Guest: Ruth Brompton-Charlesworth

From the pavement outside the Sumptuosity shop at Walmgate, York, you can see directly into their workshop where, surrounded by silks and threads our guest, Ruth Brompton Charlesworth and her Sumptuosity team create their beautifully embroidered gift items.

We asked Ruth to give us an insight into her creative process and she shared with us a glimpse into her early creative life too!

I can't remember when I first fell in love with Natural History but it must have been relatively early. An old school book of mine titled 'Interests', lists the following items; 1: Birds, 2: Animals, 3: Plants, 4: Fossils:I must have been about 7 or 8 and I am still delighted to see that the teacher (Mrs Falgate) had written "Good" on the cover - something that rarely happened with me and school! It is full of fabulous facts (e.g. Bull Finches like Fruit Trees) and drawings, all of which are brightly coloured and I still like to work with colour except that today it isn't with coloured felt-tip pens from W.H.Smith's.Sumptuosity (the craft business that I run with my husband John) specialises in small free-hand embroidered gift items, e.g. badges (various sizes), book marks, handbag mirrors and lavender bags, which we mostly sell direct to galleries and independent shops etc, although we do also sell through our website and from our studio in York.

My work for Sumptuosity is still very influenced by the natural world, as my favourite designs to embroider are flowers, birds and bugs. I am currently very lucky to be working on some new designs for the Natural History Museum in Oxford, these include Fossils, Chameleons and Dodos: Our work has to be carefully planned in order to work out the most efficient manner of making an item while balancing artistic integrity but without being commerically unviable. People often ask "how long an embroidery takes to produce"... this is a very difficult question to answer as of course it varies from design to design but what I generally tell people is that the real time is in the design process.

I have to be happy not only with the final concept, I need to feel confident that I can successfully reproduce the design with my free-hand embroidery. It is important for me that the design is completely free-hand and not in anyway computer generated or from a template as I feel that the differences that occur in each piece are what makes it a joy for both the maker and the user ( to paraphrase William Morris!).

At Sumptuosity, we specialise in using brightly coloured Indian handwoven dupions for the base fabrics onto which we embroider. I love the vibrant colours and the random nature of the slubs in the weft. The designs themselves are created by embroidering and appliquing vintage and recycled fabrics - many from the local charity shops here in York.

I have really enjoyed working on the Dodo, as it is one of my favourite birds, I especially love the shape of it. From my notebook, you can see the doodled drawings as I attempt to decide what are the key attributes of the bird and how successfully I can recreate it again and again.

I originally began by working with grey silk for the Dodo's body but I wasn't happy with the look of it, even if it was technically similar to what is believed to be the bird's real appearance.

Sophie (one of the young graduates who works at the Studio) came up with the great idea of simply doing what we always do at Sumptuosity, which is to use 'random' pieces of patterned fabric for the applique of a design regardless of what it actually is. The second that I tried it I knew that we had hit on the right look for the Dodo.

We often work collaboratively here in the Studio (asking each other for their opinions or suggestions etc) and it makes for a happy and friendly atmosphere.

I dreamed as an 8 year old that it would be wonderful to work with nature when I grew up....

Many many years later I still haven't grown up but it is wonderful to combine my love of creating things with my love for bugs, birds and flowers.

Ruth.

Thank you Ruth , so much!

You can keep up-to-date with the latest Sumptuosity plans, design ideas and day-to-day life in a craft workshop via the Sumptuosity Facebook page and Ruth's blog and, if you can't get to York to visit Ruth and the Sumptuosity in person, then indulge yourself in some 'seriously small craft' through their online store. You could even indulge someone else ... if you think you'll be able to part with what you buy!

However ....

*Giveaway* Sumptuosity are offering an amzing Alice in Wonderland handbag mirror as a gift to one of you!!!

If you'd like to win this beautiful,beautiful item then simply:

• head over to the Sumptuosity online store and have a look around;
• then pop back here to us and leave a comment mentioning any of Sumptuosity's other products which has especially caught your eye.

The closing date for entries is 23:00 [BST] on Sunday 16th May and the winner - chosen at random - will be announced ASAP afterwards.

Good luck!

Guest: Jessie Senese

Jessie Senese, who you might know better as Sweet Jessie, is one of my favourite bloggers. From beautiful stitched and embroidered pieces, to paper goods and wonderful vintage finds, her work is the very essence of pretty.

1. scalloped fabric garland, 2. fresh eggs, 3. sparkle, 4. patchwork, 5. love, love, love..., 6. dream catcher

Being as sweet by nature as she is by blog-name, Jessie took time out this week to send us a birthday card and message – the first, for our first.

I sat on the floor looking through all of my favorite vintage books, and came up with a darling selection of birthday and cake-themed images . . . I hope you like them! Wishing you many more happy birthdays!

xoxo

jessie

Clearly, we love them – how could you not?

In case you’ve yet to discover her blog, I’m going to be presumptuous and direct you first of all to a couple of especially droolworthy posts (although you may well want to stick around and browse afterwards). Stitchers, sewers and fabric-lovers should try this one, and for fans of paper and vintage, this is pretty much guaranteed to set your head spinning. Be still my beating paper-heart!

You can also find more of Jessie’s photos in her Flickr stream and snap up a piece of the lovely in her Etsy store.

Thanks so much for coming to the party, Jessie!

We've been copying: Austin Kleon

*Copy*
Austin Kleon is a writer, cartoonist and designer who is probably best known for creating poetry by blacking-out pages from a newspaper leaving behind only the words which form a poem.

If I've made that sound entirely confusing then his short video should explain it far more succinctly!

All clear now? Good! The book of Austin's blackout poetry has recently been released which you can read more about here.

Wewere intrigued by its [deceptive] simplicity which creates striking contrasts and a vivid focus on words and meaning and we thought that it'd be fun to try it ourselves!

*Paste*

Julie's Blackout Poetry: [you can click on the photos for a closer look]

'History'

'Hero-Worship'

'Unsettled'

Kirsty's Blackout Poetry:

(In which I use a magazine page, rather than newspapers and, too late, realise the two columns may cause confusion.) [click on the photo for a closer look]

'Organised'

Why not give it a go? All you need is a page from a newspaper, a pencil and a black marker pen. it doesn't even mater what the topic of the newpaper page is ... I did my first experiments on a bra advertisement!

Go on ... grab a pen and uncover some poetry ...now! Then come back and share your discoveries with us all here.

:)

So, tell us ....

... what are you like?

It's still early in the party so, right now, you might not be ... how can I put this politely? .... you might not be as warmed up, relaxed and in the mood to tell all as you might be by the time we're a little tired and emotional when the party ends on Sunday night!

But really, which things, unique to you, are you willing to share? Because we'd love to know about you!

We thought it'd be fun to see:

• who is the typical Copy+Paster,
• or even if there's a typical Copy+Paster [although our money's on 'No'!]
• something we may have in common and
• the areas where we differ.

We could say it's for sociological or demographic purposes but really ... it's because we're nosey and we can't wait to sit down with our party food and read about the little foibles, idiosyncrasies and snippets that make you - our readers and friends - 'you'.

OK then, here goes, make yourself at home and start filling in some blanks:

1. Everyone knows that I ....but you'd never guess that ..........
2. I'm proud to admit that I like ....... but my guilty pleasure is ....
3. I'm inspired by ........and it surprises me when ....
4. I'm always ...........but I'm never ..............................
5. I've got lots of ..............but I've always wanted ............
6. I tried to .............. and it ..............................
7. If I never ............... it will be ...................................
8. I didn't ................ and now ......................
9. It's not that I ................. but I'd really rather ................
10. Doing ......... makes me ...................
11. Someone once told me ............and then ................
12. I'm happy to say that .... and even ...................

So now what? Well ...

1. choose any of the above; you could carefully pick out a a single one or go all out and dare to answer them all;
2. copy and paste them [!] to your chosen platform eg: your blog, Twitter, Flickr etc and post your answers for us all to see;
3. then draw our attention to it by leaving us a comment with a link to your responses.

One of our favourite things that came from the fortnight of online workshops we held last year was how the '12 Days' students formed their own friendly community. To this day I still see evidence of it when reading through comments on their individual blogs and spotting familiar friendly faces amongst them.

With that in mind, if you get a chance to leave a comment on a few of each others' responses and maybe even make a few new friends too that would be your equivalent of a birthday/anniversary gift to Kirsty and I. We'd be really happy knowing that Copy + Paste continued to bring likeminded people together!

We'll be getting down to filling in the blanks ourselves later in the week but, until then, I'll leave you with this photo .... [just so you don't think I'm going to ask you to reveal potentially embarrassing things about yourself without me sharing something equally as cringeworthy .....]In my defence ... I was actually trying to recover from a stumble in order to keep myself out of the snow ... and no, for the record, I had not been drinking!

Right then, you can stop laughing at me now and get on with filling in your own blanks please!

J x

Guest: Natasha Collins

Every self-respecting party needs a cake and thanks to Natasha Collins from Nevie Pie Cakes we're celebrating a year of copying and pasting with 'CupCakes and PomPoms'!! We asked Natasha to give us a copy + paste insight into what inspired this fabulously fluffy confection!

*Cupcakes and Pompoms*

I am constantly being inspired, all the time, in fact sometimes it gets a bit tiring as I have so many ideas and projects going on in my head that I am in constant need of an extra day....no make that two every week!

So I thought I would allow you inside my head (not always a logical place to be) and share the process that led to 'Cupcakes and Pompoms'.

It was my ten year anniversary recently so I found myself looking through my old wedding inspiration book. Everything then was torn from magazines as there weren't the fabulous blogs that there are now. I came upon this picture:...which then sparked the memory of this cake:
... which I'd recently seen in the Herriot Grace online store. I seem to have developed a thing about flags on cakes, even ten years ago they appealed.

Fortunately that week I was visiting my parents, and my family can get really stroppy if I don't arrive with cake. So this was the perfect opportunity. I set my kidlets the task of colouring, cutting and sticking some flags which kept them happy (and quiet) for some time!They then decided to add beads to the flag poles, which were just cocktail sticks and wooden kebab sticks. We were all very pleased with the result and of course everyone enjoyed the cake.

I loved the flags and was pondering what else I could put on cakes when I came across this PrettyLittleThings tutorial and had a flash of inspiration.

How great would pompoms look as cupcake toppers?

Once again I set the kidlets to it and being my pompom makers kept them content over a drizzly bank holiday weekend. So that, in a long-winded-roundabout-way-story is how I came up with 'Cupcakes and Pompoms' to celebrate this very special occasion.

I'd love to thank The Copy and Paste Project for this opportunity to put at least one idea into practice and for inviting me to be a guest blogger. And to wish them a very happy first birthday and many many more blog birthdays to come!
And we'd like to thank Natasha, along with her artistic and industrious children, for all their hard work and for supplying the party with such a delightful supply of sugary and butter-creamy essentials!

If you'd like more information on Natasha's 'Nevie Pie Cakes' creations - such as these beauties:

... then visit her website, blog or Flickr gallery for futher details and exquisite eye candy!

Now the party's really begun, pop back in in the next hour where I'll be attempting to break the ice with the shy people in the kitchen while dragging the exhibitionists away from the dance-floor long enough to have a spot of conversation and a few Q+As.

I hope you'll join me ....

Julie :)

The Challenge (and why we ♥ Papercraft Inspirations)

So, we wanted to find a special way for you to join in our weekend of celebrating – something practical and creative to sit alongside all the inspiration and eye-candy. Rather than setting a general ‘make something and post us a link’ challenge, we were after specifics. It took a little head-scratching, but this is what we came up with.

The Copy+Paste party printables are free for you to download and use as many times as you like. It’s a bit like a going-home party bag or a wedding favour, but with added competitive goodness. The built-in C+P-ness of the download comes from the combination of my drawings with patterns from Julie’s fabulous 365: Chasing Patterns project. If you want even more of the patterns, you can find and avail yourself of them here in her beautifully organised Flickr set.

The printables themselves consist of two sheets filled with colourful, patterned images – including cake, party hats, balloons and a mix-tape – and two sheets of the same images in plain old black and white. Your challenge for the weekend is to download and then create something using as many or as few of the printable images as you like. Which of them you use and how is entirely up to you. Make a card, embellish a scrapbook layout, try some embroidery, print onto shrink plastic, use to decorate a mini-book – whatever your brilliant, creative brain dreams up!

Once you’ve made it, take a picture, and post either to our Flickr group, or to your blog or online gallery if you don’t have a Flickr account. Leave us a link in the comments below so we know where to find it, and then sit back and cross your fingers very tightly.

Why? Because we have an utterly marvellous prize for one lucky weekend-challenge winner.

Over the next couple of months, both Julie and I have projects lined up to appear in Papercraft Inspirations, and I think it would be safe to say that we’ve both enjoyed writing for the magazine every bit as much as we enjoy reading it. Which is why we were doubly thrilled when editor-extraordinaire, Jenny Dixon, offered to sponsor our weekend challenge. The challenge winner will receive a year’s free subscription to Papercraft Inspirations which, I might have already mentioned is pretty spectacularly, utterly marvellous. Jenny and PI, we take our party hats off to you!

Ready to take up the challenge? You can download the printable sheets by clicking the links below and, although we’d love for you to join in over the course of the weekend, we’re being generous and giving you a whole week to put your entry together. Just make sure you post pictures in the Flickr group, or leave a comment and link below by 23:00 [BST] on Sunday 16th May.

If you need any extra tips, Julie's first Papercraft Inspirations feature, all about scrapbooking for card-makers, is in the issue which goes on sale this coming Monday, and it's almost as spectacular as our PI prize.

[Download printable page 1]

[Download printable page 2]

[Download printable page 3]

[Download printable page 4]

The weekend starts here

…and welcome to our party! The Copy+Paste Project is a year old, and while I’m still not certain whether we’re technically celebrating a birthday or an anniversary, celebrating is what we’re here to do. We have a whole weekend of posts featuring projects, challenges and interviews, as well as some amazing guests and fabulous giveaways.

Whether you’re planning to celebrate with us throughout the next two days (party frock entirely optional), or just checking in between weekend shopping and the newest Doctor Who episode, we’d love you to play along. Both Julie and I will share a little bit more about how you can do that later on this evening, but for now, I’m going to leave you with a few sneaky peeks at some of the things we’ve got planned.

You might want to grab a fork - it includes cake.