Lost in the Wood

I've assured my poor neglected Blog that it will receive some serious attention soon, but not until the Christmas making / selling frenzy is over! For now then, here's a jolly picture showing the Christmas fairs I'll be involved in... 14 Nov- 24 Dec: Winter Treaures Craft Fair @ Oriel Ynys Mon (Llangefni, Anglesey) 21 + 22 November: Glynllifon Christmas Fair (Parc Glynllifon, nr Caernarfon) UPDATE: Please note , I will no longer be a t the Portmeirion Fair! Laura x

Ar Y Gweill, Successful 1st Meeting, 6th May 15 Gerry: Apple Tart (her words) Excitingly, May has seen the debut of a new knitting & crochet club in Caernarfon! 'Ar y Gweill' (literally meaning 'on the needle' in Welsh) is a weekly group to knit/ crochet, chat and eat cake together, 5.30-6.30pm, at Palas Print bookshop. The intention is to create a relaxing and sociable environment to support and inspire each other. For more news/ pics/ our ongoing adventures please follow: Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , Ar Y Gweill Tumbler Blog . It's important to get off on the right foot so the first meeting dealt with the important issue of cake. Part icebreaker, part genuine scientific (ok, cakey) research, everyone was required to state their first name and favourite type of cake. Lemon drizzle cake and coffee cake (with the strident caveat of 'no walnuts') emerged as favourites although clearly the best answer was 'large cakes' (unanimous agr...

Needle Felted Brain- Laura Cameron Who doesn't love an intriguing proposition or two? If the rumours are to be believed I certainly do (no need to go into that now). Recently I've been flattered to be invited to collaborate on a piece of art with an artist I admire and been offered a little feature in a Welsh language tv programme. Interesting & glamorous times indeed especially compared to my usual daily activities of stabbing myself repeatedly with a needle (felting) and chattering to the cats (who don't listen) or Evie the rabbit headed lady (who does) as I busily sew on fox ears or make noses for squirrels. 'Connected'- Rebecca F. Hardy & Laura Cameron I was delighted to be asked by Rebecca F. Hardy to collaborate on a piece of art for her upcoming solo show at the Bocs Gallery in Caernarfon ('Neuroanatomy': opened 29th May, runs until 29th June). Rebecca is possibly the busiest person I know, having returned from the lure of London, ...

'Meet the Maker' 01/03/14 Aside from a lovely weekend at the beginning of the month celebrating our Wedding Anniversary & friends birthdays, February was essentially a grim fest of illness, misery and much weirdness. So, it was with relief that the 1st of March ushered in much improved health & mental outlook. Happily, I had recovered enough to participate in and enjoy being part of Lotti & Wren's 10th Birthday Celebrations! As one of my most favourite shops, the continued existence of this adorable boutique packed with well chosen contemporary homely & gift things, is truly worth celebrating. As a little 'Meet the Maker' event, a few lovely local makers had stalls in the cute garden shared with next door Palas Prints (a fine independent bookshop stocking a wide range of Welsh & English language books and who also helpfully cater for more niche tastes by ordering in Victorian taxidermy books for their odder customers like me). As usual wh...

Wolf Woolidermy Head A Walk In Wolf Wood book One of my very favourite childhood books was 'A Walk in Wolf Wood' by Mary Stewart. It's packed full of magical adventure, time travel to a medieval world, not too annoying brother & sister protagonists, werewolves, a perilous quest, dark witchy woods and evil sorcery. Enchantingly, it was read aloud by a lovely auntie who injected her voice with the appropriate drama (a splendid skill not everyone possesses I've since discovered). Why ramble on about this you may well wonder? Well, fond thoughts of this book were prompted by the recent request to make a woolidermy wolf head as my part in a happy art exchange (I got a fab graphite drawing). I have a long held fascination with the Grimm tales, in particular Red Riding Hood, which you'll see reflected in my business name & logo but it's this book that really drew me in first. Rather sadly I didn't need to dig out or dust off the book for this phot...

Needle felted bee swarm (in progress) As my old school motto had it (see title), living bravely is a Good Idea. I'm not sure I've always embodied it, unless changing my mind & trying out various different paths in very meandering style counts (maybe by default it actually does?). Anyway, let's attribute my latest decision making to boldness rather than folly. Prompted by an adorable little shop recently coming up for rent, I've briefly been debating whether to open a workshop/ studio/ shop with my woolly partner in crime. After much thinking, planning and costing, I've put the idea on hold for at least a year or two. It'd be a big undertaking that financially & artistically I'm just not ready for it at the moment. However, all the thinking and debating has been fantastic in helping me define what it is I want to (and can) do right now. So it'll be a big goodbye to the (part time) day job in 3 weeks HURRAH!! I'll miss the many lovely peo...

It's going to be a busy week ahead with both big and small decisions to mull over. The small being a giveaway/ competition over on the facebook page. It's almost reached 100 likes and therefore cause for a mini celebration! Now I just need to decide what is sufficiently tempting without being major extravagance, what to choose mmmm.... The large, I'll tell you about soon if it comes to fruition. Scary and exciting in almost equal measure! In other news, my work may be featured in a magazine soon. Well, 'featured' may be overselling it, but I may have a little corner to nestle in as part of an interesting article... Signpost of Flowers I hope all this has teased and tempted you dear readers (or reader, if everyone else has had a better offer). In the meantime, here's something uplifting. As regular readers will be aware, I'm a little bit obsessed with my adopted town Caernarfon & its fortunes. This weekend there's a fiesta atmosphere as Gwyl A...

My, oh my, exciting things are afoot, I'm delighted (and greatly amused) by the forthcoming WORLD PREMIERE which will be taking place at the craft fair at Galeri, Caernarfon this Saturday, July 6th!!! Here will be unveiled the world premiere of the unique and totally new concept of YARN-POOTLING! You are cordially invited to marvel at the way Lost in the Wood Designs and collaborator/ partner in crime  Little Miss Jones http://littlemissjones.co.uk/ take the concept of yarn bombing, dilute it and make it all squishy like the cakes we enjoy eating. Little Miss Jones defines it best as "a gentler, more relaxed form of yarn-bombing" (see her very funny blog http://littlemissjones33.blogspot.co.uk/ ). So, it's a no thank you to going on dawn raids on town centres to spread our woolly treasures, instead we'll knit & crochet at a temperate pace, more than likely sitting in a garden with cats, cakes (well, me certainly) and a nice glass of something chilled or i...

Slate Teapot by Dave Stephen There's already lots of reasons to love little Caernarfon town but this week introduced a shiny new one. Just opened on Monday, Siop iard  https://www.facebook.com/iard is a lovely shop/ workshop /gallery at 7B Palace Street, Caernarfon. Artists Ann Catrin (metalwork sculpture & jewellery), Angela Evans (contemporary jewellery) and Dave Stephen (slate guru) are selling their work and you can have a peak soon at them creating in the workshop area as well. They are also very happy to chat about the current programme of crafty courses ( (held at Parc Glynllifon, c.15 mins drive away) and book you in to any you're tempted by. I  first discovered I loved making things by going to various iard courses a few years ago so I highly recommend trying one (or a few) for inspiration, fun or the start of a whole new creative career! http://iard.co.uk/ Slate Cake by Dave Stephen While, predictably I'm enjoying browsing the new jewellery,...