PCG Today - 30th April 2013

We have a new member :)

Give a big PCG welcome to:

Member No: 300413439

Lynne Jacinth Mathews from Lojango Design 

in the UK

PCG Today - 26th April 2013

And it's Friday again! Doesn't it come round fast?

We have a very special Premium Supplier Member to announce today. Give a big welcome to:

Member No: S230413003

Charming Beads

Beads, Findings & Craft Wires

www.charming-beads.co.uk

Charming beads is also offering fellow Guild members a 10% discount from their gorgeous website by using the code SV1 at the checkout.

Don't miss out on this one!

PCG Today - 25th April 2013

We have two new Professional Crafters for you to meet today:

Member No: 250413437

Sian Jones from Dandycrafts

in the UK

Member No: 250413438

Claire Dixon from Heartfelt Occasion

in the UK

PCG Today - 24th April 2013 Calling all sewing crafters!

We have a new member to introduce today and also something exciting that one of our members discovered for our sewing crafters.

The Sewing Directory have a call out for sewing artisans who would be interested on being on the ITV show 60 minute makeover. For information please visit http://www.thesewingdirectory.co.uk/news/2013/04/18/get-your-crafts-featured-on-itv/

And now onto our latest member.

Member No: 240413436

Robert Taylor from Gylla Wood Pens 

in the UK

Appeal for Crafters for ITV show

Do you make handmade items for the home?  Are they eye catching and bespoke, innovate, unique items?  Then you could be just what the producers of 60 Minute Makeover are looking for.  The show is returning to our screens this year with a new celebrity producer and a new format.
Each episode will now feature a local crafter who will make something bespoke for the room being made over.  They will film the crafter making the item and include it in the episode. This will result in amazing publicity for the crafter involved, national TV coverage and a mention and link from the show’s website.  Plus you’ll get a badge to use on your website saying ‘as featured on 60 Minute Makover’.
They are looking for all types of crafters, whether you work with fabric, wood, glass, recycled items, ceramics, paper, metal, photos, etc.  So long as the items you make would be suitable for use or display in a home you are welcome to apply.  The recipients may be male, female, children or OAPs so they are looking for a wide selection of items including gadgets, toys, soft furnishings, furniture, wall decorations, quilts, ornaments and more.

How to apply

Please send your contact details along with a photo of one of your products, a photo of yourself and a photo of the space that you work in to 60MMartisans@itv.com.  the application deadline is the 14th July 2013.
You don’t have to have a studio or workshop, they are happy to receive applications from people who work from home too but need to see your workspace to see if it meets filming requirements.
- See more at: http://www.thesewingdirectory.co.uk/news/2013/04/18/get-your-crafts-featured-on-itv/#sthash.Yrpfbflt.dpuf

Appeal for Crafters for ITV show

Do you make handmade items for the home?  Are they eye catching and bespoke, innovate, unique items?  Then you could be just what the producers of 60 Minute Makeover are looking for.  The show is returning to our screens this year with a new celebrity producer and a new format.
Each episode will now feature a local crafter who will make something bespoke for the room being made over.  They will film the crafter making the item and include it in the episode. This will result in amazing publicity for the crafter involved, national TV coverage and a mention and link from the show’s website.  Plus you’ll get a badge to use on your website saying ‘as featured on 60 Minute Makover’.
They are looking for all types of crafters, whether you work with fabric, wood, glass, recycled items, ceramics, paper, metal, photos, etc.  So long as the items you make would be suitable for use or display in a home you are welcome to apply.  The recipients may be male, female, children or OAPs so they are looking for a wide selection of items including gadgets, toys, soft furnishings, furniture, wall decorations, quilts, ornaments and more.

How to apply

Please send your contact details along with a photo of one of your products, a photo of yourself and a photo of the space that you work in to 60MMartisans@itv.com.  the application deadline is the 14th July 2013.
You don’t have to have a studio or workshop, they are happy to receive applications from people who work from home too but need to see your workspace to see if it meets filming requirements.
- See more at: http://www.thesewingdirectory.co.uk/news/2013/04/18/get-your-crafts-featured-on-itv/#sthash.Yrpfbflt.dpuf

PCG Today - 22nd April 2013. Exciting News!

Exciting news PCG members!
On Friday I launched some new membership options.
Our usual standard £5 option still remains the same as we intend to remain easily accessible to small businesses. However,  if you want that little bit more publicity you can upgrade your membership to our new Premium member option.

Premium Guild Membership

• An annual subscription payment of £50.
• You are allocated a registration number and provided with unique badges for your website and a certificate.
• We provide you with a featured member listing at the top of one of our member pages.
• A permanent 150 x 150 pixel graphic advertisement on one of our scrolling advertising spaces on site.
• Inclusion of your advertisement in our premium members album on Facebook.
• You can cancel your premium membership at any time and revert to being a standard member by contacting the Guild.
• If  you already have standard Guild membership please add your PCG registration number in the box provided.

We also now offer Supplier membership options. These are:

Standard Craft Supplier Membership

• A one off £20 payment.
• You are allocated a registration number and provided with unique badges for your website and a certificate.
• We add your details to our attractive suppliers pages including up to 3 images of your products.
• Current standard members can upgrade to premium membership at any time by completing the premium application.

Premium Craft Supplier Membership

• An annual subscription payment of £75.
• You are allocated a registration number and provided with unique badges for your website and a certificate.
• We provide you with a featured member listing at the top of one of our supplier member pages with up to 6 images of your products.
• A permanent 150 x 150 pixel graphic advertisement on one of our scrolling advertising spaces on site.
• Inclusion of your advertisement in our premium supplier album on Facebook.
• You can cancel your premium membership at any time and revert to being a standard member by contacting the Guild.

Remember that the more of us there are, the more noticed we can get. We are fast approaching 500 standard members which is fantastic. Our community pages are also very popular and it is wonderful to see so many members helping each other when needed.


In other news today, we have new members.

Member No: 220413434

Tracy Wheat from Harleyjay Jewellery 

in the UK

 New Supplier Members

Premium Member No: S190413001

WowThankYou

 Online marketplace

 Member No: S220413002

 Hours of fun

Craft,haberdashery and handmade items

PCG Today - 18th April 2013

Morning all!

I went to a trade show on Tuesday and met a few very useful suppliers. I will be contacting them to see if I can get any interesting discounts for our members. Watch this space for more info on that but for now we have two new members to introduce. Lets dive straight in and say Hi to:

Member No: 180413432

Joan Shaw from Tre-Vorr

in the UK

Member No: 180413433

Katie Houghton from Katie's Little Unique Boutique

in the UK

Did you all read our latest member focus the other day? If not you can find it here. These posts are a good way to promote yourself and your business and also help us all to get to know you a little bit better. If you would be interested in being a 'member focus' please email us your guest post and attach some images.

Guest Post - Mick Brown from Paint Affects

We have a Guest Post today - A member focus of PCG member 090413425, Michael Brown from Paint Affects.

 I've always drawn and painted (even before I could walk) and at school I was involved in painting all the back-drops for 2 large stages every time plays were performed. I also ended up painting murals all over our common rooms and corridors during holiday times! So I learnt how to scale work up to a large size very early on. This changed my perception as I realised what appeared to be large daubs coalesced the further you stepped back ! (This was obviously stored away for later use).

 Since then I have worked as a graphic designer (before p.c.) where I learned my craft properly after that I used my skills and talent to work as a mural painter and I also worked with Interior designers creating specialist paint effects for new builds. My customers would either want their children's bedrooms and nurseries painted top to bottom or they would want a sky painted right across a huge ceiling.

During this time I was invited to open a studio near where I lived in a local community centre the only proviso was would I be prepared to tutor community members one night a week? Looking back I think this was the turning point in my painting career as I've met so many artists who are obsessed  with getting their work seen and sold I actually started to realise this wasn't the way forward. The more people who started coming through the doors the more I realised I was helping them not only to draw and paint but also to build their confidence and I actually started modifying my technique in tutoring and painting so much so that my whole approach to painting completely turned itself on its head.

The Tanfield community studio has been running for over 10 years now and is entirely voluntary I take a nominal fee for heat and light. We occasionally obtain funding for equipment but I teach students to make their own stuff and recycle and re-use everything.

Over the last 15 years I have had various features in local newspapers either for jobs I've been working on or pieces of work I've donated to local charities for fund-raising this has helped them out a great deal and they've always written back and thanked me some of these letters are on my website one painting in particular I donated to a diamond charity event raised around £400 or so but more importantly the guest of honour was H.R.H. the Countess of Wessex and she saw my work so sometimes its not about grubbing about to sell the work I give about 4/5 pieces away every year to charities and I find this more rewarding.

I have also exhibited in quite a few local galleries and have been lucky enough to sell on those occasions, however the galleries take such a large proportion it is not cost effective to use them and I rely on the public visiting my studio direct. This also helps because I don't believe in framing the work as I like the customer to make their own choice, they seem happier with that choice.

My second studio runs out of Glenroyd House in Consett, County Durham. One day I walked into my local D.C.V.S. office and told them what I could do and would they like to make use of me as a volunteer. It didn't take them long to fit my skills and talents to 'local art classes' and we now have nearly 30 people on our books, from the start I think we knew this was going to be the start of something new as Consett is a depressed area and there are a lot of people existng on the fringes of the community who have challenges and it was very much a case of "if you build it they will come". By word of mouth more and more people started coming to the class of all different abilities and life experience. The role of coach or tutor has changed as I've had to learn to take on people with varying challenges in their own lives and they are truly inspirational to work with and again this has had a dramatic effect/affect on my own work as my painting and drawing has become so paired down and de-constructed I am able to paint without any pre-planning. It is completely spontaneous. I try to pass on this method to my students as in my own personal life I've had challenges too!

Over the past few years I have been forming a social enterprise which is a largely non-profit organisation and diverts any funding into sourcing resources for the art to keep moving forward. I am not interested in personal greed and I cannot have anything as superficial as money clouding the production of my work. I have had to learn to balance my tutoring and my own painting but this is half the fun, I'm lucky to be able to paint for myself and not allow the aquisition of material objects control my art.

So  to sum up I've been painting for over 30 years

I've been based in the North East I have 2 studio's 

I've been featured in several prominent local papers and magazines.

My work has raised a lot of money for charity I have met Newcastle's Lord Mayor for my work.

I've exhibited in local galleries but don't like to.

I have 30 years experience in buying and selling and producing art to exhibition standard.

I walked out on my degrees. 

To see more of Mick you can check out his website http://www.redpoppyart.co.uk

You can also find him on Facebook here www.facebook.com/mick.brownartist.3  

and here

www.facebook.com/MickBrownArtist

PCG Today - 15th April 2013

Welcome to our three latest Guild members!

Member No: 150413429

Sandra Rowland from EmmaRose Crafts

in the UK

Member No: 150413430

Roy Baxter from RoyB Coin Pendants and Puzzles

in the UK

Member No: 150413431

Laura Maybe from The Crafty Cauldron 

in the UK

PCG Today - 11th April 2013

We have a new Guild member! 

Member No: 110413428

Tracy Warner from Glasspirations

in the UK

PCG Today! 9th April 2013

Good morning all!

I have a few bits of information today.

• New members
• CRAFTfest is off again!
• Can you help to nurture the Guild?

First of all, let us meet our newest Guild members:

Member No: 090413424

Samantha May from Yammas Cards and Crafts 

in the UK

Member No: 090413425

Michael Brown from Paint Affects

in the UK

Member No: 090413426
Sharon Elcock from Shell Shockingly Crafts
in the UK

Member No: 080413427
Sharon Cauldwell from Sharon Cauldwell Jewellery
in the UK

The forms are open for the next CRAFTfest event!

If you haven't taken part before it is well worth a look. If you have, then I'm sure you will know how much fun it is and how much you learn.

As usual, the team have a few new tricks up their sleeves for this one so don't miss out!

Hop on over and grab your virtual stall early to get those coveted first page category slots and to make the most of the pre-event promotions.

www.craftfest-events.com

Finally today, I am looking for at least one person to help me to develop the PCG. All I need is a little of your time and support. :) If you are interested in supporting your fellow crafters please email Anna at

info@procraftersguild.com

PCG Today! 5th April 2013

Hello!
Friday again and we have two new members for you to meet.

Member No: 050413422

Rebecca Athenia Joslin from Athenia’s Crafts

in the UK

Member No: 050413423

Linda Wild from Wild Rose Designs

in the UK

I am still looking for at least one person who would be interested in helping me out to further develop the Guild! If you have a little time on your hands and an interest in helping fellow crafters please email Anna at:
info@procraftersguild.com

PCG Today - 2nd April 2013

Welcome to April! Spring here yet? No, not really!
All that weather business aside we have three lovely new members for you to meet:

Member No: 020413419

Julia Tombs  from Lovingly Handmade By Julia 

in the UK

Member No: 020413420

Angela Mills from Soapbubblicious

in the UK

Member No: 020413421

Jean Ann Fitzhugh from Genieslot

in the UK