I’ve been into crafts ever since I remember, and now that I’m working on making more time for myself to do more things for me, I’ll be spending more time on crafting. I’d never tried lino cutting, however, so when I was invited to join a group of fellow bloggers and learn how to do so, I jumped at the chance!
We were invited by the lovely Anna Hayman, who designs the most gorgeous items using lino prints, to a lino cutting workshop in a stunning house over in Lewes. Anna creates lino prints, from which the pattern is then used for cups, teapots, tea towels, books and more. She specialises in a basic colour palette – orange, red, blue, teal and yellow – which makes her designs look bright and colourful, but also classic.
The workshop started with Anna showing us some of the designs and giving us a run down on her previous and current designs. I love hearing about a designer’s process and their history, so really enjoyed this part.
Anna then showed us how to use the lino cutting tools and we had a go at the different cutting techniques on a small piece of practice lino. It was then time to decide on what we’d be doing for our final design. I decided on an arch design (yeah, I’m not exactly sure how to explain… not like a mandala, but kind of), with curves and loops and dots. There I was cutting away, and I cut myself. Not once, but twice! Yep, I jabbed myself in the fingers with the lino cutting tool. Oh joy.
Being the committed crafter that I am, I continued. And it was worth it. Once my design was finished, I took it out to the kitchen where Anna inked it up and then pressed my design so that it made a print onto paper. After some pressing and rubbing, we peeled away and revealed my finished design. It was so great to see my hard (and bloody) work in print!
Anna kept some of our designs and beavered away in her studio while we got on with our daily lives. Then one day a gorgeous coloured print turned up – Anna had manipulated our prints and added more colour (in her signature style) and it was so satisfying seeing my work in more than just one colour! I’m still yet to decide where to place this print – I’m thinking it’ll look nice in my bathroom. Once I get a new frame the size of the print, I’ll see how it looks!
Until then, I’ll leave you with some more images of the gorgeous house in Lewes where the event was held and some more of Anna’s gorgeous products…
Thank you so much for inviting me to the wonderful workshop Anna, I’m excited to try some more lino cutting and printing in the future, and this time I’ll make sure not to cut myself!
You can see more of Anna’s designs at the Anna Hayman Designs website.
Looks like such a fun workshop! Love the print you created. Lewes is beautiful too.
It was a lot of fun! And thanks! Lewes is gorgeous – I lived there for 7 years before moving. It’s a pretty place but very small!
What a clever idea! Also how cool are the prints. I think I might have to move into the house in Lewes, very cool. Also loving the new website layout!
Honestly Aine
It’s such a gorgeous house, right?! You should have seen the upstairs!! And thank you, I’ve got some more work to do on it. but I’m loving having more flexibility with WordPress!