This group started in February 2013 and Dorothy  rganised the craft section for our WI for seven years and then she felt it was time for her to hand over to someone else.  Two willing volunteers, Julie and Jane, came forward to fill Dorothy’s shoes and we are all look forward to our monthly craft sessions. For 2024 these will be held every fourth Thursday of the month  to avoid a clash with a local art group.

If you would like to put you name down for any of the sessions, please respond to the emails and sign up board in advance, because sometimes numbers are limited/ a craft kit has to be prepared for each participant..

 Members normally meet in Smisby Village Hall at 10am, normally  on the fourth Thursday of each month.

Crafts Programme 2024

Jan 25th     Bird in a frame                     Jane M.

Feb 29th    Painting with watercolours      Chris Cox

Mar 28th   Painting snowdrops 

April 25th Funky wire arrangement          Hazel Parkyn

May 30th Visit  Saltaire  Bradford  Hockney

June 27th   Encaustic Art           Brian Nelson

July 25th   Tie into a purse         Jane M

Aug 29th      Summer flowers       

Sept 26th    Carving flowers        Derbyshire     

Oct 31st      Small World               Cathy Eagles

Nov 28th     Willow Christmas wreath   Maggie Cooper

Dec 12th   Christmas party craft   Snowmen   Julie

 

Learn to Crochet with Suzanne

Several people would like to learn how to Crochet and Suzanne is prepared to give some instuction over the next five weeks
There will be five two hour sessions on a Thursday lunch time.  We will begin this Thursday 22nd February and the session will run from1p.m to 3.p.m.
 
Can you please let Suzanne know if you will be attending so that tables can be set out and information printed. Can you please bring a crochet hook either a 4mm 4.50 or a 5mm plus a ball of double knit wool.  You can buy from the market or from several wool shops in Ashby that sell hooks and wool.
 
Even if you can crochet, do come along, you can help the people who are learning, and bring along an item you have made so that they can see what they can achieve.
The cost will be £2 pp. The photos show some attendees at the second session.
 febcrochet1
 
febcrochet2

100 Day Stitched Book Project

The second Stitch Book was held on 22 Feb from 2.p.m onwards so tĥat those who have started the books could discuss the on going project.  Jane has set up a Whats app group for this activity, so please post your progress or discuss problems.
 
About the Stitch Book project:

Some Craft members and friends are taking part in a hundred day stitched book challenge. The book is made from 20 pieces of 7ins by 5.5 ins pieces of fabric, This project was suggested by Jane Mack and she has set up a Whats App group for people who would like to join in. 

The plan to sew for 15 minutes each day and each page takes 5 days, that’s 5x15 minutes per page.You can sew for longer if you get ‘carried away’!
The completed fabric books will have 20 pages including front and back pages and will contain a variety of sewn ideas.

The inventor of this challenge is Ann Wood and our challenge is running at the same time as hers. For more informarion see https://www.annwoodhandmade.com/stitch-book-100-day-project/

 

Snow drop paintings, February 2024

The Snowdrops have now gone for another year, but Thursday's craft lead by Chris Cox did an amazing job painting a picture of Snowdrops. Well done ladies the pictures are absolutely lovely, we do have some very talented members.

febsnowdrops

 

 

Birds, January 2024

 
We had a lovely morning painting birds in a variety of mediums. Most used watercolours but we also had gouache, oil, pastels and black pen. The completed pictures were then framed. Thank you Jane for leading the class the ladies found it a very relaxing morning.  We are looking forward to the March craft meeting when we will be painting Snowdrops.
 
jancraft 
 
 
 

Christmas Trees November 2023

Julie said we would be making Christmas trees, well here they are thirteen members had great fun scrunching up net and gluing on decorations.  Lots of fun and chatter all washed down with coffee and home made cake, thanks Julie another successful morning.Craft
 

Butterflies 2023

The craft ladies had a great time yesterday making these paper butterflies, very colourful and everyone 
enjoyed the morning. Thanks Jane M. for your expert tuition. 
 

Easter Flower Arrangement April 2023

Thursdays craft morning on  6th of April was led by Josie, one of our members who does superb flower arrangements. She showed us how to make an Easter arrangement. Pat very kindly brought vegetation and some spring flowers to help fill out the arrangements. Everyone finished the morning with a hot cross bun and had a beautiful flower arrangement to take home.
 

Painted wooden pieces Jan 23

 Our Craft section began 2023 by painting onto circular pieces of wood supplied by Julie, whose husband had cut them from a tree that had to be felled in the garden.

 
We have some very talented artists who made it all look so easy and they came up with some very imaginative pictures. Those of us not so talented managed to achieve a picture with the help and encouragement from our fellow members.   
 
Thirteen members attended the mornings session, and were treated to homemade cake and cheese scones all washed down with tea or coffee. Thanks Julie a lovely craft to do, and something to take home that was finished on time.wood2023

 

Decorated Bottles Nov 22

The craft session for November was to decorate a wine bottle ready for Christmas. We were all told to bring along a wine bottle empty of course, and to look on google for some ideas. 
Julie brought the paints and sticky decorations,  and we each had to use our imagination to decorate them, once the lights were put inside the bottle, they were transformed as you can see from the pictures.
 
Eighteen people thoroughly enjoyed the morning accompanied by tea/coffee and home-made cake, the bottles will be on the tables at our Christmas party, bringing a festive glow to the room.
Just one more craft session to go in December making felt Christmas trees, I know many of us 
are looking forward to 2023 to another year of learning new crafting skills.

 

Stained Glass Angels  Oct 22 

The Stained Glass Angels were made at the workshop led by Amanda Siegert, our tutor for the morning.    
Eleven ladies thoroughly enjoyed the craft and Amanda has agreed to come to Smisby again next year to tutor us in another craft.angels

Peg Dolls  September 2022

 

We had a fabulous morning making peg dolls under the guidance of Janet from the Ferrers Centre, Staunton Harold, where she has a pottery shop. Who would have thought several dolly pegs could be turned into these stunning miniature dolls!
 
Janet provided a range of dazzling materials and accessories and gave helpful demonstratiions and clear guidance on how to construct the dolls. As can be seen from the photos, (the first one in the sequence showing some of Janet's own creations), we all had a successful  and very enjoyable craft morning.
 

 

Mosaics  with Jo Allsopp at Sable Studio Moira Furnace August 2022

 

We had a lovely relaxing morning crafting at the Sable workshop at Moira Furnace with Jo our tflower.jpgutor. After Jo's introduction and demonstration we had a wide slection of wooden shapes to chose from and then had fun selecting and assembling the materials to form our mosaics.  Before we left we were given the grouting powder to complete our items the following day, when the glue was completely dry.  

 

Suzanne's flower is shown here

 Painting stones July 2022

The crafters had a superb morning under the guidance of Jane Mack who showed us how to use Acrylic paints to paint on a stone. 
As we do not profess to be artists I think we made a pretty good job, can you spot the Picasso stone?
 Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the morning, and we all finished our stone or stones, to take home with us. Thanks Jane, another one to do again next year. stones

 

 

Playing with Watercolours, June 2022

Our June craft session was painting with water colourers, eleven members enjoyed themselves under the watchful eye of Jane Mack who is one of our members.
 
Thanks Jane, as you can see from the pictures a very good effort was made by those attending and a request has been made to have another session as they thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Pyrography with Bob Neil, April 2022

Local artist Bob Neil visited Smisby WI again from his Aston on Trent  home and studio. His popular pyrography workshop gave 15 members another opportunity to make coasters, wall plaques, engraved spoons and cards. After a quick demonstration to show various decorative techniques, Bob gave everyone an opportunity to try a practice piece and then to choose 3 items to decorate. By the end of the workshop everyone  completed their pieces and had had an enjoyable and engrossing morning. 
craftsMarch22 

Spring felt flowers in a hoop, March 2022

This month's craft session in the village hall, was an embroidery hoop covered in net  with cut out flowers and leaves from samples of curtain material. These were arranged and glued to produce a lovely hanging picture. Thanks to Julie very quick and easy craft, that we all loved making, accompanied by tea and coffee and lots of chatter. 

 

 

   

lluminated letters,  February 2022

lluminated letters in February used a new medium of paint and led to very different results from January's craft. Chris Cox  took us through the procedure and supplied the tracings and paint. She was an excellent teacher to the particpants who had never done such lettering . The picture show that we did produce some really good illuminated letters!letters
 

 

Aluminium Butterfly Garden ornament, Jan 2022

Last November our speaker for the evening was Matthew Warburton who told us about how he makes pieces of art from Aluminum.  As we were all fascinated by his talk we  asked if he would do a workshop for us to show how he achieved the butterfly.

After a short tuition on how to use the hammer without hitting our fingers we banged away at a pre-prepared butterfly shape. We were all amazed that banging with a hammer on a bit of metal could produce the desired affect required.  After Mathew had buffed up the butterfly shape we attached  the spike which went into the ground, and then we had a lovely garden ornament. A lovely morning and it was great to have achieved and finished something to take home.

 

Watercolour sunset Jan 2022

In January we had to wash the canvas with a very small amount of water, add the coloured paint crystal and watch it run across the water, we all loved the way the colours spread into one another to produce an evening sky, a tree was painted in to give added effect and you can see quite some amazing results.
sunset

Christmas Lanterns, December 2021 

At our December craft morning, we were shown how to make table lanterns, which were used to decorate the tables for the Christmas party that  evening.

Twelve members made three sided lanterns, using a willow frame and tissue paper. Kay, the tutor for the morning, showed us how to put together the triangle of willow sticks with masking tape. Tissue paper was added to the three sides  and then covered with various pictures cut out from serviettes. A battery-operated tea lite was stuck to the bottom of the triangle and when switched on it gave an amazing effect, and the Lanterns were used as table decorations for  the evening Christmas party.

lanterns pat 1 crop

Remembrance Day Preparations: November 2021

The craft section has been busy making poppies from the bottom of plastic bottles. After painting them a beautiful poppy red, members hung 140 poppies  onto the railings outside the village hall.

Our thanks go out to all who came along to help it certainly was "many hands make light work"

The members who were not available on that day came along a few days later and were shown how to make crepe paper poppies to display at home and in church. 

The  pictures show how talented our members are, supported by plenty of mince pies and cake
 

Macrame hanging pot holders

On 14th October 10 members tried their hands at macrame, under the guidance of Lorraine.

Lorraine provided all materials as well as an instruction sheet. She took us step by step through the project. Lorraine was running this workshop as a favour to Julie, who had met her at a crafts exhibition and greatly admired her macrame projects, particularly those made from recycled t shirts.  

Suzanne said that “it wasn’t easy as it took me quite a time, with help from Alex to sort the knots out. But once I’d "cottoned on" it was easy!".  Some of the finshed pot holders are shown in the images below.


Felt Bird Brooches Thursday 2nd September 2021

Jane Mack provided a range of materials and showed us how to make felt brooches with a bird theme . A lovely relaxing morning enjoyed by all who attended.

Stone Carving Craft with Graeme Mitcheson

Members visited local artist and  sculptor Graeme Mitcheson for two stone carving workshops. The first workshop was held in June and due to its popularity a further one in August 2021.

After a demonstration from Graeme about safety and how to use the tools, we all selected a piece of stone and quickly sketched in an outline of our designs in pencil onto the stones. Then  we started chiseling , gradually improving over the morning session, with help and advice from Graeme. The morning flew past and we all finished delighted with our new garden ornaments!


Smisby Craft Morning Thursday 5th August

A fun packed morning was had by twenty WI ladies enjoying a “wet felting” workshop with Christine Kalkum as our tutor.


With Merino wool Christine showed us how to pull small strands of wool and put them on to a raffia board, after we had put on three layers of the wool we could add an assortment of colours randomly to it add colour and texture.
Now came the hard part the wool was covered with a cloth liberally sprinkled with hot soapy water and rubbed with our hands until it had shrunk, and the wool was matted together.
We had excellent pieces of work all vastly different, the hall was buzzing with chatter, and everyone completed their felting ready to take home.


As you can see from the photographs some really stunning and imaginative pieces of felt were made.

Some finished items are shown here


Craft workshop 27th July 2021 at Greenwood Days.

Greenwood Days is in the heart of the National Forest on the Leicestershire Derbyshire border. The course centre is set in a beautiful 90-acre wood where the woodland workshop took place under the guidance of Peter who has been running courses for 25 years.

Eight members followed a woodland path to a covered area accompanied by the wonderful smell of burning wood which was boiling the water for our cup of tea whilst Peter ran through the health and safety rules. As the tools we were about to use are very sharp we had to learn the correct way of handling them, but Peter assured us he had passed his first aid exam.

After showing us how to use the tools and even how to get on and sit on the stools we were given a short demonstration, Peter made it look so easy, but then he has had years of experience.
Two hours later we did manage to whittle down three pieces of wood that resembled legs they were then attached to a pre-prepared top and there it was a three-legged stool.

As the pictures tell, pure concentration on our work, which everyone thoroughly enjoyed, and we had something to show for it.


Crafts Using Zoom during 2020-2021 lockdown

The WI purchase of Zoom has enabled members to continue to enjoy the craft sessions. Here is some recent work - click on images to enlarge.

March 2020 -  WILLOW WEAVING A DRAGON FLY

Anna who lives locally and grows the willow was our tutor today to sixteen members who had come to learn the art of Willow Weaving.

After selecting seven pieces of willow of varying sizes we were shown how to make the wings for our Dragon Fly. Its not as easy as it looks and after several attempts the wings were ready to add to the body which was three pieces of willow bent to form the head and body.

After attaching the wings to the body, it did start to resemble one that Anna had made earlier. There was lots of laughter and chatter and Anna was on hand to help and give advice, we all went home feeling very happy and proud of  our Dragon Fly which I am sure will have pride of place in our gardens.

February 2020 Small World

Our craft session for February was a scene in a small box lid.
The little grey cells had to worked overtime as did our imagination. Our tutor Clare gave lots of advice and encouragement and we were all very pleased with what we achieved. 
Many thanks to Julie and Jane for once again making us try a new craft.

January 2020 Block Printed Bags and Origami Boxes

The first craft morning of 2020 got of to a fantastic start with twenty-one members learning how to make Block printing on to reusable bags and Origami. This was Julie's first event since  taking over the running of the craft section and it was lovely that the morning was so well supported.
The class was split in half, with the block printing and all the messy paint and sponges on one table, and on the other table Jane ( a friend of Julie's)
 showed us how to make a box and a book marker in Origami.
A lovely relaxing morning with super home made cakes and good company.
( Click on photos below)

November 2019 Corn Dollies

Dorothy’s last morning was to invite Rosemary Salt to show us how to make corn dollies. Twenty two ladies thoroughly enjoyed learning the art of making various Corn Dollies, they enjoyed it so much we will be asking Rosemary back again so that we can learn more intricate designs

5th September 2019 Fabric Pictures

Members used scraps of material  and felt pieces embellished by a variety threads, beads and lace to make fabric pictures, with advice from Suzanne and Marie. These were then placed in frames by Suzanne. ( Click on photos below)

Further Glass Fusion days at Smartsy July and August 2019

The photos show members making glass pictures, bowls, coasters and ornaments at Smartsy and appreciating the air conditioning with 30oC temperatures outside. A further visit was made by mebers with their families.

Beaded Garden Ornaments July 2019

Angela, a member of a local WI, was our tutor for the July craft morning held at the village hall.
We were shown many pictures of what we could achieve if given time but with only two hours many chose to make a beaded hanging garden item made by threading beads onto memory wire.
 One member bought a colander from a charity shop,strung beads onto wire before fastening them to the bottom and planted it up as a hanging basket with pink and white bizzy lizzy to match the colour of the beads
A superb craft morning enjoyed by all.
Thanks Ann for organising the morning and to Angela for bringing along some of her beaded creations and showing us how to make them. 

Easter Wreath and Basket with Julie Cooper : April 2019 

We are so lucky to have such talented crafters in Smisby W I, so it was one of our members who showed us how to make an Easter Wreath and Basket.

After choosing whether to make a basket or wreath we decided the colours. Then we were shown how to wire the feathers into place and decorate the wreath with eggs and flowers. The basket seemed a little easer with just glue to put everything in place. Once again, a lovely and interesting morning with something to take home.Click on photo to enlarge

Two different glass fusion sessions were held in March, one in the village hall and one at Ratby. 

Glass Fusion At Smartsy: 28 March 2019

A number of members went to a Glass Fusion workshop at Smartsy in Ratby. Ali Groschi’s daughter, May, made us very welcome and then showed us what we could achieve in the two hours that we were there. We were all like children in a sweet shop so many items we could make, but what! some made birds that could be hung up or put in the garden, others flower designs on a piece of glass which would be made into a wave to allow it to stand on a shelf. Everyone made something different all individual unique pieces. We received our finished items which had been fired in the oven, a week later. It seems like we will be making further visits to Ratby, as everyone was delighted with what they had made and want to learn more.

Glass Fusion coaster or a flower planter; March 2019

Vanessa Thompson-Lowe from Ginger Cat Glass a glass designer and artist was our tutor for this mornings craft session. We could either make a coaster or a flower planter. We were shown some of Vanessa’s samples to give us some ideas of how to precede, then it was up to our imagination. Flowers and abstract designs in assorted colours were glued on to pieces of glass. When we were happy with the finished article, Vanessa took the pieces away to fire in her special glass oven. When we received the items back, everyone was thrilled with what they had achieved  and will want to certainly do this craft again.

Please click on glass pictures below to enlarge

Pyrography with Bob Neill: Feb 2019
Bob Neill has been involved in Arts and Craft all his life, and has taught art and design at many local Derbyshire schools for over 20 years. He has also taught at Denman College and widely exhibited including patchings and the NEC. He lives locally at Aston on Trent  and his web site is www.bobneillpyrography.co.uk
Bob told us that pyrography is one of the earliest forms of art work and he showed us some examples of pyrography on different materials. He explained that pyrography was very popular in Eastern European countries and showed us some examples. 
After a short demonstration and a practice on a piece of wood we were ready to have a go for real. Fortunately the wood or cork pieces were available ready stamped with a picture for us to outline and shade in with the hot poker.
The room was quiet with everyone concentrating, the smell of burning wood did occasionally drift into the air but that was because we had perfected the technique of making the details stand out. Everyone successfully created their chosen items, ranging from a wooden spoon, coasters, wall plaques and cards. (click on the picture thumbnails to enlarge)
We all had a fantastic morning! We look forward toBob and his wife returning to show us how to make Christmas Decorations.
Weaving a coaster with Kate Knaggs Jan 2019
A new year and new crafts to learn in 2019, we started the year by learning how to make a simple coaster by the art of weaving. 
Kate our instructor for the morning bought along some beautiful scarves she had woven and books to give us inspiration, should we wish to further the craft. 
But as we were only starting off it was a simple piece of cardboard, cut at both ends to enable us to attach wool so that we could make our coaster. 
We  had a great time learning how not to pull the threads to tight to avoid an hour glass shape as the picture shows the end results were very good.
weaving
Flower Arrangement October 2018
This month's craft morning was taken by Cynthia Massey one of our longest serving members.
Cynthia has been flower arranging for many years and was very willing to pass on some of her knowledge.
As you can see from the photographs, the arrangements that the ladies took home were absolutely beautiful.
Well done Cynthia, who will be back next year with another creation.flow18

Spinning August 2018

Thirteen members enjoyed a talk given by Margaret James on the history and art of spinning.

We were all given a piece of sheep's wool and shown how to pull a few threads that would be 

the start of the process towards using a bobbin or spinning wheel.

Margret showed us many examples of what can be spun, plastic, dog hair, flax, lots of beautiful

different types of lambs wool, even silk from silk worm cocoon. 

Now it was our turn to have a go, it was great fun and a very informative morning

Stained Glass June 2018

A fantastic morning was had by nine members who learnt Stained Glass Work.  Melanie Pope was our tutor for the morning fglass1rom Leicester, see www.glassdesignworkshop.co.uk .

Mel began by encouraging us to draw a design on a piece of paper. She showed us some examples and explained that she had some designs we could copy or if we had our own idea we could use that. Each area of glass was outlined with a maker pen and then we chose suitable colours of glass to fill them. After selecting the glass, the tricky bit was cutting it to shape to match our designs. Many cuts later (one or two on our fingers!) our designs were taking shape with each piece of glass laid out ready to flux and solder together with a hot iron. Mel was fantastic, even though she needed to be in two places at once to deal with everyone’s requests for help! Her patience with us was superb and as you can see we all achieved our own work of art in stained glass.

glass

Origami Flowers April  2018

Eighteen members enjoyed this month’s craft morning making KUSUDAMA paper flowers

Angela, our instructor, showed us many examples of what could be achieved once we had learnt how to make the flowers. These flowers can be made out of any paper or card even an old road map book can be used. After a  brief demonstration on the technique of folding a 3 or 4 inch square we were ready to have a go.  Our fingers are not so nimble but with a lot of help from Angela we were able to a least finish a flower and if we can remember the technique, we can always make more at home.oric

Scrabble Picture January 2018

Our first craft session of 2018 saw us making a memory picture, eight of our members were each given a box picture frame, and scrabble letters corresponding to the names that were going to be put in the picture. The ladies were given a choice of coloured paper for the  base and the rest was left to their artistic imagination.

Every picture  was different, and told a story,  all enjoyed the session, with most being 

given away to grandchildren or parents. 

A very big thank you to Lynn and Ron who scoured the country for scrabble games,

to Hazel who came with her machine that made butterflies, and all the other bits and pieces she provided. Also thanks to Suzanne for leading the group, and Dorothy for making the tea/coffee and keeping us in order.

scrabble

Dabble Day December 2017

December's craft meeting was very different to previous years as it was decided to 

have a dabble day. This was a first for the craft section as we were unsure how it would 

be received by our members. We need not of worried as over twenty member's attended.

They were able to make three types of christmas tree decorations, made of material,

beads, or crystals. Several ladies made crystal earrings to give as presents.

The room was buzzing with laughter and chatter, and of course we had a break for mince pies,

a slice of yule log and many other treats all washed down with a glass of Pat's mulled wine. 

 A huge success which I Am sure will be repeated in the future.

xmas

Card Stiching October 2017
Jaqui Walker showed us the art  of card stitching.cardstich
Simple embroidery hoop, July 2017

The August craft morning was taken by Lynne Balnves one of our member the theme was "simple embroidery". A great morning was had by the fifteen ladies who attended not forgetting the very tasty cakes and biscuits that were also provided. July17craft

To make the embroidery pictures we were given a sewing hoop, a piece of fabric, a  choice of buttons and some thread. The photo of some of the hoops, shows that that we have some very talented ladies, although the hoops were unfinished, and they have been taken home to complete. 

Icing Butterfly March 2017

Smisby's  March craft  morning was taken by Sheila Heap, one of our many talented members .

As you can see we made these very delicate butterflies (and a cat crept in ) out of very fine mesh

and royal icing.

Every butterfly was decorated beautifully and all different,  some I fear flew into the bin but most

of us made an attempt to come up with something resembling a butterfly.

 butterfly 

 
Kanasi February 2017

Thursday's craft morning at the village hall was a very lively time as some members were finishing off their Victorian Etui boxes, whilst others were learning how to make Kanzasi flower out of material.

 

We did succeed as you can see from the photograph and everyone was very pleased with the end results.

 

Everyone enjoyed the good company and the super home made cakes supplied by Lynne, Lorna, and Margaret, with Muriel volunteering for tea duty. Thankyou. Thanks to Lynne  and Anne our tutors  for being very patient with us. 

 kanzi

 
Taster Print making 

 

The craft morning taken by Marie was very different, as we had to use our imagination to make these beautiful images by drawing on polystyrene, covering it with paint, and pressing it on to paper.
As you can see we do have some very talented ladies as we all managed to make something to take home. Thanks Marie a great morning enjoyed by all.

 
Beaded Crystal bauble October 2016

Another very successful craft morning was spent in making Christmas baubles.


Jacqui Walker one of our members showed nineteen ladies how to make these beautiful tree heart shaped decorations. Everyone had a great time and were able to take a lovely item home ready for the Christmas tree. Some members designes are shown below.

heart

 

As well as providing some super craft classes for Smisby WI, Jacqui runs the Ashby Crafty Beaders, which offers the opportunity for a craft and chat every Thursday and Friday morning. Also there is a monthly craft and prosecco evening on the ;ast Thursday of each month.  

 

Button Bracelet May 2016

button

 

 
Ater the April 2016 trip to Birmingham to see a button making factory, members enjoyed producing the button bracelets during the May Craft session. This workshop was run by Angela Henney, who provided a wide selection of buttons. Some of the bracelets made by members are shown in the photo. 

 

 

 Flower Arrangement Dec 2015

 

Cynthia Massey's popular and successful flower arrangement workshop  (see photo of 2015 flower arrangments) will be repeated again in 2016, closer to Christmas, as shown in the programme.

 WI Crafts