The Insider: Decoupage; the Wesley-Barrell craft awards

By Kara O'Reilly, The Sunday Times

On the make Last week, I spent one of the most relaxing evenings I have had in a long time. No, I wasn’t being massaged by the latest go-to therapist, nor was I dining out at the restaurant of the moment. I was doing decoupage.

Decoupage - the art of decorating an item with images cut from paper - is surprisingly soothing.

You become absorbed in the process of cutting, arranging and sticking, which allows you to totally switch off. And doing something hands-on is really satisfying, especially if, like me, you haven’t done anything like it since you stopped watching Blue Peter.

The course was taught at the Make Lounge, a new venture in Islington, N1, set up by Jennifer Pirtle to offer “cool crafts courses for busy people”.

She came up with the concept when she tried to sign up for a course, but found that everything demanded a minimum commitment of several hours over a number of weeks. Pirtle has devised one-off sessions that teach modish craft techniques, include wine and nibbles (how civilised) and participants can take home their efforts - in my case, my Beano platter (left, for my son’s bedroom). Now, if only I could find the time, I could set up a sideline business on etsy.com , the eBay of home-crafters.

Modern decoupage at the Make Lounge, N1: £45 for a three-hour session, including materials; themakelounge.com

WHAT THE PAPER SAYS

1 Amelia Coward, my tutor on the Make Lounge course, really knows her stuff. She set up her business, Bombus, a couple of years ago to create bespoke furniture and accessories decorated with decoupage. Reclaimed newspaper chair, from allthingsoriginal.com .

2 A simple technique used to great effect: hand-printed Vintage Plate cotton table mat, from solitaireshop.com .

3 The perfect example of modern craftwork, this illustrative wallpaper is screen-printed, then embroidered by new kid on the block Rebecca Ellen. From £450 per three-metre drop; http://www.rebeccaellen.co.uk/ .

4 Buy fab one-off pieces by independent designer-makers, such as this 3-D layered picture, Ginger Bird, by Helen Musselwhite, from allthingsoriginal.com.

TABLE TOPS

I was recently involved in the judging of the Wesley-Barrell craft awards, in association with the Crafts Council. My co-judges included the Channel 4 news anchor Jon Snow, a passionate advocate and collector of modern craft, and the textile designer Celia Birtwell, appropriately enough, as the fabric offering was particularly strong.

The shortlisted pieces are on show at Wesley-Barrell’s showroom on Wigmore Street, W1, and will tour other branches over the next few months, ending up at Origin, the annual crafts shindig held at Somerset House, WC2, in October.

We hummed and hawed over which textile pieces fulfilled the category of “creating one-off beautiful, handcrafted pieces, using traditional skills in an innovative and contemporary way”, and ended up with a shortlist of seven well-deserving finalists, including Kaniez Abdi, Rowan Mersh and Laura Thomas, There was no such debate about the furniture. We were unanimous in choosing Gareth Neal as the winner, with his stunning, beautifully made Anne console table (£8,500). wesley-barrell.co.uk ; garethnealfurniture.co.uk

Source: The Sunday Times