Crafty Joe's is a small business run by Jo and Michael Nibbs from their home in Herefordshire. Visit our Etsy shop to browse our wide range of crafts!
Welcome to Crafty Joe's, which should really be called Crafty Mick and Joe's as we are a husband and wife team who love to create things. Although our creations are very different, we both love to re-use and upcycle anything we can find and turn it into something beautiful and unique. We live in a 1930s cottage in the town of Kington, Herefordshire, which is close to the Welsh border - a very beau
tiful and inspiring place to be creative. For many years we have made gifts for friends and family, and many things to furnish and display in our home. But the ideas and inspiration keep coming, so Crafty Joe's has become a business where you can find a wide range of arts and crafts. We hope you will find something you like.
Hello, as promised, here is a selection of my crochet bunting, these are all now available at Collaborative Crafts, 41, High Street, Kington, a local independent business selling a wide range of arts & crafts all made within a 30 mile radius of Kington…the perfect place to find unique gifts, homeware & cards for all occasions.
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Hello, just thought I would pop in and say that I am still here lurking in the background of Facebookland ! My health, and particularly exhaustion levels are still rubbish, so I have putting all my energy into crocheting things for Collaborative Crafts. This is the updated selection of colours of my Eco cotton washcloths, now back in stock, with the Pistachio green and pink ones to follow this week.
I have also made progress in learning to crochet bunting, so hopefully some pictures of those to follow soon.
Hello,
I have been absent for a very long time and still really just popping in as
on-going health issues & numerous hospital appointments are keeping me utterly exhausted. Still, a lot better than last year, and happy to have become a Breast Cancer survivor.
To my crochet friends..I need to pick your brains !
This is my first attempt at a flag for some crochet bunting…I have intended to try some sort of bunting for many years….not sure whether it will be this one or not as the triangle seems a bit wavy !
Having started this, I realised there are quite a few things I don’t know about bunting ! So….
Do you always do an uneven number of flags ?
Do you block the flags ?
Is it machine washable ..or would it get horribly tangled ?
What sort of price would you charge for say, 7 or 9 flags ?
( these are about 14cm ones)
Is there ,roughly, a standard length that people prefer ?
Thankyou all..xx
The best news I could have wished for from my hospital visit yesterday.
No cancer in the lymph nodes or tissue surrounding the lump..so no more surgery needed…and even better, no chemo.
Will have to have radiotherapy and possibly hormone therapy to make sure it doesn’t return…will get an appointment in 2-3 weeks to discuss it with oncologist..but very relieved and happy.
Still a way to go on my journey, sore and very fatigued, but hopefully the worst bits are behind me now.
Picture of my latest batch of cat bag/key charms, now available from Collaborative Crafts.
Hello all, Just popping in today to give you an update on my journey.
I finally had my operation a week ago last Tuesday ( after being cancelled in September)…I was put on the evening theatre list, my worse case scenario ! And then given my appointment for the radioactive isotope injection at lunchtime…so a very long and exhausting day…we left home at 11.30am and got back at 10.40pm…happily they decided not to keep me in overnight, which I was very thankful for !
The op was a lumpectomy to remove the cancer and a sentinel lymph node biopsy ..to see if it has spread to the lymph nodes, so two quite large and painful wounds.
As I am quite hardy when it comes to dealing with pain and constant fatigue, I thought the recovery period would be fairly easy…
WRONG !
Due to the pain & discomfort I haven’t been able to sleep properly..and seem to have spent most of my night times re-arranging pillows & cushions to try and get comfortable….so 11 days on, I am so exhausted I can barely string a sentence together !
They also discovered during the pre-op checks, that I had lost 5kg (11lbs) since my pre-op assessment 5 weeks earlier, and were concerned that such rapid weight loss would put me under my ideal BMI …so am having to go to the GP about that tomorrow too. Not something I have ever experienced before , as Mick and I are both dedicated foodies and my downfall has always been cakes of all flavours !!
Mick has been wonderful at looking after me , and pleased that for once I am actually resting and not over doing things, and Zac came for a short visit at the weekend and brought me these lovely flowers. Once I have dosed up on painkillers , I have been able to do some crochet..which is better than when I broke my arm…
Well, that’s about it for now…hopefully things will get a bit easier as the wounds start to heal..and in 2-3weeks I will be going back to the hospital to find out the biopsy results. I hope you are all well and happy and look forward to chatting here again more often once I have recovered. ###x
Hello everyone, apologies for the long silence, but my short break to enjoy the sun ( haha ! ) and celebrate my Birthday did not go to plan.
Firstly, my Dad’s dog tripped me up and sent me crashing to the ground…a few days later , once the swelling and bruising appeared , I went for an X-ray and found out I had fractured my right arm, just below the elbow…needless to say, not being able to do anything ( especially crochet ) for 6 weeks was very frustrating …and my left arm was pretty useless !
Then even worse news, after finding a tiny lump, many hospital visits , tests and a biopsy, I have been diagnosed with breast cancer. As you can imagine, this was a huge shock..I am now booked in for a lumpectomy in a few weeks..and hoping that it has been caught early enough not to have spread anywhere else.
Hopefully I will return to regular posts at some point, and will pop in occasionally with updates..xx
Hello all, just popping in today to let you know that I will be taking a few weeks break to recharge my batteries, and to show you the latest little creature to join my bag charm/keyring animal collection.
This is the teeniest thing I have ever made..and for once, I actually followed a video tutorial pattern !
I will be keeping this little one for my bag, but will hopefully a couple more will be appearing on my shelf in Collaborative Crafts by the end of this week. .
Good morning all, apologies for my radio silence at the end of last week…I ended up having three consecutive days, all of which were very busy…all enjoyable, but left me completely exhausted.
As you can see I have been busy making some more cotton sunhats in the larger 1-3years size. Which colour do you like best…I initially made just pale ones, but have experimented with a few darker colours since.
These three are now available from Collaborative Crafts.
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Good morning to you all, as you can see from this picture of my shelf at Collaborative Crafts, I have made quite a few cotton sunhats in the 0-6 months & 6-12 months sizes. (Hanging on the mini rail)
I only made two in the larger 1-3yrs size..and guess which two have sold ?
Yep..the ones I only made two of ! So I am now in the process of making a few more of the larger ones, as well as adding to my collection of mini tortoises. .
Sun Gazing
Hello, did you all have a good weekend ( despite the humidity) ? I am a dedicated sun- worshipper, as many of you know, but do find these super humid spells very draining.
For the first time in a few years we went to a church fete on Saturday…it was very small, but lovely and Zac was particularly taken with their “ human fruit machine” which was very entertaining….you had to ring a handbell to get it to start…then the 3 people , hidden behind 3 large boxes, made some whirring & clunking sounds with musical instruments , before pushing out 3 pieces of fruit, through holes at the front….as with a real one, 3 matching ones won the top prize of £1.50 !
Here are two more of my little tortoise keyring or bag charms, now available from Collaborative Crafts
Good morning, here is the result of my other project, which takes up most of my time, when I am not crocheting…fresh organic strawberries..we have had a bowlful each every day this month..and only lost one or two to insects and slugs..just a few left to ripen now..it has been a very luxurious time…we are now onto lettuces and spring onions , with lots more tasty treats still to come…definitely worth all the hard work..
Good morning, my tortoise production line has been in full swing and these first five little ones for your keys,handbag or rucksack are now available on my shelf at Collaborative Crafts in Kington….they will be joining the family of chickens, owls, rabbits hedgehogs and cats, so plenty of friends to keep them company !
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Hello, these are my two prototype tortoises for the latest addition to my keyring & bag charm animals…I looked at a few tutorials before deciding that I would rather make up my own pattern !
Some of you may remember that I used to make bigger knitted tortoises, where the head and limbs had to be sewn together, stuffed and then sewn on to the body..which took far too long…so I was happy to find that my crochet skills had improved enough to make the whole base in one go for these little mini ones.
I am going to do some like these with the clip on top of the shell and some with the clip on their tails, as they would then sit more flush with the side of a handbag or rucksack.
Any colours you would like to see ?
Do you prefer more realistic or bright & cheery ?
Good morning to you all from Crafty Joe’s HQ, we have enjoyed a luxurious few days of smoky barbecued food, having been gifted a small dome lidded barbecue, lots of experimental cooking has taken place, as we have never had one with a lid before and the ability to slow cook with the air vents opens up so many more possibilities than a standard barbecue…and gives a much smokier flavour.
My experiments on Saturday were a half gammon joint and a smoky blackberry & apple pudding ..both of which were delicious.
Here is the finished cotton sun hat and booties set, 0-6 months size, which will be available from Collaborative Crafts in the next few days.
Good morning to you all, as I am in between makes today, here is a picture of our lovely Mama Husky, Choi.
She was the start of our Husky adventure, 10 years ago, she is the pack leader and keeps everyone else in line !
(some might say..bossy!)
She is now 12 years old, with cloudy eyes and possibly going a bit deaf…although this could also be a case of “ selective hearing !”
As you can see by the tufty bits sticking out, she is still in the process of losing her winter undercoat, I have been trying to brush some of it out for her, to speed up the process, but she is not a willing participant when it comes to grooming.
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Hello on another scorching hot Wednesday, did you have any thunderstorms ? …we had a short one, but nothing spectacular.
Here is another little cotton sun hat, which would be perfect for this glorious weather.
This is 0-6 month size, and will be going to Collaborative Crafts, once I have made a matching pair of summer booties
Hello, did you all have a good weekend ?..despite the humidity. Mine was quite busy, Zac and I went to Kington’s Annual wheelbarrow race on Saturday evening, which was fun ..(probably not so much for the competitors, running and drinking beer at every stop !)
Then on Sunday we went to a small carboot sale in Presteigne…we all came away with 2 or 3 bargains, and the rain held off, which was good.
These are the last two of my plant pot holders for a while…back on to the cotton summer hats & booties next…with a few more ideas popping into my head at random intervals !
Hello, I got a bit distracted from learning the mosaic crochet patterns, by deciding to make a whole new set of plant pot covers, these are a snugger fit than the older ones, brighter colours and £2 cheaper than before !
Having finished these seven, I then had to label them all and pot up some baby plants to go inside.
Each one has a metal liner, a houseplant and the crochet cover, all of which can be bought individually if required, or £8 for all three.
They also make great containers for bathroom/ bedroom storage..make-up brushes, cotton wool buds etc.
Now available on my shelf at Collaborative Crafts in Kington.
Good morning and a Happy Monday to you all, here is the last of my mosaic crochet patterns for a while ( …as I seem to have got a bit distracted recently with other projects ! )
This one now lives in my bag , containing a pair of reading glasses…always good to test your own merchandise !
Hello, today’s picture is one of my other projects..for when I am not crocheting…our greenhouse is full and we needed to grow the excess away from the huskies ..so safely tucked away in our garden, on a sunny , south west facing wall..is our new oasis of herbs, fruit, veg and flowers. We have gooseberries, strawberries ,rhubarb , one melon plant ! & cucumbers, lettuces, tomatoes,chillis, courgettes, runner beans, cauliflowers, leeks, and garlic…I am a bit of a haphazard gardener, but it is lovely to see all this lot thriving in their new spot..and the strawberries are almost ready to start picking…yum !
Good morning all and a Happy 1st June..these months seem to be whizzing by this year.
Here is another little pair of Summer baby booties in the making.
Hello…is there anybody out there ? I have no idea if Mr.Facebook isn’t showing my posts to many people..or if everyone is just out, enjoying the sun. If you can see this please say hello..
Is anyone else finding it eerily quiet these days ?
Here is my latest little cotton sun hat (age 0-6 months) hanging in the gorgeous Honeysuckle which fills the garden with beautiful scent every evening , which will be going into Collaborative Crafts later this week.
Good morning, I have been experimenting with some lightweight cotton summer booties…these were adapted from a You Tube tutorial, which only went up to ankle height, so were more like shoes…I then added a bit more height and the contrasting top and laces. The top two pairs are 0-6 months and the bottom pair are 6-12 months, now available at Collaborative Crafts..more colours to follow soon.
Good morning and a Happy Bank Holiday Monday to you all. I hope you are all getting your fair share of this lovely sunny weather…a rare phenomenon for a Bank Holiday weekend !
Here is my latest Mosaic Crochet glasses case, now available at Collaborative Crafts, which is open today from 10am-2pm.
Hello on another beautiful sunny day here in Herefordshire…I am having to be sensible and not spend too many hours in the sun, as it is so strong at this time of year, although given the choice I would be out there all day long !
This is the latest in my series of Mosaic Crochet patterns..please excuse the not very well positioned photo…it was very windy, so this was a super quick shot before it blew away !
Good morning, as a change from the mosaic crochet, here is a little beanie hat that I made a few weeks ago..before the late onset of Spring. A bit warm for now, but hopefully I can build up a good stock before the colder months set in !
Hello to you all on what promises to be a wonderful week of weather…I am finding the garden takes up a lot of time & energy at the moment, so apologies for my Facebook posts being somewhat sporadic.
Here is my next Mosaic Crochet pouch for glasses, sunglasses or phone..for sale now in Collaborative Crafts, Kington.
Hello all, A magic fast forward pic today !…to my first two Mosaic Crochet glasses or phone cases. They are lined with felt for a soft non-scratch interior for lenses or screen and are now available in the newly re-vamped Collaborative Crafts
Good morning on another lovely sunny day in Herefordshire, I have a busy day ahead, planting out tomato plants and leeks in the greenhouse and repotting my Avacado plants, which are growing super fast this year.
Just popping in first to show you my second crochet mosaic pattern, which is coming on nicely…this one seems a bit easier, because it is a faster repeat and so easier to spot when I put a stitch in the wrong place !
Hereford
HR5
| Monday | 9am - 8pm |
| Tuesday | 9am - 8pm |
| Wednesday | 9am - 8pm |
| Thursday | 9am - 8pm |
| Friday | 9am - 8pm |
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