Hochanda

Have you ever fancied creating your very own cheese? Now is your chance! Next week on Thursday 27 th October we’re introducing Aly Proverbs is launching The Big Cheese Making Kit on Hochanda! Keep reading to find out a bit more before the shows… The Big Cheese Making Kit came about through Ailsa's, the Managing Director, love of cheese and the curiosity to find out if she could make herself. This curiosity was triggered by a Celebrity Chef making yoghurt (I won’t name names but he lives in a cottage by the river!) She thought it looked really easy, and thought if you can make yoghurt maybe you could make cheese too? "I started digging about online and found that yes, you could make cheese at home without any fancy equipment or having to age the stuff for 5 years under your stairs. In fact, you can make it really quickly and be eating it within an hour!  I became hooked on making cheese and wanted other people to feel the same. I was always pleased by people’s react...

As the spookiest day of the year is fast approaching, now is the perfect time to start thinking about your decorations! Why not get crafty with a pumpkin that you can use again and again? Here's a simple step-by-step project using the fabulous products from Creativ Company! Step 1 Paint one half of the pumpkin either with green or orange Plus Color (enabling you to hold on to a non-painted area). Here we have started with Eucalyptus green. Step 2 Paint orange Plus Color on top of the first layer of green paint on one side of the pumpkin (wet on wet) using an almost dry brush. You may smooth the paint with a little water on the brush. Then paint the other side of the pumpkin using the same procedure. Step 3  You may apply another coat of paint on top (a thin green coat of paint). The orange colour should still be visible. Step 4 Using a pointed brush, paint the grooves of the pumpkin with a mixture of the following Plus Color colours; ch...

Quilling, the coiling and shaping of thin strips of paper strips to create a swirly design, has been around for years! Have you got in to paper quilling? We'd love to see your makes! We've been on the hunt around Instagram to find you some of the most inspirational accounts there are... Here's what we found; 1.  lavanyaanaidoo  2.  justinekurandesigns  3.  senaruna 4.  apaperlife 5.  mari_supole 6.  youareyouco 7.  miyyahatkertas  You can watch Hochanda live  online , Sky channel 663, Freeview 39 (6am - 9pm) or Freesat 817.

The lovely Melissa Waudby from Simply Vintage is back with us this week, so to give you a sneak peek of what's to come on her show, check out her Craft Inspiration Pack  Challenge . She'll be with us this Wednesday with tonnes of inspiration and demonstrations of how you can get the most from your gorgeous Craft Inspiration Pack at 10am! Here's her step-by-steps... This month I have been working on a little challenge - My Craft Inspiration Pack Challenge! To see how many craft projects I can make from just one of the Simply Vintage Mixed Craft Inspiration packs. The full results will be live on the show in Wednesday morning - but here is a couple of sneaky pics of just two mixed media projects I recently finished. From the kit I used: 1 sheet of music 1 piece of floral fabric 3 sheets of pages Buttons Lace pieces Ribbon Snap fasteners Postcard Just 10 elements …..from the 30 included! (and there are still parts of these left over!) ...

Decoupage is a beautiful craft that everyone can get involved, regardless of your experience! We’re so excited that we asked the lovely Nikki Killenger to give us a quick step-by-step on how to create this beautiful plant pot before she join us to demonstrate the incredible Decopatch products next week!  Step 1.  Choose your paper’s and prepare all the items you want to work with. Step 2.  Tear or cut your papers, according to your design. For this design I have used scissors as I wanted a band around the pot, but usually you can just tear your papers. Step 3.  Decant some glue into a smaller pot to make it easier.  Apply glue to enough of an area to put your first piece of paper. Step 4.  Apply paper, you can pick the paper up on your brush to place it. Smooth the paper onto your item from the centre out. Step 5.  Build up your pattern, butting your papers up to each othe...

 We've got a brand new Sizzix One Day Special on Thursday 28th July, so we caught up with Katie Skilton this week to get a sneak peek of just some of the demonstrations she will be bringing to you! Hello … I am looking forward to bringing you some fabulous Sizzix dies next week for a One Day Special launching on Thursday 28th July at 8pm and all through the day on Friday 29th July. Theses are a different concept than what we have brought to you before and I am sure you will be super excited when you see what these dies can create. These are called Fold-a-long dies and create beautifully shaped cards like this: They came in a fox and owl.  Not only do they create a cleverly shaped card but the ability to add a panel inside where you can add your stamped sentiment! How fun are these? If you are into your gift boxes we also have a die that will create both the owl and the fox box. These will make any gift that extra special. Of...

We’re so thrilled to be welcoming Decopatch to the Hochanda family that we wanted to share with you just some of the incredible affects you can create with Decoupage.  What is Decoupage?  The word decoupage comes from the French verb découper, 'to cut out'. The decoupage technique can be used to personalise items in your home - the best thing is that the designs can be as simple or as complex as you like. Simply, decoupage involves cutting out pictures, gluing them to an object and then coating the pictures and the object with layers of varnish. Decoupage is a great craft, it’s super easy to do and you can pretty much decoupage anything; from a tired chest of draws to decorative letters, it’ll easily spruce up any item in a short space of time!  Image Source: Wunderweib Decoupage – the basic technique Decoupage is a simple yet effective way of personalising your items, so before you begin here’s a step by step of the basic technique. Once...

We are so thrilled that one of our very talented guests, Sara Davies, founder of Crafter’s Companion has been appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Her Majesty’s Birthday 2016 Honors List as a result of her contribution and achievements in the craft industry. This is the latest and greatest achievement for the 32 year old Durham born entrepreneur who has taken her craft supplies company from a university bedroom start-up to an international market leading business in just 11 years. Sara says: “ I am thrilled, honoured and so genuinely humbled by this recognition. I’m also still a bit shocked, to be honest “ This is nice recognition for the industry as well, as this just doesn’t happen to people in our industry . “ I’m quite excited that it might hopefully raise the profile of the industry as well as the business. “ I also hope it inspires others entrepreneurs in craft to believe, innovate and put our industry firmly on the map. ”...