The Create Place Pop Up Craft Cafe is now well into the month of May (where we are popping up once a week to celebrate Craft & Design Month!) and with two cafes left (places are getting booked up fast, www.thecreateplace.co.uk) we have decided to continue the pop-up cafe on a monthly basis, due to it's fabulous success and the wonderful people who have joined us for Friday evening crafting, munching and sipping...

Your £9 booking gets you a fruit bellini (cherry, cassis and more...) , a gorgeous cakestand stacked with homebaked cakes and retro biccies (iced gems made an appearance last week!), a mini project craft pack (choose from make a bird brooch, make a cupcake brooch, mini papercraft bunting, make a card or badgemaking - and further packs are available to purchase for £1-2.00) and also unlimited pots of tea! You can book 2 sessions for £15, or top up your two hour session on the night (spaces permitting). It has been a pleasure to run this evening and meet some wonderful crafters and have a great excuse for craft and cake! (you can also byo if you fancy more than one drink to get your crafty juices flowing)

The Pop Up Craft Cafe, hosted by Violet Iris and The Create Place will be continuing monthly, on the second Friday of every month from June onwards... book your place at www.thecreateplace.co.uk

Pics below to see what we've been getting up to...

On a Spring Wednesday evening, to welcome in May, which is Craft & Design month Violet Iris and the Create Place hosted a jewellery workshop, making charms and beauiful pieces from shrink plastic and our own illustrations.

What a talented bunch joined this workshop, and what beautiful goodies they made.. shrink plastic is easy to use and can be shrunk in the oven or using a heat tool, and artwork can be created using pens or pencils and holes made for jewellery made using a hole punch. Shrink plastic is available in a variety of colours - we used clear and white to make some very professional and uber-cute goodies...

The Create Place run a fabulous assortment of workshops and classes, and crafting social events... check out their schedule at www.thecreateplace.co.uk and get booking crafty fun to look forwards to!

The Right Royal workshop on Saturday 9th of April was a roaring success! With a backdrop of 'My old man's a dustman', 'maybe it's because I'm a Londoner' and 'Rule Britannia' and a full afternoon tea, we crafted and sipped bubbly throughout the afternoon.... bunting in all shapes and sizes was lovingly created, and the participants produced some beautiful work!

All participants went away with their string of handmade bunting and a Violet Iris goodie bag... all this and knowing that their workshop fee also contributes to providing free community craft at The Create Place, including the Spectrum workshops for children with austism. Craft with a conscience ♥

If you'd like to organise a Crafternoon Tea for a special occasion, or just for fun, then please get in touch at [email protected].

More pics below...

Here at Violet Iris Thrifty Towers we are very excited about this Saturday's Right Royal Workshop which marks the beginning of our Royal Wedding celebrations! ♥

Unfortunately the workshop was fully booked in record time (we even had to turn away a certain Miss K Middleton, hope she wasn't too disappointed!) but if you are one the lucky people who has a place, you are in for a crafty treat!

We kick off at 1pm with a look at possible bunting styles and the basic construction methods. We will work round the table, chatting & crafting and sipping tea, whilst we cut, pin, plan, experiment and create...

Around 2pm we will break for a quintissentitally English 'afternoon tea', where we will nibble cucumber sandwiches, munch on English cheddar, dunk in pea & mint hummous whilst sipping elderflower bubbly. Remember to leave room for the sweet treats! We have home baked scones and cupcakes as well as a selection of retro biccies, all washed down with lots of lovely tea!

Then it's back to work, once your bunting is pinned and prepped and you are happy with your look you can run it through the sewing machine and admire the fruits of your labour! Pose for a photo if you'd like your work to be shown in the Violet Iris blog and head home knowing you have bunting for your royal wedding street party or house party (or local pub...) and that you have contributed to The Create Place community work in providing workshops for children suffering autism, not for profit, guilt free craft with a conscience.

Can't wait to see you for beauitful bunting and yummy munching on Saturday! ♥

Just in time for Mother's Day this thrifty DIY cardmaking workshop involved learning 'posh' techniques such as using a heat tool to emboss lettering and images on cards and mastering the art of iris folding. A Friday night workshop was a blissful way to see in the weekend, we crafted and sipped bubbly, munched cake and choccies and had a good ol' chinwag as well as producing some truly unique and gorgeous cards which will be send to such far flung, exotic places as Paris, Kent and Bow!

Two sisters in the group had a 'card off' in a competitive effort to impress Mum the most, we enjoyed their lighthearted banter and were wowed at their stunning creations - what a lucky Mum!

Remember when you take part in a workshop at the Create Place your fee also contributes to providing workshops for the local community, including specialist workshops for autistic children. Craft with a conscience!

See www.thecreateplace.co.uk for more details ♥

A wonderous, oh so clever and brilliantly fun concept pop-up cafe hosted by the Robin Collective (of Cafe du Pique Nique and many other experiential wonders www.therobincollective.co.uk) played host to Craft Guerrilla workshops www.craftguerrilla.com, sponsored by Etsy www.etsy.com. Violet Iris offered candle making and lipbalm making free to the public thanks to the brilliant craft masters Craft Guerrilla and the handmade online treasure trove Etsy.

Open for one week only, the Hive features its own human beehive where visitors can relax with a glass of mead or waggle dance beer, or maybe a honey based coctail or royal jelly jelly whilst watching the real bees in their little observatory hive! Also serving up crumpets or toast with honey and a range of honey based sandwiches, the Robin Collective team treat their guests to a friendly and fun vibe with plenty of experts on hand to tell you fascinating facts about bees! Honey available from Surrey Quays, Kennington & Kings Cross proved to us that bee-keeping is alive and well in London!

A fabulous group of people took part in the workshops and produced some gorgeous cutesy candles and some delicious lipbalm... all participants also left with a Violet Iris goodie bag full of lovely surprises ♥

Browse the slideshow below to see what fun we had... and email [email protected] if you'd like to organise a hen/birthday/event/just for fun workshop ♥

This gorgeous group of girlies requested a hen workshop at their flat in London. For just £12 each they made a necklace, a pair of drop earrings, a brooch and a charm bracelet. They made some absolutely beautiful jewellery and clearly have unleashed some hidden talents! A workshop enjoyed by all ♥ Here's some pics to inspire you...

Anyone who had a mooch and a browse at the Create Place's first ever Pop-Up shop would have found it hard to walk away without an armful of gorgeous goodies.. from printed cushions, to gorgeous cards, last Rolos, jewellery and hand-made knickers - not to mention the Letter Lounge providing opportunities to send a note to your loved one, this was a fabulous day of craft, collectivism and creative genius.

The pop-up had been arrange 'boutique style' in order to mix up the items from various sellers, it felt like a gorgeous shop with an ecclectic mix of high quality items and the atmosphere was warm and welcoming...

Pat & Frank Butcher cards sold out and here at Violet Iris Thrifty Towers we are wondering if these have been used as Valentine's cards....? Wonderful stuff... Violet Iris worked through the night, fuelled only by cheese and red wine in order to replenish the Pat & Frank stocks so as not to let down her lovely customers on Sunday...

The shop was so successful that they made a last minute decision to open on Sunday too! ♥ I also hear rumours that they are still selling some of the items from the pop-up on the spare shelf space around the workshop tables...

If you haven't been down to The Create Place yet it's on Old Ford Road near York Hall and the Gallery Cafe.. they have a free craft morning on a Wednesday too... check out their blog for more details and events www.backtobasicsartsandcrafts.blogspot.com and why not have brunch at the Gallery Cafe and a stroll through Victoria Park when you pop down...? ♥

Ten fabulous girls who had signed up met at The Create Place in Bethnal Green on Wednesday evening to enjoy two hours of crafting Valentine's cards with an alternative message. All participants received a hot mug of tea and a starter pack with their card blanks and pieces to make their badges....

Many participants arrived with bits and pieces from home to craft, and everyone had a good rummage through Violet Iris's cabinet of kitsch, thrift and haberdashery... stationery village, ink stamper town and inspirationville had been set up along with shaped scissors, funky hole punchers, foam pieces and other card making must-haves placed conveniently along the table. Participants bonded over 'can you pass the glue?' and 'can you hold this whilst I stick it?' as well as over giggles, gossip and sharing of ideas.

The creations were truly beautiful and we all oohed and aahed over our neighbours' results... all in all a very successful evening and a lot of fun.

Many of the same people have also signed up for afternoon tea and bunting on April 9th in preparation for the royal wedding, we at Violet Iris Thrifty Towers think: if you can't beat 'em join 'em and plan to have a right royal laugh whilst sipping elderflower bubbly, nibbling on cucumber sarnies and creating gorgeous bunting in beautifully British colours, to a soundtrack of East End knees up tunes and a street party atmosphere... pass the jellied eels please guv'na! ♥