A Crafting Project for Worcestershire & the West Midlands

As some of you know I have a great love of sport, Basketball in particular.  This sport has kept me off the streets when I was a child.  It also has given me support, focus and a sense of belonging in my darkest times.  I have been privileged to officiate at some of the biggest Wheelchair Basketball tournaments held in the UK.  In 2010 the World Wheelchair Basketball Championships were held in Birmingham and this is when I started knitting again.

At the end of August the European Wheelchair Basketball Championships will take place in Worcester.  University Arena is the home of Great British Wheelchair Basketball & British Basketball.  This is alongside the BBL team Worcester Wolves and age group academy teams.

So when I got the request to bring two of my greatest passions together I jumped at the chance to get involved.  The organisers of this tournament would like to give the athletes and support staff a handmade gift and good luck message from the West Midlands and Worcestershire.

This project hopes to engage local groups and people from the area with European Wheelchair Basketball Championships.

Here is some information about the project

• How many gifts are required?

Each team will have 12 players and support staff i.e coaches and at present 19 teams are entered.....grand total of 228 players (You wouldn't need to make all of the gifts)

• What type of gifts?
  • Cushions,
  • Note books,
  • Knitted scarves/cowls,
  • Hats,
  • Dolls,
  • Key rings
  • Cufflinks
  • Brooches

All gifts will be greatly received but oversees players will need to get gifts home so it has been recommended them being smallish.

• What countries are taking part?

Men’s Teams

• • Czech Republic
  • Spain
  • France
  • Great Britain
  • Germany
  • Israel
  • Italy
  • Netherlands
  • Poland
  • Switzerland
  • Sweden
  • Turkey

Women’s Teams

• • Spain
  • France
  • Great Britain
  • Germany
  • Italy
  • Netherlands
  • Turkey

• What format do the good luck messages need to be in?

If possible would be a lovely touch to leave personal messages in nations native language but again I'm sure they would appreciate it just as much in English.  

• Are makers able to share that they make other things by leaving business cards with their gifts (Not everyone has to sell the things they make)?

Yes more than happy to promote business and we will encourage players to promote through social media.  

• How will gifts be collected?

They can be sent to me (Rebecca Orleans) and then they would be collected from myself.

• If gifts need to be sent will any costs for postage be covered?

Yes if cost is sensible as there is a small amount of money, or I can collect from Birmingham as I don’t drive.  I just need to confirm how this will be paid.

• Is there any finance to cover the cost of materials?

There is a small budget but not enough to cover postage as well as materials.

• Can you confirm the deadline for completion?

20th August 2015, this is so the gifts can be placed in the accommodation before arrival.

This project is open to people, crafters and the handmade community in Worcestershire and West Midlands.  So if you would like to get involved drop me a message at poppybead@gmail.com or via social media. Or Lee Lough l.lough@britishwheelchairbasketball.co.uk

Quick knits

I thought I would share the quick project I completed over the weekend.

I was speaking to someone who needed cheering up and thought  I would make something small to do so.  The Bluebird of Happiness by Sara Elizabeth Kellner, it's a free pattern on Ravelry.

I struggle sometimes reading knitting patterns and I did with this one.  The one of the reasons why I like Ravelry is you can get help from other people's projects.

My first attempt was made with Rico Essentials DK on 3mm needles.  Then I made another one again with Rico Essentials, but aran this time on 3.75mm needles.

It was an enjoyable quick knit and really cute.

Sewing and crochet

Once upon a time I tried to make a dpn (double pointed needle) case, which is in the photo below.   It wasn't my best piece of sewing by any stretch of my abilities.

So whilst I have been recovering from surgery I have been crocheting.  But I keep losing my hooks and no matter how many 4mm hooks I buy it keeps happening.  So I thought some up-cycling was in order.

I removed the flap and replaced the internal fabric for something nicer.  I then made each compartment fit my hooks better.

 I have made some matching bias binding to secure the roll and I am happy with the completed roll. 

Thank you for reading and looking at my photos.

Love Your Blog: Ugly

 As part of the Love Your Blog challenge the third prompt was ugly more importantly what to do when blogging ugly.

 Starting this prompt is made me think quite hard, being ugly is not always visual.  So for some people someone else's appearance might seem ugly, but somebody's actions can be seen as ugly as well.

 My health has been more than ugly and my issues with dyslexia sometimes stops me from writing this blog.  It also spurs me to write my blogs and contribute to another.  Over 2 and a half years ago I had a knee injury just as I started selling my beaded jewellery at craft fairs.  This affected all aspects of my life, then I was hit with severe cold hands and turned out to be primary Raynauds.  On top of this I have been struggling with pain from endometriosis & fibroids.

These issues have been a real bind and I haven't been making as much as I would like to but I have been concentrating on my website, the quality of my product photography and my online presence.  I am very lucky to have a photography club at my day job and you can see some of my photos on Flickr and a previous blog entry.  I also went to a really good product photography workshop run by Blue Strawberry Design Studio, I think there is another one coming up in June.

With not making and selling came little interaction and then I start a vicious cycle of looking at my stats.  No one is looking at my website, no-one is buying what I do have made blah blah.  So I need to make more of an effort to interact with people and not to worry too much if I haven't had lots of likes, shares or comments.

Love Your Blog: Beginnings

Beginnings was the week two prompt from the Love Your Blog Challenge.  So I thought I would take this opportunity to share my beginnings as Poppybead.

When I turned 30 I found out that I have dyslexia, I completed a degree and other qualifications.  But I wanted to do my GCSE english again, so alongside studying for my GCSE I wanted to learn how to make something.  Beaded jewellery was my chosen media.

I began blogging in August 2010 to share what I was making and my crafting experiences.  I started here on Blogspot but found it difficult to use on mobile devices, so started looking at different options.  I tried Tumblr, signed up for Wordpress  and then settled for blogging straight onto my website.  This has become long winded and slows down my blogging.  You have to resize photos, not enough readership and after looking at Bloglovin the wrong internet language.

Poppybead is not the only blog I write or contribute to.  I follow a gluten free diet to help with pain control of Endometriosis.  I didn't think crafting people would want to hear about where I went to eat or what I had for dinner so I have started a separate blog for my ramblings.  I am in the process of moving this content onto Wordpress.
I came accross Wordpress as I contribute to the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation's blog.  A lot of my weekends during September and May are spent as a basketball official.  Again lots of people I have met through crafting are not keen on sport but wanted to follow my journey as an official at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.  Nearly three years on I am still on my basketball journey so still contribute to the blog.

Going back to Poppybead I am on the road to recovery after some health issues and have some more beginnings to start so watch this space.

Love Your Blog: Community and Interaction

Welcome back to the Poppybead crafting blog on Blogspot.  I had been experimenting with other platforms and they have not been working for me, so I am back.

Since I have been away I have still been blogging and I will transfer content across as soon as I can.  Whilst being online I have become addicted to Instagram and Pinterest.  I posted a photo asking for suggestions of crafting podcasts I could watch/listen to and the community of Instagram gave more options than I could of imagined.

One of the suggestions was A Playful Day podcast.  They are running "An Inspired 2015" and this includes Love your Blog Challenge.  I am bit late writing  about April's subjects but better late than never.

The first prompt was Community and Interaction.  I have a presence on Twitter, a page on Facebook, Ravelry, Instagram, Pinterest, a shop on Etsy & a website.  I am really appreciative of all the followers, likes and sales I have made through these through these platforms.
Something seems to be missing, human interaction!  Sometimes I love to meet people and sometimes I don't but more love.  So I through the group Handmade is Hot on Facebook,  I did my first craft fair and have been to some creative networking events.

On Twitter I found a free small business start up course, Ravelry gave me the opportunity to join some knitting groups locally and learning at work week let me find other crafting colleagues in my day job.

I don't post the same things on all platforms for instance I don't share my gluten free food ideas on Facebook, I have a separate blog as well.

For me there has been a lot of trial and error but I am still learning.  Love your blog challenge is a great way to keep learning.

Udi's in the UK

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Apart from making/crafting, taking photos & Basketball I love food.  I love talking about it, cooking it & of course eating it!

About three or four years ago I started to follow a gluten free diet.  This change of diet has been beneficial to my health, giving me more energy to continue crafting.  Like the handmade industry a gluten free diet can be hard work.

Bread, pastry, pasta, real ale & gravy are only a few of the things missing from my diet.  As the years have passed I have been lucky to meet others who follow a wheat & gluten free diet.  My knowledge has grown and I have been able to introduce gluten free alternatives back into my diet.

Tesco started stocking quite a wide range of gluten free foods and at the beginning of October the yellow logo of Udi's was a part of that range.  I knew Udi was widely available in the US and got rather excited about the prospect of being able to eat bagels after 3ish years.  So excited I posted photos on my Instagram page.  I didn't think I would become one of those people who took pictures of my food but I am.  I think when you have dietary requirements it can be useful to others and share ideas of what you can eat.

I got an email asking if I wanted to try some products from Udi's and I jumped at the chance.  Then this lovely box turned with a cute label on it.

Inside the box I was delighted to find lots of goodies

Including jalapeno ancient grain crisps, cinnamon & sugar bagel chips, cinnamon & raisin bagels, aged cheddar ancient grain crisps, apple & cinnamon toaster pastries and chocolate chip & toffee flavoured muffins.  

I started with the crisps and they were nice, it's sometimes hard to get gluten free flavoured crisps.  The jalapeno ancient grain crisps do have a kick of heat to them but I didn't mind.

I then looked at the muffins as I have an allergy to chocolate, I thought about giving the packet to a gluten free colleague.  I re-read the packet and only had to give away one.  My colleague Jayne was really excited and enjoyed the muffin.  She said the muffin was a good size light and fluffy in taste.  I did enjoy the toffee muffin and we both thought the mixed packet was a great idea.






I had an urge for bread and butter pudding and thought I could use the bagels.  I then couldn't be bothered to cut them up and used the bagel chips, this saved me adding any sugar or flavouring to the pudding.  The full recipe will be detailed in a separate blog entry.  Oh my word it was a great pudding!  I have frozen the rest of the fresh bagels and they have defrosted really well.

The toaster pastries were a convenient product to keep at work, I did find the pastry a bit salty but overall they were ok.

I would like to thank you for the opportunity to try some new gluten free products and share my experiences.  Now I 'd need to look through some of my photos taken of my products.