We have several Guest tutors joining us over the next few months. First is Sandrine Bramley from The Frog in the Craft who is teaching a Dorset Button workshop with us on Saturday 25th September.
I took the opportunity to find our more about Sandrine for our Meet the Maker blog post series.
Meet Sandrine Bramley from Frog in the Craft – tell us a little about yourself:
I started the small craft business The Frog in the Craft in November 2018 as a market stall with a range of handmade items. It soon grew I started teaching craft workshops and stocking crafting supplies, although I had to take a long break – nearly a year – after my mum passed in Dec 2019.
The Dorset button, quilling and recycling crafts are my main crafts. I love incorporating them all into one piece of wall art and love the mix of including modern materials with a more traditional crafts.
How did you get started?
I started crafting from a very young age, and have always been interested in the old trades. My granddad has a lot to answer for in that department though. He learnt joinery whilst he was with the Army but carried on with the trade as a hobby. I made my first wooden sewing box with him – and I still have it and use it now.
In my spare time, I learn languages and I usually craft – developing my current skills, learning new ones or and finding out more about old traditional crafts.
As I have a chronic illness (fibromyalgia), crafting has also become somewhat more than a hobby. Back in 2018, I was making more items than I could possibly gift, so that’s when I decided to attend fairs.
I am just as passionate about crafting and learning as I am about teaching, especially as I experience on a daily basis, first hand, the benefits of crafting. This is why I started offering workshops, and this is also why I started streaming on Twitch earlier this year.
What’s your favourite aspect of your business?
I have 2 favourite things, I can’t decide which is best…. The first is making commissioned pieces, based often on just inkling of an idea from a customer. Knowing that it brings joy and smiles or happy tears to the person it was intended.
The second is teaching workshops. My reward is seeing how chuffed the participants are at the end, when they finish their first item with their new skill. And even better, when they get back to me later with a photo of something they made at home later on. Teaching workshops also allows me to improve my own skills. I also enjoy meeting new people and more often than not, they end up teaching me something too, which I find absolutely brilliant if I’m honest!
Where to find Sandrine
You can find out more about Sandrine over on her Frog in the Craft website, where also find details of craft fairs & event coming up;
www.froginthecraft.com
You can also watch Sandrine on Twitch in the Makers and Crafters category, usually every Tuesdays and Fridays, plus additional streams every now and again.
https://www.instagram.com/Froginthecraft
https://www.facebook.com/Froginthecraft
https://www.twitch.tv/the_frog_in_the_craft
You can book a place on Sandrine’s workshop here.