Introducing... Crafty Magazine (and a great flat I wrote about for them)

I have been meaning to post up some snaps of a new magazine I've recently written for – it's called Crafty. 

And if you like making stuff, you might like it. I like DIY and fixing things, but I'm not the biggest crafter, so my contribution was about what I do better – nosing around other people's homes.

But sticking with the magazine generally, for a bit, here are a couple of teasers. It's nice innit?



And also good and practical too – how to make a deck-chair and a wheelbarrow barbecue? Yeah.

You might also like the beautiful flat I wrote about, which belongs to artist, Torie Wilkinson. I'm very partial to a bit of inner-city mid-century architecture and Torie's rented Kennington one-bed was a dreamy example of just that. Below you can see her pleasing pistachio-painted door – just the standard inside her airy block of flats (along with a satisfying cupboard for the old-fashioned concierge to put parcels into when she's out. How civilised).

She lives there with her cute pup, Heidi, a miniature dachshund (the one in the first photo, with Torie), an excellently eccentric thimble collection she inherited from her late grandmother (directly above), and lots of her own beautiful artwork and clever bits of craft. The portrait of the cross-legged man, above, is Torie's grandfather. Isn't it a beautiful painting? And the tiny bit of John Major (yes, really) that you can see by his foot gives you an idea of Torie's off-beat creativity: it is part of a set of hand-embroidered placemats that she made of British Prime Ministers. Crazy. Brilliant.

I won't reveal too much more – do check out the magazine – but you can also see more of Torie's style and projects at her lovely blog, Klaus and Heidi, a couple of images from which appear below (that's her flat too, bringing the pistachio theme indoors).

Find Crafty online over here.