#oneofakindshade

3 hours ago
6 min

Meet the Maker - Jennifer Fraser Lampshades

In this month’s Meet the Maker we chat with Jenny Fraser, an expert in making traditional hand-sewn lampshades, who now shares her skills and knowledge with a global audience, teaching students to make lampshades both online and face-to-face from her studio in Hampshire. After inheriting a lampshade that needed plenty of tlc, Jenny developed a passion for traditional lampshade making and her thriving business followed, Jennifer Fraser Lampshades, offering beautiful bespoke la

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5 days ago
3 min

Play with DIY Paper Lampshades

Making lampshades from paper is the equivalent of opening a Pandora’s box of creative opportunities! Paper's versatility and durability are the perfect medium to create interesting lampshades, not to mention the choice and selection of beautiful decorative papers available. In today’s blog post, we’ve rounded up our favourite ways to play with and use paper to make distinctive and creative lampshades with an eye-catching difference. Printed Paper Lampshades From offcuts of wa

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Feb 21
5 min

Meet the Maker - Established 25 Atelier

Established 25 Atelier, founded by Michelle Drew is a creative business firmly rooted in Newham, East London with an ethos of making beautiful, well-crafted homewares and accessories, using local craftsmanship and zero waste. After discovering lampshade making, initially for her own home, Michelle developed her own bespoke lampshade ranges, using her own fabrics, designed to echo the vibrant colours of her Caribbean heritage, which we think you’ll agree are stunning! In today

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Jan 19
6 min

Meet the Maker - Harbour Lane

Talented illustrator and printmaker turned lampshade maker, Tori of Harbour Lane, has captured her customer's hearts with her beautiful drawings that depict her Scottish surroundings, from quaint villages and industrial landmarks to local flora and fauna. After opening her successful bricks and mortar shop in South Queensferry in 2016, lampshade making quickly became a key part of her business and now, as her online business continues to grow, Tori has built her own garden ‘L

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Jan 10
4 min

How to Choose the Perfect Sized Lampshade

If you’ve discovered our Lampshade Making Kits but are struggling to work out what size of lampshade you need, this post has ALL the answers! Our guides will help you choose the most suitable diameter, height and shape of lampshade, allowing you to focus on the exciting part – choosing your fabric! Choosing the width or diameter of shade (height of base) Firstly let’s start by explaining the diameter of a lampshade, which is the width across a lampshade, from one side of the

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Jan 5
3 min

2022 Blog Review - A Year of Lampshade Making

Another year of fabulously creative lampshade making is nearly over and it’s time to look back on how the Dannells Lampshade Making blog has inspired, educated and supported your lampshade making skills and small lampshade making businesses. A true exchange of ideas, you, our customer community inspire us every day with the lampshades you make and we hope that the blog has done the same for you, in 2022! Soft Shade Making Series It was the year of the Soft Shade for Dannells,

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Dec 8, 2022
4 min

Meet The Maker - Brits Love Vintage

Proud small business owner, Jackie Moulla of Brits Love Vintage has found the sweet spot of lampshade making, supplying her customers with an enticing and eclectic range of lampshades, reflecting her love of fabrics from modern designer fabrics to retro and vintage-inspired prints. Nestled in the heart of Whitstable, Brits Love Vintage is full of upcycled furniture, paint and desirable homewares and in today’s Meet the Maker, Jackie explains how she took her fledgling busines

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Sep 23, 2022
3 min

Lampshade Kit Hack #10 - Natural Table Lamp Kit

With natural materials and tones firmly rooted in today’s interior trends, we thought we’d give a natural make-over to one of our favourite products – the Table Lamp Making Kit. Effortless stylish and perfect for every room in the house, we’ve hacked this easy-to-make kit with the simple additions of raffia and wood, coordinated with a beautiful quality linen fabric from our latest fabric range. We think the result is both modern and impressive for very little time and effort

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Sep 8, 2022
3 min

New Products - Lampshade Trim, Binding and Braid

Personalisation is the fun and creative factor of lampshade making, after all, who wants to stop at just picking a fabric or paper for your Lampshade Making Kit or Soft Shade Frame? With this in mind, we’d like to introduce you to our NEW and extensive range of trims, bias binding and braids, so you can pimp your lampshade, whatever your style. Guipure Lace Guipure lace is a type of traditional continuous bobbin lace, which is defined by its lack of backing mesh, woven with b

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Aug 30, 2022
3 min

Lampshade Style Guide - Paper Lampshades

While fabric is an excellent covering for making lampshades, the possibilities of using paper are endless, whether you're starting with a blank piece of paper for your creative ideas or using a map or wallpaper to create your own unique shade. In today's post, we explore the long history of paper lampshades and also the traditional, modern and innovative crafts and techniques that contribute to making paper lampshades real things of interior beauty. Basic history A staple of

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Aug 16, 2022
5 min

BEAM - How to use Reels, Stories and Live Video on Your Social Media

Reels, Stories and Live streaming videos have increased in importance in the last 5 years, engaging and capturing customers’ imaginations across all social media platforms. Understanding what these different features mean for your lampshade-making business is all explained in today’s BEAM post, and we've shared our ideas on the type of content that we feel suits each medium, with the hope you’ll consider using these influential tools, as part of your social media strategy. Re

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Aug 9, 2022
6 min

Meet the Maker - Hillview Soft Furnishings

Switching career to find a more flexible role, Ellen, of Hillview Soft Furnishings is a City & Guilds trained curtain and blind maker and soft furnisher, who has added lampshade making to her broad repertoire of furnishing skills. With a passion for sewing from being young, Ellen enjoys working closely with her customers to find creative solutions to enhance their homes to fit with their lifestyle, whether it be making them a pair of beautiful wave curtains or an oversized dr

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Aug 3, 2022
4 min

Lampshade Style Guide - Loose Cover Lampshades

Following the trend for whimsical, country cottage interior design, the loose lampshade cover has made a comeback in the last couple of years. Originally created for its functionality in busy working homes, the loose covered shade has become a way to effortlessly bring delicate patterns and prints into your home, with a side order of fabric embellishments! We explore the creative options the loose shade offers, the sizes and shapes of shade that work best with this style and

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Jul 21, 2022
4 min

BEAM - Using Social Media to promote your Lampshade Making Business

In today’s digital world, using social media for your business cannot be ignored. A crucial free marketing tool to get your lampshades noticed, social media allows you to engage with customers directly about your products, build a community and increase your revenue. In this BEAM post, we’ll share pointers and ideas for creating social media content and how you can make it work for your lampshade making business, however big or small. Why use social media for your business? T

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Jul 14, 2022
3 min

Lampshade Kit Hack #9 – Retro Flower Silhouette Lampshade

Using the silhouette lampshade concept as the basis for our latest Lampshade Making Kit #hack, we've transformed a drum lampshade, by adding a hidden pattern to the inside. With a darker or coloured fabric, this will only show when the light is switched on. The striking retro flower design is created using the easy-to-use Olfa Circle Cutter, meaning a perfect circle every time. Have a go at our tutorial and you'll realise that the silhouette concept holds masses of creative

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Jul 6, 2022
3 min

Lampshade Style Guide - Silhouette Lampshades

Unique and striking, Silhouette lampshades have a fabulous element of surprise that springs to life when the light turns on! Increasingly more popular, this clever style can be made by using a plain lampshade outer fabric and a patterned inner covering, which can be seen as a 'silhouette' due to the glow from the bulb. This month's Lampshade Style Guide tells you all you need to know about Silhouette Lampshades, the lampshade supplies you need to make them and an inspiring mo

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Jun 29, 2022
4 min

BEAM – How to use SEO Keywords for your Online Shop

Considered an essential part of digital marketing, understanding the basics of SEO keywords can really benefit your lampshade making business and increase your sales. From creating a list of keywords and highlighting free online tools, to exploring how to maximise product descriptions and website content, today's BEAM post is packed with information to take your online shop from invisible to visible. What is SEO? SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation, which is a digital

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Jun 14, 2022
4 min

Lampshade Style Guide - Candle Clip Lampshades

Wall lights can be a beautiful source of subtle lighting in your home, but can also be overlooked as a focal feature or being shown off with a unique shade. In this month’s Lampshade Style Guide, we look at the origins of the wall lights, tips on making Candle Clip Lampshades and ideas and inspiration from our army of makers to ensure these little shades shine! A little bit of history Wall lights and chandeliers have been the mainstays of lighting in homes, since medieval tim

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May 31, 2022
4 min

Meet the Maker - Rosella and Lime

Fashion graduate Sharon, of Rosella and Lime, takes inspiration from her sketches of nature to create stunning collections of lampshades, with gorgeous complimentary, and often bold, colour palettes. A fan of playing with proportion, her eye-catching elongated conical shades lend a mid-century modern twist to any room and in month's Meet the Maker, we go behind the scenes of Sharon's business and studio, to find out more. Hi there! How are you today and what’s on your workben

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May 26, 2022
6 min

BEAM - Setting up an online shop

Have you ever wanted to create your own online shop? Whether you're new to selling lampshades or are already selling via other online retail platforms, today's BEAM post explores three online eCommerce platforms and what they offer and includes pricing, domain names and what you’ll need to consider and prepare to show your lampshades at their best, before entering the world of being your own online shopkeeper! Choosing a Platform There are dozens of eCommerce platforms to cho

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