Exploring Etsy – The Grumpy Crafter

Exploring Etsy with loadofolbobbins!

Would you Adam and Eve it? time for yet another installment of ‘Exploring Etsy’ to delight and enchant you all. For all my international readers that may be scratching their heads right about now I promise you that I haven’t been out in the sun too long, just turned to the delights of Cockney Rhyming Slang for this weeks introduction. I hope you’ve all been keeping well and are ready for this weeks stunning offerings from the very talented Corinne Sleight and her shop ‘The Grumpy Crafter’.

Shades of Red Colour Wheel by The Grumpy Crafter (Hand Embroidery)
Shades of Red Colour Wheel by The Grumpy Crafter (Hand Embroidery)
Shades of Purple Colour Wheel by The Grumpy Crafter (Hand Embroidery)
Shades of Purple Colour Wheel by The Grumpy Crafter (Hand Embroidery)
Shades of Pink and Orange Colour Wheel by The Grumpy Crafter (Hand Embroidery)
Shades of Pink and Orange Colour Wheel by The Grumpy Crafter (Hand Embroidery)

Corinne is a ‘work-at-home-Mum’, who aids and abets her husband of 23 years to run a small graphic design business from their family home in a small village nestled in the Sussex South Downs here in the UK. Although having no formal qualifications in the creative arts she has enjoyed working with various media her whole life, including knit, tapestry, stained glass, fused glass, painting and most recently, embroidery which seems to have taken over her life!, (always a joy to welcome yet another talented stitcher into the fold). Astoundingly Corinne only picked up her first embroidery needle since a child just two years ago and is entirely self taught, I don’t know about you but judging by her gorgeous work she’s a seasoned pro already!

Variations on a Theme No. 2 by The Grumpy Crafter (Hand Embroidery)
Variations on a Theme No. 2 by The Grumpy Crafter (Hand Embroidery)
Variations on a Theme No. 3 by The Grumpy Crafter (Hand Embroidery)
Variations on a Theme No. 3 by The Grumpy Crafter (Hand Embroidery)
Variations on a Theme No. 1 by The Grumpy Crafter (Hand Embroidery)
Variations on a Theme No. 1 by The Grumpy Crafter (Hand Embroidery)
Variation on a Variation on a Theme No. 1 by The Grumpy Crafter (Hand Embroidery)
Variation on a Variation on a Theme No. 1 by The Grumpy Crafter (Hand Embroidery)

What is your earliest stitching memory?

My mum patiently taught me how to stitch and knit as a child, and I have passed these important skills onto my own daughter who has taken them to a whole new level. I think my earliest stitching memory was making a Mother’s Day dressing table mat at primary school. It was worked in coloured thread on some awful cream coloured binca but we were pretty much given free rein as far as pattern and colour were concerned. I loved making that mat! I didn’t pick up an embroidery needle again until two years ago when a New Year’s Day trip with my daughter to our local craft store resulted in me coming home with a hoop, needles and a huge pack of brightly coloured threads. I haven’t looked back!

Stitch by The Grumpy Crafter (Hand Embroidery)
Stitch by The Grumpy Crafter (Hand Embroidery)
Dare To Be Different by The Grumpy Crafter (Hand Embroidery)
Dare To Be Different by The Grumpy Crafter (Hand Embroidery)

What fires your imagination?

All sorts of things fire my imagination and I am constantly on the lookout for inspiration in all sorts of places. However, in my work at the moment the answer would have to be colour, colour and more colour. I think my embroidery style has developed significantly over the past two years. I started out tentatively, just stitching for stitching’s sake, then my daughter and I opened our Etsy shop last summer (more as a business lesson for my daughter than anything else!), so I tried to stitch pieces that I thought might be commercial. Then, a few months ago, I happened upon a discussion somewhere on social media where embroidery artists were discussing their favourite stitch…..several mentioned Satin Stitch which happened to be my absolute bugbear. I decided that I needed to master it and in an effort to improve my satin stitching, I stitched my first ‘colour wheel’ hoop as a practice piece. This one action has actually taken my current work in a whole new direction, one which I feel most comfortable in and expresses ‘me’ perfectly.

Abstract Tree in Blue Ombre by The Grumpy Crafter (Hand Embroidery)
Abstract Tree in Blue Ombre by The Grumpy Crafter (Hand Embroidery)
Hoop Garden by The Grumpy Crafter (Hand Embroidery)
Hoop Garden by The Grumpy Crafter (Hand Embroidery)

There’s so much to love about Corinne’s work, her bold use of colour and shape is truly captivating. Remember to head on over to her beautiful shop to check out more of her creations! I also highly recommend venturing over to her Instagram feed, her pics never fail to delight me and it’s fascinating to see her work evolve.

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Jessica Taylor aka Loadofolbobbins is a Textile Artist and Illustrator based by the sea in Portsmouth. At her happiest with a needle and thread, with a passion for genealogy she often explores old photographs in her Textile art. With her fingers in many creative pies she loves to experiment with new techniques, creating illustrated and stitched goodies for her new Etsy shop.

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