm water. Increase vitamin C to 3 grams daily with food and suck zinc lozengers. You need to eat really healthily for a couple of days avoiding all dairy and sugar and get some sleep – a great immune booster. You can also try crushing fresh sage into a tea, allow to cool, and gargle. Sage is antiseptic and eases the soreness. If your throat is really sore, soak a cloth in the sage mix and apply to the throat area.
  
  
  If you have a cough eat pineapple to help loosen up mucous and make breathing easier. Fresh pear juice is also good for easing coughs. Tea made from fresh thyme can help ease the cough.
  
  
• If you are craving white foods and comfort foods that tend to be high in fat and sugar – start making biscuits and cakes using Xylitol, a sugar substitute, which has a low glycaemic index. Spread Raw organic coconut butter on your bread- it's one of the only saturated fats that gives you energy but will not cause weight gain. It also helps control blood sugar, is good for your heart and lowers HDL the 'bad' cholesterol. Great in cakes and for cooking.
  
  
• If you have given up smoking this January try eating organic porridge every morning. Oats are a nerve tonic which helps to reduce addictions. Soak in an Epsom-salt or sea-salt bath, which helps remove nicotine through the pores.
  
  These tips are from "500 of the Most Important Health Tips You'll Ever Need" by Hazel Courteney

William Yeoward tells us how he plans to decorate his festive table this year

William Yeoward's country dining room in Gloucestershire dressed
for a family Christmas

"Christmas in the country for us this year is all about amethysts. Our table will be furnished with an eclectic mix of antique, vintage and a suggestion of contemporary. I am using white china accented with an amethyst table cloth and big napkins tied with white string and finished with a winter rose in that pale lilac colour that's so pretty. The centre of my table will have two beautiful four foot high Georgian flutes filled to the brim with holly ivy and white amaryllis. Down the centre will be fruits piled on stands and amethyst rock crystal votives. I just can't wait to set this table!"

"I love to bring greenery from outside at this dark, yet opulent time of year:
A long garland of blue pine, scarlet roses and festive berries brought the
Christmas spirit to an already extravagant setting"
William Yeoward in On Entertaining

You can see more of William's faultless taste as he invites you to look inside his much-loved country house and chic London apartment in his third book At Home:

William Yeoward's Crystal Tableware range

Meet Sania Pell, author of The Homemade Home

Portrait of Sania Pell by Julia Bostock

Sania Pell has a degree in textiles from Edinburgh College of Art. After graduating, she worked for one of London’s top textile studios for seven years where her designs were bought by companies such as Armani, Laura Ashley, The Gap and Marks & Spencer. To expand her experience, Sania then joined Elle Decoration magazine where she trained as a stylist. She now works regularly for publications such as The Sunday Telegraph and The Mail on Sunday. She is also a visiting lecturer at Edinburgh College of Art. Married with two young children, Sania lives in London.

You went to college for textile design. When did you realize you wanted to be a designer?

I’ve always enjoyed creating. From a really young age I loved making little animals from objects found in the garden and on the beach on family days out. I can remember stitching needle books and felt comb-holders at the age of five and being really proud of them. That’s where it began, the sense of achievement and satisfaction gained through making. I realised I could have a career doing the things I love most; drawing, painting, stitching and making, when I was at school.

How did you get your start in the design world, and what experiences led you to become the accomplished designer and stylist you are today?

I worked hard throughout my four years at art college and then exhibited at the end of my degree course. I was discovered at a large show held in London each year called New Designers, where hundreds of UK art and design graduates exhibit. I was approached by a few design studios and ended up working for a London-based textile design studio. This gave me a real commercial design background, we designed all day, every day, and had really good feedback as to which designs had sold. I also went on sales trips to Paris, Como, Frankfurt and Tokyo. After working for them for several years full time I was ready for a change. I continued to design as a freelancer whilst starting to assist interiors stylists on photo shoots (for free at first). As I gained more experience I got the opportunity to do small shoots of my own that led to bigger ones that became full editorial stories and front covers for Elle Decoration.

The Homemade Home is your first book. How did it come about?

The Homemade Home is my first solo book. I had taken some time off after my second child was born, but was continually scribbling lots of ideas in a notebook that I carry about with me all the time. I realised that there were more than enough ideas to create a book, so started to outline it. I approached Cico with the ideas and some examples that I had made and by the end of that first meeting it was all systems go!

There are a myriad of beautiful projects in the book, using all kinds of craft techniques. What are some of your favorite projects or techniques?

Some of my favourite projects involve using small pieces of vintage fabric – turning something old from one use into something new and more substantial. I’m really happy with the throw that I created from flowers cut out from a piece of old fabric and heat-bonded them onto a dark fabric background to create a throw (page 49). The lovebird pillows is another favourite using the same technique (page 74).

What is the best homemade gift you have ever received?

My six year old son’s drawings are beautiful; he has an eye for detail and a quirky style that I love. I am always happy to be given a drawing by him. I used some of his drawings in the project on page 20.

Where do you find inspiration?

Everywhere – car boot sales, antique shops, the high street, art galleries, exhibitions, museums, magazines, nature. One little bit of inspiration can spark off a whole new idea. Living in London helps as there is so much creativity and there is always lots to see and do. I also find it inspiring to visit somewhere I’ve not been, whether it’s a new country or a new city, just to see new things and experience a different culture.

What's coming up next for Sania Pell?

My scribbly notebook has been filling up quickly with new ideas since I finished The Homemade Home; so who knows, another book may be on its way!

Become a fan of The Homemade Home on Facebook here!

Interview by Marny Smith, marny.smith@rylandpeters.com

A Zombie Ate My Cupcake! Book Launch

Meet Richard Lawrence, Author of UFOs and the Extraterrestrial Message

A world-renowned UFO expert and spiritual investigator, Richard Lawrence was the first to bring declassified CIA and Pentagon UFO files to Britain in 1980. He is also one of the most respected names in the mind, body, spirit movement, with regular appearances on radio and TV around the world, including the Coast to Coast AM radio show, which is broadcast to millions of listeners across America. A workshop leader and speaker at the UK’s Mind Body Spirit festival, Richard has also lectured in the USA, New Zealand, Australia, Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland. His books include Prayer Energy (CICO), Contacts with Gods from Space, Realise Your Inner Potential, Unlock Your Psychic Powers, and the award-winning Guides, Gods and Guardian Angels.

How did you become interested in UFOs?
I was a drama and music student at Hull University in the North of England but my main interest was discovering the meaning of life, and studying many different philosophies. One of these was The Aetherius Society which had a group at the university studying contacts with extraterrestrial intelligences. Shortly after discovering the Society, I had a superb UFO sighting in Hull of a cigar-shaped object which was seen by hundreds of others in the area. This is how I became aware of the links between UFOs and spirituality.

What made you a believer?
You don’t have to see a UFO in order to believe in them. I believed in UFOs before this sighting and millions of others around the world do likewise. It was a study of the evidence from ancient records to the modern day that convinced me.

You are the Executive Secretary at The Aetherius Society, can you tell us about the organization?
The Aetherius Society is an international spiritual organisation based on the contacts between Dr George King, its late Founder/President, and beings from other worlds. It exists to propagate the teachings received by Dr King from the Cosmic Masters, and how to cooperate directly with extraterrestrial beings in spiritual activities and missions.

Why do you think the flying saucer phenomenon had such an enormous impact?
The implications of the existence of flying saucers or extraterrestrial spacecraft are vast. If more advanced and intelligent extraterrestrial beings can visit our Earth and contact us, which I believe they have, then potentially all the problems facing our world could be solved by direct cooperation with them. How could anything be more significant than this?

Have governments lied about UFOs and if so why?
Following the Second World War, governments lied for decades about UFOs and tried to cover up the truth. There is no doubt about this whatsoever, as my book demonstrates. There could be various reasons for this, but the main one, I believe, is that they have not wanted to admit their ignorance to the public at large, and thereby lose their authority with the people. Another reason often cited is to avoid mass panic. Yet another one is because the superpowers have each wanted to be the first to make contact for strategic, military reasons. It is likely that even leaders of nations have been kept in the dark by those mysterious figures who wield power behind the scenes. For example, based on a memo released under the Public Records Act, Sir Winston Churchill, the then Prime Minister of Great Britain, was misled about flying saucers by officials.

How old is the UFO phenomenon?

The UFO phenomenon is certainly as ancient as the oldest records on Earth and, I believe, pre-dates even these. The Sumerian records are said to go back hundreds of thousands of years and they refer to gods who descended from the sky. The Hindu scripts, which were passed down orally for, some say, many thousands of years, have an exact Sanskrit word for a celestial spacecraft, vimana. The Bible is comparatively recent but has several examples of UFOs within its pages.

Why is science embracing concepts which at one time would have been regarded as mystical?
Science is being forced to accept what would at one time have been regarded as metaphysical or mystical concepts. One factor is the discovery that there are huge quantities of invisible matter in the universe in order to create the gravity that exists there and holds the solar systems and galaxies together. Another is the enormous size of the electro-magnetic spectrum which includes undiscovered regions in which some cutting-edge scientists believe life exists, albeit, invisibly to the physical eye. It is estimated that if the electro-magnetic spectrum was 2,500 miles in length, we would be able to see some 2 inches of it. Another area is the investigation of out-of-body and near-death experiences, which some scientists believe have proven the existence of a super-physical or auric body. This is a very exciting area of research.

What made you write UFOs and the Extraterrestrial Message at this time?
This is the book I have always wanted to write, but have never found a commercial publisher who was open-minded enough to allow me to put down the full, undisclosed facts and their spiritual implications. I am very grateful to CICO Books for going with me on this, and I offer it as food for thought rather than an attempt to convert readers to a particular viewpoint. I could not possibly think of anything more important to write a book about than UFOs and the Extraterrestrial Message.

For more information on Richard check out his website: www.richardlawrence.co.uk

Interview by Marny Smith, marny.smith@rylandpeters.com