Making and Doing at the Egg Factory

As part of our crowdfunding campaign last autumn lots of nice kind people bought a voucher for one of our making and doing workshops.  I'm sure they've all been waiting with baited breath so phew, at last we've announced the programme and it will be running over the spring and summer here at the Egg Factory.

There'll be something for everyone, from paper to willow, beekeeping to terrariums and we've gathered a group of talented tutors to show you the ropes.  

Most of them are on a Saturday afternoon, fun, relaxing, and you'll get to take home a finished object, or the means of finishing said object. Plus there will be tea and toast made from lovely local breads and a range of delish spreads, such as peanut butter, chocolate, luxury jams, and more!

To save yourself a place please book in advance by visiting our website
or phone us on 01422 846082 or email madeinthevalleyshop@gmail.com

and watch this space for more posts about the individual workshops as they come over the horizon.

 

Ruby Creagh leather worker

Ruby at her machine

At the astonishingly young age of 21 Ruby is already well on her way to creating a successful business. But she's not in a hurry, and the care she's put into her plan for the future is reflected in her products. Her beautiful leather bags are simple and stylish and designed to last a lifetime.

Ruby has an impressive CV, and it all started with her teenage love of horses.  Disenchanted with A levels she dropped out of school at 16, going to work full time managing a stable yard, followed by jobs at Robinwood activity centre and the ATC in Hebden Bridge. Now she works at the Heart Gallery and the Coffee Station as well as putting in 3 days a week for Geoff at Tan My Hide as an apprentice where she's learning the leather worker's trade, spending one day a week on repairs, and two on making. "I think it's the best way of learning as I can benefit from Geoff's knowledge and skills - much more than I could on a course"

We're looking forward to Ruby using the Egg Factory and hope it'll help her on her way. "I've made useful contacts there already and I think it'll have a great atmosphere." She'll be taking part in our Christmas event on December 13th and you'll also be able to see Ruby's work at Gimbals Artisans Emporium  in Sowerby Bridge on November 16th.

Kingfisher Flowers

Sally Baker of Kingfisher flowers is a woman of many talents - among other things she runs community allotments, teaches creative writing and is a published poet. But her passion is growing organic flowers so she's started a business doing just that.

Her beautiful sunny allotment is a peaceful plot that buzzes with life and colour although sometimes too many visitors want to share it with her.  "We've had birds and beasts of every kind, some are more welcome than others, but it's encouraging to see that it's a healthy environment."

Sally supplements what she can grow by buying seasonal British flowers and using foliage from hedgerows, (having asked permission from landowners of course!) She creates simple informal arrangements for all sorts of occasions and is happy to work with clients, sharing her skills and using material from their own gardens.  Another speciality is succulents and she'll be running terrarium workshops at the Egg Factory in the spring.

Meanwhile at the Egg Factory Christmas event on December 13th Sally will be helping customers make their own festive wreaths. Come along and get your fingers green!

Looking at the Lockharts

Louise with her products

When Louise Lockhart got her degree in Visual Communications she decided to make a start on her lifetime's mission - to illustrate every surface on the planet! And so the printed Peanut  was born. Based in Hebden Bridge Louise is now selling a prolific range of items from t shirts and soap to prints and party games, all decorated with her colourful exciting designs.
Some she produces herself but she's aiming at becoming the head designer of her own brand. "I've done a collaboration with Donna Wilson and I'd really like to run my business along the same lines getting the products made for me by UK small batch manufacturers."

Although Louise doesn't want a shop of her own she's become a dab hand at the pop up. With her mum Lizzie, recently retired from running the Art Foundation course at Bradford College, she's joined with several other local artists to form Hebden Pop ups.   Lizzie, "the bargain queen", sources interesting curiosities on her travels, and also contributes her own handmade textiles.  They both like the idea of targeting festival times when visitors and locals are looking to buy and made quite an impact at On Reflection hair salon the day le Tour came to Hebden Bridge.

Tour de France by Lizzie Lockhart.

So we're pleased that Lizzie and Louise will be subscribers to the Egg Factory, mostly using the screen printing facilities.  They'll also be popping up at the Egg Factory for the Christmas event on December 13th with fun things for customers to make and do, as well as a goodly range of delights for last minute presents.  Looking forward to seeing what they come up with!

Louise with friend Charlotte Meacham at last year's Christmas pop up shop

Some thoughts on crowdfunding

We all do our bit on the social media at Made in the Valley but this crowdfunding malarkey is making me realise how much I operate in a comfort zone. You've got to get outside it, fast! It's by turns exhilarating and scary, sticking your neck above the parapet. Gulp....

We've had some brilliant pledges so far for which we'll be eternally grateful people.  Meanwhile, put kettle on Mother, let's do another tweet (or is it twit, or twat even??) 

We're Here!

When the Made in the Valley team went looking for a new home last year we never expected to actually find one.  But we did - straight away! It was flat! It had parking! It was big!  (Erm, too big? Never fear, Wood and Wire needed a new home too, so we split it in two.)

We got cleaning and painting and transformed it from this....



To this



And we decided to go down the coworking route, creating a making and doing centre for startups and homeworkers to incubate their businesses.

We're nearly ready to open our doors properly and we're launching a crowd funding campaign next week to get us on our way.

Watch this space!

Getting ready.......

Some news!  We're going to be moving to the new space very soon, and after we've settled in and made ourselves respectable we'll be welcoming other coworkers. 

Lots of work to be done and lots to be spending money on, of course. Being impoverished types we've got to 'bootstrap' the project, so we're selling off our family silver in Bridge Mill over the next few weeks in our Dead Horse shop.

Not actually silver of course, but one man's clutter is another man's treasure!