Hochanda

We are so excited to announce that Hochanda will be welcoming knitting expert Jody Long to the family! We thought we’d have a sit down and pick his brain before he launches his first shows on Hochanda on 9 th April, enjoy! How did you learn to knit & why? When I was five years old I stayed over my grandmothers house on her farm time to time. In the evenings I remember this huge wicker basket came out with brightly coloured yarns and needles sticking out with half finished projects. It fascinated me with all the colours and projects she made, so, one day I said can you show me how to knit. What was your first finished project? Oh no, I remember it to this day. It was a very badly knitted picture sweater in pink and cream with two little rabbits on the front. It was a disaster as I never knew about tension and needle sizes. The cream was aran and the pink was chunky, so you can only image. How did you start designing? I started designing from the a...

The Hochanda team are excited to welcome Art Journaling and Neil Burley to the channel for a new venture coming very soon! In the meantime, here is a little bit about Neil, and some of his top tips for Art Journaling! A little about me: I’ve always had an artistic streak, but science came first as I grew up, and so did my first career as a psychiatrist. I first started card making over 15 years ago, starting with rubber stamping and gradually increasing the complexity and size when I dabbled with scrapbooking and the occasional canvas. Eventually the artistic streak won the day, and I retrained at Leicester College in Art & Design. Since then I have enjoyed combining papers, paints, gels, pastes, colours, textures and embellishments in journals, on canvases and making assemblages. Working on several design teams, including WOW! Embossing Powders, Creative Expressions, Craftwork Cards and for Jones Crafts, has given me access to a wide range of paper crafting materials...