Crafting With Danielle Proud

There's no doubting that Danielle Proud is the original craft queen who helped bring craft back into the mainstream in the UK. Long before the current resurgence of craft books and publications, Danielle's book House Proud coined the term 'hip craft' appearing in all the mainstream papers and even on TV. At the time I was working on a craft magazine and it was the most exciting book to ever land on my desk.
After that Danielle appeared regularly on daytime television showing you how to do simple crafts while having your breakfast on GMTV and This Morning. I remember these clips so clearly and am still sad they've stopped.

While I've long admired her crafting capabilities and interior design, I didn't realise Danielle's background was in fashion and that she's such a brilliant artist. One of her biggest passions and talents is painting and after a 'career break' to have three children Danielle is now heading into the world of designing homeware and furniture. The furniture is still underway but you can own her first item of homeware just by purchasing some coffee.

When I was younger I was addicted to collecting tokens and saving up for freebies. I thought this kind of promotion had stopped with these day companies simply asking you to 'Like' them on Facebook and then they send you a voucher to print off. 
Not in the case of Kenco. Their Rewards Club is all about collecting tokens and exchanging them for cool stuff. For 60 points which is three 200g jars you can get one of these gorgeous eco cups designed by Danielle.

I was invited to a special launch event earlier this month to meet Danielle, find out what she'd been up to since publishing House Proud, try out one of her coffee cups and do some crafting with her.

The project we were assigned was to make a coaster to match Danielle's Eco Cup. The base was made from tree trunk direct from Danielle's back garden. They were really solid, smooth and beautiful - such a simple but wonderful material to work with. 

Some of Danielle's illustrations were made into decal transfers which we cut out, soaked in water and then smoothed onto the coaster.

Danielle was on hand to ensure we all ended up with masterpieces and it also gave us all an opportunity to talk to her properly. It was so refreshing to hear the enthusiasm she has for family life. Her career is important; it's not her priority, yet she still manages to get involved in exciting projects that feed her creative needs. The kind of balance we could all do with.

Afterwards we varnished each side, then once dry they were good to go!

My two are currently in use and I love them!

I've also been using my eco cup for two weeks and I can confirm it makes drinking tea/coffee/your hot/cold drink of choice much more fun. It's a great size and although they look like they are made of melamine plastic in this picture, they are CERAMIC! Quality stuff. As 'collectables' go, these are so worth it, even if like me you don't drink coffee. Leave the jar in the office, give to a friend or use it to bake a coffee cake just so you can enjoy this cup and lots of other lovely goodies. 

To find out more about how to get one visit: www.mykenco.com.