check it :: fine cell work

found via twitter by @EtsyUK

Fine Cell Work is a social enterprise based in London, UK that teaches needlework to prison inmates and sells their products via their online shop. The prisoners do the work when they are locked in their cells and the mission is to rehabilitate prisoners by giving them the opportunity to earn and save money by reflecting and rebuilding their lives through craft and achievement. Prisoners do fine cell work for an average of 3 years and in 2010, over 400 stitchers collectively earned £71,354.

Here are some interesting facts:

• the program is in 29 prisons
• 80% of the stitchers are men
• inmates are taught by some 60 volunteer instructors and last year, more than 200 volunteers donated their time at events, in prison and at the fine cell work head office.
• stitchers spend an average of 20 hours per week doing embroidery in their cells, the highest earners stitch for as long as 40 hours.

To see some of their amazing work and for more information, please visit fine cell work here. Thanks Amity for sharing! Hope you had a good visit.

Jenny Hart - feature #21

Name: Jenny Hart
Website links: Jenny Hart, Sublime Stitching

What do you make?
I am an artist, author and designer. I make fine art with embroidery (http://www.jennyhart.net), I write books on needlework and update instructions and I design contemporary embroidery patterns in themes that were never available before, through my company, Sublime Stitching. I made it my mission eight years ago to update the aesthetic and resources for hand-embroidery to inspire a new generation of stitchers.



What or who inspires you?
I'm inspired by anyone who has a unique vision that clearly stands apart. You know it when you see it, because it makes you feel something. It makes you feel your own kind of inspiration that can take form in you that is totally unique as well. I feel this is true in art, music, film, writing -anything. There are endless forms that inspiration can take and I think the incredibly diverse offerings of work within the DIY community alone is a remarkable testament to that. For my own work, I often find I'm inspired by what I don't see. Meaning, I end up looking for something I'm curious about, or have imagined or wanted. Then I seek it out -if I can't find it, I'll try to make it myself. That's how Sublime Stitching was born, after all!



How did you get started?
When I first took up embroidery, I had never tried it before. But once I did, I became completely addicted to it. This was in the summer of 2000, and the handmade movement was just really starting up, but with a heavy focus on knitting. No one was really doing anything with embroidery in the contemporary sense, and there were no new resources for it. I was so taken with embroidery because it's illustrative (and drawing is my first passion). I wanted to turn other crafters on to it as well, but knew they’d need updated patterns, starter kits and instructions -exactly what I was looking for but couldn't find anywhere. The idea of tattoo designs for patterns was considered outrageous!

My mission as a company was to change the way people looked at and learned embroidery. I began with a very modest but generous loan of $1,000.00 from my parents, I had to outline an entire budget to my father and account for every dime he loaned me, which I did. It covered my first manufacturing costs, shipping, packaging and my first print ad. They asked that I pay back half once I turned a profit which I did six months later. I never borrowed money again until five years into running the company. I have been very careful about the kind of debt I’ve acquired and have tried to avoid costly loans or over-use of credit cards.



What are your favourite materials to work with?
The simplest materials are my favorite: paper and pencil for drawing, plain cotton and embroidery floss. The rest is inspiration and motivation. That the secret ingredient.



What is the hardest and most favourite part of crafting?
The hardest part always comes about two-thirds of the way into a project, when the outcome is still unsure and I’m not yet satisfied with its direction. I always want to abandon the project at that point and start over. I’ve learned to keep at it though and push through that stage. The best part is when you have that “magic momentum” where you are working, but not really thinking –just doing it. That’s the dragon I’m chasing when I work. To enter that zone of creativity and satisfying work and making it last as long as possible. Each time I do a project, I’m hoping that I’ll re-capture that experience. It’s even more satisfying than finishing the work and being happy with the results, for me. Because I look at a piece and I think about how it made me feel as I was working on it, and the finished work is like a record of that experience to me.



List 5 of your favourite links and why you like them

Disclaimer! These are some of my non-needlework related links of interest.

Uniform Freak: Maybe I'm weird, but I love going through this site and looking at all the different types of airline uniforms from around the world. Equally fascinating is the fact that one person has actually managed to collect them and taken the time photograph them on mannequins.

La Coquette: Elisabeth Fourmont’s blog is an envy-inspiring look at her move to Paris (she was born and raised in the States, but her father is French). Oh, and she write for fashion magazines and goes to all the runway shows. She's sweet and funny and is living the life.

Red Velvet Art: The header says "We're taking over the world, and making it soooo cute!" so I don't think I need to explain why this blog is so great.

Pilllpat’s Flickr Sets of French Ephemera: This is an enormous collection of scanned French ephemera. I can't imagine how much time she's spent putting it all together.

Dinosaurs and Robots: Mr. Jalopy and Mark Frauenfelder’s blog with guest bloggers (and I'm one of them). But I do check it regularly to read Mr. Jalopy's funny and endearing entries on fashion and automobiles (he's kind of like a gentleman grease-monkey) along with everyone's unique contributions. Plus, it’s really fun for me to have a site where I can blog about my interests outside embroidery!



Do you have any advice for those in the biz?
I do! Read my column, "Crafting a Business"! I've poured more of what I've learned into those columns than I could ever offer up in a few sentences.



Do you consider yourself an artist or a crafter?
For so long there was a stigma about "crafting", which has obviously changed a great deal. I consider myself an artist, only because I don't really think I've earned the "crafter" moniker for myself. I always tell people that the craftiest person I know is Jennifer Perkins (Naughty Secretary Club). I don't sew, or magically bring together lots of materials in new and different ways, which other people do so much better than me. I draw, embroider, and run a business. When people ask what I do, I tell them I'm an artist and designer, because I either make my own art, or I design for other people who craft. Believe me, I wish I had more time for crafting.

(photo images courtesy of Jenny Hart and Sublime Stitching)

If you are interested in being featured, please send us an email at info(at)gotcraft(dot)com.

Check out our past features...

district thirty - feature #20
tinywarbler designs - feature #19
telly designs - feature #18
Cabin + Cub - feature #17
Rachel Hobson - feature #16
Green Couch Designs - feature #15
Tanis Alexis - feature #14
Sweetie Pie Press - feature #13
Fibre Manipulator - feature #12
Sam Made - feature #11
All Things Paper - feature #10
Owl + Pussycat - feature #9
Bliss in a teacup - feature #8
It's Your Life - feature #7
Faythe Levine - feature #6
Coco Cake Cupcakes - feature #5
pomomama design - feature #4
GroovyGlassGirl - feature #3
Bueno Style - feature #2
The Beautiful Project - feature #1

Bliss in a teacup - feature #8

Name: Rebekah & Richard from Bliss in a teacup
Website: Bliss in a teacup shop and blog



What do you make?
We make chalkboards, inspiration hoops, writing slates magnets from vintage playing cards and maps, trinket boxes, blossom earrings and more! It may change depending on what we find on our latest thrifting expedition...you never know!

What or who inspires you?
Old school supplies, Modernist design, cottages, thrift stores, stationary, outsider art, William Morris (handprinted wallpaper, swoon), folk music, Max Ernst, ee cummings, Spring and Fall.



How did you get started?
Necessity is the mother of invention. We both really love working together creatively, and we've both always been interested in art, craft and DIY. In fact, the majority of our furniture comes from alleyway finds that we refurbish or repurpose.

Richard is a trained cabinet maker and printer, I grew up sewing, knitting and taking photos, and we are both art school drop outs. I had been selling my knitted items at Lucky Rooster (on Commercial Drive) and was trying to think up a product line to head into Spring and Summer, so we decided to put our love of vintage, beauty/function and repurposing together and that's what you'll now find in our store!



What are your favourite materials to work with?
Wood, paper, ink, thrifted (and usually floral) fabric, chalkboard paint, blender pens, ephemera.



What is the hardest and most favourite part of crafting?
Hmm, hardest...time management for sure. Both in terms of finding the time, managing our time effectively (tearing ourselves away from blog reading, guitar pedal building and youtube guilty pleasures) and overcoming our crafting ADD. The rest is our favourite. Getting to work together and from home, sourcing materials (really just going shopping and exploring thrift stores), and how we are able to compliment each others skills and work as a team. Oh, and looking at pretty fabric. Love!




List 5 of your favourite links and why you like them

Meet Me At Mikes: I read Pips blog daily, and dream about one day being able to visit her Melbourne store. She is so inspiring, so so funny and always has the best memes. I love how she fosters this amazing online crafting community, and is so incredibly encouraging to all of us readers.
 
Democracy Now!: We are both news junkies, and Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzales are two of the best. Democracy Now! is an independently run news source, so no corporate funding, no bias and no evil Rupert Murdoch. We watch it every day, and it is the place I go when I want to find out what is actually happening and not what Fox is reporting. If you can call it reporting....
 
Marcia Sandmeyer Wilson: is a collage artist, mixed media artist, dollmaker and more. Richard is a huge fan of her quirky artwork.
 
The Book Cover Archive: We are both absolute bibliophiles, and I will admit that I have definitely picked a book up based on the cover. There are so many beautiful covers on this site, I want all of them!
 
Bakers Dozen: A fantastic little online store, featuring limited edition of 13 pieces from artists located all over the world. So much fantastic stuff like crocheted macarons from Sian Keegan, beautiful embroidery hoops by Fieldguided and pretty pouches from Forrest Bound. Go take a look!



Do you have any advice for those in the biz?
I know this sounds cheesy, and I'm sure you've heard it before, but our biggest tip is to do what you love. Whether this means crochet coasters, pet portraits or designing your own fashion line. If you don't truly love or feel passionate about what you're doing then it will show through.

It is definitely important and totally natural to get inspiration from other places, there have been times when I've seen someone else come out with a product very similar to what I'd been thinking of before I got the chance, and you know, the online crafting world while large is also very tight knit so I think a bit of crossover is normal, but I think that it is really important to find and settle on something that you really love to do.

If you're just following trends for the sake of it, not only will you not produce your best work, but you won't be happy in what you're doing. In the same vein, trust yourself! Trust that you are talented and skillful, and an expert in your field even if you don't feel like it. Nobody can make or create exactly what you can, and that is what is important.



Art vs. Craft - Are these terms different? Do you consider yourself an artist or a crafter?
I don't see a difference, do you see a difference? Haha, that is a direct quote from Richard. While I don't know that the two words would be accepted as interchangeable, I think that they are both creative outpourings. In saying all that, I think there is a difference in that it is much easier to call yourself a crafter than an artist because of the way society views art as an almost elite endeavour.

I'm so excited that the recent resurgence of the DIY and craft movement, and places like Etsy and design blogs have started to challenge and blur the lines on this because I think its really important for crafters to feel confident to adopt the artist label. There are people I know who would never call themselves artists because maybe they can't draw or paint, but who make the most exquisite quilts or who develop delicious sounding soap flavours or create a divine range of wines. All of this to me is art.

You are all artists!



PS - I couldn't resist including a picture of Richard and Becka's new addition to the family! Read more about Ursula on their blog.

(photo images courtesy of Bliss in a teacup)

If you are interested in being featured, please send us an email at info(at)gotcraft(dot)com.

Check out our past features...

It's Your Life - feature #7
Faythe Levine - feature #6
Coco Cake Cupcakes - feature #5
pomomama design - feature #4
GroovyGlassGirl - feature #3
Bueno Style - feature #2
The Beautiful Project - feature #1