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Apr 21, 2022

#memadeshade March Winner

Updated: Oct 11, 2023

All our entries to our #memadeshade competition are unique, but once in a while, a lampshade wins that celebrates a slice of life. This month's deserved #memadeshade winner, Gemma of @larkdesignmake1 has cleverly used the pages of her old passports, to make a Needcraft Floor Lamp Kit. We think it's a fantastic idea and the perfect way of shining a light on travelling adventures and memories! Congratulations Gemma! Your prize of a £100 voucher to spend at Dannells.com is on its way!


Full of creative ideas, Gemma's craft business, Lark Design Make in Cardiff, runs a wide range of workshops for everyone from children to students to adults. We find out more about Gemma and her lampshade making in our Q&A below.





Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and the creative things that you do?

Hi, my name is Gemma, I run a small craft workshop business in Cardiff called Lark Design Make. I have an amazing dog called Gwen who comes to work with me everyday! I used to be a secondary Design & Technology teacher but I took the leap of turning my passion for making things into a business 4 years ago and have never regretted it! My favourite crafts are crochet, macrame and leather crafting, recently I have also been enjoying dabbling with jesmonite.


Are you a newbie lampshade maker or have you made up a Needcraft Lampshade making kit before?

I have made a few lampshades over the years after learning how to make them with a friend when I lived in Shanghai. I love how the end product is so unique and looks so professional, after making your first lampshade you begin to notice how all the other shades in your home look really boring so it becomes really addictive ;-) Most recently I have made a few using wallpaper leftovers and they look great.


What do you love about the shade you entered for the #memadeshade competition?

I gave the shade I made for #memadeshade a lot of thought as I knew I wanted to use my old passport pages to create something special for my home, as soon as I came up with the idea of turning the pages into a lampshade I knew it would be perfect, but I then had to do a lot of maths to ensure the pages fitted perfectly and also that all my favourite stamps were on the outside, which took some planning! I was nervous to take my passports apart but I am now so glad I did as I love admiring all the stamps and thinking about all the experiences I had when I visited those countries.


What do you like most about the Needcraft lampshade making kits?

I like the Needcraft kits as they contain easy to follow visual instructions and they also come in a range of different shapes and sizes, the end product also really looks like something you would buy in a shop.


Any plans to make more lampshades?

Yes, soon I'm going to move house so I'm sure there will be an opportunity to brighten up some rooms with new unique lampshades!



March's Most Liked Shades

Feast your eyes on Spring florals as three of our #memadeshade Most Liked shades bring out the blooms, which are perfect for brightening up our home as we edge our way into Spring. Speaking of bright, @chantier.studio has cleverly incorporated the striking blue and yellow of the Ukraine flag into her beautiful drum shade, made in a tiled fabric and with all proceeds going to Ukraine charities.


Next up are the second pair of bedside shades I’ve been working on as part of a commission for @grittletonhouseevents and these are two are really stunning!


The beauty of bespoke is that we can centre on your favourite part of your fabric - here we’ve gone for a gorgeous agapanthus which features in this fabulous Clovelly fabric from @voyage_maison (colourway used is Bluebell) - I think they’re going to look beautiful in their new home - what do you think?? 💙


22nd war day 💔 New handmade lampshades 💙💛. 100% from all these orders will be donated for Ukraine support. Details: 25 cm diameter, 21 cm height. Price 50 eur. DM for more info.


Sanderson AMELIA ROSE pretty pink purple colour way floral flower linen fabric lampshade available in my shop now 💜


Another Lampshade off to its new home

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My customer has a cherished lamp base which she wanted a new shade for and was wanting something to brighten up the area in her hall. She sent me a photo of the lamp base and its dimensions and we worked out what size the new shade needed to be. She then chose my Runa design in Rose Pink and I made it to a specific size to suit her base

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I love working with customers to find the right solution and am happy to make a bespoke size. Just message me for a chat


Enter our #memadeshade competition


It's super simple to enter our #memadeshade Instagram competition. Just make a lampshade from any of our lampshade making kits and follow the steps below. And if you want to check out the hashtag #memadeshade for inspiration in advance, we've had over 5000 shades enter since we started!


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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