Autumn News...

Robin Alger's whimsical ceramic creations 

Ursula Tramski creates earthy, highly textured
wood-fired ceramics

It's been busy at Craft in Kerry.  There was a great turnout for Culture Night in Killarney last week for the craft demonstrations and selling in the Artist Quarter.  Great things happening there.  We have also had a lot of new members join Craft in Kerry: Lorcán and Anne Dunne (woodturning), Robin Alger (ceramics), Ursula Tramski (ceramics), and Agnieska at Okka's Crafts (handmade cards). It's great to have new members!

We are quiet at this time of year as we are ordering materials and making stock for the coming Christmas season.  It takes some time to produce lovely, handmade work!  Christmas craft fair dates are starting to appear, so keep in mind the following dates:

Sunday, November 20: Ventry Craft Fair 12-5pm
Sunday, November 27: Malton Hotel Craft Fair, 10-6pm.
Sunday, December 4: Dingle
Sunday, December 11:
Sunday, December 18: Dingle Christmas Fair (food & craft)

Next meeting of Craft in Kerry will be Sunday, October 16th at 730pm in Dingle at John Benny's Pub.  All interested should attend and we will be finalizing dates for holiday events!

Heritage into Autumn...

It's been a busy month for Craft in Kerry! We joined Original Kerry and took part in the Rose Festival in Tralee this year and it was wonderful. Under the big white dome in Pearse Park, we taught and demonstrated and sold for five days. It was hard work heading into Tralee for five days, but worth it to meet the public and get wonderful feedback on the work that we do. Many, many thanks to Deirdre Johnston who managed the event for Original Kerry!

Bluebell Eco Candles

Now we are getting to Heritage Week.  Tomorrow, Sunday August 28^th, Craft in Kerry will join Camphill Community for our day of traditional crafts.  Try your hand at weaving, candlemaking, wood turning, felting, and more! Camphill Community provides training and a home environment for adults with various disabilities.  They make and sell their work at Dingle Farmer’s Market to support their work.  They are currently fundraising to build a homestead on their land for their residents and volunteers.

Refreshments available & great family day out. Music and facepainting. Cost: €5 (fund raiser for Camphill)

Sunday, August 28, 2011

1-5pm

Dun Seanna, Dingle, Co Chiarraí

Ring 087-911179 for more information


Many thanks to Kerry County Council Heritage Office for the generous contribution to assist this event!

Colleen Bowler will demonstrate
handbuilding pottery
techniques at Camphill

Camphill is located on the outskirts of Dingle town.   If you are approaching Dingle town, take the left hand turn at Dingle Race course (opposite Ballintaggart House) and head down the road towards Bín Ban Beach.  Take the first left as you see houses nearing and go down the Dun Seanna road.  It will be about 4-5 minutes on the left-hand side of the road.  Parking along the road. 

Handmade Sessions this week:

Monday:      Upcycling clothing

Tuesday:     Wood carving

Wednesday: Knitting

Thursday:    Closed for workshop

Friday:        Crochet

Saturday:    Craft Club 11-1pm

                    Dyeing & Felting Day 2-6pm.

Fiona Crinnion's bracelets were a hit at the Rose
of Tralee Festival

Swinky Doo's gorgeous personalized textiles and
handmade cards

John & Theresa Murphy's stunning wood sculpture

Mid-August Review

Upcycling on Friday at Handmade Sessions

 Well, we have reached the half-way point of the summer and all thoughts seem to be gearing up to the return to school and work--some of us never stopped working!  With all this rain, I will be glad to get the kids back in school and get more of a routine.  It seemed like the endless rain and kids at loose ends was a bad combo and I think there must be many weary parents in Ireland right now.


But the fun isn't over yet!  Call by and see us on Friday-Tuesday at the Rose Festival in Tralee.  We will be under the Original Kerry tent selling/demonstrating.  There will also be workshops for the family and a drop-in arts space.  It is fantastic of the festival committee to put more family events into the schedule and to include craft.  Workshops are free, but you need to sign-up and get a ticket, with limited places available.  


And next week, don't forget about the Camphill/Craft in Kerry Heritage Week event on Sunday, August 28th from 1-5pm.  Hopefully the sun will shine for the day and there should be plenty for the family to do.  Camphill is an organization that assists adults with disabilities of all sorts, teaching them skills to their ability and integrating them into the community.  They do fantastic work and they have the land, but no main house for the volunteers and residents.  So, we are asking for a suggested donation of €5 towards Camphill to go into their housing fund.  There will be candle-making demonstrations, felting, wood-turning, weaving, and more!  Tour their beautiful farm and enjoy the face-painting and music.

Patchwork pillow made at Crafty Bootcamp this week!

What's on this week? Monday is textile collage and stitch; Tuesday is crochet; 
Wednesday is knitting; Thursday is felting; and Friday is upcycling/clothing re-design. Pre-booking is essential, so ring 087-9111793 for more details. We also start another week of Crafty Bootcamp summer camps...

Lots to Do and Learn...

Learning how to sew

We are heading into another week of the Crafty Bootcamp and there's lots to do!  We start off on Monday  10 -130pm and will be drawing and dyeing today and making a sample felt piece to get the process.  Tomorrow, after all the dyeing is dry (hopefully!  weather is dull and wet...) we will get started with crochet practice and start felting a piece, most likely a book cover as that's what all the students have wanted to make so far.  Wednesday we will do some more drawing and start cutting patchwork designs and see how we are doing with the crochet.  Thursday, sewing up our patchwork designs and Friday will be used for finishing patchwork and working on the crochet piece.  A very busy week, indeed!

This week at the Handmade Sessions, we are offering:

Learn to customize your clothing in our upcycling Session

Monday: Crochet

Tuesday: Wood Carving

Wednesday: Basic Sewing

Thursday: Felting

Friday: Upcycling (clothing re-design)

Saturday: Felt and Dye Day


All Sessions run 2-530pm and cost €35, materials included.  Pre-booking is required, so please ring 087-9111793 for more information.  These Sessions are a great introduction to craft and a fantastic family activity while waiting out the rain!  Come on--craft is for every day!

August Occasions....

Anne & Lorcan Dunne of Blackwater Woodcraft

 Bit behind since the bank holiday, but catching up quickly! Lots going on for Craft in Kerry.  We had our showcase at the Malton Hotel in Killarney.  The Malton staff are always gracious and helpful and it was a wonderful experience for all.  Killarney was certainly busy!

Craft in Kerry will be participating in the Rose of Tralee Festival this year (August 19-23) selling craft, teaching craft, and demonstrating craft--for five days!  We will be under a big tent in Pearse Park, so look for us and Original Kerry's big banner.  The workshops will be geared towards the whole family and hopefully the weather will cooperate so we can have a great time!

Heritage Week in Ireland is coming up August 21-28this year and Craft in Kerry is teaming up with Camphill Community in Dingle to have a craft heritage event and fundraiser for Camphill.  The Camphill Community is widely known as a place where people of special needs find support and community as they find their place in the world.  You can learn more about them here http://www.camphill.ie/What-is-Camphill-p-6.html.  The community in Dingle is situated on 44 acres of land and has outbuildings, but no main house.  They are fundraising now and hope to get building soon as all their volunteers and residents are living separately at the moment.  Craft in Kerry and Camphill will be demonstrating a variety of crafts--candle making, wood-turning, spinning/weaving, felting--and allowing the public to get stuck into trying their hand at a craft.  There will be face painting, music, and food, so a great family day out!  As it is a fundraiser for a worthy cause, we ask for a suggested €5 donation towards Camphill's building fund.  Please join us on Sunday, August 28th from 1-5pm and have a bit of fun and enjoy Camphill's working farm in Dun Seanna, Dingle, Co Kerry.

And the Handmade Sessions!  Our schedule this week:

Tuesday        Upcycling: learn to re-design clothing with Andrea!

Wednesday   Textile Collage & Stitch: use fabric and stitch to layer and make vibrant designs!

Thursday       Crochet: learn the basic stitches or pick up a few more!

Friday            Felting: learn the ancient art of felting and design your own cloth!

All Sessions are 2-530pm and cost €35, materials included.  Ring 087-9111793 as pre-booking essential. Additionally, our Crafty Bootcamps for the 9-15 yr olds is running each week.  Since we had a short week this week, we are running daily sessions, so please ring and let us know you are dropping a child off.  The camp runs 10-130pm.

3 Textile collage & stitch

4 Crochet

5 Felting

6

3 Textile collage & stitch

4 Crochet

5 Felting

6

7

Amélie Gagné and her beautiful jewellery based on
her paintings

Nearly Done with July

Colleen Bowler's beautiful pottery

The summer is flying!  Dingle is finally picking up a bit and Ray D'Arcy is broadcasting live from Dingle starting today!  It's causing quite a stir as we get ready for his live broadcast and Dingle is trying to put her best foot forward after being named the best coastal town in Ireland.  Have to hold the mantle up now!


Craft in Kerry is busily getting ready for it's summer showcase in Killarney at the Malton Hotel. It will take place 11-8pm inside the Malton.  Loads to do in Killarney on the August Bank Holiday: Summerfest, Irish Open golf tournament, and the new Taste of Killarney food festival.  Come take a look at the fine Irish craft we are producing!









The Crafty Bootcamps are starting today (each Monday throughout summer) from  10 until 130pm.  Participants are aged 9-15 years and will learn: 

Felting a book cover

Felt—stitch a sampler, make a small handbag or pair of cuffs

Stitch—embroider and embellish a felted & dyed piece; hand sew patchwork wall piece.

Dyeing—dye wool yarns for crochet, fabric for patchwork & merino for felting

Patchworkdye fabric and cut and sew a pattern for a small wall hanging

Drawing—learn to draw and keep a design & idea book

For more information, please ring 087-9111793.

Handmade Sessions beginning Monday, July 25th:

Monday  Clothing upcycling: learn to redesign clothing


Tuesday wood carving: learn to handle carving tools and carve a motif



Wednesday crochet: learn to crochet basics or pick up a few new stitches


Thursday felting: learn to felt, the oldest textile in the world.  Make a scarf or a felted book cover


Friday weaving: learn the basics of weaving and make a traditional críos belt



Come along & introduce yourself to craft in our 3.5 hour Sessions. Fee is €35, materials included. Pre-booking essential 087-9111793. Craft is for every day!

Handmade Sessions and New Members...

Pendant by Amélie Gagné

We are flying through July!  We have some new members at Craft in Kerry: Ursula Tramski in ceramics; Amélie Gagné in jewellery and paint; Mairead Sharry in weaving, spinning, and rushwork; and Lorcán Dunne in woodturning.  


Craft in Kerry is also hosting another showcase in Killarney at The Malton Hotel on the Bank Holiday Weekend, July 30 & 31st.  It will run inside the hotel from 11-8pm.  Killarney will be hopping with the Irish Open golf tourney, the Taste of Killarney in the Malton Hotel Gardens, and Summerfest going full tilt all around the town.  Call by and see us and buy some original Irish craft!


Crafty Bootcamp went very well the first week!  The girls got on very well and it was such a pleasure to teach them.  Dyeing, felting, stitching, crochet, drawing, and patchwork--a very busy week.  Perhaps too busy, but I have to think about that a bit.  New Bootcamp starts tomorrow 10-130pm.  Fee is €60, including materials with a discount for multiple bookings.  Ring 087-9111793 as registering is required.

Ursula Tramski's beautiful, textured ceramics

What's on this week at the Handmade Sessions?



Monday: Clothing upcycling with Andrea. Learn to customize and change your clothing.  It's pretty easy and Andrea will walk you through all the details. 


Tuesday: Crochet with Sharon.  Learn the basics of crochet or pick up some new design ideas in free-form crochet.     


Wednesday: Felting with Sharon.  Learn the basics of one of the oldest textiles in the world.  Using wool fleece, soap, and water, you can make your own fabric.  The class starts with felting basics and then a project like a felted book cover or scarf to take home. 


Thursday: Knitting with Vicki.  Learn the basics of knitting or simply pick up some new pattern ideas.  Vicki knits for a co-operative of professional knitters, so come learn some of her fantastic tips! 


Friday: Weaving with Mairead.  Learn how to weave a críos belt that was traditionally worn by the Aran and Blasket Islanders in Ireland.  A very simple technique to learn. Suitable for age 12 and up.   


SATURDAY: Felt and Dye Day 12-5pm €50 (longer day). Have women's woolly day out with us!  Learn to dye your own wool for felting and yarns for knitting/crocheting.  Felt something and learn to dye it subtle and beautiful shades.   


Pre-booking is essential for all workshops, so ring 087-9111793 for more info...

Traditional woven críos belt at Handmade Sessions
July 22nd 2-530pm.