Bead Barmy

Cut Out And Keep is a one stop site for anybody looking for crafty inspiration or wanting to share their creations.

A friendly community, brimming with talent. I spoke to Cat Morley, the founder of this hugely successful website.

You have recently reached over 40 000 members on Cut Out And Keep. You must be chuffed to bits. When and how did it all start? Was there a masterplan?
CO+K started as my craft blog while I was in university, back in 2003. I spent a lot of time crafting, inventing recipes and sewing my own clothes to save money in my student days, so I’d share my creations, along with how-to instructions online. Readers would send me photos of the things they were making too, which gave me and boyfriend (now fiance) Tom the idea to turn it in to a crafty community where everyone could share tutorials.

One of Cat's projects - a lovely lolly necklace

We launched the new site, with our fancy new craft project adder in 2007 and since then the site has grown from my 250 projects to over 25,000 today. When we graduated, we moved down to London and CO+K had grown so big, it was a full-time job. It was never planned but it is a dream come true! I get to be creative and work with the things I love everyday. I still love waking up to see all the new crafts which have been added to the site while I slept and making my own versions of other people’s projects

Is it a one or two man/woman show or do you have a team of people working for you on the ever expanding website?
Tom deals with the technical side of CO+K, doing as much as he can when he’s not at his day job (the dream is to employ him full-time in the near future) and I do everything else! Apart from the two of us, we’re lucky to have a wonderful team of writers for Snippets and soon we’re hoping to turn some of our members in to administrators and helpers. The site has definitely grown bigger than a one-person job, so we really appreciate that our awesome members have been volunteering to help out.

Who are your greatest influences and who do you admire in the worlds of both crafting and journalism?
My biggest crafting influences are my Mum and Vivienne Westwood. My Mum is very crafty and has stayed many long nights helping me with my projects.

Copy couture – Cat’s take on a classic Vivienne Westwood dress – Cat’s is on the left!

I love everything that Vivienne Westwood makes, her designs are so unique and flattering, I’d have a wardrobe full of her clothes if I could afford them – for now I’ll have to try and make my own.

What’s your main crafting passion or do you like to try your hand at a bit of everything?
I love trying my hand at everything, so I find it more fun to mix things up and have multiple projects from different crafts on the go at one time. The craft that gets me most excited is dressmaking, I love going out for the first time wearing something I’ve just finished – it’s even better if someone asks where you bought your outfit from!

Snippets is an interesting off-shoot. Did this happen at the same time as Cut Out and Keep or is it something that just evolved? Any plans to make it into a printed mag?
When I was back in university, I was also writing and taking photos for a number of magazines in my spare time and when I started CO+K, I really wanted to find a way to include this on the site, which gave me the idea to start an online magazine filled with all the people and things that crafters love.

Snippets - a heady mix of crafts and music. Everything the cool crafter needs!

I was lucky enough to find some amazing writers who were willing to help out and since then, we’ve just kept on realising issues. We’re about to release our 20th issue and have a party to celebrate how far it’s come! Snippets will always be an online mag and I think the future of magazines is online too, especially with the invention of new technology like the iPad. Printing costs are so high and online distribution means that there’s nothing stopping a homemade indie magazine from reaching millions of people across the world. It breaks down the cost barriers that currently exist in the world of print. 

How do you source your interviewees? Is it an uphill slog, or do you find that they are coming to you more, now that the site is so successful?
We’ve never really struggled to find interviewees for the site, sometimes we’re approached and other times we hunt out the people we’d love to include. I’m so lucky that I’ve had this chance to talk to many of my favourite bands, artists and celebrities.

Crafty Superstars is one of my favourite sections of Cut Out and Keep. It’s a list of twenty or so top crafters with something outstanding to offer. It showcases two or three great projects and features a short Q and A from each ‘Superstar’. Here are some of the included superstars.

Crafty superstars (left to right) – Jennifer Perkins, Lady Wurlitzer and Betz White 

• Jennifer Perkins is a jewellery maker supreme and also the author of The Naughty Secretary Club: A working girl’s guide to handmade jewelry. This is a fabulous publication with loads of projects to make with things found at your desk!
• Lady Wurlitzer makes luxurious handmade soaps and lotions, although we did spot her delicious looking stodgy stew pie too. This lady of many talents is also a country music dj and a PhD student!  
• Betz White’s motto is ‘stitch beautifully, tread lightly’. She is the author of Sewing Green: 25 projects made with repurposed and organic materials. She also makes a beautiful array of bags, cushions and more. She even has her own organic print line of irresistible fabrics.

How do you pick people to be a crafty Superstar? Do people submit themselves or do you pick and choose?
We’ve never had a Crafty Superstar recommend themselves but our members nominate crafters they’d like to see. Otherwise, we find people who fit in well with the CO+K feel. 

Can you describe a typical day for you?
First thing, I check CO+K to see all of the new projects that have been added. The majority of our members are in the US, so the time difference means there’s lots to look at when I wake up. When I’m feeling a bit more awake, I’ll tackle my inbox and try my hardest to get it to zero and then it’s on to my never ending to-do list! I don’t like sitting at a computer for too long, so I mix in lots of crafting and yoga. Sometimes I’m tempted to just grab everything and work from the park. The work changes so much day to day, so it’s hard to describe what would be typical – usually I have interviews to do, places to go and things to make – so you never know where you’re going to end up!
At the end of the day, I get to hang out with Tom and my friends. We like chatting in the diner or going to late night movies. If we’re having a night in, we’ll be working on a new project. We’ve just started putting together a new website, which will be all about homes and interiors.

Crafterella - a crafty superhero in the making!

We have a new issue of Snippets ready to launch and we’re also going to be launching the first issue of a comic book about our crafty superhero Crafterella (who you can see in the top right corner on the site). Hopefully the site will continue to grow like it has been and I’m excited to see what the future holds for it!

If you’ve not stumbled across Cut Out And Keep yet, I strongly advise a visit. It’s totally free and I guarantee you’ll soon be hooked – making friends, reaping inspiration and immersing yourself in this great crafting community.

Posted by: JoBlogsIt