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Sep 10, 2020

#memadeshade August winner

Despite the sun shining and the summer holidays been in full swing, we've received plenty of fantastic entries for our August #memadeshade Instagram competition and as usual, we're more than impressed with the sense of style and imagination captured in each and every shade.


We were wowed by this month's winner, which is a whopper of a shade made by @alisonbickdesigns who scaled up one of her own designs to make this stunning 50cm diameter shade as a commission for a client.


Congratulations to Alison who wins our monthly prize of a £100 voucher to be spent at Dannells. We hope your client loves it as much as we do! Find out more about Alison and her shade making below...


Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and the creative things that you do? I am a designer/illustrator living and working in Cornwall UK. I create unique illustrations inspired by the natural world and family events with a modern heritage approach. I apply my designs to create every day products including lampshades and cushions, home textiles, prints and greeting cards. Are you a newbie lampshade maker or have you made up a Needcraft Lampshade making kit before? I started up my design business in 2015, and in 2017 following customer requests I began to get my designs printed onto fabric to make lampshades.  I sell my lampshades on my Etsy shop and my website.  In 2020 I was planning to sell my floral design lampshades at various flower and garden shows which were inevitably cancelled, but I’ve been very lucky that my customers have kept me busy by buying from me online.  I now have a lampshade wholesale stockist, my first ever, a shop on the Isle of Wight.


What do you love about the shade you entered for the #memadeshade competition? I love seeing my designs on a 3D surface, and I get great satisfaction in the dramatic effect that a lampshade can create in a living space.  The shade that I entered into the memadeshade competition is my Bird of Paradise Flower design, which I scaled up to fit onto a 50cm diameter shade.  This design is a personal favourite of mine, as this reminds me of my childhood growing up on a tropical island in the Pacific.    What’s do you like most about the Needcraft lampshade making kits? The Needcraft lampshade kits are really simple to use, the instructions are very clear, and Needcraft have lots of videos and a support group on Facebook to help anyone who wants to give it a go.  

Any plans to make more lampshades?  Yes! I’m totally hooked!  I would love to get some more shops stocking my lampshades in 2021!

August's most liked shades

What style our #memadeshade entries show off is anyone guess, but our August 'Most Liked Shades' seem to have some similar themes.


Muted vintage fabrics showcase catci (@lampshadequeens) and chrysanthemums (@floral_vintage_home), while soft grey graphic lines feature in @natlauraellen, @the_lightpunk and @sarah_amatt's shades. Not to be left out, we love the bold shapes and colour combinations of @janellisontextiles shade and the fun of @jennyemmerson's polo print shade and take her look at her original Instagram post to see her lamp base made from polo sticks!


Enter our #memadeshade competition

As the UK heads back school it's the traditional time to start planning to learn something new and even for a beginner, making lampshades is totally achieveable. Why not share your next shade with us on Instagram for our September #memadeshade competition? You could win the generous £100 voucher to spend on lampshade making goodies at Dannells.com


Here's a reminder of what to do...

  1. Simply take a picture of your proudest lampshade from one of our kits and enter on Instagram following the steps below:

  2. Follow @needcraft if you haven’t already

  3. Post an image of a lampshade you’ve made from an @needcraft lampshade making kit and tag with #memadeshade and the type of kit you used i.e 30cm Drum shade kits, Square kit etc.

  4. And any size and shape can be entered so display those drums shades, exhibit your empires and reveal your rectangles – any lampshade from one of our kits counts!

For full terms and conditions click here.



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