Resolving Conflict

Well hello lovely crafters and coffee drinkers.

Crafty here, was rather hoping Coffee would be back at the helm soon, partly for her own benefit, but also so you could all hear from her directly since it's been an age since she's managed to blog anything.

Anyway, for the time being you are stuck with me I'm afraid. And I have two weeks to catch up on with you all.
We have finally welcomed Coffee (Emma) back into our warm embrace. I think, with what she, Sheena and Sue have been through, it is important that we are all as loving and 'normal' (whatever that is) as we can be, whilst still obviously acknowledging that they are grieving.
For me though, it's just nice to have my partner in crime back, no matter what else has been going on, it is just wonderful to have my old buddy back nearby.

So, crafts I have seen over the last couple of weeks are as varied as usual, and I myself have been inspired by Eddie to do a spot of refashioning (InexpertCrafter). I've seen crochet and knitting, obviously. But also cross stitch and jewellery making which was refreshing.
Being part of a crafty community has its benefits when you come to planning an event. Our Steph is planning a bit of a Fairy Gathering for her little Roo's 3rd birthday, and lovely Lesley has given her some Flower Fairy bits and pieces which will go on sticks in the garden to enhance the ambience. How lovely?

Now, onto a slightly more difficult matter ... since the staff of Trago Lounge have undergone a complete turnover, I have been very remiss in my duties of getting to know everyone. This was an error on my part and has resulted in one of the assistant managers being a little offhand with us on more than one occasion. Now, I decided to do something about this because A Crafty Coffee is a very important group of pretty vulnerable people and we need to have a comfortable environment and a happy atmosphere to continue.
What I have done is pointed out that there is a problem, introduced myself and helped to put a new strategy in place so that there is less difficulty delivering hot drinks to the right customer amongst the hubub of chattering and cackling women.
And this week, by way of a thank you and an apology, the coffees are on The Loungers.
When asked at the till for your name, it is to enable the waiting staff to get your drink to you and not just loosely to the area in which you are sat. Please help us to help the team get this right, service with a smile is their aim and our desire.

Anyway, enough of my gabling for today. I do really hope that you will have a change of author in the next few weeks.

Much love
C&C xx

January draws to a close.

So, as we kiss goodbye to January, now seems like a good time to reflect on the first month's goings on at A Crafty Coffee.


Week by week we have had approaching 20 attendees, some new faces each week, some returners and some people who are only able to attend sporadically. This is exactly how we'd hope the little crafting community would be. The Facebook group is registering 39 members which is a good indication of how large the community is but not 100% accurate as there are members who are not part of Facebook. We'd love to see more cross generational crafting and conversation and if Crafty EVER gets her backside into gear we will print off those lovely posters to promote the group in local surgeries, the library and the university.

In terms of crafting ... Coffee will have to work her magic here and put in the photos because I am new to this blogging lark. (Coffee: Magic has been worked - finally!)

This week we were pleased to welcome back OB (or LB depending who she's talking to) with her retro, hand-sewn Christmas decorations. I LOVE that she is working so far ahead of time in the hope that, somewhere in the midst of bringing up three children (one a pre-schooler), she will actually finish in time for decorating the tree. We have a mutual friend in EN who came again with her DD and bump in tow. Apparently they have also suggested to two of their NCT friends that they come along and craft with us. One of the wonderful things about A Crafty Coffee and Trago Lounge is that both are welcoming of children but neither are designed for children, so it is a place to be an adult, persue a hobby but that children can fit into and be content.

A newbie this time was CP with her DD too. I personally feel privileged to have at least two practicing artists withing the group. CP is currently exhibiting a cast iron bed in Bristol but the project she is working on at A Crafty Coffee is a portable one. She has collected an array of vintage lace doilies from charity shops and the like, and is sewing them together in an 'orchestrated random' way with a view to them becoming a suspended work of art. I am personally excited by this project because of its symbolism regarding women and crafts. Follow her progress at either http://www.chantalpowell.com or http://chantalpowell.wordpress.com

Other crafts this week included a wonderful Afghan that IW was crocheting on the largest hook I have ever seen.

She brought along some more instruments of torture with which she is going to learn to rag rug under the tuition of EN ... IW described herself as 'not to be beaten' which is why she is so keen to try out new crafts. She is also a wonderful teacher and put away her Afghan to teach another newbie (L) to crochet.

Two ladies brought along some premature baby clothes that they had knitted at the suggestion of a wonderful woman who approached the group on week one, we would love to see her return and join in one day.

CK was colouring by numbers whilst chatting to DH (who was knitting away at the speed of light). I think there must be something so wonderful about emptying your brain of all that fills it for a while and simply doing as instructed. Anybody could do it, but not everybody would, I hope she felt relaxed afterwards.

I forget what else I saw taking place, I was very tired after a tricky week with a poorly DD but that is part of what the group is about, some support and chatter over a coffee and craft. I knitted one section three times before breaking it off and starting again because white yarn discolours so easily with the natural oils on our hands. At least I had experienced knitters around me to help and explain these things.

So, having been inspired by KB's bag of coloured loveliness, I left with a WiP and an intention to embark on something completely different. Watch this space!