snaps from the studio #laurasattic

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Tres Chic Telephone Table Dahling!

For sale now in Blakemere Village Emporium  www.blakemerevillage.com

snaps from the studio #laurasattic

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snaps from the studio #laurasattic

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snaps from the studio #laurasattic

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snaps from the studio #laurasattic

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snaps from the studio #laurasattic

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snaps from the studio #laurasattic

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Laura's Attic Upholstery Workshop at IARD // Parc Glynllifon

Welsh wool topped footstool with Ash legs

Action shots, nearly finished

Stitching loops for hair

shades of mustard

team photo!

On Saturday I hosted an Upholstery workshop at the centre for Craft IARD Parc Glynllifon the aim of the day course was to teach the participants how to traditionally upholster their own small footstool from  the frame up. 
Using solid beech frames, made from locally sourced timber and hand-turned legs by a bespoke furniture maker in Denbigh, North Wales, all traditional fillings, hessian and fibre, cotton flock and calico. 

The participants had a choice of fabrics selected from the studio especially for the event and extra Welsh wool blanket fabric, to continue the welsh theme. 

I guided them through the process of learning how to apply webbing, hessian, stitching their fibre in, creating a nice shape with calico for the top fabric, buttoning and finishing ready to take home and put their feet up on! 

With a bit of homemade flapjack to fuel their work, and kept warm by the cosy log burner in the room at IARD,  they produced some lovely pieces, see the team photo above. All different, all with their own character to somehow reflect that of the maker. 

We are looking at booking some more workshops so add yourself to our mailing list on our website here to find out when the next one will be on. 

A couple of video clips from the event are here on my Vimeo feed, have a little look! 

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Chairs, Bears and Big Mountains

So things in the Attic got quite hectic for a couple of months on the run up to our holiday, if you've been following the facebook page you would have seen the Before & Afters highlights of a few larger projects we took on.
Eventually after several weeks of manic upholstering, it was time for the HOLIDAY! (First one for a couple of years, hence the excitement) We were off to Calgary in Alberta, Canada to visit an old friend who has moved out there for work.
As the holiday was going to be for at least 3 weeks, I didn't think I could leave the world of twitter/facebook/instagram alone for all that time - especially as I have so many lovely followers who like to know what the news from the Attic is. (Plus its true, I am addicted) So I came up with the brief of 'A Chair a Day' to give me an easy way to document the journey, the sights and the activities.

Here are some of the highlights:

We're off! Happy about the tv screens in each seat.

Designer Seat

Meat seat

the best seat in the house

hot seat

Busman's holiday seat

Mid-Century Seat

Bear Chair

Park bench

Saddle (sore) seat

Car seat 

lakeside seat

Rocking chair

Weavers' seat http://barefoothandweaving.com/

river seat

lazy hammock seat

The first week we spent exploring Calgary, and surrounding areas, Inglewood,  Drumheller (good for dinosaurs) Banff (good for bison burgers) and then we went off on a road trip. From Calgary, up to Jasper, Mount Robson, down to Clearwater , Kamloops, Kelowna, then along the US border to Nelson and Kootenay Lake. Up to Whiteswan Lake, then back down to Fernie and the Crowsnest Pass, then back up to Black Diamond and Calgary.
I'd have to write a small guidebook to detail all the wonderful things we did, the awesome sights and the really cool people we met. But briefly it included 4 bears, 3 moose, 2 golden eagles, 1 ferry, 6 waterfalls, lots of amazing artisans (particularly Barefoot Handweaving Studio ), too many burgers, (if you live in Calgary check out the Fine Diner in Inglewood) Half a million glass bottles at Boswell, 2 brilliant hosts and 1 trip to Accident and Emergency. Thanks Canada, you were amazing.

Really happy to be home, enjoying the sunshine and the rain. Back in the studio, working on my next projects and looking forward to the next holiday!

Pop Up Shop - Popped!

Sophie Tilley gave me this lovely card to say 'Thanks'

Laura in a floral camouflage! 

Lora Wyn's beautiful enamel peices

Tilley Dolls

Mum's gingerbread hearts

Jen from Loglike with customers

creative cyanotypes from The Way To Blue

Loglike's Modern Welsh Lovespoon. 

Jenny Murray explaining her Ceramic making process

Crochet heart by Ann Blundell

The POP UP SHOP happened and it was amazing! 

A ton of effort went into the planning and organisation, but we can safely say it was well worth it.

I designed the flyers and had them printed by the wonderful Daydream Designs,  made gift bags  (which included hand-made mini bunting!) cakes, biscuits and tea and coffee were sorted, window display done, online adverts, e-mailouts and postal mailouts, workshops organised, booking stallholders, and of course, a LOT of hoovering and tidying my chaotic workshop, I was ready to open to the public. We had a fantastic turnout, and the stall holders all did really well. There was an excited buzz in the air all day, (mainly fuelled by mini cupcakes and pink lemonade!)

The planning has begun for POP UP SHOP II, but if it doesn't happen we've always got Helfa Gelf // Art Trail on in September. 

In case you missed the past post, the artists at the POP UP SHOP were:

Lora Wyn 

Loglike

Sophie Tilley

Cinder Cottage Crafts

The Way To Blue

Suz Hughes

Emily Birch (Thanks to Emily for the photos from the day: click here for the whole set)

Jenny Murray

Heledd Roberts

Thanks to everyone who came and supported Laura's Attic, and the fab artists who took part. 

Meeting Prince Charles : July

St Asaph Cathedral in North Wales

My display inside the Cathedral

a bit nervous! with my new dress on.

hello Charlie! Look at my chairs!

We met, we chatted, he's lovely. Camilla went straight for the guy with tattoos next to me. I actually hadn't realised how far-reaching the work of the Princes Trust is. They help all sorts of youngsters get back into work, get trained up, or even just help them concentrate on their schooling. And they helped me to get a loan to retrain in upholstery, which is essential to my business. If you know someone who might need a helping hand, have a little look here: http://www.princes-trust.org.uk/

Cath Kidston Tapestry Chair

Applying the Hessian and ties

The chair before...

Horsehair layer

 

Finished chair in the studio with little blue chair 

The finished chair with Cath Kidston Tapestry seat.

Last week I finished this really lovely little tapestry covered chair, and forgot to blog about it! I just wanted to show you how a little chair can have a big personality. I cleaned and treated the wood, mended the wobbly joints, and gave it new webbing and stuffing. The tapestry had been done by the customer, and was a pattern from one of the Cath Kidston stitch books. The trim was from John Lewis and matched the wool colour perfectly. 

The one thing I would recommend if you are going to do a tapestry is to use a standing or handheld frame - this stops the canvas from becoming stretched out of shape by your hands. (And makes it much easier to apply to a chair if it's all square.) 

Tapestry can be a lot more fun than pictures of kittens in baskets (although if kittens in baskets is your thing - go for it!) I wanted to see if I could find a tapestry I would like to do and came across the amazing work of Charley Harper  Have a look at more of his beautiful illustrations turned into tapestries on the Purl Bee craft blog.  Imagine those beauties on a chair! 

Nursery Rocking Chair

Nursery Rocking chair in Duck egg Spot Fabric

Piped box cushion with invisible zipper & bow ties

Arm padding with white enamel studs

This weeks commission was a customisation of an old rocking chair. The chair was ready painted by the customer for me to add the arm pads and make a box cushion - such a good idea, and perfect for a nursery.
It was a bit tricky getting the Enamel studs in the correct place and there were quite a few wasted --grrr! But  very happy with the overall finish and cant wait to see how it looks in the Nursery with Mummy and the little one (due in a week) in the chair.

wonky tacks 

Slipper Chair ReVamp

This was an old Laura Ashley bedroom chair that was looking a bit 90's and in need of some attention. The old fabric was stripped off, and replaced with a beautiful pink chenille spot and purple velvet fabric. Each of the buttons on the back is a different fabric, the piping is patterned on the back and the silver show tacks add a modern finishing touch.

Creating a Custom order: Knit Cushions

I've been knitting! A lot! 3 custom design cushions. Working to the customers specifications and design requirements, to match his living room and the first knit cushion bought from my Etsy shop. A few email pictures back and forward and voila! Off they go in the post. They look so cosy and homely, i think i might make myself some now!

  Email me your design ideas for a cushion and I'll make it for you!